Percy

'Favourite colour?

'Navy blue.'

'Really?'

'My brother said the same thing. Why is everybody so surprised by that?'

'Oh nothing, just, silver parka, silver bow, silver eyes.'

'I never thought of that. But anyways, silver isn't a colour.'

'Of course it is. What are you calling it right now?'

'Silver is a material, I would describe the colour as a shiny white.'

'Well in that case M'Lady, it seems to me that your favourite colour is shiny white.'

'You're mocking me.'

'No, really?'

'You truly are insufferable.'

'Thank you.'

'That wasn't a compliment.'

'No, really?'

'Ok then, we can trek in silence, and you can lose your mind.'

'Maybe if you use your powers, we wouldn't have to spend two weeks systematically combing through the place.' I said frustratedly as I kicked an acorn at my feet, sending it rolling down the light incline into the thick foliage of a group of bushes some way away.

You'd think it would be relatively easy to find a standing army and the giant king, but one small detail about Muir Woods national park.

It was big.

Artemis sighed in exasperation.

'He'll be able to sense me if I expend divine power, and we're trying to catch him off-guard, kill him before he can retaliate. Or call his army.'

I groaned loudly. 'But this is taking forever'

'Perseus, knock it off, you aren't five.'

'It's in situations like this I wish I was.'

'I'm probably going to regret asking this, but why?'

'Cus then I wouldn't have to deal with all this drama.'

'Are you calling a war between the earth itself and Olympus drama?'

'In a word: Yes.'

'And what do you have to do that's so much more important than defending Olympus, your family?'

'Look Moonshine, I love the gods just as much as the next demigod, and I don't know if it's different with you greeks, but we barely, and I mean barely ever see the gods.'

I threw up my hands in frustration. 'I mean, I've never even met my father! I defeated a titan in the first war, and even that didn't merit even the smallest visit, even just dropping by and saying he's proud of me. No. But now I have to fight another war. And I will. But I won't pretend to be happy with the way things are.'

Artemis went quiet for a bit.

I sighed. I had fucked this up again. 'Look, I'm sorry, I di-'

'You're right.'

'Sorry?'

'You're right, the gods neglect their children. Us Greeks are just as bad in that regard.' Artemis paused for a moment, pensieve. 'Not that I would know, obviously.'

'Obviously.'

'You have some nerve to address an olympian goddess in the manner you do.'

I shrugged carelessly. 'I wasn't lying when I said I trusted you. I know you wouldn't hurt me.' I glanced at Artemis with a cheeky smile. 'At least not fatally.' I paused. 'I hope.'

Artemis laughed at that.

We continued walking in comfortable silence for a while longer, the only sound being the leaves rustling in the wind, the trees whispering in the wind, tales of ages long passed.

Today we were covering the left southern quadrant, split up into four sub-regions.

It was a beautiful forested area, free of the swamp up north, an unseemly blotch on an otherwise picturesque national park.

The idea had been simple. Scout all the outskirts, before moving in on the mountain itself, where it was more likely the giant and his army would be located.

'But we aren't taking any chances being flanked, the mission is too important to the coming war to cut corners.' Artemis had said seriously.

'How much time do we have?'

'As much as it takes, my prophecy didn't specify how long it had to take.'

We found a clearing with a small river running through, a small overhang forming a good roof for the night.

Artemis went to set up her tent, while I played with the water.

'Why do you set up your tent manually? Surely you could just summon one?'

'When you are a divine being, and everything is at your disposal in an instant, the journey becomes the most important part of an experience.' Artemis explained calmly as she hammered one of the supports into the ground.

The whole setup had taken less than a minute to set up for Artemis, and although it looked quite small on the outside, I remembered from my time resting in it that night with the earthborn that it was in fact quite large.

Almost two weeks already. How much has changed. I mused as I observed Artemis placing her canvas camouflage over the silver tent, to be more incognito, in her words.

Artemis stood back up to her full height, just up to my shoulders, when she deemed her tent to be up to her standards.

'Now!' She exclaimed with a bright smile.

'Time to hunt.'

XIXI

Percy

Hunting was… not my forté, to put it mildly.

I was too loud, too clumsy, I kept tripping over roots and stepping on crinkly leaves.

Luckily, Artemis had become a lot more patient since her initial outburst almost two weeks ago, and she had helped me improve significantly, although I still scared away any prey in a five mile radius.

Eventually, Artemis would always end up leaving me at camp to hunt on her own, so that she could actually catch something we could eat.

I usually took this time to go foraging for berries. At least plants couldn't run away from me when they heard me coming.

'Got lucky today, found a deer.'

When it came to the goddess of the hunt, 'found' became synonymous with 'killed'.

I looked over to see Artemis with a deer carcass slung across her shoulders, carrying it by its legs.

'Looks good, I'll start up the fire.' I took the flint from where it lay beside the campfire I had built while waiting for Artemis to return.

After a couple of tries, a small cut, and much cursing, I managed to coax a small flame into existence, quickly devouring the kindling, and attempting to latch on to the bigger logs.

Artemis summoned a hunting knife, skinning the deer, and preparing chunks of meat to be cooked

Artemis had a small plate meant to be put on top of the fire to sear meat, which she placed on the fire with cuts of veal on it.

I heard my stomach growl when the delicious waft of cooked veal made it's way to my nostrils.

'How long till it's done?'

'Not yet Perseus.'

'Now?'

'It's been two seconds.'

'Sue me.'

I heard a very un-godesslike snort from beside me. I looked over to see Artemis smiling as she washed her hands in a pail.

'It's nice to see you laugh.' I blurted out.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid!

'It's just you're always so serious and stuff and it's nice to see you smiling and enjoying -uh- yourself.' I floundered pathetically as Artemis's eyes bored into my own, her face inscrutable.

After a moment of tense silence, Artemis burst out laughing.

'I'm sorry, I just can't take it anymore, the look on your face.' Artemis choked out as she kept laughing at me.

I tried to look miffed, but eventually I gave up and laughed as well.

'You're right though.' Artemis said, still smiling. 'It's been a long time since I have felt this happy.'

I nodded, not really sure what I could say to that.

'Maybe it's time for retirement?' I offered innocently.

Artemis slapped my playfully in the arm. 'This coming from a praetor. If anybody here is a workaholic, it's you.'

'Using very adult terminology there, Moonshine.'

'Oh hush, you know I'm right.'

I sighed, defeated. 'Maybe, but honestly, what else do I have? I am a son of Neptune. Even when I was primus pilus, my subordinates still questioned my actions, because I was the "Sea Spawn".'

I took a deep breath. 'And I'm up for it, I know I am. My predecessor, a son of Jupiter, was one of the nicest people I knew, but honestly, he wasn't as good of a tactician or statesman as me. He knew it. I knew it. When he got raised on the shield after the battle for Mount Othrys, he didn't protest. When I confronted him about it, he said "it's the will of the people".'

I laughed bitterly. 'I'm sure he could have floundered through peacetime with Reyna to help him, but we're at war. The most dangerous war we will probably ever fight. I need to be in command. I can't afford to have incompetent leadership at a time like this.'

Artemis was staring at me with worry and pity. I hated that. The pity especially. Pity never helped me.

Not that I had ever gotten much of it in the first place.

'And what if you are removed?' Artemis asked quietly.

'I won't allow that to happen. For all our sakes.'

We stayed in silence for a while after as Artemis digested this.

'Have you ever talked to anybody about this?' Artemis asked cautiously eventually.

'Who would I have talked to about this?'

'Right' Artemis seemed to be lost in thought for a second. 'If you ever need to talk about this, I'm here.'

I smiled sadly. 'I'd like that.'

Artemis got up, checking the silver pan. 'The venison's done.'

My stomach growled in response.

'Impeccable timing.'

XIXI

Artemis

I finished my venison rather quickly, settling in to stare at the fire while Percy devoured his food.

The moon was lovely tonight, casting shade on the woods around us.

Technically, as an immortal I didn't have to eat, but it gave me some sense of normalcy, reminding me of my childhood on Delos, and my times around the campfire with my hunters, swapping stories late into the night.

I hear a content sigh beside my as Percy finished his food, sliding down against the ground, his head propped up by the log he had been sitting on, using it as a makeshift pillow.

The silence was alien to me. Especially with a man no less. It had been millenia since I had hunted with one, not since… Him.

I sighed. Thinking about Orion always put me in a mood. The betrayal of a friend… I would never forget that. Especially since I had been falling for him…

The idea that I may have loved the monster made me sick.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, squeezing my eyes shut in an attempt to not think about this specific topic.

The fire slowly died as time went by. I glanced over to see Percy staring off into the distance, his face contorted in a frown, lost in thought.

It reminded me of the look he had when facing down Nereus.

'I am Perseus Jackson, Praetor of the twelfth legion fulminata, a son of Neptune, a prince of the western sea. I am on a quest for Mars Ultor, and Olympus, you will not stand in my way.'

The power radiating from not only him, but also his trident…

It was on par with that of a minor god.

'Perseus Jackson.' I said.

His head whipped to the side to face me. 'Don't call me that, I prefer Percy.'

A devious smile made its way to my face. 'Really? How come Perseus?'

Percy groaned. 'Oh gods, I practically walked into that one didn't I?'

I laughed at his obvious discomfort. 'Oh lighten up Perseus, we've still got a while for this quest, might as well get used to it. I put up with moonshine.'

'And I will never understand how I am not a jackalope yet.' I heard Perseus mutter.

I smiled easily. 'You're lucky I can stand you, most men can't say the same.'

'What can I say? It's my sunny disposition.' Despite what he said, I heard the heavy sigh he made as he said this.

I frowned. Perseus had made sure that I was okay after having escaped from Nereus, but I now realised that I had never considered how Perseus might feel about all this.

'I probably should have asked you this earlier, but, Perseus, are you okay?' I asked tentatively.

Perseus stared into the fire

Perseus let out a shaky sigh. 'I just- I don't know, Moonshine.' I rolled my eyes at the nickname as always. 'We're getting close to the endgame, I just, how am I meant to return to New Rome? As far as they're probably concerned, I'm dead. It's been two weeks. It's going to take probably another or two to pinpoint Porphyrion. Then if by some miracle we kill him, I go back to working with people who tried to have me killed. And that's if they haven't replaced me already.'

Perseus took a couple of deep breaths. 'I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped, I'm just… Everything I've ever known has changed, I'm questioning my life choices.'

I blinked. Wow. These Romans were very bloodthirsty.

'Sounds like your HR gets a lot of complaints.' I muttered.

That drew a laugh from Perseus.

'That's actually a great idea, I think I might try and do something like that, it could be good for veterans in the city.' He mused, once again staring off into the distance.

I smiled. 'See? Who cares if some people dislike you having made it up to praetor? They probably aren't worth the time of day anyways. You obviously care a lot about the job, and helping your people. That's truly commendable Perseus.'

Perseus continued staring off into the distance, lost in thought, before turning to me with the brightest smile I'd ever seen from him.

'You know, nobody's ever said that to me.' He nudged me playfully. 'You can be very enjoyable company when you're not complaining about everything Moonshine.'

The firelight flickered across Perseus's face, giving it an ethereal cast. He had always been attractive, even by immortal standards, although now… I had never seen this side to him before. He had never opened up to me before like this, and it gave me hope that perhaps, we could truly trust in each other.

I burst out laughing, hoping he didn't notice my pause. 'Careful there, I could always turn you into a jackalope.'

'Ah, and the drama queen strikes again. Just can't have fun these days.'

'Is that so Perseus?'

'I hate you.'

XIXI

Percy

Demigod dreams were a peculiar ordeal.

They were easy enough to discern from real life, the strange weightlessness and uncaring nature of my mindscape being dissimilar to the constant stress that was my reality.

The scene was one I was well acquainted with. A long beach, with pine trees forming a treeline off the coast.

I stood at the treeline, facing the sea.

A woman was stood on the sand with her back to me. My breath caught in my throat as she turned around to face me.

My breath caught in my throat.

It was Artemis, but different. More… flawless.

Not that Artemis didn't already look like that, but it was difficult to articulate in any other way.

The Artemis lookalike gave me a warm smile, beckoning me to join her.

I did so with trepidation, ambling my way over awkwardly.

'Perseus Jackson.'

'I prefer Percy.'

'And yet you allow her to call you by your full name?'

I felt my heart skip a beat. She knew. How?

'Wasn't really my decision.' I continued slowly.

The woman let out a musical laugh. 'You're funny, I can see why you would interest her.' She remarked condescendingly.

I felt a wave of something hit me, making me feel deeply uncomfortable.

Her tone of voice, coupled with my growing certainty at the mystery woman's identity, led me to bite the bullet.

I'm in a dream, what could she possibly do to me?

'Why are you here, Lady Aphrodite?'

The woman smirked victoriously. 'I'm impressed. I didn't think that you'd figure it out that quickly. And you didn't mistake me for Venus.'

'You're very greek. Your demeanour, aura.' I said.

'Your discipline is a credit to you, perditor, not many would be able to maintain such a calm façade around me.' With a dramatic flare of her hand the feeling of her suffocating aura disappeared. 'No matter, I suppose we have more important things to discuss than your admittedly impressive self-control.'

I nodded along, although I felt more than a bit of trepidation at conversing with the greek love goddess, who was well known for her manipulation.

'I will warn you once, goddess, do not interfere in my life.' I warned sternly.

Aphrodite merely laughed. 'Oh you are cute.' She leaned in, flashing me a blinding white smile. 'I don't need to do anything with you, you're doing swimmingly as is.' She exclaimed gayly.

I blinked at the sudden change in demeanour, before narrowing my eyes.

Okay goddess, that's how you want to play it?

'Respectfully,' respectfully in my dreams, 'why are you here, m'lady?'

'I come here on behalf of someone who is very interested and invested in your future.' She nodded to the ring on my right hand. 'The one who gave you that ring.'

My heart skipped a beat. Finally. Something interesting.

'My father put you up to this?' I asked slowly, hoping not to show any cards I may have.

Aphrodite gave me a sympathetic look. Oh. Oh.

'I am sure your father loves you very much,' Aphrodite began carefully, 'but he is also a difficult man, and very busy.'

'The ring came from somebody else.' I could feel anger bubbling up inside me. 'I have been using a stranger's weapon since I was three years old.' I thundered.

Aphrodite backed away slightly. 'Now now, that doesn't mean that your father doesn't care for y-'

'I don't care about my father!' I interrupted. 'I have been lied to, how do you want me to take that some random deity has decided to sponsor my fate?'

'Enough.' Aphrodite said. The word had been spoken softly, but I instantly tensed up. Her eyes glowed with power. 'I do not have time for your childish tantrums. You are being given a gift demigods of old would have killed for, power to achieve even your wildest dreams.'

Aphrodite got right up into my face, sticking a perfectly manicured finger right into my eyes.

'You will meet your benefactor soon enough. Just. Don't. Die.'

XIXI

Percy

I gasped as I quickly sat up in my sleeping roll. I took in a deep breath, quickly taking stock of my surroundings.

The campfire, log and Artemis's tent all looked the same.

I breathed out a sigh of relief. It was all limited to my dream, then.

With demigod dreams, you could never really be too careful.

I washed myself in a nearby stream before putting on clean clothes and refastening my armour, and finally my purple praetor's cape. I forewent my usually reverent treatment of the glorified cloth, not in the mood.

I saw Artemis hunched in front of the fire, nursing a small teacup in her hands, slowly blowing at the scalding tea inside.

'Morning.' I greeted warily. I was still confused from the irritatingly inconclusive argument with Aphrodite.

'Good morning Percy.' Artemis returned amicably.

I let out a deep sigh as I sat down beside her on a log facing the campfire.

Just. Don't. Die.

Aphrodite's words rang through my head over and over again as I warmed my outstretched hands on the fire in front of me.

'Perseus?' I heard Artemis enquire from beside me.

Should I tell her? Could I trust her?

I stared intensely at the small flickering flames of the campfire.

She was a goddess. An immortal.

She is kind. But kindness does not mean she cares.

'I'm fine.'

AN:

So this was something. This is the last of my two extra chapters that I put in.

As far as I'm concerned, the pacing is more or less fixed. If you can think of anything else that I should add or that I missed let me know, I'm always up to adding more content to the fic.

Hasta luego, Murph.