The Sea and The Moon

Chapter 24

Artemis POV:

As Apollyon was sucked into the gaping hole behind him, his last scream of rage and desperation rang throughout the throne room. The black hole closed, leaving no trace that he had ever been there in the first place. The throne room was silent for a good minute as everybody came to terms with the intense past ten minutes.

Suddenly, it was like a bomb had exploded in the middle of the room. Most of the gods sat up abruptly and cheered loudly. It was the most lively that I had ever seen them in all my years of living. Apollo summoned bottles of champagne and sprayed them all over the room, while Hermes shot fireworks through the hole in the ceiling. After that, it was complete chaos. Confetti rained from the ceiling and obscured my view of everything around me. I caught a brief glimpse of my father doing the shimmy, which let me tell you, looked hilarious.

I had never expected such a big celebration after the battle. Granted, I had not even been thinking ahead to the end of the battle in fear of the possibility of losing. I had been too scared to even fathom the chance that our entire universe would be utterly annihilated.

Suddenly, I realized something. Looking frantically through the pandemonium, I tried to spot my love. When I couldn't find him, I panicked a little and almost called for a stop to the partying so that I could locate my bondmate. Oops, bondmate.

I opened my sense, scanning the room for any sign of Percy. My mind locked onto something directly behind me and I tried to turn around, but a pair of arms wrapped their way around my body. The figure behind me covered my eyes with their hands.

"Guess who?" A deep masculine voice rumbled from behind me. I immediately sighed in relief. He was safe.

I whirled around in his arms, hugging him so tightly that I swear I heard a few cracks.

"Percy! Oh gods! I'm so glad you're alright! I was so scared that... that," I said before Percy cut me off.

"Shhhh. Arty, it's alright. Nothing happened to me. I'm alright, there is not a reason to worry anymore. It's all over," He said reassuringly. Those words broke the wall of my emotional dam. Tears streaked down my face as the aftermath of the recent events smashed into me with full force. Percy held me comfortingly as I sobbed into his chest openly. I had never shown any sort of weakness to any of the other gods before but at that moment, I couldn't care less that the gods saw my crying. Percy's words resonated throughout my mind over and over again. It's all over... It's all over... It's all over.

It really was all over. Although knowing our luck, there would be another great prophecy in the next month or so that would once again threaten society. I felt safe in Percy's arms and I never wanted to move from this position. Percy pushed back enough that he could see my face and leaned down. I met him halfway and smashed my lips onto his own in a passionate kiss that lit my world on fire.

I was in complete heaven as I moaned into his lips. He pulled back and looked me directly in the eye.

"I love you so much, Arty," He whispered to me," I-I mean..."

Now it was my turn to shush him. I put a finger to his lips and pecked his cheek softly.

"I love you too, Perce."

Percy's eyes widened before he started to grin widely. I could feel my own lips turning upwards into a huge smile as well. I leaned in and captured his lips once more. We held that position for quite a long time as the world faded around us. The partying gods had long disappeared from our minds and the only thing that mattered now was us. We stood together with our lips pressed against the other's and our souls twirling in the air, locked in a harmonious melody, fueled by the synchronized beating of our hearts