The room burst into chaos.

With all the yells of doubt, Percy could barely hear himself think.

Lord Zeus just looked on, with an overbearing expression seemingly stuck on his face.

Jason had to shout over the ruckus to be heard by Leo and Percy. "If Lord Chaos himself talked with Father, that might mean whoever we're fighting might be more powerful than the primordials."

Only Leo paled at the sound of his words, while Percy gave Artemis a knowing look.

Percy had to fight hard to not ruin Lord Zeus' moment. He could already imagine it; his smug expression getting replaced with shock, and it would only take six words to do it: "He lets me call him Chaos!"

Maybe it would even humble him . . .

There was no chance. And given the astonished silence the demigods were in yet again, it seemed as though it would open up dozens of cans of worms. Questions would be asked, and answers wouldn't be given, since Percy tried to do his best to forget the traumatizing war.

Especially the moment when Lady Void landed in front of him, disintegrating back to her omnipotent being—

Nope. He wasn't going back there.

He had to do this often. Consistent mental editing. He might've gotten out of there physically, but his mind was just beginning to root itself back into the present.

Artemis was right there in the room, staring at him worriedly. Not in a pool of her own immortal blood.

He forced himself to give her a wobbly smile, and mouth the words, I'm okay.

Nobody else seemed to notice his distraught state. He did his best to bury it, but no matter how he tried to hide it, Artemis always knew.

It was as though she knew what he was thinking.

"As I said, I talked with Lord Chaos." Lord Zeus' voice thundered into his mind, bringing him back into the present. "He will visit Camp Half-Blood, and later, Camp Jupiter, with his team."

Excited murmurs rose. Every demigod would be able to see the Creator of the Universe, which was an achievement not many mortals had.

But Lady Hera wasn't satisfied. "That's it?" she asked, her voice rising angrily. "You just wanted to flaunt, didn't you? After several millenium, I thought you would change! I can't believe . . ."

"End of the council meeting!" Lord Zeus said hurriedly, the sight of his embarrassed golden cheeks bringing smiles of satisfaction to many.

Jason lunged at Percy the same time Percy lunged at him. Their hands were outstretched, a hairsbreadth apart from touching . . .

A bright light surrounded Percy, and the next thing he knew was that he was in a forest, all alone.

Percy sighed; it happened every council meeting he ever attended. Being on Lord Zeus' kill list often meant getting teleported to various locations where monsters were. He'd fought hydras, dragons, Karkinos, the Chimera, the Minotaur five times, and the Manticore.

This time didn't look as fatiguing as all the others, especially when he saw a few dracanae and a hellhound a short distance away the same time they saw him.

"Percy Jackson!" one of the dracaena snarled as he uncapped Riptide. "Thisss isss the time for my revenge."

He sighed. "For who? I've just killed so many monsters it's hard to keep track if I killed you or one of your sisters before. And all of ya'll look like identical twins."

The dracaena looked confused. "For myself, of courssse! Why would I care about Bertha?"

"I stand corrected," Percy muttered before charging.

His eyes widened as the dracaenae suddenly procured flexible, metal nets and swung at him.

"Sstay ssstill," another dracaena hissed.

A few dodges and swings of Riptide later, the all but one of the dracaenae were sent back to Tartarus along with the hellhound.

Everything was going great, and Percy was about to go for the final kill when he twisted his ankle on a large rock.

That's when it went downhill. A net immediately wrapped around him, forcing him to the ground in fear of the sharp metal cutting his skin. He struggled, but it was in vain. He thrust out his hands, willing any water he could in his proximity to barrel towards the monster. He could hear the thunderous roar of the liquid, almost as if it was coming to take its own revenge.

But then it just . . . stopped.

He frowned and opened his eyes, only to see a huge ball of golden light in the monster's hand as he finally realized the metal around him was glowing.

"Thisss isss Chaotic metal. It takes the captive's power." The dracaena started hissing in a weird way, and it took Percy a moment to realize it was her form of laughter.

His eyes widened as she coerced the ball of power—his power—into a golden amulet engraved with mysterious symbols. "Give that back!"

She opened her mouth, showing him her sharp, curved fangs. "I don't think so. I will get revenge for my sssisters. But not Bertha," the dracaena added, somehow pocketing the amulet even though she had scales for clothes.

"Bertha's a prettier . . . um . . . lady than you!" he said, trying to buy more time while praying to every deity he could think of.

It did the trick. The dracaena bristled with rage. "How dare you! I'll show you the true meaning of sss—"

She collapsed into golden dust as a silver arrow hit her before she could kill Percy.

He sighed in relief as girls in silver parkas streamed into the clearing, pointing their bows at him as though he was the offender. And given the smirks on their faces, he probably looked ridiculous, like a hogtied bull.

"Any chance I could speak to Thalia?" he asked, doing his best to search for her from his vantage point on the ground. "Or Piper?" There was a moment of silence. "No?"

With a lot of struggling, he managed to get onto his feet. Given that his hands were stuck behind his back, it was impressive. At least to him.

"Anybody want to free me?" he tiredly asked.

Another beat of silence.

"Who the hell here knows English?" he shouted out.

"All of them do," a certain amused feminine voice said as the hunters in front of him parted to let a familiar, auburn-haired girl through.

"Oh, hey Arty," Percy said, smiling at the love of his life. "Didn't see you there." When the hunters stiffened, he said, "So you guys do have free wills! What a surprise!"

Artemis just sighed. "How long did it take for you to make that nickname up?"

"I learned it from Apollo. I won't say it if it's annoying."

"I can manage. Especially if it's you."

Percy's face did it's best to burst into flames as she flashed him a predatory smirk. And when she strode up to him—close enough for him to feel her breath on his skin—his heart seemed to stop.

"Let's have a nice, long talk after you free me from this stupid net," Percy suggested, ordering his heart and head to get their act under control. "You will free me, won't you?" he reluctantly asked after Artemis just tilted her head.

He almost had a heart attack when lifted her hand and caressed his face gently with her soft hand. "Now, why would I do that? You seem safer inside of this metal than inside of the throne room."

Percy winced. "I was hoping you forgot about that."

"Forgot about that?" Artemis repeated. "My husband almost died and you wanted me to forget about that?"

Percy looked around the clearing, waiting for silver arrows to be launched right at his head. Even though they had solidified their relationship a few months ago, Percy still didn't know how the hunters would react. Artemis had reassured him throughly, but he still wanted to be careful. After all, the hunters were known to castrate males.

Artemis seemed to realize what he was thinking. "They already know. Once Thalia figured out . . . word just spread."

"And?"

"They're okay with it. Hence why you're not full of arrows."

"I really have to go to the bathroom—" Percy tried.

It took most of his willpower not to flinch under Artemis' piercing gaze. "Even you know that's a lie."

"Are you going to leave me here?" Percy asked.

"Of course not. You'll come with us to our campsite."

"I don't think I can walk—waauughh!" Percy shouted as Artemis picked him up, bridal style, and started walking. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Carrying you, of course," she said simply.

Percy grew silent, trying not to think of how perfect her body felt against his. Or how much she looked like the gorgeous goddess she was with the moonlight shining on her perfect skin as she ordered her huntresses.

Despite all the wars and deaths he experienced, he really was lucky to have such an amazing woman as his wife.