Here is the next chapter! I hope you like it. Also don't forget to leave a review or comment on what you think about the story so far.
"Who are you," she whispered. Percy smiled. She couldn't even recognize him.
He watched Artemis's faced scrunch up in anger, "Answer me, boy," she growled at him.
Percy let out a small huff through his nose and pressed his face closer to hers, "You mean you don't remember me, Lady Artemis?," he laughed quietly, "No wonder it took you so long to find me. You can't even recognize me."
Her eyes widened and the anger on her face melted into shock.
"Perseus?"
Percy pushed himself up and relaxed into a seated position, letting his arms hold him up. After a couple heartbeats, Artemis did the same, her movements slow from shock.
They stayed in silence for a minute or so, letting the information sink in. Then Artemis looked at Percy. He had his head tilted up to the sky, gazing up at the stars.
She opened her mouth then closed it, trying to find the right words to say. Thinking, she noticed how stunning his eyes were in the moonlight. They gleamed and reflected the light like a wolf's. How odd.
Percy turned his head, met her stare, and gave a slight frown. She was looking at his eyes. He looked down, ashamed of the 'gift' the Fates had given him. "They're horrible, aren't they?"
His words shook Artemis out of her daze. "Oh, no- I think their... nice. Different, but nice," she admitted honestly. Percy stiffened under her words, but didn't say anything else.
"What happened to you, Perseus?" she asked carefully. She watched him for a reaction, but he stayed perfectly still, not saying a word.
There was a long pause until Percy spoke, like he was preparing himself.
"Well," he started, "I died." And so he told her about the darkness he was sent to when Annabeth killed him. How the Fates blasted him with their power, making him their soldier and champion after he agreed to their deal.
Percy snuck a glance at her, trying to find a glimpse of pity, but he found none. Good. He didn't want everyone he knew to look at him like a broken toy. Granted he really was broken, but no one needed to know that.
He felt like she understood him and what he was feeling. Artemis knew about hardship and loss. Percy had seen her despair when Zoe had died, how lost she had looked. Then there was the Giant War where Artemis had buried almost half of her hunters.
He talked about his journey from Greece to New York with Mrs. O'Leary, getting lost in Europe and ending up in one too fancy restaurants. Then there were his nightmares. He didn't go into full detail, but she was starting to understand what his powers might be.
He didn't even try talking about his mom. He could barely think about her without losing control of himself. So he skipped to the motel he stayed at for a few days. He let out a small laugh as he told Artemis about bursting all their waterbeds.
Then Percy told Artemis about the Fates and how incredibly annoying they were. She laughed at his descriptions of the three goddesses. Not in her entire immortal life would she have imagined the controllers of destiny to be a such funny trio.
"Then they left me here to train. They wanted me to control my fire and my visions. I've only been able to get the fire part down so far," Percy grimaced.
Artemis looked at him in wonder, "You can control fire?" How ironic for a son of Poseidon to have fire powers.
"Control is a loose term, but yeah," he chuckled, remembering the first few camps he had burned down.
"May I see?" Artemis asked hopefully.
Percy nodded and motioned for her to back away. He wasn't going to take any chances. He didn't want to give Artemis a reason for turning him into a forest creature.
He held his hands out in front of him, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. He let loose the air through his nose and when he looked down to his hands, they were alight with his white flames.
Artemis sighed at the sight of them. They are so lovely, and they match his eyes. She could feel the heat pour off him. It warmed her entire body, making her feel loose and relaxed.
She never felt a fire like this one before. She had felt the harsh and furious flames of a forest fire and the small blaze of a bonfire that swathed you in comfort, but nothing like this.
This fire made her feel strong, ready, and most of all complete. It made her feel like her, like who she really was, letting her know what she was truly capable of doing, of what destiny would make of her. The hunter inside of her roared with excitement, bathing itself in the flames, relishing in the power they gave it.
Then the light winked out and she was left in darkness once again. She realized she was breathing more rapidly than before and her face was flushed with heat. She looked at Percy who was looking at her with wide eyes.
"What? What is it?" she asked him.
Percy blinked and shook his head, trying to shake off the stupid look that was probably all over his face. He cleared his throat, "You were glowing, like really glowing."
His vision was still slightly blurry from the light that had come off her. Normally, Artemis gave off a silvery glow like all gods did. The glow was a show of their immortality.
But just now, she had shone like a star. Her skin so bright, it was almost white, and her eyes became liquid pools of mercury, ready to drown him. What startled him even more was the whisper of a thought that had flitted through his mind. She was beautiful.
"Was I?" Artemis murmured and Percy looked at her in bewilderment. Had he said that out loud?
He eyed her carefully, looking for any sign of offense, but he saw none. She must be talking about the glowing he mentioned earlier. He let out a sigh of relief, thank the gods she hadn't heard him.
Suddenly she stood and moments later Percy knew why. Her two scouts soon broke through the tree line and at the sight of him, they drew their bows threateningly. He leapt to a crouch and pulled at his weapons then stilled at the emptiness at his waist.
He didn't arm himself because he did not want to hurt Artemis of her hunters that badly. He even left Riptide, which he knew would not appear in his pocket anytime soon. Its magic had vanished along with his son of Poseidon heritage.
Percy readied himself to duck at any twang of a bow. He watched their faces as they looked from him to Artemis who was still flecked with bruises from their scuffle. The turned back to him and glared. He swore under his breath and looked to Thalia, hoping she would recognize him and give him mercy and not shoot, but she looked through him just as Artemis had before.
The scouts bowstrings moaned as they pulled them tighter, prepared to fire. Then Artemis raised her hand, an order to stand down.
"Put your bows down, girls," Artemis called to them. Thalia lowered her bow slowly, but the other dark-skinned girl held hers steady, unflinching.
"Lady Artemis, he has hurt you. He must pay," she hissed. She pierced him with her deep green eyes. They weren't the green his used to be. Hers were flecked with browns and yellows, like trees in the summer.
Her gaze left his face and went onto Artemis's who held her chin high and stared back unblinking, the face of a leader. "Put down your bow, Cassia," she said sternly.
The girl, Cassia he now knew, hesitated, but reluctantly dropped her aim, plucked her arrow from her bowstring, and placed it back in her quiver. Even with her weapon down, she stayed alert, looking just as deadly without a weapon.
Percy relaxed his leg and extended himself into a standing position. He made sure not to stand too close to Artemis. He didn't want to give the hunters any other reason to shoot him.
Artemis relaxed as well, her face softening. "Rhode and Nyla are in the middle of the camp. Cato is there too. They were all knocked unconscious. Tend to them."
Thalia glared at Percy, but turned and went off in Rhode's direction quickly. Cassia, on the other hand, spun her head at Percy, her lip curling up in contempt, showing her teeth. She gave him a long look, it was a warning he realized, then left in toward Cato.
"Now," Artemis said as she turned to Percy, "Let's take you to Olympus." She made a motion to grab his arm, but he weaved away from her reach. She looked at him tiredly, "Don't play with me, boy. Let's go."
She reached again and this time Percy grabbed her hand gently then dropped it. This was a warning too. She would not win if she were to fight him.
"I'm not going to Olympus. I'm to go with you and your hunt," he stated. Lachesis told him he was supposed to do this and because she was his patron, he would follow her orders.
Artemis let out an exasperated breath at the demigod's unwillingness, "You will come with me or I will drag you there." Her voice showed none of her nervousness that she held inside. She did not want to fight Percy, but maybe if she got a hand on him, if she was quick enough, she could take them both to Olympus.
Percy's eyes hardened and he planted his feet firmly in the ground, showing that he was going nowhere. "I know what you are thinking, Lady Artemis, and it won't work," he declared knowingly.
She bore her eyes into his own, trying to find some weakness, some way to force him to come, some way to break his resolve. She found none and relented.
"Fine," she sighed and then her voice became steely, "But if you so much as look at one of my hunters wrong, I will haul you to Olympus with all but one piece of your body."
Despite himself, Percy shivered. He knew exactly what 'one piece' she was talking about. "I expect nothing less, Lady Artemis," he spoke, his head held down in respect.
"Alright, to camp then," Artemis said as she looked up at the sky, judging where the moon was, telling the time, "If the wolves are fine, we should reach camp before dawn." She turned in the direction of her sleeping wolf and motioned him to follow.
They walked in silence until they stopped before Artemis's hunters. Cassia was kneeling beside Cato, trying to shake him awake, while Thalia was treating the girl Percy had knocked out.
She looked there was a bump on her head, but she was unhurt otherwise. He winced at the color of the bump and the round bruise that marked where the rock had hit her. He wished he had known the power of his words before he had knocked her out.
Thalia stood when she saw the group and Cassia raised her head. Her eyes iced over him like he was furniture and then she turned to Artemis and bowed her head. "Rhode is bruised but fine. The wolves, on the other hand, are out cold," she reported.
Artemis knelt next to Cassia and inspected her wolf. Artemis tried shaking him Cato awake just like Cassia had done, but he stayed unmoving. Maybe Percy's magic hadn't worn off yet.
Percy looked to the girls to see if they were watching and then quietly, below his breath he spoke, "Wake up." He felt the tremor as the power he poured into his words slammed into the wolf.
The wolf's eyes flashed open and locked onto him. Percy flinched back at the intelligence they held. Cato growled unkindly at him and suddenly lunged. Percy thankfully dodged, but by avoiding Cato's attack, he backed up right into the face of another wolf.
He swore in his mind. He meant to only wake up Cato, but his words must have been too strong. He'd have to be careful in the future, that being if there was a future. Right now if was very likely that he would be mauled to death by two very very angry wolves.
"Cato. Nyla. He is a friend. He will be traveling with us for a little while," Artemis spoke softly and then paused as if she was waiting for an answer. The wolves looked to her and nodded their heads in submission.
They then walked over to their respective hunters. The one he guessed was Nyla trotted over to Rhode and licked at her face. She laughed and grabbed and the wolf's fur, using it to help herself stand.
The bigger wolf, Cato, walked to Artemis, keeping his eyes on Percy the entire time, watching his moments closely. Once he reached his lady, he sat down next to her, so near that his shoulder brushed hers.
Percy sighed in relief and let his body relax. He was about to thank Artemis until a voice interrupted him.
"What?! You let this boy join the hunt, Lady Artemis," Cassia snarled.
"This boy happens to be very... unique. Zeus has put me in charge of finding him," Artemis explained. She then gave a feline grin, "Think of him as more of our prisoner." Percy's mouth fell open in offense, but a smirk lifted at the corners of Cassia's lips.
Thalia looked at Artemis with the same face, "And what is our prisoner's name, Lady Artemis?"
"His name is Per-"
"Moiraides," Perseus interrupted a little too loudly, "My name is Moiraides." The son of the Fates. He couldn't let them know who he really was, at least not yet. He didn't need them to look at him with pity. For once it was nice living in a world where no one knew who he was, and no cared to know either.
Thalia let out a laugh at the name and Percy felt his ears burn in embarrassment. He knew it was stupid, but it was all he could think of. "Alright Moiraides, let's take you to camp."
With that the girls mounted their wolves and turned them to face the forest. Artemis looked over her shoulder at him and gave him an evil smile. "Do keep up, Moiraides", she said and then in a swirl of leaves, she was gone.
Percy looked at the spot they were just in wide-eyed. Hades, they were fast. He sprinted quickly to his tent and snatched up his backpack, now thankful that Lachesis had tricked him into packing it.
Then he took of like a bullet in the direction they went and hope he wouldn't get lost trying to find his way to them. He followed the sound of snapping branches and thudding paws for miles.
He gasped at his speed when he began to sprint. He was much faster than he used to be. The trees were a blur beside him as he dodged and ducked around them, chasing after the girls with the swiftness and agility of a panther.
Percy marvel and the way his legs felt so power and strong. At the way the air felt clean in his lungs. At the way he was almost felt genuinely happy for the first time in a while.
Wind blew past him, washing away his grief and guilt. Branches slapped at his arms, stinging him, making him feel alive again. He lost himself in the beauty of the forest. Then he was pulled back into reality when he realized he was running along side one of the wolves.
On this wolf was Artemis who was gaping at him. He couldn't possibly be running that fast. She didn't even think she could run that fast.
Percy looked at her and grinned in satisfaction. He raised his hand in greeting and then with a spur of energy, he pushed past her. Just as he came nose to nose with her wolf, he called to her, laughing, "Do keep up, Lady Artemis!"
His laugher bounced on the trees and he heard Artemis reply to his jab with a snarl. She whispered into Cato's ear, urging him to go faster. She'd wipe that grin off that boy's face by smearing it in her dust.
Cato happily complied and pounded his paws into the ground even harder, easily gaining the lost ground. Again the two were neck and neck. A challenge flared in Percy's eye and he spurred his legs to go even faster than before.
He let out a whoop as he passed Artemis yet again. He looked back at her with another smart reply on his lips, but just as they were about to leave his mouth, the world tilted. He had tripped over a log.
Now it Artemis's turn to laugh. She laughed so hard that it became difficult to breathe and her sides cramped in pain.
Percy, on the other hand, rolled for a good minute until his body groaned to a stop. Once he came to a complete stop, he stood and let out a small hiss at the pain that covered his body.
He patted his body down to make sure nothing was broken. Surprised he didn't snap any of his bones, he started after the hunters again. He was slower than before, but he was still quick enough that the wind roared in his ears.
He ran for only a few more minutes until he saw them again. They had stopped in front of a large circle of tents and looked like they were waiting for him.
He slowed to a jog and halted several feet away from them. The four girls eyed him weirdly and realized what he must look like. After that fall, he must be covered with mud and dirt.
He swept his hands across his hair and shirt, trying to make himself even the slightest bit more presentable. Artemis looked at him amusedly, "It looks like you had an interesting run."
Percy scratched at the back of his head and his hand caught on a twig. He quickly pulled it out of his hair and threw in on the ground behind him. "It seems I did," he replied, letting out a light chuckle.
Artemis looked him up and down again and then motioned to the circle of silver tents behind her.
"Welcome to camp, Moiraides."
So there that was. This one took a long time to write because I was trying to recover from finishing The Song of Achilles.
If you like greek mythology, which you probably do since you're reading PJO, then this book is AWESOME for you. It's about the Illiad and Achilles and crew and overall it is an AMAZING book. It's beautifully written and has an awesome story.
If you're interested, look on Goodreads for it (The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller) and check it out. Also if you have any questions about it before you read it, message me. I will also be there as emotional support for the ones who have finished it and are now hollow husks of their old selves because lord knows that book was sad.