1,453OK, I'm not going to update twice in a day often, but I am today.
Last chapter I forgot to say (Though I hope most people realised) I don't own PJO or HOO. Nor am I making any profit from this.
Also; this isn't going to be 'Percabeth'. I don't mind the pairing, but definitely prefer others in FanFiction. Annabeth won't be presented in a nice way in this story, and though Percy/Purgatory (Probably) won't have the confrontation with her, she will come out of it worse for wear. (Feel free to suggest who should have the confrontation with Annabeth)
Please Review and Follow/Favourite. That'd give me more motivation to keep writing, after all.
"WHY?!" The crying, onyx haired girl yelled at her ex-mistress. "What did I do to deserve that place?!" She looked as if she would strike her oldest friend yet again, before a calm faced Purgatory stepped between them and interjected.
"Whoa! I saw her put you in the stars, Zoe. It wasn't her. In fact, I'm bettin' that she'll be just as upset when she finds out what happened with you bein' sent to Tartarus," He glared at Zeus. "Isn't that right, Lord Zeus."
"WHAT?!" Artemis yelled. How could her father, admittedly not the best, do this to her? "Father! Tell me he is incorrect!"
Zeus looked light a deer caught in the headlights Ironic, since she was the 'car' and a deer was her sacred animal. Then, he growled, even his daughter had no right to talk to him this way. He was the King of Olympus.
"That's correct. The sky is my domain, and I was not going to allow you to put a Titan in it for all eternity. You're lucky that I did not punish you for the attempt."
Two girls were annoyed, one looking about 16, having aged a few years in the erratic nature of Tartarus before Percy froze her ageing and put her into a coma. She had been vaguely aware, but the dangers were minimal to her while she was in that power induced sleep. The other was in her ordinary appearance of a 12 year old girl, with auburn hair and silver eyes.
They both were glaring at the second's father. One because he personified men, really, she wasn't that bothered about Tartarus; it was more the pain of what she had perceived to be Lady Artemis' betrayal that bothered her. The 30 years were horrible, but in the past 270, she had recovered easily enough. The other was because her father had thrown her best friend into hell.
"Oh? How is she a Titan?" Purgatory asked with a smirk.
"Her father was Atlas!"
"And who is yours?" Zeus's face reddened further at this logic, and he was silent for a little as his brain tried to come up with a response.
"This does not concern you!"
"Actually, I consider her to be my friend, so it really does." He grinned, eyes flashing with amusement.
"Father! How dare you?! What is wrong with you?!" Artemis screamed at him.
"Silence! I demand respect!"
Purgatory snorted, "Of course, 'cause how else would you get any?" Zeus growled at the insult. "Problem?"
"Get out!"
"Or?"
"Or I will make your life a living hell!"
"Been there, done that. You could send me back, if you get a majority vote again, but I sure as hell ain't letting you do it unless you somehow overwhelm me." He said, in a clear challenge, a smirk on his face increasing the annoyance of the King of the Gods further.
"I-"
"We have a suggestion." A female voice spoke up from the entrance of the throne room
"WHO DARES- Oh, hello ladies fate." Wow, who knew Zeus could be respectful? "Ahem. Is there something we can help you with?"
"That is why we're here." One of the three shook her head. "We had a plan that would be set into action, but something has changed it, meaning that we need the council to make a declaration for us."
"Wait, what can possibly alter your plans?" Apollo questioned, he knew as well as any that the three's word tended to be law.
"*Sigh* Perseus' other aspect is extremely... unpredictable. Going so far that his erratic nature makes it near impossible to tell his future." Lachesis grumbled. While Purgatory looked proud, something that changed quickly.
"He has to be... around the hunters." The previously happy expression turned to one of shock.
"Wh-What?!"
"Your presence is required to be in the camp of the hunters."
"Why?!"
"You are a too dangerous person to be without ties." She continued as he opened his mouth to interrupt. "No. You aren't close enough to anyone to be considered so much as an ally, yet alone a friend. In fact, we know that you want to kill multiple gods."
"WHAT?!"
"Not on the council, don't worry." He shot a glare at Ares and Poseidon, "Mostly."
Purgatory turned back to the fates. "But why do I have to be around a bunch of adolescent, angry girl scouts?"
"Would you rather camp?" The addressed fate questioned with a shrug. When a growl escaped Purgatory's throat, she continued, "Exactly. Either camp, or here on Olympus, would lead to you getting angry, and Perseus never having any reason to come back."
"But they're hunters." He whined.
"And what's wrong with my hunters?" Artemis glared at him.
"Oh, I don't know, the fact that they'd rather kill/castrate me than be around me for more than 20 seconds?"
"What if they swear an oath to do no serious harm to you while you are permitted to be there?" Clotho asked.
"And how do you propose that happens?" Purgatory pointed out the obvious flaw in the Fates' plan.
"Lady Artemis will command it, of course."
"What?! Do I not get any say in this?" Artemis exclaimed, disliking the prospect of a male's presence; even if it was Perseus. Well, a version of Perseus. Zeus spoke up.
"Daughter, you did tell me yesterday that this new system was straining you. And asked for another maiden god to accompany the other group." He gave a slightly nervous look toward the 8 year old figure by the Hearth. "And, while Hestia will be well equipped day to day; my daughters, as well as the other girls, need someone to aid them should danger occur." Respectful, and reasonable all in one day. Amazing. "And, while I am slightly loathe to admit it, Perseus was, and seems to still be, a gifted warrior."
"Aww. I knew you loved me, really."
Purgatory received a glare from the king of the gods, as he turned to the fates yet again to try to argue the case. However, before he got the chance, Purgatory stiffened and his eyes widened. He saluted, and said with a grin "Reporting for duty, Milady." To Artemis, who looked as confused as the others in regards to the sudden change in attitude.
"But-I- Oh, fine. Shall we take a vote?" She strode back to the throne and sat in it, pouting. Purgatory knew she looked adorable like that, but even he wasn't crazy enough to say that out loud. Well, not at the moment anyway.
"Very well." Zeus's thunderous voice proclaimed unnecessarily loudly. "All those in favour of a protector being assigned to the hunt?" 10 hands went up. The two not agreeing were the annoyed Moon goddess, and the napping Wine god. "Motion passed. Now, please understand, Ladies Fate, we must put forth more than one candidate in an event like this." The fates seemed to frown, but they nodded collectively. "Okay, there are three candidates available for this role. I will ask who is in favour of Perseus, son of Poseidon, who believes Hercules, my son, will be the best choice, and who wants the only volunteer; Leo, son of Hephaestus, to be assigned to the hunt." As he spoke, Artemis gradually looked fearful. It was rather clear to her what course of action would to be taken, to prevent any unnecessary discomfort to her hunters.
"Okay, first of all; who is in favour of my son, Hercules?" Hermes and Ares raised their hands. Ares was hoping that Artemis'd be hurt by the man's presence; she'd insulted him earlier. Hermes thought it'd be funny.
"And Leo, son of Hephaestus?" Hephaestus raised his hand, sighing; his son had insisted that he vote that he be put with the hunt. Putting up with him normally was difficult enough; when the minor god was being deliberately irritating would be impossible. The forge god's want to avoid that outweighed the forge god's desire to keep his son around. Maybe reforming would force him to mature a little. And he certainly would be killed at some point during his tenure with the hunters.
"And Perseus, son of Poseidon?" The majority raised their hands; Artemis saw that it was certainly better to have the only man she actually respected than either of the other two, whom she despised, along with the entirety of the hunt, Apollo was simply waiting to vote with his sister, since she was the one this affected most, and he didn't want to be on her shit list, Aphrodite had her reasons, and Athena simply went with the logical choice; Perseus would be the most suitable to the position. Hera wanted to actually make some use out of Percy, and this was the best way she saw to do so. Zeus felt this was both punishment for Perseus, and also a good way to protect his children, satisfying his protective (often overly so) nature. Poseidon did the same, as he now had a few daughters in the hunt, and Demeter didn't want to force Percy to go back to the camps. He'd always been kind to her children.
The wine god did not vote. In fact, he began snoring. Stupid drunk.
"Very well, Perseus will be the new attendant of the hunters. Responsible for protection; are there any other duties or rules that you wish to suggest, daughter?"
"He has to swear not to flirt with my hunters... or make them uncomfortable, or hurt them."
"Surely they'll be uncomfortable with my being there." Purgatory corrected. "But I don't have that type o' feeling anyway. Take it up with Percy when you meet him, he theoretically could." His smile came back, he was actually pleased, for once; instead of . "And I swear that I won't hurt them, as long as they apply the same courtesy." He grinned at the goddess. "Or were you planning on letting them torture me?"
Artemis had no real response to that. Even Aphrodite deduced that that would most likely have been the maiden goddess's plan. But the auburn haired goddess's face reddened with annoyance. While she liked Percy, it would have been amusing to see him humiliated. To her at least. After all, he was a male.
"Well then, is there anything else?" Purgatory asked, yawning to show his sudden onset boredom.
"No. We will not interfere again unless necessary: you can work out the details." The fates said as one, and vanished silently
Purgatory looked at the goddess he would be working under, and waited for instruction. She indulged him.
"Fine! Meet me at the hunters' camp at midday tomorrow. I will have explained the situation to my sisters by that time." She turned to look at her not-dead friend. "Zoe... would you be willing to reconsider joining the hunt?" She resisted her annoyance as the ebony haired girl looked to Perseus.
"Hey, I'll be there tomorrow. We'd rather you were there with me." He said with a grin.
"Very well. Will I be returning with you, Milady, or should I accompany Percy?"
"No. You will come with me." She was annoyed at the thought of Zoe and Percy being alone together. Bad enough that she had been with him for Chaos knows how long. Who knew what the two had done.
She barely resisted the urge to scream at that thought.
-()()()()-
'Well, this is gonna be fun, right Boss?' Purgatory thought, smirking. "C'mon, Perce. Aaaansweeeeer!" "Moody Bastard." The slightly crazy aspect commented. "Well, I think it'll be fun." He sighed sadly. "Not as much fun as Tartarus, but still better than your stupid habit; sleeping is booooring."
"Here we are!" He exclaimed happily as he fell from the sky, sensing the Moon Goddess below. Fortunately, he was only 80 feet up, meaning that he only made the Hunters jump, and didn't destroy their camp. That wouldn't have helped their mood. Not that they needed his help to be Grumpy Guses. Gusetts?
As he looked up, Purgatory let out a nervous giggle as he saw the sheer number of silver arrows directed at him. The Hunt sure had grown.
"Umm... Hello?" He gulped nervously. He'd survive being shot, but some of those arrows were pointed places that would hurt... a lot. "Lady Artemis is expecting me."
"Perseus!" Her voice wasn't as full of contempt as it was talking to other males. "On time, as I expected. Will you make introductions?"
"Of course, Milady. But may I ask, why are there so many hunters?" The numbers were close to 100. Last time he saw them, there were no more than a dozen. Purgatory had little choice about being respectful toward the goddess.
"You can. The hunt is the closest Olympus has to the mortal equivalent of special forces. The council agreed that expanding it would certainly make sense. (Sigh) That's part of the reason that you are here. Having so many of us travel together would be far too noticeable, meaning that there are 5 groups. I lead one, while the more senior of hunters are divvied between the others, and the camps are enchanted to be connected; meaning that we all stay together at night. However, it is difficult for myself, and more recently Hestia, to assist all 5 groups at once. While I trust my hunters, your presence will make their safety more assured." The temporarily serious Purgatory nodded, before the mature countenance broke and he began grinning again.
"What help could a boy give us?!" One of the hunters called out.
"Don't group him in with the others, Jessica. You know the stories about Perseus Jackson; he's one of very few males you should not call boy. And not just because of his rank, either." One of the ones he recognised; Phoebe, spoke up. He had saved her a few times in the various battles. They'd fought side by side for a while in the Battle of Manhattan. "Hell, he's Zoe's friend, apparently."
"But he's male."
"Milady..." Purgatory spoke quietly, through clenched teeth, knowing that the goddess could hear.
"Yes Perseus?"
"First off, my name is Purgatory. If you haven't warned them about me yet, now would be a good time to do so. I don't give a shit if they insult me, but I can't just stand here and let them insult Percy."
"What do you mean? You and Percy are one and the same."
"I thought we cleared this up on Olympus. We are not the same. By all logic, I shouldn't exist: None of the new gods have other aspects, only me. In fact, I really wish that I didn't exist; that would mean that Percy wasn't betrayed and thrown out like yesterday's trash. To hear these little- To hear your hunters insult him, feels how it would to them to hear you be badmouthed. And my self control is rather pathetic. I don't want to break my promise, but it will grow very difficult to forgive them, and to resist teaching them the error of their ways, if they talk about my king like this."
Artemis was shocked. She had another aspect, so she could just about follow what Per-Purgatory was saying, but never had she heard of one aspect being so... not dominant, he wasn't even here. So respected.
'Chaos knows I don't respect you that much.' Diana spoke up.
'Shut up.'
'Hey, ask him when we're likely to meet Perseus.'
'To see if he's still worthy of respect?'
'That's right.'
'I imagine he will either be completely unworthy, or more so than ever.'
'Either he'll be like all men; after what he went through in Tartarus, or he'll be better than ever. His loyalty was always the most obvious trait of him; admirable for anyone, let alone a male, but he may have become more refined over the centuries.'
The two drifted into a silence for a little while, before Diana voiced a question.
'Do you think Percy hates us?'
Meanwhile, the argument had stopped as the hunters watched their mistress stare into space, while the new protector had flown up to the highest branch he could find, looking for any incoming threats.
He sat for an hour, something that greatly irritated Purgatory; he would find a way to guard and be doing something in the future, before a shocking method of arrival caught his eye. A pillar of fire erupted from the far edge of the Hunters' camp, and the guard leapt to the ground, covering the distance to the potential threat in only a few bounds.
"Oh, Lady Hestia." He bowed to the diminutive goddess, but she picked up on his tone.
"You sound disappointed, Purgatory."
His face lit up in a grin at this. "Finally! Someone who gets my name right. But, yeah. I was hoping for a fight. I have some serious ADD. Along with being Hyper a lot of the time." True to his word, he seemed to be shaking with pent up energy, something that amused Hestia.
"Of course I got your name right. I like to think that me and Percy were quite close before my family treated him so badly." She had a frown marring normally cute features. "I hope that I will still recognise him if he comes back."
"When."
"Pardon?"
"When he comes back. He's already waking up. Made a few comments, given me a few instructions."
"What do you mean given you instructions?"
"Umm, told me what I ought to do. That's why I agreed to guard the hunt."
"What's why?"
"Well... he said that it seemed as though everyone he wanted to be kept alive seemed to be in one place; so it'd make sense for us to be here too." Purgatory wasn't sure that Percy would want him to discuss this. "But I don't think I should talk about that much more."
"Oh, okay." She was disappointed, having wanted to know more. "So what are your roles here? Do you know?"
"Well, I'm here to guard."
"Just guard?"
"Yeah, what else would I- Oh, okay. If they need help in most ways, and aren't rude about it, we'll help out."
Hestia was more curious than ever. He had just interrupted himself completely. Was that Perseus giving him these 'instructions'?
"So what do you do here?" Purgatory continued, asking the diminutive goddess.
"Well, I enjoy it here. Artemis needed another god to be around; just because the presence would help hinder large groups of beasts trying to wipe the hunters out. Before you, there weren't any guys that would be accepted by Artemis or the girls; so it had to be a female. A virgin preferably. Artemis asked those Athena in the Olympian chamber, but her sister was busy. I offered to help. And here we are." The brown haired goddess smiled at Purgatory, and he responded with a grin.
"Huh? What'ya mean? Really? Great!" The grin grew comically, and he briefly spoke to Hestia again, "Sorry, Milady, but I gotta go. Nice talking to you!" He called out as he ran off, into the tree line.
-()(_)()-
"That was... odd." Hestia commented to herself, as she went to find Artemis; who by now had come back to the real world and moved to her tent.
"And you have no idea where Perseus went?"
"I'm afraid not. And he prefers to be called Purgatory in that form."
"Well, he'll be back soon, right? It's been half an hour."
"I would hope so, ye-" Hestia was interrupted by a loud Knock.
"Who is it?" Artemis called to the flap.
"Purgatory." A male voice called back.
"Come in."
The goddesses both turned and watched the figure that entered. Both noticed the absence of his usual grin, as he seemed to attempt to look sombre, though his eyes gave him away. The poisonous green was unsettling anyway, with the glee in them it was magnified greatly. Now that hey really looked, he suited them. Purgatory looked the way you would expect from a mental patient. Gaunt cheeks were the most obvious, after aforementioned eyes, but the gait with which he walked was just as unsettling. It screamed unpredictability. Perhaps his hair was cropped so he wouldn't tear it out? His personality matched. His moods shifted from extremes rather quickly, while Percy had matured through the wars, Purgatory struck them as almost childlike. Or at least immature, anyway.
"Purgatory, in the future, I'd ask that you warn me before you leave."
"You have my apologies, Milady. Are you still recruiting hunters?" He replied in a polite tone.
"Of course. Why do you ask?"
"One second." He stuck his head out of the tent and said something the goddesses didn't quite catch. "Jasmine, these are Ladies Artemis and Hestia. Say hello." A girl, around the age of 11 with black hair and lightning blue eyes, slowly stepped into the room.
"H-Hello." She stammered slightly, before walking to Hestia. "A-Are you H-Hestia?"
"That's right, how can I help you, young one?"
"P-Percy told me that you would help me find a new family."
'Percy told her?' Hestia pondered. She looked over at Purgatory and saw a huge smile on his face.
"Jasmine?" Artemis began in a kind voice, seeing that the girl was scared and upset. "Could you tell us what happened to you?"
The girl started tearing up at this and stammered out "D-D-Do I-I h-hav-e t-to?"
"Lady Hestia?" The goddess, who had aged herself to the same age as Jasmine looked to Purgatory. "Could you take Jasmine to get some food?" The girl punctuated this by an almighty growl coming from her stomach. Purgatory chuckled. "Jasmine, do you mind if I fill Artemis in while you eat?" The girl, now red faced but no longer crying, even smiling slightly at the prospect of food, nodded before she and Hestia left.
The man's expression turned into a scowl as she left, and he turned to face the goddess, who was slightly worried at his glare.
"Many of your hunters are victims of abuse, aren't they?"
"Yes, ordinarily by the hands of men. Why?"
"That means she'll feel more at home, at least." He sighed, uncharacteristically serious. "Do you not receive prayers when they are directed to you?"
"Only when it's with a sacrifice."
"Ah. I guess that you all have decided on what counts as a sacrifice to you then?" The goddess nodded. It tended to be food on a fire, or drink spilled deliberately while saying a god's name. "Well, we haven't. And apparently back before her mother passed away, Jasmine was told stories about 'The Great Percy Jackson'. When she was shoved into a crawl space, battered and bloody, and had exhausted her knowledge of gods to pray to, she tried praying to Percy for help. He let me know and I went there." He let out a slight laugh. "Apparently that angered him enough to take control for a little while. Even I was a bit bothered by what happened to the mortal. Didn't even bother with a weapon: just grabbed him by each of his shoulders and tore him into two equal pieces." Purgatory smirked slightly, "Organs fell all over the floor. But anyway, Percy's better at the comforting stuff, so he kept control, healed Jasmine, and brought her here. After torching the place, of course." He thought briefly. "That's about it."
Artemis was happy when she heard the punishment. Granted, it was slightly brutal, and too quick for her tastes, but certainly no more than the male deserved. She was slightly horrified at the other information though; how many maidens through the years had prayed to her but suffered and died because she didn't hear them? The moon goddess would find a way to change that.
"Very well, you're dismissed, Purgatory."
"Thank you." Purgatory left the tent and went to the training grounds. No way was he just watching any more.
-()()()()()()-
"Why- Won't- Something- Happen?!" Purgatory punctuated each word with the destruction of one of the mechanical dummies. His fighting style, while erratic, was certainly effective. The logic based beings couldn't hope to follow his movements as he reversed in mid air, lashed out with his weapon-less hand, and threw his blade, before it flew back to his hand. "This." He grabbed the last of the human resembling machines by the face. "Is." He threw it into the rock wall in front of him. "Boring!" He flew into the newly formed crater, and slammed his foot into the bronze man's chest, smashing it seemingly beyond repair.
"What did you do boy?!" An angry hunter screeched at him. The same one from yesterday: Jessica?
"Trained." Was his response, as he dragged the mangled dummy into the middle of the clearing, and proceeded to gather up the rest.
"You are wasting our resources! It is bad enough that gods put you here in the first place!" All she received was a smirk from the object of her anger. "What do you have to say for yourself?!"
"In regards to what?"
"Destroying our stuff!"
"Nothing."
"Apologise!"
"No."
"Apologise!"
"Why should I?"
"And here Artemis said that you were different from the rest of your gender." The girl said, trying to look down on the significantly taller figure, as she spoke in a condescending tone.
Purgatory raised his eyebrow, as his pupils glowed gold, and the smashed machinery repaired itself before her eyes.
"I- How did- Titan!" She reached her conclusion quick enough, odd considering her father; the only person who could do that was Kronos. The brown haired girl drew her bow, and pointed it at the short haired man. "Surrender or I will shoot you!"
"Why would I surrender? We aren't enemies."
"You are a Titan. Of course we are enemies!"
"I'm not a Titan." Purgatory's smirk grew.
"Don't try to fool me! I saw what you did just then! You're Kronos!"
"No, I'm not."
"SHUT UP AND SURRENDER!"
"No. Put down the bow."
The angry hunter loosed an arrow at the perceived threat, the projectile sailed toward his chest; it would at least incapacitate him, if not kill him. At least; that's what she though until the arrow appeared in Purgatory's hand.
"Was that meant to achieve something?"
"Rahh!" The hunter ran at Purgatory, drawing hunting knives. His pupils were glowing gold once again, and the significantly smaller figure felt as though she was running through custard. She was moving at a fraction of her normal speed, and Purgatory walked over, plucking the knives from her hands and tossing them into the treeline. He conjured a bronze sword, and placed it against her throat.
"You're lucky that I'm being told to spare you, girl. If it were up to me, I would lop off your head now, so that you couldn't be a threat in the future." He smirked at her, and the sword vanished. "Know this, though; even Percy's patience is capable of being worn down. I'd recommend not repeating this mistake. Goodbye."
-()()()()-
'I can't believe that Lady Artemis sent us away. Just as Percy was getting back, too!' A black hired, punk looking girl thought angrily, glancing to her left at the same time to see one of the other girls that Artemis had decided would not be able to remain calm upon seeing Percy again. Calypso, too, looked like she was silently fuming.
The two understood, of course. Artemis had told them about the Purgatory situation, and they were likely to forget that he wasn't really their long lost friend, but they weren't thinking all too rationally at the moment. The goddess hadn't even bothered to come up with a good excuse; just told the two to take a break on Ogygia for a few days.
Calypso had been very relieved at the news that it would be Percy who was to serve as the 'guardian'. She'd have ended up killing Valdez if he had turned up, along with just about every other hunter there was. She'd explained to the that Leo was a wannabe man-whore, and that he had not a shred of loyalty in his entire impish body. The first example was the way that he, and the other 6, had turned their backs on Percy. Granted, 2 of them had an excuse for not thinking rationally, but Leo had leapt at the chance to get him sent to Tartarus. Then; in the brief period before Calypso found out his role in Percy being sent to Tartarus, he had cheated using his fame: A lot.
Between her and Thalia's stories about the weasel, the hunt hated him with a passion.
But, at least the group didn't have to stay on the island for too much longer, then they would get to see this Purgatory. Soon though, hopefully Percy would be back. Thalia was hoping that he'd let her teach the whore a lesson. Though she couldn't lame him if he wanted the fun to himself. How weird that she used to be Thalia's best friend. 300 years was a long time for that to change, though. She had missed Percy immensely, and was looking forward to reuniting with him.
But a part of her felt ill at the thought of what was to come. Calypso was one of her closest friends now; but Thalia hated the idea of anyone being involved with the Kelp Head. No, there was no guarantee at all that the demi-Titan felt that way anymore. And if she made Percy happy; then that should be enough, right? But Calypso would hurt him. Just look at how quickly she had moved on, to Valdez, last time.
And Valdez was an arrogant knob.
Although, given the amount of hatred Calypso had for Leo now, maybe the whole 'had to love' thing was bullshit. Argh, but she still talked about her time with Percy made it sound like she did love him.
'Gods, this is giving me a headache.' She shook her head free of the thoughts and went back to lying on the beach.
-(_)-()-(_)-
"Lady Artemis! That boy attacked me!" Jessica stormed into the maiden goddess' tent, not bothering to knock. Which was a bad idea, given that the object of her anger was in said tent at the moment, with a query.
"Is this true, Purgatory?" Artemis asked in a growl.
"I retaliated. I did warn you that I wouldn't respond well to violence." He shrugged. "And I dislike her, why would I engage in niceties?"
"So you attacked first, Jessica?"
"He's a Titan!"
"A Titan?"
"Yes, he's Kronos in disguise! He used time powers!"
"I told you before he arrived, Jessica, that he had gained abilities from those he defeated." She sighed, running a hand over her face. "And you certainly know the story of Perseus' defeat of Kronos. How could you have forgotten that?"
"I-He- He's a male!"
"I realise that, Jessica. And I can't blame you for feeling this way about him, it is what I taught you, but Perseus is one of, admittedly very few, men that deserve respect. He saved Olympus twice and more than once saved some of your sister's lives. Not to mention the fact that he was our lieutenants best friend." She sighed, "Look, you don't have to like him, in fact you can insult Purgatory as much as you want, he can tolerate that; but we cannot physically attack him, nor insult Perseus."
"Why are you of all people acting like this?!"
"You forget yourself Jessica." Artemis said, sternly. "And he saved my life directly, too. When he came with Zoe and took the sky for me. If anything can, that and his protection of Zoe in Tartarus makes him worthy of our respect."
"Pfft, how could a boy possibly protect Zoe? Didn't you say that she was the old Lieutenant?"
"He also neutralized your father in the throne room without taking any damage at all. It is obvious, Jessica, that Perseus is not weak."
"But he's-"
"Can you stop talking about me like I'm not here?" Purgatory reminded the two that he was still in the tent. For his comment, he received two glares, though one had a hint of apology in it. "Milady, before we were interrupted, you were about to tell me when Thalia is returning?"
"Ah, yes. She and the others will be returning the day after tomorrow. Sorry for being rude, Purgatory."
"No need to apologise. I'll leave you two to continue." Purgatory left, avoiding the gaze of the angry hunter, and the two continued, Artemis starting to grow irritated with her hunter. After all, Purgatory gave the impression to her that if he chose, he could wipe the hunters, even with their increased numbers, out with little difficulty. Jessica had said that he used Kronos's abilities in front of her, and he had frozen Ares with virtually no effort; the hunters would be defeated with ease.