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Sup everyone,

wow, idk what to say… I'm kinda new at this.

…. This is awkward. Lets just get to the story.

DISCLAIMER: I'm not Rick - Shocker!- therefore i don't own any of these characters or the series.

Chapter 1: Lamentations

Third-Person PoV

Drip, drip, drip. The raindrops fell, splashing and making dripping noises against the hard pavement floor. Swoooshh. The wind whistled and in the dark of night it almost sounded like a cry. The sky wept, acknowledging the loss of a great hero. Apart from a select few, no one noticed – no one cared. Those select few kept to themselves, talking to no one and thinking of no one other than their lost friend and/or brother. They too wept, and asked themselves, what happened? Where did everything go wrong? How did things so suddenly fall apart?

Hiding in the cover of a big forest, a group of girls sat huddled around a poorly lit fire. They shivered from the cold drops of rain falling through the trees. It was because of those rain drops that their fire was slowly dying. If not for the protection from the tree's surrounding them, the fire would have died long ago. They sat closely together, huddling for warmth. They could have easily gone into their tents, where the outside weather had no effect, but they didn't want to leave their leader alone. She sat in the middle of all the girls, staring into the dying fire. Her eyes, like the fire, had lost its shine. They were dull and lifeless from all the crying, and the moon was greatly affected by this. Overhead, hidden by the trees and the clouds, the moon was but an object floating in the sky; no glow, no shine, a simple object deprived of happiness.

Artemis sat drowning in her own personal thoughts; intently thinking. She had cried enough for one day, especially over the loss of a man. I hate all men, she told herself, you demigod, are no exception. Oh but he was, for he was not an ordinary man. He had done things in his short lifetime that had never been done by any Greek or Roman half-blood. Apart from his accomplishments, he had also proven himself worthy of respect by the moon goddess herself. It wasn't after he saved her the first time no, that was a small sacrifice. He truly earned her respect after saving her the second time. However, Artemis was too wrapped up in her belief, too convinced that all men were the same. For that very reason, she wouldn't allow herself to fall apart from the death of a mere demigod, a male one at that. She stopped her tear flow, stood up, gave the biggest fake smile she could and told her hunters to rest for the night while she waited for her lieutenant to return. Little did she know that her lieutenant was not to return that night, or the next. She would go missing, which would initiate the biggest search – and possibly rescue – mission ever faced by the hunters of Artemis.

A few miles away, a lone person sat on a bench in the park with only a thin hoodie to protect them from the now heavy rainfall. But she didn't care, in fact, she was glad that it was hiding her own heavy rainfall – of tears. She felt nothing, not the chilly wind nor the rain pounding away at her. She only felt pain and conflict within herself. I'm to blame, she told herself. She was right, she was to blame; everyone was to blame, no exceptions. Not from his father, not from his friends, and not from his cousins who thought themselves as siblings. Thalia was the person sitting on this bench. She was also the one whom Artemis sat crying for a lost brother. Her only brother since her last one betrayed her and shortly after died.

Being lost in her sorrow, Thalia failed to notice the dark figure perfectly blending into the dark of night. However that didn't matter because even if she had noticed the figure, things would have turned out much the same. Crash! For a quick second lightning flashed in the distance, followed by thunder; Zeus appeared to be angry. During that split second of brightness caused by the lightning, you were able to see the figure quietly approaching the still unsuspecting Thalia. Another lightning bolt streaked the sky and hit a nearby tree. The tree broke like a twig and caught fire. Luckily, the fire was immediately put out by the rain. This time, during the lightning, all that was seen was an empty bench. Thalia was nowhere in sight. The only thing left on the bench was her bracelet which would later be recovered by Artemis. Thunder crashed and then it was silent. Nothing was heard above the pounding rain and the whistling wind. Well except for a woman's voice yelling, "Father, are you trying to kill me!?" But just ignore that. It's not like it was an angry goddess or anything; that would be ridiculous. The rain continued to pour, the wind kept whistling, lightning flashed and thunder exploded.

As the storm raged on, the Ocean responded with just as much fury. The waves were in turmoil, confused and unpredictable. Waves splashed against the beach, not big waves but waves with potential. Anyone looking out into the ocean knew that it was still holding back, it wasn't causing as much damage as it could. Such might have been the case because of a demigod who was standing knees deep in the water. He stood there, raising his hands at any approaching wave. At his command, the waves would slightly shrink and slow down before crashing onto the beach. He had been doing this for over two hours and slowly but surely, he was running out of energy. Fact is, he should have dropped a long time ago but the water he stood in gave him a boost.

The kid was crying, but being in the water comforted him. His thoughts ran wild; I'll get stronger bro. Just watch, I'll be just as strong as you were. And when I become as strong as you, I'll avenge you big bro. I'll bring pain to all those who caused you pain. I'm sorry this had to happen to you bro. I'm sorry, so sorry… His tears continued to fall, falling and mixing in with the ocean water.

Off to the side was a lighthouse, shining its light far and wide; frantically calling boats to safety, calling for them to get out of the frightening sea. A figure stood inside the lighthouse, watching the young demigod. He watched as the waves came at him and how they would calm down, even if just a little. Then the wave would engulf him and he would disappear for 5 seconds. After the wave landed, the boy would just be standing there, completely unaffected by the wave. Even his clothes were unaffected; they were as dry as before. However, the figure could see how tired the boy was becoming. I'll just let him tire himself out, he thought.

The demigod continued his work and after another half an hour he was worn out, both physically and mentally. He saw a big wave coming at him. He calmed it, then it enveloped him, and finally it crashed on the beach. This time, after the water cleared, the boy was not standing in his place; nothing was standing in his place. The man who stood in the lighthouse was also gone. The Waves continued to splash, more fiercely due to the fact that no one was calming them. All that remained of the demigod was a pen, falling through the water. The pen kept getting pulled deeper and deeper into the sea – sinking – sinking slowly until it reached the bottom.

Underground, in a place where no live mortal has ever visited, (or wants to visit) sat a boy. He sat on a rock near a fire, his hands reaching out towards it trying to find warmth. He had tear stains on his cheeks and his eyes were red. He had really pale skin, as if he had never experienced sunlight before. A dark aura surrounded him, causing the ground he stood on to slightly tremble. Bones shook and tried to reform but he would calm them with a simple stare.

Nearby was a black river; a river so dark and mysterious that one would rather avoid it. It silently flowed downstream, carrying trash and broken object with it. Being in the presence of this river darkened your mood. It had a depressing feel to it. The boy, however, was unaffected by this for he was very much the same. He stood from where he was sitting and walked over to the river. He stared into it looking for his reflection, but of course, he didn't find it. He thought of his life, how messed up it had been before being saved. Now I'm right back where I started, He thought.

His thoughts were interrupted by a deep, masculine voiceasking, "You're not going to jump in are you?"

The boy slowly turned around and stared at the big buff dude who had asked him that. Although this boy was a lot smaller than the guy who spoke, the speaker couldn't help but flinch. For he knew that this little, scrawny, pale boy held power over him; for he was the ghost king and the speaker was only a ghost. A mere shadow or who he once was; a fierce warrior whom enemy cowered at the mention of.

"Achilles," the boy responded, "I do not, in fact, tend to jump in."

"Then why the gloomy face master?" responded Achilles.

The boy, who now looked annoyed, responded, "That is none of your concern, and just call me Nico."

Achilles, noticing the annoyance in Nico, said nothing as he began to dissipate. However, he was stopped by Nico's voice.

"Whoever's in the shadows, come out!" he demanded.

A dark figure with a hoodie walked out, slowly clapping his hands. "Bravo, round of applause, you noticed me," He said, sarcasm evident in his voice. Nico clapped his hands, playing along with the sarcasm.

"Oh yes, real impressive. Shadows are my domain; you can't hide there expecting me not to notice. Now answer me this, where did you come from!?" Nico's voice was steady, composed and threatening.

The man completely ignored him. "Hahaha I knew hiding from you would be slightly more difficult, Nico Di Angelo." He laughed as if it was all a joke, a prank.

"How do you know me? Who are you? What do you want?" demanded Nico.

The Cloaked figure frowned, noting Nico"s still composed face. "Thats none of your concern," Answered the man, mocking Nico. He began to grin as he slowly saw the boy lose his cool.

Nico said something quietly to Achilles, who had been standing watching the two exchange words. His command must have been to attack for that is what Achilles did. He rushed forward, holding his spear out in front of him, ready to impale the unwanted guest. The man waited, unconcerned by the giant approaching him. Right before getting stabbed, he sidestepped easily. However, Achilles wasn't a noob when it came to fighting with a spear. He quickly pivoted on his foot, and jabbed backwards, hoping to hit the man with the end part of the spear. (Not the spearhead part) However, the man simply deflected the blow, throwing the endpoint sideways. He then jabbed Achilles in the side with two fingers, and Achilles dissipated. No sooner had the intruder done this when he found himself being constrained by shadows.

"My my, you sure put on a better fight than the last two Nico," the man laughed as he saw the last bit of composure Nico held, crumble.

"Who are you talking about!? Who did you take!?" yelled Nico, demanding an answer. Nico willed the shadows to slowly wrap around the man neck. The man did nothing but laugh. Nico quickly twisted a skull ring he had on his right hand and it turned into a pitch black stygian iron sword in his hands. He ran forward with his sword raised, ready to slash the dark figure. Nico cut right through the shadows, but before his blow landed the man disappeared and reappeared five feet away. Nico dropped his sword, quickly shadow traveled behind the man, dropped low and kicked the man's feet from underneath him. As the man fell sideways, he stuck his hands out to the floor and stopped his fall. He landed in a position which made it easy for him to quickly spin on his hands, his leg extended to reverse Nico's move. The son of Hades, who had not been expecting a countermove, fell to the floor with a thud.

The Man now stood over the ghost king, lightly standing on his arms to constrain his movements. He then swung his fist down towards Nico's Face. However, before the blow landed, a skeleton hand popped out of the ground and intercepted his punch. Nico took advantage of this moment and swung his feet upwards, kicking the man in the back. The man flew off of him and Nico got up as fast as he could, but it was too late. The man was too fast, he was already standing behind Nico holding him in chokehold.

Nico struggled to free himself but the man held on tight. He tried to shadow travel away but the man was somehow preventing him from using shadows. The man noticed Nico looking down at his right hand. On his finger was his skull ring which had previously turned into a sword. It had reappeared on his finger.

The man immediately knew what the boy was thinking and said, "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Nico still went for it only to discover that his ring wouldn't even turn into a sword anymore. All of his powers had been rendered useless.

The man laughed, "Well this was a fun fight Nico, we should do it again some time." Then they were both gone. All that was left of Nico was his skull ring, sitting beside the dying fire. The River Styx silently flowed on.

PLEASE READ!

Ok, not to be a jerk or anything but I'm not gonna keep writing if no one is reading. Soooo if I get enough favs. follows and comments on this first chapter, I'll start writing the next. Deal?

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