Percy's POV

Thalia had led the hunters somewhere else once I had shown up to confront Aphrodite, so I assumed they were in some other area of the camp practicing Archery or something. There was a chance one or two had snuck back to eavesdrop, but I think I would have noticed if any of them had actually done that. Aphrodite and I had been on the outskirts of the camp, so I began heading back to the main area of it.

I was hoping to find either Artemis or Thalia, and I did come across Artemis first. I looked at her and said, "Before I go, we should talk. I consider you a friend, but if you can't accept how I have chosen to live my life, that may have to change,"

Artemis Replied, "Fine, then I have a question, is Melite your only child, or are there more I just haven't heard about yet?

I replied, "No, counting her, I have four children although two of them are a set of twins, Despite what you seem to think, there's nothing wrong with how I have chosen to live my life, I haven't hurt anyone, and I visited and helped the women who I accidentally got pregnant a lot while they were pregnant, and now that all my children have been born I love them, and I have continued to visit my children to help take care of them,"

Artemis was silent as I continued, "You seem to forget that I am not restricted by the ancient laws like the other gods are, so I can visit and help my children and their mothers more than the other gods can. And if that's what you are worried about, I have never and would never rape someone. On the rare occasions when someone wasn't interested in me, I was fine with that and let them be, because rape is just wrong. If you want to be mad at someone for that, be mad at your father, just based on the past it's obvious that he's the worst when it comes to that, and I really doubt he has changed his behaviour towards women or men since then,"

she replied, "You could be lying about all that except for the part about my father to hide the fact that you've become just like any other terrible male,"

"Maybe, but I'm not. I haven't really changed, sure I spend a lot of time with Apollo, but he helped me move on from Annabeth, and gave me the push I needed to realize that I shouldn't let Annabeth stop me from enjoying myself. Once I had moved on from her I eventually realized I was falling for your brother, and turns out he was falling for me too. I love him, but despite what you seem to think, he didn't turn me into the kind of man you hate. I'm much the same as I have always been, just happier now that I'm with Apollo. I also think you shouldn't be so hard on Apollo, he has certainly done some bad things in the past, I won't deny that, but I think he's learned to be better. Maybe I'm rubbing off on him. Anyway, think about what I have said, because being mad at me for sleeping around and having a few kids is kind of ridiculous. Compared to most of the other gods, I have hardly done anything worth criticizing. If you want to judge someone for the number of children they have, there are much better options than me."

Artemis spoke, she seemed kind of annoyed, " Swear on the river Styx that everything you just said was true, and that you've never Raped anyone, and that you never will at any point in the future,"

Annoyed now as well, I replied, "I'm offended that you feel the need to ask that of me, I thought we had mutual respect and trust for each other, and I already said that rape is something I would never do, but apparently you don't know or trust me as much as I thought you did. If I have to do it to prove my point that I haven't changed then fine I will, I swear on the river Styx that everything I have just said to you is true, and that I have never raped anyone, and that I will never do it to anyone in the future either,"

I continued, "if you didn't want to take my, or Apollo's word for it, you could have asked my father, Hestia, Tyche, or some of the other gods if I had changed for the worse, although now that I think about it my dad would probably be biased. Tell me, what do I have to do to stay your friend Artemis? Stay single and celibate forever? If that's what's necessary for you to trust me, then no thanks, I'll pass. You really need to learn that not all men are terrible and rapists and that there's nothing wrong with romantic relationships as long as everyone involved treats each other well.

You also need to learn that sex is normal and is fine as long as it's consensual. I'm not trying to convince you to give up your maiden vows but I just want you to understand that times have changed since Ancient Greece, and that a lot of things you criticize everyone else for, and also teach your hunters to hate as well, aren't actually bad. I'm done here now, I'm going to talk to Thalia for a bit and say goodbye to her and Amy, and then I'll leave. If you ever decide you feel like apologizing you know where you can find me,"

I did just that, walking away to find Thalia, Maybe it hadn't been all that smart of me to tell off Artemis, but her needing me to swear an oath before she would believe I had never raped anyone had really made me angry. she should have known that I was a better person than that, but just because I had slept around and had a few kids she had immediately jumped to conclusions and assumed that I had become a terrible person.

Despite everything I had said, I doubt Artemis will Change her opinions, and I will be extremely surprised if she ever actually apologizes to me. I would say that our friendship is over but I'm honestly not that disappointed, sure I had always preferred to be on her good side, considering what she normally does to men that anger her, and I was sure that now I would have to be careful around her or avoid her entirely. Sure due to the ancient laws, gods aren't technically supposed to attack each other, but I'm definitely going to be careful around Artemis from now on anyway, unless she is able to bend her pride enough to apologize and admit she was the one who was wrong.

It didn't take long to find Thalia, and we talked for a while. I told her and Amy that I probably wouldn't be back for a while since my second conversation with Artemis hadn't gone well, but I said I would Iris message them instead.

Once I returned to Olympus, not much happened. Apollo had other plans tonight, so I thought I might find someone else for tonight. That was something I hadn't done in a while, since Apollo and I spend most nights together. First though, I decided to go for a walk in hopes that it would help me calm down since I was still angry from my arguments with Artemis and Aphrodite, I walked around Olympus, trying to calm myself. I passed Palaces, temples, and statues of various gods, at one point I glared at a random statue of Ares, after all, I still don't like him.

Eventually, I met someone else who was out walking, "Hebe," I said, surprised to see her. I asked her how she was doing, and she sighed, before admitting that she wasn't happy, which was understandable considering who she was stuck with for a husband. She vented to me about that for a bit, before she seemed to have gotten an idea, and she said seductively, "Since he's rarely ever around, why don't you and I go to your palace and do what he should be doing with me,"

I thought for a moment before replying, "Sure," Normally I wouldn't go for someone who is married, or in a monogamous relationship, but since I hate her husband basically as much as she does, I wasn't against sleeping with Hebe. I had done it once before during that sixsome I had been part of a while ago. We went back to my palace, and it wasn't long before we were upstairs in my bedroom. Before we got started, she asked, You're sure you're okay with this?

I replied, "Yes," not even bothering to hide the fact that I was staring at her. Next, I started to take off her dress, and she didn't argue, it wasn't long before we were in the bed and our clothes were scattered over the floor. This time I made sure to use a condom, I definitely didn't want to get her pregnant. Sure there was a chance that the condom could break, but I think we're both hoping that doesn't happen.

It was definitely better than not using anything since It would certainly cause problems if I got her pregnant, it probably wouldn't be hard for the other gods to realize that the baby isn't her husband's since he's hardly ever around. That's part of the reason why she has been cheating on him in the first place, that and even when he is around, he unsurprisingly doesn't treat her very well.

It had been a while since the last time I had sex with a woman, mainly because it had been a while since I had been with someone other than Apollo. Sex with him is always great, but this was also a nice change Once we were both satisfied, she said, "That was great,"

And I agreed with her, not long after that we both fell asleep. After we woke up in the morning, we ended up continuing where we left off the night before. Once we were finished and Hebe had left, I began my usual routine of taking care of my duties, visiting my children, and checking on the demigod camps.

In the late afternoon, l met with Apollo and we went on a date before going back to his palace and spending the night together. The next morning while we were still lying in bed together I asked him, "Have you talked to Artemis lately?"

He replied, "Not in a while, why?"

I replied, " Well let's just say that she and I aren't on good terms anymore,"

Apollo replied, "What happened? Did she get mad about you having a child?"

I replied, "Yes, once she found out about Melite she jumped to conclusions and assumed that I'd become a terrible person and a rapist. I noticed at the meeting where Melite got her domains that Artemis looked annoyed at me, and then The other day I rescued a girl from an abusive home and took her to the hunters.

While I was there I decided I should try and talk to Artemis and get her to understand that I haven't hurt anyone. I guess I should have known that she wouldn't see sense no matter what I said, because in the end she didn't believe me and said I had to swear on the river Styx that what I said was true, and that I'd never raped anyone and never will in the future either. I summarized the rest of the conversation with Artemis before saying, "I'm sorry Apollo, I know you care about her since she's your twin, but your sister is kind of a bitch,"

Apollo sighed before replying, "Trust me, I know, I have been putting up with her abuse for centuries now, sometimes I really miss what she was like on Delos before we came to Olympus because she wasn't always like this,"

I wrapped my arms around him, and asked him, "What do you think changed her?"

He replied, "I'm not sure, it could have been getting her domains, or maybe it was just the fact that when we first came to Olympus, a lot of the gods either wanted her for their wife, or just to sleep with her, and she had to fend off a lot of them because she wasn't interested at all. I helped her when I was there as well, but I couldn't always be there, even though we were still close back then.

Maybe the lovesick gods were what started it and once she got her domains she became more like the Artemis you're familiar with, she didn't hate me immediately after that but considering the other gods aren't exactly the best role models it wasn't long before she started hating me too because I acted a lot like them, I'm sure you know the stories, it took me a while to realize I didn't have to be like them and even though I have been trying to be better for a while now she doesn't believe it, and as you found out the other day, she seems to hate anyone who does anything remotely romantic or sexual,"

I nodded before replying, "Well, Artemis may never change her ways, but you're not alone, You have me and Hermes, and probably a few of the other gods. I know I won't abandon you, I love you Apollo, and no one will change that. I don't really care what Artemis thinks about me, her not liking me just makes my job a little harder," I kissed him, making how I felt about him obvious in that one passionate kiss, although the kiss soon became a make-out session. We didn't go any further though since Apollo had to leave to drive his chariot and I had duties of my own to look after.