All rights belong to Rick Riordan
Chapter 51
Catching Up
(Artemis)
As soon as soon as my chariot had passed out of view over the United States, I immediately set about finding my other half and our boyfriend. After spending an entire evening thinking, I had come to realize that I may have been a little harsh towards Percy after he had awoken from his temporary shock induced brain malfunction.
The thing was, I had blamed Diana for all of this happening even though I knew that sure she had laid the groundwork for this relationship, I actually now wanted it to work as well. Besides he was probably the only guy I knew who did actually care for others more than himself, something he had done time and time again with no concern over reward for himself if others thrust rewards at him as he had shown twice when we gods tried to, even his own greatest enemy had seen his worth in defeat and rewarded him with something we should have done regardless.
So why had I been so harsh towards him? Eventually though the answer had of course hit me despite my attempts to justify it to myself, inevitably they all came up flat until I finally admitted I was jealous of Diana. Of all the people I could honestly say I felt threatened by in my new relationship the only rival I had was myself! He preferred my Roman aspect to me, sure we were one being most of the time but.. it was still infuriating to be scorned for a night and stuck doing a chore while the pair went out for the evening.
So when I got a chance I immediately had gone on the look for my other half and had been surprised when I had not detected her in America as I would have expected, but instead in a completely different continent. So I had decided to flash to Diana's and I am guessing by extension Percy's location.
To say I was a little surprised by what I found when I arrived would be an understatement, it was actually enough to take my mind off the fact I was hunting the pair.
Sure I had recognized the location when I had flashed here, after all I had been to Ephesus hundreds of times back in the days of antiquity but not since it was abandoned and destroyed. Some of the hunters had initially wanted to return and visit but I had refused however, as it was now if one had asked, I would have been the first to agree as I found myself in front of the marble steps of a fully reconstructed temple to me and the sight had filled me with energy and excitement.
I actually ran up the stairs and was pleased to see from initial glimpses that it was just the exterior that had been recreated; I saw the dozens of statues and depictions between the columns that had long since been stolen or destroyed over the passage of time. Athena may have had the Parthenon but it can always be said that she did not have a wonder of the world like this; it had just survived the passage of time better, unless you counted it getting used as a gunpowder store and blown up better.
Time, after all wasn't that part of the reason I was here or rather they were part of the reason. I barely noticed the pair of figures sitting next to each other at the base of one of the last pillars in the temple. Clearly they had not detected my arrival and I would get around to them in a minute but for the moment I decided to enjoy a trip down memory lane, as I view each of the carved reliefs depicting myself and my hunters and on one unfortunately Orion, although the good thing was it was the one of him getting shot so I left it as it was. Though I think it was good that Poseidon had let me off the hook over that one considering recent events and revelations.
The thing was a lot of these carvings had been done with actual hunters as the models and it was nice to actually remember many of my long since dead companions, even those who had strayed from their beliefs eventually but then again it would hypocritical of me to call them out on it now. I actually understood them a lot more and why they did it, rather than just thinking them weak willed and misled, I now understood both sides of the coin so to speak.
Speaking of sides of a coin, I had finally found myself level with the oblivious pair who still remained ignorant of my presence. I almost wished Thalia was here so she could shock them awake but that would raise questions like, why were they here, asleep, holding hands and resting against one another? The last two of which caught my attention rather poignantly and I thought it necessary to correct the situation.
After my little experiment last night I even knew exactly how I was going to do it, I thought with a playful smile.
(Percy)
I had been happily enjoying my first nights decent sleep in a long time without the ever present supernatural dreams, that wasn't caused by an injury or other cause of unconsciousness.
So it was a bit of a shock to suddenly feel like someone had thrown a water bomb at me, jolting me awake and if the scream of indignation was anything to go by Diana had not been spared either. The only mystery was the cause, I immediately used my senses to detect whatever was nearby and had been initially confused by why it felt like, I was detecting two almost identical beings before noticing the silver outfitted goddess in front of me, she was tossing a sphere of water from one hand to the other as if wondering who to toss it at.
Fortunately for me, Artemis had noticed that I had seen her while her other half had instead focused on trying to get her hair out of her face where it had cascaded down obscuring her vision as we slept. She had just managed to push it out of the way when her Greek counterpart decided to throw the projectile anyway, resulting in the process being repeated until Diana gazed at her identical self with a furious gaze. Which the Greek goddess responded to with a smile that reminded me a lot of why I preferred her when she was happy and not pissed off!
'Good morning I see the pair of you was busy last night, or at least one of you was anyway. I have only been here twenty minutes or so without the pair of you noticing so I thought I better wake you up considering it is almost 12.30pm.' She said sarcastically, though the statement shocked me as it meant I had been asleep for twelve hours straight but as I checked my internal clock it only registered 5.30am.
'Local time Percy, before you try and check.'
'Too late, sorry about not noticing you, but this was really tiring to do.' I muttered out, the ironic thing was I could feel her impromptu wake up alarm actually making me feel more rested, next to me Diana had also dried just as rapidly despite her second dousing her hair now dry and pushed over her shoulders out of the way.
'I bet, it was quite a surprise for me to turn up here looking for the pair of you and instead find this back here in all its glory, the only thing missing is the statue of Zoe over there, I am gonna take a chance and say that this is a few days before this was all destroyed. Judging by the fact that the deer statue over there was a new addition at the time, ready for Zoe's in construction statue to go next to it.' Artemis said trailing off pointing at an area of the room where indeed an empty pedestal stood alongside another with a actual silver deer upon it.
'Wait Zoe had a statue in here?' I asked surprised by it.
'Well she would have had one to celebrate 500 years of being my Lieutenant at the time, which was why she was here the night this place was burned down, as I am sure Diana has explained. She was modelling for the sculptor at the time; it would probably explain why she took it so bad. By the time I even knew about it she had dealt with him.' She explained and I realized exactly how close my girlfriend(s) had been to her that even 2500 years before, she had cared deeply for the former Hesperide.
'Oh I did kinda wonder why Zoe had been here at the time, anyway what do you think of the place?' I asked the Greek goddess as she now seemed to be in a better mood, which I hoped was more than a result of the temples restoration.
'Well there is a distinct lack of worshippers and it is located in a different country, nowhere near where the gods currently reside but other than that it will do nicely Percy, so thanks for asking and for doing this. The question I have is why the pair of you were even here in the first place, I had been expecting to find you in some obscure location hiding, instead here you are in what was the ruins of our greatest temple, visible to whoever walks up those steps.'
'Wait, what do you mean anyone could have seen? They would still see the ruin wouldn't they?' Diana asked hurriedly and I began to realize I had not considered that at the time but it now seemed rather obvious to do.
'Fortunately for Seaweed Brain the mortals don't seem to have noticed the difference as there is still a slight veil of mist that permeated this location, but anyone with a slightest bit of ability to see through the illusion would be in for a hades of shock. So at the moment I would give you a 7 out of 10 but could do with a little improvement here and there, a good effort nonetheless.' Artemis joked.
'Thanks it was hard enough to do this let alone anything else.' I replied sarcastically remembering the drain in strength required, I don't I had had it in me to weave a veil of mist around a structure this size as well.
'So what was I doing while you were doing this as I cannot imagine Diana would have just stood aside while you did?' Artemis said turning towards her other self who was giving her a clear annoyed look to which Artemis replied to with a sly smile.
'I was distracted by remembering the ruin this place was now and remembering how much of an annoying bitch I could be.'
'Now the pair of you stop arguing, this is really confusing to see both sides of the same goddess having fight in person, can't you combine back into one and be done with it.' I proposed only for the pair of them to turn towards me with annoyed expressions that made me immediately regret getting involved.
'Oh I am the annoying one, you are the one, who one day turned up in my head because a mortal thought it would be a great idea if they changed our names and personalities a little and you were the end result. The Goddess of the hunt who doesn't do any hunting, great job with that one.' Artemis shouted.
'Oh and what chance did I get, after all the hunters were all Greek except for the brief period where we tried it out and you didn't like it, the rest of the time I was stuck in the damned chariot so you didn't have to.'
'And the first chance you get out when we recombined you started getting feelings for the first guy you laid your eyes on that wasn't a total vegetable by that point.'
'Err I am standing here you know don't mind m—.' I was abruptly silenced when the pair who were now both standing up squaring off against one another both suddenly materialized knives in hand pointed at me, warning me to not get involved. Great now they are both pissed off with me and I don't think I could defend myself from a pair of knife happy goddesses.
'This is not the time or place.' Diana proposed after a long staring contest between the pair.
'Agreed.' Artemis replied before the pair of them glowed silver and was replaced by the single figure of Artemis default younger self.
'Well what are you waiting for an invitation? Get up already.' The goddess ordered leaving me with little choice but to do as she commanded.
'First things first I need to hide this a little better, so no one finds out what you did before we have every immortal from here to Tartarus wanting you to restore their ancient shrines and what not, although I do appreciate the sentiment of you only doing this for me. I know how annoying my siblings are a lot more than you do, let alone my father.' She explained before clicking her fingers with a much more audible sound than the gesture would ordinarily have made as it echoed throughout the columned space.
'I have a pretty good idea considering half have tried to kill me at least once or had it in for me in some way.'I retorted wearily.
'Well look at the bright side, the rest will want to try once they find out about us then.' She said with a playful smile.
'You did not have to remind me of the fact, I am very much aware that I may have picked the girl with the biggest messed up family known to man which I am actually already a part of.'
'And yet you still did it anyway despite the problems it will bring us in the future, people could almost think that you go out seeking trouble.'
'Not likely, it just has a way of finding me no matter what I do.'
'On that I think everyone can agree, though hopefully whatever the next great prophecy is it will not involve you and definitely not me.' She said and I couldn't help but think that she had just tempted fate just a little.
'So what now then back to camp?'
'I suppose though I plan on returning here soon with the hunters.' Artemis replied before taking one last look around and grabbing my hand and flashing us back across the globe.
(Artemis)
Upon our arrival back at the camp everything seemed to be in order, there was nothing to be heard as all the campers were likely still in their cabins asleep. Demigods were generally a lazy bunch when they had nothing to do really.
I had been about to walk towards the door of the cabin without a second thought when Percy stiffened and I noticed the confused expression on his face as he looked at cabin in front of us.
'What is the matter?' I asked him quietly.
'Something's not right, I am detecting 11 presences in and around the cabin. There are 9 hunters and Nemea so who or what is the last one?' He explained and I began to get worried remembering what had happened before when I had dropped my guard, I would not let that happen again I thought as I drew my knives, Percy drew Maelstrom which meant even he must have been worried as he began to walk towards the cabin before suddenly turning to the left and walking around the side of it.
Just as we reached the edge of the cabin Percy lifted the blade above his head as if to strike at whatever was around the corner, I stood right behind him ready to follow him though I left a small gap between us….
Which was fortunate because it stopped me being accidentally bisected when he suddenly charged around the corner at the same time as he summoned his wings, casting a golden luminescence upon the immediate area and revealing a figure in the shadows who turned towards the source of the light as if caught in the headlights of a truck.
Percy meanwhile had already dived forward towards target sword in motion, the cornered figure would likely have been run through there and then if it had not let out a loud goat sounding bleat of terror that seemed to knock Percy back so he stumbled over his own feet, before I could react he had collided with me and we were both on the way to the floor in a tangle of limbs not for the first time in 24 hours.
However Percy at least had the sense to dispel his wings before we hit the ground which meant we could both move relatively freely and see the shadow of the figure that was still not moving as it looked at us shocked.
I had just summoned my bow to hand and taken aim when I suddenly felt Percy put his hand on my weapon and push it away from is intended target.
I had just been about to ask him what he was doing when all the lights in the cabin turned on at once, bathing the area in light again revealing the figure of a terrified Satyr that looked vaguely familiar, as he looked from me to Percy though his expression became one of confusion.'
'Percy?' It asked nervously.
'Grover.' Percy replied at last and I realised that I did remember the youngest and newest member of the council of cloven elders. It also explained why he had been able to knock Percy back when he called out after all he had been named Pan's heir and had inherited that power from he faded god. However that was all very good and well but that did not explain what the hades he was doing creeping around my cabin in the early hours of the morning.
'Start talking Satyr.' I threatened as I slowly stood up not releasing the arrow still held to my bows string.
'Err- Lady Artemis…..' He began but the look of terror had returned and he seemed incapable of saying more, which wasn't helped when the hunters, who had obviously been awoken ran round the corner in various states of dress all holding bows at the ready, looked from me to Percy who was now standing beside me to the Satyr on the floor who like he was ready to curl up and die from the multitude of angry girls looking at him.
'Artemis, please let me deal with this.' Percy asked turning towards me almost pleadingly.
'I want a report.' I said loudly feigning anger. In reality I was more curious, besides the Satyr was Percy's longest friend and it would not have been helpful in his relationship if I or the hunters executed the fool. It was not as if the satyr likely bore any ill will towards the hunters they just occasionally became foolish and tried following me and my hunters and I suspected this was a case of it.
As I loosened the bow and turned towards the hunters some looked almost disappointed with the exception of Thalia, who clearly recognised the satyr.
'Back inside girls and get dressed properly next time.' I told them shepherding them towards the doorway.
'With respect Milady, I am going back to bed. It's like 5 in the morning.' Phoebe whined falling onto her bunk heavily still holding her bow in hand before eventually dropping it down the side of the bed.
'So what Phoebe tomorrow is capture the flag and I fully intend to win! If we do, we are going on a trip to the Mare Rostrum and somewhere you always wanted to visit.' I said cryptically which served to get the daughter of Nikes attention as she flipped back over and looked at me curiously as did the others, though only Phoebe probably knew what I was talking about as she was the only one old enough to have been around since then, after all her father had been one of Alexanders generals so she had only just missed the temples destruction by a generation and I had not taken the Greek hunters to the Roman Temple.
'Milady what do you mean?' Morgana asked confused.
'It is a surprise that you have to earn, so how do you all feel about a bit of early practise now. I promise that it will be worth it.' I told them as they all seemed to grow in energy at the concept of a reward for it. In the last few dozen games it had seemed as more of a routine chore than an actual match, but then again this game was going to be very different anyway after all, I was playing for starters and the camp had gods of their own.
'Any problems?…..good. Now get ready.' I commanded as they all hurried to get sorted.
(Percy)
Once Artemis and the hunters had gone round the corner and back into the cabin or so I guessed Grover finally let out a deep breath, as if he had been scared for his life the entire time. Then again I had almost cut him in half and he had been caught red-handed snooping on the hunters by their mistress so he had probable cause to be afraid.
'So err-how's it going Grover?' I asked as light heartedly as possible.
'I thought you were dead for starters Percy. First you got kidnapped by Hera for 9 months then next thing I know Annabeth died, you disappeared again and no one would say what happened to you. The Romans were all proclaiming you died, the six were staying silent and no one seemed to care about looking for you. Now you're suddenly back hanging around with Lady Artemis and the hunters so how is it going Percy?' He bleated indignantly and I had to admit he kinda had a point, the others had all known I had gone to Orthrys and other bits of the story, either from me personally or via Nico but I had forgotten about Grover.
'Wouldn't you have known if I died? What with the empathy link and all?' I asked confused.
'You mean the link that almost drove me insane until I terminated it out of fear. All I could feel from you was pain, anger and depression it was as if you were suicidal, it made me scared to keep it any longer.' He said it angrily and it caused me to think back to my early days, after the loss of Annabeth and I had to concede I had been all of them points especially the last, until I realised that I was physically unable to hurt myself in anyway because of Styx's meddling.
'Yeah sorry about that, though I got better eventually it was a rough period for me. What have you been up to while I have been gone?' I asked hoping to change the subject from that time period and some very bad memories.
'Well I am a father now for starters.' Grover said gaining a great smile on his face as he said it.
'Congratulations G-man, so does that mean there is going to be a little Grover around here somewhere.' I said surprised this was the same guy as I had first met at Yancy.
'She's with Juniper as she is still small and can't go far.' He said proudly.
'So is she a nymph then?' I asked speculating by the fact she couldn't move far from her source.
'Yeah a willow tree which is also her name.'
'I will need to come meet her soon and congratulate Juniper. So how has everything else been going around here?'
'Well, we are finally getting to grips with the number of new Demigods being found and claimed. We tried to do the same for the Romans but they refused to let us help them, saying it was part of their stupid traditions. Though we now have the fauns working with us as they seemed more than happy to let them come over. Stupid Romans treating them like second class citizens.' He said agitatedly which was understandable, after all I had been annoyed with how they had been treated while I was in New Rome.
'Now they have got you on their side, I can see them being accepted like we do before long, besides if they don't I would not like to see them mess with you. There are not many people or gods who can put me on my ass just by opening their mouth.' I said remembering what he did when I jumped him.
'Err – yeah sorry about that I really need to apologise to Lady Artemis about that.' He said nervously.
'Let me deal with Artemis, I was more surprised you can channel Panic so freely now. If you hadn't I could have killed you, what were you doing in the shadow anyway or let me guess you wanted to be close to the hunters again, you have a daughter now Grover.' I said lamp shading the fact of what he had just told me.
'I know but Artemis is just so well Artemis.' He said dreamily and I had to struggle not to laugh at my best friend unknowingly daydreaming about my girlfriend.
'Yeah she is certainly different from any other girl I have met.' I said as neutrally as possible hoping not to arouse suspicion and remembering the fact he could read emotions, though I was not sure if he could now that I was an immortal.
'So have you met anyone else or are you still getting over Annabeth?' He asked curiously and I tried to think of a way of saying this without him detecting anything.
'Yes I have got a girlfriend now but I can't say who at the moment because it is a surprise, she does not want anyone to find out yet.' I said quickly but I noticed his eyes tighten as if I had piqued his interest.
'Is she someone I have met?' He asked curiously and I could feel the net closing in. I wanted to stay silent but my body language must have given me away when I shifted my eyes from him to the silver structure next to us, he followed my gaze before putting 2 and 2 together.
'Your dating a hunter of Artemis—' He said his eyes opening wide in shock before I clamped a hand across his mouth.
'I don't want to lie to you Grover so you need to swear on the Styx before I let you go.' I whispered to him before he finally nodded his head and I released him and he quickly did the oath accompanied by the familiar crack of thunder.
'So which of the hunters is it' He whispered nervously.
'She isn't a hunter.' I said cryptically and it momentarily left him confused before shocked understanding crossed his face.
'No way, that's not possible…is it? I am right aren't I. You are dating Lady Artemis aren't you? How the hades did you manage that Percy. How does a demigod catch the eye of a virgin goddess?' He asked in quiet shock, so I decided to throw another bombshell at him.
'I am not a demigod anymore could maybe help, I am now a Titan Lord that was why I had to leave at the end of the last war. Technically I started dating Diana and Artemis comes as part of the package though we have only been together since yesterday which is the same time as I became an immortal.' I explained and the poor Satyr looked ready to faint.
'Ok that explains you vanishing but how did you even get accepted by the hunt in the first place.'
'I got bored, they needed help and apparently I was better than the alternative offered and now here I am, though it was a little rocky here and there.' I admitted.
'Don't take this the wrong way Percy but if you were anyone else, I would say that you were full of shit but as someone who knows you to well I still find it hard to believe. How in the world did you get the confidence to ask out Lady Artemis of all goddesses anyone else would have kept quiet in fear of their life?'
'Well it helps when you are already on your deathbed with nothing to lose.' I explained which only served to raise new questions. Clearly Grover had no idea what had happened with Tethys and Oceanus 2 days previously.
He was about to raise some of those questions when he armored figure of Reyna came round the side of the cabin followed by Thalia who was looking awfully pale.
'PercyIneedtolearnhowtofly….' She stammered out rapidly before trying to backpedal away only for Reyna to put her hands on her shoulders and stop her.
'What the hades did she just say?' Grover asked in total confusion.
'Lady Artemis wants to find out if Thalia can control the wind the same way as Jason can, because at the moment the only person who can fight back against him and possible Frank is you Percy.' Reyna explained.
'Why would Percy know about flying I can't think of anyone worse qualifi-.' Grover began before suddenly noticing the unfolding wings behind me.
'Hey Grover, former Titan of the air at your service.' I said simply and finally the constant barrage of revelations seemed to be too much as collapsed where he stood.
'Goat boy anyone home?' Thalia called down to him evidently distracted from her fear by the amusing sight in front of us.
'Fooood.' He groaned unconsciously.
'Once I find Juniper and return him then we can deal with your training Thalia, until then wait here.' I told her before picking up the unconscious Satyr easily. Despite his increased mass over the last few years I easily offset it by my increase in strength, courtesy of training with Atlas.
'Actually better idea meet me by the Pegasi stables, Reyna fetch Scipio and get a spare saddle out ready though don't use it until I get there, ok.' I told them as an idea crossed my head, before they could reply however I had swept my wings downwards pushing me into the sky as I went looking for a Dryad.
AN. I'M back.
Luckily I was able to salvage the hard drive from my old net book which saved me a lot of hassle of rewriting the first 2000 words.
It took me a while to get back into wanting to write but from here it should be business as usual, combined with the fact I have the end of the month off work and things should be good.
Next chapter will be training and capture the flag, so fun times.
As always read and review