A/N at the bottom PLEASE read it.

Thank you and on with the story

After a few minutes of silence, Perseus decided he was not going to have it. He was not going to walk to…wherever they were currently headed without a chance of getting to know his companion. Glancing over to see the girl in question quietly sulking, he asked the first question that came to mind, hoping to get her out of her state of depression.

"So, you were raised in the Garden all your life?" Even if he was trying to get rid of the silence and depressed air that had permeated the two, Perseus was also genuinely curious about her life.

Zoe turned to face him before sighing, "Yes, but not always. On occasion we would visit our father atop the mountain. Even with holding the sky, he made sure we were properly trained by having all of us spare together." She sounded wistful as she relived some of her memories, obviously not over the fact that she had been so easily swayed by a man's words.

Perseus' face was inquisitive, "Atlas is your father, right?" The look on her face at his question made him quickly realize his mistake.

Zoe narrowed her eyes at him, "Is that a problem?" Her tone seemed full of anger, but with his experience, Perseus was also able to detect the small amount of fear and sadness, causing his heart to clench. Taking her hand, he made her look at him, his crimson eyes melding with her own obsidian pair, before speaking.

"No, it is not. I learned long ago from my own fathers not to judge someone for their parentage. Zoe, I would never consider judging you just for being a daughter of Atlas."

Zoe nodded her head, happy with his answer but not showing it, before she took on a look of confusion, "Wait, you said fathers. You have more than one? Who are they?"

"The Olympians Poseidon and Ares."

At the horrified look on her face, Perseus looked confused himself, before his eyes widened and he fell to the ground, tears threatening to spill from his eyes as his roars of laughter echoed through the forest. After a minute or two, he regained his composure and looked to his companion, who had her arms crossed and was currently glaring at him. He chuckled once more before replying.

"Nothing like that I assure you. Poseidon is my birth father, but Ares adopted me after…after Sparta burned." Perseus' throat tightened. Even after nine years, he still found it difficult to talk about the events that had occurred that terrible night. He cursed both Athena and Artemis for taking everything from him, and he could hardly wait to see the fear on their faces when the day of reckoning came for the two of them.

Zoe, seeing the pain and grief in his eyes, took his hand (once again causing her to blush), and led him to a nearby stone, where they both took a seat and let the silence settle. While Perseus was busy fighting his inner demons, Zoe found herself looking the Hound of War up and down, admiring his kindness and the way he cared for her as she examined him. She couldn't help but notice the way his dark hair seemed to reflect the full moon's glow, or how cute he looked when he was concentrating, or how a large shard of stygian iron was impaled through his shoulder…

Wait, what?

Her eyes snapped back to the piece of iron in question and widened in shock. The shard had embedded itself all the way into his chest and out of the back of his right shoulder, and every time Perseus shifted, it moved in the other direction, digging in deeper and causing drops of blood to fall on occasion as it twisted and turned. Finally, after calming and clearing his mind, Perseus noticed Zoe's shocked expression and only looked confused himself, not noticing the shard imbedded in his chest.

"What? Is there something on my face?"

Zoe only pointed to the shard, unable to say anything. Perseus, noticing the jagged metal piece for the first time, merely yanked it out, causing it to tear into him further upon its exit, leaving a large, gushing wound. His mind in a state of anticipation for the moment to come, Perseus concentrated on the wound and forced it closed, feeling lances of pain snap through his body as the wound closed and the blood faded. After admiring the shard and placing it into his pack along with the piece he had removed from his heart earlier, he turned and saw that Zoe's face had turned a sickly shade of white after watching everything that had just occurred.

Perseus sighed, 'This will take a while.'

After setting up camp for the night, Perseus explained how he seemed to be immune to pain and his extreme healing capability, as well as the circumstances surrounding his transformation into the Hound of War and everything that had happened since, including the rescue of Eros and his subsequent fight with Hecate. Zoe had not once interrupted, saving her questions for after his story ended.

"…and here we are now." Perseus finished. He knew Zoe had questions and was more than happy to answer them.

"So," Zoe began, counting each point off on her fingers, "to recap on everything you have told me, you are the Hound of War, the champion of your foster father, the God of War, Ares."

Perseus nodded, "Yep."

"You are the last remaining Spartan in existence."

"As far as me and my father know, yes."

"Your patron is Hestia, your birth father is Poseidon, and your first mission had you rescuing your half-brother Eros, slay Hecate, claim her Torch as a spoil of war, and make the temple she had resided in as a new base of operations."

"Uh huh."

"You were blessed by Odyne, the Goddess of Pain, and are currently impossible to kill since her blessing allows you to not only numb your wounds, but also pass them onto your enemies as well as inflict pain onto them at will."

"Yes, yes, and yes. However, I rarely inflict pain upon my enemies and I never trade wounds, as to me, it feels wrong. Twisted."

"Is there anything you cannot do?" She said, throwing her hands up in the air in exasperation.

Perseus paused before a sheepish look crossed his face, "Well, I still cannot shoot a bow to save my life, even after Apollo and Artemis removed their archery curse. I blame it on being a Son of Poseidon, since most of us a generally terrible with archery."

Zoe smirked proudly, "Well I can make up for that; my father had me train with the bow since I could walk. I would be more than happy to help you." She finished with a smile at Perseus, who returned it with surprising ease.

Even though it had been a single day since they had met, both the Hound of War and the banished Hesperide felt closer to each other then they had been with anyone else, something that surprised them but yet seemed to somehow make sense. Without either noticing, their hands came together, causing both to blush once they noticed, but neither seemed to really care at that point. Two pairs of eyes met, both filled with emotion that neither could understand. Whether intentional or unintentional, they both shifted closer and closer, until they were only a breaths-width apart.

Perseus cleared her throat before trying to speak, a blush splashed across his face, "Zoe, I-"

The sudden snap of a bowstring stopped him from speaking as a silver arrow sprouted from his shoulder, cutting him off midsentence as he grunted from the force behind it. Quickly tearing the arrow out, he summoned his armor in a flash of crimson flames and pushed Zoe behind him just as the night was lit up with silver arrows, the moon making them glow with an almost ethereal shine as they slammed into the Hound of War, causing him to buckle and fall to the ground under their combined force. Pushing himself onto his hands and knees, he looked up, only to catch sight of an auburn haired girl smirking proudly before a heavy handed strike to the back of his head sent him into unconsciousness.

Line Break

Darkness danced on the outskirts of his vision as Perseus awoke. He shook his head, wondering what in the Hades had given him a headache that even topped the one he had received from his drinking spree with Eros. Chuckling at the fond memory, he was both interrupted and given his sight back by a slap across the face, the pain shocking him back to full awareness and causing him to remember the previous night's events.

"Zoe! Where is she?! What happened?!" Perseus attempted to rise from what appeared to be a kneeling position, only to discover he was chained by both his feet and hands to a spike that was firmly implanted into the ground.

"You're not going anywhere boy." The Hound of War snapped his head in the direction of the condescending voice, only to growl in hatred.

Artemis stood off to his left, her face a sickly sweet smile that Perseus knew she only reserved for her enemies, which in this case meant him. Her outfit was just like her huntresses (Whom had all gathered around to watch the action), the only difference being the rather large amount of daggers hanging at her side. Stepping closer to the chained Perseus, her silver sandaled foot kicked dust into his eyes, causing them to water and her to laugh.

"Aw, is the little boy crying? Does he want his father? It's a shame he didn't want you, isn't it?" She and all her huntresses laughed at her attempts to get a rise out of him.

Perseus, with some difficulty, kept himself from getting angry and merely smiled, confusing her and her huntresses as he began to speak.

"Come on now Arty, You're going to have to do better than that if you want to top what you did." Oh how he could almost taste her fear as she stood stock still, her face as pale as fresh snow.

"I-I do not know what you speak of." Her voice betrayed her fear, making Perseus' smile grow all the more.

"Of course you don't. I mean, I'm sure you didn't destroy my home to get rid of any, shall we say, evidence, right?" The sarcasm flowed from his voice like a flooding river, filling the Goddess of the Hunt with both rage and fear. Before she could retort, a huntress stepped forward and spoke.

"Lady Artemis, what is this pig talking about? I thought we destroyed that blemish of a city because they mistreated their women." Perseus snapped his head to the huntress that had spoken and smiled.

"What is your name huntress?"

"Phoebe, you piece of male trash." She spat in his face as she finished speaking, laughing along with the rest of the Hunt.

She didn't even see it coming.

Perseus' eyes flashed blood-red before Phoebe screamed and fell to the floor, her body beginning to spasm randomly from the excruciating pain and agony that she was being put through. Perseus let out a cold, frigid laugh at the frozen huntresses, who could do nothing but stare at their pain-maddened sister, before he turned to their patron and smiled.

"I'll cut you a deal Arty, since I consider myself a rather forgiving man. You tell them why you really destroyed Sparta, and good ole' Phoebe here will live to fight another day. It's your choice."

Artemis shook her head, "I-I can't-"

"What was that? I can't hear you over the sounds of your lieutenant suffering a fate worse than death. You'll have to speak up dear." Perseus cocked his head as he increased his power, causing Phoebe to enter an entirely new level of suffering. Artemis tried to block it out, but the screams overpowered any attempts to ignore it.

Finally, she couldn't take it anymore.

"Stop! Just stop! I'll do it, just stop hurting her." Tears streamed down her face as Perseus paused.

"Swear it on the River Styx." At her hesitation, he cocked his head in preparation for another round of pain.

"OK, OK! I swear on the River Styx that I will reveal why I really aided in the destruction of Sparta." Thunder boomed overhead, sealing the deal as legitimate.

Perseus nodded before he heated the chains and spike until they melted into a molten mess. Rising quickly, he approached the now whimpering Phoebe and laid a hand upon her head. A soft orange glow emanated from his palm and Phoebe sighed before falling unconscious. Perseus whispered a few words in her ear before he lifted her up and handed her over to a few of her sisters, who quickly took her to the infirmary tent.

Perseus closed his eyes and felt the burden of guilt fall upon his shoulders once more. He had let his bloodlust take control and an innocent had suffered and only just barely survived. He turned to face the remaining huntresses and their matron and waited for her to tell them the truth.

Of course, even after swearing on the Styx, Artemis was defiant.

She drew her bow and fired on the Hound of War, who did nothing to stop her and merely kept walking. The arrows pierced him all over, but he did not stop for a single second. Finally reaching the fear-filled goddess, he snatched the bow out of her hand and kicked her in the chest, sending her tumbling into the ground. She rose and quickly drew two of her knives before stopping at the sight of Perseus holding the bow to his knee, ready to snap it over his knee should she take another step.

"Tell them. Now." At her continued silence, he turned to the remaining huntresses, who slightly flinched whenever he met their eyes.

"Fine. If you will not, then I will." Quickly drawing water from the air, he froze the Goddess of the Hunt to the ground before speaking.

"I assume you are all aware of what happened between your lady and my brother Orion." At their nods, he continued," What no one, save a select few, currently know is that before his death, he and Artemis consummated their love and had a child. A son to be exact." Ignoring their gasps of shock, he turned and glared at the trapped goddess, who didn't bother to meet his eyes.

"She killed him knowing that he loved her, not because he tried to seduce a huntress or raped a maiden; no, he had to die because he knew about their child. She killed my brother for no reason other than 'cursing' her with such a burden."

Silence permeated the meadow before a younger huntress came forward and spoke, "But what does any of that have to do with the demise of your home?"

"My father Ares was very close to my brother, often trading stories and hunting together. They had been the best of friends, almost like brothers. After Artemis mortally wounded Orion, my father stumbled onto his dying friend, who told him everything. With his final breath, Orion had my father swear on the Styx to stop Artemis from killing their child, something that my father promised he would do. Tracking down Artemis to one of her shrines in the wilderness, he waited for her to have the child before stepping in and taking the boy from her hands just as she was about to murder him. My father then took the child and hid him in the only place he thought was safe."

"Sparta." The huntress finished.

Perseus nodded, "The boy was not three months old when Artemis and Athena had their forces attack the city. Athena wanted Sparta destroyed in revenge against the Athenians defeat in the Peloponnesian War, but Artemis sent you to destroy the city in hopes that the child would die in the chaos. That is why she destroyed the city, my home...my mother."

The huntresses were shocked silent before one came forward and glared at the Hound of War.

"Do not tell me you believe this boy's lies? Can you not see he demeans our lady and slanders her name, just so he can justify his actions?" The majority of the huntresses yelled in agreement and joined on the girl's side, leaving one portion undetermined. The younger girl stepped forward again to speak, but Perseus beat her to it.

"I swear upon the River Styx that everything I have just told you is completely true." His words were echoed by the sound of thunder booming in the distance, proving his claim valid.

The huntresses left looked between each other before they joined the younger girl, who began speaking.

"That is proof enough for me. She has lied to us for years now, and I will not tolerate it any longer. I reject Artemis as my patron and as my lady. No longer will I serve her."

To everyone's shock, the girl lost her silver aura and promptly threw her bow and quiver into the dust. The girls that had gathered behind her did the same, the silver aura leaving them as well. All of them gathered behind Perseus, who quickly shook off his shock and smiled at them. Artemis glared daggers at the deserting hunters but remained silent as the huntresses that were left glared at their former sisters before they began freeing their mistress from her icy imprisonment.

Perseus shook his head before his eyes widened in worry. He whipped around before he heard someone clearing their voice. Perseus looked around, confusion prevalent in his features before a huntress pointed skyward. The Hound of War looked up before stifling his laughter at the rather funny sight.

Zoe was hanging upside down, thick chains suspending her from the top branch of the large tree that resided at the edge of the huntresses' camp. She had her arms crossed, an annoyed expression on her face, but it was a little hard to see as her braid hung down over her face, causing her to have to blow it out of her face every now and then.

Perseus laughed a bit more before he flashed to the top branch and grabbed her hand and flashed her down with him. After he melted the chains, Zoe walked over to him…and slapped him across the face.

"Um, what was that for?"

"For laughing at me while I was chained up." She growled before kissing him on the cheek, causing a light blush to cover his face,"And that was for saving me."

All the huntresses that joined Perseus laughed, reminding him of the task at hand. He turned to the huntresses and whispered to them, making sure the other huntresses could not hear. Once he was finished, he flashed them all to the temple on Lemnos, just as Artemis was free. Diving for her bow, she fired a single arrow just as they flashed away, missing the Hound of War by inches. She flashed to Olympus angrier than ever before, not noticing the way a certain constellation seemed to shine a bit brighter at her reaction.

A/N. Hey guys and gals how are you doing? Ive started school last week, but im still gonna keep posting to this story and im having writer's block with percy jackson adopted by the avengers so yea, im still trying to write with school so imma have to make a schedule. Sea you later my fello demi-gods.