Artemis POV
It was safe to say that I was not an early morning person. It took Thalia no less than 10 minutes to wake up, which is actually quite good. Besides, everyone else wouldn't be able to wake up either had they gone through the exact same, confusing, traumatic things that I had over the last few weeks. Wow! Was it really WEEKS ago that Percy had come into the hunt? It feels like months ago, forget weeks.
Mustering all of my energy, I willed my body to get up and begin my usual morning routine. Get up, Brush my teeth, change my clothes and make my way to the central hall for breakfast. Today, my routine was the same as always, except for the fact that it was 2 hours later than it usually was and the fact that I was still trying to process all of yesterday's information. I had not decided to make any sort of advancements on Percy last night, seeing as when we arrived it was already pretty late and he still needed to fully heal (those wounds looked pretty nasty, not gonna lie.) Therefore, I had resorted to leaving a message on Thalia's side table explaining that me and Percy were back, and trying to get a good night's sleep. I've gotta admit, it was much harder than I would care to say. All night, Percy clouded my thoughts. Why did I have to love SOMEONE? After all these millennium, my feelings had turned on me, refusing to follow my rules and making me love Percy-us.
After finishing a very uneventful morning routine, I headed out of my tent, towards the dining table, the sweet smell of food providing the energy that I needed to reach the pavilion. I loved my food. The walk wasn't long. As I walked, my thoughts drifted to many different unanswered questions that I had. For example, why had Father's eyes been golden for a brief period? While the Titan King did have golden eyes, this couldn't be traced back to him because he had been defeated by Perseus Jackson. Ahhh see! No matter where or what I think, my thoughts always end back at Percy and his gorgeous - Whoa gotta stop there, before I misspeak… or think. Changing subject! I was surprised when I arrived at the table. There was indeed delicious food, but something else was off. I scanned the area and surely, I found the problem. A problem classified as CLASS A!
The hunters cooking was too revolting for it to smell nice or for the hunters to look like they were actually enjoying it, which they seemed to be. All around me, food was being devoured, as my hunters, for the first time, seemed to be speechless, amazed by the food. Phoebe and Atlanta could not be seen, but I didn't really care that much. The second I entered through the door, Thalia saw me, looking very pleased, her mouth full of food. She quickly swallowed and spoke to me.
"Milady! You must try this food. It is amazing. I want to live it for my stomach!"
Huh. What waffle had she ate, and what waffle was she waffling. Curious, I walked to Thalia, determined to try this new food that had rapped my hunters. Using a spare fork, I picked up a piece and plopped it into my mouth, immediately, my mouth felt like it had gone to Elysium and back.
"Oh my Gods Thalia!" I managed to get out between the bites that I was now full on stuffing into my mouth. It was delicious, yet as I swallowed, I had a familiar feeling. I felt as if I had chewed this exact food, mere hours ago, at a dinner with the gods, where the only food had been food made by… Hestia! Hestia might've come to see Perseus, but I'm sure that I would've felt another god's presence nearby. Ruling out that option, there was only one other person in the hunters camp that could wizz up this food with a flick of his wrist.
Perseus POV
At 2 AM, most people are sleeping in their bed, unless your doing you're last minute maths homework that's due in the next morning, like I did countless times. Currently, I was wide awake, laying in my bed pondering over important things… like Artemis.
It's times like this when I talk to myself. "I feel like I like her, but can I ever love her? The pain she put me through is unimaginable. Even now, while most of the main cuts have sealed up, I feel like hell. Should I love her? She wouldn't love me, because she hates men, right? What do you guys think?"
The deers that I had for company didn't seem to appreciate my social skills. Either that or they didn't understand Human language. That makes more sense. Currently, my mind is too tired to think these things through. Perhaps I'll just go with the flow.
"I guess we'll see in the morning," I told the deer as I rolled over, attempting to fall asleep.
When morning came, I couldn't even get up. The downsides of sleeping late (so listen to your mothers kids!)
"Wake someone else uo, like someone near New Jersey or something, Apollo!" I grumbled, completely forgetting how I was near New Jersey myself. Either way, the golden sun, if anything, rose higher, forcing me out of my bed. It was safe to say that I was not an early morning person. It took no less than 10 minutes for me to finish my morning routine of simply brushing my teeth and washing my face, which is actually quite good. Besides, everyone else wouldn't be much quicker either had they gone through the exact same, confusing, traumatic things that I had over the last few weeks. Wow! Was it really WEEKS ago that I had come into the hunt? It feels like a couple of days seeing as most of my time I had spent unconscious, courtesy of Artemis, of course.
The dining pavilion went silent the second I entered. All eyes were on me, and I wanted it that way. People would see exactly what happens to people who betray my trust and attempt to assassinate me for no good reason. This is the only way to properly teach these low life infidels not to mess with me.
Normally, I try to control my anger and keep it buried deep inside of me, but now, it was time to let it all out, so I did. Taking my time, I walked up to Atlanta, who seemed to cower back in fear. Ooooh! Now she was scared. Now she regrets her actions.
"Percy, Please!" She begged. "I'm so sorry-" The blow I struck her on the head with shut her up.
"Too late for that, my little killer," I hissed, while simultaneously taking my hunting knife out from its sheath. I grabbed Phoebe by the throat, squeezing it as tight as I could. The knife I held went straight into her shoulder, and the way she howled, man, for a second, it made me doubt my own actions, but the anger surrounding me drove the knife out and back into Atlanta's arm. This time however, I didn't take it out. Instead, I carved out: Rapist, murderer, Olympus hater and every cruel thing I could think of. You see, this knife of mine causes wounds that never fully heal, These scars would remain there forever, or at least until I felt merciful enough to turn back the time on them.
Feeling satisfied, I turned around to walk away. Every single hunter was shocked at how easy I had let the two hunters off. How mistakened they were. My final punishment was to come. Watching the forest with a strange sense of belonging, I clicked my fingers, summoning food for the hunters. I myself wouldn't eat; at least not until I had fully healed. All the hunters were even more speechless as to why I would give them food. Well, to answer that question, it was to distract them. Distract them from the endless screams of Atlanta and Phoebe as I forced them to revisit their most horrible moments, with the power of time, of course.
Artemis POV
On the other side of the dining room, in a corner, Perseus was casually leaning back, practicing freezing time on a nearby baby deer. I watched him, impressed by how fast he had picked up the power of time. It took me over a year before I could actually hit the bull's-eye on the target 20 times in a row, yet Percy was happily controlling his domain after a couple of days of limited practice, with no god, hell no ONE to help him. The deer tried to escape to a nearby lake, but, moments before it would be safe from a god, Percy snapped his fingers, and the deer froze with a panicked face. Next, he rotated his first clockwise and the deer suddenly appeared to be galloping backwards. This process was repeated again and again as Perseus began to solidify his grasp on time.
The question in my mind was why would Percy do anything for the hunters after the pain them and I put him through. Hours of painful healing in Apollo's temple were nothing compared to the few mere punches I gave Thalia, and that had reduced her down to tears, despite Perseus barely crying through the whole period, and them both being on the same level in terms of immortality.
"I don't blame the majority for the work of a minority," Percy stated, his eyes fixated on the deer struggling to escape from the time bonds of Lord Persues. Was he reading my mind again! Privacy! I'm sure he read that thought from my mind, but, either way, he said nothing about it. Instead, he decided to question me again, for my inability to control my knife near men.
"It's the thing that separates you and me, Smarty," the God said. "I don't judge a majority for the things a minority does. If I see a girl being horrible, I say she is horrible, not all females."
He got me again. Refusing to show him how much this arrow of his actually hurt, I simply shrugged my shoulders and decided to change the subject.
"How are your wounds Perseus?" I asked him, trying to follow Aphrodite's advice and be nice to him.
"Which wounds?" Percy asked me. "The ones you caused? Oh yeah they're pretty good, no thanks to your help."
2 points to Percy! 0 to me. How would I ever make him like me if this was what he thought of me?
How's that! I'm not sure if Percy acted reasonably to Phoebe and Atlanta, but, hey, I did try.
Next chapter, Artemis visits Percy I'm his tent, in the night!
BTW, Merry Christmas for all of you who celebrate Christmas! If you don't then... Merry... 25th of December 2020!