Chapter 11: Down To Earth

"Where is it?" came a voice from behind, fairly comprehensible.

"Right there, Mike. See that? Amazing," she marveled, pointing to the new shine from the dark heavens. It made a foreign shape beside the constellations of the Huntress and Perseus, fitting in between perfectly.

"I agree."

She nodded. "We still don't know the cause of this phenomenon, and we would like to hear from our astronomers as soon as possible," she stated. "Tune in for more updates regarding this new constellation, later on LCN."

Hermes snapped his fingers, and the IM vanished into thin air. He looked towards his father, who was caressing his beard thoughtfully, like some detective. As if it fit him. He suppressed a snort. "Father," he called, and the god looked up. "What do you think? Who is that?" The messenger looked toward the moon goddess as well, his eyes questioning. "You made a new constellation of sorts?"

Zeus shook his head, unable to think of a cause for this, and looked to his daughter as well. But the goddess bit her lip almost nervously, seemingly torn between, what, her thoughts maybe? It was indecision; both of them could tell. She knew something.

"No, I didn't," she replied. The messenger god narrowed his eyes suspiciously. That answer didn't sound right. He glanced at the goddess's full-blooded brother, who stared back at him, his eyes asking a mental, What? The god then threw up his hands, as if telling that he had nothing to do with it, before going back to messing with his iPod.

The god of travelers pressed his lips into thin, doubtful lines. He knew he couldn't pry into the subject anymore, since he didn't have any force to put against her, like some evidence that she was hiding something. And she answered that one question truthfully. He held back a sigh. Only time will tell the truth. Someday. He slumped back to his throne in defeat and looked to his father for any more statements he would like to share.

The king of the gods sighed wearily. The occurrence was completely random. It simply appeared in the sky; like, it just appeared. For (probably) the first time, he didn't know, and wasn't aware of what had happened in his domain. And he knew that Artemis wasn't lying either. If she made a constellation from someone's soul, the stars would rearrange themselves accordingly, and he would know it before it was even finished, as the moon goddess would inform him already through prayer.

What was this then; where did it come from? Even Athena looked stumped with only assumptions in mind, he could tell.

Zeus sighed again, coming to a weak decision. "Very well then; I think we need to probe more into this matter before we come up with a conclusion. I believe Athena will agree," he announced, glancing at his daughter who nodded affirmatively. "This meeting is dismissed."

Before anyone could do anything, the goddess of wisdom wasted no time in flashing out of there—going to her galaxy-sized library, most probably. And from there, one by one the Olympian throne room started to empty, until only the king and one of his strongest daughters were left. He looked to her. "Aren't you going to tend to your hunt?"

Artemis shook her head, not taking her eyes off the marble floor. "I am in need of peace and quiet at this moment," she replied. "I have to think about something."

Zeus nodded. "Fine with me." Before he could continue, all the shadows inside the throne room began gathering into one corner, making a recognizable figure of a man. The king of the gods seemed to understand and said, "You may enter, Brother."

Out of the shadows stepped a pale, terrifying man in a black cloak with horrified faces floating on its surface. In his arms was a pile of bones, making a shape of a crown of sorts. It was the Helm of Darkness. The man scowled at the direction he came from. "After all I've done for Olympus and I still need permission to enter," he muttered bitterly. He tried and failed to hold back a snort. "Trust the king of the gods, my ass."

"Hades," the Sky Lord called irritably. "Have you only come here to mock me?"

The god of the dead smirked. "Peace, Brother. I come here with pure intent." He turned to look at the only goddess in the room, who shifted ever so slightly in her seat in anxiousness, that almost no one noticed it. Almost. "I wish to speak to your daughter. May I?" he asked with deadly sweetness in his voice. This time, the goddess did move uncomfortably and let her eyes drift to the floor.

The king of Olympus glanced back and forth between the two of them, trying to figure out what was going on. Finally, he settled for glaring threateningly at his brother before flashing back to his palace, complete with the sparks and all. The remaining god rolled his eyes.

"Show off," he muttered, and then turned to the goddess, studying her face. She kept her eyes on the floor and closed off all emotion, so that he wouldn't see anything just if he ever did see through the darkness covering her face. But then again, he was the god of the Underworld, so yeah, she was sure he could see. After a few minutes of silence, the god sighed loudly, uncharacteristically letting his feelings get the best of his cold, hard image.

"Artemis, my niece," he said. "I know that you know something."

"What?" she mumbled back. She really just hoped he would go away. For now. To avoid this talk.

"You know who that is, don't you?" Hades raised an eyebrow at her. "I know for a fact that you did not make the constellation, because I could feel the tremble of battle from down there," he remarked, making an exaggerated gesture toward the ground. "You would be too busy to make one. In the middle of a battle. Someone made it. By themselves."

"How did you know?" This time, Artemis did look up at him in the eye, her own pair showing evident suspicion and wariness. What does he have to do with it anyway? It's not like the stars are his business, she thought. Or he is his business.

Then she scoffed mentally at herself, blushing. Wait; as if he was her business. She pushed the thought out of her mind.

"I am the god of the dead, the Lord of the Underworld," he reminded her. "I know who comes into my domain, dead or not. Even those who you turned into those things littering the dark sky. Whatever appears in my brother's domain is not worthy of my attention, but souls who do not retire to the Underworld are. I never knew who that was. I have never seen their apparition." His grip tightened on the crown of bones. "You must know something."

She turned away and shook her head. "Nothing."

"I'm not your brother, but I can tell that you're lying. Look at me."

She did, but her silver eyes were harsh, fixed into a pointy glare. "I know nothing of it."

Hades looked down on her with a steely expression. She does know something, he concluded, his suspicions confirmed.

To be honest, he doesn't know fully well if she does. It's just that her reaction gave it away; if she really didn't know something, her reaction wouldn't be this... super. And she said, how did you know. Not how would you know, or anything like that. But those aside; what's important is who that constellation is. Where he came from, how he simply appeared there, and most importantly, where his soul is. Uh, at least most important for him.

But wait, maybe it's.. No, he thought, dismissing the idea. If he's going to help, he wouldn't at least leave something like an evidence that he did help. That's a point down for him. So yeah, it's not him. I think.

"Chiron, look at that!"

"Holy gods of Olympus," Chiron murmured as he and the campers gazed in awe at the constellation hailed in the night sky. It simply appeared there, shining so brightly that it attracted their attention. The campfire turned into a light bluish color, reflecting their states of wonder.

"Who—is that?" someone choked out. No one had an answer to that; however, one of the visiting legionnaires remembered something as his eyes widened.

"I can control the sky as well, Grace!" he told him jokingly, playing with his pen as he lay on the couch lounge comfortably, his feet propped up on the armrest.

"Wait, how can you do that?" Jason retorted, obviously confused.

"My dad's the Stormbringer. Go figure." He shrugged carelessly and took a bite out of his cheeseburger. Chewing, he looked at him. "Wru sow me ro nat errier, righ?"

He sighed. "I can't understand you."

For a while it was silent, until the son of the sea god managed to swallow the food in his mouth. "I said: that you saw me do the stormbringer power earlier, right?"

"Yeah; you went nuts and started raising your sword all over the place."

Percy furrowed his eyebrows. "You know Thor? You know, in the movie?" The other guy looked at him weirdly, but nodded, having heard of the person. "He's kinda like Jason Grace. He holds up this heavy hammer thing—I forgot the name—and lightning comes down. I tried that; it works with the storm. Only," he added after he retracted his pen back when it grew accidentally. "Jason doesn't need any weapon."

Jason raised an eyebrow. "Why are you talking to me like that?"

He merely smirked and shrugged. "No reason."

"That's Percy," the son of Jupiter blurted out, and everyone stared at him with varying expressions. Nevertheless, he continued, "There was lightning in the sky, right? It was him. He did that."

"That's impossible! He's dead!" someone yelled shamelessly. Most of the campers glared at him as he shrunk back, while the newest didn't have clue to who he was.

"Who is he?" A bold one inquired meekly.

"He is the one who called down those lightning bolts!" Jason shouted, pointing at the constellation. A beautiful Cherokee girl tried to calm him down.

"Sit down, Jason." The immortalized Roman son of the king of the gods had not even realized that he stood up in his defiance. He took his seat grudgingly. Chiron looked at everyone present. "I think this will be part of our campfire routine. I shall now tell you the legend of Percy Jackson."

And so the tale was told. Even the Romans who were there, including the son of Jupiter, were as interested if not more so interested as the newbies to hear the legendary son of Poseidon's early life as he found out his true heritage. At times, the centaur would glance up at the constellation, as if consulting, before continuing his tale. Everyone listened with rapt attention. It was then that the trainer of heroes, too caught up in the story as his audience was, had realized that dawn was approaching, and sent everyone to bed.

Only Chiron and two more people were left, gazing at the new form in the sky, disappearing as the sun slowly rose from the horizon.

"Is it really him?" the girl asked, her eyes wide in wonder of the mysterious constellation.

"It's him, Piper. I'm sure," the boy, who must have been Jason, told her insistently. "I just don't know how he did that—that lightning bolt show if he's already dead."

"If?" She caught up to it quickly.

The Roman pursed his lips and looked down, remaining silent. The centaur beside them had listened to the conversation, and sighed. "If that's the case, then we are not sure if that constellation is truly Percy. Time will tell. For now, let us consider it a good omen as it has saved the Hunt and the Romans from the Ordians."

"So it really is true?" he asked for confirmation. "Those stronger monsters were working for Chaos' brother, someone we didn't know about?"

"Yes," the centaur nodded. It was silent for a while. "The gods didn't directly say that we have another threat coming, as to not ensue panic. In addition, it makes the camps much stronger as they defend themselves constantly from the waves of monsters, while not making them to be too militaristic or too carefree."

"And they have to stay that way? For up to two decades?!" the daughter of Aphrodite suddenly asked incredulously, while the two jumped slightly; the reason being her so quiet that the two forgot that she was there.

"That's the maximum, as Chaos had said," Chiron replied evenly. "The help—her son and heir, as she put it; might arrive as early in a decade, or five years from now; or it could arrive as late in the next ten to fifteen years," he explained as both the immortals' eyes widened. "Either way, we have to be prepared always—if not for his arrival then for more monsters that will come to try to eliminate the camps."

Jason frowned. "Well that sucks."

"Hey, did you guys notice that new star formation?"

A daughter of Zeus rapidly whirled her head around to listen to the started conversation. While she had been cleaning up the dinner, her fellow hunters had stayed around the dining table to chat and exchange stories to pass some time of boredom. As she did, she distantly noticed that Annabeth hadn't said anything. She had checked and looked over her shoulder a couple times to see if she was already in her tent, but no; the daughter of Athena was lounging with the others, strangely quiet.

A horrifying thought struck her. What if she found out that it was him? What would happen when he comes back? Wait—was that even him?

Okay, so yeah, she wasn't sure if it was him. Artemis said it was him, so of course she'd believe her. All she saw was the outline, and even that wasn't too clear for her. Artemis, on the other hand, must've seen something else since she sounded so sure. But even goddesses can make mistakes. So perhaps.. She was going to wait for her to come back from that council meeting, and then ask her about it.

For now, let's listen to what the hunters know. It might be something that would alarm Artemis. Which, Thalia smirked inwardly, was someone else knowing about him.

"Yeah, just now," one of them replied. "How long had it been there?"

"I dunno," another one admitted. "I only noticed that when we were setting up camp."

"Wait I thought of something," yet another chimed in. "Do stars move? Not the shooting star type but the staying-in-our-night-sky type."

"No," Annabeth's sudden reply made the daughter of Zeus look over her shoulder. She was positive she saw a few of the other hunters jump a bit. "In our standpoint, yes the stars seem to move because of Earth's rotation in its axis, an explanation akin with the sun and moon. But generally, because of gravity, every object in space moves. They only seem stationary because of relative motion and frame of reference—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, timeout." A daughter of Ares, from what Thalia could gather, raised her hands as if she was called out by the police. "In English, please."

She scowled at her, as did two other Athena girls, although her heart was not in it. Her eyes showed her turmoil. The lieutenant furrowed her eyebrows. What was she thinking about? "I mean that from here, the stars seem to move but only because of the Earth's rotation, like how the sun or the moon rises," she said less scientifically. "But in space, they are moving; Earth moves at relatively the same speed as the stars, so they seem unmoving."

Sounds of awe, wonder, and understanding spread throughout the dining area. The same person who asked then said, "If that's the case, then is it possible for stars to be, like, brighter? As in, outshine the other stars?"

The daughter of Athena looked at the girl. How does Thalia know, you ask? Well, she kind of abandoned her dish-ery and watched them. What can you say? She's the lieutenant after all, and she doesn't slack off too much. Back to the subject; Annabeth was saying, "—takes hundreds of years to flare down." She crossed her arms and glanced up at the constellation. "Unless they're originally bright, then yes, they can outshine the other stars."

"Hundreds of years?" the girl marveled. "I don't really know, but I saw that when we were held by the Ordians. I was held up by the neck, so I was forced to look up. Then suddenly these lightning streaked out of the sky and killed those monsters," she explained, turning to the smarts as she added. "And then I saw that constellation appear. It was bright. It was only for a few seconds, I guess, then it dimmed, but I could still see the stars in it."

They went silent for a few minutes, pondering. Thalia was thinking about it too. What made that appear, anyway? She wasn't too sure if he had the power to do that. And then again, she wasn't sure if it was him. "So it's just that?" a mortal asked, her voice sounding loud through the silence. "It simply appeared? What, is that a product of those lightning?"

The daughter of Athena shook her head. "I have to think about this," she mumbled quietly and almost imperceptibly. She stood up and went straight to her tent, glancing up at the constellation one last time, before shutting herself in.

"Well," the lieutenant said suddenly, making the others jump. "That was... interesting." She looked up at the sky, at the moon, before turning back to them. "It's almost midnight; Lady Artemis hasn't come back yet. I'll take watch and wait for her. You go on ahead and give yourselves some rest. We have a long day tomorrow." With a small smile, she nodded to them as she finished cleaning up and took her bow from its position at the wall.

After all of them had retired to their tents, Thalia let herself fall to the ground with a weary sigh. She sat there on the ground, waiting but also watching. Her eyes were heavy, and were tempted to close, but she held on. She sighed again. These years have been tiresome as they mostly haven't got any rest. Hunting monsters, helping the camps, saving mortals, hunting more monsters, slaying Ordians..

Understatement. Almost every week they were traveling—traveling to camp, hunting monsters, wandering aimlessly..

Actually, no. They'd even be lucky if they did the latter. The Hunters could use that time as rest, but of course, they weren't too fortunate to get those frequently. It was mostly dangerous to the new ones, because they haven't got too much training and their only training, perhaps, was the fight itself. For the last five years, they have gathered more hunters as they have been traveling more recently, and gained a total of about... eleven? Maybe, and that increased their number to twenty-six. The newest one, which probably arrived two months ago, was getting used to the Greek world (she was mortal).

She had gotten used to it that she forgot why she was doing it in the first place. Why were they constantly on the move, again?

Oh yeah, she realized; her mistress' expectation wasn't only of her concern, but the others as well. She was waiting for the 'son and heir' of Chaos, the one who could save them from the known creator's brother and his evilness. That 'son and heir' happened to be her cousin, whose death was apparently staged. But still; she couldn't imagine her idiot of a cousin ruling the universe. Like, oh gods, the world may come to be his future name.

And what did her mistress say again? That they had to wait for about... one? Two decades? Yeah, more or less that amount of time. The good thing was, they had held up pretty good at a fourth of the maximum time; and the bad news was.. Well, let's not jinx it, shall we?

Speaking of time, for some reason she felt like the days are going through, slower than before. She really couldn't explain it. But still; she felt as if it's going to be a long heck of a decade.

After that heart-stopping talk with the Lord of the Dead, the goddess of the moon had a strange urge to check on her moon chariot, and the moon itself—the one in space. She didn't understand, but went with it. She checked and made sure that her moon chariot was looking and working fine, without anything going haywire too soon (she used her goddess-y powers to make sure, and that's the Artemis' moon sleigh. Duh.)

After that, she looked up at the moon. It was midnight. The moon was bright tonight; and it was full. It cast a silvery glow upon her and around, giving her surroundings a somewhat ethereal glow. She relaxed as she always had when the moon was in her presence. It eased the anxious feeling growing inside her.

Artemis had a really bad feeling that something was going to happen tonight. And it wasn't helping her already beaten nerves.

She flashed back to Camp Jupiter in her hunters' camp. She looked around and noticed that everyone by now was in their tents... except for her lieutenant, that is. She looked closely. Good thing her eyes were already closed as she flashed in there, or she would've killed her half-sister. But.. She looked more closely. She's snoozing off!

Artemis was about to wake her up when a thought struck her. She of all her hunters deserved rest and sleep. It would be cruel for her to stop her from doing just that simple thing. So, she snapped her fingers and the sleeping girl disappeared, reappearing in her own tent. She sat by the tree her lieutenant was leaning on, but then..

Uh, she didn't mean for anything to happen right then and there, especially when she had no intention of sleeping, but.. Yeah, it still happened anyway.

Her vision cleared to see that she was in the middle of a forest. She used her senses to see if anyone or anything was there, but she couldn't. In this dream, her powers as the goddess of the hunt were blocked. So instead of trying to seek out the reason of why she was there, she waited.

Who would try to call her here? Some stupid enemy who simply wished to waste her time to talk trash? They always liked to do that; except she wasn't the hero. It was... him, she guessed, since he was the one who received that offer from Kronos the last time.

Speaking of him, was he the one who called her here? Had he finally forgiven her? But wait; she hadn't done anything wrong, right? Why was she blaming herself then? Fool, she told herself, disgusted. This love thing was making her less confident of herself. What would happen if she just forgot about him? The man-hating part in her ruled over her whole being momentarily.

Just forget about him! Artemis the man-hater shouted. He, a mere boy, isn't worth your attention. It even makes you weak. You should forget about him.

Yes, she found herself agreeing with her most-likely irrational self. As she solely stood there, uncertainly waiting for something, she tried to push the boy out of his mind. She tried to remember that she was Artemis, the mighty and feared goddess of the hunt and moon, prided to be a forever maiden who doesn't tolerate males. But then, she found out that she couldn't.

Artemis gritted her teeth in frustration. She tried to do it in another way she thought of. Maybe, if she thought about his negative aspects (which tended to be much many, especially that he is a boy), that makes him easier to forget? Because now, she wouldn't give so much a single glance to an ordinary male—the stupid, disgusting, rash (and more negative adjectives) kind, so it might just be the way to help her.

He was the son of Poseidon. He was oblivious. He was slow. He was rash; he doesn't go with a plan. He was disrespectful. He was.. He was... not good in archery. He was loyal. Too loyal.

Funny. Smart when he wants to be. Strong. Humble, modest. Caring. Loving. Determined. Righteous. Handsome. Charming. He had this admirable windblown hair. Those mirthful, twinkling sea green eyes. He had a dazzling smile. He had a deep, suave voice—

"Lady Artemis?"

Artemis heard it. That voice. Suddenly, she forgot that she was supposed to forget him.

She spun around, eyes widening in anticipation. His eyes were on the ground, nervously, but when she turned he looked up. Her eyes locked with his own; and he smiled that smile which made her stomach do flips—which kind of disgruntled her (though of course she refused to show it). His hands were behind his back, and it made her wonder: What was he hiding?

"Percy." The name rolled off her tongue like a string of common home language. It felt different, yet also familiar to her. Perhaps it was an effect for not saying his name for a long while.

"Uh, hey," he greeted, somewhat nervously as she merely stared at him. His one hand came out from behind him and rubbed the back of his neck as an unhealthy habit that showed that he was on the edge. "Look; I know I haven't even bothered to talk to you for years, but I had a reas—"

She promptly cut him off with a swift punch to the jaw. He staggered back, the hit unexpected. He held his jaw in one hand and moved it slowly, trying to get its feel back. His other hand looked shaken from behind him, but he still didn't pull it out. But right now, Artemis didn't care. Rage tinted her vision red.

"You mean excuses," she spat angrily. "I had to hold on for five long years of not seeing you. Did you have any idea what you have done?"

Percy swallowed, taking in what she'd just said. I had to hold on. "Five..," he mumbled disbelievingly. He eventually shook out of it. "You had five, well I was given ten long years to have a chance to go crazy," he retorted calmly, yet his eyes showed what he really felt. "I never knew what to do. I don't understand; I don't understand many things."

She narrowed her eyes, still not quite convinced. "Of course you do," she responded snidely. "You didn't understand that I was—"

"That you were blaming yourself. I'm sorry." He looked at her sincerely. For a split second, he noticeably hesitated, before presenting her his other hand that he'd been hiding. In his grasp was a white rose, beautiful and elegant like all other of its kind. He smiled meekly and offered it to her. "This is for you. I figured it to be a gift to make amends."

She paused; her breath took from her. Then with uncertain, rickety hands, she took it. Their fingers brushed feebly, making her purse her lips as her face heated. He simply looked down, biting his lip in a way that would make most girls coo.

They were engulfed in an awkward silence. Neither knew what to say. To be honest with herself, Artemis was flattered that he even went out of his way to get her something. A simple sorry would have sufficed; but she wasn't complaining. The rose was remarkably white, its petals as colored as lively clouds. She couldn't help but admire it.

The silence seemed to bother him enough. "Uhh.. What's going on in, you know, down there?" he asked, and she understood him. He was referring to their home planet. "Did something interesting go on while I wasn't... uh, up to date?"

Suddenly, the goddess's mind floated to what happened the night before. The person she saw. The constellation in the sky. No doubt, those things were interesting. But seeing as the person who had been the constellation itself was here, right in front of her, she figured that the topic wouldn't be too appealing to him. Well maybe; except that it was a bad thing for him, if ever his superiors found out.

"There was this attack at Camp Jupiter," she found herself saying. "We almost got killed—"

"WHAT?!" he exploded before she could even finish. She didn't get to react, since he was holding her by the arm, checking for any injuries. She could've been embarrassed if he wasn't so exaggerating. "Are you okay? Is Thalia okay? Annabeth?"

Ah, of course. She should have known.

"They are very much fine," she answered nonetheless, trying to hide the disappointment in her voice. She then looked up at him. "What about you? What happened there while we weren't..." in touch.

"Oh, uh," he stuttered, all of a sudden finding the forest floor interesting. "Well.. For starters, I had some good training, and I could control all of these elements that they taught me. I think there'd be more after my twentieth year—"

"Wait, twentieth?" Artemis interrupted, feeling alarmed. So she has to wait for fifteen more years, up to Zeus knows how long he will finish, before she could see him personally again? That has to suck. But wait; didn't he say something about her five years becoming his ten?

"Your number of years times two is equal to our number of years," he explained, as if reading her mind. "So you'll have to wait for about... um, five more years 'til I start the second part of my training." He frowned. "Or so they tell me."

"Oh." The goddess nodded in understanding. At least it's only five. She was a goddess. She'll be able to live through it. "What else?"

"I've met some good people," he continued. By now, he was smiling, like those people were the best people he'd met in a long time. "My trainers; they're like a bunch of my family. And I also met the constellations."

She perked up at that. "The constellations?" she asked. "Like what? Who?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "The Centaur, the Twins, the original Perseus, Andromeda, Orion; the likes," he replied. It was then that his eyes widened as he realized something, and slapped his hand over his mouth.

Artemis narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "The likes?" she pried. Then her eyes gained a hopeful tint to it, her glare softening. "Does that mean that you've seen.."

Percy swallowed thickly, and nodded, knowing whom she was referring to. "Yes. I've also seen Zoë." It was still very fresh in his mind: what she told him. Without you, she may not be the same again.

The goddess's eyes widened. "How is she there?"

He smiled at her reassuringly. He had no idea why, but it sent his stomach crazy when he saw her turn to the slightest hue of red. "She's fine. She never got over her hatred of boys—"

"I taught her well."

"But she became my best friend," he continued, shining with happiness. The goddess looked shocked, as if she had never considered her making friends up at the true Sky God's palace. "She helps me when I'm down. And... she convinced me to see you."

Suddenly, Artemis looked like she was about to collapse, so Percy took swift action and caught her by the waist. He looked over her with concern. She looked really weak. "Artemis, what's wrong?"

She shook her head defiantly. "Nothing," she lied obviously. Nevertheless, the son of Chaos carried her to the base of a tree and set her there. He sat down beside her, gazing with care. What just happened? "Seriously, Percy, it's nothing."

The boy smirked inwardly, before he stood up and took a few steps back. "Really? Then why won't we resume our talk here?" he suggested, raising an eyebrow teasingly.

The goddess tried to get to her feet, but her legs felt like lead. It was as if she climbed seven Olympuses—on foot. She glared at him. "Fine. Something's wrong. I don't know."

He frowned and kneeled beside her, examining her legs. Gee, she really had nice, smooth, long—focus Percy. "Can you move it?" he asked as innocently as he could.

She tried, but her legs didn't move much of a muscle.

"Um, will this help?" Hesitantly, he reached over and massaged her feet. At first the goddess couldn't feel it, as her lower half was numb. But slowly, the sensation came back to her. The massage was really comforting—she reckoned that it was because of the way he handled it: gentle and soft. Or maybe it was because of his hands.

"It did," she said, shoving the thought out of her mind.

"Try to move it." He let go of her feet, and instantly she missed the warmth of his hands. He made to sit with her, but she grabbed his arm.

"I can move it now, but.." she muttered to him as she tested her foot, swinging feebly. "But it's still weak. Massage it for me."

He stared at her, making sure if he heard right. One glare made him quickly comply.

"Now," she said as he concentrated on massaging her feet to make her feel better. "I believe we have stories to exchange."

And so they talked like the best of friends, laughing and chatting away happily. They talked about the past five years—or ten years in Percy's case; people, and the treatment of life in general. Even right now, the son of Chaos could feel a special connection to the goddess of the moon—although unfortunately he didn't know what kind of connection.

It was then that he sensed that daylight was coming. "Artemis, I think I've got to go."

The goddess forced a smile. "Me too, I think. Will I see you soon?"

Percy nodded surely. "Soon," he agreed. "This time I'll keep my promise," he finished sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

She rolled her eyes and gave him a little shove. "Of course you will. Goodbye for now."

He grinned at her and waved, at the same time fading from his spot. Artemis stared at it, waiting for her turn to wake up, but nothing happened. Just when she was starting to worry, she saw her surroundings blur, and then she knew she was waking.

AN: Thank you for reading, have a nice day! ~SmartzyFan