Hello Readers,

Here's the next part. Enjoy!

~Leonidas_son_of_Nike

***

"You appear to be enjoying yourself." I whisper, a ghost of a smirk passing over my face as we look out at the crowd gathered below us.

My goddess shrugs with barely contained excitement, " Perhaps I am. This is a festival in my honor. I have every right to enjoy it."

I bow my head, "Of course Lady Artemis. I did not mean to imply anything else."

Artemis directs her attention from the people and looks at me, "Is there something you wish to say Perseus?"

I shake my head, "No Milady."

"Come now Perseus. I know you well enough. You always become formal whenever you have something on your mind."

I sigh and look at the crowd again, watching the ritual playing out in the town center. Of course, no one noticed two people resting on a hill just outside of town; everyone else was watching the ceremony as well. Once every four year, the town of Brauron holds a festival to honor Artemis. It lasts a few days and ends with a dance of sorts. Young girls, dressed in the pelts of bears, perform a ritual dance in the center of the town. This ends with the young girls shedding the bear pelts, becoming "full women" in the process. There are many symbolic reasons for it, most attributed to Artemis' role as protector of childbirth, but I never truly bothered to learn all of the details of the ceremony. The day after the festival, tomorrow, Artemis' priestesses in the temple will burn the offerings for my goddess. She will never admit it, but Artemis likes that part of the festival the most.

After a few moments to collect my thought, I return my attention to the moon goddess looking at me intently, impatient for an answer.

"Recently I have found my thoughts drawn to the day I became your Guardian." I reply carefully.

She quirks an eyebrow, but says nothing. The goddess of the hunt is notoriously difficult to read, but over the years, I have managed to figure her out. I certainly helps that I have known her longer than almost anyone else. she appears...apprehensive.

"It is about the telekhine, and that strange substance he spoke of."

"Acheronic Oil..." Artemis says slowly, "Do you think it was wise not to alert the council about that?"

I shrug, "I do not know M'Lady. Perhaps it was not, but there is nothing we can do to change that now, other than telling them now."

Artemis nods, "Perhaps that would be the best course of action..." I can hear the question in her voice, which is strange. I have never known her to be unsure of anything.

Perhaps now would be an appropriate time to redirect her. I had not intended to affect Artemis' enjoyment of a festival in her honor by weighing her down with such thoughts.

I force a smile and nudge her gently, "Come now, this is not the time."

My goddess looks at me, confused.

"There is a festival down there in your honor, and here we are conversing on such heavy topics. You should go down there and join the crowd." My smile becomes genuine, "Perhaps even partake in some dancing?"

She looks at me and smirks, "Are you asking me to dance with you?"

I shake my head, "Of course not M'Lady. I would never disrespect you and your oath by doing such a thing."

She shakes her head, exasperated, "Well I am most certainly not going down there without you."

"The Hunt would not approve of me joining you." I note plainly, directing the moon goddess' attention to the group of twenty-seven "young" women in town, all dressed in hunting clothes and each glowing imperceptibly.

"So I suppose you would prefer to just stand up here."

"This location offers an excellent view of the town and surrounding area."

"Alone?"

"I am quite comfortable here."

"Without anyone to talk to."

"Are you suggesting that I need more social interaction?" I ask, now not entirely certain where this conversation is headed.

"Yes."

I open my mouth to retort, when an image appears next to the goddess and me, "Pardon the interruption Lady Artemis, but Guardian Xander has a message for Guardian Perseus." Iris' voice carries softly from the general direction of the rainbow.

"I shall join you down there as soon as I take there of this." I look at Artemis, "I promise."

She grins, "Of course. I shall wait for you."

Artemis begins to walk down the hill. I watch her go for a number of seconds before turning back to the rainbow.

"Thank you Lady Iris." I bow to the rainbow, "I apologize for the delay. You may send the message through now."

A moment later, Xander's face appears in front of me. I cannot make out anything behind him, except for the fact that it is pink. So very pink. The only thing that was not some shade of pink was Xander's face.

"Why -" I don't even finish the question.

"Aphrodite discovered this color recently." My fellow Guardian explains with a tired look on his face, "She has been obsessed with it for over a week."

"I see." I really do. That pink is difficult to ignore, "I presume this was not why you contacted me."

"Of course not!" He replies, "...well unless you want to..."

"I think I'll pass." I smirk.

"Damn..." Xander looks defeated, "Well anyway, Sheena is being assigned a god soon!"

"Excellent!" I smile, "She has been waiting far too long."

"I agree Perseus." He smiles, "Well, I just wanted to let you know. Alex already knows, and well you're the only one we don't see often."

I laugh softly, "That is true. Artemis does like to keep her Hunt moving. I will do my best to be there just before the ceremony, but I cannot promise it."

"Of course. Lady Artemis is your priority." The son of Zeus winks conspiratorially.

I raise one eyebrow but say nothing. In the background, I hear something smash, and the sound of Aphrodite calling for Xander.

"Well, it looks like I am being summoned. Perhaps I will see you within the fortnight."

"I will try my best." I promise and wave my hand through the rainbow, breaking the connection.

I laugh to myself softly. Sheena has been waiting a long time to be assigned to an Olympian. I'm sure she will be an excellent Guardian to whoever she has to protect. If she can get rid of her annoying habit of misnaming people.

I turn and begin walking down the hill and into Brauron. For the most part, I am ignored, but a few people take note of my cloak and cast suspicious looks in my direction. Arriving in the center of town, I find myself surrounded by people singing, dancing, and drinking. A demigod son of Zeus had recently discovered that if one allows grapes to sit for long enough, you can create an extremely strong drink. He calls it "wine." As far as I have seen, this "wine" does little more than remove the inhibitions of the drinker, allowing them to look like complete fools. In fact, I have even coined a phrase for people who drink too much: drunk. Artemis claims that it will not catch on.

"So, the lone wolf finally comes down here to join the rest of us!" I feel a hand clap on my shoulder and turn. Diantha is standing directly behind my, smiling, "It is good to see you are finally relaxing."

"On the contrary Lieutenant." I let my eyes pass quickly over the crowd, "Something could happen at any time, especially considering most people here are not currently thinking clearly."

At that moment, the two of us hear a yell of pain from the other side of the town center, then the unmistakable voice of Catania, "Get your filthy hands off me boy!"

Another sound rings out, unnervingly like the sound of male organs being crushed. I wince involuntarily.

"I'll go check and see what happened." Diantha grins, "You should go find Lady Artemis before some foolish male attempts to woo her."

I roll my eyes as the Lieutenant of the Hunt runs off. She is right though, I should find Artemis and quickly. With that thought in mind, I begin to work my way through the crowd, searching for the moon goddess. Fortunately, I have a convenient trick to find her. I close my eyes for a second, then open them again, searching for the distinctive silver aura I have become very familiar with over the many years together.

After about five minutes of searching, I locate the goddess of the moon, but something is off. She is laughing. It is not her usual, soft laugh, but a loud, boisterous one. I run over to her quickly.

"Lady Artemis, are you alright." I am genuinely concerned. I have never seen her like this before.

"Ah there you are Perseus" She smiles widely, "I thought you had abandoned me! But here you are Perseus!" Artemis laughing again.

I frown as she stumbles a little closer, then collapses onto me. I detect the distinct smell of grapes on her breath. she's drunk.

"I'm going to kill Dionysus." I mutter, then look at Artemis.

Her face is red and her silvery eyes are now bloodshot. But the strangest thing of all was the too-chipper smile now adorning the moon goddess' face. It is not that I don't wish to see Artemis happy, but this smiles was abnormal.

"Come with me M'Lady." I say softly, "Let us find a good place for you to recover."

I grab Artemis' hand and steady her with my other She smirks at me.

"Wow Perseus." She slurs, "I never would have guessed you would try this. Having your way with me."

"Excuse me?!" I am not quite certain how to respond to such a comment. Apparently alcohol has a greater affect on those who drink it than I originally thought.

"If my brain wasn't so...fuzzy. I'd turn you into a...a jackelope!" The goddess of the hunt leans against me and giggles. This is definitely not normal.

"A jackelope?" I ask, figuring that the best thing to do is keep her talking, "I do not believe I have heard of it before."

"That's because I made it up!" She giggles again.

"Is that so?"

"Yeah! It's a mix between a jack rabbit and antelope." She hiccups.

I start to get a little concerned. This is most definitely not normal, "As much as I'd like to do that. I think I prefer my human form."

We finally make it out of the town and into the forest surrounding it. Artemis collapses against me again, dragging me down to the ground, "Well I think you would make a cute jackelope."

"Lady Artemis, you are not yourself." This has gotten a little out of hand.

"Of course I'm me Perceee!" She laughs again, "Why does no one call you Percy!"

I hold my head in my hands as Artemis babbles about that, apparently he drunken state finding it hilarious.

I pull out a small flask of nectar and shake it a little. I can barely hear the godly liquid in it. I groan, "This is what I get for not restocking my nectar. Here Lady Artemis, drink this."

She eyes the flask, "Is that wine in there?"

"Uh... Yes. It's a special wine I brewed myself. I would like you to try it."

"Anything for you Percy!" She takes the flask and drains the rest of my backup supply.

I watch patiently as Artemis' face slowly reverts to its natural state, the magical drink's healing properties working to restore Artemis. The redness to her cheeks disappear, returning to their natural, olive tone. The bloodshot look in her eyes disappear as the silver glow that is normally there returns in full force. Finally, the giddy look disappears from her face and returns to her normal expression.

"...Perseus?"

"Yes M'Lady?"

"Why are we in the middle of the woods? And why and am I lying almost on top of you?" The goddess of the hunt seems unnaturally calm.

"That would be the wine's doing, Artemis." I reply carefully.

She looks at me uncomprehendingly.

I sigh, "You got drunk Artemis."

"...You do realize that that phrase will never catch on, right?"

I groan, "That is not the point Artemis! You were at your own festival, and almost made a complete fool of yourself!"

"I most certainly did not!" She shoots back, though she avoids my eyes.

I could tell that she was getting flustered. That rarely happens, but I learned to pick up that information. When Artemis gets flustered, she becomes defensive.

I shift a little, trying to get free from under Artemis, who for some reason has not gotten up off of me, "Uh, Lady Artemis?"

"Yes?" She looks at me, frowning, then laughs. It is her normal, soft laugh, then stands up.

I fold my legs, upwards then kick out, launching myself to me feet and nod at the goddess, "Thank you Artemis."

She smiles, "You are most welcome." Then her face shifts a little, "I do feel a little bad though." Artemis whispers softly.

"Why?" I frown a little, "You did nothing wrong."

"But because of my lack of self-control you did not have a chance to enjoy yourself during the festival." The moon goddess shifts a little and looks down.

I look at her, surprised that she would be concerned with something like that, "It is my responsibility to ensure your well-being. That supersedes everything else."

"That may be true, but everyone else had the opportunity to relax at least a little." If it weren't for the fact that I knew of nectar's healing properties, I could swear that she was still inebriated.

Looking back towards the town, I see the Hunt walking towards us, all laughing and smiling after a day of festivities and smile, "Being your Guardian is reward enough for the work." I say honestly.

Before I can react, I feel myself be engulfed in a hug from Artemis. I stand there stunned for a few moments, before slowly wrapping my arms around her as well. I am a little bit taller than the moon goddess, so her head fits comfortably in the crook of my neck. It is very unlike Artemis to be even as intimate to hug someone, especially a male (Even if he so happens to be her Guardian).

"Thank you Percy." She whispers to me, "For everything."

She breaks away from me and smiles. A genuine, happy smile. Artemis then turns around and goes to greet the Hunt, leaving me standing there, completely dumbfounded.

***

I figured after that last chapter, you people needed something a little more lighthearted, so this was a little humorous anecdote on the interactions between drunk Artemis and nervous Perseus. I hope you enjoyed it because next chapter will be back to crazy roller coaster it was.

vote comment, and as always,
Keep being awesome!

~Leonidas_son_of_Nike