Prince of the Universe, Love of Artemis (On Hiatus)

Chapter 17: We're All Over the Place Today

(Percy/Epsilon POV)

After my announcement I walked off the stage with the team following. We were just talking and laughing all the way down to my cabin, where I sat down on the steps waiting for the inevitable onslaught of questions. 

The team split off into different directions as the campers started to form a line. Nico, Luke, and Leo stayed by me, Zoe went off to find her sisters, Silena and Beckendorf decided to take a quick trip back to Planet Chaos to check on their kid, Bianca went back to the Chaos cabin, and Michael went to the archery range.

Leo took out a notepad and pen and wrote something at the top, and then sat up straight with his pen poised and ready. The first camper came up. "Is there anyone at this camp you still like?"

I ran through my list. Leo and Nico came with me to the army, but I suppose they still counted. Grover I still liked, and Piper. "Yes, but I won't say who." She nodded and stepped to the side, making way for the next in line.

And so it went. I got all kinds of questions, from 'Are you still the greatest swordsman in 300 years?' to 'If you're the king of the universe, can you do anything you want?' The paper Leo had gotten out turned out to be a 'frequently asked questions' notice, and after about 75 campers he put up a pole a few meters away from the cabin.

Finally I got down to the last two campers. Jason and Annabeth. Both were crying, and both looked very confused. Annabeth asked her question first. "If this ring isn't from you," she started, pointing to her finger, "then who is it from? Who am I getting married to that I don't even remember?"

I sighed and dropped my head down to my knees. Without even looking up again, I pointed to the son of Jupiter. 

"That's not possible!" I heard. "I'm dating Piper!"

"Actually, Jason, you're not." The daughter of Aphrodite turned Hunter of Artemis spoke up from behind her ex. Jason whipped around and scanned her from head-to-toe. Obviously noting the silver Hunter's garb, he grabbed her hand and started begging to know what had happened. Piper snatched her hand back from Jason. "I'm not the one to say. Also, now that I've taken the oath, the only guy allowed to touch me is our guardian. Actually, that's not true. It's just that he's the only guy I want to touch me. But that isn't what I came here for." She turned to me. "Perce, Artemis wants to see you."

I finally lifted my head. "Great, tell her I'll be there as soon as I finish up with these two." She nodded and turned back around to head towards cabin 8. I faced my two greatest nightmares again. "You should go. I'll be telling the whole camp what they did to me, Piper, and Leo later. Probably in about 3 days. Ish. Leave me alone until then. Please."

Jason turned away, but Annabeth stayed. "Seaweed Brain, I-"

"Don't call me that. You have lost 'Seaweed Brain' privileges. In fact, you have also lost 'Percy' and 'Perseus' privileges. From now on you can call me 'Jackson' or 'hey you.'"

Annabeth gave me a sad look. "Come on, Percy." I glared at her. She pouted. "Come on, hey you."

"You should go. I need to go talk to Artemis."

She called after me as I walked away. "You should really start respecting the gods by calling them their titles!"

I ignored her, choosing to not start a fight. I also decided to not remind her that I am now the gods' superior, and I didn't have to call them by their titles if I didn't want to.

I made my way over to Cabin 8, where the goddess of the hunt was waiting outside for me. I stooped low to the ground in a dramatic bow. "You requested my presence, M'lady?"

For my little act, I was rewarded with a rubber arrow to the butt. Snapping up, I gave her the glare I learned from Lupa. Arty shivered a little, but wasn't swayed. She began to speak. "Alright, Perseus," she started. "The gods have decided that it would be fun to introduce you to everyone. And I mean everyone. Father is gathering every god in existence, and that includes your team, and wants you to make a special announcement. 'Chaos is fading, blah blah, I'm in charge now, blah blah.' You know."

My eyes rolled so far back into my head that I thought they might get stuck. "He does know he can't make me do anything anymore, right?" Artemis just shrugged. "Fine, but this is the last time I'm doing this!" I held out my hand so that Artemis could flash us to the place, and when she took my hand, I swear she blushed.

Three seconds and a flash of light later, we were in the middle of what looked like the Colosseum. Except it had been kept up a lot better than the one down on Earth. Arty let go of my hand and walked over to sit down next to her brother. 

Zeus decided that the best way to get everyone's attention was a huge clap of thunder, which worked, but scared everyone out of their minds. The king of the skies nodded at me, and I started up the speech again. "Hi everyone, I'm Percy Jackson, you probably know me by now, and if you don't that's fine. Drama Pants here wanted to have me make an announcement that you probably already know, because Chaos sent out a message to everyone except the Olympians. She's starting to fade, and I'm the new king. Are we done here? Good."

I walked off the makeshift stage that was in the center of the stadium, and flashed back down to Earth. I needed to let off some steam, so I made sure no one was following me and headed to the Chaos cabin. 

Once there, I headed straight to the pool and dove in head first. I just sat at the bottom, wondering what to do about all of this. I have no idea how to be a king, and yet Chaos expects me to just... become one at the drop of a hat. I don't even know if I'm going to be good enough. The demigod part of me yearns for adventure, but the exhausted part of me wants a normal life with nice home and a family. Neither of which is good for royalty. 

My thoughts once again wandered to what a life would be like with Artemis. If she even wanted to go out with me, what then? Gods don't die, but a part of me still thinks that if I don't hurry up, I'll be gone and any chance I had at love will be gone. Another part of me knows that if I don't hurry up, Artemis will eventually find someone else, vow of maidenhood or not. I'm still kind of hurting from Annabeth, wounds like that don't ever heal. They can be patched up, but never healed. I hope Arty will become my patch.

Hello, friends! Welcome back. I honestly, truly meant to post this two days ago, but I kind of... forgot? Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm trash. Judge me all you want, but I've been busy. However, with this late update, I can tell you all to check out Sabrina Carpenter's new song, Exhale. It is lovely, and soft, and beautiful, and aaaaaah I love it. Thank you always for reading, I'll see soon!