Son of Time
Chapter 4
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters nor plot, all rights belong to Rick Riordan.
"Milady!" Zoë called out, rushing over to her after the disappearance of the strange man. "Are you alright?"
Artemis stood up from her sitting position, her gaze still focused on the wall the man had come in and left from. "I'm fine."
In an moment's notice, Atalanta and Thalia were both by her side as well. Had she not been so preoccupied with her thoughts about the mysterious man, she would've noticed Luke wasn't battling Thalia anymore.
"Who was that?" Thalia yelled in disbelief before realizing who she was yelling at and covering her mouth. She asked again, this time in a much more controlled tone, "Who was that?"
Zoë sent a heated glare towards the hot headed daughter of Zeus. "Lady Artemis' safety is much more concerning than the identity of the man at the moment."
"I'm perfectly alright, Zoë," Artemis reassured before a fight could break out between the two. "Though to answer your question Thalia, I am not sure who that was."
"Something about him seemed very familiar, though I can't quite place my finger on it." Atalanta said, she was staring at the ground intently, clearly in deep thought.
"Yes, there was something familiar about him," Artemis agreed, "but regardless, we must report this back to Olympus."
"What are we going to do with the Satyr?" Zoë asked, pointing a finger back towards the unconscious form of Grover.
"He has a name," Thalia grumbled.
"I shall send him back to Camp Half-blood," Artemis answered, walking towards Grover to do just that. Once Grover was safely teleported away to the camp nursery, Artemis turned back to face the group of girls. "Everyone gather around, we need to get to Olympus immediately."
"Damn you! I shall get my revenge!" Atlas roared in frustration.
Everyone ignored him, he was practically as harmless as a rabbit now that he was back under his rightful spot. Once everyone had an arm placed around another's shoulder, with Thalia making sure she was in contact with Atalanta and not the frustrating Lieutenant, Artemis teleported them to the Olympian throne room.
All eleven Olympian gods had already been gathered around, each in their respective seats. Upon noticing the new arrivals, the full blown arguments turned into hushed whispers. Artemis walked over towards her throne which was located next to Apollo's, growing to her full godly height along the way. Once she was seated, she let out a sigh of relief, feeling her throne rejuvenate her with power.
"Silence!" Zeus bellowed, successfully quieting all the whispers. "It is good to see you're safe, daughter," He said, nearly causing Artemis' face to become one of disgust. She knew he wasn't truly concerned about her, all her father cared about was power and the next woman he could knock up, typical of a male. She didn't interrupt as he turned back to face the group of half-bloods. "What has happened during your quest?"
Thalia briefly explained the events up till arriving at Mount Othrys, earning some praise from her failure of a father for managing to defeat the Nemean Lion. Once she arrived at the part of fighting Atlas, Atalanta took over.
"Atlas threw his javelin towards Zoë, something that would've for sure killed her. However, before the javelin could connect, it suddenly froze in time. A man clad in black clothing stepped out of the shadows of a wall and began taunting Atlas. In less than a moment's time, the man had already forced Atlas back under the sky and set Lady Artemis free. Before leaving he told Lady Artemis that they would meet again soon." She concluded, causing many of the Olympians' eyes to widen due to a tale of such power.
"Can't wait to use him as a punching bag," Ares grinned, cracking his knuckles, causing loud pops to emit throughout the room.
"Is fighting all you think about, you brute?" Athena glared. She then focus her attention back towards the group, "If this mysterious man is truly as powerful as you say he is, he would be quite the problem should he become our enemy. We shou-"
"Enough." Zeus interrupted, causing Athena to cross her arms in frustration but remain silent. "He is clearly not against us, otherwise he wouldn't have helped Artemis. We shall discuss this later, for now we have something more important to focus on," he turned to look directly at Thalia, "my daughter turns sixteen tomorrow, and when that happens, she shall become the child of the prophecy."
Artemis decided to speak up, "I have a solution to that," she said, causing everyone, or nearly everyone minus a snoring Dionysus, to turn to her with looks of curiosity. "Thalia, Daughter of Zeus, will you join the hunt?"
"I will," Thalia answered firmly.
"But daughter," Zeus interjected, clearly not fully supporting this idea, "think about this first. You could be the Hero of Olympus!"
'Only thinking of power, how typical,' Artemis observed with great distaste.
"I can't do it, father," Thalia said with a somewhat apologetic look. She then proceeded to kneel in front of Artemis and recited the same words she recalled Bianca saying, "I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis. I turn my back on the company of men." Once her pledge was over, Artemis smiled as a faint silver glow surrounded her.
Atalanta bumped her shoulder playfully. "Welcome to the hunt."
Thalia smiled but it was short lived as Zeus jumped head first into another worrisome topic. "Now, what shall we do about the mysterious man?"
Athena still seemed a bit bitter at being interrupted earlier but spoke regardless, "As I was saying, if this man defeated Atlas as easily as you say he did, I speculate he could prove to be quite troublesome should he remain unhinged. We should take steps of precaution, such as having him pledge allegiance to us."
"An excellent idea," Zeus agreed, eager to increase his power. He then turned his head to face Artemis, "Artemis I would like you and your hunt to find this man and bring him back, preferably unharmed."
"There's no need for that," a new voice said.
Everyone scanned the room to find the new speaker. Standing there at the entrance of the throne room and walking his way down to the center was the same man in all black, still wearing his hockey mask of darkness.
"HOW DARE YOU INTERRUPT A MEETING!?" Zeus boomed as he aimed his master bolt towards the new arrival.
Much to the surprise of every Olympian, quester, and one Hearth goddess, the man began to laugh. It started off as a small chuckle before it escalated into hysterical laughter as the man fell to the ground and began clutching his sides. "I didn't be-believe Eris when s-she said you were a d-drama queen. Bu-but it's so accurate!" He panted out in between laughters.
Zeus' face went red with anger. "I SHALL STRIKE YOU DOWN WHERE YOU STAND!" He chucked his master bolt right towards the man in black. In speeds that shouldn't have been possible for a mortal, the man stopped his hysterical laughter, got up, and held his right hand out towards the bolt. Artemis was confused as to what he was doing until she noticed Zeus' thunder rod was suspended mid flight.
The man sighed as he flicked his fingers in a shooing motion, causing the bolt to go back into Zeus' hands as if in rewind, making the King of the Gods' face to turn even redder, if that was possible.
Deciding they weren't going to get anywhere with trying to harm the man, Artemis asked the question everyone in the room had been dying to know, "Who are you?"
The man turned away from the seething Zeus to look straight towards her. Artemis could've sworn she saw a glint of disappointment in his golden eyes. "Here I thought you would still remember me! Though, I guess I don't quite look like how I used to. Perhaps this will jog your memory a bit." He took off his mask as a golden light began to reflect off his body. It wasn't too bright, but it did obscure the man from sight. It was gone though not too long after.
Standing where the man previously stood was a small child no older than 5. He had dark hair and moon colored eyes. He was only wearing a black t-shirt that was way too large for him, reaching down all the way past his knees. He stood over a pair of black jeans that were laying on the ground, sharing a striking resemblance to the jeans the mysterious man had been wearing before.
The young child look down at the jeans on the ground and frowned. "I forgot about the clothing pa-" he never got to finish that sentence.
Artemis, who was now in her 20 year old human form, tackled the boy to the ground in a blur of silver. Some of the gathered figures grimaced while Zeus grinned, all believing Artemis was ripping the child to shreds. However, what actually happened just caused complete confusion.
They were both on the ground, with Artemis on top, (I can already feel the perverted thoughts.) clutching onto the silver eyed boy tightly. "I've missed you too... mom." He whispered quietly into her ear. Due to the gods above than normal senses, they heard it, causing all of them to yell out their disbeliefs, greatly confusing the demigods who hadn't heard.
Hestia smiled in happiness, holding back the tears that were about to slip out. Though it began to thin out, her hope had never diminished.
"Will ya keep it down," Dionysus grumbled as he shifted to a more comfortable position in his throne.
"Oh I knew you couldn't resist love forever, Arty!" Aphrodite squeeled with great pleasure, ignoring the Wine God's request.
"Who was it Artemis!? I'll kill him!" Apollo was heard yelling in outrage.
"What is the meaning of this!?" Zeus' yelled furiously towards his Olympian daughter.
"Everyone. Calm. Down." Poseidon's voice echoed throughout the room, holding immense power.
Zeus sent a glare towards Poseidon for believing he could command him, but complied nontheless. In a barely contained voice, he growled, "Explain yourself Artemis, your punishment for breaking your oath shall be decided afterwards."
Zoë and Atalanta were staring at the boy Artemis had tackled with curiosity, wondering why he seemed so similar.
Artemis got off the ground but carried the child in her arms. She sent a heated glare towards Zeus for his accusation. "I have not broken my oath. Perseus is adopted." She sent an apologetic look towards Perseus, recalling how she lost him due to that several years ago. Perseus just smiled at her, showing he was over it.
Zoë and Atalanta's eyes widened in realization. If not for their current predicament, they would've both rushed over to welcome him back.
Zeus didn't seem to be expecting that, but Apollo quickly got over it. "I finally have a nephew!" He exclaimed in his usual cheery tone, his previous anger due to the misunderstanding gone.
"Very well," Zeus coughed awkwardly, "Regardless, someone so powerful cannot run loose. Perseus, you shall pledge your allegiance to Olympus and then I would like a detailed explanation of this."
Perseus put a finger to his chin, mocking being in deep thought. "No." He said causing Artemis to stare at him questioningly.
Zeus' eye twitched. "What do you mean.. 'No'?"
"For a god you really are slow, no means the opposite of yes," Perseus explained as if he were talking to a child, which was really quite funny as he was in the form of a child himself. "My allegiance belongs to my family, and you, are not family."
Zeus held up his master bolt in his hand, fully planning on blasting the boy to smithereens, clearly not having learned from the last time he tried that. He never got the chance.
A flash of gold appeared in between Artemis and the King of the Gods. The flash was soon gone and replaced by three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs. The two on the left and right where knitting something while the one in the middle was holding the yarn and large golden and silver scissors.
Everyone watched in shock as the triplets of Ananke glared at Perseus, or Artemis, it was pretty hard to tell. "Oh hey sisters!" Perseus said with mock excitement, causing everyone other than the elder huntresses and Artemis to go slack jawed.
In a raspy voice Clotho spoke, "You have interrupted the flow of fate."
"Due to your interference, Zoë Nightshade continues breathing," Lachesis continued.
"Your punishment shall be costly.." Atropos finished.
Artemis watched with great anxiety as the two on the sides pulled out a string of silver and gold. The one in the middle brought the large scissors, ready to cut the string. She clutched onto her adopted son tightly, fearing this would be the last time she would see him breathing. However, what happened next caused her to become confused.
Faster than the blink of an eye, the entire scene changed. Every god and quester was still inside the throne room, in their same positions. Her recently returned son however, was a different situation. He was standing off a bit of a distance away from her, confusing her as she was positive she was carrying him just a moment ago. He was back in his older form, no longer a child. He was standing with a furious expression on his face and his hand balled into a tight fist.
Before she could ask what was wrong, Perseus yelled, "Nyx!"
All the lights in the room went dark, which should've been impossible as it was lit by magic, but caused everyone to lose vision regardless. When Artemis could see again, she wasn't in the throne room. Heck, she wasn't even on Olympus.
Her, Perseus, Zoë, Atalanta, and Thalia were all in a large black and white room that was fashioned in the same manner as human's fashioned their living rooms. It somewhat had a bit of a gloomy look to it due to all the black. Before she could ask where they were, her son was tackled to the ground. Again. This time not by her though.
A black haired woman with purple eyes shining with mischief was straddling his waist. "I've missed you so much, Perseus!" She cooed as she attempted to kiss him on the lips multiple times.
"Get off me!" Perseus pleaded as he expertly dodged the crazy woman's kisses by weaving his neck.
"Why must you always reject me?" She asked, leaning back and faking a sob.
Perseus finally managed to push the woman off of him and stood up, dusting himself off. "I haven't even been back for a full minute and you're already acting up!"
"You're no fun," the woman pouted, "Is this how a husband should treat his wife?"
"HUSBAND!?" Artemis, Atalanta, and Zoë yelled in outrage.
"Calm down," Perseus held his hands up in surrender. "She isn't my wife. That's Eris, she's just trying to cause mischief, as usual."
Artemis let out a sigh of relief. She definitely did not want her only child, adopted or not, marrying a goddess as crazy as this.
"Where are we?" Thalia asked Perseus confused, having remained quiet throughout the entire exchange. "Who are you?"
"Right, I should answer your questions. We are currently in the Mansion of Night. As to who I am, I'm Artemis' son." Perseus answered casually. "Anymore questions?"
Thalia's jaw dropped in shock. She didn't know what to find more unbelievable, them currently residing in Tartarus or that Artemis, the supposed maiden goddess AND her new mistress, had a son.
The rest of the group was just as surprised to find out they were currently in Tartarus.
"Isn't it dangerous here!?" Thalia basically yelled.
"Nope, perfectly safe," Perseus answered, giving two thumbs up.
"Why are we in Tartarus?" Artemis questioned with a slight edge.
"I mean if I stayed up in Olympus, Zeus would've probably tried using his shock rod on me. Again," Perseus stated.
"Perseus, it is great to see you again, truly, but why are we in Tartarus of all places?" Zoë asked.
"This is my home," Perseus stated as if it were obvious. Upon noticing the confused looks they were giving him, he asked, "Where else did you think I was this entire time?"
"Uh... Dead?" Atalanta stated with a nervous laugh.
"You've been living in Tartarus for the past decade!?" Artemis asked disbelievingly as she began to scan his body, checking for any injuries.
"I don't see what the big problem with Tartarus is," Eris muttered grumpily in the background.
"Mom I'm fine, really!" Perseus stated, to which Artemis ignored him and continued his search.
Suddenly, she lifted his shirt up to reveal a large jagged scar running from the left side of his chest to the right part of his waist. Perseus cringed as Artemis yelled in outrage, "Who did this to you!?"
"I'll explain everything soon, I promise!" Perseus basically pleaded.
"Fine," Artemis reluctantly let it go, allowing his shirt to drop back down.
Thalia seemed to finally manage to break out of her shock. She pointed an accusing finger towards Artemis, "I thought you were a maiden goddess!"
"Uh, in case you hadn't been listening in the throne room, I'm adopted," Perseus pointed out casually.
"Then who's your godly parent?"
Knowing if he answered it would take a lot more explaining, Artemis cut in with a question of her own. "Why did you bring us here? I understand it wouldn't have been good if you had to fight, but we weren't in harms way."
"If Zeus tasked you to hunt me down, what would you have said?" Perseus asked his adoptive mother.
"No," was Artemis' instantaneous reply.
"Exactly. Then he would've punished you and probably used the hunters as leverage to force you to do it," Perseus pointed out.
"The hunters!" Artemis shouted, recalling that she had no clue on their current location. "I can't leave them alone, who knows what my father will do!"
"This is not turning out well," Zoë sighed quietly.
"Don't worry, Nyx has probably already transported most of them here by now," Perseus reassured, causing Artemis to relax slightly. "In fact, you should go see them to calm them down."
"Wait, you still didn't answer my question!" Thalia pointed out.
Perseus sent her a curious glance. "I'm not really sure who you are," he admitted. "But we can work on getting to know each other later if you'd like."
Thalia huffed. "Fine, I'll hold you to that, though!"
"I'm sure you will."
"Perseus," Artemis said to get his attention, "Where are they?"
"Oh uh, probably at the entrance. Follow me." Perseus lead them through several long hallways before they emerged in front of a large and grand black two-door exit. He pushed both doors open, revealing a odd sight.
Outside were nearly two dozen teenage girls in silver clothing. All of them had looks of panic and confusion. One of them noticed them open the door, "Milady!" This seemed to get the attention of everyone else as they all rushed into the mansion, eagerly waiting for an explanation from their goddess.
"I'm sure you're all confused and have plenty of questions," Artemis said, receiving many nods in confirmation.
"Where are we?" Asked a random hunter in the group.
"The answer may be a bit unnerving, but try and stay calm," most of the hunters nodded once again. "We're currently in the Mansion of Night, located in Tartarus."
If this were a cartoon, Perseus was positive their eyes would've popped out of their eye sockets by now. They all began to yell out their own questions. Perseus heard some ask why there were there while a few others pointed at him and asked who he was.
"Girls," Artemis said, trying to quiet them down, but failing. "Girls!" This time she raised her voice a bit, causing them all to silence and focus on her. "Currently it is not safe in the mortal world."
"Why's that, milady?" A blonde haired hunter with gray eyes, clearly a daughter of Athena, asked. "And how come we aren't safe? What kind of monster is powerful enough that we wouldn't be safe anywhere in the world of the living?"
"It's not a monster," Artemis admitted. "My father, Zeus, is not exactly happy with recent events. It would not be safe to keep you girls within his reach."
Some seemed to be in deep thought as they processed that idea. The daughter of Athena however, continued her questions. "What recent events? Does this have to do with Zoë's quest? And who's that?" She pointed at Perseus while asking the last question.
Artemis went ahead and explained everything to them. All about how Perseus saved Zoë from her fated doom. The little brawl that occurred on Olympus and even explained that he was her son. Not many were shocked at that as there were a lot that still remembered him, though they were surprised he was still alive. He was met with mixed emotions of glee and disgust.
By the time everyone's questions were settled, it had gotten late, or at least that's what Perseus had said since they couldn't quite tell what time it was in Tartarus. Each hunter had been assigned a room of their own, though some opted to sleep in pairs. Currently, both Perseus and Artemis were in the latter's room at the her request.
"Hey mom, what'd you want to talk about?" Perseus asked as he entered and closed the door behind him.
Artemis was sitting on the edge of the bed, facing towards Perseus. "I have a few questions."
"Shoot."
"How was it that you made your eyes gold?" She asked, tilting her head to the side questioningly.
"Oh that? My eyes change color whenever I use my power to either speed up or slow down time, even at minimal usage," Perseus explained.
Artemis nodded before continuing onto her next question, "When you changed ages in the throne room, was that something you could use because of your heritage?"
"Yup! I can change ages at will, pretty similar to how gods do it."
"Does that mean you're immortal?" Artemis asked hopefully.
Perseus frowned at the floor, clearly thinking about it. "I'm not sure to be honest," he admitted. "I know I could never age, so I probably wouldn't die due to old age. But I'm not quite sure if I'm immortal. I believe by now I'm fourteen in actual age."
Artemis nodded with a slight frown, her hopes of being able to keep him around forever diminishing. She sat there for a moment, just processing through her thoughts when realization hit her. "If you're fourteen, could you possibly be the one the prophecy was talking about!?"
"As in the great prophecy?" Artemis nodded. "I'm not quite sure what it is. I've heard Nyx speak about it but she has never recited it to me."
"It mentions that a child of the eldest gods will reach sixteen and decide Olympus' faith. This entire time we had believed it meant a child of my father or uncles, but it's logical to believe it might have meant one of the primordial gods, like Chronos." Artemis explained, not missing the way how Perseus flinched at the mention of his father. Before she could question it, he had began to speak.
"It could very well mean me, though I wouldn't think about it too much. Prophecy's typically don't have much influence over me."
"Why's that?"
"The fates are powerful, but even they cannot control time," Perseus stated with a smirk.
"Speaking of which, what happened in the throne room? The fates appeared then the entire scene changed. You were already in your older form and in a different spot while they were nowhere in sight," Artemis asked curiously. She noticed the way he tensed greatly as she continued to question about what happened.
He took in a deep breath before letting it back out, in an attempt to calm himself. "I'd rather not talk about it right now. I'll explain it tomorrow. If that's all, I should let you get some rest."
Artemis was a bit disappointed that her curiosity wasn't clenched, but she figured not to pry when it clearly wasn't a subject he wanted to speak about. She should've been content with just getting him back after all, she had missed him immensely. "Could you change back into your younger form?"
Perseus shot her a questioning glance but complied. Once he had transformed younger, all he had on was a shirt, to which he could only give a tired sigh. Artemis stood up from her seat and scooped Perseus up in her arms, drawing a yelp. She then plopped onto the bed and covered both of them with the blanket.
"What was that for?" Perseus asked from his place on top of his mother.
"Can't a mother sleep with her child with her?" Artemis replied, gently moving his black bangs back with hand while holding onto him tightly with the other.
Perseus didn't reply, choosing instead to lay his head on his mother's chest. He greatly missed that feeling of safety whenever he was with her. Tartarus had been quite difficult, and often times he found himself wishing he were safe with his mother. They laid there for a while in silence, enjoying the other's presence, before the silence was interrupted.
"Hey, mom."
"Yes, Perseus?"
He raised his head to look right at her, his eyes anxious as if almost fearing something. "Where's Samantha? I didn't see her."
Memories of the daughter of Athena resurfaced. She had always taken a liking to Perseus back when he was in the hunt. She was also quite the fine huntress.
"She.. passed away," Artemis sighed.
"Oh," Perseus said quietly. He snuggled his head into the crook of Artemis' neck whilst clutching onto her torso tightly, as if afraid to lose her again. Artemis simply patted his head gently in reassurance.
Soon enough, Perseus' once tight hold began to loosen up before becoming nonexistent. His slightly labored breathing evened out and became soft. Artemis smiled down at the little head of hair resting upon her, glad that she could enjoy moments like these once again.
"Sleep well," she said quietly before allowing herself to fall asleep.
A:N/ I'm so bad at ending stuff xd.
Anyways,
Important: Tell me who you'd like Percy to be paired with, Eris or Thalia. I made sure to keep them both viable.
I'm sorry if I missed some stuff during the Percy-Artemis-Zoe-Atalanta-Thalia thing, and I also apologize for the last chapter which was super short, hopefully this somewhat makes up for it. Hope you enjoyed!
