Dinner that night was perhaps the most lively Perseus had ever seen the daughters during his short stay at their village. Spirits were high, and the smell of alcohol hung in the air, much to Perseus' surprise. He soon found out why the daughters were in a state of festivities though; The hunting party had returned.

After locating Phoebe and Anthousa near the back of the crowd, Perseus carefully made his way to them.

"As expected of Zoe, the hunt was a success." Anthousa spoke as soon as Perseus arrived at their side. Perseus stood on his tiptoes and managed to see three girls standing at the front of the crowd.

A girl with brown hair and copper colored skin stood slightly in front of the other two, a circlet woven out of cypress leaves adorning her head. Perseus knew the circlet belonged to the leader of the Daughters of Artemis, and the current leader was Zoe.

Behind her stood two girls that looked extremely similar, both with black hair and olive colored skin. The only difference that separated them was the length of their hair; one had shoulder length hair, while the other had hair that flowed down to her waist.

"Are those two twins?" Perseus asked.

"Corina and Corinthia. Their archery skills are unmatched." Phoebe was the one to answer his question. "They are good friends of mine." The girl added, sending Perseus a small smile.

Perseus mentally noted down their names and returned his gaze to the three girls. To his surprise, the moment he did his eyes met Zoe's, and the girl's eyebrows furrowed in what seemed to be confusion.

"I'm assuming they have yet to be informed of my presence here," Perseus said dryly as Zoe started walking towards his position. Anthousa stifled a laugh before nodding in response.

"Who are you?" The daughters nearby instantly dispersed as Zoe brandished a knife and pointed it at Perseus threateningly. Perseus bowed his head slightly, deciding to play it as safe as possible and act respectfully.

"My name is Perseus. Lady Artemis has generously allowed me to stay in this village to learn the skills to defend myself."

"And why, of all the males in the Greek world, has she chosen you to be here?" One of the twins hissed.

Perseus hesitated, not especially willing to reveal his relationship with his mother knowing that she was somewhat of a controversial topic in the daughters' village. His salvation came in the form of a goddess as he heard a familiar voice reply in his stead behind him.

"I have my reasons, Corina." Artemis spoke, her voice loud and clear. "All you need to know is that he has my permission to remain here."

"Yes Milady." The three girls bowed their heads.

"Good, the matter is settled." Artemis' expression softened before she continued. "It is good to see you three again. The hunt was a success, I assume?"

"Yes Milady," Zoe stepped forwards and grabbed a small satchel from the insides of her traveling robe. "The Hydra has been felled."

"The people of Lesbos will be safe then. Shall we begin our celebratory dinner?" Artemis asked, a hint of a smile gracing her lips. The daughters immediately kicked into action, all of them rushing towards the food already set out to claim their share.

Perseus watched the Daughters of Artemis' festivities from the shadows while slowly munching on his portion of food. He sensed the presence of someone nearby and decided to wager a guess at their identity.

"Is that you, Lady Artemis?"

The black-haired goddess emerged from the shadows and stood next to him.

"Your senses are very keen."

Perseus was slightly off put by the direct complement, but he quickly regained composure. "I was trained well."

"I expected no less. From what I've seen, aside from your hunting skills, you are quite the formidable opponent in a direct fight as well."

"You flatter me."

"No," Artemis turned her head to look at Perseus, and the boy felt his gaze gravitating towards hers. "Anthousa would beg to differ."

Perseus' mouth felt extremely dry from the goddess' attention, but he forced himself to act calm as he responded.

"The journey here was less than pleasant, and Phoebe was not always capable of the things she can do now. I only picked up what I had to."

"The world is not kind."

"I agree."

The pair stood in silence as they watched the daughters scream and sing. Contrary to his outward appearance, Perseus' heart was beating rapidly. The goddess was regal and strict, yet at the same time he could sense kindness beneath the surface and that made her all the more attractive to him. Her seemingly sudden interest in him left him extremely conflicted.

On one hand, he was scared. The legends always told of mortals garnering the interests of the gods, and seldom did they end up living happily ever after. All his life he never thought the gods were real, yet now that myths had become reality, Perseus found himself somewhat proud that an Olympian goddess had taken interest in him, but the fact that she was Artemis and he was attracted to her was a whole other set of problems.

"Here."

Artemis' voice jolted him out of his thoughts and he realised the goddess was offering something to him. He quickly recognized the object to be a dagger, and after that realization he found the hilt to be eerily familiar to him.

"This is a weapon every Daughter of mine wields. Though you are not a 'daughter' of mine, you will need a divine weapon to protect yourself from monsters during your quest."

Perseus nodded, slowly reaching out to grab the hilt of the dagger. Though the way it felt in his hand was slightly different, the way his hand wrapped around the hilt reminded him of the dagger Demetrios had taken from him.

Taking the blade that was wrapped in a piece of linen away from the goddess, Perseus carefully removed the piece of linen revealing a silver blade. It looked exactly the same as the one his mother had given to him.

"Your name is etched onto the hilt of the blade, like every other that I have ever given out."

Perseus rolled the dagger around in his hand and found the small letters that spelt 'Perseus' etched into the wood.

"It is a wonderful weapon," Perseus breathed, covering the blade with the linen and slipping it into his belt. "Thank you, Lady Artemis."

The goddess gave him a curt nod, and when the boy blinked, the goddess was gone.

Sighing heavily, Perseus squatted down and held his head in his hands. The fact that a certain brown haired girl was watching his every move from afar escaped him.