Chapter 1: Rural Changes

This is just gonna be a short story, and I'm gonna post all the chapters at once so I don't leave you guys hanging for weeks at a time. Unlike my other stories, this won't have any real plot or at least it won't be at the forefront of this story. It's just gonna focus on Pertemis and the random setting I've put it in. this time it's country boy Percy and city girl Artemis. I've also thrown in a character that's not part of Greek Mythology or the PJO universe but just someone I decided to include. You'll see her pop up in this first chapter.

Chapter 1: Rural Changes

Artemis leaned her head against the window and stared out at the passing fields as her younger twin brother Apollo continued to hum his crappy pop music way too loudly and annoyingly. Her older sister Athena sat on the other side of him nose-deep in some book, somehow able to block out the noise of Apollo's humming and their father's country music playing on the radio.

They'd been driving for 2000 miles, and were on their third day of driving, nearly nine hours already and the poor girl hadn't been able to get out and stretch her legs since McDonald's nearly six hours before halfway across the state.

Oh, a quick update on the situation. Artemis was born and raised in New York City to well-off parents in a middle class home. Her whole life she'd lived in the city, and now they were going through a bit of a change.

You see, her dad was born and raised in Kansas, and he lived on a farm for his entire childhood. Eventually he moved to go to college in New York and never left, meeting their mom and having three kids there. Recently, after some trouble at Zeus' work financially, he and the wife decided to pack up with an inheritance from Hera's mother and buy some land out in Montana. Fucking Montana. About the biggest change you can go through from New York other than Alaska or Africa.

Anyway, now they were moving out into the middle of nowhere to live on a farm, or at least she was until she went to college. Her sister was not too worried about it since she was turning 18 in a few months and after that she was getting out of there immediately. Artemis, however, still had a whole year left and she was not looking forward to it.

Artemis had never even heard of this town before, nor the county. Hell, she'd only ever heard the word 'Montana' about three times in her life, and two of those were referencing a Disney show. I mean, whoever heard of Elis Springs? No one, that's who. She though absentmindedly.

"You kids excited?" Zeus asked once again, as if he hadn't asked that in all 9 states the family had passed through. Apollo didn't hear him thanks to his headphones, and Athena just muttered a 'sure'. Artemis, however, stuck to her previous opinion. "No. I've told you already, dad. I don't wanna be stuck in some dead-end town with a bunch of rednecks for the rest of high school. I wanna go back to New York." She told him honestly.

Hera frowned at Artemis through the rearview mirror as her father sighed, gripping the steering wheel tighter. "This is the decision your mother and I have made, so you're gonna have to live with it. You're also going to be expected to help out on the farm, so don't try and weasel your way out of that, either." He said finally, and the teen huffed.

Seriously, who wants to live in a town with a bunch of cowboys who like to do their sisters and all the while the only thing around for miles are bears and forests?

After a while, they turned off the main highway and onto some less populated roads. Artemis stared out at the forests on either side of them, briefly wondering if some monster would eat her in there and put the girl out of her misery.

It took another half an hour off the highway to reach this town. To say Artemis wasn't too thrilled at the sight would be an understatement. It was tiny compared to Manhattan. Central Park was probably bigger than all of it. There was one main road that cut right through the middle of the town, with most of the big and popular buildings lying on either side of that road. There were various smaller streets leading off the main road that led either to houses or other stuff. She noticed the high school was on one of the streets, a bit down the road.

Hera and Zeus looked out smiling at all the people and waving as they passed. They clearly loved this place already. It was just how they liked it, small and quiet, yet populous enough that you'd have no trouble getting some friends. Or at least they wouldn't.

The Olympias passed the town and only drove for an extra two minutes before the car slowed and turned onto an unmarked dirt road. Great, we don't even have an asphalt driveway, just dirt. She muttered mentally. It was about 200 meters long, and eventually they came to a fork in the road. There was a sign in the middle, with two arrows painted on it. The one pointing left said 7 Lakonia Road, while the one on the right had the number 8 instead. Written in the same white paint under it was the name JACKSON in all caps. Zeus laughed. "Well, as you can see, we're number 7." He said, before turning left and driving down. It was only twenty seconds down the dirt road, but they were driving slow, so it would probably take her just as long to run. The family pulled into a large dirt patch to park the car on with the house right next to it. To say Artemis was shocked would be an understatement.

She was honestly expecting some rundown wooden shack that was halfway to collapsing, something that they'd have to spend months fixing up. Artemis was extremely surprised to find something more akin to a ski lodge. A large, dark wooden two-storey house with a large window at the front which overlooked the property. She saw through the window that the main room was empty and realised that they'd have to do a lot of unpacking.

There was a barn not too far from the house exactly as you would imagine it: red wood panels, white trims, two-storey with a gable. She hadn't heard anything about her dad buying any horses though.

They came to a halt, and Zeus breathed deeply, probably taking in some 'good old American air'. "Well, welcome to our new home." He said, unbuckling his seatbelt and getting out of the car. Artemis followed suit, hoping to get away from her annoying brother and stretch her legs.

She could immediately tell she was not dressed for Montana. It wasn't hot, but the girl was wearing a jersey, warm fuzzy socks, sneakers, skinny jeans and a David Bowie t-shirt. Not exactly farm material. Neither was much of her wardrobe. She had a pair of hiking boots and two flannel jerseys but that was about it. Artemis wasn't much of a fashionista. She mostly wore jeans and t-shirts.

She looked around, taking in their new property. It was large, very large. She didn't really know where it ended, if she was honest. She saw a treeline quite a bit away, so she guessed tehy didn't own that, but she didn't know exactly how big their property was. To the right of their property from the entry was the neighbors' house, which wasn't too different from the Olympias'. It was a different wood and a different shape, but otherwise the same. They also had actual animals on their property.

The moving van pulled up as well, and her father went over to greet them and instruct them on how to get started. Apollo came over and put an arm around his twin sister's shoulder, sniffing over-exaggeratedly. "Ahh, you smell that, little sis? That's the smell of big sky country, the treasure state." He said, smiling up at the sky.

Artemis crossed her arms and shrugged his off, glaring at him. "Don't touch me, and I'm older." She growled, infuriated at this stupid habit of his, calling her younger. He laughed, but their father called him over to help with the couch, and she was left alone.

The sky really was beautiful. Bright blue with some clouds scattered around. It felt like she was staring at the ocean from a plane. It was serene, and Artemis felt like she could get lost in that great sea of skies forever. She was then distracted by a neighing. The teen turned her head back to the property, and raised an eyebrow in confusion.

Three horses were running towards them, one pitch black, one which she believed was called blue roan thanks to her limited knowledge of horses from when she was 4, and the other white skinned with blonde hair. Their skin complemented each other very well. She then noticed that three people were riding them. "Dad, the Indians are attacking!" Artemis called sarcastically. Zeus dropped the couch and brushed his hands, ignoring the 'oomph!' from Apollo.

The three people became recognisable. All three had black hair and two were female. The one on the white horse was beautiful, with a pretty white dress that went to her knees, and flowing black hair and radiant blue eyes to go along with a pretty facial structure. The one on the gray horse had the same flowing hair as the first, though she had bright emerald green eyes and a dark facial structure. She was skinny, a bit too skinny, and if she was 30 years older she'd look like an evil queen.

The last one on the black horse was male, and shirtless. Holy shit, why does he have to be shirtless. He has a fricking six pack! She thought. Despite that, he was still quite lean. His skin was tanned, but not spray tanned or dark, more like he spent a lot of time shirtless. He had beautiful sea-green eyes and a pearly white grin. His hair was fashionably messy, and his pecs and biceps were clear for all to see. Even though he had a swimmer's build, you could tell he was still quite strong and- wait, why am I thinking about him like this? She had mentally described the others pretty normally.

She was surprised when he spoke, giving a lop-sided grin to me and then looking towards her father. "Hi there! Would you like some help with the unpacking, Mr..?" He trailed off, waiting for Zeus to finish his sentence. "Olympia. Zeus Olympia." He said, taking off his cap and holding out a hand to the guy, who shook it. He didn't have a heavy southern drawl like Artemis was expecting. It was there, but very faint.

"I'm Percy. Percy Jackson. We're your neighbors. This is my sister, Aphrodite, and our friend who lives with us, Hela." He introduced, gesturing first to the white horse girl and then to the gray horse girl. Zeus waved to them both, and his middle child nodded at them all.

Dad clapped a hand on her shoulder. "This is my daughter and middle child, Artemis. The older one over there is my wife, Hera. The other girl is my eldest daughter Athena and the boy struggling to lift a couch by himself is my son, Apollo." He said, pointing to each one. They nodded, and Aphrodite spoke. "Sorry for trespassing. The old owner of this house never used that area of his property, and he let us ride our horses out here, so we thought we'd get one last ride in before the new folks show up." She apologized.

Zeus shook his head, grinning. "Nonsense, you're fine. We won't have any livestock moving on the property for about a week or two, anyway, so feel free to use it till then." He offered, and they thanked him. Percy got off his horse, tying its lead to the wooden fence. "Well, my offer still stands. Would you like some help, Mr Olympia?" He offered.

Her dad grinned at his politeness, and pointed his thumb over his shoulder at Apollo. "If you could give my son a hand with the couch, that would be great. Don't worry about where you put it, my wife will tell you what room and we'll adjust it all later." He said, and Percy hopped the fence and walked off. He went up and introduced himself to her mom, who shook his hand and pointed to the house, probably telling him what room. She then walked over to everyone else.

"Oh my, what beautiful horses you have there." She said, gushing over them all as she approached. They didn't shy away, and she started petting them. The two girls smiled. The anorexic one introduced the horses. "The black one, Percy's, is named Blackjack. He's the oldest. Mine's name is Sleipnir, and Aphrodite's is Eros." She said. Her voice wasn't as husky as Artemis thought it would be. She just seemed shy, if anything.

They continued to talk to her mom while she stood awkwardly off to the side. It's not that she didn't want to talk to them. No, they seemed alright, and it would probably be good to make friends with the girls next door, but the girl just didn't know what to say. Hi, I don't want to be here, you look like you sucked four guys off in the past week, you look like you took meth sometime today, your brother's got a nice body, and this place has some really nice weather, doesn't it?

She did not want to ruin a potential friendship by accidentally saying something like that, or by sounding hostile or annoyed. Artemis Olympia had a reputation for having a short temperature and being annoyed. She almost stabbed a guy at school because he cat-called her during gym for wearing short shorts and a tank top.

Out of nowhere, the sound of dirt being driven on became audible, and a red 1989 Dodge Ram rolled up in their driveway. Zeus came out and saw, followed by Percy and Apollo. "Oh, that's my Dad. He's probably checking to see if we've broken something and run away for a few hours." He said, and Zeus looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "You done that before?" He asked, and the kid shrugged. "Once or twice."

The pickup truck's door opened, and a man wearing a blue flannel shirt and jeans stepped out, looking at them all through sunglassed eyes. He took them off, and she saw sea-green eyes just like Percy's. Actually, now that she got a good look at him, he looked exactly like Percy, but with a beard and 30 extra years of age.

The man grinned and slammed his door, walking over to her dad and Percy. "There you are. I thought you'd run off or broken something. Nice to see you've found our new neighbors. I'm Poseidon Jackson, I live next door." He said, holding out a hand kindly. Percy looked at Zeus like 'I told you so' and her dad shook hands with the man. "Zeus Olympia. This is my family. My wife Hera over with your horses, and in order of birth, Athena, Artemis and Apollo." He said, gesturing at everyone.

Artemis waved shyly, looking back up at the beautiful skies. Zeus and Poseidon began chatting, and Percy and Apollo went back to work with the movers, who'd been willing to follow us for three days just to deliver our stuff. Her dad offered them extra for the long trip. Hera continued to talk with the girls, and once again she was left to look at the sky.

Artemis pulled out her phone, wondering if she could even get a signal out there. She had two text messages, both from her best friend Zoe, telling her how much she missed her already. The girl smiled, texting her back and telling her she'll Skype her later tonight.

Deciding to do something productive, she put her phone away and walked over to the truck, picking a box full of her own stuff. The teen entered the house, surprised at the warmth and coziness of it all. There wasn't even anything cozy yet, it was completely empty. She just knew it was gonna feel great if it ever snowed.

What didn't surprise her was the two boys were too incompetent to get a double bed up the stairs. They had it on it's side, and Apollo was at the top of the steps, desperately trying to pull it up. "God, this thing's heavy!" He winced, his fingers going pale from gripping the sides of the bed so hard. "Don't you dare drop this on me, Apollo. Artemis! Do you mind giving us a hand?" Percy called, and she sighed and dropped the box. "Well, since you two are blocking the stairs, I guess I have to." She said.

Artemis got around the side of the bed. "Okay, three, two, one, lift!" Percy called, and together they managed to pick the bed up. Apollo walked backwards and bumped into a wall, almost dropping it on her toes and killing Percy. After some very complicated and sweat-inducing maneuvering, they managed to drive it into a bedroom and set it down on the ground with the backboard pressed up against a wall.

They stopped, panting and trying to catch their breath for a few seconds before Apollo trudged back downstairs to grab something else. Percy turned to me and grinned. "This your room?" He asked casually, and Artemis shrugged. "It's the only one that's got a bed in it so I'll take it." She joked.

He laughed and looked out the sliding glass door that led to a small balcony. "At least you got a beautiful view, and a good escape route." He said, staring outside. "If you call jumping onto solid dirt from a two-storey building a good escape route then yeah, I guess I do." She joked.

Percy laughed, but left the room when Apollo called him. Artemis found herself emptying what she could from the box and placing them around the room, all the while her thoughts were of the boy next door.

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