Perseus the Conqueror

33

Percy POV

As I stared across at the stupidly scary 12-year-old girl in front of me, I came to an indisputable conclusion:

I was utterly and hilariously fucked.

I mean, I knew that I would have to confront Artemis at some point. I just thought I would have been finished with the whole saving the world thing by then. I act tough in front of Jackie and Zoë, but deep down, the thought always terrified me.

And before you get all "Percy you coward! How dare you fear a man hating goddess who castrates without a second thought!" it isn't just the getting turned into the Jackelope thing that frightens me. It isn't even the notion that I might lose little Perce during the ordeal (although that is a great contributor).

The main reason that I was afraid is that Artemis was by far one of my favorite deities. She might even come before my dad. She was levelheaded, mostly, and she was one of the few gods who cares about mortals and acts on it. Even if she only saves girls, it is still better than nothing, which despite what they say, is what most gods offer nowadays.

So the fact that she was most likely going to hate me for eternity after this was a real bummer. I thought she might have a bit of a soft spot for me after I took the sky for her, but me dating her former lieutenant was probably going to cancel that out.

Nevertheless here we were, standing just outside the cave entrance. Zoë was on my right, Jackie was on my left, and Damasen and Bianca were still inside, hiding, probably waiting for me to keep the goddess from attacking Damasen on sight. The rest of the demigods were inside letting Damasen tend to their wounds.

As the goddess stared at us angrily, I realized that I was still holding hands with Zoë. I considered letting go, but I quickly decided against it. It would be better to face this now. .

Suddenly the goddess began to walk forward, her silver eyes flashed angrily as her auburn hair swayed with her movements. As she approached I felt Zoë's hand squeeze mine. I squeezed back reassuringly. I then felt my left hand being squeezed almost painfully. I looked over at Jackie and saw her almost hiding behind me and trembling in fear. I then remembered that as a hellhound, the goddess who is famous for hunting monsters might not be her favorite person.

Soon Artemis was standing only five feet in front of us. The tension was so thick I could cut it with Conqueror.

As she stood there staring at us, or more specifically, Zoë, I got impatient. I opened my mouth to say "hi" but before I could Zoë stepped forward and said, "It is good to see you my lady."

At this, Artemis' angry demeanor started to break down. Tears started to cascade as she rushed forward and pulled her former lieutenant into a hug. Soon Zoë was sobbing as well as she embraced the goddess who practically raised her as her own.

I just stayed back with Jackie as they hugged it out. I leaned back to the trembling hybrid girl and whispered, "Don't worry, she is a friend, I won't let her hurt you."

At that, I could feel her stop trembling, although she remained behind me, apparently feeling safer there.

After a few minutes, the crying finally stopped and Artemis leaned back with her hands still on Zoë's shoulders. "How are you alive?"

Zoë sighed, "It's a long story. Long story short: I was resurrected by the fates for the sole purpose of Percy's torment." She said gesturing to me, to which I smiled and waved hello.

The goddess' eyes narrowed "That doesn't make sense. Why would the fates go that far just to torment one man? And why use you? I thought you were on good terms with Percy wouldn't your return be more like a reward than torment?"