Lord Perseus Child of Rome

Ch. 19

Ch. 19

Clarisse was the first to exit the vortex into Perseus' palace, followed by Thalia dragging a nervous brother along as she walked. Perseus came through last, laughing uncontrollably as Zoe was using her position perched on his back to tickle his sides mercilessly. Once inside the palace, Perseus fell towards the couch only to stop suddenly, sending Zoe flying off his back and into a soft landing on his large plush couch. Zoe let out a girlish yelp when she was suddenly ejecting from her position on her fiancée's back. This caused Thalia and Clarisse to start laughing at the fierce huntress for her not so brave tumble.

Zoe quickly collected herself and sent a not so soft jab into her love's gut, causing him to groan in pain as the wind was knocked out of him. Thalia and Clarisse's laughter doubled as they watched Perseus clutch his stomach, muttering to himself about 'evil huntresses' and 'future abusive wives'.

Zoe smiled evilly, "See Percy, you're finally starting to learn." She said cheekily.

Perseus playfully glared at her before seating himself on the couch, where Zoe quickly climbed onto his lap and cuddled up into his arms, earning a happy smile from Perseus.

Jason had watched the whole banter between the two in shocked silence. This was not exactly what he expected to see on his visit to the home of a Primordial God along with his Hunter of Diana fiancée. Thalia looked at her brother and started laughing at his expression, causing the others to chuckle at the young demigod's expression. Thalia finally spoke up once her laughter died down.

"Well Jason, what did you expect? A bunch of stuck up, snotty Olympians who hate each other?" She asked.

Jason's eyes widened, "Well, I don't know. I've never met any Olympian in person. Lady Juno visits me in my dreams to talk sometimes, but other than that I have no idea what their like."

Perseus shook his head, "And they wonder why the hate each other and can't stay faithful to the wives or husbands for more than a few days at a time." He said disapprovingly.

A quick jab from Zoe made him rephrase his sentence, "Well some of them." He groaned before adding, "I can see why half the women have made pledges to eternal maidenhood."

Zoe nodded approvingly at his correction.

Jason finally couldn't hold the question that he was dying to ask, "How are you a huntress? Isn't eternal maidenhood a requirement for being admitted in Diana's Hunters?"

Perseus chuckled a little, earning another little jab, before Zoe answered, "Well for one, I still am a maiden. But for about fifteen hundred years, Percy and I dated in secret. When milady found out, well she wasn't thrilled but the circumstances of our relationship and her finding out helped change her mind. Along with some encouragement from Percy's mother Lupa, who is one of Artemis' closest friends."

Jason nodded, "What were the circumstances?" He asked curiously.

Zoe thought for a second then gave Perseus a soft kiss on the lips before explaining, "Well when Artemis was captured by my father Atlas, a prophecy was given for the quest for her rescue. The prophecy predicted that I would be killed by my father, and I almost was. But before I died, Percy showed up and healed me of my wounds." She explained as she grabbed Perseus' hand, lacing her fingers through his. "When he healed me, the three fates showed up angry that he saved me and saying I was destined to die. When Percy told them he was above their power, they told him it didn't matter and brought out my life string along with the Shears of Life. As they went to cut my string, Percy slowed time down and fired an energy blast at the two fates that held the string and shears. Percy grabbed my life string before letting time resume." Zoe explained and then stopped.