Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, most characters belonging to Rick Riordan and whatever respectful owners that may or may not exist.
Happy (late) Easter guys! Hope you got LOTS of chocolate, 'cause I sure did! YIPPEE! SUGAR RUSH!
SEVEN HOURS LATER...
Now, enjoy the chapter!
A Demon's Wrath
Unknown point of view:
I hated the heat. And sand. It got horrific after a while. Alas, I had to live with it. That's the lovely deserts of the middle-east.
Oh, before anyone tells Artemis I'm alive and on the other side of the country... Well... I wouldn't, to be honest. She would come over to Iraq, drag me back to America to be tortured by her or be dragged down to the Ninth Circle of Hell.
Neither of them were very appealing.
Anyway, for why I'm in Iraq... Well... It's sort of funny really... Okay, it really isn't.
Back in 2006, a terrorist group known as ISIS (Islamic State) formed. Personally, I could care less about them, but then came the catch: Cambions were swaying them. Their holy book was being twisted by the Spawns of Hell, and are proving to be a threat. While they are the remnants of Al-Qaeda and only a small party of fanatics, they are still a threat.
Even though most of the world doesn't know of them, Hell does. Mainly because of the number of Cambions in their ranks.
Now, back to the task at hand.
I stood up from my uncomfortable bed and rolled it up, before grabbing my rugged cloak, weapons and scarf. I left the confinements of my tent and threw the cloak on and my scarf, hiding my mouth and nose from the harsh winds of the middle-east. Grains of sand scraped against my uncovered hand, and continued to walk forward, throwing my hood up.
I still don't understand why so many demons came over here to have their children. Oh well, those loyal to Hell aren't going to be around anymore.
I checked that I had my pen on me along with my electrum knife. This kill was going to be too easy.
I continued to walk through the desert, until I was met by a road. There were some fresh tire tracks, and from what I gather, a convoy with several Cambions was going to pass through here in a short while. I found a small cluster of rocks and hid myself well, before relaxing.
... Some time later...
The sound of engines caught my ears. The sun was just peaking the horizon, and the desert began to grow dark. Just what I wanted.
A convoy of several vehicles was coming along the road. I slowly rose to a couch, and grinned darkly. Time to show them why Hell is not going to win the war.
I reached into my cloak and pulled out a golden coil of barbed wire. I threw it across the tracks, for Stage 1. The first two vehicles drove over it, and I reached into the other side of my cloak. Out with my hand, I pulled out two packs of C4 attached to a remote detonator. I threw it into the rear wheel of truck 4, hoping that it would go un-noticed.
Truck 7 passed, and I crept out behind it before grabbing on and slipping underneath the truck. There was no point running, because I wouldn't keep up with these vehicles.
A few minutes later, the icy winds of the winter Arabian nights swept in, causing me to shiver involuntarily.
"سحب أكثر، لدينا مخروق" A man shouted out, and I slackened my grip slightly. This was going to be fun.
The seven vehicles pulled over, and most people exited them.
"كشاف المنطقة. تأكد من أننا لا تحت المراقبة" Another man shouted, and a torch was lit. I could count twenty or so men around, possibly thirty with people manning the MGs and behind the steering wheels.
I fell to the ground with a soft thud, and pulled out a knife. Silently slipping out from underneath, I saw a scout on his own. Checking a bush. It was dark, so nobody would see him. Quickly I ended his life, throwing my hand across his mouth as I slit his throat. I grabbed his body armour and AK47, along with his grenades and other weaponry, and slipped it all on over my rags.
Then, came the part I loved.
I reached into my pocket, and pressed a button.
KA-BOOM!
The third and forth vehicles exploded, taking a handful of men with it.
Many curses in Arabic came my way, and I raised the assault rifle I just acquired and shot down some of the men. "The Devil has arrived for Christmas!" I announced, and grabbed a grenade. Ripping the pin out with my teeth, I lobbed it. More men exploded into the air, splattering the sandy road in their blood.
Another grenade was let loose, and some bullets came my way. I paid attention to none of it, and simply shot back. Time began to slow down as I picked the terrorists and Cambions off, massacring the entire lot.
"Tell them that Kronos has ended his deal." I snarled, raising the gun to a cowering Cambion and splattered his brains across the road.
I threw the gun to the floor, and re-grabbed the mortal knife I always carried around since I came to the Middle-East.
Ten minutes later, the gruesome work was finished. Now, the demons shall hopefully not aid the Titan army, which will bring Olympus a tiny step closer to their victory. And then I will be able to see Artemis again.
A Demon's Wrath
No point of view:
The next day...
Camp Half-Blood was feeling a sense of joy this season... Well, some were. This was because the remaining campers knew that it was going to be the last Christmas many of them would spend with their friends and families.
Chiron had asked of Zeus to lift Dionysus drinking ban a little, because of eggnog being produced by the wine god. Gods knew why he was producing it, but he wanted to, saying that 'all alcoholic drinks fell under his domain'. It was only for the senior campers, however. A massive order of juice boxes was put in place for the younger campers.
With Christmas less than a few weeks away, a massive pine tree was erected in the center of the cabin area, and all campers were told to help decorate it. It stood at at least three storeys like that of New York City usually did throughout. Many lights of many colours were on the tree, representing every camper and god. However, one person was far from feeling the Christmas cheer.
While the Greek Gods never celebrated the festive holiday, she still found it fun to celebrate it with her Hunters and knew that Camp also celebrated it too. And at this moment in time, she was in the basement of the Big House with Nico di Angelo, the bitter younger brother of Bianca di Angelo. He was a complete misfit, always goading the rage-fueled mortal to kill him. Even telling her of the endless tortures her best male friend was going through.
It had taken a few weeks (months, if not) to realise, but she eventually did. She missed Percy deeply, before discovering that she felt something more than friendship with the Cambion: she had loved him. So very much. It just seemed that everyone she ever got close go died. Kallisto (she still resented her father for raping her), Zoë (for a short period), and all of her other Hunters and Huntresses from her millennia long life. Gods, even her mother and Apollo (shocking, right?).
"Check the news, bitch." Nico snarled. Artemis right-hooked the twelve year old, before walking up to the main floor.
Dionysus was there, lounging on the couch as he watched some boring wine adverts.
"Put the news on, Dionysus." Artemis demanded, walking over so she could see the television.
The god of wine, or Mr. D as the campers called him, muttered something incoherently as he handed the goddess the TV remote. She switched the channel, and saw that she was just in time.
A breaking news report popped up, and showed a news report.
An image of a female news reporter popped up on screen. "Breaking news from the Iraqi and Syrian border, where a massacre occured late at night. All men are believe to have been involved with an extremist group due to the heavy amount of firearms carried on board. At first, it looked like a military threat to neutralise the threat. However, after having a look from above, there was a message in blood and bone written into the sand, convincing officials and experts that this was in fact a terrorist attack or a simple assassination mission." She said, before an image parallel with her popped up. It was from a bird's eye view, and showed the slaughter in Syria, along a message in blood that was written through the battlefield. It read:
THE DEVIL HAS COME FOR CHRISTMAS.
Artemis felt slightly sick when seeing the image. She had no idea who would possibly do something of the sort, but it seemed fairly obvious who or what did it.
Someone loyal to Hell was obviously at work, but why in the Middle-East? It made no sense.
A loud crash was heard from down below.
Dionysus shot upright, and looked at the ex-goddess. She ran down into the basement, the god of wine following closely behind.
Nico was on the floor, completely free of his restraints. The pair of them looked around, and the second both had their backs turned, a jar of Greek Fire smashed directly in front of the ex-goddess. She flew backwards, into Dionysus, and both of them hit the floor with a thud.
Nico could be seen running up the stairs of the Big House, and Artemis groggily stood up, chasing after the son of Hades. Dionysus was close behind.
Artemis was right behind the pre-teen, and he somehow dodged her lunge.
"CHIRON!" Dionysus bellowed, picking up the fallen mortal. She ran after the escaped captive, just to see the ancient Centaur raise his bow and aim at Nico. The arrow missed, and he cantered across the camp to try and intercept his nephew from escaping. The second he escaped the boundaries of Camp Half-Blood, he could Shadow Travel away.
That meant that they only had a few moments before Nico escaped. It even felt as if Artemis and Chiron were slowing down, hardly able to catch up to the demigod. The Power of Kronos was at work, and someone within camp was possibly aiding the son of Hades.
"Nico!" Chiron yelled, but it was too late. He fired another arrow at the escapee, but he escaped the camp and vanished into a shadow.
Artemis slipped to a halt, along with Chiron. He winced in pain, raising his right hind-quater slightly. It was still sore after the Laistrygonian Giant clubbing him in the Battle of the Labyrinth. His leg had been broken, and had been confined to his wheelchair for a few months. It seems that even now, he was not fully healed.
"Chiron, lean on me." The fifteen year old offered, but the centaur merely waved his hand.
"I am fine, Artemis. I just am not used to running that fast."
Artemis nodded slowly. "I can see that you're in pain. And I don't want you to be in your wheelchair forever." She protested, before getting Dionysus to bring it over.
"Please, Artemis -" The centaur knew that the mortal would not see him hurt. He had helped train a few of her newer hunters and always alerted her when a possible Hunter candidate turned up at camp.
"Just sit in it, Chiron. I will get one of my nephews to look over your leg, seeing as it is not healed properly." Artemis ordered as the wheelchair.
The ancient centaur grumbled, folding his horse legs up as he sat down in his wheelchair. The pair of them made their way back to the Big House, weary of a mole in the camp, when a loud roar echoed throughout Camp Half-Blood.
Chiron knew that it wasn't Peleus, the dragon who guarded the Golden Fleece (acquired by Clarrise, Annabeth and a few other campers), which hung on Thalia's Pine Tree - which was a massive white Christmas tree which sat on the borders of the camp, providing a magical barrier around the camp. It had originally used Thalia's life-force to retain the barrier to keep monsters out (unless summoned), but the Golden Fleece now provided it, and also healed Thalia and spat her out of the tree in return.
A wave of water from the lake smashed into the Big House, which was on fire.
"No!" The Trainer of Heroes tried to stand, but his legs wouldn't budge out of the confinement of his wheelchair.
Artemis, however, ran towards the Big House. Dionysus was unconscious on the floor, his leopard-print shirt smouldering. Greek Fire bellowed from the basement, and the mortal foolishly ran into the burning building, closely followed by one of her closest and oldest friends, Zoë Nightshade, daughter of Pleione and Atlas. They both knew that what was in the attic was highly valuable to Cam Half-Blood, the most important thing being the mummy up in the attic, the last host of the Oracle of Delphi.
The pair of Hunters bounded up the stairs and ladder, holding their shirt necks above their nose and mouth to avoid inhaling the toxic gases produced from the fire, such as carbon monoxide and sulphur dioxide. The Oracle was just sitting there, motionless. The stench of rotting flesh crawled up Artemis' shirt, causing her to heave.
The pair of them picked up a number of valuables and the Oracle. They were just about to flee down the trapdoor when a plume of poisonous green flames erupted through the open hole. The timber floorboards began to glow red, and were ready to break.
"Jump out of the window!" Artemis barked over the loud crashing as the once blue four-storey-tall barn house collapsed in on itself. The pair of girls smashed through the tiny window and weak timber, and tossed the prizes away from the burning building. The entire camp could be seen, running around as they tried to put the fire out with some seashells from the Poseidon cabin, which sent up torrents of salt water. The attic floor began to collapse, and Jake ran around with a somewhat large amount of water from the seashells.
"Jump in the water! It will cushion your fall!" Jake yelled, and Artemis gave Zoë a nod.
"I'll follow." The daughter of Atlas insisted, and the ex-goddess jumped, splashing into the water below. Zoë next pushed the Oracle, and it landed in the water. Zoë was just about to jump, when a plume of flames lashed out from the house. The wood from the house was turned into shrapnel, and cut into the son of Triton's leg. With a hiss of pain, he almost broke concentration. Zoë jumped from the burning Big House, a coil of flames reaching out and coiling around her right arm. She cried out in pain and plummeted into the shallowing water.
She hit it, and almost fell through. Jake collapsed to the ground, completely exhausted. He passed out, and the Apollo campers came running around and dragged the three of them and the Oracle away from the Big House.
It took a long time for the fire to die down, and had been burning long into the night. Jake was still unconscious and Zoë had a fractured arm from the fall. Thankfully, Artemis was fine except for the singed clothes and inhaling a bit of CO2. Chiron came in after dinner, and went up to Artemis.
"Chiron, I need to leave with my Hunters. We must hunt down Nico di Angelo and whatever loyalist to Kronos is out there." She said, and the currently crippled centaur looked away for a few moments, thinking.
"Dionysus will alert Olympus tomorrow of your decision. I would recommend getting something to eat now, however. Do return in a week or so, however. Christmas will remain the same, Artemis. I cannot stop you from leaving, we both know that." Chiron nodded.
"Please contact me when Zoë's arm has healed, Chiron. If you so wish, my cabin is free for you to use during the reconstruction of the Big House and our absence; if you are reconstructing, that is." The ex-goddess offered. Chiron nodded, smiling thankfully.
"Thank you. Now, when you find the son of Hades, give him some pain. Or send him to me. Nobody attacks my home home and survives." A dark look crossed the Trainer of Heroes eyes, before he turned around in his wheelchair and left.
Artemis slowly stood up and left the infirmary, pondering over the centaur's words. True enough, she would find Nico. And she would give him true pain, unlike him being held captive by the camp in the basement of the Big House.
Then Kronos was the next one on her shit list.
A Demon's Wrath
One week later...
The man trekked through the sand to his new tent. In his hands he carried a small leather bag, filled with some supplies. Mainly food. Gods, he always loved food.
He neared his tent, and something felt off. An immortal was nearby. Hopefully not a surviving Persian god/goddess or something, because he had no clue what killed them. Hell, possibly nothing could kill them!
Back to the story: He cautiously opened his tent and entered, careful incase it was booby-trapped.
"Hello Perseus." A female said from behind him, and before the Son of Astaroth could react, he was dragged into the shadows.
Percy was tossed out into an half-acre clearing covered in icy grass and was ringed with berry trees.
"Oh, for crying out loud!" The Cambion let loose a string of curses in multiple languages. He shivered, the New York City air biting at his skin.
In front. of him, the steel-coloured East River flowed sluggishly, white plumes of smoke billowing from the rooftops in Queens. Behind him, the Upper East Side loomed, cold and silent. The back of his neck began to tingle.
Subconsciously, Percy took out his ballpoint pen, and uncapped it. Immediately, it grew into his bronze sword, Anaklusmos, - or better, Riptide - the three-foot long blade glowing faintly in the low winter light.
The bushes rustled, and a golden deer burst through the trees. It had metallic fur and (hopefully) genuine 14 karat horns. The deer shimmered with an aura of golden light, making it almost too bright to look at.
Awesome, The Cambion thought to himself. It would be handy to kill and snatch the gold. It would give him enough dime for a few months, considering how expensive the world was at the moment.
Then, the bushes rustled again and a figure in a hooded parka leapt into the clearing. In her hands was a five-foot long spear and a familiar bronze shield with the head of Medusa on it. Percy raised his sword, and the girl leveled her spear at him.
"Who are you?" She snapped, throwing her hood back.
Percy gasped. He was utterly screwed. Those electric blue eyes held raw power, and promised pain to those who ticked her off.
"Thalia?" Percy asked, removing his scarf and hood. "What are you doing here?"
The Daughter of Zeus gasped. Then, looked sad. Finally angry. Angry enough to nuke the entire universe for someone saying "hi" to her.
"WHERE WERE YOU FOR THE PAST SIX MONTHS?!" She roared, shooting a bolt of lightning at Percy. He moved away, the bolt singing some of his clothes. A second later, her spear and shield were gone and a silver bow was in her hands, an electrified arrow already notched in the string
"Who the Hell was dumb enough to give you a bow and arrow?!" Percy yelled, avoiding another arrow.
"The girl you left heart-broken, you son of a bitch!" Thalia snarled, unleashing a barrage of electrified arrows at the Son of Astaroth.
"Oh..." Percy dived behind a tree to avoid the arrows. "Can we at least talk like civilized people?"
"You want civilized?! That's rich, coming from you! Now come out and take your punishment like a man!" Thalia shot an arrow, and the tree blew up.
"ARE YOU INSANE?!" Percy cried out, hitting the deck as another arrow sailed over his head.
"Let go of me!" Thalia screamed, and Percy stood up. There, pinning the Daughter of Zeus to the floor, was Bianca.
"Not until you promise to not kill Percy! I'm sure he has a... valid reason for going dark and not announcing himself being alive." The Daughter of Hades snapped, before finally releasing Thalia. Bianca took her bow and arrow, and put it on. She had a silver parka on, like Thalia.
"Wait..." Percy paused for a second. "Artemis started the Hunt back up again? Without godhood?"
"Duh, dumbass!" Thalia sprung to her feet, hitting the side of her head like she was mentally ill.
"That seems natural for you, Thalia." He commented, dusting himself off.
"Uh, Percy...?" Bianca paused for a moment, looking at the Cambion's clothes.
"What?" He shrugged, stretching his arms out above his head.
"Why do you look like an Arab?" Thalia deadpanned, and Percy looked down at his clothes.
"To fit in Iraq and Syria, it's kind of advisable to dress like this. You're inconspicuous that way." Percy shrugged like he didn't care.
With the stubble on his face, Bianca thought that he was a lot older than he was. The three approached one another, when Percy felt weightless.
The ground opened beneath the trio, and they fell into the darkness.
Percy was swearing as they fell, Bianca was just complaining while Thalia... Well, Thalia was screaming bloody murder. They were soon standing in a garden, and Thalia was still screaming in terror.
Percy put his head in his hand, and took a few steps away from the demigoddess. It took a few moments, but Thalia eventually stopped screaming, only to ask: "What? Where are we?"
The garden itself was dark. Rows of silver flowers glowed faintly, reflecting off huge gemstones which lined the planting beds: diamonds, sapphires, and rubies - all the size of footballs. Huge trees arched over the trio, their branches covered with orange blooms and sweet smelling fruit. The air was cool and damp, like they were underground, a cave most likely.
Bianca touched a pomegranate on a tree. "Were in my stepmother Persephone's garden." She moved away from the fruit. "Don't eat anything."
Percy didn't need to be told twice. He already hated Underworlds, and he didn't want to stay there any longer than he had to.
"Heads up," Thalia warned.
Percy turned and found her aiming her spear at a tall woman in a white dress. At first, Percy thought that the woman was a ghost. Her dress billowed around her like smoke. Her long, dark hair floated and curled as if it were weightless. Her face was beautiful, but definitely pale. However, if you paid attention to her dress, you would notice that it wasn't white; in fact, it was made out of all sorts of changing colours: red, blue and yellow flowers blooming in the fabric.
But it was strangely faded. Her eyes were the same way, multi-coloured but washed out, as if the Underworld had sapped her life force.
"I am Persephone," She said, her voice thin and papery. "Welcome, demigods."
Bianca scowled at the goddess, and plucked a pomegranate before throwing it at her. "Welcome, huh? After you banished my brother, you still have the nerve to welcome me?!"
Percy shifted uneasily. He wanted to rip into the goddess himself, because it was the last place he wanted to be. He would let Bianca finish first before he would start, however.
"Um, Bianca..." Thalia started.
"It's all right." Persephone said coldly. "We had a little family spat, and I banished her brother because he tried to get us to switch to the Titans with him.
"Family spat?" Bianca cried. "You discriminated my brother! Made him join the Titans! If only you would suck it up and not be an obsessive bitch twenty-four-bloody-seven!"
"I would shut up, Bianca di Angelo, before I smite you." The goddess warned.
"Smite her, the demon army will ransack your homes. And kill everyone you love. So I suggest you don't." Percy sneered, drawing his sword.
"Perseus Jackson." Persephone mused. "It is fairly strange to see such a powerful child in rags, alas, you should not threaten me in my own home. I shall not tolerate such ignorance from such a lowly being, killing innocents and children because of a spat with your father."
All eyes turned to the Son of Astaroth.
"Percy..." Thalia began, her eyes glowing. "Is that true?"
"No." Percy snapped, his voice cold as ice.
"Then what is this?" The goddess smirked evilly. She waved her hand to the side of her, and an image shimmered to existence
An image was shown from a bird's eye view, showing the massacre from a week before. A message in blood was written in blood. It read:
THE DEVIL HAS COME FOR CHRISTMAS.
Thalia punched Percy in the stomach, and he was sent flying.
"What was that then, Percy?!" Thalia grabbed her spear, and leveled it at Percy's neck.
"A demon army planning to send suicide bombers to the Empire State Building, White House, and DOA Studios! They planned to take out the Underworld and then Olympus, before America altogether! An Islamic Extremist organisation known as Islamic State was formed by demon possessed mortals and Cambions, and are twisting many to join their cause. That is why so much blood has been spilt!" Percy explained.
"And the children?" Thalia sneered.
"Another Cambion is taking them out as a way to make me falter. We've both met him." Percy answered, and Thalia remembered him.
Skotádi Pnévma, Son of Alistair and Sally Jackson (apparently), Percy's half-brother from what they knew. He captured her, Artemis and Percy, before giving Artemis to his father and sending the other two to Antaeus, where Percy was forced to fight to the death. He killed his Uncle before the pair of them fled, desperately searching for Artemis.
"So you don't stop him?" Thalia pressed.
"What do you think I was doing? Working my way up the ranks until I have him pinned at one location. Then, he falls." Percy snapped, and Thalia's spear suddenly sprouted into a tree branch covered in white and gold flowers while her shield turned back into a rose bush.
"While this fight is interesting," Persephone sighed, a bitter tone to her voice," Lord Hades has a problem. And if you know what's good for you, you three will help him."
Percy wasn't interested though.
"Sorry Persephone, but I have more important means to attend to." He walked away from the goddess, his back turned.
"Give. Me. Back. My. Spear. And. Shield!" Thalia ground her teeth in frustration, a vein popping up on her head. However, she was ignored.
"Zoë and Bianca should be dead, Dark-Blood." Persephone threatened, and Percy stopped dead in his tracks.
"You're threatening me? With their lives...?" Percy growled, his eyes darkening. He turned his head to look at her. "If you even lay a finger on them, I will hunt down everyone you care for, and give them an excruciatingly painful death. Then, every last flower will wither up and die. And then I will come for you..."
"Your threats mean nothing to me, Abomination. I will have your head on a plate for such insolence." The goddess narrowed her eyes at the teen.
"Then do it, and end the demon threat. I only go to Hell for all of eternity before I break free and execute you. All of you gods are the same, and I should never have gone to that camp all those years ago. I should have completed my task of assassinating Artemis at eight, and drank all of her blood!" Percy shouted, his eyes turning pitch black, a black aura rolling off of him.
"Percy!" Thalia punched the Cambion, but it had no effect. It was as if he couldn't feel a thing.
"Bianca, go fetch Artemis." Persephone sighed, before the shadows reached out and grabbed her by the neck. The Daughter of Hades vanished into the darkness, before appearing a second later.
With her, was a beautiful fifteen year old girl with auburn hair that reached the middle of her back and strikingly mesmerizing silver eyes, like liquid silver.
"Why are we here, Bianca?" Artemis asked, and the demigoddess simply pointed at the raging Cambion, throttling Persephone.
"Oh..." She muttered, before cracking her knuckles. He was going to pay.
"Hi Artemis." Thalia smiled sweetly at her friend, before walking away. She then walked up to the goddess who was just about to be free from her bindings a second later. She wanted two simple things back.
"PERSEUS JACKSON!" The mortal yelled into the ear of the Cambion. He simply turned to her, and his eyes widened slightly.
He was dead. Like, ten times over.
"Yeah, you're a dead man for not telling me that you were alive." Her eyes were filled with silver fire, and promised pain.
Back to Bianca and Thalia, both of them were sitting on the dark veranda overlooking the garden. Down below, they could also see Percy and Artemis viciously fighting... Well, Artemis was the vicious fighter, while Percy blocked her blows.
Back to the cousins, Persephone's handmaidens brought food and drink, which neither of them touched. They both knew the consequences of touching food of the Underworld.
The handmaidens were pretty (unfortunately they were dead though, which would change almost anyone's mind about 'chatting them up'). They wore yellow dresses with daisy and hemlock wreaths on their heads. Their eyes were hollow and they spoke in the jittery voices of shades.
The goddess herself (Persephone) sat on a silver throne, and studied the two fighting in her garden, before turning to her stepdaughter and hallf-sibling. "If this was spring, I would be able to greet you properly in the world above. Alas, this is winter, this is the best I could do." She sounded bitter. After these many millennia of living down in the Underworld, the still resented living with Hades half the year.
The goddess turned and looked at Thalia, as if she was reading her thoughts. "Hades is my husband and master, young one. I would do anything for him, but in this case, I need your help. And quickly, as it concerns Lord Hades' sword."
Bianca frowned. "My father doesn't have a sword. He uses his staff and Helm of Darkness in battle."
"He didn't have a sword." The goddess of spring corrected, and Thalia sat up after hearing that.
"He's forging a new symbol of power without Zeus' permission?" She asked, an eyebrow arched.
The goddess pointed to an image flickering to life above the table. Skeletons were working over a forge of black flames, and used hammers that seemed to have been fashioned like metal skulls to beat a length of iron into a blade.
"The second war with the Titans is almost upon us, young ones." Persephone said. "My Lord Hades must be ready."
Thalia began to protest. "Zeus and Poseidon would never allow Hades to forge a new weapon! It would unbalance their power sharing agreement!"
Persephone shook her head. "It wound in fact make Hades their equal, daughter of Zeus, believe me. The Lord of the Dead has no plot to overthrow his brothers either, and knew that they would never understand. Which is why he forged the blade in secret."
The image over the table then shimmered, to show a zombie weapon smith raising the blade as it still glowed hot. However, something strange was set on the base of the hilt. It wasn't a gem, it was more like a key.
Bianca leaned forward. "Is that a key? One of the Keys of Hades?"
Thalia looked at her friend, a bit confused. So Bianca took to explain. "My father is alleged to have a set of golden keys with the ability to lock and unlock death. It's a legend, however." She paled a bit at the thought of them even existing; and in the hands of the enemy, the Realm of Hades and Olympus could easily be overthrown with an immortal army that an never fall.
"The legend is true, daughter of Hades. They have the power to imprison a soul in the underworld, or it can release it." Persephone said, and Bianca realized why it was put in the sword.
"The wielder of the word can raise the dead, or slay any living thing and send it's should to the Underworld with a mere touch of the blade." Bianca said weakly.
Back to Everyone's favourite couple: Percy and Artemis:
"Look, Arty, I get it, you're pissed, but can you calm down for a single second?!" Percy jumped over another arrow, which caused a ruby behind him to explode.
"I will, after I skin you alive!" Artemis fired another arrow at the son of Astaroth, and he hit the deck. He seriously needed to stop getting on the bad-side of girls with a bow and unlimited arrows. Well, it seemed that way.
"Come on, I was fighting bad guys!" Percy complained, trying to move closer to Artemis. But it was useless. She just shot more arrows at him.
"Well, I could have known at least! I thought you was dead!" Artemis screamed, before lowering her bow. A tear formed in the corner of her eye.
"You had to think that. So the demons would end their alliance with the Titans. It went wrong, but many of their followers were ended for all of the right reasons." Percy said, slowly walking towards her.
"Is that why you're wearing... That?" She asked, referring to his attire.
"Yep Syria is really cold this time of year, too." He smiled, and Artemis paled.
"Don't tell me the guy on TV was you..." Her eyes widened, and she raised her bow slightly.
Percy stopped in his tracks. "The children and innocents being slaughtered my apparent brother." The son of Astaroth eyed the girl wearily, as he knew she was as unpredictable as they came. "So, are you done shooting things, or can we get briefed and get this quest over with?"
Artemis nodded, and the pair of them were suddenly dragged into a shadow before being spat out by Thalia, Bianca and Persephone. He then noticed the sword above the veranda in the illusion.
"That's a wicked sword." Percy commented, standing up. Artemis stood up, and glanced at the sword worriedly.
"Why is there one of the Keys of Hades in that sword?" Artemis asked, before putting the dots together.
"Yes, daughter of Zeus, Lord Hades has been forging a new weapon. And it is extremely powerful, which is now why you four must help to get it back." Persephone read her half-sister, Artemis', mind.
"Wait..." Percy looked at the goddess. "Did you just say get it back? How the Hell could you lose the blade - or allow it to be stolen? Is this some kind of joke, Persephone?!"
Persephone glared at the legacy of the sea, her eyes deadly serious while beautiful. "The blade was stolen when it was almost finished. I do not know how, but I suspect a demigod, some Champion of Kronos."
Artemis looked ready to unsling her bow and empty her quiver out into her sister's body. "But why do you need us four? Why can't Hades just smite the demigod? It's not as if he needs his servants or us to do it for him." She arched an eyebrow, and Persephone looked away from the mortal. Many millennia of being the Hunter, and being the twin to the god of truth whose' best friend was the god of liars, she was extremely good at picking out lies and truths in some people. And was good at lying herself due to this.
"My father going after the thief himself would raise suspicion amongst his servants, Artemis. They may desert him if they discover that Lord Hades' new symbol of power was stolen right under his nose." Bianca explained, her onyx eyes watching her stepmother and friend closely.
"Also, you four combined are extremely strong. The Huntress, two demigod daughters of the eldest and youngest of the Big Three and the grandson of the most powerful Olympian god and very powerful Titan, along with being the son of a Prince of Hell. The four of you combined could possibly take on a small army without godly aid." Persephone looked at the four as she mentioned them. Percy just scoffed before she continued. "Also, when you return the sword to Lord Hades, it will show to Zeus and Poseidon that you trust their eldest brother, and shall not protest about the sword being made." She just had to sweeten the deal.
"But I don't trust him." Thalia said, her electric blue eyes scanning the garden.
"I do. He helped me battle Ares down here when I was twelve, so I'm not complaining. He is a god of his word, and should not turn against his brothers - no matter the cost." Percy defended the Lord of the Dead while Artemis and Bianca remained silently.
Thalia stood up. "He tried to kill me!" She protested.
Percy met her glare with one of his own. A black flame unknowingly sparked to life in his left hand. "So? Times have changed, Thalia Grace. How I may bear a small grudge against Hades, I will not allow some sword to fall into that bastard Luke's hands."
Thalia snapped, and drew her spear before launching a bolt of lightning at Percy. Persephone's hair was singed lightly as it narrowly missed Percy and Artemis. "Leave Luke out of this!" She growled.
Percy threw a left punch at the daughter of Zeus, and as they thought it was going to miss, a wave of black flames lashed out and knocked her to the ground. "If you're loyal to that prick, then why beat his ass back on Mount Tamalpais?" He growled, and Thalia stood back up. They were suddenly thrown to the other side of each other, pinned to the ground by flowers.
"I do not want any more damage to my garden, children." Persephone glared at the pair of them and Artemis.
Artemis ignored the look from the seething goddess. "Alright then, how do we find the thief? Erebos is enormous." She asked.
Persephone waved her hand, and the image above the veranda vanished. A potted plant appeared on the table: a sickly yellow carnation with a few green leaves. The flower was listed sideways, as if it was trying to find the sun.
"This will guide you to the thief. The flower always faces in the direction of your pray; and the closer whoever it is gets to escaping the Underworld, a petal falls off. Once the plant is dead, you would have failed." The goddess explained, and Bianca picked the potted plant up.
"I'll carry this while you three beat up the thief?" The daughter of Hades turned to the ex-goddess.
Thalia and Percy were then released.
"Fine maybe we can interrogate this guy for the location of Nico and Kronos." Artemis sighed, and the four of them left Persephone and what was left of her garden.
A Demon's Wrath
And I am done! Sorry about the long-ass wait (again), but I had a portion of the chapter written and got extremely carried away when writing this. Not to mention that this Easter holiday hasn't exactly been pleasant to me.
Any who, people constantly asked me "what are the side effects to Kronos' Scythe?" and I thought about it, and did it (not like I wasn't going to do it anyway ¬_¬)... But I want you guys to guess it!
Why?
Because it's fun.
And lastly, who do you think the thief should be? Say in the reviews!
So yeah, leave a review! Why? Well, I have exams starting next week, and I will try and squeeze a new chapter in during my spare time.
Until next time!
~ The Prince of Souls