All rights belong to Rick Riordan

Chapter 47

Archery and Interruptions

(Percy)

I was a little surprised when I found myself standing in a random patch of wilderness in who knows where.

'Artemis why exactly are we here?' I asked only to find her back as Diana instead.

It was really strange to see your girlfriend change while you went from one location to another. I would leave with one of her aspects and arrive with the other. Not that I was complaining because I much rather preferred Diana's statuesque appearance to Artemis's natural younger look, but a little warning would be nice. At least then I could call her by the correct name, oh how I hope I don't get a split personality.

Well except for possibly the side of me that may exist when I get in a fight, which I keep being told is more level headed and more cold and calculating towards my target. I don't know what they are talking about but I don't know how thinking works between aspects and it was not really romantic talk so I was not bringing it up with Diana/Artemis. Besides I didn't want to have a different name, I was only just adjusting to being called Perseus a lot more than before and not just by enemies now.

'Two reasons: first because we are going to practice your archery and out here you will not endanger anything else and second of all it means we are free to do this without fear of observation.' She replied before swinging in front of me using my arm she still held until her feet were both inside mine while her free arm clamped behind my back pulling my body towards hers. I did the rest as I leant the remaining distance forward and put my lips to hers as my hands found their way behind her resting on the back of her neck while the other that she was still partially holding ended up partially cupping her butt.

I was conscious of the fact I was currently grabbing a virgin goddess ass which was enough to make me go red faced but as it only served to make her pause briefly before becoming even more rigorous in our making out, I didn't see a reason to remove it anytime soon. If she was not complaining, then neither was I.

All of this passion between however was quickly ruined by the sound of giggling and squealing. I was practically thrust away from her as the goddess stiffened at the first note of sound as she looked around in a panic and I joined her scared to find who could have overseen us. I had not detected anything when we arrived for miles larger than a few rodents. Which meant whoever had overseen us had arrived while we had been 'distracted'.

Finally my gaze came to rest on an auburn haired woman in pink, that I would not have recognized were it not for fact that she was unnaturally good looking yet her appearance did not remain totally the same and seemed to shift slightly. Well that and the noxious colour of her raiment which seemed to be a pink imitation of a hunters outfit. It was like I was looking at two copies of the same goddess but with one that someone had tried to airbrush and make better and yet failed to do. After all what is the point of changing perfection?

'What the hades are you doing here Venus?' Diana screamed at the Roman goddess of Love in a panic who by contrast looked as if she had won the lottery.

'What me I was just checking up on my new favourite forbidden romance of course, I did not actually think you were being serious when you came to me, I thought you were just going through a phase but this is too good to be true. This is the story of the millennia and I am going to tell everyone.' She said excitedly and I felt the last of the colour drain from my face at the prospect of being splashed across an Olympian Gossip magazine.

'Your other side swore not to mention any of this remember? If you do mention anything I will personally rip that fake hair out of your head before I cut it off.' Diana threatened menacingly and it served to remind me a little of just exactly who it was I was dating. Sure there were a lot of people in mythology you didn't want to mess with but they were all clear in one fact.

Do not fuck with Artemis.

The other goddess stood their silent as if considering her words until finally her smile dropped a little as thankfully it seemed she considered the consequences.

'First things first whore, get rid of that stupid look you have. I don't want to see a Barbie doll version of myself any more than I want to see you in general.' Diana said coldly.

'I am only like this because of Percy here.' She said sweetly despite the knife that had just found its way into Diana's hand.

'Actually Venus I prefer the real thing, I love the real thing and not a knock off imitation.' I told her and I saw her look fall in horror. Though it served the purpose of making Diana smile.

'You don't mean that Percy, sure she is ok I guess but she is but a diamond in the rough compared to me.' Venus protested.

'As you say beauty is in the eye of the beholder and to me you are the one looking flawed.' I told her firmly.

She was about to complain again when a knife found its way to her throat.

'Shut up and change to your natural appearance before you regret it whore. If you think I will not kill you to hide our relationship at the moment you are very sorely mistaken. With any luck you would not reform for a nice long period.' Diana said threateningly.

'If Zeus finds out about this it will cause another war unless handled properly, I would not kill you but I can ruin your appearance. Permanently.' I told her and summoned Maelstrom from my watch just to reinforce the fact. I doubted a wound from the blade would ever heal properly after all Kronos had survived being dissected by the blade by Zeus but had still been horribly scarred back in Tartarus before he faded.

The goddess eyed the blade nervously before her appearance shifted to that of a blond haired woman who was slightly shorter and with a slightly curvier body. The thing was her natural appearance which I guess this was by far the most attractive I had ever seen her. Why she needed to conform to others ideas of beauty was beyond me, she did not need to or the cosmetics to look amazing. It was like she was afraid of the fact that someone could possibly be seen as better looking and so she had to adjust herself to suit. I suspect she had some serious vanity issues if that was the case. I returned the sword to its concealed form though after all she had done as requested.

'Good, now then before you leave, how did you know about us?' Diana demanded.

'I didn't know for sure it was you two. Piper detected that someone amongst the hunters was in love. She thought it was that daughter of Bellona for her boyfriend Jason and was jealous. She told me what she suspected and I told her that she had moved on and was now a good little hunter like the rest and that she must have not sensed it properly after all she is still new to her powers and she left it at that, where as I had a suspicion it was the pair of you or at least one or the other and so I followed you and found you in the middle of your little make out session, so there happy.' She explained.

I was not surprised to hear that Piper was still concerned about Reyna and Jason after all I would be pissed off if in theory Artemis's possible ex turned up. I was still trying to think of a way to get back at Orion for being a dick to Artemis and the hunters 3000 years ago, sure I could just make his stars fade but where was the fun in that and besides the mortals would question what happened to them. As it was I was just glad though that her own insecurity had clouded her from seeing the real relationship as unlike her mother she was not bound by an oath and could have told anyone.

'Ok now remember to keep your mouth shut and fuck off, I was rather busy before you decided to butt in to our time together.' Diana said firmly. I could not say I liked the way she was acting but I understood her reasoning behind it, sure she had told Aphrodite in the past but then going to her nemesis had been a panic moment or so I guessed. Where as now she was firmly in control of the situation.

Besides I had rather been enjoying myself before she turned up, though I suspect things would be down hill from now for the rest of the evening if she remained in this mood.

Just as I was thinking of this Venus turned towards me as if to appeal for help which she would not be getting in any case, especially when she seemed to pause and give me the look over before growing a frown.

'How come you are wearing that stupid cloak, I cannot see any of your body underneath?' She whined and I remembered the fact I was still wearing the thing since my appearance back at camp. I had only worn it to add a little mystery before my reveal but I realized that the shapeless cloth did serve the purpose of hiding my general body stature except my head and wings of course.

'So that jealous little whores cannot drool over others boyfriends, now leave already.' Diana exclaimed clearly annoyed by Venus's continued presence.

'I am not a whore!' She protested hollowly.

'You may not take money but you certainly give yourself out like one. Besides you're the one with the husband and yet you cheat on him for his own brother so I think I am justified in calling you a whore. Now why don't you return to your little lovers and leave us in peace already. Actually you know what Percy, you know what I said about there being nothing for you to hit around here with your bow. Forget that if she wants to stand around watching maybe she will get the good luck of being the next hit. Maybe she can get stuck in a coma, one that will last significantly longer than a few hours if I have any say over it.' She said gleefully at the prospect while Venus turned white.

'Fine then enjoy your fun for the moment but I will be waiting for when this becomes public. See you soon Percy.' She said coldly to Diana before cheering up as she addressed me and flashed out leaving the noxious smell of perfume in the wind.

'What did she mean about seeing me soon?' I asked Diana who exhaled a deep breath now that the love goddess had left.

'I assume it is because she knows that your birthday is near, which means she probably plans on doing something then.'

'Wonderful a surprise birthday party thrown by the goddess of love the only way that could sound worse is if Apollo and the others help…..' I said before freezing knowing that was probably exactly what she planned on doing.

'She may act it but she is not stupid by any stretch of the imagination. She knows that she can not reveal us because of her oath but she will try and find a way of making us public or breaking us up. She will use my idiot siblings to probably take you out and set you up with some mortal.' She said bitterly.

'It is ok because no matter what the only girl I want is you, so stop worrying about her. Besides I have dealt with far bigger problems than a goddess with self-image issues.' I said reassuringly grabbing her hand.

'I see you noticed that she doesn't like her natural form, perhaps you aren't that dense after all.' She said sarcastically.

'Hey that's not fair, but why does she do it then. Why does she need to mould herself to everyone else's expectations, she looks far more beautiful naturally rather than trying to appear as something else?'

'That reminds me, thank you for saying I am more beautiful than her.' She said pecking me on the cheek with a smile on her face.

'I was only saying the truth, you are. When she tried to impersonate you I knew which one for certain I preferred and that was you.'

'Good because if you didn't you would now be pulling an arrow out of where the Apollo doesn't shine. Though really where did you get that cloak, the duster was bad enough but that makes you look like a golden winged light skinned version of Thanatos. Though I wonder which of the two of you is more deadly?' She mused.

'Can he kill a primordial didn't think so, therefore I win by default. Besides I could probably turn Maelstrom back into a scythe somehow and be the grim reaper.' I said questioning myself on why I had never actually tried to return my sword to its original form.

'Save it for Halloween maybe you can use it to scare Dionysius into fading.' She said cheerfully.

'Wait the gods actually have Halloween but isn't it a Christian day.' I asked.

'So what we can enjoy the mortals little superstitions if we want to, besides I kind of like Christmas as well. It makes up for the solstice meeting a few days beforehand.' She said with a smile.

'What about Easter then?'

'I release the wolves to hunt down rabbits.' She said simply still keeping the smile and I was not sure if she was lying or not.

'I am beginning to think which of us is more dysfunctional.' I joked.

'You I can use any weapon without killing my friends.'

'I can use my tail without falling on my face while trying to swim.' I replied with a smile seeing a vein appear on her forehead as she became annoyed at the reminder.

'That may be but it is still less of a problem than almost killing your future girlfriend. I almost wrote you off then and there for doing that.' She said moving so she was standing in front of me.

'Luckily then you realized what you would have been missing if you had.' I said confidently.

'Since when did you become Chaos's gift to Virgin goddesses all of a sudden?' She said sarcastically cocking an eyebrow.

'This morning about a quarter to four AM.'

'You are so sad sometimes, to remember the exact time. You had just awoken from a coma, perhaps I just took pity on you for the day?'

'That was a lot more than just a pity kiss before we were interrupted.' I said moving forward and cutting her off before she could reply as I grabbed her as before. Though this time I made my wings disappear so she could grab me properly as well and she did as one arm curled around the small of my back while the other after a brief collision with my bow ended up on my shoulder blades.

I was really starting to hate just carrying that damned thing at least everything else was now concealed even my shield even if I had done it by accident during my fight with Thalia.

But anyway I was getting distracted from the beautiful 'young' woman who was currently pressed up against me.

(Diana)

I had been about to protest about his ego growing massively in the space of one day when he embraced me and frankly I forgot about the chastisement. Though his words served to remind me of the fact that in little over half a day so much had happened.

I had gone from considering to kill him and cut him out of my life forever to avoid the problem of love. To now being stuck in a frantic make out session with him, for the second time in about ten minutes. Though this time hopefully without interruption by a nosy bitch.

Ok sure I had gone to her for help when I had been confused so perhaps she was not completely bad. After all she did help me then and cover for us today with her daughter but she did not need to try and lead Percy astray even if she did fail epically. The memory of the look on her face when he told her had been priceless I thought happily.

As I considered the young Titan in front of me I could not help that considering all of his flaws and general simplicity he was still the perfect man to me. He was loyal to a fault and despite temptations he stuck by me truly which was more than could be said of most of his gender. I thought of the current position we were both in most consciously to me of his hand currently resting on my rear which two days ago I would have cut off with little to no hesitation but now it just felt right.

Perhaps we were moving on too strongly in too short a time but considering what had happened in the last day, it had proved that a lot can change in a short amount of time. Which was ironic considering Percy was the Lord of Time.

I was broken out of my musings when once again Percy tried to push his boundaries like this morning and I felt his tongue brushing against my lips gently as if to seek entrance. However I used this as an opportunity to do what I brought him here to do and not just for a private make out location as I broke my lips away from his and moved them next to his ear.

'When you can hit the target maybe then I will let you in a bit more.' I whispered into his ear seductively earning a playful whine in response as he turned his head to look me in the eyes.

'That's not fair; we will be here for ever in that case.' He complained quietly his face so close I could feel his breath.

'Then in that case I won't have to ever worry about my oath after all. I am not dating a guy who cannot shoot properly, I teach you to shoot you teach me to use that stupid tail.' I told him releasing my hold on him and he took it as a signal to do the same. As he stepped back I watched as his wings reappeared on his back. I considered the tail annoying but at least his wings were practical for a number of purposes even if he did have a few pairs to many for my liking.

It was strange to consider that my father's demigod children could fly but his godly ones could not. Even Dionysius was able to because he had originally been a demigod before he was deified (against my vote I might add.) Hermes was lucky to have flying shoes that compensated for it while Athena, Apollo, Ares and I were consigned to land travel, though I guess I was now fine underwater I suppose or I would be once I got the hang of it. Hephaestus meanwhile as the records show fell like a brick when thrown into the air.

'So that is how it is going to be then is it you are blackmail me into learning, you are so mean to me.' He said pouting.

'Think of it as a learning experience as the saying goes good things come to those who wait.' I said with a smile.

'I don't do waiting, I can just forward time.' He said with a grin.

'Moving time forward is not going to make those arrows hit that target any sooner and do not even think about freezing me and putting the arrows in the target by hand, I can read you like a book.' I told him and I saw the growing smile on his face suddenly vanish.

'That's not fair Diana.' He whined as he drew his bow from his shoulder.

I still found it strange that of all the weapons he carried that was the only one that did not have a smaller more concealed form. Considering it was the largest and most bulky of them all, with the exception of his spear but that was just long in length rather than also in width like the bow. It was not as if it was difficult to accomplish after all he had compacted the shield this morning into the Adamantium bracelet that now decorated his left wrist to match Maelstroms watch form on his other one. As I looked at the watch I did note the irony of its coloring which did not match the blade itself.

After all Maelstroms' blade was made of Celestial Bronze and Mortal Steel whereas the watch was composed of Imperial Gold and if I had to guess Orthrytic Silver, not that Percy realized in a whirlpool motion on the face. I regarded the watch with suspicion as if our grandfather had somehow known what would happen in the distant future between us.

'Ok then my goddess what target would you have me shoot as there is a some total of nothing out here for miles.' He said raising his voice to accentuate the last few words and indeed he was right, we were in the middle of a field in the state of Washington miles from anywhere.

'I thought I would start you out on something easy to begin with, you know get your confidence up so how about this?' I said clicking my fingers as the target appeared a distance away.

(Percy)

I knew she was playing games with me but I could not believe the irony of the target she had summoned.

'Seriously, you give me that as a target?' I said turning towards her and noticing the mischievous smile on her face as I turned back to my target.

Do you want to know what it was, fine I will tell you.

Now standing 50m in front of me was stereotypical barn like the kind you would on any self-respecting ranch. The only difference was that someone had seemingly painted a massive bull's-eye over the doors.

'Do you think you could have got a bigger target for me to try with?' I said sarcastically.

'Bearing in mind you once missed a mountain while aiming directly down, I think this should be a starter target and we will get bigger from here eventually. If you hadn't killed Gaia maybe we could have let her tell us where your arrows landed.' She said jokingly, though it brought back memories of our colossal earthen great grand-mother with a shudder that ran up my back.

'Very funny, fine then let's get this over with.' I said wearily drawing an arrow from the bow and holding it loosely in my free hand.

'One more thing first before we begin, I am not repeating last time you used that thing.' She said before clicking her fingers again and a transparent screen appeared between us. Like the kind you found on a firing range between booths.

'Wow great to see you are so trusting of my skills.' I said as I looked through it at her only for her to stick out her tongue playfully, which was ironically what I had been trying to get her to do when we had been making out.

'Safety first after all.' She said tapping the screen.

'What's the point of that neither of us can die; well unless I decide to poke you with my sword.' I said wearily but she seemed to find my statement funny for some reason.

'My, my Perseus we have not even been on a first date yet you already want to poke me with your sword.' She said trying and failing to keep a straight face, I was initially confused by what she was on about until I realized the double entendre.

'Very funny my little mermaid.' I said simply and it was enough to snap her back to normal, glad to now I had at least one thing against her.

'Shut up about that already, now hurry up and ready yourself. We do not have all day after all.' She said firmly and I noticed her breathe out heavily as if agitated by the remark which only made me want to use it again in the future.

As it was I tried to remember what she had taught me last time and I tried to retrace my positioning from the one time I had been nearly successful.

'Spread your legs out further and hold the bow steadier.' She told me as if she had suddenly turned into a drill instructor. Oh how I could not wait until the roles was reversed and I got to teach her. Nevertheless I did as she said.

'Good now remember when you breathe in the bow will lower naturally and the opposite will happen when you exhale. So what you want to do is hold your breath just before you release the arrow and don't move until you are sure the arrow has cleared the limbs of the bow otherwise you could interfere with the trajectory of the arrow.' She explained.

'I thought this was archery not a physics class.' I said not changing my position as I tried to centre the arrow on the massive target in front of me sure there was no way I could miss it at this range.

'If you want I could get Anna Minerva down here and she could give you a physics class on every detail involved from the torsion of the bow string to the aerodynamic qualities of the arrow. Otherwise shut up and lift your arm up as you have let it fall due to the lapse in our concentration.' She said and I trembled at the possibility of having to sit another class ever again.

I wonder what Goode actually thought had happened to me after all I did disappear for the better part of a year and I certainly didn't go back after the Giant war. Paul must have said I transferred or something I suppose. There was a first I had left a school and it had not been because they kicked me out, though they did try once after Kelli burned down the music room.

As it was I realized I was once again getting distracted from the task at hand and I quickly tried to compensate until I was certain I was aimed at the centre of the bull's-eye.

'If you are confident then release the arrow.' She stated and that only served to make me second guess myself as I double checked everything from my posture to my point of aim. At last though I realized I was simply time wasting and decided to release the arrow.

Just as a gust of wind blew across the improvised range and drew the arrow to the left so that it struck the planks several feet to the left of the point I had been aiming for. At least I had actually hit the object in front of me even if I missed the target, the worst bit was I was sure that were it not for that wind I could have hit it directly.

'Congratulations it could have been worse but you still cannot hit the broad side of a barn door. Next time try to compensate for the direction of the wind.' She said calmly.

As before I drew another arrow and took at a point to the targets right equidistant to the point my last arrow had impacted hoping the wind would carry the arrow back towards the target.

Of course just as I fired the wind dropped of and I hit the same spot as before only on the other side of the target causing me to groan in exasperation. Why was this so difficult and I knew this was essentially archery for dummies being taught by the goddess of archery herself so I could not even blame the teacher like in any of the other classes I had failed.

'Perseus just look at me and copy as I do.' Diana said and I could tell she was getting fed up with my ineptitude by her use of my birth name though it did serve to get my attention and make me look towards her and see her with her silver bow in hand with a trio of arrows in her free hand one at the string with the other two held at the ready between her free fingers.

Just as a particular strong gust blew across in front of us she fired the first arrow to the far right before quickly drawing the second and releasing it slightly inside as if to compensate for a slight drop in wind speed before firing the last directly at the target with a lot more power behind the last and I watched in amazement as the wind dropped of completely as she released and I was able to watch all three arrows hit the target within micro-seconds of each with the last arrow splitting the first halfway up the arrows shaft because it was at an angle to the target because of its altered trajectory.

'Sure I can do that Diana, not. Next time why don't you do it while running and blindfolded just to add that little bit more of a challenge.' I complained.

'What I am trying to show you is you need to predict what your surroundings are going to do and plan for them, in reality you may be moving as will your target and you will have to compensate for the wind. Think about it, Lelantos when he dueled you was able to manipulate the wind and fire away from you so you did not anticipate the attacks and so you did not defend against it. That is what you need to be able to do to get the upper hand over your enemy.' She explained matter of factly.

'What enemy exactly? Who is actually left now other than Tethys and I remember your arrows doing a great amount of not a lot against that shield of hers.' I said annoyed with the memory of what the Titaness of the seas did still fresh on my mind only serving to increase my annoyance.

'First of all there is always someone else even if it is a re-emergence of an old foe. They always try again so do not get confident just yet. As for Tethys she is mine, got that?' She said angrily and I knew that she was even more pissed off with her than I was. Though come to think of it Diana now had removed one of the Titaness's advantages now they both had water based domains.

'Great just when I felt like I could finally relax with my life, I get reminded that assholes are also eternal at least a few of them are gone permanently and more are bound by oaths. So short of Typhon escaping again it can't be that bad can it?'

'Coming from the guy who released Typhon the last time, how about you stop pushing your luck and focus on the ask in hand.'

'Hey that wasn't my fault, it was an accident. You can't blame me for that.' I said defensively.

'Because releasing an earthquake inside a volcano prison is always a great idea, besides you weren't the one fighting that bastard I was, so yes I think I have every right to complain about it.' She said sarcastically.

'Well when you put it like that I suppose it does make sense a little to say it was my fault but I had no choice and everything turned out for the better, with the exception of the storm of the century crossing the country leaving a trail of destruction.' I said muttering the last part.

'Exactly it was your fault, now stop side tracking and try again.' Great now my girlfriend is starting to sound like my mum when I used to not tidy my room or my ADHD would cause me to get distracted by something while doing it and I would spend the rest of the afternoon messing around with the stuff I had rediscovered rather than doing the chore I was supposed to be doing.

Reluctantly I drew another arrow and set about trying again.

Three hours I spent in that field shooting arrows at that accursed target, just as I was getting the hang of it and closing in on the centre Diana shrank it down to a fraction of its former size and I was back to step one.

The good news was that at least I was shooting towards the target even if I was failing miserably at hitting it which was something to take solace in at least.

Eventually though Diana thankfully called it a day much to my intense relief and particularly my fingers because they were excruciatingly painful at the moment from the constant drawing of the string. At least with sparring you knew you were going to get a few knocks and bruises if you were not careful. Archery meanwhile was a means of using all your energy drawing a bow to fire an object that your target could easily block or avoid it unless you caught them unawares.

Diana had snapped her fingers and the screen between us had disappeared and she had asked me to get my spear out. Which I had thought was another double entendre at first before she hit me round the back of the head and told me to be serious. After I had extended the weapon out to its full length she had summoned three arrows to hand before placing their points against the flaming shaft so they also caught before firing the trio at the hay roof of the barn to my surprise.

'What the hades was the point of that, why did you not just click your fingers and make it disappear.' I asked confused as I began to watch the flames grow.

'I couldn't remember where I got it from.' She said looking from the barn towards me.

'Wait what? What do you mean got it from you snapped your fingers and it appeared.' I stated.

'No idiot we cannot just create things out of thin air, we summon them from elsewhere and normally I would put it back but well I kind of forgot which farm I got it from.' She admitted though a reality had just hit me.

'Wait so if I was to summon an animal now I was creating it there and then but instead summoning it from somewhere.' I said and I began to realize I may have to change my Nemea feeding habit to not include endangered species for the hell of it. Oops who knew. That did not come in the idiots guide to immortality and Domain control.

'Yeah so lay of the summoning Elephants, summon pest creatures no one cares about like rats or squirrels things that breed in abundance.'

'It's a shame I cannot summon certain gods then as they fill that criteria quite nicely, even if their children are less annoying than they are.' I said remembering the fact I may have pissed of a certain Olympian earlier not that I cared after all I could kick his ass but he would no doubt complain to his father and I already had enough on my plate dealing with two of Zeus's daughters let alone a son who acted like a big girl.

'I know and the best bit is they are a renewable resource just wait a while and they come back good as new.' Diana said with a smirk clearly knowing exactly who I was talking about, not that it was difficult to work out.

'So now you have done your bit of arson for today where are we going now?' I asked turning back just in time to see the roof collapse in one the rest of the structure as embers rose into the sky. The strange thing was as I looked at them I felt myself able to control the tiny flames causing them to burn faster and brighter or do the opposite and cause them to fade.

Now I knew I could control sources of light that was of no surprise to me after all I had it as a domain but as I watched the inferno it brought back memories of the Battle of Manhattan or more specifically Central Park and my first battle with Hyperion and the moment he had absorbed a Greek fire blast. Now if he was able to control fire then in theory so should I, I thought as I raised my arm towards the flaming structure.

'What exactly are you doing now?' Diana asked I guessed noticing what I was doing as I did not turn towards her.

'Trying something new.' I said simply not elaborating further as I concentrated on making one side of the building burn hotter while making the other side cool down to barely aflame as I increased time for the entire building. As I watched the left side of the structure which I had increased in intensity was rapidly reduced to a smoldering pile while the other side was still as it was when I had began to control the flames.

However when all the flames were gone I realized that unlike a true fire user like Hestia, Hephaestus and Leo I was not actually able to create flames but simply control the one that were pre-existing which was a shame but then again I had not known I could actually do it in the first place, so I guess it was a bonus really.

Besides it was not as if I didn't carry around a flaming spear at all times.

'Wait what did you do? It looked like you were able to control the flames.' Diana said with surprise as she scrutinized me.

'Because I did, turns out my control over light also includes all sources of light including fire I guess.'

'So when I want a light in my bedroom turned of I just have to yell and you can do it for me without me having to get out of bed.' She asked curiously.

'Two things when are you ever actually asleep at night unless you do on the chariot and two why would I be in or near your bedroom. Someone is thinking ahead.' I said jokingly and I watched her turn crimson before she kicked me in the shin playfully.

'Shut up light bulb, how about you take us back to camp as I can't be bothered lugging you around everywhere.' She said annoyed though she still found time to create a new nickname for me. Damn she was quick though it was quite an obvious one come to think of it.

'I don't know how to flash around yet remember, we have been busy all day dealing with everyone and for the last few hours firing sticks because of you. Not much time spent learning useful powers that I could actually enjoy or be of use.' I retorted.

'Well you knew how to shadow travel pretty damn quick this morning when you wanted to get out of the Underworld.' She replied and I realized that I had pretty much instantly known how to use it, then again I had used it often enough with either Nico or Iapetus so I guess I had picked up some sort of knowledge on how it worked.

'Fine then but do not blame me if we end up in China.' I said clutching her hand just as a cloud passed overhead creating a shadow where we stood that I used as an entrance point. Hoping to hades that this worked properly just in case as I thought of Camp.

AN. This is seriously turning into the single longest day in literature. about 70000 words covering a 24 hour period including half of it where the main character is in a coma. perhaps I should rename all of these chapters the day a shit load happens 1-12.

anyway the next chapter may be a little late as I plan on reading all the Kane chronicle books as I have been putting them off for years and have finally decided to buy them. I may even do a temporary cross-over if I can find a way of making it work. fingers crossed.

Anyway that will be in the future so no worries yet.

As always Read and Review

(don't be shy, they are the highlight of my working day.)