HI GUYS! so I got a review on chapter 2 that I think makes a lot of sense. He basically asked me why Percy and Bryan met the hunt so late. I completely agree...it doesn't really make sense. So here's my on the spot attempt to find a reason...since Percy and Bryan knew that the hunt hated men they didn't want to go meet them. But...recently Artemis asked them to come meet the hunt cuz why not and yea...sorry for the confusion guys :) enjoy the next chapter!
(Chapter 4) (Bryan POV)
I summoned my spear and had a standoff with Atlas. He looked at me, then grinned and pulled out his sword. It was a long silver broadsword, and it was big. Very big. If he goes offensive it will be tough to defend myself, he is the titan of strength after all. So I know what I have to do.
I ran at him with my spear. I know I have to play it offensive to win the fight. I jumped and swung my spear down and Atlas blocked it,
"You will die here today, Bryan," He sneered
"I would say the same to you, but I don't want to kill you," I said
He smiled and swung at me again. I'm forced to keep a defensive stance. Atlas struck again and again, and I can barely keep up. He jumps and brings his sword in a way that would cut me in half. I quickly bring my spear up, and the force of the hit snaps it in half. I quickly make it disappear and pull out my two daggers.
I jumped forward and cut at his stomach, successfully getting a cut into it which made him wince in pain. He hit me back, and I crossed my daggers and caught the blade. Atlas then kicked me backward, and I fell to the ground in front of Percy.
"Percy," I gasped, the kick had taken the air out of me, "I can't beat him,"
"Yes…" he paused, taking a breath, "You can. Take my sword. You are the god of battle strategy. Beat his ass bro,"
His sword appeared on the ground in front of me. I picked it up and got up. Atlas had turned his attention to Zoe and Artemis.
"I will kill you, Artemis," he said
Artemis is awake and has her bow out, but her arms are shaking. There is no way she can defend herself.
Atlas was about to strike when an arrow embedded into his arm. He growled and turned to see Zoe with her bow in her hand.
"I will not let you hurt my mistress," she said defiantly,
"Daughter, you disappoint me," he said and strode toward her.
Seeing this, I was kicked out of my stupor and ran forward. Atlas was about to strike Zoe, and she got ready to defend herself when I slid under Atlas and blocked his strike with the sword.
"Bryan, give up already!" he growled, then kicked me again. I expected it this time and got up in time to jump over it. I struck him across the chest, and jumped, kicking him around the head. Zoe fired arrow after arrow, and Artemis did as well, albeit slightly slower than Zoe. The arrows hit him in the back, and in his head. He yelled in anger, and ran at me, ignoring all the arrows.
I side-stepped, but he expected that, and his sword stabbed through my side, just barely missing my stomach. I froze and looked down at the sword sticking in my stomach. Using the last of my strength, I threw Atlas over my back, to where Percy was, then I felt myself slip into darkness.
(Percy POV)
Bryan, Zoe, and Artemis were fighting, and honestly kicking Atlas's ass, and if I wasn't holding the fucking sky, I would be enjoying watching it. I watched as Atlas roared in pain, and rushed Bryan. I was confident he would dodge and finish him off for good, but we all underestimated Atlas. I watched as Atlas's sword got stuck in my brother's stomach, as a look of shock covered everyone's face.
Bryan threw Atlas at me, and just as Atlas fell in front of me, I rolled out from under the sky, and it fell back onto the shoulders of Atlas.
I instantly ran to Bryan, as he fell onto the ground. I held him in my hands, and called to Apollo,
"Apollo! We need help. Right now!" I said
Apollo appeared in front of me, and as soon as he saw Bryan, he conjured a stretcher, and I helped him put Bryan on it.
"He'll be fine bro," Apollo said, "You can relax."
I nodded as Apollo flashed out with Bryan. I took my sword off the ground and twirled it in my fingers. Suddenly an overwhelming surge of anger overtook me. I felt my body start to light on fire. I could see the plants starting to burn around me. I could hear someone saying something, but I paid it no mind, as I turned to see that traitor Hermes spawn taking the time to try and run.
I turned toward him, I felt my eyes burning, and my voice came out dark and twisted,
"Oh, you think you can run?" I jeered, creating a firewall that blocked him from going further without getting very badly burned. Not even his Achilles curse could save him from that because it would burn his mortal point. "You will never escape me,"
"PERSEUS!" came a voice behind me. I ignored it.
"You, you are the scum of this world," I growled, the son of Hermes's eyes were shining with fear. "I will kill you. I will cut you until I find your mortal point, and trust me I will find it,"
Suddenly all my anger disappeared as I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see Artemis with a concerned look on her face. I saw behind her that Annabeth, Thalia, Bianca, and Zoe were huddled behind a rock, and they had peeked their heads up.
"I'm sorry," I whispered,
Artemis wrapped her arms around me, as I fell apart in her arms. My usually powerful demeanor broke as I started crying. Artemis's hand ran circles on my back, and I shivered from the touch.
"He…" my voice broke, "He'll be alright, right?"
"Yes, of course, he'll be fine" Artemis's soft voice whispered in my ear.
Suddenly I realized we were causing a scene, and Bianca and Thalia were smirking at me, while Annabeth was looking at us with a quizzical look on her face. I quickly wiped the tears off my face and stood straight.
"Let's get you guys back to camp," I said, then Artemis and I teleported to camp with the others.
Once we got to camp, Artemis turned to me,
"I'm going to go to Olympus, meet me there once you are done here," she said
I nodded, then turned to Thalia, Annabeth, Bianca, and Zoe.
"Ok, girls, tell Chiron that the quest was a success and Atlas is under the sky again," I said.
The girls nodded, so I teleported to Olympus. I went straight to the medical area where Apollo healed people and saw Bryan sitting up in a hospital bed.
"Hey man, you gave me a scare there," I said, walking up to him
"Sorry, dude," he grinned sheepishly, "did you see that move I did though? To save Zoe?"
"The thing where you slid under Atlas?" I asked, and Bryan nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah man, that was sick," He grinned and then winced
"My side hurts," he said
I rolled my eyes, "Duh, aren't you supposed to be the smart one?"
He lightly punched my arm, "I don't know dude," he said, "Just 'cause I'm the smart one out of us two doesn't mean I'm smart," he smirked
I was going to retort, but I was cut off by Athena running into the room. She ran up to Bryan and hugged him.
"You actual IDIOT!" she yelled, "How are you just going to go and get yourself stabbed like that? I thought I told you to be careful!"
Bryan groaned from pain, and she let go. That's when she noticed me standing there with a wide smirk on my face.
"I'm...just going to go," she said
Once she left I turned to Bryan again, now I'm the one smirking.
"So," I started, "When were you going to tell me you and Athena are a thing?"
"We're not a thing!" he said quickly, "Just friends."
I laughed, "Sure, just friends." I said, "Looks like I'm gonna have to play matchmaker. Maybe I should ask Aphrodite,"
Bryan saw the opportunity and took it, "You sure you wanna go see Aphrodite bro?" he asked, "Pretty sure Artemis wouldn't like that,"
I frowned, "Why are you bringing Artemis into this?"
"As if you don't know," he said, "I've seen the way you look at her,"
I froze, "I don't know what you're talking about,"
He grinned, "Sure dude, it looks like I'm playing matchmaker too. I'll ask Apollo for help."
I forgot about even denying it, "You ask Apollo, and I won't get with Artemis, I'll get a oneway trip to death."
"You didn't deny it. I win," he said laughing.
'Damn,' I thought. Do I actually like Artemis? No way, that's impossible. Plus, she's a maiden goddess, literally known for being man-hating. So even if she is my friend, and even if I do like her (which I don't, obviously) we won't get together.
"Anyway, when will you get out of here?" I asked, keen to change the subject.
Bryan gave me a knowing smile, then said, "I don't know, hopefully after a day or so, if I'm lucky then later today"
I nodded, then remembered that Artemis had asked me to meet her after coming to Olympus.
"Alright Bry, I'll be back later, I got to go right now," I said
He nodded, clapped my hand, "Alright Perce, see you later," he said
I walked out of the room and went towards Artemis's palace. I knocked on the door, and a nymph opened it. She blushed when she saw me,
"Lord Perseus, what can I do for you?" she asked
"Artemis asked to see me," I said, "and please, drop the lord."
She nodded and led me to Artemis's room, where she was laying on her bed, with nymphs massaging her shoulders.
"Artemis," I said, "you asked me to come?"
She opened her eyes, "Please leave us," she said
The nymphs all left the room, and I sat on the edge of her bed. She gestured for me to lay down, so I slowly complied. I felt my back pop in 5 different areas, and I sighed. I've used my back so much, it really did need a break. I didn't even realize how sore I was until just now.
"Percy, I called you because I need to ask you something," she said, "It's about what happened earlier on Mount Tam."
I slowly nodded, turning to look her in the eyes (we were laying shoulder to shoulder before).
"When you had that, well, breakdown, it became apparent to me that something is bothering you," she said
I sighed, "There isn't anything Arty, I was just worried about Bryan,"
"Then how do you lose control that much?" she said
"I...don't know," I said
"There is something, that's for sure," she said
I sighed, she was right, why did I lose control like that? It just doesn't make sense. Usually, I'm levelheaded, at least, mostly.
"Yeah, we'll figure it out later," I said
"Ok, hey Perce?" she said
I turned, "Yeah?"
"Get some rest, there's a council meeting later, at night," she said
I nodded and left for my palace, and fell in bed, I needed to rest, it had been a long day.
I was woken by Bryan who was healed, and he shook me awake,
"Yo, Perce, it's time for the Council meeting, let's go," he said,
I got up and changed, then flashed into the council chamber. I sat on my throne and felt the comforting wave of power that came every time I sat in it. The rest of the council was here, except for Ares, Dionysus, and Aphrodite. Thalia, Zoe, Bianca, and Annabeth were there too.
I grinned at them and gave them a thumbs-up, and they (except for Zoe) smiled back at me. Zoe just waved and nodded.
After that, I zoned out. Honestly, I didn't care much for this meeting, since it was just to celebrate a victory. I was aware of some gods arguing to kill Thalia, and I would've stepped in, but I knew that Zeus wouldn't let his daughter get killed, so I didn't say anything.
Once the meeting ended, I was going to leave, but Zeus came to me and said,
"Stay for the party nephew, you deserve to enjoy yourself,"
I nodded, "Alright uncle, I'll stay," I said
He smiled, then walked off to go do something, I don't know. I searched for Bryan using our connection and saw him off to the side where the drinks were. I walked up to him,
"Hey, you feeling better?" I asked
"Yeah, feel great," he said,
I spotted Athena over by herself, sort of just standing. She'll probably leave, unless…
"Hey, Bry, your girl is standing there by herself," I said, "You better go get her before she leaves,"
"She's not my girl!" he said, seeing my raised eyebrow he sighed, "Whatever, I'll go, only if you go to Artemis,"
I groaned, I should've seen this coming, "Fine, just go dude, she's about to leave," I said
He grinned, "Alright Perce," he started walking away, then turned to me again, "Dude, enjoy yourself, relax, I mean it,"
I grinned at him, then watched as he walked up to Athena, exchanged a few words with her, then led a pretty flustered-looking Athena to dance.
"Hey, I wasn't joking. You better go to Artemis right now," Bryan said
"Alright, alright, relax," I laughed
I walked around the party, looking for Artemis, and saw her talking to Zoe, she then teleported Zoe out of Olympus and turned to get a drink. Steeling my nerves I started to walk to her, only to get stopped by Aphrodite, who was honestly a pain in the ass.
"Hey Perseus, you want to come with me to my palace?" she asked
"Um, no thanks," I said, then pushed past her and started walking to Artemis again, I could hear Aphrodite calling my name, but I honestly couldn't care less.
"Hey Arty," I said as I reached her
She jumped a little then relaxed when she saw me, "Hi Percy, are you enjoying the party?"
"Not really, wanna get out of here?" I asked
She smiled, "That would be nice,"
I grinned, and took her hand, and teleported us to a remote cliffside overlooking the ocean.
Artemis looked at me strangely, "Why here?" she asked
"I don't know, I like the ocean," I said, "Even though fire and water are opposites, they are very similar. Both have an ethereal beauty, and both have undeniable power behind them. "
Artemis was smiling warmly at me as I continued, "Think of it as a forest. If that forest gets burned by a fire, the soil becomes fertile. Then when water is rained on it, more plants grow. So fire and water work together to help the forest thrive,"
Artemis laughed softly, "I didn't know you're a philosopher Percy," she said
I grinned, "Oh? That's my profession what do you mean?"
"Oh?" Artemis grinned with her eyebrows raised, "Okay then, oh great philosopher, tell me something else,"
"Umm, the moon is your domain right," My mind was racing at 100MPH trying to think of something, "So if you have auburn hair, that means that if you put your face on the moon, the moon would have auburn hair." I finished
Artemis looked at me for like a full minute, then fell to the ground laughing.
"That was…" she paused because she couldn't stop laughing, "That was the worst thing I've ever heard!"
"That's mean," I said, but I couldn't help but laugh myself because I don't know what the fuck I just said.
Once we stopped laughing, I laid back and stared at the sky, looking at all of the constellations. Artemis laid next to me, and we stayed silent, watching the stars. Suddenly Bryan teleported behind us.
"Um, what?" Bryan said
"Why'd you teleport here?" I asked
"I don't know, it wasn't me," he said
"Indeed it wasn't Bryan," a voice came from behind him.
All three of us turned to see the 3 fates standing in front of us. We nodded in greeting to them.
"We have called you here because you three will play a big role in the coming war," Clotho said
Atropos continued, "You three aren't bound by ancient laws, so you are especially dangerous for the people opposing Olympus. That is why you three will be made a target."
Lachesis finished, "You three have to be very cautious. You know of fatal flaws, and you have to always be careful about yours. Artemis, your fatal flaw is your prejudice, Bryan, and Perseus, yours is attachment."
We nodded, as things started to make sense. Being the children of Hestia, who is the goddess of family, our fatal flaw is attachment. That explains the anger attack I had when I thought Bryan was going to die. I could tell Artemis was thinking the same thing.
"Thank you," Artemis said, "If I may ask, what do you mean by prejudice?"
"Your prejudice towards men could lead to your downfall. You cannot be hostile towards all men, because many of them are not bad people. Many are, but many aren't. If you assume all are bad, it could get you killed," Atropos said
Artemis nodded, though her expression was slightly conflicted. I know she understands what she is saying, but doesn't agree with it.
"Remember what we told you," they said, then all three of them left,
"Men? Men are all terrible!" Artemis said, "Other than you two, but still,"
"I don't know Arty, but at least some things make more sense now," I said
"Yeah," Artemis said quietly,
"Let's not worry about this right now," Bryan said, "I don't think it's a good idea to worry right now. Also, I'm just...gonna go,"
I laughed as he teleported, "Have fun with Athena!"
"FUCK YOU PERCE!" Bryan said
I laughed again and saw Artemis looking at me with a small smile on her face. I smiled back at her, and she walked up to me and hugged me. I slowly hugged her back, as she buried her face into my chest.
"Thank you for being such a good friend Percy," she said, and I smiled
"No, thank you, Arty,"
In my palace, I thought about what the fates had said to us, Attachment? I guess it makes sense, but the problem with that is that people will die in a war, and demigods aren't immortal. Thalia, Annabeth, could die at any time. Even Zoe and Bianca could die fighting.
I went to Bryan's palace because honestly, I don't want to think about this right now, and I'm bored. I knocked, because I'm a nice person, and he opened the door.
"Hey, Bry, I'm bored, you got something to do?" I asked
He nodded "SO, I've been looking at what mortals do when they're bored. I saw this game called basketball that they play, and it looks fun, wanna try it?" he said
I grinned, and we walked outside. "So Perce, the game is usually better when there are more than 2 people, you want to call Apollo and Artemis? We haven't done stuff together in a while." Bryan said
I nodded, so we called them. Then we teleported to a mortal basketball court and started playing. After a while, we started to get the hang of the game. Then the games started getting more and more competitive. It was honestly a good release I think we all needed so that we could be ready for the war that was coming up. It felt good.
(time skip, 7 months later)
We all gathered in the throne room, as my mother called a meeting. Zeus teleported in and looked at her expectantly.
"Sister, why have you called this meeting?" Zeus asked
"It has come to my attention that the quest in the labyrinth was successful, however, there is about to be an attack on camp half-blood. The campers from the quest are back in camp, but they might need help because we do not know how many monsters will be in the attack," she said
"I'll go," Bryan and I said together, then grinned at each other.
Zeus nodded, "It appears they will need your help once again,"
We all nodded, and Zeus dismissed the council. I summoned my armor and got ready to teleport but I was stopped by a hand on my shoulder.
"Please be careful," I heard Artemis and turned to see her looking at me concerned, "We do not know what will attack them."
I nodded and smiled reassuringly at her. I turned to see Bryan hugging Athena, before turning to me. When he saw my face he groaned, "Not right now, please,"
I grinned, "Alright, fine...so how's your girlfriend doing?" I laughed cheekily,
Bryan slapped his forehead then teleported both of us to camp. I kept laughing, it's too fun teasing him.
"I take it it's going well because that hug looked especially cozy," I grinned,
"I guess you can't let go of it because you wish you could be like that with Artemis," Bryan countered, now it was his turn to smirk
"Please, I don't know what you're talking about," I deadpanned,
"Oh sure you don't, you just wish she would hug you like that, but she doesn't," he laughed
I was about to counter when we realized our little argument had about 40 spectators. We didn't even notice we teleported in the middle of the demigod army.
"Umm, hi guys," I said
All of the demigods started laughing. I felt my face start to burn.
Hey Perseus, your face is looking a little gold there," Annabeth said from my side, "You okay there?"
I glared at her, but she knew as well as I did, that it had no real venom behind it, only playful fake anger.
We all laughed a bit, then got serious. The demigods filled us in that the opening of the labyrinth was in front of us, so we all prepared for battle. I summoned my sword, and twirled a knife in my other hand, the anticipation killing me.
Suddenly monsters burst out of the ground, hellhounds and harpies, dracaena and giants. We all got ready as the monsters started running towards us. Then Bryan started the charge, with me closely behind him. All the demigods followed us.
I jumped ahead, wreathing my body in flames, and jumping right in the middle of the monster army. I swung my sword around, cutting through monsters like it was nothing. Suddenly the ground rumbled, as many of the monsters started to run away. I stopped, looking at the labyrinth. Suddenly a monster flew out. She had massive wings, animal heads on her waist, and the head of a gorgon.
"Kampe," I growled
Bryan walked up to me and nodded, then we charged her together. Bryan spun his spear around (he got a new one from mom, our weapons are unbreakable now) and threw a line of fire at her. I jumped up as she flailed back and cut one of her wings off with my sword.
I grinned, this fight wasn't even fair, I almost felt bad, almost. I made my sword disappear, and jumped backward, pulling out knives one after the other midair and throwing them right at Kampe's face. Bryan stabbed her through her stomach and Kampe disintegrated, screaming bloody murder at us.
The demigods, who had been watching us fight in awe, suddenly ran forward. Bryan and I were shrunk back down to our normal height of 6'2, well...Bryan's 6'2. I'm 6'2.5 but no one cares.
They surrounded us and hugged us, which was a little weird, but then again, we are close friends with all of them, since we come to Camp pretty often, almost every week actually.
We smiled at them, "Good job everyone, you all fought very bravely." Bryan said, and I nodded in agreement.
After they had all left, I turned to Bryan. He grinned at me, then I teleported both of us to the throne room. Mom was the only one there, sitting at the foot of her throne by the hearth. She smiled at us when we teleported in.
"I see your battle went well," she said, "Did you break your spear again Bryan? I would hate to have to make you a new one," she grinned
"It was 1 time in 1,000 years mother!" Bryan grumbled, "Why do you two love teasing me so much?"
"Because it's so easy!" I laughed
Mom's eyes went wide, "Oh? What does Perseus tease you about?"
I grinned as Bryan's face went pale, "Oh, just his...relationship with Athena," I grinned
Hestia's smile widened, "Oh, my boy has a girlfriend now? How great, only took you 1,005 years,"
My eyes went wide, and I started laughing, "Damn, Mom, you are a savage," I said
She smiled at me, "Where do you think you got it from?" she asked innocently,
"Apollo," I said very seriously
She nodded, "that is correct, sorry Bryan, I was just teasing," she said
Bryan laughed, "I know,"
We both hugged our mother as she held us close to her, and tried to forget about the war, and battles, and death. Right now, we're just a happy family.
Wow, extra-long chapter today, I'm doing amazing with these :)
Like actually though, since when do I write 4,000-word chapters?
Anyway, love you guys, until next time, bye ;)