All rights belong to Rick Riordan

Chapter 18

I Accept a Job Applicant

(Artemis)

Before I knew it time had swiftly moved forward and yet again, it was time for another annual meeting where nothing would actually be done. As per the norm the rest of the council was arguing with one another about menial matters, while brazenly Dionysius simply slept on his throne. How the god of Wine was still one of us was beyond me, my useless half-brother did nothing to help anyone else and was certainly of no use in battle.

Even his 'helping' to kill Ephialtes and Otis, was simply delivering the fatal blow to the two incapacitated giants after they were left half-dead by Perseus and Jason. Anyone who was officially a god of anything could have done the same thing, Persephone could have done the same by slapping them with a bouquet of flowers.

Amongst the sound of our squabbling, the new gods of Heroes had just been explaining to us the new arrangements for Camp Half-Blood this summer. When a new figure emerged in the doorway and began to walk towards us.

The approaching figure was clearly male but the interesting thing was his stature, he was almost seven feet tall and heavily muscled. I had almost thought it was that scum half-brother of mine Heracles, but the most distinguishing difference between the two was the twelve magnificent golden wings that spread out to the man's sides.

On top of this the figure was also heavily armed. The tips of two throwing knives were strapped to the inside of his left forearm, two swords were strapped to each side of his hip, both of different styles and lengths. A black shield was strapped onto his left arm whilst a golden spear was held in the other hand lastly a strangely bow was slung over a shoulder.

Though the weapons seemed familiar or some of them at least, the figures face was hidden by a hood that rose up from the long black coat the figure wore down to his knees. Given a few more seconds I would have recognised them but it would matter little.

"Who dares disturb this council?" My father proclaimed in annoyance towards the figure, silencing everyone else who had not noticed the newcomer, who slowly stopped walking, standing confidently in between the fourteen of us Olympians.

"I am not disturbing it if it was you who asked me to come remember?" The cloaked figure said with a hint of sarcasm, before casting the hood aside. Revealing the messy black hair and green/gold eyes which could only belong to Perseus Jackson.

"My son what happened to you? You have grown so much and you now have wings?" Poseidon asked over his brother's indignation. It seemed my father had indeed noticed the wings and was putting two and two together slowly.

"I may have gained a domain or two and so I became slightly more Titan afterwards, resulting in the difference. I am sure Apollo could give you the technical diagnosis. It was complicated to remember." Perseus said light-heartedly causing most of our eyes to turn towards my twin brother, who suddenly shrunk into his throne.

"You knew about this?" Zeus demanded of the god of Healing who eventually realised he was not going to be able to ignore the request for information.

"Well yeah, I helped to patch him up after he nearly died in a duel, his present condition was the result of it. I was just as surprised to see him like that then as you are now." Apollo defended.

"Perseus who attacked you? I will rip them apart for betraying us." Poseidon growled angrily.

"Calm down father, we have moved past our differences. If anything, we could even be considered friends I suppose. Besides technically they did not betray you or their oath, I am not of Olympus anymore remember." He merely stated closing the issue.

"Very well then Perseus, tell us of what the Titans have been up to since their release, as requested." My father asked less as a friendly request and more making it sound like an order.

To the almost all the council's surprise Perseus nodded, before waving a hand and summoning a gold and black throne into the room right in the middle of all of us, before sitting in it facing us. Before he did so most of his weapons collapsed into smaller concealable forms that he placed in various places around his body or in his clothes. Only the bow and shield retained their original forms, resting against one side of the throne.

"How dare you summon a throne, in my throne room!" Zeus demanded angrily and I could have sworn I saw the Titan's eyes roll. Even if the rest of the meeting was to turn out uninteresting as usual, if anything it was almost worth it to watch the former demi-god get under my father's skin like he used to.

"It is a long story and I don't want to stand for it all, have I not done enough to earn a temporary seat in this room?" The boy, no man asked challengingly staring at my father the glint of gold in them unmistakeable.

My father was about to grab his master bolt, when a trident slammed into the side of his throne on one side followed by a black sword on the other. Both divine weapons framing father's head as his two brothers looked at him murderously. The most impressive thing about this was while Poseidon had the excuse of actually being close enough to thrust the longer trident into its new resting place. Hades had just outright thrown the sword across the room, narrowly avoiding decapitating my father before getting it to land perfectly.

"Carry on Perseus, I would love to hear your story." Hades joked light-heartedly with an uncommon smile before resummoning his sword, meanwhile Poseidon tugged the end of his own weapon free leaving my father silent and pale.

Meanwhile the figure in his own throne simply smiled at the two older members of the 'Big Three', before relaxing and letting his spread wings droop over the sides of his throne.

"Well then, I suppose I should begin with when I left here and travelled back to camp." Perseus began.

We listened to the story from the very beginning as he explained how he had rebuilt the Big House at the Greek camp using his power over time, this I had already guessed must have been him. After all, I was at the camp at the time and had felt an immortal's power at work. I had also seen the black pegasus leave shortly afterwards with a rider that matched his former appearance. Of course, The act had deeply annoyed my useless brother, as it meant he was forced to return to the camp immediately, rather than being able to wait for the reconstruction to be complete.

We then heard about his journey west by Pegasus culminating with his arrival at Mount Tamalpais and the Garden of the Hesperides. Despite the wide array of nature there it was the truth that I hated that garden. It was I had been imprisoned and where Zoe died.

I listened as the hesperide summoned the draconic guardian, only to be left speechless when it refused to attack him. Ladon had been trained to attack everyone but Titans, my father, Hera and the caretakers that took care of the gardens. I had to stifle a laugh at his account, I could well imagine the look of confusion on Zoe's sister's face as he explained the reasoning behind this. Anything that bothered the remaining Hesperides was fine by me. After all, it was because of them that Ladon had awakened and mortally wounded my former Lieutenant.

We listened silently as he explained about his first meeting with the Titan's own council and his becoming a member of them. The time domain was unsurprising, after all it was obvious that he had displayed some control over them before that. The Light and Constellations however were unexpected, looking across I could see my father's frustration building at the power this ex-demigod now wielded. Before he finally lost it after Perseus explained the duel and the outcome upon his waking up afterwards.

"What do you mean you have five domains now! Let alone one of them is the air as well, I will not allow the threat this Titan represents stand. He should be locked up in Tartarus for all our safety." He shouted reaching for the Masterbolt, only to be seemingly frozen in time for a few seconds as Perseus eyes glowed completely golden, the only thing that was moving on my father was his eyes before he was released from the spell. For a few seconds despite being able to move, my father did not as he stared at the figure in front of us. His face was no longer one of anger but almost that of fear. Looking around the room there were more than a couple of others who were looking nervously at the young man. Was it that hard to remember that he had inherited the powers of Kronos, there was a reason that we were all afraid of what my grandfather was capable of.

However, looking closely at Perseus it was possible to see a thin bead of sweat had appeared on his forehead. It may be possible for him to stop someone as powerful as an Olympian in time, if I had to guess it was not something he could do for long and certainly not to us all.

"I only have four domains remaining now, if you had waited and listened to what I was about to say you wouldn't be looking like an idiot. Besides, remember I swore an unbreakable oath to never attack you. Yes, I may have gained the Air and the Hunting domains off of Lelantos, but I chose not keep the Air one, I gave it back to him once he was healed. Though as a bonus I was able to keep the wings as you can see." He said half-heartedly, causing them to rise a little before letting them fall again.

The revelation that I now shared a domain with the man in front of me, caused me some small annoyance. Sure, I had known there was a Titan of Hunter's Skill that was my maternal uncle after all. I had not met Lelantos when I visited mother so I was unaware of the change, come to think of it I hadn't seen Perseus there then either. Considering what he had done for me, I should have at least inquired into his well-being even if he was male.

But still to see that Perseus had acquired the domain or a part thereof left me confused. As far as I was aware he was one of the least stealthy demigods known to us gods, only the average child of Ares was more obvious. He was generally known for straight up fights and impromptu strategies that somehow ended up working, that was not to mention his legendary abysmal accuracy with a bow. I found the whole idea of him trying to hunt something almost highly hilarious the more I thought about it.

As such I had to interrupt and ask him about his powers over our joint domain. As he explained he was almost embarrassed as he did so, leaving me further amused by the fact of what he could actually do. All he knew how to do was summon wild game, which he used simply to feed his pet Nemean lioness, I had forgotten that he had tamed that legendary monster. Whilst I was still impressed by that feat, I was also somewhat grateful as it meant my Hunters would not have to deal with it anytime soon, especially not in their current state.

However, from his explanation it was clear to say that in reality he actually had three domains. Two, if you also discounted the functionally useless domain of Constellations.

Next, he went on to explain the opening meetings with their council as well as the release of Atlas and immediate incarceration of Prometheus beneath the weight of the sky. This was something that finally made my father smile, his hatred for that particular Titan was widely known. To hear of him struggling in pain and possibly bound forever, I knew gave him intense satisfaction. Atlas's release however gave me mixed emotions, after all he had captured me and helped in part towards Zoe's death. However, the truth was he too was 'technically' eligible for release. The war had not officially begun at the point in time of his re-imprisonment. The decision about the declaration was taken later that same day for the conflict to actually begin.

Perseus continued to explain his training with both the Titan Lord father and his son, as well as my uncle who taught him aerial combat. At one point I had to openly laugh aloud when he explained his attempt at archery practice, earning a similar guffaw from my brother across the room. This was one of the few times that Perseus actually turned red and seemed genuinely embarrassed at being laughed at for his failure. He went on to say the bow beside him was basically only a status symbol and he only brought it to look cooler. Slowly piece by piece the initially terrifying visage that he had given off was fracturing bit by bit, underneath all of the perceived power that he wielded on paper, he was just as flawed as any other immortal or god.

Finally, he finished by explaining the last few months' uneventful nature. With no other interesting points than his visits to the Underworld to visit his cousin Nico, the new god of the Honourably Fallen and the new cerberi guardians that had appeared recently at Hades's Olympus Palace. My father tried to question why he was allowed to visit the Underworld and why Hades hadn't informed him of anything but the Lord of the Dead simply waved him off saying it was not his job to inform Zeus of anything that happens in his domain. While this ruffled my father's feathers again, he could not argue with the point. Poseidon and Hades did not ask about what happened in the sky ever.

When the others in the room had asked questions about the story and received their answers the council continued as usual. Albeit with a guest as we listened to one another's supposed grievances, the most depressing to hear had to be Aphrodite's tale of how she broke a nail while escaping one of her husband's traps because she had been caught sneaking out to see my other dim-wit brother.

Ares was actually only god I wish actually stayed in their Roman form. At least Mars was honourable and semi-serious most of the time, Ares was just obnoxious and conceited with no redeeming features. Easily one of the worst males I had the misfortune of meeting, ranking just after Gration and tied with Heracles and Orion. Which considering one wanted to rape me, the other actually raped one of Hunters and other was Heracles. Showed exactly how much I disliked the Greek god of War.

Finally, however, it was my turn and I was regretting this. I explained how although we were able to gain new recruits into the Hunt, are reduced numbers now and the lower standard of training as a result had resulted in increased casualties more than usual as wild monster attacks and accidents had taken a toll. The increased population of monster that had been freed due to the opening of the doors of death was not helping matters until they had been culled sufficiently. Not helping matters was that I was also having to divide my time more than in the past between being with them and supervising the Moon Chariot.

I explained that from the surviving seven Hunters that survived the Augurs strike, only five of those now remained. This combined with the addition of only three new recruits meant the Hunt was at an all-time low. The simple problem was lack of experience amongst the Hunters as a whole, sure they would train constantly where they could, the problem was lack of practical experience amongst them. There were only two Hunter's now that had been in the group for a significant period of time. Phoebe the tracker and Atlanta one of my brothers' daughters who was the groups medic and scout. The rest of them including my Lieutenant Thalia had only been in the hunt a few years at most and still lacked sufficient experience to be what I would call ready to operate on their own. Much as I hated to admit it, I needed help or the Hunt may soon have to stop.

Perseus it seemed looked relieved when he heard Thalia was still fine, which did not surprise me. He was one of her few male friends, along with the son of Hades. As they were (excluding the Roman Jason) the children of the Big Three that fought in the last Titan war.

The others seemingly listened sympathetically to my tale as I finished it, although I did attempt to downplay the severity a little to avoid looking desperate. The only one who wasn't interested was Aphrodite but then again, we never got on. This was most due to our difference on opinions over my oath and the fact I thought she was a slut. Being married to Hephaestus while cheating on him openly for the last three-thousand years with his brother and countless mortal men.

I was waiting until after the ceremony to ask my father for help in private though, I didn't want Apollo to find out. As no doubt he would try and make a haiku about how I needed help and how he was awesome or some such crap. It seriously confused me how he got poetry as a domain it was something seemingly beyond my understanding, sure he is good at music instrumentally but he can't hold a tune to save a life.

Finally, after Poseidon had finished explaining the ongoing repairs to his own domain and the seemingly fruitless search for the two missing Titans of the Oceans and Seas. This was something Perseus promised to look into for his father from the Titan's side as well. The council was concluded at last and the members began to flash away back to their palaces or in Aphrodite's case most likely her next date judging by the way she had started checking her makeup as the rest of us finished final conversations.

In the end, only three figures remained in the room. Me, my father and Perseus who had removed his own throne with a clap of his hands before doing as I did and walking towards my father's throne clearly we both wanted to talk to him privately.

Somehow despite the obvious height difference between us both, we both reached him at the same time. I wanted to let him speak first but he instead he waved me forward in front of him simply gesturing as if to say ladies first. Gods damned manners. Any of my siblings would have immediately just pushed in line or started arguing about who was most senior, including the normally serious Athena. If anything, she was actually the worst of the lot as she would just pull-out Aegis and everyone automatically stepped back from the gorgon-headed shield.

"Father I am in need of help; My Hunt is in serious danger now of coming to an end at this current rate it will be gone within a few years at most if nothing changes drastically." I asked him sounding depressed by the realism of that statement.

"So, what you need additional help with recruitment and getting those with experience into the group?" He asked getting the basics of my question whilst rubbing his bearded chin.

"Yes Father, ever since the end of the last war we have been struggling but the manticore attack last month while I was absent killed two of my surviving experienced hunters at the cost of its life. The rest are mostly fresh recruits from the Greek camp by comparison they are nowhere near good enough to where they should be." I explained truthfully.

"Then why don't you try to recruit from the Romans they certainly have the numbers and could spare a few or perhaps even the nymphs like you used to do, before you went on your current demigod only choice." He suggested simply.

"No, I will not have them join us not after what that Roman Augur did, I do not trust them and neither do the surviving hunters. As to the matter of Nymphs, it is simply not practical now we are based in this country. Nymphs must remain within a few hundred miles of their source. That would confine us to a maximum of a few states at most. Besides what if western civilisation moves again, am I just to leave them behind again? That is not fair on them, the other hunters or me." I explained remembering back to what happened in the past, things were not so bad when we moved to Rome from Greece the first time. But by the time we ended up in Brittania it became unfeasible losing a quarter of the Hunt due to geographical distance. Only Zoe had managed to remain because the Hesperides Garden likewise moved with Olympus.

"Then what exactly do you want from me? I cannot simply summon a dozen experienced volunteers out of thin air and give them to you. You were lucky to receive Thalia's offer and I was almost against that. The only thing I can do is provide them with some protection whilst you try to recruit new members, a guardian perhaps to cover whilst you are not available." He explained and my heart fell, I mean sure he was being realistic but to hear it from my father was disappointing. As to the last point...

"I would volunteer for it." A voice from behind me added causing both of us to look at Perseus. I had been so engrossed in imploring father that I forgotten the Titan was there.

"What did you say?" I asked in amazement staring at his face.

"The reason I was waiting was to ask for a possible purpose, to do a job so to speak. Orthrys is boring for me and I have nothing in common with the other Titans other than purely power, all I do is train every single day. I could help you get past your problems and in exchange perhaps you could help me learn how to handle my own Hunt domain." He replied staggering me with his honesty and proposal. I mean it was sensible, he basically filled all the requirements of what I would need for the time being. I could not exactly say he lacked the ability to keep the Hunters safe. There was however one issue.

"But you are a male; I will not allow men in the Hunt." I said simply and the Titan's shoulders and head dropped in disappointment.

"With due respect Artemis, I would have assigned Heracles the job of protecting the hunters if Perseus had not just offered." My father added and the words stuck in my mind either I got the half-brother I despised or the hero of Olympus who I had something in common with at least. He also wasn't a complete jerk and was not likely to try and flirt with my Hunters at least.

"But what of your other domains? Do you not need to manage them surely, you also cannot abandon your responsibilities with the Titans?" I asked as he shrugged.

"None of the main three require any form of active attendance or constant monitoring they are perpetual fundamentals, the stars, light and time always exist. The only one I have no idea how to handle is the Hunting one, which I can only assume you must be pulling duty on. This is something we share in common; it is two birds with one stone so to speak you help me understand it and I take some of the strain off you. As to the matter regarding my gender. I Percy Jackson do solemnly swear on the Styx to never betray your trust and flirt or inappropriate with your Hunters. If you should accept my offer." His statement of intent was answered by thunder overhead as the oath was recognized. Even if I said no Styx had already accepted the oath so he could do nothing towards the Hunters regardless.

"Artemis you have a simple choice, say yes to Perseus or no and I assign your brother. I am happy with this either way although this way I can use you to keep an eye on Perseus as well." My father stated offering the ultimatum.

"Very well Perseus, I humbly accept your offer but know this I will not be making this easier for you. I will expect your arrival in Shenandoah National Park tonight." I relented looking back to the Titan Lord who was suddenly smiling as if he had won the lottery.

'Exactly how bad was it for him over there?' A voice in my head asked though I ignored answering it, not that I wasn't also thinking something similar.

"Yes, Lady Artemis though I must return to the Titan Council first and explain what has happened here before then but I promise I will arrive by the morning. Also, may I bring Nemea with me? I believe she could help defend the Hunters as well if not I will have to make arrangements, I think Atlas would probably look after her." Perseus explained before asking.

I knew from his story that he was unable to flash between locations himself unfortunately. Which meant he would have to fly to San Francisco and then back again here to the East Coast which would take at least several hours of flying, each way. Plus, however much time he spent with their council. To be truthful the idea of him also bringing a nigh indestructible feline protector appealed to me more and more as I thought about it. I had never personally hunted the monster as it rarely appeared and I was keen to see what it was like; I knew it was highly intelligent at least as an adult, from the way it acted during and after the last war, despite having its original killer guarding it and us gods in the vicinity it had behaved flawlessly.

"Very well in that case I expect your arrival before nine am tomorrow, do not disappoint me and bring your pet." I watched as the man simply nodded and I flashed out back to our camp leaving the two males to stand in uncomfortable silence near each other. Eventually the younger one would nervously leave the room without saying another word, or else risk provoking my father.

"Thalia!" I called after arriving back at our camp and watched as the black-haired Lieutenant turned towards me from the small impromptu archery range, we had built out of fallen lumber. Looking past her, I noticed that every target had the face of the old Augur plastered to it. Each had at least a dozen arrows imbedded in the eyes and forehead and in Thalia's targets case a lance punched straight through as well where the mouth was.

She had really taken the loss hard and had only recently started to admit it was not her fault. For months she had spent second guessing her decisions up to that point, wondering if something could have been done differently that would have saved the others. This was only compounded by the night terrors that she and the other survivors still occasionally experienced. She had explained the terror of dreaming that she was again in the burning cabin but this time there was no hole to escape through. As a god I had never experienced dreams or nightmares so I was unable to imagine how it must feel for them to go through it time and time again.

"Yes, milady how was the meeting?" She asked curiously bowing down a little.

"Different to say the least, and with a somewhat unexpected result." I said honestly scratching my head.

"What do you mean? Did father promise to help us with recruitment?" My Lieutenant asked aware of what I was asking for before I had left.

"No for that we are on our own, not unless we consider the Romans..." I said only for her expression to turn dark before I chose to continue.

"For the time being we have been assigned a guardian to protect the Hunt when I am not able to, he will be here in the morning." I said simply albeit baiting the immediate response I knew was coming.

"Wait you said he, who is it? It better not be who I think he would send." She said angrily her fist clenching.

"No thankfully for us and fortunately for him, I was able to convince father that Heracles was not the answer to that problem. I would imagine Phoebe would try and castrate him if he were to turn up here, you know how she thought of Zoe." I responded using my imagination to picture that scene. The daughter of Nike like Thalia had taken a long time to get over her own perceived failure at not being part of the quest that ended in Zoe and Bianca's death.

'Then who is it then one of the gods of heroes, it better not be Valdez I don't think any of us could take that.' She said becoming frantic and admittedly I didn't like the idea of that either the boy had too much optimism and would definitely have tried to hit on my hunters.

"No, I am not telling you, you will get to find out in the morning. However, I need you and the others to set up a spare tent somewhere nearby for them to stay in preferably away from our tents of course but not too far as to be distant in case of emergency." I told her firmly, much to her disappointment besides she should be pleasantly surprised by the guardian's identity.

"Very well milady, I shall see to it at once." My Lieutenant replied eventually after it was clear I had closed the issue.

Turning around and walking off she whistled to a nearby group of Hunters who were seemingly playing cards over a tree stump and after explaining the group went off to erect the new tent about two-hundred meters away down by the nearby river creek. They were being petty it seemed and probably hoped the noise from the running water would annoy our new guest but truthfully it would probably have the opposite effect on Perseus.

For the rest of the longest evening, I answered the girl's questions on what had been discussed at the solstice and gave some information on the rules with our new guardian taking care not to give to many hints or naming him. As such I also withheld Perseus's story from them completely as they were not aware of Perseus nature as a Titan. If I had mentioned him, it would have almost been too obvious as to the identity of the guardian.

Thalia still believed he was off exploring and wanting to be left in peace for a while and that was why we had enacted an embargo on him with Iris. Demigods to were unable to send him Iris messages, since he had 'left' only us gods and Chiron could actually message the Titan lord over the last year or so. Although clearly almost no one actually did. This probably matter probably helping towards explaining his boredom, come to think of it.

It was up to Perseus if he chose to reveal what he was to the Hunters when he arrived, as long as he did his duty I cared not. Although, it would be interesting to see if he could hide the wings if at all, seriously they were made of Imperial gold, how could he possibly manage to hide those? I explained that he would likely have a monster with him and they should not attack either of them if they saw them before I did, as this would be a very one-sided fight if either of the two turned against us.

Perseus may have sworn an oath but the monstrous lioness had not and it was unlikely she would react well to having an arrow being fired at her. I had watched after all, as she had practically killed Leon the Giant on her own with little to no help from my useless twin.

Finally, with the story complete I sent them all to bed as tomorrow would be an interesting day. Leaving Phoebe on first guard duty for the night as I myself left to monitor the moon chariot that was making its way across the sky.

The thing annoyingly could not be left on its own for extended periods, in truth it normally needed to be monitored at least once a week. But in reality, I had to keep an eye on it most evenings to make sure it had no issues and to correct the cycle of moon states. The last thing I needed was Poseidon giving me additional grief for the tides being affected abnormally. In the past I would normally use my Diana aspect to do this menial task leaving me free to supervise the Hunt. However due to my weakened state, a reflection of the Hunt itself. I preferred to keep my aspects together as one and simply do the job properly else I possibly do neither job well.

So looking down at our small camp as I rode through the sky, I found myself strangely looking forward to the son of Poseidon's visit.