BEFORE WE BEGIN-
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Anyway...
Now alone with only her daughter in the cave, Hestia cuddled her newly adopted daughter, before she sighed in content. Illuminated only by the fierce fire that crackled in the hearth, she pressed a small kiss to her daughter's forehead, before allowing herself to drift off to rest, with her daughter sleeping peacefully in her arms.
Hestia PoV
It had been six weeks since Persis, Hestia's new daughter, fell into this coma.
She didn't want to move her to Olympus. She feared she would not understand where she was and become afraid, but that could be only a best case scenario. At worst…she would be driven by fear and guilt, and with her newfound, uncontrolled powers…who knew what chaos she could unwittingly unleash upon the city.
In the weeks that had passed, Poseidon had come to visit their daughter regularly. Since she was somewhere between a demigod and a god now, she was technically free of the restrictions of the ancient laws, and Poseidon made sure to utilize that loophole as much as possible. Hera also regularly came to visit with Artemis, but so far Persis hadn't stirred in the slightest.
Hestia had conjured up a comfy bed for her to lie in sometime around the third day since she fell into her coma. Now complete with a blanket and pillow, her daughter slept soundly as Apollo ran a small check-up on her.
Internally, Hestia was slightly worried at her daughter. Hera had said that she needed Persis to be out of commission for a while to execute her plan, and Hestia didn't really like the contents of her rash plan-it was so unlike her sister to do this-but Hera had insisted, and Hestia had agreed to extend her daughter's stasis to accommodate her plan should it come to that. But right now, it seemed like Hera didn't have to forcefully place her daughter into stasis as she still hadn't woken yet.
She was snapped out of her thought train by the muscular and musical voice of Apollo, and involuntarily flinched before she begun to listen to him.
"-Doesn't seem like anything's wrong, just…the influx of power definitely put her out of commission for this whole duration. She should wake sometime soon though, if I'm not mistaken." Hestia bowed slightly in gratitude. "Thank you niece. I'd like to repay you somehow, but-"
"Oh come on now, Aunt Hestia. You know you don't have to do anything to repay me or dear ole arty." Apollo chuckled. "Anyway, your daughter seems to have grown considerably more beautiful than we last saw her."
"She has, indeed. I hope you don't plan on hitting her up soon, she's not into boys from what I've heard." Hestia said, and Apollo raised an eyebrow. "Really? When I was with her, I never noticed that. But again, it might just be me not paying attention to-"
Just then, a pained groan came from the bed. Both Apollo and Hestia whirled around before rushing to Persis' bedside, in which she was currently attempting to sit up while failing miserably. "Hey hey, Persi, you should stay down now-your injuries have mostly healed but there's still the occasional awful bruise here and there." Apollo said in a calm and professional tone, and Persis stared at him like he had grown another head.
Finally, after a moment of silence, she blinked and said, "Apollo…? Why're you here?"
Apollo flashed a dazzling grin as he sat down on the side of the bed. "Why, to check up on you, by your mother's orders."
"MOM? Is this some sick joke?" Persis yelled at him, to which he shrunk away slightly. "Mom was KILLED! MURDERED! AND YOU THINK YOU SHOULD USE HER TO-To-to f-flirt?" She started to break down at the end of her sentence, and Hestia couldn't help but walk forwards and hug Persis, all the while shooting a disappointing glare at Apollo.
Persis buried her head into Hestia's embrace as tears started to well in her eyes.
"I-I'm sorry, Perce. I forgot…Hestia and Hera hadn't explained that to you."
"E-explain w-what?" Persis said, muffled by Hestia's embrace. Slowly, she pushed Hestia away, and looked at her confusingly. "Tia…? Why are you here?"
"Well…you remember the night you got attacked by the cyclops and the satyr…?"
Memories suddenly came flooding back into Persis' head, and she grunted in a very un-ladylike manner as she grasped the sides of her head. "I…I remember."
"Well…you reached out to me, via the hearth that night. I saw the whole fight, but I had to intervene when the cyclops smacked you into the wall. I…I couldn't let you die. And after that, I tried healing you but-but nothing worked, and-and when I asked for help-" Hestia began sniffing at this, and Persis could only hug her and wait for her to continue. Eventually, Hestia's breathing calmed and she continued reciting the events to Persis.
"Anyway, so-that night, after I called for help…Thanatos came. Along with Hera, Aphrodite and Artemis. I tried to save you, but nothing happened, and your body kept rejecting my efforts…Thanatos explained to me that you were in a bad state of mind, and your soul gave up fighting because there was nothing worth fighting for. He said in order to save you, we had to give you a family, and give you a sense of mission so you could keep fighting for yourself…and so, me and Hera adopted you-" Hestia was cut off by Persis in the middle of her sentence. "Wait-what happened to dad then? Does it mean I have…3 parents?"
Hestia smiled. "Yes, Persis-Poseidon, my brother, is still your father. But me and Hera-we both volunteered to adopt you at the same time, and we…well, we thought that having two mothers could help you. Especially when you were so lost…I couldn't stand to see you like that. My sister couldn't too. So…we adopted you by blood adoption at the same time."
Persis did a perfect impression of a fish, before she squealed and hugged Hestia tightly. "Hes-Mom…thank you, I-I can't believe you'd do a blood adoption with queen Hera at the same time just to save me…thank you." Hestia chuckled lightly, before Persis seemed to remember something. "Wait…what about the sense of mission? What did you do to…help me out on that."
"Well, Artemis decided to take you in as her champion." Persis' jaw dropped onto the floor. "Artemis…champion? Does it mean…I'm in the hunt?"
Hestia laughed again, along with Apollo, who was standing near the cave entrance. "No, my lil' sis did not procure a new hunter. She simply admitted you as a champion…I guess you could stay in the hunt, since a champion receives a full blessing from the god who named them as a champion, and the hunt also receives a minor blessing."
Persis frowned a bit at this-she wasn't ready to begin swearing if men yet. She still had a bunch of males who were friends. Nico, Will, the Stoll Brothers, Heck, even Hermes and Apollo were great pals. Seeing her expression, Apollo laughed a bit, before saying, "hey look, why don't I call my sister here and-"
"OH NO! I forgot to call Hera and Aphrodite here too!" Hestia exclaimed. "Uh…mom, you're one forgetful goddess." Persis chuckled as she poked fun at Hestia, who pouted before she closed her eyes. Moments later, two flashes illuminated the cave.
"PERSIS!" An overjoyed Hera exclaimed happily as she ran towards her adopted daughter and they locked into a tight embrace. "Oh…you didn't call arty. Don't worry, I'll do it." Apollo said to Hestia, and moments later a silver flash illuminated the cave. Apollo stood at the cave entrance with Aphrodite, as Artemis also rushed forwards and embraced Persis.
"Oh, Persis…I'm so glad you're awake," Artemis sighed happily. "It's good to see you too, moonbeam." Persis said, and they both chuckled at the nickname.
"Quite a fitting nickname for her, don't you think?" Hestia smiled. "Yes, daughter. Although I suppose you shouldn't call her that in front of Apollo…who's definitely going to poke fun at her."
"You're Right on Target, Aunt Tia! What do you say about that, lil' moonbeam?" Apollo smirked as Artemis turned around, her face flushed gold with embarrassment. "Don't you dare call me that again. Or else, I'm sticking an arrow up where the sun doesn't shine, not even for you." Apollo paled quickly before he looked at the gathered goddesses. "Well, it seems like you're all kicking around fine without me, so I guess I'm hitting the road. Fetch me again if you need help, yeah?" With a nod from Hera and a glare from Artemis, Apollo flashed away.
"Well…that was fun." Aphrodite said. "Now, should we get onto business?" Hera and Artemis looked at her, shocked, while Hestia and Persis looked on indifferently. "Aphrodite…You never cease to amaze. I didn't even know you had a serious side." Hera remarked.
"Well, now you're amazed and got to know me better, let's get back on track. I'm sure Percy doesn't like us dragging our feet in the mud." Persis nodded, and Aphrodite continued. "So, I'm guessing you know Hestia and Hera adopted you, You should know that blood adoptions aren't simple errands that gods take lightly. By adopting you with the blood adoption method, we mix our Ichors with you, causing you to possess our godly traits, our powers, like you were born from us, like you were nothing less than our godly and demigod children alike. If you feel anything, if you suffer, a part of us will also feel the anguish you endure, feel the pain you are going through, as if we were enduring the suffering with you. Should you break this bond by any means…to Hestia and Hera, it will feel like a part of them died, and they will never be whole, their empty part eating away at them until they fade."
Persis could only nod dumbly at this revelation. Prior, she thought blood adoption was just a stronger form of verbal adoption oaths. She didn't know it was this much stronger-and had harmful repercussions too.
"I…I can't thank you enough…mothers, I really can't thank you enough. You knew this information…and still went ahead and saved me from the brink. I-thank you, mom." Persis mumble, tears running down her cheeks as she wrapped both goddesses in a tight embrace.
"Don't thank us, daughter," Hestia said, "you deserved to be saved, by any means. I can't let you just die like that, knowing you faithfully served Olympus and suffered wrongly for it."
"But mother…" "No buts. We knew the risks, and we took it. Now, let us explain your newfound powers to you, and… I believe Artemis has a task for her newly christened champion."
After a brief explanation and testing session, Persis had a good grip on what her powers were. From Hestia, she inherited the power over flames, and the ability to conjure up meals, though she specialized in home-cooked ones. She could also mark locations with a hearth branding to make them essentially safe zones that no one could intrude on, either with violence or simply eavesdropping.
From Hera, she inherited regality. She could speak with a fluent silver tongue, and could also think more sharply and clearly, and was less likely to be influenced. She was also less affected by her dyslexia, and gained the ability to learn foreign languages easier. (She later learned it was a blessing, to help her sease herself into her new life.) She also inherited a more regal appearance.
Aphrodite had blessed her with almost irresistible looks, but she also gave her the ability to charmspeak like some of her more powerful kids. She was also unable to be influenced by any love magic (charmspeak included), and could sense others emotions to a degree.
Finally, Artemis had blessed her with strength, agility and heightened senses, as well as better bow and melee abilities. Though she could wield Riptide with grace and ease, with her newfound abilities she quickly realized the blade could potentially be a hindrance when she tried to use her agility and speed to her advantage.
So, to help Persis, Hestia and Artemis created a pair of knives for her. Hestia's knife resembled a slightly larger traditional karambit, and was made from celestial bronze, colored in a deep crimson color with delicate imperial gold trimmings. When Persis willed it to, it could catch fire and burn at the edges, was quite balanced and sharp, able to slice through armor easily, and enchanted to be more effective against immortal beings. She named the blade, Fotia. Fire.
As for Artemis' blade, it looked like a karambit with a knuckle duster for it's grip, and had jagged edges in the inner curve. Made of amix of adamite and Olympian silver, it weakened the enemy at a touch, and was more tip-heavy. It was perfect for power moves, and could also shred through armor just the same as Fire, if not easier. Artemis recommended she weil It in a reverse grip. The blade looked like a semi-transparent silver, and Persis named it Pagos. Ice.
Finally, Artemis and Hestia gifted Persis an enchanted bow. Made of Olympian silver with celestial bronze groves, the bow and bowstring could endure quite the amount of tension, and an arrow was magically ready as soon as Persis pulled the bowstring.
Hera also chimed in, and gifted two throwing knives to Percy. They looked like an Ax (not a spelling mistake, there is a type of knife out there called an Ax) but smaller and lighter. Made from a mix of celestial bronze and silver, Hera explained that the throwing knives would never run out and would regenerate in their sheathed position.
Just for fun, Persis decided to stick one of them up her genital and clamp down on it, treating it as a 'sheathe'. When she slowly pulled it out (to avoid injury) and threw it at a nearby tree, she was greeted with an ice cold sensation filling her genitals that made her screech. Artemis was busy raging at how Persis could have broken her maidenhood, while Hestia and Hera were busy lecturing her the basics of weapon safety. Aphrodite got a good laugh out of it.
Time skip (3 months later)
After 3 months of intense training and many rounds of Sparring with her new Patron, her parents unexpectedly showed up at the humble abode she was currently residing in. After a full check-up on her well being and a lot of awkward yet funny family moments later, Persis bid goodbye goodbyes to her parents and Aphrodite, before she followed her patron, Artemis, back towards the cave for a brief on her first mission as her champion.
"So… what's my mission, milady?" Persis asked, and Artemis' expression darkened.
"This matter is…perhaps better discussed back inside a protected place." Persis noted Artemis' expression, and wisely withheld at some mildly snarky remarks that she was planning to say.
Walking back through the cave entrance, Persis and Artemis felt the protection of Hestia's blessing encompass them. It was then Artemis turned towards Persis and spoke.
"Persis…we know you haven't really 'gone off the grid' during your trip to the west, and some gods have been able to keep tabs on you thanks to you not hiding your aura. I do not know if you intentionally allowed it, so that you could attract monsters and trigger more fights to drown out your pain, or if you simply forgot to. Either way, only most of the Campers in Camp half-blood, as well as the minor gods and goddesses, believe you have truly disappeared. Those who you have informed of your departure have been told of your news while we Olympians kept tabs on you."
Artemis paused for a bit, before continuing.
"Yesterday however…A demigod has truly disappeared at camp. We Olympians, the hunt, as well as all Campers have no knowledge of their whereabouts. Since you are now my named champion, and you do kind of know who this person is…I'd like to invite you to join our growing search party and help us search for and retrieve this demigod at best, and seek our what our enemy plans are at worst. And to add insult to injury…a new great prophecy has been issued."
"But I thought we'd just finished fighting a war…?"
Persis uttered in shock and confusion. "Well, Persi, I think Apollo mentioned you playing some part in this, but you aren't strictly a major part in this, per se. Plus, this…war has allowed some Demigods from the minor side, who were pledged to our grandfather, to enter camp and finally set up residence. However, some loyalists are still attempting to recall his essence and place him in a new host, all whilst retaliating against those who turned tail and rejoined us."
" But I don't think…" Artemis interrupted Persis. "Yes, indeed you do not personally know anyone who was on the opposite side during the war. However we cannot confirm for sure that this potential kidnapping was done in retaliation towards said demigod. She might very well be a bait to trick whoever their target was to come out and surrender themselves."
"But Artemis…who is she? Is she…Annabeth? Katie? Clarassie? I'm willing to put aside any feud to rescue them…they were my friends once. Excluding Clarassie, of course. She is still a friend of mine."
"Persis, you can relax, it's none of them. In fact, she's from the Aphrodite cabin."
Persis scratched her head, unable to figure out who this camper was, before finally giving up and stomping the ground in annoyance. "Okay Arty," she said, causing the goddess to scowl and blush at the use of her nickname, "I have no clue who she is. Can you perhaps…you know, tell me?"
"Tell you?" Artemis smirked. "Of course no. We're gods after all, we won't be so straight forwards." Artemis smirked at the horrified and annoyed expression Persis Was pulling right now. "Although…"
"Please don't tell me to figure this out on my own or do some errands please. I'm kind of sick of that." Persis grumbled. "Relax. Though I can't tell you, who said I couldn't communicate it to you?"
Persis' expression grew confused, then changed to shock and finally Anger. "ARTY! You were toying with me the whole time?"
"Serves you right for calling me nicknames."
"Right." Persis rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say, Moonbeam. Now, can you kindly communicate their name to me?"
Artemis scowled at her newfound nickname, before sighing. "I can't castrate you…darn. Well, I won't beat around the bush and your brain anymore. Her name, Drew Tanaka."
A/N: Aaaaaaaand we're done with another chapter! I'll be working on the next chapter soon, stay tuned!
Sorry for the somewhat forced timeskip, I'm trying to set events up to fall in line with the start of Heroes of Olympus.
(Hint: it's somewhat related to HOO)
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