Everlasting Promises - My ending

by hector.vorng

Creds go to starblade176, purely a fanfiction of a fanfiction..

15. Chapter 15

Percy

Golden light shone through the blacked out windows, forcing everyone to close their eyes. Then the ground shook even more, powerful enough to throw the limousine into the air and back onto the ground. Then everything stilled.

"That didn't sound or feel good." The driver said, a celestial bronze dagger appearing in his hand.

"That's an understatement… so you're a demigod. Son of Aphrodite?" Percy asked.

He nodded. "Name is James. I've been in the driving business for quite a while, since I couldn't stand the fact that a lot of rich people were actually monsters. And of course, my mother wanted a…report."

"I should've known…Well, you can tell your mother that everything is alright. And I'm not going to go in bed with her. So be careful and just take the limousine back to wherever it was before it gets damaged." Percy said.

James laughed. "Sure will. But how do you propose to get back then?" James asked.

"Teleport." Percy said. He turned to Artemis and his sisters. "My Lady, you alright? Everyone alright?" Percy asked.

Artemis nodded. She kicked the limousine door and quickly walked out, a bow and arrow already in her hand. Thalia and the hunters quickly hopped out, bow in hand. Percy uncapped Riptide and drew his second sword.

"It came from there. Central Park. And I have a bad feeling about it." Percy said.

"Why?" Artemis asked.

"Hyperion. He was stuck in a tree. But if Gaea isn't completely asleep yet, then that could mean she either managed to free him, or bewitched a group of satyrs to free him." Percy explained.

Artemis's eyes widened as realization hit her. "That's not good."

"Exactly." Percy said, breaking into a run. Artemis and the hunters quickly followed as James drove off. They reached Central Park and quickly surveyed the damage. Many trees had been ripped from the ground, there were large cracks on the ground, and right there, in plain sight, was a crater.

"No, NO, NO!" Percy yelled. He ran over to the crater. "The tree! The maple tree was right here!"

"Look! Satyrs, a lot of them. I'd say about fifteen of them. I wonder if they're still alive? Maybe we can interrogate them?" Tracy wondered, bending down to examine one of them.

"No! Tracy, STOP!" Percy yelled frantically as he rushed over to her.

Tracy froze instantly, her hands centimeters away from touching the satyr. "Why?" She asked.

"Because they could be pretending to be dead and are still dangerous." Percy said.

Percy reached out and pulled Tracy back, protectively putting himself between the satyr and Tracy. He carefully touched the satyr. The instant Percy's finger made contact, the satyr's arm shot out, a dagger in its hand. It instantly slashed, attempting to slash Percy across the chest, but Percy's reflexes were too quick. As the dagger came at him, Percy grabbed the wrist with his right hand and snapped the arm in half with his left hand. The satyr suddenly froze, and his entire body cracked. Then it slowly crumbled into a mound of dirt. Percy stepped back in shock while Artemis frowned.

"What does this mean?" Percy asked quietly.

"Go examine the other satyrs. Be careful, and be on the alert. I do not want anyone to die. That includes you, Percy." Artemis said before she could stop herself. Percy, with his years of battle experience, was the person who needed that advice the least. Percy smiled at her and the hunters smirked before walking off, spreading out to search for anything that could give them answers. Tracy started walking off too, but Artemis pulled her back.

"I hope you learned your lesson, Tracy." Artemis said seriously.

Tracy nodded solemnly. "I have, my lady."

"And what's the lesson?" Artemis asked, wanting to make sure that it stuck in her head.

"Don't be so rash and don't take everything at face value." Tracy said. "And be careful of who and what you trust."

Artemis nodded. "Good. Especially in men. They're sneaky, lying, unfaithful, rude, disgusting, arrogant, ignorant, nasty, selfish, greedy, pompous, and well, I don't think I need to go on. All men are like that." Artemis said.

The one man she was thinking about was Orion. He had seemed friendly, and had seemed different. After she had killed him and learned that he had raped an innocent maiden and attempted to rape one of her huntresses, she really wished that he were alive right now so she could slaughter him like a pig. But instead, she had given him a merciful death and even honoured him by putting him into the skies. She clenched her teeth at the thought. She was glad he was dead, even though she sorely wished she could take down the constellation. At least she had gotten some revenge by putting the scorpion in the sky.

"Yeah, I know all men are like that. Except Percy. He'd never do anything like that to us." Tracy said.

"True. He's an exception. But that's beside the point. I'm just making sure that you remember this, because this type of stuff is experience type of stuff. You don't really learn it by someone teaching you about it." Artemis said.

"I understand my lady, and don't worry, I'll remember it." Tracy replied.

"Good. Now come, let's get searching and interrogating." Artemis said.

As it turned out, they had no need to search. They had heard Percy's growling voice, following by Thalia's sharp whistle. They rush over and found Percy holding onto and interrogating a satyr.

"Tell me! Who ordered you to do this and what happened? Tell me!" Percy growled, shaking the satyr.

"Can…not. M-must s-s-save the w-wild… Release… and…she will help…rebuild…wild." The satyr gasped out.

"Who. Is. The. She?" Percy growled.

The satyr opened its mouth before convulsing, it seemed to struggle for a brief instance before its eyes turned brown and its body crumbled in a pile of dirt.

"Damn. He was the only one who could talk, the others were already dead or had disappeared. What makes it worse is that these satyrs didn't die like normal satyrs. Satyrs are supposed to regenerate as a plant, usually just normal plants, but if you're a good satyr, then it's a laurel. But all these, they crumbled into dirt." Percy said.

"So that means Zeus has underestimated Gaea. She may be asleep, but her brief time awake allowed her to gain more power than we expected. We can only hope that she has used her remaining energy up, or she may be able to speed up Kronos's resurrection process…" Artemis said gravely.

"That's not good. What do we do then? Scout the area, or report to Lord Zeus first?" Percy asked.

Artemis hesitated. She sensed something, and she was itching to find out. However, if she went in without Zeus's permission, she'd have to sit through Zeus's lectures, which she hated.

"We'll go to Camp or Olympus and report first. Come, I'll teleport, it'll be faster." Artemis said. However, they were unable to group together when someone interrupted them.

"Not so fast, Artemis."

Everyone froze as hundreds of monsters appeared, completely surrounding them. Most of them were dracaene, even though Percy saw several groups of Laistrygonian Giants.

"Well, this isn't too bad. Just reveal your true form." Percy whispered.

Then the monsters parted to reveal two figures. A large, plump woman with a fake smile, serpent tongue and super sharp teeth. The other was a Chihuahua, albeit a Chihuahua that looked like it had gotten a steroid injection and was wearing thick metal plating.

"Echidna." Percy growled as he stepped in front of Artemis, ensuring that if the Chimera attacked, he'd take the full force of it.

"Perseus Jackson. How nice it is to see you again." Echidna said, her tongue flicking in and out. The Chihuahua-Chimera growled and stepped forward. "Not yet sonny, soon." The Chimera obediently stepped back a bit, although it continued staring at Percy.

Percy and Echidna stared at each other, Percy's eyes a harsh and poisonous green that indicated he was ready to kill, while Echidna's red slit-eyes seemed to be analyzing him.

"So Lamia lied. You were working with her then." Percy said.

"No. She was not lying. I merely followed her because it made my, ah, meals easier. It also gave me a chance to verify the rumours that you, Percy Jackson, became a Guardian of the Hunt." Echidna hissed.

"What do you want?" Percy snarled.

"Well, I had two objectives. The first one was to help Hyperion escape. With the help of the satyrs, it was easy. Then I was supposed to buy him some time if he needed it. Which is what I'm doing right now. Three, you are to come with me, or we kill the Hunters. Or shall I say, your sisters?" Echidna said, emphasizing the last word.

Percy clenched his fists. "Don't you dare do anything to them or Artemis." Percy said harshly.

"Then surrender yourself, and I can promise you that no harm will come to them, now or in the future. I swear on the Styx." Echidna said silkily. Thunder boomed.

"What do you want with Percy anyways?" Artemis snarled. If it weren't for the fact that her hunters were being held at near point-blank, she'd have taken Percy's advice and revealed her divine form.

"Merely the fact that Gaia's last wishes included Percy. That's really all that I can tell you. So are you coming or not? Either way, we will get you. The only difference is that one situation is where the Hunters are alive, and the other situation is where we leave the Hunters dead." Echidna said. "So those are your options. Choose quickly."

Percy thought for an instant. While his sisters were immortal, getting pecked by arrows was a nasty and painful way to die, and there was no way he'd let that happen. He also had no idea what their reform time was. And he really didn't want to reveal to Artemis that her Hunters were immortal this soon, he wanted to keep it in the dark for as long as possible. He was about to answer when Artemis answered for him.

"He's not going anywhere. Percy, I forbid you to hand yourself over like fruit on a platter." Artemis growled.

"It's the only way my lady, to save you and your huntresses from much pain." Percy replied steadily.

"And you don't think that you leaving me-us-wouldn't cause any pain either?" Artemis whispered furiously.

"It's my duty, my lady. It would be dishonourable of me to have a chance to live at the pain of the others." Percy replied, steady as ever.

"To hell with your honour! Either we go down together, or you don't go at all!" Artemis hissed, letting her emotions take over her mind.

"I'm sure I will be alright, my lady. Your safety is my first priority." Percy said, feeling touched that Artemis cared so much about him.

"You swore an oath by Chaos, right? So I order you to not hand yourself over. I forbid it." Artemis said.

Percy smiled a smile she didn't like. "If I remember correctly, I never swore an Oath to follow your orders, my lady. I only swore an oath to protect you and the Hunt. I only followed your orders because I wanted to." Percy said, giving her a cocky grin.

Artemis froze as she realized what he had just said was true. She glared at him with outrage. "Damn you, Percy Jackson!" She hissed as she involuntarily smacked Percy across the face, temporarily forgetting that they had company.

"I'm sorry, my lady." Percy said. He did his special bow to her and saluted to his sisters, who were staring at him in shock.

"No Percy, don't! All of us, we'll die for you! You know it!" Thalia screamed as the other hunters dropped their weapons to stop Percy from handing himself over.

The look of hurt and pleading in Artemis's and his sisters eyes were almost too much to bear, but Percy held his resolve. He snapped his fingers and a ring of green fire surrounded Artemis and the Hunters.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot risk it." Percy whispered. He nodded to them once before turning to Echidna, who was smiling evilly.

"Now that's a good boy. And should any of you Hunters try to attack us from behind…" Echidna clicked her fingers and the Chihuahua instantly turned into its full Chimera form. It bared its teeth at Percy and snapped them shut. "Then you know what'll happen."

Artemis's silver eyes snapped with pure fury. "You'll pay for this, Echidna. I swear." Artemis whispered harshly

Echidna merely smirked as she produced a pair of celestial bronze handcuffs.

"I look forward to your reaction when you find young Perseus here in our little chamber. Or perhaps spending some quality time with other females." She spun Percy around and snapped on the handcuffs. "They're completely magic and fireproof. So don't even try to melt your way out, it'll just make it more painful for you. Now say good-bye to your family for the last time. At least I'm nice enough to do that for you."

Percy looked up and stared into his sisters eyes. He looked into Thalia's eyes, which were filled with hate, although towards him or Echidna, he didn't know. Hopefully the latter. Then he met Artemis's furious silver eyes. They were filled with so much anger, Percy nearly flinched. Knowing that the monsters were watching him carefully, he let his eyes burst into flames for a split second and gave the slightest of nods, hoping that Artemis would pick up on the signal.

"Enough. Now follow me peacefully boy, and we'll treat you a little better." Echidna snarled as she dragged at Percy's suit. Percy followed as the other monsters put their bows and weapons away and followed Echidna.

"My Lady, we can't let him be taken like that!" Thalia said urgently. "We have to do something!"

"Yeah, who knows what they'll do to him? At best, he'll be killed. And at worst…" Phoebe left the sentence hanging. There were many things worse than death.

"I know. But wait. Get your weapons ready." Artemis said with clenched teeth.

Percy was flanked by two large Laistrygonian giants with iron grips as he followed Echidna, who almost seemed to be dancing with her success and the Chimera, who was, well, was still growling at him. Percy shifted his hands slightly.

"You know, you're Echidna, the Mother of all monsters, and the wife of Typhon. I would've thought that you didn't take orders. And yet, here you are, Gaea's bitch. It's almost pathetic." Percy spat.

Echidna whirled around, her eyes flashing. She stepped closer as she seemed to grow in size. "I shall ignore your insulting tone of voice just this once. One more time, and you shall find yourself in the worst corners of Tartarus." Echidna snarled.

Percy smiled thinly as he readied himself. "Perhaps… but not today."

His hands turned to liquid, and with no solid matter for the handcuffs to bind, they clattered to the ground, empty. Percy did a flip and with a loud crack, sent Echidna reeling as he smashed her chin with his feet. He raised his hand and yelled, slamming his fist into the ground. A wall of fire and pure force shot outward from in a circle, throwing Echidna and the Chimera back while instantly vaporizing all monsters within 30 feet of him. The ground shook as deep cracks appeared in the ground in front of the Hunters, completely stopping the monsters from engaging the Hunters in close combat.

"Hunters!" Percy roared.

"Now!" Artemis screamed in unison.

A rain of arrows fell upon the screaming and shocked monsters, each arrow taking out a monster with laser precision. Artemis herself had fired a volley of what she called "heavy arrows." Arrows that contained the force of a bomb. They landed with muffled explosions, destroying any monster within its blast radius and sending out concussive waves that knocked any standing monster right off their feet, making them easy targets for the Hunters.

However, even with such surprising and forceful attacks, wiping out many monsters, large numbers of monsters still remained, and the Chimera was very dangerous. Percy knew it and motioned to Artemis to take care of Echidna while he took on the Chimera.

Percy summoned a fiery tornado and threw it at a group of dracaene archers, instantly burning them to a crisp while he summoned a hurricane on his other hand and directed it towards the Chimera. It sent the Chimera flying and Percy quickly ripped off his suit and dress shirt, since they were tight, and if he were to take on an adversary like the Chimera, he'd need all the flexibility he could get. Artemis somersaulted over him as she began to engage Echidna while Percy took out both of his swords and swung them once to loosen himself. And while the Chimera was still struggling to its feet, he charged.

Aiming only to hit through its thick armour, Percy brought his swords down in a hammer blow, one after the other. They slammed into the Chimera with deadly force, sparks flying as the armour cracked, but didn't break. The Chimera fell back down again, but its snake-headed tail whipped out, teeth bared, venom dripping from its fangs. Percy leapt backwards as he avoided the deadly bite and shot a stream of water from his hand, causing the Chimera to roar in frustration as it tumbled backwards.

The Chimera rolled over and opened its mouth, sending a powerful stream of fire right at Percy. Being the stupid monster it was, the Chimera probably expected Percy to be roasted to a crisp. Instead, Percy charged straight through and slashed with both swords, drawing two deep lines in the Chimera's armour. It snarled and snapped its tail, slamming into Percy and causing him to fly backwards. While Percy was down, the Chimera reacted with startling speed and pounced on top of Percy, drawing lines of pain and blood as it swiped with its claws.

Percy gritted his teeth as he curled up and kicked out with both feet, causing the Chimera to fly off him. Ignoring the pain on his chest, he pointed his hand at the ground right below the Chimera and summoned a geyser. The Chimera shot into the air, unable to get back onto the ground due to the geyser below him. Percy wound back his arm and let both Riptides fly, praying that his aim wouldn't fail him in his moment of need.

It didn't. Both swords slammed into the Chimera, impaling the Chimera all the way up to the hilt. He snapped his fingers and the geyser shot upwards before taking hold of the Chimera and smashing it back into the ground with a crash. He turned to survey the ongoing battle, assuming that the Chimera was destroyed, since no monster could withstand two – 3 foot long bars of celestial bronze stuck inside them.

Gods, but was he wrong.

He quickly searched for Artemis and relaxed when he saw her pounding Echidna to a pulp with a mixture of arrows, knives and godly powers. Echidna had a fearful look on her face and kept on using monsters as a shield, although it was quite useless since Artemis would just plow straight through them. He turned to his sisters, who were clearly holding their own thanks to the deep cracks Percy had created in the ground in front of them. A few hunters were in close combat with them, but he wasn't particularly worried so long as they weren't outnumbered. He raised his hand, ready to give the Hunters a blast of assistance when a massive force slammed into him, pinning him to the ground.

He crashed face first into the ground as something huge landed on top of his back, and he could hear snarling. Instinctively, Percy let loose a blast of his upgraded powers, sending out a wave of force that knocked the monster off him. He quickly jumped back up to his feet and to his great surprise, found it was the Chimera.

"What the…?" Percy asked, shocked. He had seen both of his swords impale the Chimera. He looked over to the mound of rubble where he had tossed the Chimera and saw a massive piece of metal with two holes in it. Percy then turned back to the Chimera and saw that it had two small wounds on its side. "You had that thick of an armour on?"

The Chimera seemed to chuckle as it leapt forward and lashed out with its tail. Percy gave a growl of frustration as he ducked. This little pest was beginning to annoying the crap out of him, and he was going to end it now.

He drew Riptide, and the second time the Chimera swung its tail, Percy grabbed the snake head with his left hand, clenching his hand into a fist to prevent the snake from biting him. He swung Riptide and severed the head, rendering the tail useless. Planting his feet into the ground, he wrapped the headless tail around his forearm and yanked hard. The Chimera flew towards him and Percy held Riptide straight out, keeping his arm as straight as he could.

The Chimera roared with pain as he crashed into Riptide, the latter which had stuck deep into its body. Without wasting time, Percy unwrapped its tail from his forearm and pulled out his second sword, plunging it right next to the first one. The Chimera screamed and thrashed, but already its form was flickering. Then Percy pulled both of his swords in opposite directions with a savage roar, literally ripping the Chimera in half. The Chimera imploded violently into a cloud of monster dust.

"NOO! MY SONNY!" Echidna screamed. Her anguish scream seemed to pierce through everything, but was abruptly cut short as Artemis slammed the hilt of her knife right into Echidna's face, adding another bruise onto an already beaten up face. It seemed to Percy that Artemis was trying to inflict as much pain onto Echidna as impossible, since her strikes were painful and brutal, not deadly and killing. Recapping Riptide, he walked over to the Hunters, who were currently in the middle of a standoff. A row of monsters were facing a row of Hunters, arrows nocked, face to face. Percy grinned. What a perfect formation.

He thrust his right hand towards the ground, palm facing downwards and shot a stream of fire. It pooled at his feet for just an instant before it surged forward like a wildfire, setting the entire line of monsters on fire in a split nanosecond. Needless to say, the Hunters were very surprised as they were now staring at a wall of green flames. Percy grinned and snapped his fingers. The flames died down as the Hunters glared at him.

"Hello little sisters. You all safe and alright?" Percy asked, his mouth curving into a smile as he surveyed his sisters and saw that none of them suffered anything worse than cuts so minor that they didn't even bleed. They closed before his eyes, and his smile grew at the indication that they were fully immortal.

"Yes, we're alright, "big brother". You're cut, so shouldn't we be worrying about you?" Thalia said, indicating Percy's wounds on his chest as she put her bow away.

Percy looked down at his bare chest. They wounds from the Chimera's claws had been relatively minor, and were already closing, thanks to Chaos's little gift when he made Percy a half- immortal. He shrugged.

"Already healing. You don't happen to know where my shirt is, do you?" Percy asked.

Thalia shook her head. "You look better without a shirt anyway. I'm sure Artemis would agree." Thalia said, smirking as she gave Percy a hug.

The other Hunters quickly walked over before they piled him in an embrace. Tracy climbed onto Phoebe's shoulder so she could climb onto Percy's back.

"Hey look, I'm touched and all, but why all the hugs?" Percy asked, his face red mainly because of what Thalia said, but also because he wasn't wearing a shirt and the Hunters didn't seem to care at all.

"Because you're back with us, Seaweed Brain. Now come on, let's go check on Artemis. Or should I say, we go check on poor Echidna?" Thalia replied.

"Yes, let's." Percy said, walking towards Artemis, who currently seemed to be kicking Echidna.

"You girls needn't have worried so much. You know I'd never leave you all, unless it's against my own will." Percy chuckled. "And even if it was against my will, I'd fight it."

"Good. Don't forget your promise that you made to me, Percy." Tracy said, resting her chin on Percy's head.

"Don't worry Tracy, I won't forget. I promise." Percy said warmly.

"I trust you." Tracy said simply.

They had reached Artemis and Echidna, the latter who was literally getting her ass whooped. Percy examined Echidna and saw thousands of cuts and repulsive bruises all over her face and body. Percy vaguely wondered how Artemis managed to do that much damage in a dress when he looked at Artemis and realized that she had changed into her Hunter's outfit.

Lucky. I wish Aphrodite had given me the ability to change my clothes. Then I wouldn't have to lose my suit. Percy thought. He was pulled from his thoughts as Artemis continued to beat Echidna up.

"Not so pompous now, are you Echidna?" Artemis snarled as she fired several blunt-tipped arrows at point-blank range straight at Echidna's stomach. Echidna spasmed before coughing at Artemis's feet.

"Please Artemis, haven't you dealt enough pain to satisfy yourself?" Echidna coughed out.

"Now who's the one begging for mercy?" Artemis snarled, gripping her bow tightly in her hand.

"Just let me go. Please, I swear that I won't cause trouble. How could I, if I don't have my pet with me?" Echidna said.

"You're pretty dangerous by yourself, Echidna. And if I let you go, how do I know you won't try to come back and take my Percy?" Artemis growled.

"I swear on the Styx. Let me go. Please." Echidna begged.

Artemis narrowed her eyes. "Since you gave Perseus an ultimatum, I'll give you one also. You run away and get out of my sight in ten seconds, or you can let me kill you quickly and swiftly, right here and right now."

"Is there a third option?" Echidna squeaked.

The flash in Artemis's silver eyes was all the answer Echidna needed.

"Ok, ok, I'll take the first option." Echidna squealed, scrambling to her feet and limping off as quickly as she could.

Artemis stared at the slowly disappearing figure of Echidna with exasperation.

"You run slower than Perseus… and that's saying a lot." Artemis muttered under her breath. She picked an arrow that looked like it had the flat side of a sledge hammer on the tip out of her quiver and nocked it. She slowly took aim and let loose. The arrow flew straight and true, smashing into the back of Echidna's head with such force that it ripped it clean off.

For about 5 seconds, everyone could clearly see Echidna's headless figure. Then it slowly slumped to its knees before bursting into a cloud of dust.

"That was gross." Percy said simply, startling Artemis. She whirled around and her eyes widened in surprise.

"Percy!" She exclaimed, walking forward. "You-You're alright! Well, mostly… except for your chest and face." Artemis said, tracing the cuts on his chest with her finger before she realized what she was doing and hastily stepped backwards, blushing furiously as she did so.

Percy blushed too, but since Tracy was around his neck, it was easier to hide.

"Of course I'm alright, my lady. Don't expect me to leave all of you just because of some little pest. He's much easier to kill than La- erm, than the other monsters I've faced before." Percy said, hoping that Artemis wouldn't notice his little slip.

Thalia noticed, seeing as she arched her eyebrow ever so slightly, but thankfully Artemis didn't seem to have noticed.

"Good. Because you still have much to learn, and I haven't even tried out my new method of teaching you archery yet." Artemis said, tearing her gaze away from his bare torso. "Don't you have a shirt?"

"I had to take off my suit and shirt, since they were too restricting. I couldn't change my clothes like you can, and my sisters shirts are too small." Percy explained.

"Or you could just ask me." Artemis said, snapping her fingers and summoning a silver shirt.

"That works too." Percy said, smiling as he took the shirt from her. "Tracy, you're going to have to get off."

"Awww, I was just getting comfortable." Tracy whined.

"Tracy, come on."

"Fine." Tracy pouted before hopping off Percy and into the arms of Phoebe.

"Thank you." Percy said, pulling on his shirt. It was a bit tight, but it'd do.

"So now what? Look around and try to figure out where Hyperion went, or go back to camp and warn the rest of the gods?" Percy asked.

Artemis thought for a minute before answering.

"It is pointless to try to catch Hyperion now. The whole point of Echidna being here was probably to distract us. And attempt to get our Guardian here. We go back and warn the others right now. Come, we'll teleport, it'll be faster." Artemis concluded.

"Alright, see you girls there." Percy said, extending his wings. There was a ripping sound and he turned around to find bits of silver cloth hanging from his wings. He had completely forgotten that this shirt didn't have slits for his wings. "Oh crap…"

"Percy! You destroyed my shirt! And where do you think you're going?" Artemis asked.

"I need some fresh air. And also, I heard what you said about me when you were talking about how slow Echidna was." Percy said. He waved at his sisters and threw a wink at Artemis before launching himself into the air.

Artemis stared at the rapidly disappearing Guardian before shaking her head.

"What is it, my lady?" Thalia asked.

"I simply underestimate him. Many times." Artemis said as she gathered her hunters into a circle.

"Or perhaps he's just unique and special, my lady." Thalia whispered right as Artemis teleported them all to Camp.

Percy breathed in the cool and untainted air from high above New York City. The real reason why he hadn't wanted to travel with Artemis, even if it was a short teleport, was that Artemis would ask him about the power change that was emanating from the Hunters. His sisters may not know it themselves, but they were already more powerful than they originally were.

He saw a distant flash of silver light and knew that Artemis had already arrived, so he pumped his wings harder. He was about to land when a voice spoke in his mind.

Yo boss, how's it going!

Hey Blackjack, nothing much, but My Lady is probably already calling an audience with Zeus. Percy replied telepathically.

A patch of darkness seemed to detach itself from the night and flew next to him.

Damn, now that you have wings, you won't need me anymore, boss. Blackjack said.

No way Blackjack! Of course I'd need you! You're still the fastest Pegasus around. And don't call me boss! Percy replied.

Blackjack let out a whinny of laughter. Whatever you say BOSS! Cya latah! Blackjack said, zooming off to the stables.

Percy grumbled under his breath. Blackjack hadn't changed a single bit, ever since he'd first met him. Percy smiled. Sometimes, that was the way he liked it. Percy dropped down silently onto the ground, a little ways off from where Artemis was walking towards the Amphitheater. Transforming into liquid form, he quietly followed in their shadows, unseen.

Artemis and the Hunters had just arrived at the Amphitheater when there was a burst of black fire and Hades appeared. He seemed rather panicked and looked around as if he were searching for something.

"Niece! Um, I mean, Lady Artemis, have you seen Zeus? I have something of utmost importance to tell him." Hades said urgently.

Artemis frowned. "I came here for the same thing. I have some troubling news, and I was going to call him. Why didn't you call him?"

"Oh no, I don't want to call him when Aphrodite is messing with Zeus and Hera. That's a one-way trip to a place I really don't want to be in." Hades said. "Speaking of which, where's Perseus?"

"He's coming. Well, I suppose Zeus cannot yell at me, since I was…away." Artemis said. "Father! Olympians! I call upon all of you now!" Artemis yelled into the sky.

A rumble roared through the sky, followed by some voices.

"Wait daughter!"

"Ahh, don't disturb me!"

"Sis, hold on please!"

"Yeessss, hhhoolldd o-o-n-n-n…."

Hades raised an eyebrow. "Maybe then went a bit overload on the party?"

Artemis clenched her teeth together. "Well, they won't ignore this." She magically pulled a horn out of thin air. "My distress signal." She raised it to her lips and blew it once.

The resulting blast was powerful enough to cause Percy's liquid form to jiggle and bounce around on the ground. It seemed to echo on and on when suddenly twelve very bright flashes appeared instantly. All the other Olympians had appeared in a split second, dressed in full battle regalia.

"Camp? Artemis! Why did you sound your horn when nothing is wrong!" Zeus demanded angrily.

"Because I have some very bad news. Lord Hades says he bears bad news too." Artemis replied.

"How bad, sis?" Apollo asked.

"Titan bad." Artemis said, her voice deadly serious.

Zeus frowned as everyone stood stock still. "What about you, Lord Hades?"

"The same thing, brother." Hades replied.

"Hermes, go to the beach and get all the campers back here. With that many demigods there, the scent will be overpowering and dangerous without our presence. After you have done that, the Immortal Campers. We will meet in this, um, Ping-Pong room, I believe that is what it is called." Zeus said.

"At once, Father." Hermes said, bowing before he disappeared in a flash of light.

Everyone waited in silence until Artemis broke it with a valid question.

"Father, you all are still partying? It's 11 o'clock!" Artemis asked.

"Oh, um, well, it was actually getting quite fun, and I even managed to beat Poseidon at volleyball!" Zeus said excitedly.

"Stop rubbing it in my face, brother. My son would easily beat you." Poseidon grumbled. "Speaking of which, Artemis, where is he?"

"Oh, he's near. Pretty close. There's nothing to worry about." Artemis said, her eyes glancing over to where Percy currently was.

Percy was quite surprised until she spoke into his mind.

Did you really forget what I told you? I told you that I could sense whenever you are near. I can't exactly pinpoint your position like you can with me, but I can still sense you. Artemis said cheekily into his mind.

Percy sighed. He had forgotten. And while he offered no reply, he felt warm and strangely content that Artemis could sense him whenever he was near. It was a nice feeling.

Zeus seemed to stiffen slightly. "Why is that I sense… a power change? I sense more immortals than there should be."

"I sense it too, Father. I believe it has something to do with our news." Artemis said, even though she too was frowning. "And Ares, I must ask, what is the matter with you? Did Athena beat you up that badly?"

Percy turned his gaze upon Ares and flinched. Ares was covered in bandages;his right leg was in a cast while his right arm was in a sling. He was hunched over, and his face had several thick bandages. His sling seemed to be drenched in ichor. Ares glanced at Aphrodite, who raised her eyebrows slightly.

"Yeah. I uh, made fun of Athena and paid the price." Ares grumbled out.

"Athena, is that true?" Artemis asked.

Athena also glanced towards Aphrodite, who cocked her head slightly. Athena nodded.

"It was quite a pleasure." Athena said simply.

Artemis narrowed her eyes slightly. "Well, if that's true, then I can't say anything about it, since Ares was always a pig. But I don't know, it just seems that Ares just got his arm snapped, got beaten up, then got blown up, from several exploding cars, don't you think?"

Aphrodite looked rather panicked and Ares flinched, but Athena merely had a 'I-told-you-so' look on her face, but they were spared from answering Artemis by the arrival of Hermes

An explosion of light appeared around all of them. Hermes and all the campers were there, all of them looking worn out and some looking rather punch drunk.

"All of them are in fine condition, other than quite a few hangovers, and the Immortal Campers are right here." Hermes said, bowing.

"Thank you Hermes." Zeus said. He turned to the Immortal Campers. "Now, into the war room or Ping-Pong room. Whichever. There is something very important we must talk about."

They bowed and Zeus snapped his fingers, instantly teleporting them all into the war room. Except for Percy.

Percy grumbled under his breath. He quickly slid his way to the Big House before reforming back into a human form and opening the door manually. He then walked over to where the Ping-Pong table was located and transformed into liquid form and sliding underneath the door. He pooled himself at the foot of Artemis's chair, quietly thanking Chaos that she wasn't wearing a dress or a skirt. As if Artemis had heard his thoughts, her foot came down and nudged him aside.

"So, Artemis, you start first, since you and your Hunters look rather disheveled, and their clothing isn't exactly in top condition." Zeus's voice boomed out in the room.

Artemis nodded. "Hyperion is free."

Stunned silence.

"That-that's not possible. He was trapped in a maple tree, thanks to Percy and the satyrs!" Athena exclaimed, for once stuttering.

"We've seen it with our own eyes. Fought a group of monsters too, which included Echidna and the Chimera." Artemis said seriously.

"The Chimera? Isn't that some type of near unbeatable monster?" Jason asked hesitantly.

Annabeth shuddered. "Not unbeatable. Bellerophon killed it, with the help of Pegasus. He's the only one to ever have defeated it. Percy met Echidna and the Chimera when he was twelve, at the St. Louis Arch. He nearly got killed by it if it hadn't been for the fact that he jumped out and landed in the Mississippi River." Annabeth said hoarsely.

"This Echidna and Chimera… are they dead or still alive?" Reyna asked.

"Oh, dead. Very much dead. I killed Echidna, after giving her a round of punishment. The Chimera was ripped apart. Literally ripped apart, from what I've heard. The monsters were all killed. But we currently have no trace of Hyperion. But I am positive he is free, because a satyr that Percy interrogated confirmed it, along with Echidna. Also, his maple tree is gone. In its place is a crater." Artemis said.

"Who killed the Chimera then?" Leo asked.

Reyna snorted derisively. "Who else? Percy Jackson. I bet he did. Is that correct, Lady Artemis?" Reyna asked respectfully.

"Always right on you were, Reyna." Percy said, choosing that moment to reveal himself.

He slowly reformed, piece by piece, adding in the typical water effects from mortal movies to make a deeper impression. He gave a wicked grin and allowed his eyes to burst into their immortal form, flaming depths of green fire. The Campers all jerked backwards, even Nico, while the Hunters shrieked with laughter.

"Always the show off, aren't you, Perseus." Artemis said, smiling as she looked up at Percy.

"Of course. How can I resist, with the God of Theater sitting right there?" Percy said, jerking his head towards Zeus, who gave a rumble of laughter.

"I'll show you when this is over, young Perseus." Zeus said.

Percy bowed. "I expect nothing less."

"Whoa, whoa, back up, back up. Perce, did you really just kill the Chimera?" Leo asked, his eyes wide. The Immortal Campers smiled. Even after all these months, Leo still thought of Percy as god-like.

"Yes. You wouldn't believe how thick its armour was. Three feet of celestial of bronze right in, and it barely got cut." Percy grumbled.

"Oh wow, so was that your hardest fight? Can you show me what you did?" Leo asked excitedly, bouncing up and down in his chair.

"Leo, I didn't have a camcorder with me while I was fighting. And no, that was not my hardest fight." Percy said.

"Awww, I wanted to watch you rip apart the Chimera. Then what was your hardest fight?" Leo asked.

Percy's eyes flicked to Athena, who gave a covert smile, and Nico, who smirked ever so slightly, since they were one of the very few who knew what he had done.

Percy shrugged. "Porphyrion. But Leo, it's not about how well you fight or what you've done. Ok, it has a little bit to do with it, but if you're a nasty person on the inside, like Hercules, then you'll never get any real respect. Sure, you'll have your own little fan base of shallow idiots who get their…podex whipped all the time, but other than that, nothing. I know from personal experience. Courtesy of a dream and an ex-Hunter." Percy said seriously.

Everyone sat in silence, absorbing Percy's words. Thalia was the first to break it.

"Congratulations Percy, you're not the foolish, bimbo head I used to know." Thalia said, cracking a laugh as she slapped Percy on the arm. Percy raised an eyebrow at her while she gave him a hug.

"What was that for?" Percy asked. Thalia shrugged.

"I dunno. I feel like it." Thalia said, grinning impishly as she pulled back.

"Putting aside her sisterly affections foryou, Perseus, Thalia is correct. You have become a much wiser warrior, perhaps in part to my blessing, but mostly because of yourself." Athena said.

A couple eyebrows went up at this, since Athena hardly called anyone wise.

"Thank you Lady Athena, coming from you, that means a lot. And I truly mean no offense, but you too have quite a few things to learn about." Percy said.

Instead of looking offended, she looked rather alarmed. Quickly exchanging a glance with Poseidon, she did her best to act her usual self.

"Your meaning, Perseus?"

"Well, you had originally thought that I, a spawn of sea scum, was not worthy of your daughter. Turns out you were wrong." Percy said cheekily.

Annabeth flinched while Athena rolled her eyes.

"Very well, perhaps I was wrong that once, but I am the Wisdom Goddess, so I am much wiser than you." Athena said.

"Of course. I would never dare to think that I'm wiser than you, but wisdom is never given. It is gained, and it is up to the person to see whether they are competent enough to face the truth, or shy away from it like a man." Percy said.

Athena cocked her head. "Impressive. That was actually a very impressive comeback. I see that small blessing has done wonders to your stupid brain."

Percy grinned before stepping backwards to stand behind Artemis.

"Hey, hold on a second Percy, men don't shy away from the truth. Look at me, or Frank, or Leo. We never shrink away from the truth." Jason said indignantly.

Percy turned his gaze upon Jason.

"Watch yourself Jason, that's your ego talking. And it'll be worse for you, since you're a Son of Jupiter. Thalia has managed to control most of it, but that's because Thalia is a Greek. You're a Roman, so watch it. I wouldn't want to be Piper if you're going to let your ego get bigger." Percy said, his tone foreboding.

Jason gulped before reaching under the table to take Piper's hand while Thalia shot a triumphant smirk at her blood brother. Thalia stopped however when Percy raised an eyebrow at her.

"And while some men may not shy away from the truth, they never face it like us Hunters." Percy said, grinning at his sisters. They smiled back fondly at their "big brother". "Now, enough off-subject talk, let us go back to what we came here for."

Zeus nodded. "What else happened, Artemis?"

"Before everything happened, we had been…walking along, and then the ground shook like an earthquake. It was accompanied by a brilliant flash of light from Central Park, which Percy says was where Hyperion's maple tree had previously stood. We went to investigate, and found a large group of satyrs, most of them already dead or under spell." Artemis said, her gaze flicking to Tracy. She took a breath and continued,

"We split up and Percy managed to interrogate a satyr who hadn't died yet, and all the satyr was able to say was that he had to save the wild, and "she" would help if they released the being inside the maple tree. Then his eyes turned brown and he crumbled into dirt." Artemis said.

Silence followed her words as the gods pondered what they should do next.

"Perhaps we should let Lord Hades tell his side of the story, so we can see whether there is any connection between the two?" Athena suggested.

Everyone quickly nodded and turned to Hades, who smiled slightly for being the center of attention.

"This certainly has a connection with Artemis's experience. A while ago, I felt a disturbance. Very recently, I felt something rather powerful break into Tartarus, and escape with a prisoner. That prisoner is the Titan Krios." Hades said.

"What? Krios? The titan that took me forever to kill?" Jason asked, horrified.

Hades nodded solemnly. "The same one. I believe that when Hyperion escaped, he helped Krios break out of his prison. But, Hyperion himself would not be strong enough; I also believe that Gaea used the last of her energy to help Hyperion."

"Gaea? That is not good… What about the others? Kronos? Anyone else released?" Zeus asked, frowning.

Hades shook his head. "No Lord Zeus, Kronos is as scattered as ever, even thinner than before. The other Titans are still locked up tight and secure, while I have tripled the security on Tartarus to the point that even Percy Jackson himself in full rage mode could not break into it." Hades said.

"What do you mean, that even I can't break into it?" Percy asked, confused.

Thalia chuckled as she shook her head.

"Never mind. You are still the same old Seaweed Brain I knew before." Thalia said, smiling.

"But what do you mean?" Percy asked, confused as ever.

Artemis groaned. "Well, good to see that you're still as humble and modest as ever. I like that. Well, what Hades meant was that if you couldn't get into Tartarus, then no one can." Artemis said.

"That doesn't make any sense. Any of you Olympians could easily blow me apart. Well, except Ares that is." Percy said.

The gods couldn't help but laugh at Percy's simplicity while Ares glared at him.

"Let's just say that Lord Hades was merely using you as a figure of speech, shall we?" Athena suggested, smiling slightly.

Percy nodded uncertainly while Ares continued to glare at him.

"Watch it kid, you already took my girlfriend, don't give me another excuse for me to kill you." Ares growled.

"Excuse me, but I didn't take your "girlfriend" from you. More like she detached herself from you. About time, since I always questioned her sanity when it came to you." Percy shot back.

Hephaestus boomed a laugh while Ares opened his mouth to offer a nasty retort, but was interrupted by Aphrodite.

"Enough." Aphrodite said, her voice laden with power. Ares instantly sat back, relaxed, while Percy twitched and instantly tensed up, his eyes flaring in reaction to Aphrodite's charmspeak. Aphrodite gave him a sly and seductive look.

"Hey, does that mean we're on? Forever?" Aphrodite asked sweetly.

"No. I've seen enough of you to last me a lifetime, thank you very much." Percy said. "I still haven't forgiven you for kissing me either."

"Oh c'mon Percy, you probably didn't like it because I didn't give you my godly kiss. We could do it tonight, all you have to do is just come to my palace. I guarantee it'll be the best experience in your life. And if it isn't we improve, can't we?" Aphrodite asked hopefully.

Percy groaned and shot Piper a 'help me please' look. She nodded slightly.

"Mom! Please, do you know how embarrassing and awkward it is to see my own mother try to hit on one of my friends? Especially since it's Percy?" Piper shrieked.

"So? What's wrong? You have Jason, why can't I try to go after Percy? He's adorable, you know. Absolutely perfect." Aphrodite said, continuing to stare at Percy. "And that shirt of his is only maximizing his appeal."

Both Percy and Piper groaned again. Thankfully, Zeus rescued them. Sort of.

"Alright, alright, whatever! How about we get this important matter done first, then you can go bed with Perseus or whatever you want!" Zeus grumbled, his patience obviously at an end.

"Of course! That means I have your permission to bed Percy?" Aphrodite squealed excitedly.

"Forget it. Now Hades, continue your story." Zeus commanded. Hades nodded.

"There isn't much more, other than the fact that we now have two Titans on the loose, and many groups of monsters. And I cannot locate them, which means they are already deep in hiding." Hades said.

Percy nodded. "Lord Hades, when you said 'many groups of monsters', what type of monsters? Drakons? Basilisks?"

Hades shook his head.

"No drakons, I'm positive. Basilisks, maybe. Maybe not. But I can assure you that Krios is the only powerful one to escape, all the other monsters will be no worse than hellhounds. Gaea would not waste her energy in bringing back a couple extra monsters. These are probably monsters who took the chance, or perhaps Hyperion helped them out." Hades replied.

"But how can Earth-lady help? I thought we defeated her?" Leo asked, his eyes a mixture of fear and hate. Fear because she was a nasty and powerful goddess, but hate because she killed his mother, something Percy could fully relate to.

"Someone as powerful as Gaea does not fall immediately. It will take her a while. And don't forget, Gaea is very cunning; she may have spawned this plan before our final battle in Greece. All we can do is just hope that Gaea has used the last of her energy and that this is the worst of it." Hephaestus explained slowly.

Everyone was quiet after this, since just the mere notion that Gaea wasn't fully asleep sent shivers down everyone's spine.

"So what can we do in the meantime?" Frank finally asked.

"For now, nothing. Hades, Poseidon and I will work together to see what monsters have escaped, and we will try to locate them all. When we do, we will need to wipe them out immediately." Zeus said, looking each of them in the eye. "Do you all understand?"

They all nodded.

"Good. Meeting adjourned, we will meet again, soon enough." Zeus announced.

He took Hera's hand and suddenly, an electrical storm brewed around them, thousands of tendrils of electricity crackled around them. Then they seemed to form a large portal and the electric tendrils stretched, as if they were being sucked into a hole. Slowly, Zeus and Hera disappeared, piece by piece, they too looking as if they were being sucked away. Then there was a bang, a flash of light, and they were gone.

Poseidon gave a snort. "Have you all noticed that he never seems to think up ideas of his own? Always copying…" Poseidon grumbled.

Hades actually chuckled. "I give you permission to come to my palace, brother. Don't be late." He said. "Oh, Nico, once you're done up here, I need you to do patrol."

Nico groaned but he nodded. "Yes father. I understand."

"Good." Hades said. He slowly faded away in a sparkle of black smoke.

The other gods quickly stood up and some disappeared in little flashes of light immediately. Hermes gave Percy a cheerful wink before disappearing, Apollo gave him a curt nod, Athena flashed him a smile and Ares gave him one last glare before teleporting away.

"Well my boy, it seems we cannot relax and have our surfing competition as of yet. But once we crush those Titans, with your help, we'll be able to have all the free time in the world." Poseidon said, walking over and embracing Percy in a big hug.

"Thanks Dad, I'm sure you'll be able to kill them all without any help. I know how powerful you are." Percy said, pulling back.

For a second, doubt and worry flitted across Poseidon's face, but then it was replaced by his usual smile. Percy caught it however, and instantly began wondering what was wrong.

"We'll see. Later son." Poseidon said.

"Bye Dad." Percy replied. Poseidon faded away, leaving a strong smell of the sea behind.

"Your father is right you know. We will need your help in defeating the Titans, my champion." Hestia said, giving him a warm smile while embracing him in a tight hug.

"Thanks Lady Hestia. Don't worry, I'll always be available if you or Dad need me, my patron." Percy said, returning the hug.

"Excuse me, but what me?" Artemis asked, standing up and punching Percy on the arm, her eyes glittering with amusement.

"Oww my lady, why did you punch me? Of course I'm always ready for you, wherever and whenever you call. That's understood." Percy said, pulling back from Hestia's hug as he rubbed the spot where Artemis had punched him.

"Well, it's understood that I should punch you, because I'm your mistress and you're under my command, which means I can do whatever I want with you." Artemis said, whirling around with a huff and walking out the door.

The hunters giggled before following their mistress.

"Well, someone's possessive." Hestia whispered with amusement, standing up on her tiptoes and shyly giving Percy a kiss on his cheek. "Good luck Perseus." She said. Then she burst into flames and disappeared.

Percy grinned as he followed Artemis out of the door. He really liked Hestia, although in a completely different way compared to how he felt about Artemis.

"So, does that mean I get a kiss too?" Aphrodite said as she wrapped her arms around Percy from behind him.

"Aphrodite, can you just please leave me alone for a bit?" Percy grumbled.

"Fine. But I'll be back." Aphrodite pouted before disappearing in a huge puff of perfume. Percy choked and gagged while Piper laughed.

"Lady Artemis! Lord Dionysus, what was happening? I found the entire Big House closed when I came here." Chiron exclaimed when they exited the Big House.

"Well pony man, follow me, I'll tell you everything." Dionysus said cheerfully. Apparently, he was still happy about his party, which explained his smile.

"Yes, I will, but I need to make an announcement. Everyone is waiting in the pavilion." Chiron said.

"What announcement?" Percy asked, but Chiron had already galloped off. Percy turned to the campers, who returned the look with shrugs.

"Let's go see, shall we? I love announcements!" Leo said excitedly, skipping off.

"Go ahead girls, I already know what announcement it will be. You too Perseus, off you go. I need to do my duties." Artemis said before disappearing in a burst of silver light.

"You heard her, let's go sisters." Percy said. "Race you all there?"

The hunters didn't even respond, just sprinted right off, laughing as they left Percy in the dust. Percy chuckled and shook his head.

"So unfair." He muttered. Instead, he shot into the air, relishing the feel of the air rushing past his ears at high speed as he flew the short distance to the pavilion. He landed quietly beside the Hunters and the Campers, who were standing at the edge of the crowd.

Chiron stood on a podium and pounded his hoof against the ground to silence everyone.

"As you all know, now that Lord Dionysus's party is over, we can look forward to our next big event! Capture the Flag, which is the day after tomorrow!" Chiron roared.

The campers cheered wildly before Chiron raised his hand for silence.

"Since the Hunters are currently at camp, it will be campers against the Hunters. The Immortal Campers will obviously join the camper's side, while Lady Artemis has agreed not to join the fight, seeing as it would upset the balance. She will be watching however." Chiron said.

The campers cheered again, positive that they would win. Many of them began throwing sly and self-assured glances at the Hunters, who responded with glares. Chiron stomped his hoof again for silence though.

"However, Percy Jackson will be fighting for the Hunters." Chiron announced.

This time, the only sound was the Hunters laughter as all the campers shifted uneasily and began whispering amongst themselves. They all stared at Percy fearfully and were no longer so confident. Percy smirked as he slung an arm around Thalia and Phoebe.

"That is all I have to say. Good night and hard training tomorrow!" Chiron announced before stepping down.

All the campers quickly dispersed, while Percy turned to his immortal friends.

"You guys all ready for the day after tomorrow?" Percy asked cheekily.

"You bet. The last time, you took us by surprise. We'll be ready for you this time." Jason boasted.

"Good. I would hate it if our battle only lasted seconds instead of minutes." Percy said.

"Haha, very funny. Good night Percy." Frank said, clapping him on the shoulder. Hazel grinned and gave him a hug before walking off with Frank.

Percy gave the others a nod before heading towards the Artemis cabin with his little sisters.

"Wait, Thalia, hold up a second!" Jason called after them.

Thalia stopped and turned around. "What's the matter, little brother?"

Jason pouted. "I'm not your little brother. I'm bigger than you are."

"But you're younger than I am by a lot. So what is it?" Thalia asked.

"Well, it's just that um, why do you seem… I don't know, different? All of you Hunters. Something really different, you all seem more vibrant or something like that." Jason said uncertainly.

Thalia cocked her head. "What do you mean?"

"I know what he means." Piper said, walking over and surveying the Hunters. "He's probably afraid to say it because you all will rip him apart, but each of you seem more beautiful than before. And your silvery aura is stronger."

The Hunters looked at each other with questioning looks and shrugged, unsure what to say. Percy however, knew exactly what Jason and Piper were talking about. Each of the Hunters now glowed with a powerful, silvery light, instead of a faint silver aura. Each of them also looked as if they had just walked out of a fresh and hot bath, instead of a life-threatening battle with many monsters. It was easier for Percy to notice on Thalia, since he had known Thalia for years. Thalia's raven-black hair was now lush, silky and thick; instead of the usual messiness and spikiness that was reminiscence of Percy's hair while her blue eyes seemed to sparkle with a higher intensity than Percy was used to seeing.

"Percy, do we really look any different?" Thalia said, turning around so Percy could easily see her. The other hunters also turned around so Percy could examine them. Even though Percy already had.

"Well, besides the fact that your formal clothes don't look so formal, not really." Percy said, feeling guilty that he had to lie a bit.

Jason shrugged. "Alright. Just thought I'd mention it, because I thought there was something different. Anyways, good night Sis."

"Good night little brother." Thalia said, giving Jason a hug.

Percy and the Hunters walked back to their cabin, which Percy hesitated slightly.

"Come on Percy, you're completely welcome to come in. We saved you a bunk too!" Sarah said. A cheerful and happy-go-lucky Hunter, she got along well with almost everyone.

"Yeah I know, thanks." Percy said, smiling a bit as he gingerly sat on his bunk. "So, are all you girls ready for Capture the Flag?"

"Of course! No one can beat us, especially since The Trio is right here." Alex said proudly, slinging an arm around Christy and Elizabeth.

"Good. Then get ready for some serious training tomorrow." Percy said, standing up and peeling Artemis's ripped shirt off and searching under his bunk for his own shirt.

"Serious? Come on, we aren't that bad, are we?" Angeline whined. An excellent tracker, she was one of the better knife fighters in the Hunt, although she preferred the use of trickery and deception to take down her enemies, including some very sneaky feints.

"Well, each of you could easily take on 15 or 20 of those lousy campers, but don't forget, the numbers are against us. And all of you continue to use your bows and then drop them to use knives, you'll lose. And vice versa. Each of you must learn how to dual wield weapons." Percy said, rummaging through his clothes for a plain, sea green, shirt that he couldn't seem to find.

"Dual Wield? How are we supposed to dual wield a melee weapon with a bow?" Angeline asked.

"Well, you can't, not really. But there are some melee tricks I will teach you using a bow. But besides that, I need to teach you how to dual wield throwing knives with daggers and swords. Also dual wielding with chains. That way, you have melee and ranged bases covered." Percy explained. "Aha, here it is."

Percy yanked out his sea green shirt and grinned. He had finally found it. He was about to put it on when Alex stopped him.

"Wait Percy, before you put that shirt on, um, how do you slide those gigantic wings of yours inside your body?" Alex asked.

Percy froze. That was a question he had never thought about.

"Um, I don't know? I just slide them in and out?" Percy answered uncertainly.

"Well, can you let us see? I think I speak for all of us when I say that we have always been interested." Alex asked rather shyly.

"Yeah, and I'm sure our healer Sasha would like to create theories on how my wings fit inside by back, right?" Percy asked, smirking at Sasha, who blushed. She, along with Phoebe, were some of the Hunts best healers. She was always a brainy type, and an excellent healer, which was to be expected, since her father was Apollo. Although thankfully, she hadn't inherited his father's brains.

"Please?" Alex asked, trying to make her eyes as wide as possible.

"Puppy face doesn't work. Aphrodite tried it, and it failed. But since it's with you girls, fine." Percy said, relenting after several of his sisters joined in doing the "puppy dog" face. He sat cross-legged on the bunk with his back facing the Hunters. "Have fun."

All of the Hunters, including Thalia, instantly clamored over and began examining his back.

"Wow, I can barely see the slits in your back Percy! Can you extend your wings just a little bit?" Sasha asked excitedly.

Percy rolled his eyes but obliged, extending his wings just a bit.

"Holy Styx, that's amazing! And kind of creepy! Your wings are folded upon itself, and if you try to see through your slits in your back, you just see the wings coming out of your back! That's amazing!" Sasha exclaimed, fascination evident in her voice. The other hunters were quick to agree.

"You girls done yet?" Percy asked.

"No. Can you slide your wings out, slowly? So I can see?" Sasha asked.

"Fine." Percy sighed.

He slowly slid the wings out to their full length, the Hunters watching with sick fascination as they moved out of his wings way.

"Wow. Your wings are amazing Percy, I just love how it comes out all folded and slowly unfolds itself. Slide them back in, fast as you can?" Sasha asked.

Percy nodded wearily. He snapped his wings back in as fast as he could, grinning as the Hunters jumped slightly when his wings slid back in with a schnnk! Sound.

"Bloody damn. I'm jealous Percy." Thalia said, running her fingers over his wing slits.

Percy arched his back and giggled at her touch. Thalia frowned.

"What is it?" She asked.

"I'm t-ticklish there, so stop!" Percy squealed as Thalia continued to run her fingers over the slits.

Thalia stopped and snuck a sly glance at her fellow Hunters. She raised an eyebrow, which they returned with sly smiles. Angeline raised a hand with three fingers raised. Then two. Then one.

"TICKLE ATTACK!" Thalia screamed, pouncing on top of Percy and furiously tickling Percy's wing slits.

Percy screamed as everyone else instantly jumped on top of Percy, squeezing him against his bunk as the weight of several girls on his back crushed him down. He tried to thrash around, unable to stop laughing as the Hunters continued to tickle him all over the place. He tried to tell them to stop, but of course, they didn't listen. He was laughing so hard now that his stomach muscles were beginning to ache, and he began to vaguely wondering when he was going to get the cramps when a voice cut clean through the air.

"Hunters! What are you girls doing?" Artemis's clear voice hit straight to them.

Everyone instantly froze, although Percy let out a grateful sigh and rolled off his bunk, flopping face first onto the ground.

"Good timing, my lady. I was just about to explode from laughter and all that tickling my sisters were giving me." Percy groaned.

"Tickling? Well, you don't exactly have to show off your muscles in a tickling fight, do you?" Artemis asked, sauntering over.

"They wanted to see my wing slits. I'm ticklish there. And Thalia being the mean sister she is, starts attacking." Percy grumbled, slowly beginning to raise himself up.

"You're ticklish there?" Artemis asked, stopping right next to him.

"Yeah, why?" Percy asked, turning his head around.

Artemis gave him a cheeky smile. Then she leaned down and scratched him exactly where Thalia had. Percy giggled again as he flopped to the floor, even though this time he had a fuzzy sensation wash over him as Artemis's fingers danced over his back. Artemis chuckled.

"You know what girls? Continue. When I come back from my room, then we'll talk a bit." Artemis said, chortling as she walked into her own room.

Percy stared at his sisters with a horrified expression.

"Uh oh…" He muttered, just as they all leapt on top of him.

Again.

Artemis refreshed herself and walked out of her room into the main cabin to find Thalia, Angeline and Tracy sitting on top of an exhausted and shirtless Percy. The other Hunters sat in a circle, laughing like crazy.

"Sooo Percy, you still up to teaching us, what do you call it, dual wielding?" Angeline asked, smirking.

"Yes. Even if it kills me, I'm going to teach you girls how to dual wield weapons." Percy groaned. His stomach and back hurt.

"Girls, get off him. That's not how you treat your own brother." Artemis said.

"Yeah, see, Artemis sides with me too, Thals." Percy gasped out.

"Awww, c'mon my lady, we were just having fun. It's called family." Thalia said cheekily.

Artemis just raised an eyebrow in response.

"Oh alright."Thalia whined, tickling Percy once last time before she got up, along with Angeline and Tracy, to join the circle of Hunters.

"Thank you Lady Artemis, I was getting quite-" Percy said but stopped as Artemis put her foot on his back.

"Oh, don't thank me so soon, Perseus." Artemis said, smirking.

She pushed down with her foot, forcing Percy to lie face down on the floor before she moved her foot back and promptly sat on him.

Percy gave an oomph of surprise while the Hunters stared in shock. Artemis grinned before giving Thalia a sly look.

"You know Thalia, I think I understand what you mean now. He's quite a comfortable thing to sit on." Artemis said cheerfully.

"Y-yes, my lady." Thalia stuttered out, still shocked that Artemis was actually sitting on Percy.

She decided not to tell Artemis that she had sat on Percy's head, not his back. There was no need to see Artemis sitting on Percy's head, even if his face was on the floor. At least Percy wasn't facing the ceiling. Thalia held back a shudder. While she wanted –and her comrades wanted- Percy with Artemis, she wasn't quite ready to picture Percy and her lady in that position. Yet.

"Uggghhhh. So I'm a 'thing' now? What, not even a rug, or a floor mat?" Percy groaned sarcastically. He thanked the Fates that he was facing the ground, or he'd never be able to hide his burning red face.

"Yes, you are a 'thing'. You are also my Guardian, which is why I'm sitting on you, because chairs can break and cause injuries." Artemis said, smiling.

"Oh, and my back can't break?" Percy grumbled in response.

"Of course your back can break. But I've seen you fly into a mountain, and walk out relatively unscathed." Artemis shot back swiftly.

"That's because I had a water cushion around me to take out most of the shock." Percy said.

"Ohhh, so you're saying that you're too weak to even hold my weight?" Artemis said, smirking as she waited for an answer. No answer was forthcoming. Artemis's smirk turned into a triumphant grin. "Just as I thought."

She chuckled as Percy groaned and the Hunters laughed. "Now what was this talk about dual wielding?"

"I was telling my sisters that they must learn how to dual wield daggers or swords with throwing knives and chains." Percy gasped out.

"Hmmm, yes, that is a good idea. But a complicated skill. Why are you pushing them to learn now?" Artemis asked.

"Because I want them to be able to use the skills against the campers on Capture the Flag. The Apollo campers may not be as good archers as your Hunters, but they are still good. With dual wielding, if one of us were to fight a camper in melee combat and see an Apollo camper aiming at us, we could hold off the camper with a dagger and throw a knife at the camper, all at the same time."Percy said.

"I personally believe it is a much faster and safer method than dropping your melee weapon and picking your bow up." Percy concluded.

Artemis nodded slowly. "Yes. I agree actually, I think it's a good idea. Styx, I wonder why I didn't try to teach them this myself!" Artemis said, surprised that she hadn't thought of this before.

"There. See Pinecone Face? Told ya Lady Artemis would agree." Percy said, looking at Thalia the best he could from his awkward viewpoint.

"Fine, fine. But my lady, what aren't you joining us in Capture the Flag?" Thalia asked.

Artemis shrugged. "I didn't feel like it. Besides, it would rob Percy of his sweet revenge that he wants to get on the campers." Artemis said.

A collective 'oooohhhh' came as the Hunters nodded.

"But don't worry, I'll watch. Also, I will certainly help you design the defenses in the flag. Just because I won't be participating doesn't mean that I won't be putting out traps and such." Artemis said.

A small cheer came from the Hunters as they heard the news. Artemis smiled slightly, knowing they wouldn't like the next bit.

"However, I do expect you all to win, so I am now officially giving Percy full permission to train you as hard as he wishes tomorrow." Artemis said.

This time, a collective groan came as the Hunter's shoulders slumped.

Artemis smiled and turned down to look at Percy. "What do you say to that, Perseus?"

"Well, I'd laugh, but right now, I'm getting squished. By a 13 year old girl." Percy grumbled.

Artemis glared at him and smacked his head.

"Ow! What was that for?" Percy yelped.

"You're supposed to say 'Thank You', and maybe then I would've gotten off. And when you say that you're getting "squished", are you indicating I'm fat?" Artemis asked slyly, beginning to increase the pressure on Percy's back by slowly lifting the majority of her weight from her feet.

"OK, I'm sorry m'lady, and thank you for your permission. Now can you please get off my back? I swear that my spine is going to snap." Percy gasped out.

"Hmmm, that's good enough for the first part… but what about the last question?" Artemis said with the same slyness, continuing to increase the pressure as the Hunters fought to contain their mirth.

"The last…question?" Percy gasped. He was beginning to feel the pressure increase sharply now, and it was very discomforting.

"The "Am I fat" question, Perseus." Artemis said with slight amusement. She lifted her legs off the floor, concentrating all her weight on Percy's back and began to apply some overall pressure with her godly powers.

"What…?N-nn-o, of-of course you…aren't…fat, my lady." Percy gasped out, struggling to talk as Artemis increased the pressure on his entire body.

"And?" Artemis prompted, a small smile playing on her lips.

"I merely meant… squished… in the…virtual sense…not literal." Percy added hastily.

"Good. Now that wasn't so hard, was it Perseus?" Artemis said, a big smile on her face now as she instantly stood up and lifted the pressure. Percy gave a sigh of relief.

"No it wasn't. Now can I go do my Guardian duty, or is there something else you want me to do, Arrrty." Percy said as he got to his feet, stretching the last word, partly because he loved the name, and partly because he knew it'd annoy Artemis.

It did. She glared at him. "Listen, 'Arty' is bad enough, but stretching it out? Watch it before I seal your mouth shut."Artemis snapped.

"So that means I can call you 'Arty' now?" Percy asked cheekily as he shrugged on his shirt.

Artemis walked over, grabbed him by the ear, ignored his yelps and tossed him onto his bunk.

"Just go to sleep. You'll need the energy tomorrow to teach my hunters a new skill. Especially if you want to teach all of them." Artemis grumbled.

"Whatever you say, Arty." Percy crooned.

Artemis couldn't help but blush at Percy's words. So instead of offering a response or even glaring at Percy, she quickly walked into her own room before anyone could spot her blush.

"Well, good night sisters." Percy called out as the Hunters began crawling into bed.

"Good night." They mumbled back.

Percy gave a groan as he settled himself down and rubbed his ear. He just loved Artemis's temperament. It was just so…endearing. And yet, there were times it wasn't quite so endearing. Such as later that morning when Artemis woke him up at around three, giving him only three hours of sleep.

"Perseus! Percy!" Artemis's voice hissed right next to his ear.

Percy blearily opened his eyes to see Artemis standing over him. He instantly woke up and shot upright.

"What is it, my lady?" Percy asked quietly.

"Well, I keep on feeling this immortal presence. Like the amount of immortals have increased sharply. And also, I couldn't sleep. I have too much energy, which is odd, because after Typhon and the Giants, we gods are actually very weak right now." Artemis explained.

Percy tensed slightly. He knew exactly where the sharp rise of immortals had come from. And Artemis having too much energy… He looked up and saw Artemis's silver eyes, glowing in the dark. They shone with a powerful intensity, and in the darkness Percy could see that her form flickered silver, as if it were yearning to burst into her true immortal form. He briefly considered telling her the truth, before deciding against it, since Artemis would probably throw him against the wall, and he didn't want to hurt his sisters.

"I suppose your senses are reacting to Hyperion and Krios? I don't know, I don't really feel anything. And what do you mean weak; you wore me out in our last fight like no other." Percy said.

"Ha, you think that you have endurance? You're a boy, that's why you got worn down." Artemis scoffed, even though she knew that Percy's endurance was impressive, and his skill with a blade was near unmatched. She herself had gotten worn out during her battle with Perseus.

"Oh really? Well then, how come I could beat you? If I remember correctly, you didn't even have enough energy to pull my legs out from under me."Percy mocked, a challenging glint in his eyes as he stared at Artemis.

Artemis struggled to find a comeback, before settling for a smack on the arm. Percy gave a quiet yelp as he rubbed the spot where Artemis had hit him.

"What was that for?" Percy asked quietly.

"Nothing. Now, I woke you up because I wanted you to do a scan of the surrounding area. I'm pretty sure there is nothing out there, but a second opinion wouldn't hurt. Also, you have being a Son of Poseidon, you have a knack for finding things that others may not be able to see." Artemis said, a plan on getting revenge for mocking her already forming in his mind.

Percy nodded and got up without complaint. If it were anyone else, he'd complain or procrastinate, but for Artemis, he'd do anything.

"As you wish, my lady. Is there anything else my lady commands?" Percy asked formally.

"No. Report back when you're done, and if I have something else, I'll tell you." Artemis said.

Percy nodded and did his special bow. He quietly opened the door and flew to the top of a tree. Perching himself comfortably on a branch, he closed his eyes and sent his senses out, scouring for anything. The first thing that yelled back at him were the Hunters, thanks to their new immortality. The second was obviously Artemis. Other than that, he could feel nothing else that was particularly powerful or dangerous. He was about to get off the tree and report to Artemis when he felt a pair of arms wrap around him and an incredibly soft body pressed tight against him.

"Good morning, Percy." Aphrodite greeted in a breathless whisper.

"Aphrodite, what are you doing here?" Percy asked, attempting to shrug of Aphrodite's arms, but her grip was surprisingly strong.

"Oh, you do realize that it's completely useless to fight against a god? You may be strong, but with my godly powers, I'm stronger." Aphrodite said, smiling triumphantly as she gripped Percy even harder.

"Well, do please forgive my rudeness." Percy said, a slight smirk on his face.

"Oh? If you want to take me on a tree, sure, it's new but no problem." Aphrodite said, pulling Percy hard against her.

Percy grinned and transformed into liquid form. With lightning speed, he slid right out of Aphrodite's grasp and shot down the tree, taking especial pleasure at Aphrodite's shriek of surprise and dismay. He quickly shot towards Artemis's cabin.

"I cannot sense anything different or powerful or any danger around here, my lady." Percy said, reforming himself at the entrance.

"Hmmm. I know something is different. Well, perhaps all we can do is wait. Now," Artemis said. She snapped her fingers, and the next thing Percy knew, he was standing in the duel arena with Artemis standing in front of him, her bow already out.

"The reason why you could barely beat me was because I used my knives and I hardly used any of my abilities. I'm here to show you just how bad your endurance is." Artemis said evilly, her eyes glinting. "Now get your swords out, and remember, I won't be responsible for any bruises on your body."

Uh-oh. Percy thought as he drew Riptide out. He had just raised them into the 'ready' position when Artemis shot towards him in a falcon form, too fast to see. Just as she was about to hit Percy, she changed back into human form with her feet first. Her feet slammed into Percy's chest, lifting him off the ground to crash back against the ground. He instinctively rolled, which was a good thing, since a flurry of arrows landed a scant half-second later at where he had just been.

Percy leapt to his feet, only to see a cloud of silver arrows come right at him. He shot his wing out to cover himself and the arrows bounced off relatively harmlessly, although the force of which it was fired knocked him backwards. Artemis took the chance to jump in and do some physical damage, sweeping Percy's feet from underneath him and picking him to spin him around several dozen times. Then she tossed him into the air and performed Percy's own aerial strike against him.

Percy crashed against the ground hard enough to create a small crater, and he had barely regained his senses when his back was bombarded by a shower of blunt-tipped arrows. He desperately turned into his liquid form and shot off in a random direction, only attempting to get away and coordinate himself.

Of course, Artemis had her own ideas.

Percy had just shot off when Artemis shot a volley of arrows, surrounding Percy in a perfect circle of silver arrows. She snapped her fingers, causing the arrows to burst into silver flames. Percy froze for an instant before he just barreled straight through the flames, unhurt thanks to Hestia's blessing. Artemis grinned and shot volley after volley of arrows at the liquid-Percy, forcing him to dodge from side to side and run all over the place, knowing that making him run around in liquid form tired him greatly.

Exhausted from running around non-stop at top speed in liquid form for almost an hour, Percy stopped and slowly reformed back into his human form and lay on the ground, gasping. His muscles felt as if they were on fire and he was dead tired. Artemis, on the other hand, was cheerful and full of energy.

"C'mon Percy, you've just been running and dodging. Where's the sword skills that you are so famous for?" Artemis taunted as she slowly sauntered over to where Percy lay on the ground.

Percy groaned as he got to his feet. "Yeah? What else do you have?" Percy asked, pulling out both Riptides.

"Well then, let's see how strong your wrists are." Artemis said, jumping backwards while drawing her bow back and launching a volley of arrows at Percy.

Percy easily fended the arrows off with a simple slash. Artemis smiled slightly. Percy hadn't even seen how fast she could fire her arrows. However, it would need concentration and lots of energy. She took a breath and launched another volley, following it with another and another. Percy began swinging his sword in a circle, creating a shield against the arrows as they were cut into shreds by his blades. Artemis calmly increased her speed by increments, and began to slowly walk in a circle around him, continuously firing volley after volley of arrows at him.

Percy had considered himself good at deflecting arrows, since he had had plenty of practice when he and the Hunters had been on bad terms, but even all of them at once were nothing compared to Artemis. Even with two swords swinging at top speed, he could barely, just barely, deflect them. Added to the fact that he had to constantly turn around in a circle and the fact that he was getting really tired, he knew that this wouldn't end well. For him at least.

Artemis was smirking slightly. She was having the time of her life, just shooting arrows with pinpoint accuracy and at top speed, knowing that she wouldn't have to replace the target every minute because they were too loaded with arrows. And with Percy, she also had the intense pleasure of just beating him up. She had to admit though, Percy lasted quite a bit longer than she expected. But she could also clearly see that Percy was tiring, and she wasn't even firing at full capacity yet. She briefly debated whether to increase her speed or let Percy tired himself out before deciding on the former, just to prove that his endurance sucked.

They continued the standstill for only five more minutes before Percy couldn't take it anymore and toppled forward, so tired that he didn't even notice that he had landed in a massive pile of wood chips. Artemis had been firing so fast that another 200 hundred arrows thudded onto Percy's back even though Artemis had already stopped shooting. She walked over slowly, a warm feeling rushing through her as she flipped Percy over.

"Soooo, who beat who now, hmm?" Artemis said, gently putting her foot onto Percy's chest.

Percy groaned in response.

"Now get up, I have a question to ask you." Artemis said cheerfully. For some strange reason, she didn't feel tired at all. Usually, that type of shooting and concentration strained her energies, but she felt great. She vaguely wondered whether it had anything to do with the increase in power she had felt in the Hunters.

"You only beat me because you were using archery. If it were swords and daggers, we would probably end in a stalemate." Percy mumbled, groaning as he got to his feet.

"Perhaps. But life is never what you want it to be, Perseus. You of all people should know that." Artemis said calmly.

"I know, I know." Percy whined. "So what did you want to ask me?"

"Well, how do you propose to teach my hunters how to dual wield if we don't have any throwing knives?" Artemis asked.

Percy froze. He hadn't thought about. He began thinking, and another plan formed in his mind. It would be perfect for training, and it would be beneficial for the Hunters. He grinned.

"You know, I have an idea… permission to leave for a while, my lady?" Percy asked.

Artemis smiled. "Permission granted."

Percy did his special bow before jumping into the air, rocketing into the air with a flap of his wings before he felt the ache of his muscles and fell, in a most embarrassing way. He groaned again as the ache of his muscles preventing him from getting up and flying off again. He heard a crystal clear, sparkling laugh that could only belong to Artemis, and a instant later, she was at his side.

"Do you, perhaps, need help, Perseus?" Artemis asked, her silvery eyes dancing with amusement.

"Yes please. Can you get me up to Olympus?" Percy grumbled, staggering to his feet.

"Well, at least you aren't lacking in manners." Artemis said, giving Percy a rare compliment before she snapped her fingers, sending Percy to Olympus.

An instant later, Percy felt his feet slam onto solid ground and he looked around, noticing that right behind him was Aphrodite's palace. His eyes widened and he scampered, searching for a palace with machines and automatons around it. He found it an instant later, and unlike the other palaces that looked as if they were closed, this one looked like it was at the peak of its working hours. Flames burned around the entire palace, and the palace seemed to be moving a lot more than Percy had last seen.

Percy hesitantly walked up to the door of Hephaestus's palace, wary of any automatons. He raised his hand and tentatively knocked on the door. For a second, nothing happened. Then a deep boom echoed from within and the top of the door began to peel back slightly, bits of metal magically sliding within another until a small, window-like square appeared. A automatons head appeared and spoke.

"Who are you and what do you want?" It asked in a metallic voice.

"Percy Jackson, and I merely wish to ask Lord Hephaestus for some help." Percy stated simply.

Almost instantly, the door completely slid back into itself and the automaton beckoned. Percy nervously stepped inside and followed the automaton. As he walked, he couldn't help but wonder how the heck Hephaestus managed to live inside this palace. It was creepyish, with all the burning fires and the constant thudding of machinery in the distance. To Percy, it reminded him of the haunted houses that he had never went in to, although he was pretty sure that Nico would probably think this place as "calm and comfortable", since he was a Son of Hades. An instant later, they reached another large door that magically swung open at their approach. The automaton stopped and motioned Percy forward. Percy nodded his thanks and stepped in.

The room strongly reminded Percy of the forge that he had visited in the Labyrinth. Except this time, instead of a Toyota Corolla, it was a huge Honda Odyssey minivan. He vaguely recognized the machine that Leo had shown him once in a model, the machine that Hephaestus had used to contact Leo in his dreams. Right now, he was pretty sure he could see Leo's face on the machine, meaning that Hephaestus was watching him.

"So Perseus, what do you want?" Hephaestus boomed, stepping out from behind the Honda.

"Well Lord Hephaestus, I've come here with a couple favours to ask, and I hope it's not too big. First of all, could make maybe a dozen automatons, like the ones you made for the Amazons? I would like to train the Hunters with them. They're extremely useful and well built." Percy asked, carefully watching Hephaestus's expression.

Hephaestus gave a grunt and a nod, accompanied by a hand motion that meant 'go on'.

Percy swallowed nervously, since his next request was rather large.

You know how you always supply the Hunters with arrows and such on a regular basis? I was wondering whether you'd be able to add throwing knives to the list. They're very useful and powerful if used correctly, and having a ready supply of them would aid the Hunters a lot." Percy said as respectfully as he could.

"Hmmm, and with throwing knives, you'd like to add sheathes, eh?" Hephaestus asked, a light glinting in his eyes.

"Erm, yes." Percy squeaked, surprised that Hephaestus already knew what he was going to ask.

"Well, even though I know you aren't purposely doing it, but you have managed to pull Aphrodite off from Ares, I suppose I'll grant your wishes. If only she paid that much attention to me." Hephaestus grumbled under his breath.

Percy stayed silent, although his mind was processing what Hephaestus had muttered. He may appear not to care, but Hephaestus really was hurt that Aphrodite didn't like him. And to constantly see your wife, even if they had mutual feelings about each other, go out with many men, it hurt. And Percy had felt broken when Annabeth had left him, he couldn't imagine how it would feel to be in Hephaestus's place. He began to understand why Hephaestus liked machines, and felt sorry for him.

As he thought, an idea struck him. What if married gods and goddess could- but no, that would require Zeus's approval, and he was in no place to request such a large change. Percy would keep it in his mind, however, and if an opportunity presented itself, he would seize it. His plan also had the benefit of getting Aphrodite off his back.

"What design of sheathes?"

"Um, like mine? Three sheathes over each shoulder, and then a belt like mine also, where the knives are positioned at a 45 degrees angle at the waist?" Percy suggested, indicating his own knife belt and sheathes.

"A good idea. Chaos's design is impressive, and how your belt manages to replenish all of its knives in an hour amazes and intrigues me…" Hephaestus said, staring at Percy's knife belt. He shook himself and stood up, going to a table. "And a silvery design obviously…" He muttered under his breath. He turned to Percy. "Alright then, I've got it, they will appear in the armory tent in a couple hours."

Percy bowed. "Thank you very much, Lord Hephaestus." He said with heartfelt gratitude.

Percy turned and walked out the door, but Hephaestus stopped him.

"Oh, and I suppose I should warn you. My wife very recently came in here to ask me for some chains, magical and inescapable ones. I suggest that the instant you are out of here, you fly and run as fast as possible." Hephaestus said.

Percy paled as he heard the word 'chains'. He bowed again before walking off. Surprisingly, after only walking a couple feet, he saw the door. He assumed that it had moved, either on its own, or for his convenience. Keeping Hephaestus's warning in mind, he gingerly opened the door and stepped out. Carefully scanning the surroundings, he extended his wings and jumped into the air. Unfortunately, now that his muscles had had some time to rest, he could feel the soreness strongly. After a painful flap, he crashed to the ground. Again.

Percy groaned as he got to his feet. He really shouldn't have tried to outrun Artemis's arrows in liquid form. He ached all over the place, and he felt as if he had just learned how to move and run in liquid form. He had just got to his feet however, when he heard a rustle. He whirled around and barely caught a glimpse of a voluptuous body when he heard a loud clang and he felt a sharp pain in his head before he sank into darkness.

When Percy regained consciousness, he found himself in a pink room. With a huge bed in front of him, and a frying pan. Percy frowned at the frying pan, trying to make sense on what a frying pan was doing in Aphrodite's palace before he figured out that Aphrodite had probably used it to knock him out. He took a step forward. Or at least tried to. But he was stuck.

He looked down and his eyes widened. He was bound in celestial bronze chains that glowed with power. And from what he could feel and tell, he was chained to a wall, with his hands bound to his side and feet stuck together. He desperately yanked at the chains, but they barely shifted. He then tried turning into liquid form, but as Hephaestus had warned him, they were inescapable.

Percy growled and concentrated on heating the chains up, attempting to melt them. It was a very neat and cool ability that Hestia had taught him, when the Hunters had chained him to a tree and left him there, covered in sweet and sticky sauces to attract insects. It was also extremely useful when fighting an opponent, since being able to heat the opponent's sword up to unbearable temperatures caused him to drop his weapon. He could also use it to start a fire on wooden objects just by looking and concentrating on them.

Unfortunately for Percy, although the chains heated up and shook slightly, they stayed as firm as ever.

"Don't worry Percy, I know you're aching to see me. And for me. I'll be down soon." Aphrodite's singsong voice resonated through the palace.

Oh shit, oh shit. Percy thought desperately. If Percy had the strength, he would've tried to rip the chains off the wall, since most of the time, unbreakable chains didn't mean an unbreakable anchor. But his muscles hurt too much from his "endurance test" with Artemis, and from what he could, his chains were bolted onto a wall that had a gleam only metal could give off. He was about to try and establish a psychic connection with Hestia or Poseidon when he heard the loud sounds of high heels on a staircase. Percy paled as Aphrodite stepped into his view, smirking.

She was wearing a gorgeous satin red dress that hugged her every curve, and she was literally shining and glowing with beauty. Aphrodite stepped right in front of Percy and struck a pose.

"So, what do you think Perseus? Good enough for you?" Aphrodite asked in a sultry voice, slowly advancing on Percy.

Percy gulped nervously as she drew closer. "Just let me go, will you? I have my duties to do. And you of all people should know that I don't like your…type." Percy said.

"Oh, come now Percy, you may have changed a lot, but I definitely know that you haven't lost your capacity for love." Aphrodite said, slowly sliding a finger up Percy's neck and to his chin.

"What do you mean, 'I've changed'?" Percy asked, jerking his head away from Aphrodite's finger.

Aphrodite gave a throaty chuckle as she slowly cupped Percy's face with her hand.

"Well, I remember when I first met you, you were a foolish but brave and courageous little boy. After you defeated Kronos, you were braver, handsome, more skillful but still foolish and, occasionally, dumb. Over the course of the Giant War, after you met the Romans, you became more serious, but you still retained your foolishness. Definitely more skilled, and much more handsome." Aphrodite said, leaning in to Percy's face while the latter attempted to jerk his head away.

"Now,you are so godly that I wonder why Zeus didn't make you a god. You are every bit as worthy of an Olympian, because you have godly looks, godly skills, a godly fabulous body, godly powers and you even have split personalities like us gods." Aphrodite whispered, drawing ever closer to Percy's lips.

He attempted to avoid it by tilting his head up toward the ceiling, but Aphrodite, being a goddess, merely grew a couple inches taller.

"Even better." Aphrodite whispered huskily as she leaned down, her hand resting on Percy's neck. Percy's eyes widened in horror.

"What do you mean I'm split personality. I'm a part immortal demigod." Percy gasped out, desperate for anything that would slow down Aphrodite. Mentally, he was frantically trying to call to Hestia.

My Patron! Lady Hestia! I need HELP! Aphrodite's got me trapped with Hephaestus's chains! Percy thought desperately and as hard as he could. Unfortunately, if Hestia had heard, she gave no answer.

"Like I said, you've changed. Now you have two sides. One is the original Percy Jackson, kind, polite, brave, courageous, sometimes foolish and loyal to a fault personality. The other Percy Jackson is… darker. Still brave, courageous, definitely not kind or polite, and you've become slightly, how do I say it, sadistic, perhaps? Even cruel. To your enemies that is, to your friends and loved ones you are as kind, polite and loyal as ever." Aphrodite said, momentarily stopping her advancement on Percy's face. "Which I find extremely endearing."

"Um, sadistic? What does that mean?" Percy asked, for once asking a real question instead of trying to stall for time. Aphrodite smiled sweetly.

"It means you derive pleasure from seeing your enemies suffering in pain." Aphrodite said, her face now less than an inch away from Percy.

"What do you mean? I don't get pleasure from watching people suffering." Percy said indignantly.

"Maybe… but what about Triton? Matthew? Did you have to kill that camper at Camp Jupiter so nastily?You even showed your dark side when you let your mother turn that nasty man into a stone statue. And what about that "policeman"?" Aphrodite asked throatily.

"Triton and Matthew were different. They ruined my life. And Octavian insulted all of us, he wouldn't stop trying to kill us all by saying that I was wrong about the Greeks and that I was corrupting the 't even get me started on Gabe. He's worse than anyone I've ever met. And that policeman, well, that was Ares!" Percy said defensively.

"How did you know that the policeman was Ares?" Aphrodite asked, stopping her advancement on Percy's face for a moment.

"Well, I was listening and following the Hunt when Artemis summoned you all. And you just confirmed." Percy said, glaring at her. "Why the hell did you tell Ares to do that anyway?"

"Oh well, you see, I was trying to help you like I promised. I had hoped that Artemis would pick up on your jealousy and see your feelings. Unfortunately, she didn't see it… Not really." Aphrodite said with mock sadness, pouting slightly. "But that doesn't change anything. At that time, you thought the policeman was just a policeman, you didn't know he was Ares. And you trashed him oh so badly."

Percy blushed. "Well,no one should touch Artemis like that. That was completely disrespectful." Percy snarled.

"Exactly. Now, you are colder and darker. When you feel like it. That is why I said that you have two sides to yourself, just like a god. And if you think about it, Triton and Matthew led you to new lives. Better ones. Without them, you would never have fallen in love with your dear Arty, or get on such good terms with the Hunters." Aphrodite said.

Percy blushedagain at his nickname for Artemis. "Yeah, but you said you'd help me. And right now, you're going to destroy my relationship with Artemis." Percy said, struggling to find a way to postpone Aphrodite.

"Well, I'm very sorry, but this is just too good to pass up." Aphrodite whispered, swooping down to kiss Percy on the lips.

At the last moment, Percy jerked his head sideways, so that Aphrodite's luscious lips crashed onto his cheek. Percy grimaced while Aphrodite smiled.

"Not bad. But you'll never get away from here until I let you." Aphrodite whispered, her right hand coming up to hold Percy's head in place while her left hand began to creep lower down Percy's body. Keeping a firm grip on Percy's face, she turned his face towards hers.

"Now this is more like it." Aphrodite said, coming down again to kiss Percy.

Percy tried as hard as he could to turn his head sideways, but Aphrodite's hand had become impossibly strong, keeping his face right where it was as firmly as one of the Hunter's traps kept him locked up. Aphrodite kissed him with a deep pleasure while Percy gave a hoarse scream, struggling useless against the chains and her grip. She had just pressed her entire body up to him and her hand was just creeping under his shirt when she was suddenly ripped away, crashing against the floor with a loud thud.

"What the-!" Aphrodite cried out when Hestia appeared out of nowhere, picked up the frying pan and began wielding it like a hammer, whacking and smashing at every bit of Aphrodite as best as she could. Percy was also staring in shock, even though he was glad that Aphrodite was not kissing him anymore, he wondered how Hestia would get him out of the chains when Hephaestus came into his sight.

"Well, looks like my wife got her hands on you after all, eh boy?" Hephaestus said, a slight glimmer in his eyes as he fiddled with the chains that bound Percy.

In seconds, Percy was free. He struggled to his feet and was about to spit Aphrodite's taste out of his mouth when Hephaestus snapped his fingers, and Percy was instantly teleported away.

An instant later, he felt his feet connect onto solid ground and he fell to his knees, his senses overwhelmed. He looked up and discovered that he was at the edge of the forest at Camp, with Artemis's cabin easily visible to his right. He groggily got to his feet and spat, determined to get rid of Aphrodite's spit out of his mouth as much as possible. He groaned. His patience with Aphrodite was really beginning to fray.

"Perseus! There you are! What took you so long?" Artemis's voice rang through the air, sharp and clear.

Percy whirled around to see Artemis walking towards him. He quickly wiped some of the spit from his mouth and straightened up.

"What do you mean, what took me so long?" Percy asked. A rather stupid question.

Artemis arched an eyebrow as she walked closer. She pointed to the barely visible stars.

"Oh." Was all Percy said. When he had left, it was around 4 o'clock. Now, it was definitely 5 o'clock. Aphrodite kept me chained up for that long? Percy thought incredulously.

"Exactly. So, was your visit to Olympus a success?" Artemis asked, stopping right in front of him.

"Um, a success? Partly. Complete success, definitely not." Percy said, rubbing his chain sore wrists.

"Your cheek… what do you have on it?" Artemis asked, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"My cheek?" Percy asked questioningly, completely forgetting that Aphrodite had kissed him on the cheek when he had turned away to stop her from kissing his lips. Thus forgetting that Aphrodite's lipstick covered lips had left a mark on him.

Artemis reached over and turned Percy's face so she could see Aphrodite's lipstick on Percy's cheek. For a moment, she was completely puzzled until she recognized the red stuff as lipstick. She froze in shock, then, as her mind processed the idea that Percy had a lover, and he had probably bedded her, went through her mind, blinding rage (and, though she would never admit it, jealousy) rushed through her body as she brought her hand back and smacked Percy's face with all of her strength.

The crack was so loud that Percy was quite sure that the gods on Olympus could've heard it. Needless to say, white-hot pain coursed through his jaw and cheek as Artemis slapped him.

"OW! My Lady, what was that for?" Percy yelped, clutching his cheek.

"What was that for?You have the nerve to say that when you have a secret lover behind my back and just bedded her?" Artemis screamed, her rage only building.

She punched Percy in the stomach, then ripped his hand off his cheek and began to repeatedly slap it as hard as she could, determined to smack the lipstick of his face. She stopped smacking for an instant, only to gather some force before she did a powerful uppercut that sent Percy flying. She moved forward at light speed, plucking Percy out of the air before he hit the ground. She punched him in the face, fed his stomach to her knee several times before she swept his legs out from under him, caught him and twirled him around and around, before she slammed him into a tree trunk by the throat. Percy choked and struggled to breath, even though after Artemis's beating, he barely had the energy to stay conscious.

"Now, tell me who you were with and maybe I'll let you reside in the Hunt." Artemis snarled, her fingers tightening around Percy's throat as she summoned one of her knives.

Percy choked as he struggled for breath. "No…one…" Percy gasped out, not even fighting against Artemis's hand.

Artemis raised an eyebrow as her silver eyes snapped with pure fury.

"No one? Then tell me, why do you have lipstick on your cheek!" Artemis hissed. It was all she could do not to tighten her grip, she was so angry.

"Artemis. Let him go. He has done nothing wrong. Quite the opposite, in fact." A warm but sharp voice drifted over.

Artemis whirled around her, her grip on Percy's throat unrelenting. To her surprise, it was Hestia who had spoken.

"Hestia. And why exactly should I let him go when he's been having secret affairs behind my back?" Artemis whispered furiously.

"Well, three reasons. One, he's my champion, and I do not appreciate him being treated like that. Two, he is completely innocent, I swear on the Styx, and Third, why would you care if he has affairs behind your back? He is, after all, "Up for grabs" to use Aphrodite's terminology." Hestia said, her flaming eyes completely serious.

The instant Hestia had sworn by the Styx that Percy was completely innocent, Artemis's hand had sprung open, releasing Percy and letting him slide down the tree trunk, tears of pain leaking from his eyes.

"Then can you explain to me why Percy has a kiss mark on his cheek?" Artemis demanded, ignoring Hestia's last reason, even though it was completely valid.

"I can show you. But are you sure? You won't like it." Hestia said, a slight smile playing on her lips.

"I want to see everything. The truth. Like Percy said, we Hunters don't shy away from it." Artemis said, her silver eyes still angry.

Little did she know what she was going to see.

Hestia's smile grew as she was unable to contain her thoughts of Artemis's reaction. But she waved her hand and a wall of fire sprang to life, showing just exactly what had happened, from the time Percy had called to her for help, all the way to Hestia bashing Aphrodite with the frying pan and Hephaestus releasing Percy from his own chains. The more Artemis watched, the angrier she got. She saw how Percy had gotten the mark on his cheek. And when Artemis saw Aphrodite kissing Percy passionately, she got so angry and jealous that her eyes glowed with a harsh silver light and her godly form shone through for a split second as she struggled to keep control of her emotions. Her form continued to flicker as Artemis glared at Hestia.

"If you saw everything, why didn't you stop her?" Artemis asked furiously.

"To be honest, I wanted to see what Percy would do. Also, I had to call Hephaestus to release him." Hestia said.

Artemis ground her teeth together. "If you hear anything, don't be surprised." Artemis said through gritted teeth. Then she disappeared in a flash of silver light.

Hestia smiled again. For some reason, she found it impossibly amusing about the fact that Artemis was experiencing her first jealousy fit. In all honesty, Hestia felt rather jealous too, since she also loved Percy, in both a romantic way and a motherly way. She cared very much for him. She walked over to where Percy lay on the ground, unconscious after Artemis's furious assault. She flipped him over and winced.

Percy's entire left face was nothing more than a mass of black and purple. Artemis had hit his cheek so hard that his skin had split a bit, a stream of blood running down his cheek and all the way down his neck. He also had several large bruises on his chin and doubtless more injuries over the rest of his body.

"I am sorry, my champion. I should've come here earlier." Hestia whispered, putting her hand on Percy's chest and sending a pulse of warm fire.

She continued to send in a stream of healing power, slowly fixing Percy's internal injuries and most of his bruises. However, Percy's left cheek had been so badly bruised that all Hestia could do was just heal his split-skin and lighten the shade from pitch black to a dark purple colour. She had just finished healing him when there was burst of silver light next to her. She turned and saw Artemis standing there, ichor splattered on her clothing and knuckles. Hestia raised an eyebrow.

Artemis caught her look and saw where it was directed.

"What? Don't worry, I didn't kill her. Just made her very sorry." Artemis said. Then she looked down and winced as she saw Percy.

"I didn't do that, did I?" Artemis asked, horrified.

"You did. It's a much better colour now, before it was pure black and his skin had split. I can't get him to wake up." Hestia said seriously.

Artemis kneeled down and tenderly cupped Percy's cheek, sending in a pulse of silver light. To Hestia's surprise, it lightened Percy's wince-inducing bruise to a light shade of purple. Still bad, but a little better. Percy coughed and hacked, then his eyes flew open. He took a ragged breath as he struggled to his feet, Artemis and Hestia both backing off. He flinched away from Artemis before standing up properly, although he swayed a bit.

"Thank you for coming to my rescue, Lady Hestia." Percy said, bowing to Hestia.

"Not at all. Hephaestus also wishes to tell you that you should find everything ready in the armory tent." Hestia said.

"Can you tell him 'thank you' from me? I never got time to tell him when he helped rescue me." Percy said.

"Will do. Now, I must leave you to your… troubles." Hestia said, giving Percy a wicked grin as she gave him a warm hug before disappearing in a small burst of flame.

Percy glanced warily at Artemis before he leaned wearily against a tree. He bowed his head.

"I'm sorry if I caused you any anger and strife, my lady. I'll try to be more careful and quicker next time." Percy said formally.

"Being more careful, yes, but um, about your injuries…I suppose that I should, uh…" Artemis faltered, unaccustomed to apologizing, admitting that she was wrong, and, most importantly, swallowing her pride.

Percy looked up and smiled at her. "Not at all, my lady." Percy said softly.

Artemis blushed, feeling touched, embarrassed and ashamed at the same time. Ashamed because she had been so cruel to Percy when she had jumped to conclusions, embarrassed that Percy was right and she was wrong, and touched because Percy had forgiven her so easily, even though she felt she did not deserve it.

"Come Perseus. I suggest that you take a nap, so you have enough energy to teach your sisters." Artemis said, briefly putting her hand on his shoulder before walking off towards her cabin.

Percy couldn't help but smile, even though it pained his left cheek. He put his hand on his cheek and his smile grew.

"As you wish, my lady." Percy whispered.

"Percy! Wakey-wakey!" Tracy's voice came shouting at him right next to his ear.

Percy groaned and an instant later, he something heavy jump on top of him. He blearily opened his eyes and saw Tracy sitting cross-legged on him, bouncing up and down, shaking him uncontrollably.

"Ugh, Tracy, I hear you, you don't need to keep on bouncing me." Percy said as he sat up and gently lifted Tracy off himself.

"Well then, come on! It's breakfast time, and you said you were going to train- Oh my gods, what happened to your face Percy?" Tracy practically screamed as she saw Percy's purple left cheek.

"Shhh!" Percy said, jumping forward to clasp a hand around Tracy's mouth. But it was too late.

All the Hunters had heard Tracy's exclamation and they crowded around Percy, staring and gasping in surprise at how awful Percy's face looked.

"Percy, what happened? Is there anything I can do?" Sasha asked.

"No, it's fine. It'll heal." Percy said, standing up and digging under his bunk for his chain-covered leather jacket.

"But Percy, what happened?" Thalia asked, concern obvious in her voice.

"It was nothing. Just a slight misunderstanding." Artemis said as Percy put on his knife belts and, out of habit, checked his pocket for Riptide. However, Artemis's face said otherwise, because she had a slightly guilty expression.

"Yeah, it was nothing major. And in case you were going to ask, the misunderstanding is completely resolved." Percy said.

The Hunters knew when Artemis didn't want to talk about a subject, so they let it drop, although they constantly looked at Percy's face.

They had all finished refreshing themselves when the conch horn blew, signaling the start of breakfast. They quickly walked out in formation, talking quietly to themselves as they started making their own theories on how Percy had gotten such a bad injury.

Percy did his best to walk normally, but his muscles were still quite sore after Artemis's "endurance" test.

"You know my lady, after we eliminate the monsters and after Capture the Flag, we should work on endurance testing again." Percy whispered into Artemis's ear.

"I agree. And I must admit, your endurance is impressive. I was pushing you really hard this morning." Artemis said.

"I could tell…" Percy grumbled. Artemis smirked.

They walked in relative silence to the dining pavilion, although the air was literally buzzing in anticipation of what many consider the biggest Capture the Flag game ever. Percy managed to avoid his friends questioning his injuries by flipping his hood off, or else it would've taken them forever to reach the the usual rituals, Percy sat down and began eating when Artemis said the thing he least wanted to hear.

"And also Perseus, after we are done with our business, I must start to instruct you in archery." Artemis said.

Percy groaned in response. He hated archery. It was impossibly hard for him.

"Why? Do I have to?" Percy whined like a small child.

"You may be skilled with throwing knives, but the range will always be shorter than a bow. You've just been lucky so far that the situations you encounter are melee only or are within range of your knives." Artemis explained.

Percy pouted. "And what if I don't feel like it?"

"Well, either you can do it for me, or I can force you into doing it." Artemis said.

Percy fought the urge to roll his eyes. They both knew that Artemis couldn't force him into doing archery, and if she did, it would most likely end up with Artemis quitting.

"Fine. I'll do it. For the first option, mind, not the second." Percy said resignedly.

Artemis smiled and gave a quick nod, while Thalia gushed, "Aww, isn't that so sweet of Percy." The Hunters giggled while both Percy and Artemis blushed and stared at their plate.

"We'll see who's laughing when I'm teaching you girls right after breakfast. So eat light." Percy said, smirking as the Hunters instantly shut up.

The rest of breakfast was all quiet except for a very poor and unfortunate, idiotic camper who had a big ego.

Percy had just finished his breakfast and had summoned a bowl of mashed potatoes and gravy for Tracy when a camper walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. Percy turned around and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Hey Percy, you think your group of girls can beat all of us guys?" He asked in a confident, swaggering way.

The campers behind him groaned and covered their faces, preparing for the worst.

"Yes, I certainly think so. You think otherwise?" Percy asked in a calm and cool manner.

"Yup. I bet that you're all talk and no essence. Everyone knows that men are stronger than girls." He said sneeringly.

Artemis's eyes flashed with rage as the Hunters stiffened. Percy calmly turned to Tracy and winked at her.

"Really? Well, then how come a little girl can knock out a big boy like you?" Percy asked, twitching his fingers.

"Huh? What-?" Was as far as he got when Tracy jumped from her seat and slammed her bowl of mashed potatoes right onto the boy's head so hard that the crumpled, unconscious before he hit the ground.

Surprisingly, the campers all burst into laughter. Percy and the Hunters looked at them with confusion. Even Chiron was laughing, albeit more quietly.

"Erm, Chiron, can you tell me why they're laughing?" Percy asked, perplexed.

"Well my dear boy, that kid was one of the last of Matthew's men. We merely poked, prodded and goaded him into doing this. Now I have an excuse for putting him on kitchen duty." Chiron said, still laughing softly.

"Oh. Well then, I suppose you can also put him on cleaning duty?" Percy suggested, grinning.

Chiron nodded, then he leaned in. "I suggest that you and your Hunters go train at the beach. More privacy, and because the campers will be using the arena." He said quickly and quietly.

Percy grinned and gave Chiron a hug. "Thanks Chiron. You'll always be my teacher."

Chiron chuckled. "Even though I completely failed to teach you what I do best: archery."

Percy groaned as the Hunters exploded with laughter.

"Don't even remind me about it…" Percy grumbled, even though he too was grinning.

"I'll see you later, Chiron." Percy said, shooting Artemis a questioning look. Artemis nodded and got up, the Hunters following her lead.

Chiron nodded. "Tonight we'll see if the Hunters will continue their lead. I am forced to admit, I actually hope so." Chiron said, giving Percy a cheerful wink.

Percy grinned and gave Chiron a cheerful wave before he turned away and followed Artemis.

"So Percy, where to now?" Artemis asked.

"The beach. I'll meet up with all of you in a bit, I need to get the armoury tent." Percy said.

Artemis nodded and walked toward the beach while Percy sprinted off towards the Artemis cabin. He had just reached the cabin when someone called him.

"Percy! Hey, Percy! Wait up!" Percy turned around and saw it was Grover shouting.

"Hey Grover, what's up?" Percy asked.

"I forgot to give this- Holy Zeus, what happened to your face?" Grover asked, staring at his cheek in shock.

Percy sighed. "If you really want to know, you can ask the dryads. They might've seen. Hades, they might've felt it."

"Oh ok. Anyways, I forgot to give this to you last time. I've been keeping it safe and healthy. Thought you'd want this." Grover said, reaching into his shirt pocket and pulling out a plant. He handed it to Percy, whose eyes widened.

"Moonlace." Percy whispered. "Where did you get it?"

"Um, your mother's apartment. Most of it was destroyed by the blast, but I managed to get the plant before the mortals could." Grover said, a little nervous.

To Grover's surprise, Percy pulled him into a hug.

"Thanks G-Man. I really appreciate it. I think this plant is perfect for Artemis's cabin." Percy said, pulling back from the hug.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Well Perce, I gotta go, so see you later, ok?" Grover said, turning to go.

Percy nodded and waved good-bye. After Grover left, Percy stared at the moonlace lying in his palm. It reminded him of Calypso, which pained him. Another reminder of a friend who was lost to him. He wasn't even sure whether the gods had honoured his request, although seeing as the gods had sworn by the Styx, they probably had. He wondered where she was now, and probably would've continued wondering had it not been for the fact that Artemis was calling to him in the distance.

Percy quickly –but carefully- put the moonlace into his jacket pocket and hurried to the back of Artemis's cabin and rummaged through a trunk that contained various tents. He found the little packet that was the armoury tent packet and quickly rushed out again. He reached the beach in less than a minute to find the Hunters all prepared for training, knives already out and Artemis pacing around impatiently.

"What took you so long, Perseus?" Artemis asked.

"Grover had a message for me, my lady." Percy answered.

Artemis nodded. "So, what are you going to do now?"

"Well, first of all, I have to get this armoury tent working." Percy said, unsuccessfully trying to open the tent.

Artemis sighed. "Percy, after all these months, don't you remember that you have to pull the red tab at the top?"

"Oh. Right." Percy flushed and yanked the red tab.

"Don't yank it-!" Artemis cried out when the armoury tent ballooned to full size in half a second, blowing Percy off his feet and right into the ocean.

The Hunters snorted with laughter while Artemis rolled her eyes with exasperation. As much as he'd changed, Percy's simpleness and foolishness still shone through, bright and clear.

"Well, that wasn't so bad. At least I landed in the ocean, instead of one of your bear traps like last time." Percy said cheerfully as he walked into the tent. An instant later, he came out with a cart that had 17 automatons and several dummies piled on it along with 16 pairs of knife sheathes.

The Hunters were intrigued by the sheathes.

"What's with all those sheathes?" Angeline asked.

"They're throwing knife sheathes." Her fellow Hunter Lisa answered. An avid marksperson, she always carried four throwing knives with her, which were hidden in her shoes or boots.

"Exactly. Spot on, Lisa. Since Hephaestus made these, I'm pretty sure that they'll fit to your size the moment you put them on." Percy said, handing each of the Hunters a sheathe for the waist and sheathes behind the shoulders.

He was right. The instant the Hunters put the sheathes in their respective places, they glowed softly and shrank or grew until it fit each Hunter perfectly.

"Here, my lady. You have your shoulder sheathes, but you need some for your waist." Percy said, handing Artemis a waist sheathe.

Artemis nodded and put it around her waist, snapping her fingers to fill the empty sheathes instantly.

"C'mon girls, fill up your sheathes, we don't have much time." Percy said cheerfully, lugging out a crate full of celestial bronze throwing knives.

The Hunters obediently walked over and gingerly picked the knives up before sliding them into the sheathes. They sheathed them into their waist belts with ease, but they were careful when sheathing them into their shoulder sheathes, since it was a new position. After they were done, they stood at attention.

"Alright, now, obviously, all of you can throw knives. But if you're in the middle of fighting and try to throw at the same time, it's different. We'll be practicing with the metal automatons, and I'll be controlling a water dummy to play the "ranged" enemy part. At first, the dummy won't shoot. Later, I'll slowly increase the speed." Percy said, pulling an automaton off the cart and activating it.

"So who wants to go first?" Percy asked.

"Me." Thalia said without hesitation.

Percy nodded. "We'll switch then, so when you get tired, others can practice. Ready?" Percy asked.

Thalia nodded as she pulled out a hunting knife.

Percy pushed the automaton forward, which instantly drew its sword and leapt at Thalia. Thalia jumped backwards, sidestepped, then leapt onto its back, drawing out her second hunting knife before she crossed slashed and jumped off a headless automaton, the latter which clunked to the sandy ground with a thud.

"Thalia…" Percy grumbled.

"What?" Thalia asked with an innocent face.

"Look, I know that these automatons are most likely easy for you, but can you at least try not to kill them so fast so I can try to teach you dual wielding? Also, you just wasted a perfectly good robot." Percy asked.

"Are you kidding me? Just dancing with a robot? No thanks." Thalia shot back.

"Thalia, sometimes you just have to bear with it for a little bit so you can learn other skills." Percy said, just about managing to conceal his impatience.

"Yeah? Well, at least make it a challenge for me!" Thalia snapped as she stepped closer to Percy, her patience obviously exhausted.

"Sometimes Thalia, not everything can be a challenge!" Percy growled back.

By now, both of them were nose to nose, glaring at each other. Thalia's hands were shifting on her knives while Percy's hand had drifted to his pocket. They would've started fighting a split second later had it not been for an exasperated Artemis, who walked over and pulled the two apart.

"And sometimes, you two don't always have to fight! I understand that both of you are very similar and are closer than siblings, but that doesn't mean you two always have to end up battling each other!" Artemis half-yelled with exasperation.

"I am not similar to Percy!" Thalia exclaimed.

"Yeah, and I'm definitely not similar to Thalia! For one, I don't have her prickly temperament." Percy said indignantly.

"Prickly temperament! Excuse me, but at least I don't have those ridiculous mood swings of yours!" Thalia shouted back.

"I may have mood swings, but at least I do admit when I'm wrong! You never do!" Percy yelled right back.

"Dear Fates…" Artemis groaned as Percy and Thalia continued their brother/sister argument. The Hunters however, found it highly amusing.

"I'll admit that I sometimes have a bad ego problem, but at least my fatal flaws are a heck of a lot easier to control than your flaw!" Thalia yelled.

Percy bristled at that. "My flaw may be bad, but at least it's good in moderation! Your flaw is bad all around!" Percy roared.

"GAH! You annoy me, Perseus Jackson!" Thalia screamed, leaping forward and swing both of her knives.

"And you, Thalia Grace, just piss. Me. OFF!" Percy yelled, drawing Riptide to block Thalia's knives.

A small electrical storm brewed around Thalia, but it was no match to Percy's anger. The ocean literally boiled and steamed, while the ground shook slightly.

"And while my flaw might be bad all around, at least I can control it! And I don't have relationship problems!" Thalia yelled unthinkingly, only aiming to hurt Percy.

It did. The barb hit home, causing Percy to stiffen and fall back as he turned towards the ocean to hide the hurt and pain in his eyes.

"True. I have relationship problems… because I'm a gods damned hero." Percy snarled, managing to make the last word sound like the worst insult possible.

Thalia had frozen, guilt and regret clear on her face. She slowly walked forward and reached up, putting her hand on Percy's shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that. I just wasn't thinking. Forgive me." Thalia said quietly.

Percy stood stock still for an instant, which caused Thalia to get nervous. Then Percy put his arm around Thalia, giving her a brief hug.

"Consider it done, Thals." Percy said.

Thalia relaxed. Even though Percy's face hadn't changed, just the mere fact that he used her nickname meant that Percy was fine.

"Now let's get training." Percy said, turning his back on the ocean and walked towards the cart to pull off another automaton.

Artemis watched the two with admiration and wonderment. Just seconds ago, they were ready to tear each other's throats out. Now, they were all reconciled, with no hard feelings between the two. She shook her head wryly. Those two demigods were the weirdest, and most confusing demigods she had, -would- ever encounter.

"Alright Thals, let's try again, shall we?" Percy said, firing up the automaton.

Thalia nodded and sheathed one of her hunting knives, holding the other in a ready position.

"Oh, by the way, this one will be much harder." Percy said, giving the automaton a push towards Thalia.

The automaton leapt forward much faster this time, swing its sword at high speed with human-like dexterity. Thalia deflected a couple blows and dodged a few before engaging it. While she played defensive, Percy gave her the rather simple instructions.

"Alright Thals, basically, I'll just summon a dummy made from water, and we'll see how well you do trying to throw a knife and play defense with the automaton." Percy said.

Thalia nodded. Percy glanced at the water, and a second later, a humanoid and human sized figure made purely out of water walked out of the ocean.

Percy directed the water figure to stand still and hardened the water slightly.

"Alright Thalia, try. But make sure you don't get cut up by the automaton." Percy said.

Thalia hesitated slightly before aiming a kick at the automaton and pulled a throwing knife from her sheathe. Just as she was about to throw it, the automaton lunged forward and almost skewered Thalia if it weren't for the Huntresses lightning quick reflexes. She tried to attack the automaton and throw the knife at the same time, but failed miserably. She did manage to kick the automaton away, but when she threw the knife, Percy had to move the water figure 6 feet to the left and 2 feet up so as to catch the knife and not waste it. Thalia snorted while the Hunters chuckled. Percy grinned and waved his hand, turning the automaton off.

"Well, it was certainly better than my first time. But not by much." Percy said cheekily.

"Bring it on Seaweed Brain. I'm ready to learn a new skill so I can kick your ass." Thalia growled.

Percy chortled. "That's the spirit."

Percy turned the automaton back on and moved the water figure back to its original position.

"Start." Percy said, pushing the automaton towards Thalia.

Thalia attempted time and again to try to throw her knife and defend herself against the automaton at the same time, or at least disable the automaton long enough for her to aim and throw, but while she improved slightly over each time, they were still quite a ways off. Percy did his best to help her, showing her how to draw the throwing knife quickly, which position to throw, and the fastest and most accurate way to throw in most situations. Still, Thalia didn't get much better.

"Stop." Percy said, waving his hand. The automaton stopped and Thalia hunched over, sweaty and breathing hard.

"Do you want to take a break and let your sisters try?" Percy asked, not wanting to overwork Thalia.

"No. I want to be the first." Thalia said competitively.

"We're fine. It's quite interesting watching our Lieutenant do it, because she's making it easier for us." Phoebe said, throwing a smirk at Thalia. The other Hunters quickly nodded in agreement.

Artemis grinned too. "It's so nice to just sit at the sides and watch, instead of teaching. Very peaceful. Go on Percy, your ideas are correct." Artemis said.

Percy nodded. He turned to Thalia. "You know when you use your spear in conjunction with Aegis?"

"Yeah? So?" Thalia asked.

"Imagine it like that. How you can wield the spear one handed and bash people with the shield at the same time? Just like that. And use your ADHD to locate your secondary target." Percy said.

Thalia grinned. "You got it."

Percy grinned too and waved at the automaton, activating it. The automaton moved forward and began attacking Thalia while Percy brought up the water figure. Again Thalia played the defense and kept it up when suddenly Thalia did a high kick and whipped a throwing knife out of her shoulder sheathe, throwing it straight at the water figure. Percy moved the water figure to the left by 3 inches, and the knife sank right into its face.

Percy waved his hand again, deactivating the automaton.

"Good job Thalia. Much better. And your motion was smooth, not jerky like before." Percy complimented.

"Well, what are you waiting for? C'mon!" Thalia said excitedly.

Percy smiled and activated the automaton again. They kept it up until after five more near misses, Thalia managed to nail the throwing knife right into the water figure's torso. They all cheered, and Thalia was so proud that she almost got cut by the automaton if it hadn't been for Percy deactivating it in time.

"Congratulations Thals. Now, do you want to take a break, or continue? It's going to get harder. A lot harder." Percy said.

Thalia looked at Percy, then looked at her sisters. Part of her wanted to continue because Percy had said it would get harder, but her fellow Hunters were practically bouncing with impatience to try.

"I think I'll take a break and let my sister's try, alright?" Thalia said. Her Hunters smiled while Percy nodded.

"Alright then. You can go try dual wielding with chains on the dummies, so it'll make it easier later on, or you can practice dual wielding knives on the dummies. Your choice. So who's next?" Percy called out.

The Hunters fought with each other for a little bit before Diana stepped forward.

"Me!" She said excitedly.

Percy grinned. Now they're excited about learning this skill. Percy thought wryly. He nodded towards Diana and activated the automaton, summoning a water figure and slowly tutoring Diana through the same steps as he had taught Thalia.

And so it went. All day long, with only a short break for a quick lunch before rushing back to the beach to practice, Percy taught, instructed, tutored and helped his sisters in learning how to dual wield a throwing knife with their weapon of choice, be it dagger, spear or sword.

After the Hunters had mastered the most basic step, Percy began to control the water figure to fire a water bow, with Percy controlling how fast the water figure fired and how fast the water arrow flew. At first, Percy took his time, giving each of the Hunters plenty of time to prepare themselves and throw an accurate attack.

However, as they became more and more comfortable, Percy increased the speed at which he fired the arrows, patiently redoing each speed with each of his sisters. Percy also began summoning the water figure from different places, with various shapes. He also taught them various methods of how to stun an enemy to buy some time to either roll away or throw a knife.

Finally, after many hours of constant work, each of the exhausted and sweaty Hunters could dual wield their weapon of choice and a throwing knife with relative ease. While their reactions weren't the quickest yet, it was an impressive achievement to learn a new skill in less than a day. Artemis apparently thought so too.

"An admirable feat, Perseus, to teach my Hunters a new skill in less than a day." Artemis said, indicating to her exhausted, sweaty, tired but happy Hunters.

"It is not admirable on my side. It all depends on them. A teacher can only go so far before it all falls on the student, whether they wish to learn or not. So you should congratulate them." Percy said, smiling as he sat down on the sandy beach. However, he knew why the Hunters were able to learn so quickly and why they could work nearly nonstop. But Artemis didn't know.

"So big brother, does that mean we can dual wield and attack anyone from any direction now without getting hit?" Lisa asked.

"Um, well, depends on whether you want the buttered up version or the hard truth." Percy said.

"The hard truth. We Hunters always face the truth, right?" Lisa said, winking at Artemis.

Percy grinned. "Right you are. Well, against the average camper, you'll certainly do fine. With the dual wielding, each of you could probably take on 20 of those campers if you're lucky. Against monsters, well, I was never particularly worried unless we were badly outnumbered. But against more skilled opponents, well, all of you still have quite some ways to go." Percy finished truthfully.

"Hey, then what are you waiting for?" Laura exclaimed, jumping to her feet. She was a perfectionist and hated giving up, always liking to finish things until they were done.

"Well, I thought you girls would like to take a break." Percy replied, slightly surprised.

"Maybe the others do, but I don't!" Laura said stubbornly.

Percy shrugged. "Alright then. Get ready for some hard training." Percy said evilly. He stood up and turned to the Hunters that were sitting down while Laura walked over. "You want to work now or just watch for now?"

"We'll watch. Then we'll work." They replied. Percy nodded.

"Alright Laura, this'll be harder and faster. Be careful." Percy warned. He activated the automaton and almost instantly summoned a water figure, making it run in a circle around Laura before stopping to shoot.

Laura reacted with admirable speed, but wasn't quite fast enough. She had just kicked the automaton back and had a knife in her hand when she felt the point of frozen water at her neck. Percy grinned.

"Too slow. Try again."

Laura set her teeth together and gave Percy a challenging look. As Laura engaged the automaton again, Percy purposely waited before suddenly springing the water figure less than 2 feet away from her. Almost instantly, Laura bashed the automatons head with her dagger hilt and whirled around, throwing a knife and causing it to slam right into the water figure's forehead.

Laura turned around with a proud grin. Percy chuckled as he waved his hand, deactivating the automaton.

"Good job Laura." Percy said, walking over and ruffling her hair fondly. He turned to the other Hunters. "So, are you girls going to continue sitting there?" Percy asked.

They instantly clamored to start working again. Percy sighed slightly and threw Artemis a wry look, to which she responded with a bright and shining smile.

For the next couple hours, Percy continued training his sisters hard; increasing the difficulty every time they managed to successfully hit the water figure and avoid the automaton's attacks. Soon, every Hunter, even Tracy, could easily hit a moving target with their knives while still locked in direct combat with another object. Percy couldn't help but feel impossibly proud of them. It was amazing what eating a Golden Apple did to them, they were completely immortal and already more powerful and more capable.

"Hey Coral Boy," Thalia called out, interrupting his thoughts, "Can I try something this time?"

"What is it, Pinecone Face?" Percy called back.

"Set the automaton on me and give me two water figures." Thalia said.

"Are you sure? You just learned the skill, and I don't want you to get hurt." Percy said.

"Yes, I'm sure. Now, will you do it?" Thalia asked.

"If you're sure, then very well. Be careful Thals." Percy said, activating the automaton.

Thalia instantly attacked the automaton and began pushing it back, while Percy waited a bit before summoning two water figures from different directions, each of them raising their "bows" and preparing to fire. Thalia did a backflip, knocking the automaton backwards as she flipped. Landing on her feet, she drew two knives with her left hand and threw them outwards, striking both of the water figures at the same time. Thalia turned to Percy with a triumphant grin on her face.

That was when disaster struck, for Percy.

"Thalia! Watch out!" Percy yelled, rushing forward.

Flushed in her victory at throwing two knives at once, Thalia had completely forgotten about the automaton she'd kicked backwards. That automaton lunged forward, catching Thalia unprepared as it drew a line of fire and pain down Thalia's upper arm. It would've continued lower, but Percy slammed into Thalia, knocking her out of the way as the automaton's blade slammed into sand.

Percy pushed Thalia behind him and raised his hand, a ball of green fire boiling before he blasted the automaton with it. At the same time, a blast of silver fire slammed into the automaton, literally ripping it apart and melting it, completely destroying the automaton. Percy turned back to Thalia and froze.

The automaton hadn't cut too deep, but it was certainly deep enough that Thalia's clothes were splattered with blood. Golden ichor, immortal blood.

Oh shit. Percy cursed in his mind. He forced himself to move as he took his flask of nectar from his belt and gave it to Thalia, who promptly took a small gulp. Her already healing cut closed up almost instantly. However, nothing could be done about the golden blood and Percy braced himself for the worst.

Thalia looked confused as she looked at her shirt. "Um, why is my blood golden? I mean, did it come from me?"

Artemis stepped forward and kneeled next to Thalia, putting a hand on her forehead. Her eyes widened.

"Thalia… you're immortal." Artemis breathed out, shocked. All the Hunters, Thalia included, gasped.

"H-how?" Thalia stuttered out.

"I do not know." Artemis answered. She turned to Percy, who was staring at the ground. "Perseus. Do you know anything about this?"

Percy forced himself to look into Artemis's eyes. "Yes, I do, my lady."

Everyone froze solid. "How do you know about this Percy?" Artemis asked in a carefully controlled voice.

"Because… because I…played a part in Thalia becoming an immortal." Percy struggled out.

"What did you do." Artemis asked simply, her silver eyes beginning to glow.

"Um...well…ah" Percy mumbled.

"Tell me now." Artemis growled, causing Percy to flinch since the voice Artemis used right now was ominously close to the voice she had used this morning when she had beaten the daylights out of him.

"Well, you know the apples that you ate? They tasted so good because they were…immortal apples from the Garden of the Hesperides." Percy said resignedly.

Everyone reeled backwards in shock while disbelief flashed across Artemis's face.

"That's impossible. No one has ever managed to even get a quarter way there of facing down Ladon." Artemis said.

However, Thalia had gasped the instant Percy had said that the apples they had eaten were immortal.

"Percy! How could you! I thought Athena had the apples!" Thalia exclaimed.

Percy shook his head. "Athena gave them to me. She said that it was mine to do, and I decided to give it to my sisters and my Lady." Percy said simply.

"What? You defeated Ladon, Perseus? When?" Artemis asked, so shocked that she was temporarily not angry for now. The other Hunter displayed similar reactions.

Percy sighed. "Remember when Thalia took a leave? For almost half a year? I was at the Amazons, training. I fought a bunch of monsters because Athena wanted me to, then she told me to go kill Ladon." Percy groaned. "Hardest fight in my whole life. Ever. Well, almost."

"So it's true then. You made all of us immortal by giving us the Apples of Hesperides? But you didn't even have my permission." Artemis said as calmly as she could.

"Yes, the apples that I fed all of you were Immortal. And technically my lady, you agreed with me when I suggested we eat the apples, so that was permission." Percy said, looking her straight in the eye.

For a second, Artemis was still. Then she moved so fast that Percy couldn't even catch her movements, all he knew was that he went flying a nanosecond later, slamming into what felt like a tree trunk with a crash. Before he could even regain his senses, he felt a sharp pain as Artemis kneed him in the stomach, then she kicked him in the shins before slapping him across the face. The same place where she had slapped him earlier. Then she threw him onto the ground before stomping on his chest, keeping the pressure up by pushing down hard with her foot.

"You tricked us?" Artemis whispered furiously.

"My Lady, I…only wanted…the best for you and your Hunters." Percy gasped out, the pressure on his chest nearing unbearable.

"I thought I. Could. Trust. YOU!" Artemis screamed. With each word, she picked Percy up, threw him into a tree, slapped him a couple more times before slamming her foot down on his chest again.

"Arrrk… of cour-rse you…can. I would never…do anything to hurt you or…my-my sisters." Percy struggled out.

"But you already tricked us once…how do I know you won't do it again? How can I trust you?" Artemis snarled, increasing the pressure on Percy chest.

"If I were to trick you again, it would be for your well…fare. And besides, wo-would you have…accepted if I…had offered it up…fr…front?" Percy wheezed, struggling to breathe. "Do whatever you wish, my lady. But I will never regret my decision."

Artemis froze at Percy's words and stared down at him. It galled her, pained her that Percy had tricked and manipulated her. She had thought that she had finally found a man she could trust, but it turned out that Percy had tricked her.

But as Artemis forced herself to calm down, she realized that what Percy had said was completely valid. Making her Hunter's immortal was for their own good, and it helped ease an old worry that her Hunters would die. She knew she couldn't stand any more of her hunters dying, and making them immortal helped ease the burden a lot. And Artemis was forced to admit that had Percy come up to her with the idea of giving her Hunters the apples, she would've said no.

Had Percy ever done anything that wasn't for the welfare of the people he cared about? Artemis thought as she continued staring down at Percy. Percy had risked his life many times to save her and her hunters, when she had been wounded, he had taken the wounds and put them onto his own body. He had protected the hunters by standing in front of them and putting himself in the enemies line of fire, and even after he was officially accepted into the Hunt, he had continued doing the hardest chores so that his sisters could relax. And from what she'd heard, he had practically sacrificed himself several times during the quest to Rome and Greece to save his friends.

But he tricked you. Artemis's inner voice said. However, the voice rang weak and feeble, without conviction.

Even now, as Artemis pressed down with painful pressure on Percy's chest, he merely stared into her eyes, not even attempting to struggle out from underneath her. It showed just how much Percy trusted her and cared about her. Artemis briefly considered between continuing her assault on Percy or just deciding to forgive him. She settled for the latter.

With a sigh, she lifted her foot off of Percy's chest, bending down and offering him her hand.

"Thank you, my lady." Percy said hoarsely, grabbing her hand and hauling himself up.

Percy winced and grimaced as pain rocketed through him. The part of his back where had had collided with a tree really hurt.

"So, um, is all forgiven then, my lady?" Percy asked hesitantly.

Artemis glared at him for an instant before her eyes softened.

"Yes Perseus. But that doesn't mean your sisters have. Or will." Artemis said.

Percy turned nervously towards his sisters, who gave him cold looks.

Percy flinched. "Um, so, er, will you, uh, forgive me?" Percy squeaked out in a high pitched voice.

The Hunters continued staring at him coldly, and Percy began to whimper slightly as he squirmed. Then, suddenly, the Hunters screamed with laughter as each and every one of them leapt at Percy, creating a huge group hug.

"Of course Percy! We should thank you, actually!" Tracy said, laughing hard as she climbed onto Percy's back.

"Yes, we should. So thank you for your gift, brother." Phoebe said.

The other Hunters quickly added in their own chorus of 'Thank you's' as they engulfed Percy. After several minutes of hugging and laughing, they fell off, bouncing around Percy.

"You know Kelp Head, it feels great to know that we can't die." Thalia said cheerfully as she bumped her shoulder against his.

"Yeah! It means you don't have to protect us anymore!" Tracy said happily as she jumped off Percy's back Then she froze as she realized what she had just said. "But that doesn't mean I want you to leave!" Tracy said hastily.

Percy and Artemis laughed.

"Don't worry Tracy, I'll always be with the Hunt. And while you may be immortal, that doesn't mean that you can't feel pain. And it's my duty to protect you and everyone else from it as best as I can." Percy said, throwing an arm around Tracy and hugging her close.

"You know Percy, just because your sisters and I have forgiven you doesn't mean Zeus will…" Artemis said, giving Percy a look of warning.

"Oh…crap. Um, will he find out?" Percy asked.

"Of course he will. Eventually. I certainly won't be telling him. But just so you know, you'll be needing that immortality of yours to survive Zeus's anger." Artemis warned.

"Immortality?" Percy asked, confused.

Artemis stopped walking. "You're immortal aren't you? You ate a golden apple too, right?" Artemis asked.

"Uh…" Percy said hesitantly. "About that…I'm not immortal."

Everyone froze.

"WHAT?" Artemis screamed. She whirled around and grabbed a fistful of Percy's shirt. "Why aren't you immortal!"

"Because…there were only sixteen apples." Percy said, bracing himself for an attack.

"But…what do you-" Artemis froze as realization hit her. Her apple had tasted so sweet and so delicious because it was an Golden Apple, Percy must've eaten a normal apple. Which meant that he had basically sacrificed his life for her few minutes of pure pleasure.

"You…YOU BASTARD!" Artemis shrieked, throwing Percy away from her as hard as she could. "HOW COULD YOU NOT EAT ONE? WHY?"

She couldn't believe the fact that Percy was partly mortal. The idea, the mere thought of Percy dying and leaving the Hunt tore at her. She stomped towards Percy, wanting to kick him, but just managing to control herself.

"Well, I thought you'd like the Apple. Barely anyone has ever tasted the Apples, and you and your Hunters can proudly say that they do. Besides, if I hadn't given you one, what would your reaction be, my lady?" Percy responded, slowly getting to his feet.

Artemis gritted her teeth at Percy's comeback. It was a very good comeback.

"You do realize how many complications you've created for me?" Artemis growled.

"Such as?" Percy asked.

"Well, first of all, it's going to be extremely hard recruiting potential Hunters. Because sooner or later, they'll realize that they aren't immortal, while the rest are. Do you have any idea how unfair that is?" Artemis said.

"That's not a problem at all. If you have more recruits, once you deem them loyal and faithful, I can go and pick another apple and let them eat it was a reward." Percy said.

"What? You can do that?" Artemis asked incredulously.

"Erm, yeah, Ladon is kinda under my control now…" Percy muttered.

"And my lady, I don't wish to offend you or anything, but to be brutally honest, I…like our current family. Just as it is." Phoebe said, nervously stepping between Percy and Artemis.

"Yeah, me too. I agree with Phoebe! Who else does?" Tracy asked in her characteristically cheerful and bouncy way.

Artemis watched in shock as each of her Hunters shouted their agreement without a second's hesitation as they all crowded around her and Percy. Artemis turned to look at Percy, who gave her an embarrassed and weak smile.

Had Percy somehow managed to bond the Hunters together so closely? They had all become intimately close, always enjoying the time they all spent with each other. With a deeper shock, Artemis realized that they had all become inter-dependent. They did almost everything together, unless Artemis expressly commanded or forbade something.

With a sigh of defeat, Artemis decided to forgive Percy, if only for the sake of her Hunters.

"Fine. I'll drop it. But one thing Percy," Artemis said as the conch horn sounded in the distance, signaling dinner.

"What is it, my lady?" Percy asked.

"Don't. Die." Artemis said as seriously as she could, staring deep into Percy's green orbs. "Now, dinner. Let's go."

The Hunters cheered as they set of towards the dining pavilion, with Percy letting out a huge breath of relief. That had gone much better than Percy could ever have hoped for.

"Thank you, my lady." Percy whispered to Artemis as he walked past her to take his seat.

Artemis stopped him by putting a hand on his arm and pulling him down onto the seat next to him.

"Now that you're mortal, I need to keep an eye out on you." Artemis growled under her breath as an explanation to Percy's questioning and blushing face.

It wasn't Artemis's only reason. She just felt…better, with Percy next to her.

Percy chuckled. "That's not how it's supposed to be, my lady. I'm the Guardian. My duty is to make sure you are safe and secure, alive and pain free." Percy said, giving her his trademark grins that caused Artemis to stare at his lips quirked in such a cute angle.

"If that's the case, then you can do your duty by shutting up. You're a pain in the butt." Artemis said, trying to sound angry but utterly failing at it.

Percy laughed again as Tracy, rather timidly, pulled on Percy's elbow.

"Yes Tracy?" Percy asked.

"Don't like the food. Can you get me some macaroni and cheese with some watermelon slices?" Tracy asked, looking up at Percy with big, violet eyes.

"Of course, Tracy." Percy said fondly.

He snapped his fingers, causing a plate of macaroni oozing with cheese and a large plate with red slices of watermelon that had a small umbrella stuck into one of the slices to appear in front of her.

"Thanks Percy." Tracy said, giving Percy a hug before hungrily attacking her macaroni.

Percy's sisters stared at Tracy for several minutes before turning as one to Percy.

"Same as Tracy, please." They said, in near unison.

Percy cracked up. "Alright girls, hold on."

Percy straightened himself and clapped his hands together. There was a brief flash of light, and in front of each Huntresses was a plate of macaroni and cheese with another plate of watermelon slices accompanying it. They attacked it with vigor.

"Nibbles, my lady?" Percy asked, turning to Artemis.

Artemis blushed and nodded.

Percy grinned and snapped his fingers, summoning another plate for her.

"Dig in." Percy said. He looked up and realized that everyone was staring at him.

He gave all of them a cool stare before twirling his fingers, summoning a slice of pizza out of midair.

"Hey Percy! Think you can throw us a whole watermelon?" Leo yelled at him from across the pavilion.

Percy grinned. "Alright Leo! Catch!" Percy summoned a massive watermelon and threw it straight at Leo.

Leo's eyes widened in shock before he jumped into the air, catching the watermelon with his whole body. However, the watermelon was so big and thrown with such force, Leo flew backwards and crashed into Jason.

"AHH! Flame Boy, watch it!" Jason yelped.

Leo laughed as he got to his feet and helped Jason up. "Not my fault!" He turned to Percy as he walked over to the Hephaestus table. "Thanks Percy!"

Percy responded with a nod and a grin.

After they had finished their dinner, Percy suggested that his Hunters go to bed so as not to overwork them. The other reason was because he didn't want his sisters to work after they had eaten so much. After the macaroni and cheese, they had requested a fruit salad along with some barbecue.

"Alright girls, let's go to sleep. We got a huge day ahead of us tomorrow." Percy said as he held the door open for Artemis and the Hunters.

"Yup. Now, don't come into the bathrooms Percy. We love you a lot, but some things remain private." Thalia said, throwing a wink at Percy as she waltzed into the bathes at the back.

Her fellow Hunters chortled with laughter at Percy's crimson face as they too walked into the bathes.

Percy smiled and flopped down onto his bunk, closing his eyes groaning as his various aches and pains all over his body relaxed.

"I know my lady, I'll go onto Guard duty, just let me rest my back a bit please." Percy said as he sensed Artemis stepping in front of him.

"You know Percy… perhaps I should not have been so…abrupt today." Artemis said as she watched Percy rather painfully recline onto his bed, feeling that a sort of apology was in order after she had beaten Percy up so badly.

Percy opened his eyes and stared straight into Artemis's silver ones.

I love you, Artemis. I love you with all my heart and I wish I could tell you. But I cannot. Percy thought sadly.

He smiled.

"No need to apologize, my lady. I know how much you hate doing it, and besides, things like that makes life worth living, right?" Percy said, grinning.

"Oh…um, yes, it does." Artemis said, not expecting Percy to be so cheerful and light-hearted about it. "Well then, good night Perseus."

"Good night my lady." Percy said as Artemis walked into her room.

Percy got up, stretching his muscles and his spine to prepare himself for Guardian duty. Then Artemis's door opened and Artemis herself poked her head through with a sly smile on her face.

"You know Perseus, that means that I now have your permission to beat you up as much as I want now, right?" Artemis said cheekily, her silver eyes dancing with amusement.

Percy stared at her with his mouth wide open as realization hit him. Artemis laughed a sparkling laugh at Percy's expression. Then it died down as she remembered something else.

"Oh, and Percy?" Artemis said.

"Yes, my lady?" Percy asked.

"Um, well, I, ah," Artemis stumbled, unable to meet Percy's gaze. "Thank you." She whispered before closing the door.

Percy stared at the door before he shook his head as he walked outside and jumped into a nearby tree. Artemis was so confusing. He leaned back against the tree trunk and sent his senses out, doing a wide sweep to check for anything out of place. Obviously, he sensed a massive immortal aura at the back of Artemis's cabin, where they were taking their bathes. He grinned. He'd play a prank on them when he was done.

After he finished his sweep, he concentrated on the water that the Hunters were currently submerged in…and promptly froze it. He didn't turn it into ice, but he made the water solid. He waited for their reactions, which didn't take long.

"Hey, what the-?"

"What jus-"

"PERSEUS JACKSON! DESOLIDIFY THE WATER RIGHT NOW!" Thalia's angry scream came ripping through the air.

Percy smirked and de- solidified the water, butthe turned the temperature of it to an icy cold.

There was a brief slew of screams and shrieks while Percy fought to stop himself from falling out of the tree because he was laughing so hard.

"JACKSON! YOU SEAWEED BRAIN! HEAT THE WATER UP!" Thalia screamed.

Percy briefly debated whether he should listen to Thalia, or just continue freezing the water when Artemis's voice rang out.

"Percy. Put the water back to its original temperature. And let me sleep." Artemis said simply.

"Your will, my lady." Percy chuckled under his breath. He release his control over the water and heated up to the temperature they had all liked when he had made the bathes for them.

"I WILL KILL YOU, JACKSON!"

Percy laughed one last time before settling against the tree trunk.

Some things never change.

"So my lady, what is our plan going to be for tonight?" Percy asked Artemis after they had finished lunch and were currently all lounging in Artemis's cabin.

Morning had been pretty eventful, what with Thalia attempting to shock Percy at every instance, running after him with her iPod so she could blast nasty music into his poor ears, Piper coming over to ask why her mother wasn't answering anyone and some big talk between Percy's old friends.

"Well, obviously I won't be participating, but I'm definitely going to set the traps. And the flag. Oh, those campers won't know what hit them. Although I'm not particularly worried, since no camper since the last 500 years or so has ever managed to get close to our flag." Artemis said with pride.

"Except me." Percy said cheerily.

"Really? How close did you get?" Artemis asked.

"He actually managed to get hold of the flag and almost won for Camp. But he lost because that time, he was a weak and scrawny boy and was easily knocked over by Zoe." Phoebe said, smirking at Percy.

"Oh blah haha, but at least I managed to get my hands on it. And Thalia was yelling at me for taking the flag." Percy said, glancing over at Thalia, who responded with a playful glare.

"I still believe that it's your entire fault we lost that time, Seaweed Brain." Thalia said, coming over and flopping onto Percy's lap.

"Yeah, yeah. For the sake of peace and quiet, I'll let it go. This time." Percy said.

"Peace and quiet? Whenever were you peaceful and quiet, Percy? What happened to you?" Thalia asked, smirking as she tucked her head under Percy's chin.

As Percy and Thalia talked, Artemis shook her head just slightly. Looking at the two together right now, it was impossible to imagine that they could have the most violent tempers of all demigods and would constantly try to rip each other apart. Right now, they looked like the closest siblings on Earth.

"So my lady, what type of traps are we going to do, and what traps are we going to rig on the flag?" Percy asked as Thalia got off him and he walked over to where Artemis was standing, next to a table.

Artemis nodded as she waved her a hand, a silvery map of the entire camp appearing on the table.

"Well of course, we're going to set our traps at the very borders of our boundaries. Basic traps, since your Annabeth will probably send the newer campers in first. A couple more yards inside, we'll set several dozen trip wires here and here." Artemis said, pointing to several places that were flat ground and had trees right beside them. Percy and the Hunters nodded, and Artemis continued.

"Right here, there are some natural trenches in the ground. Most people will automatically leap over it, so we'll put more trip wires near where they'll most likely land, and jars of Greek fire in the trenches. When the trip wire is tripped, the jars will explode. Lethal, but certainly not life threatening. Well, shouldn't be." Artemis said, causing the Hunters to chuckle.

Percy however, didn't. The fire instantly reminded him of Frank's stick, and Frank wasn't exactly a very agile guy and since he and Hazel always worked together, it would be very dangerous.

"My Lady, I request a short leave to ask Hazel of a certain thing." Percy said.

Artemis looked at him and then shrugged. "You have my permission. But don't take too long."

Percy did his special bow and quickly exited the cabin. To find Hazel fast, he sent his senses out and searched for the Immortal Camper's aura. He located it, unsurprisingly, at the training arena. To save time, and for the sake of it, he turned into liquid form and shot across the ground to the training arena.

He arrived when Reyna and Jason were dueling each other with a ring of campers surrounding them. The two were evenly matched, which wasn't surprising, considering how much time Reyna and Jason had fought each other. Percy quietly moved so he was at the edge of the arena and analyzed Jason's and Reyna's fighting styles.

Both had incorporated some Greek styles, but they were still obviously Roman, what with the amount of stabbing they used. They also used chopping motions, in stiff up and down movements, instead of hacking and slashing, with the occasional twirl that was common of Greeks. Or his own unorthodox fighting style that was neither Greek nor Roman, mainly a mix of Greek, Roman and Hunter fighting styles.

As he watched, he was surprised at how slow they seemed to fight. He had already spotted sixteen holes and little openings in their defense, and yet none had seemed to try to exploit them. He continued watching them duel until Reyna managed a lucky slash, drawing a line of golden blood on Jason's arm before she pounced on him, holding her dagger to his throat.

"Dammit Reyna, you're getting better." Jason grumbled in a light-hearted way as he got to his feet with Reyna's help.

"Of course. Because I spend time training, while you spend time…training your endurance with Piper." Reyna said, smirking.

Jason blushed. "That's none of your business! And I've been training a lot!"

"That's good. I always like a challenge." Percy interrupted, choosing that moment to move next to Reyna and reform himself.

Everyone jerked backwards while Reyna gave an ear-splitting scream before she hastily cut it off.

"My, my, Reyna, did you just scream like a little girl?" Percy asked teasingly, unable to resist poking fun at Reyna.

Reyna glared at him, attempting to intimidate him, but Percy merely allowed his eyes to burst into their immortal form, a type of stare he used on demigods, which is even more effective than the "wolf-glare" he had developed from his time with Lupa.

Unwillingly, Reyna flinched and backed down.

"What do you want?" Reyna snapped, unhappy about losing.

Percy smirked. "Well, I have something extremely important to talk about with Frank and Hazel." Percy said, his eyes shooting Reyna a meaningful look as he walked towards the pair.

She instantly understood. "Alright everyone, short break!" Reyna bellowed out in her considerable voice. She glared at everyone. "Now!"

Everyone scampered, leaving only the Immortal Campers and Percy standing in the arena.

"So, what is it, Percy?" Frank asked.

"I was just wondering about your stick…you're an immortal, but you said that you would die with the stick burning in your hand. And during Capture the Flag, I would obviously be using my flame powers, and I definitely don't want to burn your stick." Percy said seriously.

"I never thought about that…" Frank said as the others also began wondering. "My grandmother said I'd have a short life, because of my shape-shifting powers. Juno -uh, I mean Hera- knew that too. Soo, I really don't know." Frank said, his face confused and in a frown.

"Annabeth? Any ideas?" Percy asked, turning to Annabeth.

Annabeth flinched and stared at the ground before answering.

"Um, I'm Lord Percy, but I don't have any ideas either…it's equally perplexing, although it's entirely possible that if his stick burns out, he will fade, because the stick is basically his life force, isn't it?" Annabeth said, turning to Frank with a questioning look.

"Yeah, it is. If it burns, like when I did it to free Thanatos, I could definitely feel it. Felt like I was seeing my life flash past my eyes, in a literal sense." Frank said, his voice shaking slightly. Hazel comfortingly put a hand on his arm.

"Then if I were to conclude, I'd say that if his stick burns out, he'd die the way immortals do. Fading away, not having a place in this world." Annabeth said.

Percy nodded and frowned. "Thank you Annabeth." He turned back to Frank. "If you trust me, I can keep it safe in Artemis's cabin. Or, you could ask Chiron to keep it safe for you, in the Big House."

"Um, no offense, but I definitely trust you to keep something safe than in the Big House…" Frank muttered under his breath. Everyone chuckled quietly. "Hazel, please?"

Hazel reached into the jacket she was wearing and took out a small stick wrapped in protective layers, even smaller than it was before, since it had briefly been burned before Percy had set the fire out.

"Here Percy. Keep it safe, alright?" Hazel said.

"Quippe." Percy said, the Latin word for 'Of course' popping out of his mouth before he could stop it.

Frank, Hazel, Reyna and Jason grinned while Piper, Leo and Nico looked confused. Annabeth tilted her head to the side before nodding.

"What did you just say?" Piper asked.

"βεβαίως" Percy said, smirking as Frank, Hazel, Jason and Reyna looked confused.

"That's not fair Percy, you're a Greek, and yet you can speak Latin pretty darn well. How come I can't? As a matter of fact, how come no one can?" Jason pouted.

Percy shrugged. "I don't know. But it's quite fun. Videbo te mox." Percy said, smirking at Piper, Leo's and Nico's annoyed and confused faces when he said 'See you later' in Latin while chortling at Jason and Reyna's laughter.

"See you later, Ρομά" Percy yelled at Frank, Hazel, Jason and Reyna. They looked dumbfounded and confused while Annabeth, Nico, Leo and Piper screamed with laughter at Percy's play on words.

Percy chuckled. He had just called Jason, Reyna, Frank and Hazel a "Romani", which in some ways also meant 'prostitute'. A very nice way to play with words, since they were Roman's, and he called them 'Romanies'. He laughed again and transformed into liquid form, shooting across the ground and back to Artemis's cabin.

"… and if Perseus can do it, I'm sure that this'll stop a lot of campers from coming over." Artemis was saying as Percy crept up behind her.

Percy was just about to reform back into his own form when Artemis lifted her foot and brought it down 5 inches behind her, right onto Percy's liquid foot.

"Ow!" Percy yelled as he instantly reformed back into flesh.

Artemis turned around with a smirk on her face. "I did tell you Percy, that when you are near me, I can sense you." Artemis said, giving a soft chuckle.

Percy sighed. "Well, I forgot. And my lady, I need you to put this in a very safe place, at least for tonight's Capture the Flag game." Percy said, taking Frank's stick out of his pocket.

"Typical…"Artemis muttered. "Ahhh, his life stick? Very well, I shall keep it with me. Rest assured Perseus, I will keep this safe." Artemis said, taking the stick and putting it in her jacket.

"Thank you, my lady. Now what were you talking about right before you stomped on me?" Percy asked.

"Here. When the game starts, if you can create a crack from boundary to boundary, then that'll stop a lot of campers, since most aren't very agile. Only the best will be able to get through, and the crack will leave the campers as easy targets." Artemis said, showing Percy the map.

"Affirmative. Of course I can. Just remember that Nico will try to close the crack, since he is a son of Hades, after all." Percy said.

"Well, it's your duty to keep the Immortal Campers at bay, or just knock them out. That shouldn't be too hard, should it?" Artemis asked.

"No, it shouldn't. But last time, I took them by surprise. This time, they'll coordinate their attack, especially with Annabeth's help. Speaking of Annabeth, I think you should add a couple more traps here that are specifically targeted, and more traps here also…" Percy said, pointing to a couple more spots.

They continued the discussion for about another half hour as Percy used his Athena-enhanced brain to execute flawless strategies. By the time they had finished, Artemis was forced to admit that Percy's additions were very clever and was rather shocked that she had missed them.

"Alright Perseus. Since you're our Guardian, you should save us from the stress of making the traps. Go do them." Artemis commanded, her silver eyes gleaming.

"As you wish, my lady." Percy said, picking up a piece of paper and quickly copying the silvery map on the table. In seconds, he was done and walked into the back of the cabin to get the equipment. Minutes later, he came back out, a huge sack slung over his shoulder. With a cheery wave, he went right out of the cabin and straight into the woods.

"I expected him to protest a bit." Artemis admitted out loud.

"Except he didn't. Because he's one of us." Elizabeth said, grinning as she stepped to stand by Artemis's side.

Artemis nodded slowly, then shook her head. She turned back to face her Hunters.

"C'mon girls. While Percy is toiling, you girls need to work too." Artemis said, smiling at their groans as they got off the various couches and chairs in her cabin.

Percy grinned as he planted yet another trip wire connected to a jar of Greek fire. There were already more than 50 trip wires with Greek fire in the forest now, but he didn't have to worry about a wildfire, since Artemis had picked the spots carefully and had made sure the Greek fire explosions were tightly controlled. He couldn't wait for the campers' reaction as soon as they realized that within 2 inches from their borders were piles of traps.

His grin disappeared however, as soon as he saw that he had to plant more underground mines. While extremely stealthy, they were a pain to plant and activate. It took him roughly 15 minutes to plant just one of them. He got to his knees and began digging a hole a foot deep, took out more wires and twisted them so it covered the sides of the hole, then placed a jar of some type of explosive that Artemis had and dropped it in. He twisted the jar's cap 45 degrees, so the instant anyone stepped on the top, the explosive would go off and the metal wires surrounding it would help concentrate the blast.

He got up again and looked at his next objective. Pit traps, netting traps, netting traps, Greek fire traps, trip wire traps, false ground traps in the forest, all check. Now all he had to do was put the traps around the place where the flag would be.

Since they would be relatively close if any campers got past them, the traps were all non-explosive. All Percy had to do was dig holes. A lot of holes. And fill them up with sticky gunk. Percy sighed and got to work. His dug all the holes easily, but his first attempt to fill a hole up with the gunk was not a success. Quite the opposite, actually.

He had reached into the bag and pulled out the small little jar that he was supposed to point into the hole and twist open. However, the cap was stuck pretty tight so Percy tried to smash the jar. When that failed, he brought it up and was just about to touch the cap when it exploded, drenching and covering Percy in the sticky gunk.

Percy cursed a million curses as he attempted to wipe himself down. Not even Aphrodite's enchanted clothes seemed to be able to shake it off. Percy groaned and decided to fill the rest of the holes up, since if he was dirty right now, if another exploded, it wouldn't hurt him too much.

Fortunately for Percy, none exploded, although the sticky gunk had hardened considerably and made his work much harder. He had to fight against the stickiness with much of his strength, or else he'd have frozen long time ago.

With some straining, Percy got to his feet and took a breath. With a bit of some shock, he realized that it was late, almost dinner time! He tried to turn around and run back to Artemis's cabin, but he found himself moving in slow motion, with the gunk clinging to his entire body and slowing his movements down. After a 15 minute walk that would normally take him 2 minutes, he finally reached Artemis's cabin, his muscles beginning to burn a bit from fighting the stickiness and from the fact that he had to hop to avoid some traps. He really had to get the stickiness off, even though the stickiness seemed impervious to water and fire. He knocked on the door before pausing and then opening it.

"My Lady, I could use some assistance here." Percy grumbled as he stumbled inside.

"Perseus! What happened?" Artemis said, whirling around and staring at Percy with wide eyes.

"Oh nothing. It's just that one of the bottles wouldn't open, and it exploded instead." Percy said as nonchalantly as possible.

Artemis and the Hunters screamed with laughter as Percy gave them all a rueful glare.

"Sorry Percy, it's just that we all find that so f-fun-ny." Thalia stuttered out, shaking with laughter.

Artemis smiled and walked over, snapping her fingers and instantly removing all traces of the sticky gunk that Percy had on his body.

"Thank you, my lady." Percy said gratefully.

"Well Percy, you joined us at just the right time. It's time for dinner. And then fun." Artemis said. Just as she said it, the conch horn sounded.

"Then let's go, shall we, my lady?" Percy said, holding the door open.

"First, we suit up." Artemis said, giving an evil grin.

The Hunters disappeared into a back room, and minutes later, they stepped out, dressed in the clothes Percy had asked Aphrodite to make them many months ago. However, each Hunter also had throwing knife sheathes at their waist and above each shoulder, giving them all a dangerous look. Combined with the chains that glittered, they were deadly. Artemis herself changed her clothing into her favourite. A silver suit/jacket with two chains on either side, and her leaf and vine etched pants.

"Now let's go." Artemis said, grinning.

When they arrived at the pavilion, the air was literally buzzing with excitement and anticipation. All too soon, everyone was done eating, completely armoured, and were anxiously waiting for Chiron's announcement of the game.

"So, as everyone knows, this will probably be one of the biggest Capture the Flag games ever! On Blue Team are the campers, and against them will be the Hunters! Remember, no killing, and try your best not to injure someone. Magical items and everything else are allowed! I will be refereeing, while Lady Artemis will be watching. Now to your positions and await my signal!" Chiron roared.

The campers cheered and ran off, while Artemis merely snapped her fingers, instantly teleporting them all to where the flag was.

Their Flag was a simple design, a cloth of silver with two crescent moons facing each other on it. It was, however, as Percy knew, dangerous, and especially so towards a certain type of demigod, thanks to Percy's addition. Artemis gave them a nod of encouragement before summoning a large, comfy, chintz armchair and sitting down right behind the flag. As the Hunters got into position in the trees, the horn blew, indicating the start of the game.

As planned, Percy stomped his foot, causing a minor earthquake and making a deep and wide crack appear in front of the Hunter's trees, causing anyone who gets stranded on the other side a sitting duck for the Hunters.

It turned out that the newer campers were even more inept than Percy had expected. There were screams and yells as they fell into the traps that Percy had laid out, while others managed to get past the first wave of Greek fire before they fell into deep pits. Others, Percy assumed, had been strung up so tightly they'd be stuck for the duration of the game.

Finally, a single, lone camper appeared. He was wearing full armour, panting heavily, and had scorch marks all over him. He came yelling, only to jerk to a stop and shriek as he nearly fell into the crevice.

A single arrow flew from the trees, hitting him right on the helm with enough force to knock him out instantly.

"Percy! How bad are the campers?" Angeline yelled.

"Eh, pretty bad. However, prepare yourselves when the older campers come in. They're much stronger, especially the survivors since the Titan War." Percy replied.

"Good. Cause it's getting boring!" Angeline yelled back.

Percy grinned as he drew both of his swords. It was actually kind of boring. There was apparently a never ending supply of screams and yells.

"I spy a little camper!" Tracy yelled out. "A few little campers!"

At exactly that instant, a massive eagle shot overhead, heading straight towards the flag with a triumphant screech. His screech was cut short, however, when Percy leapt into the air and landed on top of the eagle, crushing it towards the ground. They spun in circles as they fought to keep one another at the bottom.

They both slammed into the ground hard, but Percy being the more experienced one, got up first. However, he allowed Frank to get up and change form before he engaged Frank.

Frank retreated steadily, cursing himself for deciding to go first. He should've stayed back as a archer, that's what he was. He wasn't a swordsmanship guy. He could already feel sweat beading on his forehead as he struggled to keep Percy's single sword at bay.

Frank leapt backwards and transformed into a bull before rushing headlong with abandon. Percy barely managed to jump aside as Frank bulled past him.

"Bad idea Frank!" Percy yelled. He unhooked a chain and sent it flying, wrapping itself around Frank's horns. Before Frank could react, Percy yanked, causing Frank to fly towards him. Frank's head met Percy's fist with a crunch and Frank flopped to the ground in his normal form, unconscious.

"Next time Frank buddy, stick to archery and transforming to big, lumbering giants." Percy said, giving Frank a brief pat before standing up to survey his surroundings. Artemis smiled slightly and snapped her fingers, teleporting Frank to their prison.

Percy cocked his head. "Are you supposed to do that?"

Artemis shrugged, not offering a reply.

"Percy! You got company!" Thalia yelled at him.

Percy turned around and saw Jason, Reyna and Hazel coming at him. They had managed to leap over the crack, although from what Percy could see, and could tell from the piles of bodies, not many had managed to past.

Jason raised his spear and summoned a blast of lightning, aiming it straight at Percy.

Percy raised his sword and the lightning bolt bounced off Riptide, just like it did with Porphyrion. However, instead of flying back at Jason, it slammed into Reyna, blowing her off her feet. Both Jason and Leo winced.

"Leo! Keep him busy!" Jason yelled as he rushed towards Reyna, feeling guilty.

"Keep you busy? How?" Leo squeaked. Nevertheless, he took out his two hammers and jumped at Percy, praying that the training he had received from Jason would be enough to hold Percy back.

Percy grinned and put one sword behind his back while making Leo dance and twirl around like a ballerina as he stabbed and poked.

"You know Leo, you'd make a good ballerina." Percy said, unable to resist poking fun at him.

"Very…funny." Leo gasped out as he dodged another of Percy's thrusts. "You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"

"Very smart." Percy commented, keeping an eye out for Jason out of the corner of his eye. He saw him stand up, and then pull Reyna up with him. As he did so, his senses also told him that two more Immortals had joined him, which he assumed was Piper and Hazel. "Sorry, gotta knock you out. Be still, and this'll be painless."

Percy jumped forward, dodged a hammer and thumped Leo's head with his sword hilt. However, before he even hit the ground, he disappeared in a fine silver mist.

"Alright Percy, fight us now." Jason said as he, Reyna, Piper and Hazel surrounded him. Percy took a quick glance at his Hunter and was relieved to see that they were completely fine. A few were engaged in close combat, but it looked like a one-sided fight.

"You sure you want to use your spear, Jason?" Percy asked.

"Yeah, why?" Jason asked warily, watching out for any trick.

"If you're sure, then come on." Percy said.

Jason hesitated before he lunged forward, a move that would spear Percy through the body. Percy leaped to the side and gripped the side of the spear. Jason thought he was going to disarm him or wrench it out of his grasp so he tightened his grip. A mistake. Percy smirked and pulled up with his left hand while pushing down with his right, flipping Jason high into the air before slamming him back into the ground.

Jason groaned but was given a brief respite as Percy was instantly engaged by three opponents. Reyna came at him with an accurate slash, but Percy parried and swiped back. Reyna leapt back and Hazel lunged forward, cursing as Percy riposted, opening a small cut on her arm. He dodged Piper's blade and re-engaged Reyna. Soon, Piper and Hazel joined in and Percy's blade sped up, keeping all three weapons at bay.

"Dang Percy, don't you wear any jewelry?" Hazel asked while attempting to stab him.

Percy sidestepped and slashed, only to have Hazel block it.

"Nope. Ever since you freed me and Frank from the Amazons, nope. Jewelry is dangerous." Percy said, grinning.

They continued for another minute before Percy found the holes and exploited them. Piper was the first to fall as Percy suddenly dropped low and swung his foot in a circle. Reyna and Hazel, more battle hardened than Piper, leapt backwards instantly while Piper crashed to the ground. Percy touched her neck with his sword and looked at her.

"I yield." Piper said. Percy nodded and moments later, Piper disappeared in a silvery mist as Artemis teleported her to their prison.

He reengaged Reyna while he shot a blast of water at Hazel, causing her to fly backwards. Percy feinted low with one sword, and while Reyna's blade went down to block it, Percy's other blade came up to touch her neck.

"Dang. I won't say it, but you win." Reyna said grudgingly. She too disappeared in a silvery mist.

Percy turned around and saw Jason and Hazel facing him. Jason looked a little beat up, but he was now holding a sword, instead of his spear.

"Good to know that you learn." Percy said, pointing to Jason's sword.

"Enough talk. Let's end this now." Jason said, jumping forward with a powerful overhand swing.

Percy blocked and whirled around in a 360, catching Jason by surprise as he stumbled backwards. Hazel came forward with her spatha coming down at an angle and Percy's foot shot up, kicking the cavalry sword out of her hand. Hazel instantly reached down and grabbed a large bar of platinum, throwing it at Percy and catching him completely by surprise.

Percy fell backwards with an oomph of surprise as the heavy weight of the platinum sat on his stomach. He pushed it off and rolled sideways, just avoiding Jason's sword, which came down an instantly later. He leapt to his feet and engaged Jason again, pushing Jason back with a series of punishing blows that shook Jason each time Percy's sword clashed against his own.

Percy saw Hazel reaching for her sword, so he wound back his left arm and let his sword fly, sending Hazel's spatha flying away. He raised his empty left hand and fired a blast of water right into Jason's face, catching him unprepared. He hacked and coughed while Percy transformed into liquid and shot behind Hazel, faster than she could see. He reformed and instantly wrapped her in a sleeper hold. Six seconds later, she was unconscious.

Jason rushed towards him, plainly angry. His sword crackled with small sparks of electricity. Percy grinned tightly and set his sword on fire, flames dripping and hissing as they hit the forest ground.

Jason sensed a current of air coming and controlled it to lift him off the ground slightly, in the hopes of getting a height advantage. However, Percy saw and instantly raised his hands, water shooting from his hands and creating a airtight, hardened water dome.

Without a air current, Jason hit the ground again.

"Give me a break, Percy." Jason groaned as he picked himself up from the ground.

"Well, I am. Because if you got into the air, you'd go down like Frank did." Percy said cheerfully as he blocked a blow from Jason that would've cut him in two. He released his control on the water and let it dissolve.

He was just about to disarm Jason when he suddenly saw out of the corner of his eyes a young camper jump at him, right into the path of his sword.

Percy instantly jerked backwards as the camper frantically skidded to a stop.

"Watch out next time, kid. I don't want to kill anyone." Percy said seriously as he knelt next to the young camper.

The camper nodded nervously, still shocked that he had almost gotten cut into pieces.

"But while I don't kill, I still knockout." Percy said an instant before he thumped the base of the boy's skull. He gently laid the unconscious boy on the ground and was about to stand up when he felt a cold touch on his neck. He slowly stood up and saw Jason standing there with his sword at his neck.

"No sudden moves and drop your sword." Jason said, panting heavily.

"Not very honourable of you, especially when I was saving that kid's poor skin." Percy said, not letting go of Riptide.

"Well, you're better than I am, so I need every advantage I can get." Jason panted.

"Unfortunately, you won't be able to win. Yet." Percy said. He spun Riptide in a 360, knocking Jason's sword away from his neck as he leaned backwards at the same time.

Jason cursed as he moved forward again, swinging and stabbing with all his might.

Jason fought well, but Percy decided to go all out with him as he whipped his sword around in a backhanded strike, causing Jason to stumble sideways as Jason attempted to block the blow. Percy then came with a uppercut with Riptide, hooking Jason's sword out and sending it flying. Then Percy kicked Jason in the stomach, forcing him to bend over as Percy dropped his sword and clapped Jason on the temples, forcing him into unconsciousness.

"Nicely done Perseus." Artemis said as she waved her hand, sending Jason into their prison.

"Thank you, my lady." Percy said as he looked around.

The fight had died down. "Sisters! Are you all alright?" Percy asked them as he walked forward.

"Obviously. Nothing more than a few scratches, and thanks to our new skill, we can easily take on a lot more enemies now." Thalia said proudly, indicating the pile of injured campers that were lying on the ground, either unconscious or groaning softly.

"It's like they said, the best defense is a good offense. I don't think they have a single camper standing." Diana said proudly.

"Really? I was under the impression that there were more campers than this. This pile is about equal to what it was 4 years ago." Percy said, scanning the campers for any serious injuries.

"Probably our traps got them. We put way more traps than we usually did. Proof of how well you put the traps, Percy." Phoebe said, clapping him on the shoulder.

Percy sent his senses out and felt an Immortal presence behind him. It could only be Annabeth. He smiled sneakily and pretended not to notice.

"Well, look there, shall we?" Percy said, pointing to a single shadow that was very close to the flag. Thalia had thought up the idea, since Nico could shadow travel, they thought to put a shadow there and a trap right beneath him and they were eagerly awaiting for Nico to fall into it.

"Come on girls, let's go get their flags." Percy said loudly, dramatically walking away from their own Flag.

The Hunters followed suit, but only for a couple more feet before they quickly hid behind trees to watch what would happen.

They didn't have to wait long.

The shadow next to the Flag rippled and contorted. An instantly later, Nico appeared, completely unharmed. For the briefest second, pure triumph shone on Nico's face before it was replaced with a look of horror and a scream as Nico fell…right into a pit filled with the stinky gunk that Percy had gotten himself covered in.

"Annabeth! Ananbeth! Hurry! Help!" Nico screamed desperately as Artemis tried as hard as she could not to snigger.

About 20 yards away from the flag, Annabeth rippled into view. She instantly rushed forward, but as soon as she got within 10 yards of the flag, the flag pole rippled and a silvery spider seemed to ooze from it. Annabeth gave a scream of pure terror and fear as the silvery spider advanced on her. She seemed rooted to the spot as the spider got closer and closer. Annabeth's eyes were full of fear and her face was paper white.

Percy had originally thought he'd enjoy watching, but he couldn't help but feel really bad. Looking at Thalia's face, he knew she felt like that too.

"I'll go Percy. You go get the flag." Thalia said, walking forward towards Annabeth, ready to relieve her of her misery.

Percy nodded and turned around, heading towards the river that signaled their border. As he walked towards it, he noticed where most of the campers were. They were all either strung up, unconscious from Greek fire blasts, or caught under huge piles of dirt. While he felt sorry for the campers, he also felt immensely proud of his own handiwork.

As he reached the river, he extended his wings and shot into the night sky. He flapped his wings hard, speeding up so he could see everything. He saw the Flag, glittering high on Zeus's Fist, or, as a lot of people liked to call it, a pile of deer dung. He swooped down when his sharp eyes caught something else glittering. A metal sheen. Percy instinctively rolled, just avoiding a exploding shell as he righted himself. Soon, the air was full of flack and darts as the Ares campers attempted to shoot him down.

"Let's make him put on an air show, everyone!" Clarisse bellowed as she manned a AA gun by herself.

"Like em Prissy? Gift from our Father, because you blew him up!" Clarisse yelled.

Percy cursed as he rolled and twisted, but no matter how hard he tried, he could never get closer than 300 feet to the ground. That left only one option left, if it were to be non-fatal.

Percy shot straight up to get out of the range before he steadied himself. He raised his fist towards the sky and gave a yell, summoning the strongest storm he could. Immediately, thunder boomed as lightning flashed, and an enormous downpour came crashing down. The rain came down so hard, it was as if Niagra Falls was above the camp. And while Percy was perfectly dry, the situation below could never have been worse.

The Ares campers were literally blind as they struggled to even see their own hands. Percy grinned as he swooped down, plucking the Blue Team's flag straight from the pile of deer dung. Slowly and calmly, Percy walked towards the river that marked the borders, only waving his hand to shut off the storm when there was enough distance between him and the campers.

He walked to the river and stopped right at it, waiting for his sisters to turn up. They turned up a split second later, beaming hugely as they were followed by all the campers they had defeated.

With great flair, Percy stepped into the river, and then finally crossed it, scoring and clenching another victory for the Hunters.

The campers groaned loudly as the Hunters cheered, swarming around Percy and giving him hugs.

"The Hunters of Artemis win for the 58th time in a row! Congratulations!" Chiron yelled loudly. Before, he had sounded rather tired when he announced that the Hunters had won a game. But this time, he was cheerful and smiling.

"Yeah Perce! With all that rain, I don't think the strawberry plants ever need to worry about watering for the rest of this summer!" Grover yelled as he too gave Percy a big hug.

"Good job Perseus, although I'd be disappointed if you hadn't managed to win." Artemis said, her face glowing as she smiled and gave Percy a pat on the shoulder.

To Percy, that single pat was worth more than all the hugs combined.

"I believe your friends would like to know who won, eh?" Artemis said, still smiling. She waved her hand and Jason, Reyna, Frank, Hazel, Piper, and Leo appeared.

They all stared at Percy holding their flag and groaned.

"Why am I not surprised?" Jason grumbled as the others just laughed.

"Congratulations Percy. That was a really good trick." Nico's voice came from behind. He was covered in the sticky gunk and moved stiffly. "I'd give you a hug, but I don't think I want to stay stuck to you forever."

"Thanks, Zombie Dude." Percy said, giving Nico a light tap on the shoulder where he didn't have any gunk. "My Lady, could you please?"

"Oh alright." Artemis said. She snapped her fingers, instantly cleaning Nico up. Nico bowed.

"Thank you, Lady Artemis." Nico said as respectfully as he could. Artemis merely nodded.

"Alright campers, it's past curfew, and it's time for bed! For anyone that has injuries, you can sleep in the infirmary and the Apollo-" Chiron halted as he realized that all of the Apollo campers were pretty badly injured themselves, courtesy of blunt-tipped arrows.

Suddenly, there was an intense burst of light, and the 13 Olympians appeared. Chiron's eyes widened as he quickly bowed.

"My Lord and Ladies, what can we do for you?" Chiron asked.

Zeus nodded his greeting and turned to Apollo.

"Apollo, take care of the campers, except for the Immortals." Zeus ordered.

Apollo nodded and disappeared in a flash of light, taking most of the campers with him.

"Alright, we have located the locations of the monster groups. Artemis, we need you and your Hunters to take them out. Jason, Reyna, Hazel and Frank, return to Roman Camp to warn them and keep an eye out for any powerful presence. The Titans are still on the loose and we have been unable to locate them. Piper, Leo, and Annabeth, guard this camp. Nico, well, your Father will tell you what he wants." Zeus said.

Artemis nodded while the Immortal Campers bowed. "My Hunters can take care of this in no time. You can count on us, Father." Artemis said.

Zeus nodded while Athena spoke up.

"In the meantime, we will continue searching for the loose Titans. The fact that they are still hidden means that they are weak, or very well protected." Athena said.

"Or it could also be because you gods are still a bit weak?" Percy blurted out foolishly. Everyone froze solid, anxiously watching the Olympian's reactions.

It was a mixed bag. Poseidon had a strangely prideful look in his eyes, Hades merely rolled his eyes, Hermes had a slight smirk on his face, Hestia looked exasperated, Athena had a 'How-stupid-can-you-be' look, Dionysus was surprisingly unreactive, Demeter had a 'who cares' look, Hera's eyes were flashing slightly, Hephaestus was making a sound between a grumble and a chuckle, Aphrodite was staring at Percy, Ares was growling and glaring daggers while Zeus was, well, Zeus was pissed.

The air around him crackled and stank of ozone as he stiffly grabbed Hera's hand and disappeared in a burst of lightning. Most of the lightning seemed directed towards Percy, scorching his clothes and leaving soot marks on his face.

Soon, the other Olympians began to teleport away, although most of them gave Percy a cheery wave while others, like Poseidon and Hestia, gave Percy a quick hug before leaving. Aphrodite stayed behind, wanting to give Percy a hug too, but scampered at Artemis's warning gaze.

"Well, good night then Percy. And good fight. Now I know why you're a Guardian." Piper said, surprisingly giving Percy a hug and a light kiss on the cheek.

Reyna rather shyly gave him a hug too after congratulating him, with Hazel following suit. Annabeth seemed to hesitate before she dashed off and Jason offered his own congratulations, followed by what they called a "man hug"

"G'night G-Man." Percy said, giving his best friend a last hug. Grover nodded and bowed one more time to Artemis before dashing off, probably to enjoy some time with Juniper or something.

Artemis snapped her fingers, sending them all back into her cabin.

"Woot! Let's celebrate, shall we?" Tracy asked, bouncing around.

"Can we, my lady?" Alex asked Artemis.

"Of course. Perseus, refreshments?" Artemis said as she snapped her fingers, causing a large boombox to appear at the back of the room, pumping out some music that Thalia must've chosen. The internal light brightened to give the room a white colour. A table popped up in the middle of the room.

"I didn't know you Hunters actually partied." Percy said in amazement.

"There's always a first time, Percy. Now, typical party food?" Thalia said.

Percy grinned and clapped his hands, summoning juice and punch, along with some donuts and cookies that were soft and smooth, thanks to Hestia's powers. The Hunters cheered and began to have fun, dancing with each other as they bounced around the room.

Percy chuckled softly as he sat on a sofa, groaning slightly as he sank into the plush cushions. He was tired, but he felt energized as he watched the Hunters have fun, completely rowdy and different than what he had originally thought the Hunters were.

"Enjoying yourself, Perseus?" A voice said next to him.

Percy looked up and saw Artemis staring down at him, a faint smirk on her face.

"I suppose so, my lady. You don't party?" Percy asked.

Artemis shook her head as she sat down next to Percy. He instantly felt nervous and began to feel stiff, although Artemis appeared completely at ease.

"You were very stupid, and very lucky back there, when you spoke to Zeus like that." Artemis said suddenly.

"I know… I'm sorry. I really am." Percy said.

"If it were not for Chaos, you would be a pile of ashes right now." Artemis continued, appearing not to have heard Percy.

"Huh? Why?" Percy asked, feeling rather stupid again.

"Think Perseus. When you swore your oath, when Chaos appeared, that was the first time, perhaps ever since he created the Universe, that he has appeared. It shows that he has an interest in you. And no matter how powerful we gods may be, Chaos could crush us with ease. That is why I say you're lucky. My Father, with all his pride and ego, would not be stupid enough to insult Chaos." Artemis said. Thunder roared and shook the cabin.

"Oh shut up!" Artemis snapped at the sky. The thunder stopped. "The question is, what does Chaos want with you? You know, why did you even swear by Chaos? You swore by the Styx, why add Chaos?" Artemis asked.

Percy opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, there was a knock at the door. Artemis and Percy stood up and walked to the door. Artemis reached the door first, but Percy put a hand on her shoulder, holding her back. She turned around with a questioning look.

"You don't go first, my lady. If there is something dangerous, it would get you by surprise. That's why I'm here. I go before you, just to be safe." Percy said, stepping in front of her and opening the door.

Annabeth stood there.

"Hello Annabeth. You have a question?" Percy said, giving her a smile. However, Artemis saw Percy's eyes and was actually frightened by how blank and expressionless they were. She had seen Percy's eyes promising death and pain, and she had thought that they were scary enough, but in Artemis's opinion, this was the expression she would never want directed towards her. Percy's eyes were just blank, as if he didn't care at all.

"Hey Percy, could you um, please come with me? I have a few things to ask…" Annabeth said, trailing off.

Percy turned to Artemis with a questioning look. Artemis nodded, giving him her permission.

"Sure Annabeth." Percy said. "I'll be back soon." Percy said to Artemis, who nodded.

Percy and Annabeth walked in silence for a while, just the two of them, like the good old days.

The good old days that are now gone. Percy thought sadly.

"Percy…" Annabeth said suddenly, "There's no way we can get together, right?"

"That's correct." Percy said simply.

Annabeth flinched at the baldness of the answer. "Do you think we could-could try?" Annabeth asked hesitantly.

"No." Percy said, without hesitation.

Annabeth flinched again at how quickly the answer came and felt deeply hurt.

"Percy…do you…do you still love me?" Annabeth asked quietly.

Percy stopped walking and thought about it. While he was still angry and sour that Annabeth had left him because she didn't trust him enough, he truly couldn't throw away their old friendship. They had known each other ever since they were pre-teens, after all. They had also gone through so much together, it would've been impossible to throw it all away, just because of a (large) blow.

"Yes…" Annabeth's heart lifted, "…and no." Annabeth's heart fell. "I still like you a lot, Annabeth. We've been through so much, and we've known each other for so long. I can't throw it away. But if you mean to get back together, like before, before any of these things happen, then no, Annabeth, I'm sorry, but that won't work." Percy said.

Annabeth nodded and smiled. "Remember on our first quest? We were stuck in an animal cage together. And Circe's Island? You made a great guinea pig." Annabeth said, smiling.

Percy smiled too. "Yeah. And you were so uncertain of yourself during the Labyrinth. Remember the Tunnel Ride of Love thingy? You got us too high and Grover had to "fly" us to safety." Percy said, grinning.

"I got us too high? I saved our lives! If you had done it, we would've been human pancake!" Annabeth said, laughing.

"True, very true." Percy said, chuckling.

They continued talking, reminiscing of old times, both of them poking fun at each other's mistakes, although it was mainly Annabeth making fun of Percy, since Annabeth hadn't done many stupid things. After they finished, they continued walking in silence for a while.

"Well Annabeth, it was actually quite nice talking to you, but I really have to get back." Percy said.

"No problem." Annabeth said.

Percy turned to go but Annabeth stopped him.

"Percy…thank you. For everything. And…I still love you. I always will." Annabeth said with heartfelt emotion.

Percy stared into her piercing grey eyes before nodding slowly and turning around, walking back to Artemis's cabin. He took a deep breath and smiled. His talk with Annabeth made him feel much better, as if a big weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He entered Artemis's cabin, only to find that the Hunters were all getting ready to sleep.

"Your partying is this quick?" Percy asked, confused.

"Quick? We've been partying for more than an hour." Thalia said, climbing into her bunk.

More than an hour? Percy thought incredulously. He looked at his watch, and more than an hour really had passed. Wow. Talking and reminiscing takes up a lot of time. Percy thought.

"Lady Artemis?" Percy asked.

"Hurry up and get to sleep, Perseus. We have several big days ahead of us." Artemis's voice came from her bedroom.

"Understood, my lady." Percy said.

He stretched his back and yawned before pulling back the covers, gratefully sinking down onto his bed with a contented sigh…only to scream as his bed suddenly seemed to collapse and he landed in a giant bucket of ice. The Hunters screamed with laughter.

"THALIA GRACE!" Percy yelled.

"A bookstore? Why are we going to a bookstore, my lady? Are there more monsters in there?" Percy asked, for like the umpteenth time. For the past few days, Percy had traveled with Artemis and the Hunters to many states, killing and destroying hordes of monsters that had escaped Tartarus when Hyperion freed Krios. Fortunately for them, like what Hades said, the monsters were mostly weak and didn't pose much of a danger, except for a few packs of hellhounds that had proved rather hard to find.

Percy blamed himself for it, since he wasn't quite as skilled at being stealthy in a forest as the rest of the Hunt, but with the help of Tempest and her fellow wolves, they had managed to round up and destroy the hellhounds with relative ease.

Lupa had also sent word, saying that her wolves would instantly start tracking down the Titans, but like the gods, they currently had no trace. Jason had reported, saying that several groups of monsters had attacked camp, but they had nothing to worry about, since there were no casualties.

Right now, after destroying another group of monsters, they were headed towards a Barnes & Noble.

"No. But without any animals to Hunt, or monsters to kill, the Hunt could become a bit boring. So I regularly let my girls buy books to help pass time. Besides, reading is good for you. Also, we have eliminated all the monsters Lord Zeus told us to, so this is a little relaxation before we go back to Camp." Artemis said.

"Oh ok. But what book am I supposed to get?" Percy asked, stopping in front of the doors.

"Stop procrastinating, Perseus." Artemis said, grabbing his hand and yanking him inside.

They entered the store and stood there for a moment as the smells of the nearby Starbucks café hit them. Artemis then realized that she was still holding onto Percy's hand. True, she was in her 12 year old form, but she was still embarrassed. And even though her hand was dwarfed by Percy's large hand, she felt comfortable holding onto it, as it gave her a sense of assurance, comfort and safety. Nevertheless, as much as liked holding his hand, she quietly slipped it out and before she could stop herself, she stood up on tiptoes and gently scratched Percy's wing slits.

Percy giggled. "What was that for?" Percy asked, giving her a rueful look.

"Just because." Artemis said, shrugging as she tried to hide her blush.

Percy grinned. "Well, if you put it that way…" Percy instantly lunged forward, tickling Artemis's sides, since he knew her weaknesses from the beach party.

Artemis giggled and bent over, attempting to ward Percy off and keep her dignity intact, but failing miserably on both counts.

"P-Percy… s-stop." Artemis gasped out, unable to stock shaking as Percy continued to tickle her while Percy watched with delight and fascination at how Artemis's face lit up when she smiled and laughed.

"Perc-y, I or-order you to s-s-stop-p-p." Artemis gasped as she continued to try to get away.

Reluctantly, Percy stopped tickling and pouted.

"Now Perseus…" Artemis said slyly.

She jumped onto Percy's back before he could react, furiously tickling Percy's wing slits through his jacket. Percy gasped and fell to the ground, unable to control himself from laughing nonstop as Artemis deftly rolled and moved with him, continuing her assault on Percy's back. Artemis would've continued, but Thalia interrupted them.

"My Lady! Percy! What are you two doing? In public? If you don't stop, people will be coming to look at you!" Thalia hissed at them.

Artemis stopped instantly and jumped off Percy's back, while Percy slowly got to his feet, his back aching.

"Go on Perseus. We'll meet up later." Artemis said, blushing slightly.

Percy nodded and walked off towards the magazine area, keeping an eye out for the likes of Car and Driver and Motor Trend, eager to see what the latest exotic supercar was so he could make fun of Apollo the next time he saw him.

An hour or so later, Percy met up with a few other Hunters and walked towards the Starbucks café, since he could sense that Artemis was there.

"Hey Perseus, care to join us?" Artemis asked as he arrived.

"Thank you." Percy said, sitting down in a seat Artemis had pulled over.

"No books Kelp Head? Why am I not surprised…" Thalia muttered.

Artemis and a few nearby Hunters chuckled.

"I did read a few books. A couple magazines too, but I don't need them. Besides, I doubt that I'll ever get bored at the Hunt." Percy said defensively.

"True. With you with us, the Hunt is never boring. Especially when you make mistakes and blow yourself up." Thalia smirked, setting off another round of laughter.

Percy grumbled under his breath. "I'll be back. Going to get something to drink." Percy said, rising from his chair.

Artemis watched Percy go and smiled. What Thalia had said was true. Ever since Percy had joined the Hunt, there had never been a single boring day. And Artemis also felt that Percy had somehow managed to pull the Hunt together closer than ever, something she felt was happening to the rest of the Olympians.

Thalia watched her lady smile in the direction Percy had went off and gathered her courage.

"You love him, don't you?" Thalia whispered quietly, so as not to alert the other Hunters.

Artemis jerked, caught by surprise. "What?" Artemis asked incredulously.

"I've seen the way you look at him, my lady." Thalia said quietly. "So do you love him?"

"Of course not! You of all people should know that I will never fall in love." Artemis said with as much conviction as she could, even though her voice shook. "Why would you ask such a question?"

"Well, you always spend so much time with him. You always seem to cheer up when he shows up, and like I said, I've seen how you looked at him. You care about him, too. Don't deny it." Thalia said, feeling braver.

Artemis was shocked at how just blunt Thalia was. "I uh, well, just because I care and like him doesn't mean I lo-love him."

"Of course not! I love him too, my lady!" Tracy said happily as she bounced over and hopped onto Artemis's lap.

Artemis smiled and mentally thanked her for saving her from Thalia's suddenly piercing and sharp gaze. Her gratefulness disappeared as Percy appeared, holding three large plastic cups.

"Hello Percy!" Tracy said as she got off Artemis lap and held her hands up to Percy.

Percy smiled fondly at her as he put the cups on the table.

"Hello Tracy." Percy said, giving Percy a hug as Tracy wrapped her arms around his muscular stomach.

"I love you, Percy." Tracy said happily, putting her head on his chest.

"Love you too, Tracy." Percy said, gently patting Tracy's back. Percy continued to hug her for a few more moments, then gently detached Tracy. "Why don't you go play with the other Hunters?" Percy said, giving her a slight push towards Diana.

Tracy grinned and tackled Diana. Percy grinned and turned back to Artemis and Thalia.

"So what did I miss?" Percy asked.

"Oh nothing. Just talking about some usual stuff." Thalia said, struggling to hide her smirk.

"Hey Percy, what's this?" Artemis asked, holding up her cup of Starbucks stuff, deftly changing the subject.

"It's a caramel macchiato. I think it tastes great." Percy said, taking a sip of her own.

Artemis followed suit and took her own drink, but in the process she got whipped cream on the tip of her nose.

Artemis turned towards Percy with a small smile on her face as Thalia chuckled. Percy smiled too as he stared at Artemis's face, impossibly beautiful for a 12 year old and insanely cute with that white cream on her nose.

Suddenly, without even knowing what he was doing, he leaned forward and gently licked the cream off the tip of Artemis's nose. Artemis froze in pure shock as Percy jerked backwards, his eyes wide as he stared into Artemis's stunning eyes.

"I'm-I'm sorry my lady." Percy whispered.

For a moment, Artemis just stared at Percy in shock before she dashed off so fast that she left after images of herself.

Percy groaned as he slumped into his chair. Thalia sniggered.

"What?" Percy grumbled angrily. "I've completely blown my chances, right?"

"No. I don't think so. But I'm just surprised that Artemis didn't turn you into a cute little jackalope." Thalia said, smirking.

"I'm sorry. I…lost control." Percy mumbled under his breath.

A few minutes later, Artemis returned in her adult form, which caused Percy to blush furiously.

"Come on everyone, time to return to camp. We've spent enough time here." Artemis said. Her face was beet red, but she managed to look at Percy and all of her Hunters without stuttering.

Everyone got up, taking their drinks or sandwiches with them. They silently walked out Barnes & Noble and took a few turns before Artemis turned around to check whether anyone was watching. When she was sure, she snapped her fingers, teleporting them all to Camp Half-Blood.

"I will go and report to Father. Perseus, settle your sisters in and then go search for a good spot to make camp. I grow weary of all this male smell here." Artemis said, not quite meeting Percy's eye.

"Your will, my lady." Percy said, giving her his special bow.

Artemis gave him a short nod before she burst into her immortal form, teleporting off to Olympus.

"Huh. So that's what a god looks like when they reveal their true form. All golden and awesome looking." Thalia said. Being immortal, she and her other Hunters didn't have to turn away when a god revealed their true form. Percy however, still had to.

"I don't need any more images…" Percy muttered under his breath, still unable to comprehend the fact that he had licked the Maiden Goddesses nose.

Thalia heard however, and chuckled as they walked to Artemis's cabin, stopping to give Leo and Piper a cheery greeting before continuing.

"You sure you don't want more images, Percy? You haven't even seen her in a tank top-"

"Thalia. Enough. Shut up." Percy growled without amusement although he blushed while his lips twitched as the Hunters burst into laughter.

"Alright Percy, we're all settled in. Why don't you go and scout around for a suitable spot? I like the Adirondack Park, so look there, with a lake, a river, plenty of trees, a nice clearing, make sure the trees are climbable, the branches are strong…" Thalia continued her list of specifications while Percy struggled to remember it all. "…Alright then Coral Boy, that's all for now. If we think of something, we'll Iris Message you." Thalia said cheekily.

Percy rolled his eyes and gave them a mock bow before he shot into the air, ready to go search for what Thalia called a "suitable" space.

He was lucky.

On his first sweep, he found a river and a lake very close to each, a large, clear space surrounded by hundreds of trees. To make sure that every specification was met, Percy landed and climbed as many trees as he could, then he jumped on a couple and did a couple flips from tree to tree. Then he checked the surroundings for insects or wasp nests, checked the ground to see whether it was soft enough to sleep on and cleared the entire place of leaves, he was satisfied that Artemis and Thalia would approve. Grinning, he marked the spot in his brain and flew back.

When he arrived back at camp, Artemis was already back.

"You found a suitable place?" Artemis asked, still not really looking directly at him.

"Yes, my lady. It suits Thalia's stringent needs and standards." Percy said as Thalia chuckled when she heard.

"Good. We have some time till dinner, so you can start moving the non-essentials over. I'll call you when it's time. And don't complain, it's good exercise for you." Artemis said, smiling slightly as she walked off.

Percy groaned. The last time he had moved camp, his sisters had not helped at all. They had, if anything, made it harder by hiding objects and then suddenly asking him to move this thing or that. From the way his sisters were looking at him, he highly doubted moving camp this time would be easy.

As it turned out, it was nearly impossible. Every time Percy moved something to their new camping ground, the Hunters would say they would need it and give him something else to move. Then they'd say that they actually didn't need the thing he brought back and could bring it back to the camping ground.

The most frustrating one was when he was moving the spare tents over and Thalia had "dropped" her iPod in. When Percy came back, Thalia couldn't find the iPod and had Percy search the entire cabin before mentioning that she might've dropped it in the bag that held the spare tents. However, Thalia had completely forgotten to mention that she had dropped it in a very special hiding place inside the spare tent, and after a couple fruitless trips back and forth, Thalia got a free, high speed, loop-the-loop ride to their new spot where Thalia found the iPod in less than a second.

After a couple more hours of the same stuff, it was finally dinner time. By that time, Percy's wings were ready to fall off his back. The Hunters meanwhile, were very cheerful and happy, occasionally poking fun at Percy for being their little taxi.

Percy slumped into his seat at the pavilion, tired. He was so tired that he could only pick at his food, even though it was his favourite barbecue.

"Perseus. Archery lessons when you're done." Artemis said. "I'll be waiting." With that, Artemis walked off towards the archery range.

Percy groaned again.

"Hey, don't worry. Archery is fun, once you start hitting the target." Thalia said, putting a comforting hand on Percy's shoulder.

"Yeah? And since when do I ever hit the target consistently?" Percy asked.

"Um, sometimes?" Thalia said, unable to find a better answer.

"Exactly." Percy said, taking a bite out of his barbecue. "Well, I shouldn't keep her waiting, so I'll see you later tonight."

Thalia nodded while his fellow Hunters waved, a couple of them wishing him good luck. Percy nodded and headed straight to the archery range.

When he arrived, he saw Artemis sitting on the ground, looking as if she were deep in thought. A bow and a quiver full of arrows were lying across her lap. Not wanting to be disrespectful, Percy waited a bit before calling her.

"My Lady?" Percy asked.

Artemis jerked her head up in surprise as she pulled herself from her thoughts. She quickly gathered her wits.

"Perseus. Warm yourself up and just shoot, I'll change your position accordingly. I think you're more of a feeling type of person, not someone that I can just instruct." Artemis said, smiling slightly as she handed Percy the bow and quiver.

"True, Moon Beam." Percy said, drawing the bow back and preparing to shoot.

He looked at Artemis with a questioning glance, who motioned to him to just shoot. Percy released, and to his surprise, the arrow actually landed on the target.

"Well, a large improvement over previous attempts. But here Percy, let me show you the correct way." Artemis said, walking over to him. She suddenly grew taller so that she was almost his height and stood behind him. "Alright, do it again."

Percy pulled back his bowstring, but before he could let it fly, Artemis reached over and adjusted his hand position. Then she pressed into him a bit as she nudged his feet into a different position.

"Do this Percy. You can't get any power if you hold your arrow like that, with it clenched tight between your index finger knuckle and your thumb." Artemis said, pulling his fingers apart and moving them into a much more relaxing position.

"And Percy, pull the bowstring back, not just the arrow." Artemis said, pressing herself close against Percy's back as she grabbed his other hand and shifted his fingers. "Pull it back like this, Perseus." Her voice dropped to a whisper as she unconsciously put her head on his shoulder.

While Percy completely understood every single command Artemis had given him, he was impossibly distracted. He could feel Artemis's firm breasts squashed against his back, and since she had grown taller, they were pressed right against his wing-slits, which sent tingling and shocking sensations running through his entire body.

He could feel Artemis's cheek just touching his own, with her hands over his. Totally embarrassed by the way he was feeling Artemis, he hastily stepped out of her grasp, even though he knew it was very rude.

"Um, my lady, I'm sorry but I have to go for a bit. I'm…tired." Percy said, fumbling over his words as he dashed off towards the beach to clear his head.

Instead of being angry, Artemis was shocked. Why had he left so abruptly and quickly? Artemis briefly pondered over this question before deciding to ask Percy himself.

Knowing Percy, she headed towards the beach. As she got closer to the beach, her internal sense telling her that Percy was near began pinging. Pushing aside a canopy of leaves, she saw Percy standing at the shore of the beach, staring out into the ocean, the bright moonlight giving him an ethereal glow.

Silently, she walked over next to him. Silently, she stood at his side and together stared with him out at the ocean. They stared in silence for a while, a peaceful silence.

"I like this place. It is the only place that can calm me down. It clears my mind, allows me to think clearly." Percy said, breaking the silence.

"Really." Artemis said, turning to stare at Percy's face. His beautiful, enchanting, glowing green orbs, his well-defined face, and his mess of black of hair.

"Yes. The sea clears everything out, for a while." Percy said, still staring out into the sea as the sea wind ruffled his jacket, giving his hair the windswept look.

"Percy…why did you leave, just moments ago?" Artemis asked.

Percy blushed slightly. "Because…it was inappropriate, my lady."

Artemis also blushed at the comment, but said nothing. They stared in silence for a little longer before Artemis asked a question she had always wanted to ask.

"Why did you agree to become a Guardian of the Hunt? Why did you swear by Chaos, for life? You could have had a much better life. But you didn't choose it. Why?" Artemis asked, genuinely curious.

Percy thought for a while before answering.

"Because…because I needed something to do. That time, I didn't care whether I was alive or dead. I wanted something to do. A challenge. Something to take my mind off Annabeth. Besides, that meant that I could also spend more time with Thalia, who always changes my mood. For the better or the worse, I don't know, but she can always change my mood If I had gone with a different one, such as becoming a Prince at my father's palace, it would be boring. I get pampered and wooed over, who wants that?. I think that's why I agreed to become Guardian. Plus, Zeus asked me." Percy said slowly.

"But why for life? Didn't you know it'd be hard? And why swear by Chaos? The Styx was binding enough." Artemis said.

"Well, I thought, well, I thought that the Hunt would be hard. Like I said, a challenge. And with Chaos, well, I remembered that Annabeth had talked about Chaos before. And I never knew what'd happen. I just added Chaos in because I thought it'd make me more sincere. Besides, did you not challenge me?" Percy said quietly, his lips quirking into a smile as he continued to stare out into the sea.

Artemis chuckled softly. "True. I did. And you met it honourably." Artemis said quietly. She continued to stare at Percy's profile, her eyes sharpening as she noticed tiny details about his eyes. They constantly seemed to change colour from light green to dark green, a bright green, they were intoxicating.

"Percy…do you trust women?" Artemis asked.

"Not as much as I used to. If I have stayed with them for a while, known them for a while, then yes, I can learn whether to trust them or not." Percy said.

"But why not? I understand that Annabeth breaking up with you would lower your trust a bit, but surely you realize that men are far worse, don't you?" Artemis said.

"Of course I do Moon Beam. But I've had relationship issues ever since I realized I was a demigod, mainly thanks to Aphrodite. She even said she'd mess with my love life." Percy responded.

"What do you mean?" Artemis asked, her curiosity piqued.

"Well, there was Calypso. A beautiful girl, possibly my biggest 'what if'. She was a girl I could never have. There was Rachel, the Oracle, who didn't even really love me. And then there was Annabeth. The first girl I had true feelings for, but I suppose we weren't meant to be." Percy said, a touch of sadness in his voice. And then you, an impossible and deadly women that I can only love from afar. Percy thought.

Artemis stared at Percy, slightly in awe. He was so, so different. Outside and in. She was deeply touched and impressed when Percy had given up an Immortal Apple just for her, just so she could have the pleasure of eating it. And Percy had not been selfish, eating the Apples himself, despite the fact that he had no permission, it was easy to weasel an excuse. He was so selfless, so kind, caring, reliable, loyal. An all-around good and true, real man.

"Percy. Why are you so different? What makes you so different than anyone else? How?" Artemis asked him, staring at him.

Percy stayed silent for a long time before he answered.

"I don't think I'm different than anyone else. But I do think it was because of my mom. She raised me up to respect anyone. Even my enemies, I've learned to respect them, if I can. You see, my first stepdad, well, he was worse than Kronos. I'd take on the Titans than meet my stepdad again. He treated my mom horribly. He beat her up, badmouthed her, just didn't respect her at all. I just think that seeing him treat my mom so badly made me want to be a complete opposite. I wanted to treat woman correctly. Even if my life is going to be in turmoil, I still won't forget what my mother told me and taught me. I love my mom, and I wish she were still here." Percy said quietly as he turned his gaze away from the ocean to stare deep into Artemis's beautiful, pure silver eyes.

Artemis gazed into Percy's green orbs with an admiring look.

"I still think it is because of yourself, Perseus." Artemis said softly.

"Thank you, Arty. Coming from you, that means a lot. And about earlier today…" Percy cleared his throat. "I'm sorry. I just, um, lost control." Percy whispered.

At the mention of his nickname for her, a shudder passed through Artemis's body.

"That's alright Percy." Artemis said in a voice barely above a whisper.

The two stared deep into each other's eyes as the moon shone even brighter, so bright that it clearly reflected off Percy's gorgeous green eyes and seemed to mirror Artemis's own eyes.

Then slowly, ever so slowly, Percy and Artemis's heads leaned towards each other, their heads turning sideways slightly until…their lips met.

It was a feather-light, soft, gentle and careful kiss. And it was Artemis's first. Ever. In the moment that they kissed, pure bliss and happiness flowed through both of their bodies as both reached up to cup each other's cheeks. In that instant, Percy knew that he would do anything, anything, for Artemis. He loved her so much.

Unfortunately, the blissfulness didn't last. They had to be interrupted. By Apollo.

Just as they were about to deepen the kiss, Apollo appeared in the sky in a flash of bright light that was ultimately dwarfed by the Moon's intensity.

"NOOOO! Artemis, NO!" Apollo screamed.

Both Percy and Artemis jerked backwards before they turned to see Apollo high above them, his bow out and notched. Apollo fired, and a might stream of golden arrows rained down, directly at Percy.

Percy pushed Artemis out of the way as he drew Riptide and spun it, slicing the arrows to bits. Apollo continued his assault and Artemis, brought back to her senses, fled.

"How dare you deceive me baby sister!" Apollo yelled, his face a mask of rage as he fired volley after volley of arrows at Percy.

"I would never deceive her!" Percy roared, anger roaring through his body. The ocean exploded and a huge spout of water shot upwards, smashing into Apollo before wrapping around him and throwing him away at high speed.

Percy capped Riptide and frantically searched for Artemis before he sent his senses out, locating Artemis deep in the forest. He ran straight in, then slowed down as he got closer. As he closed in, he heard Artemis talking to herself.

"You can't. You just can't. You're the Maiden Goddess, Artemis the Chaste, you can't just…just fall in love with a man. It's just wrong!" Artemis scolded herself as she sat on the ground, holding her head as conflicting emotions ran through her brain.

"My Lady, Artemis, it's not what you represent. It's what you believe in, what you think." Percy began.

Artemis flinched. She had not expected Percy to find her so quickly.

"Look, Perseus, I-, can you leave me alone and give me some time? A l-lot has happened." Artemis said shakily.

Percy bowed formally. "As you wish, my lady." Percy said quietly before turning around and heading back to Artemis's cabin, leaving her to her own thoughts.

Should I? Should I love him? Should I say yes, or should I say no? Artemis thought. It was a thought that would haunt her many years to come.

The next morning was uneventful, if you counted avoiding Artemis's gaze as much as possible, moving equipment to their new camp back and forth, then finally giving each of the Hunters a personal ride, uneventful, then yes, it was uneventful.

Artemis had not spoken a single word to anyone and was currently in her tent. Percy looked around and saw that his sisters were all lounging about, some were practicing dual wielding, others were reading books. Seeing that he currently wasn't needed, he decided to go and take a bath at the lake.

"Alright sisters, I'll be taking a bath at the lake, so please don't come there until you see me, alright?" Percy said.

"Sure thing, big brother." Lisa said, giving him a wink.

Percy smiled and walked back into his tent, taking out a fresh set of clothes and stripping off his old ones. Then he transformed into liquid and slid into the lake, relishing the feel of the cool and refreshing water.

After washing himself clean and feeling greatly refreshed and energized, he got out of the pool and reached for his clothes…only to realize with horror that when he had transformed into a liquid, he had left his clothes on his bed.

"Crap." Percy cursed under his breath. The good thing was that he could just transform back into liquid form and sneak back into his tent. Hopefully, none of the Hunters would notice that he was naked.

He transformed into a liquid form and managed to successfully sneak back into his tent undetected. However, he had just reformed back into normal form and was reaching for his clothes when his tent flap opened, to reveal Artemis.

"Percy, I-" They both froze in pure shock and stared at each other for a couple seconds as Artemis struggled to remember why she had come here in the first place.

"I…Herm…wed-." Artemis whirled around and dashed off, her face a furious red as Percy slumped to the floor, groaning.

Just what, exactly, are the odds that I forget my clothes and Artemis comes in while I'm naked? Percy thought exasperatedly. However, Artemis would not have come into his tent without good reason, so he hurriedly flung his clothes and knife sheathes on before rushing out, using his senses to locate Artemis. He found her aura at the top of a very tall tree.

He extended his wings and shot into the air until he was at the same height as Artemis. He gently landed on a tree branch adjacent to hers.

"My Lady, what did-AHHH!" Percy stared but screamed as his tree branch snapped, sending him plummeting down 50 or so feet. He landed with a loud thud and he groaned. Artemis was beside him in a flash.

"Percy! Are you okay?" Artemis asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks, Arty." Percy said, sitting up. He turned to face Artemis, whose face was so red that her face made a tomato look light pink. She turned her face away from him, struggling to keep her blush under control. Percy gently took hold on Artemis's chin and turned her face towards him, staring into her eyes as Artemis, if possible, blushed even more.

"Now my lady, what did you want to tell me? And why come into my tent?" Percy asked.

"Um, Hermes came with a message last night. In one week, Zeus and Hera will be celebrating their 3,000th wedding anniversary. And I came in to your tent because I was curious, I wanted to see how a man lived." Artemis said as defiantly as she could.

Percy nodded. "So that's why Zeus and Hera were in such good moods. They require gifts, right?" Percy asked.

"True. But I'm not good at giving gifts, so maybe we won't have to. Unless you have something on your mind?" Artemis said.

Percy thought hard and something dinged at the back of his head. The idea that he had had when he was asking Hephaestus for help. And he could also make a gift out of that idea.

"I think I have an idea… do you trust me?" Percy asked.

The question caught Artemis by surprise. Did she trust Percy? Yes, she did. But she still could never know whether Percy would break her heart if she said yes.

"Um… maybe?" Artemis answered uncertainly.

"Alright then, I'll need to go ask my half-brother for some help. Oh wait, I almost forgot! Frank's stick! I need to give it back to him!" Percy said frantically.

"He already has it. I gave it to Hazel when she was in our prison." Artemis said.

"Oh ok." Percy gave a sigh of relief. "Then I'll get going, with your permission my lady."

"Of course. Permission granted." Artemis said quietly. Percy bowed and shot into the air while Artemis stared after Percy's disappearing figure.

Yes…or no?

Percy flew as fast he could and dived the instant he saw the ocean. His plan was a risky one, but if Zeus accepted it, it would almost ensure no more world wars, or a angry Hera going after demigods. Doing a perfect dive into the ocean, he summoned the water and forced himself deeper.

In seconds, he could see the repaired gates of Poseidon's palace. So as not to attract any attention, he transformed into liquid form and deftly snuck past the palace guards until he reached the inner gates of Poseidon's palace.

Here, it was heavily armed, with two big doors closed shut and squads of mermen manning and guarding the door. Knowing that he couldn't get past them, he transformed into his normal form and walked straight up to them.

"No one is allowed-Oh my, Lord Perseus! Please forgive us! We shall open the gates at once." The guard said, raising a horn and blowing into it. "Open the gates!" He turned back to Percy. "Only a moment now, my lord Prince."

"Thank you. And please, just call me Percy." Percy said as politely as possible.

The guards bowed and formed a line as the gates swung open. Percy walked past and the doors slammed shut. Percy looked around. Last time he had been here, it had been badly damaged. Now, it looked much better. However, this wasn't what he was looking for, so he continued inside, walking past groups of bowing guards and drooling nymphs. Finally, he reached the doors to the Throne Room.

He walked up to the door, expecting to wait. However, the instant he reached the door, they swung open. He nodded his thanks to the guards and walked in. Immediately, he saw his dad, Poseidon, with…Athena. They were both pouring over blueprints and designs, so Percy assumed that Athena was helping Poseidon rebuild his palace.

"Dad, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I must ask-" That was as far as Percy got before Poseidon looked up and instantly engulfed Percy in a big hug.

"Hello my son. What have you come here for? Surfing? Want to see Athena's new plans for my palace?" Poseidon asked, his green eyes glinting.

"Sorry dad, some other day. I need to ask Tyson for some help. Something to do with Uncle's wedding anniversary." Percy said in response to Poseidon's questioning look.

"Ahh yes. I wonder why my brother had to tell us all so late. Then again, we should've remembered by now, after more than three millennia…" Poseidon muttered under his breath.

"Well, I remembered." Athena said, giving Percy a nod of greeting. "Nice job with Annabeth by the way. I'm very glad that she is so much better now, so I suppose I should say thank you."

Percy bowed. "Not at all, Lady Athena."

"Anyways, Tyson, well, I'll just teleport you to Tyson. The Cyclopes guarding the door is …touchy. See you soon, my boy." Poseidon said, snapping his fingers and making Percy reappear next to a hulking mass of flesh. For an instant, Percy didn't recognize Tyson until he saw Ella, who was perched on his shoulder as Tyson made another sword.

"Tyson!" Percy yelled.

Tyson stopped pounding and turned around. His single eye looked at Percy in confusion for an instant before it widened in recognition.

"Percy! Brother! I missed you!" Tyson roared, opening his arms wide and slamming into Percy as he literally crushed him under a huge hug.

"Oooof! Whoa man, I missed you too, but watch the bones." Percy gasped out.

Tyson released his super strong grip and stepped back, examining Percy with a look of awe.

"Wow. You have changed, big brother." Tyson said.

"Thanks Tyson. Hello Ella." Percy said, extending his hand out towards Ella to shake.

"Percy. Percy Jackson. Perseus Jackson. Perseus. Greek definition: Destroyer." Ella said as she shook Percy's hand. "Friends. Ella is glad to see friend is safe."

"I'm glad to see you safe too, Ella. And does my name really mean 'destroyer'?" Percy asked, curious.

Ella simply nodded.

"Thanks. Anyways, Tyson, I need some help. It's a big project." Percy said.

"Tyson is always ready to help brother! What you want?" Tyson boomed.

"I need you to make another Master-Bolt like the one Zeus has. Except that this Master Bolt is powerless. I mean, it can only draw its power from the existing Master Bolt. That way, this won't cause a power unbalance. Can you make one like that?" Percy asked.

"You mean that when this new big boomer is at full power, the existing big boomer will be powerless?" Tyson asked.

"Yes! That's it! Can you do it?" Percy asked.

"I do not know how to make. But Briares can! When do you need Big Bang?" Tyson asked.

"I need it in one week. Zeus's and Hera's wedding anniversary." Percy said.

"Wedding, wedding, wedding. Big Bang, big break. Sad. Very sad day." Ella said. Percy gave her a sharp glance but she just looked away.

"If I call my other brothers to help, yes, we can finish it by then. I have been invited, so I will be able to give it to you!" Tyson said happily.

"That's great Tyson! Thanks a lot. I have to go now, so see you later, OK?" Percy said, giving Tyson one last hug.

"See you brother! I will miss you!" Tyson said, returning the hug with bone crushing force.

Percy grinned and climbed out a window, straight into open sea. With a last wave to Tyson, he shot towards the surface. Carefully making sure that there weren't any boats around and that he wasn't near a beach, he broke through the surface and continued his flight, changing his form into a crane so he wouldn't attract too much attention.

Locating the Hunter's camp, he headed straight towards it, landing quietly on the ground a little ways off. Transforming back into human form, he walked into the camp and noticed with surprise that all of the Hunters were huddled around Thalia, looking at something. Some seemed to be smiling, while others were cooing quietly.

"Hey girls, what are you all looking at?" Percy asked as he walked over.

The Hunters instantly jumped backwards in shock as Thalia hastily stuffed something into her pocket.

"Oh, it was nothing. Yeah, uh, nothing. Just-just showing everyone something on my iPod." Thalia said hastily while the others began nodding like bobble-headed dolls, each of them blushing furiously.

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Really? Then how come I can't see it?" Percy said, smirking.

"Um, because it's uh, er, inappropriate…for males!" Thalia blurted, struggling to find an excuse.

"If you don't want to tell or show me, then just say so. No need to find excuses." Percy said.

Everyone let out an audible sigh of relief. "But is it something Artemis would approve of?" Percy asked.

Everyone froze again. "Uhhhh, yeah…?" Thalia said after a moment of silence. "Um, by the way, ah, how did archery training go last night? And what um, happened between you two? Artemis barely talks to anyone now." Thalia said, quickly changing the subject while putting on an innocent face.

This time, it was Percy's turn to freeze and blush. "Uh, nothing happened. I failed at archery, and Artemis tried to help."

"Yes, I did. And it went quite well, I think." Artemis's voice came over them.

Everyone turned around to see Artemis standing in front of them. She was looking everywhere but Percy.

"Percy, you have the gift?" Artemis asked.

"Yes my lady. Tyson says that the gift will be ready by then." Percy responded.

Artemis nodded while the other Hunters looked confused.

"Wait, what gift? What's going on?" Thalia asked.

"In one week, Lord Zeus and Lady Hera will be having their 3,000th wedding anniversary. Because it's their third millennia, we should give him a gift. Unfortunately, I am rather…bad at giving things, so Percy's helping instead." Artemis said, blushing slightly as she glanced at Percy.

The Hunters "ooohed' and 'ahhhhed' as they nodded in realization.

"However, we still have one week until the party, and Lupa has just sent word that several packs of monsters have appeared, more than she can handle. We are going now to aid her, so pack up and let's go." Artemis said.

For a whole week, they were either training or fighting monsters, scouting around for the Titans and keeping an eye out for anything dangerous. And for the whole week, Artemis could never make up her mind. She could never make up her mind whether to give up her virginity and love Percy.

Should I say yes, or no?

"Hey Seaweed Brain, how do I look?" Thalia asked Percy as she finished putting on her clothes.

Percy examined her. As was fitting her character, she wasn't wearing a dress. Instead, she wore dress pants and a blouse that was silver with black accents. Her hair was half spiky and half silky, with her silver tiara keeping the hair from falling front of her face.

"You look great. And I'm sure that nobody will care about what we wear. So long as we are polite and all." Percy said.

"Thank you. You look great too. I'm sure you're going to catch a lot of eyes tonight. Make Apollo jealous." Thalia said, smirking slightly.

Percy blushed. He was wearing another suit that had been procured by Aphrodite, along with the exact same pair of sunglasses that had green and black mixed together in such a way that they clashed magnificently. His shirt was also a dark green, but with fancier details, like intricate cuts in his clothing that gave an image of flair. At Aphrodite's insistence, he had slicked most of his hair back. Combined with the dark green and black sunglasses, he looked handsome, hot, and dangerous, all at the same time.

"Now, why don't you go check up on Lady Artemis? It's almost time to go to Olympus, and she's still in there." Thalia said casually, wanting the two to stare at each other again.

Percy shrugged. "Sure."

He walked towards Artemis's tent and knocked. A muffled "Come in!" came and he opened the door, stepping into Artemis's tent for the second time in his life.

It was very much the same as he had first remembered, with many animal pelts and skins hanging on the wall. However, this time there was no fire in the middle and Artemis was currently standing in of a mirror before she turned around.

"So what do you th-" Was as far as Artemis got before she stopped as she stared at Percy. Even if Percy had heard, he wouldn't have been able to answer, since Artemis just blew his mind away.

She was wearing a silky blue dress that flowed down her body, leaving one shoulder bare and showing just a hint of her breasts. Her hair was slightly curled as it cascaded down her head and around her shoulders, while her skin seemed to glow with a soft, white light. Her silver eyes shone brightly and the blush that had made her cheeks slightly pink gorgeously finished off the entire package.

They continued staring at each for several more minutes, as if attempting to drink in each other's image.

"Um, Per-Perseus, we, uh, have to go." Artemis said quietly. "Or we'll be late."

"Oh, um, right my lady. Of course." Percy said, blushing furiously as he opened the door to Artemis's tent and held it open for her.

Artemis ducked her head and walked out, Percy following close behind.

"Alright girls, everyone ready?" Artemis called out.

The Hunters responded with a cheerful "Yes!" but what they were paying the most attention to was at how red Artemis's and Percy's face was.

Artemis nodded. "Alright everyone, get ready. Because of the Titans that are on the loose, we'll have to go through the Empire State building. Security is up on Olympus. But I can still get us into the Empire State without those males goggling at us." Artemis waited a few seconds before she reached backwards and grabbed Percy by the neck of his shirt, hauling him forward before she snapped her fingers, teleporting them all near the entrance of the Empire State Building.

Artemis carefully stuck her head out and looked around. Thankfully, it was past 8 o'clock, so there weren't too many people out. She motioned to them all to follow and walked right out. As usual, they entered the door and Artemis walked up to the security guard.

"600th floor key. Now." Artemis said.

"There ain't no six hundredth door, missus. Wrong place to party." The security guard said in his normal, monotone voice as he stared at his book.

Artemis was about to reveal just a bit of her godly side when suddenly, the guard's book burst into flames, covering his head with soot.

"Thank you." Percy said, leaning over the desk and taking the key card right where he knew it would be. Without waiting a beat, he walked straight up to the little gate and crashed right through it. He pressed the elevator button and turned to Artemis and the Hunters.

"Coming or not?" Percy asked, a grin gracing his face.

With a soft chuckle, Artemis and her Hunters followed Percy into the elevator while the security guard stared after them with eyes larger than dinner plates. A second later, the doors swung open again to reveal the Immortal Campers in their formal clothing.

Annabeth had walked up to the security guard, expecting the usual banter and arguing when she and her fellow immortals saw the guard's face.

They burst into laughter.

Oblivious to all, Percy, Artemis and his sisters went up in the elevator, listening to some Beatles song.

"Nice job Seaweed Brain. I loved his expression." Thalia said, leaning against Percy's side.

"Yeah! I don't know who he is, but that was funny!" Tracy said, standing in front of Percy so she could lean into him.

Percy chuckled as he lightly ruffled Tracy's hair.

"Was that really necessary, Perseus?" Artemis asked, turning to look at him.

"Well, what would you have done, Arty?" Percy asked, turning his head to meet her gaze.

She wrenched her gaze away as she fought to keep her emotions under control. Do I truly love him? Do I love him enough? Would he stay faithful to me? Or would he hurt me? Artemis thought as the same old argument that had been running in around in her head for the past week repeated itself.

She stayed silent, and Percy, while not picking up her internal conflict, felt that Artemis wished to silent, so he said nothing.

The elevator doors dinged open, and they filed out, stopping for an instant at the bridge as they looked at Olympus.

It was grand, mighty and royal. Since it was the ruler's wedding anniversary, there were lights all over the place and many citizens were already partying, even though the major party would be in Olympus.

"Come. Let's go." Artemis said, quickly walking over the bridge. The hunters followed, but Thalia stopped.

"C'mon Thals, you can get over this. Remember the Titan War? You easily got over this bridge. Instead, you were taken down by a chunk of rock." Percy said, half teasing.

"Shut up. I was in a hurry that time and it was an emergency. I can't. It's too high." Thalia said, her face paling.

"What I do for my best friend." Percy muttered under his breath. He transformed into liquid form, pooled at Thalia's feet, and pushed, knocking Thalia flat on her back. Thalia screamed, but instead of landing on hard rock, she landed on something much softer. Before Thalia could even react, Percy shot across the bridge at high speed, keeping a tight grip on Thalia. When he reached the other side where Artemis was waiting, he right Thalia so she was standing and reformed back into his human form.

"Now, that wasn't so hard, was it, Pinecone Face?" Percy said cheerily.

"Thanks…" Thalia mumbled, taking deep breathes to still her rapidly beating heart.

"Come on Thals. So long as you're with us, you'll be safe." Percy said, throwing an arm around Thalia and walking towards the throne room.

Artemis and the Hunters smiled at the bonding that Percy and Thalia had. A strong and close bond, but quite volatile. However, Artemis knew that if either were to be missing or injured, they would care very deeply, even if they didn't express it. She had known it the instant she had told her Hunters to search for him when Percy had gone "missing."

"Come my Hunters. We wouldn't want to be late for Lord Zeus's fantastic speeches." Artemis said, chuckling. Her older Hunters knew as well as she did that Zeus's speeches were anything but fantastic.

As Percy stepped into the throne room, both he and Thalia froze for a second as they look at how different the throne room was.

Instead of showing the night sky, there were hundreds, thousands of little lights glittering above, while some twinkled and others constantly changed colour. The entire room seemed to glow golden with power as all the Olympians were now present.

"Brother!" Came a yell.

An instant later, Percy skidded backwards several feet as Tyson crushed him in a tight hug.

"Hello brother! I'm happy to see you again!" Tyson roared, his single eye shining with joy.

"Whoa man, yeah, I'm happy to see you too." Percy said, staring at Tyson in shock because for the first time ever, and perhaps the last, Percy saw a Cyclopes in a suit.

"You look great man. You have the package?" Percy asked quietly.

"Yes! Here!" Tyson said, reaching inside his suit and taking out a long package. It was wrapped in paper, and even though Percy knew that it was currently inactivated, he could sense the potential of power in it.

"Thank you so much Tyson. I owe you one." Percy said, taking the package and putting inside his own suit.

"No owe. We are brothers! I must go and meet with my other brothers, Big Brother!" Tyson said, giving Percy a last hug before bounding off.

Percy grinned and turned around, trying to find Artemis. However, he couldn't find her and saw a couple of his Hunters talking with various nymphs and dryads, so he decided to let them alone. He was about to head off in search of Artemis when he heard more laughing behind him. He turned around and saw the Immortal Campers.

"Hey everyone. What are you guys laughing about?" Percy asked cheerfully as he greeted them all with hugs.

"Well, Percy, did you really burn the guard's book?" Leo asked, giggling.

"Yeah. Why? Is it important?" Percy asked.

"Yup. Apparently, it contained all the names of the people who had crossed the door and who had gotten the key and all that. Which means that he has to write everything again." Jason said, grinning.

"Oh. Well, he deserves it. Annoying guard." Percy said, shrugging noncommittally.

The Campers laughed again. "Yeah, you should definitely have seen his face when we first walked in. Add a afro, and he'd look like a human sunflower!" Nico said, setting off another round of laughter.

"Yeah, well, you'd know about being a sunflower the most, eh Nico?" Percy said, giving Nico a bump on the shoulder.

Nico's smile dropped off immediately while the Campers laughed even harder.

"Very true. He also knows how to be a perfect rose, a tulip, a daisy, a abutilon, a barberry, a bindweed,-"

"Lady Persephone, please, I don't think they want to hear me about being thousands of types of flowers!" Nico yelled.

"Did I mention that he is also extremely proficient at being a dandelion?" Persephone added.

"AHHHH!" Nico yelled, dashing off in a random direction.

Everyone screamed with laughter as Persephone smirked.

"Hello Lady Persephone. How're you feeling right now? No sudden urges to, ah, jump into bed with a certain…flower?" Percy asked, grinning.

Persephone glared at him. "I'm feeling very fine now, thank you very much. And don't you dare think I still have feelings for you. All of them are gone. Get that? Or I'll turn you into a Dog Rose." Persephone said before walking off.

Everyone laughed again but they instantly stopped as a pair of slender arms wrapped itself around Percy.

"Hello Perseus." Aphrodite whispered into Percy's ear.

"Hello Aphrodite. How're your injuries healing?" Percy asked, reaching up and peeling Aphrodite's arms off. Or at least trying to.

"Oh, quite well Percy, quite well. Want me to show you?" Aphrodite said sultrily.

Percy gritted his teeth as his old friends looked rather uncomfortable. Except for Leo, who was struggling hard to contain his laughter. Percy stared into Piper's eyes and sent a silent plea. Luckily, she picked it up.

"Mom, can you please get off Percy. It's really, really odd to see my own mother trying to seduce one of my best friends!" Piper said.

Aphrodite shrugged. "So? If I had my way, I'd have you watch me and Percy so you could learn some tricks."

Jason and Piper blushed furiously. Thankfully, they were saved by Artemis.

"Aphrodite. Get off him, or I'll make you." Artemis snarled as jealously burned deep in her heart.

Aphrodite sighed and gave a whimper.

"I'll leave only because I want to. Not because you tell me to." Aphrodite pouted, heading off towards her throne.

"Thank you my lady." Percy said as he turned to stare at Artemis. He still couldn't get over her overwhelming beauty.

Artemis nodded. " Take your position next to my throne. Father is going to give his speech." Artemis said, pointing towards her throne. "I hope he makes it short." Artemis muttered.

Percy nodded and waved towards his friends before following Artemis. Thalia and the Hunters were already there, with Thalia standing to Artemis's right. Percy took his position at Artemis's left while Artemis grew to her full height and sat in her throne.

Slowly, the noise quieted down as Zeus and Hera took their seats.

"Gods and Goddesses, Ladies and Gentleman, Immortals, Nymphs, Dryads and Spirits, thank you all for coming to celebrate Hera and mine's 3,000th wedding anniversary. As you all know, our marriage has been anything but smooth." At this, a light ripple of laughter went through the Throne Room before it died down.

"I would also like to thank our young Immortal heroes for rescuing my wife when she had been trapped and taken hostage. If not for their actions, my dear wife would most likely not even be here." Zeus said, staring at Jason, Piper and Leo before turning to look at Hera. Hera beamed a smile at him.

"I would just like to say that the partying is provided by Dionysus, and will last well into the morning." Zeus paused as everyone cheered. "Now, obviously many of you want to party, so I shall cut my speech short. To those who have gifts for us, now would be a good time to present them. Now would also be a good time to present any new ideas, since I am currently in a good mood." Zeus said. That set off another round of laughter.

"Me first!" Aphrodite squealed. She produced two crowns filled with the most magnificent jewels and made by the purest precious metals. Practically everyone 'oooohed' at the sight of the crowns.

"My husband and I thought of this together, Lord Zeus and Lady Hera. I hope you'll like these two. Much better than the ones you have right now." Aphrodite said excitedly, handing the crowns to them.

Zeus and Hera graciously accepted. "Thank you Aphrodite."

Percy waited as the other gods moved forward to present their own gifts. After about 20 more minutes of waiting, Zeus turned to Artemis with a knowing smile on his face.

"So my daughter, same as usual then?" Zeus said, smirking just slightly as Artemis squirmed.

"Technically yes, Father, but my Guardian here does have an idea." Artemis said, waving towards Percy.

"Very well then Perseus, what is it?" Zeus asked.

"Well, my lady also thought up most of this idea. I just…changed a few things in it and helped her run the errands. So my lady, get down here." Percy asked, grinning up at her as Artemis looked shocked, surprised, and gratified at the same time. She also blushed faintly.

Artemis nervously slipped down her throne and shrank to human size, walking by Percy's side as they bowed to Zeus and Hera.

"Lord Zeus, can you promise me that you won't go crazy and angry at me when you first receive this? Because I have a gift and an idea, perhaps a law that I would like to propose." Percy said.

"Of course." Zeus said.

Percy reached inside his jacket and pulled out the wrapped-up Master Bolt. Bowing, he handed it to Lord Zeus, who took it.

Zeus gasped as he unwrapped it. The other gods stared in shock and tension began to build in the room when Zeus took the new Master Bolt out of its wrappings.

"If I may explain, Lord Zeus?" Percy asked carefully.

Zeus nodded.

Percy took a deep breath and licked his lips. This was a delicate and tricky part. If it went well, then good for him. If it failed, he'd be fried and history.

"I was thinking about how split up the Olympian family is. And I was just wondering, what if married gods, they shared domains and powers? Like Lord Hades and Lady Persephone. Lady Persephone constantly complains about how boring and stupid it is in the Underworld, if she could utilize some of Lord Hades powers, she might actually have some fun in the Underworld. At least, some entertainment. And Lord Hades, if he could utilize Persephone's powers, the Underworld wouldn't be so dark, creepy, gloomy and just backing up the stereotype that Hades is a bad god." Percy said. He paused and took a breath before continuing,

"This is where the Master Bolt comes in. If you wish to instate this law, that means that Hera would have some control over lightning, and with it, Hera could ah, warn all the mortals who break their marriage vows. And to keep the balance of power even, this new Master Bolt draws its power from your own Master Bolt, Lord Zeus. Which means that if you were to use one of them at full strength, the other would be powerless, so as to keep the balance of power fair. Also, if you do approve of this, if there are any more demigod children, the child will only get the powers that the god has, not shared, so as to make it fair for existing demigods. " Percy finished.

"This is my idea, Lord Zeus." Percy said, kneeling at Zeus's feet.

For a while, there was dead silence, and dread began to fill Percy's heart. Artemis herself was staring at Percy in surprise. It was a brand new idea, and Artemis marveled at Percy's cleverness. This proposition would be a revolutionary law, if approved. It would change the way the gods lived. Then Zeus spoke.

"This is a…interesting proposition. Hera my dear, this certainly concerns you. What do you think?" Zeus asked.

Hera was nodding her head almost viciously. "Yes! I definitely approve! I insist, husband." Hera said.

Zeus turned to Hades. "What about you brother, and your wife?"

"I see no trouble and no negative effects coming from this proposition. Because Percy has solved the power balance issue, I approve." Hades said. Percy swore that he heard Hades mutter under his breath, "Perhaps Demeter will stop nagging and yelling at me too."

"I think the idea is absolutely wonderful. The fact that I can actually play around in the Underworld, this'll be great. I fully approve!" Persephone said excitedly.

"Well, I don't! That means Persephone will be spending more time in that dark, dank, smelly pigsty!" Demeter yelled indignantly.

"Excuse me, but now that I have Persephone's powers, I can make it beautiful down there!" Hades said defensively.

"Yes mother, that's true. And besides, I have to stay in the Underworld for a certain amount of time. Would you rather I spend my time there happy, or spend my time there sad and depressed?" Persephone shot back.

That stopped Demeter. "Very well. I approve then." Demeter said, seemingly satisfied with Persephone's answer.

"And because it's Percy, I approve too!" Aphrodite squealed. However, she was staring at Artemis and Percy's kneeling form, her eyes glinting.

"Well, I don't know, I mean, I don't see any particular benefit…But I don't see any negative effects either, so I approve too." Ares added on the last part hastily as Aphrodite turned her most threatening glare on him.

"Nothing wrong with me. I approve. I think this would be a good idea." Hermes said, looking at Percy with approval.

"Well…like Ares, I don't see much benefit…but if my sister approves, then I approve too." Apollo said.

Artemis stared Zeus straight in the eye. "I obviously approve. Less women being hurt is always better for me. Besides, I stand by my Guardian." When Percy heard that, he felt his heart warm up before it cooled down when he remembered that Artemis still hadn't answered him yet.

"Well, I dunno. But since everyone seems to like it, I approve this new proposition too." Hephaestus grumbled.

"Aye, aye, same here." Dionysus said in a slightly slurred voice as he drunk another cup of wine.

"It is an excellent proposition. You surprise me yet again, Perseus. I am surprised why no has thought of this before. I definitely approve of this law." Athena said, giving Percy a rare compliment.

"I, of course, stand by my Champion's choice. I approve." Hestia said, smiling warmly at Percy although he couldn't see it, since he was still kneeling.

All eyes turned to Poseidon.

"Hey, don't look at me. Of course I stand by my son. I approve too!" Poseidon said.

"Well then, since the Council agrees," Zeus said, turning to Percy. "Rise Perseus Jackson. The Council has approved of your law, so I, King of the Gods and Ruler of Olympus, instate the law that Perseus Jackson has just proposed, into being!" Zeus roared.

There was bang and flash of white light. When the light died down, everyone stared at Hera in surprise.

Hera's throne now had lightning bolt designs around it, and Hera herself seemed to crackle with electricity. Small thunderstorms broiled around her as she smiled.

Even Zeus looked different, though not by much. He seemed a little less grumpy, and his expression was slightly softer.

"Here, my dear wife. I believe this is for you." Zeus said, handing the new Master Bolt to Hera.

Hera took it, and the instant she touched it, it sparked and crackled to life.

"Thank you so much, Artemis and Percy. This is just fantastic." Hera said. She seemed impossibly happy.

"Argh!" Zeus groaned, clutching his head. "Ahhhh, SOMEONE'S CHEATING!" Zeus roared, looking furious.

"Ah yes, dear husband. Now you and I can do things together. I believe the one you are feeling is currently in New York, around the Upper East Side place, yes?" Hera asked, smiling triumphantly.

"Yes, yes. And I can feel more." Zeus said. "I must blast him."

Zeus summoned his own Master Bolt and pointed at the ground, but just as he was about to blast, he put his bolt down.

"Hera my dear, I think you should be the one to do it. Time to test out your new weapon, eh?" Zeus said, giving Hera a rare smile.

Hera's smile got even bigger as she pointed her own Master Bolt at the ground and prepared to fire. As she charged up, everyone noticed that Zeus's Master Bolt dimmed down while Hera's crackled with a deep intensity. A split second later, she fired a blast of lightning, the recoil causing her to stumble backwards and making her aim go awry.

"Not to worry, my dear. I can teach you and help you." Zeus said, walking over to Hera and going behind her to hold her in his arms. The Olympians cheered and clapped their hands while others whistled.

For the first time ever, Percy saw Zeus with an embarrassed face.

"Everyone, the party begins now!" Zeus yelled to them all before going back to help Hera.

Everyone cheered madly as the Nine Muses cranked up their tunes, everyone listening to their own favourite music as they all swarmed around the tables, gathering refreshments while the Immortals took their pick of mortal and immortal foods.

"That was an excellent proposition, Perseus." A voice said behind him. Percy turned around, careful not to spill his drink of blue soda. He gave a short bow to Athena.

"Thank you, Lady Athena. I was surprised that Zeus agreed." Percy said.

"Well, like he said, he was in a good mood. I just cannot wait to see Zeus's reaction will be when he realizes that he's a God of Marriage now." Athena said, chuckling.

"Yes, my brother will either be very angry or very happy. I hope for the latter." Poseidon said as he stepped up next to Percy. "And look over there. Someone is already regretting approving the new law." Poseidon said, pointing to Ares.

Ares was staring angrily at two gods who were standing in a corner, making out. Percy recognized Aphrodite, but it took him a while to recognize Hephaestus. He was completely different. Now that he was a God of Love, he was extremely handsome, his previously twisted features completely gone.

"I have a feeling that we will see a sudden surge in Hephaestus children, and perhaps Aphrodite children." Athena said, smirking as she watched the two gods making out.

"Good. I'm glad. I'm tired of Aphrodite attempting to get at me. And what do you mean a surge in Aphrodite children? I thought she always had a lot?" Percy asked.

"Within the last few months, Aphrodite hasn't had any children at all. Probably because she was attempting to go after you. And Percy, I wouldn't say you're out of the hook yet. Aphrodite had said that she would stay faithful to you if you had accepted, but you didn't, so she's going after second best. So be careful." Athena said, grinning wickedly as she departed into the crowd.

"Perhaps after this party, we'll have some time for some surfing before we go Titan hunting, eh?" Poseidon said, slapping Percy on the back before he too departed.

Percy grinned and walked around, dodging Jason and Piper, who wanted him to judge who could dance better, and helping Reyna peel Leo off of her, the latter who desperately wanted Reyna to dance with him. In the distance, he saw Annabeth talking with her mother, so Percy didn't interrupt. Grover was dancing with Juniper, Nico was talking with a unknown female demigod and he couldn't seem to find a single Hunter.

Finally, just as he caught sight of Thalia chatting with a fellow Huntress, he felt a pair of arms wrap around him. Again. His first reaction was annoyance, until he realized that the arms felt different and there was a pulsing heat radiating from the person behind. Also, his senses were going crazy.

"Hestia?" Percy asked hesitantly.

"Awww, how could you tell? I thought I'd fool you into thinking I was Aphrodite." Hestia said, pouting as she turned Percy around and gave him a warm hug.

"Well, I could sense you. You are my patron after all." Percy said, returning the hug. "So what can I do for you?"

"Well, I thought that you'd like to have a dance with me?" Hestia asked shyly, extending her hand hesitantly.

"Of course, my patron. I'd be honoured, except I'm not that great at it." Percy said, taking her hand and lightly kissing it.

Hestia giggled as she led Percy to an open space. I can see why Lady Artemis loves you, Perseus. You're a true gentleman. She thought as she began to pull Percy through the steps of a classic dance.

For the next 5 hours, Percy had some of the best times of his life. After spending an hour dancing with Hestia, he had wandered around again, trying, but failing to find his Hunters, while also keeping an eye out for Artemis, who seemed to have disappeared. Then he had spent some time dancing with Piper, Reyna, and Hazel before he again set off on his search for Artemis. All around him, the party continued as the Olympians watched with a certain amount of happiness and amazement at how kindly Zeus and Hera were treating each other.

Unknown to almost everyone, Chaos had watched the entire thing unfold in his palace, light years and galaxies away from Earth. Chaos shook his head in awe and admiration for Percy Jackson, who had somehow managed to do what anyone else had failed: Combine the Olympians together into a family. Chaos shook his head again. Percy Jackson had done the impossible.

However, unseen by anyone, hidden even from Chaos's all-seeing eye, an old, old man also watched everything unfold as he sat in his golden chair. The old man smiled ever so slightly at Percy Jackson's achievement. He was the one. The Chosen One.

Percy finally managed to get away from hordes of flirtatious girls who wanted to dance with him and continued his pursuit of Artemis. His senses weren't very useful, since the amount of energy would literally blind him is he used it. And about an hour ago, he couldn't find a single Hunter. Everyone he had asked had said they'd left at least an hour ago. Percy quietly pushed his way out of the Throne Room and into the streets of Olympus, experimentally sending his senses out.

To his relief, he could now sense and he could also now tell where Artemis was. To his great surprise, he located her a little ways off where he was, not too far away from the throne room. He quickly headed in that direction.

He arrived at a place that had a single bench and a water fountain. He saw Artemis sitting on the bench, staring off into space as if deep in thought.

"My Lady, is everything alright?" Percy asked quietly.

Artemis flinched as she was wrenched from her thoughts.

"What? Oh, yes, everything is fine, Perseus…" Artemis said quietly.

"Arty…Moon Beam, I mean, Artemis, I-I have something to tell you." Percy said uncomfortably as he sat down next to Artemis.

"What is it?" Artemis said, dread filling her.

"Artemis, I..um…" Percy faltered for a moment as he took a quick glance at Artemis.

"What? Tell me." Artemis said, taking hold of Percy's chin and turning his face so she could stare deep into his eyes.

"Artemis…I love you. I truly, deeply love you and…I have to know whether you do or not. Whether we can continue this or not. And I promise, I swear, that I would never hurt you. I will always be by your side, no matter what." Percy whispered.

Artemis let go of Percy's chin in shock. Not at the fact Percy loved her, but how deep his feelings ran. She could see the depth of his love for her in his eyes and she could feel it in his words. It scared her slightly.

"Percy…I-" Artemis stopped. Half of her was screaming to say yes, but the other half was yelling no. The half that was saying 'no' was the half that prided itself for being Artemis the Chaste, Goddess of Maidens, forever a virgin, never to be hurt or touched by any man. Never to fall in love. And yet, here was the man, the man who had touched her like no other, the man who was so loyal, so kind, so different.

Should I say yes, or should I say no? Artemis thought desperately. She loved Percy, she knew that much, but was she willing to give up something that she had stood by for millennia? And how was she supposed to explain to potential Hunter recruits that they must remain maidens, while she, the leader, was not? But her Hunters had already said that they preferred the family they were with right now… Artemis stared uncertainly into Percy's eyes.

"Perseus… I-I love you too, but…but I don't know. I just don't know. I mean, everything I've stood for…but I-I just wish…I wish we had more time. I wish…I wish we had another chance…" Artemis said woefully, her voice full of sadness.

Percy abruptly stood up, his eyes stinging as he felt his heart shatter.

"As you wish, my lady. I will not go back on my promise. I will always be at your side." Percy choked out, unable to stop the tears rolling down his eyes. He did a formal version of his special bow to Artemis, then turned around, extending his wings and getting ready to fly.

"Percy! No! Please, wait, that's not what I meant! Percy-" Artemis cried out as she struggled to stand up, to stop Percy from leaving her, her heart breaking at the sight of Percy's tears.

Percy turned around slightly so she could clearly see the hurt in his eyes.

"Good bye my lady. I will see you at camp." Percy whispered. Without another word, Percy shot into the night sky.

"Nooo, Percy, please…" Artemis cried as she sank to her knees, tears running down her face as she reflected on her implied choice. She had implied 'No.' And she had broken his heart.

Percy slowly flew through the air as he felt his heart being broken again and again. It was as if he were submerged under water, his heart ready to heal, only to be broken again as if a dagger had slammed into it just as it was about to be repaired.

The pain Percy felt, the emotional hurt was far worse than he had felt when Annabeth had left him that fateful letter. He had loved Artemis with every centimeter of his soul, he loved her so much, but he would never be with her.

Why does my life have to be so bad? Why did Aphrodite have to curse my love life? When, oh when, will I ever get a break? Percy thought brokenly as he wiped his tears away from his face. He struggled to find his bearings and found himself flying right over his father, and, surprisingly, Athena. For a moment, confusion and curiosity overcame his emotional pain, so Percy quietly descended down behind them and snuck up to listen.

"…is smarter than I give him credit for. Although it is possible that he became this smart after my blessing." Athena was saying.

"No. That's because his intelligence came from me." Poseidon said proudly.

Athena snorted. "Most likely from his mother. Since when did you have any intelligence?" Athena said, giving Poseidon a light bump on the shoulder

Poseidon chuckled. "True. Sally was very smart, and she was wonderful."

Percy decided to reveal his presence right there and then.

"Hey dad, hello Lady Athena. I'm surprised to see you two together, all peaceful and that." Percy said, trying as hard as he could to not sound choked up.

Poseidon and Athena flinched and they both blushed slightly, but other than that, they took Percy's eavesdropping quite well.

"It's not what you think. Your father and I have decided to put our differences aside and just try to find each other's good sides. We took the lead from you, when we saw how well you were doing with Artemis and her Hunters." Athena said.

Percy barely, just barely, managed to keep himself from crying and flinching at Artemis's name.

"That's fine with me then. But I just want to let you two know, if you two ever do get together in a serious relationship, if either of you break each other's heart, I swear I will toss the offending one into the deepest depths of Tartarus." Percy said, looking sternly at both of them. With that, Percy leapt into the air again, flying towards the Hunters camp.

Poseidon and Athena stared at each for a while before laughing.

"Well, he took that rather well, didn't he?" Athena said, smiling.

"Of course. He's my son." Poseidon said proudly. "He deserves a better life than the one he currently has."

With a heavy and painful heart, Percy flew to the Hunts camp and landed, kneeling on the ground to control his emotions as he took deep, shuddering breathes. He would just have to try to forget about it and move on. But he knew that was impossible.

Percy walked to his tent and pushed the door open, wondering why it was so dark. He was just about to snap his fingers to summon a ball of fire when there were loud screams and the tent burst into a bright light, momentarily blinding him.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PERCY JACKSON!" A chorus of voices sang out.

"Huh- what?" Percy wondered as he regained his senses.

"Happy Birthday, Seaweed Brain! Or did you forget about your own birthday?" Thalia said as she walked up to him and pulled him into a hug.

"Oh, uh, yeah, I forgot. Wait, my birthday is the day Zeus and Hera got married?" Percy yelped.

"Yup. I knew that the day I joined the Hunt. Now come on Percy, let's eat some cake! We've been saving some space in our stomachs for you!" Thalia said happily as the Hunters brought forth a large, blue cake. On it was written the words 'Happy Birthday, Big Brother.' Percy was deeply touched when he saw it.

"Thank you, all of you. Thank you so much." Percy said with heartfelt emotion.

"Not at all Percy. After all, you made us immortal, and Zeus still hasn't found out." Sasha said as she giggled.

Percy smiled and took the knife proffered by Thalia and cut into the cake.

As they all had a small party inside Percy's tent, eating cake and swapping stories, Percy did his best to keep up a cheerful visage, but he could feel that it was beginning to strain him, since all he wanted now was to be left alone to cry.

Thankfully, they almost finished the cake rather quickly as they left one large piece for Artemis to eat.

"Hey Percy, is it alright if we sleep in your tent tonight?" Elizabeth asked rather shyly.

"Yeah sure, no problem." Percy said, trying for a half hearted grin.

"So that means we can sleep with you?" Tracy asked excitedly.

Percy stared at her in shock before answering. "Well, if you're fine with that, sure." Percy said uncertainly.

"Yay!" The hunters cheered and instantly began to fight over who would sleep on Percy's bed, who would sleep in his chair, and so on.

"Alright sisters, I'm going to go take a walk. I'll be back soon." Percy said, standing up and heading towards his door. The hunters nodded as they continued fighting with each other.

Percy walked into the forest, deep in thought. He walked around aimlessly in the forest, reflecting on just how bad his life was so far and attempting to quell the pain in his heart. Why, just for once, couldn't he ever have a break? Why did his life always have to be filled with pits and troughs? Why did his life have to be so bad? He continued walking around for 10 more minutes when his senses alerted him that Artemis was near.

He froze and instantly ran towards the direction where it came, and to his surprise, a little ways into the forest, he found Artemis, crying. For a second, the pain in his heart stilled for a moment while he wondered why Artemis was crying.

He was about to step forward and ask Artemis what was wrong when his senses went crazy and felt three powerful immortal auras almost blast his senses to oblivion. However, Artemis was so deep in her sorrow that she did not notice anything, just continued to cry, her heart heavy over her decision and hoping, praying that she could undo it.

Percy looked at Artemis again and froze. Right behind Artemis was a dark shadow with ram's horns on his head, with glittering stars all over his body. Or armour.

Without a second's thought, Percy crashed through the trees and ferns, leaping and slamming into the shadow with a crash. Artemis whirled around in surprise and shock as Percy got to his feet and drew both Riptides, ready to stab downwards when he was suddenly yanked off his feet and thrown against a tree. The figure who had thrown him against the tree suddenly burst into bright light, momentarily blinding Percy before he allowed his eyes to slide back in their immortal form.

It was Hyperion.

Percy jumped forward, swing both of his swords at Hyperion, only to have it blocked by the other Titan. Percy twisted and slashed again as he recognized who the Titan was. Krios. Krios and Hyperion began to swipe at Percy, and Percy dodged and deflected them before he noticed that Artemis was still there, watching.

"Run Artemis! Run and get the Olympians!" Percy roared, dodging another blow from Hyperion.

Artemis still hadn't run as she stared at Percy.

"But Percy, you'll-"

"FLEE!" Percy bellowed, putting as much power as he could into his voice.

Percy's voice resonated with so much power that Artemis immediately turned and ran, running to protect her Hunters and call the other gods.

"Well Sea scum, it looks like you've gotten slightly better." Hyperion snarled as Percy blocked yet another attack.

"And it looks like you've gotten worse." Percy shot back as he parried Krios's downward slash and counter-attacked, drawing a gash across Krios's arm, right below his armour.

Krios cursed under his breath. "You're better than that Jason kid." Krios growled as he stabbed towards Percy midsection. As Hyperion swung his sword down at the same time, Percy jumped to the right and brought both swords down in a hammer blow, knocking both Hyperion and Krios's swords right out of their hands.

Percy was just about to stab Hyperion in the side when he was suddenly punched in the back, flying forward and tumbling to a stop.

"What the-?" Percy wondered as a deep chuckle resonated through the air.

"Ahhh, the son of the sea god. I will have much pleasure ripping you apart, Perseus Jackson." Percy turned towards the voice and saw a huge, hulking figure that had razor sharp claws for fingers and harsh green eyes. A sword glittered in his hands.

"Oceanus." Percy growled.

He leapt forward, engaging Oceanus while raising his other sword to block Krios's swing. Percy raised his hand and fired a blast of water at Hyperion, bowling him over and giving Percy a brief respite. Percy gritted his teeth as he blocked a direct strike from Oceanus.

Oceanus was much stronger than Hyperion and Krios, therefore he was much more dangerous. Percy swung his swords around and began doing the 360, forcing Oceanus and Krios back. Hyperion got up and jumped back into the fight with a battle cry, and soon Percy was fighting against three Titans, both of them locked in stalemate.

Finally, Percy exploited a hole in Oceanus's defense and ducked underneath his swing, then shot up and kicked him as hard as he could. Oceanus flew backwards and Percy locked blades with Hyperion and Krios before he disengaged and lunged forward, punching Hyperion in the face. He knocked Krios's blade away and grabbed his armour straps before he flipped Krios over. He lifted Krios up and kicked him square on the chin, sending him flying.

Percy whirled around, automatically reaching for a throwing knife but cursing as he remembered that he was wearing formal clothing. He reached down into his boot and took out a throwing knife, throwing it straight at Oceanus, causing him to yell in pain as it hit home.

With Oceanus out of the way, Percy summoned a hurricane and advanced on Hyperion, pushing him back and littering him with cuts. Percy was just about to draw a deep gash on Hyperion's arm when his hurricane stuttered and sputtered out.

"You're powerful Perseus, but not as strong as me." Oceanus said, spinning his sword and advancing on Percy.

Percy cursed and raised his hand, summoning a fire tornado around him, completely catching all three Titans by surprise.

"Well, well, well, little Percy here has learned some tricks. But it won't work against me." Hyperion snarled, snapping his fingers.

Percy gritted his teeth as he felt the energy to maintain the fire tornado increase tenfold. He let it sputter out.

Once again, the three Titans and Percy engaged in combat, once more locked in a temporary stalemate as Percy struggled to keep up his 360 stance while Oceanus, Hyperion and Krios fought to break Percy's defense. Oceanus and Hyperion were also using their powers to quench down Percy's own powers. Luckily, that also took some effort and allowed Percy to hold on a bit longer.

Suddenly, there was a tremendous burst of light and all 14 Olympians appeared, along with the Hunters and the Immortal Campers.

"Percy!" Tracy cried out, rushing forward.

"No! Tracy! Get back, now! This isn't something you can fight!" Percy yelled frantically. Tracy was instantly pulled back by a worried Artemis, but unfortunately, that distracted Percy.

Before Percy knew what was happening, his swords were instantly knocked out of his hand. Percy gave a cry of pain as Hyperion drew a long gash from his left shoulder to his elbow. Krios took the opportunity and slashed diagonally across Percy's chest, causing a splatter of blood to stain the ground. Oceanus reached down and punched Percy in the stomach before he lifted him off the ground.

Hyperion gave a cruel smile and raised his hand, a ball of powerful, hard light shining in the palm of his hand. He fired it point-blank at Percy as Oceanus released his grip at the exact same time as the blast hit Percy.

"PERCY!" Artemis screamed.

Percy flew backwards and slammed through one, two, three trees before coming to a stop after plowing a deep trench in the ground.

The gods instantly advanced, but Oceanus, Hyperion and Krios reached down and pulled an orb of dirt out of the ground and threw it at the god's feet

"Gaea, mother of all, we call upon your power this once to bind them!" They roared in unison. To the God's, Campers and Hunter's horror, they were instantly wrapped and bound by thick tendrils of dirt. They struggled, but to no avail. Even Poseidon, the Earthshaker, could not move an inch.

Oceanus snickered. "Look at you gods. So weak after two wars." He turned towards Percy.

"Pah!" Percy groaned, spitting blood and dirt out of his as he rolled over, his body a massive bruise.

"Is the imprisonment of a single goddess not worth your life, Perseus? Gaea only wishes to imprison her, because she is a key Olympian. She will only be locked up and will be treated well. Is that not worth your life, boy?" Krios said as the three Titans advanced on the prone figure of Percy.

"Enough talk, Krios." Hyperion snarled as they got closer.

"Is this the best you can do, sea spawn? Is that all you got? Come, get up and die like a man." Oceanus growled quietly.

"You will never stop at just one Olympian or one god. I will take you all alive…or die trying." Percy said, his back turned to the Titans as he got to his knees.

"Because I am no man." Percy whispered, drawing both of his swords as flames began to lick up and down them.

"I. Am. A HUNTER!"

Percy roared as he whirled around, bring both of his swords in a powerful horizontal swipe, taking Oceanus completely by surprise as Percy's twin blades slammed into Oceanus's sword, sending it flying straight at Krios.

Krios hurriedly leapt out of the way and Percy stabbed Oceanus in the arm before he did a back flip, avoiding Hyperion's attack and kicking Oceanus in the chin at the same time. Oceanus reeled backwards as Hyperion charged forward at super-fast speeds.

Percy charged forward also, but sidestepped at the last instant and went back to back with Hyperion, using Hyperion's force and big mass to roll over his back. In middle of the roll, Percy saw Krios coming at him, so he drew Riptide back and let it fly.

"AHHH!" Krios roared as Riptide slammed deep into Krios's knee. Krios collapsed to one knee, his other foot useless as Riptide had basically shattered his kneecap, plus the flames were burning him.

Not wasting any time, Percy flipped his other Riptide so he was holding it in a reversed grip and stabbed backwards, backstabbing Hyperion.

Hyperion roared with pain as Riptide plunged straight through his lower back and straight his stomach. While the flames didn't harm him, just that amount of magical celestial bronze was painful enough.

Knowing that pulling Riptide out of Hyperion would take too long, Percy left Riptide impaled through Hyperion's body and leapt forward to take on Oceanus barehanded.

Oceanus lunged forward, incensed that Percy had turned the tables and swiped down at him with his sharp claws. Percy sidestepped and kicked Oceanus on the side of his knee, forcing Oceanus down. Percy punched Oceanus in the side before he stepped behind him, kicking him hard in the butt. Oceanus turned his head to look up at Percy, which Percy responded by smashing his fist into Oceanus's face. Percy then drew back his fist and did a powerful uppercut, causing Oceanus to fly backwards with blood stream out of broken teeth.

"You…will die horribly Jackson. I swear." Hyperion growled as he and Krios slowly advanced on Percy. Krios's knee was beginning to heal and Percy could see that Hyperion's wound was beginning to close.

"Yeah, I'd be scared if I weren't about to be attacked by two cripples." Percy said, taking a deep breath to recharge himself before he lunged forward, bringing Riptide down in two deadly arcs.

They managed to block his first attack, but as Hyperion swiped sideways at Percy, he planted both swords in the ground and shot his feet out, his body going horizontal, perpendicular to ground. It was the same move he had pulled against Artemis with great effect, and it worked here also.

Hyperion gave a cry as Percy's feet slammed into his chest with the force of a bullet train. He flew backwards, flipping over several times and crashing through a tree before he tumbled to a stop.

Krios gave a yell of rage and jumped forward, raising his sword and bringing it down in a downward slash that would cleave Percy in two. However, Percy kicked with his left foot, crushing his fingers against his own sword hilt. Before Krios could recover, Percy stepped in and grabbed Krios before he extended his swings, shooting into the air.

Krios screamed and struggled to break Percy's grasp, but Percy's grip was too strong. When they had reached a height of 600 feet, Percy flipped them over, setting his fists on fire as Percy began punching at every bit of Krios as hard as he could. They shot towards the ground at frightening speed as Krios feebly tried to block Percy's blows. As Percy saw the ground zoom up, he gathered his energy and got ready to release.

The instant Krios crashed into the ground with Percy on top of him, Percy released a massive wave of force and fire. It was so powerful that Oceanus flew backwards again, crashing through several trees while Hyperion was lifted off his feet and slammed into a tree. However, he instantly got up and lumbered towards Percy.

As the dust and smoke cleared, everyone could clearly see Percy standing triumphantly over Krios's broken form. Golden blood, immortal ichor leaked out of almost every orifice of Krios's body as Percy reached down and hauled him up.

"Any last words?" Percy asked.

"I will kill you, Percy Jackson. You'll die with a horrible death by my hands." Krios muttered as he struggled fruitlessly struggled against Percy's iron grip.

"Not today." Percy said, drawing Riptide and performing a stop-thrust straight through Krios's chest, cutting straight through his heart.

Percy saw Hyperion getting closer, so with his sword still impaled in Krios's body, Percy turned and pointed his sword at Hyperion before he shot a ball of green fire straight at Hyperion. The green fire ripped through Krios's body before it connected with Hyperion, causing Hyperion to spin around several times like a top.

Krios's body exploded into golden dust, his essence going back to Tartarus. Percy took advantage of Hyperion's temporarily broken guard and vaulted onto his back before he reversed his grip on Riptide and slammed it straight into Hyperion's chest.

Hyperion cried out as he stumbled forward, Percy jumping off of back and landing right in front of Hyperion.

"You lose, Hyperion." Percy said, drawing his second Riptide.

Hyperion only had time to widen his eyes as Percy slammed Riptide through Hyperion's throat, almost beheading him in one blow. As an added insult to a death blow, Percy yanked his other Riptide out of Hyperion's chest and stabbed it straight through Hyperion's head at a 180 degrees angle. Percy twisted the sword in Hyperion's throat, ripping off Hyperion's head so Hyperion's head was stuck on Percy's sword, like a shrimp being speared by a toothpick.

For just a second, everyone could see the gruesome figure of the headless Hyperion and his head before he too exploded into golden dust, his essence flying back to Tartarus.

Percy was panting heavily, but he turned to face his last and most dangerous opponent: Oceanus.

"Impressive, Percy Jackson. I must give credit where it is due. But all is moot. I will get Artemis myself." Oceanus said, raising his hand as a ball of harsh blue light glowed.

To Percy's horror, he was pointing it at Artemis.

"NO!" Percy leapt forward just as Oceanus fired. Percy tumbled to the ground as the blast hit him, pain arcing through him as Oceanus continued to advance on him.

"Get out of the way, boy. Gaea only wishes to keep Artemis locked up. She will not be molested, so get out of the way." Oceanus snarled as he charged up another blast.

"Never." Percy said, getting to his feet and walking straight towards Oceanus.

Oceanus fired another blast, but even as Percy felt the pain of shock through him, he merely stumbled and continued walking. Oceanus continued firing blast after blast of the harsh blue magic, and each time Percy felt the pain build up higher and higher until he just as he reached Oceanus, he couldn't take it anymore and collapsed, his body jerking slightly.

"Fool." Oceanus spat, raising his foot and slamming it onto Percy's chest. He turned to stare at Artemis. "Any last words, Artemis?"

"Why isn't Gaea asleep? I watched Porphyrion crumble into dirt myself. We all heard Gaea's scream. How come she can be so active then?" Artemis asked, stalling for time as she uselessly struggled against the thick, dirt ropes. However, out of the corner of her eye, she saw tiny cracks appear on the ropes holding Poseidon, which meant that he must've made some progress.

Oceanus gave a booming laugh.

"Yes! Exactly! Did you really think that defeating Porphyrion would cause Gaea to fall asleep? She knew that was what you gods thought, so she played along. Don't you remember the first Giant War? I watched it unfold, back when you gods were stronger. When that hero and Zeus took down Porphyrion, Zeus spoke with Gaea and had negotiations. This time, Gaea didn't want negotiations, so she merely pretended to fall asleep, knowing that was what you pitiful gods thought of." Oceanus said, giving a cold laugh before continuing,

"Gaea pretended to fall asleep and be defeated for several months. She had many, many plans. How did you think Lamia was resurrected? How did you think Hyperion and Krios were freed from Tartarus? Gaea's power is great, and she was determined to wipe you gods out this time. Unfortunately, it failed, thanks to this sea brat here." Oceanus said with distaste, pushing down hard on Percy, who apparently hadn't recovered yet from absorbing so many magical attacks from Oceanus.

"Gaea has been awake for many years. How do you think she knew who to attack? Killed Leo's mother, and would've killed him, but the Fates didn't allow it. She almost woke up during World War II, but that failed. Didn't mean she was asleep. She was merely brooding and buying her time. Gaea made many backup plans in case she failed, and this is one of them." Oceanus said proudly.

"Unfortunately, pretending to be asleep inevitably leads to actually falling into sleep." Oceanus grumbled under his breath.

"But from the way things are looking, Gaea won't even need her last plan. I can do it right here, and right now. This was actually supposed to be saved for this sea brat, but you're an immortal, so it'll be more painful." Oceanus said as he summoned a ball of blackness in his hand. Slowly, hellfire began to flicker to life until it was literally bubbling with it.

Hades gasped in surprise at it.

"Yes Hades, you know what this is, don't you? You should be honoured, Lady Artemis. It's incredibly difficult to make and takes many years to do." Oceanus said, his face filled with evil delight.

"Hades, what is it?" Artemis asked nervously as she stared at the ball of hellfire.

"It's called Black Death. It…destroys your soul, by burning it to shreds while the black magic in it will dispel it. Any mortal who gets hit by hit, doesn't go to the Underworld. They're just…gone. And because Immortals are, well, Immortal, it means that the Black Death will continue burning for eternity. It will fade out if used against Hestia or Hephaestus, but against any other immortal, incredibly painful and damaging. This is the first time I have seen one successful made." Hades whispered.

Artemis stared at in fear. Percy…I wish I could tell you that I had made a mistake. I love you Percy. Artemis thought sadly as she turned her gaze down to where Percy was crushed under Oceanus's foot. She looked on in shock as she realized that Percy wasn't there. Instead, a chunk of hardened water was there. She hastily looked away and stared Oceanus straight in the eye so as not to alert him.

"Well? Bring it on then." Artemis said challengingly.

"With pleasure." Oceanus said, smirking as he raised his hand.

Artemis stared at it defiantly, while concentrating on her last thought: I love you Percy. And I'm sorry.

Oceanus was just about to fire the Black Death directly at Artemis when there was a blaze of green flame and golden ichor flew. Oceanus screamed as Percy Jackson slammed Riptide deep into his thigh before Percy tackled Oceanus, bringing both of them to the ground.

"Stupid boy! Do you want to die?" Oceanus roared as he ripped Percy off him and flung him against the ground.

"I will die for my lady." Percy whispered as he lunged upwards again to knock Oceanus down again.

"Get off me, you stupid jerk!" Oceanus yelled, sinking a fist into Percy's stomach. Percy momentarily flopped off before he wrapped his arms and legs around Oceanus, doing everything he could to stop Oceanus.

"Raaargh, what are you doing?" Oceanus growled as he began hitting and punching Percy with abandon, twisting around in an attempt to throw him off. "This is how you want to die?" Oceanus snapped as he increased the intensity of his attacks.

Percy didn't answer, concentrating all his energy to ignore the pain and just hold on. There was a burst of white-hot pain as he felt one of his ribs snap, and he almost let go, but he steeled himself to ignore it. Oceanus even scratched Percy with his claws, stabbing him in various spots and began to really pound him. But Percy still held on.

"I will never let go." Percy grunted as he extended his wings to further blind Oceanus.

"PERCY! Stop, please! Don't do it! I can't bear to watch you like that!" Artemis screamed, tears running down her face again. "Please!"

At Artemis's voice, Percy knew what he had to do.

"Stop. I'll stand down." Percy whispered just loud enough for everyone to hear.

Oceanus stopped and Percy staggered backwards, blood streaming from his nose, his mouth from his head, even from his fingers.

"But I won't give up." Percy said, lunging forward and grabbing the Black Death from Oceanus's hands.

"I'm sorry, my lady." Percy whispered, staring into Artemis's eyes for a split-second before he thrust the Black Death into his own chest.

"NO! PERCY!" Artemis screamed, straining against Gaea's bonds.

Everyone, even Oceanus, stared at Percy in shock. For just a moment, nothing happened. Then everyone heard it. Slowly, a crackling sound began to emanate from Percy's body as Percy seemed to glow with a ugly red colour from within. Suddenly, dirty red and black flames burst to life, engulfing Percy as a scream of pure pain came from Percy's throat before it was abruptly cut off as flames burst from his eyes and mouth. The Gods, the Campers and the Hunters stared in absolute horror as Percy writhed and thrashed on the ground while tears were beginning to run down Artemis, Poseidon, Hestia and, surprisingly, Aphrodite's faces.

The pain that Percy felt was like nothing before. Even taking a dip in the Styx was like taking a walk in the park compared to this experience. He could literally feel the flames burning him, the black magic trying to do its work and expel his soul.

But it didn't.

Percy was fireproof, and powerful enough, with the blessings from his father and from Hestia, that the Black Death could not burn Percy's soul or body. When it realized that burning him was futile, it dissipated. Slowly, the flames died down, leaving Percy's body and soul unscathed. However, the ground around him was pitch black.

Percy gasped in surprise and shock at the sudden abruptness which the pain ended. Everyone else, for that matter, was extremely surprised to see that Percy was still alive. Percy groaned as he struggled to his hands and knees. While he was unharmed, the Black Death had severely weakened him, pushing him to his very limits.

"NO! How can it be? I'll finish this myself!" Oceanus roared, stepping forward and grabbing Percy by the throat, Percy's feet dangling in the air as he was lifted up.

"I'll finish you too, Oceanus." Percy said weakly as he summoned what little strength he had and reached into his pocket. Then he uncapped Riptide.

Riptide sprang to life, punching deep into Oceanus's abdomen and out the other side. Oceanus screamed with pain and threw Percy against a tree. Percy barely registered it as he flopped to the ground.

"You…you die first, sea scum." Oceanus snarled as he clutched his stomach.

He stumbled forward and grabbed Percy up by his tattered and damaged suit, then drew back his hand and slammed his claws straight into the right side of Percy's chest, punching through Percy's back and deep into the tree behind him.

Percy retched as he reflexively leaned forward, blood spewing out of his mouth.

"Ahhh, it has been a long while since I felt the blood of a Son of Poseidon run through my fingers. And such strong blood too." Oceanus said with a satisfied growl.

Percy struggled to breath, seeing as Oceanus had just crushed part of his lungs on the right side of Percy's chest.

"Fuck you, Oceanus. Your wounded too, you won't last too long either." Percy hissed out, taking short breaths.

"Perhaps…but you are in a far more critical condition than I am, boy. And since I am about to kill you, allow me to tell you something that you have never known. Do you wish to hear it?" Oceanus asked silkily.

Percy looked past Oceanus with clouding eyes and saw that his father was furiously struggling against his bonds and seemed to move a bit. To stall for more time, and to regain his strength, he nodded shortly.

"You killed the wrong immortal. Triton did not kill your mother and step father. Or perhaps I should say, he unwittingly killed them." Oceanus said.

Poseidon froze while Percy's eyes widened with shock.

"Yes, you are so surprised, aren't you? Let me give you a hint to who helped me the most. Why do you think I managed to attack and destroy your father's palace so easily, and so efficiently? How come I knew where he was, so I could throw the oldest and most powerful sea monsters at him? How come I knew what his plans were and knew the holes in his strategy?" Oceanus whispered, sneering as Percy struggled to think.

"Am-Amphitrite?" Percy gasped out.

"Correct. I would give you a reward, if you were not such a pro-Olympian. Amphitrite has been helping me all along. Don't you know, she is my daughter, after all. She and I are the masterminds behind the plan to break you and your father. Did you really think Triton would have the guts and courage to work against his own father? Of course not, he was too weak, too puny. But not Amphitrite. She was angry when she learned you were born." Oceanus said, twisting his hand a bit and causing Percy to gasp in pain before he continued,

"Gaea and Kronos both knew who you were the instant you were born. They both knew that you would be the child of the prophecy. Kronos and Gaea worked out a deal, which was that if Kronos won, the Titans would rule the Earth while Gaea would have free rein to do whatever she wished, so long as it was reasonable."

"Obviously, I knew about you and decided to plan my own attack. My own way of hurting you. Something that wasn't physical, something deeper. You see, while Prometheus may be smart, he has dulled with his servitude for Kronos. Not me. So I contacted Amphitrite, and told her about my plan. If she helped me attack you, and help me attack Poseidon's palace, and if we win, she would rule the seas as my second-in-command. If we lost, Amphitrite would still have a place by Poseidon's side. So wisely, she chose to help me. Which is not surprising, since it's a win-win situation for her."

"She knew that Triton's help was needed to trick and drug Poseidon, but she also knew that Triton would never willingly work against Poseidon. So she merely…seduced him with several nymphs and brought him to me, where I placed false memories in his mind and put a spell on him to do whatever Amphitrite told him to do. And any guilt Triton would subconsciously feel about tricking his father would get squashed instantly like a bug."

"As you probably know by now, Matthew was born as a bastard, and Amphitrite and I helped raise him up, or, should I say, Triton and Amphitrite helped raise him up by putting him in orphanages' and bad places like that."

"I will admit that I got a little impatient when you won your victory over Kronos, but there was no harm done. Doing it after the Giant War was even better. And while my plan failed partly, here you are, in my grasp. Fate has a funny way of controlling things, hm? And do you know what that means, boy?" Oceanus said silkily as he leaned in closer towards Percy, a snarl on his face.

"Which means that I killed your pathetic mother." Oceanus pulled back and gave a deep chuckle.

Bald anger rushed through Percy's entire body, giving him the tiny amount of strength to do just what needed to be done. While Oceanus gloated over his victory, Percy painfully reached into his pocket and pulled out Riptide. He brought it forward as close to Oceanus as he could and positioned Riptide so that the cap was pointing straight at Oceanus's chest.

"And do you know what that means, Oceanus?" Percy whispered out, his vision beginning to blur as his blood continued to drain.

"Yes? What are you going to do? Spit at me?" Oceanus chuckled.

"It means that I will finally avenge my mother." Percy whispered, getting ready to flick Riptide's cap off.

"Huh? What do you mean, boy?" Oceanus asked, his face confused.

"This." Percy said quietly. With the last of his strength, Percy flicked Riptide's cap off, and Riptide expanded into its full form, once again piercing through Oceanus's body, but this time, straight through his chest.

Oceanus looked down in pure shock at the celestial bronze thrust through his body. Slowly, Oceanus raised his other hand, his claws glinting, ready to rip Percy's head off. But he would never make it, because at that moment, Poseidon succeeded in cracking Gaea's bonds.

"And I too will avenge Sally's death!" Poseidon roared as he crashed through his bonds. He summoned his trident, and in a nanosecond, he had aimed it straight at Oceanus's back and fired a blast of pure energy.

The energy blast slammed into Oceanus, connecting with Riptide, which acted like a conductor and sent the energy coursing through Oceanus's entire body. Oceanus opened his mouth and gave a final scream of defiance before he burst into golden dust, defeated by Percy's sword and Poseidon's Trident.

"That's for you mom." Percy whispered.

Then he fell.