Ch.6

All rights belong to Riordan

(Percy's Perspective)

"Oh yeah, Percy, by the way, Chiron might have some questions for you later."

I looked at her, puzzled as to why Chiron would have questions.

"Chiron came over to our table this morning to ask where Lady Artemis was, and Zoe decided to tell him she had some fun with you the night before and was still in bed."

I groaned, burying my face in my hands. Of course, she would do something like that. Great, now I'm gonna have to explain to Chiron what that "fun" was.

"Well, she's definitely yours," Thalia said, laughing.

"I'm glad she's integrated really well with you guys. I was worried for a long time that the hunters would hate her because of her parents."

Thalia looked at me for a moment before smacking me on the head.

"Why would the hunters hate her? Even if Lady Artemis did break her oath, they would have been angry with her, but they wouldn't take it out on Zoe. Most of them are demigods, so they understand we don't get to pick who our parents are."

I smiled at that. "Glad to hear that." I glanced back at the hunters and noticed Artemis was approaching. Thalia looked over at me once she noticed as well and smiled. "Well, Kelp Head, time to shine I suppose."

"Well, I guess it's better to take care of this now and not later," I said, looking up at Artemis as she arrived.

"Hello, Artemis," I said.

"Hi, Percy," she replied warmly.

"And hello to you too, Thalia."

"Hello, Milady," she responded happily.

"Did you have fun running around with the younger hunters?" I asked.

She smiled while looking back at them; they were currently running around each other in circles. "Yes, I did." Thalia smiled at us before standing up. "I'm gonna go hang out with them then; you two have fun," and with that, she took off towards the hunters.

Artemis laughed as she watched her lieutenant take off before sitting down next to me.

(Outside View)

"Are you feeling better now, Arty?" Percy asked gently, once Thalia was out of earshot.

Artemis smiled and nodded, but Percy could tell her smile didn't reach her eyes. He knew this would be a constant worry for her until they figured it out.

"Why don't we go out and do something while the hunters are here? Thalia will watch over them for you," Percy suggested.

"Like what, Percy?" Artemis asked.

"Well, I've never gotten the chance to explore Olympus. Why don't we check out the city?"

Artemis looked thoughtful before nodding. "Sure, why not." With that, Artemis stood up and took off towards Thalia to let her know the plan.

Percy stood up as well and sent an Iris message to his dad. Poseidon appeared to be sitting on his throne in Olympus, deep in thought.

(Percy's Perspective)

"Dad!" I called into the message.

Dad shook out of his thoughts before looking around and relaxing once he saw me.

"Ah, hello Percy. What can I do for you?"

"Me and Artemis are going to visit Olympus for the day, and I was hoping to take her to dinner. Do you think you can help out with that?"

Dad smiled at my words before laughing. "Wow Percy, already trying to take Artemis to dinner? You sure work fast, my son."

I groaned while he continued to laugh. "Dad, it's not like that, I swear."

"Ah huh, okay Percy. Yes, I will take care of it. I have heard from Athena that Artemis really wants to try the new steakhouse recently built, but reservations are hard to come by. Thankfully for you, I get what I want. So I'll make sure you guys have reservations tonight, and I'll cover the bill and your city expenses. I'll even make sure to give you something nice to wear when you get close to the restaurant."

My dad is the coolest dad ever, and nobody can argue that fact.

"Alright, thanks, dad." He smiled before smirking. "Just behave yourself tonight; I don't think Zoe wants any siblings already."

"Dad!" he laughed as he ended the message.

I take back what I said about him being the best dad. I groaned before turning around and seeing Artemis returning.

"You ready to go?" she asked.

I nodded, and she took my hand before flashing us away.

When we appeared on Olympus, We were in front of what I assumed was Artemis's home, if the silver building and the deer out front were anything to go by. She turned to me as I looked at her in confusion.

"I'll be right back, I'm gonna change out of my hunter gear before we go." I nodded as she smiled and walked into her home. I, on the other hand, decided to sit out front and wait as I was not going to walk into her home. That is worse than walking into her cabin at camp, and I didn't want to potentially die.

So while I was waiting, I felt the air around me get colder. I turned to look to my left and smiled as I saw Nico standing there, leaning against a tree.

"Sup, Death Breath," I said.

He rolled his eyes before responding, "Percy, What are you doing in front of Artemis's home? Zoe is with the others in New Rome, so I can't imagine that's why."

"Yeah, me and Artemis are exploring the city portion of Olympus as I've never got to see it."

Nico looked shocked before raising an eyebrow. "So what I'm getting from this, is that you're going on a date."

I groaned before putting my face in my hands. "Not you too," I grumbled.

He laughed while shaking his head. "Hey, I just call it like I see it. Speaking of, I believe your date is back." I turned around to her front door, and sure enough, Artemis was coming out.

Instead of her hunter gear, she wore blue jeans with a grey shirt and a silver crop top jean jacket. She had silver high heel boots, and a silver-lined micro bag over her shoulder. Around her neck, she had a silver necklace with a moon pendant, and matching earrings.

I was too busy being stunned looking at her to notice Nico had walked over and smacked me upside the head.

"Percy, stop gawking," he said. Artemis laughed before shaking her head. "Don't mind him, it happens a lot." Nico laughed as well. "Well, I'll leave you guys to it. Have fun." Artemis waved as Nico faded into shadows at his feet.

"Since when do you get along with Nico?" I asked once I stopped zoning out.

"Ever since I found out he helped raise Zoe," she replied. With that, we headed off for the city. Our first stop was a mall. When we got inside, Artemis immediately made a dash for a candy store which shocked me. I never took her for a candy person.

Once we got our big bags of candy, mine being blueberry jelly beans and hers being cherry, we set off again. We spent a few hours at the mall, checking out different stores before we headed out to explore more of the city.

As we explored the city, we ran into a couple of the gods. Hermes was delivering packages as usual, so we ran into him while he was delivering merchandise to the stores around the city. We bumped into Athena when we walked past the library. The look on her face was hilarious when she realized it was Artemis with me.

Demeter was a pleasant surprise though. We walked into one of her stores to look at flowers (I totally wasn't trying to find some for the dinner tonight), and she was really happy to see us surprisingly.

"Hello, Percy, what are you doing here?" she asked. I was about to respond when her eyes widened when she saw Artemis browsing around the store. She turned back to me and lowered her voice. "Are you with her?" I nodded, causing her eyes to widen even further. "I'm taking her to dinner tonight and wanted to find some flowers she would like to have delivered to the restaurant."

At this point, her eyes looked like saucing pans. "Well, this should be an interesting evening." She waved over one of the attendants, who looked confused but came over to us. "My dear, please distract Artemis so I can talk to Percy." The girl smiled and nodded before walking away towards where Artemis was looking at blue flowers.

"Now then Percy, What kind of flowers were you looking for?"

"I'm not entirely sure, because as far as I know, the only color she likes is silver, and I don't think flowers come in silver."

She smiled as she pulled out a catalogue. "Maybe not for mortals, but they do for us."

After looking through her catalogue, I picked out a bundle of silver roses. She smiled as she wrote down my name on a piece of paper. "Your father is taking care of the bill, but where would you want it sent for tonight?"

"Dad didn't tell me the name, but it's a new steakhouse that was just built."

Her eyes went wide at my response before laughing. "I have to give it to your father, he sure knows how to surprise a girl."

I looked at her confused. "What do you mean?"

She smiled before looking over at Artemis, who was smelling a bundle of flowers handed to her by the attendant.

"That steakhouse is really hard to get reservations because only certain Olympians can approve a reservation. Specifically the big three. On top of that, it's a romantic restaurant, so only couples can go as well. Artemis has been wanting to go since it opened, but she was always with the hunters, and she didn't have a partner to go with on top of needing approval from one of the big three."

So that's why my dad seemed so happy about getting to pick the restaurant. Well, I have to give him credit, that was pretty smooth of him.

"Artemis is coming over, time to wrap this up Percy. Do come back and tell me how dinner went."

I nodded as she took back the catalogue. "Hey Percy, what are you talking about over here?" Artemis asked as she reached us.

"Percy was looking at flowers for his mom," Demeter quickly said before I had time to spoil it.

'Oh, okay," Artemis said, looking a little disappointed. "Percy those flowers will be ready for you when you get there."

I nodded before she waved us out of the shop. Artemis looked a little glum until I waved her candy in her face, and she immediately brightened up again before snatching it from me.

Eventually, the evening came, and we started to walk through the city as the sun slowly went down.

"Percy, should we head back now?" I shook my head before turning to her.

"I wanted to take you out to dinner tonight, so my dad helped me get reservations set."

She looked shocked before softly smiling before her eyes widened. "I need to change!" Before I had a chance to respond, she grabbed my hand before teleporting us away.

When we reappeared, we were outside her home again.

"I'll be right back then." she turned and quickly walked into the house before going inside and closing the door. I turned and tried to walk down the lawn but walked right into somebody.

After I got my bearings, I looked up and realized it was my dad, with Hermes standing a few feet behind him.

"Well, Percy, you've had an eventful day I take it," he said smiling. "Yea you could say that." he laughed before turning to Hermes. "You ready to go?"

Hermes nodded before waving his hand, his clothes turned into a suit with a chauffeur hat. Turning to the street, a silver limo appeared.

Dad turned back around before smiling and waving his hand at me, and I looked down as my clothes changed into a blue suit with ocean wave designs, and sea green trims. "Wow Dad, really went all out for this huh?" he laughed before nodding. "Only for you Percy. Well It's my time for me to take my leave, your lady is arriving," and with that, he faded into mist and disappeared as Hermes walked over and got into the car. Turning around, I gasped when I saw Artemis.

She was wearing the same necklace and earrings, but this time she wore a gorgeous silver dress that showed off her curves. Her hair was done in a waterfall braid, with the ends of her hair resting above her lower back, with the same silver micro bag hanging around her shoulder.

I gawked at her for a few more moments until she walked over and smacked me upside the head.

"As much as I appreciate the gawking, We have somewhere to be don't we?" I smiled and nodded as I held my arm out.

"Shall we?" I asked.

She smiled before looping her arm in mine. "We shall." We walked over to the car, and I opened the door for her to go in first, before climbing in behind her. Once we were situated, Hermes started the car and we were off.