Nothing is mine.

Percy's back in California...

Upon Golden Coast

The yellow cab disappeared back down the worn, narrow road, bouncing over the potholes and throwing clouds of light brown dust up between the tall pines leaning over the track. Beyond it, in the distance, Los Angeles sprawled out into the horizon.

'Where are we?' Percy asked.

'There's a giant sign, Sea-Boy.' Clarisse pointed at the peeling back of a green-painted wooden board; the thick bronze bangle on her wrist shining in the sun.

'It's facing the wrong way.' He squinted into the trees, glancing between the handful of hiking trails that split off the small car park. 'Which way are we going to go?'

'This is the forest where all the fires are happening much too early.' Katie patted the nearest blackberry-laden bramble with a gentle hand. 'So we should probably walk toward all the smoke and find out what's going on with that.'

Percy took three steps back and peered over the trees toward the column of grey streaming across the sky in the distance. 'Seems like a good move, if we're looking for Nature's Pyre. Keep an eye out for monsters. There's always one or two; but I'm almost entirely scratch-proof, so let me sort them out.'

Katie squirmed. 'Do you want your fleece?'

'My fleece?'

'The Nemean Lion,' Clarisse said. 'Strawberry-girl, sappy little thing that she is when she's not trying to crack my skull open with a marrow, brought it with her just to make sure you'd be totally invulnerable.'

Percy watched the pink flush climb Katie's cheeks. 'It doesn't quite work like that,' he murmured. 'I'm anchored. I can't die until I abandon what anchors me, but if I do, I will, fleece or no fleece. You keep it, Katie.' He flashed her a grin. 'I'd say give it to Clarisse, but a few holes would improve her looks.'

A snort of laughter escaped Clarisse. 'Nobody puts any holes in me, not even with a cu—'

'Shut up.' Katie glowered at her. 'Or you'll never get the one I stick in you out again.'

Clarisse cackled. 'Shall we go, then?'

'Percy?'

'It's your quest, Captain Crunch.' Percy saluted. 'Command me, Glorious Cheerio-leader.'

Katie giggled. 'Let's go toward the smoke. Something's starting the fires.'

'Probably one of the Gigantes,' he replied, following her along the path up the hill. 'But let's try and find Artemis first. She'll be waiting for us somewhere around here, she'll know we're here.'

'Will she?' Clarisse asked.

'Yes,' he murmured. 'We're in the Wild; we might as well be standing in the palm of her hand.' Percy peered through the trees as they made their way up the narrow trail in the brush. 'If we can find a decent sized stream or pond with a naiad who'll let me, I can find her.'

'How?' Katie scrunched her face up.

'I'm more than just the sea,' he said. 'I can be every drop of water in the mist, if need be. Just not for very long, because it gives me a severe migraine.'

'Right. So we head toward the smoke. We find somewhere for Percy to sweet talk a naiad into doing something weird with her water. And then we find Artemis and Zeus's daughter, Sparky, and figure out what comes next.' Clarisse flashed them a sharp grin. 'Just remember, Katie, no kissing Percy when we're with Artemis, okay. She might turn you into something weird.'

'A guinea pig,' Percy suggested. 'Or, whatever the other thing is she always threatens to turn me into. A something-elope.'

'She's not turning you into anything,' Katie declared with a touch of heat. 'Or we won't help her.'

Clarisse cackled. 'She's going to turn you into something before him, Plant-girl. Percy's a good boy. He's not kissed anyone.'

Katie turned pink. 'Yes he has.'

'Technically—' heat rose in Percy's cheeks '—I haven't.'

She blinked, a fragile gleam in her green eyes. 'Oh—' the glimmer of hurt faded '—I guess so, yeah. Well good, then she won't do anything bad to you.'

'I'm so lost.' Clarisse groaned. 'How does Barbie Gang enjoy this sort of stuff? It's painful— stop,' she snapped.

Percy froze, his hand flashing to his pocket. 'What is it?'

'Tracks.' Her spear sprang into her hand. 'Empusae. Hellhounds. At least one thing that's bigger.' Clarisse pointed the tip of her spear uphill. 'They're all headed toward the fire too. We'll probably run into them up there.'

Katie swept aside a bunch of ferns with a short, broad, leaf-shaped blade. 'No we won't. There's dust all over here.'

Percy glanced over her shoulder. 'Probably the wild silver host.' He chuckled. 'Follow the tracks and we should find them.'

'And get shot,' Clarisse muttered.

'I'm arrow proof.' He shot her a grin. 'Almost completely arrow proof. So I'll be fine. And Katie's got the Nemean Lion pelt, so she's going to be fine.'

'And I'll stand behind you.' She slapped the bronze bangle on her wrist and her hoplon burst out. 'That way they all hit you.'

A quiet giggle drifted through the trees.

'We're being watched,' Clarisse muttered. 'See anyone, Percy?'

He turned around on his heel.

Eyes as green as fresh pine needles peeked around the trunk of a towering fir.

'Hi—' Percy waved '—have you seen Artemis?'

The dryad crept out from behind her tree with a shy smile. 'She said you would come, my lord.'

'Percy.'

'My lord?'

'No, not my lord, just Percy. What's your name?'

'Aliona.' The dryad pouted. 'But—'

'Nevermind names,' Clarisse snapped. 'Where's the goddess? We're on a quest, there's no time for nonsense.'

Aliona hurled a pinecone at her.

Clarisse swatted it away with her hoplon. 'Brat. Don't make me come over there.'

Aliona stuck her tongue out at Clarisse.

'Clarisse, don't antagonise Aliona.' Percy shook her head. 'We need to find Artemis.'

'She's not far, my lord,' Aliona crept a little closer through the ferns. 'Just over the peak at Bear Creek with her other companions.'

'Makes sense,' he said. 'She likes bears.' Percy tucked Anaklusmos back into his pocket and started up the hill again. 'Thanks Aliona.'

'Bye, my lord,' Aliona whispered.

'As bad as the naiads.' Percy rolled his eyes. 'They always have to do that. My lord this, my lord that, prince of the sea something else.' He ducked a branch. 'Well, not quite as bad; naiads are so weird sometimes.'

Katie scowled. 'Naiads are annoying.'

Clarisse snickered into her hand.

'Shut up.'

They clambered up the hill, winding around the trunks of pines and slim, swaying elms over the white rock and dust. The sun filtered through, turning the warmth of the climb to sweltering heat, and sweat soaked through Percy's t-shirt, trickling down his forehead.

Katie dragged herself alongside him, stumbling on a root. 'What did the dryad mean by her other companions?'

'Artemis's hunt,' Percy said. 'They're here as well.'

'No, but why are they her other companions.'

'Oh.' Percy smiled, a faint warm glow of pride shone within him, bright as moonlight sparkling on the waves. 'Because she said I was one.'

Katie tugged at a lock of her blonde hair. 'Is that because you don't want—' her lip trembled '—me? What about… her?'

'No,' he said, glancing back over his shoulder at where Clarisse laboured beneath the weight of her shield and spear. 'I… I made her proud—' he swallowed a soft swell of yearning '—for a moment, she admired me. And she… she's shown so many of us how to choose well. Helped so many girls. And she admired me…'

'But if you're with her, you can't…' Katie clutched at his arm. 'You said if you abandon your anchor, you'd die. And if you're her companion, you can't fall in love.'

'I'm not part of the hunt,' Percy said. 'Just… a companion. I hunted with her a couple of times when she let me try and help everyone. She showed me what to do; she's always shown me what to do. She was… kind, when Zoë died and Thalia chose not to be the one for the prophecy, and she was kind when Annabeth died. I never swore an oath like the ones the hunters swear.'

'Kindness is how we show those around us what they ought to be.' Artemis prowled from behind the branches of a fir, her eyes bright and silver as the stars. 'Every small act of kindness makes the world a better place.'

Katie squirmed, edging back behind Percy's shoulder. 'Does she know I kissed you?' she whispered in a small voice. 'Are you going to get in trouble now?'

'I'm going to blame you,' Percy whispered back, far louder. 'For leading me astray from the wisdom of Artemis Aristo and into cooties. She'll turn you into some kind of Jackatielope.'

The corner of Artemis's mouth crooked. 'Come with me, Perseus. And the two of you as well.' She led them up the last few metres of hill and paused, gazing down over the narrow creek running through the trees toward a long lake. 'That is Big Bear Lake, Perseus. The fires have been starting all around Delamar Mountain on the far side of us.'

'There's meant to be a Gigantes,' Percy said. 'One of them's supposed to pop up here and be extinguished by wild silver host.'

Artemis's gaze swept over Katie, lingering for a moment on where Katie's fingers brushed Percy's arm. 'Our sisters have been tracking and hunting the monsters that have been drawn here by the power of the unborn Gigantes. Now you are here, I am free to act against more than the wild beasts within my dominion.'

'What was stopping you?' Percy asked. 'Zeus?'

'Zeus has bound us by his strictest decree,' Artemis murmured. 'We are not to interfere other than to face those Gigantes that oppose us. We are not all perfect opposites, for they and we have many aspects to our nature, as you know, Perseus, but with the fate of Olympus hanging in the balance, Zeus has decided to go with utmost caution. No gods will come to your aid unless you face one of the Gigantes opposing their domain.'

'Why?' Clarisse asked.

'Because it is the safest way to ensure the Order of Olympus triumphs completely over their chaos.' Artemis's silver eyes drifted to Percy. 'So that any change in the nature of the world must strengthen the Order of Olympus rather than weaken it.' She raised her arm, a single silver hunting knife swirling into being in her hand, and pointed the tip of her blade across the lake at one of the mountains on the far side. 'Tomorrow, we will go there. You are both welcome to travel with us and lend aid if you believe it is what the Fates intend—' a faint smile flitted across her lips '—and you, Perseus, are always welcome at my side.'

Percy's heart soared, swept up into the heavens by that small proud gleam in Artemis's eyes. 'We might need to borrow a tent.'

'Three tents, I would imagine. It had best be three.'

Katie flushed pink and Clarisse sniggered into her fist.

'Er…' Percy studied his feet. 'It's definitely going to be three.'

'Good—' Artemis's lips twitched '—Alexandra would be very upset if there were twenty-nine tents, Perseus.'

'You're a cruel goddess,' Percy retorted; he clapped a hand over his mouth. 'Clarisse said it, not me. You should curse her.'

Be careful, Perseus. Her voice flashed through his thoughts like an arrow hissing through the trees. Or I will drop you in another lake. With breasts.

'What kind of lake has breasts? Oh, wait, you meant me.' Percy grabbed his chest. 'Oh, thank the gods, I'm not mentally prepared for that sort of a change.'

Katie stared. 'What are you doing?'

Clarisse shook her head. 'He's an idiot, just ignore him until he's holding a sword, Strawberry-Girl.'

'Down the slope through the trees, you'll find my hunt,' Artemis said. 'Thalia will make sure you have all you need.' She held out her hand. 'Perseus, come with me.'

'Er…' Katie gulped. 'We're not going anywhere without Percy.'

Laughter danced in Artemis's silver eyes. 'I will bring him back in one piece, but I must speak with him alone. There are things I believe he needs to hear that I would not trust to any other demi-god.'

'You're not going to hurt him?' Katie demanded. 'Or turn him into anything.'

'Katie, it's fine,' Percy said.

Clarisse grabbed Katie's elbow and yanked her away down the slope.

'Sorry.' Percy wiggled his heel in the dust. 'She…'

'I know why she asked,' Artemis murmured. 'Fear not, Perseus, I will not curse her for it. Love does not offend me; far from it, I love each and every one of my sisters. Some make me more proud than others, and those I love dearest of all, but if I struck down every girl who at some point gave her heart to someone she thought was a hero, there would be few enough left.'

'Thank you,' he whispered. 'Will you save her? Not now, but… soon?'

Artemis took his wrist in her slim fingers. 'Close your eyes.'

Percy closed them.

Flash of silver stabbed at his eyes and the faint cool breeze vanished.

He cracked one eye open and found himself standing on a thick, pale fleeced rug among carved, dark wood chairs, whispering silk walls and countless bare, horned animal skulls; the faint fragrance of sweet pine sap and juniper sent little tingles across his spine with each breath.

'My tent.' Artemis released his arm. 'Where we can speak freely.'

'We couldn't before?'

'The change to the nature of the world your coming foretold almost certainly involves the Gigantes, for your sixteenth birthday draws nearer with every day.' She took a seat on one of the chairs, smoothing the short white chiton across her legs. 'My father has great faith in you, Perseus, but while he strongly believes you will choose well so long as you continue on your current path, he fears knowing your own importance might potentially influence you into changing that path. He wishes to leave you to make your choices as you have been so far, without telling you of what will come.'

'But you…?'

'I have nothing but faith in you, Perseus,' she murmured, her silver eyes brimming with bright, fierce pride. 'I can imagine no circumstance in which you might disappoint me.'

Percy's heart trembled, quivering beneath his ribs like drops of moonlit dew in the night wind. 'But I will, in sunny vale, I will disappoint, fight, and fail.'

She said those words to me before. He blinked. She already knows. But if she knows…?

Artemis rested a warm gentle hand on his shoulder and the point between his shoulder blades prickled and stung like a thousand white hot silver needles slipped through his skin to the bone. 'Prophecies are not always as they initially seem, not for mortals, not even for mortals standing on the brink of transcendence.'

'But…'

'I gave you my word, did I not? I will not let you disappoint Zoë or dishonour her legacy.'

Or you.

Percy mustered a grin and pointed at all the empty bone sockets staring at him. 'How do you sleep in this thing with all of those skulls? It's so creepy.'

'Sleep?' Her lips twitched. 'I am a goddess, Perseus, I do not sleep as you would recognise it.'

'But doesn't that make the creepiness worse? You're more aware of it?'

'I have seen more skulls than you can imagine,' Artemis murmured. 'There is nothing creepy about them; all beasts have them. Go, go and speak with Thalia and Iphigenia, and rest.' She favoured him with a small proud smile. 'Don't forget, Perseus. I will not let you fall, not if it is within my power to prevent; I gave you my word.'

It doesn't say fall. Aphrodite's right. It says disappoint, and fight, and fail, but not fall. Percy's heart lightened a little, buoyed by the soft fond smile on Artemis's lips. Maybe Aphrodite was actually being kind and it's not me. If I disappoint, I have to fall, don't I, Zoë?

AN: Much more of my stuff via the linktree!

linktr . ee / mjbradley