Song Recommendation: "Clairvoyant" by The Story so Far. A wonderful song that they've got there, certainly their most popular, but for good reason. They have a lot of amazing songs. Their album Under Soil and Dirt is also a lot of fun to listen to. They've got this angsty, kinda awful singing that's very prominent in midwestern emo, but they've sort of nailed it. Their instrumentals are great. It's catchy, it's fun to play, and it's something I listen to a lot. It's not necessarily a song I can see Percy listening to, but at the same time, it is. I like to think that I've based the character on myself in a lot of ways. I've obviously tried to throw my own spin on him, and in doing so, have placed a lot of traits of my own in him because it's what I know. And, for that matter, you write characters in a way that reflects yourself in general. I can see a bit of myself in each and every one of these characters. Probably in Thalia the most, but I've definitely put bits and pieces of me into Percy. This story started that way, as a way to convey those things you can't quite say, and I wanted Percy to reflect that as well. So I could see him listening to it, even if I don't think it necessarily relates to his character. I could spin it that way, saying it's how he thought about Annabeth, but I don't see the song as a whole relating. If anything, it's more bits and pieces of it that do rather than the overarching story of the song.

"Consider this," Percy addressed the group as a whole, "We've talked about how the person swinging the sword can put themselves in dangerous situations. The 'hitter' so to speak, puts themselves at risk by swinging their blade. Some will choose to simply take a hit in order to hit you, especially when dealing with monsters. They catch you or they bind your sword somehow and you're fucked, so it means that you have to understand how to move around them so they can't use their stature or strength to simply overpower you."

Artemis nodded along with a smile as she watched her friend explain. He continued, "So today, we're going to have a little fun. I've got a little wooden sword practice, and you've got your blades. If I hit you, you become my minion and you try to infect your sisters with me. You can't use your swords until then either since the main focus is positioning and dodging."

"What do we get if we win?"

Percy just laughed, "You won't."

"And when we do?" Another girl asked, obviously not believing him.

"Then I'll grant you one request, as long as it's reasonable."

A few of them looked around excitedly, and naturally, many of them found themselves in a mad scramble to set up. Percy just laughed as he and Artemis observed, watching as they scurried around.

"They seem excited," Percy commented.

"I am not surprised," Artemis said easily, "Not only do they have a chance to beat you, but you've thrown in a reward too."
"I figured it'd be a good incentive."

"But it means that you could lose two bets tonight."

Percy hummed as he turned to look at the goddess, "I'm not going to."

The goddess smiled, "So you say."
"I won't," He grinned, "But I guess I should get ready."

He would have moved but he quickly found that he was pulled back by the moon goddess as she grabbed hold of his wrist, "Good luck, Perseus."

Percy just smiled, "Maybe I'll have you stop calling me that when I win."

The goddess just laughed softly, letting go of his arm. It didn't take long for everything to get set up after that. Most of the hunters were running double time. As they saw it, the sooner they got started, the more time they'd have. Unfortunately, that wouldn't quite play out in their favor as their opponent was still a living legend.

Said son of the sea bounced around lightly on the balls of his feet as he surveyed his surroundings. He could hear small taunts and jeers being thrown his way, but he smiled. Artemis had been right when she'd said that her hunt would be far more energetic than usual. Competitions always did seem to bring that out in them. Of course, he was most aware of the goddess staring him down right ahead of him, standing just out of reach. She was clearly taunting him, but in that sort of friendly, teasing way. And, while he knew it was going to be difficult, he was almost certain that he could win tonight. No way he wasn't going to come close at least. Maybe it was just his competitive side, or maybe it was because the goddess looked so happy when he challenged her to something but regardless of the reason, he could feel his blood rushing as he stared at her.

With a small smile and the blow of a whistle, they were off. Rather than dash forward at the goddess, he shot off backwards, quickly twisting himself so that he would be facing those behind him. Obviously, they hadn't expected it, and he could have easily caught them had he wanted to, but he slowed himself so they could react. It was always fun to be the one being chased, so he took his time. That wasn't to say he wasn't fast. He was bearing down on them in less than a second, but he made no attempts to grab at them, letting them leap out of the way. And, rather than turn back and grab them, he shot off in another direction, intent on terrorizing another small group.

He was content to let the girls run around for a little while. It'd be much more fun if they could get their blood flowing before they got tagged, so he made sure to limit himself at least a little. He was still going to win, but that didn't mean he couldn't let them have a good time as well. Plus, it was one of those games that would get easier as time went on, at least until it was only Artemis left.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the goddess, idly lounging against a tent. Her arms were crossed, but she wore a wide smile as she observed him. And, naturally, he couldn't help but mess around a little, instantly shifting directions towards her. Unfortunately, she practically disappeared as soon as he got close, sidestepping him casually before darting off in some direction. They played a little game of cat and mouse for a few more minutes, with Percy making casual attempts at tagging some of the other campers before he decided it was time to start in full.

The first person to fall was Thea. This was partially intentional as he'd figured it'd be better to go after the older ones first. They would limit themselves a bit against the younger ones, and it would give the newer girls a chance to have more fun. That being said, she'd given him a bit of trouble, and had nearly gotten away with the assistance of Thalia, but Percy had managed to tag her arm when the girl had tried bounding off a tree. The moment she'd slowed even a second, he'd caught her.

It was a similar story with Phoebe, though the daughter of Ares had been far more in his face, preferring to play it riskily by darting out of the way as late as humanly possible. Percy ended up catching her by putting on an extra burst of speed and had nearly bowled the daughter of Ares over.

Of the most skilled hunters, Atalanta was the one that gave him the most trouble. She was far more nimble than he was on account of her small stature, and she was far more in tune with her surroundings than the others had been. She'd make quick turns around a tent, only to dart off in the completely opposite direction as soon as he'd make the same turn. It got to the point that she might have evaded him completely had he not made a split second decision to do something completely psychotic and jump through the damn fire pit, flame and all.

Needless to say, the demigoddess was surprised and that was enough for him to catch her.

"Worth it," He took a second to catch his breath as he and the daughter of Apollo stood for a moment.

"Yeah if you're bat-shit crazy," Atalanta shook her head.

Percy laughed, "We both know I've got a few screws loose. It worked didn't it?"

"Guess I can't really argue with that," Atalanta huffed, still a bit annoyed that he'd been able to catch her, "Wonder if Thalia's been caught yet."

"Better not have," Percy stood up, "I want to be the one to catch her."

Atalanta only chuckled, "You get on with that then. I'm going to sit here for a minute."

Percy nodded and quickly surveyed his surroundings before shooting off again. For the most part, their game followed the same general pattern. Percy would chase someone, occasionally tag someone at seemingly random, and then change direction. Of course, there were a few times he'd chase someone specific down, but it seemed mostly random. He'd go one direction, appear in another, tag someone and vanish again. It'd started off slow, but he'd quickly picked up the pace as the end of their time grew near. He'd had a self imposed time limit of half an hour since he figured he'd need at least that much time to catch the moon goddess.

Now, their own little game was going to be a bit different. He'd decided ahead of time that he didn't want the help of anyone else. It was going to be him that caught her, or it wasn't going to happen at all. As such, they'd just agreed between the two of them that they'd remove their range restriction so that they could actually cut loose and have some fun. At the moment though, that didn't matter as he had to catch a different daughter of Zeus. Much to Percy's delight, Thalia had not only managed to avoid getting caught, but she'd actively been looking for him, attempting to mess with him as he chased everyone else around.

It hadn't worked, but it did mean he wouldn't have to go running around looking for her. Naturally, the demigoddess was giving it her all. She'd give up her spear before she just up and let him catch her. No, it was going to be a challenge. And, to be fair, that was the fun of it. They were practically brother and sister, and what was a bit of sibling rivalry without taunting one another. Percy had initially noticed her when he'd randomly turned around to find the demigoddess following him at a short distance, almost running alongside him. His chase had nearly ended there since he'd almost barreled into her, but Thalia had managed to avoid him by a hair's breadth.

"So," Thalia teased, "Getting tired yet?"

Percy snorted, "You're kidding right? I've got to chase down your patron after this. I don't have the time to be tired."

"Assuming you catch me," Thalia shrugged, easily avoiding him.

Percy grinned, whipping around and throwing an arm out. It nearly caught her, but she just managed to drop beneath his outstretched arm and jump back a few feet. Unfortunately, it wasn't going to be that easy. Percy instantly dashed forward only to be narrowly avoided once again. This time, the demigoddess rolled off to the side and used her hands to spring herself up past him before falling into a dead sprint.

Percy spun on the balls of his feet and rushed after her, charging through the camp. As soon as he'd gain a bit of distance, the demigoddess would shift directions, making it hard for him to keep up. A few times, she'd nearly lost him, but he'd managed to keep up well enough. Thankfully, he had a few advantages. The first was that he was physically older, and a bit better conditioned because of it. He was far larger than she was, giving him huge strides and a large enough wingspan to make any grab at her that he needed to. That made her margins for dodging a lot more narrow than she would have liked, but she managed well enough.

Secondly, she had to worry about other campers randomly showing up in her path in an attempt to catch her. Percy only had to react to whatever direction she chose, and each time he'd gain a little more. He could have done without the help, but it probably would have taken him longer to catch her and he was going to need all the time he could get for the moon goddess.

Speaking of the moon goddess, she was perched up in a tree, almost lazily surveying her hunters. Occasionally, she would lock eyes with Percy and they'd send each other a quick smile. She looked quite comfortable, back leaning against the trunk of a pine tree with one leg pulled up to her chest while the other hung off the side of the branch. Percy wasn't quite sure how she looked so natural up there, but the moon goddess always seemed to manage.

Unfortunately, in his usual fashion, he spent a little too long staring and nearly ran straight into one of the tents. He was distinctly aware of the goddess's sweet laugh, but he refused himself on the task at hand. That didn't stop him from blushing a little bit as he ran though.

Thankfully, it only took a little more chasing on his part before he finally caught Thalia. She'd thought she'd lost him when he'd nearly ran over that tent, so she'd been looking around in confusion. It'd given Percy all the time he needed to sneak up on her and tag her.

"Pay more attention," Percy stuck his tongue out at the demigoddess.

Thalia grumbled, "Where'd you even go off too?"

"Oh you know," Percy shrugged, "had to throw you off somehow."

"Right," Thalia obviously didn't believe him, "You wouldn't have been having a moment with Lady Artemis, would you have?"

Percy shook his head, "I don't think I would have even had the time to do that."

Thalia shrugged this time, "Who knows with you two. You guys always seem to sneak off at the weirdest times."

"We don't sneak off," Percy said idly, "And it's not that often."

Thalia stared at him for a moment, "Right."

"It's not!" Percy stressed, "We spend a perfectly normal amount of time together."

"Yeah if you were joined at the hip," Thalia shook her head, "You two might as well be married at this point."

Percy just rolled his eyes, "Whatever you say."

Thalia just grinned, "You know I'm right."

"No," Percy shook his head, "I know you're an idiot."

"We're both idiots."

"Yeah we established that earlier," Percy said, thinking back to when he'd given the demigoddess her gift. He suckwed in a quick breath before quickly addressing Thalia, "Gotta run! Try not to sit on your ass for too much longer."

Thalia just rolled her eyes as he raced off. The rest of the hunters who had remained uninfected didn't last much longer. Percy was on a tear, and with more and more being infected, it was harder for those remaining to avoid it. In fact, they'd ended up tagging everyone within ten minutes of him catching Thalia, and that was saying something given how many girls there were. Naturally, many of them didn't notice that Percy had practically disappeared along with their patron, but some of the more observant had watched Percy turn on his heel and dash back after their patron who'd disappeared almost as soon as he had. They wouldn't see the two for another several hours.

Artemis, meanwhile, was having a wonderful time, nimbly making her way between trees and under fallen logs at a breakneck pace. Percy was not far behind. He wasn't quite gaining, but he was certainly closer than he thought he'd be. That only inspired him to try harder though with the son of the sea pumping extra energy into his limbs for quick bursts of speed. She was faster than he was in tight turns and quick maneuvers, but he could gain ground during flat out sprints, even if it was only a little.

It was still impressive to see the Huntress making her way through the forest, casually springing off of the trunks of trees or vaulting straight over smaller obstacles. Even the larger obstacles hardly slowed her down as she'd just change direction on a dime. Percy had nearly slammed into a rock face when she'd done so, but had just barely managed to stop himself before jumping after her. After about ten minutes of chasing, he had his first near success. The moon goddess had taken a turn rather wide and he'd chosen to cut through a very narrow gap and emerged right in front of her. Unfortunately, he missed her by half a foot as she bounced off a nearby tree trunk and flipped straight over him.

It took him another two minutes to have his next near catch. This time, she'd gotten away by sliding straight through his legs while he was mid stride as he'd turned a corner. He'd been so confused that he'd slammed face first into a tree trunk. They called a little pause as his head began to swim and he could hear the slight concern that tinged the goddess's voice, "Are you alright?"

Percy shook his head a little bit to clear away the stars, "Yeah, just. Need a sec."
Artemis laughed, crouching down in front of him, "Be more careful next time."

She brought her hand to his cheek as she leaned down in front of him, and he felt his newly-formed headache melt away. He groaned as he slumped forward a little before looking up at the moon goddess, "Have I told you that I'm really lucky to have you recently?"

"I think that I could stand to hear it a little more," Artemis laughed softly, offering him a hand which he gladly took. He let his head lean back as he stood and he felt the goddess pull him up with a bit more strength, "Surely that's not all it takes to take you down."

Percy smiled at the goddess as he shook of the last remnants of his headache, "No, but I'd be an idiot to not let you take a little care of me."

Artemis smiled, "You would think that."

"Hey," Percy shrugged, "I'm winning and that's what matters."

"Are you now?" Artemis smirked at him.

"Pretty sure I am," Percy affirmed.

"Then maybe," Artemis tapped him on the nose, "Perhaps you should focus on winning out little bet as well."

And with that, she turned on her heel, sent him a quick smile over her shoulder, and disappeared off into the trees. Percy stood there for a second before a wide grin broke out across his face and he began to race after her. Their chase resumed with all the same vigor it had before, if not a little more. Sure, the son of the sea could feel his lungs crying out for air as he tore through the forest behind the goddess, but he didn't really care. He was having the time of his life, and for that matter, so was the goddess.

Regardless of that, his third near catch happened soon after they set off again as Percy had put on an unnatural burst of speed and nearly gotten a hold of the goddess, only for her to dive to one side and spring off in another direction. Still, it was the closest he'd been, having missed her by about an inch. So much for third time's the charm. Luckily though, it was the fourth time that he found success. In a matter of almost pure luck, Artemis had taken a path across a few branches that had looked quite sturdy. Unfortunately, they were not, leading to one of them snapping as she planted her foot on it.

While the goddess wasn't that affected, the lack of momentum for her next jump left her on the ground going slower than she had been. This was all Percy had needed to catch up, though he couldn't quite get a hold of her at first. The goddess, being who she was, was mostly able to avoid his outstretched arms, darting around in seemingly random directions. In another stroke of blind luck, Percy threw himself in a direction as soon as he made a move in the hopes that the goddess would dodge the same way. She did, leading him into the perfect position to catch her. The son of the sea was surprised as he finally managed to wrap his arms around the goddess as he himself hadn't expected it to work.

After a moment, he let out a breath and looked down at the goddess, "So, does this count as a win?"

Artemis just laughed as he let her go, "I imagine it does."

Percy let out a little whoop, taking a moment to throw his arms up in the air and jump around, "That was fun."

"It was," Artemis agreed, "You did well."

Percy grinned at her as he flopped on the floor, "I'm honestly surprised it worked."

Artemis laughed, "Imagine my surprise then."

"Fair enough," Percy looked up at her, "What would it take to convince you to relax in the water with me?"

"Not much," Artemis said easily, taking a seat next to him, "Did you have something in mind?"

"Not really," he half-shrugged, "I felt like I could use a soak. I feel a little weird."

"In what regard?"

Percy scratched at his stomach, "Well I ran through at least three spider webs while I was chasing you, so that sucked. And, I feel a little grimey."
"Grimey?" Artemis turned to look at him, "Really?"

"Yep," Percy nodded, "It's not the same as dirty because it's like a sort of wet dirty where my skin feels like I've been sweating and dirt is sticking to me because of it. My skin feels weird and I kinda want to not exist because of it."

Artemis laughed, "Oh I see."

"Mhhmmm," Percy let his head lean back, "Grimey."

Artemis covered her mouth with a hand as she laughed, "Come then. I'd hate for you to not want to exist."

"I feel like you're making fun of me," Percy pouted.

"It's cute," Artemis said easily.

"That's not denying it."

"It is not," Artemis agreed, offering her hand to the man. He took it and the goddess transported them. He was a bit surprised to smell the salty air of the sea, but he was more concerned about the fact that he was falling all of the sudden. Of course, he dropped a few feet straight into water, so it wasn't a big deal, even if it was a bit surprising. Had he not been able to breath underwater, he likely would have been sputtering as he came up.

"I didn't think you meant here," Percy laughed as he resurfaced to see a smiling moon goddess.

"Yes well," Artemis looked away with a smile, "It was a spur of the moment thing."

Percy chuckled, "You could have at least let me change first."

Artemis snapped her fingers and he felt his pants disappear, instead replaced by a pair of coral colored trunks with what looked like little sharks. He thought they were kind of cute. The goddess certainly seemed to think so as she gave him an appreciative once-over as he stood up in the waist deep water.

"Forgetting something?" he asked teasingly, tugging at the fabric of his shirt.

"No," Artemis said simply.

He stared at her for a moment before shrugging and pulling the article over his head. Percy found that the moon goddess was staring at him, head cocked a little with one of those looks, "What?"

"Nothing," Artemis said casually, "That is a good color on you."

"Oh," Percy fought back a healthy blush, instead choosing to look away for a second, "Thanks."

The moon goddess just laughed before changing her own outfit to something a little more suitable. She moved languidly through the water, dragging the son of the sea deeper into the water, "I don't have to remind you how to swim, do I?"

Percy's brain (somewhat) reengaged after that, quickly taking in the sight of the Huntress, "Uh, no."

Artemis laughed happily at her friend, "Is something wrong?"

"No," he shook his head, "Just thinking."

"About?"
Percy rubbed the back of his head, "You're glowing again."
Artemis hummed, continuing to drag him until they could barely stand, "Are you sure there isn't something else you'd like to add?"
Percy looked sheepish, "Would you take it the wrong way if I said you look good in blue?"

"I would not," The goddess smiled.

"That's good," Percy nodded, more to himself than anyone, "I'm going to shut up now."

"Oh?" Artemis smiled, "Why is that?"

"Brain not work," Percy shrugged, causing the goddess to laugh.

"I see," Artemis said simply before choosing to spare him by changing the subject, "How did you enjoy our little game?"

Percy shook his head after a moment before smiling, "Had a great time. Thinking we could stand to do that a bit more often."

"Between us, or the entire Hunt?"

"Both," Percy said easily before furrowing his brows, "We never did go back to talk to them."

"They'll be fine," Artemis smiled, "Unless you'd like to go back right now."

"Nope," Percy shook his head, "Definitely not. You've got me in the water now so it's us time now."

The moon goddess laughed, "Oh I see."

"Does that bother you?"

"Not at all," Artemis shook her head, leaning back a little in the water.

"Eager to get away from the kids?" Percy joked.

The moon goddess's gaze flicked towards him for a moment as a small smile played across her face, "Something like that."

I had a fun time writing this chapter. There are some moments I really enjoyed, and I wanted to stretch my legs a little and write something that involves a little more description just as an exercise. I think it turned out well, but let me know. Also, sorry for the late update, been a bit sick. Anyway, on to the fun stuff.

To sushiman57: Huge thanks! That means a lot to me since you guys are part of what keep me writing. It's become a very fun thing for me, and I'm glad that it brightens someone's day, so huge thank you again for reading. To mastercheif1229: Thanks! I have that chapter coming up actually. It's already been partially written out, but I just have to add the rest of the setup in the beginning and the end. To TomorrowCarpe Diem: Yep! That's the plan, and I've got some ideas. I plan to have some fun with everything, but I've got to find a way to throw my own spin on it. To kikinder: It will because it's too much fun to pass up on. I've got the idea in my head, but I'll need to take the time to figure out exactly how I want it to go. And agreed on the dinner thing. The awkward, stuffy sort of parent meeting is always a great trope to play around with. To Dudududhehe: Thanks! Love to hear that you're enjoying since it inspires me to keep up and do better. Thank you again. To Reader0404: First off, let me say thank you! This has been a huge bolster to my confidence, so thank you for that. Secondly though, I know what you mean. A lot of the stories here stopped catching my eye after a while and I felt like I wasn't enjoying them nearly as much so I figured I'd branch out and start my own. I like to think it's gone well and fills that little hole of feel good writing that's not too surface level. Thank you again, and noted on the Percy/Thalia story. Not sure what I'll do after this story, but that has been one of those interesting pairings for me. To TakeYoCookie: Every Wednesday! And I appreciate you for reading so thank you for that. Means the world to me. And can't wait for the show. Super interested to see how it goes and I've got high hopes for it. To IshimaruTaiki: Thanks! And I just wanted to explore Percy doing good things for the hell of it because I feel like that's who he is. And the camp discussion thing is going to be a point I wanted to talk about later because there's a specific scene I've written out and I'm really excited for it. Thank you again for reading, and good to hear from you as always! To Vladiz45: Thanks! And I do enjoy that song. Unfortunately, I'm not the biggest fan of Ronnie Radke, but he does make good music. To Suahtloh: I wasn't sure if I wanted to go with that route, but I think it is the right one since I want my iteration of Artemis to be a sort of motherly person that doesn't really happen to have any kids of her own. To trevorjamesb2000: Ah every Wednesday! Love to hear that you're enjoying though. Thank you for reading! Means the world to me. To Remivs: Thanks! Hearing that from someone I respect really means a lot to me, and I love to hear that you're actually enjoying the story. And about their relationship, I started writing it in a way that I enjoyed and want my own relationships to be, you know? I've always seen these characters as reflections of myself and I think it helps because it makes it easier for me to write them. I enjoy writing them arguing playfully or just making fun of each other because it's kinda what I want, you know? And thanks about the drama thing. I initially had a completely different idea for this story, but I realized part of the way through writing that not all of it has to be so upfront. You can have these feelings without necessarily stating them explicitly and it's definetly something I want to explore more. Thanks again though for reading! To iNeptune: Always love hearing from you, and thanks! This story has been a joy to write. To OkBoomer147: Thalia the wing-whatever! I have some stuff planned for it that I hope will be fun. To Aether27: Hey super sorry I missed your last review. Ffn always treats guest reviews weirdly so it wasn't showing up until later. Anyway, thank you as always! Love hearing from you, and I'm always happy to hear that you enjoyed.

Well, enjoy and let me know what you think. Thanks again!