Artemis

The helicopter blades whirred as I drowsily blinked away the tiredness in my eyes. I felt a soft bump as the helicopter set down.

I felt a warmth around my right hand, looking down to see Perseus's hand entwined with my own.

I felt my heart do a backflip as I vaguely recalled yesterday's events.

I wordlessly uncoupled my hand from his, burying my face in my hands.

What is wrong with me?

I felt someone stirring beside me as Perseus groaned and rubbed his eyes tiredly.

'Ugh.' Perseus said eloquently. 'Some night, huh?'

I nodded, although inside, my feelings were swirling like an anxious, unsure maelstrom.

He won't die. I wont let him die. I refuse to make the same mistakes I made before. I told myself fiercely.

'Amazon doesn't spend on cushions, that's for sure.' I remarked dryly lightly as I nimbly made my way out of the passenger hold of the helicopter, Perseus following behind, although much more clumsily in his case.

Which was put on full display when he face planted into the earth as he tripped over a root on the ground just in front of the helicopter.

'Stupid Percy, some praetor you are.' I heard him mutter to himself as he picked himself up.

I frowned. Normally, when Perseus did something stupid or made a mistake, he laughed it off or cracked a joke.

Nerves?

I hoped not, nerves could be the difference between life and death in battle, especially in a life or death situation.

We won't lose. I reminded myself fiercely. I won't let you die.

XIXI

Percy

I took in a deep breath of fresh forest air as myself and Artemis waited for Kinzie to unlatch her door and jump out of the helicopter.

'Alright!' She exclaimed in an upbeat manner when she hit the ground. 'This is about as far as I'll take you, given that I don't have a death wish.'

'Well, from our latest intel, Porphyrion's camp should be just over that cliff, good luck!' Kinzie said.

That said, she got back into her helicopter and started powering it up to take off.

I turned to Artemis once we were done watching her fly away.

'So, what do you think the chances are that the monster camp saw a helicopter flying away?' I asked deadpan.

Artemis shrugged. 'You'd be surprised. Monsters are incredibly stupid.'

I turned away to get an idea of the terrain and our surroundings.

There was mount Tamalpais, rising high into the heavens, encompassing the majority of the lush gorge we were in, which was punctuated by small clusters of trees, and a small river which meandered down the mountainside.

To our right, opposite to the mountain was a cliff, over which Kinzie had said the monster camp was located. I made my way to the cliff edge, carefully peeking over the edge.

What I saw sent my heart plummeting into the depths of my stomach.

The camp was massive, stretching on for ages. I watched as a squad of Lastrigonians marched in formation, while cyclops drilled against each other, dracaena practising in the archery range.

There must be thousands of monsters down there if the monsters drilling were anything to go by.

This type of threat could even give New Rome and the legion a run for its money. I thought, trying to push down the panicky feeling I could feel rising in me.

I moved back quickly, finding Artemis also behind me.

'How the hell are we meant to get past that?' I hissed out.

Artemis's face was set in grim determination. 'We have to wait for Porphyrion to show himself. Our best chance is to lure him away from the army one way or another.'

I nodded in agreement. 'A stakeout. More waiting. Great. Can't get enough of the stuff.'

Artemis rolled her eyes. 'Come on, you big baby seal.'

'But baby seals are adorable.'

'Huh. You're actually right. I guess you'd be a mangled seagull.'

'Hey!'

XIXI

Artemis

I was starting to become seriously concerned about Perseus.

He wasn't being his usual goofy-but-somehow-mature self, staring off into the camp unblinkingly.

No fidgeting. No yawning. Just single-minded concentration.

The list of real friends I had was painfully short, and of those who were males was an even more miniscule minority,.

After what we had gone through together, I considered him one of them, and I felt justified in attempting to figure out what was ailing him.

'You seem tense.' I ventured.

He was silent for some time, simply staring off, still unmoving, like a stone.

'We're in the endgame now.' He returned eventually. His voice was monotone, guarded.

I frowned. It reminded me too much of the way he talked to me closer to the beginning of our time together.

'You seem off.' I continued, ploughing forward anyways, determined to figure out what was up.

'The same things as always.' Perseus responded. After another moment of silence though, he sighed and turned to me. 'Thing is, it's looking a lot nearer in the future than before. I'm just really not sure if I'm ready to face it yet.' He explained forlornly.

I nodded in understanding, vaguely remembering him mentioning a betrayal from one of his people in the roman camp.

'And you?'

I turned back to him, surprised at the question. He was looking at me with a raised eyebrow.

'You were pretty torn up before in the amazon place. And that incident with the yales.' He elaborated, staring at me expectantly.

Oh. That.

If I was going to tell him about the problems with Him, it was going to be now.

In that moment, I made a split-second decision.

'This was almost four millennia ago. I had recently formed my hunt, and I had yet to form some of my more… Well known habits.' I explained. 'On one of my first solo hunts, I met a hunter called Orion. He did not disclose much at first, but then again, neither did I. We hunted the same beast, and so we came to hunt together for a time.'

I hung my head sadly and gathered myself into myself as I continued.

'But after we had found and slain the beast, he did not leave. I did not mind at the time. I had found out he was a son of Poseidon, and he that I was a goddess. He became… obsessed, I suppose, is the only way I could describe it, with me, and my abilities.'

'He stayed with me and the hunt for a while, until the second titan war.' I took in a deep breath at this part.'

One night, he ambushed me, trying to kill me with an arrow from behind. I manged to survive, and beat him back. In my desperation, I called upon all the wildlife in the surroundings to come to my aid.'

'He deserved it. He had been a giant, a son of Gaia and Tartarus, and had always planned to kill me, as was his fate.' I took a second to catch my breath, finding myself to be winded at the explanation, both by its duration and its content, causing me distress. 'And yet, it was terrifying, watching him be ripped apart by every and any wild animal that lended its aid to me. Even a couple pegasi came to my aid. I assumed one was a demigod, because Orion died pretty quickly. I cared for him. Perhaps not in the way he wished, but I did nonetheless.'

'I haven't used that power ever since.' I revealed quietly, before looking up quickly.

In other circumstances, I might have laughed at the expression on Perseus's face, but as of then I only felt fear. That I had revealed to much, that he would shun me for my actions, that he would close himself off.

Moments of silence went on. How long, I would never know.

'I'm sorry.' He said eventually.

I sighed in relief.

'I- thank you, I needed to get that off my chest.' I said.

Perseus raised an eyebrow, a small smile forming on his lips. 'For four millenia?'

I let out a small laugh. 'Yeah. I have pretty bad time management'

Perseus chuckled quietly. 'For what it's worth, I think you made the right choice. It's not always easy, but at the end of the day, it was either you or him, and I'm glad it was him.'

I felt a warmth flow through me at his words, and before I knew it I was beaming.

'Now, I've beared my heart out to you, care to tell me about your other problem?' I asked.

He looked at me surprised. 'How…?'

'Do you have any idea just how many times my brother, the god of truth, tried to keep his little escapades secret from me? I know a half-truth when I see one.'

Perseus put his hands up in defeat. 'Okay, I get it. I basically got a dream from Aphrodite where she tried to force herself on me, praised me for not falling under her influence, told me that the person who apparently gave me this trident is going to reveal himself to me soon, told me it wasn't my dad, that I was an ungrateful prick for not being happy, and left.' He listed off, his voice growing louder and more agitated as he continued.

I blinked in surprise.

Perseus looked at me, realising his mistake. 'Sorry, I realise it's a lot, but it kinda just came out?' He explained sheepishly.

'No! It's fine, really. Honestly, I'm happy to be here for you, we are friends now. I think you've earned it after irritating me so consistently.' I said.

'Yeah. Friends. I think so too.' He said, and for a moment I thought I could detect a hint of melancholy in his voice.

XIXI

Percy

Although on the surface, the camp seemed organised, the longer you observed, the more the supposed discipline in the army began to unravel.

Fights between foot soldiers and commanders, fluid housing, no sort of medical aid of any kind.

All in all, it was a bit of a hot mess.

That said, it would still have been suicide to attack with just Artemis to support me.

My heart felt heavier as I mulled this over.

Artemis…

I felt the empty pit in my stomach every time I thought or saw her. It was painful. But what could I do?

At least that's what I told myself as my mind went in circles while I lay unmoving on the ground on the cliff overlooking the monster camp, trying to catch a glimpse of anything that may signify the supposed presence of the giant king in this gods-forsaken army camp.

Hours passed, and I could feel my eyes begin to droop. As I was about to wake up Artemis for her to take watch, I caught a flicker of movement in the centre of the monster camp.

It started small, with a pair of cyclopes marching out, assisted by, no, it couldn't be.

I rubbed my eyes and squinted. Nope. Clear as day, two humans.

What are the chances they're demigods?

The idea stumped me. Even the idea of Greek demigods was a hard pill to swallow for me. But now the greeks couldn't even keep their own kind in line?

I scoffed. The Greeks must be even less organised than I thought.

I turned back to the matter at hand as I saw more and more monsters and demigods streaming out of tents, gathering in a large hastily-made clearing in the middle of the camp.

Monsters jostled and cursed loud enough for me to hear them from my vantage point as they waited for someone.

I made a split-second decision, turning to shake Artemis awake.

'Artemis!' I hissed as loudly as I dared, trying simultaneously to keep track of the ever-increasing crowd forming in the camp.

Artemis simply kept sleeping.

I sighed in exasperation. She just had to be a heavy sleeper.

'Artemis!' I repeated, shaking her much harder this time.

Artemis's eyes finally fluttered open, her silver irises coming into view.

'Whazzahappening?' She asked drowsily as she let herself be helped up by me.

'First off, you're a surprisingly heavy sleeper for a huntress, and secondly there's a massive crowd forming in the camp, I think somebody's giving a speech.' I listed off quickly as I pulled her down to the ground beside me.

Artemis was instantly awake at the mention of changes in the camp, quickly blinking the fatigue out of her eyes and peeking over the edge of the cliff.

'Ten bucks says that Porphyrion is going to give a big rousing speech.'

'I'll take you up on that.'

By this time I would estimate that the monster horde was almost at full strength, already numbering over a thousand assorted monsters from dracanae to laistrygonian giants and earthborn.

Then, the cry went up. I didn't know who initiated it, only that by the time it had been taken up by the entire camp, it was deafening.

'Vivat Rex Gigas!'

The blood in my veins went ice-cold.

I shared a look with Artemis, who looked equally worried.

The giant king had arrived.

XIXI

The chanting continued for a while longer, but the monster himself only arrived once the mad ravings of his supporters had subsided.

In a massive crash of thunder and lightning, the king himself appeared in the centre of the congregation of maligned beings.

He was a beastly thing, with long slimy green hair, and bright white eyes, with a height seemingly reaching almost forty feet.. He had the torso of a man, although the bottom half of his body was scaly like that of a dragon, and proportionately massive like the rest of his body.

He waited for the cheers of his army to die down before he spoke.

I was struck by his… normalcy.

Whatever normalcy meant in a mythological world with gods, monsters and completely separate pantheons.

He lounged around casually, trading what seemed like friendly insults with the monsters surrounding him.

The gesture felt familiar, but I couldn't quite peg it.

He made the rounds, greeting all he could, before finally bidding farewell to the group of telkhines he had been conversing with and making his way back to the centre of the crowd, raising himself by standing on a large wooden box he pulled from nearby.

I realised with a jolt why it felt familiar.

I had done the same thing hundreds of times with my own men in my cohort before battle.

The idea that I could somehow be similar to the abomination in front of me, was repulsive.

And yet there it was.

Did it say more about him, or me?

No matter, he'll be dead soon, and only you will remain. I assured myself quietly, trying not to let my nerves show.

The giant placed himself square in the centre of the clearing in the middle of the crowd, slowly oscillating to give attention to every sect of monsters facing his way.

He opened his arms wide, his massive arms clad in silky brown armour flowing outwards akin to branches on a tree.

'My people!' He boomed. His voice was rough and coarse, but held authority in it.

'Loyal denizens of the Earth Mother, we have gathered here today to begin the march that will end the greek abomination known as Camp Half-blood!'

Raucous cheers rang out from the crowds around him.

I glanced over to Artemis, who was frowning.

'My brother will strike down the Romans and their vanguard in the west, while our mighty army will end the pitiful menace in the east!'

Yet more cheers followed this proclamation, the monsters all being whipped up into a frenzy.

I turned to look at Artemis, who had a troubled look on her face.

'We cannot allow this force to arrive at Camp Half-blood. They are not prepared.' Artemis said.

I shrugged. 'The Legion could hold out, but I'd rather be there to make sure nothing goes wrong.' I said, but inside I felt doubt gnaw at my stomach.

I ignored the imaginary icy knife that plunged itself deep into my stomach at these words.

We stayed silent for a time, simply watching as Porphyrion kept galvanising his troops.

It was really starting to gnaw on me, Porphyrion's lack of, well, monsteriness.

Artemis simply watched, her face set in grim determination. 'We have to draw him away, find some way to separate him from his army.'

I felt myself itching all over.

You'll kill him, and be the only one that's left. Then nobody can say you're like him. Something dark and twisted in my brain suggested.

I clenched my fists. I couldn't wait any longer, I was slowly going insane the more I waited and watched.

I nodded. 'I think I have an idea.'

Artemis looked at me with surprise and scepticism. 'So quickly? Maybe we should go ove-'

I didn't give her time to answer as I mist travelled down to the congregation of monsters, straight to the centre of the clearing, right in front of Porphyrion.

'PORPHYRION!' I shouted, pushing my voice to its absolute limit.

The giant turned to me in surprise, halfway through his latest tangent.

I summoned my trident, my eyes glowing green as I let go, not holding back even an ounce of my own and my trident's power.

The camp was deathly silent, before he let out a booming laugh.

'You must be very brave, or very stupid, to confront me, in the midst of my own army. Tell me sea-spawn, who are you?'

'I am Praetor Perseus Jackson of the twelfth legion Fulminata, son of Neptune, soon to be your slayer!' I shouted back, hoping my nervousness didn't show under all the bravado I was employing at the moment.

Porphyrion simply stared at me, before materialising a massive spear, almost as tall as him.

Never had I felt so small and insignificant in my life.

'And why, pray tell, should I give you the honour of combat to the death?' He gestured around him. 'I have an army, and Gaia has and will raise many more by the next fortnight. The Doors of Death are open, and the undergrowth of the earth is rising.'

'To prove you aren't a coward. Everybody knows a true general leads by example, from the frontlines, not hiding behind his own foot soldiers.' I taunted. With any luck, this would enrage him enough for him to tell his army to stand down. And perhaps help me forget the second part of what he had said,

What if he just sends his army after me anyways?

Let's just say we'll burn the bridge when we get to it, but my plan in the case of that eventuality began with a 't' and ended with 'rident'.

'Indeed. I concede that you are correct.' Porphyrion heaved his massive spear, addressing the crowd. 'Give us more space, I wish to test the mettle of this one. He has shown great bravery in coming here today, and I will prove the myth that demigods are pests to be true once and for all!' He boomed loudly, eliciting more mindless vocal support from his minions, who nevertheless backed up, giving myself and Porphyrion a decent amount of space to fight in.

Clouds rumbled ominously as I called upon the sky to my bidding, the slow pitter-patter of rain falling to the ground indicating the storm yielding to my command.

I brandished my trident, letting out a roar of pure rage as I charged the monster, who moved to deliver a wicked backhanded blow as I closed in upon him.

I dropped to my knees, sliding under the attack before quickly getting back on my feet, continuing my charge towards his legs, doling out a powerful strike to his right ankle.

I ran through his legs, quickly turning around to face my opponent.

Porphyrion had turned around quicker than I thought possible, shouting in rage. 'Puny demigod scum, you will pay for that!'

Not very original with his insults, I've had better. I thought drily as I dodged a series of wild swings.

Porphyrion's becoming enraged worked in my favour, as his previously lackluster strikes became even less accurate, the giant king seemingly looking to cover as much area as possible with his spear.

I somersaulted over his latest strike, sending my trident straight into his groin with a well-aimed shot.

I allowed myself a grim smile as I heard his massive roar of pain. Summoned my trident back to me through the manipulation of water molecules in the air, the trident rocketing into my hand just in time to block a massive overhand blow from the giant king.

The strength behind the attack left my bones vibrating as I absorbed the power behind his swing, my teeth rattling as I grit them together.

I stumbled back, only barely dodging the next swipe that closed in on me.

I realised with slight panic that I was very close to the edge of the impromptu arena, and a couple of telkhines were staring at me hungrily, restlessly fiddling with the swords they held.

I tried to move away from Porphyrion's strikes to try and gain some space, but the last attack had really enraged the gigantes, who didn't let up in his attacks, the constant onslaught of strikes leaving me no time to plan my next course of action.

Dodge.

Strike.

Circle.

I tried to look for an opening, either to inflict further damage or at least gain some space.

Dodge.

Strike.

Circle.

Where was Artemis when you needed her?

Dodge.

Strike.

Circle.

I realised with a jolt I hadn't seen her since I had disappeared to fight Porphyrion without any game plan whatsoever.

Oh hell, I'm going to pay for that when this is all over.

Dodge.

Strike.

Circle.

If I survive. I jibed to myself morosely.

Dodge.

Strike.

Circle.

The weight on my heart grew ever heavier as the thought passed my mind.

I blocked yet another heavy blow from Porphyrion head on, my bones rattling with the now customary intensity I had come to expect from Porphyrion.

I felt anger rise in me.

This was my plan? Get into a fight I wasn't ready for, endangering myself, New Rome? The greeks? The world?

Artemis?

Pathetic. Even in battle, when the stakes are so high, and all I can think about is her. I felt the weight in my heart grow ever heavier again. She'll leave.

Won't she?

I didn't know what to think at this point, and Artemis had a knack for surprising me.

I hissed as Porphyrion's spear grazed my right leg, causing me to stumble.

Quickly banishing the conflicting thoughts from my mind, I summoned water from the air around me, coalescing it into a singular blob which slowly absorbed into my skin as it repaired my damaged muscles and tissue.

Porphyrion by this point was grunting quite loudly, and I noticed with grim satisfaction that there was a rather large pool of golden ichor dripping down from between his legs.

I was panting heavily already, and my arms were starting to ache.

In a battle of attrition, I lose. Every time. I need to end this quickly. Hopefully Artemis will intervene before he manages to kill me. I reasoned morosely as I positioned myself to attack, channelling my power through my trident, feeling the ebb and flow of the tide through it.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

I felt more than saw my trident glow that dark green again, my eyes doing the same.

I screamed as raw power flowed through my veins, feeling like molten lava.

A massive torrent of water blasted out of the trident, hitting Porphyrion square in the chest, making him have to drop on one knee at the power behind my trident.

I let out a sigh of relief I didn't realise I had been holding in when a silvery arrow thudded into Porphyrion's neck with dead accuracy.

XIXI

Artemis

Perseus had somehow survived half an hour of combat with Porphyrion.

At least he had for now.

I winced as I watched Perseus deflect another bone-crushing blow from the giant as I frantically thought of a way to remedy this situation.

I couldn't very well enter the fight, as that could trigger Porphyrion's entire army into entering the fray as well.

What had Perseus been thinking, anyways? He was acting suicidal, throwing himself straight into a fight with the giant-king like that.

I huffed in annoyance, the stress of the situation really starting to get to me. That was something I'd have to address after this was all over.

And it will be over. He won't die. Not like Him.

I shook my head clear of such invasive thoughts, turning my attention back to the battle at hand before me.

I summoned my bow, drawing an arrow and carefully taking aim.

I only had one chance at wounding him fatally, and failure could jeopardise the whole operation.

I patiently waited for a lull in the combat, the current frenzied back and forth between Porphyrion and Perseus, who surprisingly seemed to be holding his own.

I squinted my eyes at Perseus, seeing his eyes glow in tandem with the emeralds on the tips of the prongs of his trident.

Suddenly, Perseus let out a massive roar, and a massive stream of high pressure water shot out of the tip of his trident, hitting an unsuspecting Porphyrion square in the chest, launching him back a couple of metres.

As Porphyrion collapsed on one knee, catching his breath, I heard the familiar twang of my bow as the arrow I had kept tense finally left my fingers, flying true straight into the giant king's neck.

I quickly flashed in beside Perseus, standing beside him defiantly in the face of Porphyrion's full rage.

Porphyrion slowly got up, his chest heaving as he attempted to stay conscious.

He looked down to the arrow embedded in his neck in disbelief, before snapping off the shaft with a pained grunt.

He looked back at me with a sneer.

'My people!' He addressed, his voice sounding forlorn. But I knew better. There were few more skilled in manipulation than the king of the giants himself.

'We have been deceived! The sea-spawn spoke of honourable single combat, yet here is an immortal aiding him in combat!.' Porphyrion gestured wildly to me, picking up his discarded spear he had dropped beforehand.

I heard a massive roar go up around me as the entirety of Porphyrion's monster host charged us.

I glanced over to Perseus worriedly, only to see him in deep concentration, eyes closed as he held his trident aloft in front of him, the glow of his eyes visible even under his eyelids.

He slammed the butt of his trident in the ground, creating massive fissures in the earth all around us as the ground began to shake, hundreds of monsters falling in before realising their folly.

I looked around me to see that only a small island of land me and Perseus were standing on was unaffected.

I glanced over in surprise at Perseus, whose trident was glowing in tandem with him.

I felt a twinge of annoyance at him leaving me out of his plans, and risking his life so blatantly and dangerously.

Now when did that happen?

AN:

So! Chapter.

This is the first new chapter that actually furthers the plot in… what, two weeks?

Jaysus.

So yeah, exams hit me hard, apart from a school trip, so didn't have much time to write.

Life does that sometimes.

Edit: Yeah, I did have Artemis friendzone Percy. I'm evil lol.

Reviews:

Sankarea396: Not reincarnation, I'm not smart enough to come up with lore for that. The answer's actually a lot more simple than you'd think. I'll give you a hint, it is a water deity, but a bit newer than what you're thinking. But this is a bit further down the line in the next arc, so don't worry yourself about it too much for now.

The Dark Sapphire: Yeah, I plan on rectifying that once Percy returns to New Rome (Yes he'll be going back, you'll see.) I was kinda harsh in my portrayal, but bear in mind, this is Percy's point of view on this, and his entire personality clashes with being anywhere below head honcho in the hierarchy of New Rome, not just because he's a free spirit, but also because he feels he can do a better job than the people who were in command before him.

Exodus12345: I appreciate it man. Definitely one of my biggest fears is rushing. I do want to move the plot at a good pace, but still be able to enjoy fluff, and honestly at times it can be difficult to balance, especially since I have no experience writing at all, but hey, practice makes perfect.

So yeah, that's it for me. I'm planning on adding some extra content to chapter 3, and after that continue with chapter ten, so I'll see y'all around.

Slán, Murph.