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Percy couldn't move. He couldn't push the weight of the sky up and off himself, not that he would in the first place even if he could. No, Percy was stuck watching the fight that had evolved around him. Artemis needed to be saved, and he'd saved her in an instant, realising she could offer far more to the fight than he could; Annabeth, Zoe, or any of the others, they couldn't be wasted holding up the sky.

Annabeth already looked to be worse off than he'd like to see. Percy's vision, blurred as it was from the extreme weight upon him, could make that out easy enough. He could see that Artemis, meanwhile, looked ready for a fight. Atlas seemed nervous as he fought whilst constantly moving away from the young-looking, spry goddess and her lieutenant as the two pressed him every backwards, towards chasms aplenty as the very ground and earth around them began to change.

Percy, whilst not initially sure what he was seeing, quickly came to a conclusion. The place before his very eyes that was seemingly rebuilding of its own volition, was that of Mount Othrys. It was an antithesis of Mount Olympus, and if it rose, it would mean the end of everything… he'd learned a lot of that from Annabeth. The girl who was aiding Thalia in a fight with Luke.

Of all people, truly, it was Luke. Any doubt in Percy's mind about Luke had been washed away as the man duelled Thalia and Annabeth, the latter given a weapon by the former. Luke had been a role model of sorts, a friend, and somebody who'd been incredibly kind and helpful to Percy. To see him fighting people he'd cared for, people that had called him friends and eaten alongside him for years was heartbreaking.

It couldn't be understated just how out of sorts it made Percy feel. Percy considered loyalty to friends and family tantamount in one's life, and he'd proven that he had a stunning willingness to defend others even at the cost of his own wellbeing. Thus, as Luke swung his sword at Thalia with murderous intent after a conversation that Percy wasn't able to remotely make out, Percy simply couldn't believe it.

That disbelief gave way rapidly to anger, to fury, and as the fight continued with seconds feeling like hours, it allowed Percy's age to grow just as terribly. He wanted the weight of the sky off from his shoulders so that he might best Luke and aid Artemis and Zoe in the defeat of Atlas. Much like his first quest, no, more so now than then, their victory was required.

There could be no return of Mount Othrys.

But what could Percy do? He couldn't shrug off the weight of the world as it pressed down upon him. Unless it was his burden to bear no longer, he was stuck where he found himself; a spectator to one of the most important fights that could ever happen.

His eyes gravitated towards the fight that was of greater importance despite the desires of his heart, conflicted as it was. Annabeth, alive and as well as she could be, could be looked at no more than he'd already done. With every dodge she willed herself into or every swing of Luke's sword, it felt like the air was sucked from Percy's lungs.

When he looked at Artemis and Zoe and the fight that they were having with Atlas, that feeling returned, but he couldn't look away. Zoe was moving faster than he thought possible, and the very force of her blows was evident against Atlas — he needn't say anything about Artemis and her abilities, only that Zoe's seemed so far beyond, well, Zoe's. Atlas and Artemis were as two forces of nature whilst Zoe could brave the storms, all the others would probably just be swept in and spit out wherever a spot could be found.

Artemis would dart in and out of Atlas' range, a blur to Percy's eyes with her two long, cruel-looking hunting knives. No blood had been spilt from her attacks thus far, but Atlas wasn't as jovial-looking as he'd previously been. With Artemis moving as fast as she was, and attacking with as much precision as Percy had seen and Zoe harassing him with intermittent fire from her bow, the man was hard-pressed to defend himself.

It nearly looked to be a stalemate. Nearly. The first sign that something was beginning to go wrong came from the person Percy thought least likely to falter; Artemis. As quickly as she'd been moving and as powerful as her attacks had been — making Atlas skid across the ground when he bore the brunt of them with a block — she was weakening and slowing up. Gods and Goddesses proved no different, for like most, they could grow weary from overexertion.

And who but Annabeth and Artemis knew how long the Goddess had been holding up the sky? She might well have been doing it since first they set out on their quest. If that was the case, she'd gone all out at the start of the fight and soon, that might end up having cost her the fight if things didn't change for the better, and soon.

I need to help.

Percy knew that he needed to do something, anything, that might change the course of the fight that was ensuing right before his very eyes. Nothing came to his mind. So far as he could tell, he was stuck.

This was his worst nightmare. He could watch the fight, blurry-eyed and in pain as he was, but he was powerless to stop or change the outcome of it. It was almost like being a time traveller and watching history unfold before your very eyes all the while you know you can't interfere.

Until something extraordinary happened. Extraordinary, or incredibly skilled on behalf of Thalia and Annabeth's combined efforts.

Percy hadn't been watching the fight between the three from Camp Half-Blood. He hadn't known what had happened, that they'd gotten closer to him, not until he felt a weight crash into him from the side. Unprepared and the epitome of surprise, Percy found himself squeezed out from beneath the weight of the sky and replaced.

By Luke.

Somehow, someway, Thalia and Annabeth had pushed Luke back, tripping him and forcing him to let go of his weapon as he fell to the ground. He'd been pushed so off-balance and stumbled so far… quite simply, everything had gone exactly as it'd needed to for Percy to be freed from his temporary prison.

"Thanks!" Percy yelled over the beating of his heart, his word given to Thalia and Annabeth like.

Thalia didn't grin at him, she almost didn't seem as if she'd heard him. Not until she nodded and tore off, in the direction of the others and their fight. Percy looked at Annabeth then, and back at Thalia as she continued onward, to a fight that he knew she shouldn't go and try to join.

Percy only had one solution. He checked on Annabeth, ensured that she wasn't wounded or harmed in any serious fashion, and upon ensuring that she was in good health, he raced off after Thalia. Words could wait, he figured Annabeth would agree.

"Watch him," Percy said with a gesture to Luke and the sky. After those words, he followed Thalia with Riptide in his hand, extended and ready for a fight.

He approached from Atlas' left side, where Artemis was pressing him from. Zoe and Thalia had taken the right. Percy knew he couldn't be reckless as he'd been with the skeletons, and so he favoured slow, cautious moves that saw him gradually close the remaining distance between him and the other man.

All the while Percy did so, the others sans Annabeth, who was too winded and exhausted to continue, pressed their offensive against Atlas. The rate at which Zoe loosed arrows seemed to increase, meanwhile, Thalia's spear joined Artemis' knives in jabbing, poking and otherwise trying to seriously wound Atlas. With all of those forces combined, Atlas was hard-pressed to go on any sort of offensive.

Percy would take advantage of that. When an opening was made, he finally struck forth with Riptide. He watched as his blade, trusty and true as it'd always been thus far, only narrowly missed the man's flank, a whooshing noise the only proof of the error he'd made. Percy didn't let up after that singular blow either — he upped the intensity of his next strike and continued to do so.

Time and time again he swung Riptide at Atlas whilst Zoe loosed arrows from heights he'd not so much as seen her climb. On and on the fight went, until finally, a change occurred. One that took place in an instant, unlike the fight that continued for minutes unending and unchanging.

Much like every fight, battle or any other form of combat, an error was eventually made. Thalia in all of her eagerness to strike down Atlas with a flurry of blows, misstepped, causing her to slip and fall to the ground. As she did so, Atlas struck. He struck out at Thalia with a mighty kick, one that sent the girl skidding nearly ten feet away until she came to a slow, quiet halt.

Percy saw red. If his fury, his rage, hadn't been great and terrifying then, it grew to be as he lashed out with blow after blow; it didn't change much as Atlas parried Percy with a javelin. Atlas' smile, one that Percy only just glanced at as he made to strike again from a new angle, nearly drove Percy to a new plain of anger, but it failed to do so. Percy wouldn't let his anger get the better of him. Not if it meant risking the safety of his friends, two of whom were already pretty bad off.

He could only continue his attack as Atlas finally began his own offensive, one that wouldn't slow Percy down as he made to dodge, duck, dip or parry the Titan's blows. It was impressive… or most people would think it'd be. The truth of the matter was, as Percy dodged and parried for his life whilst trying to get in his own strikes at Atlas, he wasn't a threat. Nearly all of Atlas' attention was given to Artemis and Zoe, as he tried to corner the former and needed to dodge all of the latter's arrows.

Were he just about anybody else, Zoe would have struck true or Artemis would have dismembered him.

Instead, the man continued forward, until Percy and Artemis were the ones that found themselves pressed to the very edge of a great gorge that'd formed. It seemed unending in its depth, and Percy could only imagine the hellishness that awaited them in it.

He was tired, exhausted, sore, and hurt, and all of his wounds that had occurred throughout the journey returned in the most treasonous fashion. In other words, he was nearing the point at which he'd begun to falter as Artemis had. Zoe wasn't close to that, or she didn't seem to be as she finally ran out of arrows and came to join the confrontation up close.

With Thalia's spear in hand, Zoe pressed forth from Artemis' other side and aided the duo that remained in attempting to push Atlas back. With a javelin in one hand and a sword in the other, he struck at the three with the occasional grunt or snort; Percy swore the man had even laughed a few times throughout the fight.

For some reason, Percy noted in the seconds that followed this seemingly desperate offensive, Atlas almost seemed as if he was focusing more of his attention on Zoe than even Artemis. Percy didn't exactly know why that'd b—

Artemis had been kicked. Percy watched it happen as if time had slowed to a crawl as Atlas' boot made contact with the small Goddess. Quick as she'd been and tough as he knew her to be, it still seemed as if it'd dazed her at the very least. Artemis' eyes were squinted and she seemed to be having trouble seeing.

Enough so that the javelin seeking out her chest wasn't dodged in an instant. Percy and Zoe reacted instantaneously, each trying to do something to save the Goddess. To save the only person present that could well and truly defeat the Titan that had turned the tide of his own volition.

Percy struck with all the force that he could muster at the javelin that was moving toward Artemis' chest. Unlike most weapons, the javelin didn't give way to Riptide. It was pushed downward, no longer aimed at the centre of Artemis' torso, but towards her lower body. At that same time, Zoe pushed Artemis toward Percy, voluntarily allowing a strike from Atlas' right leg to hit her.

It felt as if it were slow motion, everything happening as it was in all but a few seconds' time.

First, and most importantly, the blow that had been meant to kill Artemis, missed. That was on account of Percy and Zoe's joint efforts, and the miss was a narrow one. So narrow from doom, in fact, that the very flank of Artemis was red and oozing, proof of the injury that'd nearly taken her from existence.

Percy's attention moved to Zoe then, and by that time, the girl was already moving toward a particularly large bolder at what had to be terminal velocity. The noise, the visual… everything made for disaster.

In a fit of rage, one that was blinding and unreasonable, Percy made to tackle Atlas. He felt a searing pain then, and he heard Artemis say something that he couldn't make out, but he saw her join him.

And then he saw Atlas' look of surprise as he tumbled backwards.

And then Atlas' face as he was forced under the sky, pushing Luke out and tumbling with all of the velocity he'd had.

And finally as Luke went backwards, screaming and clawing at the stone ground as he plummeted into the void.

It was over.

Percy raced over to Zoe as soon as he confirmed Atlas was secure under the weight of the sky once more. By that time, Luke's screams of terror were just about finished, giving way to a silence save for the occasional noise of pain or effort made by those still alive.

When Percy found himself at Zoe's side, he recognised then that she was no longer one of them; one of those still alive. There wasn't any sign that she was breathing. When he tried to tell if she was still managing even shallow gasps, if her heart was beating or if her eyes were able to make him out, it all proved fruitless.

He called to the others. In an instant, Annabeth and Artemis each were by his side. Thalia, meanwhile, had appeared behind him. She began to pull him away from Zoe as Annabeth began to perform compressions on her chest whilst Artemis was speaking words of some language he couldn't begin to comprehend.

Still, it seemed as if Zoe was gone. She didn't move, there wasn't any great gasp for air as a result of Annabeth's efforts.

Percy looked at Thalia, who herself was looking at the scene she'd pulled him a few feet away from. He could make out the same sadness he was surely conveying. Atlas had taken Zoe.

He clenched his fists as he continued to watch the efforts of Artemis and Annabeth as the pair worked on Zoe's figure, unmoving and deathly still. In his mind, he could have done something different, anything. If he'd landed an attack earlier, if he'd been stronger or taller, quicker-thinking or more accurate with his strikes. Had he done something different, anything different, maybe she'd be fine right now.

On and on the seconds ticked by, and finally, Percy turned away from the scene. He didn't want his final memory of Zoe to be of her figure, crumpled and battered-looking atop a stone floor while they were all powerless to change just that. Already, the thought was horrible enough that Percy wanted to return to Camp Half-Blood and sleep.

"She's breathing!" Annabeth said, gasping as she pulled back and away from Zoe's figure, evidently startled.

Artemis, meanwhile, pulled Zoe's head into her lap and continued speaking soft, soothing words. Zoe's eyes fluttered as the words went on and on, leaving Percy to wonder if the Goddess was doing something that he couldn't comprehend quite yet — if she was, or if the words were nought but comfort, Percy hoped she wouldn't stop. Zoe seemed responsive to them, albeit in a state that made it obvious everything was far from fine for the girl.

Even now, her bruises were evident and her injuries severe. She was breathing, but she wasn't conscious.

She was breathing.

Percy finally allowed himself to fall to the floor in a mostly-controlled manner. It seemed, finally, that the fighting had come to an end. He couldn't believe they'd won against Atlas, a Titan of Legends — not the good kind of legends either — and Luke; the traitor. They'd prevailed, and his eyes finally closed.

Stone didn't make for an excellent pillow, but he couldn't find it within himself to care. Not even when aid came to see them back 'home' safely.

Percy looked over at Thalia and Annabeth with a strange set of emotions running through him. Thalia had been a force to be reckoned with throughout the entirety of the quest they'd gone on together. She wasn't quite as smart or quick-thinking as Annabeth was, but nobody he'd met outside of Gods and Goddesses seemed to be quite as wise as his Wise Girl.

All the same, the thought of Thalia soon leaving Camp Half-Blood was strange. She'd been an amazing partner, but as they ascended to meet with the Gods now that Artemis was safe and Atlas, defeated, choices had to be made. Thalia, fearing the prophecy or possibly the fate the gods would deem her worthy of, chose to join the Hunt.

Annabeth had opted to stay. He'd feared she might leave, that Annabeth might decide there were 'greener pastures' with the women of the woods. Thankfully, Percy could let out a sigh of relief, but not all at once.

Zoe was still hurt, and quite severely. Those internal injuries had been very serious, and even now she was being looked after. It'd take quite a long time for her to recover from them any breaks, punctures and other internal wounds he'd heard them say she had. Artemis had been looking miserable all throughout the meeting of the Gods and Goddesses, likely thinking about her stalwart companion turned bedridden.

That was why he was surprised, and even now, as he and the others sought out Zoe's bedside, thinking about Artemis' siding with him. When Ares and Athena, seeing that the conversation about the quest was over, brought up that the best plan of action might just be eliminating Percy, he half thought they might just do it regardless of those in attendance.

Maybe his dad might intervene, or the others like Annabeth and Thalia, but Artemis? When she spoke up, taking his side and calling all on the quest 'heroes', he couldn't hold back the small smile that shined through the exhausted state he found himself in. Zoe and Artemis both had come to see him as more than the typical man, their sworn enemy. Especially Zoe.

"In here?"

Percy blinked, recognising that they'd finally found the room wherein Zoe was resting and recovering, a myriad of bandages, vials and other medical items on carts outside of her room.

"Yeah. She's sleeping — try not to wake her, if you can," came the response from what Percy presumed to be a Hunter. He didn't think he'd seen that one before, but he shook his head as the group went inside.

As it turned out, they weren't the first to have the idea of visiting Zoe. Artemis, who had only just been with the other Gods and Goddesses, was in the room. Not only that but she was partially seated atop Zoe's mattress, with one hand combing through the wounded girl's hair in a manner that nearly seemed motherly.

Percy looked away a few seconds after witnessing the sight, intent on giving privacy to the Goddess and her friend. The former of the two women, however, wouldn't have that.

"Percy Jackson," came his name from Artemis' lips as her eyes, piercing and most certainly divine in nature, caught his own. "Words on the wind claim that you came to be referenced as 'friend' by Zoe. Never have I known her to grant the title to any menfolk."

He was just about to speak up then, but Artemis shook her head and continued all the same.

"I needn't hear excuses," Artemis said as she hopped from the bed, the mattress barely moving and not a sound being made as her bare feet impacted the marble floor below. "I would hear the truth of the matter. Your truth."

"Percy's just about the bravest and most idiotic person I've ever seen. I know I'm new, but he's not bad… for a boy," Thalia, now finished speaking, chose to elbow him a few times as she'd done previously.

Artemis looked between them queerly, her brow furrowed and a few seconds later, a definitely disapproving glance fixed on Thalia's elbow. Contact, it seemed, was pretty frowned upon.

Percy coughed and took a half-step forward, further into the room and away from Thalia before she got the pair of them struck down by the Goddess. "What would you like to know?" he paused, his eyes fixed on Zoe as he tore them away from Artemis. He couldn't help himself. "She looks better… is she?"

"My Lieutenant shan't find her place amongst the stars until her time has come. Perhaps, were it nought for you and your unexpected joining of the quest, that time might have come to pass far sooner — she will live, spoken plainly," Artemis gestured to two chairs with a table between them, and then she looked at Annabeth and Thalia, who'd trailed in after Percy. "I wish to speak with Percy Jackson."

Like that, the Goddess moved to the chairs and Percy followed suit. Quickly, the two slid into their seats whilst Thalia, uncaring and bold as ever, made her way to Zoe's bedside. Annabeth, ever the courteous, polite girl that she'd been, moved slower and ensured that Thalia wasn't too energetic.

Gods, I wish the two of them could have gone on a quest together. I could only imagine how fun that'd turn out to be, Percy thought in a passing moment of scornfulness. That was, until, as before, he made eye contact with Artemis.

"It was you who saw the Ophiotaurus sent elsewhere, away from the area wherein it may have been slain," Artemis said, the topic surprising him. At least, until clarification was offered up a second or so later. "If you weren't searching for it, you proved lucky beyond reason. I had sought it out in the past, but it was you who ensured its safety, and now, it will be we who do so. I would not forget one act of heroism to celebrate another."

At that, Percy swore he could feel his cheeks heat up. Praise was one thing, and it alone had already embarrassed him enough in the past. The fact that Artemis, a Goddess renown for her hatred of men, was being so polite since she'd been rescued was enough to make him feel like a blushing boy again; it was almost like when his mom kissed his cheeks before sending him off to his first day of school.

Only, not quite as embarrassing — the sensations were pretty similar.

"Zoe recognised it," he said after a few seconds. "Thalia, Grover, Bianca, it was all of us. I don't think we could've done what we did if it weren't for all five of us, together."

Artemis nodded along with his words, another flash of something going across her face that he couldn't make out.

Internally, he shrugged and finished his train of thought aloud with a smile on his face, gesturing to those he could gesture to that were present. "You're lucky to have Zoe and Bianca, and now, Thalia… you don't mind if I keep the Wise Girl with me, right?"

"Wise Girl?" Artemis asked with her initial look of satisfaction and pride at his words giving way to confusion. "Ah, you speak of my sister's daughter. Annabeth Chase."

"I'll need someone to keep me out of trouble."

At that, Thalia couldn't help but interject herself into the 'private' conversation that was taking place. "You need a whole group of people to keep you out of trouble, Percy. There's nobody I've ever met as danger-prone or reckless as you. It was great."

"Great?" Annabeth shook her head and refrained from saying anything further as she looked through narrowed eyes at Thalia.

Percy didn't see what else occurred before Artemis spoke again, regaining his attention. This time, however, the words which she spoke were done so quietly, in all but a whisper.

"I saw the way in which you went to Zoe," Artemis began. Those words alone saw Percy's heart-rate climb, and his palms begin to sweat. "I am not blind to men as most would believe, Percy Jackson. There was a time, once, that I might have wished to have one for myself — it is long past, a forgotten memory, but only for one such as I."

Silence.

When Artemis was finished speaking, Percy didn't dare to say anything. All he did was look at her in silence, the only noise was their breathing, his heart and the sounds that Annabeth and Thalia would make as they spoke or shifted around Zoe.

"Do you understand the message with which I'm trying to give to you?" Artemis asked, a look of near-amusement on her face as she folded her arms.

He wasn't embarrassed, and he'd rather get the true meaning of the words from Artemis herself. "Not really."

"Zoe is to be released, and lest she returns to me to request her position back once she's recovered completely, she will remain released," Artemis nodded to herself, her lips twitching, her eyes squinted close together, and her legs kicking ever so slightly under the table. "I would not see her service go unrewarded, and if even a chance is had for her to find one boy in millennia that she might care for, I would not begrudge her for doing so."

"She's not in the Hunt anymore?" Percy asked, keeping his voice just as low as Artemis' was, or trying to do just that, as he whisper-yelled to the Goddess.

He was surprised. In all of the time he'd been experiencing this seemingly new world, he hadn't heard about any member of the Hunt being released. If it had happened in the past, it wouldn't have been a Lieutenant of the Hunt like Zoe was.

Is it because Artemis sees Zoe as a daughter? A sister?

Percy hadn't a clue.

He was just thankful that he'd have a chance to do… something. Gods, he was horrible with girls. His crush on Annabeth had gone horrible, and now that he saw her as a more sisterly figure, and now, with Zoe. Gods.

Grover or Thalia would have to help him, and he wasn't sure either of them was all that qualified to give him advice on dating.

"You heard not the words in which I just spoke, did you?" Artemis asked, her fingers, lithe as they were, tapping loudly atop the table as she gazed at him. Again, and he was careful to take notice of this fact, there didn't seem to be much disdain in her eyes, and there certainly wasn't a look even remotely comparable to the first one he'd been given by the members of her Hunt.

Slowly, Percy shook his head with a wince.

"Thalia will aid in seeing Zoe's duties to completion until her recovery, at which point her decision must be made. Never again will the offer be made, Percy Jackson," Artemis rose from her seat then. "The hour grows later than I'd thought. We will speak again, I will find you to hear of the quest. You are kinder than most, and one of the few true heroes in recent times. The Hunt shan't forget that."

And with those parting words, the child-like Goddess took her leave. Percy wasn't sure if he was seeing things as she made her way through the archway, marble and ornate as the rest of the area they found themselves in, but he swore he saw the visage of Aphrodite peaking in on them.

The only proof he had, save for the quick glance he'd been given came from Artemis herself; the Goddess all but jogged from the corridor as soon as she'd passed through the arch. If that wasn't proof enough of Aphrodite's presence, Percy didn't know what was.

"Aww, man," Thalia said with a huff as she kicked her legs and struck the air. "I was hoping I'd have some time to rest."

"You don't?" Percy asked.

The three, those being Annabeth, Percy and Thalia, had yet to leave the room in which Zoe was. Even after Artemis' departure, the trio had stayed together in the room, only occasionally joined by other members of the Hunt or those that meant to take care of Artemis' Lieutenant turned… Nymph?

Percy still wasn't sure what exactly her lineage was. He knew now that Atlas was her father, and the other Nymphs, her sisters, but that was about all that he knew. That side of her family didn't exactly get on well with her either, so there was that too.

"Where do you think she'll go?" the question came from Annabeth, who even now, still seemed to be unlike herself.

She and Percy both had that same streak of whitish hair atop their head now too. It was a sign of a burden they'd bore shared. One that was never their burden to bear.

"I was hoping she'd come with us to Camp Half-Blood. She could stay in Artemis' tent, I'm sure Artemis wouldn't mind," Percy grinned at the thought. Were it nought for Thalia leaving, their little group would be the best throughout all of the Camp despite any other partnership that might be formed.

"Do you think she will?" Annabeth queried.

"Uh, yeah," Thalia answered as if the question was stupid. "She loves the outdoors and nature and all that other stuff. I'm sure Percy could surprise her with his control of the surrounding water too. She's lucky, she'll even have her own cabin."

That would be pretty lucky, Percy would agree.

"When do you think she'll wake up? Really wake up, I mean. Not just be in and out for a few seconds or minutes," Percy asked, his question directed more toward Annabeth than Thalia for obvious reasons.

"It's hard to tell," answered Annabeth with a shrug as she looked at Zoe for a scant few seconds before she twirled that whitish hair around a finger. "It could be days, weeks, months."

"Oh."

Thalia seemed to agree with his response when one of her one was let out. "Oh."

Yup. That was a perfect match with what Percy had said.

As before, a conversation slowly continued one that covered various topics that weren't remotely uniform. But what else was there to do whilst they waited for Zoe to recover?

So far as Annabeth, Percy, and Thalia could tell, they had a chance to rest, sleep, eat and altogether be safe from creatures or people that would do harm to them. That'd last for a small amount of time, Percy imagined. The world was a crazy place.

Percy couldn't believe it. After everything that had happened, everything, the Gods had decided to throw a celebration. It was in a place that had to be the most expensive-looking, ornate place he'd ever been. In a way, it reminded him of the paintings he'd seen of Mount Olympus, but even better. There was nothing that seemed to compare to it… still, it didn't feel right, partying. Not after Zoe's wounded status and how tough that final fight had been.

Gods, he just wanted to sleep.

But he wouldn't. He'd spend some time at the boundary of the party, waiting to return to Camp Half-Blood or for the chance to catch Artemis to finish the conversation they'd been having; Annabeth, by now, was asleep and only Thalia was with him at the festivities. Well, with him insofar as she was around and present at the party that the gods had thrown.

Normally, he would have liked to join in and speak with others, but it wasn't what he wanted to do. He'd rather just go back and visit Zoe, even if she wasn't really around.

"Percy Jackson, why do you linger in the shadows?"

He had thought it'd be Artemis that would seek him out next, but it wasn't. It was a Goddes he'd prefer — far prefer — to stay very far away from. Aphrodite. She'd said all those nights ago, back near the Junkyard where they'd almost run into some trouble, that his love life would be interesting. Still, he supposed he should offer her some sort of thanks for the warning she'd given the group.

"I'm not lingering," he responded as he moved closer to the divine woman before him; it wasn't that shadow-heavy in the corner he'd been sitting. "And thank you. You helped us."

"I helped love. Tragic love is a wonderful thing, but how could it come to be if one lover or the other is lost too early?" Aphrodite sighed and brought her hands to her chest, her gaze forlorn, and then, it was gone as quickly as it'd come. It was replaced with a smile as she pulled him along with her, one soft hand grasping onto him. "Little Artemis released that Nymph, did she not?"

So I did see her, Percy thought accusingly.

"Zoe's been released for now, yeah," Percy then responded after his thought, purposefully stating Zoe's name rather than referring to her as a 'Nymph'. "I didn't think Artemis would do that."

"Artemis' life has not been without her own love. Cold as she might appear, a flame yet lingers, would that I could ignite it, my, she deserves a partner," Aphrodite licked her lips and brought her other hand to his forearm then. "I could speak with you for aeons of Artemis' love life, but I would rather make mention of your own. You've been given a chance, Percy Jackson, and just know…"

Aphrodite leaned in closer, a playfulness on her features as Percy went rigid. "I will be aiding you all the while," and then, her lips withdrew from near his ears as she twirled away from him, dancing. "The night will soon come to its end, Percy. Enjoy it whilst you can."

Percy was left watching the Goddess twirl away with blinking eyes. The thought of her 'aiding' him with his love life, with Zoe, basically, was horrifying. He could only begin to imagine what sort of trouble she'd get him into, though he imagined it was her that might have spoken with Artemis about the course of action she'd taken in relation to the wounded Hunter turned Hunter no longer.

He shook his head, finally, and turned to look back at the party at large. There were dozens of Nymphs, Gods and others that were present. But, finally, he found the one person he wanted to speak with once more at the edge much like he'd been.

Without wasting a second, he moved to Artemis' side. That conversation they'd skipped earlier was about to be had, and it'd give him the excuse to get away from the party; Annabeth and Zoe weren't here, so it felt a bit hollow.

Much like him, she was a person that seemed equally as intent on avoiding the centre of festivities, where Ares, Aphrodite, Apollo and the other more rambunctious divine beings were. Percy couldn't blame her. If that was the centre of just about any party on the planet, he didn't imagine he'd want to be there either — least of all after Ares' comment.

Athena was a bit different. He gave her a bit of a bias on account of Annabeth and the tales she'd tell of the Goddess; those stories, few as they seemed to be, always painted a fair picture of her.

Unsurprisingly, as he grew closer to the Goddess, she turned towards him. With his thoughts, errant as they'd been, finished, he greeted her first.

"Artemis," he said kindly, a polite smile forming on his face. It was one she deserved too. She'd taken his side, not to mention the earlier conversation they'd shared with one another.

"Percy Jackson. I had thought that was you lingering at the edge of the celebrations. Are you not fond of them as most of the youth are?" Artemis looked at him strangely, as if she was analyzing him. After a few moments of doing so, she spoke again. "You mean to speak with me of the quest."

It wasn't a question even if it was meant to be. Artemis had stated those words, and she'd been right to do so. He wasn't interested in the party after he'd eaten and drank as much as he could, and alongside Thalia, initially.

"I figured we'd both be interested in doing so now," Percy said with a smile on his face as he gestured in the direction that would seem them out of the main hall they'd found themselves in. "Is that alright with you?"

"It is."

And like that, the two were off, away from the celebrations. When next they settled, it was in an area that seemed like something out of a forest. Percy would liken it to a nice, lush and green forest the likes of which anybody would like to see.

Then, away from the crowd, noise and scents that arose therefrom, Percy would tell Artemis of the quest he'd gone on with not one, but two of her Hunters. He would tell her how boldly and well Zoe had led them, how her expertise with medicine and maybe more had likely kept him alive; Bianca was given her praise too.

From there, he'd tell her about the Junkyard and museum, the lion and the pelt, and what happened to the pelt. When they'd met the creature that could bring about the end of the Gods, how they sent it somewhere same… and so much more. Artemis had listened to him speak, patient, curious, and polite as any God or Goddess had ever been to him.

It was pretty funny, considering it was Artemis and those of her Hunt that he preferred most of all.

He hoped the feelings were mutual. And no, Thalia didn't count. She'd be a part of Camp Half-Blood forever. That was just how things worked. Definitely.

Finally, thankfully, the time among the Gods and Goddesses had come to its end. That couldn't have happened soon enough, in Percy's opinion. He didn't exactly want to be all that close to people that could kill him if they felt the urge to do so; Ares especially. That god couldn't contain himself.

But that wasn't the only reason that Percy was glad to be back where he belonged. Beyond that, and as he moved more toward the centre of the camp, another reason or set of reasons made themselves known.

"Percy!" exclaimed the two faces he'd been waiting to see as they rushed toward him; Bianca and Nico.

In an instant, Percy's face was awash with a smile as he moved to intercept them. In but a few steps, the three stood right next to one another, and Bianca, perhaps unthinking or maybe uncaring as to what others thought, hugged him. His smile grew larger as he returned the hug.

He had done what he'd promised Nico, and the happy, smiling, laughing siblings were proof of that. Percy had done so much for Bianca, for the others, for everybody he'd call a friend. That wouldn't change, not in a decade, not in a century, and the payment for his service was moments such as the one he currently found himself in.

"You kept your promise!" Nico said as he stood on Percy's right, his face beaming as he looked at Percy. Seconds later, and with Bianca still hugging him, Nico finally joined the duo. He spoke again not a second later. "We're glad you're back."

"We are," Bianca agreed. "We're very glad you're back. I was worried when you didn't come, any of you, hours later. Nico kept me sane."

"Hours? We were still driving by then — you've been waiting for us for a while, huh?" Percy's smile was wide, and the amusement and warmth he felt when he heard that Bianca had been waiting for them for so long was near to bursting.

"I was. We both were," Bianca shared a look with Nico, and then, the two finally withdrew from him. Bianca had a bit of a blush, and Nico looked elsewhere, at a group of campers that were walking by.

"Well, here I am," Percy said with outstretched arms. He looked over his shoulder, in the direction of food — Gods he wanted to eat again. "Annabeth and Thalia are eating right now, Grover's with them too, I think."

"Zoe?"

It struck Percy then that Bianca didn't know. She hadn't found out since she'd not run into anybody else thus far.

"Zoe got hurt. She'll make it, she's under the care of people far beyond what any of us could do, even Artemis and other Gods are watching her," Percy said quickly. He wanted Bianca to know that her friend was fine, even if she'd be gone for a while.

Bianca's look of worry wasn't completely gone by the time he was finished speaking. Instead, she looked at him curiously, her brows furrowed and with a flash of guilt or something along those lines on her face. "How'd she get hurt? What happened after Grover and I left?"

"After the two of you brought the Ophiotaurus somewhere safe, the Skeletons caught up to us again. We made it back to the vehicle, just barely, but we made it. From there we just sort of drove for a while. At least until we made it near the mountain," Percy snorted, and then he started chuckling when he thought about the encounter they'd had in the city, brief as it'd been. "We ran into a few other people in the city too, but we drove away and they couldn't catch up to us."

He paused for a breath, and neither Nico nor Bianca made to speak. They were giving him their complete, undivided attention with all the focus he'd had when he'd listened to his mom when she'd told him bedtime stories.

Thus, with his breath restored, he continued the tale. "We made it to the mountain next, the one where Artemis and Annabeth were. Something happened, I still don't know exactly what, I don't think any of us do, but somebody threw a lightning bolt at us. We only just made it out of the car before the next one struck — a few seconds later and it would've been bad," he blinked a few times, getting the memories thereof to go away. "I guess, from there we just sort of climbed up the mountain until we found an entrance. Well, Zoe found it. She practically knew exactly where it was."

"Zoe knew something about everything," Bianca commented quickly before she flashed him a winning smile when he looked over at her after that interjection.

"She does," Percy agreed all the same. "We made it past a few guards, and then we found Artemis under the sky. We had a fight, we won, Zoe got hurt, and I guess here we are."

"She'll be fine?" Bianca asked. Percy could see she wanted to know more, but she wasn't asking. Maybe she could tell that he didn't want to talk about what had happened just yet. He wouldn't be surprised, Bianca had always been kind.

Percy nodded. "She'll be fine."

Nico opened his mouth to speak, but then, something amazing happened. In an instant, Thalia was by his side after she'd sprinted over to him from the direction she'd been earlier; from the food. It didn't take a genius to figure out something important had happened based on the urgency she'd reached him and the look on her face.

"Zoe woke up."

In an instant, Percy was gone.

Thalia had failed to mention more than the fact that Zoe had woken up, but in fairness, he hadn't waited for her to continue speaking before he ran off. He'd gone back whence he'd been brought, hoping against the slightest of hopes that he might be taken back to Zoe, where she was being taken care of.

Instead, as he made it over to the area, he skidded to a halt. Well, he'd tried to. Upon seeing Zoe standing up and speaking with Annabeth and a slew of others, his legs tripped one another, forcing him to the ground. It was then, with grass and dirt and a few pieces of gravel covering him, that somebody noticed him.

Annabeth. She shook her head as he rose, quick as ever, and brushed himself off. Then, again, he tried to move closer to the crowd, and this time, he succeeded. Zoe still had some bruises, scratches, and many more signs of injury, but all the same, this was really her.

He was half-tempted to pinch himself when first he'd glanced at her, but the fall was more than enough proof that he wasn't asleep.

"Zoe."

That drew her attention. Zoe turned away from the others and fixed Percy with that same look he'd seen hundreds of times by now. It was with her nose slightly raised, a stoic expression across the majority of her face and one brow slightly higher than the other. Those final few times, her lips had been raised, if only ever so slightly.

"Percy," Zoe greeted with a dip of her head. She looked around at the others then, her eyes lingering on Annabeth for a second more than anybody else and then she spoke again whilst simultaneously stepping away from her posse. "I would have words with Percy. Excuse us."

Straight forward as ever.

And then, in a move that seemed to surprise just about everybody else as much as it surprised him, Zoe brushed past him, one of her hands grabbing hold of his upper arm. She only did so long enough to pull him away from the others and in the direction of the woods, the place she enjoyed more than any other in the world… so far as he knew.

Percy looked over his shoulder for a second, only a second, and he took notice of something Annabeth said before he couldn't see her, or any of the others any longer.

'Good luck'.

He wondered what that meant. As it turned out, he didn't need to wonder for long, for Zoe seemed pleased after a dozen steps past the treeline, whereupon they reached a small clearing.

"My Lady Artemis bid t— me to speak with you now that I've risen, and my condition has been made certain."

Percy felt his blood run cold. Had Artemis not to—

"I am aware of the chance that she means to give me as I recover to full strength," Zoe shifted, clearly very uncomfortable even if she didn't move too far away from him. "Are you certain you're not against my staying here? I'd not wish to press you into accepting my company longer than you've had it. "

There, while Percy looked into Zoe's eyes, beautiful and full of life as they'd always been, his resolve turned steely.

He was given this chance, and he'd not ruin it.

May the gods damn him if he did.