Artemis was seething as she paced back and forth in her tent. She had arrived back at the camp to find the man's black horse standing right in front of the medical tent as if it was standing guard. She then assumed that the man was inside the tent, monitoring Thalia's healing. At first, she wanted to march right inside and give that man a piece of her mind; blind or not. But when she began to approach the horse, the overwhelming sense of fear that had nearly crippled her the first time she laid eyes on it returned. What truly struck her though, was that when she proceeded to take a few steps back, her dread nearly all but vanished on the spot. This sent her mind into a tirade of questioning thoughts such as, 'Who was this man?' 'Where did he come from?' 'How was she afraid of a simple horse?'
Needless to say, none could be answered.
"So, it seems you have found yourself in quite the predicament, young huntress." Faster than the blink of an eye, Artemis had her bow out with an arrow notched and drawn, aiming it at the intruder. She found herself inwardly stunned by the sight of a withered, old man hunched over with his face not three inches from the tip of her arrow. His age was quite obvious by the long, white beard and labyrinth of wrinkles that etched his face. His eyes were sunken in quite deeply and he bore no hair upon his head. His arms were long and lanky, almost skeletal, and his skin was deathly pale. The old man wore a dark brown robe with midnight black feathers sown on from the waist up. Long chains wrapped around his torso and his wrists were bound by massive shackles that looked beyond uncomfortable. And hanging from his neck was large amulet that glowed an unearthly green. The most striking of all these features, however, was the all-knowing smirk that played across his narrow face.
Artemis didn't really know what to make of this old man. For starters, he had intruded on her camp and even her private tent without permission. To top it off, this was a man that had invaded her sanctuary. Such actions would have condemned any other male to death by Artemis herself. On the other hand, there were several reasons that fought against such allegations. For one thing, his age was an immense reason for her hesitation. Anti-male or not, there was no good word that could be said about someone who cold-heartedly murders a defenseless old man; god or not. Another thing that caught her attention was the old man's eyes. When Artemis looked into his aged orbs, she could see a man who had seen and comprehended things that no mortal could ever hope to.
"Peace, Artemis," the old man said as he brought his hands up in a gesture that signified no ill will, "I am here in good will and have no wish to bring you harm, goddess of the hunt." Though her instincts told her to strike the old man down, Artemis was also extremely curious as to who he was and why he was here, and it eventually overpowered her thoughts, causing her to lower her bow and return her arrow to its quiver.
"Who are you?" At these words, the old man smirked because, unbeknownst to the moon goddess, her lieutenant had asked the exact same question in the medical tent.
"Someone," the old man began, "who has lived long enough to have seen things that not even you could comprehend." An eyebrow raised on Artemis' face at these words. The old man ignored the stare and continued, "Someone who has seen and learned things that have been, otherwise, forgotten by the rest of time and reality. A 'Keeper of Secrets' if you will. Secrets capable of shattering the very fabric of existence." A chilling wave of dread washed through Artemis as she let this information sink in. The truth in his voice was all the proof she needed.
"But," the old man intervened when he saw that she about to ask that which should never be, "that is not why I come here today. The knowledge I wish to share is, by no means, of that nature. You wish to learn more of him, yes?" The question received a quizzical look from Artemis.
"The man with three swords and the flaming mare," The old man clarified, "do you wish to learn more about him?" Artemis immediately perked up at offer. She was finally going to get some answers; not only for herself but for her father as well.
"Where shall I start?" the old man asked with a smirk, knowing the answer before it could ever be said.
"At the beginning." Artemis said coolly without missing a beat.
The man smirked as he looked down at Thalia.
She was looking up at him with mild curiosity, which he found quite amusing. The question was simple enough, but the answer was anything but that. However, even with his companion, Nasha, he had found himself rather lonely in the past three months he had been back and was rather attracted to the idea of being able to finally have a conversation after so long. Deciding to humor the young one, the man took a deep breath and prepared to tell his story.
"Once," the man began, "I was no more different than you. A demigod birthed to one of the mighty Olympians. I stood my ground against the enemies of Olympus with sword in hand, ready to protect my kin to the last breath." Thalia's eyes were dinner plates by the time the man had finished. Seeing the shock on her face, the man smirked as he continued, "But that was six years ago. Now," the man paused to chuckle before going on, "now I look back and can't help but laugh at how trivial those devotions were. How pitiful it was to show such love for those who would never understand what it meant to be mortal." Thalia was in a state of pure shock as she absorbed the knowledge. Not only was this man from her world but a demigod as well. And here he was, making her slack-jawed with his words of how meaningless his old life was to him.
"Of course," the man continued, "that was before I became a planeswalker."
"A planeswalker?" Artemis asked from her chair. The 'Keeper of Secret,' as she dubbed him, had also taken a seat across the tent from her.
"A planeswalker is a being capable of breaking through the barriers between the many dimensions that make up the multiverse, the endless expanse of reality."
"And how does one become a 'planeswalker'?"
"There are very few, throughout the multiverse, who possess the Spark that grants this kind of magic. Even fewer have the power to ignite it. To become a planeswalker, one must be born with the Spark within them. And, even then, that is not enough. The Spark will only ignite if the being gifted with it has reached the pinnacle of their power, unable to progress any further. Then it is only a matter of time. Once the Spark is ignited, the newly formed planeswalker will gain far more than just the ability to travel among worlds. The limit to their power also becomes non-existent." Artemis' eyes nearly tripled in size at the implications of the Keeper's words. Seeing this, the Keeper smirked and continued, "Yes. Not only does the being become a traveler of the multiverse, but they also become capable of gaining an endless amount of power as well; even so far as to become nearly invincible, or even godlike." A massive jolt of fear and awe surged through Artemis as this new information processed in her mind. The simple notion of beings with no limit to the amount of power they could possess was scary enough. But the idea that they could even surpass a god was unthinkable.
"But that's impossible!" she stated a lot less flatly than she would have liked.
"I am afraid it is not." the Keeper replied honestly, "There has already been one instance where a planeswalker was able to destroy a god. That was on another world, of course, but I believe the message has gotten across." The Keeper watched as Artemis slowly slumped in her chair as she tried to contemplate these the Keeper's words. Artemis was in a pure state of panic on the inside. What would the rest of Olympus make of this? The knowledge of other worlds besides their own was a notion that she knew would spark the power hungry gods such as her father and uncles and would, no doubt, lead to them trying to capture this mystery man in an attempt to make him give the gods the power to travel to other worlds. The only thing that would wrinkle these plans, however, was the fact that the same man could very well have the power to destroy them and they would not realize it until it was too late. In that case, their objective would be to through everything they've got at the man until he either died or was too weak to put any more of a fight. Remembering what had happened in Olympus, Artemis doubted that would be anywhere near easy.
Artemis continued to debate this in her mind while the Keeper of Secrets waited patiently in his chair for her to respond. Finally, Artemis looked the Keeper directly in the eyes and said, "Continue."
The Keeper smirked at this.
AN: Boy was this long. Anyway I'm here to say that the pole has been closed for a while and the votes are now in...Ladies and gentle this is going to be a harem fic! That's right. Polygamy beat single relationship by a 60/40 lead. I will be working on pulling together the pole for all the girls that will make candidates for Percy's harem. This will include female characters from both Percy Jackson and Magic: The Gathering.
Okay. This is a chapter update as I am still working on both of my stories. This is simply an update letting you know where I am as far as votes for Percy's harem is going. Note that, in the story, Percy's harem will consist of the top ten girls on the list. That is why I put the limit of people you could vote on at ten. Here are the results so far…the bottom one makes me laugh.
1 Artemis
2 Avacyn Angel of Hope
3 Nissa Revane
4 Thalia
5 Zoe
6 Athena
7 Calypso
8 Clarisse
9 Hestia
10 Chandra Nalaar
11 Vraska
12 Elspeth Tirel
13 Kiora
14 Piper
15 Bianca
16 Reyna
17 Aphrodite
18 Hera
19 Liliana Vess
20 Ashling the Pilgrim
21 Annebeth
If you would like to give in your two cents, the pole is on my web-page.
