Whassup everybody. Don't worry, it's an actual chapter this time. So, I've decided that the book will end here. Or rather, in the next chapter or two. Sorry, but I don't know how to realistically continue it.
But there will be a sequel! I'll start publishing that at the same time as The Blood Of Tartarus. Thanks to everyone who gave me the idea of updating alternately!
I've not come up with a name for it yet, but I do have quite a few ideas for it though. Hopefully nobody is too averse to this whole thing, but it's the best outcome in my opinion. Plus, nobody is going to want to read a 60 chapter book or whatever.
Anyway, thanks for all your support! Hope you all enjoy the chapter!
A few days later...
Orion saw the new lieutenant of the hunters of Artemis sitting alone, talking to someone through an Iris message, and grinned. Maybe here was his chance to put his plan into action.
He covertly snuck over, glancing around to make sure Artemis wasn't anywhere around. He peeked at the floating image, and grinned. She was talking to Percy and Alex, who seemed to be chilling out in the forest.
"Why don't you two come round to my tent?" Celyn was saying. "All my friends are out doing chores, and I'd like some company." The boys nodded and swiped through the screen, obviously going to head back to the camp.
Orion, thinking that this was the perfect situation, smiled cruelly. He'd make his half-brothers have to leave, and also get some action with the around sixteen looking girl conveniently alone in front of him.
He crept up behind Celyn, placing his massive, complicated looking bow on the ground, and suddenly hugged her from behind. She screamed, realising that the person behind her was far too big to be Alex. The huntress reached for her hunting knives, but large hands immediately pinned her arms to her sides, and a voice whispered in her ear.
"Come on, girl. You said you wanted some company, didn't you?" Orion murmured, rubbing the terrified girl's arms roughly.
Alex and Percy had been running and jumping around, playing a deadly game of tag with their tridents and seeing who could reach the camp first and less harmed, until they heard a feminine scream. Their smiles immediately vanished, and pausing to heal the various wounds they had received, they vapour travelled to the point it had come from.
Alex, arriving first, saw Orion rip Celyn's parka and shirt off, and he roared in rage.
Orion's head snapped up. Crap! Why did they get here so quickly? I've barely started!
Alex saw red as he called his trident to himself, marching towards the giant. Orion shrugged to himself as he picked up his bow. Yes, he'd miscalculated and wouldn't get to have his fun, but these brothers of his were too weak. He'd have to fake being hurt if he wanted his plan to work, because there was no way they would be able to even scratch him.
The next second, Orion's vision had almost halved.
The giant couldn't feel any pain in his eyes due to them being mechanical, but what had happened? Was it malfunctioning?
He then looked back at the younger son of Poseidon, who had now been joined by Percy. Alex stood there, rage almost emanating from his body. He flicked his trident, and something fell off of the long middle prong where it had been impaled, and into his hand. Something that looked like a piece of high tech equipment, with wires leading out of the back of it. Something that looked suspiciously like...
"MY EYE!" Orion roared, and suddenly paled. What terrifying level of speed must the demigod have used to do such a thing?
He shot several arrows at both boys, but Percy just held up his hand angrily and stopped all of the arrows midair. Then both boys yelled furiously and attacked.
Percy reached Orion first, and feinted a strike to the head. As Orion raised his bow to block it, Alex sliced him across the stomach, making him double over in pain. Percy simply used the massive bow in front of him as a jumping board, bouncing high off of it and slamming back down on the ground, making a mini earthquake.
As Orion staggered, Percy and Alex moved in and started whaling on him. Alex was so angry that he encased his fists in ice and started boxing the dazed giant's abdomen, completely forsaking his weapon.
Suddenly, he heard sniffling behind him and paused in his strikes. Percy continued to cut, stab and slash at Orion, who had regained a little composure and started fighting back. Alex turned to see if Celyn was okay, and saw Celyn sitting on the ground almost crying.
Alex looked from her to the giant and back again. He was in a dilemma. Get personal vengeance on the giant on her behalf, or go and comfort her and leave Orion to Percy? He scratched his head in confusion, and as Percy saw his situation, the older demigod turned and nodded to Alex.
"Go to her. I'll be fine." Percy said, twirling his trident and letting Orion stagger towards his dropped bow.
Alex again looked at Percy hesitantly, but his mind was already set on what his choice would be.
Heeding Percy's advice and taking the course of action he'd been leaning towards anyway. He sprinted over to Celyn, dropping to his knees beside her and pulling her into a comforting hug, murmuring in her ear.
Percy stabbed Orion in the leg, blocking and deflecting all the arrows the giant had sent at him. He couldn't believe Orion would have the nerve to take one of Artemis' hunters. He knew his brother was bad, but he didn't think the guy could have been that evil.
Alex, almost glowing with fury, tried to calm himself down so that he could comfort Celyn adequately. Shaking his head in disappointment with himself for losing his temper so badly, he reached down to start trying to use Celyn's ripped clothing to cover herself better.
At the same time, Percy vapour travelled into the air behind Orion's back. He latched onto the giant's neck, then slid down until he reached Orion's belt. (Pun totally unintended)
He then took out Riptide and stabbed it into the giant's spine so hard that the giant flew forwards.
And of course, it was at that moment that Artemis ran in. Orion grinned weakly. He had prayed to Artemis for help the moment Percy and Alex had attacked him.
Artemis' eyes took in the sight that lay before her. There was Alex, crouching and leaning over her lieutenant, holding the ends of her ripped clothes. And there stood Percy, Orion lying defeated on the ground in front of him and looking pleadingly up at her.
"Please, milady..." Orion groaned, apparently utterly defeated. "I saw Alex about to rape Celyn, and tried to stop him, but Percy came out of nowhere and ambushed me instead..."
Percy and Alex both glared at the giant as he produced lies and fed them to Artemis. Celyn wanted to protest, but she physically couldn't stop sobbing from the shock. She had been one of the hunters who had been sexually abused as a young teenage girl, and Orion's assault had brought back some very unwanted memories.
The two demigod sons of Poseidon were about to plead their innocence, when suddenly a shaft of moonlight impaled Alex's shoulder, the one that didn't have the dormant pauldron on it. The boy went flying back, yelling out in pain.
Percy looked in shock at his brother, who was rolling on the floor in agony as the godly energy burned at the wound, and winced in sympathetic pain. His head then snapped back to Artemis, who was still in the firing position, glaring at them.
"Now wait just a minute, Arty-" Percy began, walking towards the goddess, but he was cut off by Artemis, raising her bow at full draw to point at him.
"Don't you Arty me! How could you, Perseus?" She shouted. "I never thought you would do such a thing! You're just the same...as all...the...other..." She trailed off. No matter how angry she was, she loved Percy too much to be able to finish the sentence.
Percy looked down the shaft of godly energy at her. "Just the same as what? All the other disgusting men you've met, maybe? Fine." He muttered angrily. He knew that at least a little part of this was his fault, having attacked Orion before Artemis believed him yet, but it was a miniscule part. He'd tried so many times to convince her, why couldn't she just listen?
"I don't know why I loved you. You're just like Annab- shoot never mind, nobody is that bad." Percy murmured. In truth however, Percy knew why he loved her, and he still did love her, no matter what.
And there was one big difference between her betrayal of trust and Annabeth's.
Artemis had been being manipulated during hers, while Annabeth had been the one doing the manipulation.
Percy then picked up Orion by the neck, and nodded to Artemis. "I'll be going, milady." He said coldly. Why didn't she trust him? Was it that she'd known Orion longer?
Percy decided to try something. He'd never tried to carry someone along when vapour travelling, and so attempted it with the weakened giant next to him. If it worked, he would be in a secluded place to finish the giant off. If it didn't, well who knows what would happen to Orion.
Percy disappeared along with the giant, and Artemis stretched out a hand. "Don't kill him..." She murmured futilely. She didn't know who to trust. She had feelings for both boys, and here they were fighting. One was battling to protect her, but who?
She then rounded on Alex angrily. How dare he try to violate one of her hunters? Only to see the demigod shakily standing up, an angry look in his face. The shaft of moonlight lay on the ground, beside Celyn, who was holding the boy's trident. Artemis realised that her hunter must have used the long handled weapon to wedge it out. Her lieutenant had helped him?
"Celyn? Why did you heal the one who tried to rape you..." Artemis asked hesitantly, already raising her bow.
"Because he wasn't raping me! Orion was! The filthy giant was lying!" Celyn screamed at her mistress, who was quite taken aback.
Celyn, seeing Artemis' hesitance, spoke again, this time at a more moderate level. "Milady, I swear on the Styx that... Shoot." Celyn said, realising something. Alex, immediately coming to a similar conclusion, slapped his forehead.
Why hadn't they just made everyone swear on the Styx?
"Milady, when Orion came to you, you were so happy to see him that you forgot to make him swear on the Styx about his story, didn't you." Celyn said. It wasn't a question.
Artemis was hit by the realisation, and looked down, suddenly uncertain. Alex, seeing this, pressed the advantage and began throwing vows around incessantly.
"I swear on the Styx that I wasn't trying to rape Celyn, we were protecting her from Orion. I swear that he's the rapist. I swear that he is the one that was working together with Polybotes. I swea-" He started rambling, before being interrupted by the loudest and longest rumbling of thunder that they'd ever heard.
Artemis looked up, wondering if Alex would be blasted with lightning. Alex looked up as well, instinctively wondering the same thing even though he knew every word he had said just there was the truth.
Soon, the thunder stopped. Apparently it was just the thunder that always came when someone swore on the Styx, it's just that Alex had done so much of it that the thunder had built up.
Suddenly Artemis gasped in horror. "What have I done... I need to apologize to Percy! Alex-" She said, turning back to him.
But the demigod was already gone.
