Early update, I just kind of couldn't stop writing. Another one will be coming later this weekend, so hopefully it is to your liking. Feel free to leave any comments on your thoughts, I do want to hear what you all think, negative or not. I've come to terms with the fact that my writing needs improvement desperately, so I just want to know what you all think I could do better. Except for OOC. That's obvious enough. Anyway, enjoy!
- PermaEncrypted
Disclaimer: I don't own PJO, HOO, or Trials of Apollo. Obviously.
The Hunt had finished packing, and Percy and Artemis were ready to begin their own hunt. Thalia and the rest were assembled in the exit to the clearing where they had made camp, and the two companions stood among them, conversing, Percy to Thalia and Reyna, and Artemis mingling with them all. Occasionally, the older Hunters that were left came around to wish Percy well on his journey with their mistress. After all, he had earned their respect after saving Artemis from the sky, not to mention shattering all of their beliefs about men on multiple occasions. Words and phrases that seemed to be common were "good luck", "don't die", and the kind of foreboding sense in the air that there was going to be some grand fuck-up was everywhere. That's how it seemed to Percy. He knew what it felt like, after all. The wars had left their mark, and that sense had remained all too common even after the Giant War was over. With his speech, he certainly made that clear.
"This isn't going to be easy for you two. You saw what they did earlier? That's nothing," he said to Thalia and Reyna.
The lieutenant had a sharp response. "We aren't that bad at fighting, you know."
Percy looked around, then leaned in, speaking quietly. "With your current skill level with regards to them, I'd bet on one or two dead Hunters if you aren't careful. It took me a long time to figure out how best to quickly kill them, not to mention… Never mind the last part." He seemed nervous as he finished the sentence.
Both of the girls narrowed their eyes. "Are you sure that wasn't important?" Reyna asked with tone full of suspicion.
"Don't hide things from me, Kelp Head." Percy steeled himself, but at that moment, Artemis just got done talking to one of the youngest Hunters and she started walking over, an expression of confidence worn on her face.
"Oh, Lady Artemis. Welcome to the Discussion Circle of Doom," he said, without a single trace of sarcasm. Artemis just rolled her eyes and gave a light little laugh. Relief was not noticeable on his face. She had noticed that, with Percy, it was always either no emotion or a lot of it. "I was just telling these two to be careful out there."
Thalia's response came quickly, as both Artemis and Percy expected: "He's saying that we're not good at fighting, basically."
"You misunderstand my point." Most of them had been waiting for a joke of some sort, but he was completely serious. "These things are dangerous. I've had many close encounters with death when fighting the more powerful ones. Skills take time to perfect. Stay away from the large groups, and you should be fine."
Artemis nodded her agreement. "It'd be good to take his advice. After all, he dealt with them for nearly 3 years."
The goddess thought this was going to be a smooth ride, really. She knew that Percy was an extremely good fighter, if not the best in history (which she certainly admired), and she knew her own abilities. With the two of them, she could only think of one possibility, and that was immediate success.
The two Hunters sighed. "Well," Reyna said. "Let's get moving."
Thalia agreed quickly. "We'll see you two soon, hopefully."
Percy nodded, and hugs were exchanged all around. "Don't die out there," he said with a sad voice. "I'd hate to lose even more friends."
"Don't worry about us. Hunters, let's go!" And with a wave, the group ran out of the clearing, bows at the ready.
Percy and Artemis remained behind, watching as they disappeared into the forest, each with their own thoughts. The demigod's mind had turned to the upcoming search, while the goddess thought about the Hunt. A question surfaced in her mind, one that she voiced immediately: "Do you really think they'll be alright?"
"I do. Especially if Thalia uses her powers more. They're more than capable enough, but they just need to learn, and fast."
They were silent for a minute or two before Percy spoke again. "We should go also." Artemis nodded, and the two of them turned the other direction and began walking out cautiously.
It has been autumn for some time now, in the middle of October. Many of the trees had already lost the majority of their leaves, the vibrant colors of the fallen covering the grass that slowly went dormant for the winter. The breeze ripped through the tops of the trees, and occasionally large gusts would come through, blowing Artemis' hair in front of her, while Percy's was becoming more messy by the minute. Artemis could only think of how much she enjoyed being out in nature. It was her safe space, the place where she could go out to think. But now, she had to share it with the male by her side. She didn't entirely know what to make of the situation, but she did know that he was the best male that she had ever had the chance of meeting, and someone that Zoë had respected. There was just something about him that made her want to know more. Even though she wasn't the goddess of wisdom, she hated not knowing. It was a thing of pride. After a brief internal argument about it that ended up doing nothing, her mind silenced, and the two walked in peace.
Percy held his sword hilt while it sat in its scabbard, walking carefully. Artemis was ahead of him, looking around constantly. He wasn't exactly worried about something sneaking up on him, as with the water molecules in the air, he would be able to sense their sudden movement if there was an object. Although, the wind did screw with the ability on occasion. As he kept moving at a fairly constant pace, he noticed that Artemis had stopped up ahead. "Lady Artemis?" he called out from behind. "You alright?"
"I think I noticed something ahead, maybe a fire," she spoke quietly. "And speak less loudly, we don't need to warn them that we're here."
He peered into the trees and managed to pick out a flicker of light amongst the trunks. "Yeah, there's something out there. Let's see if we can get any closer, maybe we can pick out some info." Artemis nodded, and they moved in silently, stepping only on the visible ground and avoiding the leaf patches. Percy saw bush cover that was next to the clearing, and he set up behind it, pulling out the pistol, and willing it to change to its rifle form.
He whispered to Artemis who had knelt down next to him, "If you can get to a spot where you can hear them, pick out what you can, and then give me a signal to shoot."
Artemis gave a small smile. "I'll whistle. You'll know it's me and not a bird." With that, she moved off. Luckily for her, she didn't even have to transform into anything as the fire was abnormally close to one edge of the clearing. As she hid, she could see Percy, who was lying completely still in his spot, rifle lined up. He must have done this before, she thought to herself. Without a doubt, she was impressed by his apparent skill, and this was before anything had even happened. The leader of the group was easy to pick out: as the largest of them all, and most of them were afraid of it, except for those that it was talking with. She could hear some of the words, but not all. "The group… camp, gone to… walked west…"
Artemis was alarmed with how much they knew about the situation, at least, that's what she assumed. She looked at Percy and motioned for him to get ready. As she moved a bit closer, she could pick out exactly what the two were saying.
"I expect their heads on pikes for our master." The voice didn't sound anywhere remotely human, but it spoke English.
"Of course, but we need to find them first. The demigod is without a doubt even more determined now, and the goddess is a sheer pain to deal with. Neither of them can die."
"Yes, I know. Capture them if you can't kill them, at least they'll be incapacitated for long enough to drag them before our lord."
After that sentence finished, Artemis heard a rustling in the leaves behind her, and she turned her head quickly. She barely managed to pick out the horn of a demon, and she whistled a tune that no bird known to man had ever sung. She drew her hunting knives, bracing for the sound to come. The sharp report of Percy's rifle came, once, then twice, and after each shot, one body fell. Artemis then leapt over the bushes, finding a skeletal demon with the bow having just released. Quickly analyzing where she needed to hit, she struck the points of connection between bones, the arms falling and the skeleton now weaponless, and then stabbed both of her knives into the skull. The skeleton shuddered and broke apart. That's when she registered the pain in her foot. Artemis looked down, and found that the arrow from the bow had actually hit her, something she didn't notice because of the adrenaline. She gritted her teeth and dealt with the harsh stabbing sensation as she limped back to the monster camp, where Percy had taken out his sword and had been dispatching whatever was left. His movements were fluid, everything planned to a T. Everything seemed perfect, and no strike could touch him. He blocked everything and immediately threw a counterblow back. Artemis, carefully watching as she got closer, realized that his fighting style was not Greek or Roman, rather a mix of many different styles at once, one that was distinctly his own. No counter existed to it, and that was, she guessed, the reason that he could almost never be defeated now. She called out to him, drawing her bow at the same time: "Percy!"
He turned, and seeing that she had missed one skeleton, disappeared into mist and reformed behind the skeleton, which had a sword drawn and lifted over its head, ready to plunge it into her back. He used the guard of the blade to knock it off balance, and the sword came loose from its grip. With a flurry of motion, completely dismembered it.
"Thanks," Artemis said with relief.
"Of course," Percy responded with a smile, and he ran immediately back into the fray.
The screams and yells of the demons filled the air constantly as they were felled. Artemis pulled out her bow and began to shoot arrow after arrow, ignoring the pain in her foot. Each shot was hit, but not all of them died immediately, the larger ones in particular. Even from the godly bow, it took 2, maybe 3 arrows to kill. Percy continued his own fight, multiple demons converging on him at once. He began turning in a circle, parrying swings from those around him, occasionally seeing an opening and reaching in for a kill, although he was slowly tiring. Mist travel wasn't exactly new to him, but it taxed him of a lot of his energy to even do it once. Artemis, realizing he was in trouble, switched targets and began shooting those to his back. It seemed that these demons were weaker, as the arrows killed them upon headshot. After Percy had recovered enough, he called out to the moisture in the air, and even some from the demons that lie dead around him. The water surrounded his enemies, and he willed it to freeze. The demons were stuck, and slowly, Percy stabbed his sword through every single one of them, twisting it almost cruelly. After the monsters had all been slain, they looked around, seeing nothing. Percy walked over to the leader, and using his foot, he flipped it over, although he nearly lost his balance in the process because of its weight. He lifted his sword, and stabbed downward into the abdomen. Apparently, it wasn't dead, as a cry of pain was emitted from it. Artemis could only watch in sick fascination as Percy systematically butchered the demon, cutting its tendons. She looked away after a short time, and called out to him.
"Percy. That's enough." Percy looked over at her, fire in his eyes, the irises swirling.
"For any of their kind? Never." She looked back at him, their gazes meeting.
"You aren't who you're being right now. The man that I knew wouldn't do this."
Percy sighed, but reluctantly raised his sword and severed its head from its body, putting an end to its torture. His eyes, those sea green pools, had calmed. Artemis sighed quietly in relief. She reached down and pulled the arrow out of her foot carefully. But before she could begin to bandage it, an orb of water flew through the air and set itself against it. The wound began to close with Artemis watching, surprised. "I didn't know you could heal," she remarked.
"I picked up a few tricks while I was out there."
"Modest as always." Percy gave a small smile at that, although it didn't stick around for long. He waited for the wound to completely heal, then removed the water.
"Thank you," Artemis said with a nod. Percy nodded his own response.
They stood, and Percy immediately began walking in the direction that they had been going previously, Artemis jogging a bit to catch up. Both of them were silent, lost in their own thoughts, at least, that's what they assumed of each other.
Percy broke the silence. "How much did they know?"
"Everything," Artemis responded. Percy only grimaced, as if he expected it.
"Of course they did. They're more capable than we thought. I'm going to assume that Duriel organized it all, no normal demon is that smart."
"So…" Artemis began. "Does the plan change at all?" He was silent for a moment, weighing the options. Going forward with the current one, he knew would get them there eventually, but changing it held other consequences that he didn't particularly want to think about.
"We continue. It likely doesn't matter if we change the plan, they'll be notified of any change in our direction."
Artemis didn't know what to think about the fact that she was following the advice of a man whose mental stability could be put in serious question, but reasoned that he was the only one who had any sort of information on the situation, so she trusted his judgement, if only reluctantly. She liked knowing, and hated the opposite, but Percy was being very careful about what he revealed and what he didn't. Or maybe, she pondered, he knew less than she thought. Which certainly wouldn't be ideal, given the circumstances.
She couldn't quite place why, but around him, there was an air of… nothingness. No emotion seemed to emit from Percy at any point, unless he went into the state of brokenness that seemed to be rather common now, especially when fighting demons. Specifically these demons, under Duriel's command. Artemis knew that he cared for Annabeth, but it looked to her now that the attachment they shared was deeper than what she had expected. It really destroyed him inside, and now his life only had one thing left. Revenge. Her death had caused him the most extreme emotional pain that he would be willing to weather the most extreme events and pain to get lay her soul to rest. Not to mention his own.
At least, that's what it looked like to the goddess.
Percy, on the other hand, knew exactly what he wanted from this whole thing. This was to be his last quest, his last adventure, his… last rodeo, if you will, before he went into unofficial retirement from the life of a hero. He had seen too many people die, too many fallen, too many horrible sights to continue this for what seemed to him like forever. He had grown to not wish to serve the gods for the rest of his existence, rather, he would have much preferred if no more quests were dropped in front of his face. The one he cared about most, felled in front of his eyes in a death that she didn't deserve, not for everything she'd been through. Justice is how Percy internally justified his actions, for he thought that until Duriel and his bastard army were put to rest permanently, he would see no peace. He focused on the 'now' of his life rather than the future. As he saw it, he had no future. Maybe, if he was lucky, he'd die while completing his mission.
He couldn't quite tell what Artemis thought of his torturous methods, or whether or not she knew his ultimate goals, for that matter. Her face was usually blank when he did so, or even him directly. She was quite the goddess in his opinion. Rash in decision-making involving her Hunters and who she considered a friend, stubborn, etc etc. Except for Poseidon and the new-leaf-turned Apollo, he couldn't think of any gods that truly cared for many mortals, no matter how limited the scope of her 'caring' was. Gods like them were a rare occurrence, he had noticed. Percy internally laughed; it was a miracle he hadn't been turned into a jackalope yet. It was almost her specialty, as he remembered back in Maine as she told him indirectly that no male had ever seen the inside of the hunter's camp and come out as something other than a jackalope. Really, he had no business just showing up inside there, and now he's with the goddess herself on a mission? He found it rather improper.
"Lady Artemis?" he asked.
She kept looking forward, but responded all the same. "Please, just call me Artemis. We're companions now, it doesn't feel right. But go on."
Percy looked apprehensive about it, and when Artemis looked over, she snorted in a way that was very un-Artemis-like. "Ummm… whatever you say, Artemis. I was going to apologize for just showing up in your camp yesterday. It doesn't really seem alright to me considering your stories."
An amused look crossed her features. "Do you want me to turn you into a jackalope?"
Percy instantly paled, the blood draining from his face. "N-No!" he spluttered out, Artemis laughing at his expression.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to actually do it. But I always could," she finished mischievously. Percy just stopped trying to make words, and instead just looked at her apprehensively. Artemis rolled her eyes.
"All is forgiven, don't worry. You helped save the Hunt. I thank you for that. Speaking of that, were you tailing us?"
Percy chuckled. "I was just passing through, actually. I didn't know you were looking for me though. But thank you for accepting my apology. To be entirely honest, I didn't think you were going to accept it."
The goddess shrugged and responded in a nonchalant tone. "You've done me one more service without being asked to, very unlike demigods, and that's more than enough."
Percy nodded his thanks, although looked sheepish. "You stay behind, I'll go up ahead and search for a place we can set up for tonight."
He continued to walk, while Artemis slowed down and held her bow, ready to shoot. They walked on, Percy set on doing what he had to do, and Artemis wondering about her own emotions. Little did they know that Duriel knew their plans, and was busy formulating one of his own. His cruel mind thought of something that he had been told previously.
In his encampment, the Lord of Pain retreated to his command tent, and summoned a portal to his twin. "Sister. I need your assistance in this. We cannot fail this. You deal with the boy, I will handle the girl."
Andariel smiled maliciously. "Do not worry, brother. I know what to do."
