28 Chapter 27: Moon's Reflections
A/N
Bow before the creator, you cretins.
Anyway, as promised, the next chapter is here.
Shoutout to Yoshi and Fox for helping and e-luckarcher, Murph, Meister and Maruf for the beta and proof reading.
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Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or any of its characters.
x.x
Chapter 27: Moon's Reflections
~5 days before quest~
~In a forest, somewhere~
"Is everyone done packing?"
"Yes, my lady. We are ready to move."
"Good, gather around. I do not want to waste time by walking, we are teleporting right now."
"As thy wishes."
...
~Another forest~
"This place is as safe as possible. As reluctant as I am to leave you all alone, it is important for me and Zoë to go for this hunt on our own. If there are any issues in my absence, Iris message me or pray to me immediately. Understood?"
A chorus of 'yes, my lady' was heard from the assembled hunters as they disbanded and started setting up their camp for the next few days.
"Make sure the parameter is secured with traps laid out. I need you to personally check each and everything," Artemis said without glancing at Zoë who stood dutifully by the goddess' side.
"Thy will, my lady," Zoë said as she immediately set off towards the clearing to help her sisters.
Artemis turned around and started walking towards the forest as soon as she felt the presence nearby.
After a few minutes of walking, the moon goddess glanced at an owl perched on one of the trees.
"Do you plan to come down or do you want to become part of the ecosystem here?" Artemis asked her stepsister.
"As welcoming as ever, Artemis," Athena replied as she reverted to her form and dropped down from the tree to stand in front of the other goddess.
"What do you need, Athena?"
"Straight to the point? No greetings or anything?"
Artemis raised an eyebrow, "Since when did you care about those?"
"Touché. Back to the point, are you ready for the quest along with choosing your companion?"
"Did I really have a choice? I will be taking Zoë with me. There are too many unknowns in this prophecy and I'd rather take the most experienced hunter with me than risk anyone else's life. Moreover, as loathe as I am to say this, you'd better look after my hunters while I'm away and keep them from any danger that they cannot handle. I trust you enough to know you'll do a good job in my absence. You don't have to be around, just keep an eye out as much as you can."
"I will, Artemis. Don't worry about them, this is the least that I can do."
"Most importantly, keep that useless goddess away from them lest I accidentally destroy her throne for putting any of my hunters in danger," Artemis said with her silver eyes glowing brightly, reflecting the anger she held towards a certain goddess of love.
Athena's lips curled up ever so slightly at that as she agreed to Artemis' request.
"Do you have a final location for the quest now?"
"Yes, I do. Thanks to Percy's outlook, I was able to get one. Virginia is the closest answer that I could get to. It is known as the 'Old Dominion' here. Further, if the traitor travelled by air or sea to any other country, Zeus or Poseidon would know of this immediately so it is a fool's errand. Hence, the only two options are either out of this country or within and considering the Oracle said 'Old Dominion' I'd say, the closest we can get to is Virginia."
"So you took help from a demigod, a Poseidon's kid no less and do not have a concrete answer. Well, that's a first," Artemis said.
"Why don't you try it then? I'll just leave the quest to you then. As far as Percy is concerned, he is far smarter than you give him credit for."
"This day is full of surprises. Since when did you praise someone? Let alone a son of Poseidon?"
"Since I started training him," Athena dropped the bombshell, making Artemis widen her eyes in astonishment.
"You trained a demigod?" Artemis asked with disbelief.
"As hard as it is to believe, it first started out of necessity to ensure the quest's success by making him stronger but as time passed, I realised that the boy holds a lot of potential and unrefined power. The moment that raw power is trained; he will easily become the strongest demigod to ever live," Athena said with her voice gaining a bit of pride to it.
"Only to fall from grace when it gets over their heads," Artemis snorted with disdain. She remembered the most famous ones where the power or success got to the person's head, be it demigod or man, and in turn, led them to their downfall in one way or another.
"Oh, I assure you, this one is as humble as it comes. If aunt Hestia personally approves of him, who am I to question his character? A goddess of home and family knows about her family members more than we could ever. Wouldn't you agree?"
"As loathe as I am to accept it, I have to concede here. However, as I said earlier, I will not place my trust in him at all. Trust is earned, not given. The most I can do is give him the benefit of the doubt. Should he do something unethical, I won't think twice before giving him a just punishment," Artemis said. Even though she didn't trust men in general because of what they could do and avoided them as much as she could, she was also a goddess of childbirth. Hurting or doing anything rash to a child wouldn't leave a good taste in her mouth. Not to forget, Poseidon would immediately wage war on her for doing anything to his son. She didn't know much about the relationship between Poseidon and his son but one thing she knew was that Poseidon cared a lot for his family and should anyone ever harm his own kin, he wouldn't rest until that person would be wiped off the face of the planet. Moreover, she grudgingly admitted that Poseidon was far stronger than her and she wouldn't face any chance whatsoever against the sea god's wrath.
"You won't have to," Athena started, "He is reliable. He will be respectful throughout the way, don't worry about it."
"Let us see, only time will tell. Anyways, we have to leave in 5 days, right? I will leave tomorrow once the hunters have settled so that I can see how the boy is and accordingly plan our movement. Yes, I am aware that no one must know about this so I will call him someplace else and meet him outside the camp with Zoë on the day that we have to leave. You'd better watch out for my hunters. Alright?" Artemis said threateningly.
Athena just nodded her head and disappeared in a flash, leaving Artemis alone to her thoughts once again.
Artemis was confused regarding a boy for the first time in a very long time. She did not know what to make of it. On one hand, the most serious and reliable goddesses had vouched for the demigod and attested to his character and potential. On the other hand, she held a general mistrust towards men - not that she hated them, she just hated what they had done and what they could do – which made it all but difficult to perceive someone else's opinion which stated otherwise. Whether it was an unwillingness to change or her pride as a goddess, she did not know. However, she knew that change was difficult for deities like her. Thousands of years of following a singular mindset or a set of habits were difficult to break. Thus, making her all the more conflicted.
The goddess ended up spending the rest of the day mulling over this, unable to reach a concrete decision.
...
~Next day, 4 days before quest~
Artemis was standing near Zeus' Fist after she had left her lieutenant in charge of the hunt in her absence. The goddess had been standing there for the past few minutes, wondering how to speak to the demigod. This was the first time in a while where she decided to approach a male on her own and speak to said male. Naturally, she did not know how to talk or react thus her current predicament. Thankfully or not, Hestia soon appeared in a swirl of flames in front of Artemis.
The fire goddess regarded her niece for a moment before she realised the nature of Artemis' visit to the camp.
"You're here to meet Percy, aren't you?" Hestia said neutrally, her face set in a stoic mask.
The moon goddess was a little shocked upon listening to Hestia's tone since she always spoke to others warmly.
"Yes, Aunt Hestia."
"He is currently training in the arena with the dummies but he should be done soon. We can meet him as soon as he is done. I don't want him to be disturbed during this time," Hestia said with a tone of finality.
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Go on."
"Why are you so protective of him? What makes him so special and different that you, of all gods and goddesses, have taken to personally caring for him? You've always been detached from other demigods so seeing you interact with him so closely baffles me."
Hestia couldn't help but feel a sense of déjà vu since she had been asked the very same question by Poseidon a while ago. She briefly debated whether to carry a card with her if she was going to be swarmed with the same question over and over in the future once everyone got to know that Percy was her champion. Hestia sighed inwardly before launching into the same explanation that she had given to Poseidon all those months back.
By the end of it, unsurprisingly, Artemis was shocked. To think that Hestia thought so highly of this demigod only added to his reputation while somewhat solving the conundrum she had found herself in since yesterday. Artemis had finally decided that she would give Percy the benefit of the doubt and would treat him as neutrally as possible, unlike the usual treatment she reserved for other members of his species as soon as she determined their intentions. Thousands of years of being leered at by boys, listening to stories of her hunters and seeing her so-called family, in general, taught her this invaluable skill thus, helping her immensely.
"Artemis," Hestia called, making the goddess put aside her line of thought.
"Yes, aunt?"
"I know you don't hate men but the same cannot be said for your huntresses. If I get to know that you or your huntress have not treated Percy properly or have caused him any harm whatsoever, I will make sure to pay you back tenfold of the suffering he will go through. No one, and I mean no one, will be able to stop me. Is. That. Understood?" Hestia threatened with the flames in her eyes burning brighter.
Artemis was shocked to see this side of Hestia. The goddess was always calm, smiling and caring but to suddenly see her threaten someone was something that she had never expected. However, be it pride or not one to back down from anything, Artemis returned the glare, only for it to falter in the next moment.
The world was filled with fire. The air became hot and heavy, making each breath harder. Her skin felt like it would burn off from the intensity. An indescribable chill ran down her back as she felt herself slowly being detached from her huntresses, her mother and every other person she valued. She would ...
Only for the feeling to suddenly vanish when a new voice was heard.
"Hestia!" a boy called out.
As soon as Hestia heard Percy call out to her, she reeled back her aura immediately and turned to her champion with a questioning look.
"Are you alright? I suddenly felt your aura spike, so I thought something happened," Percy said with concern lacing in his voice as he proceeded to look at the goddess up and down, keeping his entire attention on her and ensuring that she was fine. He entirely failed to notice the moon goddess standing near his patron.
Hestia's mood brightened immensely as she looked at her champion fuss over her. Even though she was a goddess, who doesn't like the feeling of someone caring for you?
Artemis, on the other hand, was still trying to come to terms with what she had just witnessed in the past few minutes. She did not know much about Hestia and the demigod's relationship, but one thing was immensely clear – they cared for each other a lot. She could see it in their eyes as the two interacted. Things were becoming clearer for her slowly and steadily. For the family goddess to hold someone in such high regard was unprecedented and as such, couldn't be easily ignored. The boy too held only sincerity in his eyes, she couldn't see any hidden agenda or him pretending. It was just him being true to himself, something that was a plus in Artemis' books.
For the second time during the day, she was brought out of her thoughts when she heard the boy address her.
"Lady Artemis," Percy said with a slight bow of his head to acknowledge the goddess, something that she appreciated. That's what she always respected. Men with honour and who were good. No honey-filled words, no ass-kissing, only plain respect.
"What is your name, boy?"
"Perseus Jackson, but you can call me Percy."
"Very well Percy, I wish to have a word with you about the quest. Sit," Artemis commanded as she summoned a chair for all three of them.
'Watch your tone, Artemis,' Hestia reminded her niece mentally.
"What do you know about this Luke?"
"Not much, my lady. I was here for 2 months or so before I had to leave for my quest. He was quite good at sword fighting and always helped the younger or new unclaimed demigods to settle in. He has always been kind to others so to hear that he turned against Olympus was shocking. Except for that, I don't know anything else cause I didn't speak to him much."
"I see. What about your companion, the satyr? Does he have any information? It is best to know as much as possible about your target before you hunt them down."
"Oh yeah, Grover has been here for a while. He'll be able to help out, let me go get him, Lady Artemis," Percy said as he got up and dashed towards where he had last seen his friend. The goddess was surprised to see his speed, it was quite well above that of an average demigod and could almost match that of her hunters.
The two goddesses were left to their own devices, each to their own thoughts until the demigod returned with the satyr in tow. Artemis could see that the satyr was visibly nervous if his wondering eyes and near-constant gulping was anything to go by.
"Sit, satyr," Artemis said as she summoned another chair for him.
Grover flinched slightly at her tone and reluctantly sat down so as to not anger the goddess in front of him.
"Tell me about Luke."
Grover looked at Percy before he noticeably gulped, it was apparent that he was uncomfortable talking about it, something Percy realised was the case back during their first quest as well after they had met Ares.
It did not go unnoticed by the two goddesses.
"Grover, I understand you're uncomfortable talking about him so I won't push you to talk much. Why don't you just tell us about Luke as a person and what you knew about him from the time you knew him? You don't have to talk more than required," Hestia said kindly while using her powers a little in order to calm the satyr.
It seemed to work as the haunted look on Grover's face slowly settled and became neutral.
"Th-thank you, Lady Hestia," Grover said with relief before he started telling the others whatever he could.
A while later, once Grover was done, Artemis nodded at him to express her thanks and dismissed him since she wanted to see Percy's combat capabilities. The goddess was already aware of how powerful satyrs were and how they fought so she didn't have to bother with Grover. Percy, on the other hand, was a complete mystery. Moreover, she wanted to see how powerful he was especially since he was trained by Athena herself.
"First things first. What all powers have you inherited from Poseidon? And which weapons do you use?" Artemis asked.
Instead of going back and forth, Percy decided to demonstrate his powers first-hand. This would help the goddess to see how powerful he was and how much he had mastered each of his powers. Percy understood that it was better to know about each other's strengths and weaknesses so that they could plan accordingly. Another lesson that Athena had grilled into him.
Percy cleared his thoughts and closed his eyes as the world around him became quiet. He dived deep into his being and activated all the powers that he had gotten from his father. Each thread glowed brightly as the ability was activated. His power level started rising drastically as he called forth his gifts.
The demigod opened his eyes as they glowed with power and raised a hand. Immediately, dark clouds started gathering around and electricity cracked loudly.
...
Ability activated!
Storms
MP: 1,250 – 470 = 780
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Perk activated!
Son of the sea god
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He dismissed the screen as he focused on his actions. The next moment, it started raining lightly. It wasn't anywhere near to the ones Poseidon produced but it was a start.
Percy then brought his hand down to the ground and activated his next power.
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Ability activated!
Earth Shaker
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The ground trembled slightly as the demigod generated a minor earthquake which slightly caught the moon goddess off guard.
He then followed up that action by slowly standing up as the water from the rain started collecting around him. Percy then summoned a bit of water in front of him and turned it into ice shards while the rest of it remained behind him, protecting his back. All the while, the rain had stopped pouring and the ground stopped shaking.
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Ability activated!
Water Control
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Ability activated!
Water Manipulation
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Ability activated!
Ice Control
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Ability activated!
Ice Manipulation
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He proceeded to fire the ice shards at the moon goddess, which didn't worry Hestia at all. She knew he wouldn't pick a fight with the goddess but instead, would do something else.
Artemis narrowed her eyes dangerously as soon as she saw the incoming projectiles and prepared to blast her energy to disintegrate the ice shards. However, they stopped a few yards from her and arranged themselves in a manner that a small rainbow of sorts suddenly formed, making it a beautiful sight.
Percy then dispersed everything and powered down, his eyes changing back to their usual sea-green colour.
"These were the powers that I inherited from my father, Lady Artemis. I thought it was better to show you all of them and how much I can control them instead of us going back and forth about it," Percy said with a slight bow of his head.
The moon goddess stayed silently as she regarded the demigod's display of power. He held immense control over all of them so much so that he was able to change between them at a moment's notice. Moreover, she noticed something that she hadn't seen before. This son of Poseidon had more than two powers of the sea-god, something that not any of his children ever had. To top it all off, the aura that he released was extremely powerful for a demigod of his age. She realised that Athena was not understating things when she said that Percy could be the strongest demigod to ever live. Artemis wondered how powerful he would be once he grew up. Would he fall as Heracles did? Before such questions could start popping up again, she dismissed her thoughts.
"Quite impressive for someone your age. But your powers alone won't win you battles. I don't want to babysit someone on a dangerous quest like this if all you can do is give someone some water and shoot ice cubes. What else can you do except this?" Artemis asked, deliberately trying to rile him up to see how he'd react.
Fortunately for Percy, he didn't rise to the bait and instead opted to answer diplomatically, "of course not, Lady Artemis. I mostly use a sword and know how to use a dagger a little."
"Come on, let's go to the arena. I want to see how well you can handle yourself, nothing too strenuous," Artemis said.
The demigod agreed to it, not that he had a choice. However, to him, it was better since it would be helpful to both.
Thus, the trio spent a few hours seeing Percy's skills, discussing the quest and preparing all essential supplies. At the end of it, Artemis was satisfied with what she had seen and determined that he could be helpful in the quest rather than a dead weight. She then bid him farewell and disappeared in a flash.
"That went well," Hestia said to Percy as the two sat near the campfire.
"You really didn't have to threaten her, Hestia," Percy said as he looked at the fire goddess sitting beside him.
"I had to get across a point."
"Not by threatening someone!"
"It was necessary otherwise she wouldn't have thought much of it," Hestia said with a faraway look in her eyes.
"What do you mean?"
"Just don't get hurt, Percy. Come back to me safely, okay?"
"I will," Percy said as he brought the goddess into a hug which she happily reciprocated.
...
~Day of quest~
Artemis slung a quiver over her back and summoned her bow as she and Zoë made their way towards the starting point.
The hunt had begun.
x.x
A/N
I thought it was important to explain Artemis' character before we moved on. I could go on and on about it thanks to Yoshi and Fox but I shall refrain from doing so.
Next chapter will be here in 2 weeks or 1 month. Depends on my schedule.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter. As always, do drop your reviews.
Until next time.
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Percy's Stats
Perseus Jackson
Species : Demigod (gives +2 STR and +2 DEX)
Title : Son of Poseidon
Perseus is the son of Poseidon and Sally Jackson. Blessed by Elpis, the spirit of hope, he has a natural affinity with water due to his heritage which grants him control over water, horses, storms and earthquakes. He is also Hestia's champion which grants him control over fire and lets him summon meals.
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Level - 21
Exp – 127 / 13,310
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HP : 1,150 / 1,150 (+ 2,000)
MP : 1,250 / 1,250 (+ 2,000)
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STR : 34 (+ 2 + 20) (Bonus : Weapon damage - Damage + STR | Unarmed damage - STR * 2)
VIT : 25 (+ 20) (Bonus : 50 HP per 10 levels)
DEX : 25 (+2 + 20) (Bonus : +10% HP regenerated / min)
INT : 36 (Bonus : 50 MP per 10 levels)
WIS : 27 (Bonus : +10% MP regenerated / min)
LUC : 26 (Bonus : +14% chance of better loot)
Points : 30
Money : $2,200 / D520
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Status : Demigod
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Skills
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Combat :
Sword Fighting (Level 27)
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Inherited :
Ancient Greek (Max)
Tongue of the Old Times (Max)
Modern English (Level 35)
Swimming (Level 11 - 13 km/hr)
Breathe Underwater (Max)
Akachan Shiru no Me (Max)
Running (Level 10 - 40 km / hr)
Storms (Level 4)
Earth Shaker (Level 3)
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General :
Observe (Level 4)
Sneaking (Level 8)
Critical Strike (Level 10)
Mark of the Furies (Level 8)
Mage Armor (Level 13)
Summon Meals (Max)
Makarios tis Elpis (Level 3)
Battle Strategy (Level 12)
Bond Manipulation (Level 3) (Purple: Romance, Brown: Family, Red: Dislike/Hatred, Blue: Friends, Grey: Neutral)
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Chores :
Cleaning Dishes (Max)
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Passive :
Gamer's Mind (Max)
Son of the Sea God (Gives +20 STR, VIT & DEX as well as +2000 HP and +2000 MP when in water)
Battle Instincts (Max)
Champion of Hestia (to be declared)
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Abilities :
Water Control (Level 25)
Water Manipulation (Level 20)
Blood Control (Level 8)
Dimension Create (Max)
Ice Control (Level 11)
Ice Manipulation (Level 8)
Steam Control (Level 5)
Fire Control (Level 20)
Fire Manipulation (Level 18)
