The Moon Shines Bright

Chapter 6

The kiss at first had startled Percy but after a moment he eased into it. He has to mentally stop himself from expecting blonde princess curls and grey eyes when he moves back from the kiss. Artemis looked at him with a smile that made his heart swell. It scared him. The last person who he had ever felt like this for had tortured him for the last two and a half months. Looking into her eyes made him feel... Safe for a change. He smiled slightly and reached for her hand. Grasping it, he brought it to his lips and gently kissed it.

"Artemis, I'm not going to lie to you. I can't tell you I love you as of yet, but i do like you. A lot." He smiled slightly at her, trying to convey his feeling as best he could. "But if you want to do this then I'd also like to find out what happens."

"That's all I can ask of you Percy." She said with a dazzling smile. "Right now, though you need to rest like my father said."

The Goddess helped him too his feet and helped him to her palace, Gently laying him on a couch she materialized and kissing him goodnight. She left him to sleep while she herself also laid down in her bed and went to sleep.
 

Zoe appeared in the middle of the woods in the dark of night. Looking around her she saw that she was surrounded by trees. Smiling at Artemis' habits, she began looking for the tree that was marked with a bow and arrow. It was those small markings on the tree that let a hunter find the camp if anything ever led them away or if anything happened. The bow was a symbol of the hunt, of course, while the arrow pointed in the direction of the actual camp. It took her a few moments before she found the symbols and started walking in the direction of the camp all while thinking to herself. Artemis was acting very strange when she had woken up in the council room. She had been more caring for Percy then she had been for all the males she had talked to in her entire immortal life. Her thoughts then drifted to Percy and she felt her body and mind sag a bit at the thought of everything the bitch had put him through. The thought of the raven haired boy made her feel a weird way that she never felt before.

She squashed the feeling as she entered the camp, only to have to dodge an arrow that would have hit her in the chest. Hearing the dull thud of the arrow meeting a tree, Zoe stared at it before she was tackled to the ground.

"Zoe?" A familiar voice asked her.

Percy awoke to the smell of eggs. He groggily sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He stood up and walked toward the kitchen and the sight he saw was something that would stay with him forever. Artemis was moving around the kitchen as gracefully as she would be when she was hunting. Percy's breath was taken away and he forgot to breath for a moment, up until he heard her giggling at him. Her silver eyes were filled with mirth and her face was lit with a brightening smile. Before he could help himself he rushed forward and wrapped her in his arms, kissing her with the same passion that she had the day before.

"Artemis? I need yo.." The voice trailed off. Both Artemis and Percy turned, as if possessed, to see Hermes standing in the doorway to the kitchen. The package he had been holding moments before was on the ground. "Ummm.. So uhh how long has this been going on?" He coughed, rubbing at his face.

Artemis, face as red as the tomato she had previously been cutting, turned her attention back to cooking leaving Percy to explain. Percy stared at Hermes for a moment, noting the mischievous look in his eyes before looking at the floor  

"Uhh Artemis left a letter for me right before I ummm died." His voice breaking a bit on the last word causing Hermes' eyes to soften just a bit and sympathy to push the mischievous glint out of his eyes. "She told me that she had had feelings for me for a while and yesterday after everyone else left we uhhhh kissed." Percy muttered, not knowing how Hermes would react.

Hermes didn't know how to react to what he just heard. On one hand he was happy that Artemis was finally giving dating a chance. Maybe it'll keep her from shooting me with anymore arrows, he thought to himself before his gaze went back to Percy, whose eyes had moved back to watching Artemis dance around the kitchen. Hermes saw the look in his eyes and smiled, remember how Poseidon looks at his wife. How he looks at May. Hermes smiled and clapped Percy on the shoulders, bringing his attention back to him.

"I'm happy for you, both of you." He said, his gaze turning to Artemis after a moment. "How will the Hunters react to this?"

"I honestly don't know but they'll learn to deal with it." She muttered as she flipped a pancake.

Hermes nodded before looking between her and Percy. "You two be careful you hear? I don't need to be called Uncle anytime soon." He snickered and flashed away right before a kitchen knife connected with his head. Throwing said knife was a very red faced Artemis, who after set Percy's breakfast in front of him. Percy smiled and thanked her before digging in. He hadn't eaten something like this in so long. He had been starved and what food he was given was massively rotten. Thinking of being down there had made him put down the fork and grip the side of the table, trying desperately to not have a flashback. A hand on his made his gaze lift to see two pools of sparkling silver starting back at him worriedly.

That right there. Those silver eyes are what kept him going when he was chained to the walls of that dungeon. The smell of the forest kept him from going insane; but never in a million years did he imagine that she'd love him back. Staring into her eyes made his heart quicken and turned his brain to mush. They're first kiss had done something similar to the boy, only that time his brain just completely shut off. All of his thought process had shut off except for the small part registering her lips. He had always had a small crush on the Goddess from the moment he saw her under the sky. The strength that she had shown that day had amazed him beyond belief and those feelings erupted in his chest.

Smiling to himself, he looked up from his breakfast to look at Artemis. Her swirling auburn hair that was put up into a messy bun so she could eat. Her silver eyes dancing with happiness with every bite she took. His smile grew at the warm feeling that was now blooming in his chest.

"Gods you're beautiful." He muttered before throwing his hand over his mouth. Artemis blushed for what must have been the fifth time this morning as she slowly turned her head towards Percy. "Sorry. Didn't mean to say that outloud."

"No, It's fine." She smiled slightly, the blush going down to just a bit. "Thank you Precy. That's one of the only times anyone has ever said that to me. Or at least one of the only I've ever believed it."

Slowly, she reached over and laid her hand on his and squeezed. Percy smiled back at her. There was a lot of pain that was going to come from the upcoming war yet he still felt he could get through it as long as he had her by his side. Leaning over to her, Percy kissed her.

"Thank you for everything that you've done. I haven't been this happy in a long time. Yet every time I look at you I smile." His smile grew as he saw the smile appear on her face.