The Seventh Child

Chapter 5

Late at night, Percy woke up with Julia and Lily cuddled up near him. From what Percy remembered, all three girls cried themselves to sleep and Percy had been the one on guard duty. He must've fallen asleep. Luckily, no monsters approached them. Percy carefully moved his body so Julia and Lily wouldn't be awake. Both of them slept soundly on the ground with their head leaned up against a log which was better than the ground.

Percy looked around to see they were still in the lake that Percy had flashed them to. He looked around to see Artemis sitting by the side of the lake, staring at it with the moonlight shining dimly around her. The wilderness was quiet and none of the animals or bugs made any sound. Percy approached her and sat next to her. She was staring at the reflection of the moon on the lake, trying to figure out what she could've done to prevent this.

"Are you okay?" Percy asked with a soft voice. Artemis kept staring at the lake.

"I should've been with them," She said miserably. Her silver eyes no longer show the glow it used to have. "I could've put a shield around them, or moved them somewhere else,"

Percy put one arm around her. She didn't even bother. "Zeus went overboard. He knew this would have an impact on you. He did this to make sure you're weak. We'll prove to him that you're not."

Then, a negative aura surrounded Artemis, making Percy's skin itch. "No, Father didn't do this . . ." She slowly turned her head around at Percy. A weird psychotic look was evident on her face. A streak of her auburn hair turned to pure black, black as midnight. She inched closer at Percy. "You did this . . . You dragged me into this . . . If you hadn't interfered in my life . . ." In a cry of despair, she lunged at Percy and landed a quick blow to his face. Percy didn't have the time to react because she was faster than she'd ever been before. The punch landed on his face, knocking him to the ground. Percy used his instincts to roll away just as Artemis was about to stab the spot where he'd been with her hunting knife.

"I understand how you feel, Artemis." Percy tried to reason with her. "But arguing like this won't bring them back."

"I don't care!" Artemis gracefully leapt up and slashed her knives downwards. Percy blocked it with his sword and pushed her back. She recovered midair and switched to her bow remarkably fast. She fired two arrows at the same time while Percy rolled out of the way. He was staying on the defensive end because he didn't want to hurt Artemis. He understood how Artemis felt on losing your loved ones. Artemis landed on the ground and rushed at Percy, but she soon tripped on the ground. Percy examined closer and saw why. Near her feet, the earth had opened up slightly and skeleton hands grabbed her feet. Percy looked behind him to see Julia already awake, trying to strain Artemis. Lily was awake too, standing right behind Julia.

"Lady Artemis," Julia spoke. "Don't fight, please."

"It's his fault you lost your sisters!" Artemis growled. That fact saddened both the young girls, but they toughened up.

"Even if it is his fault, there's no point in arguing about it." Lily said sadly. "It's not going to bring them back."

Artemis continued to struggle against the skeleton hands holding her feet, now crawling up to her legs. "Julia, release her." Percy said. Julia looked shocked.

"But,"

"I know, Julia." Percy said. "Just trust me." Julia was reluctant, but she trusted Percy and released Artemis from her grip. Immediately, Artemis went for Percy. In one quick move, Percy grabbed her wrists, disarmed her and flipped her onto her back and pinned her hands down.

"Let me go!" Artemis struggled. "I hate you! You're a murderer!"

"You think I don't care about them as much as you do?!" Percy screamed back. "Just when I got close to them they were taken away from me! All because the King of Gods couldn't control his fucking ego!"