During their travel through the country, time blurred for Artemis. Every day the hunt would swarm the region around their camp and take down all kinds of monsters. Most of them were rather weak but every once in a while, they would find prey that Artemis could hunt personally. With the busy pace they kept, there was barely any time for other things, even for a goddess such as herself who didn't need sleep. She spent her nights watching the surrounding areas near her hunt to determine whether they would stay another day or continue moving east.

Most nights Percy would be taking the night shift seeing as how he needed much less sleep than any mortal so she could comfortably scout a little further since for reasons she herself was uncertain about, the demigod had the amazing ability to detect monsters for no apparent reason when they got near him. She had even asked him about it and Percy also didn't know where his intuition came from. But it was there. She had watched monsters approach her camp a few times and every single time Percy appeared long before any of her hunters could have noticed the beasts and decimated them.

She had expected to eventually find out what caused him to be so sharp when it came to finding monsters, especially given his lack of agility when hunting normal prey but as of now it was still a mystery to her. However despite that, the ability was more than useful when it came to keeping her hunt safe. Without her and Percy, the hunt wouldn't be able to defend against the growing number of monsters on their own without quickly growing exhausted. They were simply too small of a group right now.

That also made her reach the conclusion that they would need to stay at Camp Half-Blood for the three months she'd spent in the sea as that was the only way to guarantee their safety. Artemis would usually consider this kind of caution as cowardice but since her hunters were very young and inexperienced for the most part, it was the best solution she could think of. The entire country was becoming increasingly dangerous and for the first time in millennia, Artemis found herself praying to Chaos that the most powerful monsters would stay beneath the surface for a while longer. Just the masses of normal ones were terrible enough, she didn't need drakons or hydras joining in. Not to mention the more intelligent and cunning ones.

The more she thought about it, the more dreadful it became. Void had told her and Percy that their situation wasn't hopeless but in the midst of all these foes it was hard to keep believing him. Still, at least the hunt had managed to cross almost the entire US without incurring any losses and with how close they were both to Camp Half-Blood as well as the three months deadline she had been given, she was positive they would make it there in time.

Artemis threw an empty look into the sky above her. Her eyes usually zoned in on constellations now, especially the ones she put there as mementos but not tonight. Not the last few nights. She just wanted rest. Every night she plagued herself with these thoughts, trying to calculate the whims of fate on her own. Every night she looked ahead and found only hardship and struggle. And every night she eventually ended up just sitting in her chariot, staring into the nothingness above her. She knew that there was no good in doing this but she couldn't help it. It was the only rest she could find right now since she needed to be alert when travelling with her hunt.

It had only gotten worse recently too. About a month after her battle against Perses, something that the Olympian council barely even took note of to her dismay, Athena and Aphrodite joined hands to voice concerns about the increase in monster attacks on mortals. Although their motives were different, several gods joined them and it didn't take long before she was tasked with counteracting that trend, something she was quite literally incapable of. The situation had only gotten worse since then. Two weeks ago the council had finally come to understand her position and since then demigods have started to actively patrol cities near the two camps. One week ago Hermes reported that the attacks on humans were still not receding. Even the usually clever Athena couldn't think of a solution at that point. Yesterday, at the last meeting, there had been a suggestion to remove the mist and let the mortals fight off monsters on their own. Maybe that was the right path forward?

Regardless, Artemis wasn't liking their odds. Despite the increase in attacks, the total amount of casualties among humans after monster attacks was still rather small, just short of a thousand for the past month, but she knew well that the increase wouldn't stop. There was no reason for Tartarus to stop using his greatest advantage. Well, one of them. The other was the king of the gods himself. Her father, together with a few other gods, was adamant about the fact that the increase in monsters was a natural phenomenon since the monsters all died together in the last few wars too. He didn't care much about the difficulties the mortal world was facing and he didn't even bother considering any of it a threat to the immortal world.

Instead Zeus became irritated as soon as anyone even suggested a need to act and every meeting it was a struggle just to agree on the fact that we had a problem on our hands. Athena herself spent most of every meeting trying to convince Zeus and was currently so preoccupied with it that even her usual fights with Poseidon disappeared. The council was split and because of that was not making necessary preparations and decisions in time. With a long sigh Artemis continued to stare at the night above. How vexing this all was. They would arrive in New York soon, maybe that could calm her mind? Or at least distract her. She really hoped that whatever Void would tell them on his next visit would be a little more pleasant. More direct in giving them a clear path forward. On the other hand he had promised them a prophecy and those were never direct so what was she even getting her hopes up for?

At these times she really wished she could just sleep. Dream her worries away the same way mortals did it. But it wasn't that simple for gods to enter each other's domains. Maybe Hypnos wouldn't mind, but Morpheus had made it clear that he doesn't want gods in his domain by refusing them entry. From what she knew, her uncle had caused a cataclysmic event there when he was trying to come to terms with the titan war and all that had happened and Morpheus had banned gods ever since then. Yet she wished for things to be different. As her chariot descended, she could still see the lights of the city in the distance. New York was never dark. When she finally reached the ground, Percy awaited her at the campfire. He didn't look much better and she knew that he has had a similarly bad time as her recently.

After getting reports about monsters attacking humans more often for the first time, Artemis had sought advice from Thalia, Penelope, Maria and Percy since they were the most experienced among her group and she could see that the knowledge was weighing on each of them. They had long decided that they would stop in Brooklyn before heading to New York as per the request of Percy. She didn't know why exactly but he said that he had acquaintances there that could help alleviate some of their problems and she was definitely not going to say no to that.

They should be able to make it there today and she'd be lying if she said she wasn't at least a bit curious about who Percy's potential backup was. She'd find out later. As she sat down next to Percy, she was once again reminded of the dark atmosphere looming over them. It was rare that she didn't enjoy travelling with her hunt but this had been an exhausting journey, both physically and mentally. She couldn't even think of a topic for conversation, at least not one that would lighten the mood.

"Hey, uhm, Artemis?" Percy's voice ripped her out of what was almost a trance, her gaze snapping towards just fast enough to reveal how little attention she had been paying. "Since the first three months are almost over…do you know if we'll get to meet each other's mothers before…you know?"

The question caught her completely off-guard, she had not thought much about the formal procedures involved with the wedding. She hadn't seen her mother in centuries, ever since she had been locked away for helping create a titan uprising by freeing Koios. She, just like Apollo, had never been told just where Leto was jailed. Even now she didn't know the whereabouts of her so meeting her even for an occasion like this was little more than a pipe dream.

Just when she was about to tell him that, she remembered what happened to his own family and that his question wasn't just about her side of the family. "We could ask your father if it's possible for the two of us to meet with your mother if you want. As for my own mother…I don't know where she is. She was locked away many centuries ago and my father never allowed me or my brother to visit her or even find out where she was kept."

She didn't even have a hint so far. Though maybe Poseidon would know? If they were going to ask him about Percy's mother anyways, what was one more question about her own mother? It was in the oddest of ways but somehow Artemis felt her spirits lift slightly. She even felt a small smile tug her lips.

As she was lost in thought, Artemis didn't even notice the worried glance Percy threw her way, only softening once he saw a smile form on her lips. They spent the next few minutes sitting in comfortable silence as both had plenty to think about. Artemis was almost nostalgic of the time she got to spend with her mother while Percy found himself actually anxious of meeting his again. Before long, the hunters started to leave their tents too, some more awake than others.

None of them looked awfully tired though which was great. Just like their patron, most huntresses were far more comfortable with forests and wilderness as opposed to concrete jungles so today's trip into a giant city would be far more annoying for them than any hunting trip in the forest. Add to that the fact that they still had to keep their guard up and it was just plain exhausting.

Still, if that little bit of exhaustion gave them a new ally against Tartarus then she'd do it ten times over without hesitation. Not to mention that a few of her hunters were also very familiar with modern cities since they grew up in them. Looking around, her entire hunt was up now, bustling around and getting everything ready for their departure. She also got up, joining them in their preparations and steeling herself for another long day ahead of her.

This chapter was a little shorter since it was mostly meant to convey a small time skip and the shift in emotions across the hunt and Artemis. Additionally the next chapter might take a little longer too since it's my mum's birthday next week so I'm busy.

That aside I hope you all still liked the chapter even if it was a little short and feel free to drop feedback if you have any.

Bye

-M