Hey guys, I can't believe it's monday already! Days just keep getting faster and faster...So, I'm sorry once again for the late monday update, but it seems procrastination doesn't just affect what day I write, but also how late in the day I write. Well, here is the next chapter! I hope you enjoy the scene that you have all been really anticipating(I noticed that from the dozens of reviews I have gotten recently asking for this scene already and that they really can't wait for it), it was really fun to write. I actually wrote the whole confrontation scene a few weeks ago and have been excited to put it up. Well, that's enough rambling from me, Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I, sadly, do not own the rights to the Percy Jackson Series…

Song playing in my head right now: 'Be Our Guest' from Beauty and the Beast(yeah, I was just watching the Pete's Dragon interview from today and they brought that up. It's been stuck in my head since then…)

Chapter 18

Artemis' P.O.V.

I have to admit, for once life at camp has been relaxing. The hunters have been exhibiting good behavior towards the campers, not playing any pranks on them. Though the campers have been really kind and respectful to them- and the chaos soldiers make it a lot easier. But, one thing confusing me is Thalia and Zayden. They have been about as close to strangers as they could be. But after the battle yesterday, they suddenly grew closer. Jessica said it was because Thalia deflected a spear from a monster that was aimed at Zayden, allowing him to react and kill the monster. But they appeared now to be as close as can be, going everywhere together and constantly teasing each other.

I don't know how exactly it happened, but I'm glad it did. The whole hunt often tensed up before when those two walked into the same room and avoided each other's existence. Thalia out of some preconceived anger and Zayden in quiet response. But, now the whole team was working together and that could only help things now…

"Lady Artemis, Mrs. Jackson wishes to see you." A random camper camp up to me, shifting uncomfortable. I smiled at the little girl.

"Thank you for telling me. Is she in the Big House?" I wondered, which she nodded at. Heading over there, I wondered what Sally would want. I found out a few centuries ago that she did know Lily was me, she just trusted in the fact that I was there to protect Percy and that my friendship with him was true. We have become good friends recently; she is one of the few people I can actually be myself around without worrying anyone would judge me. Stepping up to the Big House porch, I made my way to Sally's office and knocked.

"Come in!" She called. Opening the door, I smile in greeting, "Oh, hello Artemis-I'm glad you got my message."

Hello Sally. It's been quite a while since we last truly spoke." I stated, hugging her. Pulling back, I continued, "Was there something you needed me for?"

"Yes actually. I was wondering if you would like to join me for lunch? It's been a while since we spent time in the mortal world; I thought it would be great to do today. To get away from the pressure of the war…" She explained.

"Sure, that would be great Sally." Checking my internal clock, I saw it was about ten minutes till lunch started, "I have to go and inform Thalia that I will be leaving for lunch, and then I will come back here and flash us to our usual restaurant, ok?" I planned. She nodded, grinning. With that, I quickly headed back to my cabin. Thalia was alone, Zayden having went to spent some time with Jessica while Thalia wanted to relax. Stepping in, Thalia looked up from her chair and nodded in greeting at me.

"Lady Artemis."

"Hello Thalia. I came to tell you that I will be heading out of camp for lunch with Sally Jackson. I will be back in about an hour or so." I explained. She shrugged and nodded.

"Ok. I will watch over the hunt while you are gone." She accepted. With one final goodbye, I quickly headed back to the Big House, quickly flashing Sally and I to our favorite New York restaurant.

Percy/Zayden's P.O.V.

~~~~~~Almost an hour later~~~~~~

I sighed in defeat as I made my way into Artemis' cabin.

"What's with the attitude, Kelp Head?" Thalia muttered. Looking around, I relaxed, seeing no one and sensing no one in the building.

"I decided that there was someone else that I couldn't keep my secret from." At her raised eyebrow, I continued, "I want to tell mom and Paul." Thalia's eyes widened at that. After a few seconds though, she grinned.

"That's great Perce!" She exclaimed, jumping up. She paused though, furrowing her eyebrows, "But why do you look so defeated?"

"I can't seem to find mom anywhere!" I informed her, frustrated. She laughed a quick laugh at that.

"Oh, that's because your mom and Artemis left camp to have lunch together." At my shocked and confused look, she shrugged, "They meet up for lunch all the time; Both when we are at camp and when we are out hunting monsters."

"Oh, thanks Thals. I guess I'll go back to Chaos' cabin and relax there until they get back." She just waved me away, jumping back down on her seat and putting her headphones in again, blasting Green Day. Shaking my head at the same old Thalia, I made my way out the cabin door and went to my room in Chaos' Cabin.

As I went to relax on my bed, I paused. Why would Artemis and mom be meeting up so much? I mean, mother did always tell me growing up that Artemis was one of her favorite goddesses, being excited when I told her she was mine too, but she never interacted with her when I checked in on her. I froze as a thought appeared in my head: what if Lily was involved in this? Maybe Artemis ran into Lily somewhere and helped her out.

Then, when she learned Lily's story, she reunited her with mom after my death. I took a sharp intake of breath as the thought came to me that, what if Lily was also there? It was a long shot; but what if Artemis had granted her immortality or something, like with the hunters, but more independent? What if all three of them all met up to talk. At those thoughts, I pushed away my hesitations.

Focusing my powers to Artemis, as she is someone I am protecting, I saw she was at a restaurant in New York City. Donning a normal mortal disguise, I covered my power, so that, even to a goddess and a clear-sighted mortal, I would appear normal. And with that, I appeared on the side alley next to the cafe they were at.

Taking a deep breath, making sure my hood way up and completely shadowed my face, I made my way into the restaurant, sitting as far away from their table as I could. My heart dropped in disappointment as I saw that only mom and Artemis were there.

There was mist surrounding their table, masking their looks and power signature, but I ignored the mist, focusing on the true reality. Maybe they would reveal something about Lily's life? As I ordered a hot chocolate and a cream filled donut, I noticed that they were deep in conversation, and seemed to have been for a while as their food was all done and they were almost done with their drinks. Listening in, I heard they were talking about things going on in the hunt and at camp recently since they last met, laughing at all the mishaps and shaking their heads at the silliness some campers and hunters had displayed.

Really, it was a normal conversation between friends, which slightly disappointed me and made me happy. When I had found out my mom was part of the mythical world I was born into, I was worried that she did not truly fit in and that she would not be treated with the right amount of respect. But, she and Artemis were close friends- and one thing I admired most about Artemis is that she defended and protected all her friends.

I was just about to stand up and leave, having quickly finished my hot chocolate and donut, when Artemis and mom's conversation started to come to a close. Relaxing back in my seat, I decided to wait until they had left, feigning interest in the paneled menus above the front counter.

"It was truly great to meet with you today Sally. I have missed spending time with you lately and just being myself." Artemis kindly and sincerely stated. Mom smiled fondly at that.

"I missed this as well. It's always amazing to meet with you and talk like we used to; to reminisce on the past." Sally warmly countered. They stood up and hugged each other. Just as I was about to tune out, mom spoke in a whisper that nobody near would've hear- I only heard because of the basic powers I had as First Guardian of Chaos' Army, "I always love seeing you like you truly are, Lily…" I absolutely froze at that, not able to process the words that my mother just spoke. As they went back to the counter, deciding to order a milkshake to go, I jumped up, threw my trash away, and quickly walked out of the cafe and back to the side alley.

~~~~~~Back to Chaos' Cabin~~~~~~

As I appeared back into my room in Chaos' cabin, I couldn't seem to take a deep enough breath. Images raced through my mind, back and forth, back and forth between two seemingly different people. Every memory that I had ever had involving these two people flashed through my mind, standing side by side for a moment before disappearing as new ones replaced them.

Despite how much I wanted to deny it, my mind couldn't deny the absolute resemblance between the two girls I was picturing. The same skin color, the same hair, the same attitude, even the eyes were similar!

But how? How could I have missed this? I mean, I know I was young, but shouldn't I have known there was something off; that there was more to Lily? I always wanted to know what had happened to my closest friend and now the truth was staring at me in the face. My friend was not who I once thought she was; she kept so many secrets from me. My breathing got quicker and quicker as my pacing grew more frantic.

I thought my life before twelve was happy, and carefree; that gods didn't interrupt my life until the incident with Zeus' lightning bolt, but I was wrong the whole entire time. The gods have been involved in my life for as long as I could remember. It's no wonder I was never attacked by monsters growing up, Artemis probably saw me as the perfect monster magnet and stayed close to kill them all.

I froze at that; could it have all been a lie? I remember life being so miserable and lonely before I met Lily. And then she entered my life and everything changed.

Not even life with Smelly Gabe was so bad as I knew I had Lily to look forward to later that day or the next morning. I shared so much of my life with her- my secrets; my fears; my dreams; my worries.

Thinking back, now that I knew the truth, I realized that she rarely, if ever, shared parts of her life with me. She only ever talked about her rich father who travelled for a living and sent her things. Now, I knew that was a lie; her father wasn't just some travelling businessman- it was Zeus himself!

Stopping in my tracks and taking as deep of a breath as I could, I quickly teleported up to Chaos' Palace to the viewing room. Stepping in front of the wall, ignoring the chairs. Focusing on my oldest friend's picture in my mind, I spoke.

"Show me Lily." Sure that fate wouldn't be blocking her from me now that I probably knew the truth. The screen swirled and rippled as a picture came into view. And there, in the picture sat my mother and Artemis sitting at the lunch table I just saw them at, as mom called her Lily. But, the screen also showed a different perspective of the same scene. So focused then on mom and Artemis, I had brushed away the mist. But, sitting at the table across from mom disguised by The Mist, was Lily. An older version of Lily than the one I remembered; eighteen years old just like Artemis appeared to be.

"No…" I muttered to myself, still staring at the screen even as the picture disappeared back into swirling mist. Blinking furious to hold back the tears of betrayal and frustration, an idea appeared into my mind. Flashing down to earth, bypassing Artemis' wards, I landed in her cabin room. Walking up to her desk, I opened the top drawer. And sitting there, were pictures: pictures of Lily and I from when we first met, until our last day together. And right in the middle of some of them, was her Aunt Hestia.

"Hestia was involved too?" I barely whispered to myself, even more heartbroken. Was it all fake? I wondered to myself. Clenching the edge of the desk, I stared at all the little mementos from our childhood that sat in that drawer, along with a few leftover belongings of Zoë. Why? Was the main part of the tornado of thoughts that chaotically swirled through my mind. I had absolutely no clue why a goddess would choose to randomly do that, especially one that despised the male population as much as Artemis did back then.

And she was so cold to me as well, when we ran into her right before my third quest- after how close we were growing up, she cut it off so easily...An anger quickly grew in me: at being so naive and foolish to think I had such a happy childhood- to think that some part of my life wasn't affected by the Gods. I felt a presence appear in the room, but I stayed where I was, knowing exactly who it was.

"Zayden?" Artemis' voice was startled and confused; I had never before entered her room without her permission, "What are you doing here?" She wondered. I could feel her freeze as she saw her personal drawer wide open in front of me, "How dare you look in my personal things!" She exclaimed, anger living in every word of that sentence. Slamming the drawer closed, surprising her, I turned on the spot and marched my way towards her, eyes blazing. Ignoring the step back she took in caution, I grabbed her arm tightly.

"We need to talk. Now." I spoke through clenched teeth. There was a fearful and cautious look in her eyes, but right now I did not care. I would get the answers I deserved, with how much she messed with my life. Without waiting for an answer, I teleported us to my room in Chaos' Palace where no one would accidentally enter. Recovering herself, Artemis yanked her arm out of my grasp.

"Zayden! I don't know what is going on with you right now, but you had no right forcing me to come here!" She scolded, anger surging through her body and eyes.

"Was it all fake?" I demanded, trying to keep calm. Artemis sighed in annoyance.

"Was what all fake, Zayden?" She inquired, calming down. Turning to face her from my pacing, I exploded.

"Was everything a LIE?!" I yelled. She froze before glaring at me.

"Why in Hades' sake are you yelling at me about nonsense?" She countered. Gritting my teeth.

"I am not just yelling at you about nonsense?" At her blank look, he continued, "I'm angry about LILY!" Artemis was still at that, eyes wide.

"H-how do you know about Lily..." She whispered, shocked beyond relief. Anger grew inside me at the fact that she didn't even try to deny the truth- though if she had, I probably would've grown even more angry.

"Was it all a trick? Just a game?" I urged, "You were bored one day and just thought, 'hey there's a new demi-god Son of Poseidon down there? Why don't I mess around with a silly male demi-god?'" Artemis glared at me at that.

"Don't you dare...You have no right to speak to me this way, especially about Percy!" She exclaimed, "The life I led as Lily is none of your concern!"

""None of my concern? None of my concern?" I repeated, "It definitely is my concern!"

"And how? How is that?" Artemis slowly asked, as if I was dumb.

"Because you played him!" I insisted, "He wasn't even a part of the mythological world- he didn't even know about himself! But you, you decided that you would show up in his life, become his best friend," My voice cracked on that word as my tears threatened to overflow, "And act as if there was nothing different about him!"

"I don't need to be scolded by you!" Artemis avoided, "I did what I did for my own reasons, which you do not deserve!" I laughed coldly at that.

"That what you gods always do!" I exclaimed, causing Artemis to stiffen, "You come up with ideas and reasons and infiltrate the mortal realm, not thinking about how you would affect their lives!"

"Oh, do make this some big-headed talk on how gods are terrible…" Artemis grumbled in sarcasm, rolling her eyes, "Because that's obvious what it was about."

"Well, I can't think of any other reason as to why you would interfere in a male's life!" I added, "It's not like he could've joined your hunter, or like you cared for guys, so I can't find a reason as to why you did other than selfish reasons!"

"Selfish?" She scoffed, "I can assure you it wasn't ego making me create Lily."

"Oh please. The only reasons I can see involve ego and believed superiority." I firmly concluded, "What, was it a joke? 'Let's go dupe a demigod! Let's act like his friend for years, then, right as life starts to get hard, drop him and up and leave with barely any warning! See how dumb he is!'" I mimicked. Artemis gasped at that before slapping me across the face. Luckily, I wasn't a demi-god anymore as if I was, that would've been incredible painful- luckily it only slightly hurt.

" .You." Artemis' voice was shaky, and as I turned to face her, I saw there were tears in her eyes, "I cared for Percy so much. You know nothing about our friendship!"

"No nothing? Ha, that's ironic!" I explained, "I can promise you, Artemis, I knew a lot about your friendship. Enough to know that you abandoned him." Artemis flinched back at that, shocked.

"I did not abandon Percy. I-" I interrupted her though.

"Oh; so you don't call suddenly showing up a day after Christmas, say you were leaving in a week, and then disappear off the face of the planet just when he needed you, abandoning him?" I sarcastically recalled.

"He didn't need me anymore!" She exclaimed, "He was about to enter the mythological world. Soon, he would see behind my disguise; I already had quite a few close calls with Grover and Chiron then. I had already overstayed my welcome-"

"Overstayed your welcome?" I repeated, "This was your supposed best friend! Not just some awkward relative you didn't really know! You promised you would be there for him, but you left!"

"What would you suggest I should've done? Reveal myself as Artemis?" She sarcastically wondered.

"You could have prepared him!" I thundered, "You could've warned him about the mythological world and the battle going on between Zeus and his father. Instead, you left and he was thrust right in with no idea what he should do!"

"It wasn't my place-"

"Oh, and showing up in his life as a child was?" I added. She let out an angry breath at that.

"I don't even know why I am having this conversation with you! No matter what I say, you just won't listen- too caught up in your own ideas and beliefs, just like a typical man!" She called.

"Haha! And here you are, as self righteous as always. Believe you knew best and not caring who got hurt; just like you did with Nico." I insisted, "You took his sister away from him; sure, she made her own decision, but you should've know better than to split them apart!" She snorted here.

"It was not my responsibility to watch over Nico Di Angelo- that was the Camp's duty." She stubbornly added.

"But it was also Bianca's job to watch over him and you took her away from him- the last member of his family, sending him to a bunch of strangers!" I recalled.

"I refuse to speak anymore about Bianca. You would probably just drag her death in the mud…" Artemis insulted. I froze at that.

"Don't you dare accuse me of making fun of Bianca's death." I angrily muttered, "But while we are on the subject- what about what happened right around that time?" Artemis tilted her head, being sarcastically curious, "What about how you treated Percy? You claim that you were close, and friends, but you were so cold to him- and it was the first time you two ran into each other since the day you left." She stiffened at that.

"I was no longer Lily then; I couldn't treat a male kindly so suddenly, everyone would get suspicious." She defended.

"Oh, that is an excuse and you know it!" I insisted, "You saw him, and didn't care anymore. Now he was a demi-god; in your mind he was probably going to be just like Orion!"

"I never thought such terrible thoughts about Percy! And not once did I ever think he would become like that pig-headed, disgusting male." She countered, scowling at remembering my older half-brother.

"Well, Lily clearly was just a persona for you; something to add to your usual godly life." I went with instead, anger growing bit by bit as I went through every memory I had of Artemis after the day Annabeth was kidnapped, "Did you ever think that Percy may have missed you? That he would've liked to speak to his old friend, even after he found out?" I wondered, knowing I definitely often wished to run into Lily again. She snorted at that.

"Please; he seemed pretty happy with his new friend..." She bitterly refused.

"But obviously none of them could've replaced the friendship he had with you." I stated, glaring at her. She snorted, clearly disagreeing with my statement, "What? What do you disagree with so badly? You and Percy were best friends-as close as could be, if you're being honest about what you are saying…" I doubtfully stated; how could a male-hating goddess actually become good and close friends with a small demi-god male, especially when she had a bad experience with an older half-brother of his- there was no way what she was saying could be true, "I mean, here he was in a new world, don't you think he would've liked to still have someone from his past?"

"He had Grover…" She muttered.

"Before you go on that tangent, Grover and Chiron only went to Percy because they wanted to make sure he was a demi-god so he could go to Camp Half-Blood." I shut down. She huffed out a breath.

"Then he had his mom!" She stubbornly came up with.

"Yeah; that's just a great idea. You know how Sally was- she'd use everything he told her as a lesson, as she always did when Percy complained about something." I brought up, remembering all the times I did try to tell mom something and she just turned it into a life lesson about forgiving others, or something like that, "What he needed was a friend who actually listened and agreed with him." She rolled her eyes.

"Ok then, if you really believe he forgot about you," She flinched slightly at that, a vulnerability passing through her expression, showing I had hit it right on the head, "Who replaced you?" She was silent, clenching her jaw, "Who did he replace you with, Artemis?" I questioned, pronunciating each word slowly. Her head snapped up at that as she glared harshly at me.

"ANNABETH!" She exploded, making my eyes widen in shock. Her anger disappearing with that confession, she looked back at the ground, shoulders slumped, "He replaced me with Annabeth…" Her voice was soft, barely even a whisper. I opened and closed my mouth a few times, taken speechless by this reveal.

"You- you think he replaced you with Annabeth?" I whispered, all my anger gone suddenly, as if it was never there to begin with. She scoffed here, gripping her arms; seeming more like a teenage girl than an ancient goddess.

"Well what did you expect? Here I was, excited when I finally got to see Percy, and trying to prepare myself on how to calmly react, to not react as Lily." She paused here, a sad look crossing her face, "And then everything went wrong and Annabeth fell off the cliff and disappeared. Percy was...absolutely distraught." She recounted.

I winced remembering myself then; Artemis was right, in a way. I saw Annabeth as my way to get Lily back. I constantly compared the two in my mind, trying to find as many similarities as I could, so I could finally stop thinking about Lily. Annabeth often fell short when compared to Lily, but her eyes countered many things. Annabeth's grey eyes were so similar to Lily's- not the same, but close.

Anytime I doubted that she could never make me move on from Lily, that I would never forget my best friend that had so abruptly left my life, never to return, I pictured her eyes and was able to convince myself that she could. I was absolutely desperate to have that connection I had with Lily; but it was not meant to be. No matter how hard I tried to push it, it felt wrong. No matter how much I tried to get over Lily, I couldn't. It made me so frustrated; I was only twelve, yet I had already given away my heart. Most people, if they heard that would just roll their eyes, rambling about naive children not truly knowing love.

But, despite how innocent I was then about the world, I understood my relationship with Lily and accepted everything. Then, when she kissed me the day she left, she opened up the possibility of such potential. But, then she left and younger me was lost, with a newly found hole beside the gaping wound that was Lily's absence in his chest.

She kissed me, I suddenly realized. Now, Lily kissing me then was shocking, but it had been a long time since that became a fitted part of my memory, something normal to think back on. But, with the newest reveal, I saw it in a new perspective(something that's been happening an awful lot today). Artemis, the male-hating goddess, kissed younger me. She's been telling the truth- she really did care about me, I realized in awe. Not noticing my reverie, Artemis continued speaking in distress.

"When I looked at him, I saw emotions in his gaze that had only ever been directed towards me." She's jealous; the revelations didn't seem like they would stop soon. I had accepted that she cared for me back then, but from her bitter tone, it still continued today, "I should've known this would happen. But I was naive," She spat, "I firmly believed that I would always hold a part of Percy's heart, that he would always remember me. But, here was I, running into him just shy of two year later, and he had forgotten me…" Her voice was shaky, But she stood up straight, composing herself, "So I did the only thing I could think of- if he could forget me so easily, then I could too." Silence grew at that.

"You're still in love with him." I realized. She glared at me, defenses flying up.

"Yes, alright! Yes, I still love him. What are you going to do; tease me, tell father, disgrace me?" She demanded. Decision made, I spoke.

"He never forgot you Artemis." She looked up in confusion. Normally, she would probably just roll her eyes, but the firm tone to my voice showed my conviction, "I won't lie, he tried. Often tried because he, somehow knew, that you would probably never return to him. So, when he met Annabeth, he saw a chance for him to move on." Her expression turned sour at that.

"But he couldn't." I whispered, "Annabeth could never compare to you. But he was stubborn; he couldn't let go of his efforts, otherwise all the struggling would've been for nothing." I took a deep breath here, "So he kept trying, and trying, and trying. And for a while, life was good. There were the moments of doubt about being with Annabeth, but they were friends- so he brushed each away. Soon though, he realized that the connection was faked from the beginning- it was never meant to be." I snorted here, slowly losing control of my emotions, but I couldn't seem to care.

"All his hard work slowly unraveled, with all his friend save a few. It was as if the universe kept teasing him." I bitterly remembered, "Life was good, then something bad would happen. With lily leaving, every quest, every summer. And then, when everyone was turning their backs on him, the one person who reminded him of Lily the most stood by him. You." Artemis, who had previously been focused on me, wondering in confusion on how I knew all of this, froze in place; eyes wide.

"He lost everyone, but even then he couldn't let go of Lily. Because every time you showed up, he couldn't help but remember her and compare you two- seeing how absolutely similar you were. But, he kept trying as hard as he could to deny it. He couldn't open the potential of something good as, like always, something bad would probably happen. And besides, you were a maiden goddess: he had no chance with you." I grew silent here, caught up in all the emotions from back then.

"H-how…" She started, but couldn't seem to continue. Clearing her throat, she spoke, "How do you know this?" She carefully wondered, but I ignored the question, too caught up in old emotions I had been covering up over the past few centuries.

"Even after death, he couldn't forget you!" I exclaimed, as she stiffened, "Every week. Every. Single. Week; he would walk to Chaos' viewing room, asking to see you, Lily- and nothing would appear. Fate was blocking him from seeing you; it frustrated him to no end. He thought he finally had a chance to see you after so long, to finally get some closure. But, once again right as he started to hope, he would be disappointed."

"Chaos' viewing room? He spends his afterlife on Chaos' planet?" Artemis questioned, mind racing with everything I was revealing.

"Even after five hundred years, he kept looking for you- even though, in true logic, you had probably died long before. He didn't care; he needed to see something. You happy with a husband, a family. You growing old; a grave with your name; your soul in the afterlife- anything would've done. But, all he saw was a swirling screen." My voice cracked on that last word, tears filling my eyes, "No matter how much power he now had, it was useless when it came to you…" I trailed off here, not able to go on anymore.

"Five hundred years? Power?" Artemis repeated, staring at me. But, when I was silent, she grumbled, "What are you hiding? Why can't you tell me outright?" She demanded. I stepped towards her, stopping right before her, staring down into her eyes.

"You still haven't figured it out?" I whispered, the tension of the coming moment filling the room. She shifted in place, somehow feeling the importance of this next moment.

"I…" Her confused look was answer enough. Keeping calm, I reached up and pulled my hood down, revealing my face. She stilled, staring into my sea-green eyes.

"Percy…" She whispered in realization. I smiled slightly at her.

"Hey, Lee-Lee." I greeted.

H-How…" She muttered.

"Well, after Zeus killed me," She flinched at that, "Chaos stopped my soul from entering the underworld. He said he had been looking for a second in command and that he believed I was the perfect person for the job. Having nothing else to look forward to, I agreed." I explained.

"Wait. So you never entered the underworld? Why didn't Hades inform us of this?" Artemis wondered, trying to compose herself.

"Chaos visited Hades and told him that Percy had joined his army, and to not inform anyone of the missing soul." I added.

"It explains a lot. He would never let us see you, every time we asked- not even to Poseidon. He kept claiming the Ancients Laws were against it. He wouldn't even tell us where you ended up or how you were doing." Her voice cracked here. I chuckled here.

"I was doing pretty good; I have been the past five hundred years." I joked, which she rolled her eyes at. It was silent for a while before Artemis' calm expression crumbled.

"I miss you so much, Sea Sponge." I brightened at her old nickname for me(A/N: I changed that part in Chapter 12; I came up with this recently and just had to use it).

"I missed you too, Lee-Lee." She hugged me tightly at that, wrapping her arms around my neck, I wrapping mine around her waist. We stayed like that for a while, each happy to regain back our old friend. After a while, we pulled back.

"Who else knows?" She wondered, wiping away the tears that had started to fall.

"Well, everyone in the army knows. Chaos, obviously. Mom," She smiled at that, happy I had told her, "My little sister Ayla." She interrupted here.

'I bet you were glad when you found out you had a little sister." She figured. I just grinned, nodding.

"Jessica-" She was shocked at that.

"Wait. You told Jessica?" She demanded.

"Of course." I nonchalantly stated, "We've grown really close, like siblings, and I wanted her to meet Ayla without it seeming suspicious." Having explained that, I continued, "I also told Thalia-" She scrunched her eyebrows in confusion at that.

"How did you find the time to do that?" She wondered. I grinned mischievously.

"She'll probably be able to tell you." She glared at the fact that I was evading her question, but let it go. Suddenly, she sighed.

"We better go; the hunters will start to worry if we're not back soon. I think they've started to grow fond of you." She teased. I just smiled.

"I've grown fond of them too." And with that, we teleported back into Artemis' cabin room.

Song I'm listening to right now: Nothing; just writing downstairs in the living room as my siblings and I decided to sleep downstairs and watch The Flash(I've been watching it since the beginning, and recently convinced them to watch it). Now they are heading off to sleep as I'm writing.

Well, that is chapter 18! I hope you enjoyed this chapter; it was really fun writing all of it, especially the confrontation between Artemis and Percy- It felt very angsty to me while I was writing it: I actually got very, very frustrated at Artemis on Percy's behalf. Well, there is one chapter put up and finished. Now I just have to continue on this same path. I will hopefully update again next Monday, but until then, I wish you all luck in life with whatever challenges you face!