Pertemis A Wolf's Tale

Chapter XVII: The Fire Bearer's Tale.

Weeks had passed since Percy's first arrival at camp. Life in the hunt never changed in Percy's perspective that for the first time he actually felt time. He had to wake up early, and usually not without Artemis yelling and ranting at him about sleeping like a corpse. Life in the hunt was never easy, the hunters made it seem impossible to live.

His chores just got harder every day. The piles of clothes just kept getting higher and dirtier and the hunters wasted more arrows than they usually did. He had never had a decent meal, most of his food was taken by them that Perseus looked weakened and exhausted most of the time. Not only that, the pranks and insults they put on him were countless.

He had made it in his routine. The morning prank would be an ice bucket on top of the tent's flap where his teeth clattered at the first time in the winter. Sometimes they would shoot arrows at him while he was washing the clothes or sneak inside his tent to destroy stuff. Percy's belonging stuff had shattered, along with his clothes. He would never have a meal with them because there would be super glue on his seat or undried paint.

He felt lonely and empty most of the time, and never in his life that he had cried off to sleep. There would be Annabeth to talk to him sometimes, but he had made the conversation compressed because the pranks would be more severe if the hunters caught him talking to her. Hestia would sometimes pay a visit, talked and comforted him from the humiliations and the unfairness. But still didn't raise his spirit much.

He only needed Artemis to put a bit more regard for him. He had never told her about the pranks of her hunters. Because he knew she wouldn't listen to him nor believe him. The only time he felt happy and alive was when Artemis would come to his tent at night to have dinner. From the night they shared their first meal together, Artemis had started to ditch dinner with her hunters and came to have it with Percy. He felt it strange and suspicious a bit, but having Artemis close to him made him let that go. His feeling towards her had not decreased, in fact, it grew stronger day by day. Hestia had warned him about romantically involved with Artemis was certainly not a good thing. But he couldn't get her image out from his system.

Percy set open the flap, dropping his shoulder after a day of work. Artemis had disappeared to Olympus and she wouldn't be back until the next day. Which he felt sad, but there was Hestia sitting on his bed patiently, and ready to talk with him about his day.

"So you have dinner alone tonight?" she smiled.

"At least I'll have my stomach full for a night," Percy said as he drank some water, but spat out immediately because it was too salty. "Gosh, those hunters are just too much!"

"Don't be too angry at them Percy?" Hestia said gently "It's a good thing that they let you live here"

"I would rather let them kill me than this" Percy said bitterly. "Why can't I just live with you, Hestia?"

"Because Perseus" She jumped down the bed with her twelve years old form. "It's safer to live with Artemis so she can protect you. No male Olympian has ever dared to step into her hunt besides Apollo and females wouldn't bother to besides me."

"But they will get me killed one day if-"

"Don't you want to be close to your Artemis?" Hestia raised her brows and Percy backed down. Hestia smiled as she dragged him to the table. "Common, you must be hungry, let me make you some food."

Artemis flashed back to camp, tired from all the discussions. The situation had not ceased, Olympus was still hunting him and most suspicious places were under watched, which included Leto's island.

Never in his life she was concerned so many for a male. His life here had made hers better. She had made it a habit of waking Percy every morning, look at his hilarious face from being scowled by her. She was also used to have dinner with him, that was the time when she felt alive the most, even with her hunters didn't feel much that way. She knew they resented each other and also with the pranks they pulled on him, but if that was the only way to cease their hatred towards Perseus, she was willing to let him bear. After all, he had an eternity for himself, the hunters would eventually open up to him just like how they did before...