Hey guys, so I know i'm a few months overdue with these chapters. But with external circumstances, work, and general life stresses i've been a bit preoccupied. However i'm knuckling down and getting it sorted so that's good. These chapters have been remastered, redetailed, and reorientated to make a better and cohesive story for yall. And I truly hope my OG readers enjoy these changes.
For my new readers welcome to the story known as diamonds. My most original and greatest idea at the time I started writing it, but thanks to a close friend known as VCRx, a story that is coming back.
And big heads up to everyone, I am currently writing a story that is perhaps my greatest quality of work yet and with a premise that I love so much that I look forward to everyones reactions to it.
Enjoy, Admeto.
Diamond Eyes Chapter 1
Percy Point of View Location: The Olympus Throne Room.
As Percy reflected on the war just waged against Kronos he slowly grew more and more self resenting as he thought of the number of people lost in a war he had caused. He drifted around the throne room, moving group to group, talking to god after god, and felt more and more alone. The throne room was beautiful, despite the immense damage caused by Kronos hours earlier the Gods reverted it into its previous regal self. Around the brim of the room a ringed corridor was separated by brilliant marble columns that stretched to the ceiling, where a colourful mosaic of the constellations shimmered under the fire light. Around the columns luscious green vines snaked up and the smell of nature and flaura was thick in the air. The twelve thrones of the Olympians remained and their aura of power felt more incredible than any other time Percy had been here. Most of the people had found themselves in the centre, dancing with friends and partners, or eating luxurious foods found on mahogany banquet tables.
Percy continued his drift from person to person before finding himself stood next to the Lord of the Underworld, Hades. He wore a jet black three piece suit and a black shirt, with a red tie that contrasted greatly. His long hair had been combed to the side, looking professional and powerful, whilst his black eyes analysed Percy carefully.
"Despite what happened in the Underworld Perseus I wanted to thank you for the rule you passed today as your wish. You may be a son of my brother but you have been respectful and caring for Nico... Thank you. For securing a home for him at camp." Hades spoke out quietly, his voice filled with power.
"Lord Hades there is no need to thank me, i'm sure any other demigod would have done the same in my position." Percy replied with a small smile.
"Oh Perseus how ignorance is truly bliss. I can understand why Dionysus likes you. I would love to continue this discussion but I have pleasantries to attend to with the other gods before I can return to my duties in the underworld. It looks like a busy year for paperwork in the underworld but should you need me do not hesitate to get in contact, I owe you one. Hades replies with a slight smile.
Before Percy could counter and tell him that he had no need to owe a favour the god melted away in a puddle of shadows. Once Hades was gone Percy felt alone once again. He looked around the throne room and smiled for the happiness of his friends. Boisterous laughter rang in the air and the sound of music continued in the background. His friends continued to eat and laugh as he watched from the sidelines and continued to reflect on his year. As he reminisced one of the many raids he carried out a warm voice called for his attention.
"You not going to join your friends son?"
Percy looked up and his sea green eyes met with calm ocean blue eyes of his father. Poseidon had a small smiles and had dressed up for the evening, wearing a charcoal suit with a blue tie.
"Nah they're enjoying themselves, and I was wanting to reminisce in quiet." Percy replied with a small shrug.
"I see son. I'm proud of you Percy. You fought like one of the legends and you defeated two titans."
"Dad it was nothing, I fought as well as I could and I nearly died countless times. My mistakes in this war caused the deaths of others-" Percy started but was interrupted.
"It's not your fault Percy, they chose to fight and it ended in their deaths. You were an amazing leader and you done everything you could to make sure as much people were safe. Now have a glass, its your sixteenth birthday and we're celebrating."
"Dad i'm underage I can't drink alcohol."
"It's your birthday son, one drink isn't going to kill you." Poseidon replied with a small smile.
Percy smiled and accepted the glass from his father. "To a happy sixteenth birthday." Poseidon toasted with a warm smile gracing his face. Percy smiled and together they toasted. Poseidon was quickly whisked away by Amphritrite who surprisingly wished him a happy birthday and they disappeared away to the dance floor. Percy stood for several seconds before an overwhelming stench of perfume fell upon him.
"Aphrodite."
"Oh Percy, i'm sorry about Annabeth. I was hoping so hard that Mark would not come in between you two but he did. I should have seen it coming-"
"Its okay Lady Aphrodite. If Annabeth is happy with him than i'm happy for her." Percy replied quietly.
"I'll make up for it I promise. You've also been through a lot so if you need a therapist, which I recommend you talk to one. A daughter of mine works as one for a living here's her card."
"Lady Aphrodite, I'm thankful but I don't need it." Percy replied growing confused.
"Keep it for safekeeping please, just in case." Aphrodite asked.
"Yeah sure - "
"Promise?" Aphrodite asked.
" - promise." Percy replied. Aphrodite smiled and moved on, and began a discussion with some of her children who were enjoying their meal.
Percy continued walking around the edges of the magnificent chamber, taking small sips of the champagne from his glass. He found himself by the hearth and began talking to bessie the Ophiotauras who was in a magnificent ocean tank.
"People are going to find you insane if you continue to talk to a sea cow." A regal voice spoke out, capturing Percy's attention.
He turned round and was surprised by the source of the voice. It was Lady Artemis who was looking at him with glaring eyes. She was wearing a silver dress given to her by Aphrodite and her auburn hair was tied back into a fishtail braid that slung over her shoulder. Her silver eyes had glared at the drink in his hand since her turned round.
"Aren't you underage Perseus, and yet you seem to be drinking?" Artemis questioned with a slight poison tingling her words.
"My da- I mean Lord Poseidon gave it to me as a gift, to celebrate the end of the war and as a toast to my birthday." Percy replied quickly.
"I see, you should do your best to stay away from alcohol in the future, I have seen it warp people into become shells of themselves"
"Of course my lady, I will do my best to keep that in mind"
"Do you mind explaining as to why you have removed yourself from everyone's attention. "I would have expected you to be with your friends enjoying yourself." Artemis asked inquisitively.
"I've just been thinking about things-" Percy paused, and Artemis raised an eyebrow as if to ask for more information.
"I've been thinking what i'm gonna do from now on. With more demigods likely to be claimed camp is going to be busy which means I'll end up being stuck there. And despite it being selfish it's the last thing I want. With this Achilles curse I need to be at a constant battle with something or honing my skills lest I fall to insanity." Percy replied, fear slowly tinging on his words.
"I see. It would be in the best interest of Olympus for that not to happen. So I'm willing to make a deal. A lot of the jobs and hunts I conduct are given to us from fellow gods, mortals, beings, or of my own accord. However is not always possible for us to complete them or follow up on the." Artemis paused.
"If you wish… I can refer them to you, it will allow you to remain busy, continue training, and perhaps make some additional money on the side." Artemis replied with a calm facade.
"Lady Artemis, I couldn't… those people have went to you for help, I can't take work away from your hunters like that. Won't they resent me…" Percy replied with widened eyes.
"Relax Perseus, the hunters have respect for you and understand that it is impossible for us to always partake in hunts. At the end of the day it is best for all the tasks to be complete rather than most." Artemis replied calmly.
"How can I repay you Lady Artemis-" Percy started but Artemis cut in.
"As long as you keep being the honourable figure Thalia is friends with then you shall be fine. Now before you attempt to argue with me I have to take my leave. The coming weeks look to be busy for my hunt." Artemis replied and walked off with a simple nod for goodbye.
*14 Months Later*
Third Person Point of View Location: U.S Highway 2, Ottawa National Forest, Michigan.
This was his life now and it was perfectly peaceful. He travelled the states meeting new people, trying new food, and gained countless new memories and experiences. The best part of his life now was his job. He was a freelancing hunter, as talented as the hunters of Artemis and just as efficient, creating quite the rivalry between himself and them. But despite that Artemis asked him to do a job for him and he was on his way to deliver. He began to sing along to the song thinking of everything he could to prepare himself for what was soon to happen.
He had been asked to go to Damon Lake to hunt a bear that had a taste for human flesh, and he would prefer to be more prepared than Hugh Glass was. His body became electrified with excitement as each second that passed and his nerves were on high alert, as if something was wrong in the air. He decided to look away from the road to his left side and could feel the side of his car get smashed off to the opposite side of the road. The smell of burning rubber choked his nostrils and the sound of screeching brakes rang in his ears. He quickly got out of his car and stood on the top of the roof to get a better view of what was going on, in his hands, a brown hunting rifle ready to shoot.
Percy removed his hood to clear his peripheral vision and his cold green eyes looked around for anything. About ten feet away where his car had been smashed into, several footprints were hidden in the snow and Percy knew he was in the right spot. He jumped off of his truck and aimed at the direction the bear may have moved to. The hair on the back of his neck standing on edge as the trees began to enclose themselves around him.
He let out a whistle of attention and the rough growl of a bear roared just beside him. He quickly rolled out of the way, and the entire body of a raging bear smashed into a tree. The beast roared and Percy reacted quickly. It was a brown bear and as it stood up to scare him away a bullet smashed right through the bear rib cage, shattering one of them into countless pieces. The beast growled in retaliation and swiped at Percy's face, resulting in deep scratches marring his face, the vision in his left eye blinded by blood. Percy let loose an animalist howl at the bear hoping to make it back off.
Unfortunately this was of no use and the monster attacked again swiping down with its mighty claws. Percy reacted quickly and caught the paw in his own hand. He slung the rifle up, chambered the next round, and blindly fired the gun at point blank rage, destroying a portion of the bear upper left face.
The bear roared in rage and pulled away quickly. It turned round once again and searched for the hunter to no avail. It raged in anger and fury built up. It found itself up on two feet again overlooking a small hill and was forced over by a mass that attacked from its side. The two of them rolled down the hill smashing against rocks, tree roots, and got covered in scratches and dirt. Percy pulled himself back up as fast as the bear had and punched it square in the jaw when it attempted to clamp down on his arm. He looked around for his gun and once his back was turned the powerful paws of the beast smashed down, resulting in even more scratches criss crossing on his shoulder blades. He attempted to roll away but was grabbed by his ankle in the beasts mouth and could feel himself get thrown around as the bear thrashed back and forth. It let go as it was about to go for a killing blow to Percy's neck. As the teeth came closer and closer to his adams apple he shot his back up gun straight into the back of its throat and its entire mass crashed down on him, crushing the demigod under its immense weight.
It took Percy half an hour to monouvre his way from underneath the massive beast. He half crawled up the hill before regaining the energy to begin walking up the hill. He found his rifle not long after and could hear the music from his car still playing. He kept making his way to the road, grabbing on pine trees to help make his way up the steep hill. He begin to see the outline of a figure on his car and knew exactly who it would be. Exiting the forests his nose was filled with the smell of elderflower, lavender, and campfire smoke.
"Lady Artemis, what can I do for you." Percy spoke out with a smirk stretching his face.
"Based off of your condition Perseus I would seem to believe that it is you requiring assistance." Artemis replied sarcastically. "You seemed to have trouble with the Yakwawi."
"That would explain its immense size and power. Did you forget to mention that? Or... did you just choose not to." Percy asked with a devilish smile.
"Well that would be for me to know wouldn't it. You're Olympus Banking account has your payment. It's been there from when you sacrificed the beast to me."
"Perfect, anything else you require?" Percy asked with hope.
Artemis sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "Nobody is wanting us to go out on hunts and haven't been requesting assistance anywhere. Go back to your home, if someone needed you they would have called. Anything you need from me?" Artemis answered whilst finishing with a question and her reply was simply a shrug from Perseus.
Percy shook her hand and with it Artemis took her disappearance, back to her chariot that was flying in the night sky. Guiding the heavenly white moon through the darkness of twilight.
*10 Months Later* Percy's Point of View Location: Olympus Throne Room.
"To Percy's 18th!" Poseidon's proud booming voice echoed around the halls.
"To Percy's 18th!" Everyone roared in cheers as Percy stood there awkwardly.
People kept coming up to him asking how he had been, and after a few minutes left to go to over people. He was happy to see some of the roman demigods there, and some of his older friends from the greek camp. He ran into Annabeth and Mark who were dancing happily to the sound of the music. He held a champagne glass that was given to him yet again by his dad and he continued to stand there unsure what to do. He was out of his element, he preferred to be out in his truck hunting monsters and eating bad roadside food, not in a throne room for a birthday ball that he didn't want in the first place. All he wanted to do was visit his Mum and Paul to eat some cake. As his mind continued to wander onto other topics a familiar voice broke him out of his stupor.
"I see your father has given you champagne again, what did I tell you about drinking Percy?"
"Well good evening to you to Artemis. I didn't plan on drinking anyway." Percy replied without needing to turn to the source.
"Well personally despite what I said two years ago today, it is indeed your birthday so you should celebrate and enjoy yourself." Artemis replied as she took a drink from her own glass.
Percy smiled and decided to take a drink as well, unsure as to what to say on the flavour of the champagne he decided to ask Artemis a question. "So how are the hunters doing since I won your little hunting test."
Artemis let off a small laugh and a smile graced her face. "They were annoyed, really really annoyed. But since then they have bettered themselves. I don't think I've seen them train as hard they have been. I guess your presence as some friendly competition has riled them up enough to become even better."
Before Percy could reply and offer another challenge Aphrodite stumbled past them completely drunk. "Oh heyyyy guys, *hic* have you tried this wine, *hic* its, its amazing. Its *hic* a really really good wine try it." Before either of them could refuse a glass had ended up in each of their hands.
"Come on *hic* guys, i'm not leaving till you get in the party mood, and *hic* you're not in the party mood until you've had this." Aphrodite spoke out quickly, unable to control the onslaught of alcohol induced hiccups.
Percy turned to Artemis who looked like she was wanting to murder the goddess of love with her bare hands. She looked unsure as to whether or not to drink it but decided she may as well.
"Happy birthday Percy." Artemis said with a small smile, clinked her glass against his and together they drink.
In thirteen hours time they would wake up together, regretting the events of the night before, doing everything they could to cover it up and hoping that no one could guess anything had happened. Because the de facto maiden goddess had drunkenly slept with a man.