Inspired by HTTYD 3. It was a great movie, highly recommend it. Typed this immediately after watching it. My goal with this: make y'all cry. Tell me how I did.
It was heavy. Too heavy. A burden she couldn't escape, not because it would haunt her, but because she physically couldn't. There was a reason Atlas had been placed here as punishment, and it was because there was no pain greater than the weight of the world pushing down on your shoulders.
Artemis was barely aware of three demigods entering the scene, but she recognised her lieutenant instantly. Zoë Nightshade had trudged up this mountain, past her sisters and to her own father, all of which had tossed her out like a worthless piece of trash, just to get to her. Artemis was touched, but not surprised. Zoë had always been loyal to the very end. The horrid, dreadful end.
She was in a trance-like state for the entire battle up until she heard the scream. Her ears picked up on a familiar voice, ever so familiar, it had been relished by her for millennia. Zoë. Zoë had screamed. Artemis's head shot up and her eyes locked onto the body of her lieutenant, lying limp on the ground with her father's javelin sticking up out of her stomach. Atlas ruthlessly ripped out his weapon, ignoring his daughter's cry of pain.
She faintly heard someone calling her name, a desperate voice pleading for her attention. Her eyes reluctantly tore themselves from Zoë, looking Perseus Jackson in the face. "Give me the sky!" He called, his eyes filled with panic.
"No, boy," Artemis groaned, feeling her sweat covered body drop lower from just the effort of speaking. "It will crush you."
"Annabeth took it!" He protested. "She was fine!"
"Annabeth had the spirit of a huntress," Artemis replied. "You, on the other hand, do not."
"I'll be fine," Percy begged. "Give it to me!"
"You'll die," Artemis panted. She could feel her legs starting to give out, her shoulders hunching lower and lower.
"I'll die anyway!" He protested. "You're the only one who can beat him!"
"Perseus," she began, but the boy had already scampered under the sky and lifted it up alongside her. Half the pressure rose off of her, and she almost sighed in relief, no matter how heavy the load still was. She could see Percy gritting his teeth beside her. She didn't want to double his pain, but once her eyes locked onto Zoë's body once more, she was out in an instant.
Her knifes appeared in her hands and she charged the titan. He had been fighting back against a recently freed Annabeth, who managed to stand her ground by staying on the defensive long enough for Percy to free Artemis. Seeing a maiden fighting for her life only fueled the goddess's anger.
Artemis charged. Atlas finally swatted the girl away and was about to deliver the killing blow when Artemis slammed into his side at full speed. The two immortals went tumbling off to the side, hitting against one of the dark walls of Othrys. Atlas roared in fury, hefting his javelin and blocking Artemis's strike. She grit her teeth and slashed at him, her knifes a blur of silver as she landed strike after strike on Atlas's javelin, him being about equal to her speed.
Annabeth rejoined the fight, shoving her dagger into the small armour gap between his chest plate and his hip guard. Artemis noticed the boy's sword, Anaklusmos, Zoë's creation, still stuck in Atlas's leg. An idea formed in her mind.
"Move aside, daughter of Athena," Artemis spoke. "Help your friend with the traitorous boy. I will deal with Atlas."
Annabeth obliged without protest while Atlas laughed. "You think you can beat me, puny goddess?" Atlas laughed. "How funny."
"How funny that it is your own doings that make this possible," Artemis snarled. "Normally, I wouldn't dare waste my energy on you without a backup. But it was your doing that almost killed your daughter and are currently destroying her, and I swear on my immortal life, if she dies, you will suffer beyond imagination!"
Atlas almost looked genuinely afraid, but he didn't have the chance to say anything. Artemis had already grabbed Anaklusmos and pulled with all her strength to the side, ripping out a large chunk of his calf. Atlas bellowed in pain, falling forward and Artemis used his momentum to crash Anaklusmos into his side and push his body straight towards the sky. He fell just short of Percy. Artemis sent a mental message to him, preparing him for what she was about to do.
"Get on your feet, Atlas," Artemis commanded. The titan struggled to stand, using his Javelin as a cane. Artemis stalked closer, a feral glint in her eyes. She hit him in the wrist, in the shoulder, in the side, anywhere she could with her knives, all within the span of a few seconds, before using her body to send him sprawling backwards, straight into Percy. The demigod tumbled out from under the sky and it fell straight onto Atlas.
The titan cursed and shouted but Artemis was already beside Zoë. The other demigods were crowded around her, but before anything could happen, they heard the growls and howls of the monster army trudging up the mountain. Artemis called for her chariot, and within a few moments, her silver deer were landing on the cliffside. She scooped Zoë up in her arms and carried her into the chariot, sitting in the driver's spot and setting Zoë down beside her. Thalia sat behind, watching Zoë with a vigilant eye.
The group journeyed for a bit until they reached an empty field, where Artemis landed. They all filed out of the chariot, Artemis taking Zoë once more and bringing her out to join the rest of the demigods. The goddess set her lieutenant down, pulling her head into her lap, her eyes glistening with tears.
"Stars," Zoë muttered. "I cannot see them."
The sentence alone made Artemis want to sob. "I know, my dear," she murmured, leaning down so she was face to face with Zoë. She was aware of the demigod's watchful gazes but she didn't care if they saw, if they knew. Let them see what love truly is. "Hold on, love. Please."
"Can't you heal her with magic?" Percy asked. "I mean . . . you're a goddess."
Artemis frowned deeply, pulling her head away from her lieutenants. "Life is a fragile thing, Percy. If the fates will her string to be cut, there is little I can do." Artemis paused, taking deep breaths to repress the wail that rose heavy in her throat. "But I can try."
Artemis tried to rest her hand on Zoë's stomach, but Zoë took hold of her hand first. She didn't want to be healed. "Why," Artemis whispered, even such a quiet statement piercing the silence. "Why are you so insistent on death?"
"Because I know it is inevitable," Zoë answered. "I cannot avoid it. The prophecy . . ."
"You knew?" Artemis cried. "You knew yet you still came?"
"Of course," she muttered. "I could never abandon my goddess."
"But at the sake of your own life!" Artemis wept. "Why? I would rather myself have died over and over than you be gone forever. Why must you protect my own immortal soul?"
"You may be immortal," Zoë murmured. "But you are not immune to pain. Besides, one cannot avoid their fate."
A painful noise escaped her throat. "Please, Zoë, let me try!"
"It will be useless," she responded, her voice growing softer and weaker. "A waste."
"I'd rather waste all of my soul trying than to do nothing!" She sobbed. "Please!"
"No," Zoë said quietly. "Please. Let me go. Let me know that thou are willing to let me go."
"How can I!" Artemis wailed. "You are my life!"
"You must," Zoë whispered. "Please."
Artemis tried to swallow the cries and managed to stammer over her next words. "You . . . you have served me well. You will not be forgotten."
Her face relaxed. "Rest. At last."
Artemis dipped down to press a sorrow-filled kiss to her lover's lips, her tears dripping onto Zoë's neck. Artemis reluctantly pulled back then, to let Zoë see what she knew she would want to see before her . . . her passing.
"Stars," Zoë gasped. "I can see the stars again, my lady."
"Yes, my dear," Artemis managed. "They are beautiful tonight."
"Stars," she repeated. Her eyes fixed on the night sky, never to move again. Her body stilled, the liveliness seeped out of her, and Artemis felt her pulse go still. She felt as if her soul was being ripped from her body.
Artemis screamed. A painful, sorrowful scream that echoed all she had lost and pierced the hearts of all the demigods observing, almost forcing them to feel her pain. Her throat closed, cutting the scream short, and Artemis pressed a second desperate kiss to Zoë's lips as if it could magically revive her. Her lips were cold, lacking the warmth Artemis had always savoured. More sobs ripped themselves from her throat.
Artemis pulled back, a trail of dust following, and slowly, Zoë's body dissolved into white dust. Artemis straightened, the dust settling in her hand before she blew it out into the night. They all watched in despair as Zoë spiralled up into the sky, settling into the sky and creating an entirely new star formation. It flashed brightly, even outlining the shape it was supposed to make up of a huntress with her bow, forever chasing the moon.
"Live forever in the stars, my love," Artemis whispered, her whole body shaking terribly.
Zoë was dead. Usually, people would find relief in the fact that they would meet whoever they lost in wherever they believed death took them, whether it was to Hades or to heaven. Artemis found no relief in that. Her death could never me.
She would never see her lover again. Never see her smile, her face, never again hold her in her arms and pepper her with kisses. Never again would she have Zoë standing by her side, proud to be the right hand of a goddess. Never again would her heart be whole.
This was what the price was. Living forever was thought to be a blessing, but it was a curse. You watched all those you love die around you, slowly being killed off by the merciless fates, while you could do nothing but stand there and watch you life slowly crumble away into a dark nothingness.
It was horrible. Torturous.
Pain.
Fear.
Darkness.
Blood.
Immortality costs you.