Chapter 7: Hard Truths

Can I ask if people STILL read obscure crossovers?

Lianna was, without a doubt, losing her f***ing mind. She made her way to the nearest Atlantean outpost, which was a long car ride away from Manhattan. As she rode there, many questions formed in her mind.

Why did Brannon spare her? Who was he to say stuff about her mother? Who was he really? And why the hell did she give him ambrosia in the first place?

Was it out of mercy? Or love?

She slapped herself mentally. She couldn't possibly believe she was in love with the blonde assassin.

He had made foolish claims about her mother. What was the point in that?

She sighed as she found the outpost in the horizon.

There was a flag that indicated where it was. It was blue with a green trident in the middle, which was surrounded by a green triangle. Lianna saw soldiers preparing for orders, weapons being hauled around, and automatons made courtesy of Triumvirate Holdings being activated.

She got out of the broken car and walked to the main tent, where several Atlanteans saluted her as a champion of the seas. Lianna paid them no attention. Her silver eyes were rid of any emotion she could possibly feel at a time like this.

Ignoring the incoherent chatter, she entered the main tent, where an Atlantean officer saluted to her.

"Milady, it's very nice to meet you." he greeted.

"Likewise, Captain. I just received my latest mission to kill a new threat to our forces. He's stationed in Manhattan." she explained.

"He had to show up in the last stronghold of the loyalists. No matter. We've captured Zeus anyway. So, who is this man?"

"Blonde hair, blue eyes but with red rings on them, somewhat pretty face, green robes, has a longsword with a large ruby for a pommel." Lianna said. "His name is Brannon. Had some nerve saying stuff about my mother."

"I see. We'll be on the lookout for him, then we'll let you know. Rest up, Milady. You must be tired." the Atlantean officer spoke.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Captain." she said.

Bran has never thrown a fit that insane in his entire life. He threatened the loyalists that he'd burn the entire city to ashes.

Could he really do it? Probably.

In the meantime, he was murdering another group of patrolling Atlanteans.

The problem? They had a damn tank!

"Damn bluecoats." he groaned as the tank fired at him. He dodged the next shell as it blew the soil behind him sky high. At the same time, Atlantean soldiers were firing their Laser Tridents at him. He ran in an arc as he threw a throwing knife, killing one of them, but the other five plus the tank were still attacking him.

"Die, scumbag!" one Atlantean yelled.

"Out of the way! I have no business with you fools!" Bran snarled, his mother's temper once again taking over. He blasted the soldiers with a burst of blue fire then drew Goldryn as the tank aimed at him. The next shell fired, which Bran dodged with ease. He set Goldryn on fire and waited. He sensed one of the Atlanteans soldiers get back up and reacted quickly. The blonde ran towards the tank at breakneck speed and jumped on top of it. He threw his thunder bomb, whose coal dust innards exploded on impact and made the Atlanteans get knocked off their feet.

While that was happening, Bran managed to break into the tank and kill everyone, taking control of it as a result. There was a shell loaded in the cannon, and he did the most common thing a guy in a tank surrounded by enemies could do.

He aimed at the Atlanteans and fired. The shell destroyed them all and blew their suits to smithereens.

Satisfied, Bran got out of the empty tank and took a Laser Trident from one of the dead bodies of the Atlanteans.

"Damnit. Now how am I going to find Lianna?" he wondered as he spun the stolen weapon around.

"Looks like you need some help." a female voice said.

Bran groaned. "Seriously, what's with women and sneaking up on me?" he muttered out loud, turned around, and saw Athena. She was in her Greek battle armor and a spear was in her hands.

"Okay, never mind. What's going on?" he asked her, a little worried that she might skewer him with the spear.

"Artemis told me about your plan to bring Lianna back. How is that going?" she asked him instead.

"Not well." the golden haired man admitted. "She snaps when I mention Artemis, claiming that she was a sacrifice to the Titans so Artemis will be left alone."

"Then just debunk her claim! How is that difficult to do?" she demanded.

"I don't even know what debunk means." Bran said.

"Oh. right." Athena sighed. "Well, there is one way to falsify her claims."

"Well, what is it?" he asked.

"You must swear on the River Styx to her that Artemis has always loved her as her child, and never gave her up voluntarily." she explained. "The oath's sealing is set in the sound of a thunderclap, and should what you swear on is not true, you will suffer unimaginable consequences."

"So, that's it?" he asked. "I don't have to fight her?"

"It should be common sense that every demigod, god, and monster of Greek origin should know of the existence of the River Styx and its sacred oath. If she doesn't acknowledge it, then maybe something's really wrong."

"That's good to know, but where do I find her?" he asked.

"That is for you to find out. I have to go, Brannon." Athena said sadly as she flashed out before he could speak again.

He just looked at the afternoon sky as it slowly grew dark. Clouds started to block out the sun and the blue sky began to fade to black.

Bran looked back at the horizon and activated Eagle Vision. No sign of Lianna's trail whatsoever. He kept walking and walking until he saw a faint golden trail.

"I found you, Lianna." he muttered. The vision showed him a projection of Lianna traveling by car to some place.

"No more hiding."

Lianna felt both comfortable and impatient at the moment. She had her own tent in the outpost, and it was magical. On the outside, it looked so small, but the inside was like home. She had a mini fridge, a comfy hammock tied to four metal poles, a chest for her weapons and armor, and a magical shower booth that cleans its water after use then puts it back in for repeated use. Okay, it sounded weird, but that's how it was.

The daughter of Artemis put away her assassin armor, bow, and arrows. She wore a plain black shirt and matching black pants and boots. She untied her hair, allowing every strand of brown on her head to sway with her movements. Her sword and dagger still hung on a brown belt she was also wearing.

She was reading whatever reports she nicked from the captain's tent.

Patrols have been reported missing and other scouts say that they died in different ways. One of those ways was burning. She understood what was going on.

"So, Brannon," Lianna smirked on her hammock. "you're really coming after me."

She heard footsteps, so she jumped up and hid the reports in her weapons chest. Entering the tent was an Atlantean soldier.

"Milady, have you seen the Captain's reports?" he asked.

"Sorry, but I didn't see them. I'll be on the lookout." she replied. She was a very good liar. Perks of being Poseidon's assassin for hire.

"I see. Sorry I bothered you."

The soldier left the tent afterwards. Lianna sighed.

'That wasn't even close.' she thought at how gullible her subordinates were. The daughter of Artemis put her sword on top of the wooden weapons chest and laid down on her hammock as sleep took over.

Dreamscape

Lianna hated dreams. They always got into her nerves because they showed up at random. The scene changed to what looked like a rundown alley in some area.

"Not another one." she groaned, still in her plain black outfit. Sadly for her, she had to deal with it.

"What the-" Lianna heard a voice.

She heard screams from down the alley. Curious, the daughter of Artemis walked into the dark alley to find out who or what was making those screams.

"Give us the child, Artemis." a man's gruff and low pitched voice was heard as the sounds of bones cracking were heard.

'Artemis?' Lianna thought. 'What the hell is going on here?'

"NO! Please! Not Lianna, PLEASE!"

Lianna finally reached the end of the alley to witness to large men beating up a familiar auburn haired woman with silver eyes, wearing a bloody silver parka and torn silver pants. She was holding a bundle covered in a white blanket. Surrounding her were two large men in Greek battle armor. One of them held a trident and the other a glowing xiphos.

"GIVE US THE CHILD NOW!" the trident man screamed out.

"NO! Take me, but not Lianna. PLEASE! NOT MY FIRST AND ONLY CHILD!" Artemis pleaded.

"Kronos has no beef with you, moon goddess!" the swordsman snarled as he punched Artemis in the face with his free hand.

"Hyperion, enough. We'll just pry her out of her hands."

"I suppose you're right, Oceanus."

Explosions were suddenly heard as Lianna's lower jaw hung open at what she saw, but she shook her head, whispering, "No, this has to be some lie. This could not have happened."

More explosions shook in her ears as the dreamscape began to distort...

Lianna gasped awake as she heard more explosions coming from outside her tent. She quickly put on her weapons and armor, but didn't have time to tie her hair, and ran outside.

The entire outpost was up in flames.

Soldiers scrambled everywhere, tents were on fire, and automatons were coming apart as their circuits got cooked by the intense flames. Lianna, knowing she couldn't breathe through the smoke, put her mask on and wandered around the area, trying to save some of the Atlanteans, but she couldn't save them all. Most of them were fried.

Lianna looked around and saw a silhouette of a man in the horizon. He appeared to be holding a sword and a trident. She knew that sword anywhere, though.

"BRANNON!" she screamed as she nocked an arrow and aimed it at the golden haired assassin. The arrow soared into the air and towards Bran, who blocked it with his trident, which Lianna recognized as a Laser Trident. She continued firing arrows as she ran towards him. He continued blocking her shots with the stolen weapon before they met at close quarters.

In the ensuing fight, Lianna kicked away Bran's trident as he swatted her bow out of her hands with Goldryn. It was down to a swordfight.

"Lianna, would you please listen to me for a while?" he asked as their blades locked with one another.

"After what you've done?!" she snarled. "NEVER!"

Lianna pressed her blade even further, to no avail. Bran pushed her sword away with his and kicked her in the stomach, causing her to fall down.

"Lianna, listen. I need to tell you that your mother..."

She angrily shot up and clashed swords with him again.

"...your mother..." Bran grunted, then spoke quickly, "still loves you very much and never gave you up voluntarily I swear on the River Styx!"

Again, he pushed her away, making her fall on the ground as thunder cracked and sealed the deal.

Bran looked at Lianna's shocked expression, hoping that Athena's suggestion worked. However, instead, she just shot an arrow at his shoulder and ran off. He groaned as he pulled the arrow out of his body and stood up from the ground, watching Lianna run away from him and from the destruction he created.

'That was not a good idea, and she clearly does not know of the River Styx.' he sighed mentally.

Lianna never felt so angry. As she ran, she joined up with a few survivors, including the Atlantean captain. At the same time, she was curious.

What was he talking about? What was he saying about a "River Styx"?

"Milady, are you okay?" one of the soldiers asked, coughing a bit as they trudged away from the slaughter.

"Never better." she spat back out of anger.

"We must strike back!" the Captain roared.

"Can I ask you something, Captain? And I need you to be truthful in your words." Lianna cut in.

"Of course. What's the problem?" the Captain asked, prompting the group of 10 to stop at an abandoned motel.

Lianna leaned her back against the rundown walls and looked at the Atlantean officer with a stern look on her face.

"What happens when you...swear on this "River Styx" thing?"

"Well," he started to explain, in private. "if you swear on the River Styx and make an oath on it, NOT keeping that promise or oath will make you suffer unimaginable consequences in an instant. Telling lies and swearing on the Styx also does that to you. Thunder cracking seals the deal, and it shows you that the Fates are watching."

It took what felt like an hour for the daughter of Artemis to let the info sink in.

"I...I...I see." she muttered. Brannon had been telling her the truth all along. Artemis always loved her.

"Is something wrong, Milady?" she heard the officer speak.

"No...Follow me." she ordered, leading the Atlantean further into the motel until they stumbled upon a bathroom.

No one could hear anything other than a squelching sound as Lianna plunged her sword mounted dagger into the officer's throat while tears flowed down her cheeks.

"Why...Why..." she continuously muttered to herself. "How could I...let myself..." she continued, still holding her bloody dagger as she walked out of the bathroom. "How could I let myself fight for the wrong side...for my entire life?"

She remembered having a communicator on her wrist. She looked at the tiny screen for a second, then threw it on the ground the second after. She stomped on it until it was nothing but pieces of a dysfunctional circuit.

Aware of the other Atlantean soldiers camping out with them, Lianna turned her attention to them.

If there was one thing to describe her current mental state, it was neurotic, insane, and guilty.

If you think this is a little rushed, sorry. My high school requirements just hit a nightmarish level.