All rights belong to Rick Riordan
Chapter 81
Busted
(Percy)
'Who gave you permission to use the range today?' The annoyed legionnaire demanded as he squared off against the two former Lieutenants. The kid was clearly a son of Apollo, the Roman one that is. The way he was acting was as if to say the fifteen of us were going to cause him a major problem.
'I'm sorry I was not aware you we needed your permission and nor do I care, so step out of the way or I will just shoot through you.' Thalia said bluntly.
'You would not dare, if you did the Praetor would…'
'Do what exactly? You don't seem to understand why we are here do you? We do not follow your foolish Praetor the only person we are held accountable to is Lady Artemis or Diana either one will do. If you have a problem with it I suggest you take it up with her boy.' Zoe said cutting in squaring off against the slightly taller boy.
'Praetor Steven is in charge of all demi-god affairs, all activity plans must be reported to him ahead of schedule.' He defended weakly.
'Good to know but here is a funny thing… I am not a demi-god therefore I don't care. Really should have thought to include demi-Titans in that little plan of his.' Zoe said with a cruel smile causing the boy to gulp. Making the rest of the hunters and Diana laugh. Meanwhile me and the goddess were both just going incognito to see how this went along, the goddess had changed her hair to a more chestnut color to blend in. as long as no one looked either of us in the eye to carefully we should have passed off as little more than a normal hunter.
'But we were here first.' He complained holding his bow out as he postured his pathetic complaint close enough for Zoe to grab the weapon out of his hand in a flash. Setting one limb on the floor she then proceeded to slowly bend it the wrong way until the sound of straining followed by snapping wood could be heard and it yielded in half before the daughter of the Titan of Strength causing the boy to look wide eyed at his weapon as she carelessly discarded it in his direction.
'Looks like you are done now kid.' Thalia said in amusement.
'You can't do this I am going to tell Steven.' He blubbered hilariously.
'Before you do though, you might want to bear in mind Jason Grace is my adorable younger brother, so put two and two together and work out who my dad is. Now beat it and take your buddies with you, enjoy your day.' Thalia commanded accompanied by the sound of lightning overhead. The kid took the threat well as he hurriedly stepped away from the pair and ran off to his group of friends/siblings, before long the whole group disappeared in a hurry.
'Dear gods I hate my siblings.' Atlanta said out loud by accident causing some of the hunters to laugh.
'Not as much as I do.' Diana said laughing getting to her feet and brushing her clothes down.
'What about me Milady?' Thalia asked pretending to be emotionally hurt.
'You are more of a minor annoyance some of the time, compared to the rest.'
'Sounds fair.' Thalia admitted pondering the statement before agreeing.
'I am fair, most of the time. Right then girls now we have the place to ourselves you can begin. Persee you are on arrow retrieval duty.' Diana explained turning to me with a grin.
'Are you going to tell them to stop firing while I do it?' I asked nervously.
'I will think about it, now everyone choose a target.' Diana commanded as the rest of the hunters unslung their bows and spaced out opposite the targets.
'Not to fast Persee, hand over the bow you won't need it.' Diana said grabbing my shoulder as I turned to leave.
'I am pretty sure me carrying a bow will not affect my ability to become a human pin cushion.' I said crossing my arms.
'You're right it won't but if you think I am going to let you carry arrows and a bow at the same time you are sorely mistaken. Besides I can't exactly use my bow can I?' She asked skeptically causing us both to look at the simple wicker targets down range.
'Maybe we could ask the navy for a battleship or something like that.' I said smiling before handing my weapon over.
'The Roman one or the US?' Diana said with a grin as she tested the bow easily drawing it well past the normal point before finding it to her satisfaction.
'Take your pick and try not to shoot me.' I said wearily seeing the mischievous glint in her eye.
'Don't worry I won't… by accident.' She added quietly as I passed out of earshot.
(Diana)
'There that is all of them five hundred and twenty arrows plus the extra forty blunt tipped ones that someone was having a really bad day with.' Percy said sarcastically shooting me a look as he finished tipping the remaining shafts into the pile between the circled hunters who were collectively sorting them out into their quivers or separating damaged ones for repair or replacement. To the side was a separate pile of arrows with a wide flat point not designed for piercing but simply causing bruises and general discomfort to the target.
For the most part he had been savvy enough to keep an eye on me as he went about his job either hiding behind obstructions, leaping to the side or on one occasion if I was pretty sure slowing down time and catching the shaft before it nailed him in the forehead.
That wasn't to say I wasn't taking the session seriously but there was a reason he didn't have to bring my shafts back. Each had been split in half by the following arrow. Something even the best hunters could not hope to perform more than a few times in a row if they were lucky. Then again Zoe had broken three bows firing her first quiver alone before giving up completely.
The problem was she was still untested with her own newfound strength, sure she could purposefully break the Roman kids bow with a little effort but when using her own she did not feel the same resistance as she would normally expect. Causing her to overdraw before it snapped like a twig under the extreme strain, the final time had caught her wrist on the backlash and cut through flesh causing her to stop while the nectar and ambrosia took effect.
The only other hunter having a problem was Reyna because she refused to take her hood down to avoid recognition. It had been a major effort to get her to leave the cloak at home; I was starting to think it was like a comfort blanket for the (former?) Praetor as a reminder of what she had in the past. It was only when Thalia pointed out you can't fire a bow if your arms are too busy keeping your clothes in check that she finally gave in and took the piece of apparel off.
Which was good because it seems news of our arrival had swiftly got around the city and we had started to draw a crowd of civilians and legionaries with some free time to kill.
'I don't know what you are on about; I hit the target every time I fired at it, perfect bulls-eye every time for that matter. Besides I only give the fans what they want to see.' I said pointing at the crowd behind me.
'Sure you were… milady.' He added sarcastically before his eyes focused on something behind me causing me to turn and find an annoyance inbound. The arrogant Praetor was surrounded by a half dozen of his 'minions' as if they were his own Praetorian guard, no pun intended. Hell maybe we would get lucky and they would murder him like many an emperor.
'Two hours in my city and already causing a commotion. You sure like to work fast don't you?' He said directed at Thalia after a careful look to ironically make sure I was not around. I was more than willing to find out what he wanted to say in my absence.
'What do you mean your city? Last I checked Rome was a republic slash democracy or whatever you want to call it. I am pretty sure my bro would be pissed off to here you claiming ownership of it.' Thalia shot back static cracking around her skin to emphasize who her brother was.
'Grace… you have to be joking, he used to be a true Roman and then he went and got distracted with your silly Greek ways and his ignorant Greek girlfriend. Then again it was because of him the traitor got here in the first place.' He remarked condescendingly unaware the person he was likely referring to was several feet in front of him and extremely armed and making his way slowly forward until he was beside the daughter of Zeus who looked outright murderous.
'What's the matter, strike a nerve did I? What was he a friend of yours or something? Good because I hope he suffered for what he did to my predecessor, at least the gods agreed to get rid of the traitor for his crimes. That combined with his girlfriend dying practically made my day.' He said cruelly with delight in his eyes as Thalia practically tried to throw herself at him only to be grabbed by Percy by the collar and dragged back and shooting him a murderous look before calming a little at his own face where he was doing a better job of holding his emotions.
'Well look here, the class jester wants to play the heroine. Haven't you got to go hide behind something or are you allowed out of the naughty corner now. What did you do I wonder?' He asked trailing off into curiosity. It was almost amusing to watch the two face off, because even as a girl Percy retained his height at a solid six foot meaning he had several inches on the male and yet Percy had a look of seriousness bordering on tranquil fury compared to the Praetors self assured gusto.
'I killed someone who talked too much and I am getting close to doing it again.' Percy said chillingly a non standard hunting knife appearing in hand to emphasize the point.
'As if you could, you little girls are about as useful as Venus's kids in close combat. Judging by her reaction you even have one, good you can keep her. Tell me just what weak minor Greek god had you for my own curiosity.' He asked after taking note of the look of outrage on Suzie's face.
'Poseidon.' Percy said simply causing the Praetor to flinch for a second and break his façade. Clearly that he had not planned on hearing.
'Oh this gets even better than I thought; I hope you meet the same fate as your brother. Though I guess that explains why you weren't participating you probably can't even shoot straight.' He guessed correctly beginning to smirk as the 'hunter' nodded in agreement.
'Thalia pass me your spear.' Percy practically demanded causing the girl to nervously hand it over causing the Praetor to back up a few meters afraid before Percy turned away from him and launched the projectile down range striking a target dead centre and flattening it under the force.
'There is more than one way to take down a target idiot, I dare you to match that. Son of Mars.' Percy said venomously and I noticed through the mist that his left eye kept changing color. This needed to come to a close before my other half was not the only one trying to bring this city down.
'You're lucky I don't…' He began before I cut through the crowd and stepped in front of the annoyed Titan.
'Do what exactly?' I asked him with a smile unsettling him.
'I don't recognize you from earlier, so where were you hiding?'
'I don't need to hide boy and nor do I need to do anything that you ask. But as an indicator watch this. Persee hold.' I said practically thrusting the bow I held into his hands before grabbing my necklace and ripping it off so that it formed my bow. Before deciding to spin the grip the full way causing the weapon to grow until it was taller than me and I was forced to rest the bottom limb on the ground.
With barely a look I aimed at a central target and swiftly drew and released the oversized shaft.
What happened next was comical as the blast caused everyone by me and Percy to drop to the floor in panic as the arrow proceeded to vaporize everything in its path including the target, the two on either side and a one meter deep trench almost four hundred meters in length.
After I was done I proceeded to turn back towards the fool who was eyeing me fearfully before changing my appearance back to normal.
'That's strike two kid. Next time I make all your nightmares come true.' I said sharply changing my bow to its normal size and throwing it over my shoulder. Judging by his shear level of hatred for a certain Percy Jackson I was beginning to think having Perseus say hi would probably break the kids mind.
'Girls let's go so he can piss himself in peace.' I said in cruel amusement causing the hunters to laugh as they grabbed their gear and we made our way back to our accommodation. The crowd moving apart before us in a mixture of awe and respect and more than a little fear.
To say Percy or more accurately Perseus was in a bad mood for the rest of the day would be an understatement. The first clue had been when he chose to vaporize the front door rather than opening it before restoring it after he passed through the opening. That and the fact he refused to talk to anyone and had instead chosen to isolate himself on the roof.
Any attempts to communicate with him were met with silence and a passive expression before he would resume his own internal debate. It did not take a genius to work out what was going through the Titan's head, clearly the Praetor's words had hit a very sensitive nerve.
As it was going I was starting to question who would kill the kid first me or Percy/Perseus, the only thing probably sparing him so far was the confounded ancient laws, until he directly challenged one of us or threatened those under our care i.e. The hunters neither of us could touch him.
'Are you gonna calm down or what because I have to leave for the night?' I told him firmly standing a few feet behind him as he gazed over the terrace at the setting sun.
Annoyingly he continued to act as if he had not heard me or was even aware of my presence for that matter.
'Fine I will see you when you feel like talking.' I told him in annoyance turning away.
'Thank you.' A voice behind me said just as I was about to flash away causing me to turn back towards him and find him looking at me. Unsettlingly he seemed to be heterochromatic at the moment with his left eye remaining golden while his right was normal, what that meant for who was in control was unknown to me.
'For what Seaweed Brain?'
'For ending that debacle back there before I did something I would have regretted.' He explained sadly before holding his hand up for me to see. To my surprise his palm had four wounds running across it bleeding ichor where I guessed he had clenched his fist so hard.
'You mean Perseus did something.' I corrected causing him to shake his head.
'No for once he was agreeing with me. I wanted to kill that kid just to prove a point, it would not have even been fair. I could literally kill a mortal or a normal demigod with as much effort as it takes to squash a bug. The only thing stopping me was the fact if I did I would be proving him right, I don't regret what I did to Octavian. Hell I might even say I enjoyed doing it at the time and yet here I was practically ready to do it again.' He explained sadly slowly slumping to the ground and looking away from me in shame.
'Let me deal with him.' Artemis said from within my head calmly, she hadn't spoken since her little breakdown this morning and plan to destroy the city we were now staying in.
'Try not to make this worse.' I said in resignation as I turned over control and continued to watch.
'Percy look at me.' She commanded forcefully stepping close to him causing him to turn back a little, not much but good enough to suit my counterparts purposes as she swiftly raised a hand and slapped the Titan Lord/girl causing his eyes to flare golden briefly as he turned towards us in shock before the gleam faded.
'Listen here dumbass. So what if you wanted to kill that kid, he hasn't given me any reason why I should allow him to carry on breathing. And as far as I am concerned what you did to him was not enough. We have all done things we should not have and sometimes we enjoyed doing it. It does not make you a monster, you look back and see that it wasn't necessarily the right thing to do but then you agree it was necessary at the time. No one would think less of you for this especially not me so why are you beating yourself up over it?' She stated crossing our arms over our chest.
'I just don't get what this kids issue is. He just seems to enjoy trying to mess with others and cause them mental and emotional harm however he can. I didn't even know the kids name when I was here or ever meet him that I remember yet he seems to think I was a greater threat than Gaia was. The only thing I actually did wrong was kill Octavian and he practically wrote his own death sentence when he killed your hunters; I just carried it out or near enough. Hades technically killed his body I destroyed his mind and soul. Yet even so this kid thinks I deserve every punishment in the fields and enjoys using his imaginary version of my fate to torture my friends.' He explained sadly.
'Some people don't need a reason to try and hurt others, remember he is a son of Mars he likes to create pain and violence by his very nature. He just uncommonly knows how to do it with his words rather than actions. He probably saw you as a threat to his own ambitions. You were here for less than a few days and became a hero and a Praetor within that time. Something he probably dreamed of and it caused resentment. Then you disappeared after Valdez's 'incident' and the next thing he knows you challenge the entire legion and win and then kill the Augur. He see's you as the traitorous monster that he needs to defeat to become a real hero in other's eyes. The only problem was you disappeared and were presumed executed so our little foolish hero was left without his dragon to slay, so he settled for the next best thing destroying your legacy. I doubt the older ones believe him having met you in person but the younger ones are impressionable and their belief in his lies breeds ignorance in him as he begins to believe them himself. Of course I could be wrong and he could be doing this for some even more trivial reason that I cannot comprehend in my infinite insight of the mortal mind.' She explained seriously before losing all sense of wisdom at the end.
'In summary the kid's a basket case asshole at best. See told you so.' Perseus summarized briefly taking control.
'In simple terms I have to agree with the annoyance.' Artemis agreed using our current polite term to describe the other aspect.
'But what are we going to do about him then?' Percy asked simply looking up at us.
'Why that is easy, we do nothing. After all what can we do without provocation or challenge? If he does nothing then neither can we do anything back, even he must know that. Why do you think he acts all tough when I am not around but went extremely quiet as soon as I broke out of hiding?'
'Yeah but he doesn't know what I am really, does he?' Percy replied transforming back into his normal appearance and thankfully his normal clothes.
'That sounds like his problem, not mine.' Artemis said playfully leaning forward and lifting his chin up before kissing him. It was a strange sensation to feel the kiss but not be able to move or affect it in anyway. Not unpleasant by any means but not ideal.
'Gonna be a hell of a shock for him and the others. Now didn't you have somewhere to be?' He said playfully obviously broken out of his funk when we eventually pulled apart.
'Yeah but you are not getting out of ignoring me for several hours that easily.' She announced before the pair of us were enveloped in golden light.
However none of us had been aware of the black eyed girl who had seen everything from her vantage point with her head just out of the trap door.
(Thalia)
After Lady Diana had announced she was leaving for the night everyone had begun to settle for the night, now that the goddess was gone it meant we could generally do as we wished and with Percy on the roof there was no chance of us being seen. It was a general problem of living in tents of two people that we never got to socialize outside of training without the goddess being around the corner.
But here we were now a dozen girls all sharing a house with all the comforts of modern and magical living. I was starting to question Reyna's choice to leave, I mean come on she had widescreen TV's in the lounge and the main bedroom with every channel under the sun. She had free access to EVERYTHING on Amazon due to her sister. Of course we were now well acquainted to her problem with the place but as the rate he was going he wouldn't be around for long.
There was now a bet on how many more days he was around and which of the two immortals in our group decided to get rid of him. Reyna had bet tomorrow night/the following morning so that she could think of it as a Christmas present whereas I had bet the following day because I doubted Percy would be around much as he still had a family to visit unlike just about all the hunters. After all I could not see Zoe visiting Atlas for some holiday cheer and Jason was here saving me any effort.
Now the one problem of being surrounded by teenage girls for the most part is they have teenage girl interests which was why the TV was now playing the Hunger Games movie. Which's only appeal was the main girl Cat's ass or whatever her name was using a bow that and watching her cry at every opportunity. She would have made a terrible hunter. Besides you're not in danger you silly bitch we know there is a sequel.
So while the majority of the hunt watched that, Zoe and Morganna decided to cook what looked and smelled like Spaghetti Bolognaise. (Seriously this place couldn't even do magical food.) I had decided to take stock of my possessions as limited as they were. Spear check after I had to go get it thanks to Percy's stunt. Sword check, Hunting knives, Bow, Aegis, Clothes both hunter (neatly folded) and civilian (thrown on the bed), a few pictures that I preferred not to look at for their occupants. The only thing missing since the last time was my Lieutenant's tiara which I still had no intention of asking back for.
It was amusing to see that despite the size of this place, there was little to no sign that someone had lived here.
Were it not for the armor stand in the corner of the room and the queen sized bed and the aforementioned TV on the wall this room would have been empty when we arrived. Of course this Spartan living was good because it meant a dozen girls could move in with little to no problem in terms of space. Reyna herself had simply stuck her armor and weapons on the manikin and declared she was unpacked which I guess spoke volumes on how she was used to living.
Of course thinking about the former Praetor made me realize I had not seen her in some time. Last I checked she had been cleaning her armor when I had gone down to listen to Diana's announcement she was leaving that and a general desire to find out when dinner was going to be ready. But now I thought about it she hadn't gone downstairs and she wasn't here which meant she must have gone up and seen Percy. As rewarding as that would be in his current mood, not that I blamed him after what that fool had said about him.
Still maybe one stubborn fool could get through to enough. Misery loves company after all.
Besides maybe then I could rig this bet in my favor. I thought with a smile as I left my belongings where they haphazardly lay and set off up the corridor to the second story and above.
What I did not expect was for her to crash into me as I began to climb the stairs looking spaced out and like she had seen a ghost.
'What's wrong?' I asked out of curiosity wondering what the hell had spooked the daughter of Bellona.
'I saw Percy and … nothing.' She tried to dismiss trying to get passed me. I allowed her past so we were off the stairs before dragging her into the first available doorway and shutting the door. Which just happened to be the upstairs bathroom.
'Tell me what did you see?' I said firmly, hoping she was not going to say what I thought she was.
'Percy was talking to Lady Diana no Lady Artemis and then she… kissed him.' She added hesitantly like she was handing over a bomb. Causing me to sigh.
'Reyna sit down and listen.' I told her gesturing towards the raised bath side whilst I remained standing and more importantly blocking the door.
'Listen this does not leave this room under any circumstance. Percy and Artemis are dating, have been for several months now although technically I suppose they are engaged as of yesterday.' I explained in summary skipping over the pregnancy part for simplicity sake for the time being. As I did the other girls eyes seemed to widen as she understood the full revelation of what she had seen.
'You knew about this already? Why didn't you tell me?' She asked skeptically.
'I found out a couple weeks ago, the same night I quit as Lieutenant although that was not the reason I did. As for why I didn't say they made me swear not to and besides she is my sister and he is one of my best friends, that and they both are ridiculously powerful beings and surprisingly make a good couple/trio/foursome whatever the hell they are now that Perseus has turned up.'
'He once said he was in love with someone forbidden but that is a little extreme even for him. Still I cannot believe Lord Jupiter would allow the two, oh wait that is what really happened at the solstice isn't it?' She said before hitting a revelation.
'Turns out my dad wasn't too impressed with the whole situation and tried to kill him, which is why his wings are all fucked up at the moment. After that he apparently beat up my dad and Ares, and got Aphrodite punished for her part in making it worse.' I explained before mentally kicking myself for saying too much.
'I did wonder about the damage and people trying to kill him. Wait- what did Venus do to make things worse, she didn't make her break her oath?'
'Something like that yeah, I can't say more on that subject without permission. Just know this there is a reason Artemis can be a little emotional at times if you know what I mean.' I explained knowing I was crossing a fine line with what I was revealing. I could talk about the relationship as a whole because she had inadvertently found out herself but talking about the pregnancy was taboo at least directly.
'Oh…OH that explains a lot. I literally don't know whether to congratulate the two of them or feel sorry for him or kick his ass.' She said in amusement after her black eyes briefly glazed over as she got where I was going.
'I did all three for simplicities sake, well until she stopped me kicking his ass. How did you catch them without them noticing you by the way?'
'I went up to see if he wanted to talk about the asshole and she was their talking to him, so I decided to wait. Next thing I know she reaches down and kisses him and the pair disappear together. I guess he could not see me because she was in the way.' She explained.
'Was he still a girl when she did it?' I asked out of brutal curiosity.
'No he changed back while they were talking. Come to think of it they do look alike.'
'That's because I am pretty sure his female form is her or at least heavily based upon it. You're taking this extremely well all things considered.' I added observing that she had calmed down after her initial surprise.
'I guess it just makes a lot of things make sense like the fact they would always arrive at the same time in the morning to meet with you for the daily briefing. And as I said Percy's mystery secret love interest reveal shortly after I arrived.'
'They were not together then, they only started dating after we went to Camp Half-Blood and Tania almost killed him.' I said doing the math of when she arrived.
'Huh she is gonna be pissed when she finds out, she is partially responsible. Besides I was never here for the whole hate boy's policy, it just came with the package. The only two guys I ever liked are not available and out of my league.' She said making me think on who they could be. Well my brother was obvious which left one more and by out of her league I was assuming they were an immortal. As unlikely as he was Valdez was disqualified by being single and she was more out of his league. Nico likewise which left Frank and …'
'Wait you had an interest in Percy?' I said laughing as she turned bright red.
'Briefly when he first came to the city, but he made it clear he already had someone. After that well if he wasn't out of my league before he sure as hell is now. I thought he was still getting over Annabeth?'
'He is you can tell whenever you mention her around him his expression darkens, when I went back to get my spear there were drop of ichor on the shaft making a palm print. I guess your little friend should consider himself lucky he was not the one stuck to the end of it.'
'He was never my friend.' She said resolutely crossing her arms.
'What are you to talking about in there?' A girl's voice echoed through the wooden door behind me.
'Say nothing about them, only me and Zoe know.' I whispered before stepping out of the way and opening the door finding myself face to face with Tania.
'There you are foods ready. Why were you both locked in the bathroom together?' She asked her eyes narrowing as she looked between us.
'We were talking in private, what else would we be doing?' I replied sharply.
'Stuff Lady Artemis would not approve of.'
'Haha funny.' Reyna said sarcastically standing up.
'Come on then I am hungry.' I said stepping outside the room and turning to leave only for the other hunter to turn the other way.
'There's no one else up here.' I pointed out to her.
'Little miss perfect said she made extra and I have to offer some to it.' She said with some annoyance, clearly Perseus's threat had not got through fully yet.
'I wouldn't bother he is not up there.' Reyna said simply before realizing the extent of her mistake.
'Why where is he?'
He- uh flew off to look at something.' She explained after a brief pause.
'You're lying I saw his wings there is no way in hades he can fly at the moment.' She retorted before making for the ladder and racing up it with the two of us in hot pursuit.
'That lying son of a bitch I knew he didn't do his job. So much for making sure we were safe. As soon as Artemis leaves every night I bet he too disappears. Probably sneaks off to go see women just like other men. Well guess what I am telling her now and I can finally get rid of that asshole once and for all.' She announced proudly with a look of triumph as if Christmas had come early. She was not far from the truth after all he did go see a women most nights that I was aware of. The only problem in her plan was the girl he was seeing was the girl she wanted to make aware of the problem.
'Tania what exactly is your evidence of that? Yes he has temporarily disappeared, we are in a city where the only people who have weapons are us and the gods in control of it. Who just happen to be some of my best friends outside the hunt. Second Nemea is still on guard as per usual. Three Lady Artemis can see this location from her chariot so she already would know he is not on the roof is she does not know exactly where he is, considering she spoke with him immediately before she left. He is like a bad penny he always turns up again. Now go back downstairs.' I said commandingly.
'Fuck that. I have him exactly where I want him and besides you can't order me around anymore, you quit remember. Now I am going to tell the others that our amazing omnipotent protector is nowhere to be seen. And see what they think about this, maybe then we can finally catch him slacking off when he eventually returns.' She said proudly before marching off downstairs with a smile on her face.
'Well that can't be good.' Reyna said simply.
'This is gonna end one of two ways either he turns up real quickly and gets away with it, or she gets proven right in which case someone is going to have some serious explaining to do.' I explained dejectedly knowing which one I expected to happen before making my way downstairs to the soon to be lynch mob. Might as well eat the food while it was warm.
'Can't we warn him?' Reyna asked catching up with me.
'If he is with her in the Moon chariot they can't get Iris messages, kinda like flight mode on a phone. Otherwise they would have been caught months ago.' I told her before carrying on.
Seaweed Brain, Milady the ball was now entirely in your court. At least I can say I tried to keep it as secret as possible.
(Percy)
As we flashed back to New Rome the main concern I had was the fact I was back in my Persee disguise much to Diana's constant amusement and Perseus disgust. In the end I had got bored of her finding every little fault with my hair or the way I wore the clothes and had left a few minutes earlier than usual.
So it was with some surprise when I found the vast majority of the hunt with the exception of the ever vigilant Nemea all camped out on the roof as if waiting for something. The only exception to this was the lone trio of Zoe, Thalia and Reyna who were sitting to one side away from the rest of the group. Who were only just noticing our arrival with the exception of the daughter of Ares who had an excited look in her tired eyes that gave away the fact she had not slept all night.
'Well look who finally decided to turn up!' Tania announced proudly as if she had been expecting me.
'It's like five Am. Why are you all out here?' I asked still half groggy from the early morning wake up. Hadn't slept much due to Artemis being in one of her more energetic moods.
'Keeping a look out for people who don't do their jobs of course. So where did you sneak off to then you know what I don't care. You can explain to Lady Artemis when she gets here. Hopefully then she will throw your worthless ass back out.' She explained finishing just in time for the goddess to arrive.
'Who, what, when, where and more importantly, Why are you all on the roof?' Diana asked in as much confusion as I had been.
'Because of him Milady, as soon as you left he snuck off to who knows where and disobeyed you. It probably isn't the first time either, he is probably sneaking of to see a woman. He arrives back just before you so no one ever realizes.' Well technically she wasn't wrong though in fairness I was dragged off. I thought to myself as I looked at the goddess who was looking at the hunter with serious look.
'That is a serious allegation and would require punishment if it was true. However there is one flaw in your short sighted plan, did you consider the fact that I am aware of the fact he leaves and what he is doing when he does so. Nor can I cannot force him to stay or even what he does whilst here. After all he is admittedly more powerful than me. And you are right he does go see women when he does. After all he is not forbidden, I did not make him swear an oath of chastity for the job role. The only restriction was he cannot have a relationship with any of you.' Diana explained briefly making eye contact with me. The single glance telling me everything I needed to know. It was not ideal but it was obviously happening.
'You know and you just let him do it anyway.' The flabbergasted hunter stammered out.
'Of course, who did you think he was seeing?' She explained simply as silence once again reigned over the streets of New Rome.
AN. Well this was never gonna start well was it.
Two BIG milestones with this chapter first of all 400000 words and more importantly to me i finally have a million views as of last night and still growing, so thank you all of you for staying with me. it is funny how when this started i thought it would be done in less than two hundred thousand then three, then four now chances are it will go well past half a million.
Then again i could have left the cliffhanger at when Reyna found out, before deciding to get it out in the open saving you a wait.
By the way i go on holiday Sunday, so it could potentially be a two week wait for the next one depending on internet availability in Spain. Though i will be writing so fear not.
For those of you who finally worked out nico's girlfriend and complained about me bringing her back, she is still very much dead and bound by those limitations. though she has some degree of freedom that most don't but i will get into that later.
Lastly that Praetor is a dick, anyone want him to survive this? if yes now is your time to speak otherwise he is a bloody streak on the floor.
So hope you all enjoyed the chapter and i look forward to hearing from you in the reviews