Artemis PoV
I woke up in Percy's arms. Percy...I abused that poor man last night.I remembered the date. It had been a full year since his mother's murder.
I fell back asleep on my lover's chest, only waking after he started having a nightmare.
I kissed his cheek, holding him close.
"Hush, Percy. You're fine. You're safe. Nothing's happening," I murmured. He shot up, gasping for breath.
My fiancé calmed down, face pressed to my neck.
The day was spent cuddling, Percy attempting to sleep the hours away.
I found myself thinking about what would happen when my family eventually learned who he was.
My lover was asleep on the bed, his head in my lap.
I spent some time playing with his hair before falling asleep myself, trying to make the sad day leave us.
When I awoke, it was about one in the morning. My fiancé was nowhere to be found.
On a hunch, I climbed up to the top of my palace. It was a sort of treehouse. Nobody could reach me there. It was a safe haven.
I sat down next to the pale, shaking body of the man I loved.
"Moon," he whispered.
I crouched down in front of him. "Did I do this to you?"
Percy looked up at me with bloodshot, swollen eyes and shook his head.
I coaxed him back down to the bedroom and brought him to the bathroom.
I cleaned him up and made him drink some nectar before taking him back to bed.
As usual, Percy wrapped me in a hug and kissed my forehead while pulling the covers up.
"Artemis," he murmured weakly. "I miss her."
"I know," I replied. "She knows too. Your mother is watching over you, Percy. She may be gone from this planet, but she will always be in your heart. I can't tell you that you'll miss her any less, but I can tell you that you'll learn to accept her death. You'll get justice for her. You'll do things the right way." Percy nodded, closing his eyes.
He was much better in the morning.
It took about a week for him to get back to normal, but I understood.
One morning, there was a knock on the door. It was Hera.
I grabbed a drink for my step-mother, and when I returned with the glasses in hand, she was using her powers on my future husband.
"Daughter," Hera spat icily. "Are you aware your fiancé is the most wanted man on Olympus?"
I bit my lip, feeling my throat start to close up. "Please let me explain."
Hera motioned for me to continue. "His mother and stepfather were killed by Annabeth when they were still engaged. Zeus had told her to. They had figured that if he had no more mortal family, Percy would accept godhood. Percy found out that an Olympian had his mom killed and confided in me. Zeus is a corrupt ruler that will do anything to stay in power. He sent a group of trained fighters after me..."
I explained everything, choking up, tears clouding my vision.
All I remember was Percy's arms around me.
His lips on mine. A locket pressed to my hand. A promise.
I was put under palace arrest, sentenced to stay within the bounds of my palace for the next millennia.
Or until they caught Percy. Whichever came first.
Some days were better than others.
On the good ones, I would be looking around, trying to figure out ways around the spell trapping me within the palace.
On the bad days, Aphrodite visited to inform me that my fiancé had made another attempt to free me from the prison that was my home, only to fail.
I missed him. A lot.
I didn't know what was happening. I only knew my Percy was still alive.
I sighed, looking down at the beautiful locket he had given me.
It was his promise. His promise to come back for me. To not forget.
Many years of running, jumping, climbing, and training in every way possible passed before I found it.
As I showered, I felt a small bump on the back of my neck.
After much manoeuvring and angling of mirrors, I learned that there was some strange mortal technology in there.
Something called a microchip.
I hissed in pain as I dug the tiny thing out of my skin, dropping it in a small jar of ichor so it would seem the mortal tech was still in my neck.
I sighed in relief as the nectar healed me, the gash I had made turning into nothing more than a thin white line.
I spent the next week gathering all the supplies I would need to survive in the mortal world, knowing the use of my powers would make me much easier prey to hunt.
Clothes, weapons, money, and mortal ID seemed enough to last me.
I opened the locket around my neck. It was the picture we took with Arnold when we adopted him.
Arnold.
What happened to my dog?
I heard a buzzing near my ear. A fly.
My dog was a shapeshifter. Right.
I appeared in Australia, far, far away from Manhattan.
It was early morning there.
I had a quick breakfast before setting off to the next town over on foot.
When I reached the town, it was early evening.
I checked into the hotel, and the mortal behind the desk seemed surprised when I paid in cash.
After settling in for the night, I ordered something called room service.
A few minutes later, another mortal arrived with a tray of food.
I thanked her and handed her the paper rectangles they used for currency, flipping the deadbolt after the door closed.
After I finished my pasta, I showered and got ready for bed.
As I lay there under the covers, fiddling with the locket, the backing fell off.
I picked up the small piece of fabric and went to put it back in before realizing it was hiding a small button.
The fabric morphed into a letter in my hands.
It was from Percy.
Hey, Moon. I hope you are well. I miss you so much, and I'm trying to get you out of the palace, but it seems like your father is throwing most power into keeping that from happening. I know you won't be able to reply to this, and I hope you won't have to. The small button activates a tracker when pushed. I wasn't able to mask it, so when you activate the tracker you need to be ready to run. I'II come to get you as soon as possible.Love, your fiancé
I couldn't help but smile as I read the letter.
I still had a lot of questions, but I trusted that Percy would find me.
I went out to a public place- the park. I leaned against the water fountain like I was just some mortal and pressed the button.
The park suddenly became much, much fuller.
I heard a dart whizzing toward me and crouched down to tie my shoe, hearing a soft thunk as the dart went into the water.
I stood back up and felt arms wrap around my waist.
I spun around, holding a dagger against their abdomen.
I looked up to identify him.
Scraggly beard. Shaggy black hair. Handsome green eyes.
There was a gunshot, and the man I suspected to be Percy pulled me close.
There was a searing pain in my neck.
If I hadn't been moved, I would be
reforming.
Those were my last thoughts before everything went black.
