Percy's POV
Ever get that feeling when the world just doesn't make sense anymore, like your whole universe just turned upside-down? Well, that's exactly how I felt after I had kissed the Goddess of The Moon. Just remembering it makes me feel awkward inside. Can you imagine kissing a woman who has sworn to hate men and remain single for all eternity? What makes it even weirder is that even I had secretly promised myself to stay away from a relationship for a while, yet here I am getting wrapped in another one. But the twist is that it's with a person I never would've expected.
Now, if you know Artemis the way I do, and you had just kissed her, the best idea would be to run. Even if she didn't beat me up after we did it and she would eventually come back and kill me. To tell you the truth, I was starting to look forward to what would happen next and how the new-and-improved huntresses would treat me, but gods forbid if they ever found out about this, they'd chase me to the ends of the earth so it would just be better if I wasn't part of The Hunt anymore.
Although, the kiss wasn't only my fault since Artemis seemed to want to do it too. She could've stopped me if she wanted to, but she got caught up in the moment like me. In retrospect, I don't really know how it happened.
One second we were all happy and smiling. Then I started to feel this click between us and we ended up kissing. This may sound strange, but I think Artemis and I had always had a strong connection that started ever since we met.
If I had to guess, this was the undeniable work of Aphrodite. Like I said, she's treating my love-life like her favorite toy. She was obviously cooking something and by the looks of it, there was tons of more trouble on its way.
That is, only if I let her get that far. At this point, the Love Goddesses' meddling in my relationships was getting old and pretty annoying. I decided then and there to have a little chat with her about this back on Olympus. As for The Hunt, they probably wanted me gone anyways. I bet Artemis certainly won't miss me. If I leave there's a better chance of me staying alive.
With that decision in my mind, I flashed back to Olympus to suffer the consequences of leaving my post. Even though I was practically about to wet myself thinking about how Zeus would react when he found out, I'd just have to take it like a God.
I found myself at the entrance of Olympus; it was beautiful as always, a golden, shining, utopia. I wandered around the streets looking wherever Aphrodite may be, normally I would've expected her to be at the Olympian Spa but I spotted her in the park where nymphs, satyrs, and other mystical creatures liked to play. She was sitting beside Athena. It was odd to see them next to eachother since they're polar opposites and always fighting.
Instead of sneaking up on them and screaming 'boo', like I normally would've, I decided that some eavesdropping was in order. I put up the hood of my black and white striped jacket and leaned against the street lamp nearest to them with my ears wide open.
"Must you really do this to Artemis, Aphrodite? It's probably the worst things you've ever done. And trust me, you've done many." Athena said.
"Eh, those are all things of the past. Now my main goal is to get Artemis and my little Percy together. Trust me; soon enough Ms. I-Don't-Believe-in-Love will thank me for this." The nickname she'd just given me sounded a lot like a 'My Little Pony' toy.
"Ha, thank you? She's going to skin you alive."
"Look, if I didn't do anything, in a few months they would've been heading in that direction all their own anyways. My duty was to just speed things up a little and make sure it happens."
"You know, instead of fooling around with my dear sister's life, you could've paired Percy up with yourself since you're always cooing about him" Aphrodite gasped.
"My gods! Why didn't I think of that? Hephaestus would understand if I had a minor relationship with him! Great, now that their romance is already in-progress, I can't do anything about it!" I laughed quietly to myself. Thinking that I'd heard enough and found proof that Aphrodite was behind this, I jumped over the back of the bench and plopped down in between them.
"What are we talking about ladies?" My trademark grin appeared when I saw Aphrodite flinch in surprise but Athena managed to keep her cool demeanor.
"I had a feeling you were listening."
"Wow, someone's got supersonic hearing. I'd expect as much from you since you love owls so much." I joked. She let out a small laugh. "So anyways, what is this about me and Artemis?" Aphrodite looked like she'd just been caught by the cops. Busted.
"Well… it's just that I always thought that you two had something going on but at the time you were Annabeth. With her out of the equation, I decided to play a little love game."
"I thought so. But could you mind staying out of my life now?" She looked at me like I was crazy.
"Never! The game you've created for me is the most fun I've had in centuries! Besides, if I didn't get involved, one way or another, Artemis and you would end up together." She had lost me at that point.
"Wait, what? How would that happen?"
"I had smarty-pants over here do some research for a while and it shows that there was an eighty-percent chance of you ending up with her one way or another. You could say it was destiny."
"There's no way that Artemis and I were 'meant to be'."
"Oh, but there is. You see, Annabeth had decided herself to leave you due to her… involvement with something or someone else while you were training with your father. You may think that she left without an explanation, but everyone else knows exactly why she did."
"Ouch, that's not good for my self-esteem bar. She was planning on it? Who's this someone else?" Her beautiful features turned into a mischievous smirk. Although, I still preferred Artemis's more natural look. I would never say this aloud because I'd probably be murdered by a stiletto-heel shoe, but Aphrodite puts on way too much makeup and it's not really attractive to me.
"That would happen to be confidential, but don't worry about that. The main point is that considering Annabeth would leave you, you'd end up becoming a god. Athena even said that Zeus was already considering placing you into The Hunt once you became a god. Everyone on Olympus knew it would happen soon enough." What she'd just told me confused the Hades out of me and I bet my mouth was wide open in confusion.
Could it really be that Artemis and I were destined to be together with or without Aphrodite getting tangled in the mess? That would mean that Annabeth would eventually cheat on me while I was away with Poseidon training. Things would probably be different if I didn't decide to learn some new techniques from dad.
"Alright then. If that's the case, I give up on women." Aphrodite and Athena gasped.
"You're going to become…homosexual? Can't say that I didn't see it coming." Athena said.
"What? No! I mean that if that's the way it's going to be, I might as well give up and become a virgin god or something."
"No! That's a complete waste of a perfectly good man! Why would you do that when Artemis is available?" I laughed. She obviously didn't get where I was going with this.
"Think about it. Artemis would never admit that she has feelings for me, nor would she even give me a chance. In fact, she would probably hold a restraining order against me since she has a strict 'No-love-allowed' policy."
"That's where I step in. Because of Artemis's personality, if I didn't have anything to do with it, she would never accept you, let alone kiss you. So you'd kind of stay single for the rest of your life. You can bow down and thank me if you want."
"Well, better start thinking of someone else to pair me up with because I'm done with The Hunt." She shot up in her seat.
"What? You can't do that, I had everything planned out, Percy! I demand that you go back! Why are you even giving up?"
"Because Artemis is probably going to kill me for kissing her, even though she did it too, she'd never admit it. Plus, the huntresses were pretty cruel and I don't think I can live through that anymore." Aphrodite sighed.
"All my work for nothing." She stood there for a minute, thinking about something and when something came to mind, her optimism returned. "I know! If they come back for you, you have to return to them."
"How do I know you won't have anything to do with it?"
"I swear on the River Styx I won't involve myself in this case." I pondered this for a second then held out my hand to settle the agreement. "Why don't we seal this deal with a kiss?" She puckered her lips and I just stood there awkwardly.
"Oh my gods Aphrodite! I swear you sicken me, leave the only good man on Olympus alone. You're going to make him corrupt too." With that, Athena thankfully dragged Aphrodite away. She was probably right about her corrupting me, but I'm not really sure if I'm 'the only good man on Olympus'.
Not knowing what else to do, I decided to look for Zeus and tell him about me quitting The Hunt. If I was lucky, he wouldn't fry my butt off with a lightning bolt but I know that he'd agree to my wish if I told him I was indecisive about the choice, which I was. If Artemis and the huntresses want me back, then I'll go but if not, I'm staying on Olympus.
A/N: Sorry I didn't update for a while. I forget to pay my internet bill…again and At&T said they'd have it back by Wednesday but they made me wait till today. I'm switching to a different server man. By the way, if you enjoy this story, please vote for it to win in the Verita awards in the romance category at .. Thanks to all of you who read my stories, love ya lots.