Hello! My name is Valentina. Currently, I'm 20 years old. After watching the series on Disney plus of PJO, I disliked it so much I read the entire series again and reignited my passion! Btw, I still have endless love for Annabeth and admire her much as a character. But deep down, I love impossible romances. Thus, the reasons for my pertemis pairing. I'm treating this fic as a writing exercise, since I haven't written in so long and I enjoy it so much. But I study engineering now so I never write, and I really miss it. Anyways, this is easy to write and helps reignite my creativity. Enjoy!

Percy

I woke up after the encounter with Artemis the next day and decided to move camp. I was next to a pond, not exactly the best body of water from which I can take full advantage of my powers. So I decided to move on, try to find the coast or something. These are the times I really wished I had a map or a phone to google where the heck I am. Unfortunately for the monsters who want to eat me, I'm not taking the risk of attracting monsters to me with a phone. I feel like the element of surprise is better when hunting them. Maybe next town I might buy a map. I keep on forgetting to do that. When I told Annabeth I didn't have a map, she slapped her hand against her forehead. She wants to know where I am, just in case anything happens. I don't really have a habit of needing a map. Being from New York, navigating the city is predictable and there's no need for it. Plus, I don't even know how to read a map correctly. Maybe they should have a class or something like that in camp, "How to read a map: Demigod Edition!". Next time I go, I'll suggest that to Chiron.

I packed everything up in a backpack and decided to just walk. I have enough food for about 3 days, which isn't much. I also have only half a liter of water. I also didn't know how to hunt. I don't even know how I've lasted a month on this mission by myself. Oh well, I'll just hope I run into some sign that civilization is near. I wish Grover were here, playing music on his reed pipes to show the way or talking to animals. I miss G-man. I walked what seemed like hours, just admiring the beauty of the forest. Luckily, it hasn't gotten too cold at night, but I know that the fall season is ending and I will have to start packing more winter supplies, or sleep by a fire. I don't really like option B seeing as that the smoke might attract unwanted attention or even monsters. Maybe I could go to a hotter state in the west, but that might take me a couple of days to get there.

Finally, I started to get closer to a town. I noticed there were less animals and started seeing houses. I walked and walked, until I reached a more urban part of the town. It was a small town, kids playing on the streets, school buses on the road, fast food chains ever present. Yummy. I might just get myself a hamburger. There were some small shops and a small plaza, where I saw a newspaper stand. Maybe they sell maps there.

All of a sudden, I saw a chihuahua. After meeting the Chimera, I am wary of every single chihuahua I spy, even if they have apparently mortal owners. You could imagine my fear when I found out there was a movie about chihuahuas in Beverly hills. Definitely rated R in my books. I backed away from the chihuahua, but it turned its head and glared at me as if it heard me, even though I was 50 yards away. That's not good. It also doesn't seem to be with any owner. That's even worse. I took my pen out of my pocket when the chihuahua ran towards me, letting out an all familiar growl that regular chihuahuas do not make. It grew, full size, right in the middle of this small town, and launched itself at me. I managed to roll away before its lion head snapped its bloody maw at me and managed to jump right over the serpent tail attack it launched at me. Immediately it backed away, noticing that I had improved since our last fight, and it roared furiously. Oh boy, the chihuahua was mad.

"Downgirl!" I shouted. "Sit! Stay!" I yelled out commands. It nudged its head, confused. "Be a good Chihuahua! Roll over!" That only angered the Chimera. It ran towards me, very mad this time, but this time I was better prepared. I baseball slid underneath and swiped at it, creating a gash in its underbelly, and managed to dodge another strike from the serpent tail but failed to dodge the paw. I flew and landed, rolling and only stopping because a tree was in the way. Quickly, the Chimera tried to strike me with its serpent tail but this time I cut it off, the head of the cobra flailing in the ground. It winced, and soon the Chimera grew another serpent tail, roaring in defiance. Jeez, this was going to be tough.

Before I could run at it again, a silver arrow flew and landed on its face. I took the opportunity and stabbed it in the side, the Chimera wincing yet again, but unrelenting. Spoon enough three arrows plunged themselves into the creature, one in the eye and two others on the neck. I quickly slashed and slashed, attempting to harm the Chimera as much as possible. I saw an opening and slid beneath it again, managing to stab it near its heart. It howled, and soon enough above me the air filled with gold dust.

I coughed and sputtered gold dust out of my mouth. "Ew, I don't know where that chihuahua's been." I muttered. I rubbed the dust out of my eyes and when I opened them again, I saw the owner of the silver arrows, staring at me.

"Hello, Lady Artemis." I said, trying to not cough.

She grinned. "Hello Perseus." She held out her hand and I took it. As I stood up, she examined me and frowned. "You seem unscathed."

I shook off some gold dust. "Yeah, well, Achilles Curse and everything."

She nodded in realization. "Ah yes, I remember that my lieutenant commented that to me after the battle."

I smiled. "Yeah? How's Thalia? Is she around?" I glanced around, looking for her hunters and a familiar spikey haired teen.

Artemis winced slightly. "No, she's not."

I scrunch my eyebrows, "What do you mean she's not here?" Then I realized. "The hunters aren't with you? What happened to them?" I was worried. After the war, there were only 7 hunters left of the original 30. They were tremendous in the war effort and gave it their absolute all. I admired them, especially Thalia.

·"Don't worry, nothing happened." She replied. "I decided to let the hunters have some time off and rewarded them with a vacation in Florida."

I laughed. I imagined Thalia in Florida, sitting on a beach, sipping a virgin Piña Colada, with her silver bow next to her and her Death to Barbie shirt underneath a floral guayabera. "Gods, they must be having fun then." I said, putting my hands in my pockets. "Then, what are you doing here?" I asked.

She put her bow behind her back. "I'm on a solo hunt. Same as you, killing off any remaining monsters."

I grinned. "That's cool." A beat passed. Nervously, and a little bit out of nowhere, I asked "Well, if you don't have anything better to do, wanna grab something to eat to celebrate? I've never beat the Chimera before, and that's a nasty thing to get rid of. She poisoned me pretty bad last time." A moment of silence passed. "As like… acquaintances, you know?"

She turned her head slightly. "Sure." and with that, we began walking. It was kind of uncomfortable, since I didn't really know a good place to eat and we kind of had to go far away from the place the Chimera was. "So what do you think the mortals saw?" I asked.

She chuckled. "I imagine an oversized Chihuahua disobeying your commands."

I laughed. "You saw that huh? Yeah, sometimes I saw stupid things when attacking monsters."

"I noticed." We stopped at a small burger place and sat down. I picked up the menu, but I couldn't read it. "Damn it." I said, under my breath.

She looked up at me. "There's a regular cheeseburger, a bacon cheese burger, a barbecue burger, and something called 'Holy Smokes' that are of note."

"Thanks, again, for the third time. I'm gonna order the bacon cheeseburger." I said.

"I'm still thinking." She looked up from the menu. "You've battled the Chimera before?"

"Yeah, it was pretty bad. I didn't manage to kill it that time. I was 12 and barely knew how to swing a sword, so my fighting skills weren't the best at the time. We were in the St. Louis Arch and luckily the Chimera made a huge hole, so I kind of just. Jumped." I made a diving motion with my hands.

She scoffed, but not in an unfriendly way. "And where did you fall?"

"Into a river thankfully. Otherwise I would have died from the impact or died from the poison. Really, it was a lose-lose situation." I said.

Soon enough, a waitress came and asked for our orders. Artemis ordered a barbecue burger in the end. They took away our menus and soon enough we were back in that weird silence. "Um, have you fought the Chimera before?"

She nodded. "Multiple times. It is easier to kill it when you have a group of hunters all specialized in archery and you don't have to get close."

"Oooh yeah, bows are great for killing the big ones. I've always wished to be good at shooting."

She smiled. "Yes, I remember the prayer while you were in that blasted ranch. I was going to answer it, but Hera beat me."

"You were? Again, thanks, for what seems like the fourth time." I sighed.

"What are your plans for when that happens again on your hunt? When you need backup or some form of archery to kill the monster?" She inquired.

"Well, I have the Achilles curse, so that helps a lot. But so far, not much need yet. But yeah, I do miss having that kind of backup." I replied.

The burgers arrived very quickly, and soon enough I was scarfing it down. I was really hungry. I didn't have any breakfast because I was rationing my food. Artemis ate slowly, and with the help of cutlery. "How are you on food?" She asked.

"Not too good, I have 3 days left of food and I wasn't aware that I was near a town. Thankfully, I was." She frowned at my comment.

"What do you mean? Do you not have a map or a way to navigate?"

"Um," I swallowed. Probably don't want to eat with my mouth full in front of her. "Not really. At night sometimes I can see the stars and that helps, but no usually I just… wander." She tapped her fingers on the table, raising her eyebrows. "I know, it's dumb, I was about to buy one when the Chimera attacked."

She hummed. "Do you know how to hunt?"

"Not really."

"Do you fish at least?". At this, I shook my head vigorously.

"Oh no, I'd never fish. Fish speak to me and call me 'Lord'. I could never have the heart to kill them or eat them. Ever since I found out I was a demigod, I've never had fish."

"You must lack some vitamins."

I shrugged. "Doesn't matter, the guilt would weigh me down more." I ate some fries, dipping them in ketchup and mayo.

She put down her cutlery. I had about a bite left of my burger and she was only halfway through. "I… have a proposal then."

I leaned back. "Go ahead."

"Maybe we could join each other on our hunt. If we're doing the same hunt, we can help each other out in killing these monsters. I must admit, sometimes a companion is good to slay monsters."

I turned my head. "Don't you use godly powers or something?"

She shook her head. "Hunting would not be the same if I were to 'cheat', per se. It removes the thrill."

I nodded, agreeing with her. "But what about the Ancient Laws? Aren't gods and mortals not able to work together?"

"In this case, no. Hunting is my domain. And you are not on a quest of any kind, thus there is no interference."

I ate another fry. "Seems foolproof. Yeah, I'd like to join you."

"Besides, I can return the favor of your quest those years ago and teach you how to hunt and shoot a bow." She said.

I laughed, good naturedly. "Don't worry about that quest. It was nothing." I said. "And oh, teaching me how to shoot a bow is gonna take a lot. I'm really a horrible shot. Probably the worst there's been at camp in a few centuries."

She raised her eyebrows. "Really? Tell me why."

"When I first arrived to camp, they put me in all of the classes trying to figure out who my godly parent was, and when I shot the bow and arrow I managed to shoot at Chiron's tail behind me."

At this, she laughed. Like a full, human laugh. "That's gonna be a tough challenge."

I grinned. "Can you take it?"

She scoffed, a defiant glint in her eyes. "Of course I can."

I put my hands up. "Fine by me. Maybe archery lessons by the goddess of archery will make a difference. But I've warned you."

She chuckled. "So, let's shake on it. We join forces and get you to shoot your first bullseye." She held out her hand.

I reached out and shook her hand. "Let's do it."