Frost and Void, Protectors of the Universe

by Keef1234

Everyone sees their savior as invincible, all-powerful, and someone who can't be hurt. They are right about a few of those beliefs, but very wrong about being invincible. He may not take much physically, but he has been hurt enough to protect himself before it happens again, slowly encasing himself in ice until he frosts over completely. This is a rewrite/revise.

9. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

WARNING! This chapter features my OC and I know some people don't care to read about characters not created by Rick. There is a flashback you may wanna read but if you don't like OCs then kinda skim until then. Thanks for reading!

Piper McLean was giving Alíra Valentina a hard stare. While the girl didn't deserve the look, it was hard not to stare at her like that. She honestly liked Alíra too, they were the two girls of the Aphrodite cabin who didn't focus too much on appearance since they naturally looked good, they both didn't go out of their way to break hearts, and they both preferred to spend time training than doing makeup. Usually, the duo got along, but this was hard to get over.

Alíra was selected to receive specialist training from the assassin of Chaos. A specialist is a demigod who was born to exceed their godly parent's prime form. If that's the case, Alíra is stronger than her or has the potential to be. Piper felt hurt that she wasn't the unique daughter of Aphrodite, not because she was arrogant, but because she was a part of the Prophecy of Seven and helped defeat Gaia. Hazel and Leo were selected by Percy Jackson himself, but her name wasn't called. Her charmspeak was strong enough to subdue the primordial many times, but she wasn't the strongest?

Piper didn't realize it at first, but her little sister was almost shaking under the glowering view of her cabin leader and wanted to head to the assassin's ship already. Piper sighed and softened her intense look.

"Hey, sorry about that. It has been a crazy few years, and it sounds really nice to leave camp for a while and join people who can train me to be stronger than I am now. This is an amazing opportunity, and I hope that you make us proud and more importantly, make yourself proud. You were chosen to represent us, our mother, and the type of person you are. If I asked someone who Alíra was, they would say that you're simply a child of Aphrodite. That changes now. You want someone to hear Alíra and say, 'Isn't that the Chaotic specialist for Aphrodite? She's so cool and powerful!' I can see a little doubt in your eyes at the last part, but that's what you have to aspire to! You have to go to the ship but listen carefully." Piper took a deep breath to pour as much power into her voice as possible.

"You will not feel nervous when you go aboard the ship! You will speak proudly and confidently! You will do your absolute best and come out of this the most powerful and skilled woman you can be! Now go!" After that pep talk, Piper felt drained physically and emotionally. It's hard to tell the person who took your spot at the top to do their best to be even better than you.

As she walked into her cabin and looked at everyone still processing the day's events, she sat at her bunk and mentally prepared herself for this training that everyone else would be doing. Maybe this is the way to find a way to prove herself strong enough for the Chaotic ranks.

Line Break

Artemis and her hunters were already under the assassin's ship and were waiting for Alíra to show up before finding a way to convey that they were ready to be picked up. The goddess wanted to say something to them about their situation but didn't know what to say. They were entering unfamiliar territory run by a male who could have possibly indoctrinated her former huntresses. Possibly worse, they had to spend time around a male for an extended amount of time, and the only other male they allowed to do that was Percy, who hadn't given any of them the slightest bit of attention as of now.

Thalia Grace seemed to be the only one who somehow readily trusted the assassin and was happy to be trained by him, and none of the other hunters knew why. Maybe she's already been indoctrinated, and they were next. The morale for this training dropped even further, and before they could desert the area, Alíra showed up with an air of confidence that surprised them. She walked through the group and looked up to the ship above them, waving her hands, as if that'd get the ship's attention.

Well, it did because they felt a rush before finding themselves aboard the ship. It was as if the ship made the typical alien move in the movies where a beam teleports people onto the ship. The hunters had to admit, that was pretty cool.

The group found themselves in a room that resembled a command center but only had three stations within. At the main one sat Isaiah, the assassin of Chaos code-named Void, and displayed several screens, all projecting different images. The images were blurry to the hunters as if they didn't have permission to be viewing them. The previously deceased Bianca Di'Angelo and Zoë Nightshade flanked him but were actually facing the group that presently arrived and were observing them as if they hadn't just seen them a few hours prior.

"I have a few more missions to start and overview, please brief them, ladies. I'll join you as soon as I am ready," and with that request, Isaiah created a bubble around him and his station. Bianca and Zoë did not turn to look at him while speaking or even seemed to acknowledge his request. They simply stepped forward, shifting their body language to be friendlier. That movement made Artemis all the more suspicious about any control the assassin had on them. Why can't they appear friendly to others when he's around?

"Good Evening Lady Artemis, her hunters, and Alíra Valentina, welcome to Isaiah's Chaotic Mobile Command Center. While you girls are here, you will be trained to be an elite assassin unit for the camp during this war. Depending on the results of this war, you may remain here to protect this planet, or you may join the Chaotic forces of this galactic system. Rather than waste time telling you everything you need to know about the universe and answer a thousand questions, we have a system here." Zoë stepped back after she finished speaking, inadvertently signaling that Bianca was going to continue.

"We have information capsules that you can sync with the system that will be installed into your arms sometime tonight. You receive more information to sync as long as you work hard every day and do your best to become top-tier assassins. With the arm installation, will come basic information that should quell budding curiosity. Now when it comes to living accommodations, we went through each of your personal files that displayed your past and current likes and dislikes, your family history, your history as a hunter, interactions with others, and anything that could be documented by Lady Chaos. We used that info to create your rooms, and altered the ship to meet any mutual likes that you all share."

Isaiah's bubble dissolved as he spun in the chair and stood up, "And before you freak out about us reading your profiles, it was required by Chaos herself so get mad at her. We need to know any and all information about you girls before we are able to train you into perfect killing machines. My goal is to be able to put you in a room of Percy's top male warriors and have them piss their pants just from seeing you enter the room. The only way for that to happen is if we know everything about you all and what it will take to reach that point. Your rooms will be found through the hallway, to the left, and in a large corridor with seventeen rooms. Zoë, lead them so they can settle before we meet for dinner."

The girls were stunned by the sudden influx of information and the abrupt dismissal. They followed Zoë with a tense silence, wanting to ask her a thousand questions but also holding back because most of them didn't know her when she was a hunter. They were so deep in their thoughts that they almost walked into each other and Zoë when she stopped.

The former hunter turned to Artemis with a questioning gaze. "Are these the top hunters, or did you not want to bring everyone? I don't recognize any of them, so they aren't seasoned veterans..." She trailed off when she saw Artemis' expression darken dramatically. The goddess gave Zoë the short version of the impact Orion left on the hunters and Amazons. Being an assassin trained her to hear tough information but to learn of Phoebe's death put her through several emotions at once, all of them leading to her mini mental breakdown.

Zoë snapped her fingers and stopped time. She practically sprinted back to Isaiah and Bianca, who quickly realized that she had to have been the one to stop time on the ship. They looked like they were in the middle of a light conversation, but their expressions darkened when they saw the look on her face. Without any speaking needing to be done, the angel opened her arms and Zoë immediately fell into them as she cried for the first time in years.

It took Isaiah a second to catch on, but Bianca gave him a look that told him that he was stupid and that he obviously should look into her head to see what was wrong since she was allowing information to be shared from her thoughts. Once he did that, the male assassin joined the two for a comforting group hug, knowing the pain of hearing that a loved one died while you were away.

"I feel so bad because I used to check on them every few centuries, even if not that much time passed on Earth, but I got so distracted doing missions these past millennia that I never checked on the family that I had for thousands of years. They all died, or are still in critical condition two years after the battle, and I had no idea. I'm a terrible-" Zoë was cut off by Bianca.

"Don't even try to say something stupid like that. It is no one's fault but Orion, and he's dead. Things around the universe have gone from bad to worse in the past few thousand years so you can't blame yourself for working harder to protect it. If you could speak to them right now, they would forgive you." The angel looked ready to say more but faltered as she heard speaking in her head.

"Zoë, my beautiful star, you are an amazing person to be around, to kill people with, and to be abused by. There is no reason that you should allow this to make you feel terrible. Hopefully, Tartarus revived Orion along with the other monsters so you can banish him from existence. On top of that, I will give you as many healing cookies as you need to heal those in critical condition and add them to your personal squad. Yes, it'll take a lot of energy from me, but the battles aren't gonna get tough for a while so I'll be okay. I want you to chin up and focus on the current hunters, then we can mourn those we lost." Isaiah may be silly, but he wasn't bad with words.

Line Break

The daughter of Atlas snapped her fingers to resume time. Her eyes lost the red rim, but you can clearly still see the pain in her eyes from hearing the information. Zoë silently finished directing them to their rooms and quietly explained that each room was personalized and had names on it. She told them they had to be at dinner by 1900 hours and that there was a map next to their doorway that would help them reach it.

Then the assassin merely disappeared without special effects or even a farewell. Artemis gave her hunters a sad look before walking towards her room and waving at them. She walked into her room to see the inside of her tent. The only additions made were the TV she always thought about getting, with the game consoles that Percy loved to play at her palace, an extra bow added to her weapon wall, and dual silver swords mounted above her bed.

She certainly did not own a pair of swords, just a random sword that she summoned when the occasion called for it. However, she prioritized the new bow that replaced the one she always uses, which should be in its place. She tried to summon her usual bow, but the bow on the wall disappeared and reappeared in her hand. This angered the goddess of archery greatly, she loved that bow, killed top monsters with that bow, and killed many pig males with that bow.

Artemis had to admit that the design and intricacy of the mechanics within the bow were terrific. As she scanned it, she realized that it was the same bow that Bianca had. This must be a top-tier model among the assassins if Isaiah's right-hand assassin wielded it. That thought quelled her anger, they didn't throw away her bow, they only upgraded to a higher tier. She put the bow back on its mount and flopped down on the bed, mentally exhausted.

It hurt to be reminded of the number of hunters she lost to Orion, but it was nice to see how much Zoë cared about her fellow hunters even after all that time. Artemis had her for several thousand years before she died, and more than half of that time was spent as the lieutenant. She wished they had more time, but this might be an opportunity to have that time. Speaking of having more time, the moon goddess wished that Percy was the one training them.

She understands that he's more suited for the heroic types and not hunter/assassin types, but she almost wanted to force him to speak to her. Artemis could tell that he didn't want to train Annabeth, but the demigoddess was lucky that he was forced to talk to her because they'd have a chance to rekindle their relationship or at least a friendship. Artemis was friends with him for a few months before it evolved into the cat and mouse game of love between them.

The goddess knew that she had strong feelings for the son of Poseidon but tried her absolute best to fight it and not allow it to be true. In the end, when she was ready to accept it, she went and got him killed. Every time she thought about the events that led up to his death, she couldn't help but start to cry.

Flashback

Percy just finished killing the same fucking Hydra for the third fucking time and was starting to fucking get upset. He regretted telling his dad that he had no purpose in life anymore. Of course, Poseidon, his over-protective father, would freak out and think that Percy was gonna kill himself or some dumb shit like that. The god proceeded to complain to the council and Zeus said they could use someone helping out Artemis and her hunters given that so many of them died or were indisposed.

Artemis was grateful for the help, even though it was coming from a man. Percy was a respectable man at that and just ran into bad luck lately. Unfortunately, the son of Poseidon did not want to be killing loose monsters surrounded by a hostile company of women who disliked him for something he couldn't change. So, he went off the grid after killing a few monsters for the hunters and ensured that he wasn't followed by any of Zeus' eagles. He ended up in Utah, a quiet state where next to no gods would be visiting while he was there.

For two weeks, Percy was able to hide from the godly world and spend nights in hotels and days just exploring mortal commerce. He started to get bored with the real world and wanted a mini-adventure without going back to the mythological world. He ventured into the woods and eventually found himself on Prater Mountain, fighting a bear, hands to claws because Riptide couldn't hurt the bear. He was winning despite the claw marks on his chest and arms when he was woefully interrupted.

Suddenly, a silver arrow embedded itself into the bear's hide causing it to roar and turn around, only to be met with even more arrows. Percy recognized those arrows from the first time he saw them back at Westover Hall. The difference is that he had the same reaction as Thalia back then, not wanting to see the hunters even if they were saving him.

While the bear was dying, Percy attempted to get away from the hunters even though he knew he wouldn't get away. The main issue was that he was running off of adrenaline. The demigod had no idea how badly the bear hurt him until he fell over while trying to get away. His shirt was sticky with blood, and he felt dizzy as he rolled over so that he was facing the sky. The last thing he saw before he fell asleep was a pair of angry yellowish-silver eyes and a pair of concerned electric blue eyes staring at him.

Line Break

Percy awoke in a medical room, different from the infirmary in Camp, so that was good. The bad was that he knew it was the hunter's camp, so he was back in the mythological world. The demigod felt a strong need to try to get out in case it is late and not many hunters are out right now. The second he decided to move, pain froze him, and he flopped back down on the bed.

"Don't move. Your body is still recovering from the bear attack, and if we give you any more ambrosia or nectar, you are sure to burn to ashes." A voice came from the right of his bed. He turned to see a girl with blonde hair and blue eyes looking at him with a strange expression on her face. It was as if she didn't know whether or not to hate him for being a male or to respect him for reasons Percy wasn't aware of.

"Also, when you do feel better, please don't try to leave! Artemis was starting to get angry that she couldn't find you, Thalia was getting really worried, and we contacted your mom and dad too. Both are super worried as well. There are people who care about you. Stop running away from them!" After her strangely emotional shpeal, the hunter angrily headed out of the room as she pressed a button on the remote in her hand.

As soon as she pressed the button, Percy felt something get pumped into the IV on his arm, and he felt extremely drowsy. He soon fell asleep for about nine hours before he next awoke in the same medical bed. He awoke to see Thalia next to him this time, holding his left hand as she slept on his side. He was no longer hooked up to the machine behind him and felt that he was fine, just knew that his joints would be sore for the next few days.

Percy nudged the daughter of Zeus and rubbed his thumb on the back of her hand. She woke up and rubbed her face with her free hand before looking up to see Percy awake and smiling at her. She immediately smiled back and opened her arms for a hug. As they hugged, Percy couldn't help but be happy that he and Thalia were close. She was the older sister he never had, not to mention Sally loving the immortal teenager. Percy was happy to have Estelle, but she was still young and always with his mom. He also stays away to ensure his baby sister's safety from the mythical world.

"I'm glad you're okay! A large part of me wants to electrocute you and punch you, but at this point, it happens so much that it wouldn't hurt anymore. I'll find a way though, don't worry," Thalia said with a cheeky smile and a look that promised pain in the future.

Percy coughed nervously at her threat and cleared his throat to speak for the first time in over a day, but was interrupted by an annoyed Artemis who seemed to have been there for a while. She was standing closer to the exit of the tent, wearing her standard hunter garb. The main difference between her appearance now and every other time Percy saw her was that Artemis decided to be eighteen years old today.

The demigod had to admit that she filled out that outfit nicely. With a quick glance, to avoid dying naturally, he noticed that she had a B cup paired with a petite but round ass. Artemis' eyes were a yellowish, silvery color that seemed to almost captivate Percy. Her auburn hair was pulled back into a quick bun as if she had woken up within the past hour. If he didn't think he would die from letting his eyes linger, he would have gotten a better look but met her eyes at the right time because she clearly wanted to speak to him.

"Good morning Perseus Jackson. Before I tell you what's happening next, I'll let you know we spent a considerable amount of time looking for you. A lot of time in fact. So much time, we missed an opportunity to take down Lamia, who was last sighted in Minnesota!" At this, Artemis' eyes intensified, and she balled up her fists before taking a deep breath and composing herself.

"Nonetheless, my father wanted to have you charged for deserting, even though that has never been a thing. I'm using my own discretion and keeping you here as punishment to compensate for his anger. You will help us hunt powerful monsters down and pick up any recruits as we cross the country. You will have your own tent and will be cleaning up after yourself. It's already up and has a list of instructions on it. Follow them, and you will be the first male in history to reside in my camp without becoming female or an animal." On that happy note, the goddess smirked and left the infirmary.

Percy was at a loss for words. He looked at Thalia to see her trying not to laugh at his face. She couldn't help it when she saw him glowering at her. The son of Poseidon couldn't help but wish that Zeus did punish him for "deserting."

Three-Month Time Skip

Percy found himself laying face-up on his bed, throwing Riptide as a pen in the air and catching it repeatedly as he thought about his life. He visited his mom last weekend, only to sit through an hour of being lectured, watch her get brainwashed by Artemis into looking down at Paul, and have the hunters steal all of his blue cookies. The girls were too happy to play with Estelle and the demigod needed to ensure that they didn't try to make her a hunter right then and there. Percy was glad that they were quickly becoming cool with him, but at the same time, they were growing on him rather quickly. He didn't know if he wanted to have lasting connections with a group of girls who had hated men for centuries, but he had to admit that they were becoming the very family her saw in his fellow campers.

Even Artemis is far more friendly rather than stoic and non-responsive in the way she was when Percy first got there. The main event that caused the goddess to warm up to him was the girl he helped her recruit. She sent him to Fayetteville, North Carolina to scout out a sketchy area on Cherryroad Drive. He found the monsters there and dispatched them himself because the hunters decided to head to a Starbucks nearby. The demigod was gonna head there himself and get a vanilla bean coffee but stopped at a house he sensed dread from.

Percy was raised by an abusive stepfather and could never forget the dreadful feeling as he went home every day. Therefore, it was hard to ignore the nasty feeling he got from this house specifically.

He went around back to the sliding back door and peered inside as best as he could with the sun out. He saw a big man on the couch with a Natural Lite beer in hand and several on the floor around him. There was a young boy on the floor with a PS4 controller in hand, staring at the television intently. Percy moved to the kitchen window to see a woman in the kitchen, very skinny and had a resting bitch face as she washed dishes.

This was strange. There was definitely a dark feeling coming from this house, but he could not see the source of it on the first floor. He knew it would be strange to see, but Percy sure as hell climbed the attchaed gutter and made it to the second-story ridge to see three windows. Each one held a bedroom. The big window obviously belonged to the parents and the smaller windows to the children. He only saw one child though...

Percy went to the next window to see an empty room with train tracks and a bunch of other toys littering the floor. That must be the little boy's room. He was scared to see what he would find, but he still went to the last window to see the smallest room in the house. He was rightfully nervous about the room.

Percy saw the smallest room in the house, the one that is used to house the stairs that lead to the attic, that had a small bed in it and a small dresser too. There was a girl in the bed who was way too old to have a bed that small. The boy had a bigger bed and had to have been at least five years younger than her. Why does this fourteen-year-old girl have such a tiny room?

Upon closer observation, he noticed that she had freshly dried tears on her face, meaning that someone or something had given her a reason to cry. Percy didn't see any whelps or marks on her skin that indicated physical abuse. Rather than allow himself to stare at her in despair, he decided to do something about it. Percy used the moisture in the air to convert his body into water molecules that proceeded to carry him, in vapor form, into the room through a crack in the window, then proceeded to reform his body.

She didn't notice Percy's entry but felt his presence behind her. "Please stop, you've already hurt me enough today. You say that it's out of love, but it's not! Just please, let me suffer from what was already said!"

The son of Poseidon realized that the girl wasn't physically abused in any way. He would have been able to fix that super easily with water, but emotional and mental abuse is another story. He willed himself out of the room again and was happy to see her turn around surprised that whoever came in left after she asked them to. He knew he could pull a favor, but it was something that he never wanted to do. However, this small girl was more important than his pride, so he called upon two gods he never wanted to see.

Line Break

"Can't you just fucking go first!?"

"I am an Olympian God! I will not listen to the measly words of a minor god!"

"Well, how the fuck am I gonna get in her mind if you don't fix it first?"

"If you weren't a weak MINOR GOD, it would be easy for you to do!"

"If I'm so fucking weak then fight me! Right now!"

Percy had to shake his head as Dyonisus, the Olympian god of wine, and Phobos, the minor god of fear, bickered about how to help the girl. Somehow, she didn't hear all of the commotions outside her window, but a few people did pass by and notice three men on the ridge of a roof and were going to address it before Percy used the mist. He proceeded to grab both of the gods and speak as firmly and sternly as he could.

"You both have less battle experience than me, so I can beat both of your asses to make you fall in line, okay? Now Mr. D, heal her mind so Phobos can get in there and remove her fear of her parents!" Percy released them and threw them down in front of her window.

They grumbled as they rubbed their ears and stood up. The two looked at each other then faced the girl and began to focus. About three minutes after they started working on her, they stopped and stared at each other in surprise. Before Percy could inquire about their reaction, Mr. D and Phobos resumed healing her and finished after another five minutes.

The girl instantly fell asleep, and a barrier was put around the room to prevent her current family members from gaining access to her.

Mr. D turned around and began to explain what he and Phobos found. "She's a daughter of Apollo, and he is the reason her mother doesn't love or care for her. He left her almost immediately after she told him about her pregnancy. The woman fell in love with Apollo and realized that her daughter, Pearl is her name, was the reason that he left. In return, Pearl's mother transferred the hate that should have been directed at Apollo to Pearl instead. She nicknamed the girl Flawed to counter the beautiful name she initially put for her daughter."

Phobos continued, "She married a businessman who had enough money to take care of her and support a family and let him know that Pearl was an illegitimate child and shouldn't have been born, so the man began to treat the young girl the same way. The strange thing is that Pearl has full confidence that she is a good, beautiful child who is meant for greatness despite her upbringing. It appears that Hestia has had a great influence on Pearl's mind. Whether it was purposefully or not, this proves that the child was meant to be found and rescued."

The two gods gave Percy a begrudging look of respect before flashing away to their respective homes. Right as their auras dissipated, Artemis' 18-year-old form appeared nearby. Percy knew that she was watching from afar to see what he was doing before actually confronting him. Rather than play a mini prank on her like he wanted to, he cared too much about the little girl's well-being to delay.

Percy looked directly in Artemis' direction and motioned for her to come to the house before pointing to the window he stood in front of. She squinted her eyes and saw that there was a girl in the room. Artemis by this point trusted the son of Poseidon enough to know that he wouldn't mean any harm to someone like that, so she went directly to the place to see what was going on.

The goddess found little Pearl on the bed with dry tears on her face, but a relieved smile on her face as she slept as if a huge burden had just been lifted off her shoulders. Artemis looked up to non-verbally ask Perseus about what happened, but he was no longer on the ridge of the roof. She looked back down at the girl to see her awake and surprised. Strangely, there was no trace of fear in the girl's eyes, just confusion.

"Hey little one, do you mind just thinking about your life, in a very general sense? I just want to check something." Artemis spoke as soothing as she could, not knowing what this child was a victim of. The only problem was that any trauma in her life coming to current memory may induce an adverse reaction, and it would be Artemis' fault. The child before her, however, did as the goddess asked, but only had a sad smile on her face rather than any strong negative reaction.

After reviewing Pearl's life, Artemis couldn't tell if she was angry at the mother, pissed at her brother, or sorrowful for the child. Right before she left Pearl's head, she fell into a recent conversation the girl heard unconsciously. Artemis realized what Perseus did and couldn't help but smile brightly at his actions and intentions. She proceeded to tell the girl her identity and revealed Pearl's true identity.

The demigoddess wasn't shocked to hear that she wasn't entirely mortal but was surprised that she was half-god. There was a great deal of anger expressed at learning about her dad and his inadvertent adverse effect on her life, Pearl ended up removing him as a father figure. She wasn't exactly a man-hater like the rest of her soon-to-be sisters, but she still naturally fit in well with the hunters.

Pearl was recruited into the hunters right in that room and didn't even stop to say bye to her old family. She held on to Artemis as the goddess flashed to Starbucks where the rest of the girls and Perseus were finishing up.

"Stop laughing, I don't have Artemis' blessing that removes demigod limitations. I'm fucking dyslexic! I need to give the letter to her parents, so they know why they just lost a child. Matter of fact, gimme the letter back. I wanted you guys to respectfully help me, not do this shit." Before Perseus could continue to complain, Artemis walked up behind him and put her hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see if he was in trouble but saw that he was glowing silver and the demigod felt as if his stamina was just quadrupled.

Artemis gave her blessing to a male?! Really?!

"Thank you for making sure this young maiden found her way into my care and even forcing two idiotic gods to help as well. You've proven yourself well before this point, and this pushes beyond the max. Welcome to the hunt!" As Artemis finished her praise, the hunters started clapping, and you know how mortals are. They saw the girls clapping and started clapping too.

"OMG, you're getting married? I'm so happy for you two! Good luck!" A random mortal teenage girl babbled to Artemis and Percy on her way out of the store, leaving them with very red faces. They both opened their mouths several times to deny what was said, but couldn't find words because the idea of that shocked them greatly.

Pearl looked around as the other hunters were laughing hysterically at the duo and felt the warmth of the family she was joining. She was grateful for Percy and his part in saving her from her toxic biological family.

Four Months Later

It's strange how one incorrect interpretation from a random mortal was able to change things in the hunt. Pearl melded into the group of girls easily, they were happy to teach her the ways of the hunt. Percy bonded with the hunters to the point where he'll lay his life down for any and all of them.

That teenager who thought Percy and Artemis were a couple sparked a lot of jokes and interest from the hunters about the topic. Anytime the two made each other laugh, smiled in each other's direction, or anything that can be interpreted as flirtatious, the hunters hopped on to the action. Made sure it was noticed by everyone. Made sure that anytime Apollo came around, he was notified that Artemis had a crush. Made sure that Percy found himself alone with the goddess as much as possible.

Even for someone as stone-willed as Artemis, the teasing made her stomach flutter in ways she never experienced. She wanted to believe that she was perhaps coming down with a rare sickness for gods, but it would have hit her much harder. The only explanation was that Artemis was catching feelings for Percy and it scared her.

The main reason she started spending so much time with Thalia when she wasn't with Percy, was because Artemis could only put that much trust in her lieutenant. Thalia being her closest person to confide in was the first time she ever experienced what mortals called "girl talk."

Percy being the dense, but slightly more experienced idiot that he is just let his feelings run rampant. He knew that it wasn't smart to be falling for a maiden sworn off from love. The issue was that his emotions moved like the ocean and the tide changes based on the moon's placement. Even just the thought of Artemis controlling the moon's movements made Percy's heart beat double the time. He allowed it against his better judgment, but only because she was giving him reason to hope.

The hunters visited Camp Jupiter, then Camp Half-Blood a month prior, and Percy was surprised at the way Artemis handled it. Rather than hide him away or act like he wasn't a male among the huntresses, she paraded him around and practically ensured that everyone knew it was her and her hunters who healed Percy emotionally. Many of his former friends were more than appalled to see him with her. The real shocker was at his former home when Percy not only sat at the hunters' table but sat next to the man-hating goddess herself.

At one point during that dinner, the girls were joking that Percy makes a mess because he's too childish to eat like a big boy. Thalia proceeded to render his right arm useless by electrocuting it. Percy literally couldn't eat by himself and looked hilarious trying to eat with his left hand. He turned to Artemis with puppy dog eyes, which he pulled off strangely well, and motioned towards his food.

She thought for a second, forgot that they already had an audience, specifically one member with angry stormy-gray eyes, and fed him. She scooped up the mashed potatoes and brought the spoon to his mouth, kept eye contact as his lips closed over the spoon, then moved her eyes to watch as she slid the spoon from his lips. That quickly turned what was supposed to be a funny moment into a romantic moment that the hunters didn't dare to interrupt by reacting.

The mess hall quickly quieted down as the people who did see it happen were flabbergasted and those who didn't see it were trying to figure out what they missed. Before anybody could react to what just happened, Percy sneezed extremely hard, ruining the moment between him and Artemis. The sneeze was at such a high intensity that he fell back from the table, tried to sit back up with his right arm, which he forgot was numbed, proceeded to flop back on the floor, and now looked like a fish out of the water.

That broke the ice, and everyone resumed normal commerce, but most of it revolved around the way that Percy and Artemis were acting toward each other. Not many noticed but the two did sit a little closer to each other after that mini-event, and she continued to feed him but did it casually. Or she tried to. Annabeth and the hunters were able to notice a poke fun at it, well the hunters did. The former was miffed at what she saw and sat at the head table trying to figure out what those actions she just saw meant.

Since that day, Percy knew that he wasn't the only one floating on Aphrodite's pink clouds. He couldn't tell if that made it better or not though. On the one hand, he knows that she feels similarly to him and she's probably too scared to deal with her feelings. On the other hand, any relationship between them wouldn't work because she is a maiden goddess and her family would rip him to shreds if he so much as kissed her.

Woe is forbidden love huh?

All the drama behind this forbidden love forced them both to the point where if they were pushed on top of each other accidentally, their clothes were coming off. The surprising part was, that some of the girls were actually with this movement. Most of the veteran hunters were either killed or indisposed because of Orion, so some of the remaining girls were newer.

They ensured that when Artemis got back from putting the moon chariot on its natural arc path, she would find Percy tending to the ashes of the campfire while they all went to sleep. When she did, they sat on a log next to each other thinking about each other as the ashes were smoldering slightly. On this particular day, they inhabited a forest that wasn't too far from Lake Huron in Michigan so Percy could feel the tide moving as Artemis felt the moon crossing the sky.

It got to the point where they were breathing in sync and as close to each other as the log would allow them to go. Before they knew it, they were maintaining eye contact, a yellowish-silver piercing gaze meeting a sea-green pool of emotion. The only thing left for them to do was lean in, breaking eye contact to look at the other's lips and finally allow their lips to connect.

Percy and Artemis being godly subjects were able to hold their breath way longer than the average mortal could so they made out for a considerable amount of time. By the time they stopped to breathe, they were both on the floor and were tangled up in each other's limbs. Rather than think about their actions, or let the implications settle into their minds, they each looked into the other's eyes and proceeded to resume kissing till their lips were bruised.

Suddenly Artemis shot her hands under his shirt to feel his abs. They flipped so that Percy was on his back. He proceeded to grab her ass with both hands, and she intensified the make-out session even further. The two were rational enough to not start fucking like rabbits, but that didn't stop them from grinding their crotches together in a fornicating motion. Artemis knew that she was inexperienced regarding feeling pleasure, so she wasn't surprised when she soaked her undergarments.

What did surprise her, however, was the amount of pleasure that hit her when she orgasmed. Her body felt like it flipped inside out from her pussy. She moaned into the kiss and started grinding even harder so that Percy could find the same pleasure as she did. Percy hadn't had any sexual pleasure since Annabeth and wasn't far off his orgasm, especially after feeling Artemis spasm from hers. When she took one of his hands off of her ass and put it on her breasts, he was ready to burst. Then she slammed down on him, and the hand under his shirt pinched one of his nipples.

Percy's dick went off like a fire hose. He had to have lost a good quart of cum from his balls that time, and he had never felt that much bliss before. The demigod realized that this experience outclassed any carnal moments he shared with Annabeth.

They laid tangled in each other's limbs until Artemis flashed them to her tent on the bed and cleaned up. She cuddled up to him as if they'd been doing it for years and quickly fell asleep. Percy couldn't have been happier in his life and almost wanted to cry from being so jovial. Almost. He soon fell asleep too after the best night of his life.

When Percy awoke, he half expected Artemis to be trying to kill him and half expected her to be threatening him to keep quiet about what they did. The reality was much worse than his expectations. So much worse.

The goddess was standing next to the bed staring down at him in horror as if he was a horrible monster that she was with instead. He could tell from how dry her lips looked that she had been staring for a while, meaning her mind was moving so quickly that she couldn't even stop to lick them. None of the thoughts could be good...

"Umm, Artemis, I know this seems like a lot but it is fine, we can just-"

"No."

"...what do you mean no?"

"There is no possible way that this could work out. I thought to myself and fooled myself saying that it would be okay, but those were fantasies. I keep trying new scenarios, but there isn't one in which you don't die, and/or I don't lose the respect I worked so hard to gain. This can't work, we can't work!"

Artemis was going to go on to say that she wished that it could because it was the first time she was actually falling in love with a male and she hates that it's practically impossible. Unfortunately for her, Percy already heard similar talk from a girl with curly blonde hair.

All the heartbroken demigod heard was "no," "fantasies," and "I don't lose respect." Within that moment, all of his fears about pursuing a relationship with anyone came to fruition. His newest love interest turned him down similar to the way Annabeth broke up with him. He wasn't going to allow himself to hear anything else from her and mist traveled to the nearby lake before dropping to the bottom like a rock. He froze the water around him in a 15-meter block to have it to himself.

Artemis felt his presence at the bottom of the lake and was about to go to it until his location got closed off to her. She didn't want to ruin the friendly flirtationship that they had so she wanted to chase him and explain what she meant. She regretted how harsh and egocentric she sounded when she was talking to him. That regret remains to the present day as she is thinking about the past.

Because Artemis couldn't flash to her new love, she went through the day as normally as possible. The hunters' inquiries on Percy's whereabouts did not help at all, neither did Thalia nudging her trying to figure out if the strange mood around the camp was a result of the moaning she heard outside her tent the night prior. Once everyone was anxious about the missing demigod, especially Pearl who saw him as a big brother, Artemis was ready to call for him.

Her emotions were in check and she mentally prepared for the conversation that needed to happen between them. Just as Artemis left her tent with her thoughts collected, her internal "incoming danger" senses went off, and she jumped right just in time to dodge a black bolt from a crossbow. The only person with accuracy to shoot at her from afar was her brother, but that's not his style.

Suddenly her eyes flew open with fear as she thought about the recap of the giants. Reyna, one of her favorite hunters, said she and Bellona killed Orion and left his remains in the Long Island Sound. Artemis was anxious hearing that because the giant should not have lost a fight in the water, no matter how much she wished he would. Sure enough, a hunting horn was sounded, and dozens of monsters poured into her camp.

The goddess was ready to freak out because the only reason these monsters were able to sneak up unnoticed was due to her thinking about Percy and their relations. She readied herself for battle and flashed on her battle armor just as the first wave reached her. Soon after, her hunters joined the battle and Pearl was perched up on top of a tent with a few other newer hunters shooting arrows down at the army.

Even with Artemis taking out five monsters at a time, it seemed like too much. Thankfully, Thalia joined the fray with several arches of lightning hitting the monsters and killing at least twenty of them. The daughter of Zeus joined her mistress on the front lines and the enemy's numbers quickly dwindled. The hunters were ready to cheer in victory, but the goddess remained in a battle-ready stance. She was the only one who had to dodge the cross-bolt prior to the fight.

When nothing came from the forest, Artemis considered the thought that her bane wasn't yet at 100% and retreated to gather more formidable allies. Suddenly Tracy was snatched up into a nearby tree, then Aya, then Kira. Before Artemis had a chance to do anything, it was just her and Thaila standing there, and they dodged the bolts that flew at their feet. After realizing that the rest of the hunters got caught by the crossbow, they looked around attentively to see where the weapon was being fired from.

From the top of Artemis' tent emerged a figure. Upon closer inspection, the person had wheat toast-colored skin, the remnants of a once handsome face, and one mechanical eye coupled with an empty eye socket. The figure wore black leather breeches that were torn in several places. His arms were covered in mottled pink skin that revealed scar tissue, and one of them appeared to be immobile. The other arm held a crossbow that closely resembled the longbow he used to own but clearly could not use with one arm. The Giant Orion has returned with a vengeance, and could finally complete his original objective.

The speed at which he was able to move for someone who was so heavily injured was unfortunately incredible. Orion jumped off the tent doing a front flip. During that move, he let go of his crossbow, took a vial of liquid off his belt, and crushed it without any of it touching him. The solution fell perfectly on the bolt nestled in his weapon, and he landed while firing the crossbow at Artemis. The speed and fluidity of this action kept Thalia and her mistress frozen in place.

Just as the goddess was ready to accept the pain that'd come with this bolt, it stopped inches before her face. A hand had caught the projectile just in time, a hand that belonged to a pissed-off son of Poseidon. Percy returned from Lake Huron when he sensed an impending danger coming towards the camp. Finding the hunters bound to trees and a giant firing on a girl who was like a sister to him, and a girl he held confusing feelings towards enraged him even more than his terrible romantic luck.

Wasting no time at all, Percy dropped the bolt and blocked the next one fired a few seconds after the first using Riptide, then proceeded to rush Orion with clear killing intent. The giant was already no match for Percy in terms of one-on-one combat without hunting knives but with one functioning arm? The demigod quickly had Orion on the floor bleeding profusely.

Rather than drag out the ordeal, Percy sheathed his sword in the giant's chest and stood to the side for Artemis to finish up. She picked up the fallen crossbow and loaded it with a silver bolt before firing it into the head of her greatest rival. He dissolved into a breeze, the same breeze that tells hunters where to find their best prey.

Water from the lake flew to the trees and freed the hunters. Everyone checked each other for injuries and Thalia was about to ask for a report. Artemis and Percy interrupted everyone else's actions, her with a fearful gasp and him with a pained grunt. The goddess was inspecting the giant's weapon to see what type of poison he put on the bolt meant to hit her. Once she realized that it came from Tartarus, she knew it was terrible, but it was worse because it was the blood of one of the original harpies.

Percy fell back on his rear staring at his hands that were quickly turning his beached-tanned skin completely black. This change began spreading up his forearms and further. Whether they wanted to admit it or not, they all knew that he was going to die. The demigod appeared surprised, but not scared. Is this really how my story ends?

Everyone ran to their fallen comrade as Artemis dropped next to him and laid him down on her lap. He looked at the goddess but quickly looked away because he knew she didn't care about him enough to put her feelings for him in front of her image. Percy took a final look at each of the hunters, the extended looks were aimed at Pearl and Thalia, because there wasn't enough time to have final words for them all.

"Tell my mom and my dad that I love them. Thank you for giving me a reason to live, and providing me with a family that I am happy to die for. Goodbye..." The Hero of Olympus let out his final words as he died from the poison reaching his heart. His body turned to ashes soon after that, covering Artemis' legs and the floor where he previously lay.

Present Day

Anytime the goddess thought of her last full twenty-four hours with her first and only love, she couldn't tell if it was great because they were able to express the feelings they had for each other, or terrible because she was the reason he died. If she hadn't freaked out over their coupling, he wouldn't have left after her rant. If she didn't have to worry about his whereabouts for the rest of the day, Orion wouldn't have been able to sneak up on her. There were so many regrets that came with that day, but one thing was clear. Artemis needed Percy to hear how she really felt about him and not the panicked rant he got that led to his death.

She realized that tears were flowing down her face at this point and she still needed to meet with everyone for dinner.