Sorry, I was dealing with...a few problems and some family visits. If you didn't notice, I started 'War's Champion.' I thought since it wasn't overused, it would be a good thing to write about. Now, for what you've all been waiting for, chapter 18, my lovely readers.

Chapter Eighteen: Camp Half-Blood, next to Thalia's Pine.

Point of view: Perseus Jackson

Artemis and I walk down the hill and towards the Artemis' cabin, hand in hand. She asks me about the cave and I answer her. Just before we get to the door, she asks, "What did your mother mean?" Artemis asks and I stop us. I shut the door slowly and turn to face her.

"She meant my ex step-father, Gabe Ugliano happened. I know I must tell you everything and I want to. I just never talk about it. It doesn't seem real anymore. But it happened. It won't reverse. And the marks are gone. Shall I tell the hunters as well?" I raise my eyebrow at her.

"Do you mind?" She looks at me worriedly.

"Not at all. I suppose they have a right to know. Though, Thalia already knows. She is part of my 'therapy' as your brother loves to make me talk about my life. Instead of just Tartarus, he made me talk about all my problems. And I trust Thalia. She promised not to tell anyone." I anser.

"On the Styx?" Artemis wonders.

"No." I shake my head.

I open the door again and usher her in. I close it as I step inside. As I turn to face Artemis, I realize the lights are on and find that Dadarios is surrounded by angry hunters.

"Girls! Calm down! This man is a Protector of a symbol. You must not harm him. He only followed orders." Artemis pushes through the crowd of hunters and they disperse back to their beds.

"Which symbol does he protect?" Phoebe is the first to speak up.

"My predecessor's. My lady, I must finish the task. May I take my leave?" I ask Artemis and she smiles, nods, and comes to hug me. I hug her back and she heads to Thalia's side. "Thank you milady. I will tell you the story when I return. I have told you of my experiences, tel them to pass the time. Come, Protector Dadarios. The Airia's Protector is in place. Now it is the Verafold's turn. It needs to return to the mortal world comepletely." I tell him.

"Yes, Guardian." Dadarios walks up to me.

"You can call me Perseus if you wish. I'm going to transport us by moonlight. But first I must find the Lord of the Wild I know of. Are you ready?" I ask and he nods. I smile and place my hand on his shoulder. I flash us to where I sense Grover. We scare the life out of him and he bows immediately.

"What can I do for the Guardian of the Moon and Hunt?" Grover asks in a kind tone.

"I require the skills of a Lord of the Wild. May I borrow you?" I try to ask in a nice tone, but fail miserably. My smile is a grimace and he looks up at me.

"Of course, Guardian." Grover nods and rises.

"Wonderful. We are traveling by moonlight. Don't freak out, Lord." I say and place my other hand on his shouldr as I flash to an unknown place of wilderness under the light of the moon.

Dadarios walks to the middle of the clearing and I lead Grover after him. Dadarios looks at me, for permission to plant it here. I grin at him and nod. "It will prosper most there. The place where moonlight will touch every part of it. Once it bears more seedlings, plant them around the clearing. After that, I will find a new wild place for them to grow. Plant the seed, Protector."

Dadarios plants it in the ground, he must have the knowledge of the plant then. Good. It makes it easier to help it grow better and healthier. He rises and comes over to me. "Ezekeiel, use my body to help the Verafold's Protector." I look up at the moon and call my fellow Guardian's name.

I feel something enter me and I sense it's excitement and gratitude. My arms move by the will of the other presence in my mind. I know my eyes glow and the Brand is glowing as well. Ezekeiel shines more moonlight at the disturbed soil and a sprout pops out of the ground. The sprout grows until it is a sapling. Next Ezekeiel places a band of moonlight around Dadarios's forehead, but you can still see the symbol on his forehead through the mooonlight. I feel a smile force onto my lips and the gratuitous presence leaves me and I keep the smile there.

"Your duties are to, obviously, protect this symbol and all of its species. You may, well, you pretty much wil have to bring recruits to help you tend to the symbol. Especially when new sites are able to be made. I assume you know the properties of the Verafold?" I tell him.

"Yes. It will be able to produce more of its kind in a matter of four months. I will use moonlight to speed its process. I will search for new people to help me guard the Verafold." Dadarios says.

"I believe they will be called Tenders of the Verafold. Choose well and call upon me if you find one. You can look from a distance and I will ask them if you tell me. I'm sure Ezekeiel is already looking." I tell him.

Did you get the Tender thing, Teliria? I call out to my Protector.

Yes, Guardian. She answers immediately.

Thank you.I tell her.

My pleasure. I find it easier to look over this plant than to do what I was doing before I was cursed. I'll see you later, Guardian. I feel her leave my mind.

"Lord, will you place your blessing over this grove, please?" I turn to Grover, this time I'm able to smile.

"Yes, Guardian." Grover says and starts to chant in Ancient Greek. I sense a force spread throughout the forest. We weren't in America. This is on an island out in the middle of almost nowhere. There is a small village near this grove, but only a few people live in it.

"Thank you, Lord. We will take our leave, Protector. Guard the Verafold with honor." I say. Dadarios nods and I flash Grover and I back to where I found him before. He sits back down on the same stump. We are in Camp Half-Blood's forest, joy.

I turn and start walking. "Percy." Grover calls warily. I stop and turn to him.

"Yes, Lord?" I ask respectfully.

"I didn't mean what I said before. Can you forgive me?" Grover pleads with me.

"I lost all ties last night. I am loyal only to the Moon and the Hunt. I no longer hold the same feelings towards those who wronged me. Which means, no loyalty, no anger. But I despise the people you became. So, I do not yet know. I may not be able to forgive if I lost what I felt before. I'll forgive you. But do not expect me to be friendly. I respect your position, not you yourself. You lost my friendship then, and you don't have it now. I don't know you, Lord. Do you require anything else of me?" I tell him.

Tears glisten in his eyes. I just despise them all now. "Can I talk with you?" Grover asks in a strained voice.

"As you wish." I walk over and join him on the stump.

"How did you lose all of your ties?" Is his start as a conversation. I scoff. "Please, Percy." Grover begs.

"I officially became a Guardian. A part of the Moon. My soul is cleansed of my old life. I am done with all of it. I only feel...empty other than the despising when I look at all of you. Only because you were able to treat a person like that. Turns out the Romans are better than most Greeks. Who knew?" I retort.

"Don't say that." Grover scolds.

"Yes, Lord." I reply.

"Why won't you call me by my name?" Grover asks me next.

"Out of duty. Though I may be higher than you in all of those silly ceremonial things, I must respect your position as a being and master of nature. I will not harm you, as it would be against my role as a Guardian to harm nature in any way, shape, or form." I say and hold my hand up to the sky. A butterfly lands on the tips of my fingers and I bring it to my eye level to examine it. It's wings are blue and red. It appears to like me. I touch its wings gently and smile as it flits around my head. I watch it as it flutters off to go on with its life.

"You seem more in tune with nature than before." Grover nods.

"Perhaps, Lord." I answer him. "Maybe even more so than you, but I do not really care if you are better or not. I just like the relaxing calm of the wild. I am part of it and it is part of me. I am one of its brethren."

"What do you mean? I did not think that Lady Artemis's blessing extended that far." He looks at me confused.

I bark a laugh and shift into my wolf form. I sit and thup my tail against the log and Grover jumps away in fear. "It is not only the blessing or my role that glues me to the call of the forest. I am beckoned by my wolfish spirit. Look." I jerk my head as a pack of wolves appears. I pounce off of the stump and head to the wolves at an easy pace. The wolves howl and I howl with them as I near them. They bound over to me and surround me as we play like wolf pups. I sit on my haunches and shift back to human. The wolves pace around me and brush against my body. "My brothers and sisters are always somewhere. I have many. Whether they be hunters or animals. We do not prey on the weak, but on the truly evil. But survival is what makes us hunt down our food. I do not hunt with them, as I do not need to." I scratch between the ears of a few.

I see Grover backed in the far edge of the clearing, but he nods at my statement. "You need not fear them. They will not harm a Lord of the Wild. But they feel my unease towards you." I tell him.

Grover makes his way slowly over to the edge of the pack and stands there nervously. "What about the wolves of Lady Artemis?" Grover asks hesitantly.

"They reside somewhere special to me and milady. They normally don't come into the mortal world. But since I have taken on my role, I expect they will travel with us now. They won't leave me alone I suppose." I sigh and absent-mindedly scratch in between the ears of another wolf. It leans into me and it just rests its head on my lap. I pet it as I think about the magnificient wolves I saw in the Realm of the Moon.

"Why is your fur golden?" Grover asks.

"It was black with different colors running through it, but once I received my markings, it changed. It's on my back. And my original from is on my back fur in my animal form." I smile down at the sleeping wolf in my lap as I stroke its fur. His name is Verick. Once I see a wolf, I know what its name is.

"What markings?" Grover asks.

"That is personal, Lord. Will you force me into showing you?" I ask sarcastically.

"Of course not. I was only being curious, Percy." Grover tells me, hurt in his voice.

"My friends and family call me Percy. The rest call me Perseus or Guardian." I answer, my voice void of emotion.

"I am your friend." Grover argues.

"And what were your last words to me, before I went missing?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"I should never have said that." Grover whispers.

"But you did and you can never take it back." I tell him in a monotone.

"No, but I can make up for it." Grover says determination in his voice.

"There is no need, Lord." Shake my head at him.

"There is every need, Percy. I must right my wrongs." Grover says.

"Wrongs that no longer hold you to my soul, but my mind." I reply.

"Why are you making it difficult?" Grover huffs.

"Because in my mindset, you need a challenge to overcome and be able to be forgiven. Though I already told you that you were." I look at him. The wolves were all laying down around me. Most right next to me.

"What do I need to do?" Grover steps a little closer but puts his foot back when a soft, sleepy growl comes from the wolf closest to him. I smile at little Zazel. She seems like a really playful pup.

"I already told you the day I came back." I answer him.

"How long will that take?" Grover asks quietly.

"Awhile. It's not like you have good reason to betray another anyway. Am I right? Derek seems to be behaving after my sisters dealt with him." I say.

"I swear on the River Styx that I will never betray someone so dear to me again, unless they betray me first." Grover promises and thunder booms in the distance.

"Oh, willing to risk your life on that, are you? You see, last time, I didn't even betray you. You might want to gather your facts if it ever comes to pass again, or you might regret it. And fatally so too. That would be a sight." I grin at him wolfishly.

"Will you forgive me now?" Grover asks, nervous by my grin.

"Hmm..." I tap my chin in thought. I am thinking over it when he speaks again.

"Well?"

"Am I not allowed to ponder?" I ask him. He just looks at me and I go back to mulling it over. I run my hands through the wolf's tangled fur. I comb through it and after awhile of thinking it over, I have almost his entire fur detangled. Verick was a peaceful alpha, but was hard as a nail when it came to protecting his pack. I look down and smile at him. He shifts closer to me in his sleep, sensing my happiness towards him.

Grover clears his throat. "Anything?"

"Very well. You have the right to regain my...friendship. I warn you, I am a changed man. I do not warm up to a person as quickly as I used to. It will take longer than before, Grover Underwood." I tell him. "But know that I treat individuals like the Hunters of Artemis do, I do not take kindly to males." I say ominously.

He stiffens. "Why?" He asks.

"My sisters's pasts are most frightening and hold men in the most harshest of lights they can be cast in. I only gained their trust by sharing my past with them and treating them as real people. Rather than being frightened of them. All they wish for is to be loved and cared for. And that is part of my job as their Guardian. I am to keep them safe, that includes around myself and in their home." I answer.

"Do you ever wish to return to us, your other family?" Grover asks.

"No. My family is in the Hunt. Once they accepted me, I never wanted my life here at camp back again. They took me in and in return, I let them in. I have no other family. Family doesn't do that to one of their own." I tell him seriously.

"No. They do not." Grover admits.

"At any rate, I take after my family. Justice is one of my duties. Justice to the Moon and justice of the Hunt." I say.

"What do you mean?" Grover asks again.

"I mean, I am the verdict of any harm or wrongdoing that comes to my family." I explain.

"I see. What about it?" Grover asks unsure.

"It was a concealed threat, Grover." I look into his eyes and let it sink in.

"Oh. Okay." Grover nods.

"Don't you have duties to attend to? I thought Lords of the Wild were constantly busy." I roll my eyes. "Lot of good that does. Wolves dying left and right, forests being lost to pesky mortals. Traps everywhere, catching innocent animals. I had to put a squirrel out of its misery because a bear trap caught him, holding him in place by crunching into his stomach. Poor little thing. I felt so bad. I gave it a blessing of nature Lady Artemis taught me." I say sadly.

"Which blessing?" Grover asks curiously.

"It is different from the ones I have heard you utter, but it goes: 'Find peace in the nature surrounding you. Connect with the ground below and the sky above. Feel the Moon help guide your soul to an eternity of bliss. Go forever to paradise.'" I whisper in Ancient Greek. The pack's breathing deepens and I smile sadly at my wolf family.

"It's beautiful." Grover whispers with tears flowing out of his eyes.

"Of course it is. Lady Artemis made it herself to help the souls of the dying pass on. It works for any dying soul, but it works better with animals. I have a different one for others, but I'd rather not repeat it at the moment." I say. "I must return to my mistress. She will be worried." I wave my hand over the wolves and they all wake. They brush against me one last time and bound off into the forest. "My family is going to kill me." I pinch the bridge of my nose and sigh. I let go of my nose and flash into the cabin.

I haven't gotten to my brainstormed ideas yet lawl. Rick Riordan owns PJO/HOO. Night, my lovely readers.