Artemis POV:
As Apollyon was sucked into the gaping hole behind him, his last scream of rage and desperation rang throughout the throne room. The black hole closed, leaving no trace that he had ever been there in the first place. The throne room was silent for a good minute as everybody came to terms with the intense past ten minutes.
Suddenly, it was like a bomb had exploded in the middle of the room. Most of the gods sat up abruptly and cheered loudly. It was the most lively that I had ever seen them in all my years of living. Apollo summoned bottles of champagne and sprayed them all over the room, while Hermes shot fireworks through the hole in the ceiling. After that, it was complete chaos. Confetti rained from the ceiling and obscured my view of everything around me. I caught a brief glimpse of my father doing the shimmy, which let me tell you, looked hilarious.
I had never expected such a big celebration after the battle. Granted, I had not even been thinking ahead to the end of the battle in fear of the possibility of losing. I had been too scared to even fathom the chance that our entire universe would be utterly annihilated.
Suddenly, I realized something. Looking frantically through the pandemonium, I tried to spot my love. When I couldn't find him, I panicked a little and almost called for a stop to the partying so that I could locate my bondmate. Oops, bondmate.
I opened my sense, scanning the room for any sign of Percy. My mind locked onto something directly behind me and I tried to turn around, but a pair of arms wrapped their way around my body. The figure behind me covered my eyes with their hands.
"Guess who?" A deep masculine voice rumbled from behind me. I immediately sighed in relief. He was safe.
I whirled around in his arms, hugging him so tightly that I swear I heard a few cracks.
"Percy! Oh gods! I'm so glad you're alright! I was so scared that... that," I said before Percy cut me off.
"Shhhh. Arty, it's alright. Nothing happened to me. I'm alright, there is not a reason to worry anymore. It's all over," He said reassuringly. Those words broke the wall of my emotional dam. Tears streaked down my face as the aftermath of the recent events smashed into me with full force. Percy held me comfortingly as I sobbed into his chest openly. I had never shown any sort of weakness to any of the other gods before but at that moment, I couldn't care less that the gods saw my crying. Percy's words resonated throughout my mind over and over again. It's all over... It's all over... It's all over.
It really was all over. Although knowing our luck, there would be another great prophecy in the next month or so that would once again threaten society. I felt safe in Percy's arms and I never wanted to move from this position. Percy pushed back enough that he could see my face and leaned down. I met him halfway and smashed my lips onto his own in a passionate kiss that lit my world on fire.
I was in complete heaven as I moaned into his lips. He pulled back and looked me directly in the eye.
"I love you so much, Arty," He whispered to me," I-I mean..."
Now it was my turn to shush him. I put a finger to his lips and pecked his cheek softly.
"I love you too, Perce."
Percy's eyes widened before he started to grin widely. I could feel my own lips turning upwards into a huge smile as well. I leaned in and captured his lips once more. We held that position for quite a long time as the world faded around us. The partying gods had long disappeared from our minds and the only thing that mattered now was us. We stood together with our lips pressed against the other's and our souls twirling in the air, locked in a harmonious melody, fueled by the synchronized beating of our hearts
I could practically feel my own heart synchronizing with Percy's, beating together in blissful harmony. There was a certain peacefulness that was set upon us, but it was suddenly broken as somebody cleared their throat loudly right next to us.
Suddenly, the world and all its colors burst around us and we were painfully aware of every single pair of eyes in the room pointed in our direction. Percy and I shot apart, our cheeks blazing with the sudden humiliation of being caught.
The silence was broken when a soft chuckle floated from the back of the room, becoming a full outburst of laughter in a matter of seconds. All eyes turned to the figure who was currently on the ground holding their stomachs.
"Oh my gods! You should get a load of the look on your faces. You look like children who were caught with their hands in the cookie jar!" Nyx shouted as she finished laughing.
"Why is that so funny?! How dare that sea scum defile my favorite daughter?!" Zeus screamed, before getting furious glares from Aphrodite and Athena. "Er, I mean one of my favorite daughters...?"
Many of the gods opened their mouths to speak out against Zeus' words, but the god who spoke first surprised me along with everybody else in the throne room.
"Father, I may have not liked any man so much as look at my little sis in the past, but Percy is the one person who I would put all my trust in not to hurt Artemis. I do not like this any more than you do, but I believe that Percy deserves a chance. After all this, do you think keeping your own daughter from the person she loves most is a smart idea? After all this, is it such a big deal that your daughter has finally found somebody who will make her happy no matter when it is? No, I do not support it, but I will not interfere, and you need to at least give him a chance before you jump to a final decision," Apollo said.
Everybody in the throne room was completely shocked by his words, and even though he hadn't been completely acceptant of our relationship, he still made me feel like there was nothing left to stop Percy and I. The only obstacle we had really had was Zeus and Apollo, both of who I was worried would smite Percy where he stood once the news got out.
Zeus closed and opened his mouth in shock as he tried to come to terms with what Apollo had just said. If it hadn't been such a tense situation, I would have been laughing my head off. I had never seen my father at such a loss for words, and let me tell you, it was quite a prospect.
My father finally seemed to come back to reality.
"What do you mean?! I won't let the son of Poseidon dirty, my maiden daughter!" He screamed in indignation. I sighed, of course, Father would be harder convince than Apollo was. He was known for being the most stubborn god our there, and I had been holding onto a false hope that he would just come to accept our relationship and move on. I didn't even need him to support it. Wait, why do I even care what Father thinks? I'm the goddess of the moon, for gods' sake! Nobody tells me what I can and cannot do!
"Father, I honestly do care one bit about what you think of my relationship with Percy. I know that I was sworn to be a maiden goddess, but I'm sure that I could talk to Styx and get my vow revoked. I have always been compliant to your wishes, but in this, I will not stand by that. You can tell me whatever you want, but I will continue to pursue a relationship with Percy, no matter what I have to do. Besides, can't you just accept the fact that I'm happy with a male for once. You have been pressuring me to welcome the company of men for as long as I can remember," I say with conviction. There was no way in Hades that I would allow him to push me around on this one. Percy had become far too important to me to give him up simply because my father had told me to stay away from him.
I realized that I had been far too willing to follow everything that he said, and not question it. I was old enough to make my own decisions now.
Zeus looked at me, his eyes wide, no doubt astonished by the fact that I would ever talk back to him. He gained a slightly thoughtful and angry expression, but it soon deflated as he realized that I had a point.
"You are right, daughter. I have been taking away your freedom, but I only did what I thought was best for you. If this is truly what you would like, then I will allow it, but I do not have to like it," He said in defeat. I smiled at him with a huge grin while running up to him and squeezing him as hard as I could around the midsection.
"Thank you, Father! I assure you that this is truly what I want. Percy is the best male on the planet and I have come to love him more than life itself. I know that he will not let me down," I squealed very uncharacteristically. I could feel a rumbling laugh come from deep within my father's chest as he chuckled deeply and I felt him hug me back.
"Anything for you, My Daughter. Anything for you."
This was the first time in many many years that I had come into any intimate physical contact with my father. He had never been one for family hugs or affectionate pecks on the cheek, but at this moment, he didn't seem to care.
I pulled away from my father with a beaming smile on my face. I couldn't believe that my father had been so easy to convince. I thought that we would have to restrain him and threaten to make him accept us, but all we had to do was convince Apollo, and the rest worked itself out from there.
I stepped back towards Percy and grabbed his hand as he smiled down at me, clearly happy with the current position we were in.
"Now that all that is in order, we must address the current issue at hand: what shall we do with this young demigod here? He could be punished severely for his actions against us gods," Zeus said pointing at Nico. I felt Percy's hand tense in my own and knew that he was about to burst out. I squeezed his hand tightly to warn him not to get out of control. He looked down at me and then nodded grudgingly.
"Lord Zeus, with all due respect, Nico was not consciously aware of what he was doing while being controlled by Peitho. There was nothing he could have done, and you can't blame him for not being able to fight the will of a god. Wait a minute, that reminds me, can you flash that bitch Peitho over here. I want to kick her ass for what she did to my little bro," Percy said as calmly as he could.
"Peitho was controlling my son?! We should have her thrown in Tartarus for this act of treason to the Olympian gods!" shouted Hades.
"Calm down brother, if this is really was not your son's fault, then he will not be punished. Hermes, will you please fetch Peitho and bring her here. You are authorized to use for if you must," Zeus ordered. Hermes nodded and flashed off, a minute later, he came back with a struggling woman in his arms. He dropped her down in the middle of the throne room.
"Hephaestus, please cuff her with anti godly power handcuffs. We must not let her get away," Zeus said. Hephaestus threw down a pair of handcuffs towards Hermes who caught them and clasped them around her wrists, making sure that they were on securely, all while she was kicking and screaming. I felt Percy wince beside me as Hermes caught a blow where Apollo doesn't shine, but surprisingly, Hermes didn't seem to register the pain as he continued his task as if nothing had happened.
I realized that the cuffs had already taken her powers away and that she no longer had the strength to cause any pain to us gods.
"Let me go, you bastards!" Peitho screeched.
"You are being trialed for treason at the moment, I would not be talking if I were you," Zeus growled. "Council, what do you propose that we should do with this wretch?"
"I believe that Tartarus for eternity would be a good idea. Away here powers, but leave her with immortality so that she can't do anything, but so that she still has to endure the pains of The Pit," Proposed Poseidon. He was thinking along the lines of the most painful punishments for what she had put Percy through.
Upon hearing this, Peitho started thrashing even harder against her cuffs, trying to escape in any way possible.
"Who on the council votes that this should be her punishment? I, for one, think that this is coming off quite lightly considering that you were trying to take down the entire universe," Zeus said. The vote was unanimous in favor of her punishment.
"Please! Just fade me! Or banish me to the Void!" Peitho begged. Us gods looked at her in complete disgust.
"You will get no such mercy. The council has spoken and you will be banished to Tartarus momentarily," Zeus said, "Hades, will you open a path to The Pit?"
"Of course, brother. Hades waved his hand and a hole opened up in the floor. The gods flinched at the sinister feeling emanating from the bottom of the pit, but Percy and I were not fazed, having traveled through Tartarus already.
"Can I do the honors, Father? I asked. My father nodded at me and gestured for me to throw her into the Pit. I flashed down and eagerly grabbed her by the back of her dress. She looked at me pleadingly once more, no doubt hoping that I would show any type of mercy and just kill her right then and there. I sneered at her and held her over the deep pit in the ground.
Peitho started the thrash once more and in her struggling, stuck my face, causing me to lose my hold on her dress. She howled as fell down, down, down, into Tartarus itself, still bound by the handcuffs preventing any godly powers. Luckily, or unluckily for her, they were specially designed to keep her immortality in place.
We waited until we could no longer hear her screams, before looking at each other.
"Oops?" I said sheepishly. The gods looked at me skeptically before bursting into hysterical laughter. It wasn't even that funny, but we were just so relieved that it was all over. I made my way over to Percy, who was still standing to the side of the throne room and slung my arms around his neck. He looked me in the eye and I was lost in the amount of pure adoration and love in his sea green pools, knowing that I too had the same look in my own eyes. Our heads slowly moved together and we met yet another passionate kiss, one that I was comfortable letting the other gods see, now that everybody had already approved.
I felt a presence beside me and reluctantly pulled back from Percy, turning to see who had interrupted our moment with a glare on my face; however, it was quickly melted by the realization that it wasn't an idiotic sun or lightning god, but Nyx herself. Percy disengaged his arms from around my body and wrapped Nyx in a tight hug.
"Thank you so much, Lady Nyx. We couldn't have done any of this without your help," He murmured into her hair. Nyx just chuckled softly.
"Careful now, wouldn't want Artemis to get jealous now, would we? You are most welcome, young hero. I knew that something was different about you the moment you set foot in my territory in Tartarus. You have proved to me countless times that you are the most worthy demigod to ever grace this earth. I was happy to help you and Artemis," She said.
Percy pulled back from the hug and grinned widely at her. Taking my turn, I grabbed her around the shoulders and squeezed them tightly, embracing her with all my strength.
"I thank you as well, Lady Nyx. You were imperative to our victory here today. I know that us gods have never had a very good relationship with you Primordials, but after this, I will speak with the council and make sure that you get the respect that you deserve, although, I think you already have that much respect from just us two," I thanked her sincerely.
"As I said to Percy, I was glad to help. I do not need the recognition or respect for this. I am happy knowing that the universe is safe," she said.
"I will still make sure you get it," I said firmly. She just nodded, her eyes twinkling as she smiled at us. She gave us one last wave before disappearing in front of our eyes.
I smirked and turned to Percy.
"So what are we going to do now that we don't have to save the world for the next week?" I said jokingly.
"I don't know, My Love. I'm sure we'll figure something out," He said, pecking me on the nose. I met him halfway and crashed our lips together in our most passionate kiss yet.
Percy POV:
During the weeks after Apollyon had been banished to the void, the gods of Olympus had been in complete party mode. Every single night it seemed like they would throw a massive party for everybody on Olympus to attend. Many of the gods who attended did not even know what this party was for.
At the moment, I was walking down the streets of Olympus with Ashley holding my hand. After the Apollyon incident, I went straight to my mother's house where we had a heartfelt reunion with lots of tears and blue cookies. I pulled Ashley aside and asked her if she wanted to take a walk with me on Olympus in a couple of weeks, so here we are now.
"Where are we going, Percy?" She asked excitedly.
"I'm going to take you to see a friend of mine. He's a god," I chuckled. Her eyes widened at the prospect of meeting another god, which looked quite adorable. I stopped us at our destination and walked up to the palace door to knock. Almost immediately the door swung open to reveal Hephaestus.
"Ah, Percy. I knew you would show up sometime soon," He said.
"Hello, Lord Hephaestus. Would it be possible for you to do me a favor?" I asked.
"Don't worry, young Perseus. I already know what you're about to ask. Come back in about an hour and I should have everything set for you! Think of this as a thank you gift for what you have done for Olympus. This does not even begin to pay you back, but it's a start," He said.
"I do not need anything as payment for what I have done. I would have done it anyway, even if I knew that I would die. The knowledge that the world is safe is enough payment for me. if you really want to pay me back, then just get me this, and everything is paid back."
Hephaestus chuckled, "You really are different from the rest. Well then, I will get started and hopefully have it done within the hour. Just stop by whenever you have time and I should have it ready for you."
I gave him one last thanks before mist traveling to the throne room of Olympus with Ashley in my arms.
"What are we doing now?" She asked.
"I need to ask a very important question to Lord Zeus and Lord Apollo," I said. I silently mind messaged them in my mind and waited for a couple of seconds before they flashed into their thrones.
"What do you require of us, young Perseus?" Zeus asks. I shift Ashley around in my arms nervously before opening my mouth to speak.
"Uh- I uh- I called you two here to ask Artemis' hand in marriage," I said completely unconfidently. They looked at me like they didn't even know what I was saying.
"Wait, what? What did you just say?" Apollo said, confused.
"I said can I have Artemis' hand in marriage," I repeated. They had a dumb look on their face before their eyes cleared and they looked at me.
"You want Artemis' hand in marriage? Already? I doubt you've been together very long. Plus, she still has her maiden oath. She cannot marry," Zeus pointed out. I was taken aback by how calm he was on the subject.
"Lord Zeus, we may not have been together long, but I can confidently that she is currently the most important person in my life. It is not about age, it's about the mileage. We have been through so much together ion the short time that we have been together. I know that she is the right one for me. As for the maiden vow, I will talk to Styx about it. I should easily be able to convince her to let her oath go," I said.
"Well, Percy. I do not like this one bit, but I know that you are worthy of my sister. I trust that you will make her the happiest goddess alive. I will grant you my permission to marry my sister," Apollo said.
"I will give you my permission as well, Perseus. I used to think that you were just another disrespectful demigod, but I know now that you are not just disrespectful, but also very loyal and brave. If any man were to marry her, I'm glad that it's you," Zeus said.
I looked at them gratefully and flashed them the biggest smile that I could manage.
"Thank you so much! You will not regret this decision. I treat Artemis like the queen she is," I said, unable to contain my excitement. The smiled once more before nodding at me and flashing out.
I turned to Ashley who was still in my arms and spun her around laughing loudly as I did. She giggled and laughed along with me.
"What was that for?" She asked.
"I'm going to marry Artemis!" I shouted. She looked at me happily.
"I'm happy for, big brother," She said, hugging me tightly. I held onto her before pulling back.
"Why don't we go get some of that ice cream that I promised you before we go back to Hephaestus' palace," I suggested. She got this extremely ecstatic look in her eyes and started bouncing up and down in my arms.
"Yeah!"
(Line Break)
Two days later, I stood with Artemis in the grass next to the cliff at Westover hall, the place where we had first met. I remembered that day as clear as day. I smiled wistfully before I felt a tap on my shoulder.
"Percy? You spaced out for a second there. Why did you bring me here?" Artemis asked. She looked as beautiful as ever, even though she was in her usual hunting clothes in addition to not having a trace of makeup on her perfect face. I took in all her features before breathing in a deep breath.
"Artemis, ever since we fell into Tartarus together. I felt myself growing closer and closer together. I will not say that it was love at first sight because that's cheesy, but I know that the moment I saw you, my heart felt something for you. I never thought that I would fall in love with a maiden goddess, but I am so glad that I did. No woman could ever compare to you. You are perfect in every aspect, and I do not even know how the fates deemed me worthy of you, but I will not lose this opportunity to make you mine, and my me yours, forever."
I turned to her and took her hand, dropping down to a knee, drawing a box out from behind me back. My heart was beating like a sledgehammer within my chest. By now, Artemis was crying her heart out and I could see the pure emotion within her beautiful eyes.
"So, Artemis, goddess of the moon, may I have the honor of becoming your husband?"
Nothing could compare to the moment when she nodded her head, her hands over her mouth, as tears poured from her eyes. She brought me up onto my feet and kissed me deeply, before hugging me with all her strength. I followed in suit and hugged her back just as tightly.
"I love you so much," She whispered into my ear.
"I love you too, Arty," I whispered back. And that was the moment that I knew I was content.
(End of Chapter 24)
the guy who loves all gunpla: Thanks for being understanding. I hope you have liked this story. It's pretty much over, except for the epilogue and you've been with me through all of it. So thanks again.
Isiliel Otris: Thank you! I'm not exactly sure what to say to the other part though... Honestly, I was actually considering that, but I decided that it was too uncharacteristic for Artemis xD.
EmmaBloomFan22: Yert! As for your other review, I appreciate your understanding.
The God of Nerdiness: Thanks. I know that I have some grammatical errors in my story. I try my best to edit them out, but as you can see, I'm not the best at editing. Also, I'm too lazy to get a beta, so... I guess you have to try and ignore them.
MasterTrident: As you can tell from my story, I used this idea. Thanks for the suggestion! Nobody else offered any ideas, so I just used yours.
KratosLeonidasRenascitur: I guess you have a good point... hope you even got this far to read this reply to your comment!
alajaihthomas: Thank you so much! I hope you're reading this and that you haven't completely abandoned my story since the first chapter! xD
A.N: That's the last real chapter of this story. After this, it's just the epilogue and this story is finished! I really hope that you guys have enjoyed the story so far! I really enjoyed writing this chapter and I felt that it was one of my best so far, so tell me what you think!
P.S: My next story will start once I decide on a plot for it. I think the pairing will be PercyXHestiaXArtemis, but it might change if the poll shows differently. I do not think that I will be able to reach 30 votes on a pairing, so I'll just use the one that is most popular when I start the story. I also will not have the second poll that I said I would have because far fewer people are voting than I thought would.