While Zeus and Artemis continued their heated discussion, Percy was helplessly stuck between the two.

At some point, Artemis stood in front of him, serving as a human barrier between him and Zeus.

Of course, he wouldn't say that holding his lover's hand was boring by any means, he enjoyed every moment of it, but when there's two people discussing something very intently right next to you, then it somewhat decreases the value of the action.

Around the same time, he started playing with her hand.

Fortunately, she didn't seem to mind, allowing him to do whatever he wanted like a mother spoiling her child.

It was extremely soft and flawless, and not a single blemish could be seen. Almost like they had never seen a speck of dust in their entire lives.

Something he noticed was that her long slender fingers remained cold despite him holding them for quite some time.

Upon further inspection, it seemed to be apart of her natural constitution.

Perhaps due to the nature of her godhood.

Percy thought that it was fine because he'd hold them for as long as it would take for them to get warm.

As if hearing his thoughts, he felt a trace of warmth in her palm before it went away.

Godhood?

Now that Percy thought about it, what was Artemis the god of?

He had always assumed that she was the goddess of archery since the Hunt only used bows, and Artemis, being its leader, would make her the god of archery. But, that was only an assumption. Percy didn't know for sure what she was the god of.

Now that he thought about it, he didn't know much about Artemis at all.

He didn't know what her favorite foods were.

He didn't know what Artemis did when she was away.

He didn't know what her favorite color was.

He didn't even know what kind of god she was.

What kind of lover didn't know these simple things?

What kind of lover was he?

Percy felt a pang of sadness and loss.

Was he really a good lover?

Sensing his inner turmoil, Artemis wondered what happened.

Hopefully, this would cheer him up.

Quickly turning around, she gave him a soft peck on the cheek before facing her father again with a straight face.

Percy was stunned for a second, but quickly regained his composure.

Was this her way of comforting him?

His heart warmed thinking about it.

Percy swore to himself that he would be the best lover Artemis could ever have.

He would have to ask her about all of these things later, when he had the chance.

Zeus shot him a glare while he tried to hide his jealousy, but Percy pretended not to notice and continue to fiddle with his mistress's hand like nothing was happening.

Percy didn't know why Zeus looked so jealous, but it was none of his concern.

How she was able to show intimacy in front of her own father was impressive and cool.

He knew that he would be able to do the same in front of his own parents.

It was be too embarrassing.

But, Percy could also tell her exterior didn't show her true feelings.

Artemis had a tendency to hide her feelings deep inside, especially when in front of other people.

It wasn't the case with Leto and Alexie though, for whatever reason.

Was it because she was closer to them or was it because they were by themselves.

Either way, aggressive Artemis was exceedingly attractive as was her usual self.

Any Artemis was attractive in his eyes, even awkward Artemis.

Moments before, she tried to tease him back, but her lack of experience showed in her awkwardness.

But, it was cute seeing her try to explore his hand like he was doing to her.

She was always showing him attention when she didn't have to.

It didn't feel bad though.

He found himself wanting to do something more intimate with Artemis.

There was only so much time that could pass before people want to do something else.

For some reason, he had the urge to pull Artemis away and hold her, hug her, kiss her, undress her...

Make love with her.

Percy inwardly blushed thinking about it, lowering his head from his own thoughts.

Even if it did show on his face, the Masking Mist would have hid his expression from Zeus, so he didn't have to worry there.

It was just that Percy forgot about it because nobody talked about it.

But, now wasn't the right time for such thinking, so he quickly wiped the thought from his head.

He noticed a small movement a short distance away from them.

He caught a glimpse of a small head poke out from behind a bush, before quickly disappearing.

An amused smile grew on his face.

Who was that?

Well, it was none other than Alexie hiding out.

Why she was there? Percy had no idea.

But, he decided to mess around with her a little.

He flicked his finger, shooting a harmless water bolt.

It would feel like a drop of water hit her.

He saw the head look left then right, confused at where it came from since the sky was clear with not a single cloud in the sky.

At first, she ignored them but she soon realized that someone was messing with her.

Feeling her glare, Percy saw her face poke out from the bushes.

What was she saying?

He couldn't read her lips from that distance, so he tilted his head in confusion.

What he could tell was that she was fuming.

Whispering something into Artemis's ear, she let him ago.

"I'll see you later, my love," Artemis whispered back. Her eyes softened and gave him a parting kiss, looking especially enchanting as he left.

Zeus looked dumbfounded, questioning if this was really his daughter.

He never knew that Artemis could have such a loving expression on her face.

It was an extremely foreign yet familiar sight.

At that moment, Zeus saw an image of Leto overlapping Artemis's face for a second before it disappeared, making him rub his eyes to see if they were working properly.

What was that?

Her smile.

Her gaze.

The little twinkle in her eyes.

Everything.

It was all eerily similar to how Leto looked like in the past.

Extraordinarily beautiful.

All of a sudden, Zeus had the urge to go see Leto, even though he hasn't seen her in a few centuries.

He missed her.

Zeus didn't expect this male to spark that same look in Artemis like he had done so many years ago with Leto.

Admittedly, it was strange.

And that wasn't even the strangest part. Artemis seemed to be the dominant one in the relationship rather than the boy, which he found strange because the man was supposed to be the dominant one in the relationship not the woman, like how he was the one to make the first move on Leto, and not the other way around.

That being said, it didn't mean Zeus was alright with Percy stealing his daughter away from him.

In fact, it was quite the opposite. Seeing Artemis like that only made him angrier.

Who was Percy to steal his daughter from him?

Even though Percy might not have been the one to make the first move, that didn't stop Zeus from blaming him for breaking his daughter's oath.

Zeus gave Percy a death glare as if everything was his fault, but like last time Zeus was ignored yet again.

T-T

A little while later.

Percy was with Alexie in a clearing close to the Hunt.

Alexie had a displeased expression on her face.

"I know it was you. I don't know how you did it, but I know it was you."

It looked like she was pouting.

Percy had an innocent look on his face. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Hpmh!"

Clearly not believing him, Alexie decided to look at his features instead, noticing that she could actually see his face for the first time.

Recently, Percy began to notice that it was becoming a trend for people to scan at his face like he was some exotic animal at the zoo when they realized the Masking Mist had dissipated for them.

He became strangely used to it.

As much as Alexie didn't want to admit it, he was quite handsome.

If he was ugly then she would've made fun of him for it.

He had that kind of mature aura you would get from a reliable older brother, which was a much different feeling from those summer camp kids.

The guys over there were childish and only cared about looks.

Not only that but he was also hardworking.

He was both talented and a hard worker.

A deadly combo.

Also from what's she'd seen, he was honest and straightforwards.

Augh.

Even though she wasn't allowed to date a guy, it didn't mean that she couldn't have a type.

Clicking her tongue, Alexie looked away, not wanting to look at him anymore.

She felt a bit envious of Artemis, but shoved the thought aside.

It wasn't fair that Artemis c

"Stupid stud," Alexie said under her breath.

"What?"

What was a stud?

"It's nothing," she angrily said.

Nothing?

If she looked like that then it certainly didn't look like nothing.

If it was nothing then why did she get more irritated?

"If I did something wrong then-"

"Quiet. I don't want to hear it."

Did he do something wrong?

All he did was mess with her a little bit?

Did she really get angry about that?

It wasn't that big of a deal. Was it?

"You're more narrow-minded than I thought."

Oops.

He accidentally said it out loud.

"What? Who's narrow minded? You idiot!"

She punched his arm with a fair amount of strength. It didn't really hurt since he trained his body, but he pretended that he was hurt anyways.

"Stop pretending. I know you train every day," she said, annoyed.

Percy didn't know how Alexie got that information, but he didn't really care to ask.

Either way, she was right.

"Yeah, but. Why are you hitting me?"

"Because you deserve it."

"For doing what?"

"I don't like looking at your face," Alexie said as she hit him.

'Then why are you looking...'

Percy touched his face, trying to measure his looks through touch alone.

Was his face that unpleasant to look at?

Artemis never said anything about him being ugly though.

"That's not even a good reason..."

"It is if I say it is," Alexie said in a domineering tone, taking the opportunity to punch his shoulder.

"Alexie, you know. You're pretty strong despite how you look."

Truthfully speaking, Percy thought that her strength wasn't bad. It wasn't bad in the slightest. Her muscle control was also pretty good as well.

"Despite how I look? What do you mean by that?" Her eyes narrowed as if accusing him if something.

"I'm just saying-"

"Saying what?"

"I'm just saying that you're pretty strong."

"You're an idiot you know that?"

"Huh? What?"

"That's not something that you just tell a girl. What am I? Some sort of muscle head like you?"

"It's supposed to be a compliment-"

"Your face is supposed to be a compliment!" Alexie said while hitting his shoulder again.

A question mark appeared above his head.

Did he say something wrong?

She punched him a few more times, each consecutive one was stronger than the last.

"You're an idiot!"

"Alright! Alright! I'm sorry, I didn't mean it."

Her assault lessened as she grumbled something that he couldn't hear, "Idiot. You're such an idiot."

This time her punches

Alexie didn't look like the strong type, but she could sure hit hard.

"No, but I'm being serious here. Have you considered trying the sword?"

Alexie had a pondering look on her face as if she was really thinking about it and then decisively punched him as hard as she could.

T-T

"Alexie focus," Percy said, "you're making the same mistake you did last time."

Alexie pulled on the bowstring, held it for a moment before releasing.

The arrow soared through the sky, wizzing around the tree, but barely missed the target.

Letting go of the breath she was holding, Alexie exhaustedly dropped to the floor.

Sighing, she lamented, "What am I doing wrong?"

"Here, some water."

Percy handed her a glass of cold water, which she took.

"I don't understand..." Alexie said, exasperated.

"Alexie, teaching cannot be forced. If I tell you, what to do, how to do, when to do it. You're not really learning. You're only mimicking. You aren't thinking about how you are shooting, but you're more focused on what I'm saying."

"English please."

"You're going through the motions and not thinking for yourself."

"Can you say it differently?"

"I don't know what more you want from me."

"Por favor?"

"I don't even know what that means..."

"If I keep on telling you what to do, what are you going to do if I'm not here?"

"Why didn't you just say that the first time?"

Percy just sighed and rubbed his temples.

'This girl is going to be the death of me.'

"Ok. So. I've noticed that you've been rushing your last couple shots. Try to take your time on these next ones and shoot when you are ready."

"Got it."

Alexie did the same drawing motion from before, but this time held it for ten more seconds before firing.

But like before, she missed the target again.

"... You were ready much earlier than that."

"What do you mean?"

"Here, let me assist with a shot. Do you mind me touching you?"

"... No."

"Alright, draw your bow again?"

Complying, Alexie once again stood in position, ready to fire. Percy stood behind her with his hands over hers.

Even though she was the one to agree, the unexpected proximity surprised Alexie.

Wasn't this too close?

"Is this too close?" he gently asked.

The softness in his voice melted any barriers she had.

"Ah! Uh, um, it's fine," Alexie stammered.

The second those words left her mouth that she wondered why she had said them.

'Idiot! Idiot!' Alexie berated herself.

His hands felt warm and due to their close proximity his unique scent entered her nose, making her blush.

"Alright. Focus," he whispered.

How did he expect her to focus like this?

Her mind was spinning solely from his smell, and she could feel his body hovering near her.

It was wandering places, it shouldn't be wandering.

'This is not the time! This is Artemis's lover!'

Alexie tried to focus. But, her mind didn't listen and kept thinking about other things.

"Remember this sensation and fire."

Percy guided her to release the bowstring, allowing the arrow to fly in the air.

After a second, it hit the target directly in the center.

Percy said, "See? Pretty easy, right?"

Even though Alexie hit the bullseye, she felt no enjoy because of it.

The only words she could utter were, "Uh, yeah..."

It didn't seem like Percy noticed, allowing her to regain composure without much questioning.

"Could you show me how to do that-"

Alexie heard a cough from behind and when she turned to look at the source her voice squeaked in the tiniest voice she could muster, "again?"

Percy also turned to look at the newcomer and upon seeing Artemis he flashed a smile saying, "I'm just helping Alexie with some archery."

His innocence poured through here because he couldn't see what Artemis was currently seeing.

Alexie got a foreboding feeling.

The goddess said, "Oh don't mind me, Percy just continue what you're doing."

Although her face didn't change, Alexie couldn't help but feel a slight chill emanating from her voice.

"Alexie, you don't mind if I watch, right?"

'Oh gods. Someone save me.'