Vengeance

10

Percy PoV

I woke up with the craziest idea in the world.

I was going to propose to Artemis.

Today.

I gently kissed my future wife awake, watching as she smiled, her eyes fluttering open.

"Good morning, love," I murmured. "I'm going to set something up for later, okay?"

Artemis shook her head. "It'll get cold."

I whistled for the beagle pup, pulling the covers up to her neck.

As the dog got comfortable on Artemis's stomach, I kissed her forehead. "Arnold is a great protector, but he's pretty good at keeping things warm, too."

I pecked her lips and went on my way. I appeared at a small summit a few thousand feet above another cave and started chiselling.

About an hour later, I was finished.

My hands were really sore, but that could be solved easily.

I covered the words back up with snow and drew an X in the fresh snow over it.

After that, I spent another hour thinking of various little landmarks leading from the cave to the little summit and stashed capsules with notes in them at the landmarks.

I appeared back at the cave system I had learned to call home and cleaned up in the guest bathroom, not wanting to wake Artemis.

After showering and putting on a fresh set of clothes, I made blue pancakes.

I brought the plate of pancakes back to the bedroom, kissing my future wife's forehead.

Her eyes fluttered open and she sat up.

I had set out some food for Arnold, so he ran off to munch on that.

I set the plate down and picked up Artemis, setting her down in my lap before grabbing the plate.

"What were you doing?" She asked.

I kissed her cheek and handed her a piece of paper, which she proceeded to read as she ate the pancakes.

My girlfriend's ability to multitask so long as it involved food never ceased to amaze me.

After we finished, I whisked the plate off to the sink.

"Why am I going on a scavenger hunt?" Artemis asked.

"Because you love me," I replied. "Please do it, Arty."

Artemis nodded, kissing my cheek.

We got dressed in warm clothes and I grabbed her hand, flashing us to the starting point.

She picked up the capsule and read it.

This is a scavenger hunt for which the point of completing is a surprise, and you will only understand after it has been finished. Clues will be found in capsules like this, hidden in landmarks. You will find the first one in the maw of the beast.

Artemis put the capsule in a backpack and looked out over the edge. "There's a rock formation over there that looks like it has teeth over there. Let's go."

She started climbing across without any equipment and I sighed.

I followed her, and was very glad I did.

When Artemis stepped onto the rock formation, she slipped on a patch of ice.

I caught her waist, pulling her toward as far from the edge as possible.