Let it Grow as Normal

Artemis' mind twisted and twirled for hours on the concept. She could speed up her child's growth and present Percy's daughter to him in a few weeks, or even sooner if she really wanted to. And if he wanted to as well. And yet there was also threat in that. Artemis understood that she was Percy's and so his ownership of her allowed him to impregnate her as he desired, but would everyone else understand that fact? Would her hunters?

To hell with them. She was Percy's and she wouldn't be disappointed with that fact, or try to hide what she had done with him. She wouldn't let their opinions of her and what she had done dissuade her from what was truly important. She was not her own person anymore, and that thought was absolutely thrilling to her.

But that was only one of the thoughts that was consuming her. Another one, and far more prevalent, was the danger of the mission she was to depart on. She was going to be hunting down a creature that could very well bring Olympus crumbling down if it was allowed to fall into the hands of their enemies, and she wasn't going to allow that to happen unless Percy asked her to, something she doubted would ever happen. He was a loyal boy. He would not abandon his father and friends just on a whim, he would need to be presented with some overwhelming reason to, and even then it would be more likely for him to tear the whole world down than accept that one of his friends was now an enemy.

That meant her mission had to continue. She couldn't allow the Ophiotaurus to fall into the wrong hands. But it would not be an easy task. All signs pointed to the idea that Mount Orthys was rising again somewhere in the West, and everything she had found on the Ophiotaurus' location said it would be found to the west as well. It could very well already be within the Titan's clutches, and she would need to fight to retrieve it before it could be used.

That was the thought that ultimately held her up short on speeding up the child's development. The more advanced stages of pregnancy could be debilitating, even to a goddess, and to be undergoing them in a hostile environment would make things even more dangerous. If she made a mistake. It wouldn't just be her life in danger anymore.

She would allow the daughter to grow as normal. Let her gestate and grow like a normal child. That way she would inhibit Artemis' fighting ability the least. But as well there was something that felt better about it. That it was right this way. This daughter would be her very first child. Her firstborn and the one she had broken her oath for. To speed up her development... it felt almost like she was rushing the daughter through, wasting away part of her life. Letting her grow naturally wouldn't just be a labour of pragmatism. It would also be one of love.

Her mind made up, the Goddess of the Moon allowed herself to sleep peacefully for a few hours more.- - - - - -

Percy awoke feeling incredibly refreshed, and found the goddess gone. He quickly threw his clothes back on and stepped out into the camp. Activity was abound. Tents were being torn down left and right, the hunters dashing around with practiced ease and efficiency as they dismantled the entire camp in preparation for moving on.

He lightly stumbled forwards through the camp, searching for a friendly and familiar face amongst the horde of manhating hunters, and finally he managed to find Grover amongst the throng. His satyr friend was almost as gobsmacked as he was, though Nico was stood beside him, and the boy was so star struck watching the supernatural motions of the hunters going at it that it was almost adorable.

"How are things with you two?" He asked.

"My gods it's so great!" Nico fanboyed immediately. "Their speed power must be 1500, no 1600. They would easily be top tier in mythomaniac just because they'd always let you be able to go first."

"Uhuh" Grover voiced noncommittally. He nodded along with Nico's words straight away as if it was all that he had been doing all night. Poor guy. Percy should probably do something good for him to make up for leaving him behind alone with the boy. "So what did you get up to with Lady Artemis?"

"We talked about-" He cut off and looked down at Nico who was still star struck. "Bianca was debating joining the Hunters. I was asked to represent Camp Half Blood. There was more than that, but that is most of the important stuff."

Percy had been told he was a bad liar, but this time the words just smoothly swam off of his tongue like nothing at all. It probably also helped that Grover was so out of it by now.

Whatever the case, they fell into a little bit of small talk, and then the Hunters were finally finished packing up and moving off towards the cliffside.

Percy was therefore given a firsthand experience of watching Apollo raise the sun, and boy what an experience it was.

The two sibling deities had a bit of back and forth and the chariot of the Sun turned into a school bus, most of which was just another Wednesday for a Demigod like him, and soon enough they were all parcelled on board and headed straight to Camp Half Blood.

Just before they set off though, Percy cast on last look out of the window. And before she disappeared into the treeline, Percy was able to watch as the Goddess lightly stroked her own stomach, before subtly waving him away.

And then they were off.