A.N: Thank you guys so much for 1,500 views in four days! I can't believe my story is getting so many views. I hope you guys are enjoying it so far and I promise I'll be trying to improve the story as it moves along.
Percy POV:
I turned away, as a bright flash erupted in the middle of the group of hellhounds. I could just make out the figure of a woman standing in the light.
She drew back an arrow and fired it at the remaining hellhound, instantly killing hit. I spun around and held my sword out in case she decided to try and kill me.
"Where have you been these past 2 years?! Everybody has been worried sick about you and you're just have a merry time slaughtering monsters in the middle of the forest," She yelled. She hated to admit it, but she was slightly impressed that he had managed to stay out of the god's sight for so long. It was almost impossible to stay hidden when pretty much every god and goddess was looking out for him, ready to report him to Olympus.
I realized who it was. "I'm sorry, Lady Artemis. These past couple of years have been hard for me. I still haven't quite recovered from the war yet and I don't know if I'm ready to face the world again," I replied.
Her face softened for some reason and her eyes seemed to cool down from the originally fiery hot glare that she had been sending his way. She stowed away her bow leaned her back against a tree. At least I didn't have that thing pointed at me anymore. It was starting to make me a little nervous.
"Well, I think that it's time you make your appearance again. The rest of the council has been searching everywhere for you and they now understand that you are an important part of Olympus," she said.
"What about you? What did you think?" I asked. I knew that this was risky and I could end up with one less limb by the end of this, but I really wanted to know for some reason. I don't know why it mattered to me though. It shouldn't matter what she thought of me.
"Me? Pffft! I down care either way if you come back or not," she replied indignantly.
I guess I should have expected that answer. I was just happy that she hadn't gotten pissed at me for asking such a question.
I made a decision,"Fine, I will come to Olympus with you. I guess it has been more than a long time since the last time I saw anybody other than a select few."
She walked forward and grabbed my shoulder roughly, and a queasy feeling spread throughout my stomach. The moment the world stopped spinning, I kneeled on the floor and threw up my lunch. I'm never going to travel with a god ever again.
As I looked up from the ground, I realized that I was in the throne room, with all the gods watching me in disbelief. Artemis just smirked at my condition, walked over to her throne and sat down.
The Olympians looked shocked to see me after two years.
"Perseus? What are you doing here? And where have you been for the past 2 years?", asked Apollo.
"I'm sorry, I have been on my own in the wild, trying to get over the war and what it did to me. I'm still haunted by nightmares of that day," I said sadly. The gods seemed to understand and some even had looks of sympathy on their faces. None of them would ever know what I went through though. They were gods, they healed faster mentally than any mortal and they were not plagued day after day by the guilt of letting their friends and family die. None of them would truly understand.
"The only people who knew where I was, were my father and Athena," I added. Athena and Poseidon nodded their heads in confirmation.
"You knew where he was and you didn't even tell me?! I am your king and you answer to me. You should be punished for your insolence!" Zeus spat angrily. He had the biggest head of all the gods. His head was literally in the sky (pun intended) and he thought that he had absolute control over every single god. Nobody liked Zeus, and many constantly though about overthrowing him, but were too scared of the repercussions.
"We do not answer to you. You are a terrible leader Zeus and you should not have been king in the first place. Both Hades and I are older and more powerful than you. So if I were you, I would sit still and SHUT YOUR TRAP!" screamed Poseidon.
"I agree father, you have never done anything for good for Olympus. All you have done is brag about your favorite son Hercules and all that he accomplished. Let me tell you this, Hercules was never half the man or the hero that Percy is now," Athena growled.
Zeus looked like he was about to protest, but stopped at the looks the rest of the council was giving him. He slumped in his chair and tried to glare back, but the intensity of his glare was nothing compared to the heated looks of the others. Obviously, nobody thought he was a competent leader, even his own wife, who was glaring at him with as much hate as the rest of the gods.
"As I was saying, Athena and Poseidon have been a huge help to my mental health after the war. They were the only ones who were there for me even after everything. If not for them, I would be wasted in some bar, drying to drown out my misery with alcohol," I said and looked at them gratefully. They were my last lifeline that kept me going and made me hope that everything would be restored to how it used to be.
I knew that this was false hope, but I couldn't help but believe that it may be possible. But it would not be, there was not was to compensate for the damage physically and emotionally that the war caused.
"What are your plans from here on out? Would you be willing to go back to Camp Half-Blood or Camp Jupiter?" asked Hera. I had never really liked her, much, but she seemed to be more respectful towards demigods since after the war. Of course I wouldn't know because I was stuck in a log cabin for 2 years.
"I don't think that I would want to go back there. To many memories are held there and it just wouldn't be the same without my friend there. I would rather have a job on Olympus if that is possible."
"I have an idea!" squealed Aphrodite," how about he become a full time model! He's definitely better looking than any other male out there."
"NO! I will not be a model. I would rather keep my integrity thank you very much," I quickly declined.
"I have a much better, much more reasonable idea," said Athena, looking pointedly at Aphrodite," How about you become something of a guardian for all the demigods that have not been claimed yet. Us gods are restricted by the ancient laws, but you are not. You could help save the young demigods that have not yet realized that the greek myths are real.
Is this really what I want? I don't know how much longer I can stay in solitude. It would be best if was doing something that would help all demigods and making sure that none of them end like me. On the other hand, every time I try to help, the problems ends up worse.
"I think... that I would like that. I would enjoy helping young demigods find their way into the true world. Every one of them deserves a chance to prove themselves and learn the truth about the the gods," I consented after a minute.
"You will need a godly trainer, somebody that would be hard on you, but also teach you what you need to know for this job. I think I know just the person," Athena said with a wink that only I saw.
"And who might that be," I asked cautiously. She had a mischievous glint in her eyes and I knew that she was planning something. The last time she had that look, I ended up in a hospital bed with severe burns on my buttocks. Don't ask.
"Artemis!" Athena yelled excitedly," She's perfect for the job. Good at fighting. And hates you."
"WHAT?!" we both shouted simultaneously. If she trained me, she would kill me on the first day and make it look like an accident.
"All in favor?" All hands went up except Zeus' and Ares',"I guess it's decided then, Artemis will train Percy everyday until he is ready to become the Guardian of Olympus."
This was going to be a disaster.
Artemis POV:
Why do I have to train him? He's just going to fool around. I felt myself, grin malevolently, I'm going to make sure that his life is as miserable as possible.
(Line Break)
The next day, we stood in the arena with our weapons out. This was going to be soooo fun. Note the incredible amount of sarcasm in my voice.
"We are going to start with sparring. We are not going to stop until you defeat me, I don't care if we're out here for two weeks," I told him.
This was going to be fun. As a goddess, I would never tire and I could stay out here forever. Him on the other hand, he's going to suffer. Surprisingly, he didn't complain about it as I thought he would.
I slashed one of my knives at him, hoping to incapacitate him with a single blow, but he was quick to block with his sword. He swung his ice sword towards her throat and I barely managed to parry with my other knife. He's better than I thought.
I decided to fight my hardest and finish the job before it got out of hand. I was a blur of motion, my knives spinning and flashing in the light so fast that only a god's eye could keep up. Somehow, he managed to block every single strike easily and it looked like he was taking it easy on me. How is he so good? I will not lose to a demigod boy! I sped up my attacks as fast as I could, and yet all I managed to do was make myself out of breath. He hadn't even broken a sweat yet.
Finally, he seemed to take pity on me and finish me off swiftly. He ducked one of my knives and stepped into my defenses, putting his sword under my throat.
"Yeild?"
I nodded feebly, yet angrily. Never in my life had I ever been defeated so easily and humiliated like that. I was known as the best fighter out of all the Olympians and he had managed to beat me so cleanly. Not a scratch on his body. I'm not sure how got so good. After all, he had spent more than 2 years in the middle of the forest living in a log cabin with little no contact with the outside world. He must have spent most of that time training and becoming better with his sword.
I was still bitter about the loss and I felt like I needed to do something to get him back. I knew of one thing for sure that he was terrible at.
"Fine! You defeated me, but now you are going to need to master archery. That is your next task and if you fail then you will never become the Guardian of Olympus," I said with an evil glint in my eye.
"A-a-Archery?" he stuttered. His face paled drastically and sweat started to form around his collar. I smirked. I knew I had him here. He was one of the worst archers I had ever seen in my life and it would take a lifetime for him to even learn to shoot and arrow forwards. It would be fun watching him suffer and fail time after time again.
I gave him an extra bow and made sure that I stood 20 feet behind him while instructing him. I told him to get into shooting position and was appalled at how terrible it was. His posture was crooked and he looked like an old man, with his back hunched and shoulders slumped. At this rate we would be here for the next 20 years trying to get his form straightened out before we even got to shooting at all.
I then instructed him to release the arrow just to see how bad his aim was. Before I could react, something whizzed past my ear, barely grazing it and thudding into the wall behind me. I whirled around and saw the arrow, still quivering stuck in the middle of the bullseye of a target behind me!
I turned back around and saw Perseus looking at me with a sheepish and slightly fearful look on his face.
"At least I hit the bullseye," He chuckled nervously. I stormed up to him and slapped him in the face, leaving a red handprint on his cheek.
"Hit the bullseye?! Hit the bullseye?! You could have killed me and all you say is 'At least I hit the bullseye'?!" I screeched. Oh he was going to get it. He wouldn't even be able to stand after I was done with him.
"I-I'm s-sorry, My Lady. Please don't kill me," he squeaked. If I didn't want to kill him, I would have laughed at his face right now. But unfortunately, I did want to kill him. I chased him around the arena with my knives drawn, trying maim him. Finally, I caught up to him and pinned him against the wall.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't do it on purpose, I swear on the Styx," he said as he pleaded for mercy.
"This was your one and only warning. The only reason why I haven't already run you through is because the other gods would be furious at me if I killed you on the first day, but you better not do this again," I snarled at him, stabbing my knife beside his head to make the point,"Get back over there and get to work. I do not tolerate slackers."
He quickly scrambled over to the bow and got back into shooting position.
And so it went, me teaching Perseus and trying to correct his terrible archery day after day. I was starting to get irritated with his lack of skill and talent. Teaching a rock would have been easier. At least you don't have to risk your life trying to teach a rock. The stupid thing was, he always seemed to have the best luck when shooting backwards. Every time I tried to move the target to a different location behind him. He still managed to hit the bullseye unintentionally. I didn't even know that it was physically possible for an arrow to fly from the bow through your two feet.
It was going to be a very very long time before either of us were able to stop with these ridiculous training sessions. At this rate, global warming would take over the Earth before we were done with this training.
(End of Chapter 6)
MortemPlasmon: You can let me know what you would rather have. I'll try to make the chapters a little longer from now on like this one. Thanks for the support!
Wulfkin17: I'm glad you think my story is good. Is there anything that you want me do change? You can make suggestions and I'll try to change the story as I see fit. Thanks for reviewing.
the guy who loves all gunpla: No problem. Like I've already said, I want this story to be very interactive between writer and reader.
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A.N This chapter is longer than any of the other ones that I have posted so far. I hoped you liked it as much as the other ones. Thanks again for showing so much support of this story! Tell me if there is anything you would want me to change about it. I won't change the entire plot, but I'm more than open to small suggestions or requests. In the next chapter I will be introducing the threat in the story.