The Unknown

Chapter 14: Artemis and the hunt

The lights were blinding when Artemis emerged from the Earth, but the laughter grew louder. Artemis had heard this laughter before; the most recent time was 60-some years ago, during the giant war. Always with taunting, and this time was no different, his voice was always what she hated most in men; arrogant, demeaning and generally egotistic.

"Just as beautiful as ever Artemis." Gration chuckled, "A little dirty but that is not going to matter."

Artemis' sight began to come back seeing Gration above her, a very common smirk on his face. He stood tall above her, 25 feet tall, muscular chest and lean arms, his only clothes, a pair of camo shorts, and his face was handsome, his skin clear and a clean jaw but an ugly emotion always visible. To Artemis he was one of the ugliest beings she had ever seen.

Artemis was not able to move arms; actually she couldn't move anything besides her head. There wasn't anything holding her down besides force, a light white aura holding her to the ground as Gration towered over her.

"Struggle all you want, you can't break through of what you are held by. Oh... and what is this?" Gration's voice began to get angry, "A ring? Artemis, you are promised to me, no one else can have you!" He was yelling now.

But then Gration smiled, "He probably hasn't touched you yet has he? That is my honor, you will be mine now and I will kill your boyfriend." He shrunk down slightly, "And now that that Jackson bastard is dead, I can finally claim what is mine."

Artemis couldn't move, she saw Gration coming at her and fear burned through her. Gration was two feet away before the deadly silence was broken by a deafening cry of pain. But to Artemis' surprise it came from her attacker, Gration was bellowing in pain before he fell over.

Then Artemis heard the voice that she missed so much, the one that answered all of her dreams. "No Gration, nobody touches my love."

Artemis suddenly felt the force holding her down vanish but before she could move she was swept up off the ground into a pair of strong arms, and looking up she saw the face of Percy Jackson looking down at her with affection in his eyes, but there was something different.

Artemis reached her hand up, brushing his cheek, "Percy... What happened to you?"

Percy chuckled, "The energy drain may have changed my appearance."

"Percy! You're 40!"Artemis exclaimed, running her hand through his now lightly salt and peppered hair.

"Well my energy is a little low, I am sorry if you are displeased by it. I thought it was good to appear older than my son, he said it was weird to be trained by someone who looked the same age as him and still call him dad." Percy explained to her.

Artemis sighed, her fingers now playing with his pure grey streak, a habit she had picked up. "Fine, it's just that my fiancé is an old man." She said with a smirk knowing that it would tease him.

"I take offence to that!" he joked back before turning serious and shooting a look at the moaning form of Gration, "Now if you will excuse me, I believe that I have a punishment that needs delivered."

Percy walked over to a fallen log, Artemis finally realized that she was in some forest, not like the evergreen forests she loved in the northwest but rather a scattered one found in Italy. After setting Artemis down and giving her a quick kiss Percy stepped over Gration's body, a face of rage very present.

Artemis looked at Percy, finally seeing what he looked like now. He was the same height he always was when he came to her in her dreams, and the same muscle build. But his hair was different; along with his grey streak he had a salt and pepper mix on top of a tired face. He looked aged, but also the same, the same Percy she fell in love with. And he was wearing a suit, not like her father's business suits, but an elegant black suit with a shiny silver silk shirt. He was just as handsome as she remembered.