~A70 Ch21~

"The ants go marching one by one, hurrah! Hurrah!"

"Per-" Artemis began.

"The ants go marching one by one, hurrah! Hurrah!"

"Perseus-" Zoë tried, only to be cut off.

Perseus pointed to Artemis as he sang. "The ants go marching one by one, the little one stops to suck her thumb- argh!"

Artemis's kick planted Perseus's face into the dirt.

Perseus got up slowly, clearing his throat of dirt by coughing much to the disgust of the Hunters of Artemis and the Amazons.

"Women," Perseus grumbled, rolling his eyes at the dirty looks he garnered.

Perseus stretched his arms to the sky before reaching down to touch his toes, an impressive feat for a man so well built. He had been doing so for the entirety of the journey, loosening his muscles for a battle yet to be had. Enyo, in particular, had eyed him hungrily for the past two weeks; she wondered if he had been doing so purposefully as each time he caught her looking at him when he stretched, he had winked at her.

"How long until we reach the Necromanteion?" Perseus asked.

"An hour more, Perseus. Do not ask again. Your voice is not the most pleasant sounding I have ever heard," Artemis answered exasperatedly.

"Hey! I'll have you know I once made a living off my singing in my childhood days," Perseus sulked.

They had been on the road to Epirus for the past fourteen days. It had been decided that Artemis, Enyo, and Perseus, along with five Hunters and five Amazons would fulfill the requirements of a strike-force. It had to be small because Enyo's intelligence network had recently discovered that Hades had lost the Underworld to an unknown party. The strike-force would have to infiltrate the Underworld and avoid the notice of the current regime. Their primary mission was the recovery of the Girdle of Hippolyta. Secondary objectives included freeing Hades and reconquering the Underworld if only to have Hades owe them a favour.

"You did?" Zoë asked, astonished. "Sing us a song!"

"Yes, Perseus. Sing us a song. I insist," Enyo grinned viciously at Perseus's hesitant, confused expression.

"Very well." Even Artemis leaned a little, interested in how well the man sang.

"The ants go marching two by two, hurrah! Hurrah!"

They all groaned before Artemis decided she had had enough and kicked Perseus's head into the dirt.

...

Before the strike-force stood a massive temple, of obsidian origin and likewise, the same color. Massive pillars led to the entrance of the temple, all having ornate designs depicting Hades in various stages of all his regality such as on his throne and holding a hand before the mighty Cereberus. The doors were wide open, leading to an inky blackness untouched by the fading sun or lit torches.

"Hades sure likes his black," muttered Perseus as he walked forward, past the temples, and into the Necromanteion. "Would Hades like pink if that was the color associated with death?"

Perseus shook his head. He couldn't get distracted now. He had a girdle to get, not that he wanted it despite its supposed power amplification, a god to rescue, though Hades might be enjoying his break from death related affairs, and an entire god's domain to rescue. Would he be made a god if he defeated the current ruler or would he simply hold the title of Lord of the Underworld in name only or perhaps nothing would happen. Of course, that was if he was the one to defeat the current Lord. Perseus was more than content to let one of the big, bad goddesses behind him take on whatever the Underworld held for them. That or just get Hades to do his own dirty work.

Why did he get the feeling that he would be the one who ended up fighting the boss at the end of the quest? It was all so very...troublesome.

Perseus's eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness of the room. There was a single marble altar with a shallow vertical engraving that got deeper as it neared the center of the table where it entered the engraving of a large circle.

"The altar summons the Doors of Death when you pour any godly blood into the vertical indenture," Artemis informed him. Everyone else already knew this.

"Is that what we're using to get to the Underworld?" Perseus asked. The group started laughing at him.

"What? What's so funny?"

"The Doors of Death lead to deep within the bowels of Tartarus, not the Underworld," Enyo explained. Unless Thanatos decides otherwise, she thought.

"You'll have to forgive my ignorance," Perseus sniffed. "I'm Persian and the only scrolls I found on the Greek religion were a bunch of strange gods who call themselves Olympians- after a mountain if you can believe it."

Enyo laughed at Artemis and her Hunters' furious expression. One Hunter began, "You dare to-"

"Threaten the great and powerful goddess Artemis? The one who will save all maidens from the vileness of men and is destined to lead all of womankind to the path of lesbianism for it is the only path acceptable for all decent women? Yes, yes, yes. Blah, blah, blah. Threat, threat, threat." Perseus waved a hand, mocking the Hunter before murmuring, "Now, how are we getting into the Underworld. Maybe the black candle in the corner over there is used for a dark ritual?"

Enyo and her Amazons were openly laughing at the easily distracted Perseus, the stuttering Hunter, and the Hunters' open mouths at the sheer audacity of the man.

"Is- is that what you actually think of me?"

Perseus turned around only to see Artemis with her silver eyes wide open, an innocent look gracing her features completed by a quivering look.

"Oh, sweetheart- I mean Artemis, or course not. It's just that you have such a huge support in females all across Greece. I literally cannot walk through a single town anymore without having five different women come up to me and smack me on my face or attempt to give me a good knee to my most sensitive part while saying 'For Artemis!'" Perseus sighed. "Then they try to steal my money. It's no wonder I'm a wandering warrior. I'm so poor! And I still haven't figured out what I did wrong. The Amazons, thankfully, hadn't done anything like that to me so you could probably tell why I like them a lot more than most people."

"I see. Aurelia always did ask for a day's leave when we were close to a town," Artemis trailed off as she heard Perseus shout.

"So it was her! I always knew that damnable bit-" Perseus cut himself off, all the while smiling softly as he reminisced. "Best not to speak ill of the dead. She always did dislike me after I obliterated that mountain off the face of the world."

"That was me!" Artemis exclaimed. Perseus waved her off. "Whatever you say, Artemis, whatever you say."

"Now then," Perseus turned, suddenly drawing his sword and igniting it on fire, illuminating the blackness of the temple and causing everyone present to blink several times to adjust to the sudden light. "Perhaps you might like to tell us who you are and what you want. Before I bisect you, that is."

Before the strike force, was a tall, handsome man with dark wood colored skin, muscled and lean, with honey colored eyes and a regal face that held only an indifferent expression. He had unfurled wings that shimmered among the colors blue, black, and purple. He wore a simple tan colored toga. To the women present, he was among the most handsome of men though his emotionless expression was a bit unsettling.

"Ah, Thanatos. I was wondering when you would sense us," Enyo moved forward and greeted Thanatos but only received a small nod in return.

Thanatos regarded Perseus with a cold expression. "Put that thing away before you...bisect someone as you so eloquently put it."

Perseus rolled his eyes but did so, extinguishing the flame and basking them once more in darkness. The groups' eyes once more adjusted to the darkness.

"The leader of the rebel faction is a Titaness known as Aura, daughter of Lelantos. She, along with Iapetus, Pallas, Perses, and Menotius have taken control of the Underworld. I have tricked Aura into believing that I am dissatisfied with Hades's rule and as such have been appointed as his guard to torment and mock him. By being his guard, I have easier access to him and can lead a small group to his prison. The catch is that I am not the only one guarding me. Evidently, Aura is intelligent enough not to trust me completely," Thanatos's tone was serious and business-like.

"So we need a distraction then," Enyo said. "I could probably-"

"I think I would be best for a distraction." Perseus suggested casually.

Zoë furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "I do not believe you have anything in your arsenal that would provide a long enough distraction to allow the rest of us to recover the girdle and free Hades."

"Oh, my cute, little former apprentice. How little you know of me after many years," Perseus cried dramatically.

Suddenly switching gears, Perseus asked a question seemingly out of the blue. "Do any of you know what the Egyptians have recently taken to calling the dry desert areas within their territory?"

Everyone shook their heads in the negative.

"The Red Lands." Perseus stated ominously. "Not because of some silly reason like they call the land near the Nile River the Black Lands because of the black silt but because of the fate of the Persian invasion force several years ago."

"What does calling desert the Red Lands have to do with you?" Zoë wondered.

"A couple years before I met you, Zoë, and even before Persia decided to invade Greece for the second time, we invaded Egypt for a time. At that point in time, Persian demigods were still a valuable asset and Xerxes did not have a phobia of us. In fact, what happened in Egypt was what caused the Persian demigod massacre. I was lucky enough to escape because my father decided to erase any memories of me being a demigod from the minds of mortals but that's besides the point." Perseus said before continuing.

"It was a successful campaign. Egyptian cities were falling before the might of Persia. People fled in droves. Terror was a constant. But then, one of the commanders at the time had the now foolish thought of attacking the capital and subjugating the Pharaoh. We would have to cross an enormous amount of desert in armor and with limited supplies of food and water."

"We were okay for the next two weeks but then a god decided to intervene. An Egyptian God. Seth, the Egyptian God of the Desert. I was sent to distract him so I did. By summoning a huge creature that made mountains seem like hills. I was prepared to battle but with a single wave of his hands, he entombed the entire invading army in a huge sphere of sand. And then he made a fist. The blood of man soaked the desert that day. Few men survived that day. And that is why Egyptians call the desert the Red Lands."

The audience all stood still for a moment, captivated for a moment before Enyo interrupted their thoughts. "So what was the point of that story? It's interesting but hardly relevant."

"The point is that I am capable of summoning a beast that make gods like Ares shit their pants in disbelief. You know, the beast that makes mountains seem like hills and can cause massive earthquakes with a single charge." Perseus's head drooped down, lip quivering at the perceived slight of being ignored.

"Very well, we have our distraction. I will key the Doors of Me to set you down in the Fields of Asphodel." Thanatos said before turning away to concentrate.

"Doors of Me? What's that?" Everyone but Thanatos laughed at Perseus's ignorance.

"What's so funny?"

"I will be sending you now."

Before Perseus could react, two doors formed, black in color and ominous in appearance. Quickly, they opened and two arms shot out, grabbing Perseus and dragging him through the doors without resistance before slowly closing.

"Let us see if Perseus is capable of a distraction." Thanatos said, eyes closed as if unworried whether or not the Persian succeeded.

...

"Dammit. The least you could have done was to drop me on my feet. Stupid doors," Perseus grumbled as he slowly got up, patting the accumulated dust and dirt off himself.

"Who you? You food? You taste good?" An unfamiliar voice questioned. Perseus looked up to see a Cyclops at the lead of a small force comprised mainly of hellhounds.

Perseus chuckled darkly. "I'm the entertainment. But the real question you should be asking yourself is how good you taste."

Drawing a knife, Perseus cut the palm of his right hand, chanting, "Let my allies cheer. Let my enemies fear. Let all civilizations crumble for all creation will be reduced to rubble! Run, flee, desert, FOR THE END HAS COME!"

Red blood pooled into a large circle before slowly, an animalistic figure began emerging, all covered in crimson liquid. Head, snout, tusks, beady, angry black eyes, fur, body, four large and stubby feet. In that order, the animal's features emerged. Blood slowly dripped from the beast to the ground. On top of the large beast, perhaps a quarter of the size of a medium sized mountain, stood Perseus, bow nocked and arrow ready to impale its first target

Perseus broke the fear induced silence.

"Listen closely, you ugly denizens of Hell! Surrender now and I promise... THAT YOUR DEATHS WILL STILL BE PAINFUL! AHAHA!"

~A70 Ch21~

Edited: 03/20/14

Yeah, messed up the summoning the first time around. I blame my brother, he was watching Naruto and I saw him summoning a toad and it looked pretty cool. Eh, well there's a reason why my story isn't in the Naruto genre so it's fixed.

Well, you know, that and I got PMs complaining about that little mistake Well, I actually agreed and so...

Thanks for reading!