Pain Without Reason Chapter 5: Because I Care, a percy jackson and the olympians fanfic

Hey, PoisonBones here. Remember last chap. When I said I wouldn't update without five reviews? Forget it, I can't wait for five reviews to finish this, it's too awesome! Here's the next chapter (Duh) A little while after all of the conflict, and how both Hera and Artemis are healing up. Hope you like! ;D -PoisonBones

Artemis POV

It had been a month since the accident with Hera had occurred, and I had not seen her since. I had begged, shoved and threatened Apollo to tell me what had happened the night the whole thing went down, but my brother might as well have sewn his mouth shut, because all he did was deny, refuse, and change the subject. I was healing nicely however. My bruises had faded, and my cuts left no scars. As for my ankle, I had to wear a plaster cast for 8 weeks until the muscle re-attached to the bone and strengthened enough for me to run and walk normally, without me having to worry if it would tear away again. I could walk on it, though a little awkwardly, enough to get around without much help. And that was exactly what I was doing. Father Zeus had called a meeting due to the eclipse and we all had to be present. Apollo had come to trust me enough to let me walk on my own, but it seemed even when he was far away, he was always within falling distance.

I might as well have screamed with delight when I reached the throne room, it was the farthest I had walked in weeks. But of course all of that joy disappeared when I turned around and saw the several steps that lead to my seat. Stairs are hard when you can't bend your ankle.

I sighed. How was I going to get up? As if reading my thoughts, Apollo came out of nowhere, wrapped his arms around my torso, and lifted me up the steps and moved past me to his own seat and plugged his headphones into his ears. I steadily made my way to my throne, but scorned down on it when I got there. It seemed so far down to the ground, and no doubt it would jar my hurt foot when I sat. I didn't want to experience that pain. I looked around with a pout face, then with a final choice for a place to sit, flopped heavily and pulled myself in as not to rest on his bony knee into an unsuspecting gods lap. Apollo was so startled that all he did for a solid five seconds was stare at me in shock, then brought his arms around my waist and relaxed into his throne. I lay back against his chest and placed my head on his shoulder.

With my head so close to his, I could hear the music coming from his ear buds, and I almost laughed at the fact that I knew the tune. I reached over and pulled a headphone out of his ear and started to sing along.

I was thinking 'bout her, Thinking 'bout me, Thinking 'bout us, What we gonna be Open my eyes, it was only just a dream So I travelled back down that road Will she come back? No one knows I realize, yeah, it was only just a dream

Apollo listened to me, a look of amusement on his face. I nudged him, and he started singing along with me, our voices blending together in perfect harmony.

I was at the top and now it's like I'm in the basement Number one spot now she found her a replacement I swear now I can't take it, knowin' somebody's got my baby And now you ain't around baby I can't think I should've put it down, should've got that ring Cause I can still feel it in the air See your pretty face run my fingers through your hair My lover, My life, My shawty, My wife She left me, I'm tied Cause I knew that it just ain't right

I didn't notice that pretty much everyone had stopped to watch and listen to us, if Apollo noticed, he said nothing.

I was thinking 'bout her, Thinking 'bout me, Thinking 'bout us, What we gonna be Open my eyes, yeah, it was only just a dream So I travelled back down that road Will she come back? No one knows I realize, yeah, it was only just a dream

When I be ridin' man, I swear I see her face at every turn Tryna get my Usher over, I can't let it burn And just hope she know she the only one I yearn for More and more I miss her When will I learn? Didn't give her all my love, I guess now I got my payback Now I'm in the club thinkin' all about my baby Hey, she was so easy to love But wait, I guess my love wasn't enough I'm going through it every time that I'm alone And now I'm missin', wishin' she'd pick up the phone But she made the decision that she wanted to move on Cause I was wrong

Everyone was listening now.

If you ever loved somebody put your hands up If you ever loved somebody put your hands up And now they're gone and you're wishin' you could give them everything Said if you ever loved somebody put your hands up If you ever loved somebody put your hands up Now they're gone and you're wishin' you could give them everything

Aphrodite now had a stack of pictures as thick as my wrist, and Hermes was holding the video camera above his head for a better view.

There was a loud applause throughout the room. I could feel my face turning red, and I slapped a hand over my mouth. Everyone had heard me singing. I couldn't believe I just did that, Apollo was the only one who had ever heard me sing before, and now everyone had heard my gods-awful voice.

"Artemis, I never knew you could sing!" Athena exclaimed.

I removed my hand from my mouth and did the most civilized thing I could do right then, "I'm sorry you all had to hear my horrible voice."

"What do you mean?" Aphrodite looked at me, an expression of wonder on her beautiful face, "You sounded like an angel!"

"No I didn't." I pulled my hands up to shield my face and sank deeper into Apollo's warm embrace.

"Well ya' sure sound better than I do!" Aphrodite said planting her hands on her hips.

"You got that right." Ares muttered.

"You're not supposed to agree with me."

"Everyone to your seats, council is ready begin." Father's voice billowed throughout the palace as everyone scrambled to their thrones.

Zeus' eyes scanned the room to assure everyone was here, except for Hera. Her throne was empty; a thin layer of dust had begun to collect on the seat. When he finished attendance, the council began.

I will not bore you with the details of his speech, but I will give you the outline. Demeter's harvest had to be finished by September, Hestia needed to ready the hearths for winter, Athena needed to double check the curriculum before school starts again, Aphrodite needed to oversee as wedding in Colorado, and Apollo and I had to hold the total eclipse for 8 minutes before moving forward.

He scanned us over for a second before dismissing us, "Council adjourned."

Apollo moved to lift me and rose up a little bit.

"Apollo, Artemis, you two need to stay." Apollo paused, and then settled back down into his throne.

Father didn't speak until everyone had filed out to turn to us. He looked us both over, "Are you healing well?"

"Yeah." I said.

"Cuts and bruises gone away?"

"I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Dad," Apollo's voice was firm and even, "She's fine. How's bitch?"

"Language, Phoebus."

"Well, how is bitch?" I asked. I couldn't keep the impatient tone out of my voice, I couldn't even care that such a vulgar word had passed through my lips, I had been waiting to hear about Hera's condition since Apollo returned the night it happened.

Zeus stared at me, awed by my profanity, and then delivered his answer, "She…has been better. Her shoulder is still painful to her, and her ankle won't heal right."

My eyes widened, what Apollo done to her? Y'know what? I didn't even care. She hated me, why should I care about her?

"She'll heal soon, at least her shoulder will." Apollo's voice was barely audible against my shoulder, but Zeus heard it and let out a long sigh.

"You are dismissed." Father turned his back to us and began to stare into Hestia's hearth. Apollo and I exchanged looks of bemusement, but Apollo stood pulling me with him. He helped me down the stairs and let me walk the rest of the way out on my own. We passed thought the big double doors out into the hallway. We walked side by side in silence for a long while.

"It sounds like you hurt her pretty bad." I said finally looking up at my brother, who was walking slower as to stay beside my limping form. He looked down at me, his brows furrowed together in confusion.

"Hera. How bad did you hurt her?" He raised his head up again, focusing on the far wall and said nothing.

"Apollo."

"I gave her what she deserved," Apollo's voice was not hard and mean as he said this, but soft and gentle, "I hope she learned a lesson."

"You didn't have to do that."

"Yes I did."

"No you didn't."

"Yes I did!" Apollo stopped in his tracks and whipped around to face me, all traces of his earlier docile tone gone, "I had to do it okay? I hate it when people touch you or get anywhere near you! I hate it when people hurt you, and you're fucking virgin goddess! People are just tempted to try, I hate it! So yeah, I had to do it godsdammit I had to." His voice cracked a little on that last line. Apollo took a deep breath and crossed his arms across his chest.

Call me cruel, but my smart mouth acted up, "Damn man, I thought Ares was bad about explosions, but shit, you put him to shame!"

Apollo turned and stalked away, grumbling something about how this was why he was never serious.

With a sigh I jogged as best I could to catch up with his long strides, "'Pollo, wait." He stopped again and I looked up into his eyes, "That was mean and I'm sorry. I know you hate it when people you don't trust touch me. Or get anywhere near for that matter."

"Since when do you care what I feel?" My brother's voice was back into its soft tone.

"Since forever."

"That's the biggest lie that has ever crossed your lips."

"No it's not." I paused for a second. It was time to come clean, I couldn't avoid it, and "I care. A lot. Your opinion matters a lot more to me than I make it seem, and I know I can be harsh at times but you are one of the most important people in my life and I would do anything for you."

Apollo's face lit up a little bit. But it was with a mischievous glint in his blue orbs that he spoke, "Wow. Artie, that was beautiful. Almost as good as R.G. Lee."

"Oh bite me; I did it because I care." I turned to walk away, but looked back at my brother once more and pointed a finger in his face, which he gracefully crossed his eyes to look at, "I never said that."

"Hey, no hard feelings." He held up his hands in mock surrender and backed off.

I playfully punched him in the arm, "Love you bro."

"Right back at ya' sis. Hey, I found some superglue in 'Thena's room."

"So?"

"So, we can go glue Hello Kitty and My Little Pony posters all over in Uncle Hades' room."

"He'll kill us."

"We can't die."

"Then he will make us miserable."

"I got leverage."

"What might that be?"

"I'm helping Nico with his math homework at night."

"Lucky bastard."

"You in?"

"Do I breathe?"

"Well, technically, no we don't have to breathe to live because we're immortal, but some of us do-!"

"Shut up and come on before I change my mind."

"Yes ma'am."

Yeah, yeah crappy ending. This story is officially finished. FYI for those who don't know, R.G. Lee is a preacher/pastor who travels around America to give speeches about God, no offense to Christians in the way I wrote that; I respect your religion entirely. I do not own lyrics to 'Just A Dream' by Nelly. Thanks for readings, goodnight!

-PoisonBones