Hey guys, this is my first fic, so be gentle with me. I've had pertemis brainrot for the past month and a half so I decided to give it a shot. I also want to state that this is more like a sneak peak, as I want to get a few chapters written in advance before I start updating regularly. I hope to have them done by the end of the month so we can start a weekly, or bimonthly (two times a month) update schedule. Anyway, enough rambling, enjoy!
The sun had set over the horizon, the fiery oranges and reds streaming through the clouds as the sun chariot dipped below. The birds started settling into their nests, covering their young, while the animals silently trotted back to their dens, ready to retire for the night. While the forest seemed to quiet down, one goddess stood by the edge of a small lake, the gravel loosely shifting underneath her feet as sweat beaded on her forehead. Her auburn hair, tied up in a ponytail, swished around as she trained. Two gleaming silver daggers were in her hands, creating lingering streams of silver trails. She pivoted, flipping one dagger into a reverse grip and slashed behind her. Each strike was calculated, cold, and deadly, as if she was fighting for her life. It was a strange but beautiful sight, to watch a goddess train even though her life was truly never in danger. As the last beam of light signalled the end of the day, she stopped, wiping the sweat off her brow. She panted, the cold air causing her breath to come out like steam. Looking up at the sky, she saw the first few stars starting to come out, her favorites gently shimmering in the purple skies. The huntress watched over her, and a small smile flitted across her face as she remembered her old friend. It had been thirty years since she died, and while she felt sad that her former lieutenant was no longer with her, she knew that she could always count on her constellation watching over her. As she sheathed her weapons onto her lower back, she felt a rush of energy. Silver light started shining off of her, and her exhaustion that had built up from her hours of training melted away.
"To Lady Artemis…." A voice spoke to her, and she whirled around. It was like an old radio trying to get signal. The crackling sound continued in her head, and she gritted her teeth. She recognized the voice. It was him, the one person she hated the most, who took her pride from her. She started walking into the forest, back towards her camp.
"Thank you for the hunt, and for pr-" The voice cut out again, and she marched, frustrated. These messages have been coming to her for years now, and every time it was a painful reminder. Even after leaving, he was still a thorn in her side.
"Forgive me for r-" More static. She wasn't sure why they cut out. One thought was that it was because he was a god too, and that his divine connection interfered with the sacrifice. Another was that he was purposefully doing it, just to annoy her. Whatever the reason was, she hated it. Constant rushes of energy, messages of what he's been doing, and the grating noise of static. She tried blocking the connection to him, she tried cutting off her divine connection, which helped for a little while, but it started up again. She asked Iris if maybe she could help, but the goddess wasn't able to do anything. She even went to Hecate, who tried a few spells, but the only thing it did was help lessen the headaches it caused.
"I…Artemis…..goodbye." She sighed, finally enjoying the peace and quiet in her mind. As she approached a nearby clearing, two girls in silver parkas and bows in their hands walked towards their mistress. Each one silently raised a hand to their chest and bowed.
"Lady Artemis. We have secured the perimeter, camp has been set up, and dinner is ready." Artemis nodded to both of them, a small smile on her face. While she wasn't hungry because of a certain someone, she walked over to the dining area. A few foldable tables were set up with an assortment of game. Everything from rabbits to deer sat on plates full of vegetables and berries. She walked over to the head of one of the tables and sat down. Another girl sat to her right, a silver tiara adorning her spiky black hair. Electric blue eyes looked up to the goddess. She shed her normal thirteen year old form years ago, remaining in her older nineteen year old form. Many of the hunters felt more comfortable with this form, and it gave a more commanding aura to her hunt.
"Hello My Lady." Thalia said, loading her plate up as she spoke. Ignoring the vegetables, the punk goth girl filled her plate with meat, a carnivorous smile on her face. Artemis smiled at the girls ferocity, placing only a few pieces of food on her plate, her fork moving the different objects around. Thalia's eyes flicked to the goddess's plate then back to her. "Not hungry? I know gods don't need to eat, but you always help yourself on the first day we set up camp." Her lieutenant stuffed a large portion of venison into her mouth, chewing only a few times before swallowing. It was a miracle the girl didn't choke.
"I…." She began to speak, unsure of what she wanted to say. Electric blue eyes bored into her, softening as she started to understand.
"It happened again didn't it?" She whispered, making sure not to let the others hear. Artemis nodded, picking up a grape with her fork and looking at it. Her silver eyes narrowed, as if the grape had personally insulted her, and she placed it in her mouth. Thalia thought for a moment, knowing this was a rather sensitive subject for her commander. She so desperately wanted Artemis to open up more about this, to glimpse into her mind and hope that she could piece together the messages. But the goddess barely talked about it. In fact the only reason Thalia knew was because she noticed the change in her aura on some days and pestered her until she finally caved. They had fought for hours on end that day, and Thalia had come close to saying some things she couldn't take back. However she bit her tongue and let it be. "Did he say anything new?" Artemis shook her head, picking through her food. The daughter of Zeus was getting frustrated, pursing her lips, she took out her anger on a large drumstick of chicken.
"It's still just static mostly…." Artemis said after some time. While the goddess had her own grudges against him, she knew how close the two of them were, even if they fought all the time. "I'm sorry I don't have anything new to give you." Her voice was soft, and Thalia knew her words were sincere.
"I'm sorry too, I know how you feel about him, I'm just worried. It's been over twenty years and there's been no word of him outside of, you know." Thalia looked at the bone she picked clean, before tossing it to one of the many wolves roaming the area. They happily caught it and started chewing, letting out small growls of contentment. The goddess looked at her half eaten plate and set down her fork. She grabbed it and set it over by the other dirty dishes.
"I will be retiring for the night Thalia." Artemis walked over to her tent, opening the flap and letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She always felt guilty when she talked to her lieutenant about the messages, and she felt even worse when she had nothing new to add. She walked over to her bed and sat down at the edge. The inside of the tent hadn't changed nearly at all in the time she's had it. Multiple different hunting trophies lined the walls, pelts, horns, and even teeth hung along steel brackets bolted to the magical walls of the tent. Her eyes scanned the room, before landing on the side of her bed, where a small desk stood. It held a singular lamp, alongside having a drawer. She scooted over to where the nightstand stood, pulling open the drawer. The only thing inside was a small silver ring, a brilliant moonstone adorning the center of a crescent moon. Engraved on the inside of the ring was her name, written in Ancient Greek. A symbol of marriage, an eternal promise, yet here it was, sitting alone in her room, much like her. She didn't know where the other ring was, lost in the ocean when she had thrown it. She tried to get rid of this one too, but it kept reappearing in her desk, even if she stomped on it, threw it against stone, and even melted it, it would never fail to come back in a few hours.
It was another reminder of him that she wished to be rid of. Everything reminded her of him. He was her curse. It was like she held the sky again, the suffering weight of his existence. At least that's what she thought. But the opposite was also true. There were times she didn't get those messages. The sacrifices, the rush of energy, the static, the silence of those months would overwhelm her. For the briefest of moments, she would miss him. But then, as soon as she thought she was over it, it returned, another message, an apology for not being there, and a goodbye. She grabbed the ring and threw it at the wall in frustration. It flew across the room, bouncing off the wooden walls and landing with a soft thud. The silver unblemished, as if mocking her. She huffed, before falling down onto her bed, closing her eyes. There was no way she could sleep, whatever he had sacrificed gave her plenty of energy to stay awake all night. Not that she needed to sleep, but it was easier than doing nothing. Her mind raced through memories of him, and even though she didn't want to relive them, it seemed her mind wanted to torment her.
"Damn you Perseus…."
The giant war was over, and the winter solstice meeting was just beginning to start. Neither the demigods nor the gods wanted to celebrate so soon after the war, so everyone was given time to mourn. To lick their wounds in the aftermath. Now however, after enough time had passed, the seven stood in the center of the throne room. They were just kids, but each of them had beared the fate of humanity on their shoulders, Jason Annabeth, and Percy having done it twice. Now however, each one had a small shine of hope in their eyes. No great prophecy had been given in the months following the battle, and the roman prophets haven't said a word about anything else either. For the first time in years, there was peace. A loud bang could be heard as Zeus slammed his lightning bolt into the ground, catching everyone's attention.
"Ahem….thank you all for coming. We have faced many hardships" Percy and Annabeth looked at each other, "lost loved ones," Artemis closed her eyes, remembering the fallen huntresses "and gained new ones" Leo sent an elfish grin towards Calypso, who turned a light shade of pink and waved at him. "I will not deny, we never would have been able to do this without our children. They are our heroes, our champions, and who we owe our lives to." A chorus of cheers rang out as the audience clapped. The demigods in the center gave a small bow, wide grins on each of their faces. "And for that, we shall reward them. Piper McLean, Leo Valdez, Frank Zhang, Hazel Levesque, please step forward."
The four demigods stepped forward, looking somewhat surprised they were the only ones being called. Artemis knew what was going on, as they had discussed this prior.
"We as a council have decided to grant you four immortality, you will be given domains and worshipped as minor gods and goddesses. You will also be trained by one of the Olympians. If you so choose to accept it." Zeus boomed, an aura of power flooding the room. There were many 'ooh's and 'aaah's as each of them contemplated it. The first to speak was the son of Hephaestus.
"I accept. It would be a shame if the knight in shining armor died after saving his princess." He threw Calypso a wink, and Artemis internally gagged.
"We accept." Hazel and Frank said simultaneously. Artemis flicked her eyes now to the daughter of Aphrodite.
The girl looked nervous, looking back to Jason. She had seen this expression before, the same one the son of Poseidon had when he was offered immortality. The son of Jupiter gave a thumbs up and nodded gently.
'Zeus probably tipped him off on what their rewards were.' She thought, rolling her eyes. Her father was able to keep a secret as well as he was able to keep it in his pants. After some reassurance from Jason, Piper looked to Zeus.
"I humbly accept." She curtsied. Zeus nodded approvingly and slammed his bolt onto the ground. Lightning scattered across the room as each of them started shimmering. They were lifted off the ground, the light forming a cocoon over each of them. After a few seconds, they were unceremoniously dropped onto the ground. Each one panted heavily as sweat dripped from their foreheads. Artemis internally winced. While she herself didn't know what it felt like to have your blood entirely replaced by ichor, she did hear a few tales from Ariadne and Dionysus on how it wasn't a pleasant experience.
The newly hatched immortals didn't look too different from their mortal counterparts. Maybe it was because they were already considered to be powerful that they didn't change, or maybe it was just a coincidence. Artemis didn't dwell on the thought for long, as Zeus slammed his bolt on the ground once more.
"Hail to the new gods and goddesses. Piper, the goddess of positive emotions, Hazel, the goddess of gemstones, Leo, the god of homunculi, and Frank, the god of animals." Artemis raised an eyebrow at their domains. They were rather new, and a few of them were shared amongst the others. Guess she had a companion in Frank, if she ever talked to him that is. After the cheers subsided, Zeus spoke once more.
"Jason Grace, Annabeth Chase, and Perseus Jackson." Zeus bellowed, a smile forming on his face as the three stepped forward. Her eyes flickered to the three demigods. Jason was someone who had earned her respect throughout this journey, willing to sacrifice his heritage just to win the war. He fortunately made it onto the very short list of males she wouldn't instantly turn into a jackelope. She scanned over the next demigod, Annabeth. The daughter of Athena had her utmost respect, she was a strong willed woman who had literally gone through hell to finish this war, and it made her heart swell with pride. While she was saddened by the fact she wouldn't take her oath, she was okay with that. Her eyes rested over the last demigod, who was the most intriguing in her opinion. Perseus Jackson was someone she had thought about a few times since she met him years ago. He was stubborn, but steadfast, dumb, but cunning, cold, but kind, she could go on for ages about what she thought about him. But what interested her the most was his flaw, the glaring red mark on his otherwise pristine ledger.
His loyalty.
Every time she thought about him, she always came back to that. The fact that he would burn the world to save his friends, he would go to hell to save the ones he loved, he wouldn't seek glory of winning the battle. His loyalty would drag him through the mud, then kick him while he was down. She held an immense amount of respect for the demigod, he wasn't selfish, greedy, or lustful like other heroes were. He didn't want to be the hero, but Fate had assigned him the title. She couldn't say the same about Jason, who grinned in pride as they won the war, knowing his name would be forever written in the books. She had seen it when Gaea fell, however Perseus, while he smiled his eyes were dark, angry, sad at the losses they suffered. It was almost as if he was still carrying the weight of the sky on his shoulders. Her train of thought was interrupted by Zeus's voice.
"For you three, we offer you the same choice as your friends, however because of your previous contributions to Olympus, you will be worshiped as major gods. Each of you will receive powerful domains, and like your friends, will be trained by one of the Olympians. Zeus smiled wide and turned to look at Jason. The blonde simply smiled and nodded.
"I accept father" His grin matched his parent's as he stepped aside to let the others decide. Annabeth stepped forward, looking to Perseus. Artemis couldn't see the daughter of Athena's face, but she assumed she was happy, at least until she looked over to Perseus. The demigod smiled back, but she could see it. The goddess of the hunt could see emotions flicker over his face, imperceptible to any of the other deities in the room. Fear. This wasn't the same fear she saw in Annabeth a year ago when he was offered immortality, this was different, but she couldn't describe how. The girl turned back to the king of the gods.
'I accept as well!" She was nearly bouncing in place, her grey eyes twinkling. Again, her eyes flicked to Perseus, and she saw him take a deep breath as he stepped forward.
"I….also accept." His tone was polite, and to the others, happy. To her however she could hear it was also laced with something else. She couldn't discern what it was, and it annoyed her. She couldn't dwell on it long as they were also wrapped in a light cocoon, this time however she could feel her powers wane slightly. Zeus himself could make them minor gods, but to make a major god, they would need the power of each Olympian. The light filled the room, causing any mortals, and even some of the immortals, to look away. Once they stopped glowing and were plopped onto the ground, she couldn't help but let out a small gasp. The power rolled off of the newly formed gods.
"All hail to Jason Grace, God of Leadership, Pride, and Thunder, Lord of the Four Winds!" Zeus had momentarily switched to his Roman form as he introduced the new immortal. Jason rose, electricity crackling off his skin. His blonde hair was longer now, and his electric blue eyes shone with power. In his right hand was his spear, while in his left was his gladius. His newly formed symbols of power.
"All hail to Annabeth Chase, Goddess of Wisdom, Architecture, and Expeditions, Guide to Heroes and Heroines!" This time it was Athena who spoke, her eyes gleaming with pride. Annabeth took a shaky breath, her dagger in her hand as her eyes scanned the room, probably taking in every detail. Her grey eyes were lighter, and Artemis could feel her dissecting everything around her.
"All hail to Perseus Jackson, God of Water, Heroes, and Loyalty, the Prince of the Seas!" Poseidon slammed his trident down, and Perseus rose. His height had increased an inch or two, and he had riptide in his hand. The whole room stood quiet as they watched him. He clutched his head, his sea green eyes narrowed as he slowly looked over the immortals. For a moment, they met hers, and her heart stopped. She felt it, she was sure the other could feel it too.
Power.
It rolled off of him. It wasn't much stronger than the others that were gifted today, but she knew he had gotten the most out of immortality. She mentally thanked the fates that it was him who got it, knowing he wouldn't abuse it. After some seconds, the audience started cheering and hollering. The seven new gods stood at the center, some of them bowing, some of them waving awkwardly, and one elfish son of Hephaestus blowing kisses. She rolled her eyes as she clapped too. They would make fine deities, and while maybe she didn't trust all of them, she was sure the ones she could trust would keep the others in line.
"Now, we are to decide who will be training who." Artemis sat straighter at this, wondering if she would be training anyone. She hoped for Annabeth or Hazel. Not that she had anything against the daughter of Aphrodite, but she didn't want to have her influence near her hunt. Zeus snapped his fingers, creating a cup out of thin air. Inside were twelve sticks. "To make sure that everyone is trained equally, we will be drawing lots." The cup floated down towards Jason, and he grabbed a stick, raising an eyebrow as he read the name.
"Hera." He said, a smile on his face. From what she knew, her stepmother favored the young demigod.
'Let's hope the rest will be as lucky' She watched as the others drew their lots. Frank got Demeter, Leo got Ares, Hazel got Athena, and Annabeth got Aphrodite. ''Well, there goes that thought.' Artemis inwardly chuckled. Then she froze as she heard the next name being called out.
"Artemis." The daughter of Aphrodite said. Kaleidoscope eyes met silver as both of them thought the exact same thing.
"Fuck" Artemis cursed under her breath, before creating a neutral expression on her face. She forced a smile towards the girl, and somehow she could tell the Piper was forcing one back. Looking back towards the center, she realized one person still hasn't drawn their stick. She was curious as to who he would end up getting, and apparently so were the others as the room went quiet. Who would train the twice saviour of Olympus, the slayer of Kronos, the ender of Gaea. As he drew his stick, he scrunched his eyes, trying to read the name, before he paled. His sea green eyes looked up at one person, and let out a shaky breath.
"Zeus."
Artemis's eyes opened, having the memory playback in her head throughout the night. Sunlight streamed through one of the windows as the sun broke through the horizon, signalling the beginning of the day. She stood up. While she wasn't as energetic as before, it seemed staying up all night had released enough energy for her aura to stop glowing. She looked out the window, seeing a few hunters getting ready for the day, chatting amongst themselves. A soft smile graced her lips, before she turned away. Today was the winter solstice, and she had a meeting to prepare for. Right before she exited her tent, she saw a glint of silver in one of the bear rugs one the floor. She walked forward and bent down, recognizing it as the ring she threw across the room last night. Taking a deep breath, she walked over to the desk and slipped it into the drawer. Consider it a superstition, but even though she hated her own ring, she felt like leaving it on the floor was a bad omen.
Throwing on her silver dress, she tied her hair into a high ponytail, before opening the door. The few huntresses that saw her gave a small bow before going back to their work. In the corner of her vision she saw spiky black hair adorned with a silver tiara. Thalia looked tired, but with a steaming cup of coffee in her hand, she'd be buzzing around in no time.
"Are you heading out My Lady?" Thalia asked. Artemis nodded to the girl.
"I will be gone for most of the day. As usual you will be in charge until I return." The goddess smiled at her lieutenant, as the girl gave a cheesy salute. The previous tension from last night had disappeared, and now they acted like the friends they were. Artemis gave a small nod, before glowing silver and flashing to the throne room.
It looked like she was rather early to the meeting, considering she was the only one there. The throne room hadn't changed much in the past twenty-five years since the war ended. Now on the opposite end of the throne room, there were seven smaller thrones. Each one dedicated to one of the immortal heroes as they started calling them. Starting from the left side was Leo's chair, a simple chair that was built like a modern La-z-Boy chair, complete with a cupholder and reclining capabilities. It was the only time she had been truly amused by the former demigods antics, where he had described the previous lack of beverage holder as an 'affront to modern engineering'. Next to that one was Piper's chair, a simple cushioned throne that had a heart shaped backrest. Continuing on, Jason's chair was basically a copy of their father's throne, with lichtenburg designs engraved throughout. Her eyes immediately narrowed at the next chair. A simple sea green throne with engravings of sea creatures alongside it. Not wanting to look at it for too long, she moved to the next, which was a comfortable desk chair, geometric patterns shifting throughout the marble. It looked, alien, if Artemis was being honest. Hazel's chair was the most interesting of the bunch, looking like it was carved from one single cyan crystal. It gave off an aura of power, something that contrasted against Hazel's shy demeanor. Frank had decorated his with animal engravings, but what stood out was the single piece of wood that was embedded into the stone. A testament to his time as a mortal, his life tied to the stick. As she was observing the rest of the throne room in calm silence, a flash of golden light appeared next to her.
"Hey little sis." Apollo greeted, a radiant smile on his face with a pair of sunglasses glinting in the sunlight. She narrowed her eyes at him.
"Want another arrow up your ass?" She said coldly, and Apollo just chuckled, rolling his eyes as he started towards his own throne opposite of hers. She contemplated actually shooting him, but she didn't want to waste any precious energy on her brother. One by one the gods and goddesses flashed in. Each one making small talk with the others. Only a few gave words of greeting towards Artemis, which she didn't mind. Athena and Aphrodite gave curt nods to her. However she could feel a pair of eyes glaring at her, and she sighed. The god of the sea pursed his lips aas he sat down on his chair, before finally looking away from her. Inwardly she relaxed. It was always stressful having someone as strong as Poseidon holding a grudge against her, but there wasn't anything she could do. Finally, a bolt of lightning struck the middle of the throne room as the king and queen of the gods appeared.
"Drama queen." Artemis muttered, as she glared daggers at her father. He didn't return the gaze however, simply striding up to his throne and sitting down. Soon after the main Olympians flashed in, the throne doors opened. Six figures filed into the room, making their way to their respective thrones. They hadn't changed at all from when they were made into immortals. They preferred the comfort of modern clothing, and opted to use the elevator when they could, saying it helped them 'gather their thoughts' before these meetings. Artemis just thought they didn't really want to be here and dragged their feet, which she could understand, as she didn't want to be here either. As everyone settled down, Zeus slammed his bolt down, signaling the beginning of the meeting.
Hours had passed by, and Artemis was ready to fall asleep. Nothing of importance was talked about. The immortal heroes gave reports on how the camps were doing, the Olympians each gave a report about how their own factions were doing, and that was really it. She had learned a phrase from Thalia, 'this could have been an email', and it fit perfectly. As Aphrodite and Hephaestus got into an argument, she was about to flash out, but Zeus sent a bolt of lightning into both of them, shocking them out of their argument. The king of the gods took a deep breath, before speaking.
"Before this meeting is concluded, I have one more matter to discuss." Seventeen pairs of eyes stared at him, wondering if he was going to monologue again. However what came out shocked them to their core. "As you know, Perseus has been missing for twenty years. What you don't know, is that he gave me permission, that after enough time has passed, I would have permission to find him. I know he needed time to think, and frankly I do not blame him. While I do not regret what I did" He looked at Artemis, and her silver eyes shone with a cold fury "I do think it was best to give him some time to himself. But now, he needs to come home. I've put some scouts out to find out where he could be, and found a faint trail in the southern state of Florida." Artemis looked around as a few gasps were let out. Florida? How did he end up there?
"How could he be in Florida? Not to sound rude, but we've had nearly everyone in the Greek world, even some outside of it, looking for him. How did your scouts find this trail but not ours?" Jason had asked, voicing her own thoughts, and the other heroes agreed.
"Whatever he had done, he obscured his aura greatly." Artemis looked at the gods, her heart beating rapidly. In a way, she was happy. No more static, no more broken words and late night rushes of energy. But a part of her felt dread, dread that he was coming back, dread that Zeus was bringing him back to finish what he had started. She was about to speak, but one look at Poseidon shut her mouth. She had expected him to be happy, ecstatic that they finally found his son, but he was as white as a ghost.
"And so, I think it is appropriate that we send Artemis to track him down." Artemis blanched, before again, opening her mouth to voice her complaint, but was cut off.
"ABSOLUTELY NOT, SHE WAS THE ONE WHO SENT HIM AWAY I DON'T WANT HER NEAR H-" Poseidon yelled, before Zeus slammed his bolt, silencing the sea god.
"My order is final, you will not interfere brother. And you," He stared at Artemis, and she felt her ichor run cold, "will not hurt him. He is your husband now, and nothing you do will change that. If you don't bring him back unharmed, you will be punished, do you understand?" His voice was cold. She had seen Zeus angry, but this wasn't it. This was something else, fury, rage, whatever it was, it scared her. She meekly nodded her head, gripping the armrests of her throne until her knuckles went white.
"Good. Now, I conclude this solstice meeting." He raised his bolt into the air, and flashed away with a boom. The others were just dumbstruck at what had just happened, staring at each other like fish out of water. The goddess of the moon felt rage bubble up inside of her. Not only was she forced into a marriage with him, now when he has a tantrum she has to be the one to pick him up too? What the fuck was wrong with the Fates? What was wrong with her Father? Why was he so adamant about this? As the questions flooded her mind without answers, she just grit her teeth. Pushing the pointless queries from her mind, Artemis just had one thought as everyone else started flashing out of the room.
'I should have left the damn ring on the floor.'