Disclaimer: I dont own anything
T-T
After a short rest, Percy woke up at 4 to begin the arduous task of sharpening arrows. Beside him laid was a hill of arrows. His mind was currently in autopilot. This was his first time sharpening arrows and yet his instincts told him otherwise. Sitting at the whetstone grinder, his hands clumsy pressed the arrowhead against the spinning wheel.
Even if he knew how to sharpen arrows didn't necessarily mean he could do it well right off the bat. After all, it was still his first time doing it.
His instincts constantly prodding and bugging him just like how his mom would nag him about doing his chores.
Just a few degrees lower
Lower
Lower
A tiny bit lower
There we go
...
Put in a little strength
Just a little more
Not too much
Too much
Way too much
Percy wanted to see what would happen if he didn't listen to this annoying voice. Well... It wasn't really a voice but more of an urge. As if these instructions were craved into his bones. Like he was supposed to do this.
He didn't really like this feeling. It felt like someone was controlling his every action, his every motion.
As he began to add more and more strength, he felt felt a sting inside his mind. A shock alerting him of his actions. Of his disobedience. It was like an electric dog collar. Shocking him when he did something wrong.
His mind shuttered. Percy never felt anything like this in his entire life. It felt like a needle was inserted into his head.
Then two.
Then five.
It continued even though he had already stopped. It was as if he was being punished for denying his instincts.
These cursed instincts...
Percy had no idea this would happen when he decided to do this "test". He didn't want to do this anymore...
This isn't an honor.
This is a curse.
What?
Is our purpose?
Why?
Were we created?
The more he thought, the more questions he had, the more his clan's history didn't make sense, the more mysteries that he couldn't see.
He wanted to find out the truth.
It felt so close yet so far.
Percy wondered if he was the first person to have such thoughts.
Probably not.
His eyes shone with an unnoticeable glint.
He couldn't tell anyone. Not even his mistress.
Perhaps he could free his clan from this servitude.
Perhaps he would find out the true meaning of a guardian.
All of this was in the far future and for the time being he could only wait.
For now. He could only listen to this voice.
Following these very demanding instructions, Percy was becoming more and more irritated. He might as well commit these dimensions to memory just to make this voice shut up.
No longer being tormented by that nagging voice, he felt a sense of satisfaction. Sharpening arrows was rather calming. Relaxing even. It somewhat gave him a peace of mind. It could distract him from these conflicted emotions he felt. Make him forget his current servitude.
Hm. Maybe this isn't such a bad thing?
As he sharpened more arrows, he more accustomed he was to them. His movements became more refined and efficient. His hands moved left to right like a factory line. His left grabbed an arrow from the stack, and help his right, which pressed the edge of the arrowhead onto the grindstone.
Percy felt that this was pretty easy and a pretty relaxing chore. Looking a few minutes back, he felt a little bit stupid for thinking that was going to be difficult. If anyone else knew his thoughts, they would puke out blood.
Sharpening arrows was not an easy task. The best arrows had to be sharpened perfectly to have a maximum effect. This was a chore that the girls of the Hunt would find difficult and grueling. It required ones utmost attention and precision to be perfect. Because of this, not a single one of them would ever voluntarily sharpen arrows, not even the veteran members wanted to do this.
Even with the knowledge of how to sharpen arrows and guardian cheats, a normal person wouldn't find it as easy as Percy. Percy was an exceptionally quick learner. Back in the Isles, Percy was well-known for his monstrous ability.
T-T
When he was five, Percy saw his father practicing his sword skills and was trying to imitate him. His father let out a hearty laugh at the sight of little Percy waving a branch. He obviously thought that Percy wouldn't be able to copy the sword technique that took him years to master. But seeing as Percy was interested in swordplay, he allowed the small boy to continue watching. Usually children would be tested for their weapon affinities at the age of 12, but his father figured that exposing him to some swordplay wouldn't hurt.
A few days later, he was completely astonished. At first he thought that what Percy was doing was somewhat resemblant to the the technique. When he looked closer, Percy was almost making the exact same motions. They would've been perfect if not for Percy's small body and stick. After all, a technique performed with real sword couldn't be properly displayed with a small stick. Could it?
His father began performing a completely different technique to which Percy began to mirror exactly.
"My boy's a genius! Hehehe. Wife! Come over here for a second. Look at this!"
He swung his sword again. This time with his wife watching.
Her eyes widened as she watched Percy copy his father, motion for motion.
"Wife, isn't he amazing?"
She ignored him as she called for Percy.
"Do you know what you just did?" she softly asked.
"Sowrd!"
She let out a small laugh as she picked him up.
"My Percy knows how to do sword right? Do you remember how you did it?"
He confidently replied, "Nope!"
She playfully ruffled his hair. "Arrrre you suuuure?"
"Uhhhm... I dunno..."
His innocent eyes staring right at her.
"You little cutie."
She squeezed his cheeks to which he responded with a complaining whine.
"Aww. My little cutie. Who's my little genius?"
She tightly hugged him moving back and forth making his arms and legs dangle like a rag doll.
"Who's my wittle genius?"
He looked towards his father with a begging gaze, but his father helplessly shrugged his shoulders.
Percy looked at him again but this time with his puppy eyes. His slightly teary eyes although very adorable had no effect on the man. His father raised a fist over his heart as if to honor a fallen soldier and mouthed, "I'll make it up to you."
His eyes threatened to erupt into tears as he continue to stare at the man, obviously unwilling to comply.
This made the man falter for a bit but eventually caused him to cave.
"Wife, shouldn't we take him to the Sword Seeker?"
She suddenly stopped all movements. "Hm... We probably should..."
"Wife, this is an excellent time for him get more experience with the sword. If he could learn the sword now, then our little boy could become a guardian!"
"Mm. Before that..." She continued to hug Percy again. "Just one more time."
T-T
As this memory surfaced, he then was reminded of his obsession for training and getting stronger. All the passion he had, all of his ambition to become a guardian. He remembered... Yet. It seemed so long ago.
He was summoned from out of the blue, and it was not what he expected.
He remembered that he wanted to become a guardian so badly.
To prove his worth.
To his parents.
To his small amount of friends.
To the Sword Seeker.
To those who disliked him.
To all of those who had high expectations for him.
He wanted to prove.
Prove that he was the one.
That he had the talent to become a guardian.
That all of their training and care hadn't gone to waste.
He would fulfill their expectations in exchange for all of those resources.
He would fulfill his parent's expectations for him.
He wanted to make them proud.
He didn't want to see their disappointment.
So he trained.
Trained harder than anyone else.
Trained when the rest of the children were playing with their friends and having fun.
He wanted to master the sword and become a guardian.
It didn't matter about the glory and honor that came with it.
His parents would be treated like royalty once he became one.
So he trained.
He sacrificed his childhood for glory.
He would leave everything behind to become a guardian.
He didn't know when it would happen or what would happen.
But he only knew one thing.
If he trained hard enough, he would eventually become a guardian.
No matter how long it takes.
10 years.
20.
It didn't matter.
He would train.
It soon became his life, his dream.
Nothing else would make up for it.
To become a guardian.
But now?
Was it all for nothing?
Was all of his hard work done in vain?
To pursue a goal that turned out to be a lie?
All of his passion and determination down the drain just like that?
As he thought this, his hands danced like serpents. Like he was the conductor of a symphony. By this point, he knew how to do this like the back of his hand. He could do it subconsciously or even blindfolded if he felt like it.
All of this came to a halt when his hand reached down for an arrow only for him to grab a handful of air. He had no idea that he finished sharpening all of those arrows so quickly.
He looked at the hill of arrows.
Aren't there way too many arrows here? The amount of arrows here could last them for months.
Percy was stupefied at the sheer amount of arrows and even more so at the fact that he managed to sharpen all of them.
When Percy opened the flap to the tent, light flooded into the tent like moths to a flame.
Bright.
When his vision came to, he instantly noticed many hostile and displeased expressions glued onto his figure. It was as if he had crashed an invite only party, and he was the only one not invited.
This didn't really affect him much, because he was used to this type of gaze from back in the Isles, but the fact that he was supposed to protect this bunch slightly irritated him. It wasn't like he wanted to be here much less protect them.
Percy knew he had to make breakfast for this unruly batch of girls, but he also had no clue how he was going to make it. Its not like it would appear out of thin air.
Just as he thought that, he felt a tug in his gut and a long table materialized in front of him that plopped down to the ground. On the table was a large assortment of breakfast items: pancakes, waffles, bagels, muffins, eggs, sausages, bacon, cereal, oatmeal, jugs of milk, juices, condiments, and anything you could think of it would probably be there.
This took them by surprise and caused several of them to lose their footing as the breakfast table appeared right next to them.
The sudden appearance of the table made them forget about the male that was their guardian and the fact that he mysteriously vanished after summoning it.
Everyone except for Artemis.
The girls stared at the table with undisguised desire.
"My lady... Can we.?"
Seeing as the girls were beginning to drool and could not wait anymore, she mentally sighed.
"Alright..."
Artemis, however, didn't care about the food but rather about her guardian that abruptly disappeared.
Where did he go? I should see what happened to him.
The goddess closed her eyes and began to sense his aura. More precisely, she was searching for the aura that came from his crescent mark. The crescent mark created a connection link between them that allowed the other to sense their location.
She felt that he wasn't far from the camp, only about 3 minutes away just out of the Hunt's view.
T-T
After summoning that table, Percy felt extremely nauseous and wanted to get out of there as fast as possible. He instantly appeared in a different location, where he spat out a mouthful of blood. He felt extremely dizzy and mentally exhausted.
Before he could even begin to relax himself, his body then felt the delayed effects of teleporting for the first time, and he began vomit his guts out.
"Mistress..." He turned to look at the figure behind him. "Are you here to look down on me?"
The goddess did not respond and passively stared at him.
Unwilling to back down, he continued to stare into her silver eyes starting a staring contest. Percy never noticed how beautiful his summoner really was. Since he was summoned, he had never gotten a clear look at his mistress until now.
She had luscious auburn hair that cascaded down like a waterfall, sliver eyes as bright and beautiful as the moon, her face seemed as if it was meticulously carved by the finest of artisans, and her cherry reds lips were extremely captivating.
During this time, Artemis could not see an once of lust or desire in his eyes. Even as she felt his gaze observing her face, he had shown no trace of such emotions as if they did not exist in the first place. It was a much different gaze than the ones she was used to receiving from her suitors. They would either brazenly stare at her not even trying to conceal their intentions, or pretend that they had no hidden motives but secretly throw looks at her when she wasn't watching. This male did neither of these, which made her slightly confused.
There was something. Something different about him. She could not tell what made this male different from all of the other ones though...
Percy, of course, had zero interactions with any females besides his mother, so he found no such attraction to her. At most, he only felt some admiration for her beauty and nothing else.
After being stared at by this male for quite some time, she felt a little flustered and uncomfortable, her face turning a light shade of red. This gaze was so much different from the ones she's used to receiving, so she had no idea how to respond.
Her mind told her to panic, but her body just froze up and her movements became stiff.
Seeing her abnormal behavior, Percy became concerned. After all, he wasn't a heartless person. Even if he didn't like her, he would still do his job as guardian to the best of his capabilities.
"Mistress, are you alright?" he worriedly asked.
Under his questioning gaze, she felt even more uncomfortable.
"Mistress?"
With the lack of a response, he couldn't help himself and muttered, "What a strange person you are." He took a step towards her intending to see what made his act this way.
Taking a step back, she timidly said, "Don't. Come closer."
Confused, he stopped and tilted his head.
"It's my duty to make sure you're alright whether that is physically or mentally. Please tell me what's wrong, so I can help you."
Wearing a conflicted expression, she stammered, "I- don't. It's. All your fault."
He was silent for a second. "Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"
"I want you." It took a moment before she realized what she had just said, and she started to blush. "I- I mean I want to know more about you."
"If that's alright with you," she quickly added.
He thought for a moment. "Ask away."
"What makes you different from other males?"
"Huh? I don't understand what you mean."
"You have a different gaze than many other males."
Still confused, he asked, "How do other males see you then?
Her gaze darkened. "Those disgusting males only lust for my beauty and nothing else. However, you are different. Why is that?"
"... What is lust?" Percy had no contact with other women prior to this, so he didn't know this terminology.
Hearing this, Artemis thought that he was lying, but looking at the genuine curiosity in his eyes (because she couldn't see his face due to the mist) she could tell that he honestly didn't know what lust was.
"This... It's probably best if you don't learn what it means."
"Alright..." He didn't question her suggestion. It seemed like she was saying this for his own good anyways.
"Mistress, can I ask? What this place is? I don't know anything about this planet..." He looked down.
It suddenly dawned on her that Percy was not of this planet.
"I have one more question for you, Guardian. Do you find me attractive? Or er- beautiful?"
"Uh. I certainly find Mistress very pretty, but..."
"But what?"
"But you're only second compared to my mother. She is the most beautiful and the most wonderful person in the entire world."
This response surprised her, and she began laughing at her foolishness. Artemis didn't dislike her beauty, but what she did dislike were her many suitors that wanted nothing but to get in her skirt. She wanted to know who he thought was the prettiest.
Self admittedly, her thoughts were kind of, if not really strange now that she was thinking about it.
To Percy, her laughter felt like she was mocking him. That she was so arrogant, she thought that she was the most beautiful person in the world, and that she was making fun of him, which felt sort of childish.
He didn't really have a great first impression of his mistress. When he was summoned, he was sort of treated like a slave, where they didn't react very kindly to his existence and loaded a bunch of tasks onto his hands. She was extremely cold to him even though they were the ones to summon him to this foreign place. This small conversation helped him see that his mistress was an actual person with other emotions, although this slightly favorable thought quickly vanished as soon as it came.
Knowing her name didn't really matter, he thought. They were merely bounded through this guardianship she had contracted. This was like a job to him. A job that would last a lifetime, but still a job nonetheless.
Thinking about this caused his mood to plummet, he felt homesick again.
Mother. Father. How are you doing? I miss you both...
The goddess noticed that the atmosphere was becoming increasingly somber and began to panic.
Did I do something wrong?
"I'm sorry. I wasn't laughing at you... I was being silly. Please don't be mad."
"Mistress, how much longer are we staying here?"
Seeing as he took the initiative to change the subject, she no longer dwelled on it.
"We will be staying here for a few more days."
"I see..." Percy said as he began to walk away.
"Wait! I will. Teach you about this world. In the evenings."
He paused for a moment and softly said, "Thank you..." before leaving her sight.