Hey guys. Now I know what y'all might be thinking, "Wait a fucking minute, isn't he still working on Eternal Night? Why is dis fuck nugget starting another story?" and the answer is clear. Indeed I am still working on my other story I've just hit a block for now, this latest chapter isn't coming out of the woodwork like I want it to so this is just sort of a test story if you will. With this being a test story, I want all kinds of criticism! Mostly constructive please. But don't expect any regular updates or anything but please, let me know what needs working on. Anyway, the title for this story is temporary but without further adieu, I give you this.
The forest was dark. The moon covered by a thick layer of clouds. The only sound were the rustling of leaves as the wind passed through the trees. The only visible light was that of fourteen or fifteen silver flashes dashing through and over the dense foliage. It was as group of teenage girls dressed in all silver with bows and quivers of arrows strapped to their backs with foot long bowie knives on either hip. The group was led by a thirteen year old looking girl with long auburn hair and startling silver eyes. This girl glowed faintly with hidden power. The girls moved quietly and swiftly, chasing their prey. Said prey dashed gracefully into the underbrush, trying desperately to escape its fate.
The deer didn't get much farther though as a silver arrow pierced and traveled all the way through the animals heart from behind, coming out through its chest. Out of pure residual instinct the deer continued to run until it couldn't anymore and fell down, dead.
The group of girls gathered around their kill. The thirteen year old leader snapped her fingers and with a bright flash, the deer was gone. She turned to her followers with a proud smile on her face. "Well done Tania, nice clean kill."
The fairly new hunter to the group smiled at the praise. She bowed in respect, "Thank you m'lady." Tania said with a thick Texan accent.
"Alright girls, let's head back to camp. I need to go to Olympus, father has summoned an emergency meeting." The girls groaned. "Now now, you know I can't ignore this." Artemis said as she began to walk back to their camp.
When they got back, they found the deer they had just killed already skinned and on a pike over a large fire, cooking rotisserie style. The hunters smiled at the sight, hungry from their evening escapade.
As the girls sat down around the fire to enjoy their meal Artemis walked into her tent. The walls were significantly less covered than they usually were in the winter times. It was the middle of spring so she only kept her most prized trophies on her walls. She took in a deep breath, relaxing just a little before she had to go to Olympus. After a minute or two, she flashed out.
On Olympus
Artemis flashed into her throne, right behind her brother, Apollo. He beamed her an ice melting smile but she just scowled, she really didn't like her brother. Artemis looked around to find that most everyone else wasn't there, including the person who summoned the meeting in the first place.
But eventually, one at a time, flashes began filling the throne room. Poseidon was the last to show up before Zeus entered with a roll of thunder punctuating his entrance. Artemis rolled her eyes at her father's antics.
"What's this about, Zeus?" Hades scowled from his throne.
Zeus stayed quiet, staring into the center of the room, eyes blank. This garnered everyone's attention, the King of Olympus wasn't usually this quiet, at all.
"Brother?" Poseidon said worriedly, placing a hand on Zeus' shoulder. This snapped Zeus from his stupor. "Sorry! Deep in thought." Zeus said brushing his brother's hand off.
"I have summoned you all because I have felt a disturbing power. I don't know the origin of this power but it is definitely not Greek. I need everyone on full alert. This threat must be taken in and destroyed. Artemis, I want you to be actively hunting this power source down." Zeus finished, looking at his daughter who in return nodded in agreement. Artemis was just about to say something when a prayer floated through her head.
'Lady Artemis, please help!' the voice of her lieutenant, Zoe, screamed through her mind.
'Hold on Zoe!' Artemis thought back.
A look of panic appeared on her face as she looked at everyone slowly. "Artemis, what's wrong?" Apollo asked, concerned. Artemis didn't answer, instead she flashed out without so much as a word.
Hunter's Camp (During Meeting)
The girls in the small encampment sat happily around their fire, laughing and feasting on roasted deer and fruits of the forest. A couple of the Apollo girls played light music on ukuleles. Zoe sat sort of outside the circle, content on watching rather than being a part of. Zoe was the best hunter in the group, she was always on guard, but tonight she just wanted to relax, not really paying attention to the light crunching in the woods.
What Zoe and the girls had failed to notice, was their surroundings. Amongst the surrounding shrubs and trees, hidden in the shadows, was a group of men. These weren't any normal men though, they each stood easily seven foot tall, broad shouldered, and rippling with muscle. They growled silently, each narrowing their one eye at the group in front of them. The biggest one of them held a handful of chains. At the end of each chain as a snarling hound. Once again, these were not normal muts, no, these were much larger. Some were the size of ATV'S while one was the size of a small truck. There were a total of five demon hounds, each aching to dive into action, their blood red eyes glowing fiercely. The lead cyclops rose his tree trunk of a club and bellowed as he released the hounds. The fourteen other one eyed men stayed hidden as the hounds bounded towards their kill.
The girls were caught completely and utterly off guard. Within seconds two hounds had pounced and taken the heads off two of the girls, bodies falling to the ground. The rest of the girls reacted in time but barely. The hounds circled the haphazardly shaped circle the group had formed. Zoe stared at the bodies of her sisters with horror and sadness. They were new, they didn't deserve to die in this place Zoe thought to herself. The lieutenant readied her bow, eyes shining with newfound anger. She knew she had to pray to Artemis so she told her sisters to hold out as best as possible while she did. 'Lady Artemis, please help!' it was quick but what she needed to say. 'Hold on Zoe!' was Artemis' response.
Zoe joined the circle again. When the area began to light up Zoe shouted, "Close your eyes!" as she covered her own with her forearm. The other hunters were quick to follow as soon after the whole clearing erupted with light. The hellhounds where obliterated into a fine golden sand like dust in the wind.
As soon as it came, the light went. "Is everyone ok?" Artemis asked, concern heavily evident in her voice. The girls opened their eyes seeing their mistress, thinking their troubles were over. As they lowered their bows and guards, they were once again struck. This time the hidden cyclopes erupted from the trees, one of them catching a hunter in the side of her head with its club, exploding her head into a fine mist, the body shooting off into the forest. Two other cyclopes managed to catch a hunter each. The girls tried fighting back but it was hopeless, one cyclops grabbed its catch in both hands and tore her in half, blood and organs falling out of place and onto the ground. Artemis was completely stunned stiff. She watched in complete and utter fear as her hunters were decimated by the normally unorganized monsters. She barely acknowledged the sound of her lieutenant screaming in her ear.
"Lady Artemis! We need to go now! Snap out of it!" Zoe yelled as she slapped her mistress across the face. The sudden pain brought Artemis out of her stupor as she grabbed the closest hunters around her and flashed them out. She only managed to save six of the original fourteen girls. She looked around at the carnage. Blood was everywhere, mixed in with the torn silver clothing and body parts. The fifteen one eyed beasts turned from their meals of silver clad corpses to look at the goddess, snarling at her. Artemis saw red, figuratively and literally. Her eyes glowed silver as she yelled out in pure anger, waves of power erupting from her. The cyclopes, to their credit, stood strong in the face of such an adversary. They knew her, they knew what her next action would be and closed their eyes and braced themselves in response to the eruption of light. It lasted only a second but when it died down the only thing that had happened to the human like monsters were small burns here and there.
They smirked at the shocked face of the goddess and advanced, clubs held high. Artemis unstrapped her bow and knocked an arrow. She growled as the bow glowed silver. She yelled as she loosed the arrow. Mid flight, the arrow glowed and split into five separate arrows. Each found their mark in the eye of one cyclops, each monster crumbling into golden sand. Artemis dodged left in a roll, knocking an arrow at the same time as a club slammed the ground where she had stood. She landed in a kneeling stance and lossed the arrow she had knocked. This time, the moment the arrow landed, it exploded in green fire only catching two of the beasts and the surrounding woods in a green inferno.
The remaining seven monsters circled the raging goddess carefully. Artemis stood in the center, completely enraged. She began to glow once more but the monsters launched themselves at her before she could complete her action. Each swung down on her, forcing her to use her bow and a knife to catch the clubs. She was driven to a knee under the weight of their attacks. She growled. Never before had any monster, bar Typhon, gotten the drop on her like this. There was no way these were normal cyclopes, they were too organized. Their attack and they way they fought were too thought through and planned for the average cyclops. Artemis was exhausted, she hasn't had to fight like this in and while. Releasing her true form so many times and flashing everyone out has cut through her stamina. Her arms were about to give out, her face was drenched with sweat from the exertion. She looked around and the carnage again and cried. Tears streaming down her cheeks, mixing with the sweat. 'I'm sorry Zoe, look after the hunt for me while I'm gone.' She thought with finality as she let her arms drop. She sat there with her eyes closed, waiting for the spine crushing impact, but it never came. She opened her eyes not really believing what she was seeing.
There, wrapped around each club were chains. Pitch black and on fire. But it wasn't normal fire. The fire was mostly black with hints of red mixed in with the flames. Artemis, out of curiosity and shock followed the chains with her eyes. She found that each chain had wrapped its way around each cyclops, completely halting their movements. The monsters yelled in agony at the flames burning away their flesh. Well, not really burning, more like corroding, like rust to iron. The places touched by the black fire crumbled and fell, turning to a grey dust and dissipating into the wind before it even touched the ground. Slowly but surely the monsters completely fell apart and crumbled to the ground, eroding into the breeze. The chains fell loose in the air without anything to bind. Before they touched the ground, the chains shot back into the forest from where they originated. What was weird was that as the chains moved, the flames wrapping around the chains sucked in the surrounding green fire, like the the green fire was being sucked up by a giant vacuum.
Artemis wanted to collapse but she held firm, breathing heavily. She looked into the forest where the chains had shot into. The forest was void black past the trees lining the clearing. The only light in the area was from the still burning campfire the hunters had set up, which was not absorbed with the Greek fire for some reason. Artemis squinted her eyes to try and see better, even with her godly senses she could not see into the darkness. This concerned her greatly, the air was thick with a magic she had never felt before. After a bit, Artemis stood and began walking in the direction the chains disappeared to.
Before she even covered half the distance from her original spot to the edge of the clearing, another chain shot forward and planted itself in the ground an inch from her foot, stopping Artemis in her tracks. "I wouldn't if I were you, goddess." A deep, masculine voice reverberated from the darkness as the chain shot back, dragging clumps of dirt with it.
Artemis did as she was told. She hated following the orders of a male but whoever he was had just rescued her, this earned her respect, for now. "Who are you?" Artemis called into the woods.
The voice chuckled at the innocent question. "Me? Most people don't usually ask who or what. They usually ask 'why?'" The way the voice said 'why' sent a chill down Artemis' spine. He said 'why' like people asked him why he would do something so foul, out of pure fear.
Artemis steeled her nerves and asked again, "Who asked are you?" with confidence.
Again, the voice chuckled. After a bit of silence, like he was contemplating, there was finally rustling in the bushes and out stepped and boy around 15 years old. Just an ordinary boy, wearing a navy blue zip up hoodie with white drawstrings, a pair of worn jeans, and an equally worn pair of white all star sneakers. His eyes were a fierce shade of blood red that seemed to pierce straight through Artemis.
The appearance of this boy confused Artemis deeply, this is definitely not what she was expecting. The boy stepped forward to Artemis, making the goddess want to step back but her body would not move. With a shock, Artemis realized it was due to fear. He stopped three feet from her and put his hand out, a large, lopsided grin spreading across his face. His lips parted to reveal that his canine teeth were exceptionally long, like a wolf's.
"Howdy! Name's Perseus! Most people call me Percy though." His open and welcoming demeanor shocked Artemis out of her stupor. She looked down at his outstretched hand and did the same, slowly shaking his hand. The moment she touched his hand a burst of energy shot through her, evil and corrupted. She quickly let go of his hand, his smile never dimming as she did, as if her rude gesture never happened.
Percy stepped back and put his hands on his hip. He cocked his head just a little. "So? Artemis, greek goddess of hunting, archery, the moon, childbirth, and the unjust killing of brothers, sons, and fathers. What brings you out to this part of the woods?"
That really brought Artemis back. "Excuse me? Unjust killing? How dare you talk to a goddess that way! You will pay!" Artemis hissed as she summoned her weapon of power to her hand. The silver bow was gorgeous, an intricate weapon worthy of the gods glowing with power. Artemis jumped back a hundred yards and pulled back on the string. As she did, an arrow of pure power appeared, a bolt of light ready to be released. Percy just stood, his hands still on his hips and his smile on his face. Artemis growled at the lack of fear in his eyes. She stood, charging the arrow a little longer before she loosed the arrow with a yell.
It was quick, faster than the blink of an eye. The arrow landed and exploded on contact, lighting the dark forest up as if the sun had landed in the middle of it, night temporarily turning to day. Trees were blown back and any moving creature near the blast was incinerated.
The light eventually died down, revealing the destruction unleashed on the clearing. For a good mile in a perfect circle, the trees had been ultimately removed from the area, grass and shrubs had been blasted away leaving nothing but the gray earth. Nothing remained but the dust hanging in the air and the sound of heavy breathing.
Artemis stood, hand still outstretched with her how in her grip while the the other hand stayed next to her face from where she had let go of the bowstring. Her chest was heaving but a small smile twisted her lips. Still out of breath, she chuckled lightly. "He he, that'll teach you, impudent child." Artemis said quietly as she straightened herself. She went to walk away but was stopped by the sound of rattling chains.
"Teach me what, exactly? That all Olympians are short tempered?" Artemis turned around so fast it was impressive she didn't get whiplash. There, with dust still falling around him, stood Percy, the chains that formed the cocoon that protected him falling to the ground. Some chains fell in pieces while others just had a few links snapped. The still intact chains shot back up into the sleeves of his hoodie.
Artemis was at a complete loss for words. The cold fingers of fear started gripping at her heart. There was no way he should have survived! Artemis thought. "H-how! W-w-why!?" the scared questions caused Percy to laugh. His eyes wild and full of malice, his smile was no longer laid back and carefree. It was now the evil, twisted smile of a madman.
"There it is! I love that question! Let's answer that shall we? Why would I save you? Because the Greeks are are better alternative, that's why. Why did I survive? Because I'm stronger than you. Why go through this trouble? Because I need your help." by the time he was done speaking, Percy's smile had disappeared along with the killing intent he was putting off. Instead, his face was solemn, his eyes showing nothing but desperation. "Why do I need your help? Because Demons are going to destroy this world if I do not stop them."
Artemis looked him straight in the eyes and with confidence asked, "What are you?"
This brought a small smile to Percy's face. "Me? I'm Satan."
Sup. Ok, be honest, did it feel rushed? I thought it felt rushed. Also! That bit right there at the end? Yeah, that's on purpose if it confuses some of you. It will be fixed if I decide the continue this. Tbh I'm not sure if this came out like I had envisioned, so give me so pointers. And please! Review, it's what makes writing so worth it.