Success?
*Third Person Point of View*
The air was rigid around Hermes wrapping him in the looming shadow of guilt. Each breath he took grew shallower as it settled in his lungs like wet cement, imbued with the burning spark of horror as he realized the truth. Galene still looked up at him, still gazed lovingly at her charge with a bright trust shining in her lifeless eyes. She'd been everything to him. She had sworn her life to him, to guide him and care for him, and yet, it was his sword that struck her down.
How could he?
How, after all the gods had been through with their guardians, could he have ever thought that she would turn her back on him? Their relationship had been more than that, more than protector and charge, more than friends - even more intimate than lovers. It was a bond that he couldn't possibly put into words, and yet he still tried, trying to search the deep recesses of his mind for some flaw to exploit and give reason to his betrayal of her.
He looked up, surprised, because as his world ended, for everyone else, it was still spinning. The battle had not ceased to allow for his epiphany. There was no pause in the bloody slaughter of demigods. In fact, the field had become a warzone permeated by the metallic stench of blood; Hermes could feel it sinking into his pores. He saw the blades of grass running red and gold, horrifically mimicking the weaponry ripping through flesh above them. As his eyes roamed, Hermes could see a secondary landscape superimposed over the battle. The fields of Asphodel haunted him, ghouls roaming aimlessly amidst the brutality, lost to the world.
Hermes blinked, and it vanished.
Instead, he saw Ares trying his best to fend off both of the remaining guardians at once. His weapon was a blur of motion next to theirs, only pausing to impact with a harsh clang of metal on metal. What surprised the messenger god most was that they had Ares on the defensive. Eulalia, Ares' own guardian, and Hades' guardian Berenike, were some of the greatest warriors Hermes had ever witnessed - though they were nowhere close to Percy's skill - and with that skill, they were pushing Ares back a few steps.
As two of the longest-standing guardians, it was logical that they'd be some of the best fighters, especially when minding gods with such important domains.
While Ares was distracting them, Hades emerged from the shadows alongside his son (Hermes doubted that Nico's boyfriend would approve of him shadow-travelling). Both Hades and his boy wielded their Stygian Iron swords, ready to strike Eulalia down from behind - unethical as it was - but Berenike seemed to have anticipated the move. Her sword blocked both of their swings, sending their blades askew.
Berenike spun, launching a seamless counter-attack on the god of the Underworld. Hades stumbled but caught her attack, whereas Nico was thrown entirely out of the skirmish. By the time the demigod rose to his feet, the guardians had already sectioned the gods away from the rest of the battle, leaving monsters to fill their wake.
Hades and Ares pressed back to back as their former guardians closed in. Berenike swung, and Hades braced himself, but then she froze. He glanced over his shoulder to see that Ares' opponent was in a similar state.
Both guardians adopted a blank expression, weapons by their sides before their lips curled into identically horrendous smiles. Hades' gaze did not leave Berenike as her eyes rolled back in her head, only to be replaced by an endless darkness. It dripped out from behind her eyelids in a viscous sludge-trail of tears, even catching in her teeth as she grinned unnaturally. The sound that came next sent chills, even down the ghoulish god's spine.
"Poor godlings," the voice crooned. It came from both of their mouths at once, oily and sinister. "One of your own fights Perseus as we speak, and I fear her strength is waning. The gods will lose this war." Both guardians' heads rolled and their hands came together in a mocking applause, the grin still unchanged on their faces. "A valiant effort, to be sure, but I'm afraid it just wasn't enough. You will never-!"
The speech was cut short as Ares jabbed his broadsword through Eulalia's chest. It broke clean through her back and she dropped, a look of surprise on her face.
"I don't know who you are, but that girl has grown on me. I won't let you use her like that." Ares' voice was thick and gruff, coming out as more of a growl than actual words.
Hades similarly took advantage of the moment of chaos, using it to stab his own guardian, albeit with a stiff arm, having to force himself.
On the ground, both guardians let out a simultaneous laugh, both choking on their own blood. "You think you will win this fight? Yes! You will win! And you will be consumed! There is no way to stop me! Because even as you win, your precious moon goddess will lose! Watch and be crushed as she fades from this world!" Before the two guardians took their last breaths, they laughed again - crazy, maniacal laughter that stung the gods' souls.
A screen of shadows appeared to show Artemis locked in combat with Perseus, just as the guardians had said.
Artemis grabbed Percy's arm mid-swing, attempting once again to teleport, this time focused on bringing him with her. They appeared deeper in the forest, but it seemed that as soon as they landed, the ground fell out from beneath her feet. The world around them twisted, and Artemis almost stumbled as they suddenly appeared at Camp Half-Blood, right in the middle of a battle.
Monsters and demigods alike froze to see the moon goddess and her guardian resume their dance of danger. Like the world had stopped, not a single witness dared to draw breath. The battlefield parted. Monsters loomed to one side, intense eyes gleaming and lusting for blood to be spilled, while the demigods just hoped for an end.
Then, Artemis lunged. Her hunting knives flashed against Percy's sword, each swing begging to exploit an opening. Percy played defense, blocking and parrying her away. With ease, he misdirected her blades and threw her off-balance, waiting for her to tire.
With all focus on the two of them fighting, no one noticed the tall figure haunting the battle from the hill. It was silent as death, not even rustling the grass upon which it stood. The dark cloak swayed in liquid form, moving aside to reveal a deadly black crescent, accented by a silver cord.
The figure drew a single black arrow from the quiver over its shoulder and the grass around its feet wilted. Flowers shrivelled and died. Even the tree nearby keeled over slightly, leaves turning brown. Still, no one noticed, not until the figure notched the arrow and drew it back to its cheek. Its bony fingers perfectly lined up against its shadowed jaw, and it shook its head only once, to free the white-feathered fletching from the fabric of its hood. It was ready to fire; the only thing left was to wait for the right moment.
Artemis slid out of the way of one of Percy's counterstrikes, her back turned on the hill. The archer took his chance.
The arrow streaked through the air, a missile hurtling toward the goddess of the moon. Unaware of her impending doom, Artemis continued exchanging blows with Percy. She wasn't surprised by his skill, nor by his strategy. It was obvious that he didn't have an end goal; either she killed him or he killed her. Either way, the Great One got his way. If she died, the gods would kill Percy in retribution anyway, and with all of the other guardians gone, Percy's death would bring the Great One to their world. With that in mind, she expected him to try and wear her down.
What she didn't expect was when he tackled her to the ground.
No one expected that, actually. The sudden change in tactic had all of the surrounding gods rush forward, only to freeze, not knowing what to do.
Artemis, definitely, was stunned by Percy's bold choice. Now, lying in the grass, she had blood in her hair and Percy's dead weight on her body, pinning her down and yet...not pinning her down? Looking down at him she could see his cheek pressed into the dirt next to her, arms limply wrapped around her waist. He wasn't moving. Why wasn't he moving?
She pushed him up and off, and she managed to roll him to one side before she saw the arrow. It was buried just under his left rib; the shaft was coated in green-tinged blood.
"Perseus!" Artemis was immediately up, shifting them around. The next moment, he was in her lap, facing the sky. The arrow stood as a monument from his chest, glowing slightly. Her eyes widened as she saw it.
"The Immortal Killer…" she muttered, horrified.
"I'm...glad y...you're safe…"
Straying from the arrow, Artemis looked directly into Percy's eyes, seeing that the darkness had dissipated. Only soft sea green stared up at her.
"You're back…" she whispered. Suddenly, she found herself gripping tightly to his hand - his real hand - feeling a coldness settling through his body. He coughed and blood coated his lips. "You're really back…"
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