To MasterTrident: That is an embarrassingly simple mistake on my part, thanks for pointing it out. Also hope you like the tridents lol.

Theseus

The amazon headquarters were impressive.

Massive Greek-style columns reached up towards the ornate roofs inlaid with intricate carvings depicting muscular men and women competing Herculean tasks.

I think that one's actually Heracles. I thought to myself as I squinted up at a particularly impressive looking carving.

I shook my head, trying to focus back on the matter at hand.

The amazon queen stared at our small party expectantly, her expert poker face giving nothing away.

'Greetings, your highness, we come representing Praetor Reyna of New Rome, looking for an alliance against the Earth Mother.' Hazel began tentatively from beside me.

I looked over, glancing at my new friend.

She was petite, quite a bit shorter than my own 5'11, perhaps 5'5, 5'6? She had curly brown hair, and skin the same tone as coffee.

Beside her stood Frank.

Frank was still a bit of a mystery. Apparently he came from like this long line of demigods and warriors, but he still didn't know his parentage.

He was quite large, though a bit more on the chubby side, with baby fat still pending to melt from his face, but by the gods did he make up for it in strength.

This Queen Hylla simply stayed quiet, observing the three of us, her onyx black eyes brimming with intelligence rapidly flitting between us three.

'You resemble him greatly.' She said finally, staring at me straight in the eyes, unblinking.

I frowned in confusion. 'Poseidon?'

Hylla shook her head. 'Your brother. On your mother's side.'

My heart skipped a beat at this.

Brother?

I took a threatening step forward, my right hand reaching towards my pocket where I kept my trusty pen-sword Riptide.

'Listen lady, if you're trying to manipulate me or something I'll tell you now it ain't happening.' I said with a firm tone.

Hylla simply smirked. 'There's a reason you never met him, you know. When you were born your father decided to take you to directly to camp half-blood, leaving your mother alone in California.'

My heart sunk ever further into my chest at each of her words.

'She- She's alive?' I choked out miserably.

Hylla shook her head solemnly. 'She died when you were four.'

That's when the dam broke.

Damn these romans and their damn discipline. I just had the hope of my mother being alive ripped away from me.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I looked around to see Hazel give me a small squeeze and an encouraging smile.

I wiped away tears from my eyes and steeled myself.

'Anyways, that brother of yours already secured a treaty of loyalty from the amazons to support New Rome.' She continued dissinterestedly.

After a second of stunned silence, Frank stepped forward to take the reigns of the negotiations.

'Well erm, then we would request that the amazons begin to mobilise your forces for an invasion of New Rome.' Frank said, his voice quavering slightly.

Damn your shyness Frank, pull it together.

Hylla turned an upturned nose to our admittedly sorry band, waving a hand dismissively. 'Consider it done.'

'Thank you so much your hi-' Hazel began before being cut off by Hylla.

'Ah ah ah, not so fast. I require your help in return.'

XIXI

Percy

'Clear!' I called up. I heard a rustling in the trees before Artemis dropped down to the ground. 'One of these days you're going to have to show me how to do that.'

Artemis simply flashed me a smile. 'If we survive this.' It had become something of an inside joke between the two of us over the last week.

The pine trees of Muir Woods National Park glittered with the rays of the sun, throwing shimmering lights on the two of us. The terrain extended for miles in each direction, the monotony of it all really setting in as we walked.

'Remind me again, why can't we just teleport there? Even I could get us way closer.' I protested.

'Perseus, we are close enough to mount Tam that if I was to use or expend even the smallest bit of divine energy, Porphyrion would be able to sense me. I can feel his aura even from here, faint as it is.' I sighed in defeat.

'But wait, why can't I teleport us closer? I'm just a demigod.'

Artemis wrinkled her nose in distaste, although I could see the mirth in her eyes. 'I don't trust you not to mess that up.'

I threw up my hands in exasperation. We continued walking in comfortable silence after that.

I started fidgeting after a while. Gods-be-damned ADHD. I needed something to distract myself.

'So what will you do after we defeat Porphyrion?' I blurted out suddenly. Woah partner, that came outta nowhere. But I was feeling bored and hell, why not. We hadn't avoided deeper questions over the last weeks, why stop now?

Artemis cocked her head, deep in thought. 'I suppose I shall return to my duties with my hunt.' I noticed doubt seemed to be creeping into her voice. Huh. Odd. Perhaps she had had some sort of disagreement with them before her departure?

Artemis seemed to be lost in thought as she stared ahead, her eyebrows furrowed adorably as she seemed to develop a sudden interest in the needles on the pine trees up ahead. The sunlight flickering through the treeline flickered along her countenance, giving her eyes an ethereal look that seemed capable of staring through my soul if they were turned on me.

'And you?' Artemis asked. I had been so distracted that for a moment I stayed silent, before uttering the incredibly intelligent 'Huh?'

Artemis gave me a strange look, studying me as she kicked a particularly round piece of wood, glancing as it skimmed over the thin layer of moss blanketing the ground, coming to a stop some paces away.

'What are your plans for after the war? Being a praetor I'm sure you have a lot to do.' Artemis looked at me expectantly as we walked.

I came to an abrupt stop as I came to a harrowing realisation.

I hadn't thought about praetorship and my plans since we had left Nereus three weeks earlier earlier.

'What is it?' Artemis asked as she too stopped and stared at me worriedly.

'I was just thinking, I don't think I turned off the lights of my villa before I left.' I lied easily.

What I really want to tell you is that one week with you seems to have made me forget about my life's aspirations since I was five.

Artemis rolled her eyes playfully, an easy smile present on her features. The smile always made me happy, even when I was thinking of praetor business. Which apparently I haven't thought of in a while. It's why I always tried to make her laugh.

Some praetor you are. A snide voice called out from somewhere deep in my mind.

I had to admit, the voice had a point. I was meant to be the praetor of the twelfth legion fulminata, and here I was, crushing on a greek.

She's more than a Greek, though. That annoying little voice in the back of my mind told me. I gave up trying to silence or ignore it a while back to be perfectly honest.

Deep down, I knew the voice was right, but I simply could not afford to let this throw a spanner in the works of my plans.

I've sacrificed so much for this. I wouldn't let my feelings get in the way.

A river slowly came into view. The roaring sound of water racing over seabed smoothed over the course of thousands of years was like music to my ears, and I took in a deep breath as I felt the concentration of my father's domain in one place. Although it was freshwater, I felt equally rejuvenated when I felt the light sheen of water hit my face.

I stopped in front of the river. 'You know, my first couple of years in the legion, I got the nickname "Moses".' I began. 'The centurion of my cohort alway put me on guard duty along the river whenever he could. Whenever new recruits came, instead of having to find the entrance through the Caldecott tunnel, I'd just do this.'

I clapped my hands together horizontally in front of me, before opening them as wide as they would go.

The river reacted immediately. Instantly the flow of water ceased, slowly moving to either side as a massive path was formed in the middle of the river. Artemis stared in wonder as I stepped down into the river bank. I signalled for her to join me.

Artemis looked to the walls of water on either side of her distrustingly as she made her way down into the river bank.

As she made her way beside me, I slowly allowed the water to keep flowing above us, forming a walkway through the bottom of the river.

The light filtered through the river, leaving the makeshift tunnel through which the river flowed.

Artemis stared at the spectacle around her, the light from the sun filtering through the flowing river above, framing her face with what appeared to be an angelic halo.

I couldn't drag my eyes away from her. It was a strange feeling, that helplessness.

Then again, I didn't really want any help from my current predicament.

What was I doing? I checked myself. Was I, son of Neptune the praetor of New Rome, really reducing myself and my abilities to cheap party tricks for a greek maiden goddess?

But as I stared at Artemis as she took in her surroundings, the look of wonder in her eyes and that mesmerising smile of hers as she stuck a hand into the river above her…

I wouldn't trade that smile for the world.

The realisation gave me a jolt.

Could this be… More serious than I thought?

You have been on the road with her for a month and a half straight. I reminded myself, trying to stay rational. You'll be fine by the time you get back to New Rome.

What was I doing?

The indecision, and by extension, helplessness I felt only served to add more fuel to the fire that were my tumultuous emotions.

The realisation, coupled with the passion of my feelings left me paralysed, unsure of how to continue. I couldn't bottle up all of this anymore. I needed some form or another to release it all.

In my moment of distress, my powers channelled the intense emotional conflict I was having with myself, with large, arching spires of water shooting up into the air. Vast sheens of watery mist coalesced into colossal rainbows when combined with the sunlight, making their way around myself and Artemis like a curtain of technicolour shooting stars.

Artemis looked at me in awe, only to find me staring straight back at her. She seemed to say something, although I couldn't hear her over the roar of the water and my own emotions.

For the life of me, I couldn't tell you how long we stayed there, the water continuing its impressive display, although at this point I could barely pay attention to what my emotions had fashioned.

I lost myself in the moment, feeling the dam break as my emotions flooded out, the water forming a complex pattern of interlocking lines, moving upwards like a spire, before peeling off in every possible direction, forming into tiny little droplets, before freezing and falling in slow-motion, the small crystalline structures throwing light into even the tiniest of crevices.

XIXI

Artemis

I took a tentative step into the river bank, glancing dubiously at the stationary walls of water now on either side of me. As I made my way to Perseus's side, I heard water gurgling above me, and when I glanced up, I saw the water had resumed its flow above us, leaving myself and Perseus inside this dome at the bottom of the river.

I marvelled at the beauty of the mysterious murky blue liquid, which was occasionally dotted with piercing rays of golden sunlight.

Suddenly, the winds picked up around me. I looked around in confusion as I saw the water of what seemed like almost the entire river was lifted into the sky, forming giant curtains of misty rainbow comets, slowly forming a beautiful variegated cylinder of mist.

I looked back to stare in wonder at Perseus. My heart jumped into my throat as I found him staring at me. He had a strange look in his eyes I couldn't describe. It seemed almost… longing?

I suddenly noticed Percy looked quite dashing, the wind whipping in his hair as his eyes glowed a sea-green. Even as a goddess, there was a quiet power behind the gesture that made me feel the smallest bit of respect.

I had never had a good relationship with rivers or the ocean. Because of my father's feud with Poseidon, I had always been cautioned to stay away from his domain, and subsequently, in my over four millennia of existence, I had never strayed near the ocean or large rivers.

If I had known what I was missing out on, I might have taken the risk.

'Perseus, this is incredible.' I exclaimed breathlessly. Then suddenly the realisation hit me. There was nobody else here. He did this for me. All this for me. 'Thank you so much.'

I felt an alien but simultaneously familiar feeling coursing through my body, as if I was on cloud nine, butterflies in my stomach.

I could remember the last time I had felt that feeling as if it was yesterday.

Orion.

It was the same feeling. The same feeling that had gotten him killed.

But this is different. A small voice in my subconscious whispered. Perseus isn't Orion.

But could I risk him meeting the same end?

XIXI

Percy

By the time I had ended the display, I was panting. I had needed the exertion of just simply letting out all of my emotions, but it tired me nonetheless.

Artemis still had that halo that made her look like an angel. As if she didn't already.

I tried for a sheepish smile. 'Sorry, I kinda lost control back there.'

Artemis smiled warmly and went to open her mouth to respond.

Then everything went black.

AN:

Aaaand scene. So yeah. In case somehow you couldn't tell, this story is definitely pertemis. Uh, I've been hinting at it pretty heavily, so if you didn't pick that up, I'm not sure what to tell you.

I can't get myself to like this chapter. No matter how much I try. It's a filler, cliffhanger, short and really doesn't add anything apart from set up the next two chapters and endgame chapter/chapters of this arc, and is in my opinion my cringiest work, although in fairness that's debatable.

So, there has been a time skip of two weeks, and I came up with the idea of Orion. The reason is that I don't want Artemis to be some kind of damsel in distress that falls for the hero, and gets relegated to the sidelines and has no sort of personal identity.

Cliffhanger? Not for long, I plan to have the next chapter out pretty soon if everything goes to plan.

Let me know what you think, things I could improve. I'm not going to demand you to write a review, but it's much appreciated.

Apathetic God: I'm so glad you noticed that. Since this fic is majority fluff, especially at the beginning I thought it would be important to establish Percy's general power, but not like shove it in your face like 'Hey look Percy's powerful because I said so!'

So yeah, that's about it. I'll try and get the next chapter out as soon as possible, hopefully it should be longer. This was more filler to expand Artemis and Percy's relationship.

Murph out.