A/N: Let me just get something straight, to be honest I don't know how many times I said this but this is not going to be some stupid story where Perseus is abused for thousands of years then all of a sudden go like "Yea, I forgive you Artemis for some obscure, retarded reason just because this story needs to be sappy," like seriously… I mean I hate stories that do that for any unknown reason and I am sure as hell not doing that.
Now to address the second issue, for people who immediately read something then automatically assumes something please… just please… wait until the next chapter or such, not everything will be straightforward. Everyone knows that a good story has its twist and turns and I intend to have those twist and turns and ups and downs. So don't just assume something and rant about it to me thinking that whatever you are thinking about is going to happen.
Finally got that out of my system, anyway important A/N below, now on with the story!
3rd Person POV
Silence…
The usual lively Olympus, the pedestal of prestige and power, was filled with silence. Not a chirp, not a whisper filled the empty air. To a commoner's eye, one would deem the floating city a ghost town. However to a hunter's eye, one would be able to witness the gods and goddesses hiding in their palaces, their eyes peeking out from their windows to search for any signs of danger. Fear blanketed the city, filling the entire utopia with a sense of foreboding.
A single flash of flame could be seen from all around, illuminating a silver palace sitting on the perch of Olympus. The shadows and darkness raced to extinguish the light only to dissolve in the burning arc of light. Inside their palaces and temples, the gods and goddesses watched in interest at the single goddess who was able to repel the shadows. Her light and fire began to infuse the inhabitants with a sense of flame before slowly being conquered by the darkness lingering within their homes.
The few that were strong of will watched in curiosity as the normally peaceful goddess dumped an empty-eyed goddess in the front of a silver temple before kicking her roughly inside. Questions began to roam around the few such as "Why happened to the goddess?" and "What caused for the peaceful goddess to become so aggressive?"
Inside the temple, Hestia was snarling at the lost Artemis. The silver goddess was pushed too far, pushed over the brink of sanity, exerting too much pressure and stress on her mind causing for her brain to erase everything she remembered in an attempt to protect itself from any further harm.
No, Hestia wasn't angry at Perseus for what he did, she felt pity. The goddess was contempt with watching the boy enact harm upon the one who did nothing but tear families apart, both Olympian and mortal, just to fulfill her selfish needs. However her brother Zeus believed the actions inflicted upon the boy when he was raised were beneficial, a proper 'tool' for his daughter to remove her anger and pain upon. Saying that Zeus hated Orion was an understatement, the god of thunder and lightning loathed the son of Poseidon with every inch of his fiber. When he found out that Orion impregnated his beautiful, chaste daughter before he died Zeus was enraged, doubling the hate he held with Orion towards the baby boy. He almost ordered the execution of the baby boy if it wasn't for the intervention of Hestia.
Hestia overpowered her brother in a duel for the survival of the boy. This decision did not go well with the rest of the Olympians; it cost her throne which was handed to the swine Dionysus as well as a restriction away from the boy. If the boy were to be kept alive, he would have to reside with the hunt for eternity. Only gods and goddess that Artemis needed were able to see the boy.
So when Zeus ordered for Hestia to interfere and save his daughter, Hestia could barely restrain her anger. Yes, Hestia could have been kinder with her confrontation with Perseus but she didn't wish for the boy's life to become endangered by the hand of Zeus.
With a grunt Hestia brought forth the power of the hearth to heal the broken mind of Artemis. Of course she didn't mind making the process as a bit painful for the terrible goddess. Of course her powers of the hearth healed whatever pain that was inflicted upon her but it hardly even matters. She watched in slight satisfaction as the goddess writhed and clutched her head in an attempt to end the rushing of memories back into her brain.
She watched as Artemis groggily pulled herself into an upright position, carefully observing her surroundings. Slowly they began to focus on the goddess in front of her, eyeing the slight frown that marked her face.
"What happened…?" Artemis sluggishly asked. "The last thing I remember was being tortured… in the forest by Perseus…"
She quickly began to observe her body in search for any injuries that marred her figure. She slowly ran her hands down her shoulder, feeling her smooth, warm skin, giving no indication of the injury inflicted upon her by her son. Artemis looked up at the hearth goddess before back at herself, putting two and two together.
"You healed me…" Artemis said stunned.
"I did not arrive to heal you for sentimentalities Artemis," Hestia said. "To be honest, I did not wish to see you at all."
Artemis frowned, "What is that supposed to mean…?"
Hestia rolled to her eyes, "It means that I had no intentions on visiting or helping you but by the mercy of your father was I sent to save a prejudiced little child who was receiving nothing more than what she deserved."
Shock seemed to fill the silver goddess's face as she took a step away from the stoic Hestia. Within her eyes, Artemis could see disapproval and disgust. The air within Artemis's empty temple seemed to drop ten degrees sending an involuntary chill up Artemis's spine. Spiders seemed to crawl around her entire body. Artemis did not expect this, least of all from the most peaceful goddess on Olympus. Her disapproval was like a slap to the face.
"What have I done to earn your hatred?" Artemis angrily asked. "Never have I sought to harm you in any way, shape or form. Yet you seem intent on lashing out in an attempt on harming me."
"My hatred lies within your actions, your morals, your character. When I look at you, I do not see the beautiful girl filled with curiosity taking her first steps on Olympus. I just see a spoiled little girl intent on getting everything she wants. You push and manipulate everything to please yourself. You do not take the time to understand the consequences of your actions, always thinking about the present time, never the future. You separated a love between your huntresses and son just because you wished to harness the power of a demi-titan as your hunter, a love woven and intertwined by the Fates themselves."
A flash of flame appeared above Hestia's palm to reveal two strings. One, a bright silver, another a midnight black, both covered with frays, separated by a godly power. There were signs of the two strings being attempted to be woven together once more only to prove unsuccessful.
"Look around goddess, your son and brother sided with a primordial to overthrow Olympus. The result of all your actions has led to this current event. Was it worth it? Do you feel proud? Pleased, that the entirety Olympus is cowering beneath their sheets as their inevitable fate approaches? To think if only you treated your son and brother better, none of this would ever be happening." Hestia sneered before flashing away in a plume of fire.
Percy POV
The trip back to Nyx's palace seemed to rush past, everything felt like a blur. Currently I was kneeling in front of the throne of Nyx as she sat there, scrutinizing me. Moros and Apollo stood behind her, Moros baring a small smirk and Apollo flashing me a toothy grin.
"Rise Perseus."
I slowly rose to my feet, staring at her face which seemed to be lost in thought. She was like a stern mother who you aim to please as she sets farther and farther goals for you to achieve. I have seen her berating and punishing the shades furiously who have failed her resulting in the absorbance of their essence to fuel her strength.
It was an image I could never get out of my head. It wasn't that there were any screams of terror or whatnot. It was merely the overwhelming sense of power that seemed to emit from the Primordial goddess. It was enough to crush any lesser mortal into dust.
Of course it rarely happened but still…
"I understand the fact that you despise Artemis as your parental figure, am I correct?" She asked. I nodded.
"I have been considering on adopting you which will fuel you with immense power as well as replacing that prepubescent child in your life. Of course that is up to you but if you do consider my offer, you will have to pass a trial of mine to prove your worth. Do you wish to accept?"
"Of course Lady Nyx, anything to get that horrid woman out of my life." I said pleased.
"Excellent, please follow me." She said. "We shall proceed to your trial to prove your worth."
I frowned as she stood up and led me through one of the corridors from her throne room.
"Exactly what would this trial be? Do I have to steal something? Or…" I asked, curious on what the trial was. I didn't exactly have any missions given to me when I first joined her. I pretty much had free reign. So I had no idea what she had in store.
She laughed, "No, no, none of that. You see my mother, Chaos, always enjoyed throwing little challenges towards heroes whom she believed to be capable as well as to prove their worth. The mighty Python was one of the few examples she let loose on your friend Apollo. I gained that trait from her. I adored her, she was sarcastic and witty yet at the same time wise and caring. But I haven't seen her since…" She paused, a saddened look plastered on her face before quickly wiping it away into a somber one.
We exited her palace and walked towards a dark abyss. Despite it being about five hundred feet away, I could still feel the pull from here.
"My mother created this for me," Nyx said. "A void, capable of dissolving any creature or immortal drawn into its pull, it challenges the person drawn in. If you fail, you are doomed to dissolve, your soul crushed and ripped apart to oblivion, you will no longer exist, no afterlife."
My frown grew deeper, "So you just want me to stand on the edge of that cliff and resist the pull for a certain amount of time or what?"
"No, you are just being stupid. I want you to jump in."
I stared at her incredulously, "You just told me anything that gets drawn in gets destroyed! Annihilated! Erased! You expect me to just jump in there and kill myself?"
Nyx rolled her eyes, "Looks can be deceiving Perseus. What you see right now is an empty black hole, yet can you truthfully tell me what will happen the moment you enter that abyss, how you so sure that it will immediately begin ripping you apart?"
We slowly began walking to the edge of the cliff, its pull becoming even stronger now. If it wasn't for Nyx's hand on my shoulder, holding me down towards the grounds of Tartarus, I would have already been sucked in.
I glanced nervously at the vacuum beneath me, I thought myself to be insane for even considering this. I mean who in the right mind will jump into something like this only to be ripped apart?
"Think of this like the Styx, except having a few small changes. If Achilles survived a dip in the Styx with invulnerability what do you think this will do for you?" She said, gesturing to the abyss.
"Except that the difference is, is that this is basically a black hole while the other is a river. One would think they would have a better chance with the river…" I muttered.
"Did you know some things hurt less when it is by surprise?"
I was about to reply confused before a hand pushed me into the abyss below.
"Bye!" Nyx waved.
"SON OF A BITCH!" I yelled as I fell down into the emptiness below me.
A/N: Okay, probably could've been better but eh. Anyway this might be the last chapter I can probably upload for a while or the next, since I will be very busy in the weeks to come so an update may not be as fast as the previous ones and I am so sorry. Please understand that I am currently going through some difficult times at the moment and I need to focus all of my efforts towards them.
I assure you that this story won't go on hiatus for like years or whatever. Anyway please leave any suggestions for this story in the reviews below and please don't make it be like "OMG u shold liek tots hav Perseus tourtre Artemis 4 liek five cahptrs!" Like seriously… so please, if you have any suggestions that you are able to add in a nice curve or whatever (For example: You should have Artemis allow herself to be captured by Nyx, only to break out, kidnap Apollo and bring him to Olympus, or something like that) don't be afraid to post them.