IMPORTANT PLEASE READ

A/N: In case you guys didn't realize from the lack of updates, this story is kind of on hiatus. Like I explained I had some trouble with inspiration and I had lost it since then, I couldn't think of anything to write or anything to do especially with the school year. The school year is constantly stressing me out giving me hardly any time with what I like to do. I'm warning you that there might not be any chapter posted for a while after this since I'm trying to find my muse but yea… enjoy I guess…

3rd Person POV

"Where is your brother?"

A hand streaked to Artemis's face, followed by a loud smack as the hand made contact. She could feel pain erupt all over due to the force of the slap. A chuckle could be heard as Artemis glared into the darkness.

"Why should I tell you?!" Artemis spat.

A swift kick was launched toward her thigh, knocking her down on her knee before another slap resonated throughout the entire mountain. Artemis coughed before spitting out ichor onto the gravel underneath her. Disdain and hatred shined deeply in her crescent shaped eyes as a blonde figure walked out from the darkness. He flicked a knife and held it toward her neck.

"Perhaps this will encourage you? Now… where is your brother?"

"You'll have to be a bit more specific than that." Artemis growled.

"Mr. Sunshine, where is he?"

"You know, taken out of context that sounds completely ridiculous…" Another voice said which came from the shadows.

The blond figure whipped around and glared holes toward the one who spoke out.

"Do you want drakon cleaning duties again?" He growled.

The voice stayed quiet, in fear of angering the blond figure.

"Now…" The blond figure leaned closer to Artemis's face revealing a pale face with a long scar streaking down one eye.

"Castellan..." Artemis snarled. "Why are you doing this? What does working with Kronos offer you?"

"It offers me everything!" Luke yelled. "Kronos will usher in a golden age of power and righteousness! No longer will children wander the streets wondering in fear and desperation to survive! I want you to look all around right now; this is all because of you and the rest of the gods. Years of torture, I prayed to my father everyday hoping for guidance and for him to just show a sign that he cared! I had to live my entire childhood with a mother who would constantly grip me and shriek about my fate!"

"Is this what it is all about, a little neglect? Is that it? You are a pitiful excuse for a male! You are a child seeking attention in a teenage body!"

Luke's hand began to shake, pressing deeper and deeper into Artemis's neck. Beads of ichor began to appear on the blade and slowly drip down her neck.

"Boy, enough!"

Everything turned silent as Luke stared fearfully into the dark. Atlas stepped out and pushed Luke away.

"You are getting nowhere with your crude methods you imbecile! You can make her suffer later if you wish."

Luke bowed his head low and shook his head.

"Leave! Everyone! Let me deal with this petty goddess!"

Multiple footsteps could be heard as they began to march away until all was quiet. Once Atlas was satisfied that everyone had disappeared, he turned back towards Artemis with a small smile on his face.

"Now now Artemis. How does it feel? To be stuck in this position that I have been stuck in for millennia? I can easily take this burden off of you. All you need to do is tell me, what is Apollo up to?" Atlas questioned.

"How in the Hades am I supposed to know? I haven't seen him for a year!"

Atlas sighed, "Wrong answer, perhaps I should drag your son up here? Let him enact a little revenge on you for what you've been doing to him for millennia?"

Artemis's glare hardened, "You wouldn't dare…"

Atlas laughed before walking away.

"You will cooperate with us, one way or another."

Percy POV

I watched from a distance as Luke smacked Artemis around before a small smirk crawled up my lips.

"Despite everything, I have half a mind to flash up there and kick his ass." Apollo growled.

I frowned, "Apollo, think about how she treated us. She's deserved this for a long time. Someone needed to knock her down and make her feel useless! Sooner or later she will break and I cannot wait for that time!"

"Perce, We been here for hours, I'm starving. Wanna head to Monster Donut with me?"

I stared at him in disbelief. "Apollo… we had lunch about 10 minutes ago…"

"So? You can hardly tell with it being night 24/7." Apollo retorted.

I rolled my eyes stuffing my binoculars away. "I suppose that a quick trip there and back wouldn't hurt…"

"See that's the spirit Percy! No pun intended." Apollo grinned.

I could feel Spi pout inside me but I shook it off. "Fine then, where is the nearest Monster Donut Uncle?"

I smirked as I watched Apollo frown a bit. "Dude, you make me feel old…"

"Well technically you've been alive since Ancient Greece."

"Hey don't say that! The mortals think I'm an innocent, sexy teenager." Apollo argued.

"You forgot one more word describing yourself."

He frowned before brightening up. "I know! Awesome!" He looked so proud of himself it almost made me want to burst out laughing.

"I meant horny… I've seen the size of your cabin at Camp Half-Blood as well as the amount of kids you have at Camp Jupiter. Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if you had some godly form of STDs."

"Like you're one to talk, you been hanging around Artemis's hunters for millennia. Surely you sparked one of their interests? Perhaps went off in the woods and had a bit of fun?"

"Apollo… the closest I got to ever having fun with the hunt is leaving that god forsaken hunt. When I escaped I could taste the freedom, savor the feeling of not being glared at every five seconds."

"Yea, whatever, I'm hungry."

I shook my head at Apollo's abrupt way in ending the conversation before following him to his chariot.

"You know Apollo, when all this drama will be over, there will be no more Artemis, no more pesky hunters trying to kill you, no more being looked down upon by your fellow gods." I said after riding in his chariot for the past five minutes. I was reluctant in allowing Apollo to bring his chariot but when he told me that he could modify it so it didn't look like the sun was coming up did I finally agree. At the moment it was just a regular, godly, red Maserati GranTurismo.

Apollo gripped the steering wheel before sighing. "Perce, no matter how much I hate my sis at the moment. I can't picture her out of my life. No matter how much I despise it, I want my sis to be alive, I want my sis to understand, I want her to be there. She doesn't understand what it was like for me when we first arrived at Olympus. I tried to protect her as best as I could. Every single man wanted to touch her, to feel her, to have their way with her. They wanted her body, every bit of it. I was always there to ward them off. Then came the day where she managed to convince our father to let her have her own little hunting group. She quickly forgot about me as she embraced her 'sisters'. Then came the day she met Orion."

"No…stop." My voice croaked.

Apollo chose to ignore it and continue. "She was completely smitten by him. However having the domain of prophecy, I could see Orion for what he truly was. He wasn't some saint blessed by Zeus himself. I tried to warn Artemis countless times yet she would always turn me away, forcefully. All he wanted was to take Artemis's virginity. I managed to trick her into killing Orion but by then it was too late. She was already impregnated with you and I couldn't reverse it."

"Apollo…" I warned.

Again Apollo ignored it and continued. "By the time you were born I couldn't bare it, it was a reminder I was too late. I watched as she raised you. Your eyes filled with innocence and wonder. I tried to take you immediately but she refused, she turned me away and had her hunters fire on me. You were like an animal she was challenged to domesticate. I watched as you struggled under the constant abuse, your attempts to please her which she would ignore or criticize. Despite you being the offspring of Orion and Artemis I contemplated in shooting you just to end your misery right there…"

"THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU?!" I exploded as I felt my emotions roll around within me. I felt angry, sad, and confused all at the same time.

"I TRIED PERSEUS! I-I tried… but I just… I just couldn't! When Greece began to fall and Artemis began to have her massive mood swings which she took out on you, I just wanted to release you of your torment but… but I couldn't shoot. It hurt. Every time I came down to her and see you. I tried to hate you to make it easier for me to end your life. But your eyes… they were so innocent yet depressed and empty. I didn't know how long I could tolerate that look on your face."

I stared at Apollo sadly as he began to tear up in his moment of weakness.

"When you tried your first attempt to run away I was excited." Apollo let out a small chuckle. "You looked so pleased and happy. I tried to help you as best I could."

Flashback

Perseus (Age 9)

I dashed through the woods constantly looking over my shoulder. A grin threatened to take over on my face until I tripped on a rock jutting out from the floor. I rolled through a shrub and down into a ditch. Scrapes and bruises littered my arms and body. The excitement of escaping overpowered the pain of the fall. I looked up to the sky to see the sun shining brightly overhead. When I looked ahead I realized that a path in front of me seemed to bathe in the sunlight. It seemed to beckon to me to follow it.

The sunlit path soon became a beam of sunshine leading me down a twisting and turning set of paths. I could feel my feet begin to cramp up and my legs burn as if they were on fire. I leaned against a tree to rest. The beam of sunlight stopped as if sensing something was wrong before travelling up to me. The moment it reached me, it shined brightly forcing me to close my eyes. When my eyes opened I saw a glowing, translucent teenager giving me thumbs up before touching my legs and disappearing.

The pain disappeared and suddenly I felt as if another wave of energy flew through me. When I finished following the beam of light I could see the gates of Athens. The beam of sunlight began to pulse before completely disappearing leaving me confused. I took a step forward before I felt a hand clamp around my mouth and another around my arm, spinning me around to meet the smirking face of Artemis.

"Where do you think you're going Perseus? You didn't even say goodbye!"

Flashback End

I gasped, "I nearly forgot about that. I remember you came to camp afterwards when I was beaten. You took one look at me before flashing away. I thought you were disappointed in me."

"No Perce, of course I wasn't." Apollo pulled into the parking lot of Monster Donut before collapsing in his seat. "I couldn't bear to see you in her grip again. You don't understand how many times I pleaded with her to let you go, to be free but instead all that I ever got in response was that it was for your own good."

I stared at Apollo shockingly before giving him a man hug. "I always thought when growing up that when you glared at me that you hated me just because I was Orion's son. Hades, I don't even consider him to be a father."

Apollo smiled before letting go, "Good, he was a bastard anyways. Now come on, enough of this sadness. We're here, let's go get some donuts!"

"I don't understand why you like those jelly filled donuts." Apollo said in disgust.

"And I don't understand why you don't like them? They taste delicious!" I replied, savoring each bite I took.

"Glazed donuts are way better; I can get sugar glazed, chocolate glazed, and oh did you know they have marshmallow glazed donuts too?" Apollo exclaimed happily. He pulled out a donut with a thick white glaze on top to bite only to bite into nothing.

"What the…?" He said confused only to see me taking a bite of it.

"Woah… this is pretty good…" I said in surprise. Apollo snatched it from me and took his own bite.

"Hey!" I complained.

"Nu uh, you go get your own if you want it. This is my donut!" Apollo said before taking another bite. "OH this tastes sooooo good!"

"Apollo!"

He just pointed to my box half filled with jelly donuts. Reluctantly I took another one and glared at him.

"Oh what's this? I have another one?" Apollo said when he finished the donut. He pulled out another donut that looked just like the first. My eyes widened before snatching it and stuffing it all in my mouth.

"Hah! It's mine now!" I did a small dance in triumph before swallowing the donut.

"You know you could have just asked nicely," Apollo said amused.

"But where is all the fun in that?"

Apollo shrugged before hopping back his car with me jumping in shotgun.

"Hey, no crumbs in this car, got it? Apollo warned.

I waved my hand dismissively as I ate another one of my donuts.

Apollo just sighed before driving all the way back to Mt. Tamalpais.

Line Break

Luke POV

I stared frustratingly as I sharpened my sword, Backbiter in front of Artemis. I watched as she struggled to hold the sky. Sweat dripped down like a waterfall. Slowly she raised her head to glare at me.

"You will pay… when I am released from this burden, you will die a slow and agonizing death by my hunters."

I smirked before grabbing a knife and walking right in front of her.

"I can't believe that Perseus had to put up with you for who knows how long?" I thrust the knife toward my arm only for it to bounce off. I watched as her eyes widened in realization before staring at me which seemed akin to slight fear.

"You… you bathed in the Styx?" Artemis asked in astonishment.

I smirked and traced the curve of her face with the tip of my knife. "I believe I did, excruciatingly painful but worth it."

I quickly cut a small gash in her cheek allowing for ichor to pour down the side of it.

"Oh how I wish Percy was here right now. He would've loved this, seeing you here completely helpless. You do realize that it's completely your fault he isn't fighting for you don't you? He told me all about you. I couldny help but notice the distaste in his tone. He would tell me about how when he was young that he would go to bed wondering how to get you to love him." I snorted, almost laughing.

"The great huntress who wouldn't even love her son and abused to no end," I taunted. "Perseus is one of the biggest allies we have. Without him, I don't think this dream would become a reality!" I was slightly hoping she would buy my bluff/truth.

"In retrospect I have to thank you. He is one of the best fighters I've ever seen, the dexterity of Hermes," I sneered when naming my father. "The brutality of Ares, the accuracy of yourself, and the unpredictable nature of Poseidon," I listed.

I noticed Artemis struggle against her burden before dropping the last bomb on her. "You know? Perseus once told me that if his mother was to just apologize and accept him, he would have let everything he held against you go." I kept an impassive face but let my inward smirk grow as Artemis sagged.

"Tell me," I leaned closer to her. "Why did you initially hate Percy? He didn't ask to be brought into this world? He didn't get to choose his parents. He had no choice in the matter. The Fates decided for him. Yet you acted as if he had a say in it all."

Artemis glared into my eyes and I could still feel a small chill run up my spine despite her being shackled and chained to hold the sky.

"Let me see Perseus."

I let a small smirk take over my face, "I'm sorry but what was that?"

"Bring me Perseus… now!"

I let the smirk shine on my face, "I'm afraid you're not in any position to be making demands Artemis, you're our guest and it's going to stay that way… for a long time…"

A/N: I hope you guys liked the little Apollo and Percy bonding moment. I was thinking perhaps if they got to know each other better it would be easier for them to be closer in battle and support each other. Also Artemis huh, are we finally seeing a more human side to her? I am not gonna lie when I say Artemis is one of my favorite characters in general but it doesn't stop me from making her suffer a bit! HAHAHAHAHA! I thought it would make it easier for her to suffer more if she began to feel a bit of remorse and such =P. Anyways I don't know when I will have time to update again but I do hope you guys enjoyed and SPECIAL THANKS to my beta The Sorrowful Deity who still stuck with me through my hiatus stage.