A/N: See the end of the story for the author's note and for the future of this story.
Enjoy!
The sound of metal against metal echoed through the rocky walls of the Grand Canyon. Shouts of pain, anger, and battle rang in the ears of everyone present. The thunderstorm and earthquake made the battle almost impossible, but the sheer determination of the demigods pushed them to not give up.
"You think you can defeat me?" Perseus said in an incredulous tone. (A/N: Perseus will be the name for the doppelganger)
Percy used his dagger to parry riptide before slashing Perseus' leg, but the monster was ready and jumped back from the slash. The son of Poseidon knew that in terms of skill, he was matched with Perseus knowing all of his moves and skills.
"I will make you pay for all of the demigods and innocents that you and your bitches have killed," Percy snarled before jumping and slashing his dagger at his neck but Perseus ducked before slashing his own version of riptide across Percy's midsection but Percy used his sword to block the strike.
"I still can't figure out how you are alive," Perseus pointed out as he sent a few slashes that Percy easily parried or avoided. "The moment you died I felt myself finally becoming full. I got all of your memories, powers, and skills. So how did you come back? It wasn't like the pesky Olympians would do it, Zeus wouldn't allow it and would just kill you once you come back. So how did you do it? I'm curious,"
Percy didn't care about his words and he definitely wasn't going to let him know that there was another player on the field. "That is none of your business," Percy growled before charging forward and trading a few blows with their swords that sent minor shockwaves across the area.
A few meters away from them, the mortal goddess and her doppelganger were trading blows. Artemis could tell that they were almost equal in skill and strength, but she still had the upper hand since her doppelganger still wasn't completely her as Percy's doppelganger.
"Look at you, Arty," They crossed swords and pushed against each other. "A maiden and man-hater for millennia to just drop it all the moment you became a mortal," She taunted before using the knife on her opposite hand to slash at the mortal goddess but Artemis was ready.
Artemis twisted her body to the side before headbutting her copycat straight in the nose. She momentarily staggered back as she saw a few white spots in her vision but quickly blinked, getting rid of them. The doppelganger's nose was broken and black blood started coming out of it. She growled in annoyance and anger as she regained her footing as she felt lightheaded from the headbutt.
"You will pay for that, bitch!" The monster growled before charging at the mortal goddess.
Artemis smirked and got ready for her attack. "Remember that you are me, so if I am a bitch," She started saying as she twisted her body and avoided a stab from the doppelganger's knife and slashed across her torso with her own. "You are also one," She finished with a kick that sent the copycat a couple of meters away from her.
Just when she was about to charge at her doppelganger, she saw Percy or Perseus. She couldn't tell them apart since the doppelganger was copying her boyfriend's clothes and bronze chest plate.
"Ugh," The raven-haired young adult groaned as he got up and noticed that he had landed on Artemis. "Artemis? No, it's her duplicate,"
That settled her doubts and immediately went up to him, but as she got near, she noticed her doppelganger sneaking her knife and immediately threw her own knife. Artemis saw as her silver knife flew through the air in the perfect direction towards her doppelganger's hand, but a sudden wall of ice in front of her stopped the knife and obscure her vision. Her heart drop the moment she heard a shout of pain from her boyfriend.
However, she couldn't dwell on it for too much as she had to roll to the side to avoid a diagonal slash from Perseus. She mentally cursed as she noticed that the doppelganger had her boyfriend's eyes but they were dull, void of life even if he was completed.
"Come on Arty, why don't you come and give your boyfriend a kiss?" Perseus taunted as he twirled riptide on his hand. "I can clearly remember our first kiss at night by the beach at Camp Half-Blood. It feels as if it was just yesterday," He mocked nostalgia as he approached the mortal goddess.
Artemis growled as she took another knife from her hip and brought her sword up. "You will die for what you did," She threatened as she felt a familiar yet foreign rush of power through her body. It had been over two years since she lost her powers and to finally feel a slight rush from them was foreign.
"Yeah, it's not personal, Arty," She growled when she heard Perseus call her by the nickname that Percy use on her. "But you gotta understand that we have lived away from reality for so long... and to finally find a human as powerful as a god was just too good to let it pass. So, don't take it personally, Arty, just take it as a requirement that my job entails," Perseus had a sinister smile on his face that didn't abode well with Artemis.
Even if she knew that it wasn't her Percy, the fact that they shared almost everything was a little unsettling if she was being honest. They had every feature the same except the eyes, which was one of his features that she adores the most.
"I don't care. You took the person I loved the most in my entire existence and I will make you pay," Artemis snarled as she used that anger to make the godly power inside her increase.
Perseus narrowed his eyes at her as he got serious for a second, which is even rare for Percy to be serious, now his malignant doppelganger was even rarer. "You don't understand godling," He snarled as his eyes turned from the dull sea-green color to completely white. "You were born as a goddess and had everything you ever wanted from the beginning,"
Artemis didn't know where he was leading with it, but she knew that it was the typical talk that the villain goes into to explain why they are doing what they are doing. So, in her better judgment to give her time to get more power and find a way to beat him, she stood quiet.
"You had everything in life, even better than mortal. But me, US!" Perseus signaled to himself and the doppelgangers fighting the demigods. "We weren't even born with an identity. We were all the same and had no way of becoming an individual. Not even as someone as low as a punny mortal,"
Artemis felt a pang of guilt at that. She was reminded of the benefits that she had taken for granted when she was an Olympian goddess. Now, being reminded that she even had such characteristics that differentiated her from the rest of the mortals unlike the doppelgangers made her feel sympathy for the creature in front of her.
"We were created with no other purpose than to all be equal and fight for whichever deity as if we were a tool," Perseus snarled but soon his composure came back and his malignant grin came back. "But, a deity so powerful and old came to us and gave us the opportunity to finally become real. All we had to do is kill you, punny demigods, before taking over the world,"
Artemis finally understood why they were doing what they were doing. Chaos had gone to them and offered them the chance to become individuals and finally be different from each other after being imprisoned for millennia. She really couldn't blame them for accepting such an offer, even less if it came from the mother of creation. However, they were targeting the innocent and wanted everyone dead, so she couldn't let it pass.
"It's sad to hear that, it truly is, but-" She used her godly energy to power her next strike, moving at speeds that she shouldn't move unless she was a god.
However, Perseus proved to be everything that Percy was at the time that he died and reacted just fast enough to roll to the side and avoid Artemis' horizontal slash. He was really confused as to how it was possible for the goddess-turned-mortal to move at such speeds.
The doppelganger took a moment to concentrate on her power and found something shocking that was making his nervousness rise by the second. He felt the familiar aura of Artemis when she was a goddess that he recognized from the memories of Percy. If he was to fight a full-power Artemis, he was very unsure who would win the match but was sure that nothing would stop the angry goddess of the hunt after he had angered her.
Artemis noticed the worry and nervousness in his eyes and evilly smirked at the doppelganger. "What? Finally noticed that you are no match for me with my current power?" She taunted as she charged a small amount of her power into the sword and surrounded it in silver moonlight.
The mortal goddess took a deep breath and felt the foreign but relaxing feeling of her powers in her body. However, she could also feel herself growing hot, and not the type of hot she will get when she was alone with Percy, but the type of hot that was coming from her insides and even heating her skin. She mentally cursed herself for not thinking that her mortal body couldn't handle her full powers, meaning if she went all out or spent too much time using them, her body will burn and she will die.
Luckily for her, it seemed like Perseus didn't notice it and took a defensive stance. Artemis quickly charged at the doppelganger of her boyfriend and crossed swords with him. Perseus saw that the speed behind her attack wasn't the same and parried her attack before retreating. He knew that he wasn't going to win so easily and quickly, he needed to play defensive and think.
"What? Am I much to you now?" Artemis taunted before sending another strike.
Her swing was so powerful that it left a silver trail behind, causing Perseus to jump back but not quickly enough. The first inch of her sword cut a shallow and thin slash across his chest, drawing a combination of black and red blood, almost as if the blood was combined with ink or oil.
Perseus grunted and quickly used his powers over water to summon water from the air and the slash across his chest slowly healed. It was the first time that he had to use his powers to heal and he was liking every second of it.
"Ha! It's like having cheats!" Perseus shouted in glee before turning to look at Artemis. "I don't know how he had this his entire life but it is awesome!"
Artemis didn't indulge in his words and charged at him once again. Perseus saw it coming and twisted his body to avoid the slash directed at his chest. As soon as her sword passed him, he used his own sword to redirect its direction toward the floor. The tip of Artemis' sword hit the ground and she knew she was screwed because he caused her to overextend and her entire back was exposed to him.
Perseus slashed across her back, making Artemis hiss in pain as she felt the blade cut through her light leather vest and through her skin. She felt the familiar warm sensation before the wetness of her blood started seeping into her clothes and coating her skin.
Before she could react or think about it more, Perseus kicked her side and sent her rolling on the hard, red ground. Artemis was hissing, trying to control the uncomfortable feeling of the cut that it had done on her back while using a minor amount of her powers to heal herself with the few rays of moonlight that were starting to come.
Perseus boastfully laughed at Artemis' form on the floor. "Look at you goddess," He mocked as he approached her before kicking her on her ribs with a great amount of force. "The legendary goddess Artemis, at the mercy of my feet after just one little slash on her back and a kick to the ribs. How pathetic,"
It did sound pathetic how just two simple strikes had made her almost crawl on the floor. What nobody knew besides Artemis and Perseus was that he put his earthshaker powers on it and her ribs had cracked. The wind had been kicked out of her lungs and she could feel blood accumulating in her mouth before it started dripping onto the reddish ground underneath her.
"You know something Artemis," Perseus walked up to her head before forcing her head up with his free hand. "Nothing will hurt Percy more than to see you in pain. Yes, your death will be painful, but it won't make him suffer as much as if he sees you in pain,"
Perseus' words didn't sound right to Artemis. The doppelganger had let her know that it wasn't personal, so there was no need to make Percy suffer if it was just a job. Perseus would just go right ahead and kill Percy as soon as possible, but to cause him pain before killing him would be unnecessary.
"W-why?" She croaked as her breathing slowly returned to her, but the ache in her ribs every time she tried to breathe was making it hard. "The-there is n-no nee-need,"
Perseus' malicious smile came back as his dull sea-green eyes bored into her silver ones. "Because I need to see his full power,"
Artemis' eyes widened as she heard his response. She now knew why the doppelganger holding her face wanted to make her suffer. He wanted to provoke Percy to let loose and show what his limit is. It can be for several reasons. One could be because they want to see the extent of his power and find an exploit or strategy to defeat him. Second, they want him to harm and possibly kill those around to cause him even more pain before killing him. Last but not least, it could be because Perseus wants to copy Percy now that his powers were stronger.
It was a gamble to see which one was the reason behind it, but she couldn't think of it any longer as a sharp pain in her abdomen brought her back to reality. She gritted her teeth and hissed as she felt the cold sharpness of his sword cutting her underneath her belly button.
"How does it feel, Artemis? How does it feel to be so powerless against a simple monster? How does it feel?" Perseus kept dragging his blade across her abdomen, causing more pain to the mortal goddess as she tried to use her powers to heal and give her enough energy to push him back.
Artemis felt her powers giving her energy, but all of it was used to keep her wound from increasing and making her bleed out. She could feel how the surge of her godly energy was almost depleted and didn't have much time. Perseus noticed this and just wickedly grinned as he kept dragging the blade but every time he kept increasing the force and speed of it. First going left and then right before repeating.
Artemis was on the verge of screaming her head off at the pain when it suddenly stopped and was dropped to the ground. She let out a sigh of relief as she lay her trying to regain her energy.
"You just made the stupidest mistake of your existence," She smiled as she heard the raging voice of her boyfriend.
Artemis didn't need to look to see if it was Percy, she just knew from his aura and the way his voice turned whenever she was in danger. If she was back to her old beliefs she would be disgusted and offended by his words, but she had changed and loved the way he genuinely cared for her. She knew that if she asked him to take over the world he would do it, but she would never ask for him to do something as drastic and unjust as that.
"You stupid-" Perseus started cursing to just be interrupted by a fist to the face from Percy.
"I don't care that you want to be individuals and are doing it for it," Percy spoke in a voice full of rage but he wasn't shouting, his voice level was normal. "I stopped caring about your own desires no matter how right they are the moment you harm her and my family,"
Percy didn't waste a second to charge at Perseus and changed his left bracelet from a dagger to a replica of riptide. Perseus had to parry Percy's first slash before jumping back to avoid another with his other hand.
"You have no right to-" Perseus started but was cut short when a first of water hit him from behind, courtesy of Percy.
The water first punched him so hard that his head bounce forward and Percy brought his knee up, hitting the doppelganger's nose so hard that it broke with a sickening crunch.
"Ow!" The doppelganger shouted in pain before looking murderously at Percy. "You will pay for that,"
Percy just smirked before giving a side glance at the pool of dark blood on the ground. "Yeah, she said the same," He looked back at his doppelganger. "And look where that led her to,"
Perseus saw and understood what Percy meant and screamed in anger before rushing at the son of Poseidon. Percy smirked as he saw his doppelganger charging at him in blinding rage. He knew that Perseus was being blinded by the rage and he could use it to his favor.
Percy parried a diagonal slash from Perseus before slashing across his abdomen with his other sword. He then kicked the doppelganger on the wound while implementing his earthshaker powers on the kick, cracking several of his ribs.
The doppelganger was sent back just two meters, groaning and holding his ribs, having them feel cracked under the amount of force and power on Percy's kick. Perseus knew that in terms of power, Percy was stronger, but skill-wise they were on the same level.
"I have never understood you mortals," Perseus started as he slowly stood up while grabbing his ribs, gaining a raised eyebrow from the son of Poseidon. "What is it with you and doing everything for a person that death can easily take them?"
Percy didn't respond to his words and just sent a ball of fire at him, which Perseus block with a wall of ice that exploded in impact, sending vapor and pieces of ice into the air. Percy used the vapor in the area to charge his doppelganger.
Perseus had to use his powers on the water to see through the thick curtain of vapor and see Percy approaching him. He was barely able to bring up his sword to parry a slash at his left arm before taking a step back and attacking back.
Percy saw this and ducked underneath it while rolling to the side to avoid a knee to the chest from the doppelganger. They both knew their movements and how exactly the other was going to react. They will just keep trading blows and be at a stalemate until one of them drops into exhaustion.
"You can't defeat me with a sword, Percy," Perseus taunted as they both took a moment to regain their breathing. The vapor in the air had served the doppelganger to heal his cracked ribs. "We know each other's moves and responses no matter how unpredictable we are. We are one and the same, just that I'll be the only one after you drop dead by my sword,"
Percy knew that he was going to tire out first since he had been using his powers for a prolonged period of time since the start of the battle while his doppelganger was mostly using his skills with the sword. But before Percy could mentally curse, an idea came to his mind.
"You know," Percy started as he looked around the area and saw the demigods and doppelgangers at a stalemate, neither side giving ground. "I never wanted any of this. Well, it does seem stupid to tell you since you are me and have all of my memories," Perseus nodded, not really getting where the son of Poseidon was going with it. "But going back to the main topic. I never wanted any of this, I just wanted a regular and normal life. Away from all of this. Away from all the godly situations and the supernatural but I'm always pulled into it,"
Percy was giving this talk to give him time to accumulate enough power in him for something he had only done once, which cause something inside of him to break. He had done it during one of his darkest times in the pit and he was going to do it once again, but instead of poison, he was going to do it with blood.
"I was pushed into doing so many things that I would never have done in my life. I was pushed into dark places that nobody would have come back from them, but I did," Perseus was starting to get annoyed by his incessant and seemingly aimless rambling.
"Get on with it, Percy!" Perseus shouted in annoyance and slight rage.
Percy didn't mind the shout so he just went with it since he was almost ready to do it. "However, there was this one time that I did something that I shouldn't have been able to do," Percy said before his eyes started glowing in his iconic flaming sea-green color and Perseus felt his body tense. "I controlled a substance that I shouldn't have,"
Perseus couldn't understand at first until he felt his body completely locked in place, staying motionless against his will, almost like it was fighting against him. Suddenly, the dark and painful memory of Percy's time in Tartarus, when he encountered the primordial of misery and poison alongside Annabeth, came to mind.
A cold feeling went through the doppelganger's body at knowing that he had no way of stopping Percy. He knew what was required to use that power, but he couldn't use it since he never trained it as Percy did. It was a forbidden power that he couldn't access since Percy had blocked it before he took his powers and became real. Now, Percy had unblocked them for him and he couldn't copy him because he was already real and not a doppelganger that can copy anybody.
"This power is something that I forbid myself from ever using again," Percy stated as he walked over to the motionless doppelganger. "It is a power that I couldn't tell anybody about because was afraid of using it... but not anymore," The last words were cold and emotionless as he brought up riptide.
Percy went for a stab at Perseus' heart, but just before his sword could pierce the doppelganger's chest, a violet shield made out of energy stopped him before it sent him flying back.
Perseus felt the hold on his body leave and finally had control over his body. He also felt how the familiar energy went around his body, giving him a boost in his powers, almost to Percy's level of power, making him maliciously grin.
The son of Poseidon had been momentarily stunned by the strange energy as he was sent flying a couple of meters back but was able to roll to a stop and stand up. He saw how the violet energy surrounded his doppelganger and his aura of power increased. He was becoming more nervous the more he felt Perseus' aura increase and stop at almost the same power as his.
"Ahh," Perseus pleasantly sighed. "It is good to have a great benefactor,"
Now Percy understood what was going on. Chaos intervened and gave a power up to Perseus. He thought that it was very unfair but he couldn't say anything about it since Order had also done the same with him.
"Now let's get serious, shall we?" Perseus mockingly said before sending a wave of fire at Percy.
Percy knew that the fire wouldn't hurt him in the way of burning him, but the explosion will. He opted for creating a ball of vapor and surrounded the ball of fire, almost immediately extinguishing it. He mentally thanked his 12th-grade chemistry professor for the lecture on combustion and how fire can burn without air.
Perseus used that moment to attack Percy with his sword, coursing his geokinesis powers on the sword for extra impact. Percy was unaware of the power behind it and his entire arm shook at the power and was sent skidding back a couple of meters and the shockwave was created from their initial hit.
The entire area turned quiet as the shockwave grab their attention. They all looked to see two Percys fighting each other with powers so much above them that they were feeling uneasy about how far they might go.
"Retreat to a safe distance!" Reyna shouted the moment after Perseus created a stream of fire so big and intense enough to melt imperial gold.
The demigods immediately retreated back while an eagle came to retrieve a wounded and spent Artemis. She had finally run out of her godly power and felt her entire burning from it and how much it ache. The deep and long slash across her abdomen was leaking great amounts of blood and could feel herself becoming weak with each second that went by.
Percy rolled underneath a wave of fire from Perseus that was directed at him before sending an ice trident at Perseus. The doppelganger had more trouble creating ice objects but still held his ground by creating walls to protect him from Percy's attacks.
The demigods and doppelgangers were in awe at the scene in front of them. The leaders of each side battled each other with their powers. A fight between the son of Poseidon and adopted son of Hestia against his doppelganger.
Thunder, air, water, and fire surrounded the two combatants as their fight progressed. Lighting would illuminate the area as the storm raged through the entire canyon. Earthquakes hit the area, causing several boulders to fall from the nearby mountains and caverns to the bottom of the canyon. Steam and debris flew through the area in the raging winds from both opponents.
Nobody could get even close to them. The winds and the high temperatures of the steam prevented them from getting within a hundred meters of them. The hunters used that opportunity to sneak behind the doppelgangers and started killing them, followed by the remaining demigods, resuming their battle again.
"You can't defeat me, Percy!" Perseus shouted, his voice carried by the raging winds. "We are on the same level, you can't do it!"
Percy was breathing heavily. He was starting to get really tired from using so much of his powers, but he couldn't give up. He had come back to life to save them, to save Artemis.
The thought of keeping Artemis safe sparked him with renewed energy and motivation to keep fighting. He felt how his entire body was hit by a wave of adrenaline and newfound energy from the vapor hitting his skin.
"I can't give up!" Percy shouted before mist traveled behind Perseus.
However, the doppelganger proved to be just like Percy in every way and turned around just in time to parry his attack, making Percy change his left sword to a complete vambrace that absorbed the impact of his sword directed at his gut.
The force behind his swing was strong, but it didn't have any geokinesis powers behind it, giving Percy a moment to breathe and cut the doppelganger across from his left shoulder to mid-chest with riptide.
"Ugh! You will pay for that!" The doppelganger roared in anger before attacking Percy once again.
Percy had taken that moment to think of how he was able to cut his doppelganger when he regularly couldn't. He remembered that Perseus knew all of his skills and moves, meaning that Perseus should have seen his move, which he did, but too slowly. It suddenly came to him that he was breathing more heavily than himself, a clear sign of tiredness.
The son of Poseidon easily side-stepped Perseus' swing while changing his vambrace to a bronze gauntlet and taking hold of fake riptide by the base of the blade. Perseus was momentarily surprised by his move but Percy didn't waste any time headbutting him in the nose, drawing a good amount of black blood that stained his doppelganger's face and clothes.
"You stupid mortal!" He raged and charged at Percy once again.
Percy internally smirked as he realized that he had the upper hand in this battle after almost 10 minutes of battling with only powers. Perseus' sudden increase in powers had taken him by surprise, but he never realized -until now- that he didn't have any time to get used to them and train them as he did. He had been getting used to and training his new powers for just over a week while Perseus had just gotten them, making the drainage of power to be really high compared to his moderate one.
The doppelganger sent a diagonal slash at the son of Poseidon and Percy retaliate by taking hold of the blade before sending a slash across the doppelganger's midsection, cutting a deep and long slash that draw an even greater amount of black blood from him.
Perseus let go of his blade and staggered back, he grunted from the pain and held his abdomen. He staggered a few steps back before dropping to his knees. His heavy breathing and grunt of pain were the only sounds in the entire area besides the faraway sounds of the battle between the demigods and doppelgangers.
Percy carefully walked up to his doppelganger, his left hand still had his bronze gauntlet while his right held riptide in a ready position, not giving up his defense just yet. As he finally reached him, Percy saw the look of acceptance and defeat in the doppelganger's eyes.
"You know this is over, right?" Percy spoke in an emotionless but steady tone.
Perseus nodded, his sweaty and dirty hair slightly covering his dull, sea-green eyes. "Yes, I don't have the energy to keep going," He said between deep breaths, wincing as he felt his wounds pulsing.
"Yeah, you can see that," Percy stated before bringing Perseus' chin up with the tip of riptide. "Also you can see that you are about to die, right?"
Perseus nodded, not even trying to say anything back to Percy. He had become like Percy in every way and knew when he was defeated. "Yes, you are strong, stronger than I ever would have imagined," Percy didn't respond to that, only hearing the doppelganger's final words. "The moment I saw the great amount of power in you, I couldn't believe that a punny mortal had such power," He laughed before hissing in pain from the gash in his abdomen. "When she came to us with the offer of becoming real and someone powerful enough to defeat gods we couldn't believe it, but after our first interaction at that beach, I knew that she wasn't lying,"
Percy knew what Perseus was talking about since he had heard of Perseus and Artemis' conversation while he dealt with fake Artemis. He had momentarily felt sad for them, for not being able to be distinct and individuals as the rest of creatures and beings in existence.
"I accept that we are a race that only has caused chaos," Perseus said but momentarily stopped as Percy pressed the tip on his neck. "But all we wanted was to be different from one another, you can understand that, right?"
The doppelganger internally smirk as he saw this, he had felt fake riptide return to his pocket and was waiting for Percy to get as close as possible before stabbing him.
Percy nodded before leaning forward and moving riptide to the side so that its length was along Perseus' throat. Out of sight, he changed his left gauntlet to a dagger after having seen fake riptide disappear.
"Yes, but also-" Percy suddenly move his dagger to stab Perseus' right hand, preventing him from taking out fake riptide and slashing across his neck with the real riptide. "You are a fake race,"
Percy saw how Perseus used his other hand to try and stop his black blood from coming out as he fell to his side. The son of Poseidon just stood there, watching as the life drained out of Perseus' eyes before his body went limp and started turning into shadows.
The rest of the doppelgangers fell in battle against the demigods a couple of minutes before the fall of Perseus. They erupted into cheers as they had finally won the battle. They echoed through the red stone walls of the Grand Canyon and dark starry skies.
"Percy!" He turned to look at the desperate face of Thalia. "You have to come, Artemis is dying!"
Percy's blood ran cold as he heard those words come from Thalia. He immediately got up, pushing his exhaustion to the back of his head as he ran behind the distraught daughter of Zeus.
After a 2-minute run toward the infirmary tents, Percy was kneeling next to Artemis' bed.
The mortal goddess was laying there, sound asleep from the exhaustion of the usage of her powers. Her light-tanned skin had a reddish tint to it and her breathing was shallow. Percy could sense the blood in her body moving slower with each breath she took, causing his panic to increase.
"Will! What is going on?!" He demanded as he took her hand, making Artemis wince in her sleep
"We don't know! Her body is burning up! It's like she had eaten too much ambrosia or nectar," He answered as he sent waves of light into her body, trying to heal her. "We don't know how that is possible since she hadn't been to any of the medical tents to grab either of those during or before the battle,"
A look of realization settled across Thalia's face, making her blink and look at Will. "Could it be from the sudden appearance of her powers?" Percy and Will turn to look at Thalia with expectant looks. "I felt my connection to her as her lieutenant momentarily return during the battle, it was almost as before she became a mortal but to a much lesser degree,"
Will's eyes widened at that before he started cursing in ancient Greek. "Shit, this is not good. This is almost like when my father had momentary uses of his real powers. He would be in a similar state but to a lesser degree, not as much as her,"
Percy nodded while using both of his powers to try and heal her body as much as he could. He felt how his remaining energy was depleting, making him want to just stop and take a good nap but he wasn't going to give up on her. Artemis had become his rock the last 2 years and a life without her was unimaginable. He would literally break if he lost her, the only woman who had adequately understood and loved him in his entire life besides his mothers.
"You can't heal her," A sudden voice said from behind them. "But we can,"
When they turned, they noticed that it was Apollo. The god of the sun was standing there in his young adult form, bow across his back, and a doctor's gown on his body.
"What do you mean, father?" Will was the first to ask.
"She has used too much of her power when she was a goddess in this mortal body. Her body was pushed well beyond its limits and is dying from the burn of her godly energy. She will die if she is not turned into her immortal form," Apollo said as he approached Artemis' laying body and sent a wave of pure energy that visibly reduced the redness of her skin.
"She just needs to be turned into a goddess once again?" Percy asked, hopeful for his girlfriend's life.
Apollo nodded. "Yes, I was able to just stabilize her body for probably an hour tops. Giving us enough time to turn her into her immortal form back in Olympus,"
Percy was about to not when a thought came to mind. If she was turned into her immortal form, it meant that she wasn't gonna be able to be with him as much as before. Yes, they could still see each other and interact almost as they did during her time as a mortal, but it would also mean that their time together is accounted for.
The son of Poseidon had thought about that same thing for the last couple of days since he came back. Artemis becoming a goddess once again meant that they couldn't be together, at least not forever. He would die one day while she will be an immortal goddess for the rest of her existence.
He knew that it was selfish to want Artemis to stay as a mortal and live the rest of both of their lives with each other, but it was all he had wanted in his entire life. His most selfish thought -if you even see it as selfish- was to grow old, have a family, and live life until he dies. Then see his wife once again in the afterlife and enjoy existence for the rest of eternity together. But he knew that Artemis' life plays an important role in existence and couldn't be that selfish to keep her from doing it.
"Do it," Percy said, his voice low and hard, keeping away any feelings from it.
The god of the sun looked at Percy and saw that he was having a hard time right now. He couldn't even begin to imagine how hard it was for Percy to let go of Artemis that way and just nodded before flashing him along with Artemis and Percy to Olympus to turn Artemis into a goddess once again.
Line Break
Artemis felt like her entire body was aching from third-degree burns after using so much of her godly energy to repair the wounds in her body. She had fallen unconscious shortly after she was taken to the infirmary, relieving her of the pain from it.
When Artemis finally came back from her unconscious state, she felt as if her body hadn't taken a beat and was burning from the extreme use of godly energy. She actually felt as fresh as new as when she would wake up from taking a good nap during her time as a goddess.
Finally, the thought hit her like a bucket of ice-cold water.
Artemis immediately opened her eyes and noticed that she was resting in one of the rooms inside of Apollo's hospital. She felt how her senses were heightened to when she was a goddess. She also felt how she was connected to her domains as well as all of the signatures of her hunters.
"No," She softly whispered as she frantically looked around. "This can't be happening right now,"
Artemis quickly got off her bed and out of the room. She noticed that it was almost vacant of people and immediately flashed to the throne room.
The throne room went silent when the silver flash of light erupted. They all knew how it belonged and quieted down. Percy for his part was having a hard time now letting his feeling get a hold of him and just sat down by the hearth.
After Artemis had been turned into a goddess, he had spent almost half an hour explaining what had happened at the battlefield and that the doppelgangers had been defeated. He was so distraught by the entire situation that when he noticed Zeus' victory smirk over him he didn't retort.
However, now that Artemis had woken up and flashed into the throne room, he couldn't look at her or he was gonna crumble down. He could feel her aura in the room as he sat by the hearth next to his mother, who sent him a sympathetic smile and warmth from the hearth.
"What did you do?!" Artemis demanded as soon as she appeared in the throne room. "You had no right to turn me back into a goddess without my consent!"
Artemis was glaring at her father and brother. She had no doubts that it had been her father and brother who had insisted on it and done it, especially her father.
"No, but you were going to die if we didn't," It was Apollo who answered. "Your mortal body had sustained too much of your godly energy and was burning up. You would have died if we didn't turn you back into a goddess,"
Apollo was purposely leaving out Percy's consent on it as a favor to him for everything he had done. He wanted to give the son of Poseidon a chance to tell Artemis himself when they were alone. However, his father had other ideas.
"Even Perseus agreed with us," Zeus victoriously stated, a smirk on his face (A/N: Percy will be addressed as Percy and Perseus from now on)
Artemis' look of rage momentarily turned into a frown before it turned to one of disbelief. She looked around, sensing her boyfriend's aura until she found him by the hearth, avoiding looking at her.
"Percy, how could you?!" She shouted, feeling offended and her trust abused by him.
Percy was quiet at first, not wanting to speak at first, but he knew that he had to answer. "I had to, I didn't want to see you die," He spoke in a quiet and fragile tone.
Artemis noticed his tone and red alarms started to go off in her head. She knew that Percy never showed such strong emotions to just anybody and only did to her when they were alone. She might be angry at him for consenting to turn her back into a goddess when he had no right to, but she was aware of his character and emotions to know that he was in pain and didn't want to agree with it.
The goddess of the moon immediately ran up to him before hugging him and flashing them out of the throne room, away from everyone else to give them privacy.
The entire throne room had been silent for a second after they had left. Only Hestia and Poseidon knew how hard the decision their son took was and how much it had affected him. Only Aphrodite knew exactly the pain he was feeling -well, she was the goddess of love, duh- and wasn't gossiping or talking as she normally would, she was rather quiet.
Zeus was smug about what had happened since it meant that his favorite daughter was back to being a goddess, meaning that a relationship with Percy was impossible since he wasn't going to offer godhood a third time, no matter if he saves them once again.
Apollo was apologetic over what had gone down. He realized that Percy's reappearance had made his twin come out of her dark place and to her original self. He may have not been there, but anything that touches the light he knows. He saw how happy Percy made and still makes his sister, he wanted to hate him and kill him, but he couldn't find a fault in him.
The rest of the gods and goddesses were feeling sympathetic for the goddess of the moon and the hero of Olympus. They knew that they both had gone through enough already to only have immortality come between them when it wasn't an issue before.
"You know that what comes next is going to impact the entirety of Olympus, right?" Surprisingly, it was Aphrodite the one who disrupted the silence that had fallen in the throne room.
"What do you mean, Aph?" It was Demeter the one who ask, a bit of curiosity and worry in her voice.
"It means that no matter if Artemis is immortal, she won't stay away from Percy. She loves him too much to leave him because of ancient laws, especially when there is one final threat on the horizon and her boyfriend is the one that will either save us or die trying," Aphrodite explained in an as-a-matter-of-face tone that made a few of them nodded in agreement.
"What? She can't, it's against the laws!" Zeus roared, not even going to have to deal with Artemis' behavior for a second.
Aphrodite just disgustingly looked at him before regaining her composure and responding. "As if the laws had ever kept you from going down to Earth and impregnating every woman who even dared talk to you," She spoke in a calm voice, but it was clear that it had venom behind it. "Besides, there will be several of your new thunder spawns running around in the next couple of years," She absentmindedly added.
Hera got furious at Aphrodite's statement. She knew that Zeus had been going to Earth for the last couple of years and was suspicious, but to finally hear from Aphrodite that her husband had actually gotten a few women pregnant, from Aphrodite's words, and will be running around the world in the future.
"Zeus! How dare you even after the pack?!" Hera demanded, her fury increasing to levels higher than when she found out about Thalia and then Jason. "You know how much trouble your embodiments of cheating do in this world, how could you?! Not Poseidon or Hades has-" Hera was raging but Zeus has had enough of his wife.
"Shut it, woman! You don't have a say in this and just be what you are! An obedient wife!" Zeus was so mad that he didn't care what he said, angering every goddess in the room as well as Poseidon and Hades, who had been there due to the severity of the situation.
"Now, father. I believe that you should take back your words," Athena's tone was steady and cold, but everyone could tell that there was venom behind them. "Or else, there will be some repercussions,"
Zeus knew that tone of voice and also noticed the infuriated looks that the goddesses were sending his way. He knew that he had talked out of line and probably his wife will be angry at him for the next millennium.
However, his ego and pride as the king of the gods and the "strongest" Olympian got the better of him. He stood up from his throne, lightning bolt in hand, sending arcs of electricity all around him. His aura flared up so much that almost all gods and goddesses went to their knees with the exception of Hestia, Poseidon, and Hades.
"Now, I'm going to make one thing clear here and now," Zeus' voice was loud and commanding. "I'm the king! And you are my subjects! You are nothing more-" Before he could continue, a sudden high-power jet of water hit him square in the chest, sending him back to his throne.
"How dare you treat us like subjects!" Poseidon roared in anger as the entirety of Olympus shook from his powers. "We are Olympian gods and members of this council! We are a democratic reign in this world with no tyrants!" Poseidon has had enough of his younger brother's ego.
"Zeus! You have gone out of line!" Hades agreed with his brother as he saw the signs of Zeus turning into their father. "You are acting like our father!"
Those words from Hades were like a bucket of cold water to him. He knew that his arrogance and ego as the king had affected him over the years, but he had never wanted to turn like their father. However, his pride and ego had been damaged badly after Poseidon's son appeared and started making a name for himself. His name was even more legendary than all of his sons combined and Percy was still alive.
Zeus saw that he was wrong, but his hurt pride and ego couldn't let him accept that a simple and punny demigod ridicule him over the years, especially this last week.
"You don't have a say in this council, Hades!" Zeus shouted as he stood back up.
Thunder and lightning were sounding in the air and striking several places around the world, especially New York. A storm had formed, winds at incredible speeds, and darkness becoming so thick that streetlights almost didn't work. They were all clear signs of a battle between Poseidon and Hades against Zeus' powers.
However, before any of their powers could properly clash, a raging inferno of fire surrounded Zeus, making the two older brothers take a step back from how intense it was.
Everyone in the throne room looked in Hestia's direction, only to see her in an older form, a mid-thirties form to be exact, her peaceful and warm demeanor gone, replaced by a look of fury and raging fire in her eyes.
"Zeus!" Hestia shouted as the fire surrounding him increased, burning him in several spots. "You have gone far enough!" She walked towards Zeus in a strong stride, the one of a queen. Every step left a smoke footprint on white marble floors.
Zeus, for the first time in his life, was feeling worried. During his entire life, he had never angered Hestia, and now that he was seeing her reaction, he was regretting it. They all knew that Hestia had the power to overpower every single one of them if she wanted, after all, she was the oldest of them as well as had one of the most destructive domains, if she wanted it.
"You believe that just because you are king we can't get you off that throne?" Hestia's tone changed from pure fury to a cold and menacing tone. "We put you on that throne because none of us wanted it. But I'll kick you off it now that you have gone far enough!"
Hestia then snapped her fingers and fire surrounded Zeus' throne, but it still hadn't done any damage to it. "Give us one good reason why we should leave you on the throne. Give us one and we will vote on whether or not you should be on the throne,"
Zeus was terrified. There were no other better words to describe the way that he was feeling at the moment with Hestia's menacing glare on him and her fire around his throne, threatening to overthrow him with nothing more than a simple thought.
The minutes passed in silence from everybody. Nobody dared to speak after Hestia's final words to her youngest brother. They had all returned to their thrones in silence while Zeus was still in front of his with the flames surrounding it.
"Nothing, brother?" She spoke the last word with pure venom, making Zeus flinch since he had never heard Hestia speak to anybody with such hatred. "You only got this chance to make us believe that you are worthy of the throne of the gods,"
Zeus had spent the last minutes thinking of why he had to be king. The last couple of millennia hadn't been his best. He had raped, murdered, blackmailed, and threatened thousands if not millions of people since the end of the first Giant War. He hadn't done anything good since then and had no way of defending himself. That is when he realized that Hestia had set him up for failure, she was going to take away his throne one way or the other. Just that this one followed their rules whereas the other one was forceful.
"No? Then we will take that as your answer," Hestia finalized and looked around the room. "Who of you believe that Zeus should still be king? Raise your hand,"
Silence and no moment at all. Nobody had voted in his defense as they all knew that he had caused nothing but chaos and pain these last couple of millennia. Hera was the most angered at him after his words at her and wasn't going to support him, she was actually thinking of divorcing him now that he wasn't king and she could finally be free of him after she was tricked into marrying him all those millennia ago.
"All those against it?"
Everybody raised their hand with the exception of Ares, who refrained from voting.
"Good," Hestia then looked at her Zeus. "Then, Zeus, from now on, you are deemed unworthy of being the king of the gods," She then snapped her fingers and the flames around his throne quickly engulfed it.
Zeus felt how his power incredibly decreased as the flames melted the marble into a molten rock that pooled at the bottom.
"You shall be removed as our king and will only be a member of this council, which even that will be questioned as soon as our new leader is decided," Hestia announced and everybody nodded, knowing full well that it had to be questioned. "That will be all for today, we will meet tomorrow after everything has calmed down and we will discuss what comes next along with Percy and Artemis. Meeting adjourned!"
Every god and goddess flashed out of the throne room with the exception of the children of Kronos and Rhea. Hera went to talk to Demeter and Hestia while Poseidon and Hades went up to Zeus.
"You brought this on yourself, brother. You became a tyrant," Hades spoke before disappearing in tendrils of darkness.
"I have to agree with our brother," Poseidon spoke while looking at Zeus in disappointment. "You had changed from the brother that we all knew back then. The brother that saved us from father's stomach and guided us to victory against the Titans and Giants. You have changed, and for the worst brother," Poseidon then turned into sea breeze and disappeared from the throne room.
The goddesses had left the room while Poseidon had been talking to Zeus.
Now, Zeus just stood there in the middle of a lone throne room. The remainings of his throne had turned from molten rock to a blob of hardening marble on the floor. Zeus was in a trance-like state since the moment his throne had been liquified. He was so angry that his siblings had done that to him that he had started to plot a way to get revenge, but first, he needed to destroy who started all of this, Perseus Jackson.
Line Break
The moment Artemis had disappeared with Percy from the throne room, she flashed them to the West Coast in an attempt to keep them as far away from Olympus as possible. They were nearby a cliff that outlook to the sea near northern California
Artemis might be furious at Percy for his consent in telling her father that it was okay to turn her back into a goddess, but she knew that Percy was really emotional and vulnerable.
"Come on, Kelpy, talk to me," Artemis felt weird talking to Percy in her goddess form but pushed that thought back.
For her, coming back to her immortal form was really hard. Her oath was practically still in place since she had sex with him when she was a mortal and not a goddess. She could feel how her oath was making it really hard and uncomfortable for her to behave as when she was a mortal.
"I'm sorry," Percy whispered after a couple of seconds of silence. "But there was no other way to save you. I tried to heal you with both water and fire, but I couldn't," His voice slightly cracked at the end, making Artemis conscious that he was close to breaking down.
The goddess of the moon soothingly rub circles on his back with one hand while her other was rubbing his scalp. It was hard to push down her instincts to push Percy away from her and kill him, but her love for him was beating that thought. She didn't know why she was having so much trouble with her feelings until a familiar voice came into her mind.
"It's because most of those feelings were mine,"
The familiar and unforgetful voice of her Roman counterpart spoke in her mind. She had to mentally slap herself in the face for forgetting that in her mortal form, she had been a combination of both aspects, her Greek and Roman forms.
"Why do you think that we were so attracted to him for starters?" Diana pointed out in a duh voice. "I'm Roman, we Roman women are attracted to men with power, loyalty, and leadership. And Percy is the most perfect man in those three categories. And that it's not including the fact of how much of a gentle, respectable, and sweet man he is,"
Artemis had to agree with Diana since she knew that her Roman counterpart mostly cared about the first three reasons while she only cared about the last three. She knew that it would take some time for her to get used to the entire situation and had to listen to Diana since they were sharing a boyfriend, which they still had to tell him.
"It's okay, Kelpy," Artemis kept rubbing his back and scalp. "I just would've wished for you to wait for my opinion on it, but I can understand that the situation wasn't the greatest,"
Percy just let a few of his tears spill from his eyes as he took several deep breaths to calm himself. He knew that it wasn't his place to choose for Artemis, but he knew of the severity of her role as a goddess and couldn't be selfish.
They stood like that, just the two of them embracing and enjoying each other's company. They both knew that her return as a goddess was going to complicate their relationship, but they also knew that they could still spend time together since she had the most leeway with the ancient laws and Percy had threatened the council to be active in this next threat.
After a couple of minutes, they both pulled apart from each other but still in each other's arms. Artemis used that time to push that nagging feeling to the back of her head and give in to her still-growing feelings for Percy. She reached up a hand to cup his cheek before bringing him down for a loving kiss that both didn't know they needed so much until then.
"You know what this means, right?" Percy asked after they separated so he could breathe since Artemis needed aether and not air.
Artemis nodded before pulling him into a hug and snuggling into his chest. "I got to tell you something now that I'm back to being a goddess," She spoke with a serious tone but there was a slightly nervous tone there.
Percy didn't notice the worry in her voice and just nodded.
"You aren't only dating me," Percy immediately looked down into his girlfriend's face that was still buried in his chest. "You are also dating my Roman counterpart, Diana,"
Artemis physically winced when she felt Diana mentally facepalmed so hard inside her head for how blunt she had been.
"Wait, what?"
A/N: And that is the end of Arch 2!!! Finally finished it after having a serious writer's block in the middle of it and can't wait to take a small break and started writing the third and final arch of this book!
Also, don't expect any more updates for this book, at least not this month. The month of July, August, and September are going to be spent writing and publishing the final. I will also be writing the second and final arch of my other story TCOTGB.
Thanks to all of you who have read up until this point and are still loyal to this story even after my 5-month absence in this story. This is the first story that I started with and will at least be the first story that I finish. Thanks to all of you that are actively reading all of my new chapters as well as all of those who are voting and commenting!!!
Have a good one and see y'all in the next arch, bye!