AS ALWAYS I DO NOT OWN PJO OR HoO

Without further more Ladies and Gents Chapter 15

Enjoy

Chapter 15: The Price of Sacrifice

The world spun in and out of focus, a dizzying whirl of light and shadow. Percy's mind was a haze of half-formed thoughts, flashes of images, sounds, and the overwhelming feeling of pain—sharp and consuming. The cold seeped through his body, making every movement feel like it was happening underwater, slow and distant.

His body didn't want to cooperate. His chest rose and fell with labored breaths, but every inhale felt like a struggle, like the air was too thick. His hand, trembling and weak, curled against the dirt, the touch grounding him just enough to cling to reality.

A voice—low, urgent, but familiar—reached through the fog, pulling him back.

"Percy! Percy, look at me."

It was Artemis. Her voice was firm but filled with an emotion he couldn't quite place. He tried to focus on her, his eyes fluttering open, but all he could see was a blur of silver, the faint glow of moonlight haloing around her.

"Percy, stay with me. You're going to be fine. Just stay with me."

He forced his eyes to focus, the image of her slowly sharpening into clarity. Artemis was kneeling beside him, her silver cloak fluttering as if caught in a breeze, though there was no wind. Her face was a mask of determination, but the worry in her eyes was undeniable. The sight of it twisted something deep inside him.

"I'm… fine," he managed to croak, but his voice was weak and strained, a far cry from the confident tone he normally used. "Just a scratch."

Artemis's expression softened, though her hands never stopped moving. One was pressing gently but firmly against his side, trying to stem the flow of blood, while the other hovered over his forehead. Her fingers brushed across his skin, cool and comforting, but he could feel the tension in her, the barely contained panic she was trying so hard to suppress.

"No," she said softly, her voice like a whisper against the chaos of the battle. "This is more than a scratch, Percy. You're losing too much blood."

Percy opened his mouth to protest, but it came out as a weak cough instead, a trickle of red staining his lips. The pain was spreading—spreading like wildfire, creeping through his ribs and into his chest, settling in places where it shouldn't have been.

He didn't know if it was the blood loss or the shock of it all, but everything seemed distant, too distant, and too… unreal. The roar of the battle, the crack of thunder in the distance, the sound of monsters screeching—all of it felt like a dream. He could hear Artemis's voice, her soothing murmurs, but even that was fading, just like the world around him.

"Percy, listen to me. I'm not going to let you die."

Her words cut through the fog, sharp and urgent. She was cradling his head now, her hand in his hair, her touch gentle, almost reverent, as if afraid to cause him any more pain. But there was something else in her eyes—a wildness, a desperation that made him uneasy.

"Artemis..." he whispered, his voice barely audible. "I don't want you to... I don't want you to lose me. Not after everything. Not now."

The last thing he remembered before everything went black was the way her silvery eyes widened with something that looked a lot like panic.

When Percy woke again, he wasn't sure how much time had passed. His body ached, and there was a dull, relentless pressure on his side that made him wince every time he moved. But the pain was... different now. Not as sharp. Not as overwhelming.

He opened his eyes slowly, blinking against the dim light. The first thing he noticed was the silence. The chaos from the battle had faded, replaced by a stillness that felt... too quiet. He was lying on the cool grass, the moon above now hanging low in the sky, its glow bathing the world in soft, silver light.

Artemis was there, sitting beside him. Her silvery eyes were fixed on him with an intensity that sent a shiver down his spine. Her expression was unreadable—her face a mask of calm, though her posture was tense, coiled like a spring.

"Artemis?" Percy croaked, his voice hoarse, like he hadn't used it in ages.

She didn't answer right away. Instead, she reached out, brushing a strand of hair from his forehead, her fingers lingering there for a moment. The touch was soft, soothing, but there was something else there—something darker that Percy couldn't name.

"You're alive," Artemis said softly, her voice tight. There was relief in her words, but there was something else too—something raw, something broken.

"Yeah, it looks like it," Percy muttered, wincing as he tried to sit up. His side felt like it was on fire, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it had been before. It was as if the worst of the injury had been... taken care of. He glanced down at his side and saw bandages wrapped around it, soaked in blood, but they were fresh. "What happened?"

Artemis's gaze flickered to the ground, her jaw tight as if she were fighting something—fighting herself. Her voice was steady when she spoke, though it was strained. "I couldn't let you die, Percy."

Percy frowned. "What do you mean? You... you healed me?"

There was a long pause, one that seemed to stretch out longer than it should have. Artemis didn't meet his eyes, but when she spoke, her voice was barely more than a whisper.

"I used something... dangerous. Something ancient. Something that came with a cost."

Percy's stomach churned. "A cost? What kind of cost?"

She hesitated for a moment, then slowly turned her gaze toward him. Her eyes were filled with a quiet sadness, but there was also a resolute strength there. "I drew on a power older than even the gods. A power that is tied to the very essence of the earth. It's not something I do lightly. And it takes something from you. A piece of yourself."

Percy's heart sank as the meaning of her words settled into him. "Artemis... What did you give up?"

Her lips pressed into a thin line, and for a moment, she looked like she might say something, but instead, she reached out and touched his arm, her fingers gentle but firm, as if holding him in place.

"I didn't want to lose you, Percy," she said softly, her voice breaking ever so slightly. "But to save you, I've bound part of my own life force to you now. You're... tied to me in a way you can't undo."

Percy blinked, trying to process what she was saying. "What does that mean? You mean I'm... what, part god now?"

Artemis shook her head, her gaze softening as she looked down at him. "No. It means that, for as long as you live, a part of me will live with you. And I will always feel the weight of your heart. The toll of your life. Every choice you make, every danger you face. I will feel it. As if it were my own."

Percy's chest tightened at the weight of her words. The magnitude of what she was telling him was almost more than he could bear. He had thought he understood the risks of being involved with someone like Artemis—someone who carried the weight of centuries—but this... this was something else entirely. A bond that stretched beyond life and death. Beyond the gods themselves.

He could feel his pulse quicken, his breath shallow as the enormity of it pressed down on him. But even then, there was no fear in his chest. Only a strange, steady kind of resolve.

"You did all that... for me?" Percy asked, his voice hoarse.

Artemis didn't answer immediately. Instead, she took a deep breath and looked up at the moon, her gaze distant as if seeking some kind of answer there.

"Yes," she whispered. "I did. But I did it for more than just you, Percy. I did it because... because I've watched mortals come and go, fading like the seasons. But you..." Her voice faltered, but she pressed on. "You're different. You've always been different. You've always chosen to fight, even when you had nothing to gain."

Percy felt his heart skip a beat. "Artemis, I—"

"Don't," she said softly, cutting him off. "Don't try to make sense of it. I'm not asking for anything in return. But there will be a price. There always is. And we will face it together, whether we're ready or not."

Percy nodded slowly, the weight of her words settling into him. He had never asked for any of this. Never asked to be tied to Artemis in such a profound way. But he couldn't deny the pull he felt—couldn't deny that, in some strange way, this bond between them was exactly what he had been searching for all along.

"I don't know what the future holds, Artemis," Percy said quietly, his gaze locking with hers. "But I know one thing: I'm not going anywhere either."

She nodded, her lips curving up into the faintest of smiles. "Good. Because we're in this together, Percy. Whether we like it or not."

And in that moment, as the world spun on around them, Percy realized something else, too: Some bonds were worth the cost.

Wow, did not see that coming

As always thank you for reading

And Review

Till next time