Prologue

Artemis and Apollo were being carried by their mother, Leto. Their mother could barely hold herself together. Even though Leto was a Titan, it didn't mean she couldn't get tired herself. It wasn't long ago that she given birth to Apollo. The good thing was that her daughter, Artemis, helped her through the whole process. If it weren't for Artemis, she wouldn't have made it through the birth of Apollo.

As she thought about her daughter, she hugged Artemis tighter toward her chest.

Artemis looked up at her mother with a worried look on her delicate, pale face. She loved her mother dearly and would give up anything to make her happy. Artemis was reminded of the pained look on her mother's face when she was giving birth to Apollo. It hurt Artemis to see her mother in pain.

"Mommy, let's stop here." Artemis begged her mother. Artemis was staring at her mother with sad, worried eyes.

Leto looked towards her daughter, unable to resist the sad, silver eyes staring up at her own. Leto sighed and walked toward the town that looked to be about five minutes away from where they were standing. She found an abandoned little house and decided to rest there.

Artemis and Apollo jumped out of their mothers arms and explored the little house, searching for any danger.

"Brother, you check that room and I will check this one." Artemis said, pointing toward two rooms that were in the small house.

"Uh-huh." Apollo nodded toward his sister.

Cautiously, both twins tiptoed into the rooms. They searched the little rooms for anything out of the ordinary, but once they saw that everything looked okay, they decided that the house was safe. Those two rooms were practically the whole house.

Leto put the twins to sleep, feeling the need to rest. She barley stood up and made it toward the other room, immediately falling asleep. She knew that her two children were safely sleeping in the other room. What she didn't know was that Artemis was sneaking out of the little house and going into the dangerous forest that she told them never to enter. Artemis, being the curious little newborn she was, disobeyed her mother.

Artemis quietly exited the little house, closing the wooden door behind her. She made sure that her mother and Apollo didn't hear her as she exited the house. Once she was out of earshot from the small house, she started running full speed towards the woods.

Come to think of it, Artemis regretted disobeying her mother. She had only been in the forest for a couple of minutes and already, a group of monsters were chasing her. Artemis would have fought back, but she didn't have any weapons to fight with and she didn't have the ability to use her powers, yet.

As Artemis was running, she was quickly pulled into a bush. She was about to scream, but a hand flew up toward her mouth stopping her from doing so. The offender whispered in her ear, "Shh, we have to be quiet or else they'll kill us." It was a little boy who had grabbed her and told her to be quiet.

The little boy looked to be around her age, maybe a couple of weeks older than her. Even though Artemis was born just a few days ago, she already looked like a full grown eight year old girl.

Both sat there quietly, hoping to not be found, but luck was not with them. A Hellhound found them and called over the other monsters with a howl. The boy pulled Artemis along with him leaving Artemis no choice but to follow. Soon both children were at a dead end; the monsters following behind.

They were at a cliff; the ocean restless beneath. The boy grabbed Artemis' hand and was about to jump, until Artemis decided that the boy needed some sense knocked into him.

"What are you thinking! I'm not jumping to my death!" Artemis screamed over the sound of the nearby monsters and the crashing waves.

Artemis knew she wouldn't die from the jump, but she could get something fractured. Besides, her mother told her never to go near any body of water, because she was a child of Zeus. Poseidon, the god of the Seas, didn't like Zeus' children in his domain.

"We have no other choice!" The boy screamed. "Either we jump or get eaten alive!"

Artemis hesitated.

"No, I'm not jumping." Artemis mumbled. She was scared. She should have listened to her mother. She wanted her mother to be there to protect her. She started to think about her brother, Apollo, too. At the thought of her mother and brother, her eyes grew watery with unshed tears.

The boy saw this and softened a bit. He squeezed her hand that he was holding and said, "Come on, don't cry. We'll be safe down there, I promise. Nothing will hurt you. Trust me, I'll protect you."

Artemis looked into the boys eyes and slowly nodded. He gave her a comforting smile, making Artemis feel ten times better. She somehow trusted this boy that had pulled her into the dangerous situation that she was currently in. As the monsters were getting closer, the boy looked at her and nodded signaling it was time to jump.

Both jumped into the roaring ocean, time slowly stopped as they fell into the deep, dark waters. The monsters only stood there stunned and sad that their meal was gone.

Both Artemis and the boy sunk into the deep blue sea, their hands still locked together. Artemis felt herself beginning to lose consciousness, knowing full well that she could not breathe underwater. She didn't even know how to swim. Her hold on the boy lessened, feeling the need to sleep. The boy started panicking as he saw her sink into the darkness below the sea. He quickly shot himself toward Artemis and took both of her arms into his, pulling her towards the surface.

The boy swam towards the shores of the beach, with Artemis unconscious in his arms. The boy not knowing what to do, shook Artemis, hoping she would wake up.

"Come on, wake up!" The boy screamed. He was panicking and shaking, praying to all the gods that she would wake up. "Please, I promised that you'd be safe. I can't break my promise."

Artemis slowly started to gain back her all her senses, hearing the screams of the boy beside her. The boy stopped shaking her as she opened her eyes, only to meet his. Artemis couldn't help but notice how his eyes resembled a vast, calm sea.

The boy jumped for joy and hugged her tightly. Surprised, but pleased, Artemis found the hug comforting after all she had just gone through. Artemis hugged him back. As she did so, she caught a whiff of the ocean breeze on the boy, but took it as he was just in the ocean and it could have also been the salty ocean breeze itself.

Artemis began to wonder how she even got into the forest. Why did she feel like she needed to be somewhere else other then the forest? The only thing that she could possibly remember was the boy that was beside her. He had saved her life from those terrifying monsters that were chasing after her. Why did she have a strange feeling inside of her, almost warning her to get out?

She was knocked out of her thoughts by the boy's voice. "Hey, maybe we should take you home. Your parents might be worried sick about you." Artemis looked as though she was hit by a lightning bolt. She struggled to remember where she was staying with her... Who was she staying with? Artemis started searching for any lead on the memories she had, but they all seemed very distant. It was like she was trying to see through a dark, stained window.

Soon, Artemis made up her mind. She was still very confused about the question, but she decided to not venture through her murky thoughts. As far as she knew, she didn't have any family.

"I don't have any parents. Well, at least I don't remember having any." Artemis spoke, sadly. "I don't know where I came from. I don't have a home." The boy looked at her incredulously. He, too, didn't have a family. He had been living in the woods for as long as he could remember.

The boy stood up and offered Artemis a hand. She took it gradually.

"Well, I don't have any, either. My name's Perseus, but you can call me Percy. What's yours?" The boy, Perseus, introduced himself. Percy was smiling at her with a smile that lit up his face, as well as the whole beach.

"My name's Artemis. You can call me anything you want, actually. I don't have a nickname like you." Artemis smiled shyly.

Percy thought for a second, his hand still gripping at her small, fragile hand. Perseus jumped up, his face lighting up like a newly lit Christmas tree. "I know! I'll call you Artie."

Artemis pondered on the new name Percy had given her and actually smiled. "I love it."

"Come on Artie, I want you to see my home, or should I say our home?" Percy said, excitingly. He ran into the deep, dark woods.

He pulled Artemis along.

...