13 Chapter 13

POV: Perseus Heitor Jackson

1 month later

I've been "grounded" for some time now, being locked up in Olympus in a way, barely being able to leave my mother's palace, even if it was just to walk the streets of Olympus, she was watching me all the time, leaving no room for me to disobey her, she even left some of her servants watching the palace, so every moment I was outside the walls of this palace, there were my mother's servants watching me, I really was a prisoner. After that little incident, honestly speaking, I don't think I can say that it's an exaggeration on her part, after all, I really did run away without her permission, of course I was feeling extremely suffocated and trapped, but to tell the truth, I've always been in a kind of house arrest, although before, Hera took care to try and hide it from me, but now, she doesn't even make a point of it, after all, the first and only time I went out without her supervision, I was almost killed by monsters, proving her theory that they were always after my head, making it even more difficult for her to let me out again, although she didn't last time, after all, before that, I never left Olympus, anywhere in the mortal world, I was allowed to go to a few places, which basically is to go to the forges with Hephaestus, (which is always very nice, Hephaestus is good with me, I can't complain when I'm with him) and to go to the bottom of the sea, in the kingdom of my Father, Poseidon, (who is also super nice). I think you may have noticed that I can't go out in any way, except with the supervision of a god or my mother or her most trusted servants, which frustrates me, but I was to blame for this overprotective treatment, after almost dying on my last escapade, I don't think I'll ever be able to leave Olympus alone again, even when I reach adulthood.

Today is completely boring, I've played every video game possible, I've read until my head started to hurt from reading and re-reading so many words that I ended up going to bed very early last night. And to help, today is Saturday, my day off from training with the other gods, so I'm in my room as usual, I've just woken up, it must be about 8am, and I'm lying there staring at the ceiling, with nothing really to do, I think the best thing is to read another book, maybe an adventure or fiction book, something that will motivate me not to try and do something stupid, like trying to escape Olympus again. Just as I was about to get out of bed and look for a book to read, someone knocks on my door, which is strange, it's certainly not my mother, she never knocks on the door, my father wouldn't knock on the door either, my brothers, Ares or Hephaestus either, maybe my lady Hestia. I go to the door and open it, and I come face to face with a goddess somewhat unusual to see on Olympus, it was Artemis, she was dressed as usual, blue jeans, sandals, a white shirt and with her silver jacket, but she was different from usual, she was in her adult form, her face was even more beautiful, around 20 years old, redhead, her long hair, going down her back until it almost reached her butt, she will be tall in this form, about 170cm, with a curvy and athletic body, and with those silver eyes full of power, that unmistakable smell of the forest and nature that she emanated was very delicious. I looked at her in surprise, a little questioningly, she hardly ever came to Olympus, let alone in her adult form.

"Hello, Arty." I smiled as I approached her, so that she could give me a hug. As she was now taller than me, she placed a kiss on the top of my head.

"Hello, Percy."

"What a rare occasion to see you on Olympus." I smiled, trying to figure out why she had come to Olympus.

"Yes, it's true, I don't come here very often." She smiled back, as she went into my room. Fortunately, Hera was always very fond of my tidiness, even if I wasn't a disorganized person, but for Hera's standards, anything out of place was disorganized. "I'd rather stay in nature, with my girls and hunt some monsters for fun."

"Right, I see your point, let's face it, staying here on Olympus isn't as cool as everyone thinks." I said seriously, I understood her very well, staying here in Olympus is so annoying and boring. "Well, I have two questions, but before I ask them, sit down with me." I said smiling, sitting down on my bed, and motioning for her to do the same, she followed me and sat down on the bed, her body facing me. "The first question is: what are you doing here in my room? And the second: why are you in your adult form?"

"Ah, right." She said seriously, looking down at her body, as if she had just remembered that she was no longer a little 13-year-old child, but a beautiful adult woman. "Well, I'm in my adult form, because I was trying to convince your mother to let you spend a few days with me and my huntresses, and well, I forgot to go back to being a child because of the novelty." She didn't even have to say anything else, because I was already very excited to hear those words, was she trying to take me out of Olympus? That was great, even if it meant going on a man-hating woman hunt, which was bad, since I was a boy, I would become a man someday, which would probably make me her enemy. As much as my mind was thinking about the bad possibilities of my second encounter with the huntresses, I was very excited about leaving Olympus, so much so that I was already standing up, facing the goddess with great excitement, while she was calmly sitting on my bed, looking at my excitement with a happy smile. "Fortunately, she let you spend a week with us." I was so happy, I didn't even care that she hated men, I just jumped on top of her, giving her a bear hug with all my enthusiasm and strength, which didn't sit well with her. "OW, OW, OW, Percy you're very strong." She laughed, and I released her from the hug and kissed her cheek.

"I'm sorry, Arty, I got too carried away, but I'm so happy." I said, still kissing her, on the face, forehead, cheek, chin, taking the utmost care not to kiss her on the lips, which would be very strange and disgusting, by the way, to kiss someone I consider a sister, as much as I consider Rhoda, but Arty was a super-powerful older sister who hates men. But she was happy with my excessive affection, as she kept giggling like a child. "You're the best big sister, not real sister, of all."

"All right, my little brother, not a real brother." She said laughing, which made me laugh at her joke. "Come on, let's say goodbye to your mother and get to the camp, because Zoë is very anxious to see you." When I heard that name, I was even happier and more excited to go, but I remembered something that had been tormenting me these last few days.

"Before we go, Arty, can you answer me something?" She nodded positively while smiling at me. "Why did Zoë look so strange when I told her about Heracles? She seemed to get angry, and all the other huntresses looked at her." Arty's beautiful smile disappeared and she looked at me seriously, I think I said something wrong.

"Well Percy, I don't know if you know, but most huntresses enter the hunt because of unrequited love, or because of betrayals by bad men, among other sad reasons, right?" I nodded positively at your words, I knew that most huntresses enter the hunt because they've been hurt by bad men, I've already read about it in some books I got about the huntresses of Artemis here on Olympus. "Okay, then, you should know that Zoë's entry into the hunt has to do with Heracles, but only she can tell you the details." I looked at her curiously, wanting to know more details about Heracles, after all, he was the most powerful and incredible demigod that ever lived, I'm extremely fond of him, although I don't think he did anything good for Zoë. "I'm sorry, I won't say any more, that's Zoë's business, but I think if you ask, she'll tell you, you're the man she trusts, the only one in millennia."

"All right, I'll ask her." I said at last, but stopped to think for a moment, I'm not a man yet, I'm just a boy, even if I don't act like one most of the time. "But let's go, I can't wait." I said, jumping out of bed and running towards my closet. Arty laughed as he watched me pack my clothes into my suitcase. "I'm so glad I can get out of here and spend time with people other than gods from thousands of years ago."

"Percy, most girls are hundreds of years old, Zoë for example is thousands of years old, almost as old as me." Artemis laughed at my excitement.

"Right, but in appearance, they're the same age as me, and I'll be having fun, seeing nature, learning about hunting and everything else." I smiled excitedly, then remembered that the men who visited the immortal girls' hunt didn't end very well. "Well, I hope none of them are going to try to kill me, are they?" I asked worriedly.

"Well, not kill, but if you get into trouble or annoy them, castrate you, it's not out of the question." She answered seriously, staring at me. At the same moment I turned pale and stopped packing my suitcase, she continued to look at me seriously, no matter how young I am now, I will grow old, and I want to be alive and with my most precious possessions safe, and I knew that the huntresses didn't take it easy on men, so the best decision, even if I wanted to leave Olympus, was to stay here and remain 100%. I turned around and started to unpack. Artemis laughed out loud and gave me a weak, playful slap on the head. "It's a joke, you goofball, they want to get to know you better, no hitting, much less violence, I would never let my girls bully my little brother, I swear."

"Okay, since you swear, I trust you." I finally said, continuing to put my clothes away. When I'd finished packing, I turned my attention to Artemis. "Let's go, listen to my mother's list of rules."

"Yeah, let's go." Arty laughed. We went downstairs and into the kitchen, and there was my mother and my grandmother Athena, great, double sermon. My mother was wearing a brown tunic, her hair was loose, and she was wearing gold sandals, literally made of pure gold, and my grandmother was wearing running shoes, white jeans, and a gray women's polo shirt, she looked like an American teenager, going to school.

"Good morning, Mom." I kissed her cheek.

"Good morning, son." My mother replied, smiling happily. I turned around and walked to my grandmother.

"Good morning, Grandma." I kissed her too.

"Good morning, Percy, my darling." I sat down next to my grandmother and remained silent, waiting for them to start dictating the rules of conduct and etiquette that I should follow. But for a few seconds, nothing was said, which I found strange.

"And you ladies, aren't you going to say anything? Before I go and spend a week with Arty and her huntresses?" I asked curiously.

"No, you already know." Said my grandmother Athena.

"I'm sorry, Athena." Said my distressed mother. "I know we agreed not to say anything, but I can't stand it." Said my mother and gave me a big hug and a kiss. I laughed, I knew she was going to lecture me, otherwise I wouldn't be Hera the Queen of the Gods, aka my MOTHER. "Don't forget to wash behind your ears, brush your teeth after every meal, be polite, don't swear and above all, don't be reckless, protect yourself and if you're going to attack a monster with the huntresses, always be careful, let them fight, they have experience, stand back and watch them, don't disobey Artemis, and please, be very careful, my love."

"I will be, very careful." She said, relieved. Then she turned her attention to Artemis.

"And for the love of all that is most sacred, Artemis, don't let him get hurt." My mother pleaded.

"Of course I won't let him get hurt, Hera." Arty said seriously, although she tried not to laugh.

"Then you can go." My mother exclaimed, giving me one last long kiss on the cheek.

"I love you, Mom, and you too, Grandma."

"I love you more." They both said it, almost in a single sound. What made me laugh, I went to Arty's side.

"I'm ready to go, Arty."

"So let's go, bye." Said Arty, she waved to the other goddesses, who waved back.

"Yeah, Arty, I think you'd better go back to being a child." She nodded, then her body began to glow slightly, a blinding silver glow, until she was 150cm tall again, her features becoming even more youthful. He took me by the hand and we disappeared into a silver glow, even with the slight dizziness I felt, it was inevitable not to close my eyes, when it passed and I could open my eyes, I noticed that we were in a camp, there were seven large tents, all made of beautiful silver silk, in a crescent curve on one side of a campfire, There was a river a few meters beyond the campfire, a river of just over 30 meters from one bank to the other, although it was small, its rapids were powerful, the trees huge and leafy, the warm breeze of that morning hit my face, and the delicious smell of being in nature brightened my day even more. Suddenly, a dozen white wolves appeared from the woods, coming straight at me, they were huge, the smallest of them must have been more than a meter tall, and more than two meters long, quietly weighing more than 120Kg, with huge fangs and eyes as blue as deep water, attentive and fierce, for a moment I was frightened. Then I noticed that they were wagging their tails happily, like puppies, as soon as they realized it was Artemis.

"My babies, you can rest assured, he's our special guest for a few days." Said the goddess calmly, while stroking the huge white wolves. Then she turned her attention to me and smiled. "Come Percy, meet our eyes and ears." Without hesitation I approached, unafraid, after all I was with Artemis, she wouldn't let her guardian wolves rip my hands off. Artemis took my hand and slowly placed it on the head of the largest of them, he must have been almost 150cm tall, 3 meters long, and about 200kg, he was huge and strong, and to add to the fear, he had glowing red eyes. "This is the leader of the pack, Toddy, he has served me very well for many millennia, if you make friends with him, all the others will like you too." With that in mind, I started stroking Toddy's head, although his name reminded me of my favorite chocolate drink, and was even cute and funny, his huge red eyes and pointed teeth reminded me that he was a very strong and dangerous animal.

"Toddy." I said his name gently, while continuing to stroke his head, his huge tail wagging happily with the affection, which led me to believe that I had managed to make friends with him.

"Great, great." Said Artemis, as she pushed the huge creature aside and made room for the others to come closer to me. "That's Dudu and Bolt, they're the three males we have at the moment." While she was saying the names of the animals, she pointed so that I would know which one she was referring to. "That's Laika, Cocoa, Princess, Raika. Nikita, Kitty, Tuca, Lessie and the shy one at the back, Caramel." Artemis said, smiling, and when they heard their names, they howled happily, or just wagged their tails even more, showing their happiness.

"I think I got everyone's name." I said seriously, while stroking Tuca's head.

"Since we've introduced everyone, it's time for you to return to your duties, go, go." Artemis said seriously, while making the huge wolves disperse, some of them began to circle the camp like guard dogs, you could see some huntresses walking among them feeding and treating them, completely without fear, they were protective animals, docile with the huntresses and friends, more ferocious against unwanted visitors. Another group, led by Toddy, entered the forest behind the camp and disappeared from my sight between the trees. A huge, all-white Falcon watched us from the tallest tree nearby, its eyes flickering in the firelight, and I had the feeling it was on guard. But if I stopped to analyze it, it wasn't a normal hawk either, it was much bigger than a Gerifalte Hawk, which was already the biggest hawk, with a wingspan of over 160 meters and a height of 60 cm and weighing almost 1500 kg. The one I was looking at was at least 120cm tall, almost twice as tall, as well as having a completely white coat and bright blue eyes. " That's one of my falcons, I have two, they're my pair of Giant Falcons, a species that has long been extinct, but I saved these two specimens, they're much bigger than the Gerifalte Falcon and faster than the Peregrine Falcon, reaching an incredible 500 km/H.

"How incredible." I was fascinated to be able to see one of these two incredible specimens, so rare.

"Griffith." Called Artemis. The bird, upon hearing his name, croaked loudly and flew towards Artemis, who stretched out her arm and the bird posed on her arm, even though its huge claws did nothing to Artemis' skin. The goddess gently stroked the animal, which continued to enjoy the goddess' affection happily. "Come on, Percy, Griffith is very calm, he likes affection." Without hesitating, I took a step forward and stroked the beautiful animal, its plumage was soft, very pleasant, the hawk stroked my hand lightly with its beak. "Now that the introductions have been made." Said Artemis smiling, then she waved her hand and the bird flew to the highest tree again, to continue its guard duty. "Casca is missing, she must be on her patrol, then later I'll introduce Griffith's partner." Said Artemis smiling. In this way, Artemis guided me closer to the camp, this time drawing the attention of the girls from the hunt, who approached me, coming closer, but none of them hugged me or even spoke to me, they just waved from afar, I waved back, they looked dull, they didn't have anything to say, and I didn't have anything to say either, I was a bit static. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a shadow quickly approaching me, it was fast, I only reacted after I felt a body collide with mine and knock me to the ground, I felt two small arms wrap around me, squeezing me tightly, I looked up startled, to see Zoë with her coppery-like skin, a silver tiara around her head, a slightly upturned nose and eyes as black as volcanic rocks, she always gave off an air of royalty, very graceful and from my point of view, she looked beautiful, but her hair was different from the last time I saw her, it was black, smooth as silk, even though her hair was different, that look of hers always reminded me of that of a Persian princess.

"What did you do to your hair?" I asked curiously, making Artemis and the huntresses laugh even more at the strange situation. Then I realized that it sounded rude to ask without even greeting her. "Before that, nice to see you, Zoë." I smiled and she smiled back.

"I say the same, it's very good to see you again." She smiled sweetly. "As for my hair, I've put it back the way it was before." She stood up and helped me up too. "What do you think?"

"It looks awful." I answered seriously, making fun of her, she gave me a deadly look, I laughed at her reaction.

"You idiot." She slapped me on the arm, I laughed even harder and took her hand, bringing her into a real hug.

"You look beautiful, Zoë." I said, running my hands through her hair, which smelled of roses. I noticed that many of the huntresses were present, all watching me, I noticed that I hardly knew them, not even by name, just Phoebe, who appeared to be 14 years old, 165cm, blonde and very pretty, she was Apollo's daughter, and there were about 20 other huntresses. "Well, introduce me to the girls, I only know you and Phoebe by name."

"Of course, very well, this is Diana, daughter of Ares," Said Zoë pointing to a very pretty girl, strong and muscular, she was 165cm tall, her eyes were black like her hair.

"Hello Diana, it's nice to meet you." She smiled. "Your father is very nice, he beats me up every time and almost every day." She laughed, trying to convey sympathy, some of the huntresses laughed, including Diana. "He taught me almost everything I know about armed and unarmed combat, except fencing, that was my father."

"Hello Percy, I hope you don't disappoint me." said Diana waving, although she didn't sound so friendly, I waved back. I was introduced to all the others, who just waved from afar, others introduced themselves as Diana, a bit aggressive, well I guess I'll have to win them over one by one, I hope I don't have to get hurt by all of them, again and again.

---- Break ----

We were practicing archery, they were very good, almost as good as me in fact, but they were surprised by my skills, and my bow, which was like theirs, it appeared when you needed it, it had lots of arrows and different types of tips, as we imagined, after all I got this incredible weapon as a gift from Apollo. Zoë and I were betting on who was better, and I won, but it was fun. I kept throwing it back in her face that I was better, although she got very annoyed about it.

"I told you I'd win, Zoë." I teased her while we were feeding the wolves huge chunks of meat.

"It was just luck." She sneered, although I could see that she was quite annoyed about it.

"Admit it, I'm a better archer than you." I laughed. As soon as I'd finished speaking, Zoë jumped on me and started punching me. Then, before I could defend myself, the huge wolf Toddy got between us, not letting Zoë hit me anymore. He didn't growl at Zoë, he just didn't let her hit me, getting in front of her.

"Toddy, get out of the way, Percy has to catch up." Ordered Zoë, but the huge wolf didn't obey her, he kept hitting me with the side of his body, trying to get me as far away from Zoë as he could, while she tried to hit me with her playful slaps, but Toddy stood in front, to receive the blows instead of me. "Looks like you've got yourself a defender, Percy." Said Zoë laughing, as she tried to slap me again.

"That's my friend Toddy." I said happily, while stroking the head of the huge wolf, who continued to defend me from Zoë, even though she was no longer trying to slap me, he was still between us, looking intently at Zoë. "He know I'm the best archer and he want to protect me from your violence of pure envy." I teased her.

"I'm the best, and you only won by luck." said Zoë, slightly annoyed. "And Toddy knows that if he doesn't defend you, I'll end your race, little demigod." She laughed, which made me laugh even harder.

"As you wish, Miss Zoë." I laughed some more as I went back to the task of feeding the wolves, while giving my savior Toddy a piece of meat. After doing a few more tasks like the huntresses, we had dinner as a group, with no meat, only fruit and vegetables, and the main course was Eggplant Stroganoff, which frankly speaking, was nowhere near as tasty as the original or the chicken one, vegetarian food would never replace a barbecue, but since I was here as a guest, I had to adapt to other people's food, nevertheless, the food wasn't what bothered me most during dinner, but the other huntresses felt the most distant from me, in fact, that bothered me all day, except at dinner time, when the presence of Artemis and the whole group around the campfire made me feel a little less out of place, after all, I was sitting between Zoë and Artemis, but I still felt that the other girls didn't accept me well, except for Phoebe, who didn't leave my side either.

In short, during my first day, the huntresses never mistreated me, they just avoided me, they kept their distance, as if they were afraid of me hurting them, and I kept my respect, hoping that one of them would try to get closer to me, make more friends, I wouldn't try to force it and act like I was already a member of the hunt, because I wasn't, only Phoebe and Zoë got close enough to be able to touch me and talk more warmly. Well now it was just me and Zoë, she's very nice to me, we were chatting about random things, but after we came back from a quick walk in the forest, we sat under a tree, we were close to the tents, Zoë started taking care of her hunting knives, sharpening them with a stone suitable for sharpening knives, I watched her in silence for a while, but my ADHD was driving me crazy.

"Zoë."

"Hey?" She asked distractedly, while continuing to sharpen one of her hunting knives. As I had already called her, I was a little terrified, I acted on impulse, my curiosity won out, I was curious to know more about Zoë.

"Without being inconvenient." I tried to start my question gently, but I think it's a complicated question anyway. "And by the way, you know a lot about me, about my past, about my life as a whole, and well, I don't know anything about you, would you mind telling me about your past?" I asked at once, she grimaced, and stopped sharpening her hunting knife, although her eyes were still focused on the blade, even more than before, she stood still and thought for a few seconds, which left me a little terrified, had I crossed the line? Just as I was about to tell her to forget it and change the direction of the conversation, Zoë nodded firmly, as if she was sure of her decision, then she looked at me.

"Let's start at the beginning, Percy." She finally said, as she stared at me with her beautiful, intimidating eyes. "I am the daughter of the titan Atlas, also known as the General, his name is well known because he was the General of Kronos in the titan war, my mother was a minor goddess, Hesperus." I had heard of them, obviously of the powerful and evil Titan Atlas, and also of the goddess Hesperus, thinking about these parents, I had a slight guess as to what exactly Zoë was, perhaps a demigod like me? Maybe. "I was a nymph, one of the Hesperides." So Zoë is actually a nymph, sometimes the fruit of the relationship between two immortal beings is not always another immortal, or even a half-blood who will become immortal and who will age more quickly than any normal demigod, who has only one of his immortal descendants. I had already heard the myth about the garden of the Hesperides, which was considered the most beautiful garden in all of antiquity. When my mother Hera married Zeus, she received some golden apples from Gaia as a wedding present, and Hera found them so beautiful that she planted them in her garden, In the far West, the garden of the Hesperides was known as the garden of the immortals, because it contained an orchard that was home to magical trees from which golden buds were born, considered to be the source of eternal youth, including being the main ingredient for making Ambrosia and Nectar. To reach the garden there were many obstacles, such as the cave of the Greys and the cave of the Gorgons. The garden itself was populated by monsters who protected it, such as a terrible dragon, son of Phocis and Keto, and also Ladon, the hundred-headed dragon son of Typhon and Echidna, Pliny and Solinus report only two mortals (heroes) who encountered the gardens of the Hesperides: Perseus when he went to confront Medusa and Heracles in one of the famous Twelve Labors of Heracles. Knowing this, I noticed that Heracles met Zoë in his eleventh labor, since Eristaeus had originally ordered only ten labors, however, Heracles had two of the first ten labors discounted by his cousin, because, in the second labor, Heracles received a lot of help from Iolaeus, his nephew, who noticed that the wounds of the severed heads of the giant monster, Hydra of Lerna, which were burned quickly, did not sprout new heads in their place. And the other work that was annulled by Eristaeus was the fifth work, in which he commissioned Heracles to clean King Augias' stables. In short, since Heracles diverted two rivers and made them clean the filthy stables, it wasn't exactly Heracles who cleaned them, so Eristaeus canceled this other work. In order to find the location, Heracles had to go after Nereus, the old man of the sea, who, according to legend, knows many things, but it wasn't easy to get information out of the old man, he was clever and could transmute himself into many aquatic animals, which made life difficult for Heracles, however, the demigod succeeded, getting the old man to tell him the exact location of the garden. After that, the legend differs greatly, it's not very clear, some say that Atlas helped him willingly, others say that Heracles himself took the fruit and defeated Ladon, even that he waited for the dragon to sleep and sneaked the fruit, among many other stories. "But my name was crossed out of the story for helping..." She paused, and I took her hand, encouraging her to continue opening up to me. "Heracles passing Ladon, giving him my best weapon so that he would have a chance to fight Ladon, even for a few moments, so that he could get the golden apple, my sisters threw me out of the garden and I was abandoned by Heracles too, for a long time I was abandoned and helpless in the world, wandering aimlessly, living as I could." I felt sorry for Zoë, as well as extremely disappointed in Heracles, and I even got a bit angry. "Fortunately Artemis found me, I became a huntress." She paused as she looked away, her face sad and tired. But she turned her attention to me and forced a smile. " hat's why I wanted to kill you when we first met, you remind me so much of that bastard." She had tears in her eyes and I didn't want to ask her for details, even though I was curious to know more. I began to connect the facts and soon discovered something, my father's words came back to me, he had told me that he would receive the Counter-Chain as a direct tribute from Heracles, perhaps, knowing that Zoë was a water nymph, who helped Heracles so long ago, that weapon, was the way Zoë helped Heracles, after all, my father told me that the sword had a dark history, just as Zoë's life was until she met Artemis.

"So I think I need to give you something back." I said, taking Counter-Current and handing it to her, still in the form of a pen, but she didn't understand right away. "Turn off the pen." I asked Zoë, so she did, and in place of the pen grew a sword, she looked at me in amazement, I shrugged. "My father had it, somehow he received it as a tribute, and gave it to me, I don't want to be a demigod like Heracles, who uses others to achieve his goals, despite having super strength like him, I don't want to be like him anymore, not after everything I discovered today, he was my hero, I followed him as an example, but discovering who the real heroine of the story is, opened my eyes to the truth." Zoë looked at me smiling, a little speechless. "From now on, you're my hero, I want to look up to you, so that I don't get off on the wrong foot, I want this sword to go back to you, the real owner." She smiled broadly, the most beautiful smile she had ever given me, her eyes were watery, but I could tell it was from happiness, she came closer and gave me a strong hug, I tried to reciprocate as best I could.

"You'll never be like that pig, I'm sure of it." She pulled away a little from the hug, smiling. She looked at the sword. "I don't think it will serve me anymore, I've changed my fighting style a lot, I've abandoned the use of swords for so many millennia." Then she turned to me again. "I want you to have it, I know you'll be in good hands." She handed the sword back to me, and I smiled at her.

"I swear, if I ever meet Heracles, I'll give him a good beating, for your sake, I'll send him to Tartarus." I said seriously, as I looked at the sword, I had decided that if one day in my adventures I meet Heracles and don't make him pay for what he did to Zoë, I didn't deserve this gift, I didn't deserve to use Counter-Current.

"I know you will, I'll look forward to the day when you avenge me, my great hero." She smiled. But I wasn't angry, that promise was more for me than for her, she'll see, me keeping that promise. When I had just taken the lid of the Counter-Currents from my pocket and put it against the blade, and as always, turning the huge sword back into a simple pen, I put it back in my pocket. "Come on, let's go to sleep, it's late." She took my hand and led me to one of the tents. At that moment I held my breath, was I really going to sleep in one of the huntresses' tents? Next to them? Was that right? Would Artemis allow that? I could very well summon a tent for myself, using my powers with Hestia would be easy, or even take my bottomless backpack and sleep alone in my tent. We went inside the tent, it seemed exactly like Artemis', even in the fact that it was much more spacious inside than it appeared to be outside, a pleasant atmosphere, simple and somewhat rustic furniture, there were five double beds, in one of which I noticed my suitcase of clothes, but the fact that there are five beds here means that three more huntresses are going to sleep with us, which made me even more apprehensive.

"Zoë, do you think I should sleep with you? " I asked worriedly, but I was so worried that I didn't even let the nymph answer. "It's just that I'm a man and all, what the other huntresses will think of us." Zoë laughed at me, which made me even more nervous. "I can conjure up a tent, sleep alone."

"What's up Percy, don't overthink it, I'm not going to kiss you or anything, that would be disgusting." She said with a strange look on her face, which made me laugh. "You can rest easy, everyone knows that nothing much will happen, you're not a man yet, you're a child, besides, we won't be sleeping alone, Phoebe, Diana and Marcela also sleep here in this tent." Phoebe likes me, Diana and Marcela don't, but 2 out of 4 is the best I can do here for now. Zoë winked at me. "The most that can happen is that I beat you up."

"But..."

"But nothing, Percy." She interrupted me. "Stop being an idiot Percy, everyone here knows that you're my younger brother, which I never had, just as the goddess herself also considers you a little brother, besides, I asked my mistress to let you sleep with me here, Phoebe loved the idea and Diana and Marcela weren't against it." Saying this, she turned and walked to her wardrobe and picked up her pajamas, while I walked to my bed, staring at my suitcase of clothes, I noticed that I had another problem, I simply hated sleeping in my shirt, it bothered me a lot, I think I simply can't sleep without a shirt here, in the middle of the other huntresses. "Percy, you'd better not turn around, I'm changing and if you peek, I'll pierce your eyes." I felt my face flush, and I thought I'd better not look, in fact, I barely breathed. "Okay, you can turn around now." I turned around slowly, she had already taken off her usual huntresses' clothes, her lieutenant's tiara, she was wearing a black sweater, it went up to an inch above her crotch. She turned around and started to get into bed. "Percy, would you mind sharing the bed with me?"

"Share a bed?" I asked in surprise.

"Yes, come sleep with me."

"Sleep with you?" I asked in amazement. Which made her roll her eyes.

"Are you demented now? To keep repeating what I say." She argued.

"I'm sorry." I said awkwardly, so I took courage and said what was bothering me. "It's just that I'm having a little problem."

"What problem?" She asked confused.

"I haven't been able to sleep in my shirt since I was little, it bothers me a lot." I finally said, and she looked at me half laughing.

"I don't mind." She shrugged.

"But will the others?"

"I don't think so, since you really can't, they'll understand." She shrugged. "But then, are you coming to bed with me or not?"

"Sure, I'm coming." I said seriously, as I took off my shirt and put it on my bed, I went and lay down next to her, turning my back to her, Zoë hugged me, I snuggled closer to her, I felt comfortable, she was an older sister that I never had, even though I consider Arty my sister too, we were never that close, besides, she's hardly ever in Olympus, and even though Zoë and I fight all day, I love her, I really do. "Why do you pick on me so much?" I asked her teasingly, but before I let her answer, I slapped her bare leg slowly. "You're annoying."

"Hey." She complained louder, returning the slap, and then another, and soon we were in the middle of a playful fight. "You filthy male." She laughed and slapped me and I slapped back, but all in jest, so I hugged her and squeezed, not too hard so as not to hurt, with both arms tied, and me on her back she had no way of escaping, we both laughed a lot, but I had caught her. "Let go of me, PERSEUS." She shouted, trying to get free.

"NO." I shouted back, still laughing hard. "You're my prisoner now, I'll only let you go if you give up." She tried a little harder, but realized that she could no longer escape.

"I give up, I give up Percy." She said breathlessly, with great effort. "Now let go of me, come on." She said, but I was in charge of the game, it wasn't going to be that easy.

"I won't let go until you tell me who is the best archer and the most beautiful man of all." I wanted to annoy her, I knew she wouldn't say it so easily.

"ARGH." She growled angrily. "I'm not going to say that to you." She struggled, but it was no use. "YOU BIG IDIOT." She shouted angrily.

"Okay, then I'll get serious."

"What are you going to do, Percy?" She asked worriedly.

"THIS." I shouted laughing, while loosening my grip a little, and with my chin I began to tickle her back, she laughed and screamed, shaking her legs from side to side, laughing a lot, I just hope that the tent has acoustics so that the sound doesn't leak out, or soon the huntresses will come in here armed with their bows, thinking that I'm murdering Zoë.

"OKAY, NOW STOP, STOP." She shouted helplessly, after a few minutes of punishment.

"THEN SAY IT."

"PERSEUS HEITOR JACKSON IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL MAN AND THE BEST ARCHER IN THE WORLD." She shouted, now I was satisfied, I had beaten her completely, so I let her go, she looked at me angrily. "And also the most idiotic of brothers."

"So you want more..." I was about to attack again, when I saw a yellow-haired woman entering the tent, it was Phoebe.

"Can we keep it down?" Phoebe asked, laughing. I felt my face blush violently. Gods, were the huntresses listening? "The whole forest already knows that Perseus Heitor Jackson is the most beautiful man and the best archer in the world." I felt my face blush even more. "Do you have any more compliments to say Zoë?"