16000 views. Wow. ILY guys. Shout-out for all TNO players, enjoy your Guangdong playthrough, because I won't until next month.
skotos07: idk what MLP you're watching friend
Death Fury: thank you so much!
Immediately, questions began popping inside of Percy's head.
Thankfully, Artemis proceeded to ask one of the most important ones.
"How exactly are you able to manifest yourself so far away from the river?" The goddess asked with one hand placed on her waist.
And it was a pretty valid question when you think about it. They were currently still in New York state, and as far as Percy knew, the Mississippi River did not encounter the Hudson at any point, that's for sure.
"Thanks to the help of the spirits from this very river that I'm standing on, I can appear here without much issue. Usually, that is. Also in part because I am… considerably more capable than other naiads are, thanks to the sheer size of my river." The naiad explained. Percy noticed how tired the water nymph looked. Somehow, she even had dark circles under her crystalline blue eyes. Her face was notably filled with exhaustion.
"Alright. What's the problem?" Percy questioned.
The expression of Mississippi changed again, from fear, to disgust, more exhaustion and finally settling down on anger. "Would it be an issue if we met again at the source of Ohio River, so I could explain the situation in more detail? It's taking too much of me to manifest myself this way."
Percy decided to consult Artemis with a glance. The goddess stared at him with a mocking look that pretty much said ' you've already accepted it, now play along. ' He rolled his eyes, slightly annoyed, and turned back to Mississippi.
"It won't be a problem. We should be able to reach the Ohio by sunrise."
The naiad nodded. "In this case, I eagerly await for your arrival, Percy Jackson." She gave both Percy and Artemis a bow, much to the former's dismay, and sank back into the river, leaving the demigod and goddess on their own. Artemis had that characteristic puzzled look in her eyes, one hand beneath her chin.
"That was… eventful." Artemis said.
"Like hell it was." Percy replied with a chuckle. "You should probably call Thalia, right?"
"I…" Artemis paused, moving her hand from beneath her chin to behind her head.. "Might not have any drachmas with me?" She said in a slightly guilty voice.
Percy lightly facepalmed himself. "Good thing that good old Iris is not foreign to other types of payment."
The look of confusion on Artemis's face was priceless. "I beg your pardon?"
In response, Percy smirked and grabbed ten dollars from his pocket. He then approached the river and closed his eyes, concentrating. Granted, he did not know a lot about mist manipulation, after all Chiron never got to teach him the ability to its full extent, but he knew the basics. Soon a small rainbow was formed near the river, despite the only source of light at the moment being the moon. Percy cleared his throat and started to recite.
" O', Iris, Goddess of Rainbows, accept these ten bucks and show me Thalia Grace."
With that, he threw the bill into the air. The dollar note disappeared before it could start falling slowly to the grassy ground, and the familiar portal-like cloud that was the iris message appeared in front of him. Maybe his ears were deceiving him, but he was sure he heard a feminine laughter that wasn't too unfamiliar to him. Maybe it was Fleecy, or even Iris herself. Who knows? After a short moment of wait, he was greeted with the face of his cousin.
Said cousin didn't seem to notice the iris message, instead occupied with something else out of Percy's vision. He cleared his throat again, this time loudly, and that got Thalia's attention.
"Percy!" Thalia exclaimed, smiling. It was still difficult to look at people like Thalia or Reyna lightly, thanks to what he had done, disappearing without warning. Even before he got cornered by the Hunters, he felt guilty of faking his death and disappearing without warning. He did want to show up for so much time, but he never had the courage to do so. It was only at gunpoint (bowpoint?) that he had to change his mind.
But at least that was in the past. He had a new chance now, to not be a coward.
"Hello, Thalia." Percy greeted with a genuine smile, one just as wide as his cousin's. "Someone wants to speak to you."
Just now Artemis approached him and the Iris message, crouching so she had eye contact with her lieutenant. Percy noticed that she now held a piece of paper in her hand.
"Milady." Thalia acknowledged, more formal than before, but still friendly.
"Greetings, lieutenant. We will make a…" She glanced over to Percy with a moderate amount of amusement in her eyes. "small detour, you could say, and won't be able to meet you at the scheduled hour."
Thalia quickly nodded. "I understand. Were the unicorns retrieved?"
Artemis's face darkened slightly. "Three of them were. One wasn't so lucky."
The lieutenant nodded solemnly. "Tough." She ran a hand through her spiky hair. Percy thought it was a wonder that she still liked that style. They weren't in the 2000's anymore, for crying out loud. "Will the surviving ones be at the planned spot?"
Artemis shook her head. "Negative." She showed Thalia the piece of paper. Percy barely saw what was in it, but it looked like numbers. Most likely coordinates. "You will find them there."
Understanding passed through the blue eyes of Thalia as she stared at the paper for a few seconds. She nodded. "Okay. When will we meet you two again?"
Percy felt like the question was more directed at him than at Artemis, funnily enough.
"Honestly? We will go on a trip to the Mississippi. It might take a while." He finished with a smile. Thalia herself was smirking.
"Alright, kelp head. I'll see you later." The daughter of Zeus turned to Artemis. "Same goes for you, milady."
"Farewell, Thalia." Artemis replied with a small smile of her own. Thalia bowed briefly, and cut the connection. The two hunters got up, and Percy stretched his arms upwards.
"Well, I think we are good to go." He said, mostly to himself. Despite whether he was speaking to his inner demons or not, Artemis seemed ready to retort.
"If my ears were functioning correctly, I believe you said to the naiad that we would reach the Ohio River by sunlight?" The goddess questioned.
"Indeed." Percy confirmed, still stretching his limbs.
"May I remind you that if we travel by foot, we will only reach the river in the next week or so?"
Percy finished his stretching, and snapped his neck softly before glancing over to the deity. "Well, if we could just flash there…"
"We can't, it's-"
"Forbidden for gods to transport mortals unless ordered by the council. I know." Percy interrupted, finishing the goddess's speech. "But that's not what I have in mind."
Artemis arched an eyebrow.
"And what do you really have in mind, then, Percy?"
Instead of answering, Percy closed his eyes. His mind ran wild for a moment until settling down for the image of Camp Half-Blood's stables. He focused on the connection to the place, before he found what, or more specifically, who he was searching for. Even from such a distance, he could feel the being already on its way to his direction.
He opened his eyes, finding himself being stared by a still intrigued Goddess of the Moon.
"Let's just say, Lady Artemis, that it's probably time to reattach some old bonds."
In the sky, he heard movement, the flapping of wings. Artemis seemed like she wanted to get her bow, but Percy raised one hand, as if saying for her to wait. Just as Artemis was lowering her weapon, a large dark figure landed from the skies next to them.
Even if Percy was ignorant to the fact that he called the newcomer here, he would have noticed that it was definitely an equine. Not only that, but the wings instantly gave away the fact that it was a pegasus. Of course, there was also the fact that it was literally flying, but whatever. The pegasus stood in place, clearly analyzing the two beings in front of him.
After a while it trotted slowly towards Percy and Artemis, caution being the primary emotion that emanated from its posture and attitude.
Boss?
Oh, he had missed that voice in his head.
"Yes, Blackjack. It's me."
Tell me one thing that only you would know.
It took an awful amount of effort for Percy to not roll his eyes. "When we first met at the Princess Andromeda, I thought you were a female."
Not even one second after he finished speaking, Blackjack marched forward and came really close to him, stopping when he had his head by Percy's left shoulder. He saw that Artemis onfe more prepared herself to attack the pegasus, but stopped as Percy hugged Blackjack's neck, fully understanding his pegasus's intentions.
Oh, boss, I knew that you were alive! I told them! Blackjack neighed in a way that could only be described as sobs. Why did you leave like that?
Like it always did, the guilt started to come up again. Percy swallowed it bitterly. "I'm sorry for that. I was… not in the right mind at the time. I deeply apologize."
The pegasus stared at him for a few seconds, looking at him from top to bottom. You look different. Wild. Almost feral. Did you become a werewolf by any chance?
Percy couldn't prevent the chuckle that escaped his mouth. "No, I did not. It's just what I had to go through to survive."
Blackjack continued to stare, until he glanced subtly at Artemis, who was watching the interaction with a smirk. What's with the silver lady over there?
"The silver lady has a name." Artemis warned. Her voice was playful, but Blackjack still bowed his head to the ground in fear.
Of course, Lady Artemis! Accept my sincere apologies!
Percy laughed loudly at that, leaning on Blackjack as he did so. Artemis soon joined him, although he found the situation far more hilarious, judging by the way his stomach started to ache by how much he laughed.
Yeah, yeah, laugh all you want. But you're not the one threatened by her!
"Props to myself then. And my wonderful sense of self-preservation." Percy joked. He then realized something right after. "You two can understand each other, right?"
Yeah.
"Indeed."
Right. Goddess of Wilderness. Makes sense.
"All the easier then." He turned to Artemis. "Here's you answer, milady."
The goddess once again had her eyebrow raised. Percy scolded himself for wanting to admire her. It was difficult not do so. "I see. Are you sure there aren't any other options?"
"Well… you could just flash there and leave me to fly alone with Blackjack. But that's on you."
He failed to identify the fact that Artemis wasn't being serious until she rolled her eyes at him.
"Let's not waste any time. Care to lead the way?" She asked with another smirk.
"It would be a pleasure." Percy decided to turn to Blackjack, instead of losing his mind over Artemis. "Mind taking us on a trip?"
Of course not, boss. To where?
"Source of the Ohio River. We're meeting a very important naiad there."
'ight. After this, I'll demand one million sugar cubes and donuts for your absence alone, boss.
Percy rolled his own eyes, and got on top of Blackjack. "Maybe my godly friend here will cover that for me."
"Don't even think about it." Artemis warned, also getting on top of the pegasus, right behind him.
Boss? Blackjack's tone was now more reserved, as if he was afraid of asking whatever passed through his equine brain.
"Yes, Blackjack?"
Is… she also alive?
The previously light atmosphere evaporated as Percy felt his blood going cold. He knew exactly who Blackjack was referring to. Again, the familiar feeling of guilt burned inside of him, and he had to breath for a moment before answering.
"She is not." The Butcher answered shortly. Blackjack didn't say anything else, opting instead to take off from the ground. After years, Percy finally got to experience the sky once more. The feeling was just as great as it had been in the past. After a few moments, he noticed that Artemis had one arm around his waist, holding onto him.
The shivers that he felt afterwards were almost like an electric shock. And he felt many of those throughout his life, he knew the feeling all too well.
…
The sky wasn't too unfamiliar to Artemis, but this was much different than everything that she felt before in her father's reign.
Yes, she had never flown in a pegasus before. Ever. She never really had the opportunity to do it, nor the interest. But that had changed all of a sudden.
Now that they were flying in silence, Artemis felt comfortable enough to be lost in her thoughts and reflect a little on the situation at hand. And oh boy, did she have things to worry about.
Percy Jackson was like a drug. Artemis just needed to have more of him, to be close to him, to fully dive in his life to understand the man. She didn't know why. Truly. But she just did. She convinced himself that she could just go anytime to Olympus and say 'yes, he's good to roam freely' and go back to live her old life with the Hunt. But she didn't want to.
The fact that she needed to hold him for her not to fall of the pegasus was an issue of its own in her mind. Sure, Blackjack was known to be reliable, he was the pegasus that helped in the transport of the Athena Parthenos, but she didn't feel all too okay.
Not that falling would have many consequences, it's that she just wanted to stay with Percy. In fact, it's likely that she didn't actually need to hold him at all. She just wanted to. And part of her was very annoyed with this.
Above them, the stars were twinkling, many of them in the shapes of many things. A scorpion, a man, a bear, a huntress…
By Zeus, just looking at the sky felt like she was being punished for her sins. Ironic for a literal goddess.
"Artemis?" She heard someone calling her. It wasn't in her mind, so it wasn't Blackjack. Only one option remaining.
"Yes?" Artemis aknowledged shortly.
She heard Percy sigh. "I know this is a stupid question, and I might be vaporized for it, but… do you ever feel regrets? Or blame yourself for something?"
That really took Artemis off guard.
"I… what do you mean, Percy?" She tried to ask in the most friendly voice that she could make, so he wouldn't be afraid of potential instantaneous combustion.
Percy took a moment to answer. "I just feel so much regret from leaving the way that I did." He started. "I was just… so broken. My mother had died, and then…" Artemis was sure she heard a sob. She was quite shocked by the sound. "I was alone. I didn't want to face anyone that I knew from the past, and so I ran. I ran so much, and in the end, it was in circles. It brought me right back to where I started from. I couldn't escape."
Artemis reflected on his words for a second. She knew that he was now fully crying, her ears weren't deceiving her. She had seen Percy on panic attack earlier because of a dream, but seeing the Hero of Olympus cry was unprecedented. This was the man that saved her when she was under the sky. Who fought immortals without fear. Who cared so much for so many members of her Hunt, despite the first one that he ever met being outright hostile at him from the beginning. And here he was, tears falling from his eyes as he vented his frustrations. Artemis's felt her heart sink at his state.
"That's not all." Percy said, his voice as tearful as it could be. "I let so many people die. I made a promise to Nico. And then Bianca died because I let her go on to deactivate Talos. Then Zöe. Screw if it was prophesied, I also let her be poisoned by Ladon. I should have go."
He paused. The previous sadness was being replaced by anger quickly. Artemis on the other hand couldn't believe that he actually blamed himself for both Bianca and Zöe'e deaths.
"So many casualties from the all out war. The Labyrinth, Forty demigods making a last stand. Then I lose eight months of my life, only for more people to die at Camp Jupiter. Me and Annabeth…"
Another pause as he spoke the name of the daughter of Athena.
"We went to hell and back. We had to leave Damasen and Bob behind. It still haunts me everyday. Leo died after that, even if momentarily. And then…" The anger vanished itself from his voice just as quickly as it had erupted in the first place. "She died the year after. We were so close to Camp Jupiter. All for nothing. I barely have the courage to look at a mirror. Sometimes I just want to end it all, but I made a promise to Annabeth."
Percy's hands were visibly shaking. The sobs between words were more present than ever. "To not be my own demise. For that, I live, contemplating my failures, the fact that I fought too hard, only to lose it all."
Artemis was, for one of the first times in thousands of years, speechless. The man had pretty much told him… well, everything. Artemis wasn't really a therapist, but she knew pain. She knew what poor decision making could make to a person.
"Percy, I…" Artemis tried to find the appropriate words. Should she tell him that i5 wasn't his fault? No, it wouldn't be ideal. Instead, she extended her arm forward and held his shaking hand. He tensed up from the contact, but eventually went back to his previous position. His hand was cold, but Artemis felt good holding it. "Look, Percy, I understand. More than you know, I understand what's like to feel this way."
Percy perked up his head slightly. "How so?"
The goddess sighed deeply before answering. "I am an immortal being. My list of sins would probably make me be sent to the Fields of Punishment, or at the very least, Asphodels, if we're being completely fair."
Even from behind him, Artemis could see that he was surprised. "What exactly have you done?"
Artemis couldn't prevent the grim that took over her face. "To start, Callisto."
"Oh." Percy muttered. "Ursa Major?"
"Indeed." Artemis looked up where her former friend now stood. There she was, just as she had been for millennia at this point, since Zeus had made her a constellation.
"That's… terrible." Percy admitted, but Artemis could see that he was being careful with his words. Probably out of fear.
"You don't need to hide your feelings." She advised. "There's no shame of your part to admit that it was terrible. Especially the less known part."
Percy didn't say anything for a brief moment. He seemed in thought. "Is it related to her death?"
"Curse your intuition, Percy. But yes. We killed her. It wasn't just a random group of hunters. We met her again, and we killed her in cold blood. I ask myself every once in a while, what was I thinking when I did all of that. How could I have been so cruel to one that was literally raped by my father. Maybe I was angry at him, and lashed out my anger on the poor girl."
"I understand what is like to be too angry." Percy said after a moment. Artemis knew that he spoke the truth. His wrath was just as terrifying as a god's one.
"And about feeling powerless…" Artemis continued, opting not to keep talking about Callisto too much. It was still delicate to talk about it, even after a while. "When I was stranded in Delos, unable to do anything, I had to feel the deaths of most of my Hunt to Orion. Someone that…" Now it was Artemis that paused. She found herself clutching Percy's hand harder, her emotions overtaking her mind. "No, I didn't love him. Ever. But there was a time that I thought as such. I was too naive to notice the truth."
Percy hummed. She felt him returning the gesture on her hand, although in a softer manner. "I've known someone that felt the same as you did. The exact same words too."
Artemis was pretty sure he was talking about Annabeth Chase, but decided not to confirm her suspicions. The Goddess of the Moon wasn't all too aware of Olympus's gossiping. "Anyway, he killed almost all of them. Even after millennia, it was painful. And after that, I had to endure spectating my brother, my own flesh and ichor, being tortured and almost killed for a semester. It was one of the most tormenting experiences of my life. And when I tried to help, I was punished."
Artemis still remembered how furious Zeus had been when Britomartis revealed that Artemis sent her to the Waystation. A shiver went down her spine.
"Sorry for saying that I personally would toss him out of Mount Olympus." Percy said out of nowhere, taking Artemis aback. The previous angst inside the goddess was forgotten as she started to laugh at his random statement.
"It's fine. It's not even the most hurtful thing that someone said to him on that day alone." She said between chuckles. Funny how one can change their mood so suddenly.
"Alright then." Percy too laughed briefly. "I understand what you said. And even some people have told me that. Bianca for instance."
Once more this night, Artemis was surprised by something that Percy said. "How?"
"Nico summoned her ghost the summer after the whole Othrys affair. She said that it wasn't my fault that she died. And I think all of the other people that died under my watch would say the same."
Artemis kept herself silent, waiting for him to finish.
"But it's Annabeth that troubles my mind the most." He said, but almost seemed to regret it by the way he tensed up.
"Why's that?" Artemis asked.
"Nothing." He said in a suspicious way. "It's nothing. Really, Lady Artemis."
The goddess was not convinced by him clarifying what he had said about his late girlfriend, but decided not to dive any deeper than that. "You can talk about it when you feel comfortable enough."
Percy seemed to relax, thanks to her assurance. Despite this, Artemis made a mental note for them to come back to this later.
"Thank you, Lady Artemis."
Throughout all of this, she never let go of his hand, and neither did him. It felt good this way. She even dared to hug him a bit tighter with her free arm, if only to comfort her friend. Yes, friend. She had the right to have a friend.
Artemis noticed that in the sky, the stars that made up the Huntress constellation were shining considerably brighter than before. The goddess could imagine her former lieutenant watching them from above. Perhaps even being amused by how the stoic Goddess of the Moon was acting.
Transition chapters are hard to write, therefore I apologize for the angst, but at least we had some bonding this time around. The three points are the new line break instead of the standart one, this one bring used to mark the beginning and end of chapters. Another A/N, I've roughly drawn an outline of what this story will be. Like, planning. As such, I'm not writing in the dark anymore. Won't spoil anything to you all, tho, sorry. Anyway, 'til next chapter!