Son of Odin

The Truth Emerges

Percy opened his eyes when he heard Artemis' voice just above him.

"Oh Percy, what have you done to me?" She was seemingly asking him. He opened his eyes and found her own silvery orbs staring down at him. She gave in to a brutal blush that covered her entire face. Was that it? Was that the confirmation that Percy needed?

"I should go." She got up to leave but Percy grabbed her hand and held her in place. The close contact was enough for Percy to feel a tingle shoot through him entire arm. The connection was special to him and like no other. "Wait." He told her and she did, though he wasn't sure what it was that kept her rooted in place.

"Stay, please." He asked her, looking up from his resting place. She'd brought him inside the tent at her own risk and put him in a place of safety. Why would she do that for any male? Surely there was more to her with that. Artemis' cheeks were burning red hot and she noticed that he still held her hand but for the life of her she couldn't pull it away, she was stuck like that and the more she thought about it, the more she found herself not wanting to be anywhere else.

Artemis sat down on the side of the bed, her body so close to his that the heat was coming off of him in waves. She still held his hand though. "Thank you." He almost whispered to her, "You could have just left me there, but you didn't." He said, looking straight into her eyes. Artemis couldn't help herself any longer. She grabbed him by the shirt and pulled his face into hers which resulted in a long kiss that neither of them were happy about breaking apart from. The taste of cinnamon rested on Percy's lips, and that was when he put it all together.

"You. It was you in that club." He said slowly, shocked by what had just happened. Artemis waved her hand and her appearance changed to match the girl in the silver dress perfectly, before it changed back.

"Why, why did you do it then and why did you do it now?" He asked, as puzzled as ever. He started to question why he hadn't been turned into a rabbit. His mind was racing at a million miles an hour. Wait, did that mean she liked him as well? Of course it did, why else would she have kissed him? His mind asked so many questions that he was barely able to follow.

"Wait, so, when we were talking, I-" Percy began with a horrified expression on his face as he remembered their conversation about the hunt.

"You admitted that you liked me." Artemis nodded, her face coming back into color but a frown present evermore. Here she was sitting on a man's bed after having just kissed him. The flurry of emotions that she had for Percy were too much for her to handle. Had she not forced Aphrodite to stay out of it, she'd have blamed the love Goddess, but she knew too well that this was no one's fault but her own, and Percy's damn attraction.

Percy paled at her words. Even before much of this started, he'd inadvertently told the gGoddess of his attraction towards her. "I'm so sorry." He blurted out in admittance. He knew that her oath forced her to forgo the company of men, and his mere presence in the camp had only made it that much worse, he truly saw that now.

"Silly man it wasn't your fault." Artemis almost laughed at him before she raised her hand that still held onto his with a firm grip. It shifted their conversation on what needed to be done. "So what happens now?" He asked her stupidly. Or not stupidly, Artemis couldn't figure out the simplest of things because of her emotions around him. He was unstoppable when he looked at her. She got the crazy idea to challenge him on it and just go with it to see how far he would take her. Without thinking she straddling him and put her hand through his other one so that both of their hands were firmly laced into each other's. "Percy, would you fight for me?" She asked him, locking her eyes with his.

As silver stared into sea green he answered from the depths of his heart, "Until my dying breath." He told her. There was no way he would miss this once chance to get the thing he wanted the most in his life, the love of a Goddess that was neigh unattainable.

Artemis tried to choke out a sentence but she could only stare at the man in front of her, a tear escaping her before she brought her head close to his before she pressed her lips to his once again. "Swear it, swear on the Styx that you'll never leave me heartbroken." She whispered to him.

"I swear on the river Styx that I will always be by your side, for better or worse." He told her with everything he had left in him. Thunder rumbled outside of the tent and she felt happy with her love life for the first time in her existence. She pulled at his shirt once more but this time she just laid her head on his chest. "I don't plan on getting up for some time, get used to it." She whispered to him. In that single moment he felt like his life was complete. His test of worthiness was complete, but it wasn't as simple as that, he couldn't claim he finished his task set by the Gods if they were keeping themselves secret, so his time with the hunt was growing ever longer except now he had a larger task at hand.

"This rising threat with Gaea and Tartarus is no small thing. All Gods will be fighting, many demi-gods of multiple origins." Percy spoke softly, a hand running through Artemis' hair. She looked up at him sharply.

"How much do you know?" She asked carefully. He nodded casually, "All of it. Does Diana feel the same way as Artemis?" He asked, proving his words to be true. Once he'd become Chaos' champion, she'd also given him all of the knowledge that she'd gained over her entire existence, excluding a very select few pieces of information regarding certain things that were beyond him.

"We are the same being, so yes, she does." Artemis told him, changing into Diana before changing back into Artemis. There was very little difference except for Diana looked to be a more mature version. They were both aged around Percy so to him it made little difference.

"As I was saying. This threat that's rising may be costly to us all, I swear that I would never intentionally do something to harm or heartbreak you, but if my life is taken-" Slap. Right across his stupid face.

"Perseus Jackson if you ever say those words again, I will put you through a personal hell." She threatened him. Oh yeah, he was immortal now. Percy couldn't believe how dense he had been.

"While I am immortal, there are certain weapons in creation that can reap a beings soul into pieces and have it never recover but out of every possible outcome my only personal hell would be seeing you broken." He said, a hand resting lazily across her shoulders as they both lie across the bed together after and exhausting day.

Artemis turned to him quietly, her face nestled just below his. Her head planted softly in his chest.

"Say it." She demanded quietly.

"Say what?" He asked incredulously.

"I'm not leaving here until I hear the words leave your mouth." She told him quickly. He didn't take a moment's hesitation. "I love you." He whispered. Her grip went slack against his shirt and she knew that there was no turning back now. After a moment of silence she lifted her head so that he could see her silver eyes, "I know. I know because I'm in love with you too." She told him, much to his initial shock before he held her close to him, in such a short time she'd become his most prized possession and not even Gaea herself was going to take that away from him.