Hey everyone,

I chose not to continue my other story, so for those of you who went and looked at it... it is gone. Anyways, at least I can focus on this and "Into the Darkness" more now. Have fun with this chapter, even if Patroclus does die. We all know what is going to happen, so there is no point in hiding it.

Have fun,
SharkAttack719


Chapter 11

Terrible Tricks

It seemed too good to be true. It seemed to be improbable and impossible. It seemed so unlikely. It seemed like an illusion. It seemed to be so many things at once, but nothing could compare to the astounded feeling coursing through Perseus' body.

Did Achilles just truly, willingly break his promise of pulling out of the war? He had seemed so serious about pulling out of the war, it was miraculous that he had chosen to come and fight. He was wearing his helmet and all of his armor and everything. There was no other person who could have lifted up the spirits of the Myrmidons aside from him.

Perseus was too busy marvelling the charge of the Myrmidons to realize that the Trojans continued to push further into the Greek camp, hoping that amongst the chaos and darkness that the Myrmidons would kill their own allies.

Just then, someone came up from behind him and stabbed him through the back, a not necessarily lethal strike, but still a powerful stab.

He felt the knife enter and exit his body with two fluid motions. He was kicked to the ground with such force that his head went into the sand. Still paralyzed by the shock of being stabbed, Perseus didn't move as the man who had stabbed him rolled him over.

The man lifted his helmet so his face was visible. He was undoubtedly handsome, with a proud look, and nearly flawless features. The fires glistening around them created an evil shadow across his face.

"You killed my cousin," he growled. "I would kill you painlessly right now, but I'm going to let you suffer."

It was Aeneas, son of Anchises and Aphrodite.

"Have fun," he said with a sick smile, before he put his helmet back on and ran further into the chaos.

Perseus could almost feel the blood draining out of him, out his back. The pain he felt was excruciating on his internal organs, some which he thought were pierced. He looked around desperately. He had been too stupid and foolish to stare at Achilles and the Myrmidons that he hadn't realized the Trojans were still fighting, either trying to kill more Greeks or run away from the Myrmidons.

In the distance, a cavalry unit hidden in the shadows charged into the Myrmidon flank and sent warriors scattering.

Perseus fought for his life, trying to hold out until someone would get to him. The sand was in his ears and up his nose, in his eyes and down his throat. After coughing some of the sand out, he realized that no one was here to help him. It would just be himself. It would be just like the days with Zoë: survival of the fittest.

He imagined that he was in a forest, his home territory. He imagined that the fires around him was a deliberate trap set by the nomadic peoples of the north, that the forest was on fire. He imagined that he had been ambushed and one of the ambushers had managed to stab him through the gut. What would he do?

His stomach aching, he began crawling his way past some tents. He was glad that Aeneas had been kind enough to pull the knife out of his body. Had the Dardanian not wanted to let Perseus bleed out, leaving the knife in there would have proved difficult for him to move at all without damaging more of his organs.

There were quite a few bodies scattered on the ground. Unlike before, there was now an equivalent amount of Trojan bodies to Greek bodies. Ajax had probably done quite a bit of work.

From what he could see though, the Greeks were losing ground. The Myrmidons were suffering heavy losses from the trampling of the cavalry. Why had Achilles not shouted for his aid? Perseus was pretty sure the horses would listen to him, though he could never be sure.

Blood was seeping from his body quicker and quicker now. He felt a little faint. He knew that without some help soon, he would fall unconscious from blood loss. After falling unconscious, he would no longer be able to help the Greeks fend off the Trojans. If the things were going the way they seemed to be, the Greek forces would either be annihilated or be sent fleeing. No one would be able to help him then.

If only he had a piece of ambrosia or a little mug of nectar. Those two items were the only two things that could heal him now, except he would have to be kept in the infirmary and be patched up. That wouldn't be of much use.

Either way, the Greek forces were doomed unless the Trojans pulled out. And Perseus knew this was meant to drive the main Greek force out of Trojan lands.

Then, they would hunt down the Greeks at the outposts all over their lands. It was a strategic advantage that the Trojans used. By attacking at night, when funeral pyres had just finished burning and the Greek warriors were dead tired, the Trojans could easily tear down the Greek army, giving them not only the advantage of surprise but a psychological advantage as well.

He wasn't sure whether his father began speaking to him, or if some extrasensory feeling popped up in his head, but he suddenly heard the roaring of the waves.

"Water," he croaked, and began crawling through the sand faster than ever.

There was a trail of blood following him, but Perseus managed to get to the water without fainting, though he felt as though he was nearly going to. He grabbed at the water as if it was his lifeline, what he needed in order to live... which was pretty much what it was to him at that moment.

As soon as he pulled himself into the water, he felt his insides starting to heal. He felt his body begin to warm up again. He felt his wound closing up behind him, and the pain of the hole in his back fade away. But most of all, he felt a rush of energy. He felt rejuvenated.

He stood up in the water and turned around to survey and assess the battle.

Like he predicted, the Trojans were winning the battle. The Greeks were fighting back harder now, the Trojans not destroying the Greeks as easily. The Myrmidons had temporarily retreated as well, and Achilles was nowhere in sight. Perseus thought it odd for him to withdraw so easily. Something seemed a little bit fishy.

Some Trojans had fled, and warriors under similar yet different armor, began pulling back to the city of Troy. They were the Dardanians of the city-state of Dardanus.

Perseus got out of the water and moved forward before an arrow whizzed by his face. His bow having been broken by Aeneas when the son of Aphrodite attacked him, he was forced to fight in close combat. Even though the huge rush of energy left him, he still had the instinct to duck in cover and work out who had attacked him.

He tried to find the arrow that had been fired at him, but it was lost in the darkness. Perseus could see that light was beginning to arrive in the sky; the early morning was approaching. Another arrow whizzed by his ear, nearly taking it off. He immediately pulled out Anaklusmos and tapped Aegis.

This time, the arrow imbedded itself into a fleeing Greek soldier, killing him instantly. Perseus couldn't help but flinch, though when he saw the unmistakable silvery fletching of the deadly weapon, he cursed.

"The Hunters," he muttered.

He took a deep breath and took his chance to dive in between cover. As soon as he left the cover of a charred tent and dove for the next charred tent, an arrow whizzed by him. This time, he nearly took an arrow to his heel.

Landing next to a couple of dead Greeks, he picked up each spear and threw it over the tent, hoping that it would distract them for a little bit.

That was when he burst out of the cover and unleashed a wave of water over the section of the broken camp. This side was pretty much empty, the rest of the fighting happening a little bit closer to the Scamander River.

Perseus was closer to the Aegean Sea. And so were the Hunters and Zoë.

As he willed the water to wash away, a bunch of soaked Hunters lay in the sand, coughing and spurting water from their mouths. Perseus rose his shield and braced for a fight. He knew Zoë would be the first to recover from the explosion of water considering she had lived with him for four years.

Indeed, Zoë was the first one of the Hunters to recover from the wave of water.

"Zoë," Perseus said calmly, holding Aegis and Anaklusmos a little tightly.

"Percy," she replied back just as calm.

Within a few minutes, the rest of the Hunters were all up and ready to fight. They glared daggers at Perseus, none of them knowing who he was except for their leader and lieutenant. One fired an arrow, but Perseus turned his shield and the arrow shattered harmlessly off of it.

"Leave," he said, lowering his shield for a moment. Half a dozen arrows immediately fired at him, which he reacted quickly to. "Leave, now, Zoë."

The Hunters narrowed their eyes.

"I don't want to fight you," she admitted, "but Lady Artemis—"

"Diana," interrupted one of the girls. She was probably Trojan. "Lady Diana."

"Lady Artemis," Zoë persisted, "has joined the Trojans' side. I don't understand how you can be so calm about killing people now. You used to be different."

"What are you talking about, Zoë?" asked one of the girls. She looked pretty large and muscular, making Perseus wonder what a man had done to her that made her join the Hunters. She looked about fourteen or fifteen. "What do you mean by 'You used to be different'?"

"Be quiet, Phoebe," she snapped.

"I don't want to fight you either," Perseus replied, "but I am not much different. Maybe I am slightly, but that is how the world works. We all have our enemies. Some may be mortal enemies, some may be the enemies of the gods, but they are always enemies. You understand what is going on with the gods and goddesses, don't you? The reason they have different names now, right? Do you know anything that—"

"Listen," she interrupted. "Either stand down or... or I'll have to kill you. Not everybody can stay the same. You're right."

He was stunned. "Kill me? You have to kill me?"

"Don't make it any harder for me than it has to be," Zoë replied shakily. "Just stand down. Stand down, Percy."

He exhaled deeply, staring straight into Zoë's eyes. He knew she couldn't kill him herself, so she would ask the other Hunters to. He knew she didn't want any of this, but Artemis chose a side in this war. The Hunters had to oblige to her will, and her will was to send the Greeks fleeing or to kill them. There was no such thing as mercy in war. If someone was spared, they would eventually sneak up from behind and murder you.

For Perseus to stand down would mean that the Hunters would be able to capture him as a prisoner of war. That would also mean the Perseus would be breaking his promise to hunt down Greece's enemies.

What will you choose? What will you choose? Your choice is now!

The voices from the dream came back to him, echoing in his head like pestering bugs. But they made sense. His choice was now. He had to either break his oath to Zoë or break his promise to Hestia and the gods.

He made his decision.

"I'm sorry," he said.

Then he burst forward into action and attacked the Hunters of Artemis.

It seemed as though it were raining arrows when the Hunters shot their bows. He was nearly killed when he reached the next closest Hunter to Zoë. It was far too late for the first Hunter as he smashed her head with his shield. She crumpled to the ground.

He continued on, whirling and whacking and smashing into the Hunters as they relentlessly attacked him, trying to injure him with arrows. Some even dared to try close combat with him. Their knives were no match for his speed with the sword.

Slowly, the Hunters were knocked unconscious until only Zoë and Perseus remained.

"You give me no choice, Zoë," he said. "I can't let you attack us. You will know what Helen truly is soon. Artemis will soon figure out that the only reason she fights for Troy is because of her brother."

Zoë stayed silent, keeping on her tip-toes.

"You do know what these name switches are with the gods, don't you?" he asked. "The gods seem to be changing. The Trojans give them different attributes. That's why that girl called Artemis Diana. They're giving her a new identity."

"I don't know what the Trojans are doing," she said admittedly. "But I know that this is not going to end well for either side. One will fall now, the other sooner or later. If Greece is continued to be run by tyrannical male kings, the country will fall, with you protecting it or not. I've heard the stories of the Hunters, and they have had some pretty horrible stories. The only reason mine is worse is because Heracles did it. He is someone everyone is supposed to look up to."

"Not every Greek king is a tyrant," he retorted.

"And how would you know?" she snapped.

"Why do you blame Greece?"

"Ask your friends to release their pride! Why does all of Troy half to suffer for the sake of one woman?"

"Why don't you ask the stupid goddess of love?"

"She is a terrible goddess, and none of the Hunters like her, but why don't you blame someone who is not Trojan?"

"Okay, you know what? This is getting ridiculous." He took a step forward and raised his sword.

"Venus!"

He halted in mid-stroke. "Wait, what?"

"That's what they call Aphrodite. Venus."

A jolt went through his body as he remembered a part of a dream he had. Take Venus and Mars with you. They shall prove worthy.

Before he could speak, Zoë lunged at him with her hunting knife, attempting to stab him. He barely avoided it, enduring a shallow cut on his abdomen. At once, he shoved her back with Aegis and angrily pressed forward.

Zoë turned around and grabbed a spear, beginning to jab away at him from a decent distance. He knew she couldn't get too close, otherwise she would lose easily, yet she couldn't get far enough from him to fire arrows.

He blocked a jab with Aegis before using Anaklusmos to slice the spear in half. In that split second, he saw two knives being hurled at him. Raising Aegis was a mistake. When he felt the two knives clank off the shield, he lowered it only to see Zoë running away. She almost had her bow out. Putting Anaklusmos back in his hair, he ran after her with only his shield as a weapon.

He was continuously shot by arrows, but he knew that he would eventually catch up to her because she needed to turn around to shoot.

And so he did. Just as Zoë turned around to fire her seventeenth arrow, he tackled her, tapping Aegis at the same time. They fell to the ground with Perseus on the top and Zoë on the bottom, but that was quickly changed when she kneed his balls and flipped them over.

He grabbed her shoulders as she grabbed his.

As they stared into each other's eyes, Perseus couldn't help but feel nostalgia and a desire to go back to the days when they were there together. He wondered what it would have been like if he had never suggested the Hunters of Artemis to the goddess. He wondered what it would have been like for him and Zoë to live. He wondered if they would have had any children.

Sure, he would miss Achilles and some of the heroes of this age... but he liked his generation. His generation was the Golden Age of Heroes. There were Heracles, Jason, Theseus, Atalanta, Medea, and the Argonauts. But he had resented Jason and Heracles, caused one's death. Theseus he wasn't so sure about. Atalanta had a terrible ending, so he wondered if her lioness soul went to the Underworld. Probably not. Medea probably would not have spoken to him. And he hadn't gotten too friendly with many other Argonauts. Maybe Periclymenus.

He shook himself back to present day where he saw two hurt eyes staring at him.

"Your oath to Artemis," he reminded her, knowing what she was thinking.

She nodded and loosened her grip. "Knock me out," she said quietly.

He trailed his hands to her neck before pressing down hard. She let out a brief cry of pain before her eyes rolled and she fell to the ground unconscious. He got up slowly and gave her a brotherly kiss on the cheek, hoping that wouldn't count as her breaking her oath. With the Hunters, he brought them all close to one another, all of them lined up, when a sudden breeze of the forest blew by and the bodies disappeared.

Perseus nodded and gave an offering to Artemis of the burned up food. "I'm sorry, Lady Artemis, but I didn't want to keep you want for something. If you want anything else, just ask me. I know I gave you a bad offering."

Just as he turned around, Brisēís came running towards him. "Tell them!" she panted, out of breath. "It's not... not Achilles. It's a... a trick. Stop it... stop it before Hector... kills him."

"Whoa, what?"

"Come!" She turned around and began running back toward the battlefield. Perseus stayed hot on her heels.

As he was led back into the chaos, Brisēís led him right back to the Myrmidon army and pointed somewhere in the middle. "Find 'Achilles.' Then tell him not to fight. Patroclus." She stopped to breathe.

She seemed so worked up about this that he had no choice but to agree. He nodded and told her, "Go back to our tent. Check if anyone is in there. Make sure Cassandra is okay."

She nodded and took off. Meanwhile, he began working his way through the Myrmidon forces toward the center where Achilles stood, shouting at his troops to press forward and scanning the battlefield for Hector.

"Achilles!" he shouted, hoping to get his attention. "Achilles!"

He never turned. Forcing his way further, he eventually reached him with a lot of effort. "Achilles! What are you doing? Brisēís said something about Patroclus and about you not being Achilles, and..."

He trailed off when he looked into the warrior's eyes.

"Patroclus," he said hoarsely.

"Achilles wouldn't fight! We came here to fight, so I stole Achilles armor." Patroclus made sure his voice was quiet so the other Myrmidons couldn't hear him. "Apollo is in this battle somewhere, though. This is a very dangerous battle. We must rout the Trojans."

"Apollo is here?" asked Perseus darkly.

"There's Hector," muttered Patroclus. He took two steps forward, but Perseus grabbed his arm.

"No! Achilles will be devastated and furious at your death! You cannot go."

Patroclus shook free, and ignoring his words, ran off into battle. As Patroclus moved, the Myrmidon line seemed to open up for him to pass, but it would shut back up right after he passed through. That made it all the harder for Perseus to squeeze his way through.

Two Myrmidons fell in front of Perseus, giving him a clear view of where Patroclus was headed. Thunder rumbled in the sky as he cut his way through a man with Achilles' spear. Perseus thought he recognized the dead Trojan as a son of Zeus, a man named Sarpedon, but he couldn't be sure.

Hector was fleeing. Leading the Trojan army back toward the Trojan gates. But it seemed Apollo had other plans. Perseus recognized the god now. He was in full battle armor with a spear in his hands and his bow slung over his shoulder. He looked as though he was trying to convince Hector to stay and fight.

And as the Trojan army fled, that was exactly what Hector did.

Apollo blended in with the Trojan army before he disappeared from view. Perseus ran as fast as he could to reach Patroclus. He could see the kings Ajax, Diomedes and Odysseus close behind the cousin of Achilles, all of them healed from their injuries, at least somewhat. Diomedes was limping and Odysseus' movements looked a little sluggish.

Patroclus was already fighting Hector when Perseus was within sight.

Their spears clashed as they fought, but Hector had the advantage. As good as a fighter Patroclus was, Hector just had more experience. The man would be turning forty soon. Then it happened.

From behind Patroclus, a figure emerged up from the crowd and fired an arrow into Patroclus' leg. His leg crumpled, and Hector cut his throat. All seemed to go silent after that as Perseus charged at the unsuspecting god of archery.

He drove Anaklusmos straight into the god's back, driving upwards into where the heart was. That would have killed a mortal instantly, but Apollo wasn't mortal. As Perseus dropped the god to the ground, he made sure Apollo got a clear look at who he was. Then, he ran towards Patroclus' body.

Ajax, Diomedes and Odysseus were fighting Hector as he shouted at his army to grab the armor of the fallen hero, who was still thought to be Achilles.

The Greek army seemed stunned at the death of Achilles that the Trojan forces, which had been retreating just a second ago, pushed the Greek army back.

Sound returned to Perseus' ears as Ajax jogged by with Patroclus' body. He could see the lifelessness in the man's eyes and grew furious.

"We lost the armor, Perseus!" he yelled. "This isn't Achilles, is it?"

"No. Bring his body back to the Myrmidon camp."

"Right."

"Diomedes!" Perseus shouted. "Odysseus! Help Ajax bring Patroclus' body back to the Myrmidon camp!"

The two obliged, breaking from battle. The Myrmidons, who all knew that wasn't Achilles but Patroclus all fell back, knowing the younger man was an important part of their leader's happiness.

Knowing that Hector was getting away with Achilles' armor, he pulled Anaklusmos and Aegis out. With a bloodcurdling scream, he stabbed Anaklusmos into the ground. He had never really used his earthquake powers before, but he did what he always did to control the power. He used his emotions.

The earth began to shake around him, throwing many off balance. Some could handle the shaking, but that was only a select few. After holding it there for a short period of time, he pulled Anaklusmos out and began plowing his way through the Trojan forces.

He felt his powers edging to escape from control and let loose. He allowed a miniature-hurricane to surround him as he fought, blinding anyone who got within a certain range of his. He fought as hard as he could, slashing, hacking and stabbing any Trojan who got in his way. No spears, arrows or swords ever touched him.

But it was too late. Achilles' armor had fallen into the hands of the enemy, even if it had come at the cost of hundreds of Trojans.

And worst of all, Patroclus was dead.


Hey everyone,

Hope you enjoy this chapter. Remember to tell me if you like it or not.

I apologize for any grammatical errors in the chapter above and if any historical facts are actually wrong. I have spent my time looking through different websites, and even a couple of books, but the story that will continue may have incorrect historical info. Still, I believe it just adds to the effect.

Thanks a bunch,
SharkAttack719