Chapter 20: Dear Selena

This is probably different from what you are all expecting, but this chapter does not continue the plot of the story. This chapter veers off into fluff, a break from the plot you've had an 11 month break from. This chapter will simply be Percy and Selena - and eventually Artemis - fluff as a family.

I have an important decision that I need to make but I'm gonna set it to the polls. Should I continue with the path the story's taking or should I go back, rewrite the last couple chapters to exclude the part where Artemis cheats on Aph and then find a different way for Aph to join the marriage? Or should I stick with the plotline I have. I know the turn was not very popular with some of you so I wanna see the popular opinion. For now, enjoy the family fluff chapter I've written in honor of my baby brother and sister who are, at the time I am writing this, still a few weeks away from being born. See ya soon, you two. Love ya.

P.S. Kinda weird that I started this story just days after my baby sister Selena was born and now I'm continuing it right before my new baby siblings are born. Selena's almost 2 now. Time flies.

P.P.S. I wrote 1.1k words of this and then forgot about it so... ya my baby siblings are a month and a half old now. Twins named Phoenix and Cassie.

Chapter 20: Dear Selena

Percy opened the door to the rooftop gently, not wanting to slam it open and make a loud noise. It was a windless night, thankfully. Cradling a small roll in his arms, Percy made sure to lock the door to the wall so that it didn't shut and lock them up on the roof.

He needed time to think. A nice, quiet, scenic and calming place was what he needed right now. In New York places like that were scarce as everywhere you looked it was bright screens, grey buildings and horns blaring. The one place he'd found the city had in tranquility was the sky, so what better place to seek for peace?

Specifically the night sky, as bodies of space in every manner presented themselves to the world. Clear skies gave him sights you could only find in dreams, and thankfully tonight was one of those clear sky nights.

He looked down at the bundle in his arms as it squirmed slightly. The small face scrunched up as the cold wind touched it. He turned the baby away from the breeze into his chest, frowning.

Percy had IM'd Poseidon while Sally brought the babe inside their apartment over by the heater. He confirmed that he'd not had any mortal affairs in the last year, meaning that Percy could do the math and find the results. This wasn't some baby randomly dropped off at their front door coincidentally possessing sea-green eyes. It was his baby.

He sighed again as the baby struggled to go back to sleep, and he looked back up at the stars. The moon was bright tonight, it must be that time of the month again. No doubt Artemis or one of her hunters was up there listening to music and not paying that much attention to the driving.

The stars were an impossible maze of bright lights and dark voids. He had a different education to most though, and had come to learn over the years a few of the constellations up there watching over him.

There was probably the most famous one, Orion, skipping around with his sword going to kill something. He knew there was supposed to be a dog or scorpion around him somewhere but Percy had never learned those ones.

He knew his own star sign - Leo. Ironically, his friend Leo didn't know where Leo was, but Percy knew so that was a one-up on Valdez. He knew Cancer and Sagittarius, the latter because Chiron had shown him and the former because the name was funny.

And finally there was the constellation only a few knew about, and perhaps no mortal had yet discovered. The Huntress. Zoe's stars shone the brightest of all to him. The only constellation he really knew. He had hope that she was watching over him right now, guiding him to the right choices tonight, for whatever decision he made would not just affect his life now, but another's.

His destiny had been entwined now. Not only did he have to make sure he survived, but his daughter too. The weight of responsibility weighed on him like Sisyphus.

Percy sighed as he looked back down at the girl he cradled. "What to do with you?" He asked the baby as though it were supposed to reply. Of course, it was rhetorical. He knew he would have to keep this baby, he'd never be able to live with himself if he abandoned her, but it was more of an abstract question. How was he gonna be able to raise her when he was barely out of high school himself? His own mother was in her mid-thirties and already she had become a grandmother.

Percy may have been a war hero, a leader, a champion of gods and an Olympian himself but able to care for a child? That sounded like a task graver than any he'd been presented with prior.

Hades, he couldn't even think of a name for this thing, and that was the first step to being a parent. It was times like these where he wished the stars could speak and just straight up give him the advice. Closest thing there could be to that is if either Artemis flashed down to that rooftop or Zoë herself escaped death for a moment to slap him in the face and give him a pep-talk. He could already hear either of them now. Stop being such a boy and man up! Take care of your daughter and raise her to be a strong and good woman!

As much as that would hurt he could do with one of those talks right now. He even considered praying to Artemis for a moment, but figured getting his nuts severed and his baby kidnapped as punishment for having sex with a woman wasn't how he really wanted this night to go. He may have been an Olympian now but he wasn't quite sure the moon goddess was very fond of him.

Though honestly, the Hunt would probably raise this girl better than he ever could.

No, he had to get that thought out of his head. Sure, he may not be the best father in the world, but he had to try. He couldn't throw away his daughter an hour after meeting her. He needed to try to be good with her.

Percy looked down at the baby trying to sleep in the warmth of his embrace. "I have to try for you. I need to be good, so you can be good..." He trailed off, not sure how to finish that sentence. The logical path would be her name, but he didn't know what that was yet. The baby came with no note giving its information, it was merely a swaddled newborn without a mother.

But at least she had a father now.

Percy was gonna sit on the ledge with his back to the drop like he usually did but with this newfound responsibility he was suddenly uncannily hesitant to casually do something so dangerous. The weight of responsibility was already killing him. Just the thought of slipping backwards and falling - a thought he rarely had when doing it - made him unconsciously hold the baby closer to his chest protectively.

He looked down at the baby with a small smile. "Huh. Guess I'm already getting the hang of this, ain't I?" He asked those beautiful sea-green eyes peering up at him.

Looking into her eyes Percy could see his own vigor and lack of seriousness, along with a cosmos of unknown specks. His daughter seemed to possess a permanent smile as she gazed up at her dad despite being only half-awake and slightly chilly.

Percy almost felt too guilty to keep her gaze, like he was wrong to wonder how he was even gonna pull off parenthood. In an effort to avert his gaze he looked over the edge of the building down onto the streets below. It was like a video playing in his head, an augmented reality. Cars were stopped and some people were laying on the sidewalk. Metal struck metal as sword met sword.

He could see himself running, Riptide and shield in hand, likely towards the Empire State Building. Demigods covered him as he slid through the mosh of monster and hateful denizen. He only recognized one of the demigods by name, a pretty black-haired girl with some knives and the will to use them. Silena Beauregard.

She had died in that battle. He still remembered first meeting her at camp, seeing her cosmic eyes not unlike his own new daughter's, and then he remembered her shroud incinerating after the battle as she was sent to Elysium to be with Charlie Beckendorf.

Suddenly and deafeningly the roaring, screaming and clanging of metal stopped and was replaced by cars driving and the occasional distant honk. Percy was left staring at an ugly scene of night time traffic in an ugly city.

He averted his gaze once again to a more beautiful scene - the sky. Stars were still sparkling, Zoë the Huntress as still prominent as the moon, and said moon about halfway to the top, likely with Artemis driving it.

Percy looked back down at his daughter who was struggling to keep her eyes open. "I reckon you'll be with her one day - Lady Artemis. When you're older you're gonna leave me and go live with a group of kickass maidens. Heh, at least you'll be immortal. Besides, maybe Lady Artemis will even let you drive Selene's chariot." He assured the newborn who obviously couldn't respond and so kept her curious and dazed gaze on her dad's eyes.

Moonlight seemed to shine over the baby's face as he mentioned Selene's chariot, as if it were cloudy and the sky opened up right above her. Percy smiled. "A little moonbeam, huh? Nah, that's not a good nickname. How 'bout moon river? Hm? My little moon river?" He suggested, and judging by the fact the baby hadn't stopped smiling he assumed she liked it.

Percy's mind worked as he looked at his daughter. Moon river. Selene. Silena. Selena. He smiled. "Yeah. That's what I'll call you. Selena." He decided. Suddenly a grin appeared on Percy's face. "You like that? Selena? You like that name, Moon River?" He asked as though he were speaking to a dog and this baby was gonna start jumping up on its hind legs or rolling around.

Selena liked that name.

Miles above a certain stoic goddess stood firmly in her chariot with hands on the reins of her reindeer. Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen galloped through the night sky heading for the very top.

- Lady Artemis. When you're older you're gonna leave me and go live with a group of kickass maidens. Heh, at least you'll be immortal. Besides, maybe Lady Artemis will even let you drive Selene's chariot.

Artemis blinked as she heard her name spoken, thinking it was a prayer. She was confused though as it wasn't one of her hunters or a young maiden talking, but a boy, and a familiar sounding one.

With a vantage point above half the world Artemis scoped for the voice, and sure enough she didn't struggle to find it. There, on a rooftop, stood none other than the Hero of Olympus and newfound Olympiam - Perseus. He wasn't looking up in prayer though, he was looking down at something in his arms.

The eyes of a hawk permitted her to see far closer than was socially acceptable. There cuddled in his arms on a chilly Manhattan night...was a baby. Judging from the pink swaddle, a girl too. Artemis raised an eyebrow. "He has a kid now?" She asked, wondering if it was a sibling perhaps.

As she thought back over what he said, a smile came to her face. It was nice to know he trusted her with this girl he possessed. Even though she didn't particularly like or care for him, that recognition as a capable carer for a young girl made Artemis feel accomplished in a way.

She suddenly heard his voice again though this was due to her Hunter's hearing trait, not through accidental prayer. "Yeah. That's what I'll call you. Selena. You like that? Selena? You like that name, Moon River?" He seemed to play with the child a bit as he named it.

Artemis smiled, still with his earlier words in his head. "See you one day... Selena." She said quietly, excited to one day receive another maiden - the daughter of Olympus' greatest hero no less - into her ranks. She'd make a fine huntress, no doubt.

----

Percy opened his eyes to the sound of a baby's crying. With crusty eyes he watched as the newborn girl on the opposite side of the bed wailed and stared at him wanting her dad to comfort her. Feeling tired and unprepared Percy scooted over, careful not to leave the blanket and wrapped his arms around baby Selena.

Selena calmed down a bit once she got to cuddle her dad. Percy sat there with his eyes closed as he could feel his baby move around and make noises, signaling she was not prepared to go to sleep again. He sighed, not yet opening his eyes. "Guess you'll want breakfast, then." He said to himself.

Deciding to tear the bandaid off he opened his eyes and pulled the blanket off of them. Exposed to the cold Percy was now willing to get up with Selena in his arms and head for the kitchen.

Percy's palace wasn't anything grand or regal like the other gods'. It looked more like a studio apartment than anything. Two bedrooms, a bathroom and a combined kitchen/living room area. Selena hugged her father tight as the cold morning hit her while they moved over to the mini fridge where Percy kept her formula. Sally had spent a while preparing a week's worth of them with him, so now rather than cokes or alcohol Percy had an entire mini fridge dedicated to baby formula.

He readjusted her so she was cradled in his left arm looking up at him. Percy reached into the fridge and grabbed one of her bottles, and when Selena caught sight of her breakfast she made a small noise of delight and reached up for it. As he placed the tip in her mouth so she could start drinking, Selena proved she was up and ready for the day by grabbing it and hoisting her feet into the air, nearly kicking her dad in the chin.

As his two-week-old baby daughter calmed down to have her breakfast Percy sat down on the couch and stretched a bit so the hand that was holding her up could turn on the tv. After she heard the noise Selena turned to look at it, disconnecting from the tip of the bottle and letting a bit dribble out onto her cheek.

Percy hissed as Selena snapped her head back once she felt the drizzle and he realigned it to her mouth so she could start drinking again. "Keep drinking, princess. You make a mess." He told her as he wiped down her cheek of formula, forced to use bare skin since he was shirtless so the feeling of the yucky liquid made him cringe.

Selena now stayed staring up at him as she drank, her small eyes seeming entirely sea-green as the whites could not yet be seen. Percy smiled and leaned back into the couch as he began to watch tv, cradling his baby so she was comfortable and holding her bottle so she could have her fill.

-----

Fwump!

Percy tossed the ball up and down after catching it in the glove, looking at Selena only a couple yards away. "See? Just reach out and catch it like that. It won't hurt, trust me. Wanna try now?" He asked his toddler daughter. For such a small child she seemed capable enough to play catch with her dad so he thought he'd give it a try. Besides in a couple years she'd be training with weapons at camp anyway.

He was surprised at how early she had developed fitness-wise. When she had caught an inflatable ball by hugging it to her chest at an age of 13 months he hadn't thought anything of it. Then when bringing it up to his mother he found out they dont do that until they're toddlers.

So a small black-haired girl stood there with an oversized brown baseball glove looking at him as he threw the ball up and down in one arm. Selena nodded slowly, wary of the ball. It was smaller than the one she usually played with and looked harder.

Percy went slowly, swinging his arm back a couple times to warn her of impending doom. Selena held her arm out like he was gonna hand it to her, and Percy went for the light underarm throw. With the ball towering above her Selena moved to catch it, holding both her hands out in front of her even though only one had a glove.

The ball thumped onto the front of the glove but then fell onto the grass in front of her. Percy smiled as she picked it up, disheartened by the fact she didn't catch it on the first try. "That's alright. Try to catch it with just your glove, honey. Hold it out up there, like this." He encouraged, hailing with his glove arm to show her.

Selena nodded, not saying anything before throwing it back. She could definitely throw, she'd just not really tried catching a baseball before. The two year old watched as her dad caught it, before he swapped to his other arm and got ready to throw.

"Three. Two. One." He counted down before lightly tossing the white ball to her. Selena did what he said and reached her arm out, and to her shock the ball made contact. She closed her hand as best she could, holding the ball in place as she kept her arm raised, scared to move lest it fall.

Selena's eyes widened. "I caught it! Daddy, I caught it!" She yelled, lowering her arm to look at the baseball in her grip. The ball was comically large for her in a comically large glove but nevertheless the two-year old looked down at it in amazement, wondering how on earth she'd managed such a feat.

Percy grinned and walked over to her. "Good going!" He praised her, reaching his daughter and bending down for a hug.

Yup, she'd make a great hero one day.

-----

Percy hated Olympian council meetings, but another person who hated them was his daughter Selena, namely because she was forced to go with her dad every time.

She had to hold her dad's hand and stand there in boredom as the gods and goddesses all talked together. She didn't know what they were all talking about, not that she'd be interested. Not wanting to be there all day and she looked up and pulled on her dad's hand, getting Percy to look at her. "Can I go outside?" She asked quietly, desperate to go have fun.

Percy had a straight but soft face. "Okay. Don't wander off, yeah? Stay in the garden." He told her quietly so as to not interrupt the meeting. He was fine with her playing in the garden. Who would dare snatch a child on Olympus? It's a pretty small town yet highly defended.

Selena nodded, walking away from his throne and slipping out the open doorway without anyone noticing. She found herself outside the throne room on the main street of Olympus, watching as all the spirits and minor gods bustled around the village-sized 'city'.

Heeding what her dad had said Selena walked to the left of the big temple-looking building that housed the thrones. She circled around one of the pillars, feeling like a monkey as she swung on it. Taking care not to walk onto the road even though there were no cars she walked through the gap in the hedge to get to the gardens.

The Garden of the Divines was a cool place to play when her dad was at meetings. People weren't legally allowed to just walk in they had to either be Olympians or have permission from one, so to be caught in there without proof of permission would get you smacked the hell up for sure. It was the designated chill zone for the Olympians, a place where they could come and be free of the struggles of the world and just rest.

Of course Selena wasn't looking for meditation, she began walking on the benches that were two-thirds her height and playing with the fountains. She looked at all of Demeter's pretty gardening work and swung a stick at a marble column. Considering the alternative of standing in a big rock room this place was pretty fun.

In fact she was having so much fun that in order to find more fun things to do she accepted that the slight hole in the garden wall was just another path to more fun and so crawled through despite herself barely being able to fit in. She didn't even consider that an entrance almost too small for a toddler wouldn't be an actual path in a garden for adults.

When she emerged on the other side she found that there wasn't any of that magnificent garden work. Instead there were normal bushes with barely any flowers. It looked like her own backyard, but a bit different. The lawns weren't mowed so the grass was up to her knees, the house was colored green instead of blue and her toy trucks weren't where they usually were by the backdoor.

While the main backdoor was closed, the backdoor to the garage was open, and Selena, being the innocent clueless child she was, decided to enter. Having brought her stick with her she walked in prepared to kill a monster or something as she immersed herself in her game.

Rather than a monster though, she found a sweet ride. Well, if you were looking at it in 436 BC.

Instead of a car like you'd usually find in a garage, Selena found a long and shiny silver chariot like one of those they used at Camp. Only difference was this one looked way bigger, almost like a sleigh.

She noticed the front of the garage door was open too, meaning she could see out the front just as a figure moved out of sight. Nervous, Selena didn't move as she heard someone or something rattling around the front of this house where she couldn't see.

The situation only just then hit her. This wasn't her house, it was somebody else's that she had stumbled upon and walked into without permission. Even at 2 years old Selena knew she wasn't supposed to do that, and froze as her fear forced her to forget how she even got in this position, meaning she didn't know where to return.

Scared, lost and sure she'd be in heaps of trouble, Selena's lip quivered as her heart sank. She could try running but then she'd be lost. What if she got lost forever and never saw her dad again?

She heard the front door of this house open and Selena got spooked. In pure instinct she ran forward, hoping to escape before whatever monster was nearby caught her. She wanted her dad now.

"Selena? Selena!?" She hard the distant yelling of a familiar voice. Her dad. A rush of desperation and excitement ran through her, and in response she dashed forward to go find him and reach safety.

Only there was a cable on the ground.

Selena's shoe caught it only two steps into her run and the two year old went flying forward. The wind knocked out of her, a sharp pain went through her as gravity made her push the stick she was using as a spear down, and there was a pain in her ears as it scraped against the wall making a loud skrrr noise.

As she hit the floor, the pain of the impact with the floor and the cut in her hand made Selena's throat gag with the urge to cry. So she did. As she sat her wrestling with the pain tears flooded her eyes and a cry began to emanate from her mouth.

As her crying got increasingly louder until she was basically wailing, Selena could hear something drop in the house next to her and some heavy footsteps. She looked up from her bleeding hand and bruised knees to see a long scratch mark on the silver chariot, only serving to upset her further.

The heavy boot stops rushed over closer to her and Selena turned around, watching as the side door opened and a face with an auburn ponytail swung out. "The fuck?" The lady said. Selena recognized her immediately as one of the ladies from her dad's work who had been in the throne room with him and grandpa Poseidon.

Realizing that this would be a pretty scary lady like miss Athena, Selena looked at the lady, who she now remembered to be miss Artemis. With tears streaming down her face and blood pouring from her hand she faced her wailing. "I'm sorry!" She blurted, referencing her trespassing and damaging of property.

Artemis looked between her and the chariot, confused as Hades as to why a toddler was in her garage bleeding and bawling her eyes out. As Artemis stepped down into the garage she snapped her fingers, instantly fixing the stick scratch on her ride. She then recognized the girl as her Olympian colleague Perseus' demigod spawn, the one he had been holding when she'd eavesdropped on him a couple years ago. The next thing Artemis noticed was the blood pouring out of her hand, and a sympathetic look grew on the goddess' face as she walked to the crying kid.

"What happened?" She asked in the more caring voice she used to interact with her younger hunters. Kneeling down to be her height, Artemis took a look at her bleeding hand. Judging by the stick on the ground with a bloody tip, that was what was responsible for it. It was better than her having tried to vaccinate herself with a power drill.

Selena cried as Artemis took her hand. "I- I was walking, and, and, I tri-ipped!" She sobbed, hiccuping at the end of her sentence.

As Artemis looked it over and saw it wasn't too deep, she heard a voice calling out again. "Selena! Selena!?"

Realizing it was Percy, Artemis called out to him. "In here!" Percy seemed to hear that because a few seconds later he had jogged into the doorway of the garage where his baby daughter was sitting on the floor wailing and Artemis was digging around on the workbench.

"She was in here and tripped over. Cut her hand." Artemis explained casually. She grabbed a green first aid kit off the bench and looked at him, ignoring the fact he was a male. "Nothing serious, just a stick cut I think." She assured the father of this kid before crouching down again and digging for a band-aid.

Percy sighed, watching as Artemis put the skills Apollo taught her to use. He rubbed his face, knowing she was gonna need to be talked to later for wandering off and just hoping to gods Artemis didn't get mad at her or more likely take it out on him.

She wasn't. Selena left that day with a grin and a popsicle Artemis kept in the freezer for the Hunt in summer and a bandage around her hand. The booboo may have been too much for a band-aid but nothing compared to the relief that Artemis was nice to her.

I know, I know. Its been 364 days what the fuck. Well I explained it all at the start. And for that one person who said they hate Selena for being too pure, Percy told her off later okay?

I never have anything to say in these last notes cause I sum it all up at the start so instead imma leave a preview of a lemon i'm 6.7k words into, should be out before new years but fingers crossed:

Percy broke the ice by shouting over the music. "So what brings you here?" He asked loudly, leaning on a stack of closed coolers casually with no shirt on.

Artemis shrugged while she held the beer. "Got forced into a marriage with a douchebag, brought here on honeymoon. Tonight, out for revenge." She kept it brief since her voice didn't boom enough to be heard very well.

Percy smirked. "I can help with that." He suggested, taking a sip of his beer. Artemis looked at him and smirked right back, as if that wasn't exactly what she had been hoping for.

But yeah premise is mortal au where Artemis gets essentially bought by rich kid Orion and hates him with a passion so on their honeymoon Orion thinks he's gonna finally get lucky with this girl he's been creeping on since high school but instead walks in on her getting dicked down by Percy. Be on the lookout for that, will be a new chapter in my Sexual Campaign story.

Merry Christmas!

Word Count: 5000