All that is gold does not glitter
No man is safe from bloodlust
But the gold drenched in blood is bitter
And Revenge is not sweet without trust
Men's greed is an old sickness of heart
And the only known cure is love
Resisting the voice of lust is hard
Only a man with honor can resist a call so raw

-Poem by ShadowHunterofShadows

Chapter 6 The New World

Their breathing was erratic, their bodies mingling together. Percy's hand ran through Annabeth's long, curly blonde hair affectionately. Annabeth was so content she didn't mind the sweat. She hooked her leg around his torso and smiled lazily at him. "I love you," she said sweetly. Percy nuzzled her neck in response and mumbled an exhausted, "I love you too."

She gazed into his eyes and her own eyelids began to feel as heavy as lead. She wanted to sleep so badly, but she just couldn't. Annabeth busied herself by running her hands through his jet black hair, looking at the small, round window that every room in the boat had. The stars twinkled through, a stark contrast to the black, dark night. Percy groaned and tightened his hold around her, further entwining their bodies together. Annabeth sighed and relaxed her aching and tired muscles. She wished she could get up and grab her leather hair cord so she could tie it up. The sweat was making her feel slightly uncomfortable, but she supposed she could live with it.

"Percy," she finally whispered after many moments of silence. Percy grunted and loosened his grip.

"Yes?" he said slowly. He sounded like he did not want to be woken up. Poor thing, Annabeth thought, he must've been exhausted. She felt slightly guilty she'd tempted him with her new lingerie.

"How long do we think we have left in the voyage?" she kissed him quickly on the temple just because she could. Percy's eyebrows knitted together as he thought. "A few days, but we never truly know. We're going off of the average time it took for all three voyages made to the New World for the time estimates, but there are many factors that—"

"Yeah, yeah," Annabeth waved her hand in the air, dismissing him. "I get it, you think a few days but you're not a hundred percent sure it will take that long. No need to go into a five minute speech about it. Geez Percy, I know you like boats and stuff but I kinda don't care—"

"So?" Percy propped himself up on his elbow, so he could see his lover in the face, despite his exhaustion. "You think I want to listen to court gossip and which dusting powder gives you the palest skin? And when you talk about how you need to starve yourself so you can look appropriate at the Spanish courts? Well I don't care that you want you to look good, I want you to be healthy. You think I care when you explain yourself about Luke?" He knew he stepped over the line with the comment about Luke, but it needed to be said eventually. "I love you," he said, kissing her knuckles, seeing the tears gather in her sharp grey eyes. "But that…hurt me."

"So you say it to me?" Annabeth ripped her hand away from him and got off the bed, even though she was stark naked. "You are such a cabrón, Percy!" She searched around the room for her clothes, which were strewn across the room. "Lord, and I thought that you…you trusted me!" Her long blonde hair was even more wild than it was before. She grabbed her nightgown with dignity and huffed before leaving the room completely, and the door slammed in Percy's face as he ran after her. He sighed and ran his hands through his hair. He was only trying to be honest, and he was upset and… "I'm so sorry, Annabeth. I love you." He hoped she could hear him through the door, but her quickly fading footsteps told him she didn't. Percy laid back down on his bed and closed his eyes, trying hard to fall asleep, but he just couldn't. They'd had worse fights before, but he couldn't shake the guilt. He loved her so much, he couldn't live without her. She was a piece of him, whether he liked it or not.

He tossed and turned and finally he fell into an unrest full sleep.

Silver eyes peered at him, framed by dark red hair. "You didn't save me," she said, her voice stern and haunting. Percy shivered, a coldness slivering down his spine. Her voice reverberated around the room. "They killed me in cold blood." The girl's pink lips curled into a disgusted sneer.

"You could've tried harder. You could've saved me."

Percy cried out and sweat was pouring down his forehead. Wiping it away, he looked around the cabin to see it was not yet daylight out. Percy hated that dream. He gritted his teeth, remembering the look of utter terror on Artemisia's face. It'd haunted him since that day; her expression, her face, her eyes, everything. And it got worse when he didn't have Annabeth around. She always comforted him when the nightmare was over.

Percy was afraid. He was afraid he couldn't save his men from the power of bloodlust, he was afraid everything would get out of hand. He was afraid Annabeth could get hurt—he was afraid he didn't save that girl after all.

"Annabeth," he called out in the dark, a quiet plea, one that wouldn't be heard.

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Artemis leaned against the wall as Leo and Reyna were still arguing. They'd invited her over, and Artemis thought it was a great idea. She needed to get out of the house, and clear her mind. And then she learned that Leo and Reyna had invited Piper, who was still mad at her. They invited Zoe and Frank as well. Which Artemis had no problem with.

Reyna and Leo had been together for a month, and they were arguing with each other every other day. They got in trouble on the plantation often because they would stop their work and start yelling at each other. Reyna was a beautiful girl with long black hair weaved into a braid and a regal looking face. Leo was short, and had a mischievous air about him. He had chocolate brown eyes and a slender frame.

Frank was the strongest one there, perhaps in the whole plantation, but he was like a big teddy bear; completely harmless. Zoe was Artemis's best friend. She had long, dark brown hair tied up in a ponytail and a grim smile as Artemis waved towards her. Piper barely spared her a glance before staring out the window. Artemis got up and put a hand on Piper's shoulder, giving her a soft smile. "I'm sorry," she said, looking Piper in the eyes. Piper's eyes changed color; from green to blue as she gazed into Artemis's silver ones. She nodded and broke the gaze, looking out the window.

"You're kidding me, right?!" Reyna yelled, smacking Leo upside the head. "That's not even close to what happened!"

"Ow!" Leo yelped, rubbing his head where Reyna had smacked him. "What was that for? That…That hurt!"

"Oh, Leo!" Reyna gasped, bringing him close to her. "I'm so sorry, I hadn't meant to hurt you!"

Artemis rolled her eyes. That was how each and every one of Reyna and Leo's arguments ended. She would always end up bringing him close to her and hugging him both profusely and apologetically. Artemis would never want to be in a relationship like that. Reyna brought his face up to hers and they promptly began to make out like there was no tomorrow. Zoe made a choking noise and Frank rolled his eyes. Piper sighed through her nose, and when she turned around she was greeted by the majestic view of Reyna and Leo sucking face. She made a disgusted face and whined, "Oh come on you guys, is this really so necessary? This is so gross."

They didn't part.

"Soooo," Frank attempted to distract them and get the attention away from Reyna and Leo. "How was your day?"

"Excellent," Zoe grumbled, clearly made uncomfortable by the couple near her. Piper sat on the floor.

"Gods, I'm exhausted. My muscles are sore and…I don't think I can work so hard much longer," her eyes were downcast. Leo and Reyna stopped kissing. The air felt heavier. Everyone knew and understood how she felt.

"I'll try to get Dad to give you all a break. Surely he doesn't need you working every day," Artemis reassured them. She felt horrible. She didn't work as much as they did, but she still had sore muscles and a few sunburns on her scalp and feet.

"It's okay, Artemis. We understand that you can't do everything," Piper said, and all of Artemis's friends nodded.

"I'm sorry I can't do more," Artemis said, feeling tears well up in her eyes. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to live on little food and having to work constantly, every single day. "I really wish that I could."

"We know," Reyna said, smiling sadly at her. "Thanks for coming Artemis, but it's getting really late and you should head back. We'll see you tomorrow."

They all waved at her and Artemis smiled, before leaving them all with a small smile. "Bye," she said quietly.

When she arrived back home that night, her mother was all over her. "I'm going to be bathing you," she said sternly.

"Why?" Artemis asked, her face scrunching up in distaste. She was getting too old to be bathed by her mother.

"I need to know personally that you will look your absolute best for tomorrow. Every single part of you must be flawless," she paused, "The prince and his lady are coming tomorrow, and you need to look like a proper Spanish lady. I can certainly pull that off." She dragged her to the bathroom. "Although I am running out of cosmetics," Leto mumbled to herself.

"What if they don'tarrive tomorrow?" Artemis asked as her mother scrubbed fiercely at her grimy skin.

"We do this all over again. You do know your brother is coming back, correct? Don't you want to look good when you see him again?"

"I do, I suppose," Artemis replied as Leto lathered something up in her hands and rubbed it through her hair roughly. Artemis sighed and Leto left her to finish the rest of her bathing herself. She thought silently about Prince Percy. His eyes…they were just so purely beautiful, a beacon of hope among the chaos, the pure insanity. It was what kept her stabilized, it was what kept her from screaming in fear. She added some fragrance to her bath and relaxed. Her sore muscles finally released tension and Artemis moaned in relief.

When Artemis got out of her bath and left the room, Leto rushed towards her and plaited her hair, one on each side of her head. "For curls, when you wake up," she explained when Artemis opened her mouth to ask why she was doing what she was doing.

Artemis nodded, and went to sleep.

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When she awoke, Leto said that they had reached port and she needed to get ready. Artemis nodded and pulled her leather cords to reveal her wavy hair. She brushed through it, making it voluminous and effortless looking. Leto fussed over her makeup, rubbing some kind of red balm over her lips and caking her face in a white powder. A dark blue powder was put on her eyelids.

Artemis was dressed in a long, silver dress studded with diamonds and crystals from the top of the dress before they tapered out to the middle. She looked at herself in the mirror. She was stunning; her eye shadow brought out her silver eyes. She looked regal and powerful. Was this what a Spanish woman was supposed to look like? She had to admit she hated the powder, but the makeup somehow made her look older, more mature.

Artemis walked out to the front of the house, followed by her mother. She was standing next to Frank and Leo. She shot them a confused look.

"We're supposed to be your 'bodyguards,'" Leo explained, a grin on his face and a sparkle in his eye. "A show of power kind of thing I guess." He shrugged.

Zeus stood there in full body armor, a conquistador's outfit. Artemis wanted to cry. She'd never thanked Percy for saving her life.

Artemis clasped her hands, ready to meet the prince and his lover.

A/N: I'm updating the Truth Hurts soon, I'm working on it. Then after that…I've decided I'm not going to continue Fanfiction for a long time. I'll still answer any questions, I'm open for beta requests. PM me if you have any questions.

I may be taking a hiatus, but you never know. Inspiration may strike me, and I might continue. This story won't be abandoned. I love writing it. Just not…soon. If you want more details on why I am pausing, read the Author's note at the end of the Truth Hurts.

Special thanks to ShadowHunterofShadows for the extraordinary poem!

Till next time.

-coolcoco98