Chapter 3: A goddess

Nero saw the wings of a demon open wide and it landed on the car where the other demon had beat the ever living guts out of him. He felt blood on his chest from the gash the last demon had made. He coughed and a wave of pain came on him. He then saw the demon's eyes hovering over his. He then felt his chest get pierced by something. He coughed and screamed at the same time which didn't turn out to be a good sound. It sounded like he garbled down a water tank into his throat in one breath. To shorten it up, it was a painful sound that pleased the demon that was now on top of him.

He saw that the demon was wearing skin tight latex or something to that extent at least to Nero. It was a female demon by the way her breasts showed and the way the latex skin tight barley covered them, along with the rest of the pale skin she wore.

"W-what?" Nero said as he saw that the demon had stabbed him with its foot.

"Hello, Son of the Void." The creature on top of him said in a shrill high pitch voice. "It's nice to finally meet you, now die."

The demon opened her hand and a sword of darkness formed, Nero started to say his prayers.

"I don't think praying will be a good idea, you see you aren't going to the underworld, you will be heading to Hell with me! I was created by the Lord of Darkness." As the female succubus demon finished she slashed the sword at Nero's neck but only to never hit its target.

An arrow flew and hit the demon's arm with such forced that it actually cut it off completely.

"Hunters attack!" A familiar voice said. Nero looked where the voice came from and there in the middle of the parking lot, was Artemis, the girl from the mall.

She was dressed differently; she was wearing a silver jacket with dark jeans and black combat boots. She held a bow with an arrow ready to fire. Her silver eyes were cold, ready to let the arrow fly and kill.

"Stand down demon." She ordered with a strong voice.

"I take orders from Lucifer alone!" The demon shouted back. "Not from some false god like you, Artemis." The demon snarled bearing it's fangs at her.

"Why are you here?" She asked as young girls jumped to her side with their bows drawn.

"Nero?" One girl said in confusion. "What the, I thought he was the monster!" the girl said. It was Alice, her voice was recognizable.

Nero couldn't respond, his blood began to fill his lungs with the feeling of his life fading.

"I am here for the Son of the Void." The demon spoke.

"Son of the Void?" Artemis questioned.

"Ah, you don't know the prophecy… I see." The demon smiled and reformed her arm, she tried to stab Nero in the neck. But again arrows flew and chop off the demon's arm.

"ARGH YOU BITCHES!" Roared the demon. "I will have all your heads. Starting with the goddess."

Nero looked at the clawed foot that was driven into his chest and followed it up the pale corpse like body of the female demon. "Like hell you won't!" Nero shouted as he grabbed the ankle of the demon and pushed the claws out of him and twisted it to where it bent at an unnatural angle. Before it had a chance to roar in pain, Nero got up with such speed that he saw fear in the demon's eyes when he met them with his own.

He punched it in the right side of the chest and the impact of the punch caused the demon's arm to tear off.

"What!" It screeched in pain, obviously confused and scared.

The demon stumbled back and looked at Nero, but he fell to the ground once he paused and stop moving for a moment. He hit his knees onto the pavement and slammed on his side looking at the demon and the 'goddess' with the 'hunters'.

"Stupid boy. Now you will just suffer in hell even more than Lucifer wanted you to." The demon growled in annoyance.

Before it could go in for the kill with whatever attack it had in plan, Artemis appeared in front of Nero's collapse body with blinding speed and shot a silver arrow at the demon's head. It staggered back only to get hit with a volley of arrows. The girls that had appear shot arrows at the demon, the demon fell down shouting in agony as it dissipated into black dust.

"Artemis?" Nero croaked in confusing before falling into darkness and only felt the pain and throbbing of the three holes in his chest. The only voice he heard was the beautiful teenage girl screaming for him to stay with her and don't die. She called for her hunters to help stop the bleeding but Nero couldn't hold on. He let out one last word.

"Mom…"

Nero woke well not woke. He was dreaming and he knew it by the waves of black and purple.

"Nero!" A girl's voice ran through the area of darkness. "My big brother…" Nero felt his cheeks get cupped by hands of a young girl's. The way it felt the hands that held his cheek was that of a female's.

"I've wanted to meet you for so long." The girl said.

"What?" Nero asked looking around but still felt the hand holding him.

"Well, the demon you fought did say you aren't and only child, not including our half brothers and sisters. But Mom had two children, you and me but I… well I didn't make it when I was being… born. Well I don't want to talk about my death. I here to talk to you about our siblings won't want you to live any longer." The voice said.

"What? I… have a sister?" Nero looked about in the darkness.

"Had Nero, had a sister. I'm dead. But don't worry, Dad is here with me. Listen we can't talk for long but-" her clear voice faded into nothing.

Nero looked in front of him and saw white long hair, it was down to her lower back, chopping bangs that made her look like an anime character. Bright blue eyes to go with her beautiful face that she got from their mother.

"Wait! What's your name!?" Nero cried out but never got an answer.

"Nero? Sweet heart please." He heard a familiar voice.

"Wake up please." It was his mother's heavenly voice.

"Ms. Seraphim he will be fine I assure you of that. My best healers have treated him. But please tell us all you know about why the demons wanted to attack him. Who is his godly parent?" Artemis said in a soothing voice.

Even if Nero had his eyes close he could still tell whose voice was whose

"I don't know he just came to me." His mother said. Her voice made it obvious she was crying.

"I see, well, I don't want to be the one to suggest this but there is a place he can live and be safe until his father claims him. It's called Camp Half Blood; demigods go there to train and practice and live." Artemis said with a surprisingly gentle voice unlike how she spoke to him at the mall.

"I was told about it eight years ago. His father came back but only to warn us that when he turned seventeen… that his destiny will come." She said.

"Well, if he knew about that then he must have known something about your son… I will guide you there myself and my hunters will have to stay there." Artemis said.

"Now get some rest. Hunters you will stay here." Nero heard the girls say 'ok' and 'yes milady' to Artemis.

"And what of the… boy?" A girl asked in disgust when she got to the word 'boy' as if it were a crime.

"I will be with him and his mother." Artemis said which made the girl shift uncomfortably.

"But milady… he is… well a boy! You shouldn't concern yourself with him." One of the girls said.

"Teresa, I understand but know that I will not abandon a woman who asked for my help. Especially if a life is at stake. He is in no condition to move anywhere and so we must stay here until he is conscious and healthy again." Artemis said.

Nero's mom whispered encouragement to her son as he still looked unconscious. She spoke to Artemis with such respect and kindness.

"Milady, I know I am no virgin and you don't have to respect me or honor my request but I beg you, can you bless him? I heard from old tales that blessings from the immortals can help us mortals and demigods." Nero's mom requested.

"I cannot, I honor and respect you truly I do. But I cannot bless a male. But I can help him with healers, which is what I had done already. Now his life is in his hands." Artemis said. "But I don't understand, I felt three powerful energy spots, each from the same spot. Nero was pinned by one demon and both he and the demon had such powerful energy surrounding them, both of which were completely different which is how I could tell who's who. But the third energy spike had disappeared around the time the demon that had Nero pinned came." Artemis continued.

"What does that mean?" Another girl's voice, Nero was pretty sure it was the punk haired girl's voice that said that.

"It means, I killed the first demon that attack." Nero said coughing as he spoke; each cough sending a wave of pain through his chest. "And I couldn't kill the other." Nero finished.

"No… impossible those are too power-" Artemis said as she looked down at Nero who had his eyes opened for a short period before closing them and starting to snore. He had fallen asleep.