Percy Jackson to the rescue

Sing A Song

Artemis smiled at him, a small, sweet smile that tugged on his heart. He swallowed, trying to ignore what he was feeling. "Could you sing it"? He asked, speaking fast. Artemis looked confused for a moment, probably because she had seen his reaction when she smiled. And she had probably noticed he wanted to avoid certain subjects. Like their feelings. Manipulated or not.

"Ehhm, I don't know. What do you want me to sing"? Percy grinned devishly. "Shut up and sleep with me, of course". Artemis shot him one of her death glares. "Forget it, Kelp Brain. Not gonna happen. Ever".

Percy grinned, giving her a playful smile. "I dare you". Artemis snorted. "How stupid do you think I am? Like when you say; I dare you, I will suddenly do it". Percy sighed, shaking his head. "I hoped it wouldn't get to this. Now I have to use my ultimate weapon".

Artemis leaned towards him, looking really curious. "You ultimate weapon? What is it"? Percy gave her another devilish smile. "Puppy dog eyes" he said in a low, ominous voice. Artemis merely rolled her eyes and gave him a look that meant; like I'm going to fall for that.

Percy gave her his best sad puppy look. He saw Artemis started to hesitate. "Ah, you're good at this. Still, I won't" she said, trying hard not to fall for it. Percy pouted. "Pleeeeeeease"? he said, giving his best.

Artemis sighed. "All right! All right! But stop looking like that. Jeesz, it really is the ultimate weapon". "Told you" Percy said. Artemis rolled her eyes and got up.

With a gesture of her hand, she made a microphone appear. She took a deep breath. "Ok, here goes nothing". She started to sing. " Shut up and sleep with me. Shut up and sleep with me. Shut up and sleep with me".

Percy was suprised; her voice was really beautful, like an angel. She moved on the beat of the music, her eyes closed. A little, seductive smile on her face. Or, so it seemed. She opened her eyes, gave him a sultry look and continued the song. Which shocked Percy, since he hadn't expected it possible for her to be.. to be.. so flirty.

" I love your body not so much, I like your mind. In fact you're boring pretend not being my kind". She kept singing. Just when she was singing; " Why don'y you sleep with me? Why don't you sleep with me"? Athena came in, looking once again extremely shocked.

"Artemis! What are you doing"? She looked in shock at Artemis. Artemis hair was loose, she still had that seductive smile on her face on , of course, she had been singing ' why don't you sleep with me'?

Artemis opened her eyes, looking at Athena. "Oh he Thee, I was singing shut up and sleep with me, you know that song. Good to see you don't look like a centaur".

Percy burst out laughing at her last comment. Athena looked a second at him, annoyed, and turned back to Artemis. "Yeah , I know. But what's the purpose of this? Why would you sing such a vulgair and disrespectful song"?

Athena put down the drinks and motioned Artemis to sit down. Artemis obeyed and sat down, winking at Percy. Athena saw it raised her eyebrow. "Is this about that spell? Does it changes you"? she asked, worry audible in her voice.

Artemis laughed softly. "I don't think so. Percy and I were talking and I told him I sometimes sing with my hunters. He wanted to hear me sing. I tol him no, but he used his ultimate weapon" Artemis rolled her eyes. Percy was grinning like a fool. Which, in Athena's eyes, he probably was.

"His ultimate weapon? What ultimate weapon"? Athena asked, sounding confused. Which didn't happen that often. "His puppy dog eyes" Artemis explained. Now, Athena looked really confused. "His puppy dog eyes? How on earth did he convince you with that to sing"?

Artemis shrugged. She turned to Percy. "Why don't you show her"? Percy smiled. "With pleasure" he answered. He got up and did his puppy dog eyes thing. Imagine, the cutest thing you can and that times thousand. Then you will get how cute it looked. Even Athena was impressed. Her face softened and she smiled.

She turned to Artemis. "Ok, I have to admit that is really, really cute. But Percy, can you stop it now"? Percy smiled at her. "Of course , lady Athena. Oh, and will you not call me cute again? It isn't really what a guy likes to hear. Shall we discuss why we came here in the first place now"?

Athena nodded, looking a little impressed he had remembered. "Of course Percy, that's why we are all here, after all. And I still think it's cute" she said, teasing him. "Since when do you call anyone cute"? he asked.

Athena laughed softly. "Normally, I dont. But hey, I like puppies! Who wouldn't? They are cute. And you kind of hold resemblance to them. So..". Percy and Artemis nodded, ready to get to the ' big talk'.

Athena was frowning like she remembered something. She shifted and turned to Artemis. "Wait a minute! Why did you say that nonsense about me and looking like a centaur"?

Artemis laughed and ignored Percy's silent plead not to tell. Athena is going to kill me Percy thought. Or something worse. Artemis told Athena how they had been talking, laughing and just having this meaningless conversation.

Athena looked a little mad at the end of the story. Or actually, really mad. " So you were making fun of me"? she said in a sharp, deadly voice.

Percy shook his head, a little scared. "N-o-o of course not lady Athena. We were just talking, not really about anything" Percy stammered. Artemis just sat back and watched Percy. She seemed to enjoy his uneasiness. A lot.

Athena still looked a little pissed, but had calmed down. "I understand. Although I hadn't expected you two to be such good friends". She raised her eyebrow again; curious.

Artemis shrugged. "We just are. He is one of the first men I actually like. He is a really good friend. She smiled at him, making him smile too. "And she is the most beautiful, smart, amazing woman I've ever met. Even though she is actually a greek goddess, mostly in her twelf year old form"Percy responded.

Artemis smile grew wider and her eyes gave away her feelings. Percy say she liked him too. For a moment, he even thought he saw desire. Athena narrowed her eyes. "Mmm... Really? That's interesting. You know, I'm not an expert, but I would think there is more. Is this the spell's doing"?

Artemis sighed. "I don't know Thee, but let's just focus on saving Percy's friends, all right? They need our help. Olumpus needs our help".

Athena nodded. "You're right. Just be careful, both of you" Athena handed them some plans, which appeared out of nowhere. Percy didn't bother to ask. If there was one thing he had learned about the gods, it was that asking questions was most of the time useless. Either you didn't get an answer or there wasn't one. Or, if you had some rotten luck (like him), the gods got pissed and either killed or tortured you. Not something you want. Definitely not.

Percy looked at the plans. He saw one drawing of a weird monster; almost invisible, except the horns, tail and burning red eyes. Percy pointed to the creature. "That's our friend, I suppose"? Athena nodded. "Even we aren't sure what it is. It seemed to be a mix of different monsters from different folklores. It has , for example, something of the sigbin. But also something of a dragon, fire breath. And it can hypnotize people, like different creatures can".

She sighed and rubbed her temples. "This isn't going to be easy Percy. You were right when you said you needed Artemis. Without her, you will fail. Even with the two of you, it's going to be hard. Really hard. Do you think you can handle this"? "With Artemis on my side? Definitely."Percy said.

Artemis smiled at him and blushed, while Athena just frowned and give them both a strong look. "Ok. So I will give you these plans. You can go back to camp and discuss it together. Think about what needs to be done. I will keep in contact with you, to help whenever neccessary". "Thankyou Thee" Artemis said. Athena smiled. "You're welcome Arty". The two were obviously good friends.

Athena looked at Percy, examining him. She sighed, but nodded. "At first, I thought you were like your father. But you're not. You're better. Still, be careful. Both with the upcoming dangers and Arty".

Percy nodded. "I will, I promise. I couldn't bear the thought of her being hurt. Thankyou Athena". Athena gave him a small smile. After she had explained what the gods had found about their enemy and explained some of the plans, she gave them the plans and said goodbye.

Artemis walked towards Percy and put her around him. "Just hold on to me" she whispered. Percy turned his head and smiled. "I will, like you're all that exists" he whispered back. Then, everything went black.