I own nothing, not the characters, the space where this story exists, or even the eyes that you are using to read it. This is for entertainment purposes only, no money involved.
The world seemed to fall silent. The warring cries of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers that had been laying siege to the great city of Troy had died as the clash of the two champions of the opposing armies was brought to an end. With one final stroke, the polished bronze sword of Achilles found the opening between breastplate and helm and Memnon's head spun through the air before the body slide to the ground, the metal armor ringing as the body hit the ground.
That should have been it. The hero of Troy was no more, and Achilles stood tall, the symbol of Athena shining in the middle of his fabled shield surrounded by the twelve symbols of the zodiac. The war that had been set up back the divided gods to be played out by men should have stopped, the victors declared in the heavens.
Only Achilles was not satisfied. His rage had yet to die. Though the battle had been won, he had lost two of his dearest friends; Patroclus and Nestor. So standing in the middle of the battlefield, in the sight of men and gods alike, Achilles, son of Thetis and hero of Athena called out a challenge.
"Ye gods who sought to split the heavens! I have killed your last champion! Your attempts to use mortal men to further yourselves has fallen, but you have not been the ones to pay the price! Come down here, so that I may show ye the true taste of steel!" Achilles roared, daring the rebelling gods. Everyone who could hear him believed he was mad, a mortal man, challenging the divine.
Achilles stood their, a legend in the making, his blood hair hair waving in a wind that couldn't be felt, his eyes burning with the bright green fire of the divine, his entire body seemed to glow with power that couldn't stand the existence of an equal. It was easy to understand why some believe him to have cast aside him mortality, that he was an immortal himself, beyond a simple demigod.
Heat and light burned in the sky, blinding all who stood on the battlefield as the sun seemed to descend from the heavens, the first to take up the prideful man's challenge. A bolt of heavenly power flying down towards the insolent man to strike him down.
But Achilles was not blinded, he spun his shield around, deflecting the arrow out if the air, causing it to rebound upon the earth where it carved a long trail into the ground. Achilles' bright green eyes looked up into the fire of the sun, seeing through the light and too the shining bronze armor that glowed with the fire of the sun itself.
Apollo had come down from the heavens on his chariot, bringing with him the unmistakable power of a god, a pressure so vast that lesser men could not even comprehend his presence.
"You surprise me, Apollo. I had believed that Ares would have come upon my challenging." Achilles said as his eyes followed the usually blinding light as it circled around him, another arrow being notched to the god's golden bow. "I suppose I will need to defeat the weakest of my opposition before Ares or Poseidon grace the field." Achilles said, insulting the god of the sun as he deflected the second arrow and a third.
"You forget yourself son of Thetis! You are but a mortal, meant to sever the gods!" Apollo's voice echoed through the air as his golden chariot circled about the battle.
Achilles sheathed his sword before flicking up Memnon's discarded spear with his foot, catching it in his hand. "No! It is you who has forgotten your loyalties! I serve Athena, and her father, the King of the Gods in turn! You have forgotten who it is who rulers you, and I will remind you of your place!"
The spear came alive with bright green light as Achilles infused it with the power of the Aether, the light of immortality, and through it at the rogue god with such speed that the air cracked as if it had been a bolt of Zeus's lightning that had been thrown. The spear of green light soared through the sky, catching the god on the shield and throwing him from his chariot which ran back off into the sky as the god fell to the Earth below, landing on his feet and kicking up a mountain of dust.
Apollo was made to discard his bow as the warrior hero rushed him, the light of Aether surrounding him like a blanket of his own immortal power to face against the god's. Short swords clashed, sending tremors through the air as the two preformed a battle that could neither been seen or understood by the mortal on looks as the veil covered the air to protect the mortal minds for the effects of seeing magic.
But the battle did have onlookers. Up in the heavens Athena and Artemis watched the battle between the god of the sun and the near immortal hero.
"I don't now which one of them is more foolish, my idiot brother for giving into the challenge, or that boar of a hero for giving it." Artemis scoffed. The goddess took the form a a small child, even though she was older than her twin by a few minutes. Her short black hair framed a pale face that could win nearly man's heart, which would cost the fool who looked on it his life. "Win or lose, they will be punished for disrupting the order for their little battle, one that does not even serve a purpose."
"That maybe, but they will still fight. That is the nature of warring men, they won't stop until they prove who is stronger." Athena said with a smile. Athena's gray eyes never left the battle, seeing ever single move that the two fighters made. "Though your brother believes he has nothing to fear from my champion. He is greatly mistaken."
Artemis frowned. "Even if he has been granted the light of immortality from his contact with the River Styx, I would hardly say he is a match for a true god." Artemis said looking down at the man with disgust clear in her face. "I still cannot believe that you would call such a filthy mortal your champion. He does not embody wisdom in battle, he is a raging animal. One of the most disgusting and sinful of his kind."
"I know." Athena said with a chuckle that caught her half sister by surprise. "I know, and so does he. Which is why he fights in my name. He wishes for my wisdom to guide him so that he doesn't cause pointless destruction like he would have underneath Ares's rule." Athena looked over to Artemis and giggled at the expression on the young face. "You really hate him don't you?"
Artemis turned away. "All men are animals. And men who make love to other men are even worse." The moon goddess said, earning a long laugh from the war goddess.
Meanwhile, back on the Trojan battle field, the god and the demigod continued to fight, each unwilling to stop. Achilles short sword flashed through the air, covered in the green fire that was fueled by the power of the Aether, the vary nature of light and the air that the gods breathed. It was through this power that Achilles stood on equal footing with the god of the sun, deflecting any slash with his shield before striking out with his sword to press the god back.
Apollo may have been skilled with a bow, but in a close quarters fight against the talented young warrior, his failings with a sword were becoming more and more obvious. Scratches appeared on the gods shining bronze and gold armor as attack after attack got through his attempts to parry.
Then as Achilles pushed forward in a shield bash maneuver, Apollo vanished in a flash of light to reappear behind the hero, swinging down his sword in an attempt to take the man's head. But Achilles turned, his sword parrying the blow before he swung his shield around with all his strength, its edge glowed green as it caught the god in the helmet, splitting the helmet open and sending the god tumbling through the air.
Apollo rolled up from the ground, clutching at his face, a long scar covering it from the bridge of his nose to the end of his cheek bone. The god looked up at the hero, his expression a mixture of indignation and terror. Flakes of golden dust glittered around the wound instead of blood.
It must have been the first time the god had ever been injured. After all, no mere mortal had the power needed to strike out at him, and the other gods would be held back by the power of divine law. Apollo was too young to remember the war between the gods and the titans. So he had no experience of true war. A war where your vary being was at risk.
"What is the matter, Lord Apollo?" Achilles said sarcastically, grip tightening on his sword. "Do you fear death? You had no problem sending hundreds of mortals to their ends? So why should you shy away from this final night?"
"You are an abomination. You wield the breath of the gods against us as a weapon, and you are unbounded by the divine laws. You are dangerous to the order of the world. Why does Athena allow you to still exist?" Apollo spat angrily, though he seemed to be in no hurry to try to attack Achilles again, backing away from the not quiet mortal hero.
"You are forgetting where the Aether comes from. It is a product of Nyx and of Chaos. The very air you breath is part of the nature of disorder. So I am only using it for its natural purpose." Achilles said with a glare. He went down into a stance, clearly ready to rush the god again.
But before he could, a sharp pain moved through his back. The hero gasped as something managed to piece through his armor from behind him. But he had not sensed any divine being in that direction. A hand went down to his chest to feel the head of an arrow sticking through him, before coming away, covered in blood.
Achilles turned as his life started to find away to see the must unlikely sight. Paris, the bastard prince who started this war, standing a few hundred yards away. The tiny man was shivering with fright under Achilles' stare, clutching the golden bow of Apollo in his hand.
Even in the hands of a complete novice, an arrow fired from Apollo's bow would fly true. Achilles had been shot through the heart, and as time slowed down Achilles fell to the ground, his part in history over. Died before he could exact his vengeance on the rebelling gods.
But for some reason, his soul never made it to Hades. His spirit never found rest. Instead it returned to River Styx where his power had first came from. The old Titaness brought in his spirit and held onto it, not letting it through to the after life. Cursing him to remain there, until the gods broke an oath placed on the sacred river.
Another story I threatened to make a long time ago. Or at least a challenge where Danny is the reincarnation of Achilles and has to uphold the oath to Athena who sends him to look over Annabeth while the girl is running away from home.