If they wanted to hurt Artemis, then it would be impossible at this distance.

Although, it didn't feel as though they were after his lover.

It felt as though they were after him.

However, Percy had half-expected this.

It felt like they were after him, but for some reason they didn't make a move when Artemis was around.

Was it a mistake to leave her side?

It might've been.

Even so, Percy wanted to get a good look at their stalker, alone.

And, it didn't seem like they were going to show themselves unless he was by himself like this.

If he was able to take care of it, then all was well.

If he couldn't, then he was confident in his ability to run away.

Of course, one could never be too sure of themselves.

Overconfidence could be a poison in certain scenarios.

The biggest thing was that he didn't want Artemis to worry unnecessarily.

It was his job to take care of things like this.

Plus, it seemed like confrontation was inevitable with the way they were staring.

It was better to deal with it now rather than later.

If this stalker wanted to fight then he was confident in his abilities to defend himself.

After walking an certain amount of distance away, Percy halted his steps.

He felt the presence stop as soon as he stopped.

This was a good amount of distance away.

He turned his head to see nothing.

Odd. It felt like they were here somewhere?

After sweeping his surroundings, his gaze naturally moved upwards to see a man passively staring at him while floating in the air.

Oh.

There he was.

Seeing the floating person in the sky made Percy think that this person was definitely a god.

He was like a speck in the air, but Percy could clearly see his eyes.

Electric blue.

Strangely enough, he didn't feel as surprised as he thought he would've been.

Maybe it was because he had been around Artemis for a long time.

Despite being a bit far away, he had an imposing air around him that Percy could feel from where he was standing.

The man descended towards him.

It seemed slow, but in reality it took no less than a few seconds.

For a stalker, he certainly did not look the part.

The man wore a deep blue pinstripe suit that matched his pants.

His dark hair was slightly long and wavy with a groomed bread.

He had never seen those clothes before, but the feeling he got was different from what he expected. If he to describe the man in a word, then it would be professional.

Percy would've never guessed that someone like that would have a strange hobby of peeping on other people.

A strange sense of anxiousness washed over Percy as he watched the stranger scan him with those blue eyes.

After a while, he spoke in a composed tone, "So, you are the one who stole from me."

Automatically, Percy's face wore a frown, confused because he obviously had never done such a thing.

He had never seen this person in his entire life, much less steal from him.

"With all due respect, I don't even know who you are."

Even though Percy said that, the man pretended not to hear and continued to coldly stare at him.

"That will be the first and only time, you will speak without permission. Understood?

From the two lines of dialogue Percy gathered, he figured out that this guy was a nutcase.

After hearing nothing but silence, Percy felt the man get angrier.

"Do you understand?"

His tone sounded less like a question and more like a command than anything.

"Sir. I think you have the wrong guy. I've never-"

The man rose his hand as the sound of a thunderclap loudly interrupted, "Silence! I don't think you understand the position you are currently in. So, allow me to demonstrate."

Percy didn't notice before, but the sky was covered in dark clouds.

Then, Percy saw the man's hand ball into a fist, causing a circle of lightning to fall around them.

It was an effortless motion and made Percy realize that this guy was big deal.

Could he even fight against this?

Water against his lightning seemed extremely disadvantageous towards Percy.

And, he couldn't control his water as well as the man could control his lightning.

A testament to that fact was that none of the surrounding trees caught on fire despite being in close proximity of the lightning.

"Now that I have gotten your attention, allow me to introduce myself. I am Zeus, the God of Lightning and Justice, King of the Gods. And, Artemis' dad."

Huh?

Artemis'-

Dad?

His thoughts must've shown on his face because Zeus had a 'Yeah, that's right' look on his face.

The first thought he had was that they looked nothing alike.

From the hair color to the eyes to the facial features.

There was no indicator that they were even remotely related.

Was he lying then?

If they stood side-by-side and Percy was told to guess what kind of relationship these two people had, Percy wouldn't have been able to guess it with one hundred percent confidence.

He wouldn't have ever been able to guess.

But then again, what would he gain by lying?

It wouldn't make any sense.

If he was telling the truth then the reason why he was accused of stealing was because of?

What would he have been able to steal from him?

Percy tried to think as hard as he could to find out what he had stolen, but he couldn't figure it out.

His thoughts circled back to a blank no matter how many times he questioned himself.

It all started with Artemis, so it had something to do with Artemis.

Artemis.

Artemis...

Art-emis...

Nope.

He couldn't figure it out.

As if reading Percy thoughts, Zeus had a smile on his face that wasn't really a smile as he cracked his knuckles.

Percy had an ominous feeling seeing the creepy smile on Zeus' face and was ready to make a run for it when a shout came from the distance.

"FATHER!"

Artemis stormed up to the man.

"What are you doing here," the goddess demanded.

Instantly, the skies turned clear as if nothing happened. The overbearing look on Zeus' face disappeared in the wind like a fleeting memory.

"Artemis, dear, not now. There's people." Zeus said in a hushed tone, his eyes glanced in Percy's direction.

"No, father. I've said it time and time again."

"Artemis, Artemis baby-"

Artemis put up her hand to stop him.

"Father. Mind your image. Please refrain from referring to me as such. It's very inappropriate. Anyways, I said that you are not to spy on my matters, and you continue to-"

At first, Percy was at a loss on what to do since this seemed to be a family matter, but eventually settled on silently making his exit to give the two some space.

But as he was doing so, Percy felt a small stinging sensation on the back of his head, preventing him from leaving. Artemis had stopped mid-sentence, gave him a look that asked 'where are you going', and held her hand out like she was asking a puppy for their paw.

When Percy instinctively grabbed her hand, Artemis resuming talking like nothing happened.

Meanwhile, Percy blankly thought to himself.

'Why did I do that?'

Zeus, the witness of that small event, was just as confused as Percy.

'What did I just watch?'

The god of lightning had little time to process what had happened before Artemis continued to speak.

"-invade my privacy over and over. Father, I've said it last time that if I ever find you interfering in my personal matters. I won't stand for it any longer."

"Ok. Artemis, I understand. But, listen to me," he said softly, trying to make her lower her voice.

"No, I won't. Since, you refuse to listen to my simple request to leave me alone. I really don't see a reason to entertain you. I will not tolerate this any longer," her words were filled with anger.

This was the first time Percy had ever seen Artemis this angry before.

Angry was probably an understatement. Artemis was absolutely furious.

Just by looking at her face, you couldn't tell that she was angry, but the tone of her voice made it clear as day.

Not trying to interrupt anyone, Percy began to say, "I think if we just all-"

Both Artemis and Zeus turned to look at him and yelled, "Stay out of this," "Shut up!" at the same time before they continued talking.

Percy quietly accepted his position and decided to try to support Artemis as well as he could.

Maybe he could calm Artemis a bit by gently rubbing her hand.

Artemis and Zeus continued to bicker with no signs of stopping.

This was going to take a while wasn't it.

Inwardly sighing, Percy wished that he never left the tent earlier that morning.