Disclaimer: I do not own this story, or these characters
Previously…
I did my special bow, left hand over my right with my head bowed and wings out. "As you wish milady. I will inform when I have completed each task." I said formally.
She looked like she didn't expect me to automatically accept, but she quickly tried to hid it.
"Very well then, let's head to the breakfast table for you to make us our breakfast." She replied.
As she began to walk in the direction towards the breakfast pavilion, she looked over her shoulder with a sly smile.
"I forgot to mention that you will be having archery practice with me in the coming week so prepare!" She said as she walked away.
I watched her walk away in horror as my heart sank into my shoes. Archery? Oh yes, I was so screwed.
Now…
Breakfast was definitely a fun experience. Getting glared at by over two dozen teens and pre-teen girls was so much fun. I summoned up a bunch of breakfast food items ranging from scrambled eggs, cheese omelets, bacon, sausage, pancakes with a bunch of syrup, different brands of cereal, and some fruit on the side. Of course I forgot about something until Artemis pointed it out.
"Hey Perseus, why are the pancakes blue?" She asked curiously. While the hunters still looked at me in distaste, I could see curiosity in their eyes as well.
"Oh, well when I was a little kid my mother made all my food blue after my first stepdad, who was a disgusting, abusive jerk, said that there was no such thing. From then on, she made almost all my food blue. It showed she wasn't suckered by him and it was funny to see the look on his face." I smiled wistfully at the memory.
While many of the hunters looked disgusted when I described my late stepfather, they were nodding their heads in approval at how my mom handled the situation. Even Artemis had a amused look in her eye and Thalia was also smiling at the mention of my mom's cooking.
I sighed to myself, what I wouldn't give to have some of my mom's blue chocolate chip cookies.
You can. I heard Hestia speak into my mind. Just imagine the taste and I will do the rest.
I shrugged and held out my hands thinking of a huge box filled with my mom's cookies. Their delicious chocolaty gooeyness, with the crunchy crust but gooey center. Soon I felt a weight in my hand and opened my eyes to see a box filled with cookies.
It smelled just how I remembered. I pulled one out and took a bite. I made of sound of pleasure as the taste was exactly like how remembered. It made me think off my mom really being here.
I opened my eyes to see Thalia and the hunters looking at the cookies drooling.
"You all want a cookie? They were my mom's specialty." I offered holding out the box.
Thalia wasted no time in snatching it from me, pulling out two cookies, and stuffing her face. All the other hunters took a cookie and tentatively bit into it, but I saw that when their faces lite up, they were hooked.
In less that a minute, the whole box was completely eaten. I saw looks of happiness and delight on the hunter's faces. I swear that was the first time I actually saw them smile.
"Oh Kelp Head. Those were delicious! Make sure to summon some more for lunch and dinner alright?" Thalia said, rubbing her stomach.
The other hunter nodded their heads in agreement. I looked over to Artemis and saw that she was smiling at her hunters, but noticed that she didn't get a cookie.
I summoned two cookies to my hand and approached her. The hunters all looked like they were about to jump up and shoot me for approaching their mistress, but Artemis just waved them off.
"Milady, would you like one as well?" I asked, holding out the cookies.
"Yes, I believe I will have one." She said taking them.
She inspected it skeptically at first, but she saw the hunters nodding their heads she proceeded to take a small bite. He silver eyes lite up at the flavor and I couldn't help but think of how beautiful she looked. Stop thinking that! Bad thoughts Percy! BAD! I thought to myself.
She inhaled the rest of the cookies and sighed in contentment.
"Those were delicious Perseus." She said.
I smiled and bowed my head. "Was that another compliment?" I asked innocently.
She narrowed her eyes at me and I saw her hands twitch. I paled really quickly and stepped out of her reach. She smiled smugly as she saw my look of fear.
"Alright guardian, breakfast is over to start clearing the table and after you're done, attend to the rest of your chores." She said. "As for the rest of you, go about your duties and training."
The hunters nodded and left quickly, with Thalia in the lead. Once again, only Thalia said thank you, but I didn't mind that the hunters didn't say anything.. I had more important things to worry about, like all these chores and potential pranks I'm gonna be the target off. I saw what the hunters could do when it comes to pranking. They once painted every single cabin at camp a solid silver color. If they could do that, I need to watch my back.
I cleared off the table and began to wash all the dishes using my water powers. It was really easy, just a pressure blast here and there and within five minutes I had them all washed. I was able to dry them quickly by sending a quick blast of fire at them, completely drying them and killing any remaining germs that I may have missed. After I was done with the dishes, I headed down to the river to wash the laundry.
When I arrived at the river, I felt my jaw at the sight of the clothes. It was as tall as me! Hopefully, with my powers I can get this stuff done really quickly.
Four hours later, I was sweating and cursing up such a storm, I was sure Hestia would wash my mouth out with soap for a month! Heck, Arion could take lessons from me!
I thought it would be easy, just throw a pile of clothes in, swirl them around with my powers and then hang and dry them with my fire powers. What I didn't know was that tossing them in and swirling them got all the clothes tangled. So I had to go in and manually separate all the clothes, which took a good hour, then I had to wash them one by one to ensure that they would not tangle up again. I did see one bag that I saw was labeled "Undergarments" and I didn't even go near those. I have no doubt that if the hunters saw that I washed their underwear, I would be shot so full of arrows, I could make a porcupine jealous.
After I finished washing the last of the clothing, I straightened my back and heard multiple cracks and pops. Oh I was definitely going to be sore in the morning. I looked at all the wet clothes in the river and willed the water to levitate them into the air and form a line in front of me. I then manipulated the wet clothing to fold themselves into neat little piles before forcing a good majority of the water out. I left them slightly damp and dried the rest of the water with my fire powers to give them that nice soft quality.
One by one, I floated the clothes and willed them to fold. Fold, force water out, dry with fire, stack, repeat. This process went on for several hours before all the clothes were clean and folded in their little baskets. That was when the hunters released their first prank.
I picked up the baskets and proceeded to take them to the hunter's tents, leaving them outside and not going into the tents. I wasn't suicidal and respected their privacy. I went back to get the last basket, but found it dumped over into the mud and water. I heard laughing off to the side and saw three hunters, Phoebe, Atalanta, and Erica, standing their laughing.
"Better make sure to keep your laundry secure." Phoebe said with a smirk.
"Yeah, who knows what kind of animal would come by and push the clothes over." Erica laughed.
They flashed me a knowing smile and walked off. I knew it was them, but I didn't say anything. I was very annoyed at what they did, but I took a deep breath and went though the process over again.
I knew they were trying to rile me up and get me to snap at them so they could complain to their mistress but I wasn't going to retaliate. I wasn't going to give them the satisfaction.
It took me another 15 minutes to redo that one basket. Good thing it was only a single pile of clothes or else I would have been way behind schedule. It was getting closer to lunch so I walked over to Artemis's tent to let her know I'm done with the clothes.
Artemis POV
I heard a knock on my door and walked over to open it. I saw Perseus standing there, covered in sweat.
He bowed his special bow to me and then spoke. "I finished with the clothes milady."
I found the bow he did to be slightly endearing, but tore my thoughts away from that.
"ALL of them?" I asked suspiciously. Usually it took a few more hours for the hunters to wash all those clothes. He did it in less than 4 hours!
"Yes milady. Well, not all the clothes milady. I decided against touching the hunter's…undergarments. I figured that they didn't want me touching their underwear and I have no interest in becoming a pin cushion." He said trying to sound say it as diplomatically as possible.
I raised my eyebrows. So he passed my little test. I wanted to see if he would be like other males out there and go through my hunter's garments. I was pleasantly surprised to find that he once again surprised me and did the opposite of what I expected him to do.
"Yes that does sound like it is for the best. I will have another hunter get on that for you right away." I said before deciding to mess with him, "Are you sure you don't feel like becoming a pin cushion? My hunters would love and aerial target."
His face pale slightly and his expression was quite amusing; big green eyes and mouth open in shock, I would have to tease him more, it was so funny.
"No thanks, if I know them like I know you taught them, I would lose something very valuable that I don't think even your brother could heal." He said with a wince, unconsciously shifting his hands to cover his parts.
I smiled wickedly and a little proudly. I have taught them well.
"Now finish you other chores Perseus. In two hours we will have lunch and then you have your duel with Thalia." I said.
"Your will milady." He scowled slightly. "And could you please stop calling me 'Perseus' please? It feels way to formal to me and I don't like it."
"Oh really?" I smiled slightly. "Or what will you do if I don't stop calling you Perseus." I stressed his name.
"Ummm…." He said confused before he got a mischievous look in his eyes. "Or I'll call you something you don't like."
I narrowed my eyes at him slightly. "I highly doubt you could call me anything that would annoy me."
He smiled that crooked smile of his that made him look very handsome. Snap out of it Artemis! Stop admiring his face! His very sexy fac-Ahh! Bad Artemis!
"Taking a page from the books from a very 'awesome' god, I think I can…Arty." He smiled in victory.
Now the roles were reversed with my eyes widened and jaw dropped.
"WHAT did you just call me?" I gasped out.
He smiled innocently. "What? I'm just testing out some ammunition. Looks like I got I winner."
I glared at him. "You will stop calling me 'Arty' this instant!" I said stamping my foot on the ground.
"I will stop calling you 'Arty' if you stop calling me 'Perseus'. Oh and you really do look like a twelve-year old when you stomp your foot like that." He smiled cheekily, his eyes glowing with mirth that hasn't been seen in quite some time.
"Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to my chores." He said quickly, opening his wings and launching into the air before I could even retort.
"PERSEUS!" I yelled out. I heard him laughing as he flew away. Oh he will pay for that, just have to find a decent way to make him pay.
Though I couldn't help but feel that the banter between us was all in good fun and I have to admit it was highly amusing until the Arty comment. But the weird thing was, I didn't mind all that much. When Apollo calls me that, it is annoying to no end, but when Perseus called me that I actually…liked it a little bit. I shook those thoughts off and turned back into my tent, already plotting revenge for that little nickname comment.
Percy POV
I will probably regret that comment later but it was just too tempting to pass up. I laughed to myself, feeling better than I have in years. I haven't joked liked that in years and it felt great to be able to joke like that again. Maybe spending time will be a good thing for. You know, if the hunters don't kill me first.
Getting back to my chores, I collected a bunch of firewood by the clearing for the fire. It was getting close to lunch so I better head back. I began walking back to the camp, my eyes scanning the area looking for good coverage points. This blessing of Athena is really helpful for looking for strategic points and watching out for traps. Like the one that is right in front of me.
I looked around and saw a few flashes of silver among the trees and in the bushes. Hunters must have set it up probably hoping for me to walk into the trap and humiliate myself. Smirking I jumped over the trap and walked a few feet, pulling out a branch and tossing it behind me, setting the trap off.
I heard shouts of excitement and rustling in the bushes as the hunters exited their hiding places, thinking they must have trapped me. Those shouts of excitement quickly turned into groans of disappointment and curiosity. I just smirked to myself, feeling quite good that I was able to outsmart the might Hunters of Artemis.
After starting a fire, I waited for all the hunters to file in and sit at the table, so that I could get lunch prepared. They were all still grumbling abut how I managed to evade their little trap.
The last to arrive was Artemis who shot me a quick glare. I guess she didn't forget about that little comment about her acting like a twelve year old as I silently chuckled to myself.
'What are you chuckling about boy?" Phoebe snapped at me, glaring at me in loathing.
I just held up my hands in a sign of surrender. "Nothing, nothing. Just thinking about a funny joke is all."
"Oh really? And pray tell what is the joke about?" She retorted, hoping to catch me thinking about something stupid.
I took a quick glance at Artemis and saw the look on her face. She knew exactly what I was thinking about and if I even commented on it, I would be added to the animal population.
"Nothing. Just something that us stupid males find funny. Nothing you would be interested in." I said quickly, thinking up a lame excuse.
But Phoebe looked satisfied with the answer, probably thinking that I am a stupid male and it was not worth her time.
"Anyway, what would you all like for lunch?" I asked, successfully changing the topic.
"Some assorted sandwiches with some green tea, please." Artemis said.
"Coming right up milady." I said, clapping my hands together and making the food appear.
As soon as the food appeared, the hunters attacked the sandwiches with the ferocity of wolves. Who knew that a bunch of teenage girls could eat so much? After they polished off the last few sandwiches, I summoned some more, and they attacked the new plate again, just a little more calmly now.
"So Kelp Head, what made you decide to become guardian of a bunch of immortal teenage man-haters?" Thalia asked as she ate what was like her 15th sandwich.
I shrugged my shoulders. "Uncle Zeus asked me too. He said that killing the rouge groups of monsters around the country would be a lot easier. Also, mom didn't have many new demigods for me to pick up. I'm guessing that the majority of them are at the camps now and I wanted a new purpose so here I am." I explained.
"Mom? Why would Sally send you to find a bunch of demigods and escort them to camp?" Thalia asked confused.
I looked at her in shock and turned to Artemis with an incredulous look. She looked at me a little guilty and her face said it all. She didn't tell her Thalia that my mom and Paul were murdered three years ago. I guess I could see where she's coming from. My mom was like a second mother to Thalia and Nico, considering their mothers were either a drunk or dead, and the news would be really hard on her.
I turned back to her and took a deep breath. "Thalia, my mom is Hestia now. She adopted me after what happened at camp and made me her champion." I said, trying to figure out a way to tell her my mom died.
Thalia and the hunters all had dumbfounded looks on their faces.
"Hestia adopted you?" One of the younger hunters asked. I remember her name being Chloe, a daughter of Hermes, and she wasn't as cold to me as the older hunters. I'm guessing she was a new recruit that just joined.
I nodded my head and smiled kindly at her.
"Yes she did and she is a really good mom. Since I'm her only demigod child, she kind of spoils me a little." I said a little sheepishly.
"But wait, what happened to Sally?" Thalia asked a little panicked.
I just looked at her with a little pain in my eyes. "I'll tell you later tonight in private." I said shortly. I didn't want to talk about it or else I would start crying.
She looked like she wanted to protest but I just looked at her with my no-nonsense face and she sighed and nodded her head reluctantly.
"So you ready for our little spar session after lunch Kelp Head?" Thalia said, smiling in anticipation, already moving on from the last topic.
I smiled at her at her as well. "Yes I am. It will be fun to actually have a challenge after all these years. You better hope your skills are up to snuff Thals. I've been practicing for the past few years." I said mischievously.
"Oh yeah Kelpy. You better prepare yourself for a good old Thalia ass-whooping!" She said as the other hunters cheered for their lieutenant.
"All right. Finish eating and we'll get started." I said. She scarfed down the rest of her food and sprinted to the training area.
I chuckled at my cousin's antics and launched myself into the air, flying after her.
Third Person POV
"You girls want to go and watch the fight?" Artemis asked her hunters.
"Of course milady. We wouldn't miss a chance to see out lieutenant whip the boy's ass." Atalanta grinned wickedly.
'I don't know girls; he's a pretty decent fighter. He managed to defeat Titan's and Giants." Artemis said a little unsure.
The hunters just scoffed. "Please milady. As if a mere boy could take on Thalia." They said dismissively.
"Ok girls, well let's go." Artemis said, heading off to the training area.
The hunters looked at each other before shrugging and heading after their mistress.
They arrived to see Percy and Thalia discussing the terms of the battle.
"Alright Thals, so you want to do powers, close-quarter, or all?" Percy asked.
"I want you at your best Kelp Head, so we use anything at our disposal. That includes, all powers and weaponry." Thalia said, already excited for the fight to come.
"You sure Thalia? Cause I got a lot of tricks up my sleeves." He said looking at little uncertain.
"Yes Percy! I want a good fight and you're going to give it to me." She said looking determined. Percy just sighed and nodded his head in acceptance.
"Ok so first one to yield or unconsciousness wins?" Percy suggested. Thalia nodded her head in agreement.
They walked to the opposite directions, about 30 yards facing each other. Thalia pulled out her sliver-hunting bow, while Percy had his Stygian throwing knives at the ready. His wings slid out of his back, before extending to their full 15-foot length.
As soon as they were ready, on an unspoken signal, Thalia notched a silver arrow and shot it at Percy followed by more. Percy ducked and dodged around the barrage of arrows, sometimes using his wings to intercept and deflect an arrow. As soon as Thalia stopped firing, Percy retaliated by throwing his throwing knives at her. The deadly knives were thrown with such speed and accuracy, had Thalia not had the speed and grace of a hunter, she would have been impaled a dozen times over. Luckily, she was able to dodge the barrage of knives and managed to activate her shield, Aegis. Ducking behind it, the knives bounced of the celestial bronze face and landed around her. Turning her shield back into a bracelet, she pulled out her bow and notched another arrow only to find that Percy was not in the space he was moments before. She looked up and saw him 30 feet in the air, flapping his wings and had a smug grin on his face. She let the arrow fly but he just simply flew around it.
Percy was having a great time flying and dodging the arrows by his cousin. He saw she had a frustrated look as she tried and failed to hit him with her arrows. She suddenly smiled and lifted a hand up into the air and had a look of concentration on her face. He thought she was summoning lighting, but imagine his surprise when a blast of wind hit him, buffeting him around in the air.
"Like that Kelp Head? I picked up a few tricks over the years too!" She yelled out as he continued to be hit with gusts of air.
It was getting increasingly hard to maintain altitude with the wind pushing against his wings. He quickly dropped and landed on the ground about 15 feet away from his opponent. Looking at each other, they both realized this would come down to close quarter combat. Putting away her bow, Thalia pulled out her trusty spear and activated her shield once again. The horrible face of Medusa looked out form the shield but Percy didn't even bat an eye. He had faced that shield so many times, he was used to it. He pulled out his trusty swords, Riptide and Typhon, the Celestial Bronze and Atlantean Steel gleaming in the sunlight. Thalia's eyes widened slightly at the new sword but refocused on her target. Being the impatient one, she lunged at Percy, stabbing expertly with her shield as he batted it away with his swords.
Percy was wary of her spear. While he was an excellent swordsman, she was just as good at wielding a spear. She lashed out a series of strikes, all jabbing at his vital points. He got hit o few times but was able parried the blows, jumped and kicked her shield with enough force to have her skid back a few feet. Thalia was stunned at the amount of force his kick had. She suddenly raised her spear, calling down a blast of lightning and thrusted it in his direction. Tendrils of blasted in his direction. Thinking fast, he summoned some pure water and coated his words in it before forming an X with his swords, catching the blast. The lightning continued to hit his swords but he then willed the water to lash out back at her. The lightning followed the water and smashed directly into the unprepared Thalia.
Millions of volts of electricity slammed into her, but it didn't harm her. In fact, the electricity energized her as she absorbed the attack.
She grinned, "Thanks for the recharge Kelpy! Now come on, hit me with your best shot!
Percy frowned but then smiled wickedly before coating his blades in flames. He shot out two massive fireballs that slammed into her shield, pushing her back. He used the momentary distraction and dashed in, delivering blow after blow onto her. She was kept on the defense for trying a desperate lunge. Percy saw his chance and caught her spear between his blades and wrenched it out of her hands. The he shot out a stream of fire, making her shield fly off in the opposite direction. He then swept her off her feet of her feet, where she landed in her back and he placed his blades at her throat.
"Yield?" He asked smirking at her angry face.
She mumbled under her breath.
"I'm sorry, what was that?" He said teasingly, a smile stretching across his lips.
"Fine. I guess you win." She said through gritted teeth. He pulled the blades from her throat and capped them and reached out a hand to her. She grudgingly accepted the hand and he pulled her to her feet.
"So how was the fight? Was it everything you imagined?" He asked mischievously, pushing her playfully.
"Oh yeah, I expected to get my ass handed to me on a silver platter. It was so enjoyable." She said sarcastically. The fight was actually very exhilarating for her, she's just upset that she lost.
"Where did you learn to fight like that? Last time we fought, it went on for an hour, but you beat me in 15 minutes." She asked, still cranky about losing.
"Well, you live on your own for three years and helping demigods to camp, one runs into a lot of monsters and that sharpens one's skills. I also practiced a lot over the years so there's that. But that fight was a really good workout. When did you start manipulating the air currents?" Percy asked.
Thalia blushed slightly at the mention of her new abilities. "I've been practicing too you know. I'm…also trying to get over my fear of heights." She mumbled the last part out.
Percy raised his eyebrows. "Well that's great! I could help you with that, considering I have wings and all. Also, think about this; you and me having a spar in the air! Huh?" He said with a mischievous smile on his face.
Thalia had a horrified expression on her face "Baby steps Kelp Head. Baby steps." She said. That was when they realized they had a crowd.
All the hunters and Artemis were watching them, Artemis in amusement and the hunters in shock. They were surprised that a male was able to beat their lieutenant.
"Anyway, good fight Pinecone Face, maybe you'll beat me next time." Percy joked.
Thalia gave him a quick death glare before smiling slightly as she shocked him making him jump with a yelp.
"There we're even now Kelpy." She laughed as she walked off to join the other hunters.
"So anyone else want a spar? I'm all warmed up." Percy said stretching his limbs.
The hunters just glared at him, thinking how dare he even speak to them. Phoebe pushed her way to the front of the group and walked up to Percy, but not getting to close to him.
"I'll fight you boy. You probably just got lucky with Thalia. I'll beat you up good, so don't expect any mercy from me!" She snarled at him.
"Phoebe." Artemis warned.
"No milady! This boy needs to be taught his place!" Phoebe sneered at Percy. Artemis just sighed and nodded, knowing that she couldn't convince her hunter when she was like this.
Percy just stood there, not even flinching at the insults being thrown his way by the irate hunter. He took it all in stride and promised that he wouldn't intentionally hurt her and would make it a quick,, painless fight.
"Alright Phoebe, what are the terms?" He asked.
"Well, boy, it will be a straight close combat fight. No powers. I want to beat you classic style. And no yielding, first to unconsciousness loses." She said cracking her knuckles, pulling out her hunting knives.
Huh, déjà vu. Same thing Ares said to Percy when he was twelve.
"Ok. When do we start?" He asked.
"NOW!" She said, lashing out with her knives, catching him by surprise.
The underhand tactic worked as he felt the blades cut across his chest. He stumbled back as he felt blood start to ooze out of his wounds. She was smiling smugly as she walked to him leisurely, as if he wasn't even worth her time. Percy's face morphed into a snarl, all thoughts of going easy on her leaving his mind. How dare she attack dishonorably! He looked over to see the hunters smiling with smug glee as they saw their sister fight the male. Artemis was looking on disapprovingly, but didn't say anything. Thalia, however, was livid and was crackling with electricity, sparks flying off her skin. He just shook his head slightly and Thalia calmed down but still wore a stormy expression.
He just stood still and waited for her to approach.
"Where's your weapon buy? Giving up already?" She laughed as she continued closer.
"I don't need a weapon to deal with a dishonorable opponent like you." He said, his eyes flashing in anger.
Her face turned to one of rage as she charged at him, yelling in outrage. She struck out with a series of blows, all of them incredibly quick and precise. But Percy was just dodging them all, pushing on her wrists, redirecting the blades harmlessly off to the side. Phoebe was getting more and more frustrated and angry as the fight drew on. She wanted to maim this boy, but she couldn't land a blow. She suddenly struck out, trying to slice his throat with her dagger, but he stopped her blade by grabbing her wrist in an iron-like grip. She tried to pull away but his grip was unyielding. She whipped up her other knife and he caught that wrist too in the same grip. She was no immobile in front of him and couldn't move.
"Unhand me boy! How dare you touch me!" She yelled at him before finally looking at his face and she froze.
He expression in his face was fierce. He looked like a warrior on the battlefield, cold, emotionless, and unforgiving. It was like his personality changed when he started fighting her. With Thalia, he was joking and having a good time, but fighting her, he took on a whole new persona: The Warrior. She felt a shiver go down her spine looking at his face.
Stretching his arms out, her wrists still in his grip, he lifted her off the ground. The pain in her shoulder was increasing as he continued to pull on arms. Quick as thought, he released her and struck, sending a series of strikes to her body. It was like getting hit with a bunch of hammers. He ended the fight by scooping up her fallen knives and slamming them into her temples, where she was immediately knocked into unconsciousness.
He turned to see the hunters looking at him in anger and hatred, but with also fear at how he dealt with their fallen sister. Thalia was smiling, approving at what he did while Artemis held an emotionless mask on her face, yet her eyes held a spark of approval in them.
He knelt down by Phoebe and summoned some water, coating his hands with the liquid. His hands began to glow a bright orange and he willed the water to cover her body. The hunters began to yell in protest and ran up to stop what he was doing to their sister but pulled up short when they saw the water actually healing her wounds. As soon as her wounds were healed, he stepped back away from her, not wanting to invade her space any longer than necessary.
Phoebe's eyes fluttered open and she felt no pain on her body. She was confused; she just had a fight, shouldn't she feel some stiffness and soreness. She then remembered that she got knocked out and turned to look for her opponent. She saw him standing away from the group, while the hunters crowded around her.
"I'm alright sisters." She said. She then looked up into the angry and slightly disappointed face of her mistress.
"Milady I-" She tried to explain herself but got cut off.
"I don't want to hear you excuses Phoebe. While I admire your skills as fighter and a huntress, what you did was dishonorable. Striking out at an opponent when they are unarmed and unprepared during training is not the way I taught you. It was a spar and you were actually trying to kill your opponent. You would never do that to your sisters." Artemis said angrily.
"But milady-" She was cut off again.
"Yes I know he is a male. While he is a male, he is also our guardian and he deserves a little bit of respect from you. He is different from other males and deserves enough of your respect to at least fight him honorably and not underhand like you did. I'm disappointed in you." She said disapprovingly.
Phoebe wanted to protest but one sharp look from Artemis made her shut her trap. She hung her head and waited for her punishment.
"For you punishment, you are to do the rest of the chores that Perseus was suppose to do today. Let this be a warning to you. Am I clear?" She asked with a hint of warning in her tone.
She was about to respond when she heard the least likely of voices stood up for her.
"Milady, while I know what she did was wrong, I ask that you not punish her." Percy said, shocking the entire hunt.
"But she tried to kill you!" Thalia exclaimed.
"Why would you want me to not punish her, Perseus? I thought you would be angry." Artemis asked curiously.
Percy only shook his head. "While I am angry at her, she only did what she did because of what you taught them. I am a male and they are supposed to hate males so she acted in a way she saw fit with what she has been taught. And for that I can't really ask you to punish her." He explained.
Artemis and the rest of the hunters were shocked by his declaration. Here he was, wronged by one of their own and he asked for her not to be punished? He was proving once again how different he was from all other males out there.
Artemis just shook her head. "Very well. Since Percy was the one you have wronged Phoebe and he is asking for leniency on you, I will grant it. Just do not let it happen again. Am I clear?" She said.
Phoebe nodded her head. "Yes milady."
Very well. Perseus, since you have asked her to not be punished, you still have the rest of your chores to do." Artemis said with a sly smile gracing her lips.
Percy got a look of realization on his face before he face-palmed himself. "Dammit! I forgot about that!" He yelled while the hunters laughed.
"Oh man!" Thalia said, gripping her sides in pain as she laugh. "You are such a Seaweed Brain!"
Percy immediately sobered up and had a pained look on his face. "I'll go finish my chores milady." He said emotionlessly as he took flight, leaving a bunch of bewildered girls and a confused Thalia.
"Why did he look so sad when I called him Seaweed Brain? He's always been called that." Thalia asked as she turned to Artemis.
Artemis just had a knowing look on her face. "It's not my place to tell you Thalia. He will explain when he is ready and that is all I will tell you." She said in a no nonsense tone.
Thalia looked like she wanted to argue but knew she wouldn't get much more out of her.
"While I have you all here I would like to speak with all of you." She said, addressing them all.
They all looked curious at what she wanted to talk to them about.
"I know that you have a bunch of pranks planned for Perseus and plan to mess with him a lot during his stay here, but I ask you to go easy on him." She said.
The hunters all groaned and protested before they were silenced by Artemis's raised hand.
"I know he is a male and while I would encourage you to go all out and make his life completely miserable, he is different from all other males. He has saved my life quite a few times and he was able to befriend Zoe. He is not like other men out there and we kind of owe him." She said, not looking happy about owing a male
The hunters sighed and nodded their heads, all looking really unhappy and disappointed. Thalia looked the most disappointed as she loved messing with her cousin. Artemis saw the looks on their faces and she caved.
"Ok, ok. You girls can mess with him, just nothing to extreme and try to be considerate, alright?" The sad looks on the hunter's faces were suddenly lit up with bright grins as they thought of all the pranks they could do to Percy.
Artemis smiled at their faces and thought of the revenge she had in mind for him for calling her that little nickname. Her heart seemed to flutter a little bit as she remembered him calling her Arty, but she quickly pushed it down. She was concerned about these unknown feelings she was developing and hoped that they would soon pass.
Time Skip
As the sun was going down, Percy was sweaty, cranky, and sore all over his body. It took him hours upon hours to sharpen all the arrowheads that were in the armory tent. When he walked into the tent, his eyes nearly popped out of his skull as he saw a literal mound of arrowheads, piled up to the ceiling.
The mound must have consisted of ten thousand arrowheads! He groaned but sat down with his whetstone and began to sharpen the first one. When he was done with that, tossed it in a bucket for finished arrowheads. One down, 9,999 to go, He sarcastically to himself. He was cursing and sweating up a storm by the time he was finished with the arrowheads. Some of them were so blunt and irregular that he thought they looked like rocks. Others looked like they were purposefully dulled and he knew they hunters were messing with him.
He then moved on to the bowstrings, which were just as hard as doing the arrowheads. Thank gods they he only had to do two dozen strings and it only took him half an hour to do those.
He walked out of the tent and headed for the dining area, where all the hunters were waiting for him impatiently.
"What's up Kelp Head?" Thalia said, smiling before wrinkling her nose. "Phew! You smell like B.O. and metal. Just what were you doing today?"
Percy just shook his head indignantly. "Sharpening arrows for hours on end isn't fun and will make anyone work up a sweat. And half of those arrows were so blunt that I could have sworn they were rocks!"
Artemis couldn't hold it in anymore and began to laugh, along with a few of her hunters.
"That's because they were rocks." She said amused at the shocked expression that came over his face.
"WHAT?! I KNEW something was weird about those arrowheads! They were way to irregular and weird to the touch!" He cried out in exasperation.
"Well, at least you got a good workout. And that's for the 'Arty' comment." Artemis said, still smirking.
Percy grumbled under his breath, something about 'stupid arrowheads' and 'evil man-haters'.
"He Perce, I saved a seat for you over by me." Thalia waved him over to an empty seat at the end of the table.
He smiled slightly and graciously took the seat without any complaints. It felt good to actually sit at the table. He missed the faces of the hunters, as they were trying hard not to laugh or the mischievous gleam in Thalia's eyes.
"So what would you all like for dinner?" He asked.
"We'll have a pot roast with mashed potatoes and gravy with some cornbread on the side." Thalia said, looking hungry.
"And for you milady?" He asked Artemis.
"I will have the same as well, but instead of water, I'll have a glass of nectar." She replied.
He nodded his head and summoned up the food for all the hunters who tore into the food without a second thought. He had a little bit of difficulty summoning the godly food and guess that he could only do it like once a day or something. He summoned himself the same food, before forming a small fire in his hands and sacrificing some of his food.
"To Poseidon, Hestia, and Artemis. The rest to all the gods of Olympus." He said before putting out the small flame and digging in.
All the hunters were laughing and joking at the table, acting like one big, happy family. Artemis was sitting at the end of the table, smiling contently at her hunters. Percy was silent the whole time, but was watching how the other hunters interacted and he longed for that type of family. Who knows, maybe he'll find one here. Yeah, and Zeus would sooner give up his master bolt to dad as a birthday gift. He thought to himself.
As they hunters all finished eating, he made the plates disappear and reappear at the dishwashing station. But the weird thing was, they weren't leaving; they remained seated and were looking at him with sly smiles that made him nervous.
At last he was finished and tried to stand up only to find he couldn't.
"What the…?" Said as he tried to stand again and found he was stuck to his chair.
The hunters all roared with laughter, the loudest of all being Thalia.
"Thalia…" Percy growled as he tried again and again to get unstuck.
"Oh it was too easy Kelp Head! You should see the look you face!" She gasped out, laughing so hard.
Percy growled but then noticed all the water was still in the glasses on the table. He smirked, before willing the water from two dozen glasses and launching them at Thalia, soaking her from head to toe.
Thalia looked shocked before looking angry. "KELP HEAD! Dry me now!" She demanded, here hair looking like a wet rat's nest.
Percy just smiled. "Get me free and I'll dry you."
"No way. That's not how this works, you dry me and you stay stuck to the seat.. That's how this works." She said, still dripping water.
"Well then, I'll just keep wet then won't I?" He said as he summoned more water and hit her again.
She spluttered as water hit her directly in the face before giving him the death glare.
"Oh you are so asking for it." She said as she stalked forward, looking ready to skewer him.
Percy smirked as he willed the water to freeze, freezing her in her tracks. She looked wide-eyed as she tried to break the ice but couldn't.
"Looks like were both stuck now. Only difference is, is that I can still move." He said triumphantly, waving his limbs around for emphasis.
"You are so dead when I get out of here." She snapped at him, still struggling in her frozen bonds.
"Maybe, but I'll be long gone by then." He said as he called upon his fire powers and melted the glue holding him to the seat. Smoke curled up from his bum and it began to smell like burned rubber, but he finally got free.
He turned to Thalia and wiggled his fingers at her before walking over to Artemis and coin this special bow.
"Milady, since I have finished all my chores and I now have free time, may I go to the Underworld and visit my cousin, Nico? I want to let him know I'm back or else he'll kill me." Percy said.
Artemis nodded her head. "Very well Perseus. But be back here before sunrise tomorrow." She said. By then it was just Thalia, Percy, and Artemis in the dining area. All the hunters went off to do their own activities.
"Yes milady. And could you PLEASE stop calling me Perseus?" He pleaded.
Artemis just smirked. "Does it annoy you when I call you Perseus?" She asked.
"You know it does." He replied annoyed.
"Then I will continue to call you that." She laughed while Percy turned red. He walked right into that one.
"Ok then, I'll just be on my way then Arty." He smirked at her slightly angry expression. She looks really cute when she's angry. He thought.
"I demand you stop calling me Arty this instant!" She yelled, stamping her foot again.
"Ok then. I won't call you Arty anymore. Instead how about Moonbeam? That sounds Waaaaay better!" He grinned.
Artemis was stunned speechless. He called her another ridiculous nickname but she hated and liked it at the same time!
"Do not call me Moonbeam!" She shrieked.
He just chuckled at her antics. "Ok then, how about Bambi then, since you're goddess of the hunt?" He joked as he saw her face turn red.
"You'll pay for that!" She shouted as she lunged at him, only for him to shoot into the air laughing out loud.
"Get back here you Kelp-Headed idiot!" Thalia screamed. "You still have to un-freeze me!"
"Don't worry Thalia. We'll get him back." Artemis reassured her half-sister, still fuming. She felt the fluttering in her chest again as Percy joked with her, calling her those nicknames, his eyes shining with mirth. She was having these weird feelings for him lately and they seemed to be getting stronger.
I can't be falling for a man…could I? She thought to herself as Percy finally disappeared from their view over the horizon.
Anyway, thanks for reading guys and gals. Appreciate it, Hans50 has made Nico not gay in this story, but I'll do a bit of rewriting and make him bi if you want it? I could host a poll perhaps…
Thanks so much for the positive support and reviews to far!