Chapter 3: On Their Good Side

Once again, I am back on this story after a long period of absence. I noticed you guys seem to like this story, so I thought I'd update it. Do you have any ideas for this story? I have the generic outline and it probably won't be more than 12 chapters, but any content or events you guys wanna see?

Chapter 3: On Their Good Side

The thunder roared loudly outside, jolting both Percy and Artemis from their sleep. Both of them were breathing heavily from the fright, and as the metaphorical dust cleared, he noticed that it wasn't his daughter lying in his arms.

Artemis was panting heavily, wide-eyed. She'd always been afraid of thunder, perks of being a daughter of Zeus. She burrowed herself further into her pillow, trying to drown out the noise. As she felt the warmth of the object next to her, she immediately realised that it was indeed not her pillow that she was cuddling.

The two of them locked eyes in the dark, and both pairs widened as they realised what was going on. They had cuddled together sometime in the night, and now Artemis was snuggled tight in Percy's arms.

Neither of them made a move, but they had no idea how the other felt about this. It took nearly thirty seconds for them to realise that neither wanted to move, so they didn't. Artemis put aside how strange this was to her and put her head back down, trying to pretend that this was normal. In an ideal situation, this would eventually be normal. She told herself that this was a form of practising. She was lying with her fiance, that's all. There was nothing wrong with this situation, she just had to get that through her head.

Percy stared at the roof of the tent, where raindrops sharply hit and made a soothing ASMR-worthy sound. He held the goddess in his arms, trying to tell himself that this was normal now. This woman wasn't just another goddess he was sleeping with to get over Annabeth, this was his betrothed. He wasn't like that anymore, he didn't care for Annabeth. Now he wasn't spending the night in someone else's bed, he was engaged. This goddess would be his wife soon enough.

Still, he couldn't shake the anxiety welling up in him. He had no doubt that he'd been the one who started the cuddling. He was always a hugger, a trait his daughter had inherited very much. When the two of them looked at each other, he was fully expecting Artemis to flick out a butterfly knife and sever his manhood from his body. Thankfully, she didn't, which intrigued Percy.

She was being really upfront and cool with this. First, she invited him to her bed the same day they got engaged, she put aside her anger over their betrothal relatively quickly, and now she was even allowing such physical contact as cuddling.

Still, Percy couldn't complain. He liked cuddling her. She was like a larger version of Selena. Plus the goddess was warm, so that helped on a cold night such as the current one. The rain was relaxing, and Percy soon fell asleep listening to the sound.

He was awoken by a very familiar voice sounding throughout the tent as someone opened the door and barged in. "Milady, it's nearly breakfast time. What are you still doing in b-" The voice of Thalia Grace could be heard getting cut off as she took in the scene in front of her.

Percy drowsily lifted his head and smiled at her. "Hey Thals." He said, his neck giving way as his head flopped back down on the pillow. Thalia was wide-eyed and her jaw hung open, but since the blankets were currently only about waist high, she saw they both had clothes on and sighed in relief.

"You know the hunters are gonna be pissed, right? They're already not taking this whole betrothal thing very well, now their patron is already in bed with a guy. I'm sure they'll ignore the fact you guys didn't have sex." She said, crossing her arms and looking at him. Percy had propped himself up now so he was looking at her with Artemis still in his arms. "That's only if you don't snitch." He semi-threatened.

Artemis groaned from on top of him. "Shut up. Holy fuck my head hurts. What fucking time is it?" She asked, sitting up and squinting her eyes shut as she got used to the light sinking through the tent fabric. "Wow, you're really vulgar when you're hungover, huh?" He laughed, and Artemis glared at him as she clutched her head.

"Shut the fuck up and answer my question." She snapped irritatedly. Thalia laughed, and Artemis' eyes snapped to her and she suddenly sobered. "Thalia! It's not what it looks like. We just slept, that's all!" She clarified, worried about what her lieutenant was thinking.

Thalia waved her off. "I know, I know. No one gets dressed to sleep after sex." She said, gesturing to their clothes. Artemis sighed, and rubbed her head again. "Holy Zeus! I only had one bottle!" She complained, clearly in pain. "Of whiskey. One whole bottle of whiskey." Percy cleared up, and Artemis realised how dumb that was. Percy thankfully wasn't feeling the same headache, though he had drunk the same amount.

Thalia crossed her arms. "Anyway, it's 8. Breakfast should be starting now. We used up those tortillas we bought and made burritos as a treat since Selena, and I guess Percy, is here." She said, and Artemis groaned. "Great, I slept in." She moaned. Thalia took that opportunity to leave, and Percy and Artemis were left alone in their tent.

"Sooo.... About last night." Percy started, and Artemis immediately knew what he was talking about. "Look, I don't mind physical contact like that, but my threat still stands. Try anything remotely sexual, and you are dead." She threatened, and Percy got the message. "Like I said, I'm not gonna force you into anything like that. Hades, I'm not even gonna try and start anything like that. If this relationship is gonna be sexual too, you can be the one to start it." He said, and she nodded gratefully.

Artemis lay down again, stretching out her arms. "Like I said, I'm glad it's you. Father probably would've had me marry Ares otherwise, since we're arguably his strongest children of either gender and it would be 'beneficial' for us to breed. Even someone as nice as Hermes would've cracked eventually and raped me. But I don't think you'll do that. You don't seem like a rapist." She noted, looking at him.

Percy chose to take that as a compliment. "Uh, thanks." He said, standing up and stretching. Realising breakfast was ready, Artemis also got out of bed, and the two made their way out of the tent.

What Artemis forgot about, and what they probably should've considered before exiting together, was that her tent was in full view of the dining pavilion. As they exited and looked across the dead campfire pit, they saw the entire hunt staring at them slack-jawed, save Thalia and Selena.

The two of them awkwardly and silently made their way over to the dining tent, where Artemis took her place at the head of the table. Percy didn't really know what to do in this situation, so he went over to Selena and crouched down. "You good, muppet?" He asked, and she nodded. "Yup! Breakfast's yum, do you want one?" She asked, holding out a bean burrito.

Percy smiled and took it, as well as two more from the huge plate in the middle. As he was leaving the tent, he heard Artemis' commanding tone. "Where do you think you're going?" He turned around, halfway to taking his first bite and staring at her in confusion. "I was gonna go sit under a tree and eat. I figure the hunters wouldn't really appreciate me eating with them." He explained.

Artemis shook her head. "Nonsense, we're betrothed, they will have to get used to it if this is gonna work out. Come sit between Thalia and your daughter." She offered, pointing to a slight gap between the two, where Thalia slid closer to Artemis and patted the spot beside her.

Percy was unsure, and he looked to see the reactions from the rest of the hunt. The younger ones all seemed fine with it, but the older ones all glared at him, as if saying sit there and you're dead.

Percy raised an eyebrow and looked at Artemis. "I'm fine, really. I'll just go eat by myself." He said, and Artemis shook her head. "Sit." She commanded, and being the beta he was, Percy obediently sat on the bench in between Thalia and Selena. The hunters all returned to normal, and Percy turned to his daughter. "How'd you sleep, princess?" He asked, and the 3 year old swung her legs happily as she ate.

"It was good. I thought about what you said, and I had good dreams. I dreamed that Artemis hung out with us and we went to the beach and stuff. It was fun." She said, drinking to get rid of the spice. Percy smiled at his daughter's innocence, then thought of something.

"You know, Artemis and I talked last night. I told her about your thoughts, and she said you had nothing to worry about. She always wanted children, and she promised to be as good of a mom to you as she can." He told her, which sent Selena off the rails. She swallowed her food and looked at him giddily. "Really?" She asked happily, and he nodded.

Then she did something no one expected, she jumped out of her seat and ran to Artemis, engulfing the goddess in a hug. "Thank you, mommy!" She said, burying herself in the goddess. Artemis was shocked at first, but when she heard what Selena said, Percy could swear she almost burst into tears.

Artemis joyfully hugged the little girl back with as much enthusiasm as Selena, and even kissed the top of her head. She smiled gratefully at Percy, and many of the hunters caught this, and looked at him in shock. A few of the older hunters even nodded at him in slight respect, being the ones who knew of Artemis' secret desire.

Percy smiled and nodded back, eating his burrito as Thalia nudged his ribs with a smirk. Phoebe, the eldest hunter after Zoe died, sat across from him with her arms crossed on the table, eyes narrowed. "So, boy. What were you and milady doing in her tent?" She asked, though it was more of an interrogation.

Percy gulped, knowing this question would come sooner or later. "Well, we slept. That's pretty much it. We stayed up talking by the campfire for a few hours, then around midnight Lady Artemis told me to sleep in her tent. Practice." He said, and Phoebe raised an eyebrow. "Practice for what?" She inquired, and Percy shrugged. "Marriage, I guess." He said.

Atalanta, the second oldest hunter, chimed in. "So you admit you plan to sleep with milady once you're married?" She glared, catching the attention of everyone else at the table and inducing many more glares toward him. Percy blushed at the attention, and narrowed his eyes at the huntress. "I never said such a thing. Me and Lady Artemis have just accepted what is inevitable and are getting used to i-" He was cut off by Phoebe.

"So you're saying Lady Artemis doesn't actually want to sleep with you but you're making her 'get used to it'." She insinuated, and Percy stuttered. "I- I never s-said..." He trailed off, not used to being attacked so much.

Artemis chose that moment to intervene. "He is not forcing me to do anything, nor are we sleeping together. Percy has offered for me to remain a maiden eternally. He has vowed that he will try no such sexual acts on me while I am still virgin, meaning I have to instigate anything like that myself. He has also promised not to bed another woman, which I wholeheartedly believe thanks to his title as God of Loyalty." She said pointedly to the two huntresses.

They both looked at him, astonished. "You would not sleep with any woman for the rest of eternity?" They asked, fitting the pieces together. Percy swallowed and nodded. "Perks of being the god of loyalty. I can't cheat on my wife, but I happen to be getting married to one of the three goddesses I will never sleep with, therefore rendering me chaste for all eternity, if only for my morals." He said, and Percy swore he saw an ounce of respect in their eyes.

Selena had returned to his side by now, and was looking up at Percy pleadingly. "Mom said we can go hunting, the three of us. Please! I always wanted to go hunting. Please, daddy!" She begged, and he looked at Artemis with an eyebrow raised. She waved him off. "She can have her dagger and I'll teach her how to catch rabbits, she won't get hurt. You and I can get bigger things like bears and deer." She said, and he nodded, looking back down at Selena. "Okay, we can go hunting, but remember what I taught you with your knife, and listen to, uh, mom, okay?" He told her, and she nodded. "Yup! Thanks, dad!" She said, grinning and hugging the god.

Percy hugged back, and soon enough dinner was finished and he helped clear the table. He made his way to the campfire, where Selena was showing Artemis her dagger. When Artemis saw Percy approaching, she stood up, and so did Selena. "You ready?" The goddess asked, and Percy nodded. He would be using his sword, since he really didn't want to shoot Selena, which would probably happen. It would be hard to catch something with a sword, which was why he was on bear duty, tasked with taking one out quickly in order to feed most of the hunt for the next few days.

The three of them set out into the forest, trying to remain quiet so as to not scare off any potential prey. Occasionally Artemis would stop and teach Selena how to set snares, and soon his daughter could do it almost without any help. She was a bit unsure of how the snares worked, so Artemis had to explain how when the rabbit put his head in the hole, the trap would put him to sleep so they could come back and get it.

While they were doing that, Percy had gone for a short walk, and in no time he found a blackbear roaming around. When it saw him, it growled, and Percy uncapped his sword. Soon enough, Percy was walking back to them with a dead bear on his back.

When he got back to the snare, Artemis and Selena were standing there waiting for him. "There you are. We got the rest of dinner." She said, pointing to the dead white-tailed deer on the ground next to her. Selena smiled and held up a group of five rabbits tied together on a rope. "We got the rabbits from mom's other traps." She said happily, and Percy smiled, ruffling her hair.

"Well, in case you didn't know, I also caught something, and since mine's bigger, it's more valuable as a food source, so ha." He smirked. Artemis crossed her arms and smirked as well. "You know, bears are omnivores, so they taste a bit like what they eat. If that bear's been eating salmon, the fat's gonna have a fishy flavor." She said, and Percy turned slightly green. "I guess I'll have venison then." He said, making Artemis laugh.

The three of them were walking back to the hunter's camp and Percy and Artemis had dropped back a bit. "So was that fun?" He asked, readjusting the bear on his back. Selena nodded. "Yup, but I wanna hunt monsters next time. It's not as fun when they just stand there." She said, and Percy chuckled. "Maybe when you're older you can go out monster hunting with Artemis and the hunt. For now you should stick to rabbit's." He said.

Selena looked up at him. "Can I learn how to shoot?" She asked, and Percy shrugged. "I can't teach you, I'm terrible. You know, when I was younger, I accidentally shot Chiron in the butt." Selena giggled at the thought, then looked at him curiously. "Maybe mom could teach me?" She asked, and Percy smiled. He and Artemis had been engaged for less than 24 hours and Selena had already taken to calling her Mom or Mommy like it was nothing. It was cute.

Percy wrapped an arm around her. "Maybe if you asked politely. She might be able to give you a spare bow for the smaller hunters." He suggested, which excited Selena. She stayed silent though, probably planning to ask Artemis later.

As they walked, Percy noticed Artemis stumble a bit. As she fell to her knees, she clutched the side of her neck, and Percy saw a small dart sticking between her fingers. He gasped and grabbed Selena, covering her mouth and dropping the bear. While Artemis fell forward onto the ground, he pulled Selena behind a thick tree and hid, telling her to be quiet.

Percy peeked around the corner, watching as a man came out from the bushes. He had what looked to be a blowpipe, and was wearing wolf furs and relatively primitive clothes. On his head he had a silver crown with two large deer antlers protruding from it on either side.

"Well well well, word spreads quickly between the pantheons, it seems. If you're getting married, you won't need that maidenhood of yours anymore, Artemis. I'm just here to get my share." The god said, removing his bow from his shoulders and placing it on the ground. As Percy heard this, he became enraged. He took his hand from Selena's mouth and shushed her, telling her to stay quiet. She nodded, slightly scared as he left her.

Percy crept out from behind the tree and came up behind the man. He scowled as he realised the man was halfway to pulling her pants down, and he had her behind sticking up in the air. As the man reached inside his own close to pull out his manhood, Percy uncapped Riptide.

The man barely had enough time to register the noise before Percy had swept around in front of him. "The hunters send their regards." He said, plunging the now-legendary sword into the man's guts. As he ripped the sword out, ichor flowed from the wound, confirming his heritage as a god. This ichor was different, however. It looked like it was infused with green, indicating he wasn't Greek. That would probably explain the talk about pantheons, Percy deduced. Maybe Norse or Celtic?

As the god lay dead on the floor, he slowly turned to dust, meaning he was going to reform. Percy looked in sadness as Artemis was on the floor, her lower half almost undressed. He carefully grabbed her pants and, mindful not to touch her skin, pulled them up to her waist.

Now that she was decent, he called Selena out from behind the tree. She peeked out, still holding her rabbits. "Is the bad man gone?" She asked, and he nodded. "I wanna go now." She told him, slightly scared. Percy understood. "Yeah, we will. We'd better get Artemis to Apollo, or at least to the medical tent." He told her, and ushered her over.

"Here, stay with me. Bring the rabbits, we'll get the other stuff later, or I will if you don't want to come. Now, let's get mom some help." He said, and then realised he just said mom like it was normal. Selena nodded, hugging the rabbits tight to her.

Percy bent down and turned Artemis on her back, before carefully grabbing her under the back and knees, before picking her up bridal style. He took the dart out and kept it, in case whoever was going to heal her needed it. The two, or three, of them quickly made their way back to the hunter's camp.

As they entered the perimeter, several hunters saw him, and immediately drew their weapons. Frightened, even though they weren't threatening her, Selena hid behind Percy. Today had been scary for her, and now the hunters had their bows aimed in her direction.

"What did you do?!" Phoebe asked in outrage, seeing her mistress unconscious in Percy's arms. "Let me explai-" He started, but was cut off by an arrow whizzing past his head. "HEY! You could've hit Selena, dumbass!" Thalia appeared, reprimanding the hunter who shot at him.

Thalia looked at Percy, then pointed to the infirmary. "Come on." She said, and he followed. "What happened?" She asked, Selena explained for him. "A bad man shot mom, and pulled her pants down while we hid. Dad killed him." She said, and Thalia's eyes widened. "What? Who?" She asked, looking up at Percy.

"A nature deity of some sort. Big deer antlers, wolf skin clothes, blowdarts. Only thing is... his ichor was green." He said, and Thalia raised an eyebrow. "We need to call Apollo." She said as Percy set Artemis down on the bed. Percy nodded, and using his Olympian power, mind-messaged Apollo.

The golden god flashed in with a pearly white smile, but that all faded as he saw Artemis on the bed. "What the Hades happened?" He asked, looking at Percy confusedly. The younger god covered his daughter's ears. "A god tried to rape Artemis, so I killed him. But he wasn't Greek, his ichor was green." He said, and Apollo's eyes narrowed.

"Did he have an antlered helmet or crown?" He asked, and Percy nodded, realising Apollo knew who this was. "Cernunnos, Celtic god of animals and the forest. He's been after Artemis since the Roman age, when our pantheons first crossed paths with the invasions of the rest of Europe and the British Isles. He thinks that due to their similar domains, he's entitled to her. I hope you took care of him real good." He said, and Percy nodded.

"Right, I'll get her set up, you mind waiting here for a little bit?" He asked, and Percy nodded. Apollo got a full medical setup ready and placed tubes into Artemis' arms, essentially trying to flush out the neurotoxin and replace it with ichor. All the while, Percy sat by Artemis' side waiting for her to wake up. Thalia had left with Selena to explain what happened to the hunt, and proclaim Percy's innocence.

After nearly two hours, Artemis' eyelids started to flutter. She opened her eyes to see her fiance and twin brother looking down at her worriedly. "How you feeling?" Percy asked, and she yawned. "I've been better. What happened?" She asked.

"Cernunnos got to you, and would've had you if Percy hadn't been there to help." He said, and Artemis looked at Percy in shock. "You saved me?" She asked, and Percy raised an eyebrow. "Why are you so surprised? Were you expecting me to join in?" He asked, and Artemis didn't answer. "Apollo, can we have a moment?" She asked, and the god looked at her with a smirk. "Sure, I'll go get Selena. Don't take too long." He winked, making Artemis blush.

When he was gone, they sat in silence for a few seconds. "Percy, thank you." She said, and he looked at her. "You're welcome." He said nonchalantly, and she glared. "No, I mean it. Without you, I wouldn't be a maiden anymore, he would have raped me. Seriously, thank you." She said, and Percy smiled. "Don't worry about it. I'll be here to protect you, perks of getting me as a husband." He smirked, and she laughed.

The door, or whatever you could call the flap, flew open with force as Selena charged in. "Mom!" She yelled, running up and hugging Artemis. The goddess looked down at her in shock, before pulling the girl up onto the bed to hug her tighter. Percy looked on with a smile as this family was slowly growing closer. Maybe... He thought. Just maybe... this could work.

Okay, finished that. Again, sorry for ditching this story for a few months. I have a good idea for the next chapter, so I'll write that ASAP. A few of you seem to like this story, so I'll work on this a bit more. Shoutout to Page9900. Okay, Imma do my homework now, bye!

Word Count: 4135