Dinner was nothing like Artemis had expected. It was different from the cold, formal dinners at Olympus (even if half of them were filled with Apollo, Hermes and Ares pulling pranks). The food was amazing. There was nothing quite like a home cooked meal. The entire dinner had been filled with laughter. Stories were told, jokes were made, terrible sarcasm was used.

Sally had regaled her with tales of Percy's childhood, a great source of embarrassment for Percy. Paul had told stories of the times his students had tried to get away with cheating on their exams. It was quite amusing to find out that they had come up with the most detailed plans yet had still got caught. Estelle was just a bundle of excitement and curiosity. She would ask questions upon questions and was always eager to share a story or two about Percy being a seaweed brain.

All in all, she had enjoyed herself. For an hour she had managed to forget her troubles. In that hour, she wasn't a goddess turned mortal, or a grief stricken mess. She was just a human having a good time. Of course that had all changed when she turned in for the night.

Sally had lent her a nightdress. It fit her perfectly, falling till just below her knees. When Percy had showed her the room she would be staying in, she didn't know what she expected. It was smaller than Percy's room. The bed took up most of the space. Next to it was a bedside table with a lamp on it. The only other piece of furniture was a desk that faced a window that led to a balcony. There was a door that led to a bathroom. It gave off a warm, cozy feel.

After a bit of banter with Percy he bade her good night, leaving her with her thoughts. As Artemis climbed into the bed and pulled the blankets around her, burrowing into them, her head began throbbing. All she could think about were her dead hunters.

Julia.

Ella.

Naomi.

One by one, she ran through the names.

Ellis.

Alanna.

All the hunters that she had failed to protect, failed to save.

Scarlet.

Hope.

She thought about what she would give for them to still be alive. Anything. Everything.

Sienna.

Juliet.

They were gone. All gone. Only 3 had survived and she had been banned from seeing them. It was too much.

Autumn.

Annalise.

She stopped thinking of the names. She couldn't take the pain. She couldn't stay strong, didn't want to. She let her guard down and cried. She cried and cried and cried for hours until she cried herself to sleep. By the time her breathing had evened out, her pillow was soaked. Her sleep was dreamless, as it always was. The room fell silent and Artemis slept.

The next morning Artemis was abruptly awoken due to Estelle jumping up and down on her bed, laughing merrily.

"Estelle, what are you doing?" Artemis asked, trying to keep the annoyance in her tone to a bare minimum. She really hated waking up early. she sat up slowly.

"Mum said to wake you up for food." Estelle reported.

Artemis checked the clock on the wall in front of her. To her shock it was 10 am. Huh. Not that early after all.

"Ok, Estelle. I'll be there soon" Artemis said.

Estelle jumped off the bed and ran out of the door. Artemis rolled her eyes fondly before lying back down and pulling the blankets back up. It may have been 10 am but she was still tired and she was going back to sleep. Unfortunately for her, the blankets were yanked back almost 5 whole minutes later.

"Leave me alone Percy!" Artemis yelled, catching sight of him as she tried to shield her eyes from the light.

"Nope. Come on, get up"

"Percy!" Artemis whined, trying to grab the blanket from him.

"Never thought i'd see the day where the great Artemis whined" Percy joked.

"I'm not whining" Artemis protested.

"Are too"

"Am not"

"Are too"

"Am not!"

"Are to"

"Aha!" Artemis had managed to grab the blanket from Percy. She quickly burrowed into them, holding tightly onto it so that Percy couldn't take them again.

"Looks like we're doing this the hard way" Percy sighed in mock sadness.

"What do you mean, hard wa-" she was cut off by Percy picking her up. "Perseus Jackson! Put me down!"

Percy ignored her and carried her all the way to the kitchen, holding back laughs at her colorful and creative language.

Artemis was grumbling something about this being the second time in as many days that Percy picked her up. Then she sat down on one of the two seats at the kitchen island, the other one occupied by Estelle.

"Morning" Sally greeted, smiling at the scene in front of her. She was standing by the stove. "I see you got up"

"It's not like I had a choice, did I?" Artemis playfully glared at Percy.

"Guilty" Percy admitted.

"We know" Sally and Artemis said in unison.

"What's for breakfast?" Artemis asked.

"Blue pancakes"

Estelle gasped loudly. "Can I have some? How much time will they take? Can I have some, can I have some?"

"My, my, someone's impatient, aren't they?" Sally said.

"But, but, blue pancakes!" Estelle stuttered.

"I suppose you get it from your brother" Sally mused.

"Yeah!" Percy said happily.

Sally turned to Artemis so that her back was to Percy. She was smirking and was mouthing the words one, two, three.

As if on cue Percy yelled indignantly. "Hey!"

"Well it's true" Estelle argued, not even knowing what she was arguing about, just that it was a chance to poke fun at him.

"Women" Percy muttered irritably.

"Excuse me?" Artemis and Sally said, highly affronted.

"Paul!" Percy cried, Paul having just entered the kitchen. "Save me!"

"What did you do this time?" Paul sighed.

"The girls are being mean to me! help me!"

"You mean your mother, your sister and Lady Artemis?" Paul double checked. When Percy nodded he snorted. "Sorry son, don't have a death wish"

"Dad! You're supposed to be on my side" Percy pouted.

"Unfortunately, I actually want to live" Paul said apologetically. Then he turned to Sally.

"Dear, I have a meeting with one of the other teachers. I'll be back in an hour or two" Paul informed, kissing her on the cheek before turning to exit the kitchen, grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl on the way.

"Bye honey!" Sally called.

"I'll have breakfast ready in a few minutes. Percy, do you mind taking Estelle to the mall with you and Artemis? I have to go over some stuff with my editor and publisher" Sally asked.

"No problem mom" Percy said.

"Yay! I get to go with Percy!" Estelle cheered.

Percy laughed and ruffled her hair. "We can go to all your toy stores"

"Percy! You already bought her a toy this week." Sally chided.

"How can I say no to my baby sister?"

"I'm not a baby!" Estelle crossed her arms.

"Yea, of course you're not" Percy said, rolling his eyes.

Estelle narrowed his eyes at him. Artemis laughed at the fact that Percy yelped and ran to hide behind his mother because of a 5 year old.

"Percy, she's a five year old. You're an all powerful demigod. From what I'm seeing, it's the other way around" Artemis remarked.

"Believe me, sometimes even I think that" Sally rolled her eyes, though Artemis could see a sense of fondness in the action. "Now who's up for breakfast?"

Percy picked Estelle up, sat in her seat, then put her in his lap. "We are!"

Sally put two plates in front of Percy, one of which was for Estelle, and then grabbed another one for Artemis. "Enjoy!"

Artemis took one bite and fell in love. How could something taste that good?

"Percy, your mother's cooking is heavenly" Artemis complimented.

"Don't I know it" Percy replied, practically emptying a whole bottle of syrup on his pancakes.

"Percy. I don't think your pancakes have enough syrup on them" Artemis said sarcastically.

"Hey! To quote myself, 'I am a Poseidon kid. I can't drown and neither can my pancakes'" Percy grinned.

Artemis groaned. "Please never do that again"

"Why not?" Percy still had that ridiculous grin on his face.

Artemis just sighed.

After breakfast Artemis went back to her room and changed into the clothes she was wearing the day before. She didn't have any others, so hopefully she could buy some and change into them quickly. She went to the living room to find Percy and Estelle talking.

"What does a cow say?" Percy questioned.

"Moo!" Estelle answered.

"What does a duck say?"

"Quack!"

"What does a goat say?"

"Enchiladas are vegetables!" Estelle said to Artemis' confusion.

"... the other kind of goat" Percy specified.

Estelle pretended to swing an imaginary baseball bat. "DIE! DIE!"

"I have taught you well" Percy wiped a fake tear from his eye.

"I'm just going to ignore whatever that was." Artemis gestured towards Estelle still screaming die and swinging a baseball bat around. "Now, how are we getting to the mall?"

"I'm driving" Percy grinned, spinning his car keys around his finger.

"Let's go!" Estelle bounded out of the door.

"Slow down Estelle!" Percy called.

"She's excited" Artemis noted.

Percy shrugged. "She's Estelle. She's always excited"

"I noticed" Artemis chuckled.

"Estelle, wait!" Percy yelled as they exited the building. Estelle was running ahead.

"She's not going to wait" Artemis said.

"Come on" Percy grabbed Artemis' hand and ran forward, forcing Artemis to run as well.

"Caught you!" Percy said as he reached a giggling Estelle and picked her up, letting go of Artemis' hand.

Percy led them to his car. He put Estelle in the backseat and triple checked her seat belt. Then he opened the front passengers' door for her.

"Your chariot awaits, my lady" he dramatically gestured to the car.

"Bow down, peasant" Artemis played along.

"Of course, my queen" Percy mockingly bowed.

Artemis caught Percy's eye and they both burst out laughing. It took them a while to stop. They were still chuckling a bit when they climbed into the car.

"We should be there in 10 minutes" Percy informed as he started the car.

"Ok" Artemis replied.

The next 5 minutes were spent in an awkward silence.

"So..." Percy said "Have you seen Finding Nemo?"

"No?" Artemis replied, confused.

"I have never been so insulted" Percy looked shocked.

"You don't listen much, do you?" Artemis asked with a smirk.

"Hey!" Percy protested.

"Anyway, what's Finding Nemo?" Artemis was genuinely curious.

"Y-y-you've never heard of Finding Nemo?" Percy stuttered. "I'm sorry, Estelle, you're gonna have to take over."

"Finding Nemo is a movie" Estelle supplied.

Artemis blinked. "You're getting worked up because of a movie?"

"You've never seen a movie unless you've seen Finding Nemo" Percy defended.

"Fine, if it means so much to you, we can watch it when we get back from the mall" Artemis sighed.

"Yay!" Percy cheered, acting like Estelle for a moment, and to Artemis that made it all worth it

A/N: Hi! Thanks everyone for reading this chapter and my story. My update schedule is a mess, so I'll probably update at least once or twice week. I'll also try to make my chapters longer, but no promises. Please don't forget to leave a review! They really make my day!