34 Chapter 33: Tidal Bonds - Part 1

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Chapter 33: Tidal Bonds – Part 1

Even though Percy wanted to reply with something along the lines of almost got stabbed to death because of a skeleton's obsession with me or cleaning up after your shit, he doubted the goddess would look favourably upon his dry sense of humour or not blast him to smithereens for his latter remark. He decided to take the dignified route (read: coerced by threat of death).

Now, how much did he have to reveal? He couldn't speak about the quest, so telling her about the first encounter in the Underworld was out of the question. His only option then was to talk about the incident at the camp, while omitting anything that suggested he had met it before.. This way, he wouldn't be lying to Artemis while also keeping his promise to not talk about the quest.

"A few months ago I was in the woods near camp when I met it. I don't know who it is, its tone was neither male nor female, just flat I guess? So anyway, it just said that it wanted me to join it and that I had a lot of potential," Percy said.

"What was its purpose?" Artemis asked.

"It didn't tell me. All it said was that it wanted me to join them. When I refused, it started attacking me until I eventually got stabbed and almost died. Thankfully Aunt Hestia came on time to heal me otherwise, I'd be hanging out with Uncle Hades," he joked, hoping she would appreciate his slapstick humour this time.

In response to that, the goddess merely gave him a dry look before asking. "Did you meet it after that?"

"No, that was the only time except for today."

After taking in the information, Artemis knew that Percy was indeed not lying since she had seen him injured in the forest back when he had just returned from his quest. Ever since that day, she had tried to search for an entity that could make such a strong barrier but to no avail. Now, only a small part of it was revealed. Whoever it was, they were being careful about their plans and identity. Moreover, it didn't seem to be making any moves right now. However, if it did, Olympus would be in terrible danger since the gods already had their hands full with the traitor and the prophecy approaching rapidly. Now that she thought about it, that figure did say something to Perseus before it vanished. She vaguely felt the words to be familiar but couldn't quite grasp it. It was like an itch that she couldn't scratch, which was honestly starting to frustrate her to no end. Thus, she decided to ask Percy in case he could make head or tail of it.

"Percy, when I came to your location, I heard that person say a word in a different language. What was it saying?" Artemis asked.

"It just said 'three,' which is kind of a weird catchphrase if you ask me."

"What's that supposed to mean? Also, how did you manage to understand that language which even I couldn't? Which language was it?"

"It spoke in the Tongue of the Old Times. It was used during the Golden Age."

'Finally!' Artemis thought as the pieces finally fell in together. Her mother often spoke in that language, how could she forget? Wait. How did a demigod learn that? She shot a questioning look at Percy, fortunately the boy was bright enough to understand what she meant.

"Another gift from the Fates, there's no way anyone would be able to teach me that language," the demigod replied quickly.

'Just how many gifts did the Fates bestow upon him?' the goddess thought. Honestly, she was jealous of his ability to create an artificial world. She could vent or train here as much as she wanted, it was the perfect space! Putting those thoughts aside, Artemis resumed their conversation.

"So have you figured out what this 'three' means?"

"No clue, stupid thing didn't even help properly. It could literally be anything," Percy grumbled.

"Well, we've to figure it out as soon as possible. We've got a day at most before we reach our destination and if this clue helps even a little for the quest, we need it."

"I will let you know if I can figure out something else, Lady Artemis. Is there anything else or should I return us now?"

"Wait. How were you able to feel its presence when it was far off? Even I barely felt it," the moon goddess asked, astonished that he could detect someone that neither she nor Zoë could.

"I have been keeping control of the water droplets around us so that if there are any monsters nearby, we'll know immediately."

"So you don't trust mine or Zoë's instincts?" Artemis asked feigning a bit of anger. She wanted to see how he'd react. After all, from her experience, men always tried to do things on their own and didn't trust women with anything.

"No! No, Lady Artemis," Percy replied quickly. "I just thought that it would take a lot of energy to constantly use your power especially since you have limited your divine powers. Moreover, if you exhausted your current powers and were ambushed at that moment, it would be highly detrimental since your combat skills are far above mine. It would be more practical for me to keep a watch as much as I can and signal whenever I cannot keep up with it anymore. Besides, there are water droplets almost everywhere during the early mornings and late evenings so even if I felt tired, I could recharge my energy level quickly. Another perk of being a son of Poseidon," Percy said grinning.

"You know, it's practically cheating as a demigod since your powers would not be limited as long as you have access to water. Even though everyone thinks that Zeus has the best domain of them all, it is actually Poseidon who had the most powerful of them. As such, his kids have always been more powerful than those of his brothers," Artemis grumbled lightly

She shook her head after a moment. "Anyway, I digress, we need to find the meaning behind the word 'three' before we reach the quest and its significance. We can go back now," Artemis continued.

Percy immediately dispelled the world and went out to sit by the took the first shift since he could see that the moon goddess needed some time alone.

As he sat near the fireplace, his mind started wandering through everything that he had been through the past year. As he reminisced about the first few days of the new world he had entered, Percy brought out his sword. It immediately expanded to its full height as the bronze metal glowed faintly by the fire.

Percy swept his hand through the blade, recalling the first time it had been handed to him and the description the system had shown about it.

…

Anaklusmos

"Forged by the Cyclopes, tempered in the heart of Mount Etna and cooled in the River Lethe, the sword contains the immortal power of Zoë Nightshade, one of the Hesperides. Hercules was its former owner."

…

Just as he re-read the description, a sudden thought flashed in his mind. If the sword contained Zoë's power, would it be considered to have a sort of consciousness of its own or have ties with the huntress?

Wanting to test his theory, Percy activated his powers.

…

Skill Activated!

Bond Manipulation

…

Sure enough, a familiar strand of a grey (neutral) thread flowed from the sword towards Percy while a brown (family) thread flew towards Zoë's tent, but the same thread could not be seen coming from her. It was mostly grey with traces of red (dislike/hatred) mixed in it. It was as though the huntress wanted nothing to do with the sword. No wonder she never spoke of it or gave it another glance. Truthfully, it was fine too given what the sword must've reminded her.

"You've been through a lot huh? The person who you consider family wants nothing to do with you despite you not being at fault," Percy said to the sword. As though it heard it, the sword vibrated a little, indicating that the demigod was correct.

"Looks like we got a bit to talk about."