The Unknown

Chapter 7: Beginning of the age of happiness

Artemis' Dream*

Artemis walked into a forest clearing; she was hunting at night, the moon shining brightly up in the sky. Her bow was loaded, ready for the kill. But before she could continue after her prey there was a rustle of the grass behind her.

She twirled around and in shock she released the arrow. The silver missile cut through the still night air before coming to an abrupt stop in the grasp of a man. When he lowered his hand he sent his famous crooked grin.

"Hello my love." He said and opened his arms.

"Percy..." her voice was small and fragile, if there had been the slightest of breezes it would have been lost. His windblown hair was still messy, his smile was exactly the same as the last time he used it. Everything was the same except his muscles and height had grown and his eyes. His eyes were older, like he had lived longer than her and seen great joy and sadness. Tears brimmed from her eyes, threatening to fall before she bounded into his opened arms. "I missed you. Where are you? Why didn't you come back for me?" She cried in his arms.

"I never wanted to leave you Artemis but the man that brought back Zoë says it isn't the right time for me to return, that is why he brought back Zoë, but I will be watching over you. I will never leave you." Percy was holding her to his chest stroking her hair. "I love you Artemis"

Artemis took a shaky breath through her dying tears and looked up at him, his sea green eye calming her. "I love you too Percy."

Percy leaned down and kissed Artemis, bringing a warm sensation through them both. It didn't last long but to Artemis it was perfect.

They spent the rest of her dream in a comfortable silence until Percy broke it, "You have to wake up now my love."

Artemis shook her head, "No I am going to stay with you, I don't want to ever leave. You can't leave me again."

"I will return, when it is necessary I will be back to fight for you. But for now I will see you in your dreams. I can't always be here or you will always be sleeping. But I need you to be happy. I knew Zoë would help you be happy. She is your sister and you need to spend time with her." He smiled a sad smile at her, "But I need to go and you have to wake up."

"But how will you know when I need you? I need you now." Artemis argued.

"I sent your protector for a reason. He is my gift to you because I won't be there to protect you. I need you to be strong, like you always are. Wake up my love," with that he kissed her forehead and she slowly drifted from Morpheus' realm.

When Artemis awoke she felt better than she had for a long time, a general feeling of happiness and warmth surged through her. But what surprised her was seeing her wolf in bed with her, lying next to her and arm was wrapped around him. His fur was softer than any wolf fur she had ever felt but she had a theory that it was like the Nemean lion's fur.

The wolf was not sleeping, he was simply lying next to her, keeping her warm. She smiled at the wolf, he was a gift from Percy and she loved him because of that. The wolf hopped down allowing Artemis to get up and flash on her usual hunting dress. Walking out of her room she saw all of her hunters already up and out at activities.

Followed by the wolf who remained really close to her, not giving her much room but she didn't mind. Having him close to her made her feel better, he radiated an aura of comfort and trust.

She found her hunters around the campfire conversing amongst themselves, the returned members being told stories about what happened at the war. When the topic got to the end of the war, hunters glanced at Artemis before saying his name. Many of the resurrected hunters went silent after hearing of their sacrifice but the hunters that were there looked at Artemis; they knew there was something between their mistress and the hero.