Disclaimer: "When there's trouble you know who to call: Teen Titans; from their tower..."

Oops, wrong disclaimer. I don't own Percy Jackson, and...Ugh I forgot what I had to say.

Chapter 5: A Friendship Is Made

Artemis was brought back to her senses by a strange liquid being splashed into her face, which she later realized was just plain water. She was still a bit shaken by the images that the snake sent into her mind, but she looked around to realize that she was beside a waterfall. The water was plunging down to a great depth, creating a beautiful scenery. The moon was shining softly from above them, and there was a small wood around.

"Where are we?" she asked.

Percy grinned nervously, "Well, I could see that you were shaken after you met Pratihasta; I mean that snake. He has that kind of abilities, and he can use one's own fears against them. If you met it for the first time, he will bring in the images of your toughest foes to the forefront of your mind. It is not very easy to defeat it or its kind. So, I brought you here; I have used this region as a staying place for a lot of time in the past years. This place is perfect to hone my skills, and somehow it helps me to control my emotions." Percy didn't reveal that it was also very close to the place where he had first returned and met with Hestia.

Artemis scowled at her memories. She hated losing and feeling helpless. She however had to acknowledge that the words were true. It was beyond her ability to face that snake. "How were you able to face it then?"

"Knowledge is power. You had no idea to deal with this kind of monsters, but I know how to fight them. I err...ran up against them during my travels. The despair it radiates isn't much after you have survived a sandstorm; which I have. But, I couldn't take you back to the camp in this state. So, I brought you here to bring you to your proper state of mind." He didn't mention that this waterfall had healing properties close to the Golden Fleece's. He had found solace under it so many times. "Plus, isn't this area amazing?" he finished with a grin.

"Yes, this looks quite beautiful." Artemis agreed, pleasantly surprised, despite herself. She then looked at Percy for a moment, and noticed how he seemed radiant in the moonlight. She had an epiphany: Percy Jackson was truly the greatest hero in the entire Greek History, and did he flaunt it around? Never. She knew that others after having achieved glory of completing even one of his quests would have become as arrogant as Zeus, or would have used his fame to shag women left and right like Apollo. She realised that she was developing a growing sense of respect for this man, without whom she might have still been; heck, would have still been trapped under the sky. She recognised that her best friend, Zoe, was indeed right about Percy Jackson; he was a true Hero, and she couldn't find the stereotypical qualities in him that he hated in other males. Also, it didn't hurt that he looked roguishly handsome, especially after the battle. They sat side-by-side and looked out in the night sky.

"Percy, how was it that you were accepted so easily by the wolves? They had been much more hostile towards any other people I have seen...and you also managed to communicate with the wolves. Pray tell, how?" she said, in a much lighter tone.

Percy scrambled around as a thought about a suitable answer and decided on something that wasn't an outright lie. "During my stay at the Roman Camp, once Lady Lupa's pack was ambushed by Lycaon. During that time, I and a friend got most of them, although Lycaon slipped through. He was always quite a coward. During that mission, Lady Lupa decided that my bravery was praiseworthy and..."this much was true. That was quite a tough battle. Now, Percy was going to trust his imagination and spin a story about how that might have given him the abilities or something, but his face reddened as he looked at Artemis. She was shaking her head softly, looking faintly amused.

"Percy, Percy, Percy... Did you ever know that your left eyebrow twitches when you lie?"

"What?" Immediately his hand flew to his eyebrow and he realised his mistake. "You bluffed".

"But of course. A huntress has to know her prey's weakness, corner it and finally overcome it, "She whispered. She had inched her face closer to Percy during her talk, and Percy suddenly felt vulnerable before those silver eyes.

Suddenly, Artemis' expressions morphed into one of terrible hurt, as she had a thought; why did he, whom she thought was trustworthy, have to lie, as well? Why could he not trust her? Should she feel so highly about someone who was a liar; had she really just thought that he was different?

"Okay...if you truly want to know, I will tell you." Percy surprised himself by his comment. This wasn't in the plan. He had spent the last five years in isolation, never opening up to anyone other than Lady Hestia or his closest friends at Camp Jupiter. Despite saving his family, he had hardly seen them in the last few years; his presence was just too dangerous. He felt that his heart was hardened against all emotional appeals; why was he then so afraid to disappoint Artemis? Seeing her face fall took away all the shine of the moon, and Percy just couldn't accept that. Yet he could admit that he was afraid of revealing his secret to Artemis; not because she might kill him, no, but the fact that she might hate him for what he was now.

Artemis listened transfixed to Percy's tale, right up to his deal with Zeus. When Percy had finished, he nervously asked, "So...Do you hate me now? I mean, I have the abilities of people who went to war with you and their memories, of course you would probably be right in hating me."

"Hate you? You gave up your happiness, leisure and well-deserved break to help us, rescued demigods, are the greatest Hero of Olympus, brought me new hunters and also swore your loyalty to Olympus." She ticked off her fingers. "I never really can hate you."

"But I am not the greatest hero," Percy blurted out. He needed to get these thoughts out of his chest, "There are plenty of Hero's greater than me. Take my fallen friends for an example; I would gladly trade my deeds to make them return to life. Take Zoe. She stayed in your service for more than two millennia and saved god knows how many people. People know that I saved you from Atlas, but Zoe was the true hero of that quest. She went to rescue you and faced her father while realising that she would die; and I, I got her killed. I am nothing without my friends."

Percy suddenly stopped, ashamed of himself. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to remind you..."

"Stop that." Artemis commanded in a firm tone, but her eyes were glistening with unshed tears. "Zoe's death was not your fault. Her fate was sealed when the prophecy was issued, and she had full knowledge of it. Stop beating yourself up over it. But thank you..."she whispered,"for giving my greatest huntress the credit she deserves. She was as great a hero as Theseus, Odysseus, the original Perseus, Cadmus and far better than that vile scum Heracles. I have never seen a more unsung hero. Thank you."

They were silent for a while before she spoke up again, "Was that why you never returned to your friends after the War? Because you couldn't face them?"

"Yes. I felt that I was responsible in some way; if I could have done something, anything to prevent so many deaths. I felt that I could face them again if I did something worthwhile. Something which could take away my guilt"

"It's called survivor's guilt. Every great hero has to live with it; they see their friends and family pass by, while they are cursed to save others while not enjoying peace. Look at me; do you know how many hunters I have to bury with my own hands? How many times I have felt that I could have saved them? But life goes on, Percy. You can't run from your past. You can only accept that you have done everything you could have done, and move on. Plus, the fallen demigods knew that death could come to them any second, but they died respecting their leader and believing in them. It wasn't your fault."

Percy smiled softly, "Well, I think that was something Hestia tried to explain to me so many times, but seeing it from another person means truly a lot to me. Thank you, Artemis. You have been a great friend today."

Artemis looked at him incredulously, "Did you just call me your friend?"

"Well, I, I mean that you voted to let me live after the quest with the Hunter's despite the fact that Bianca and Zoe died on it. You gave Thalia a home she would never have had unless she had met you. At the Camp, she stood out too much due to her parentage and because the world had moved on while she was a tree. Until she found other ageless companions, she had never been truly happy. Also, despite the fact that I am a boy, you never treated me quite so badly as you did other males and I kind of thought that made us friends. I mean that I would like to be a friend of yours, if that's okay with you."

Seeing Artemis stare at him with an expression he couldn't decipher, Percy became extremely nervous that he was close to repeating Acetaeon's fate and turning into a jackalope. He figured that all he could do was to apologize with his dignity intact, but before he could do that, Artemis shocked him to his core by pulling him into a deep hug. Percy was blushing like mad, and thanked all the gods he knew (well, perhaps not Artemis) that she couldn't see his face during this moment. After a moment, she pulled back with a contented smile in her face.

"Yes Percy, I would like to have you as a friend. The only male friend I will ever have." She said with a smile on her face. It felt right to her ears: Percy Jackson was her friend. Then she wagged her eyebrows playfully, "So you mean to now say that you have the abilities of the greatest archer those Indians had? I bet I can defeat you easily."

"Not a chance in the world." He exclaimed proudly.

"You're on aqua boy."

"Same to you, moonbeam."

"Did you just give me a nickname?" She growled.

"Yep. That's an appropriate response to you calling me aqua boy." He replied, looking very pleased with himself.

"You're so going to regret it." Both of their competitive streaks were high, as they immediately found a spot of compete. Both of them fired arrow after arrow and shouted out as soon as they had finished, "You lose".

In reality, none of them had. Both of them had made an absolutely identical formation, and now both of them looked a bit sheepish. Artemis was grumbling about stupid sea people while Percy was pouting as he felt sure he would win.

"Well...at least I didn't lose; but I must admit, that was fun. Well, time to collect my wager. I choose..." Here Percy made a great show of thinking, "You must call me as Percy from now on."

"Fine. I have been calling you that for most of today as it is. But, I have a demand of my own." Here she looked deadly serious, "You will find my annoying brother sometime soon, challenge him to a competition, and beat his ego out of him. Do we have a deal?"

Percy mock-saluted, "Your wish is my command, my pretty moonbeam."

Artemis felt her face heat up by what he had just said. Did he really just call her pretty? However, she made a show of sternness, "Stop calling me that, Percy."

"What?" he asked innocently.

"Moonbeam." Athough she had to admit, she secretly kind of liked it.

"Make me." Artemis' eyes twitched at his stubbornness. Well, he had to pay. She lunged at him and hit him right on his jaw with a strong punch; but she had probably forgotten that they were right beside a waterfall. Unable to keep their balance, both Percy and Artemis tumbled right into the water.

As soon as she hit the water, Artemis panicked. She couldn't be inside the water without Poseidon's permission; she was a daughter of Zeus and it was Poseidon's domain. She was fricking out when Percy caught her hand and to her amazement, the bubbles in the water enveloped them to make a giant air bubble. She had no difficulty in breathing anymore and she wasn't drowning!

"Percy, what's this?" She asked breathlessly.

"Just a perk of being a son of Poseidon, I guess." Percy deadpanned.

"Well just get us out of here. I shouldn't be in the water, after all."

"Don't worry. Dad will never do anything to hurt me, and I will never let anything harm you while I'm still there." The sincerity in Percy's voice was intense. She relaxed and let herself see the marine world. Several kinds of fish swam around them. The moonlight broke through the fleecy clouds and made the water look golden. She felt herself becoming happier until Percy rudely broke her out of her reverie.

"Um...I get that you're happy and all that, but I think you need to tone down your happiness." He pointed awkwardly at Artemis. She realised that she had caused the moon to go so bright in her happiness that it almost made the night look like dawn. She blushed furiously and controlled her abilities. If the mortals had noticed that, who knew what kinds of explanations the scientists were busy creating.

Meanwhile, one of the fishes was speaking to Percy, "You're the Hero of Olympus, aren't you? I've heard so much about you."

"Really?"

"Yes. There are songs about you, and every Saturday you're live on Hephaestus TV installed in the place Mr. Dolph, the chief merman."

"Okay..."Percy felt confused. Did mermen and merpeople live in every pond and water bodies? He had thought that it was in certain restricted areas...Why did he care anyway? It would only give him a headache.

"Are you going to kiss her?"

"WHAT?"

"Kiss the girl, kiss the girl..."several fishes around Percy started chanting, as he counted his blessings and thanked the Heavens that Artemis didn't understand the piscine language. He tugged her hand, "Come on, let's go up."

"Why? Let's stay down here for a while."

"No. The fish told me that this place contains...err, a leviathan."

"Percy; that's just a stupid myth. And, last I heard, they live in seas."

"No matter. It is full of perverts, anyway." As they rocketed up towards the shore, Percy could practically feel the fish laughing their fins off.

As they reached up the shore, Percy waved his hands once, removing all the moisture from Artemis' attire. "Wow," she whispered, "Neat trick". Then she gave Percy a dazzling smile which made his knees feel weak. He hadn't felt anything so intense since...well, never. But he was a stoic machine, a tool of the goods and a child of prophecies, and above all a blasted demigod, never to experience happiness while Artemis was a sworn maiden goddess. He couldn't feel like this about her. He cleared his throat and said, "Let's get going, then".

"Yes, let's." As they disappeared, Percy couldn't help but feel butterflies in his stomach from the smile she had given him; and she had called him her friend. Was life going to be better for the son of the sea god?

A/N: Friendship is made, but will that progress to love? Only time will tell.

On a side note, I am so happy to see that I had reached 50 follows and more than 3000 views for my story. This is my first fanfic, as you might know and I have yet to receive any flames. You guys rock, you are awesome. Review guys. Even if one in 50 people review, the count jumps up, up and up. Thanks for reading.

Next chapter: California Bound.