Artemis POV

The ringing of laughter was haunting me. His smile, everything about him. So similar, but not the same Percy that once might've loved me… If I hadn't been such a stupid huntress.

"Have you ever tried to make contact with them," Zeus asked me, curious. Hestia leaned forward in her throne, almost as if she was interested.

"The whole hunt approached them after a raid, but we could never reach them. I can't explain it. We just couldn't reach them, so I sent a solo hunter…"
"And…" Zeus persisted, needing to know who these people were. His interest put off, but I continued

"She… returned differently…"

She returned in a very odd mood. After spending a week in the medical tent with whatever limited supplies we had, she came out and… talked. Charlotte began to talk. She began to socialise. She had changed, but only now do the pieces of the jigsaw click together. Perseus did this. I had met him all those times, and had always made a fool of myself.

Calypso giggled. Perseus was laughing. Charlotte was crying into his shirt. Thalia was staring at both of us in disbelief. And it was all my fault. Mine, and this… sadist clown. Oh God how I just wanted to fall to the ground and weep my eyes out. The pain Perseus brought with him…

It hurts…

Hestia POV
Seeing my son again in the flesh, united with all his friends brought such joy to me. I had fantasised about this moment for longer than I can remember. The idea had excited me every time… and now he was here in the flesh. I looked up to him, in a literal sense, smirking each time he and Calypso made lovey faces. Calypso was a woman I certainly approved of for my son, although me and Poseidon might need to have a small talk in regards to the bedroom… Not my field of expertise, but we've got a war around the corner, and we have enough to prepare for without baby Percy's running across the battlefields.

"Imma be real with y'all," Apollo began, a playful smile on his face as he stood up. "Percy has exceeded normal levels of tiredness. God or mortal, he's gotta sleep if we wanna win this war."

"Actually, I was more interested in hearing the rest of Charlotte's story," Zeus mused, leaning in.

"Oh that's all easy," my son laughed. "We slapped her unconscious and transferred her to the hunt. Plus, we gave her a light confidence boost, hence the 'altered personality' Artemis kept going on about."

"I still want to hear it from here though," the God grumbled.

Realising we weren't achieving anything, I stood up, walking towards them. Many 'oohs' and 'aahs' but I nonchalantly shrugged them off.

"My son needs his sleep," I said firmly.

"Hestia…" the Lord of the Sky began, but I cut him off without another word.

"He. Is. Going. To. Sleep." My quiet voice had an eerie tone to it, that caused Zeus to gulp.

"Sure thing," he mumbled, waving his hand.

My son smirked with that same smile I'd dreamed off so many times.

"Boys and girls, we meet here tomorrow. 9AM sharp or… well it'll be sharp." Giggling at his lame joke, Percy began walking out of the room. "And for anyone bored, we'll be discussing battle tactics and assigning guardians of the Revenant! Yippee!"

"Wait," Artemis called. "Perseus, I guess you don't have a place to stay?" The moon goddess was fiddling with the side of her parka in an old-fashioned cute manner.

"True," my son replied. "But honestly, we've slept in a tree with a racoon before, so I think we'll be good." A lot of groans came from that, with many members shaking their heads.

"Well you could stay with us… just for a night," Artemis added quickly. "No funny business."

"Artemis, I think I'll just go to Apollo. Assuming he hasn't got a bunch of females with him, we can bunk there."

On that note, Perseus walked out of the hallway, Calypso cuddling his side. The moon goddess shortly followed out, a white crescent lighting her faint shadow.

Percy POV

Apollo's palace was very warm… Very very warm. I hadn't been in it long before I started sweating heavily. Plus, it absolutely stunk of dogs, which bizzared me. He wasn't the God of Dogs.

"So glad to have you join us!" he said giddily.

"The pleasure is our, Apollo," I smiled.

The sides of his temple were painted golden, paintings on either side. In his living room, a sofa was neatly arranged next to the door for convenient seating. The floor was polished and wiped. Apollo had done a genuine job.

"Nice paintings," Hazel observed along the tour. The sun god smirked. "The story is even nicer. Now next we have the kitchen. Basically infinite food…"

"How does that work?" Leo asked. Everyone groaned. If it was a question about food, then it was obviously Leo. Either him or Frank.

"No no, don't worry about it guys. I love showing off my refrigerator."

"Show it off to Gone," Jason said, and everyone burst into laughter.

"You go to it, imagine what you want, and take it out," Apollo explained quickly. "For example, if I want 3 burgers, I go up to it, and imagine three, juicy, succulent, mouth-watering burgers." Apollo walked up to it, placed his hands on the sleek, matt black design of the fridge and thought hard.

"I don't even know what half those words mean, but hot damn!" Leo said as he drooled.

"Then, open it and presto!" He took out three burgers, chicken of course. The first one he gave to Leo who snatched it without a thought. The second was offered to me, but I turned it down.

"I'll share mine with the rest, thanks." The god shrugged.

"Up to you, boss."

"Mmmm" Leo moaned. "Boy do I love defying mortal physics while eating burgers!"

"Alright, so what do you wanna see next?" Apollo asked, walking out of the kitchen.

"Bedroom please," I asked. A few people giggled frustratingly.

"Why so eager?" Apollo asked. I frowned, unable to understand if there was subtext…

"Eager to sleep?" A few more giggles. I shrugged them off, rubbing my head and following Apollo up the stairs.

"Each of you have your own rooms… to an extent," Apollo declared once we reached the top.

"You see, a bunch of soldiers randomly entering my palace raised a few issues in regards to… ah… my social life. Not going into details, it is with deep consolidations that I revoke your access and deem it necessary for people to bunk off. 2 people will be in each room."

All eyes were on Apollo, and not in a good way. We were all very weirded out. I spoke first to avoid any fights.

"You rehearsed that, didn't you?" I frowned. He sighed.

"What gave it away?" Apollo tutted himself. I smirked.

"You should've asked Athena to deem it grammatically correct. Alright, you heard him. Bunking up time, and this time I choose." Everyone threw their hands in the air as the protests began.

"What!"
"No man!"
"That ain't fair!"
"Quiet, quiet!" I exclaimed loudly. "I am not having a repeat of Atlanta! Jason and Nico, room one. Frank and Leo, room two. Hazel and Piper, room 3. Me and Calypso will be in room 4 in case there's an issue. I don't want anyone staying awake. Tomorrow is a big day."
As expected, Leo snorted. There was only so much of me people could handle. My magic power.

"Boss, you really expect us to sleep at…" he made a good show of checking his makeshift watch, "7:30PM?" I was surprised.

"Yes, why not?" I responded.

"Um, perhaps because I think we might be the first people who woke up at 9AM to fall asleep at 7:30PM."

I cracked a smile. "Tell you what, if Frank tells me that you were still awake at 8PM, I'll drive you to Olympus in a flying limousine tomorrow." His eyes lit up, mostly because he didn't expect me to trust him with cars after the Spartan Wet Marsh.

"You got a deal!" Leo grabbed Frank and dragged the poor boy with such force and excitement.

Hazel waited a minute to make sure they were out of earshot before asking, "Are you really going to trust him with a vehicle after the Spartan Wet Marsh?"

"Relax Hazel. We all know what's really gonna happen." She looked relieved. "Besides, it's not like there's a laser cow here…" Everyone's faces were reliving that very moment in horror.

My room was big. Technically our room. A king sized bed in the middle, and multiple wardrobes all around. At least it smelled better here. Calypso wrapped her hands around my waist.

"I think it's time for bed," she whispered into my ear. I smiled softly, kissing her on the lips. It was so good to have a girl who cared for me. She dragged me into the bed, pulling the covers up.

"Night," I said, turning the light off. Calypso snuggled close to me, her hands on my chest. It only took one minute for her to fall asleep.

And for me to begin reliving my entire life in frozen pain.

Charlotte POV
"I'm going to sleep, bye," I quickly said, walking fast to the tent.

"Charlotte, please, look I'm sorry," Artemis began, pleading with me. I ignored her, walking into a spare tent.

"What happened, a few hunters asked, peeping out of their tents groggily.

"Artemis nearly died again," Thalia patiently explained to whoever was awake. And yes, the majority of the hunt were asleep at 7PM, partly because most of them had nearly died earlier on. "The golden guy saved the day. Turns out he could stop time, who knew. Then he began talking garbage. Then Artemis shamed Charlotte in front of the entire council, but he wasn't having it so he pulled an uno reverse and shamed her. Now Charlotte's mad and ashamed, and hates Artemis. Oh and we saw Percy Jackson and his friends." Many hunters stared blankly at her.

"It was better when I was asleep," one muttered, turning back to bed.

I didn't bother to think that we had spent 5 hours at Olympus. I knew Perseus had altered time as usual. Instead, I went to bed, my body a moody mess. Not trying to stay awake, it didn't take long for my winded head to drift into a restless vision of nightmares.

"My name is Perseus Jackson, and I was once the guardian on the hunt, until they shamed me, and cast me out like an animal."

Normally, I would start giggling. This was Percy Jackson? Yeah, and I'm the God of Time. The only reason I didn't do this was because of how he looked me seriously in the eye, and how sad and miserable he sounded. There was no way to fake the emotions he was showing, and I began feeling pity. A laughing thought. I was feeling pity at a random person I had seen for the first time.

"I-I didn't know," I said. Only later would I understand how lame that would sound.

"Charlotte, you're only here because I want you here. That's why we ran instead of flying. That's why we kept in pace with you. That's why we let you follow us. And please, I don't want pity.

A whirlwind of emotions.

"Also, you're cute," the black masked giggled from the side. Reaction time for these soldiers was less than zero. In a flash, everyone was hitting him on the head.

"Wh-wait-I-was-complement-them-w-stop!" Humorously smiling, the god raised his hands, and everyone stopped.

"Nico, quick lesson, stop hitting on random HUNTERS!" he said, emphasising the last word. "Not even normal girls, but hunters."

I stayed silent, unsure of what to say as always. I suppose it was a compliment, but then again, I didn't usually get compliments. Nervously, I tucked a few loose hair strands behind my ear, in a failed attempt to not be cliche.

"I left the hunt all those years ago because of how they were breaking me. The torture I endured day on day became unbearable quickly." A grim mood was in the atmosphere as Perseus Jackson began recalling his story. "And I'm not talking about the physical torture they did to me. What was much, much worse was the mental abuse that gnawed slowly through my mind." The girl shuddered.

"When he came to me… he was dying, His mind was slowly dying. The heterochromic disease in his eyes is nothing compared to what he was like when he first came here. In a deep trance… searching for Artemis."

"Listen here Charlotte, I need you. We need you. And, as dystonic as they are, Olympus bloody needs you." I nodded, still fazed. It was a lot of information to soak in one day, much less a few minutes.

"What do I need to do?" I asked uncertainly after a momentary pause.

Perseus let out a small smile. "There are a few more things I need to tell you. After that, you're gonna return to the hunt… differently. Assuming Caly's potions works, when you return, you will be the most confident girl in the hunt. That's the change. If anyone asks what happened, you tell them that we took you in, and we did stuff to you. Obviously you were unconscious the entire time. No one will judge you."

"Hold on, I don't want to be confident!"

Perseus interrupted me. "You shouldn't argue with a God, much less the God of time who wants to obliterate every hunter." For a moment, he sounded sadistic, and I stared in horror. Percy smiles, and let out a grin.

"Just my wack attempt at a little joke. Sit down, have a few cookies and kick back a bit."

"There's one last thing about Artemis I didn't tell you…"

Zeus POV

Seeing as there was no set time for a council meeting, I had decided to come at 6AM in the morning. Yesterday, Perseus had tarnished what reputation I had so easily. My feelings towards him had taken a negative turn. I didn't know how low of an attention seeker you had to be to make such a dramatic entrance after being missing for 5 years. He did have my sympathies, but even they were slowly fading away.

At 7AM, Artemis and Demeter walked into the halls, neither talking much. They looked at me, bleary eyed.

"Are we late?" she asked, rubbing her tired eyes. I sighed before shaking my head.

"The contrary," I replied. Both nodded before taking their respective seats.

"How was your sleep, daughter?" I asked her softly. I have been called many things in my life, but I still knew when someone needed support, and how to support them. After the events yesterday, it would take hella support to fix her up.

"Artemis, are you okay?" I asked again. The snoring response shut me up, as I sat like a log on my seat, waiting for Perseus and his mentally deluded gang to appear. Hours of me sitting on my seat, still half-asleep, waiting for the council. The things I did for Olympus…

He came at eleven. ELEVEN! Perseus FREAKING Jackson had me sitting here for 5 hours! The amount of times I could've cheated on Hera… I mean the amount of things I could've done in that time! What was worse was how he entered. At 11AM, without any apology, Percy was walking into the halls, laughing with Apollo, a chicken burger in his hand. I mean, why not? After all, the whole council wasn't waiting for you, were they? But no. A chicken burger was much more important than the end of Olympus, wasn't it.

As much as I hate to admit it, the God had style. Today, he had dropped the entire gold look and was wearing casual jeans with a NYC shirt. To top it off, he had a light blue flannel that matched his dark blue jeans. Again, his hair was neatly in a man bun. I couldn't see his staff, but didn't doubt that he had it hidden somewhere. On his sides, Apollo and Nico were joking around. His rebel girlfriend was behind him, talking to the really angry girl, Hazel. The rest of the Revenant were no doubt giggling about raw tacos. What the hell has happened to my life…

Percy POV

"Boys, and females, we need to talk," I said loud enough for everyone to hear, and certainly loud enough for Arty Artemis to get extremely annoyed, but what could she do? Everyone hated her at this point, courtesy of herself of course. It's not like I did anything.

"This war is something literally and metaphorically unseen. How do I explain this…?"

It's difficult to paint the picture I had in my mind with words, but if I didn't, then at this point whichever gods and goddesses didn't think of me as insane would certainly do now.

"They are bigger than whatever armies we can conjure. They are smarter than every god in this room, myself included. They are prepared. And they will not surrender until their bloodline is extinct."

Zeus puffed out his chest. Standing up, he walked next to me, addressing the council.

"But, my dear friends and family, do not be afraid," he declared. "None of us will accept defeat, even if it is handed to us on a silver platter."

"Umm…" I began, slightly annoyed that Zeus had decided to butt into my speech. "Last time I checked, all of you surrendered to Gone, be that by choice or by force," I said firmly as a few gods opened their mouths. "Your life would be finished had Leo freaking Valdez not deciphered the message that your lives relied on."

"Agreed!," Zeus nodded. "And we need to persevere together in order to… what?" he asked. I looked at him in annoyance.

"I'm so sorry, your lordiness," I said sarcastically, giving a royal bow. "Should I get you a cup of tea as well, and sit down as I listen to you talk about something you know nothing about?" Zeus glared at me. "I am supporting the council, and I am the ruler of Olympus. I have superiority over you."

"You have superiority over me, and yet you still rely on me to save your sorry ass each time you get into a fight you can't control," I mused. "Ah go and support the council from your seat." I dismissed the Lord of the Skies, watching his massive frame take a seat.

"My Lords, as I was saying, this war is very likely 50-50," I stated. "Believe it or not, Gone is a pawn compared to the beasts they have crowded up to fight us. Typhon will look like an insect when you actually see a proper fight."

Hermes raised his hand. Pausing, I nodded at him, letting him ask his question.

"Are you saying that this fight we just encountered yesterday is a joke compared to what's going to come?" he asked in shock.

"Precisely!" I exclaimed, finally happy that people were beginning to understand. A groan echoed in the throne room.

"Silence people," I demanded irritant. "I don't come to the council without a sophisticated plan of action!"

"Actually, you do," Calypso said.

"True," Nico agreed. "It took all of us numerous days to conjure something up to tell you."

"And thank you again, Nico for exposing me on the spot!" Everyone began laughing again, and the tension in the throne room briefly left.

"Hang on one second," Artemis remarked. "You just admitted that you only knew about this all very recently." I nodded.

"Indeed I did. But what you don't understand, you don't need to understand." I winked at her confused face.

"Gone knows how to drain an Olympian of their godly power, something very rare. I know how to counter it. Well, to an extent" I muttered silently. "This is the first thing we're going to learn. After that, you're gonna need to learn far more fighting techniques as well as power manipulation and diversion skills. Next up we've got anatomy classes, followed by around the clock fighting until someone manages to knock the entire Revenant out for a week." The council stared at me, most likely questioning my sanity which, at times I did as well.

"Do we have any questions, or can we move on?" I asked patiently. When no one raised their hands, probably out of shock, I clapped my hands before moving on."

"Now, these leaders are extremely smart. They're also unfortunately very random. We don't know when these battles will happen, so we have to be ready and prepared. Pop quiz time. Out of everyone here, who are the best fighters?" Apollo's hand shot up instantly, along with Hades.

"Ooh, ooh I know this," Apollo yelled. "Please pick me, I never get asked!" I sighed while laughing on the inside.

"Alright, Apollo, what have you got?" He looked relieved when I chose him.

"The Revenant are the best fighters here, and I'm being completely honest about that, second only to you." Murmurs of agreement came from most of the council. Zeus had his lips firmly sealed, but I knew he was very angry with how I had practically taken over his entire council so quickly.

"Plus ten points for Apollo!" Frank and Jason cheered.

"Well, correct answer," I smirked. "The only way I deem good enough to protect this council is by assigning a guardian to each member of the council."

"I can protect myself!" Hera hissed at me. Staring intently at her, I flicked my wrist. Immediately, her body began convulsing. I concentrated hard. Accuracy was essential in what I was trying to do. I walked closer to her.

"Fight me," I whispered. "Protect yourself now." I let her convulse for a few more seconds, watching her slide onto the floor, banging her body everywhere. Feeling like my point had gotten through, I stopped, putting my hand by my side. Being real, the only damage she probably has is a few bruises. That and a freaked out mind. If I wanted to hurt her, I would've done much worse, but I just wanted to show the whole council how truly unprepared they were.

"There are fourteen gods and goddesses here, and only eight of us, so here's what we're going to do. The three brothers will have to rely on themselves. After that, eight gods will be protected. The other three will need to fend for themselves. That's the best I can offer. Zeusey, I'll let you do this part. You can try and feel part of this."

Zeus stood up, and I sat down on my throne. The power radiating from it made me feel like I had just finished the entire Monster Energy Drink's supply.

"Nico, you can go with Hestia." His eyes lit up with that.

"I am absolutely fine with that!" he blurted, walking towards her. I mouthed lucky to him.

"Piper will be with Apollo." She mockingly rolled her eyes, before walking towards his, slightly swaying her hips. I am 169% loyal to Calypso, but can I ask what is it with Aphrodite chicks and just trying to make men cheat for them. I mean, we're going to war, not a blooming Christmas sing along and dance. Why would you wear a skirt shorter than Leo's d- Nah I can't take it that far.

"Jason son, I entrust you with my wife, Hera." He gave a solemn salute, and nodded at her.

"Um, Calypso, you should help Aphrodite. She will definitely need it, and after Nico, you're probably the best there is."

"Oh my gods yes!" Aphrodite squeaked. "Caly, we have sooo much to catch up on. And, I've gotta hear how Percy is in the bed."

Save me she mouthed back to me. I laughed.

"Frank and Hephaestus will go well together, I think."

"Oh great," Frank moaned. "It just so happened that I couldn't get enough of the forges and smell of soot as it was."

"Hazel and Ares please," Zeus said.

"Oh great," Hazel moaned. "Not my boyfriend's dad!" This was a real life comedy.

"Valdez and Athena." No one complained, although Athena wasn't looking too happy.

"Finally, Mr Perseus!" Zeus grinned. "Any preferences?" he asked. I giggled.

"Your choice!" I said, spreading my hands. He smiled.

Zeus opened his mouth, as if he were going to mention someone, before closing it again, thinking hard.

"But that's the only option," he murmured quietly. "He said so himself." As he said this, a chill feeling swept down my spine. Hestia stood up quickly, rushing towards Zeus. The two of them began having a quiet ushered conversation that only made me even more nervous.

"Percy, son I am so sorry," Hestia choked out. Tears begin filling her eyes. "There is no choice. You m-made the oath in front of both of us. You have to be reassigned."

"But reassigned to who!?" I demanded, my breath shaky.

"It's her isn't it," my father said. This whole time he had been silently observing, stroking his trimmed beard and thinking.

"Who?" I asked. I knew who it was already.

Percy," Zeus gently said to him. "We need you to say the oath of the guardian." Slowly shaking, I began to copy my uncle..

"On behalf of the Styx, Acheron, Lethe, Phlegethon and Cocytus, I, Perseus Jackson, pledge myself to the Goddess Artemis. I turn my back to the world and will live as Artemis decrees me. I will protect the hunt since today until Doomsday. Should I betray or abandon her, then I shall be cast into the void and cease my existence."

"But we left for five years…" Nico murmured, connecting the dots. I nodded.

"But even then, every single raid, we were protecting them," I said. "Each time someone got into a fight, we were there."

"Surely you can have two guardians?" he asked, desperate to keep me safe.

"That's classified as betrayal and abandonment," Poseidon said. He walked towards me and enveloped me in a massive hug.

"Stay strong for me," he whispered into my ears, before breaking up and fixing my shirt.

"My son, by law of the Styx, you are to be the guardian of Artemis and the hunt. This was decreed by yourself in an oath six years ago, and cannot be undone. I'm sorry."

Another chapter done! Interesting ending? Does everyone understand it or should I explain it next chapter? Also, I was thinking of adding some smut as well, next chapter. Thoughts?