All Rights Belong to Rick Riordan

Chapter 22

One Hades of a Morning

(Artemis)

I had until Percy returned from his break and the hunters woke up, this gave me about two hours to find out what was wrong with me. Unfortunately, this meant I had to talk to someone I would normally rather avoid, Aphrodite. I had to know if this was her work and if so, I would force her to stop this madness that was persisting in my mind.

So conscientious of the time I flashed back to my palace on Olympus, I quickly left and headed towards the opposite side of the city. I had intentionally chosen the point furthest from both Aphrodite's and Eros's Palaces to make sure she never had a chance to try something like this. It was bad enough when she was able to occasionally lead my hunters into temptation, something I always hated her for. It robbed me of a loyal hunter and allowed the smug bitch to gloat over her perceived small victory. Of course, in the grand scheme of thing I could do nothing permanent to her but the man I could certainly punish and then cast the betrayer out.

Finally, not stopping for anything despite the stares of the mountains residents as I paced down the roads, I arrived at the pink marble monstrosity that is her home here on Olympus. When I say pink marble, I mean hot pink it was as if the very stone was dyed at a molecular level. I walked up the stairs and rained down blows on the door, venting my frustration as I waited for an answer. Around the tendered lawns and ponds surrounding the temple palace, flocks of doves and a half dozen paired swans looked directly at me.

I desperately hoped my brother Ares wasn't here, as that would require some serious explanation on my behalf of what I was doing here at five in the morning. Finally, my blows collided with nothing as the door opened revealing the goddess of love in little more than a loose-fitting nightgown that covered very little. Instinctively this sickened me, she did not even have the decency to get dressed to welcome guests.

"Well, if it isn't Artemis, don't see you around here much. What can I possibly do for you at this time in the morning?" She asked sweetly her voice thick with charmspeak and sarcasm.

"Cut the crap and get inside, besides you know your voice doesn't affect me." I stated angrily even as I pushed her back inside the temple, I was not having this conversation on her porch in the open.

"Fine, fine if you insist, follow me dear." Aphrodite answered not fighting me on the matter and instead leading me through the palace. I had never actually been in here before and after a few feet I realised why it was as if I felt like the colour pink was being seared into my brain. It was everywhere, floor, walls, ceiling, and doors.

The only things that weren't were the small bronze plaques on the doors explaining what was inside. After I read a few, I was even more annoyed: Wardrobe 17 how many clothes did she have? And where were the other 16? Dungeon, now this word in Hades' palace makes sense. Here though? It sickened me to even think what depraved fetishes she had, and that was before I heard muffled sounds of movement and cries from behind it. At the sound coming from behind the door she turned and looked at the horrified expression on my face as I looked away and attempted to repress the memory.

"Don't mind Ares, Artemis. He will be fine he asked to try something different, but I am pretty sure that was not what he had in mind." She stated without expression and the image was suddenly in my mind of my half-brother in bondage. I had to dig my nails into my palms, so the pain distracted me from the image, next stop would have to be Hecate's palace for a memory potion... or two.

Finally, we arrived in a large chamber that seemed to be a lounge or a narcissists wet dream. The ceiling was hidden behind a giant hanging mirror, and the room was ringed by statuary of herself both Greek and Roman with even more mirrors between them. All of them reflecting back towards one point, a couch in the middle that she quickly lay down upon on whilst taking up a rose-gold chalice of wine. I summoned my own chair to sit on there was no way I was sitting on her make-out seat.

"So, then Artemis, what can I do for you at this ungodly hour in the morning? Are you finally reconsidering that silly oath you made?" She teased to my annoyance, and I wasn't sure if she knew or if this was her usual teasing.

"What have you done to me?" I growled at her and watched as surprise grew on her face.

"Wait, what? I haven't done anything to you, or at least not recently. I have not even attempted anything with your precious hunters all year because I know that you are in trouble, so what could possibly be wrong with you that you would come to me of all people?" She inquired innocently throwing me off, was it possible the bitch was being sincere towards me?

"Perseus." I uttered simply before wishing I hadn't.

"Perseus what? Oh, wait this is priceless, Arty has fallen for the hero of Olympus... hahaha... Then again, looking at him now, I can see why you would. I mean all that power, those good looks, that tall muscular body. I can only imagine what he looks like underneath that jacket." She started to blab and fawn on before I stood up, reached over and slapped her. The worst bit was I didn't know why I did it.

Slowly Aphrodite raised a hand to her face before looking back at me with piercing glowing pink eyes. "Someone's more than a little possessive of her little crush and judging by that reaction you know exactly what I was talking about, which means that perhaps you must have seen him without clothes on, I want details!" She demanded but in truth I stopped hearing after she said possessive. It was the truth why was I being possessive of the young hero, we had only been 'together' in the hunt for less than a day.

"Olympus to Arty, hello?" She called snapping me back to reality waving a hand in front of my face. Realising I was still on my feet I walked back and sat in my own chair.

"Stop lying I am not being possessive of him!" I snapped back at her however a little too quickly it seemed.

"Noooo of course not Arty, so if I said I perhaps wanted to have a little fun with him you wouldn't mind, after all he is single? I thought so." She said sarcastically watching the knuckles on my hands whiten as I gripped the arms of the chair tightly.

"You so much as even think of touching him, you will be joining Ares in that dungeon, difference is you would not enjoy it for once." I threatened coldly.

"Very well Arty, you know what I will sit back and watch. Spectating a maiden goddess try and court the famous hero this should be fun. Maybe we can get you reality tv show watching everything?" She giggled out.

"For one don't ever call me Arty, two I do not want to court him. What I want to know is what the hades is wrong with me, why am I like this around him?" I demanded in annoyance.

"Fine Artemis it is, there happy? Why don't you start from the beginning and tell me everything that has happened between the two of you." She asked taking a sip from the chalice and laying down looking at me. Despite every piece of my brain telling me to ignore her and leave, surprisingly I did as she suggested.

I told her everything from first meeting him to earlier when I left the camp, I confessed everything that I felt, and I didn't know why. The only detail I left out was describing Percy's semi-naked state as I wanted to deprive her of that information. I had even woken up and reverted back to Diana and had her explain until I returned to Artemis once she was done.

"So, what it looks like to me is, you have fallen for him, and truthfully, I cannot blame you. He sounds absolutely dreamy, but you also don't want these feelings because of your silly oath. That is quite a problem you have there. Tell me this though which of your aspects has the stronger feelings for him?" She inquired curiously.

"Diana" I answered shifting aspects.

(Diana)

"And you have no idea why that form is more affected than your Greek?" Aphrodite asked looking me over with a raised eyebrow.

"No at least as Artemis I have some resistance to all these gods damned impulses whenever I am around him." I admitted angrily clenching my fists as they rested on my lap.

"The answer is simple really, Hormones. When was the last time you actually used your Roman aspect and spent time in the company of men?" Aphrodite asked making me pause as I tried to remember, I couldn't even remember what century it had been let lone year or anything less.

"Rome and even then, it was only the other gods not mortals." I said thinking about the issue. With the fact that most gods I had to deal with on a 'regular' basis were my siblings and I disliked most of them...

"Exactly and most of the male gods are your brothers or uncles, so you had little interest in them. Now along comes our young Titan friend and suddenly you have an interest in him, but Artemis remains mostly unaffected. Can you imagine why?" She questioned teasingly.

'…' Unsure of what to say I bit my tongue, causing the goddess of Love to carry on.

"This is so cute to watch, Anyway the reason is because although you are thousands of years old mentally you normally prance around in the body of a 12-year-old along with your merry band of hunters. Little kids know very little about romance and that is why you sponsor them and why you represent yourself as one, now compare that to your current physical form and compare the difference." She finished by summoning a mirror in front of me.

I had never been one for looking at myself, what need did I have? I cared not how others saw me, if a male normally laid eyes on me it was generally one of the last things he did. But as I looked in the reflection, I did notice that ok I was generally good looking with a decent figure I suppose. But this was all meaningless and still did not explain how I was supposed to resolve this problem.

"Ok I look older and better looking, than I do as Artemis what is your point?"

"What age do you think you currently represent? I mean I would say I am currently in my late twenties, how about you?"

"Eighteen I suppose, why?" This was all enigmas and riddles, and it was beginning to annoy me.

"And pray do tell, what age is dear Percy in just a few more weeks?" She asked sweetly.

"Eighteen..." I answered slowly as the revelation finally sunk in.

"Now you see. A little girl might look at a good-looking guy and dream to have a guy like him when she is older but due to the age gap has no interest in him at the moment that is you as Artemis. An older girl however looks at the same guy and wants to have him for herself, no matter what, that is you, Diana. Now you get the fun decision of which you would like to act on. You can stay longing for him forever like a boy on a poster or you can embrace your love and try and take him. The best bit is though he has already sunk in with both sides, so you have no escape."

'This is madness, how can a mere man do this to me?'

"Why you said it yourself earlier, he is not just a mere man. He is a 'Man', the first you actually like in any way. The important question is what he thinks about you." When she said that I gained a sense of horror what did Percy think about me? Sure, he had acted embarrassed after the 'incident' but then most would have acted in that way. Even if he did like me, he had sworn that oath not to try anything and unlike my oath that I could technically break if I wanted to, for him though there would be repercussions. He was bound by the Styx and after his promise when he was in Tartarus the damned thing would kill him if he broke it.

The thought of the situation left me in turmoil, I had fallen for the one man that I was apparently restricted from being with and the worst part was I didn't know if he even liked me.

"I don't know." I admitted quietly slumping into the chair.

"I always knew he was going to have an interesting love life with the daughter of Athena and your brother's new oracle but that was all I planned for him, but this though is beyond my wildest dreams. The virgin goddess who swore off men suddenly falls for a hero. You could make a movie of this." She squealed out her hands lightly clapping as if thinking about us actually being a film.

"No one is finding out about this, not my father, not the rent boy in the basement and certainly not Apollo. This stays between us and between me and Percy. I so much as hear a rumour my wolves will eat well." I threatened realizing I was running out of time. Explaining the full story had burned through most of what I had.

"Don't worry Di, I can't wait to see how this turns out. Either way is win-win. One you break that silly oath, or two Percy is on the market and available." She replied and I tried to think what part of that statement annoyed me more. The abbreviated nickname, her general nonchalance towards my oath or her attempted threat of winning him over herself.

"Stay away from him." I growled out glaring at her.

"Fine, fine for now I will leave him be, but I expect to be kept posted of how this goes." She called as I rose out of my chair and turned towards the way I had entered. I again passed the 'Dungeon' and was almost tempted to go in and take a picture if I were able that would surely brighten Hephaestus's day. That or make great blackmail material for me against the god of War, but I decided I was not having whatever was happening in there imprinted in my brain.

I had just reached the door when I heard light footsteps behind me and saw Aphrodite running towards me.

"One more thing Di, as much as this pains for me to admit it, I have two daughters who would likely be eligible to join the hunt. You're currently in Shenandoah Park at the moment, right?" She inquired again calling me Di causing my eye to twitch. However, I was more curious how she knew where we were, perhaps maybe I mentioned it during the story's explanation.

"Yes, and why would you care his much?" I asked narrowing my eyes. I could count the number of her daughters I had as hunters on one hand.

"It is not often I have twins and they both recently had their hearts broken, by a boy who was secretly dating both of them at the same time. At the moment they don't trust boys and as I said they are eligible plus they are in DC not far from you. Either way, you potentially get new hunters to help deal with your low number issue, my daughters get claimed and I potentially see the boy get punished for fucking with my daughter's affections. All I can do is curse his future love live but you have made a recent acquaintance that can do so much more." She explained and I easily put two and two together.

"Fine I will go with Perseus and offer them the option, how old are they?" I asked curiously after all they were dating a male before he was caught out.

"Seventeen."

"Wait and you have not claimed them? How irresponsible are you? Our oath... well your oath tells you to claim them when they turn twelve." Out of all the residents of Olympus only Vestal/Hestia and I got out of that oath, even Athena had been forced to swear on that. Though I guess Anna Minerva was in a grey area because she too never had Roman children. Even the seven had promptly been told to swear on the matter, though I was pretty sure all of them were virgins, Valdez needn't have as I was certain no girl or woman was putting up with him.

"I did claim them, but my children generally attract little attention anyway. So, I didn't bother to make arrangements to take them to Camp. They thought the claiming was simply a makeover for their sixteenth birthday which was ironically the day after we made that oath." She defended as I deduced an issue that I was not liking.

"So, you are telling me that it just happens that they are a day younger than Percy? Are you sure you're staying out of this? Because throwing him towards two of your daughters who happen to be exactly his age isn't convincing me." I questioned after doing the math in my head. The fact I memorised that his birthday was August eighteenth was purely because that was the day the world could have ended and not any other reason. I mean I took note of it when he was thirteen, long before any of this happened. I am not helping myself here, now I sounded creepy about a child at the time.

"Yes, I am honest; I will send you the details later on in a message. Now if you will excuse me, I must go and release my pet pony and you have somewhere to be about now. Good luck." She said with a grin, nodding my head begrudgingly I flashed out of there and back to the hunt's camp.

(Thalia)

I had awoken early as usual to meet with Lady Artemis and discuss today's activities for the hunt. I thought it was strange however normally she would wait by the campfire when she returned, like she usually but the area around the small still smouldering fire was empty. I brushed off the peculiar thought and reckoned that she must have returned to her tent, and so I tried there next but still had no luck.

At this I began to get worried as it was extremely rare for the goddess to break schedule. As I left Artemis's tent and was about to go look for Percy instead, he should know if she had returned or not. It was kind of his responsibility now after all. However, as soon as I left the goddess's larger tent, I turned left towards his barely visible distant tent and froze.

Between me and the tent was an enormous golden lion. Now I knew Nemea was with us now, but she was regular sized for a lion at least. This monster in front of me was far larger bigger than she had been even when we killed her years ago in the Smithsonian. Truthfully this was what I was expecting when we heard tale of the battle of Olympus, and I could see how she had single-handily defeated Leon the Giant. Her claws alone were bigger than a hunter's knives and if legend was correct far sharper than a normal blade.

Despite my current fear, I had to find out if Percy knew where Artemis was, and so I slowly approached the lounging lioness feeling completely insignificant compared to her. What was it with Percy and collecting massive pets seriously Mrs. O'Leary was huge even for a hellhound and now he had a super-sized Semi-indestructible Lioness. What was next the damned Hydra or a Drakon? As I drew level with the monsters head it opened a golden eye lazily as if to check who I was, before closing it as if nothing had happened and I finally breathed out and I walked past her. Lightly brushing my right hand along her magnificent coat as I passed eliciting a purr of pleasure from her head behind me.

Finally, I reached Percy's tent and called to him, we were forbidden from entering his as well as him from ours without permission. I heard muttered swearing from the other side and the sound of something heavy hitting the floor as I guessed he fell out of bed before more frantic movement and the tent door finally opened revealing a rather dishevelled Percy. He looked exhausted and had stubble on his face but then again, he should have been up all night on guard, and I had woken him up so that wasn't his fault. The weirdest thing was though that he had placed his duster on again. The rest of his attire was a mess, but the coat had been placed on carefully and hid his entire torso from view except the top of a polo shirt. Why would he need a jacket if he was already wearing a shirt?

"Yes Thals, what is it? It's like Seven AM what the matter?" He asked groggily.

"Have you seen Lady Artemis, she was not at our scheduled meeting this morning and wasn't in her tent either. Also, what happened with Nemea, she wasn't the size of a tank last night?" I asked quickly aware from his face that I was indeed keeping him awake and by the look on my cousin's face. He was not impressed by the fact.

"Yes, to the first Artemis got back around five AM, however I don't know where she is currently. Lastly Artemis placed her blessing on Nemea and unlocked her potential or something and so she aged back to her fully grown form. Anything else?" He asked clearly irritated.

"Well, if she is not here then shouldn't you be on duty? And when you spoke to her, did she say where she might possibly have gone?" I demanded from him aware that he was already annoyed but I too was annoyed with his lack of focus on the matter, it was as if it wasn't an issue that she was missing.

"Listen Pinecone Face, she told me to get some rest and so I did. What she gets up to in her free time is hers to do with as she wants, she is a goddess after all, and I am only a mere demigod here doing a job. I just follow orders as I like being male, no matter how much the hunt doesn't. As for the matter of being on duty, I rotate with Nemea so if she is awake then I can rest. Problem?" He growled out grabbing the frame of the tent with his right hand revealing a bronze/steel watch on his now partially revealed wrist that I had never seen before. However, now wasn't the time to ask about it.

I had seen Percy annoyed before, but he was never this cold with anyone. It was clear there was something else on his mind other than missing sleep, but I reckoned there was little point to be asking him anything further. Not unless I wanted to get washed from here back to camp. As I looked across, I noticed the stream was beginning to rise rapidly well beyond its normal level.

"Fine Seaweed Brain, sorry I woke you up but if you hear from her please tell me. After all, I hear the Titans have been seen again." I said apologising however as I said the last part, I saw him stiffen suddenly.

"It definitely isn't them this time that I can promise. If they did try something I would have to kick their asses and they would be back in Tartarus faster than they could blink." He said confidently, on anyone else this would have been hubris but the way he said it, it seemly like it wasn't so much a threat it more it was a simple fact.

"Oh, ok then if you are sure, does that mean they are released then?" I asked curiously and immediately regretted it. For a split second I could have sworn his eyes suddenly changed, but it must have been a trick of the morning light.

"Thalia! Enough with the twenty questions, why don't you ask me them during the day. Besides if you want to know where Artemis I just saw her return over there so go see her and let me rest, please." He said wearily and I had to suddenly feel sorry for him. I realised he had spent all yesterday sparring with me and then been up all-night patrolling, no wonder he was so grouchy.

"Thanks kelp head and sorry again for waking you." I said quickly to which he merely nodded before the tent door flapped shut and he was gone, from within I heard the sound of something heavy hitting a bunk with a grunt. Leaving the son of Poseidon to get some rest I turned back to the hunt's camp and Lady Artemis.

I was quite surprised when instead of Artemis familiar pre-teen form I was instead confronted by her Roman aspect Diana's adult one as I remembered from our limited brief meeting before she changed aspect back at Camp Half-Blood when she went to stop Percy's torture of the Augur.

"Lady Diana." I called out to her, the call of her name shocking her it seemed as she appeared jumpy. Which was strange for the normally calm goddess before she suddenly shifted aspect back to the juvenile form of Artemis.

"Sorry I am late Thalia, I had to return to Olympus something came up." She answered hurriedly.

"Anything of importance to us milady?"

"Nothing that major for the moment. Though we expect to know more in time." She replied almost secretly which surprised me, she generally told the hunters everything that happened on Olympus.

"Does it have anything to do with the Titans; I know they have been released. Percy told me." I asked curiously. More curious was her reaction at the mention of Percy's name than that of the group of immortals that had tried to kill us all.

"Yes, they were released as per Perseus's wish at the end of the last war. Well as long as they swore that they were peaceful, however there are still two unaccounted for presently. We thought we may have had a lead, but it was a dead end it seems." Once again, the answer did not seem like the truth. Sure, some of it sounded true but the last statement sounded off. I was more distracted by what she said about Percy.

"Wait Percy turned down immortality and godhood again and father let him live?" I asked flabbergasted. I mean everyone knew what had happened with the six gods of heroes but the matter of Percy's reward like the man himself had seemingly been swept under the rug for the last year.

"Father did not have a choice The Fates restricted him from doing it anyway, Perseus is physically unable to become a god it seems." She explained. This was even more shocking to learn because it raised a question for me. Why was he forbidden from godhood now and if so, why did The Fates not step in the first time he was offered it.

"So, Percy instead used his wish to free his old enemies and the gods seemingly agreed to it, anything else?" I asked in shock; the goddess had failed to mention any of this before now. Despite the fact it was pretty important information to know.

"He gave Hades and Hestia their thrones back, as for the Titans they all had to have remained peaceful in the last war otherwise they stayed imprisoned. Most of them were peaceful anyway such as my mother and some were working with us against Gaia. The only one I personally have issues with their release is Atlas, but Percy personally vouched for him." The goddess explained and I felt slightly foolish, I forgot about Leto being a Titaness and that Artemis herself was technically half-Titan.

"Atlas is free? But he was hostile to us, hades he captured you and helped kill Zoe." I asked confused.

"Technically that was all done a few hours before the war officially was declared and begun. Besides father likes the new arrangement they made for holding the sky, he loves the punishment Perseus gave to Prometheus and no one wants to argue with the decision. Apparently even Prometheus's own father thought it was fitting and from what Perseus has told me Atlas finds it hilarious to see him struggle. Now away from such topics, what did you wish to talk about Thalia?" She explained before asking directly changing the subject. It seemed from what she had said that Percy was very directly involved with whatever was going on with the Titans.

"What did you wish to focus training on for today and what does Percy do during the day from now on?" I asked curiously and was once again surprised when she seemed to flinch when she heard his name.

'Focus on teaching the new recruits' archery again, Tania's defeat yesterday shows they can still improve further. I want them hitting the bull directly every time, so they do not embarrass themselves by getting cocky. As for Perseus he will begin to learn archery with the rest of you, I want you and Atlanta to teach him the basics to start off with if you can, if not then I will do it personally. After that he will be doing training alone with me to practice his woodcraft, if he wants to be our guardian, he had better learn to move like one of us."

"Very well then Lady Artemis, it shall be done milady." I said bowing and leaving the goddess behind heading back to my personal tent, unlike the others I did not have to share with anyone. After all, what is the point of being the Lieutenant if you don't get privileges and besides Phoebe snored something awful back when we were in the cabins at Camp.

Still as I got back all I could think was that I was missing something, both Percy and Artemis had been acting strangely this morning compared to even yesterday, but the question was why?

(Percy)

As I lay awake, I felt sorry for snapping at Thalia but ever since I had tried to sleep, I had found that I couldn't. All I could think about was Artemis/Diana. Every time I closed my eyes she was there and as much as I tried to tune it out or whatever else I tried to think of, I always inevitably drifted back to her. So, when Thalia came knocking, asking about if I had seen her all it did was focus my inner anger at myself on something else, her.

Why was the goddess affecting me like this? It reminded me of the first week Annabeth and I had officially dated, where I would sit in my cabin with a goofy grin and think it was too good to be true. Of course, it had been, and nothing lasts forever unfortunately. That happiness had been taken from in a moment, thanks to that giant bastard and his bitch mothers' thirst for revenge and power.

Everyone else had been happy that we had won and eagerly took their rewards while celebrating. I was left holding the bag of pain and suffering or so it seemed. The only others who lost something were the Hunt and Artemis (see what I mean) and Athena. Of course, Athena could still apparently talk to Annabeth, unlike me. So, in some ways she had it easier, while Artemis in a single evening lost two-thirds of the hunt, to what was essentially friendly fire. After the war should have been over and done with just to add insult to injury.

That was why I was happy to volunteer for this job, I could not resist helping others in need, I never could. But right now, I was having second thoughts about my decision and not for the job itself. I was starting to believe my own personal thoughts and feelings were going to get in the way. Combined with the fact I was choosing to hide my true nature from the hunters I was fighting an ever-increasing uphill battle. I had almost given myself away just now when Thalia knocked, only a last second grab of my coat had stopped me from revealing my wings. Of course, if it had been Artemis, I would not have had such a problem. She had seen me in far less now, which was embarrassing for me, but it was at least amusing seeing Diana's reaction to the scenario.

That was my problem though, I could not get the thought of her face out of my head, and I did not know how to resolve this situation. Short of a dip in the Lethe I was not sure what I could but still I was not desperate to lose all my memories just yet. Sure, I could just ignore and avoid Artemis but that was difficult when I was due to have personal training with her every day and had to report every morning. The problem was I that while I could remain in close contact with her trying to carry on as usual, but that would only likely lead to me no doubt falling for her even more. The issue was I did not know how she felt, was I only digging myself back into another hole of depression. Last night she had reacted more friendly but then this morning she was cold and back to her famous man-hating self again. Other than a brief moment of emotional weakness, when she had reacted to my shield's new appearance. For god's sake, I was falling for a beautiful virgin goddess! I was punching so far above my weight I might as well just ask if Chaos was female and ask them out. Besides if she had stuck with her oath for this long, why would she break it now?

So, as I lay on my bed all I could think was what I could do. There was no way I was just going to confess to her though, that would be a sure-fire way of getting me hunted down by a group of pissed off hunters. I could ask someone else's opinion about what to do but whom? Aphrodite was definitely out; she had messed with my heart enough what with she had done with Annabeth and Rachel. My father was out, Artemis was one of Zeus's daughters and he would not allow us too anyway. The Titans would be no help, it would take them years to do anything if my experience in the council had taught me anything. Besides the only ones, I trusted were Iapetus, Atlas and Lelantos but I didn't think any of them had the thoughts to deal with this delicate situation. Atlas's approach would be as subtle as a brick wall saying 'I LOVE YOU ARTEMIS' chucked at her head. That left my mum, but I didn't want to trouble her with this, not when she had a six-month-old baby to deal with.

So, all in all, I had nothing that could help me now, but I had to do something. Otherwise after a few more days of this I would be exhausted from lack of sleep and others would begin to notice something was wrong. Which meant I had to do something for the moment. I had to keep up appearances and my responsibilities which meant I could not just hide in my tent whenever I could and avoid Artemis/Diana.

By the time my senses told me it was nine-thirty I had made no progress in my dilemma or in sleeping. And I had come to realize laying here was doing me no favours, I had never been able to sit and think on something. My dad had said it was in my nature as the sea was always restless, it was also behind my disrespect towards others but that was beside the point.

I had a half hour until I was expected to begin training and I was not going to lie here any longer. I swiftly rose from the bed and got changed before shaving of the morning's stubble using the razor-sharp edge of Riptides blade. Now this could be considered dangerous but for some reason (Styx most likely) I was physically unable to hurt myself with my weapons, no matter what I tried even my mortal point was indestructible when I once tried it. Apparently, Lady Styx had been truthful when she said I could only be hurt when she allowed it. I think it was her way of preventing me trying to kill myself after Annabeth died, all I knew is no matter what, I was unable to hurt myself. Even total immolation would not affect me if I created the fire or flying headfirst into something. I could have even used a lighter and burned the stubble off, but I did not want the smell of burning hair lingering in the tent.

After I was done, I grabbed my weapons including reluctantly Lelantos's former bow, I was already reluctant to use the weapon so far, I had fired it only twice since gaining it. Once when I almost hit Nemea and the second when Lelantos and me had duelled in the air. At the time I had been above him shooting down and yet somehow managed to miss Mount Tamalpais completely, the shot had been so bad it caused him to fall out of the air as he was too busy laughing hysterically to continue flapping his wings.

He had graciously given me the win after extracting himself from a Hesperides flower bed, claiming I had won through unorthodox means before he resumed laughing and I had stormed off in annoyance. Why Artemis thought I needed to learn how to use the damned thing was beyond me. Sure, I understood why I couldn't use Hyperion's spear, but I was perfectly capable with a normal one for ranged attacks. Goddess of Archery or not, it would take a miracle for me to even hit the same range as the target.

As I was done, I left the tent and headed for the camp proper. I silently grabbed some food from the mess tent and ate outside on a tree stump. The food available consisted of little more than cereal, after a bowl of what reminded me off guinea pig food, I followed the sole remaining hunter in the tent Atlanta who was just finishing tidying up towards the range and the assembled hunters.

(Thalia)

Things had started out badly the moment Percy arrived on range bow in hand. The moment he stood at one of the makeshift stalls and looked down the range and I couldn't help but grimace. Every part of his posture was wrong, he was gripping the bow like a vice grip, with white knuckles. He was gripping it so hard it was causing the bow to wobble all over the place. He held the arrow that was magically summoned by the bow when he drew the string back between his thumb and forefinger like an amateur who had seen it in a movie. However, we all stood back and pointed nothing out. I wanted to see for myself exactly how badly my cousin could do but even then, I was unprepared for the catastrophe that was about to occur.

How someone can face one way with the bow facing down range can somehow fumble the arrow on release and fire at a ninety-degree angle would require Athena to work out how he managed it. All I saw was the arrow suddenly flashed towards and over our heads, resulting in the junior hunters hitting the deck as it flew towards us and then onwards towards our tents.

Everyone's eyes turned from the aspiring archer towards where his arrow eventually ended up. We all watched in horror as a tent door was thrown open and the diminutive figure of Lady Artemis walked out with a look of outrage on her face, but even that look was nothing compared to the long cut that ran down her right cheek. The wound was bleeding golden ichor heavily, creating a stain on her silver outfit as it continuously flowed out.

The look on her face told us everything we needed to know, all of us hunters suddenly found we were needed somewhere else and quietly disappeared leaving Percy to his fate. As I headed towards the armoury tent, I looked over my shoulder to see her stalking towards Percy who was still frozen in place, he hadn't moved since he fired the arrow. The only difference was the bow now lay at his feet from when he dropped it as he fired the weapon. I felt sorry for him, he had only managed to last twenty-five hours on the job before he messed it up. Although it also meant Tania was right as she had bet on one day and so was the closest, I had at least bet a week but that was without knowing who it was going to be.

(Artemis)

I had been lying on my bed meditating over what me and Aphrodite had discussed when I suddenly felt an intense pain in the side of my face. Immediately grabbing my face with my hand, I felt the familial feel of a liquid pooling around my fingers and turned my head enough to see what had caused the wound to see an Imperial Gold pointed wooden arrow with matching gold fletching impaled into my pillow.

The design and the fletching told me everything in an instant, it was not anything used by the hunt. They were all silver shafted with Celestial Bronze points.

Which meant my assailant was none other than my recent problem. Percy Jackson. No, no, now he was most definitely Perseus again.

As I stood and made my way out of the tent, I could see the hunters all making themselves scarce. Oh no, they were not getting away Scott free with this either. They were supposed to be helping him and by the sudden vanishing act they were performing I could tell they were at least partly responsible. However, I resumed my attention on the one who was currently frozen with a look of absolute terror on his face. Speaking of which it had lost all colour as he looked in my direction with wide eyes and his bow discarded at his feet.

I travelled the distance in slow, deliberate steps and finally saw some movement on his part as I witnessed an obvious gulp showing that he was at least still breathing. I had almost thought he had died standing up with the lack of movement and the colour he had turned.

"Perseus what just happened? Would you like to inform me of how you managed to hit me, when the targets are in the opposite direction now? Or perhaps after we find out how useful a jackelope is at guarding?" I asked as menacingly as I could. If anything, he turned paler which was surprising as the only person I had ever met that was paler than he was now was Lady Styx. The goddess of the river of Hate had the excuse that she had never even seen the sun.

"I am so sorry, I didn't mean to, it slipped pleasedontmakemeananimal!" He practically cried out begging falling to his knees.

"You did not answer the question Perseus, show me what you did." I demanded glaring at him as I climbed back off the floor. Looking at me he took another gulp before retrieving the fallen weapon and drawing another golden arrow. The moment he did this I was already not surprised by what happened; I also knew why the hunters had done their vanishing act. They should have started pointing out the mistakes that were clearly visible in his posture the moment he drew his arrow.

"That's enough Perseus; I would rather not have any more friendly fire today. That's enough archery for today and you are not to use that bow without my express permission anywhere near us. Do not think you are getting out of it though; you WILL learn archery it will take more than this to convince me otherwise." I promised and watched as he slowly nodded and slung the weapon over his shoulder.

"I am sorry Milady." He said slowly and quietly, lowering his head.

"Perseus enough! Yes, the majority of the fault lies with you for being that awful. However, it is also the hunter's fault for not correcting you and even my fault for not directly supervising your first lesson. I knew you were bad... but not this bad admittedly." I said with a sigh whilst pointing at the wound on my face that was still bleeding ichor, by this point my whole side was golden and I began to question how serious the wound was. Normally us immortals would bleed for a while like anything mortal did, however we also healed very quickly even if it included partial dismemberment, albeit normally with some permanent scarring. Still a scratch like this should have stopped by now going by my previous wounds in battle.

"Milady are you sure you are alright?" Percy finally said clearly and gaining some colour on his face, he reached a hand downwards towards my wound instinctively I turned my face so he could see the full length of the wound. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him grimace before I began to feel really lightheaded. I turned back towards him but as I tried to focus on his face, I suddenly felt my legs give way and my vision darkened into blackness.

(Percy)

I honestly thought I was done for when Artemis came out with a wound running the length of her face. I had been unable to move as she stalked towards me, of course the hunters had quickly faded from my line of sight, but I was too afraid to turn and to look to see where they had gone now.

I was however surprised when she didn't immediate make me a new denizen of the woodland creatures and simply asked me to show her what I did. However, she soon stopped me before I released another arrow thankfully. I was not expecting her to be so forgiving when she took some of the blame unto herself and on the hunter's behalf.

When she was done, I couldn't help but look down at her now that she was close to me, due to her current represented age she was only five foot one which made me nearly a full two feet taller than her. The wound was however a lot more vicious than I had initially thought, I had been actively avoiding looking at it ever since she had arrived but now up close. I could see that most of the flesh in her cheek had been ripped through and it continued down the side of her head just below her ear. I reached towards it on impulse and was surprised when she had turned her head revealing the rest of the wound to me. At the full sight I couldn't help but grimace. I knew what it was like to be hit by an arrow from this bow and it hurt like shit. Still other than looking a little pale and the obvious ichor staining her face, neck and clothes. She had simply shrugged it off for the last five minutes or so it seemed.

I was just about to ask her if she needed any help treating the wound when her legs suddenly crumpled below her. Thankfully I was able to slow time for her, so I was able to step forward and catch her. Picking her up in both my hands across my chest bridle style, I ran back towards her tent. It seemed that some of the hunters had been hiding behind another tent on the way and I heard outrage as I ran past with the goddess now in my arms.

Finally, after pushing through the door using my back I arrived inside her tent and gently laid her down on the bed and turned towards the hunters who had now arrived in the doorway as well.

"Now look at what you have done boy!" Tania screamed but I did not care as I turned to her seniors.

"Atlanta, Phoebe please see to Lady Artemis and treat her as well as you can. However, I suspect she will need Apollo's help just stop the Ichor loss." I said towards the two who nodded and stepped past me towards her seemingly procuring supplies from a pack on Atlanta's back. Leaving the two of them to it I went to step past the rest of the hunter's when I found Tania in front of me with her bow drawn aimed at my chest.

"Where do you think you are going? I am not letting you escape. If you think you can hurt Lady Artemis and get away with it, you are sorely mistaken!" She threatened raising the bow, so the arrow was now pointed at my face.

"Tania shut up for once and listen, Artemis needs help that none of you can provide. My bow is a Titan's former symbol of power, it is not a normal weapon and I personally know what it can do to someone. The only person I know who can treat a wound from it is Apollo as he saved me an injury caused by it. So, the faster you move out of the way, then I can send a message to get her the help she needs. Besides Artemis also admitted this was not entirely my fault, you are all partially as responsible as I am." The other surrounding hunters averted their eyes as my words struck home. However, the stubborn daughter of Ares remained unmoving in front of me.

"Sorry about this then." I said sadly confusing her briefly.

"What bo-." Tania never finished what she was going to say as I suddenly punched forward with my right fist. The strike going straight through the tensioned limb of the bow she held snapping it in half before my fist collided with the top of her head knocking her out. The arrow released of some of some of its tension still shot forward weakly but simply clattered off my own face harmlessly.

"I had no choice." I said simply as the remaining bewildered hunters looked down at their fallen sister as I stepped over her and walked out.

Once outside I quickly ran towards the river before summoning a thin veil of water vapor and threw a drachma at it.

"O Iris goddess of the rainbow accept my offering, show me Apollo most probably in the sun chariot."

The clear image changed to that of Apollo's teenage form who was currently in the driving seat of the sun chariots Maserati form the radio was blaring a song I didn't know, and he seemed to be rocking away.

"Apollo! APOLLO!" I practically screamed at him in an effort to get his attention. After he seemingly ignored me the first time I shouted as loud as I could before he began to look around for the source of my voice that was distracting him. Eventually though it seemed he noticed the vision and flashed a smile back at me.

"Cousin, how's it going need some help with archery or something I was just thinking of visiting Orthrys and seeing mum. We could hang out." He said casually.

"Apollo shut up and listen, I need your help desperately." The god grew a look of annoyance when I told him to be quiet. I mean I had never had any issue with the god himself apart from his overly carefree attitude, treatment of girls and gods' awful poetry. Wow I sounded like a certain hunter.

"Percy this had better be important." He said annoyed taking his hands off the wheel and instead seemingly steering with his knees.

"Listen I am not at Orthrys currently, I am instead staying with your sister's hunt from now on acting as their guardian. Unfortunately, they decided to make me do archery and as a result I may have sort of shot your sister in the face." I told him in embarrassment as he stared at me and began to change colour.