"An invisible thread connects those destined to meet...
Regardless of time, place, or circumstance...
The thread may stretch or tangle,
but it will never break."
...
The next two days were something Artemis never thought she would experience. She simply believed it was all a dream, living in a house isolated from the world with a boy—this was not something the misogynistic goddess would do, right?
But that was exactly what happened...
The two were somewhat alike; this was what she learned during those two days spent with him. What surprised her most pleasantly was that he also loved archery, and they both promised to have a competition in the future to see who was better—In fact, Ikki wasn't lying about that; he truly enjoyed practicing archery at Camp Half-Blood, it was his favorite class.
Their conversations were never boring; they talked about their lives. Ikki asked her to share stories of the hunts she had during her immortal life, which she enjoyed sharing.
Since neither of them needed to sleep and she left her chariot on autopilot to fulfill her duty of lighting the night sky, they had plenty of time to interact.
An unfamiliar feeling blossomed in her chest during the time she spent with him.
The goddess of the moon began to see the boy genuinely as her friend. The only male friend she had ever had in her life, and this only happened because she realized that Ikki treated her as a friend, so she felt it was her duty to reciprocate. And it wasn't as if she was losing anything. Although a slight disappointment settled in the deepest parts of her heart—something she labeled as a way of being disappointed for not having met him earlier, when she was born as a goddess. Having a friend like him in her immortal life, how wonderful would that be…?
The closest she had ever come to having a male friend was her brother in the early years of her life when her brother was close to her and hadn't been corrupted by the influence of others, until they first came to Mount Olympus, where he slowly became corrupted and became like the other men.
At least, her brother couldn't lie to her, as he was the God of Truth.
This feeling of disappointment could only be that, of not having found her friend sooner and having lived some incredible stories with him, right?
She felt her heart race as she saw the boy standing in front of her, the sunlight filtering through the clouds covering the sky and falling into the courtyard of the mansion where they had spent the last few days; it was time for them to say goodbye, unfortunately...
"Well, Arty. It seems that it's time for me to continue my journey," Ikki said, looking at the girl in front of him with an indescribable expression. These two days had been fun, but all good things come to an end, no matter how reluctant he was to leave; he needed to move on. His friends would need his help to complete the mission.
"I already told you not to call me that, but it seems you didn't hear," Artemis said with a resigned sigh. She didn't like the nickname her brother insisted on using. She looked deep into the boy's eyes, which went against everything she preached about men, and said, "Okay, I was going to tell you to take care, but I guess you don't need to..."
"Look at that, the goddess who hates men wishing for a boy to take care on his journey?" Ikki pretended to be surprised before saying somewhat playfully, "Don't worry, Arty. I'll take care..."
The two fell silent for a moment until Ikki broke the silence and said, "You take care too, don't overdo it with your powers."
Artemis nodded, a bit melancholy at the farewell. But it wasn't like it was a "goodbye," it was just that... She wanted time to stop and for the two of them to live like the last two days forever, where she wasn't a goddess with countless duties and was just a normal girl.
He had treated her like a normal girl and seen a part of her she had never shown to anyone other than Zoë, but it was different with him. She couldn't explain it well, but it felt so good to be with someone who understood you, who had such an inexplicable connection with you, where you were happy just talking and being with the person...
But this wasn't the life she was meant to live, was it?
Destiny just wanted to be cruel and show her that.
She was saved by a boy, the very kind she had always despised and even hated, and had felt disgust for throughout her immortal life. This same boy was the opposite of everything she had preached during her immortal life to the point where she became friends with him, liking him without even realizing it. Perhaps fate wanted to show her that she was being too extreme regarding "boys," or maybe it was something else she couldn't identify. It was more likely to be the latter, since gods do not change; she couldn't see herself trusting and liking another boy like she did with Ikki. Just the thought nauseated her endlessly, as it always had.
And this brings us to why he was so different—not just in appearance but in behavior. It was as if he were someone heading down a path that she could only glimpse, a path where he didn't have time to be mundane like other men. Where lust, pride, fame—all of that was irrelevant and did not affect his heart.
That was what she understood about him after spending two days interacting and getting to know him; one could say that this fact was what made him most worthy of her friendship.
She was curious to know how far he would go in the future.
"I will visit you in the future, Arty. We have to have our archery competition after all," Ikki said with a small smile on his lips.
"Of course, be prepared to lose!" Artemis said, shaking off her thoughts about this encounter that had already become unforgettable in her heart. She smiled faintly as she recalled everything that had happened over the last two days.
Ikki's heart raced at the sight of her smile. He looked at her and etched her image into his memory as he spoke softly, "See you later, Arty..."
After saying this, his body turned into particles of stars and disappeared completely, leaving a breeze that gently blew Artemis's hair.
"See you later, Ikki..."
She whispered softly before turning to look at the mansion they had created so many memories in.
In an instant, she too vanished from the place, leaving the silence to linger over the spot where their meeting had been like a stone thrown into a well, something that would create many ripples and change both of their lives forever.
...
..
.
Meanwhile, with Percy, Annabeth, and Grover's group...
The last few days had not been pleasant for Percy; first, he had to abandon his friend to fight the most powerful demigod to ever exist. That day, he anxiously awaited his friend's return so they could continue their stupid mission.
Unfortunately, to his despair, that did not happen...
He cried silently, knowing that his best friend was probably dead.
First, it was his mother, and now his best friend too. It felt as if the world was conspiring against him, taking away all the important people in his life.
He had never felt so powerless; if he had been stronger, he might have been able to save his mother from the Fury that killed her. He also felt frustrated and furious; he cursed the damned fate—if it weren't for the prophecy, his friend wouldn't have died.
Grover also seemed to feel very guilty, apologizing all the time, crying and becoming extremely depressed.
It was his job to protect Percy and Ikki, just as it had been his job to protect and bring Thalia to camp. But he had failed the Daughter of Zeus and now one of his best friends as well.
Annabeth tried to maintain her composure. She only tried because she cried just as much as Poseidon's son while clutching Ikki's jacket, knowing he wouldn't be coming back.
She finally understood the importance of the boy in her heart. Thinking back to their times at camp, when they would spend time together playing chess, discussing strategies, and even architecture—something she loved dearly. And now she could no longer have those moments with him...
It was painful to imagine she would never see his unmatched face again, hear his voice, and talk to him about everything. She knew she was beginning to develop romantic feelings for him since he arrived at camp; she just didn't know the extent of those feelings until the realization hit her that she had lost him forever.
All the moments they could have spent together in the future simply vanished into smoke because Ikki had died. That shattered her, but she maintained her strong façade. She knew that the other two who had known Ikki longer than she had were suffering perhaps even more.
So she tried to keep her composure, failing miserably many times...
In a depressed state, the two days they spent on the train heading toward the city of St. Louis passed in silence. Each of the three had their own way of grieving.
As soon as they arrived in the city, they had to wait three hours to catch the train to Denver; it was the limit of where they could go with the reward money from the Pink Poodle.
To distract herself, Annabeth suggested visiting the Gateway Arch in the city. A terrible idea, on top of the Arch, Percy encountered the fearsome nine-headed Hydra. The son of Poseidon had to fight the legendary monster; in the end, he was poisoned and had to jump down to fall into the water.
While at the bottom of the water, he spoke with a messenger sent by his father. She told him he needed to go to the beach in Santa Monica without explaining much.
He talked with her for a bit and then shared the news with his two friends before they caught the train to Denver.
...
..
.
Ikki sat quietly on the terrace of a building near the train station in the city of St. Louis and drank his milkshake in silence. He watched the clouds in the sky and felt the wind gently blow through his hair...
It was late afternoon, and it had been an hour since he arrived in the city. An hour since he said goodbye to the Goddess of the Moon.
In the meantime, he had searched the whole city for his friends. Due to his lack of practice with the [Teleportation] spell he had created, he hadn't managed to teleport directly to his friends' location the first time; this time, he got close. Removing the need to have visited the place before teleporting to it with his spell.
He arrived at the place where they had been some time ago, so that was a start.
He also found some interesting news and a new poster of Percy.
Apparently, a tourist from the bus that had previously been the meeting place with the Furies took a photo of him.
Ikki also heard about the incident at the Gateway Arch.
Supposedly, someone opened a hole in the Arch; it wasn't hard to imagine that Percy and the others had something to do with this incident. Not to mention it was one of the places in the city that had the most residue from the presence of the group of Demigods and Satyrs.
After searching the city for the group and finding nothing, he decided to eat something. Since Ikki didn't have any mortal money on him, as his backpack had stayed with Annabeth, he used an illusion spell to solve this problem.
When he went to McDonald's, he used a simple illusion for everyone to see him paying the establishment. At the same time, he used presence manipulation to distort his appearance on the cameras. Thus, he was able to "buy" a milkshake and a hamburger with fries without any problems. The reason he did this was that he felt like eating something even though he no longer had that human need.
Ikki finished his milkshake and comfortably lay back on the terrace with his arms behind his head. He looked at the clouds and thought of Artemis; in fact, he hadn't removed her from his mind since he said goodbye to her.
His heart was filled with countless different emotions; some were inexplicable, while others were more explainable. Obviously, he felt immensely sad about leaving Artemis, and even having separated only an hour ago, he already missed her; it was a longing he couldn't explain.
His memories, from the moment he met the Goddess of the Moon for the first time to their recent goodbye, were fresh in his mind. It was as if he were reliving them again—her beautiful voice, her lovely laughter, her appearance, and all their moments together in recent times...
She was very different from the rumors and stories he had heard about her; somewhat cute, somewhat serious, somewhat pragmatic, and somewhat childlike. If he were to describe the Goddess of the Hunt, those would be the exact words for her.
Unknowingly, she had become important in his heart. Something about her drew him in like a moth to the flame; there was no explanation for it. He just found himself attached to her after their interactions. It was as if she were an old friend he had missed his entire life.
The strangest and most inexplicable thing, but there are things in the world that we cannot explain. He just had to deal with it...
Looking at the almost darkening sky, a murmur escaped his lips.
"All I need is a steadfast heart. Through it, the world will be within my reach. When I fail, I can still hold my head high once more and overcome all setbacks, becoming stronger than I was before. And even in success, I won't forget who I am…"
"Only an indestructible will shall grant me eternity."
He stretched his hand toward the sky as if trying to grasp it.
That mindset was what brought him to this point in his life, and it would take him even further. It was something he formed after the failures of his past life; the new opportunity he received was a blessing, and he wanted to make the most of it, reach the peak, and experience the view from the top. But he was human after all, and his encounter with Artemis made him waver a bit regarding his desire. He paused and thought it wouldn't be bad to live alongside her... only that was impossible considering she was a virgin goddess, and he was merely her friend...
Besides, he also had his own journey. So all he had to do was move forward.
His encounter with her was brief, but surely unforgettable.
Ikki took a deep breath and discarded the feelings in his heart and the pleasant memories of the past few days before getting up and standing on the edge of the building, looking at the city.
"If it's meant to be, then we will meet again..."
He murmured gently, and in the end, let out a sigh. He preferred to leave that matter to fate rather than force those kinds of worldly issues.
The wind swayed his clothes; he closed his eyes for a moment and tried to approach teleportation differently, expanding the reach of his senses across the entire country, using the information gathered through them to imagine the place and teleport without problems.
It was a bit stupid of him not to have done this before and only used his teleportation ability by merely wishing to be with his friends. He blamed his anxiety for wanting to experience the magic firsthand.
But he didn't regret it because he met Artemis...
Knowing where his friends were, his figure silently disappeared into the twilight.