Trapped inside a small cramped chamber, Percy stared forlornly at what had once been the doorway that had now sealed itself behind them.
Next to him, the goddess Artemis slammed her hands powerlessly on the stone block walls. Despite her godhood, somehow being within this part of Daedalus' labyrinth rendered her powerless. Her bow and a quiver of arrows still lay on her back, just as Riptide was always in Percy's pocket, but despite having their weapons with them, Percy could not see a way out of the situation they were stuck in.
They were inside Daedalus' labyrinth again because of another prophecy that Rachel Dare had given out. One that foretold of an event that would shake both Olympus and the mortal world with powerful consequences. The only path that led the world forward was if a son of Poseidon, a daughter of Athena, and the goddess of the hunt joined forces and sought out a special pendant. A day ago, Annabeth had spotted a sign at a junction which excited her because she said she recognised it from the laptop Daedalus had left her, but Artemis had felt a pull coming from the right of magic, ancient even to her. She had agreed with Percy and Artemis to catch up with them later, reminding them that she probably understood the labyrinth the best out of anyone else present and still alive. Grudgingly Percy had agreed, and they had departed.
Which led them to this small room, little bigger than a toilet. Percy leaned back in one corner while Artemis finally turned around from the doorway that was clearly not going to open up for them and slumped down with a tired huff.
Percy felt a pang of sympathy for the goddess. He couldn't imagine the past few days inside the labyrinth had been easy for her with how it nullified her powers. Artemis had told them before entering that the effects of the labyrinth would render her powerless, but her immortality would remain. At the time she had seemed almost nervous about that fact, and it took Percy a day of traveling with her in the twisting corridors of the labyrinth to realise why she was afraid. If anything were to go wrong, she would never die, but simply remain trapped down here completely powerless.
Since then, Artemis had seemed more vulnerable, much closer to a human. Her endurance was also clearly closer to being mortal, as she expressed feeling tired like Percy and Annabeth, but didn't feel hungry or thirsty.
Right now, crouched on the ground looking like she was fighting back a wave of emotions, Artemis seemed just like any of the other young half-bloods that showed up to camp once monsters started targeting them. She hadn't transformed out of her young appearance before entering the labyrinth, so now she was stuck with the physical appearance of a girl in her early teens, no older than twelve or thirteen if Percy had to guess. The same age he had been when he first came to Camp Half Blood and met Annabeth.
Unlike Annabeth, Artemis had raven dark hair that flowed straight down just past her shoulders. She wore a plain grey T-shirt over a skirt that came to just above her knees, and a pair of sneakers. Her outfit was so normal, yet her beauty made her feel otherworldly.
"I'm sorry you had to see me like that," Artemis finally spoke, pulling Percy's attention back into the moment. She was still looking down at the floor from her crouched posture, but she no longer seemed on the verge of being overwhelmed with emotion. Percy noticed that although Artemis didn't seem aware of it, with her skirt being as short as it was, it was almost scandalously revealing on the goddess at the moment and he forced himself to focus on her words instead.
For a few moments, Percy didn't know what to say. Eventually he managed, "Being mortal isn't as easy as it seems huh?" with a weak laugh.
To his surprise, Artemis did laugh along with him. "Perhaps I have been too harsh on you and some of the other half-bloods over the centuries," she admitted.
That made Percy feel guilty for noticing her skirt being lifted up the way it was and peeking more than once on accident. "I can't speak for every demigod, we make do with what we are given, but that doesn't make things easy. Most of us had nothing to do with the circumstances that we were given, and when it feels like you have been given a worse hand than everyone else, you take whatever enjoyment you can get." It felt like a risky admission from Percy to say to a goddess, to admit that not all demigods entirely appreciated their lives being in danger just for existing.
"Despite what you think, we gods are aware that the lives of our children aren't always fun stories to talk about," Artemis said soberly. She was looking up at Percy from her position on the ground now, forcing Percy's eyes to remain focused on her face or they would stray to places that he felt would get him in trouble. "But one of the greatest weaknesses and also the greatest strength of a god is their pride. It is both a weakness and a strength because a god's power comes directly from how others see them. If mortals view them as a powerful being not to be trifled with, their power is maintained. If a god loses the fear and respect of others, their power also diminishes."
"This forces many gods into a cycle of self-praising and encouraging aggrandising acts from others around them, or their powers would diminish over the decades, centuries, and eventually millennia. The problem is that this cycle of praising and worship is also addictive. We gods can feel when people's hearts turn towards us and venerate us, it is what fills us with power after all. After aeons, that feeling becomes less of a thrill and we seek out more and more power and to stroke our own prides or have others see us as weak and lose our strength."
"Not to be disrespectful, but that sounds like a terrible environment," Percy commented.
Artemis laughed heartily again. "Once more, I am forced to admit that you are correct and that is a very wise thing for a mortal to say."
Percy's mouth twisted as Artemis said that. It was meant to be praise, and certainly after so many years of doing things for the gods, he had learnt to take the praise they handed out sparingly, but there was still always a bitter pill mixed in there when Artemis spoke like that to him.
"I wish you wouldn't call me that," he said softly.
Artemis' head had dipped down but now it rocked back up to look at him. "Call you what? A mortal? But it is correct and accurate." Her eyes turned hard and she squinted at him.
Percy shook his head. "I don't disagree that it is correct, Lady Artemis. But I wish that being a mortal wasn't all that you saw when you look at me. I know that I will live a short life compared to your immortality, but I wish you would still remember me as *Percy Jackson*. Not just another mortal to be forgotten about, but a person too." Percy stared off into the distance a little as he finished, not wanting to meet the goddess's eyes, afraid he had overstepped his bounds with her.
To his surprise though, Artemis got up from her spot on the floor and stood in front of him, placing her hands on his shoulders. In this form she was trapped in, the goddess was actually shorter than Percy, the top of her head only coming up to his chin.
"I'm truly sorry Percy Jackson," she apologised to him, although the words came haltingly from her. "I am not used to apologising like this, but your words are fair. It would be unkind to treat you like I am used to treating mortals, with detachment and distance, when more than once in the past I have called you a good man."
That did get Percy's heart fluttering slightly. It was high praise from the typically reserved goddess, and it seemed like she was also slightly embarrassed about it as her arms lowered from his shoulders and dropped back to her sides. "Don't worry goddess, I promise I won't say a word about what happened here in the labyrinth once we leave," he joked to her with a wink, trying to break the ice.
Artemis sputtered but broke out into another genuine laugh. The third in such a short time. "I will remember your word," she warned him as she began turning back to the walls. "Now, I've spotted something over there on that wall. Let's see if it might offer us a clue on how to get out of here."
Artemis had spotted a series of tiny scribblings on the wall, barely noticeable. Percy would probably have missed it on his own. Instead, her sharp eyesight picked out the fine lettering in ancient Greek which were the lines of a riddle, which then eventually led them to opening a new hidden doorway and a long, dark passage.
Now they followed the path the labyrinth had opened up for them, with Percy placing one hand on the left wall, and Artemis putting a hand on the right so they wouldn't miss a turning somewhere. Percy and Artemis also held each other's hands so they wouldn't lose each other in the dark. Percy tried not to think about how the goddess's hand was soft in his palm.
Unfortunately, in the dark it was impossible to tell when they stepped on a trap. Percy was the first person to feel the slightest shift in the air. He only had time to shout "Duck!" and throw himself at Artemis to knock her to the ground before razor sharp blades shot out from the walls.
They retracted after a few moments, leaving Percy and Artemis panting with adrenaline in the darkness together. "Are you okay Lady Artemis?" he asked eventually.
"I can feel some scratches and cuts, but I think I missed the worst of it," she replied.
A rumbling sound in the labyrinth interrupted them and both of them turned to see a doorway in the stone open itself, revealing light beyond it, too bright for either of them to see what was through the doorway. The hallway ended where the doorway appeared, giving them only one path forward.
Finally able to see each other in the hallway, Percy looked down at the goddess to see that indeed she had taken some cuts and scratches, and her clothes looked worse for wear, but she didn't seem badly injured.
He noticed that she was also similarly studying him and he tried cracking a joke. "How bad do I look?"
Artemis chuckled with him in the darkness. "Not spectacular, to tell you the truth. I'm sure we both look a mess."
They both got to their feet, wincing and groaning as the cuts on their bodies made themselves known. "Let's go see what lies ahead, shall we?" Percy asked the goddess. She nodded, pulling her golden bow over her head and notching an arrow to the drawstring while Percy released Riptide to its full length in his hand. Armed, they approached the doorway, wary of further traps.
Beyond the doorway was an unexpected sight. A glowing globe in the middle spun lazily, suspended from the ceiling by a bronze rod and illuminated from within by lights that shone across the room leaving soft trails. Other machines were strewn around the room in various stages of assembly or construction. None other than the globe seemed to be powered or animated currently.
Cubbies in the walls were filled with drawings, papers, and books that dated back ages. There were even scrolls tucked away into the walls and stacked in rows. One of the cubbies had a sink and small nook for privacy, leading to what must have been a bathroom. Another contained bottles of a familiar golden liquid and brown wrapped packets of something unknown. Percy unwrapped one of them and was surprised to find that it was ambrosia, immediately taking a bite as they had run out of the godly healing food the day before and letting out a little sigh of relief as the familiar taste of his mother's cooking filled his mouth and he felt the many cuts on his body begin healing up.
To his surprise, Artemis came up behind him and placed her hands over his while he was holding the parcel of ambrosia, turning him around and bringing his hands holding the package up to her mouth so she could take a bite out of the ambrosia as well.
Percy stood there in dumbfounded silence for a few moments while the goddess delicately chewed on the ambrosia and covered her mouth with one hand while her other remained on Percy's wrist, seemingly forgotten while she was lost in the experience of eating and chewing food again.
Eventually, she swallowed visibly and Percy could see the effects of the ambrosia take place on her even faster than would normally happen on a demigod. Her wounds sealed up entirely, returning her skin to the flawless state that it had been before they entered the labyrinth. Despite the rejuvenation, Artemis still felt distinctly mortal to Percy as she finally withdrew her hand from his wrist with a softly murmured apology.
"I'm sorry, I'm not sure what came over me. It's been a long time since I've truly felt the desire to eat anything, earthly or otherwise. And my wounds needed healing too..."
Percy realised Artemis was rambling, trying to explain why she had held his hands to take the bite of ambrosia and he placed the brown parcel down to hold her hands in his own.
"Goddess? It's alright," he said simply, hoping that it would convey enough of his understanding without needing to say more.
Thankfully, she seemed to understand and nodded her head, squeezing his hands gratefully in return as an acknowledgement of him which Percy also took as his cue to let her go and did so gently.
Now that they were no longer bleeding from cuts all over, Percy and Artemis could clearly see that their clothes had been torn badly from the encounter in the hallway with the hidden blades. Percy had a long slice running from his elbow and running down the side of his ribs, several stripes along his back, and the waistband of his jeans was torn and ripped, revealing embarrassing flashes of his underwear in a couple spots. While Percy knew that some fashionistas could make ripped jeans look good, he was pretty sure that his trousers were beyond saving if they could barely protect his dignity.
Artemis herself was not much better. Her T-shirt had lost one sleeve and the other was hanging on by threads. The front of her shirt was somewhat intact because Percy had been lying on top of her when the blades flew out of the walls, but her back had hit the ground hard and the coarse ground had torn it up badly. Her shoulders had also taken some cuts, which didn't help her only remaining sleeve in holding on. Her skirt looked like it had gone through a hurricane. Fluffy chunks of material were missing from the hem, there was a gash that went up her thigh and threatened to give way if not for the thicker seam around her waist.
The goddess frowned looking down at their clothes before looking up at Percy again. "I don't see another path out of here, but I also don't think what we're wearing will survive another trip down that hallway. Do we have any other choice though?" she asked.
As if hearing her words, another loud rumbling of stone, similar to the sound they heard in the hallway before the doorway to this chamber opened up, heralded another change to the ever shifting labyrinth. Both Percy and Artemis turned to look at the doorway, unable to react fast enough as they saw it seal itself seamlessly into the wall again before their eyes.
"Well, fuck," cursed Percy.
"I've never heard you use that sort of language, but I suppose it was inevitable as you grew older," commented Artemis from next to him.
"What now?" Percy asked. Neither of them could see another way out of the room, but even though it looked safe, the prophecy loomed in their minds, the world shaking event that would come to pass soon if they didn't make it out of the labyrinth with what they came to seek.
"Well, there's a bed over there in the corner, and this room seems reasonably safe enough, especially if we sleep with our weapons with us. We might as well take the time to rest," Artemis shrugged. "No point in exhausting ourselves recklessly trying to escape this room if we're tired."
Percy sagged slightly as Artemis said that. He honestly hadn't realised how tired he was until Artemis mentioned the bed in the room. But there was only one bed in the room...
He bit his cheek slightly. "I'll take the first watch while you rest, Lady Artemis?"
The goddess shook her head. "You can rest, Percy Jackson. I am a goddess of the hunt. Even without my divine powers, my senses are still sharp. I will wake you if anything threatens to disturb us."
Wordlessly grateful, Percy nodded and went to go wash himself up first so he wouldn't cover the bed in his blood stains. A little cleaner, he stumbled over to the bed and flopped into it with Riptide in his hand. He distantly registered Artemis moving around the room and the rustling of crisp fabric nearby before passing out into sleep and distant dreams.
Percy woke up to the feeling of warmth next to him, pressed up against his bare skin. Blearily, he looked up to see that the goddess Artemis had gotten into the queen sized bed next to him at some point and was also lying asleep next to him. It took him several more moments before his brain was sufficiently alert enough to realise that the reason he could feel her warmth on his skin so clearly was because Artemis was completely bare and so was Percy. She was lying facedown with her arms folded into a pillow that her head was lying on, exposing everything from her neck down to the base of her spine. She had toned shoulders that you wouldn't expect of most girls of the appearance of Artemis, but otherwise her skin was flawless.
Looking around the room without getting out of bed, Percy could not tell how much time had passed, but their wounds were all completely healed and he felt much better compared to when they had entered the room, so some time must have passed. He spotted a small pile of cloth scraps that wasn't there when they had entered and identified the top piece as being the remains of Artemis' shirt. She must have removed their ruined clothes in his sleep. It was a nice thought, but now that left Percy trapped in a room together with a divinely beautiful goddess and they were both completely naked.
He felt himself harden under the sheets even as he turned his head back to look at Artemis and found her eyes open and her turning over to face him. The blush on his face and the way he hastily turned away from her before stammering out a "Good morning Lady Artemis!" got a girly giggle out of her.
"Good morning Percy Jackson. I'm sorry for startling you by sleeping in the nude next to you, but our clothes were truly beyond saving," Artemis said. "And I knew you to be an honourable man. I believed you would not do anything to a maiden, even if they exposed themselves so close to you."
Percy found his eyes staring at a single spot on the sheets intensely so he would not stare at the naked goddess next to him who seemed unashamed about her state of undress, although she did pull some of the sheets towards herself to cover her breasts. To Percy's horror, he felt the sheets that were covering his erection begin slipping away towards Artemis as she tugged on them to cover herself and without thinking, Percy pulled back on the sheets. Whether to preserve his modesty or save his own life, he wasn't entirely sure.
Next to him, he could see Artemis frown for a moment and stare at him before the realisation seemed to click for her. "Oh, Percy, some arousal when waking up is forgivable. It is just how your body works and is not fully in your control after all. I will not hold it against you after all we have been through together," she smiled reassuringly. "Besides, do not forget that I am a goddess who is more than capable of defending myself."
Despite how bad an idea it was, Percy found his lips opening and words coming to them. "Are you sure you would be able to hold me back right now, mortal as you are?" he asked, turning to Artemis to look at her as she seemed to hesitate at the question. "You're no stronger than a human or a demigod at this moment, right?" he asked. "So are you really sure you could stop me, Lady Artemis?"
His sea green eyes stared right into hers and his hands clenched into fists, tension apparent in his body. Artemis looked at Percy for a while and bit her lip before finally shaking her head once. "Perhaps I am not so sure I could in my current state," she said slowly.
Percy sagged as she said the words, letting out a slow shaky breath. "I'm sorry goddess for the question. Forgive me for my inappropriate words and thoughts," he said, bending his head down and bowing forward to her awkwardly on the bed.
Gently, Artemis placed her hands on his head and Percy felt her fingers slip through his hair and play with it for a few moments. She hummed while in thought, and for some reason Percy found the low drone comforting and better than judgemental silence.
"Goddess?" he finally dared to ask her after a few minutes of holding his position that way while she played with his hair.
"Forgive me, I was lost in thought," she said, removing her hands from his head but giving him one last pat. "You may look up at me."
Percy did that, coming eye to eye with the goddess's petite form on the bed once more. "I hope you don't think less of me for voicing such thoughts and words," he said slowly.
Artemis shook her head. "As I said, it is forgivable. Unexpected, but I will not consider it a trespass, at least not from you. I understand your heart." She seemed to still be thinking over something even while they remained sitting there looking at each other but not fully ready to voice it yet.
While she thought, Percy found his eyes wandering slightly now that Artemis had given him permission to at least look upon her in this state. Her shoulders were bare of course, with the sheet tucked under her armpits to bind tightly around her chest. He avoided staring around her breasts, but he couldn't help notice the way her smooth hair fell around her shoulders without the slightest hint of fritz or knots. It flowed like liquid darkness, just like the night sky. It contrasted against her silvery eyes, making them look like stars shining on her face. He also realised that she had a very light dusting of freckles on her face and the tops of her shoulders. He wondered how she would have gotten those as a goddess, but figured that being able to change her appearance at will, she must have chosen to look this way before entering the labyrinth.
"What would you do if I...if a maiden gave herself willingly to you?" Artemis finally asked, the words coming from her slowly and hesitantly.
Percy was completely stunned into silence for a long minute. "Goddess, are you asking me what I think you're asking?" he finally asked.
"I'm asking what would you do if a maiden offered herself to you willingly," Artemis said, with a little more strength in her voice this time. "One that had remained virginal all this time and was making a one time offer," she said firmly.
The idea was mind boggling to Percy. He swallowed before answering, suddenly finding his mouth horribly dry and full of saliva that was getting in the way of speaking at the same time. "Why me goddess? I would be honoured, but I also don't understand why."
In front of Percy, Artemis rolled her eyes and blew a strand of hair that somehow seemed to come out of place at exactly the right moment to be blown back into position with the rest of her hair. "Men," she muttered, and Percy winced at the word, knowing that he was still in the presence of the goddess who hated men the most.
Artemis explained, "If I'm being completely honest for my reasons Percy, I haven't found a man that was truly noble and that I admired in a very long time. Orion was perhaps the closest I've ever come to admiring a man, and even he had his flaws that came to the surface eventually," her gaze went distant as she talked about the legendary giant that Percy had faced off during the second giant war.
"And also, with the labyrinth enclosing me in and separating me from my powers, I don't really feel like a god down here. I feel much more like a mortal, and I don't feel the bindings of my vow around me. This might be the only time in all of eternity that I have the chance to indulge in my curiosity with someone I feel I can trust to keep my confidence. Can you understand that?" she asked.
Soberly, Percy nodded, but he had a question in return for the goddess. "I'm honoured, Lady Artemis, but what if I'm not as noble as you think either? What if after we do this, I turn out to be someone who isn't as good as you thought I was? What if I don't live up to the person you thought I am?"
Artemis placed one hand on his cheek tenderly and stroked it with her thumb. "Even gods and goddesses change over time, not always in ways that everyone likes. We gather stories over the course of our lives, and many of them will not be our proudest moments in hindsight, but in the moment we should at least take confidence in ourselves that we did what we did as the best version of ourselves that existed then."
"I promise not to hold it against you if you become someone different in the future, even if it's someone I don't like. You might even find me trying to find ways to change your path slightly away from straying into darkness," she smiled up at him.
Sighing, but coming to a decision, Percy placed his own hand over the goddess's hand on his cheek. "I have no idea how I'm supposed to explain any of this to Annabeth later," Percy said forlornly. "The cheating is one thing, that's not even talking about the detail that in your current form you look like you're barely in your teens."
Artemis smiled as she got up on her knees in front of Percy and let the sheet slip from beneath her arms and fall away down to the bedding below, revealing her entire body to Percy for the first time. Her breasts were small, mounds that were in the stages of just forming according to the age she had chosen for her body. Her body was small beneath the sheets, Percy hadn't realised that Artemis would choose to be such a petite shape but he supposed that with divine strength and shapeshifting, her body was really just a visual vessel for others to see her, and would never actually affect her strength if not for a situation like this. His eyes found themselves ending up at the cleft between her legs where the faintest wisps of hair were beginning to grow above her pubic mound. "The last one shouldn't be a problem, if the way you're looking at me is any indication," she said, grinning at Percy.
If history was a lesson, Percy should be struck dead or suffering some horrible consequence for seeing the goddess's naked form. Not even the word of gods was absolute, but if Artemis the maiden goddess was showing herself in her entirety to Percy, then he had to take her word that she was really serious about this and this was not a test for him.
Sucking in a breath and gathering his confidence he took her wrists in his hands and brought each of them to his lips, kissing them tenderly before pushing Artemis down and shifting his hips so he was over her and pinning her down on the bed with her arms above her head. Now the sheets were no longer covering his erection and Artemis could see with her own eyes what Percy was packing beneath his clothes. A cock that she wouldn't be able to wrap her hands around completely, and with Percy on top of her the tip of his cock sat well above her belly button.
"Oh River Styx," Artemis mumbled quietly.
"Are you sure about this, Lady Artemis?" Percy asked again. He was clearly nervous about going through with this, excited and aroused as he was. There was a line that they were about to cross here from which there would be no return.
Artemis nodded her head firmly. "The fact that you asked first is what reassures me that you are the right choice for this," she smiled. "Did you know I've been courted in the past by your father? Handsome though he was, he didn't see me as an equal to him, he only saw my beauty and wanted to possess it. You are a far gentler and kinder man," she said softly.
Somehow, the knowledge that he was treading in waters that even his father hadn't managed to succeed at made Percy's resolve strengthen. "Goddess, with your permission, I'm going to *ravish* you," he huffed over her.
Smiling, Artemis nodded up at him, giving him her permission for what he was about to do to her.
She expected Percy to put his cock to her virgin entrance and push himself inside her immediately from this position, had mentally prepared herself for it, even. But to her surprise, Percy let go of her wrists only to grab her ankles and fold her almost in half by pushing them up almost to her head and gruffly saying, "Hug your legs close to you under your knees," sending a flutter through her belly before she complied. As soon as her arms wrapped around her legs, Percy used a single hand to clamp around both her wrists at the same time like a band of iron, pinning them together and keeping her legs folded up in front of her.
This position left Artemis' most precious part exposed, her maidenhood. In the warm yellow lighting above the bed, her pussy lips were clearly wet and she could feel herself moisten even more out of a mix of humiliation and arousal at being exposed like this.
"Goddess, you have a very beautiful pussy," breathed Percy from over her, bringing a flush to her face that she was glad her legs could cover up. Artemis felt that if she had to face the mortal she was handing her maidenhood over to right now, she might melt into a puddle of nectar.
Instead, a different form of nectar flowed from between her legs, and Percy seemed to be positioning himself to eat from it directly. Still keeping one hand holding both her wrists together, he spread her open with the thumb of his other hand and gently ran his tongue up the length of her slit from the lowest point of the opening and then slowly progressed up through her folds to the apex of her cunt. By the time he had reached the very peak of her pussy, Artemis' eyes were no longer focused on Percy but glazed over and staring distantly at the ceiling while her mouth hung slightly open, forgotten in the middle of everything else.
Percy repeated the action several times, wiggling his tongue more and more in between each journey from the south to the north. Artemis' cries also grew progressively louder with each trip he made up to her clit, where he would pause for several moments to lavish attention on the sensitive nub of flesh there.
Whatever his earlier hesitations about the situation, Percy put his all into making the goddess feel good. If this was her one and only time trying out physical intimacy then he intended the experience to be a pleasurable memory when she looked back on it. Certainly, the goddess seemed to be beyond words of complaint or protest about her experience so far. The only sounds that came out of her mouth were screams of pleasure that echoed in the room and inside Percy's head like victory cheers. Only the battle here was nowhere near finished.
Using his other free hand, Percy began inserting his first two fingers into Artemis' cunt while he focused his tongue on the top half of her pussy. Sliding them in and withdrawing them in a slow but steady rhythm, he let the goddess's insides adjust to her first experience having something inside her while he kept her attention distracted with his tongue. Gently increasing the pace until his fingers were pumping inside her steadily, he tentatively added one more finger next to the first two and pushed that inside her as well to continue the progress of getting Artemis stretched out and warmed up to take him inside her as he slowed his ministrations with his mouth so he could focus on his fingers.
He didn't just focus on stretching her out though. His fingers curled while they slipped inside her, stroking the inside walls of her cunt and making Artemis shudder and moan, needy sounds emerging from her mouth that perhaps no other mortal had ever heard before since she had existed.
With her first sexual experience coming from someone who cared about her pleasure, Artemis was having a hard time focusing. Despite her divine nature that normally allowed her presence to cover much of the world and even to split herself up to pay attention to multiple things at once, right now she was confined to this body and only had enough attention to feel everything Percy did to her in extensive detail.
When Percy's fingers finally stopped moving, it took Artemis a few seconds to regain her bearings and give Percy a questioning look. "Wha-?"
"I think you're wet enough. Ready for me to try putting it in?" Percy asked Artemis.
The goddess still looked nervous, but she gave Percy a quick nod before bracing herself on the sheets, only to finally look back down to see Percy hadn't moved yet.
"Getting all tense and tight isn't going to make it any easier you know," he said to her with an amused tone.
Artemis huffed. "Well forgive me Percy Jackson for not having any experience with sex to know that is the case. Besides, don't men like girls tight?"
A laugh slipped out of Percy. "Given that this is your first time, that's hardly going to be a problem. Take a deep breath," he told her as he settled into place above her, "I'm going to be gentle but that doesn't mean you won't feel this."
"By the Hunt, if I don't feel something after all this build-up, expect to run several quests for me in return payment," Artemis joked before laughing at Percy's sudden paleness.
"Very funny Lady Artemis," Percy rolled his eyes.
"Please, I think after all this, you deserve the privilege of getting to call me Arty in private, or at least Artemis," the goddess underneath him said, pressing her hands to his chest and leaning forwards to kiss him on the lips tenderly. When the kiss was over though, she leaned back. "Now, I think it's time you showed me what it feels like to be fucked."
"Yes, Arty," Percy grinned back at her. Then he pushed himself inside her and Percy heard Artemis' breath hitch involuntarily as she was overwhelmed with the sensation of a man inside her for the first time.
"Oh Gods above and below," she breathed and Percy tutted.
"The other gods aren't here Artemis, it's just you and me right now. The once virgin goddess and the man she gave her virginity to," he whispered, cradling her tenderly in his arms as he held them together, giving her some time to adjust to the feeling of him inside her.
There was a sharp exhalation of breath from under Percy as Artemis dug her fingertips into his biceps. They barely made a dent. "Please continue Percy Jackson."
So continue he did. Pulling his hips back and rolling them forwards with his hands braced on either side of Artemis' head, framing her against the soft mattress of the safe room. Bracketed by the demigod's muscular arms and overwhelmed with the warmth of his body on top of hers, and his cock thrusting inside her and filling the space between her legs, the smallest root of thought sprouted inside the mind of the goddess that having a man above her like this wasn't the worst thing in the world.
Certainly, Percy was not being selfish and using her just for his own selfish pleasure. His skin glistened with sweat as he made sure that the goddess got the most out of her first experience having sex with a man, and she privately thought to herself that he reminded her of what the Greeks might have thought of as an ideal man, not just in the physical ideal of his form, but in the virtues he embodied and stood for. It didn't hurt that he was well hung between his legs as well with a size that Artemis would bashfully admit in the future she found herself addicted to and nothing else of a smaller size really satisfied or compared to it.
Yes, she thought to herself, as Percy thrust himself all the way into her again and she felt, more than saw, stars burst in her vision and her whole body tremble in warm waves, she could understand how she might find herself on her knees before this man. Not just any other man, but this man in particular. She could easily picture herself sinking to her knees before Percy Jackson and devoting herself to his cock, placing her lips on him wherever he wanted them, or just giving him access to her body as he pleased instead. It only made sense that since she was inexperienced, she would place herself at the feet of Percy's desires, so long as he continued to respect her.
Her inexperience didn't stop Percy from being a good lover though, and he never stopped moving, changing his rhythm at times so the motions wouldn't become stale. At one point, he took her chin in his hand so he could turn her towards him and kiss her hard, before his lips slipped to the side of her jaw and trailed along the side of her neck, making Artemis' head spin and her insides quake as she came on his cock even as he kept on thrusting into her. She couldn't keep track of how many times she had come apart while he maintained his inhuman stamina. Once upon a time, his father Poseidon had attempted to court Artemis. Even though she had turned him down and he had accepted gracefully, there was a certain funny symmetry that now she found herself laying with his demigod son. While Poseidon was certainly an attractive god, there was something about Percy's character that drew Artemis to him and not his father, a mortal humbleness that no immortal deity would truly possess.
Finally though, even Percy seemed to find his limit as he gave Artemis a weak smile. "Artemis? I'm close, I'll be pulling out of you in a moment."
A moment was all the time the small goddess had to consider her choice before she made it, her legs wrapping around Percy's hips and locking her ankles behind him.
"Goddess?"
Artemis reached up and held on to Percy. "Go on, what's the point of doing this if we're not going to go all the way? Fill me up with your seed Percy, show me what it feels like to breed a young little goddess," she teased, knowing that her small form was alluring to him in a way he still hadn't fully processed.
That was enough to make Percy lose his composure and he groaned as he gripped Artemis by the arms, fingers wrapped around her biceps from behind like he was doing pullups on a bar and hips thrusting as deeply into her as he could before coming to a halt as both of them shuddered together in mutual orgasm.
Percy was breathing hard like he had fought a titan again. Certainly the significance of this moment he and Artemis were sharing felt on the same level as the titans coming back for a rematch with the gods in his lifetime. He could only assume that his cock filling up a goddess formerly sworn to maidenhood with his semen would have large rippling effects beyond what he could imagine, but right now every cell of his body felt alive. Artemis was warm under him and by all the gods if Percy didn't have a million thoughts racing through his mind.
Artemis, for her part, had a dreamy, almost blissful look on her face. "So this is what I've held my hunters back from feeling all these years," she sighed wistfully. "It's certainly nothing like what I'd expected, but I can't say it's a bad feeling." Percy felt her hips shift below him and then the muscles of her walls squeeze around his cock and decided to give her a little wiggle of his own, nudging forward just an inch before rocking back, sending another rippling moan through Artemis. "By Elysium that feels like nothing else I've ever experienced."
"Yeah? A good feeling I take it," Percy asked, running one hand down the goddess' lithe body, a gentle grounding sensation to anchor her while she spoke.
Smiling up at him, Artemis sighed. "Percy Jackson, you're a truly a one of a kind demigod. No other man, no matter how virtuous, has ever convinced me to surrender to their charms and lay myself down with them, much less spread my legs for them." She giggled, actually giggled, as a blush bloomed over her cheeks and her hands went to cover her face. "How am I supposed to go through the ages now without doing this again?"
A crooked smile appeared on Percy's face. "Well, I don't think you'll have a hard time with that goddess."
She placed a hand on his cheek. "Percy Jackson, I didn't just give up my maidenhood and say all that to imply that I will simply be sleeping around with anyone after this. I asked you for a reason, not just anyone."
Percy covered her hand with his own, closing his eyes and bringing her palm to his lips as he placed kisses on her cupped heart line. "I can't lie, that makes me feel a whole lot of things. Confused, warm, loved, sad. I think it's nice knowing that someone chose you specifically out of everyone no matter what their reasons were."
The goddess leaned back slightly as he released her palm back to her. "I'm not a fool you know, Percy," she said gently.
"I feel like almost any answer I give to that would put me in danger of being turned into an animal of some sort," joked Percy.
Artemis laughed in the cosy cubby of the sleeping space. "I don't mean any insult or trap by it Percy. I can tell that you have a lot on your mind at the moment. Every other time we met you were always an admirable man of simple and earnest heart. Clouded thoughts are not like you." She played with a grey lock of hair by the front of his hairline while she talked. "Tell me what burdens your mind," she said, and then she waited as Percy thought about it.
Letting out another groan that trailed off into a long sigh, Percy stared up at the ceiling for a few minutes in silence while Artemis simply sat still with her arms crossed and waited for him to move. It was really an unfair situation, given that between them, one was not just experienced with hunting and waiting perfectly still in one position for a long time, but also had eternal life on her side and could literally wait forever there for Percy to answer.
Finally, Percy spoke out to the ceiling, not really looking at Artemis as he talked. "It's not really something complicated, at least not in my mind." He sounded forlorn and resigned as he spoke. "You were talking earlier about how even gods have their faults. For all my virtues, I cheated on Annabeth when I had sex with you." A shrug of his muscled shoulders. "There's not much to it, I think. It's just a fact that I have to live with."
"Then there's also the fact that we just had sex, and you're in a very young form right now. It's not really in our control since you can't shapeshift at this moment, but I can't deny that it is arousing to me." His gaze broke from her eyes as he looked down at the rest of her body before snapping back to her eyes quickly. "After what we just did together, I definitely can't deny that looking young like this is something that turns me on."
To her credit, Artemis didn't answer immediately either, giving the unspoken emotional weight behind the question its due of an appropriately long pause before saying anything. A similarly long sigh emerged from her mouth before she lay her head down on Percy's chest so she could place her ear on his heart. "For being young, I could give you the excuse that while my body looks like a young girl, I'm far older than you so that cancels out the attraction, but I suspect you're dwelling on the thought that it isn't just my personality that you're drawn to?" She ended the sentence in a question, and Percy shook his head without responding out loud.
She continued, "Then all I can really say is that you need to be clear on your morals and where they stand. I would ask you this, surely there have been many times where you've had a thought or an idea that came into your head, not something you meticulously crafted and plotted but a flash of thought, which you then chose to ignore and do something else in favour of a different idea or thought?" Again Percy nodded, now a frown on his face as he followed Artemis' train of thinking. "Do you think that simply having those ideas or thoughts, which you chose to ignore, is bad?"
"Of course not," Percy said. "I can't control what stray thoughts I have, I can only control my actions, since those influence others."
"Exactly right," praised Artemis. "Ever since knowing you were a demigod, and I'm not going to avoid the truth by acknowledging that you are a powerful one, you've always been in a position of being powerful and dangerous in your own right to others around you. But you've chosen instead, at many turns, to do good things with what you have, or simply not to do harm when there was an easier path. I think that as long as you remember that and don't harm others by acting on your thoughts, there is no sin in having the thoughts you do when you look at me, or...a person who looks like me."
"Thinking that you look sexy as a young girl?" Percy asked with a crooked smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
Artemis shrugged on his chest. "You're allowed to look at me and think I'm sexy, I'd appreciate it actually," she teased him and was glad to see him smile a small real smile this time. "I don't think you can help it if sometimes you saw someone and thought to yourself that they were attractive."
"That's how I think of Annabeth," Percy said with a smile, but that dimmed as the moment stretched.
Eager to prevent him from spiraling into his thoughts, Artemis continued. "And just because you think she's attractive, that doesn't stop you from seeing that she's a person, and it doesn't make you do anything harmful to her, or anything she wouldn't want," she pointed out. "Seeing someone and thinking they're attractive doesn't make you a bad person, it's how you treat them, and what you do that makes a difference and draws a line."
"I'd also say that you could lay the blame at my feet when it comes to the conversation with Annabeth, but I don't think that you would be the type of person to lie and do that," said the goddess.
Percy shook his head. "I couldn't live with myself or continue things with Annabeth if I did something like that. She would also see right through me, we know each other too well for that," he laughed sheepishly and Artemis smiled because he smiled, and she could both feel and hear the contractions from the muscles in his chest. When Percy laughed, he laughed with his upper body.
She straightened up to look at him and place a kiss on his lips. "I understand," she said softly. "I suppose that's the difference between our characters. I realise, on reflection, that you could probably have offered to take the fall for the loss of my virginity in my telling of the story to the hunters and you didn't, because the deception just didn't cross your mind."
Percy's face had paled slightly at the thought. "I don't like the idea of a group of angry immortal teenaged hunters chasing me down to the ends of the world believing that I raped you goddess." He returned the kiss on her lips, this time dragging the kiss out longer and placing a hand on the back of her head as well to bring her closer to him. "And if you told that version of the story, I doubt we'd ever be able to meet up again like this," he gasped when they finally broke apart from the kiss."
"You greedy mortal! Are you saying that after taking my virginity already, you still harbour more salacious desires for me?" Artemis exclaimed teasingly.
A sly smile on his face mirroring her look of merriment, Percy said, "Oh, I think that you may have awoken desires much stronger than you ever anticipated," he said, placing two wide hands around her waist. "And to start, I think you should have a lesson in learning how to properly ride a man instead of an animal."
Artemis' eyes widened. "Oh, you *brute*. How dare you ruin me for the polite and proper form of being carried on a mount!"
Again, that roguish grin accompanied by those twinkling eyes. "You'll never mount anything, beast of burden or man, without thinking of this experience."
Leaning in closer to Percy with a lovestruck smile on her face, Artemis said, "I'll only ever mount you, Percy Jackson."
And then Percy showed her how riding a chariot was different from riding a man.
Two days later, Annabeth stumbled out of a tunnel in the labyrinth into a large clearing that acted as crossroads between many other paths. In her hands, she clutched a book that she had wrapped with her hoodie. In the room, with a campfire lit, huddled Percy and Artemis dressed in some clothes they managed to barter off a seamstress who had been lost in the labyrinth for ages. All of them looked equally filthy, but they were waiting for her with smiles of relief that they were all alive and together again.