Hello Fanfictioners! I'm here with a new chapter of The Love of Destruction! Thank you guys so much for all the support you've given me for this story! I'm looking to post a new chapter every week or so. Plus, I got some inspiration for this chapter from the actual books, so please don't go too hard on little old uncreative me XD. Anyway, on to the story! ~ DSA

Disclaimer: As much as I wished I did, I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians. That right belongs to Rick Riordan. :)

Blue Eyes, Silver Eyes

500 Years Later…

Freedom, joy, exhilaration, these are the emotional associations of a hunter to a hunt. Hunger, satisfaction, and survival, these are the motives for a hunt. The rustle of leaves, the twang of a bow, the gasp of the dying breath, such are the sounds of a hunt.

There was a flash of silver and a thud. The keen senses of the stag detected the danger lurking in the trees, triggering its flight into the underbrush on the banks of the stream. A sigh was not much later in coming as the Huntress appeared in all her glory, come to retrieve her stray arrow.

With eyes of the same flashing silver as her bow, the goddess glared viciously upon the tree into which her weapon had been impaled, as though a single hard look may be enough to shatter the offending obstacle to pieces. Artemis, daughter of mighty Zeus and goddess of the moon and hunt, had missed her target. She had recited her lesson word for word in her mind; she had memorized the teachings and established a bond between the hunter and her hunting ground. Yet she had failed.

Artemis grumbled angrily to herself as her deft fingers, molded for excellence in the field of archery, nimbly plucked the feathered projectile from the rough bark of the pine tree, practiced hands stucking the shaft back into the quiver from whence it came. The goddess then reached toward the tree to heal the blemish her arrow had inflicted upon the tree trunk's gnarled, yet relatively untarnished surface.

As the tip of her fingers gently brushed against the bark, Artemis recoiled in shock at the energy held in this particular pine. Unlike regular trees and plants, which channel energy in and out of themselves constantly, this tree was essentially acting as a container to a vast supply of magical, godly power. It appeared to have been building up for centuries, and it seems that it was close to breaking the confines into which it had been cast. The tree was almost vibrating with the sheer power it engulfed.

As the seconds winged by, Artemis could feel the power growing, and with a violent red energy wave that rippled around the earth, the tree... was a tree no more. The young goddess, who managed to erect a shield about herself, looked on at the glowing pine in curiosity, tempted to get closer and touch it, but instinct reined her in. This was the awakening of a deity, and the effects were often violent and unpredictable.

Within the minute, the blood-red light had dissipated and now mellowed out to a much more pleasant blue color, such that was only found in the great sea surrounding the island of Delos. It was at this point that the dormant powers of the god began to awaken and morph the body in which it resided.

Artemis watched on, spellbound as the leaves and branches slowly disintegrated into the air. Little by little, the pine disappeared, turning into a dull, grey ash and drifting off in the wind. At last, the decomposition slowed as it reached the base of the tree. The top layer of wood was slowly devoured by the awakening power, slowly revealing first the hem of a dark cloak, a bare foot, a white chiton underneath the shadowy cloak, a strong hand digging partially into the soil, and so on. At last, the hair was uncovered, locks of midnight black. The sharp, defined, yet slightly rugged facial features were next to be revealed, closely followed by the other hand which was resting loosely in the stream.

In moments, the ancient pine had transformed into the unconscious form of a man, no… deity, of whom the world had never known. Or so Artemis assumed. She had never left her island home of Delos in the three years she had been there. As the goddess beheld the man, who looked to be of 20 human years, a most random and disturbing thought surfaced to the front of her mind, He is rather handsome.

She cringed as she comprehended what her mind was thinking. No, it could not be. Artemis had never given any thought to men in her entire existence. Why would she start now? As the goddess was engaging in an internal debate, the man gloriously sprawled upon the ground stirred in his dreams.

"Gods… Titans… Kronos, Brother, no! No… Zeus, hold your fire… my brother is not… bad…" he mumbled restlessly. Artemis gasped at the implications. This man was a brother of and had witnessed the defeat of Kronos, the Titan King. That only viable conclusion was that this deity was a titan as well, yet as Artemis recalled the surge of magical power within the tree, she realized that the power she felt then was identical to the kind within herself and her brother. The power her titaness mother Leto possessed was very different, much vaster yet more primitive and untamed.

The man suddenly began to thrash around, yelling incomprehensibly. Artemis could do nothing but watch sadly as the man relived or witnessed the death of a family member. As the dream seemed to subside, the thrashing stopped, allowing Artemis to get closer to the god lying upon the ground.

Here she encountered another obstacle. She was unable to pick the man up and take him to her home on the far side of the wood. At the moment, Artemis was in her 18-year-old human form, and as a young and inexperienced godling, she was unable to change it at will. Thus, she was incapable of picking up and subsequently moving a 20-year-old man. Leto had deemed Artemis and her brother to be too young to learn teleportation, so that was also out of the question. Artemis was contemplating shooting the god in hopes he would wake up, and she almost instigated the plan had not a rustling sound interrupted her train of thought, and out stumbled her twin brother from the undergrowth.

"Sister! Are you all right?" a teenage boy called, picking leaves out of his golden blond hair.

"Apollo, you navigate the forest with the grace of a bull," Artemis stated matter-of-factly as she scowled at her brother, "And I am perfectly fine."

"Why did you not return earlier? Mother was worried sick!" It was at this point that the goddess' eyes flicked upward, registering for the first time the blazing orange orb that was hanging low upon the backdrop of sky. Apollo's face was adorned with a frown as he eyed his sister, who was almost obsessively punctual normally, suspiciously. His gaze then began wandering around the bank, finally coming to rest upon the static form of the strange man next to the water, lying not three feet away from his sister. "Who is that? Get away from him, Artemis!"

Apollo pulled his sister behind him, shielding her from the potential danger. When he noticed the man was obviously unconscious, Apollo relaxed slightly and turned to face his sister, "What is going on here?"

"I can take care of myself, Apollo. However, I was hunting, and my arrow hit a pine tree. Then the tree morphed into this form right after I pulled the shaft out. I believe he is an unknown god," Artemis summed the situation up, voice laced with wonder, not seeming to believe the words herself.

Apollo directed his sky blue gaze toward her incredulously, "I'm sorry? Artemis, are you sick? Are you hurt?" He stretched out a hand to feel her forehead, only to have it batted away by his irate sister.

"I am not crazy! If you do not believe me, fine. But we have to take him back home and let mother take a look at him. Now help me move him!" Artemis growled in frustration, taking hold of one arm and looking to her dumbfounded brother for help.

Suddenly, the god shifted in his sleep. This was not the nightmare plagued stirring, rather it was the stirring of someone waking from a deep sleep.

Artemis' eyes turned back to the man, almost in slow motion. Her gaze and that of the strange god locked agonizingly slowly. And in that instant, time returned to normal as she stared into beautiful sea blue irises, inside which she could see her own silver orbs reflected. There was a jolt of metaphorical electricity through Artemis as their eyes met, shifting blue to her own glinting silver.

Then Artemis, confused and scared, yet strangely drawn to the man before her, uttered the first coherent sentence she could think of:

"You drool in your sleep."