Percy knew this wasn't good. Artemis' eyes were stern but he could see the fury beneath, her body slightly stiffened and her face halfway into a snarl. She was radiating anger and he couldn't help but cower in the face of her wrath. The effect only got worse when considering that they were still on her chariot, flying through the atmosphere while also being in the core of her domain. He couldn't even back away without falling to his doom.

He knew he couldn't get out of this but at the same time he wasn't sure how to answer her. He had given Void his word not to mention anything about the primordial and he had no clue on how to escape his predicament without mentioning him at least once. "What do you want to know, m'lady?"

His voice was meek, honorifics slipping into his speech subconsciously. This seemed to at least alert the goddess to the absolute power she had right now as Artemis summoned her knives, fixating them with their tip on his chest. "Everything. How you know Nyx, who your patron is, why you turned on Olympus…everything."

Her voice had returned to quiet fury, not being overly loud but instead being coated with malice and rage. He wanted to tell her that he didn't betray anyone, that she misunderstood but he was afraid she would skewer him if she thought he was making excuses. In his panic however, he was being quiet and unresponsive, making the already angry goddess all the more pissed off. Her glare intensified as she pushed her blade forward to pierce his shirt and probably his skin beneath when…it stopped.

As if his shirt had become armour, her knife was unable to penetrate the soft fabric. For a moment Percy wondered if Artemis was just demonstrating her control over her knife and wanted to intimidate him somehow but the sliver of surprise and fear that went through her expression at the same time told him otherwise. She didn't know what was going on either.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't leave him with any more scars, Artemis…actually, could you drop your weapons altogether? They really don't serve a purpose here."

In a moment of bizarre surreality, Void appeared, floating along next to the chariot and looking at them both. Just like him, Artemis was equally baffled at the sudden intruder but she quickly shook it off, aiming and firing an arrow faster than Percy could register.

The arrow glowed slightly, indicating the power it stored and yet…without even acknowledging its existence at all, Void let the arrow bounce off his shoulder, no sign of hurt left anywhere. The most it got was a quiet sigh before he looked back at Artemis. "I don't mean to harm you but you should really be careful with those. This counts as a challenge after all. Now I believe I asked you to drop your weapons?"

There was a deafening power behind the last words, Artemis's bow suddenly dropping from her hands and disappearing into light. Percy didn't know what Void had done but he could feel a shift in the air. Artemis, just like him, had lost her control over the situation and Void had claimed it for himself. "You wanted an explanation, correct?"

Despite his words being how one would normally address an unruly child, Void somehow came across as calming instead, his posture and presence oozing with sincerity. Artemis nodded. The goddess had visibly reduced her animosity, only throwing him distrustful looks rather than violent glares and relaxing her stance along with it. Being on the receiving end of distrust didn't particularly make him feel better, but it certainly made things feel less explosive.

"I am the boy's patron. My name isn't really important since I don't appear in your stories but I control the land of the faded, Void. I asked him not to reveal my involvement to anyone since I try to keep my interference at a minimum."

Artemis' eyes widened for a moment as she looked closely at the deity again. Percy wasn't sure why she even believed him at all but apparently something had convinced her…actually, why had he believed Void originally? Maybe it was his presence?

Regardless, Artemis was willing to believe Void's words. "Why interfere at all then? And what do you want?" Her voice had a lot less edge to it, still not calm by any means but nowhere near as chilling as it was just minutes ago.

"Because he needed it. I was asked by someone in my family to help him and so I did. As for what I want…I want this world to still exist in a century…to be spared from having to wipe it out in a cataclysm of death and destruction. If you fail to stop Tartarus then life on earth will end and Chaos will restart the universe to repair its failed form."

That was news for Percy too. Suddenly his shoulders felt heavy, a burden he didn't like to carry had just been enlarged once more. He didn't need to save the world, it was the entire universe. How great. He noticed a similar terror to his own on Artemis as she froze alongside him. It took them both a moment to snap back from this, Artemis being the first to regain her composure with him following shortly after. "What do you need Styx for in all of that?"

It seems it still didn't make sense for her why stopping Tartarus required the freedom of the river goddess. It didn't make sense to Percy either, he just went along with Void's advice so he was curious now too. "Because you need allies. There is no future in which Olympus as a whole survives on anything but a barren wasteland devoid of life or joy. For you to survive the chaos of its fall, you need allies…or need to reduce your number of enemies."

Void really failed to make this more positive right now. First he tells them to save the universe, then that they have to give up their home. Percy had been somewhat aware of the fact that this was the future Void was aiming for but hearing it so blatantly made it all the more clear. He could tell that Artemis was more out of it, clearly caught very off her guard by the end of Olympus, the one constant in her long life. "What do you want us to do then? How can we win against something that will destroy Olympus?"

This time Void smiled at him. He smiled in the way a father would smile at his little son when asked an adorable but stupid question. Something about the look was annoying Percy but he didn't dwell on it as his question was met with the answer he wanted. "What destroys Olympus won't necessarily also want to destroy the world. Olympus falling is just change and your actions will decide if that change is good or bad. If you can guide the factions of the upcoming war correctly, you can prevent the madness and terror of an all-out battle and stop the threat of global genocide…"

Void paused for a second, seemingly musing something to himself. His musing was however broken when Artemis injected herself back into the conversation. "So you want us to be diplomatists?"

It sounded like a perfect summary of what Void had said but the primordial held up his hand regardless. "I want you to be diplomatic towards those willing to listen. Anyone else, you will need to be soldiers…executioners to absolutely anyone necessary. Be careful when threading the line between reason and madness and make sure not to give up on anyone prematurely. Though I will give you counsel if you ever feel uncertain about someone so you won't be entirely on your own."

Something about his emphasis on the 'absolutely anyone' made Percy's skin crawl, a dark premonition suddenly present in him. A glance to his side revealed Artemis to be in a similar state. If Olympus would fall then their very family could be amongst those that need to be executed. "Why should we listen to you at all?" Artemis voiced a thought Percy has had a few times before too. He had always liked trying to defy fate and find his own solution so why not now? A little part of him was aware that Void exceeded even fate but a majority was clinging onto that hope quite desperately.

"Because you cannot prevent this change. If you don't kill Tartarus then his monsters will swarm and ravage the earth with all of its mortal settlements. If you fight all those that follow Tartarus and make peace with none of them then the battle between those forces would level the world itself. If you cling onto Olympus in the face of overwhelming adversity then their combined effort will topple your reign and bring divine war to the world. No matter what, the core of your choices is set as any change is accompanied by devastating consequences."

Once more Percy felt petrified under the weight of Void's words. He had known this already, all of it, yet he couldn't help but shiver when having it spelled out so directly. Fate wasn't forcing his path, it just knew he could never take any other path based on his personality. A careful glance back to Artemis showed her in a similarly despaired state. She didn't want to lose her home and yet saving it required a price too great to pay.

There was still a small sliver of hope in him that said Void might be wrong but he knew better than to believe in it. Void was anything but careless and very unlikely to make a mistake like that. "Should I leave you to your own devices again?"

Despite phrasing it as a question, it wasn't really one. The elder god gave Percy a small smile before nodding his head at him and turning to Artemis. "A pleasure meeting you, even if it was for news like this"

And with that he was gone. No flashy exit, no light, simply gone. And Percy was left with Artemis, both of them in low spirits. As a result of this, they just stayed silent for what had to be at least an hour as Percy watched the land fly by beneath him while Artemis…well, she steered the carriage and stared off into the night sky. After watching her initially, Percy had come to realise just how deep in thought she really was and had opted to simply let her be. She'd let him know when she was done. And she did.

"So that is…how did you even get to know a primordial?" He might be wrong about it, but it felt like Artemis had let her guard down a bit, if just because of shock. At least she didn't bother hiding the astonishment in her voice.

"He came looking for me in Alaska…helped me out, taught me some things and kept me in the loop for what happened back home." He paused for a moment, unsure if he should continue or not before deciding to just speak his mind. "Void asked me to keep his involvement a secret so I never told anyone…I'm sorry I kept it a secret from you."

"It's…okay. I can't ask you to go against someone close to you for me." This time it was Artemis that paused, looking over him before averting her gaze again. She let out a long sigh before opting to speak again. "I will trust in you for this, don't make me regret that."

Despite the mood still being sober, a small sliver of warmth made its way into Percy's heart at Artemis's words. "Thank you, truly" His voice was soft, a mirror of his emotions. He decided at that moment that he would involve Artemis too, rely on her too. Repaying her trust with his own was the least he could do, the least he owed her.

He gave a small, appreciative smile towards the goddess, his spirits lifted slightly. "At least we managed to get rid of your oath, right?" Now that the tension had fallen off a little his voice was back to its usual self, energetic and upbeat. In a way unbeknownst to Percy himself it was an infectious positivity that even Artemis wasn't immune to.

"That's true, now I get to shoot you at my own leisure…or let Thalia do it for me." The smile he got from the goddess in return to his own was a mix of predatory and teasing, only her eyes really betraying her lack of intent. "Good thing you'd never want to shoot me, right?"

He surprised himself with how confident he said that but a small laugh from the goddess confirmed his choice. "And risk being the one Thalia shoots at myself? I wouldn't dream of it!"

It was an odd situation, Percy and Artemis sitting in the latter's chariot and exchanging jokes and quips after having just met two primordial deities. Yet the mood between them right now was the best it had ever been between them and it stayed that way until the chariot landed, its place filled by the rising sun. They hadn't talked about anything noteworthy, had mostly made fun of their Olympian acquaintances and of each other, though Percy found himself more on the receiving end than Artemis did. And yet it was refreshing.

Somehow they had managed to keep a light-hearted conversation between them going for a whole 4 hours and it had helped them both visibly, both having dropped heavy weights that they carried from their shoulders.

For Artemis in particular it was the first time in years that she was able to joke around like this since despite their close relationship, her hunters did tend to treat her as a superior and she had few gods that she had ever been close to. The last person to enjoy her company had been her late lieutenant Zoe, her being older than even Artemis and therefore also being able to look past her godly status.

As such their return to the hunters camp was an odd sign to witness, both wearing their good mood on their sleeves as they appeared back in the centre of the camp. As the sun was only just beginning to rise the only hunters to see them were the two that had the final guard duty of the night but they were all the more confused of what to make of the strange sight before them.

As they both retreated to their respective tents Artemis started reflecting on the night. She was unsure what to make of the various deities she met or heard about tonight. Her instincts were screaming at her not to trust them blindly but their words and actions weren't contradicting or shady. They made sense and while she didn't like admitting to it, she also knew that Olympus was…faulty. Add to that the fact that Percy was willing to vouch for them and she was at a loss on what to do. Maybe it was her good mood but she chose to let the issue rest for now. To trust in the demigod-turned-immortal.

That sent her thoughts down another direction again. She couldn't remember ever doing this, taking someone along on her chariot and keeping them there just for their company. Even if she excluded the location, the people she got to be relaxed around in her long life had been far and few between. Their total number wouldn't even reach a hundred despite the millions of people she met over the course of her millennia of life. Honestly, it was closer to a dozen and even fewer of them were still around.

It made her happy to be able to have that chance again, even if it was with someone she hadn't expected. One could only hold things in so long and she had been closing in on her breaking point quite fast recently. She had to admit, she was starting to view Percy in a much more positive light. Zoe had vouched for his character long ago, that he had his heart in the right place, but all she ever saw of him was impulsiveness and rudeness. That changed today when she came to realise that he had not only matured greatly but also had a much more gentle and fun side to him than what he showed her in the past. It most definitely was an unexpected gain from having him around.

Even with all that he'd have a rough day ahead of him today. As was customary in her hunt, he'd be responsible for 'leading' on his first full day. For her younger ones the custom was meant to let her assess their skills and abilities as they were largely left to their own devices but for Percy she wasn't sure what it would do. She knew him a capable fighter and she knew him to be terrible with a bow, courtesy to the curse her brother put on demigods of Poseidon after Orion happened. She could probably ask for the curse to be lifted by now though, couldn't she? No point in keeping it anyways.

At the same time she was also aware that Percy had lived near the wilderness for a few years so he should have no trouble navigating the woods but he had told her that he had never actively hunted before. His lack of experience would certainly not serve him well today, particularly because her hunters would most likely not be willing to help him out with tracking. As he had put it, there was no need to track anything when the monsters came to him if he just waited a little.

He was right, of course. Few monsters would ever choose not to try and take down the fabled son of Poseidon but he'd find out the hard way today that the ones that do so and hide instead are difficult to find. Usually, those tend to be the intelligent ones. It could very well be that she'd have to step on and help if he fails too badly. Customs were important but their role in fighting back monsters was just as important and they really shouldn't waste an entire day. Especially not now.

Percy would also need to hunt food. Or find enough berries to feed her hunt but that…was unlikely. She'd done it a few times when they were in areas with particularly balanced ecosystems or with endangered animals using her godly powers but her hunt always hated those days.

Artemis really didn't know what to make of this. On one hand she was sure that Percy's imminent failure would make for great entertainment and would also give her an edge in their next conversation but at the same time she was unsure just how badly her hunt would treat him should he fail. She certainly didn't want him to be hurt just because he wasn't a born hunter.

She sighed. This was more exhausting than it needed to be. She just had to wait and then react accordingly but here she was overthinking it. Artemis got back up, exiting her tent towards the dining area. She couldn't see Percy anywhere around so she assumed he was avoiding her hunt by staying in his tent. He didn't technically need food anymore after all.

Just when she was about to do something about that, she stood corrected as she spotted him trailing after Thalia while holding two plates of food. He was there, her lieutenant had just decided to let him help her out. A small and almost unnoticeable smile tucked her lips. She was glad that despite the tension Thalia was putting her foot down and included Percy in things as that was the only way he could ever not be an intruder to her camp. In their own twisted way, things were looking up now.

So this is the next chapter done. Obviously Percy and Artemis had next to no relationship before this story as they barely interacted at all in canon. Because of that they are starting slowly and are also not gonna talk about any deep topic anytime soon.

Other than that I really don't have much else to say. As always I'd appreciate any feedback and I'll see y'all next week. Though I might take a break for Christmas the week after. We'll see.

Also if you have any questions about the story or my reasoning behind certain scenes, feel free to ask, just thought I'd mention that. Anyways, bye.

-M