Hello again folks! First of all, a HUGE thank you for all your wonderful words of support for this story. I know I'm terrible at responding to reviews (and updating in general... guilty as charged) nowadays, but just so you know, I read every one of your comments and take all your suggestions into account.

So, for the many of you who have been asking for an update, here it is at last! Just as a warning, I was seriously stuck writing this chapter and the result is not great. I had something written months ago, but then I realized it was terrible and scrapped it all. I started and scrapped this chapter like three more times before I arrived at what I have now. I know it's got lots and lots of dialogue, but I felt it was time to just update. No point keeping y'all waiting forever when I can just go back and maybe revise this chapter another day. If nothing else, this is the transition to the main action of the story, so things will really start moving and deviating again from the books! With that, read, enjoy, and review! Thanks!

***Extra note: From now on, whenever Perseus is in his godly form, I will call him Perseus. When he's in his demigod form, he'll be Percy. Just wanted to smooth out any confusion.

Disclaimer: As always, all rights go to Rick Riordan.

The Mystery Unravels

[Empire State Building, New York City, NY]

When Artemis and Percy appeared in the throne room, the gods were in a full-blown riot. The situation was utter chaos, with the gods yelling over one another and the demigods and Grover standing awkwardly to the side. The moment the last two attendees arrived, however, the room fell into an immediate hush. Artemis walked emotionlessly to her throne and sat down, waiting for the proceedings to begin. Nobody spoke. It seemed they were all expecting Artemis to blow up if they so much as breathed. The awkwardness was palpable as Zeus cleared his throat for lack of anything better to do.

"Ahem, right," he said at length, "The council is now in session. In light of today's events, I propose we move things along as we have a lot of ground to cover. First things being what to do about these young demigods here… Thalia Grace, my daughter, please step forward." Thalia stepped forward, a sense of dread settling in the pit of her stomach at what her fate might be. Zeus continued none the wiser, "As you know, your sixteenth birthday is tomorrow, and on that day, the prophecy will be fulfilled."

"How could I forget?" Thalia muttered under her breath. The gods were about to begin arguing again over what to do, when Artemis cleared her throat.

"Lord Zeus, if I may," Artemis began before looking at Thalia, "I would like to re-extend my offer for Thalia to join the Hunt. I am in need of a new lieutenant," here, Artemis' voice broke slightly, "and I have no doubt Thalia is suited for the job. By becoming a Hunter, Thalia will gain partial immortality and will never age to sixteen."

Zeus' eyes lit up at the loophole he was so graciously presented, and he boomed, "What a marvelous idea! Thalia, I demand that you accept."

Artemis leveled a glare at her father, "It is not up to you to decide." Electricity crackled in Zeus' beard, and he looked ready to smite Artemis for her insolence. Artemis had nearly forgotten how poor her relationship with her father had been since Perseus' banishment.

Thalia, sensing the tension, quickly interrupted, "I accept Lady Artemis' offer, Father."

A triumphant glint appeared in Zeus' eye, and he smiled slightly at his youngest daughter, "Right, of course. You have made the correct decision, Thalia."

Thalia hid an eye roll as she bowed and walked toward Artemis. Artemis stood from her throne, shrinking back to human size as she did so. Laying a hand on Thalia's shoulder, Artemis asked, "Thalia Grace, do you swear yourself to my Hunt?"

"Yes, my lady."

"Do you swear to fight alongside your sisters and myself for all eternity?"

"Yes, my lady."

"Do you swear off romantic relationships for all time?"

Thalia's eyes hardened, "Yes, my lady."

"And lastly, do you accept the responsibilities of the Lieutenant of Artemis? To be my right hand to the end of time?"

"Yes, my lady," Thalia bowed. Artemis lightly placed a hand on Thalia's head, and a silver glow enveloped the half-blood. When the light died away, Thalia was revealed wearing the silver parka of the Hunters with Zoe's circlet resting in her hair. A silver aura seemed to linger around her. Thalia reached up to touch the circlet almost reverently. Her eyes misted up slightly as she remembered her predecessor and friend.

Bowing again to Artemis, Thalia stated, "I am honored, Lady Artemis. Thank you." She returned to her seat alongside Percy and Annabeth.

"Percy," the new Hunter said, "I'm sorry, but I don't regret my decision. You are now the hero of the prophecy. The responsibility was too much for me, but I know you have what it takes." She forced herself to meet his eyes, expecting to see resentment and confusion plastered to his face. Thalia was surprised when instead of anger, all she saw in Percy's eyes were pride and happiness for her. Thalia's eyes widened. There was something different about her friend. Not physically in any way (barring the grey streak in his hair from carrying the sky). Rather, it was his eyes. They were swimming with ancient wisdom and experience. These were not the naive eyes of Percy Jackson. "Who are you?" Thalia whispered subconsciously, but any response from Percy was interrupted as the proceedings continued.

The rest of the meeting passed in a blur as Annabeth rejected a spot in the Hunt, Grover was inducted into the Council of Cloven Elders, and Percy narrowly escaped with his life. The gods, after a heated debate, had deemed killing Percy for simply existing as unfair (Artemis had to scoff at the sheer absurdity of it all.). Finally, Zeus called an end to the meeting, and the attendees dispersed.

Before Artemis or Percy could leave, however, Hestia came up to Artemis. "Lady Artemis," she said in greeting, "What would you say if I told you destruction was in this very room?"

Artemis' eyes widened, but she remained otherwise impassive, "I would tell you not to act with haste."

Hestia stared deep into Artemis' eyes before nodding and leading her over to the now-empty hearth. A moment later, Poseidon walked up to them with Percy in tow. After a few pleasantries were out of the way, Poseidon and Hestia looked at Artemis and Percy strangely seriously.

"Is everything alright?" Artemis asked.

"If you wouldn't mind, Lady Artemis, could we speak further in the privacy of my palace in Atlantis?" Poseidon requested, "It is a very urgent matter."

Worry piqued in Artemis, and she nodded sharply, "Very well." Poseidon dipped his head, grasped Percy's shoulder, and teleported away. Artemis and Hestia followed suit.

They reappeared in Poseidon's currently deserted throne room. Making sure there was no one outside, Poseidon closed the grand double doors and soundproofed the room. With a snap, he conjured a pair of comfy armchairs and a sofa. "Please, make yourselves at home," he said, gesturing for them all to sit. The four gods situated themselves comfortably in their seats before Poseidon waved a hand at Percy and continued speaking, "Perseus, you may revert to your regular form now if you wish. No god will sense your presence here."

A look of relief flashed across Percy's face as he closed his eyes in concentration. There was a flash of ocean blue, and where a thirteen-year-old son of Poseidon once sat, a fully grown god took his place. Perseus took a deep breath, a contented smile slowly stretching across his face as he opened his glowing blue eyes. "Long time no see, my friends," he grinned, "Wow, it feels good to be in control of my powers again. How did this happen, Poseidon?"

Poseidon sighed and rolled his eyes, "That's what I brought you here to explain. It was entirely my fault. But first, I believe we must catch Lady Artemis up on the situation."

The look in Artemis' eyes told them all that if nobody had offered an explanation just then, she would have forced it out of them, consequences be damned. "Yes, an explanation would be grand," she said tersely.

Poseidon chuckled, "Very well then, where to start?"

"Why don't we start right after Perseus' banishment?" Hestia suggested.

"Reasonable as always, Hestia," Poseidon flashed his sister a grin, which only widened when she muttered under her breath, "Of course." Without missing a beat, Poseidon asked, "Perseus, would you like to take this one?"

"Sure thing," Perseus said, "For the sake of time, I won't go into too much detail. Basically, I hid away in Canada for a time, learning to mask my godly presence. After I learned that particular technique, I hid in London for fifty years until the outbreak of World War I forced me to take refuge in the Underworld. I remained there for the duration of both World Wars before embarking on an extended world tour. I roamed the Earth for decades until Hestia sought me out one day."

"It was the day your father ordered that we resume our search for Ouranos," Hestia told Artemis, sure that the younger goddess remembered the day vividly.

"I see," Artemis nodded.

"Well, Hestia took me to Poseidon, where they revealed that they had been against the revival of Ouranos from the very beginning. They had struggled for centuries to find a suitable ally for them to set their countermeasures in motion. Since I had been banished and was completely off the gods' radar, I was in a perfect position to become a spy."

"That day, we started to plan," Poseidon picked up the recount, "We realized that Hestia and I would have to bide our time on Olympus, gathering intel on the gods' plans. Meanwhile, Perseus would be our spy in Camp Half-Blood. The demigods will play an integral part in this war. We had to be ready."

"So you turned Perseus into a half-blood," Artemis concluded, starting to get an idea of what was going on.

"Correct, except things obviously didn't go as planned. In 2000, we took action. Sally Jackson is a clear-sighted mortal I befriended some time ago. I spoke to her about what we were doing, and she agreed to take on the role of Perseus' mother. Since we didn't have much time, I had to turn Perseus into a seven-year-old instead of a newborn, so we modified Sally's memories to include those of an infant Percy Jackson to make things more realistic. Keep in mind, Sally was aware of the plan and her altered memories," Poseidon explained.

Hestia picked up the account, "At first, everything seemed to work. We had locked Perseus' godly powers, and Poseidon had blessed him with some of his powers as well. We had modified his memories like we did for Sally, but something must have gone wrong. Apparently, tampering with a god's memories isn't the same as tampering with a mortal's. We had intended for him to keep his memories of the mission but forget most of his life as a god. Instead, Perseus forgot everything. We discovered this when we tried to contact him with our preplanned codes, and Perseus didn't respond to any of them."

"We had to make do then," Poseidon added, "I tried to establish a close bond with Percy once he got to Camp and have him keep an eye out for me. I didn't anticipate that he would resent me like he did. Thankfully, he's a nosy kid, so I was able to keep an eye on him and use it as an excuse to monitor the goings-on at Camp."

"Nosy, huh?" Perseus crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow. Artemis sniggered.

"Very," Poseidon chuckled.

"Fair enough," Perseus relented with a shrug, "So what do we do from here?"

"I say continue with the plan," Hestia said, "You're a leader in Camp Half-Blood. The demigods look up to you and trust you. Only you can sway them to our side."

"Will I need my memories wiped again?" Perseus asked.

"No, we can't risk it," Poseidon shook his head, "But we'll have to dampen your powers again. We can't risk them getting out of control and blowing your cover. Like we did last time, your natural powers will be reduced to the strength of a demigod's, and I will bless you with my own to mask them," Poseidon leaned back in his seat, looking thoughtful, "You didn't have a very good grasp on your water powers before, did you? Now that you're the official child of the prophecy, I'll speak to Zeus about allowing me to help you master them. That will give us an excuse to be in frequent contact too."

"Brilliant," Perseus said, "Let's get to it."

Poseidon was about to revert Perseus to his demigod form, when Artemis cut in, "Wait a minute! You revealed all of this to me, but I don't have any part in this plan. I have my Hunt, and I have connections on Olympus. We all support the same cause, so let me help."

Hestia stared at Artemis pensively. After a moment, she nodded, "You make a fair point. We will definitely need to repair the relationship between the Campers and Hunters if we're ever going to hope to win. The question is how?"

They sat in silence, deep in thought, until Artemis spoke again, "Poseidon, can you negotiate with my father about letting Percy train his dismal archery under me as well and act as a sort of unofficial ambassador between Camp and the Hunt?"

"That just might work," Poseidon agreed, "I'll do my best."

Suddenly, Perseus burst out laughing.

"I'm sorry, did we miss something?" Poseidon asked redundantly.

"You don't remember why I was placed with Artemis and her Hunt the first time around?"

Poseidon furrowed his brow, "Artemis was supposed to keep an eye on you so you didn't lose control again, right?"

"And?" Perseus snorted. Artemis realized what Perseus was trying to say and smirked.

Hestia caught on too and let out a giggle, "Teach you archery."

Poseidon chuckled, "History really does repeat itself, doesn't it?"

"Strangely so," Artemis agreed.

They chatted for a bit longer before Poseidon dampened Perseus' powers once more and prepared to send him home with the promise to get back to him about Zeus' response. Just before he did so, however, the sea god glanced pointedly at his "son" and Artemis, "I am sorry for your loss today. Zoe will live on in the stars and in your hearts." Percy and Artemis smiled sadly at the god through their grief. But Poseidon wasn't finished, "Bianca, on the other hand, will live on in this world."

In an instant, Artemis rounded on Poseidon, "And what, exactly, do you mean by that, Poseidon?"

Poseidon lifted a placating hand. When Artemis seemed to have calmed down slightly, he waved his hands in a complicated maneuver. The water around him responded instantly, forming a vortex that opened up from its center to reveal a scene. From personal experience, Percy recognized it as Hades' throne room. What they saw in it made his and Artemis' eyes go wide with shock.

"No way," Percy breathed.

Sitting in the throne was Hades, but speaking to him was someone they never expected to see again.

"Bianca?" Artemis asked shakily, reaching out a hand. As soon as she touched the image, the vortex dissolved, and the image disappeared. Directing a firm stare at Poseidon, she asked, "But how is this possible?"

"Let's just say the Potomac River is very stubborn, but he keeps his word," Poseidon smiled widely, "Don't worry, she is perfectly safe and working as a liaison between us and her father in support of our cause."

It was then that a wave of relief crashed over Percy and Artemis. They glanced at each other, tears threatening to spill from their eyes, before Percy tackled Poseidon in a bear hug. Poseidon threw his head back with a booming laugh, patting the now-demigod on the back. Artemis meanwhile laid a hand on the sea god's shoulder and said, "Thank you. Truly, thank you."

Poseidon merely smiled and shook his head, "I can't very well let my niece drown, now can I?" He then turned his attention back to Percy and laid a hand on his head, "Now, go back and tell young Nico the whereabouts of his sister for me please. She's been asking about him quite a lot."

Percy nodded, "Sure thing. And thanks, dad." He smirked, and Poseidon rolled his eyes before sending Percy back to Camp.

Percy reappeared in the Poseidon cabin, realizing with a start that it was nearly three in the morning. The exhaustion wracking his body had returned the moment he became a demigod again, and he practically collapsed onto his bed. He entered the realm of Morpheus before his head even hit the pillow.

-:-:-:-

Percy found himself walking along the river in the woods around Camp Half-Blood. He looked down at himself and blanched when he noticed he was in his godly form. He was about to disguise himself again, when a familiar voice called from behind him, "Hello again, Perseus."

Perseus whirled around to meet a pair of amused silver eyes. "Artemis," he breathed, feeling the familiar, comforting warmth well up in his chest at the sight.

"You're dreaming," the goddess rolled her eyes, "I initiated this demigod dream, so don't bother trying to hide your true form here."

Perseus knew that whichever god or goddess appeared to a demigod in a dream had control over what occurred in said dream. He also remembered that nobody, not even Morpheus himself, had access to these dreams. Perseus allowed himself to relax. "Very well, Milady," Perseus grinned, "It's wonderful to see you again. I suppose we haven't had much time to really catch up."

Artemis looked at him with a strange mix of happiness, sadness, and anger that nearly made Perseus take a subconscious step backward. Artemis walked closer until they were almost nose to nose. Without warning, she threw her arms around him, causing him to stagger backwards in his surprise. Perseus recovered himself quickly before returning with his own hug. After a moment, Perseus relaxed his embrace and chuckled sheepishly, "I, uh, I missed you."

Artemis rolled her eyes but smiled softly, "I missed you too."

"Artemis?" Perseus asked hesitantly.

"Yes?"

"M-May I?" Perseus tilted his head toward her, his unasked question hanging in the air. Closing her eyes, Artemis closed the gap between them, pulling Perseus into a tentative kiss. Though both gods were somewhat hesitant and unsure, they felt in their hearts that something they had both been missing had clicked back into place. They stepped back from each other reluctantly, but their hands remained tightly clasped together as they moved to sit by the riverbank.

They sat in pensive silence for several moments, before Artemis whispered, "Don't ever do that again."

Perseus glanced over at her, snapping out of his thoughts, before a playful glint appeared in his eyes, "What? This?" Quickly dipping his head, he gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

Artemis blushed slightly and glared, but rolled her eyes fondly. "No, you dork," she sighed exasperatedly, before staring at Perseus in all seriousness, "We're a team, alright? That comes before everything else."

Perseus bowed his head, "You're right. I had thought I was doing the correct thing by staying away, but I see now that I was wrong. I'm sorry."

Artemis' expression softened, and she reached out to Perseus. Gently lifting his chin, she stared into his blue eyes, trying to absorb every detail of his face. It was the same one she had known for millennia, but there was also something different. There was a deeper kind of wisdom engraved in its faint lines and swirling in the depths of his eyes. He looked older, more mature, yet more tired as well, testament to the many burdens he had had to carry. It was another stark reminder to Artemis that Perseus' years have not been easy.

She smiled sadly and leaned into Perseus' side comfortingly, "There's really nothing to forgive. Now, it's almost sunrise. I have to go, and you have to wake up."

"Wait, when can I see you again?" Perseus asked, suddenly strangely uncertain.

"When the time is right," Artemis said mystically. Perseus gave her an unimpressed look, and Artemis struggled to maintain a straight face. Finally, she gave up and laughed, "Poseidon is asking Zeus' approval for our 'Percy Jackson training regimen' as we speak."

"Great! Then I will see you again tonight when you update me on his response," Perseus smirked nonchalantly, though he internally sighed in relief. Almost immediately, the scene started to dissolve around him. The last things he saw were Artemis' glowing silver eyes.

-:-:-:-

Percy woke up with a big dopey grin on his face. A glance outside told him the sun had just started rising, and a glance at his clock told him he'd beaten his alarm by an hour. As he watched the stars grow fainter and fainter in the brightening sky, Percy's eyes fell on the newest constellation.

The Huntress.

The suppressed grief returned to gnaw hungrily at his heart, but deep down, Percy truly believed that everything was going to be alright. Throwing off his covers, he mustered a bright grin for Zoe and slowly moved to get dressed. He would wait patiently for the day he could smile genuinely for Zoe again because he knew it was right there, just around the bend.

There you have it guys! All the immediate mysteries have been revealed, and the plot's still rolling.

Just a reminder in case you didn't see it in the A/N: I use Perseus when referring to him in his godly form and Percy when referring to him in his demigod form.