Artemis was sitting on a hill by herself, staring in the direction of a lake. Her back looked lonely.
Percy climbed up the hill, standing behind her slightly. Percy couldn't quite tell if she was really looking at the lake in the first place, since her gaze was somewhere in the middle.
She felt different than usual. Normally, Artemis would shower him with affection and made him feel loved.
Today, she was quiet and somber.
"That looks uncomfortable," Percy commented about her sitting position.
It looked like she was forced to maintain good posture by sitting upright.
Artemis ignored his words.
After a few minutes, he asked, "Artemis, can I ask a question?"
Without moving her gaze, she responded after a short delay, "What's bothering you?"
"Well. It doesn't bother me per say... I was just wondering why you only call me Perseus and not Percy like everyone else?"
Artemis turned around, peering at him with her resplendent gems that sparkled with a subtle curiosity.
"Does it bother you?"
Percy shook his head.
"You."
"Me.?"
Perseus pointed at himself, questioningly.
"Your words aren't truthful."
The goddess looked away like it was all she needed to say.
The water wasn't particularly pretty to look at. It was brown and murky, making it difficult to spot any form of aquatic life that may have been swimming around.
Percy sat next to her, taking a glance at her hand, before placing his gaze on the lake stalks that the wind was lightly brushing on.
"Artemis, what if something was bothering me?"
"Perseus. If you say that its about me calling you Perseus, I'm going to hit you."
"That would be domestic violence," he said in a matter-of-fact voice.
Artemis stifled a giggle.
"Who taught you what that was?"
"You did. Remember?"
"Oh. You're right. I did do that," she said in a reminiscent tone. "But are you going to reply to that, or do you want to get hit?"
Perseus's lips curled into a smile.
"It would be an honor."
The goddess snorted.
"Fool."
After a moment, she asked, "Why do you want to know?"
"Its just that... Perseus doesn't feel- intimate. Since, you know-?"
Artemis knew that he was insinuating that they were supposed to be lovers, but she decided to avoid the low hanging fruit for now.
"Do you think that I love you?"
"... I think that I- don't know."
Artemis remained silent, putting an invisible pressure on Perseus to explain himself.
"Love. Is a strong word. I think that in the heat of the moment you can say that you love somebody, but you wouldn't really know for sure unless you spend a long time with them."
Realizing something, Perseus quickly said, waving his hands in vehement denial, "Not that I'm saying that I don't love you! I find it pleasing to be around you, and I really like spending time with you. Its just that-"
"Shush."
Artemis put a finger against his lips, stopping him from talking.
"I think... I love you. No. I know that I love you." That part was said with so much conviction that Perseus could feel his own heartbeat quicken in real time.
His heart instantly sunk the moment as soon as Artemis said but. It felt like being doused with a bucket of cold water after being on cloud nine for approximately three seconds.
The only thing he could do was stare blankly in the distance as if his soul was lost.
She doesn't love me anymore. . .
"Perseus."
"..."
"Perseus."
"..."
"Perseus, look at me."
Seeing that Perseus was still sulking, Artemis clicked her tongue, and forcefully made him look at her by grabbing his chin, squishing his cheeks.
Chu.
Her soft lips briefly pressed against his.
"Are you done?"
"Yesh."
"Did you want to know that badly?"
After he responded with a nod, Artemis let go of his face.
"The reason why I call you Perseus is because I'm the only person that calls you that. Everyone else calls you Percy, but you are my Perseus."
Her eyes reflected an obsession that some may consider "unhealthy", but Perseus was oblivious to it. Instead, he thought it was affection.
Perhaps, he was already accustomed to the excessive amount of affection, where he thought that this was normal between lovers. Since, he had never been in such a situation before, and his common sense was formed from Artemis, finding every action of hers to be the norm.
"Something feels wrong. I'm not sure what exactly it is..."
Worry filled her face as her thoughts seems to be preoccupied with something.
Amidst this, she unconsciously interlocked their fingers in a swift and natural motion.
A sense of shame welled up inside Percy from his little "absentmindedness".
Redemption was, perhaps, necessary to alleviate his conscious.
And what better way to do that than by giving his everything to Artemis?
"Mistress... I know I just said that stuff about- love, but I just want you to feel good."
There was a slightly irked expression that was designed to make him not do whatever he was going to do, however, he ignored the most obvious telltale that said that she did not want to do this lovey-dovey thing right now.
Just by her gaze, he knew that she didn't like him calling her Mistress.
"You aren't taking this seriously," Artemis said.
"But, I am."
Percy wrapped his arms around her cold body.
"You're cold."
"That's normal," she stated.
"I know. But. You're too cold."
Percy gently guided her down onto the grass.
This scenario reminded him of when he first pushed her down, but in a much different manner.
He wasn't doing this in order to copulate with her. (The word sex had not been introduced into his vocabulary yet as per Artemis's education.)
As listless as her words sounded to the way she avoided eye contact, it would be difficult for any sane to restrain themselves against this cold but coy beauty. Each subtle movement seemingly designed to entice anyone that happened to lay eyes upon her, driving their imagination wild with stupor.
But, the only man around her at this very moment didn't have those thoughts.
His goal was simply to distract her from the worries lingering in her mind.
With the feeble amount of resistance and the fact that she did not refuse his touches, it seemed only proper for him to follow through with his plan.
Not that he thought she would refuse in the first place.
Every action he took was with Artemis in mind. If she wanted to embrace him then all she needed to do was to say the word. He was all hers anyways.
He just wanted to shower her with affection.
"Just," he grazed his lips against her collarbone, "relax."
It had to be said that his mind was already fogged from his desire to love her.
Truthfully, he did not understand what was happening to him or the fact that he was already deeply entrenched in the word known was love.
What he said earlier was simply what he thought about love, in retrospect of the event that happened in the cave, where Alexie found out about their relationship.
Nonetheless, Perseus dictated in his heart a long time ago that he would do anything for her.
But for now, his focus was on the lips against skin that felt cold to the touch.
He closed his eyes, imagining Artemis secretly enjoying his touch.
The first thing about Artemis was that she didn't express her emotions around other people.
Small groups didn't seem to be pose a problem, especially around people she was comfortable with.
Public displays of affection did need some work.
If his eyes were closed, she could freely express whatever she wanted.
Hypothetically speaking, it was only the two of them on this semi-secluded area.
Through his darkened vision, he heard short panting sounds, which indicated that she was feeling it.
"I didn't... take you... to be such a... pervert."
"If my lady calls me so, then I must be a pervert."
Today, Artemis wore a long one-sleeved toga that exposed one of her collarbones and shoulders. Her toga was easy to loosen with his eyes closed, which he only used to reveal the approximate area of the sternum.
"You're... too much..."
She sounded aggrieved, though any form of real resistance did not seem to come.
Planting light kisses around the base of her neck, her warm breath tickled his neck.
Although he was not putting much pressure, he could tell that it was working well.
"Haaa~ Haaahh~"
His soft breaths stirred something in his mind, and admittedly he began to get excited. Blood actively coursed through his veins. He forced himself to pause, so that he could calm down.
This was not for him.
It was for her.
"Why'd.. Haaa... you stop?"
He forced out a nonchalant response.
"Just. A short break."
Perhaps sensing his increased desires, her voice began to leak out in barely audible but sensory moans, which normally he wouldn't be able to hear if not for his heightened sense of hearing to compensate for his lack of visuals.
He knew self-control could only do so much against the temptation presented in front of him, but he was determined to hold strong.
"Nnngh~. . . Sto- Mmnnh~ . . . There's~~ Ahg~ something.. Mmmm~"
Her hands weakly pressed against his chest, which did nothing to physically deter him, only disturbing his train of thought.
It only provided him with more motivation to satisfy his Mistress.
"Mnnh~~ Hnnn~ Haaa~~~ Haaa~ Haaan~~~"
With his body now covering her, his lips nipped up her neck like he was climbing a ladder, before eventually meeting a cupid's bow that was unmoving but eager to meet his.
And thus, they softly joined together like how the sun slowly sets into the horizon, which was coincidentally happening at this time.
Ladened with pleasure, Artemis reciprocated his advances, grabbing his collar to bring him closer for a deeper kiss, before abruptly separating from him.
"You're... really greedy."
Artemis licked her lips, seductively, adding a luster that was not there before, which of course Perseus did not see.
A fire of passion burned bright in her eyes as they seemed to light up with a newfound desire.
Perseus found himself beneath her with her thighs clamping him down as her fleshy butt sat dangerously close on his abdomen.
Sensing something dangerous, he hastily said, "Artemis, I don't thin- Mmph-!"
The goddess stole his lips.
He went to open his eyes, but a hand blocked his vision.
"No peeking," she whispered softly in his ear as a sound similar to rustling clothing entered his ear.
Gulp-
Maybe...
Perseus thought to himself.
Maybe this had gone too far.