A/N Sorry for the long delay in writing this chapter, I got caught up in writing my HP fanfic and with summer workouts starting I had difficulty finding the time to write this for this one. Sorry for the wait and as always enjoy…

Chapter 19

"Since we are all here I will begin, my son Apollo has requested to set forth a notion to the council." Zeus declared before the gods.

Apollo stood before his throne to address the gods and goddesses present. "Since the war is over and now that demigods are in the process of being brought over from England I believe that it is time that we send young Perseus here back to a camp and force him to leave the hunt."

Percy POV

Silence enveloped the entire throne room around me as everyone present took a moment to register just what Apollo was suggesting. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a silver flash and a corresponding flash directly in front of Apollo's throne. As the flash dissipated Artemis stood there with an arrow nocked on her silvery bow and aimed directly in between Apollo's eyes.

"You little piece of shit." Artemis said in a voice barely louder than a whisper yet everyone in the throne room could hear the pure, unadulterated venom in her voice.

"Artemis!" Zeus yelled as he tried to regain order inside the throne room which had descended into chaos. Seeing that his current attempts were all failing, Zeus threw a lightning bolt into the sky and the resulting boom of thunder caused everyone to quiet down. "Artemis, please return to your throne and the rest of you please shut up." Zeus said with an exasperated tone. I saw Artemis give Zeus a glare before she complied with his demand and sat back down on her throne, yet everyone noticed that she kept her bow in one hand and placed a knife on the armrest of her throne.

Zeus gave her an irritated glance but knew not to argue with her about it. "Now then, Apollo, would you care to tell us why you brought this before us?" Zeus asked but I could tell by the phrasing that he was outright demanding it.

Apollo stood in front of his throne before he spoke to address the assembled Council members. "The threat of Kampe has passed, it is time for Perseus to return to either of the camps and resume the activities of a demigod as he should have this entire time." Seeing several of the gods of the council nodding. Apollo continued with his confidence growing before he addressed Zeus directly. "And father, from what I've seen your maiden daughter has begun to grow affectionate towards the boy. By separating him from the hunt you will ensure that she will never fall for him." As Apollo said this he placed a slight emphasis on the word maiden. When he was finished he sent a quick smirk towards me and I could tell Artemis saw it too as she quickly stiffened next to me. I quickly grabbed Artemis' arm and whispered in her ear trying to get her to calm down before she did something rash. The tenseness in her shoulders left her and she gave me a grateful look. Looking back towards the Council I noticed that Zeus had seen out little interaction and was looking at me with a calculating look. When Zeus and I made eye contact he gave me a slight smile and a nod before he began to speak to the entire Council.

"The Council will now vote," He announced. "If you wish for Perseus to be removed from the hunt say Aye." Zeus looked directly at me and gave a quick wink. "If you wish for Perseus to remain with the hunt then say nay. I vote nay." Zeus' vote shocked the entire council, everyone in the Council was expecting to vote for a potential suitor of his daughter to be separated from her.

By the time the vote came to Aphrodite the voting was currently against Perseus and Artemis by a tally of 6-5. Zeus, Poseidon, Artemis, Hephaestus, and Hermes had voted nay while Ares, Demeter, Hera, Apollo, Dionysus, and Athena had voted Aye. Before casting her vote Aphrodite looked around the room before her eyes finally settled on Artemis and me. She looked at us for nearly a minute as silence enveloped the Council, with everyone waiting to see how the Goddess of Love would vote.

Clearing her throat Aphrodite stood to give her vote, "As the Goddess of Love how could I possibly break apart a romance like none other?" She asked "I vote Nay." With her vote the Council had reached a deadlock and according to the Ancient Laws if the Council reached a deadlock then the decision went in favor of the side Zeus had voted on, which in case was in favor of keeping me in the hunt.

Apollo sent a withering glare in my direction before he left the throne room. All the gods except Artemis and Zeus left leaving me alone with the two. Zeus stood from his chair and walked over to us while we stood there quietly talking.

"Perseus." He said as he stood in front of the two of us. "Congratulations on winning the vote." He said with a smile.

"Thank you Lord Zeus." I said as I bowed before the King of the Gods. As I stood I asked the question that had been bothering me throughout the Council meeting. "Lord Zeus," I began "Why did you vote in favor of me staying with your daughter?"

Zeus sighed before he told the two of us to walk with him. Only when we had reached the gardens surrounding his home did he answer my question. "Perseus, I will be the first to admit that I have done wrong by many of my daughter, especially poor Hebe." Zeus said as he shuddered when he said the part about Hebe. Everyone on Olympus knew how loveless that marriage was. "Now that you Artemis are close I find I am given a second chance at doing right by a daughter of mine when it comes to love," As he said this both us had a slight blush. "So when Apollo brought this up I knew immediately where my vote would go." As he said this Artemis walked forward and gave Zeus an appreciative hug. Zeus looked stunned by this and by the look of surprise on his face it was pretty easy to see that this was a truly rare occurrence for him.

"Thanks daddy." She said as she disengaged from the hug.

"And besides," Zeus began with a smirk on his face, "I saw how Perseus here was able to stop you from taking Apollo's head off, anyone who can control you that well is more than deserving of my approval." Artemis' only response was a quick glare which she quickly dropped once she saw the teasing grin on her dad's face. Zeus however quickly dropped any sense of joviality as he looked he directly in the eyes. "However I think you already understand what will happen if you hurt my daughter." I gulped in response and quickly began to nod in confirmation. "Good." He said before a bolt of lightning came down from the sky and surrounded him before whisking him away. We he was gone I looked down at my clothes and noticed as a parting warning Zeus had let the lightning bolt get close enough to me to singe small parts of my clothing.

Artemis quickly laughed next to me before she grabbed me and took us away from Olympus back to the camp. When we got back the hunters were all spread throughout the camp. Some looked at me with a look of disappointment that I wasn't a pile of ashes while the rest looked happy to see me returning intact. It was then that I realized that I had never told the Delaware tribe the good news regarding their little problem. Quickly whispering in Artemis' ear that I needed to do so she grabbed me and transported us to the burnt remains of the Erymanthian Boar. Taking one look at the charred flesh and massive hole in its chest I began an internal struggle to not retch at the sight and smell of the remains. Walking up to the tusks of the boar which somehow came out intact I grabbed the pen from my pocket and put it in its sword form before slashing on of the tusks off.

Once I told Artemis where the tribe was located we left with the severed tusk in hand. Once we were in view the villagers streamed out to greet us and marvel at the size of the boar's tusk. The crowd quickly parted to reveal the shocked faces of Hopocan and Henry.

"You did it." Henry said and he too stared in disbelief at the severed tusk which was laying on the ground in front of us.

Hopocan's eyes continued to shift from me the tusk before he walked forward and kneeled before me. Looking at the ground he then said, "Lord Perseus, I as leader of the Delaware wish to give you our undying loyalty for this deed you have done for us." To my surprise and Artemis'. Hopocan then said something in his tribe's' language before it was repeated by all the gathered villagers. "Normally we would celebrate this momentous occasion with a feast…" Hopocan explained while giving me a questioning look as to whether I would stay or not.

Instead it was Artemis who answered for me. "We would love to stay for the feast."

The rest of the day was spent with the villagers preparing food for the feast. When the sun went down the entire village gathered in the village center where all the prepared food was laid out and several deer the men of the village had killed were slowly turning on their spits over the cooking fires. When the deer finished cooking the food was passed out to all those in the village as the villagers spread out to talk and eat. After all the food was eaten and the village center was cleared Artemis and I sat between Henry and Hopocan inside a circle of villagers that all sat on the edges of the village center.

Henry leaned over and whispered to us about what was happening, "The people of the village are about to perform one of their sacred dances, they never show this to outsiders and it took years before they trusted me to let me watch this. That they are doing this now is an extreme showing of trust and goodwill." He said as Hopocan stood and spoke to the assembled villagers in their language. What Hopocan said brought forth a wave of cheering as the dancers in their costumes entered the cleared space.

Once the dancing was over Artemis and I found ourselves in Hopocan's tent with Henry and Hopocan's son drinking herbal tea.

"I'm afraid our time together is coming to a close." Hopocan's son who was referred to as Captain Pipe said.

"Yes," I said before reaching for a pouch that I had brought with me to give to Hopocan but his son would probably be better for future needs. "In this pouch I have twenty golden drachmas," When I said this Henry stiffened and leaned over to look into the bag. "As Henry knows what these are I leave it up to him to explain it to you but know that these can be used to talk to me in emergency situations should you ever have need of me again."

Pipe looked awed at the coins in the pouch before he thanked us and gave to us what he said was wampum, which was used as a ceremonial gift. After leaving the tent Artemis and I immediately left to return to the Hunters.

A/N Hope this wasn't too bad. Don't know when the next chapter will be out though.