Scars Don't Heal

Tempest Wilde Collection

Prologue

The heroine stood proud in front of the gods, her hand resting on her sword hilt. Blood was matted into her hair so thickly that you couldn't tell what color it was, but a victorious sparkle shone from her black eyes; the silver flecks in them were practically glowing. She stood tall, confident and arrogant. The gods stared at her. Some in disgust, some in hate, but most? Most stared at her in poorly disguised fear. Maybe fear was the wrong word. Terror is more accurate.

Zeus, to his later chagrin, was one of those. At least he hid it better. He stared at her with his emotionless mask plastered on his face. He needed to decide what to do. She had just saved Olympus, but she was dangerous to them as well. She was an unknown; something they'd never encountered before. Even fighting the Titans was better than this dreadful ignorance. At least they'd known what they were fighting then.

The triumphant warrior limped to the base of Zeus's throne with a feral grin that made most of the gods flinch. She knelt on one knee and bowed her head deeply.

"My liege." She said mockingly. She may serve the gods, but she didn't respect them and trusted them about as far as she could throw them. Which, in their current giant size, was about, oh... not at all, to their knowledge.

"Have you succeeded in the mission I assigned to you?" Zeus asked unceremoniously.

"Of course." She raises her head to look a blank Zeus in the eyes. "Did you expect anything less?" Her enchanting voice venomously sweet. Zeus continued to stare, calculating the pros and cons of sending her to Tarturus for eternity, not jokingly. Eventually he came to a consensus with himself. Now he just needed to get the rest of the Olympians to agree. Hecate would be particularly against it as she connected to the freak of nature at Zeus's feet and felt angry that such a powerful being was reduced to kneeling at the coward's throne. Luckily, she wasn't an Olympian and he didn't need her to agree with him.

"Please exit the throne room for a moment. I must discuss something with the rest." He intoned.

"Of course." She mocked, backing away bowing until she reached the doors. Once there she turned to the doors and threw them open, revealing a deserted courtyard. Nobody knew the war had ended yet and, better for Zeus, no one knew who had won it. She closed the doors, relieved beyond belief that she had survived the war, she had almost died so many times. Now she would finally be free to make her own choices.

Back in the throne room Zeus turned to his family, minus Apollo and Hermes, and cut right to the chase.

"She's too dangerous, too unpredictable. We need to get rid of her. She's a threat to our control." He outlined his plan to the assembled immortals. Oh yes, the creature would soon know not to mess with the gods. No matter that she hadn't yet, it was the possibility that made it real for the paranoid Olympians. As he predicted, Hecate was particularly against it, but a few words infused with the power of the King of the Gods had her unable to open her mouth. However, the more fearful gods and goddesses were easier to convince. He had everyone except Hecate and Thanatos nodding along, but they didn't matter, no one cared about their opinions. When he called his assassin back into the throne room she was much less feral looking, but she was still had an aura of darkness and danger hovering in the air around her. Plus, it helped that she'd retracted her most lethal weapons. Hecate stared at the girl from the corner of the room, knowing that the girl would look for her when Zeus broke the news. She wanted to convey that she'd done all she could with her eyes as she couldn't speak up with Zeus's power holding her mouth shut.

"My fellow Olympians and I have come to the consensus that you are too dangerous and unpredictable to remain serving us." Her grin started to falter. She was planning on escaping. She knew they wouldn't just let her leave. They were up to something, she needed to know what.

"What are you saying?" She asked nervously. She may not respect the gods, but she knew they could do a heck of a lot to her with the power they held. Zeus smiled maliciously.

"We're sending you to Tarturus." Hera pitched in sweetly. The heroine's face fell into a look of absolute despair. She knew the horrors of that place. The pretty ones don't last long down there. Her eyes sought out the one goddess she loved only to find her in the corner with agony in her eyes. Hecate couldn't do anything. The defeated victor's face melted into a look of cold indifference.

"Well, I guess I'll be going now. It was nice...actually, no. No it wasn't." She backed toward the doors slowly, her hand resting in her sword hilt once again.

"Where do you think you're going?" Athena tutted condescendingly. She had never liked the upstart brat and the dislike was mutual. Now she had won. Finally.

"Somewhere you'll never find me." Was her reply. Everything happened in the space of an instant. As the betrayed woman turned to run, Artemis loosed an arrow at her, making a deep clean cut from the left side of her forehead to her right cheek, narrowly missing her eyes. A black hole appeared behind her, courtesy of Hades. A direct route off the cliff that bordered Tarturus. Time seemed to slow to an almost complete stop. The gods had barely enough time to see the pure, unadulterated hatred plastered on the damned woman's face before her greatest asset and most lethal weapons burst from where they were hiding tucked into her back and cocooned her protectively in black scaly warmth.

The portal closed the moment she was completely through it. The gods let out a collectively relieved sigh into the silence of the room. But the relief was not to last. The air was pierced with the agonized cry of one distraught goddess. The wail went on and on, the unbearable pain contained within it caused shivers to go down the spines of the assembled gods.

Thanatos crossed the room to comfort his lover. His arms warm against the cold emptiness Hecate felt as a result if watching her daughter disappear into that black hole. She had barely had enough time to tell her the truth about her parentage and legacy.

Zeus watched with uninterested annoyance. He didn't understand the fuss, it wasn't like she was important. But as Hecate's sobs continued he grew slightly uncomfortable. Disturbed not by the agonized wails of Hecate, but by the single tear traveling it's way down Thanatos's cheek from his tortured eyes.

This may be where our story starts, but it is twenty some odd years before it continues. Yes, this is a story of the consequences of betraying someone more powerful than you could ever hope to be. This is a story of betrayal, traitors, and most importantly...revenge.