Tortured One

Icy Remembrance

Flashback: Throne Room of the Olympian Council

3rd P.O.V.

"I have news Father. News of our long lost Sav..."

A gasp interrupted her words. Dull green eyes bored into hers as she looked over at her uncle.

Gesturing for Artemis to continue, Poseidon watched, gaze full of hope.

"We've found him...."

Now:

"Where? Where did you find him?" Poseidon exclaimed, rising up into a half standing position, his hands clenching the arms of his throne.

"We found him in Montana, in one of the forests. He walked out of a rock formation and collapsed in front of us," Artemis answered. "He is recovery in my camp at the moment. I left Thalia and Atlanta to tend to his medical needs. I doubt he is awake by now."

"I want to see him-"

"No Poseidon," Zeus declared, "you will remain on Olympus or in Atlantis. You will not be going to see Perseus, you know why he left in the first place."

Eyes narrowed, Poseidon glared mutinously at Zeus and then around the room. Everyone stared at him in disapproval. He sighed, "I understand, I am not happy about this, but I will concede to your orders." His head hanging low, Poseidon threw one more look around the room, he saw no sympathy in any of the gazes directed at him, so he left, retreating to his palace under the seas to sulk.

"If that is all, father, I am going to make sure that everything is going well with my hunters," Artemis asked.

"Yes, go, but when recovers sufficiently, let us know, then we can decide how to proceed," Zeus affirmed. Nodding, Artemis flashed out. Looking at the rest of his council, Zeus stated, "Well, this should be interesting."

Back with the Huntresses

Percy watched, observing the movements of each Huntress carefully. He regarded each with wariness, only relaxing when Thalia came into view. None of the girls had seemed angry while comforting him after he had woken up in the infirmary, he took that to mean he was welcome in camp. Musing, Percy wondered why this was; why was he accepted into the ranks of the man-haters so easily?

He did notice, however, from his position at the entrance to the infirmary, that each huntress watched him shrewdly from time to time, as if evaluating his intentions, before going along with their business.

The girls had gone back to their tasks when Artemis had barged into the medical tent. Percy thought back to that moment, although the warmth from the huntresses' had been broken when the Goddess walked in, the look on Artemis' face at seeing her huntresses in a group hug with a male would be treasured forever.

After the huntresses returned to their duties, Artemis explained that Zeus wanted him to remain with the her group until he was recovered. With no further explanation, she had left him to his own devices.

Flashback

His head hanging, he felt them- the eyes that were always watching, observing, plotting various methods of torture. The top of his head burned, his hair catching fire as the poisonous gaze became deadlier. He smirked, lifting his head to stare directly into the eyes of his tormentor. Allowing his smirk to become unhinged, his verdant eyes flared an icy blue, the sudden burst of cold and dusting of ice dousing the flames before anything other than a slight singe could occur.

"This again?" He drawled, "These games are getting old. Why don't you come out and play, for realsies, hmmm?"

The being in the shadows laughed, "Are you sure? You may find out I'm not who you expect me to be," his voice slithered sinuously through the gloom, "But of course, your wish is my command."

The words echoed ominously through the cell and then the being stepped into the meager light.

End Flashback

Percy opened his eyes, feeling the burn of scrutiny. Looking up he found Thalia observing him shrewdly. Tilting her head slightly, she met his gaze, asking him silently, if he was alright. Nodding once, Percy allayed her fears. In another bout of unspoken communication, he gestured toward his head and spun his wrist backwards, indicating that he was remembering. Thalia scrutinized him once more, nodded decisively, and went about her business.

Sighing, Percy turned inward once more, reflecting more than remembering. He did not need to be caught guard, even if the huntresses seemed to have accepted him.

Eyes falling shut once more, Percy felt a shift in the air, the scent of the breeze had changed— it was crisper, colder— snow was coming. Calling out to Artemis, "You might want to prepare for snow tonight."

"Snow? I would know if snow was on the horizon. There will be no need to prepare for snow!"

"Alright," he placated, hands up in pacifying gesture. "I won't even say I told you so when it happens," he muttered under his breath.

Artemis watched him for a moment, but Percy just smiled and continued to observe.

Shaking her head, Artemis left him alone once more. If she had waited, she would have noticed the pulsing icy blue ring around Percy's irises.

Author's Note

Life happens. I know I said I would update more often, but obviously that did not happen. College is a lot right now and has been for the last couple years, so I'm just going to say, I'm trying to get more invested in writing this fanfic and if my readers have any ideas on how they want this fic to proceed, please message me any ideas. I have a general idea, but if there are any specifics, I'd be happy to include some!

Thanks,

Loveuzorra