Ho Ho Hello! Ummm, sorry for not updating anything in almost forever but I couldn't think of anything to type (as you may know, I type as I go, I have no set gameplan so even I don't know how this'll end yet ^_^) and I was away for Thanksgiving and I was irked at Fanfiction for the longest time because I wasn't getting review alerts but I know why now! So I'm happy, this'll be the last time I'll have to thank you for reviewing within my chapter! So here it goes...
Glacion God of Ice- Oh my goodness, thank you so much! That seriously made my day! Sorry for not updating so long and thanks so much for the review! It meant a lot!
Emily a Huntress of Artemis- I figured out why I haven't gotten emails! Go to Alerts I think and go to the settings, it said all of mine were disabled so I enabled them and I got emails again! Glad that chapter made you happy and I hope this one is better... :)
the ghost king- yea, but who wouldn't be annoyed if a Kobaloi bit them? LOL... Glad you liked it and sorry for not updating in forever! Thanks again!
sybretooth- Thanks, I'm glad it entertained you!
Deviltrigger Dante- Sorry for not updating in a while, but I made this chapter extra long (by my standards) so I hope you enjoy! Sorry for the no ArtemisxPercy thing :)
Demigod1315- Wait, do you mean Hurricane Katrina? No I really didn't think of that, but that is interesting now that you mention it... And yes, as you will find out, Stephanie is more than just a grammer-obsessive old lady... :)
gest- here you go... Thanks!
Please enjoy!
~ArtemisFrimm (hohoho)
The following hour consisted of interesting conversations, led mostly by Hermes. Artemis would listen and shake her head or laugh occasionally, but otherwise remaining silent. I tried listening to what Hermes said but my thoughts kept straying back to Annabeth. So that was our evening until Artemis let out a silent yawn.
Hermes clapped his hands together, "Well, I suppose that we should probably get to bed. Exhaustion is never helpful on a quest." He turned to Artemis who shook her head at him. "Well Artemis, I don't know if you've noticed or not, but there are three of us and only two places to sleep. Obviously I am not sleeping with Percy, but unsurprisingly I have no problem sleeping with you." He waggled his eyebrows at her suggestively.
Artemis shook her head, "You're worse than Apollo when it comes to my hunters." She muttered.
"So is that a 'yes'?" Hermes asked.
Artemis rolled her eyes and I couldn't help but crack a grin at Hermes persistence. "Hermes I would rather not sleep at all then sleep with you."
Hermes frowned and mocked being offended, "Aw Ar that cuts me deep. So are you sleeping with Percy then? Because honestly I don't know what he has that I don't."
Artemis glared at him and proceeded in throwing a pillow at him, "I'll sleep on the floor."
Hermes frowned, "Well then that's not very fair to you, and it makes me and Percy look much uncivilized." Artemis opened her mouth to say something but Hermes cut her off, "Don't comment. Anyway, so if you refuse to sleep with me then I guess I'll have to let you keep the bed while I sleep on the floor."
"I have no problem sleeping on the floor." I suggested.
Artemis shook her head, "Guys, I'm fine on the floor!"
Hermes nodded, "Then it's settled, we'll all sleep on the floor."
Artemis rolled her eyes, "That's stupid!"
Hermes shrugged, "Whatever, but I call that corner by the heating duct. I get chilly easily."
Since we were all to stubborn to sleep in the bed or on the sofa, we all ended up falling asleep on the floor, which, by the way, is not the most comfortable place to sleep. After tossing and turning for over an hour, I finally managed to fall asleep; and boy was that a mistake.
I let out a groan. My head was throbbing and I felt as though I had cracked a few ribs. The cell I was in was far worse than any mortal cell. The floors were damp and filthy and littered with broken glass. The air was so cold that I could see my breath. The bars that kept us in were rusted over badly and with the damp air, they would be the perfect place to harbor anaerobic bacteria. Basically, you could get some pretty nasty Tetanus here.
The girl I had been trying to escape with had been trembling in fevered dreams for the longest time. I had tried waking her up with no prevail. My sister's lieutenant Thalia had been unconscious ever since she had been brought here, and the blonde daughter-of-Athena had been sobbing as her body was wracked with seizures and fitful dreams.
I had tried helping them, all of them, but my powers had been practically drained since I had arrived here. Suddenly I felt the hairs on the back of my neck and on my arms stand up. I looked up into the face of Death for what seemed like the hundredth time since I had arrived here.
"Death." I greeted the creature like an old friend.
'Your sister isn't cooperating. We are running out of time and the Titan Lord is growing impatient!'
The creature's voice sent chills down my spine but I put on a grin and laughed, "How can Kronos be running out of time? Isn't he the Titan of time? You know, for a creepy shadow creature you sure have a great sense of humor."
I felt a tremor of cold air, obviously pissing off Death wasn't the smartest thing to do. I didn't flinch as it pulled back a skeletal hand to smack me, but it froze. I heard a raspy noise coming from underneath Death's cloak. It sounded kind of like a cat choking on a hair ball while raking its claws down a chalkboard; I assumed Death was laughing.
Before I realized what was happening, the girl in the fevered sleep began thrashing around and screaming, "Stop! Please! Please! Please!"
I rushed to her side, "Nike, shh, Nike it's alright." but she continued to scream and clawed at me and herself.
Suddenly her body went limp but every few minutes she would tremble and let out a small whimper.
'Never try testing my patience again young god, and maybe I won't kill your sister.'
I felt the blood leave my face, "You can't kill her. She's immortal. Besides, she's not here. I would know if she was."
Death chuckled again, and threw a silver bracelet at me. It was the one given to Artemis before our mother had died, she never took it off, it can't be… 'I can do some many things you can't even imagine young god. I'm the exception to the rule. When I am done, with you, you will plead for me to kill you.' It reached out and stroked my cheek with his icy hand. I screamed.
I woke up screaming, and by the sounds of things I wasn't the only one who had had a bad dream. Artemis was panting and I could see silver tears sliding down her cheek. Hermes was comforting her and when he looked at me I could see his eyes were wide with shock.
"What happened?" Hermes asked as both Artemis and I quieted down.
"Death's coming." Artemis said shakily.
I frowned, that made no sense, "No, he's with Apollo and Annabeth and Thalia and some other girl. He was torturing them!"
Artemis shook her head, "No, it's coming! Death's about a mile away from this town! We have to leave!"
Hermes glanced between both Artemis and I wondering who to believe. "Um, Percy are you sure you weren't having a bad dream?"
I shook my head, "It was real! I was seeing as Apollo again! Annabeth and Thalia were there too! And some other girl, Nike, I think, Death was torturing her! She was screaming and begging it to stop."
Hermes face paled, "Is she alright?"
I shrugged, "I don't know. She was trembling and whimpering."
Hermes thought for a moment, "Artemis are you sure you weren't having a bad dream?
Artemis didn't respond; she was staring out of the hotel window. Hermes and I looked out as well. The town suddenly seemed a lot darker and colder. "It's here." Artemis whispered.
"Death?" Hermes asked.
Artemis nodded and instantly began gathering our stuff.
"How can it be here if it was in my dream?" I asked.
Hermes shook his head, "We'll worry about that later, right now, let's try to get out of here." He threw open the door only to find Stephanie standing in front of us. Her ancient eyes were focused on the carpet.
"Leaving so soon hot stuff?" she asked.
Hermes glanced back at Artemis and I. Obviously he also found it creepy that the inn-keeper was standing outside of our door at half-past midnight. "Uh, yea, change of plans, we have to get going. Thank you so much for your hospitality. How much do we owe you?"
Stephanie growled, "But it's not even breakfast yet? The Kobaloi were so looking forward to it."
Artemis glanced at me looking concerned. Why didn't Stephanie ever look up at us, and why was she still wearing her pink sunhat?
"It's always so nice seeing family getting along so well." Stephanie spoke again, her eyes never leaving the floor.
Hermes nodded slowly, "Yes, I suppose."
"You know I had a family once. We got along until my stupid sister got herself and me and my other sister cursed." Stephanie snarled.
Suddenly a scream broke through the silence of the night.
"Hermes we have to leave!" Artemis hissed.
Stephanie frowned, "You can't leave! My Kobaloi are hungry, and I can't deny them fresh meat, if your reading friend were here I would have spared you but…"
Okay, Stephanie was starting to sound like a demonic librarian or something.
"So Perseus, do you have any siblings?" Stephanie spoke.
How does she know my name? "Uh, I have a half-brother." I answered unsurely.
Stephanie nodded, "I had a sister; two of them. We were the prettiest women in Greece until that awful day! You've actually met my sister Perseus, on your first quest. She was such a beauty until her stupidity and lust won her over."
I frowned, "Your sister's Medusa?"
Artemis's eyes widened, "She's Stheno! The oldest of the Gorgons! She's killed more people than Medusa and her other sister combined!"
I thought of all of the statues in Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium; how could this woman have killed more people?
Stheno smiled and took off her sunhat revealing dozens of hissing serpents. "Come Kobaloi! Time for breakfast!"
I pulled out Riptide, and I saw that Hermes had his caduceus out in baseball bat form, and Artemis had her bow drawn. A loud trampling sound filled my ears as over a hundred Kobaloi ran up the stairs! Their eyes looked like black slits and they were all baring their fangs and laughing maniacally in their Chip'n'Dale like manner.
Artemis began firing arrow after arrow as Hermes and I swung at as many Kobaloi as possible, "Why on earth would Walt Disney create cartoon characters after these guys?" I asked Hermes irritably.
Hermes shrugged, "Beats me, but you know, if you look past the fact that they're trying to eat us, they are pretty cute."
"Hermes you are insane!" Artemis yelled over the Kobaloi laughter.
"It's the laugh I think, it gets me every time, I mean it's just so darn cute!" Hermes argued.
Before Artemis could respond, a sickening cold feeling entered the room, freezing everyone, including the Kobaloi, in their tracks.
A large black shadow began oozing into the room until Death stood in front of us. The Kobaloi stared at Death, their lips quivered, and all at once, they let out a horrified shriek.
Stheno let out a scream as well, but hers was more out of fury. "Kobaloi, what are you doing? Kill the heroes!"
I'm afraid I can't let you kill them Gorgon. They are of too much importance. Death spoke in his rattling voice.
"No! My Kobaloi are hungry and I must avenge my sister's death. I'll kill you if you try to stop me!"
I felt a small tug on my hand as Artemis slowly began leading me and Hermes out of the room. Death didn't seem to notice.
Death laughed in his choking sort of way, and in an instant every single Kobaloi fell dead. They didn't dissolve into ashes like most monsters do when you kill them; they just lay dead on the ground, their lifeless eyes staring at us in pain.
We were in the hallway when Stheno let out a scream of sorrow, "NO! Not my babies! You! I'll kill you! I'll- I'll-" she didn't get to finish her sentence because in a black flash, Stheno fell dead as well.
"Run." I heard Artemis whisper in my ear as she and Hermes fled down the stairs away from the hotel from Hell.
The town was in chaos. People were running and crying and screaming and occasionally some would drop dead right out of the blue.
"There's more than one." Artemis said as we sprinted towards the woods. That's when I saw it, about a hundred creatures just like Death flying around the city people were dropping dead left and right, it made me feel sick, but I knew I couldn't stop running.
Suddenly I heard Annabeth scream and I stopped in my tracks. I saw her shadow just behind a burning building. "Annabeth!" I tried running for her but I felt someone holding me back. Hermes was grabbing my arm.
"C'mon Percy that's not her!"
"No! It's her! She's in trouble!"
I somehow or another shoved Hermes out of the way as I began running towards Annabeth, mesmerized.
Right as I was about to reach her, I felt a sharp pain in my ankle and I collapsed from the pain. I had to help her though! I began crawling towards her.
I felt someone pick me up and before I realized what was happening I was moving away from Annabeth. I started clawing and kicking at whoever had me, I had to save Annabeth, but suddenly her shadow morphed into another one of the Deaths and it rushed towards us.
"Don't look!" I heard Artemis shout from somewhere in front of me. I shut my eyes and behind my eyelids I saw I bright light, and heard the sound of nails on a chalkboard and suddenly Death was no longer following us.
Hermes didn't put me down until we were deep in the forest. Then he didn't so much as put me down as he did drop me.
I winced as the pain in my heel caused me to pass out…
So... what'cha think? Comments, Questions, Concerns, or just wanna say 'hi'? LEave a review! They make my day lol... Thanks again!
~ArtemisFrimm (hohoho)
BRING ON THE EGGNOG!
