Questions unanswered

Previously on The Unknown:

"He is my protector."

Chiron was shocked, Artemis was the proudest goddess he knew when it came to self-defense and the strength of women allowing a 'protector' but the protector is a wolf. "If I may Lady Artemis, but how is the wolf your protector?"

"He was a gift for me, he will protect me even if I don't want him to. He is loyal and powerful." Artemis replied before she grew to her godly height and called the council. The wolf, laid down at the foot of her throne. Everyone arrived shortly, all with confused looks on their faces.

But then Apollo took a long yawn, "What is it little sis?" At this the wolf growled at the sun god, a growl that made him shiver. But Artemis took it in stride.

"I am here to make aware the returning heroes." Artemis stated, gaining her confused looks from the council, "Some of my hunters that had died in the two wars have returned to me, including my lieutenant Zoë Nightshade and Bianca Di Angelo, both of whom had a prophecy that predicted their deaths." All the gods were shocked at this some shooting glances at Hades, "And I do not believe that Hades would be able to do this."

Hades pulled out his iPad and scrolled through a little bit before his face looked shocked beyond believe, "My records don't even show them having died, as if it never happened. But there are some that died that never were judged but were placed in immediate Elysium."

Chiron stepped up now, "My lords and ladies, we had many of our campers return as well, the heroes from the two wars as well as the battle of the labyrinth. Some of the campers were Roman and some Greek, and they just walked out of the forest. They told stories of a hooded man who came to each of them, some in groups others alone and offered them a new life. That is what he gave them, but some came back with even more. He has made some of the campers immortal."

"What!?" Zeus bellowed.

"Along with fully immortalizing my hunters Zoë and Bianca." Artemis added.

"How is this possible? No one should be able to do that besides the council after the wars." Athena questioned, herself without an answer for once.

"Artemis, Chiron, what can you tell us of this man? We must know if he is a threat or not." Zeus managed over the murmurs of the council.

"My campers told us their stories, he seemed to know about everything that has happened in the last 3 years, the first campers to die in the titan war were even brought back." This caught Dionysus' attention.

"What of my son? Did Castor come back?" Dionysus would never admit it to the campers but he loved his children dearly.

"Yes Mr. D, he was brought back and given immortality like Pollux. Many of our campers were also made immortal, Michael Yew, Lee Fletcher," Apollo was tearing up now, "Ethan Nakumura", Athena got a look of calculations, "all the Roman centurions that fell in their siege of Mount Tam, all councilors that died in the giant and titan wars, like Silena Beauregard and Charles Beckendorf," Aphrodite was letting tears of joy fall, despite her wearing make-up and holding hands with a similarly smiling Hephaestus, "even..." Chiron voice faltered on this.

"Who else Chiron? What were you about to say?" Zeus questioned.

"Luke Castellan, Lord Zeus." Chiron said weakly.

Athena was really calculating this; two children that were considered enemies have been resurrected and granted immortality by this man. And these were the two that Percy Jackson had declared heroes despite their actions. But Hermes was shedding tears of joy now, his pride and joy had returned.

"What else can you tell us about him?" Athena pushed.

"Well Ethan and Luke had been somewhat interrogated by the man. Ethan was given a task of keeping balance and fairness at camp while Luke was questioned about what he would do if he returned. He was asked if he would give into temptation when Kronos returned. And he emphasized the use of when." Chiron paused at this, all of the gods trying and failing to hide their horror. "But what surprises me most was that he was asked a very personal question that not many know, he was asked about his feelings for Annabeth Chase."

Athena was furious at this, "What do you mean his feelings? What has he done to my daughter?" This got Hermes riled up but before he could start a fight Chiron intervened.

"He was asked of his loyalties and who he would defend, but then he was asked if he would love Annabeth forever. He was only allowed to come back because he said yes. It turns out that when he died, he and Annabeth Chase confessed their love for each other when he successfully purged himself of Kronos." Hermes smiled at this, happy for his son.

Hestia was the one that questioned this, "How did he know so much? He seems to know much of the occurrences of the children."

"Well according to my campers he seemed to teach them of it, but then there is also what Charles told us." Hephaestus, Athena, and Aphrodite all perked up at this, "He was told that a friend of theirs had told the man of their worth and asked for them to be given another chance. But I am afraid that putting this with the lack of a returning hero that a deal may have been made." Chiron continued.

"Percy..." Poseidon breathed, his voice faltering at the mention of his son.

Everyone's faces fell, "It is what he would do isn't it." Artemis sighed.

The wolf then jumped on to her lap, in her godly form he fit perfectly, and nudged at her hand. She sent him a sad smile, which he only responded with a lick to the face causing her to giggle. And if a wolf could smile he was.

Apollo heard the giggle and was shocked to see his sister like this, "Hey little sis—" But he was cut off by both Artemis and The wolf.

"I am older than you!" Artemis called while her wolf just simply growled at the sun god again sending another shiver down his spine, along with all the other gods.

Apollo was just barely able to finish his question before he completely melted into a pile of gold from the wolf's glare, "...Um, wh-who is your wolf friend there?"

Artemis smiled genuinely down at him before she responded, "He is my protector."

This caused quite a few questions for Artemis but the loudest was her fathers. "What do you mean protector, he is a wolf from your hunt. How could he protect you?" This angered the wolf; he jumped down and growl at the king of the gods causing him to visibly shrink back into his chair.

"Down." Artemis called and he responded immediately, running and jumping back into her lap and resting his head on her thigh, Artemis petting his head.

"Sister, where did you find that wolf?" Athena asked, her curiosity never-ending.

Artemis thought for a second, "He came with Zoë. The one catch for her return as she put it. " This got Zeus red in the face out of anger.

"WHO IS THIS MAN THAT THINKS HE CAN PROTECT MY DAUGHTER BETTER THAN I!?" Zeus thundered.

"He is my protector." Artemis said simply, earning a look up from the wolf and a squeal from Aphrodite.

"Oh Oh Oh, I feel love from you Arty! Who is he, do you know or are you in love with a man you have never met?"

"No, I am not in love!" Artemis screamed at her, "I am a maiden." But then she looked down at the wolf who sent her a sad look and nudged into her.

"Well then the wolf must go!" This surprisingly came from Apollo, "If we don't know who this man is we can't trust some mutt he gave to my sister."

"NO!" Artemis yelled, holding the wolf down on her lap now, the wolf wanted to jump down and claw him open to suggest that he leave her but he wouldn't do that to Artemis, she did love her brother. "He is not going anywhere, his is apart of my hunt and will stay with me. And I don't know what would happen to Zoë if he wasn't allowed to stay with me."

That silenced everyone; they knew how hard Zoë's death had affected her. Apollo still wasn't convinced but he couldn't do that to his sister. "Fine, but I don't like this man watching my sister." He grumbled.

"But what about Perseus? If he indeed talked to this man, what did he give up for all of this?" After Athena said this many people's spirits dropped. Many though looked to Hades who again pulled out his iPad.

He scrolled through and did some clicking before losing the little color he did have in his face. Catching the attention of Zeus. "What did you find brother?"

Hades swallowed before answering, "I tracked his soul and he did die, but then something happened before he came to judgment. I have had a search done of the Underworld to check this but he can't be found, dead or alive." Looks of horror spread throughout the throne room. Poseidon was paler than Hades and his face held the very definition of depression, "It is as if his soul no longer exists... He has faded." With those words the throne room darkened and the hearth was no longer a symbol of light but rather a dimming pile of embers, their tender's emotion shown in them. The moon dimmed, the winds stopped and the seas died. The entire world was plunged into a state of depression.

But the wolf didn't like this so he did what he could, passing feelings of cheer and comfort to Artemis and curling into her lap warming her. She got a sad smile and the moon was a little brighter but still held a dimmer than normal light.

After a while the question came up, "Who is this man to make this deal? Who could make someone fade in return for the lives of others? It is obviously in his character to make this deal but how did Perseus fade if he is a mortal soul? Not even I can make a soul fade." Hades put in his input.

"What did the campers say of his identity Chiron?" Athena asked.

"Many of them gave the same description, a tall man obviously muscular and with a face covered by a dark hood, no one could see his face but from his mouth they concluded that he was Caucasian and had a gentle attitude and compassion for all of them." Chiron started, "But none of them were able to get a name, they say he avoided the question and didn't answer them. Only Silena was able to get a response and it was very cryptic. He said he didn't have a name, and that no one really knew he even existed. I don't know how it is possible but he seems too be very powerful so it could be possible." Chiron finished with a worried expression.

Many eyes fell on Athena, as she had a very focused and critical face. She only came to one conclusion, "I don't know." This floored everyone, she never said those words before and even Ares was smart enough to make a joke about this.

"I want everyone think about this man, he must be someone very powerful and I want to know who he is. This council is dismissed and I give all of you permission to visit your children. I am sure you wish to see them." Zeus spoke with very little drama and then flashed out simply, no theatricals.

Hermes, Apollo, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Ares, Athena, Demeter and Dionysus all flashed to their palaces planning on visiting their children in the morning, very eager to see their resurrected children. Hades and Poseidon both flashed to their domains, Hades to investigate these souls, Poseidon to mourn his son's possible sacrifice. Hera left to be with her husband after sending Chiron back to camp before he had to run back, leaving Artemis and Hestia alone in the throne room.

And before Artemis could flash out Hestia approached her, "Hello niece." Her usual motherly self coming out.

"Hello Aunt Hestia, what can I help you with?" Artemis asked she herself still a little sad about some things said at this council.

"You seemed troubled, may I ask why?" That is when Hestia ushered Artemis towards the hearth, after the wolf jumped down from her lap and made his way to the hearth himself.

Artemis shrunk down to her 18 year old form, something she had started to do more often after she had met Percy, with Hestia as an 8 year old and they both sat by the hearth, the wolf placing his head on Artemis' lap. "What are you sad about?" Hestia asked again.

"I don't know what you mean." Artemis said clearly in denial.

"You miss him don't you, I could always tell that he caught your attention after he saved you from the weight of the sky. Your feeling only increased as you saw his humbleness after saving us all and his sacrifices." The wolf on Artemis' lap looked up at her his eyes soft for her.

Artemis hesitated when answering but she had always loved her Aunt and wouldn't be able to lie to her. "...I might have been fond of Percy... but it wouldn't have been possible, I am a maiden goddess and father would not have allowed me to have any relations with one of Poseidon's children."

"You judge your father wrongly, everyone respected the boy. Dionysus gets his name right when he is not around, Ares begrudgingly respected him. Athena got over her hatred for my brother to like the boy for saving her daughter many times. And your father liked Percy because of his loyalty but would never show it to anyone." Hestia smiled sadly before continuing, "I know that if he hadn't sacrificed himself and we still won, he would have blamed all the deaths on himself and it would have been hard to bring him to believe otherwise. I also know that if he didn't die for all of us you would have given up on your maiden vows for him and only him. And I would be able to see a wedding built on true love." When she finished Artemis was blushing a bright shade of red, because she knew it was true. And if was possible the wolf would be blushing too.

"I know but that is because he was the only true good man this world has ever seen, I have only had feelings for one man before and the was Orion," The wolf growled quietly at this gaining him glances from the two young girls. "But I was blind from who he really was. I was happy he died when I learned of the monster he really was."

"While I don't agree with the killing of people, I was glad you didn't show your feelings for the boy. He was not worthy of your love, but Percy is and I am sure we will always remember him and we will never be the same as we were before he came." Hestia said fondly.

"I know but why did he have to be so selfish," Artemis had the tears she had held back from the lack of his return, "Why couldn't he have come back to me? He had to be selfish in dying and then giving up his time in Elysium to bring back our heroes. I hate him because of that." She had tears fall because of this but the wolf raised his head and licked her cheeks cleaning off her tears. This gained him a broken giggle from Artemis and an appreciative smile from Hestia. "I think I will resign for the night, I will be spending time with my hunters in the morning."

And so Artemis teleported to her private room in her cabin unsurprisingly the wolf had followed in the teleportation. She then flashed on her night wear being a simple silver tank top and shorts and climbed into her bed for another attempt at a good night sleep after being plagued by nightmares of Percy's death since the end of the war.

Her eyes were still slightly puffy from her tears but she didn't have tear lines because of the wolf's attention to her tears. After crawling into bed she fell to sleep quickly, emotionally exhausted from the day.

But that is when the wolf made his move, transforming into the man he really was. Percy stood in front of Artemis' bed looking sadly down at her before leaning down. He moved her hair behind her ear and placed his lips on her forehead. "Sleep well my love, I will see you there."

Then turning back into the wolf he crawled in next to her, and Artemis' arm wrapped around him in her sleep.

And for the first time since the giant war Artemis had a good dream and a peaceful night sleep.