A God's Grief
Chapter VII
Artemis, Thalia and Phoebe rematerialize at the Hunt's camp.
The rest of the Huntresses appear immediately
"Hunters!" The Moon Goddess called "Pack up, we're leaving for the west"
"May I inquire why Milady" one the younger huntresses responded.
"My brother's last half-blood son is in danger" Artemis answered
"If any harm befalls the boy, there will be war"
The Huntresses gasped in shock
"If harm befalls him who will be warring?" another huntress asked
"Apollo and Hera" Artemis replied.
They exchanged uneasy looks at this information.
"So where is he" Artemis scowled as she said
"Las Vegas, he is attending a party thrown by an actor Apollo couldn't care less for"
Artemis eyed all of them
"Anymore questions?"
The Hunters shook their heads.
"Now we need to find the fastest way there" Phoebe thought out loud
"I'll transport us" Artemis answered simply.
"But my Lady, won't that exhaust you?"
The goddess smiled at her huntress
"There is no need to be concerned" she responded kindly.
"When we arrive the moon will be in the sky"
They all nodded and began to take down their tents and within ten minutes the Hunters of Artemis were ready to set off.
The Goddess of the Hunt began to pulse with silver light; the Hunters all closed their eyes by reflex as their lady returned to her immortal form and teleported them all.
Next Stop the Four Dragons Casino.
[Meanwhile back on the Harem High campus]
Apollo was still fuming over what he had learned.
Justin Bieber his last remaining half-blood was in danger because of Artemis, his beloved twin sister.
The diminished immortal couldn't even remember the last time he had been this angry with her.
"I can't believe she did that" Apollo muttered for the umpteenth time since she left.
Now that he thought about he had never been this furious with Artemis before even though he was a mortal now he still retained his ability to detect a lie.
When Artemis said she let Justin's name slip by accident he immediately sensed that she was being dishonest.
He also knew that his sister wouldn't do this without good reasons.
While thinking about it all another fact dawns on him Will Solace was still alive, right next to him in fact.
Will had played a great part in the second Titan war so Ares knew of him well as it was his business to know.
"Will" Apollo asked abruptly.
The southern teen looked at his dad
"Yeah?" he responded a blonde eyebrow quirked in curiosity.
"I was wondering how you survived?" the blonde god asked hesitantly because he knew this might be a sensitive topic to his utter surprise Will was smiling, no smiling wasn't the word he was beaming.
"What did you do?" Apollo asked unsure whether or not he wanted know.
Nico's jaw dropped and Apollo laughed
"What happened" Nico asked after regaining his composure.
"Well y'all know that Lord Ares was huntin' down children of Apollo right?" Will said as he looked towards the sun trying to recall the events.
"Truth be told, I don't understand some of it but I think someone intervened." Apollo nodded
"Tell the story! I've got to here this; it'll give me ammunition against Ares, Aphrodite and my dearest stepmother"
Nico nodded as Will smiled
"Well y'all better get comfy this is a bit of a long story"
[Here comes the POV—Will's obviously]
I was out on a mission when Ares began targeting Cabin seven, a mission to help a satyr bring three new half-bloods to camp".
"Where were these half-bloods" Nico asked quietly.
"In London, with a couple of pissed off hydras on their tales" Will replied then went back to his story
"Now this is based on an assumption but what Chiron told me that the night most of the Apollo kids died it was ironically the day of Capture the Flag.
The first four victims were attacked by a huge Cyclops; these four were new campers, barely a month of training under their belts so a Cyclops was a big deal and Ares made sure no help was around for them, they didn't last long but at least it was quick so they didn't suffer.
The next group was bigger though Ares decided to spice things up even more by setting a huge Drakon on them but my siblings proved more than enough all though eight more were killed and not all of them were Apollo kids either".
"Wait" Apollo said "How did a Drakon and a Cyclops get into the camp, I thought its magic kept monsters out?"
"I think Ares let them in, I don't know how though" Will responded
Apollo nodded
"Continue" he prompted his son. "
Yeah as I was saying, not all the campers the Drakon killed were Apollo kids I think there were like two Demeter kids, one Athena kid…I think and a dozen or so Apollo kids.
Will paused to catch his breath.
"Man, Ares is now gonna have problem with Athena and Demeter too."
The son of Apollo nodded and then plunged on with his tale.
"Now the next part is kind of hard for even me to believe, but Chiron said that Ares' immortal sons Phobos and Deimos were sent to help the job along, they caused a huge massacre slaughtering forty half-bloods."
Apollo and Nico both looked utterly shell-shocked
"Immortals got involved with a mortal affair!" Nico stated in a stunned voice.
Apollo's face was dark after hearing this detail.
Will continued "In that forty the remainder of the Apollo Cabin was killed off but don't think Ares forgot about me, due to the fact I played a huge role in the second Titan war to be accurate Ares pursued me himself; it took him a while to locate me but eventually he found me.
When the War Lord found me I was crossing the English Channel in order to get to the extraction point in Rheims, France.
"Extraction point?" Nico asked
"Yeah Lord Hermes decided to help me out since I was far from the camp and it would take another six weeks to reach the coast on my own."
"Now try not to interrupt me at this point this is the bit I don't understand" Will said and waited for acknowledgement.
Both the Son of Hades and the sun god nodded for him to carry on.
"I was crossing the English Channel in a small Ferry along with the three half-bloods we saved from the seething hydras.
The we I'm talking about is me and Clarisse you know that crazy daughter of Ares.
Yeah well after about twenty minutes were in the middle of the channel and we suddenly see the USS Intrepid approach us from the west.
I knew that was Ares' temple but what surprised me is that Clarisse had somehow had gotten on to the front deck of the warship but what was suspicious was she was giving me a real nasty smile on her face.
Before I could ask how she got there the damn ship shot at me.
Blew the ferry out of the water too I kind of blacked out a few times but only for a short time when I was finally able stay awake I was floating on a large piece of shipwreck.
I hear the roar of a Harley engine, I looked to see Ares himself seated on a blood red Harley Davidson Fatboy ; I figured it was his war chariot.
He grinned at me and pointed towards a grenade and pulled the pin.
I thought I'm dead, I'm so dead.
Ares threw towards me, just as it reached me the grenade went off with the force of a bunker buster; blasting me and my wooden life preserver across the watery expanse and I then splashed into the water.
My arms were real torn up from the splinters of my life raft had sliced through me.
The water was clouded with my blood, I tried to play dead since I knew I was no match for Lord Ares but he could sense that I was still alive.
He threw another one of his bunker buster grenades; he couldn't miss this time just as the bomb went off I was suddenly yanked under the water but before I could realize what happened I passed out from the blood loss and since I had no ambrosia left I was pretty sure I was dead.
But that was not the case this time cause I woke up on the beach, and as irony would have it I was on Normandy Beach about four hundred miles from our extraction point.
The funny thing I don't know how I got there.
Will took a deep breath as his tale came to a close.
"An injured demigod floating in the middle of the English Channel would be hard to miss" Nico said thoughtfully.
"Someone definitely intervened" Apollo nodded in agreement
"It would have to be someone who had control of the oceans"
They all thought before the answer slapped them in the face.
"LORD POSEIDON!"
The sun god just developed a new respect of the Lord of the Sea.
"When I get my godhood back I will personally thank Poseidon."
The other two nodded in agreement.
[Scene shifts to the Hunt moving quickly towards Las Vegas]
The Hunters of Artemis reappeared on the outskirts of Sin City.
Artemis orders them to fan out into the city and locate the Four Dragons Casino.
It didn't take long either as one of the newer huntresses grew up in this city.
"There my Lady, that's the casino"
Artemis eyed the building with mild disgust, she didn't like the city, the Goddess of the Hunt preferred the woods and forests to this place but she had task to fulfill.
They entered the glistening casino and began the daunting search; finding one person in a place like this was similar to finding a needle in a haystack, a really, really big haystack.
"Lady Artemis, how're we supposed to find one boy in a place like this?" Thalia asked scanning the area for anyone who matched the description Apollo had given them.
"He is a celebrity Thalia, a wayward actor is supposed to be hosting a party." Artemis reminded her.
"We need to find where it is being held"
They all looked for any place that might look like a superstar party.
They looked for two whole hours before Artemis allowed them to rest.
Artemis herself would continue searching.
The Moon Goddess was investigating a strange woman in a raunchy outfit, it had large feathers and frills everywhere she then heard a sweet voice from behind her
"You're not going to find him out here" the sweet voice stated tersely.
Artemis wheeled around to see her archrival Aphrodite standing there.
"Aphrodite? What're you doing here?" the maiden questioned.
Aphrodite giggled
"I'm here to see if there is any good man meat to take advantage of." Answers the Love Goddess sincerely.
Artemis eyed her for a second
"What do you mean I won't find him out here?"
Aphrodite peeked around making sure no one was around before tugging Artemis behind a barrier wall.
"I mean you won't find him here on the poker floor" she answered in her sugary voice.
"Try looking up there near that grotesque fountain"
Artemis studied Lady Love for a moment before lifting her gaze to where Aphrodite was pointing and sure enough there stood Justin Bieber, one the most famous teen stars in the world.
"The party he's supposed to be attending is in the VIP room behind that fountain." Aphrodite said conversationally.
"Why is he out here and not in there with other stars" asked The Goddess of the Hunt.
"Oh well I realized that Selena Gomez was a daughter of Ate and was using her powers to manipulate Justin so I intervened a little and broke it up, better he learns to get over heartbreak now"
Artemis looked as if she was sucker punched, Aphrodite had done something noble, for once in her godly existence she did something noble.
At the same time Artemis genuinely felt bad her nephew; Aphrodite sensed the goddess's feelings
"Don't worry I have a feeling he'll find a new one to pursue" she said "Justin's love life is destined for success besides they broke up six months ago"
The Moon Goddess looked at the boy then at the Love Goddess
"Why are you being so helpful…no offense but it out of character"
Aphrodite flashed her pearly whites while a slight blush appeared on her face
"Artemis I may not like you, but I'll be damned if I let Queen Hera hurt a boy with such a good heart" Aphrodite stated while playing with her hair.
"Oh and just a little advice, when you approach him make sure your gentle and you may want to change to a more appropriate age, a twelve-year-old girl is going to draw attention and try to blend in."
Aphrodite suggested while Orlando Bloom caught her eye "Now if you'll excuse me Artemis, I think I have found the father of my next half-blood" with that the Goddess of Love saunters off after her target.
The Maiden Goddess rolled her eyes at her fellow Olympian's retreating back.
Her gaze then shifts back Justin who is still at the fountain.
She looked at her reflection in the coy pond by her and admitted that Lady Love was right a preteen would draw too much attention.
Artemis changed into a seventeen-year-old.
She flashed herself up to the area where Justin is sitting the first thing she notices is that the boy is looking a little lonely.
Before she approaches him she sends a telepathic command to her Hunters
"Hunters, I've found our target; patrol the casino and its perimeter let no beast get through"
A unified "Yes Milady" sounded in her head
she then turned her attention towards her brother's sole remaining half-blood.
She walked until she stood in front of the pop star.
She waited for him to acknowledge her presence which he eventually did and the moment he looked up and her determined silver eyes met his gentle brown ones Artemis felt something she hadn't felt in three thousand years.
[What do you think Artemis felt when she and Justin locked eyes and what do you think of Will's story I'm not sure if it came out the way I wanted it]
[Sorry for confusion in previous chapters and for the delay with Chapter 7 you would not believe how brutal the last two weeks have been.]
[One last thing if anyone wants to shoot me any ideas for what they want to happen next I'm kind of burned out for the moment so please Read and Review]