Searching For Serenity

Chapter 8

Percy
We appeared back in the frozen taiga, and I saw the familiar hill and began walking towards the tents that I knew were on the other side, only to have a hand shoot out and grab the back of my hoodie and pull me back.
I spun around to look at Artemis, "What is it?"
She looked thoughtful for second before replying, "Let me talk to them first. I'd hate to have to call another council meeting just to let them know that their favorite hero was killed by a group of enraged twelve year olds."
I let out a low chuckle, "Yeah I guess that's probably for the best."
She nodded and turn to head towards the camp. "Wait, would you also make it clear that they're not allowed to castrate me, I plan on having kids someday," I said somewhat kidding.
She turned on her heel to face me with an annoyed look on her face, "And who would you even have kids with? Do you have a secret lover?!"
I just stared at her with my mouth agape.
Does she think I meant that I wanted kids with one of her hunters or something? Maybe she just misheard me? I questioned internally, trying to understand why she would be annoyed.
"No, and I don't know...I'll find someone eventually and it's not such a crazy idea that I would like to eventually have kids," I replied trying to keep a cool head with the now angry goddess.
She just stared at me, her pissed off expression remaining present on her face.
"Is it really such a crazy idea that I will eventually find someone and settle down?" I asked, seeing her staring at me still seemingly at a loss for words, like my argument had thrown a wrench in the gears of her brain. "Like have you never thought that you might want kids? I'm pretty sure that's a normal thing to wish for, even if you are a demigod who'll probably die before you get the chance or even a maiden goddess."
That seemed to snap her out of anger induced wordlessness. "You are not going to die Perseus! And of course I've thought about having kids, but I'm a MAIDEN goddess if you don't remember! It's not possible, that is why I have my hunt," she snapped before seeming to soften a bit, "And just like my hunters I absolutely forbid you from seeing any women while you're apart of my Hunt. If I find out you are lying or start seeing anyone I will personally castrate you and that is a promise!"
She stared at me, letting her words sink in, and I could swear I saw moisture threatening to burst from the corners of her eyes.
Did I really make her that mad?
"Artemis, I'm not planning on anything soon, I just meant that eventually it would be nice. I wasn't saying I'm going to be bringing random chicks back to the camp from the bar or anything like that. Believe it or not, I'm still a little sore in the 'love category,'" I said, trying to sooth her anger, although annoyed that she thinks I'd like the 'stereotypical male' in her mind.
She still looked annoyed, but she gave a curt nod before turning around and continuing on into camp.
I was left waiting in the freezing cold for what felt like hours. I had been thinking about the interaction with Artemis and what my life with the Hunt would be like. I decided to try out my new powers and tried to summon some blue pancakes, to find out that Hestia had indeed kept her end of the deal. I started digging into my food, only to hear footsteps coming in my direction.
"How did you manage to get blue pancakes out here? And why are they blue?" A curious, seemingly calmed down Artemis asked.
I stared at her, "Hestia gave me her blessing and I like blue food," I replied shortly.
She rolled her eyes, clearly not satisfied with my answer, "Well I was just coming to get you," replying, brushing off her annoyance.
I looked back down at my food, "Sure, I'll head in after I finish my fo-"
Suddenly Artemis's face was in front of me, she was squatting like a catcher sitting behind home. "Look, I'm sorry for being rude, I-I just don't want you to end up like my brother. I get that you're annoyed with how I acted, but I'm not gonna wait on you," she said not breaking eye contact with me.
"Okay...I don't need your apology, but you just seem flare up at the littlest things sometimes and most of the time I don't even know the reason, but I appreciate you saying that none the less," I replied ready for this tension to dissipate, even though I was clearly the offended one now.
I started to stand up, only for Artemis to offer her hand, which I took and began to pull myself up. Artemis clearly wasn't ready for how hard I pulled and she fell forward, resulting in me falling back down on my back. She landed right on top of me, her body half on my side, with her neck landing on my bicep of arm that was holding the pancakes. Her face was facing mine, our hands still interlocked laying down by her side, on my hip, while her free hand was still in position from her trying to brace herself for the fall.
She stared at me with panic in her eyes, while I wasn't sure what my eyes were showing. Where they showing the 'Oh shit, oh shit, Im about to be stabbed by a man hating goddess and left to bleed out in the woods' panic look? Or were they showing something else? Her face didn't give me any clues.
Immediately I said something real clever somewhere along the lines of "Umm-Ug.. I-Im ughh."
Real classy.
Artemis continued staring, her cheeks taking on a pinkish color, before finally starting, "Umm...Percy?"
"Yeah! I'm so sorry Artemis," I sputtered out while pushing her off of me.
Once she was off me and my arm was free of her, I jumped up and stepped over to her to realize that I had rolled her straight onto my pancakes that been flung across the ground.
Wow, my mother would not approve, I thought quickly.
Artemis laid on the ground, still calming down from the awkward experience, her face seeming to flash through more than a few different emotions, the most notable being panic.
"Artemis...are you okay?" I asked shyly.
"Y-yeah I..um..am fine," she replied, not looking fine.
I let out an awkward chuckle, "You're not gonna start slashing at me with your knife I offer to help you, are ya?"
In response she just raised her hand towards me, to which I took and made sure to brace myself as we both pulled on each other. She stood and turned away from me and brushed the snow off of her front.
"Um Artemis...you have pancakes smeared all over your back."
She grabbed her jacket at the side and turned her head over her shoulder, trying to get a glimpse at the mess on her uniform. "Really?! Why do you use so much fucking syrup? How are you skinny?" She asked still holding her jacket but looking at me, definitely not amused.
"Well I could spray you off if you'd like," I offered.
She stared at me like I was crazy, "I can warm the water up too..," to which she nodded at after a second of hesitation. I pulled the snow up around us, melting it down and heating it to a warm temperature nearly instantly. I willed the water to raise up around us and come together. I glanced at Artemis to make sure she was okay with it before I started to send streams of water at her back, globs of a 2:1 ratio of syrup, pancake mixture spraying off of her silver parka. She kept her head facing forward, trying to avoid the splash. I kept the steamy water steady until I had gotten a majority of it off.
I stepped forward and placed my hand on her shoulder, "Im just drying you off," I said as I pulled the moisture out of her clothes and hair.
She turned around with a disconnected expression and rubbed her hand on her back. "Really?" She asked pulling her hand out with a chunk of pancake and syrup dripping off it, "You didn't even get it all off."
"Well I got most of it...no matter what I do I'm not gonna be able to get it all off. You're gonna have to wash it," I replied.
To which she slightly smirked, "Yeah we'll see about that, let's go show you to your tent. We've been without rest for almost thirty hours now, I think we could both use some rest."
She turned away and started walking towards camp and I followed behind.
So we're just gonna leave that situation at that. Got it, I thought gratefully, not wanting to make things more tense.
We stepped through a mostly empty camp, "I waited for the hunters to bed down for the night before coming to get you," she said looking back at me. "Might as well give you an easy day before assigning you your chores."
"Ch-chores?!" I stuttered out.
"Yes chores. All the hunters take turns doing them, and that includes you."
"But I'm not really a 'hunter.'"
She looked thoughtful, "Yes, but you are apart of the Hunt. Although I still need to give you my blessing."
I reluctantly nodded my head, clearly not going to gain any ground in my argument against chores.
She walked up to a tent that was identical to all the other one's, besides the dining tent and the tent with the silver moon imprinted on it, which was right by mine.
"Even though I trust you, I don't want you too close to the other's tents. So you get to be close to me," she explained stepping into my tent.
I followed her into the magical tent to find it bare of decoration and only had a simple cot with a small wooden desk and dresser, which was fine by me.
She turned to face me, "Under no circumstances are you to have any of my hunters in your tent or are you to be in my hunters' tents," she said seriously, "And I was being serious about the no females," she added.
I nodded, letting her know I understood.
"We wake at six, and start breakfast at seven. No sleeping in."
"No sleeping in? Not even on weekends?"
She stared at me as if she thought I was a moron and ignored my questions, "You have tomorrow off from your chores and training."
She stepped towards me and placed her hand on my shoulder and closed her eyes in concentration. I felt the familiar power surge into me before Artemis released her hand.
"You have my blessing, now I'm gonna get some rest and I think you should do the same," she said and headed for the flap of the tent.
She opened it before turning around with a smile that made my heart kick into high gear, "Have a goodnight's sleep Perseus."
I smiled back, positive that I looked giddy, "You too...milady," I said, my smile transforming into a lopsided grin.
She turned back around and let loose a small giggle as she stepped out and zipped the entrance.
I sat back on my new bed, Wow.
Artemis

I made my way back to my tent, one thing on my mind.
Percy.
I kept replaying my memory of me laying on his chest, my eyes locked onto his. The sea green in his eyes swirling around with the blue specks, looking like two different bodies of water intertwined within each other but refusing to mix. I could've laid there forever with his arm cradling my neck, our hands still linked laying over him with my thigh lying across his. I probably would've laid there through the night if he didn't look like he was about to lose it, and I couldn't blame him, I probably had been wearing a similar expression.
One thing I knew for sure was that I was scared, terrified. I have feelings for Percy Jackson, and I have no idea what to do about it. I couldn't bring myself to think of a solution to my predicament, only trying to imagine Percy's feelings.

I lay in my cot, struggling to sleep knowing that the only man I'd had any sort of feelings for in the passed two thousand years lay not twenty feet from me, while I was able to do nothing.
Should I push him away? Should I pull him in? Does he even share my feelings?