Rise of a Hero
Disclaimer: See chapter one
Warnings: Violence—gets a little graphic. Major character deaths. Minor language. If you're squeamish this chapter may get to you.
Pairings: See chapter one
Authors Note: I've been planning this chapter since the prophecy was first used in DWM
Chapter 13: Retaliation

"Help you with what?" Atlanta asked.

"Catching the Demonspawn," he growled. Atlanta jerked her arm out of his hand in surprise but before she could speak Ares struck her and she fainted.

"Atlanta, wake up."

Atlanta felt as if she were underwater, but at the deepest part of the pool. The pressure was building against her head, on her body and everything ached. She wanted to sleep, but there was a hand on her shoulder and it shook her.

"Wake up."

With a loud groan she forced her eyes open, and immediately wished she hadn't. It was too bright—the sun was too bright and it was reflecting off of wherever she was and it made her eyes water. Her head was pounding and she was aware now of lying in what had to be sand. It was already hot under her, she felt blanketed by heat.

Atlanta opened her eyes again, blinking against the tears in response to the sun. She tried to get up but her hands and legs were tied. There was sand stuck to her face. Suddenly it all came back to her—Ares striking her. She was bait. For Archie.

"What's going on?" she shouted.

Artemis had been the one to wake her, "I needed to be sure Ares had not caused you great damage. I fear my brother does not know his own strength."

"Artemis let me go! What are you doing?" Atlanta couldn't believe it. Her own mentor was going to use her to kill Archie.

"You're bleeding, but I think you'll be fine," Artemis said, and lightly touched Atlanta's forehead. That was probably what was making the sand stick to her face. "The blood should draw the Demonspawn to you."

"Artemis," Atlanta pleaded, "you can't do this."

Artemis looked sad, something Atlanta didn't expect. "He killed my uncle, Atlanta. We haven't heard from Poseidon in several days now. We have to stop him before he kills all of us. But I promise I won't let any harm come to you."

"Artemis you're going to kill my best friend!" Atlanta struggled against her bonds, but only succeeded in kicking dirt into her face. She spat it out, as best she could, though her mouth was incredibly dry. Her clothes stuck heavy to her already and she was thankful that she normally wore light clothing. It was ridiculously hot.

"I'm sorry to have to do this to you," Artemis said quietly, "I understand what losing someone is like." Atlanta thought of Orion and for a moment it seemed like Artemis was hesitating, but then the sadness dissolved and she became as hard as the marble statues of her had been carved from, "but I at least know when to put down a rabid dog."

"Just listen to yourself, boy! You want to run away for the rest of your life, with your tail between your legs?"

Archie threw his hands up in frustration, "Yes! If it means I get to live, then yes!"

"You are a coward!" Cronus shouted, "better to die in battle than pathetic and afraid, hiding away like vermin!"

Tulais snarled and Archie fought to reign him in, just barely keeping the sound from getting out though he barred his teeth anyways.

"Vermin?," Achilles hissed through Archie's teeth, "don't you ever compare me to such scum."

Through Achilles and Tulais, Archie didn't miss the ways Cronus altered his posture to become slightly less aggressive.

The Titan spoke in a low tone, "The only way I can justify running now would be if you were badly injured and needed to recuperate and train. But you need neither. Retreating from the battlefield at this point will not gain you any advantages."

"I'm not looking for advantages, Cronus," Archie said, calmer now, "I'm looking to live."

"And what about the inevitable, when you die?" Cronus asked, "who do you suspect controls the Underworld?"

Archie frowned, no, he hadn't really thought that far, "I'll have to rely on their mercy, I guess."

Cronus laughed, "Mercy? Are we talking of the same gods? Nearly every story remaining about them has to do with the vengeance or wrath of one of my children. None of them will have mercyfor the Godslay'r."

Archie flinched at the name. In the same movement he could feel the phantom weight of his—Poseidon's—trident in his fingers.

"The Prophecy will end with you, Archie. Do you truly think you can turn your back on it? You are the one foretold—the perfect blend of Tulais and Achilles, with both Achilles' talent for combat and the strength of a Demon. You alone are the one that can end the rule of the gods, and bring forth a new era for mankind. One without immortal rulers!" Cronus was growing excited again, likely at the thought of seeing his children overthrown. The gods had a really weird family.

"Yeah?" Archie asked, feeling Achilles and Tulais whispering under his skin, "a world without any immortals. Where does that leave you?"

The doors to the library opened quickly, but with no more force than was necessary. Thetis entered the room, paying no heed to the tension that had to be palpable to her immortal senses. She seemed worried, almost panicked in a way that made Achilles tremble in Archie's mind. Archie was afraid too—Thetis always looked calm.

"The gods—they have her," Thetis said.

"Who?" Archie asked, though he already knew the answer.

"They have Atlanta."

"I don't like this," Apollo complained, "I am an arteest, not a killer!"

"I need all the help I can get to kill the Demonspawn," Ares snapped, "he fights well—I trained him."

"Yeah, thanks for that," Artemis muttered, "do we really have to do this without Hera's knowledge?"

"She's still recovering from the loss of Poseidon, I didn't want to worry her with this. Besides, think of how happy she will be when we return with Archie's head?"

Atlanta found it hard to focus on them with her eyes open. It was so hot. They had been kind enough to put up an umbrella for her but it wasn't enough to kill the heat in the air. Even though she realized they were on the edge of a desert—she could hear the ocean waves a distance behind her and could probably see it if she had the energy to look. She'd floated in and out of consciousness several times already.

From overhearing the gods' conversations she'd found they were somewhere in Africa. That wasn't entirely a surprise—it was more of a relief to know where she was—but it meant that if she ever did manage to get away they were likely isolated enough that she would have a long ways to go to find civilization.

Their plan was to use her as bait. Archie would come running. Atlanta couldn't lie to herself, of course he would rush in like the big idiot he was. And then Artemis and Apollo would shoot him down. And if that didn't work, at least slow him. And Ares would strike the killing blow. They were adamant that nothing would harm her, they would keep her safe. But they were going to use her to kill Archie and it was going to happen right in front of her eyes.

If Atlanta weren't so determined to keep it from happening, she would have given in and cried at the thought.

The ocean glimmered far away—too far to run to, not that it would do her any good with her hands tied. There were craggy hills and cliffs behind her. Artemis and Apollo were stationed up on the top of them, hidden from sight so that Archie wouldn't see them until it was too late.

"How dare you," Atlanta growled at Ares. He was drawing lines in the sand with his sword, "Archie looked up to you. You were like a father to him—and now you're going to kill him?"

"I treated Archie fairly," Ares snapped, "and he murdered Poseidon."

"You set him up!" she shouted.

Ares kicked sand in her face, "Shut up!" She was spitting it out, trying to blink it out of her eyes, when he tied a gag around her head, effectively silencing her. Atlanta continued shouting at him as best she could, but her mouth grew dry too quickly and whatever he'd stuffed in her mouth tasted awful. She lay her head down wearily, hoping that Archie wouldn't come. And that someone would get her some water.

"The gods have Atlanta," Thetis said, "they are holding her on the coast in Africa. I could only see Ares for sure, but I believe Artemis and Apollo are with him. Possibly more."

"They wouldn't," Archie snapped, "they wouldn't dare get Atlanta or any of the others involved!"

"I'm only reporting what I saw," Thetis said, "I thought you would be interested."

Cronus shook his head, "It doesn't matter, Archie can't be distracted by trivial matters. We need to have a proper plan and attacking them when they have set a very obvious trap is suicide."

"They have Atlanta? Is she hurt?" Archie asked.

Thetis shook her head, "Not serve rely, but she did appear to have a minor head wound. I could only see from a distance, as they are well aware you can move freely in the water and are expecting you to attack from that vantage point."

Archie let out a long breath through his nose. Cronus glanced up at him immediately. "No."

"I can't leave her," Archie said.

"They won't kill her- she's still valuable to them," Cronus replied, "you, on the other hand, would be the most incredible imbecile to have ever existed if you walk into that trap."

Archie grinned and Cronus' face fell, "I am serious, you brat. Trust me in that Hera will not allow one of her precious children be killed by her own people."

"I used to be one of her precious children," Archie said.

Cronus shook his head, "Nonsense. You, m'boy, have always been second-rate to her. Cannon fodder, if you will. If you recall she has already made an attempt on your life."

"Actually it was you," Archie said, "you stabbed me and my ancestor sacrificed his life to save mine."

"All under Hera's orders, I assure you," Cronus responded with a smile that made it hard to tell if he was telling the truth or not.

"I have to go," Archie said.

"No," Cronus snapped.

Archie could feel the weight of the trident in his hand, knew the dagger edges of the three tines and how they would cut away the flesh of his enemies, should they dare challenge him. He felt strangely cold, calm and collected. It was entirely opposite of his usual burning, destructive anger that left him shaking to try and control himself. Achilles and Tulais were in complete agreement with him. The gods would suffer for daring to lay a hand on Atlanta.

"We're not asking," Archie said, and turned to Thetis, "take us to her."

The water was moving.

The ocean was always in motion, Atlanta knew this. Her expertise was in the forest and on land, but even she knew enough to recognize the normal movement of water and movement that could not be natural. She also knew that Archie had killed Poseidon, and must have somehow acquired some of his abilities of controlling water.

Archie was coming.

He was coming to save her, and he was going to die.

"DON'T!" Atlanta screamed around her gag, though the words were too muffled to be coherent, "GO AWAY!"

"Finally!" Ares shouted, "the monster couldn't resist the bait after all."

The ocean was frothing, the waves churning against the natural tide.

"Shoot as soon as you have a clear shot- immobilize him- but I will take his head," Ares was shouting to Artemis and Apollo. Atlanta wanted to puke.

She was straining to sit up, trying to catch a glimpse of Archie. She didn't know if she could watch him die, if she would close her eyes and try to not hear the sounds she couldn't block out, or if she could watch his last moments.

There! She caught a glimpse of his stupid blue hoodie in the waves. Instantly there was an arrow shaft approximately in his midsection. Atlanta screamed. More arrows were fired, the water started settling down. Ares started shouting at the other gods for stealing his kill. Atlanta couldn't take her eyes off the spot where Archie died to pay the gods any mind.

Suddenly the water exploded upwards, as if driven by some angry force. If Archie was still alive this was his last attempt to save her. Atlanta wished he was a coward so that he would love another day. Ares raced ahead of her, moving towards the water, though he remained on dry land.

The cliffs behind her collapsed.

Atlanta rolled over as fast as she could, her head reeling from sunstroke, shock and dehydration. The cliffs that Apollo had been using as cover had been reduced to rubble and dust. Artemis was shouting for her twin to answer her. Ares was ranting about a diversion.

Atlanta could barely hear them over her elation. Archie was standing there in the sand. He was dressed down, having used his hoodie for his trick, and looked every inch the stupid, doomed hero he was playing. The joy quickly turned to dread as Atlanta realized that because he wasn't dead yet, didn't mean he would survive.

"Demonspawn!" Ares shouted, and Atlanta felt a large hand grab her by the neck to lift her to her feet, "if you make one more move I will snap her neck!"

Archie barred his teeth in response. Atlanta expected to hear a snarl from him, or anything reminiscent of Tulais. His eyes were reflecting the sunlight strangely, almost as if they were glowing. The sand at his feet looked weird for some reason Atlanta couldn't yet describe.

Archie swung the trident in his hand and struck the cliffs Artemis was positioned in.

They crumbled in an explosion of dust.

"What the hell?" Ares gasped, echoing Atlanta's own thoughts. When had Archie- or anyone- ever been able to do that?

Archie flew out if the settling dust and landed only a few feet away from her and Ares. The sand at his feet instantly turned to glass. Atlanta's eyes widened. The air around him was shimmering with heat. His eyes were glowing.

"Let her go," Archie snarled, baring his fangs. There was a dissonance in his voice as if it were echoing in his throat.

"I'll do it!" Ares shouted and his grip around Atlanta's throat tightened, "I'll kill her if you don't surrender!"

Archie took a step forward and then jerked suddenly to the side. Two arrows protruded from his right shoulder, and would have been in his neck had he not moved. He screamed in rage and it sounded more animal than human, and dove into the dust.

Apollo shouted in pain, and the clash of metal on metal followed. Artemis was shouting curses, loud in her anger, and Archie's only responses that Atlanta could hear were feral. Ares was nervous. Atlanta could feel him starting to shake. She almost couldn't blame him- Archie was scaring her and she knew he was the good guy, the hero come to save her.

One thing Ares had working against him, was that while he had trained Archie to be highly skilled in combat, he had also trained Atlanta. She wouldn't be able to go far, but she didn't need to move much to hide in the smoke and maybe Ares would turn tail and flee for fear of Archie if she got away.

Ares was still holding her by the throat, and he must be assuming she couldn't fight with her wrists and ankles tied. His mistake. Atlanta sucked down as much air as she possibly could, resisting the urge to cough at the dust in the air, and pulled her legs up to swing and kick Ares in the knees. Thanks to surprise more than anything he released her and she twisted so that she took the fall on her hip than her head. Her neck felt wrenched, like she'd sprained something badly, but she didn't dare stop to let the pain or Ares catch her, and squirmed as fast as she could across the hot sand and away from the god.

Ares was shouting her name in rage and she could hear Artemis and Apollo crying out in pain, though the sounds of fighting never faltered. How on earth could Archie still be alive—he was fighting two gods!

She'd made it far enough that the dust had cleared out enough for her to see Archie. He parried a blow from Artemis' daggers in time to spin and slash at Apollo with the trident. The arrows that had been in his shoulder were gone, though Atlanta could see a bright red stain in his shirt where he was losing blood. Archie was covered in spattered blood, and had several smaller wounds himself. The gods looked worse—they had long cuts dripping silver, immortal blood, and were starting to even look fatigued. As Atlanta watched, blood started to seep through Archie's shirt near his ribs even though there was no evidence of there being any wound there. There was something very wrong about this fight—it didn't make any sense.

Apollo crumpled from the hit. Clutching at a bright red gash across his chest.

"It's not healing!" Apollo screamed, "why won't it heal?"

"Get up!" Artemis shouted. Archie had turned to charge Apollo while he was defenseless, but Artemis drew another arrow and fired, forcing Archie to spin on his heel and slice it out of the air before it could hit him.

Every step he took turned the sand to glass, and the battlefield was littered with glass footprints and broken shards disturbed by the fighting. Sand only turned to glass at extreme temperatures and Atlanta was sure it was far hotter than any human could possibly survive at. How was Archie even alive and what was happening to him?

"There you are!" Ares snarled behind her. Atlanta hadn't been paying attention to her own situation, stupid stupid stupid, she scrambled to lift herself to her feet, swaying and dizzy with black spots in her eyes.

Ares grabbed her by the hair and she felt his knee in her stomach. She crumpled, and whatever breakfast had been came up along with the pain.

"You think you can outsmart me? I am a god!" Ares was shouting. She could barely hear him; it felt like she was underwater. Somewhere a woman's voice was screaming, and maybe she heard her own name. It sounded like a roll of thunder so she couldn't be sure.

Ares looked up briefly and turned white, he made a move to dodge, or run, but Archie impaled him on the trident before he could escape. At least Atlanta hoped it was Archie. She wasn't too sure on anything at the moment, let alone the incredible heat pouring off of him was anything but normal. The spots in her vision were growing stronger, and everything was fading out as if the sun was setting.

Ares was on his knees, clutching at his stomach as silver blood poured between his fingers. Archie ripped the trident from his body and dug his claws into Ares' head to pull his head back and expose his neck.

"Please, please no!" Ares was begging, "we didn't hurt her—take her and go!"

Archie's eyes were twin stars radiating light that almost obscured his features, bright red blood was spilling from wounds that seemed to open of their own accord. Ares' skin was burning where Archie was touching him and the god had tears streaming down his face and looked as pathetic as Atlanta had ever seen any creature appear.

If she had been shown this image and asked to point out the god, she would have chosen the mortal burning with righteous fury.

"We had no interest in fighting," Archie was saying—and the echo in his voice was even more distinct since he was as loud as thunder to Atlanta's ears, "but you forced our hand, Ares. We wanted peace and you brought this upon yourself—now die and let your stupidity be a lesson for the rest!"

Archie stabbed Ares in the throat, the trident glowed with what had to be magic, and Atlanta had the sense to close her eyes before she saw what became of Archie's mentor.

It didn't block out the sounds.

When she opened her eyes Archie was still standing tall. He appeared taller than she'd ever seen him, covered in a mix of silver blood mixed with his own scarlet. Ares' head was impaled on a glass column, face twisted in fear.

Archie appeared calmer, but it didn't make him any less terrifying. Atlanta flinched as he turned his glowing eyes on her. They were dimmer, but still they were not Archie. He stalked towards her like a predator, calm and assured that it's prey could not escape. Her tongue had finally been reduced to ash in her mouth and she was unable to stammer anything other than a feeble 'n-no'.

Archie leaned over her, heat blasting from him as if he was a living fire, and she felt the ropes around her ankles and wrists slacken and fall off. She didn't know if he'd burned or cut them off. He touched her lightly on the arm and she flinched away with a scream.

"You're hurting me," she whimpered.

Archie drew back, confusion on his face as if he couldn't comprehend what she was saying.

"We would never hurt you," Archie said quietly.

"You killed Ares!" Apollo gasped from behind them.

Archie whipped around to focus on them as if he had forgotten they were there. Atlanta took her eyes off of Archie to see the other gods. Apollo was hunched over his twin, both were bleeding badly. Artemis was missing a hand, and she looked faint and terrified covered in her own blood. But she wasn't healing. The gods should have healed by now. Only mortals kept wounds like that.

"Surrender," Archie said, "and we will spare your lives."

"What have you done to us!" Artemis shrieked, "why can't we heal?"

"Each god must fall," Archie said as he walked towards them, leaving shining glass footprints behind in the sand,"those kind, cruel and fair."

"You would blame us for trying to protect ourselves?" Apollo asked, "but we will surrender. Let us live, Godslay'r."

Archie held his trident out in front of them, still standing a distance away from the two gods.

"You must bleed out your godhood," he commanded.

"And you'll let us live?" Artemis pressed.

"We will not kill you," Archie replied, "now hold out your wrists."

The gods were obedient, though Atlanta could see they were terrified. Her arm was still hurting from where Archie had touched her, red and welting already. She struggled to sit up, dizzy and nauseous from the heat and Ares' attack.

Archie was glowing again, and the sand around his feet was slowly turning into glass, like a ripple moving outwards from Archie at the epicenter. He slit their wrists and brilliant silver blood poured out, glowing nearly as brightly as Archie himself. Apollo and Artemis looked like they were in agony, clutching one another as they struggled to remain upright. The silver blood grew darker and darker until it became red.

Mortal blood.

Apollo started sobbing while Artemis stared in silent horror at the red blood leaking from their wounds. Her wrist was still leaking profusely. Atlanta's stomach lurched as she watched her mentor sway and fall into the sand. She'd lost too much blood. Apollo wasn't far behind. They were dying. They were dying and Archie was just watching it happen.

"Help them!" Atlanta managed to croak, struggling to her feet. She only made it a few steps before collapsing.

"They're dying," she begged, "stop it."

Archie turned away from the dying gods to walk back to her. Atlanta flinched as he came near, fearing his touch.

"We promised we would not kill them," Archie said as if that made everyone okay, "they should have realized their wounds were fatal. Killing them would have been a swift death."

Apollo made a strangled sound as he choked on his own blood. Atlanta's eyes stung as she started to cry.

"No one will ever hurt you again," Archie said to her. He knelt down to look her in the eyes, "we kill anyone who tries."

"Archie you're scaring me," Atlanta whispered.

"We don't have much time," Archie said, and reached out to grab her arm. She slapped his hand away.

"Don't touch me!"

Archie's face was a strange mixture of shock and rage, and Atlanta didn't want to wait to see which emotion won out. Archie would kill her, she realized, if she pushed him too far. He was out of control with some power she didn't know he had. He'd just killed three gods in front of her.

She backpedaled as fast as she could, trying to get to her feet without taking her eyes off of Archie or tripping over herself.

Cool, soft hands grabbed her from behind and Atlanta screamed in surprise. The hands were soothing in the same way the desert sun was brutal and unyielding.

"It's okay, I've got you," Thetis whispered.

"What's happening?" Atlanta's voice broke as she took her eyes off of Archie to look at the nymph.

"Everything is going to be okay," Thetis assured her, "we'll explain later. Right now lets just get out of the sun."

"I can't believe that diversion worked—you're bloody lucky Thetis was willing to risk herself for you," Cronus muttered to Archie, glancing out at the ocean.

Atlanta gasped and her knees gave out again. She would have fallen had Thetis not held her up, "Wh-what are you doing here?" she shouted.

"Providing transport," Cronus snapped.

"We need to go," Thetis urged, "Archie can't maintain—"

As if on cue the light died in Archie's eyes and his body went limp like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Cronus caught him and slung Archie's limp body over his shoulder.

"I just had this suit cleaned," the titan was grumbling.

Cronus waved his hand and a portal appeared, leading to a dark unknown. Atlanta was shaking so badly her teeth were clicking. On one hand she could try and run and stay lost in the desert, alone, until she died. On the other, she could go with his mortal enemy and the boy she cared about who had just murdered three gods in front of her and might also kill her.

Thetis made her choice for her, pressing Atlanta forwards.

"You need some rest, this is a lot to take in," she was saying, "I'll get you some water and a cool bath and explain everything."

Atlanta was going to need a lot of explaining. She wondered what the others would think of all this when she got back.

If she ever made it out of here alive.