Song Recommendation: "Emergency" by Paramore. So first off, this song. It's incredible. It's simple in many ways, but it's done masterfully with simple riffs, great accentuating drums, and Hayley Williams. That is to say, top notch vocals. Bad joke, I know, but really. This whole album started my childhood crush on her. That aside, this song is one that I imagine Artemis liking specifically in regards to Percy. It's interesting because it's very much a song about caring for someone who can't really do it for themselves while demonstrating a certain level of isolation. How much more on the nose can you really be? The way that I like thinking about it, specifically in regards to this story, is that everyone can see Percy struggling. And some care, some don't. But none of them are able to really get through until Artemis does because she's just as bullheaded as he is, and she's not one to be swayed so easily. Anyway, give it a listen.

"Maybe I should ask you to cook stuff more often," Percy said happily, easing himself back against the trunk of the tree they'd situated themselves at.

Artemis was as serene as ever, having sat herself next to him, "You must have enjoyed it given that you won't shut up about it."

Percy just grinned, leaning back with his arms behind his head, "I'm just making sure you know how good you did."

Artemis rolled her eyes, but couldn't stop a pleased smile from breaking across her face, "Then I appreciate the sentiment."

Percy let his head tilt back so that he could stare at the moon, "I've had a thought."

"First time?"

"Very funny," Percy deadpanned, "I remember talking about you being the literal embodiment of your domains, right?"

"Yes."

"Then how does it work for you? Are you actually a big ball of rock in space?"

Artemis stared at him for a second before sighing, "I represent the idea of the moon, so to speak. Ancient views were vastly different than they are today, and so they anthropomorphized events or occurrences or objects that they did not fully understand in an effort to explain behavior. So it is more accurate to say I am a personification of the moon, rather than the moon itself."

"That's weird," Percy nodded, "Okay so if I call the moon pretty, does that mean I'm calling you pretty too because I was thinking about it, and I was going to say that the moon was beautiful tonight, but then I thought about if you were the moon or not and I was like 'Well, I wonder how that comes across,' and then I just sort of figured I could ask you instead and it'd clear it all up."

"And has it been cleared up?"

"Eh," Percy shook his hand a little, "Sort of. I still don't really get how the whole domain thing works but it did help me understand that the moon can be independently pretty."

"Are you saying that I am not pretty?" Artemis smiled, eyes closed as she leaned against the trunk of the tree.

"Course not. You're very pretty. I just got distracted." Artemis tilted her head a little so that she could look at the young man. He didn't seem to notice as he continued, "I was just thinking that the moon was pretty and I didn't want it to come across weirdly."

"I see," her voice carried the same relaxed tone it usually did, "It sounds fine as you say it."

"That's good," Percy nodded as he considered it, "I'd definitely just rather compliment you outright instead of having it come across as some sort of weird or creepy statement."

"I appreciate your worry, but I find that it is unfounded. You are surprisingly eloquent when you want to be."

"You think so?"

She nodded, "You do not strike me as being particularly aristocratic in that sense, but your natural intelligence does shine through in many cases. You are certainly erudite, and you are well read enough to keep up with conversations that you may not know much about."

"Huh," Percy's ever-witty response came shortly after, causing him to laugh. Artemis just smiled, "I appreciate you saying that I'm not an idiot."

Artemis shook her head, quickly clarifying, "I said no such thing. You are still an idiot."

"Oh well. I'll take a win where I can get one," he shrugged, leaning over a little bit.

"Really?" Artemis looked at him with interest, "No witty remark?"

He yawned, covering his mouth for a moment before responding, "Maybe in a bit. Right now, I'm just happy to relax here with you."

The moon goddess smiled, "I take it that you are having a good night then?"

"Definitely," Percy agreed, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "Time spent with you is good time."

Her smile grew, not that he noticed, "The feeling is mutual."

"Really? I don't annoy you?"

"You certainly can," Artemis laughed, "But it is endearing. Mostly."

"That's good. I'd hate for you to have to turn me into some sort of animal because I annoyed you too much."

Artemis smiled, "Understand that I am still going to turn you into an animal."

"Sure you are."

The goddess just shrugged, "Do not complain when it happens. I wish to see what sort of puppy you'd make."

"Definitely a cute one at least."

"I'm sure your natural charm will carry over," Artemis agreed.

"Charm huh?"

"Among other things," the goddess shrugged.

"Like what?"

"Who's to say," Artemis's voice was intentionally light.

Percy grumbled, "That's no fun."

"How about this," Artemis smiled, "We go through with it and see for ourselves."

"Mmmm, no," Percy brought a hand up to his chin before shaking his head, "I think I'm good on that."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah pretty sure."

"Suit yourself," Artemis shrugged.

Percy chuckled, "Aside from turning me into an animal, what do you think we should do?"

"I am content to just sit and enjoy. Are you not tired?"

"Not really," he proceeded to yawn, "Should I be?"

"My girls won't like to hear that."

"Yeah what was with that anyway?"

"They see it as a challenge," Artemis tapped her arm as she spoke, "You carry yourself differently than I do so they see you as more of a peer rather than an authority."

"Well I'm not an authority, so I'd hope so."

"You do not think you are an authority?" Artemis's head turned to him in surprise.

"Definitely not," Percy was quick to answer, "First off, I'm just teaching the younger ones what to do. That's all you asked me to do, and it'd be weird to try to use that as some sort of seat of power or something. Secondly, and infinitely more importantly, they're your hunters. I hold no authority over them in any way, and even if your father himself were to tell me that I did, I wouldn't try to."

The maiden goddess didn't seem too surprised by that, nodding along as he spoke, "You continue to impress me though I imagine I should have expected you'd say something along that line."

"How so?"

"Not many are able to so comfortably refuse power, irrespective of its domain," Artemis said evenly.

"I guess," Percy rubbed the back of his head, "What's the saying? That absolute power corrupts absolutely?"

"By John Acton, yes."

"Well the first part of that was that power in general corrupts right?" Percy started, "so why would I ever want more power. I'm more than happy with what I've got."

"Not many are so satisfied."

"Fair, but not many have dealt with the bullshit I have either."

Artemis smiled, "Your power has certainly come with a price."

He nodded as he thought, "Yeah. I don't need more power so going back to the hunter thing, I'm much happier that they think of me as just another dude rather than some official or something that they have to bow down to."

"Yet another reason that they like you as much as they do."

He grinned, "Yeah. Probably why you do too."

"I like you for more reasons than that, but it was rather striking to me when we first began interacting with more regularity." Percy smiled lightly, head turned up to look at the moon as Artemis continued, "I've come to find that you are rather endearing."

"Won't be long till you find me infuriating," Percy chuckled.

"Nonsense," Artemis smiled, "You're already infuriating."

"I'm not that bad." The moon goddess stared at him for a moment, "Okay maybe I am. But you like it!"

"No, Perseus," Artemis rolled her eyes, "I like you. You just happen to be both beguiling while also being wholly maddening."

"Fair enough I guess," Percy smiled, "Would I really be as much fun if I didn't drive you a little crazy though?"

The moon goddess laughed, "A fair point. Some of your allure stems directly from your idiocy."

"Again," Percy let his head loll to the side so that he could look at his companion, fixing her with a lazy smile, "Feels like you're hitting on me."

The moon goddess rolled her eyes, but felt no need to stop a small smile from making its way onto her face, "I'm going to turn you into an animal now."

His eyes widened a little as the moon goddess snapped her fingers. Interestingly, he noted that it didn't feel anything like the last time he'd been turned into a guinea pig. Maybe that was on account of the fact that he was now a black puppy in a forest rather than a rodent in a cage, but who was to say? Equally interesting was that he had no idea how to walk, as he quickly found out when he attempted to take a tentative step, only to fall flat on his face.

Artemis, who had been watching interestedly up until that point, giggled. Giggled. He'd never heard her make such a sound, but quickly forgot about it as the moon goddess scooped him up, holding him under his arms. Arms? No, that wasn't right. Percy didn't recall being this disoriented the last time he'd been an animal, but he didn't really have time to consider it as the goddess started speaking.

"And for the record, I am," she said simply as she bounced him around a little. Percy was still thoroughly confused. He couldn't make heads or tails of what she meant, but he was quickly getting the hang of this whole dog thing. Speaking of tails though.

The moon goddess couldn't help but smile as her friend attempted to navigate a little. It seemed that he was getting the hang of it rather quickly with the man in question beginning to take tentative steps. She watched with unveiled amusement as he stumbled around. Importantly, she noted that his new form fit him rather well. She'd done little more than start a little transformation and had let his natural personality finish it. Sure, she could have made him into something specific, but she found it far more interesting to see what he'd become naturally. Currently, her friend looked quite similar to the wolf pups her own hunt had with the only notable difference being the rather noticeable streak of gray hair and green eyes.

He was a little larger than she'd expected him to be, but other than that, she was almost exactly as she would have imagined him. The man in question was currently attempting to walk straight. Surprise suprise, but he was failing horribly. His walk came off as more of a womble where he sort of shifted awkwardly from side to side. In other words, it was adorable and the moon goddess was having a great time watching him.

Again, she couldn't resist smiling and quickly pulled him into her arms, this time grabbing his forelimbs and sort of making him dance. He seemed confused, but quickly fell into the pattern without question. For the next half hour or so, they continued this sort of routine with Artemis letting Percy do whatever for a moment before snatching him back up and messing with him a little, and likely, it would have continued for the rest of the night had they not been interrupted by a certain healer.

"Milady, have you seen P-" Atalanta trailed off as she watched the goddess look uncharacteristically relaxed as she played with one of the wolf pups. But their wolves hadn't had pups yet and this one had jet black fur. And sea green eyes. And a gray streak that Percy's own shock of jet black hair had. She started at the puppy for a second and considered the fact that the two were normally inseparable, especially at this time of the day, "ercy… That's him, isn't it?"

Artemis just smiled, playing with his front paws. Atalanta just shook her head and began again, "So any reason he's a puppy or is this just something you guys do?"

"Nothing bad, if you are concerned."

She stood awkwardly, watching as the goddess messed with the pup, gently pushing him around or picking him up, "Not really. Uh, I… Milady, are you drunk?"

At this, Percy's head turned to look at Artemis reproachfully, causing the goddess to laugh, "I am not."

"Okay well," Atalanta wrung her hands as she observed the two, "I'll leave you two to whatever this is."

"You are welcome to sit, if you wish."

The daughter of Apollo looked back and forth between the two, "I'm pretty sure Thalia's going to come looking for him."

"Then you might as well wait here since my Lieutenant will inevitably drag you back to laugh at her cousin's current state."

"You mean misfortune?"

Artemis smiled, "This does not seem so bad."

"For you," Atalanta tried to be the voice of reason, but the goddess seemed to be too happy to care.

"He doesn't mind," Artemis's voice sounded almost giddy as she carefully tapped the pup on the nose, "He's quite cuddly."

"Milady, that is a man."

"On the contrary," Artemis smiled serenely, "Currently, this is a puppy."

"Who's a puppy?" Thalia's voice rang out from a little ways away as she jogged up to the trio.

"Percy," Atalanta replied.

"What about him?" Thalia asked as she arrived, "Where is he anyway?"

"Atalanta means that Percy is a puppy," Artemis supplied, pulling said pup into her chest.

"Are you sure that you are not the cuddly one, My Lady?" Atalanta seemed exasperated while Thalia looked confused.

Artemis looked mildly interested at this, "I never said that I was not."

The daughter of Apollo blinked, "Did I just hear that the maiden goddess is cuddling with a man?"

"Yeah sorry just got here. You know, I was busy and all that with some stuff and it took a while," Thalia broke in, "but does anyone mind filling me in on what the fuck is happening?"

The moon goddess smiled, with both of the hunters noting it had a certain freedom that it usually lacked, "Perseus is a puppy and I am holding him."

"O-kay," Thalia pinched the bridge of her nose, "Why?"

"She thought it'd be cute or something?" Atalanta grumbled, "She hasn't really said why? Just that it wasn't because he did something bad."

"Yeah pretty sure she wouldn't be playing with him if he'd done something stupid," Thalia agreed.

"So did you have any reason or was it just because you felt like it?" Atalanta questioned her patron who was enthralled by her friend.

"I wished to see what he would look like."

"And?" Thalia asked.

"It would seem that it does transfer over." Artemis smiled at Percy, who had just managed to wiggle out of her grasp. He turned around with his head cocked. At this, the goddess cooed, "I don't think either of you will disagree."

"Okay, that is pretty great," Thalia conceded, flopping down onto the grassy floor next to Artemis.

Atalanta shook her head, "Not you too."

The Lieutenant just shifted so that she could get comfortable, "I like animals. Shoot me."

"That's still a person."

"Looks like an animal to me," Thalia grinned.

"Fine," The daughter of Apollo groaned, "Fine. You win."

"Good," Artemis smiled as the healer finally sat down, "So long as you remember that he is mine."

The other two glanced at each other as the goddess continued playing with the puppy.

Thalia blinked before turning back to the healer, whispering again as she spoke, "There's a lot to unpack there."

"Agreed."

"There is nothing to unpack," Artemis replied, "Perseus is mine."

Of course, Percy missed this exchange as he stared at a small black bird over the goddess's shoulder while Thalia leaned over towards her friend and whispered, "Is she drunk?"

Atalanta shook her head, "She said she wasn't but I don't know if I really believe her."

"Huh."

Percy yawned as he stepped out of his tent. He was certainly accustomed to late nights, especially when the moon goddess was involved, but the previous night had been exceptionally long. Typically, they'd go for a drive, or just sit and talk. The last night, however, consisted of Artemis messing with Percy for hours on end given his puppy form. Needless to say, it was exhausting, and even a long shower had done little to wake him up. That being said, it had been quite fun. He hadn't expected the Huntress to turn him into an animal, but she seemed to have a blast so it was more than worth it in his eyes.

She'd seemed quite at ease and he was more than happy to let her enjoy herself. It was the least he could do after everything she'd done for him. Even after Thalia and Atalanta had excused themselves to sleep, they'd stayed out. Or, more accurately, they'd stayed together. He'd attempted to wander around but Artemis had been quick to sweep him into her arms and pull him back to her tent where they'd stayed for the next several hours. He imagined he would have stayed that way until the morning had she not taken pity on him and reverted him back. He hadn't minded too much, but it seemed that she'd felt bad.

His night had pretty much ended with him stumbling out of her tent as he relearned how to use his human legs, much to the bewilderment of one of the members of the nightwatch. Artemis had followed shortly after and Percy had no doubt that this was going to prompt some sort of question during today's training. Oh well. Not much he could do about it, and he imagined a few uncomfortable questions were more than worth his friend's happiness.

The son of the sea quickly made his way over towards the dining area. Despite pretty much foregoing sleep the previous night, he was still up bright and early with the rest of the camp. Even still, he was one of the two other people in the dining area at this time. Most of the hunters preferred to wait a few hours before eating, and some didn't have breakfast at all.

"Eventful night?"

Percy looked up from his cutting board to find Phoebe grinning at him, arms crossed. He went back to prepping his meal while he responded, "Something like that. Why?"
"Oh no reason," she stalked over to him, "Though you'd never believe what I heard."

"Yeah?" Percy glanced up as she sat on the counter, "Do tell."

"Well," she plucked one of the slices of mushroom off his board, "Isa was telling me about her night."

Percy hummed and was sure that he could see her smirk grow a little, "Anything interesting happen?"

Phoebe cackled, "Only that you came stumbling out of Milady's tent in the wee hours of the morning."

Percy shrugged, "Can't deny that."

Her eyes widened a little but the astonishment vanished quickly as she cackled, smacking him on the arm, "I didn't know you had it in you!"

He glanced up at her questioningly, "What?"

"C'mon," she nudged him, "What could you possibly have been doing in Milady's tent all night?"

Percy grinned as he continued prepping, "Well I was trying to figure out how to walk again."

Phoebe blinked, "I'm sorry, what?"

"Yeah," Percy looked up, "It's hard with four legs."

"I feel like you're leaving something out here."

"Oh definitely," Percy smiled, "Your patron thought that I would be rather cute as a puppy and decided to turn me into one."

"And I was correct."

Both Percy and Phoebe turned to see the Huntress strolling up. Phoebe was quick to address her, "Milady."

Artemis gave her a small nod as Percy greeted her, "How'd you sleep?"

"I'm sure you know that sleep was the last thing on my mind."

At this, Phoebe snickered, "You sure you weren't doing anything you weren't supposed to be doing?"

"Yeah," Percy turned to the moon goddess, "You might want to rephrase that."

Artemis rolled her eyes, "You understood what I meant."
"Yeah," Percy agreed before jerking his thumb towards Phoebe, "But she might not."

"Agreed," the daughter of Ares chimed in, "Cause it sounds like you were having a far better time than you were."

Percy groaned, "Yeah you didn't have to elaborate."

The demigoddess shrugged, "Just making sure you know."

"Can I smack her?"

Artemis shrugged, "If you wish."

Phoebe grinned, "I'll shut up if you make me one of whatever it is you're making."

"Deal," Percy agreed quickly before looking up at the moon goddess who had taken a seat across from them, "You want?"

"What are you making?

"Like a breakfast bake sort of thing," Percy shrugged, "Just potatoes, egg, bacon, some veggies, a bit of dough, and pastry."

"If you do not mind."

Phoebe chimed in again, "Do we even have all of that stuff?"

"Nope," Percy grinned, "But it won't be an issue."

Artemis nodded as Phoebe asked, "How are you going to cook that stuff?"

"I will assist him where he needs it," Artemis answered for him but was surprised when Percy shook his head.

"Not today, My Lady," he sent her a quick look. The moon goddess seemed confused for a moment before recognizing a familiar influx of power around the young man, "Hestia's insistence."

The moon goddess gently prodded around Olympus, sending an aspect to converse with the goddess of the hearth. Phoebe just addressed Percy, "On a first name basis with all the Olympians, are we?"

"Perhaps not at the moment," another voice spoke up from beside Artemis, causing the daughter of Ares to jump, "But he is to join us, so he will be soon enough."

Percy laughed as Phoebe clutched her chest. He turned to the moon goddess, "Is that what I look like when you do that?"

"It is similar enough," she shrugged.

Hestia smiled, "I am not nearly as quiet as Artemis is though, so I imagine she comes as more of a surprise."

"I'd agree," Percy grinned, "I didn't realize you'd be coming."

"Artemis was kind enough to invite me," Hestia said simply as she stood.

"I'm glad," Percy moved to hug her.

"So Percy," Phoebe started, "What's this about you joining the Olympians?"

"Oh that," Percy said nonchalantly, "Something about me getting the fifteenth throne or whatever."

Artemis swatted him, causing the goddess of the hearth to giggle as the moon goddess spoke, "He says it as if it did not take me the better part of several months to convince him."

"First off," Percy grinned, "Aphrodite convinced me."

Artemis smacked him again, causing him to laugh and quickly raise his arms placating, "Kidding kidding. Mostly."

Artemis just rolled her eyes while the other two laughed. From there, it was back to work. Phoebe, feeling a bit uncomfortable from what Percy could see, was quick to excuse herself, allowing both Percy and Hestia to start working on their meal. Since the eldest olympian happened to join, Percy figured they could make breakfast for everyone since few had eaten. Artemis had been surprised to hear that Percy was going to undertake such a monumental task, but quickly got over it as she watched the two work together.

From there, she'd wanted to roll up her own sleeves and help out, but had been quickly told to sit. Hestia had seemed mildly interested as Percy argued against it, but shrugged it off and stayed out of it. It was much too entertaining to watch the two bicker.

"You helped last night," Artemis retorted, "So it is only fair that I return the favor."

"Yeah, no," Percy shook his head, "That was last night. This is today."

"That is an awful argument."

"Fine," Percy quickly grinned at her, "Look at it as me repaying you for all the times you've helped me."

"I did not do so to be repaid."

"Yeah but I want to."

Artemis grumbled, "You are insufferable."

"What was it you said last night? That I love you all the same? Same goes for you."

"Do not use my words against me," Artemis couldn't help but smile, even as she tried to be annoyed.

Percy stuck his tongue out at her, "Fine. You don't get to help because it makes me happy to do this for you."

The moon goddess looked like she wanted to argue more, but she sighed and let it go, "Do you truly enjoy it that much?"

"Oh you have no idea," Percy grinned.

Hestia chose to speak, "There is no harm in letting him do something nice for you, Niece."

"See!" Percy danced around a little.

"But," Hestia continued with a smile, "It means that you cannot argue when she does the same for you."

Percy deflated a little before perking up again, "Seems fair enough."

He went back to layering a few baking pans while Hestia smiled knowingly at Artemis.

Well! This was certainly one of the most entertaining chapters for me to write. Hope you guys enjoyed it! I had a good time with this one and it's something I've been meaning to write for a while so yeah. Hope it turned out well. I think it did, and it's definitely one of those happy chapters. Anyway, yeah I know Phoebe's dead but technically so is Jason so I'm good on that. I could change the name, but I have something planned for her later so yeah. Anyway, on to the fun stuff.
To CommanderDuck14: Ah yes, writing Thalia's always fun for me. And thank you! I'm trying to hit all the fun points while adding in my own ones that keep it interesting. To OkayBoomer147: I aim to please. These cute chapters are just tons of fun to write and I've really been in that sort of mood. To 21: Thanks! I keep finding typos which is annoying, but I do try to keep the writing at least somewhat legible. To kikinder: Fluffs just too fun to write, but I do like trying to mix in other stuff. To Ishimaru Taiki: Glad you enjoyed! Tons of fun to write and I'm glad to hear that everyone's enjoying it. This next chapter is also pretty fluff heavy so enjoy. To TomorrowCarpe Diem: It's been annoying to balance it out but I love to hear that you're enjoying. Hard, but definitely worth it. To PhantomFuryJP: Always good to hear from you! And yeah it's been something that I wanted to start doing after a particular event and I personally think it's been going pretty well. To mastercheif1229: Thanks! Chapters out now so I hope you enjoy. To Dudududhehe: That's some amazing praise, and it means a lot to me. Truly, that's something that makes me super happy to hear, so thank you. To Icefire99: Thanks! I've been trying to build that relationship both in the chapters and allude to it happening in the past. I really didn't think that the hunt would actually be that against him given that they went and searched for him when he went missing in the books, and I feel like their respect for their patron is greater than their dislike. To Le Connoisseur: Thanks! I haven't really seen anyone be super straightforward about it, but that's just how I saw my version of Artemis doing it. She's unapologetically herself and I wanted to try and reflect that in her words and actions. As always, great to hear from you! To Guest: Thanks! Love to hear it. Definitely been one of my favorites to write and just work on. To Sophia: I love to hear that even if I don't think that praise fits the story. I very much appreciate it though, so a massive thanks to you. Really, means a lot to me. To TheKingofPrussia: That's awesome! That means a lot to me so massive thanks to not only you but to dudududhehe who's been super kind with their reviews and support. Thank you as well! Glad you're enjoying it.
And to mercyfcuckery: Well yeah. Percy's an unreliable narrator, and that line sort of shows it off. Even in the the books, Percy was seen downplaying his own abilities and situations. That's who he is, and I'm trying to keep it somewhat authentic to that since it really makes the character more believable. It's not exactly a new thing either, like I showed it off in the first episode where he was like oh I can't jump up this tree. He blew up a volcano. He definitely can, but he's not going to brag or even really mention it. It's who the character is in the books and I've tried to continue to characterize him that way.

Anyway, hope you guys enjoy!