In the beginning, there was nothing Except Darkness and a bunch of Energy. And then the floating mass of energy that Humans later prescribed as "God" organised itself, giving itself a form that was pleasing to him.
This being was one of infinite power, such that It could organize the cosmos and galaxies. It was lonely with Darkness. So it created, yet Darkness always destroyed those things that God had made.
The Darkness was a being of chaos, and for a time, the Entity and she co-existed in peace, the Entity creating worlds and stars according to his whim.
Eventually, he did create planets that were hospitable to life on a mortal term, and he began to control the elements down to a molecular level to develop the first of ephemeral life.
Then, the Darkness began once, through her nature, to destroy what God had created, and he locked her in a place later called Hell, unable and unwilling to destroy her.
And so he created the Angels.
Firstly, God created his Archangels, Perseus, Michael, Lucifer, Raphael, and Gabriel. These were to be those who held power and would set his will into the world.
To Perseus, he gave the stars and the moon and the Earth, to cherish and protect. Those were his domains.
To Michael, he gave the armies of heaven, and the role of protector from darkness and evil, that which is opposed to order and good.
To Lucifer, he made him commander of the sun and planets, owner of the morning light, as well as the holder of the key to unlocking Darkness, which would later corrupt him.
Raphael was given the power of healing, and the most important thing: emotions. Without this, humanity would never have been.
Gabriel was given the power of strength; he was to assist those on earth with God's message and will.
Then he created the seraphim, those beings that represented order, purity and goodness. Under them he made the masses of angels, and finally the cherubim.
The angels were made as a means to make war with Darkness should it ever escape that prison, and also to maintain order in his worlds.
On earth, he created the concept of divinity. He created pantheons of smaller and less powerful divine beings who would be the caretakers of the lands that housed them. Through this, humanity later associated these pantheons as Gods themselves, and worshiped them thusly.
During this time of development, The Primordial forces of Sky and Earth rose up and ruled over the land animals. A great deal of time passed, before their children, the Titans, usurped Sky's rule and scattered him around the earth such that he could never regain his might.
During this time, the Titans began their reign over the Earth, and Earth was content for a while.
Humans evolved from monkeys as some of the first mortal living beings with relative intelligence. They gained the use of tools and creative problem solving, and began to spread themselves across the earth. The Greeks, or those humans that settled themselves in what would be known as Greece, were enslaved by the Titans. Though God had a plan for this that would be solved soon.
Everything was going well, the angels were happy, God was enjoying humanity, and it looked like things were finally going well.
And then God told the angels to worship humanity, and Lucifer rebelled.
It's not exactly possible to conceive of war if you haven't seen it yourself, nor is it possible to conceive of a heavenly war, with millions of angels torn to pieces for the sake of freedom and righteousness.
Lucifer gathered his staunch supporters, those angels who thought that they knew better than their creator, and brought about destruction. As the Archangel with the power of the sun and planets themselves, he was clearly more powerful than the masses of other angels. He used his power to burn through the armies of Michael, and used his holy energies to bring about chaos on such a large scale that had and never will be seen again in the history of the universe.
Michael, on the other hand, led heaven's army, that which was supposed to be strong enough to take down Darkness and the Leviathans, and used the power of God to wipe out Lucifer's supporters in battle.
To the Gods of Earth, it seemed as though their entire world was shaking, which in turn it was. In this time, they faced their worse fights, in Mexico, the Aztecs experienced their four ages of greatness and destruction, in Japan, the events of Izanami and Izanagi occurred, causing widespread human deaths to come about in the region.
In Greece, humanity was saved by Perseus aiding Zeus in taking down the Titans and releasing the bonds that had shackled them. The Greek Gods have ruled those lands since.
This ripple effect from the heavens had lasting effects on the world. God, as he was, ordered Michael to banish Lucifer, and so he came to be banished and later came to be imprisoned by God in Hell. He was imprisoned after he, scorning God's creation of humanity, twisted it and created the first demons.
During the war of Heaven, the archangel Gabriel left to earth to escape from the responsibility of having to choose a side.
The world was dark during this time, as Lucifer, being the one charged with the sun, was using it to fight rather than to shine upon the world. Thusly, Perseus used his domain, that of the moon, to reflect the sun's light upon the earth, shining light for the Humans through the dark times, and Raphael sided with Michael in the eternal struggle.
And then God disappeared.
Perseus, being the eldest Archangel, felt it first when God left heaven and made himself untraceable. He warned the others, though Lucifer at this time was trapped in Hell, and Raphael began to lose faith in his Father, he who created him.
Raphael and Michael started to rule Heaven, and Perseus saw to it that he took on the Role of the Sun, bringing it back to Earth, and finally the world had light once more.
On Earth, Perseus gathered the pantheons of Gods and came to them with a proposition; that to avoid such darkness from overtaking the world once more, that each pantheon allow one of theirs to share in the role of ensuring that the sun and moon stayed on their course. It would not do for a catastrophe to take place like the one that just had, and the gods agreed to take on the roles of moving the sun and moon around the earth.
Henceforth, whenever a God or Goddess tasked with the burden of the Moon and Sun were to pass on their responsibilities, Perseus would oversee it.
And so of course Perseus would eventually meet with her, the inheritor of Selene, The young Goddess Artemis. But this was not where he first witnessed her, he had watched her for quite some time, and it had never quite hit him until now.
Up until this point, Perseus had never known weakness. But at this moment when he took in Her visage, he knew what God had meant.
Of course, the Eldest Archangel, the inheritor of the Heavens and Earth, the one that God had charged with the role of "Protector of Humanity" had been devoted entirely to altruism and Holiness. He had been God's most loyal soldier, keeping Humanity safe from Heaven's war and providing them with light in darkness, keeping his Word to heart.
But now he knew what the other Archangels except Raphael could not; Love.
…
It started off slow, of course. When Perseus saw her, he was awestruck by her soul, an all-encompassing glorious silver that threatened to consume him.
But he quickly composed himself, and stood tall in his true form; A small giant that stood roughly the size of size of the moon. His eight Wings extended behind him, spanning the length of the world three times over. His six eyes shone with the colors of the oceans, spinning and whirling like riptides.
He looked down at the small child, who had been born not hours ago and was already helping her mother give birth to her younger brother. He knew that Python was on their trail, and hid them from it's ever-vigilant eyes with a blink of his fifth eye.
That would protect them until Apollo was strong enough to hunt it down, as was his destiny.
Perseus turned away from them for but a moment, knowing that he had already done too much to subvert history as foretold.
But why had he done it?
…
It had been two hundred years before Artemis and Apollo became Olympians, and Perseus rejoiced. He came to the council in a form that they could see, that of a young boy no older than seven, with sea green eyes and silver wings that spanned four times his form.
They had just finished inducting Artemis and Apollo into the council, and then a large ball of light formed in the center of the hall for a moment before he appeared in his child-like form.
The Eldest Gods; Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, had their weapons out in an instant, and only Hestia came forth to greet the Archangel stopped them from blasting him on the spot.
"Perseus, it has been too long. Why have you not visited earlier?" The Goddess with the most power in Greece asked the Archangel with the most power in the cosmos.
"I have been watching, and i have come to celebrate the coming of Apollo and Artemis to their new Seats of Power. I come with gifts for the two."
The Gods gasped. While obviously they had not recognized him at first, for it was the first time that he had come in this form.
Perseus walked to Apollo first. "For the slayer of Python, i gift thee with the vision of prophecy. Such will it be that thou now canst protect your pantheon from war and tribulation." Perseus lay his hand on Apollo's brow, and the God was filled with holy light.
Perseus then walked to Artemis. "For the patron of childbirth, i gift the powers of nature. May you always hold power in the wilderness, and may the creatures of the earth bend to your whim." Perseus once more took his hand and lay it on Artemis' brow, and the Goddess was filled with holy light as well.
"Surely that cannot be the only reason for your visit, child of Chaos?" Athena asked.
Perseus looked over and gave a lackadaisical grin. "What say you, child of Knowledge? What have i told you before, that my Father is Order, not Chaos. He does not revel in things that are not according to his nature, therefor we stand here."
"Only Chaos could make sense of disorder. Surely your father must be both, in order to create humans as such disorganised beings as humans."
"Surely he mustn't, it was my brother, Lucifer, who has deceived humanity to the ways of violence. But i am ahead of myself, and you are right. I have news of the coming changes. In the near future, Gaea will Produce once more, Gigantes, who seek to topple your rule. As your rule in this area is beneficial to God my Father, i have come to warn you of their coming."
"How long do we have?" Ares asked.
"Enough time that if you begin preparing now, then you will win. I have said too much, and history is already altered. I must go before My Father's will is Undone."
And with that, the Greek Gods were left to themselves once more.
…
If there was anything that Artemis had not been expecting, it was that she would be given a Domain by someone (Something? She wasn't sure) from a pantheon outside her own. Hades, she wasn't even certain that he was from a pantheon.
After the meeting was over, she called on her half-sister Athena and asked her about him.
"I believe that the being that we just encountered is something that the Judahites worship as an Angel of El, or the Creator of All things, or what we know as Chaos. He statement puzzles me though, for Chaos is clearly a being who helped shape the universe and created the Primordials, and currently resides at the bottom of Tartarus.
"Regardless, he seems to be older than our world itself, as he was here to witness Gaea and Ouranos come into being, or at least so he claims. It amazed all of the Gods that he chose to bless you and your twin with powers, as Angels rarely care for the doings of Immortals, especially not from a culture separate from those of Israel. I believe that his father, or El, gave humanity to him to protect, and his people call him Yahweh, although in the past he has introduced himself as Perseus."
Athena paused, before studying her sister. "He's an interesting character, and he's only shown himself to us twice before, the first time being to assist Zeus overcome Kronos, and the second time to organize the right of Sun and Moon. He insists that without these being constantly maintained, the world will fall into Darkness, and chaos will reign like in the times of the Titanomachy."
"Interesting. I was surprised when he gave me the Domain of the Wilderness. I mean, i've had to survive on my own for such a long time that i might as well be one with it anyways, but it feels weird to be pulled away almost from the other Gods. All of you are more bound by people, and i seem to be more bound by the land itself."
"Remember, Artemis, that you also hold the Domain of Childbirth and Protector of Women. Whilst Hunting and the Wilds are important, you are also an integral part of society. I can cover Organized War and the Arts, but being able to flit between society and the forests is the most freedom i've seen in any God or Goddess so far. Be thankful for your gift."
Artemis nodded along as they walked. "I hope that i can meet him again soon, i'd like to thank him properly for the gift."
"Oh? Does my sister have a crush?" Athena teased.
"What? No! I just want to thank him! Don't infer things that i didn't say out loud!" Artemis shouted, blushing with golden tints due to the ichor in her veins.
"Oh, i'm going to have so much fun telling the other Gods!" Athena cackled, before running towards where the others had wandered to.
"Damnit Athena get back here!" Artemis yelled, running after her sister.
…
If there was one thing that Perseus had to make sure of, it was ensuring that Humanity was safe, even from itself. He always tried to protect them, and one thing was warding wandering tribes off from others so that they didn't have to go to war, effectively spreading humanity further and further across the world. Sometimes, as with the tribes of Judea it was going to the people in a divine form to give them rules so that they didn't accidentally kill themselves.
Like, can you believe that his Father made Pigs a vector species for many viruses and diseases? And can you believe that these stupid humans didn't realize that by eating pigs they were dying a ton more than they needed. So he went to them and banned eating pigs, at least that way their bodies could form better immune systems.
He did that a lot, actually. The people of Israel began to defer to his judgement when it came to important stuff, like whether or not killing people who messed up was wrong (Just exile them, come on). Or like, hey, don't have sex with the married girl next door, and then maybe your neighbor won't want to kill you. You know, the important stuff.
Perseus was bored though, so he turned his attention back towards the main Distraction of The Century; the Auburn haired Goddess named Artemis.
If he was going to be honest, he genuinely had no idea why he was drawn to her as much as he was. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she was the Protector of Women in Greece? Maybe, but there were similar positions in other pantheons and Perseus wasn't particularly interested in them.
Ok, sure, Horus the Major egyptian dude in charge of all his pantheon, the sun, and protection of his people and stuff was chill, but that was mostly because he had a bird head. That's some cool stuff, Perseus could relate, as a bunch of angels had animal heads.
Getting off topic here, but basically Perseus was constantly getting distracted by what was going on with the Goddess in question, and he couldn't pinpoint exactly why.
So he did what any sane person would do, and decided to find God and ask why.
…
It wasn't easy, that's for certain. Especially since God did not want to be found. But considering that Perseus was God's first creation that actually didn't get torn apart, he was also the strongest and smartest. He also had known his Father for a million years longer than Michael had, so that definitely helped him.
And so Perseus did it. He found God and asked him why he was so distracted by Artemis.
And God told him that She was his Weakness.
"Father, i don't understand. I was created by you to not have a weakness. You told me that if i was made with a weakness then Darkness would have destroyed me, but she couldn't."
"Perseus, it's not so easy to understand. Hmm… Let me put it in perspective. You know how i could not destroy my Sister, and instead imprisoned her?"
Perseus nodded.
God looked at his Archangel and sighed. "That's a weakness of mine. I could never destroy her, and if it came down to the destruction of life and her's, all of life would die. She maintains an integral force of reality, that of chaos. Without chaos, there can be no order, and therefor there can be no me or my creations. But on a deeper level, she is my weakness because i could not bear to be in a reality wherein she was truly dead, could reality support itself without."
"Does that mean that if something were to happen to Artemis, that i would not be able to bear it?"
"Probably, for on a similar note, if something came into being that threatened you or Humanity as a whole, i would show up. You are a weakness of mine, because i care about you. But you have to understand, Perseus, that not all weaknesses are only that."
"Oh?"
"Like i said, if something were to happen to you, i would show up and unleash my fury. And likewise, Artemis is your weakness. Sure, you might uphold my Will and keep Humanity from falling, but your Heart belongs to Artemis. She is not just your weakness, but also a source of strength for you, since you would do anything to ensure that she is well. This is the secret of Love.
God kicked the sands of the beach that they walked along. "You'll understand soon, and soon Humanity will understand Love too, on a deeper level. Not just the simple romantic attraction, but true, altruistic love, the kind that gives and asks for nothing in return. I can't just let their souls into Heaven, since Darkness and Lucifer have tainted them so, but you've been very helpful in paving the way for a solution."
"Do you have a plan in mind for this Father?" Perseus asked.
"Yes, but i need a couple more hundred years to set it into motion. Just know that i will appear among men as a mortal, and that through me Humanity will be saved. Above all though, you must NEVER interfere unless i directly ask for it. I will not remember you during this time, and you must not reveal yourself to me. That's all i ask."
"Your request will be hard, but i assure you that i will relay this to the other Angels, so that they do not interfere."
"Actually, i might need Gabriel. Send him to me in five-hundred years. He has a part to play in this, and tell him that it'll be the best prank on Lucifer that he's ever played."
Perseus smirked. "I'm sure it will be. Thanks Dad."
"You're welcome Son."
...
Perseus still didn't exactly know what his Father meant, but he guessed that he would understand in time. But first and foremost, God had told him to spend more time with Artemis.
"Perseus, it's integral that you spend time with her. Without this connection, surely you will falter in your duties and personal well being."
He still wasn't certain about that, but he wasn't going to argue. And so it was that he flashed down into the middle of the woods while Artemis was hunting.
"What in Hades-" She cried out as an arrow sped from her bow into a tree. In front of her, a flash of silver light had appeared and a man, looking no older than twenty, walked calmly out of the air. The winds rippled as he appeared, and a crack could be heard as he walked towards her.
The man had wind-swept black hair, and six sea green eyes. His Wings folded up behind him, and Artemis then understood who it was.
"Perseus. I didn't expect you to visit me, otherwise i would have prepared some food."
Perseus stared at her, and considered her. She looked older now, in her mid-twenties. Her auburn hair was tied behind her in a braid that reached her lower back, and her eyes shone like mini-moons, twinkling in the midnight.
"It was time that we officially talked. I have been doing a lot of… self inflection recently and have come the conclusion that i appear to hold affection for you. I do not know what this means, but i figured that i should at the very least let you know about it. I know that we have not talked much, let alone at all, but i figured that it had to be said."
Artemis was confused. "Affection? We aren't exactly on very friendly terms, even with you assisting the Gods as you have been. I mean, sure i want to thank you for giving me the Domain of the Wilds, but…"
Perseus sighed. "I know that i am confused just as much as you are. I was created by my Father for the sole purpose of watching over the Cosmos and later, Humanity, and yet you are neither. You are not important on a Global or astronomical scale, even as an immortal. And yet, you are apparently important to me, and i have assisted you unseen where i can. My Father has told me that You are my weakness, which doesn't make sense either."
Artemis contemplated this. "You said that you have helped me, unseen. What do you mean?"
Perseus let out a small smile. "It started when Apollo was born, i knew that Hera had sent Python after you, and i shielded the two of you from it's tracking skills. When you first picked up a stick, i gave you the knowledge of how to make a bow. When you started tracking and hunting monsters, i allowed their weak points to be discernible so that you could learn to hunt the wildest of creatures. When You gained the Domain of the Hunt, i knew that Wild would assist you, and that was my first Gift that you knew of.
I have watched you Artemis, for the past three hundred years, always ensuring your safety. When the you hunted, i always resolved accidents. The Werewolf Lycaon tried hunting you once, and I killed him and sent him to Tartarus. You have a few enemies, and any who you could not handle i did instead."
The Archangel grew quiet. "I know nothing of you, and yet i know everything of you. We are not friends. I have not heard you laugh to the millions of jokes that i have heard been told. I was not there when you made your father promise you that you would never be forced to marry. I was not there when your Hunt got decimated by helping in the Trojan war.
But on the other hand, i'd like for us to be friends. I have millions of jokes to tell, and would like for you to hear them. I know you care for your Huntresses like a mother even though you did not birth them yourself, and in turn i swear that i will protect them too. And though you care little for men or Godlings, i would like to remain by your side as a companion."
Artemis laughs, even snorting a bit. "This sounds a lot more like you're trying to marry me than anything."
"Well, i'm not completely up to date on what exactly Greek courting entails, but if it lets me stay by your side for a while, then that is in fact what i am propositioning."
Artemis covered her mouth with a hand and laughed openly again. "The typical thing is that a man asked a woman's father for the right to marry his daughter. The man brings a gift for the father, a dowry, and gives it to the head. In this case, you'd have to go to Zeus and ask for his permission to marry me. If he agrees, we would be betrothed until the wedding ceremony, during which time we get to know each other."
She went quiet for a moment, before continuing on in a somber tone, "Here in Greece, women are seen as property of their fathers until they marry, and once they have, they become the property of their husband. This is why i made my father swear that i would not be forced to marry, for he technically owns that right. It is for this reason that i-"
She looked down, before lifting her head high, a fire in her eyes. "I made my decision so that i would not be owned. No man can take my freedom, not to mention that there are rules preventing a greek from marrying outside their ethnicity. Even you were were to go to my father, he would say no simply because he would want me to marry another greek God, rather than some Angel from another pantheon."
Perseus understood, or at least as much as he could. Angels, especially Archangels didn't exactly understand the concept of freedom and free will. Sure, it was a thing, but so far, the key event in Angelic history regarding free will had to do with Lucifer starting a war, so Angels weren't too keen on it.
Of course, Perseus could understand on some level. The ability to say that you are beholden to noone but yourself. That your choices are your own. While Perseus was Loyal to his God, he had proactively made the choice to go to Earth to protect Humanity during the Apocalyptic War.
It made sense that the Goddess of the Wilds would not wish for chains shackling her down.
So why did his chest hurt?
And so the Archangel bowed his head, so deep that his head levelled with his hips. "I understand Artemis. Since that is the case, I shall not bother you ever again." A frown graced his perfectly created face, and his six eyes looked at the ground. He drew in a deep shaky breath before exhaling it.
"I should go." Water dripped from his face, and he knew that he was crying, even though he knew not why.
"Hold on a second there Archangel, i still haven't said my share." Perseus felt something touch his face, and he found Artemis drawing him up out of the bow.
"I still need to thank you for the Domain. It's the best gift in the world. Without it, i doubt i would have had a compelling reason for not wanting to settle down like the other gods and get married. So thank you. And also…"
Her voice cracked a bit, and Perseus looked at her, feeling lost, hopeful, cracked, whole.
"If you would like, you are always welcome company. I'm usually by myself, and i don't exactly have many male friends, males tend to get the wrong idea when you get close to them, you know?"
Perseus felt his hearts mending, and the Tears stopped. "If you can't hang out with guys, why don't you get some girls to follow you around? I know you like to hunt, maybe you could make a hunting group or something?"
She cracked a sardonic smile and said, "And what, make them immortal too? Like that would fly on Olympus, a bunch of mortal girls hanging out with the unmarried huntress, killing animals and stuff."
Perseus grinned too. "I don't know. I've met your father, and he's a fairly reasonable person. Maybe as long as you swear that none of them will have spouses either he'll allow it. And then you could train them to fight the monsters and even the Titans and Giants when they come back. Who knows, maybe you could even use it to protect those who have been taken advantage of?"
Artemis looked at Perseus, slack jawed. "Huh, you really are something else, Perseus. I'll tell you what, you really are allowed around whenever you want. Just give me a few minutes of notice next time, i really don't want to accidentally shoot you or something."
"Perseus's grin grew wide. "I have just the thing. Here, let me just do a little something…" He turned around and a couple small flashes of light could be seen before he turned around. In his hands he had a silver bracelet with a gemstone the color of his eyes.
"Hold out your arm." He said, and when she complied, he clasped the bracelet to her arm. "There you go. I can now send you messages through this directly into your head, and you can talk to me simply by thinking what you want me to hear. Of course, that doesn't mean that i can hear all of your thoughts, just the ones that you want me to hear. It has to be intentional. No accidental messages and what-not."
Artemis was astounded, this was far more advanced than what Hephaestus could make, and Perseus had made in a matter or seconds.
"Oh! And i almost forgot! Grip the jewel and twist it, don't worry about popping it off:" The Archangel added, clearly looking excited.
When the Goddess did, a flash of silver light (Why all the silver?) was created, and suddenly in her hands lay an ornate silver bow with dried vines wrapped around the arms. The string was a genius of invention, and when she looked at its makeup, she could tell that it was made of millions of threads the size of human DNA, all woven together with a complex pattern.
"The string itself is woven so tightly that you'd need a head of a Pantheon in order to break it. I can't give you arrows for this, because any normal arrow shot from this would break instantly. Instead… Well, draw the string back without an arrow, and focus your godly power.
Focusing on a God's power took a bit of effort while not in their true form, so Artemis had to focus for a bit. When she finally drew back the bowstring with her Full Power harnessed, a small portion of it flew to the string and formed an arrow made of light.
"Light Arrows, created from the pure essence of your soul and power. Don't worry about firing the arrows and losing power either, it'll return to you within second after firing the bow. I do have to warn you that the arrows made of your essence is enough to obliterate a normal town of about two hundred people, so you should stick to your main bow when hunting… But i figured that at least with this you would be able to defeat any Godlike enemies with relative ease."
Artemis was stunned, and suddenly Perseus was engulfed in hug, which he tentatively returned.
"Thank you." She breathed into his ear, and so he responded with a simple 'you're welcome'.
"Also, what's up with all of the silver? Not that i don't like it, I just wasn't expecting such a big color theme around it." Artemis asked him when she released the hug.
"Oh! I didn't tell you. It's the color of your soul. I thought that you knew, but that's alright. I figured that it would fit you best."
"Interesting."
…
The time had finally come.
"Selene, are you sure about this decision? Once you have passed on the Domain of the Moon, you will never be able to hold the title again."
The Titaness looked at Perseus with a smirk on her face. "I've spent quite a while with the moon chariot. It's time i passed it on. Not to mention, i'm quite sick of you coming and visiting me up there just so you can talk about how amazing Artemis is. Now that she's going to hold the Domain, you can tell her herself."
"I don't know what you're talking about. I don't visit you just to talk about Artemis."
"But it does dominate our conversations, doesn't it?"
"I suppose." Perseus shrugged. "I've not put much thought on the matter. But looking back, that does seem to be the case."
"Anyways, take your Domain and give it to the Girl. She's been excited for this since i first mentioned it to her two hundred years ago."
"What a tease, Selene. Keeping her waiting this whole time? Who would have guessed that you'd be the type?"
"Oh just get on with it. I, Selene, Titaness of the Moon, Daughter of Theia and Hyperion, hereby relinquish my Domain of the Moon to Perseus, the Archangel. He is to Do with it as he Will. I hereby say so."
Perseus put a hand on sternum, and said, "I Perseus, first Archangel of God, owner of the Moon and Earth, do hereby accept the Domain of the Moon from the Titaness Selene. I Will give it to your successor, in accord with my promise to the gods of the Earth."
"May it be so." A burst of energy came from within the Titaness, and suddenly a ball of white light was in Perseus' hand. The Archangel looked about the hall, seeing the Greek Pantheon that surrounded the area. It was important that The Domain was given and received in faith, without coercion. Had it not been the case, a portion of the power would have remained with the old God, and the only way to take the power fully was to Kill a god, which was only done by making them fade. Not to mention, he needed to make sure that none of the Gods that were present weren't planning on Stealing the Domain for themselves without the supervision of their peers.
"Bring in Artemis, and we shall complete the Ritual." Zeus said, and the Archangel inclined his head in thanks. It took a lot of power to Hold Raw Energy in his hand, even considering how Powerful he himself was. He couldn't afford to lose his grip on it, and that took almost all of his Focus.
Artemis walked in, a circlet of silver on her brow. She wore an elegant midnight chiffon dress, and had her silver bracelet on as well. She was Beautiful.
Perseus had to keep himself together. Ritual first, admiration of Beauty later.
"Artemis, Goddess of the Wilds, the Hunt, and Protector of Women, will you accept this Gift of the Domain of the Moon? It is a hefty burden. Without the Moon and Sun, the Earth would surely fall into Darkness. If you accept this Gift, you must always remain vigilant in maintaining the Light. Do you accept this this Responsibility?"
Artemis took the hand that held the power with both of hers. "I, Artemis, Goddess of the Wilds, the Hunt and Protector of Women, daughter of Leto and Zeus hereby accept this Gift and Responsibility. I will always endeavor to ensure that Darkness does not prevail, and will cover the sun if it strays from its path. May you watch over me till the end of my days to ensure this."
"It will be so. I hereby give to you the Domain of the Moon. Hold on to this Power and Make it yours." He relinquished the Power to the Goddess, and it stayed in the air for a moment before absorbing into her.
She closed her eyes, and when she opens them up again, they shine with a brilliant light.
"Artemis, i name you the Goddess of the Moon."
…
Artemis quirked her mouth as she bit back a laugh. "And that was the moment where you realised what Love meant? When you looked on me with my new title? That's hilarious."
"Hey, i didn't exactly get gifted with the ability to understand emotions. It's a miracle that it only took me seven hundred years to finally understand."
"Damn right, you dense kid. I thought that you'd never understand. Took you long enough."
"Don't call me kid, i'm several million years older than you."
"Right, sorry Grandpa."
He smiled and stood up, before proffering a hand to the Silver Goddess.
"May i have this dance, My Lady?"
"Oh, aren't you a charmer. Just because my Huntresses call me that, doesn't mean that you need to. And yes, i think that you can." She reached up and took his hand, pulling her to her feet.
There was no music in the Forest, just the two of them and the sounds of nature. But the crickets chirped, giving a tune, and the wind rushed, swelling a rolling beat. The stars above them twinkled, and a smile could be seen on Artemis's face as she took his hand in hers and held his shoulder with the other.
"You know, i feel sometimes as if i've not changed at all, and yet everything is completely different. I feel like this is meant to be, just you and me, forever."
"Alright loverboy, don't be going sappy on me."
"What, you don't want me to wax poetic? Oh right, that's your brother's job."
"Please, i'd rather hear it from you than him. At least you make it sound good."
"Maybe it's because all of my poetry revolves around you being awesome."
"Maybe"
"..."
"You know, falling in love with you was easy."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. I mean, before i realised what was going on, nothing actually made any sense. Why did i have such an interest in you? What could possibly be causing this? I felt like it had no rhyme or reason. It was like all i'd ever done was Follow my Father, but when you came along, it was like waking up from the Dark. I hadn't realised that Love is such an integral part of Light. Without you, i don't know if i could ever truly understand what my dad represents."
"Did you just call him your dad? Don't you always call him Father?"
"Yeah. He actually was the one who told me that i was in Love with you, back before i even talked to you about it. He was the one that suggested that i talk to you about it."
"Well, when are you going to introduce me? I'd like to meet the guy that created the universe and set us up." SHe winked at him.
"Maybe soon. Although, He's trying to set up an event in the next few hundred years. Something about a great prank on Lucifer."
"Wasn't Lucifer the one that Rebelled and caused the first Apocalypse?"
"Yeah, my little brother. Although it wasn't exactly his fault. He had the Mark, which held Darkness in Hell, and it corrupted him. You weren't exactly alive when it happened, although i'm sure you saw the aftereffects."
Perseus looked towards the skyline, and saw a flash from the Heavens.
"Oh, i guess i'm getting called. I need to see to this. I'll see you later?"
"You can bet your immortal life on it.
…
"Perseus, we're closing the gates of Heaven. No Angels allowed out, or in. Any of the fallen angels that are still on earth will not be able to come back or be redeemed, and all of the angels up here will not be able to leave, except by the will of One of the Archangels. I'm telling you this because you've been spending an exorbitant amount of time down there, and Without a way to contact us, You'll be trapped down there for a long time."
"I must carry out my Father's will, and that was to foster and cherish Humanity. I will continue my duties and protect them from the Darkness and inevitable Entropy that will one day catch up to them, even if it costs my immortality. I will be fine trapped on Earth until you contact me next."
Michael's face softened a bit. "Very well Brother. We close the gates within a day or two. Make sure that you have your affairs in order by then."
Raphael studied Perseus, and his eyes widened. But he said nothing until Michael had left the room.
"You've experienced it then? Love?"
Perseus nodded. "I also found our Father, though he told me not to reveal his location. Sorry Brother. But he told me that what i was experiencing was in fact Love, and that i should embrace it. So i will."
Raphael pulled Perseus into a hug. "Take care of them."
"I will."
…
If there was one particular activity that Perseus and Artemis liked to do together, it was dancing. Of course, in secret. They couldn't let Zeus know that they were in a secret relationship, because if he knew, Perseus would have to kill him. And that wouldn't exactly be a good thing for them.
Where was I? Oh yeah, Perseus and Artemis dancing. It was a spectacle to see. Perseus would wave a hand, and music would simply play. Choirs and Bells, Harps and Horns. Even things that wouldn't exist yet for a couple thousand years played sometimes and that were really rocking to those songs.
But as time came and passed, so did civilisations. The Roman Empire was born, and with it the Roman Pantheon. This caused a huge schism in the God's ability to work together, and for a time they only assumed their Roman forms.
Diana was even more open to a loving relationship with Artemis, Even though they were essentially the same person. Diana had not, you see, made a vow forswearing men, and she felt extremely comfortable doing couple things together, like laying her head in his lap, kissing him, going out and smiting evildoers. You know, couple goals.
And it was near the start of the Roman Empire when IT happened. You probably already guessed it, but God himself came out of hiding and got born as a Human named Jesus. Or specifically, his name was more like Yeshua, an alternative for Joseph, but for centuries after he'd be known as Jesus, so that's what i'm putting here. You probably already know most of the important stuff that went down thanks to this.
Remember though, for a couple thousand years already the Jewish people had thought that Perseus was God, and called him thusly. Perseus was just an Archangel, tasked with the protection of Humanity, so he had set them some rigid rules to ensure that they were good.
So when God came as Jesus, a lot of the Jews didn't really believe him. Not to mention that the priests were all mostly corrupt at the time and didn't like him preaching about donating all you owe to helping other people, Loving everyone (Even your enemies? What?), and just generally not being a dick.
And so the Jewish Priests went to Pontius Pilate and organised his death.
Of course, God couldn't die. He was a mass of energy that created the universe. Only Death (The Incarnation, possibly there before even Darkness, not too sure) could completely destroy God, and he was on break that day, eating some pizza.
Of course, Perseus was crying.
You see, God's plan was to Die, taking on literally every sin of every person throughout all time onto him, and use that as his key to get into Hell (Since Lucifer was a crafty one and had somehow figured out how to lock it from his Father). Once inside, he would bust down the Doors and Walls from the inside, and allow everyone safe passage to Heaven.
It worked, for the most part. God did in fact save many souls, most of which were denying becoming a demon. However, all of those poor souls that had already become demons, they were lost to God.
Perseus had thought that his dad's plan would not work, but at meeting with him in private, God assured him that it would be all right.
"I'm sick of Lucifer corrupting people and then torturing them once they've died. It's a direct insult to me as his Father, and People are getting hurt."
"But taking all the world's sin, throughout all time? Won't that make you lose connection with your Power?"
"It will, for a time. You see, i have never sinned since the time i was alive. (Sinning being falling into the temptations of Lucifer of course.) Due to this, once i enter Hell, the sins that i've collected will fall from me. I am not beholden to the punishment of sin, as i have not ever done it myself. And once the sins of humanity is washed from me, i will regain my Power."
"Well, i'm not going to stop you. But if you need help at all in the process, call my name, i will be watching."
"Always kiddo."
…
If there was anything that had ever been as devastating, it was seeing his dad die. Obviously it wasn't permanent, as we know now that God is well and alive, but at the time, Perseus was heart-broken. On seeing his father as Jesus die, his heart felt such grief that unintentionally he split the earth with his power. An earthquake felt on the whole of what is now Europe and Asia could be felt at such a large magnitude that it has not been seen since.
Perseus was in his true form to witness the event, and when Jesus died his body blackened out the sky for hours on end, before he realised that he was a source of darkness and turned into a smaller form.
Diana found the Archangel so; curled up in a ball and crying from all six of his eyes.
"Oh, Percy. It'll be alright. He said that he would gain his powers back?"
Perseus hiccuped through his sobbing. "Yeah, he did say that."
"Then we have to trust him. The maker of the cosmos hasn't often been in the wrong before."
"I suppose not…"
"..."
"Diana?"
"Yes?"
"Can you hold me?"
"Of course."
…
It was three days before Jesus made his miraculous recovery, and he made sure that Perseus knew that he was alive before he did what he needed to do. During that time, the world was in a state of turmoil.
Half of the Jews that had persecuted Jesus knew what had happened, of course, and some of them converted to the newly formed "Christianity". The others continued on in their practices, and refused to believe that God had come among them. This isn't particularly important though, is it?
We were talking about the relationship between a certain Archangel and a certain Goddess.
After all of these things happened, Perseus and Diana were closer than ever before. Of course, Perseus had begun going among mortals in a less inconspicuous form, so that he could train those with the grit and determination to hunt Monsters.
During the intermission, a great deal of Monsters had begun to spring up, and mortals were worried about their abilities to fight the beasts, so Perseus trained them. He also prayed to Diana (And Artemis if he was training Greeks) openly while training them and giving them information about the beasts, and so it was that the mortal Hunters who could not join her immortal gang prayed for her assistance while on the hunt.
Diana had to laugh at the situation, since she was constantly getting prayed to, which was a pleasant change for the Goddess. Gods gained more power the more that they were worshiped, and they could also Fade if they were forgotten. Since she was having so many hunters and huntresses sacrificing food in campfires to her, as well as all of the prayers coming in, she was steadily raising in power akin to that of Mars. Obviously Mars was a big deal for the Romans, but Diana had achieved an interesting niche in Roman society thanks to Perseus.
"Percy, get your ass over here and kiss me already." The goddess shouted at the Archangel.
"Who me? I don't recognise the name Percy." The Archangel said, giving her his signature smirk.
"And your nickname for me isn't Moonbeam. Come on Percy, don't make this a game."
"But at least Moonbeam means something to me! I am the one that God gave the ownership of the moon too, and you hold the Domain. Therefore in a sense…"
"Sure, you own the physical body that my Domain represents, but, damnit!" Diana had tried to sneak up on the Archangel and kiss him, but he had disappeared.
"I've got a solution. You want a kiss, and i Love you. How about i give you what you want?"
"What?"
"Maybe not yet. No, now's not the best time. Especially given that Christianity is going to become the lead form of Religion for the next couple millenia. Though we can't exactly discount Islam, they're going to become even more popular than Christianity, which is funny since they worship the same God. What was I doing? Oh yeah, this."
Percy Poofed into being right into Diana's arms and gave her a deep kiss.
"Thanks for being amazing!" the Archangel said once they had stopped, before disappearing again.
"Percy!"
…
If there was one thing that Artemis could not have imagined, it was Perseus's unorthodox way of actually proposing.
"I understand if you don't want to do it, but at least this way i don't have to worry about you fading on me." Perseus stood still, with a withdrawn pose. Clearly he wasn't sure that she would be open to the idea.
She was a little amused, though. It wasn't every day that your secret lover for three millenia asks you to join your soul to theirs. Especially when said lover is an immortal Archangel with the power to destroy worlds, and they look so insecure.
"Is that a roundabout way of telling me that you love me?" Oh, Artemis could not believe the material that he was giving her. So much teasing potential, and she'd be able to hold this over him for centuries.
He looked a little confused by the question, since he clearly had told her so in the past.
"In a- yes, i supposed it is! I just don't want to lose you for any reason." If there was one thing that could be used to describe the Angel, it was that he was too cute for his own good.
Artemis pulled him close, a hand on his chin, and gave him a kiss to the cheek.
"Just tell me what we need to do, Angel, and i'll do it. Especially if it means that i can sass you for the rest of eternity."
Perseus was a little flustered, but clearly pleased with the outcome. "Great, i just need to get my dad over here and-"
A bright light flashed downwards from the sky, landing on the ground, and a man with an unkempt beard appeared. He looked as though he hadn't slept in two hundred years, but Artemis didn't comment on it.
"Don't worry Percy! I've been waiting for this for hundreds of years now! All we have to do is, well we're going to leave the planet for a few minutes. Well it'll be more like five years, but whatever, i've prepared what i can. Anyways, we can't really have the resulting black-hole kill all the humans that would witness the biggest event since the big-bang am i right?"
Artemis wasn't so sure about leaving the planet, especially since she had never officially met God before, but Percy's dad did in fact have a point.
"Great, so now that we're in agreement, let's get going-" God grabbed both the goddess and the Archangel, and suddenly they were out in space.
"Where are we?" Artemis asked.
Perseus looked around and laughed. "He took us to the supervoid. Oh, dad you really are something. I bet that you specifically set aside this area so that we could merge our souls."
God held up his hands in humor. "I figured that this was going to be big, so i set aside a little room for the resulting effect. I was only half joking when i said there would be a black hole, even i'm not sure what's going to happen when I do this. I've never had the honor of fusing two souls into one, especially not two that are so in love and have so much power. Hell, after this you two might even have power that rival's mine!"
He gave out a good natured laugh, but Artemis was still concerned by something.
"You said the supervoid, where exactly are we?"
"Oh, you guys are about 3 Billion light years away from Earth right now. Don't worry about the resounding blast hurting anything though, there's a good 0.9 billion light years in any given direction with little to no matter, and way less life than on your planet alone."
Artemis was floored. Or she would have been, had they not just been floating in space. That was an insane flex of power, and Percy's dad didn't even seem phased by the effort. And he said that she would rival his power after?
"1.8 Billion light years diameter of barely any galaxies is something else dad. The Humans sure are going to be confused by this for a couple of years."
"Bah, the humans can learn by themselves what happened. I'm not doing this for them, but for you both. Now, are you ready to lay your souls bare to one another?"
That was the question. Now was the time to back out if Artemis didn't want this. She had all the time in the universe to answer this one question. But- she had seen too many of the Greek gods disappear over the years. Selene, Helios, Pan, Metis, and too many others. Half of the Greek Pantheon only stood due to the fact that people still remembered them, and Artemis herself only still stood because of her connection to the Moon.
Which was another thing that tied her to Perseus. Had he not made it imperative that one of the Gods had to hold the Domain of the Moon, she wouldn't have ever held the Domain, and through that, would probably have faded long ago. Not to mention the fact that it had drawn her closer to him by a common shared power. Although Perseus wasn't nearly as close with the Gods and Goddesses from other pantheons that held the Domain of the Moon as he was with her.
There was only on logical conclusion to the question, and she had given her answer long ago.
Even if it meant giving up her soul for Perseus's, she would do it in a heartbeat. He was Hers, and She was His.
"Let's make this happen."
What happened next would rock the foundations of the universe and everything in it for the rest of all time.
Perseus and Artemis assumed their true forms and then further broke themselves down into huge massive balls of energy. I might've mentioned before that Perseus's true form was roughly the size of a small moon. In his pure energy form, the amount of energy alone touching a planet could instantly vaporize it. Artemis' Energy mass was slightly smaller, though. Together, their size roughly encompassed a quarter of the open space that they had been brought to.
There was no resounding explosion of energy or anything, and God remained in his human form as he walked through the energy fields. Every couple of millimeters, the Creator of Life would make a movement with his hands, as though tying the energy together. Like i said, the size of their energy took up .45 Billion Light years of space in diameter, so the process took a long time. It took two years alone to finish with this first part.
Once he was done tying all of their collective energies together, he gathered together the only part of them that was intangible, their Love for one another. He took this and encompassed the energies all around, wrapping it all together. You might be thinking that if you were to wrap something like energy and condense it, that it would shrink in size. Instead, the Love that wrapped around their collective energies only served as a catalyst for expanding the energies to filling roughly half of the supervoid.
I don't know if you can imagine how big this size difference is. Imagine that you are an ant, and your house is an anthill. Now compare that with the size of the Milky Way, which is roughly 100,000 light years across. That's the size difference that i'm talking about.
Anyways, once God was done all of this (Which had taken another two years), he merged the Love with the Energies, and this let out an enormous bouts of Expanding power. When i say this, i don't mean that it got even bigger. I mean that Energy rolled out of the mass in droves. I mean, that all of the energy in our known universe could not add up to how much energy filled this thing, and it was letting off all that it could not contain.
When all was done, the Supervoid was no longer, and it was filled with the early stages of matter and suns forming, as well as black holes and all sorts of radiation.
But the most important thing that was left over was a single mass of energy.
The Creator and Architect took this energy, being very careful. He condensed it finally into a small form, roughly the size of our galaxy, and had Finished his work.
Consciousness gathered, and the Energy flashed, and there before God stood a single entity.
I can't even begin to tell you what this behemoth looked like, since i wasn't there, and both Percy and Artemis refused to tell me what their combined form looked like, but suffice to say that their power indeed rivalled that of The Creator's.
They had a conversation, which i am not privy to, but it followed along the lines that the Being agreed to continue to protect Humanity, while also flourishing life in the space that used to be the Supervoid. So one day, there will definitely be aliens, but not yet kids.
That pretty much concludes my story. Percy and Artemis were able to seperate, and assumed roles befitting their new powers, while also falling into their old patterns on Earth. Artemis led her Huntresses in much the same way, but she could also be in thousands of other places at once, and began to help people around the world learn to respect women and righted injustices.
Perseus made sure to stifle any wars that might've come about from the huge power shifts, and has been taking his role as Protector very seriously.
But about all, Percy and Artemis are always together. They will always be able to know everything that the other knows, and use this information to help the world in what ways they can. And they are happy in their bond of eternity.
So i finish here with a final word of advice. Love, even if it isn't romantic, overcomes all odds. The power of it alone can shape the universe, and it has the power to transform even the worst of wrongs into rights. Love perseveres, and does not delight in Darkness. It is the truest form of the Light, and without it the world would fall into the Dark.
So love. Love. Love and be Loved. Show that the world has meaning. Bring Light into the world wherever you go, as Percy and Artemis do. And when you finally die, your Light will shine brightly with the strength to moves mountains and topple Empires of Darkness.
Thank you.
This is Remvis signing off, take care.
