Chapter 33

I trudged through the woods, my mind wandering as I let my feet guide me out of this prison of sorts.

I had been walking for days as the woods seemingly expanded infinitely, but I guess Limos had warned me about that.

Though I had no reason to believe so, something told me that I was getting closer to the city, meaning I was getting closer to "Noir".

Though I wasn't worried about my abilities to stand up to the god, the state I was in was a but questionable.

As of right now, I had cleaned all my wounds out, but I had multiple small gashes across my arms that added up, making even lifting my blade up hurt.

Plus the monsters that had come for me were slowly chipping away at my stamina, making me more and more tired.

I hadn't slept for the past two days, only resting for a short time, afraid of being caught up by the monsters.

But something told me that I was getting closer and closer to the end of the forest, the magic around me getting less thick.

With this in mind, I kept on trudging, determined to make it out these woods and back into the city.

I walked for what seemed like forever before eventually I saw the woods in front of me getting thinner, giving me hope.

I started to run as the edge got closer and closer until eventually I broke through the trees to find myself on a steep hill overlooking the city of Las Vegas.

I let out a little chuckle.

"Finally." I said to myself.

Once I reached the city I could rejuvenate and prepare for battle, going into it completely ready.

I was already starting to plan my next move when I felt a shift in the air around me.

I peeked up quickly, but I didn't reach for my weapon, half outta exhaustion, but also because there was only a small trace of a presence around me.

This quickly changed, however, as the prescience got more potent quickly, before eventually it felt like it was suffocating me.

I decided to finally take my weapon out as I saw something flash in front of me.

At the bottom of the hill was a small spec of purple that was quickly making its way up.

I raised my scythe.

Before I could take a guess at what the spec was, I watched as it stopped for a second and there was a boom throughout the air.

Before I could blink, the spec launched itself in the air, closing the distance between us extremely quick.

The spec, a man I realized, launched itself up and flew directly past me, going up high into the air (in what seemed like one step).

I looked up to see the familiar sight of a man I purple with a club looking at me with wild eyes and and even more wild smile.

"I'VE FINALLY FOUND YOU DEMIGOD!" He yelled out as he descended while swinging down his club.

Thankfully though, he wasn't aiming for me, instead for the ground in front of me.

Nonetheless, I stepped back out of instinct, and I was glad I did it because the god landed with a crash, causing a small shockwave to form around both of us.

"Just my luck." I muttered under my breath. Ponos was definitely someone I didn't want to see right now. He was defiantly going to be the most physically taxing fight, and right now wasn't the best time for that.

In my mind, I had planned to be with Remleon when I encountered him so he could deal with his brute strength, but that wasn't going to happen now.

I raised my scythe and placed the curve at the god.

"Leave now, or you'll die right here." I said coldly. I didn't expect the words to work, but I had to try. Besides, I wasn't lying.

The god laughed.

"Good one demigod! I've spent days trying to find you and now I finally have! I've known since the ruins that you were the one to satisfy my hunger for battle, and this is the time to fulfill just that!"

I scoffed. "I'm not here to fulfill some prophecy of yours, Ponos. If your not here to take this seriously, then you'll regret it."

The god shifted a bit. "You think I am not serious?"

The god launched himself forward and with blinding speed he practically slapped me with his club.

I barely had time to reflect it, but it didn't even work as I was launched back through the air.

I had to have flown at least 50 feet as my body rag dolled mid air, hitting trees and rocks but not stopping until I eventually was able to catch myself.

As soon as I looked up though, I found myself face to face with the god.

I sucked in a quick breath and lifted my left arm in a fatal attempt to block the gods follow up attack, but failed, getting slapped downwards, digging me into the dirt.

Thankfully the god didn't continue his attack, simply backing away as I forced myself back to my feet, trembling as I did so.

I backed up from the god, creating distance before I assessed my injuries. They were bad, that's for sure.

I was bleeding from multiple places as a result of being launched, but that final hit that put me in the dirt was what really hurt. My left prosthetic arm was in pain which was really uncommon, and my entire left side was aching.

"Do you think I'm serious now, demigod?" He asked in a little less happy tone, his broad smile replaced with a more of a smug look.

I raised my blade once more. "I have a name." I spat out.

"You have not earned enough respect for me to call you by your name." He replied, throwing his club over his shoulder.

"But if you want, you can fight me right here and now, on your honor! No godly powers or stone of souls, just two men fighting to the death!" He said.

"Unlike my brethren, I have no interest in recruiting you, and the though of a fight excites me to the highest degree. So what do you say, demigod?"

I raised a brow. Recruit me? I didn't think too much about it because there's no way that would happen, but it intrigued me.

"So your saying you came looking for me alone just so you can fight me 1on1? You've seen what I've done to your brothers, what makes you think your different."

The god laughed yet again, to my annoyance. "You think those word games will work on me? No no no, I am aware that Orcus was weakened and you were in the possession of a godly weapon while fighting Riyu. If they were both to fight you at max potential, they would dispose of you relatively easily in minutes, gods or not." He said, and I twitched at his words.

"god or not". There's no way I would lose to those two if there weren't gods.

"Even now, demigod, your abilities can't compare to your two companions, especially not the wolf." He said.

I scowled. "You think I'm weak or something?"

"No no, far from it, but soon you will realize that there are levels to this world, and you are not at the top, as you may think your are." Said the god.

"But be grateful! For I have come to you under the proposition of a fair fight, meaning that if you cannot beat me here today, then you are truly the weak!"

Fighting a god, but as a mortal. Not something I was used to, but it meant I stood a chance even now, and if the god hit this hard without any godly powers, I didn't wanna waste the opportunity and see him at full strength.

I shifted my weight and prepared to make a move. "I accept your offer Ponos."

The god smirked, but said nothing.

Instead, he ran towards me with his club swinging wildly.

I met the god with my scythe and repelled his first attack and quickly followed up with attacks of my own.

The god easily met my blade, but I noticed something after the first couple seconds of fighting.

His blows were strong, each one hitting me me back farther then usual, but his super duper strong hits needed some time to "charge up", something I wouldn't give him.

I was surprised, however, when as I was recovering from the god parrying my attack, he smirked and I heard his foot move in the ground.

In the blink of an eye, the god came towards me and tackled me upwards, flying into the air with me in his arms.

I didn't know how, but he moved himself mid air, grabbing me by my ankle and twirling me around, launching me towards the ground as he finished his spin.

My eyes widened as the floor got closer and I feared the possibility that he had thrown me fast enough to crush me upon impact.

With this in mind, I used momentum to flip over, but it wasn't as clean as I had planned it to be. Thankfully though, I was able to save myself by planting the base of the scythe into the ground, barely managing to land on my feet.

I raised my head to see the god land surprisingly gracefully, looking at me intently.

"I suppose we start to take things seriously." Said the god, and for once, he actually sounded serious.

"Took long enough." I taunted, and with that, the god charged once more using his abnormal speed.

But this was different, for me at least. I felt something snap in my brain, the same thing that occurred against Eris.

Before the god could make contact with his club, I took a step to the side in what seemed like slow motion. I watched as the god flew through the place I was just standing.

Before he could fly past me though, I launched my knees upwards, hitting the god dead in his stomach.

The god made a loud "oof" before I silenced him by sending my left elbow downwards, attempting to smash his skull.

I threw the god to the floor and tried to land a hit with my scythe, but he rolled away onto his feet.

The god spit out a wad of blood before laughing.

"So it seems that you possess the "abilities" that many of your kind used to spend their entire lives to achieve. To think you've attained it as such a young age is amazing, but even then, you must die here. I only hope that your father will spare your soul so we can fight once again." He said before rushing forward once more.

I ran to meet the god, rejuvenated by the thought that I had landed a hit. We exchanged blows for minutes that felt like hours, before I found an opening in the gods surprisingly good defense.

The god had over extended too much, and I pounced on it, sending an arcing slash that slashed the god across his chest, tearing his robes.

"Ahg!" Said the god backing you, but I rushed forward and grabbed him by his head while he was completely exposed.

I attempted to lift him up and slam him down, something I had done many times before with my celestial bronze arm, but this was was different.

Somehow, I felt the god smile is my hand as he shot his arm up and grabbed my own hand. The god pulled me forward, freeing my face, then he did something that surprised me,

The god swung his head forward and made contact with my own, almost knocking me out the second it landed. I recovered, but only to take three more head buts before he launched me backwards once again.

I scrambled to my feet, scared of a follow up attack, but found that Ponos had not moved from where he had hit me. Instead, he was busy clutching his chest. Once he removed his hand, I saw that it was bleeding a thick gold blood profusely.

Apparently I had gotten a better hit then I though because the god looked in a bad state.

"It seems that I may have been to eager for battle, and I must end this quicker then I thought. "He said, though in the back of my mind I thought about how we had been fighting for about half an hour, far from a short time.

I clutched my chest. "It looks like...it looks like I've enjoyed this more then I should've."

I said.

To be honest I had been craving a fight a couple of weeks ago, and since then, I had had plenty of fights, but something about this one was different.

Those didn't give me the thrill I usually got from fighting people like Remleon, instead they felt like a chore.

But this, a fight with my life on the line, it gave me a sense of a sick kind of joy.

The god laughed. "And I have too, but this is as far as it goes, demigod, for now I shall show you my true power!" Said the god dramatically.

He slammed his club down and planted it into the ground,

"Gaze upon it, demigod! THE TRUE POWER OF MY WEAPON!"

As the god spoke his club started to shift, glimmering as if it wasn't a solid object.

The club continued to shift until it started to grow in size and change in shape. I watched as the "club" changed until it was the size of the trees around us, towering over me and the god.

"A pillar." I stated.

"Yes a pillar, demigod, but not just any pillar. This pillar comes from the temple of Athena Nike itself! Given to me by the people who built it as thanks for help through their hardships." He said.

I quickly realized that that was why his attacks hit so hard, besides his crazy strength. Though obviously suppressed, the pillar would pack much more of a punch then any club around.

I felt my face change despite myself as I clutched my first once again.

"Now you shall face true hardship, demigod! I SHALL SHOW YOU THE TRUE POWER OF A..."

The god took a step back.

"What's this?" He asked with something that almost resembled fear. And to those who were watching, they would say the exact same thing.

~Somewhere Else~

The man watched intently from his throne as the boy he was watching was clashing blade against club with Ponos, a god who would drain the boy physically until he couldn't raise a finger.

Though he knew the full extent of the boys abilities, he could not confidently say wether he would win or lose.

The man was truly scared for his plans when he saw the god reveal the true form of his weapon, sending waves of power throughout the area they were fighting in.

But his worry was soon replaced with his surprise to the demigods reaction to the gods power.

Instead of backing up or trembling on fear, the cloaked boy gave off an aura that surpassed that of even the gods (at this moment, at least).

Energy that could only be described as deadly was rolling off the demigod as a blue mist started to gather around the area behind him. To those who focused their eyes enough, they could see what seemed like a vague outline of wings behind the boy, but it could've just been the imagination.

The boy himself had his head hung low with his scythe by his side. All in all, the boy looked much like a certain other being, one who not many would want to be compared to.

"He's gotten stronger since our fight...? No, he has simply embraced what he had already had." Concluded the man in his throne. He was struggling to comprehend what he was looking at, but his thoughts were interrupted as the boy made his move.

The boy lifted his scythe and pointed it at the god, the mist seemingly getting sucked into his weapon, leaving his back.

"I say we finish this right here." Said the demigod with a smirk as he was completely consumed by his want for a battle. There was no turning back now, he would either go all out and be completely be tired afterwards, or die trying to survive.

Though he was feeling stronger then usual (he didn't know the reason for this, but the man knew why), he wasn't exactly sure how he would deal with a literal pillar, but he didn't much care.

The man sighed in the middle of the void. "At this rate, we will meet again sooner then anticipated. I only hope that you will be ready, not physically, but mentally, Perseus." He said before making the portal in front of him disappear as he already knew the outcome.

~With Our Favorite wolf boi~

Remleon finally decided to make his way out of the woods after sleeping for Zeus knows how long. The wolf had tried to recover from his injuries, but they weren't much better from when he had gone to sleep.

Though at first he didn't think much of the wounds besides the pain at face value, he was starting to think he had actually made a mistake when it comes to fighting.

"Will I die?"

The thought popped in the wolf's head for a split second, but he discarded it as he realized that it was kinda of impossible without further damage to the wound.

So until then, he would be fine.

With that in mind, the wolf traveled through the woods with his nose active, trying to find scent of his "friend".

For all he knew, Percy could have been dead, as well as Zoe. Though he knew the huntress and the demigod weren't weak, he also thought that everyone weaker then him was "incompetent" (subconsciously, he didn't actively think this).

(Again, subconsciously), the wolf thought it was his duty to protect the two. Not in a caring sort of way, but because he would feel a sense of achievement.

Over the past couple of days, he found that he actually enjoyed the company of Percy to an extent, maybe more so then fighting him.

And, well, his views on the huntress hadn't changed.

But nonetheless, he had to make sure he found the two before the other gods. From what he knew, he had fought some of the weaker ones, meaning the chance of them fighting strong ones were higher.

This made the wolf go a little faster as he thought to himself how annoyed he would be if he found Percy dead.

But, despite this, he couldn't seem to find the demigods scent. Either he was too far away, or he was being masked by a different presence, and either way it wasn't good news.

And of course, the hunters trail would be untraceable, even for the wolf.

Before the wolf could think about it for long though, he heard a rustling in the bushes in front of him.

With a sigh, he shifted his hand to a paw and removed it from his chest. He didn't really feel like fighting but he didn't have a choice, now did he.

Before the wolf could call out to whoever had made the noise, a being emerged from the bramble and Remleon found himself looking down the shaft of an arrow, a dark haired huntress on the other end.

"You." Said Zoe.

"Me." Confirmed the wolf.

To the surprise of the both of them, Zoe lowered her weapon, something extremely uncommon for the twos one on one encounters.

"It just had to be you, of course. The gods truly must be laughing at me right now!" Exclaimed the huntress, throwing her hands up.

For some reason, the wolf took a little offense though he shouldn't have expected anything else to come from her mouth.

He didn't say anything about it though, as he wasn't that annoyed.

"So I'm guessing you haven't found Percy?" He asked, ignoring the hunters annoyance.

"No, Agreceon, I have not! I've been looking for the damned demigod for days, and I still have not found him. For all I know, he could be dead while I'm struggling to track him down!"

Remmy didn't know why the hunter cared so much, in fact he didn't even know why she was on this quest. At first he thought it was because she wanted something from him, but it seemed to be more than that.

But he didn't have time to think about that.

"I'm sure I can find Percy, but I kind of had other things to worry about." He said, revealing the whole in his torso.

For a second, the hunter had a look of sympathy in her eyes, but she quickly replaced it with a stern gaze.

Something snapped in her head as she remembered that she in fact, hated the wolf.

Zoe raised her bow once more and pointed it at Remleon.

"Why should I help you. In fact, why should I not put an arrow in you right now and send you to Tartarus, to end it all?" She asked.

"Uhhhh, because you need me? Well at least, Percy does, and I'm guessing you need Percy?"

Zoe squinted her eyes at the wolf before making her bow disappear. She turned around and walked away.

"Me letting you live is enough help for a lifetime. Get out of this place before I change my mind." She said sternly.

Remmy sighed. "Ok, Zoe, if that's what you want." He said, turning around as well, but apparently his body had disagreed as he dropped to a knee.

"Gah!" He said as he clutched his chest. The walk had probably forced him to move to much, and now the wound was bleeding once more. He was honestly surprised he was struggling this much, but he guessed it was because Lethe was a god.

The hunter mentally facepalmed as she grabbed the wolf's shoulders before he could fully collapse. "You are an idiot." She said with a scowl before dragging the boy over and placing him on the base of a tree.

The hunter threw a small pouch onto his lap before plopping herself onto a log a good 10 feet away from the wolf.

The wolf lout out a sharp breath as he wrapped himself in the bandages found inside the pouch. It hurt more then he had expected it to, but little did he know it was because he had put them on completely wrong.

He rummaged through the bag a little more to find a little sac of want seemed to be some kind of meat. It was the snack given to hunters to their wolves as a treat, and he didn't know how to feel about receiving it.

"You know you don't have to sit so far away from me?"

"Shut up and eat. I will need you ready in case we encounter another one of those demon like gods." She said with venom in her voice.

The wolf noticed she said "we" and perked up a little bit.

"Wait, another?"

Zoe nodded. "I encountered the she demon Algea earlier. I was forced to, take care of her..."

Remmy nodded. "I fought Dysnomia and Lethe, but Lethe got away. The other ones dead."

The two went silent as the realized that they didn't know how to talk without Zoe threatening him the entire time. Both mentally made a note to ignore their past.

Remmy was busy wrapping his chest until he noticed a glimmer at Zoe's hip.

On instinct he got up and walked towards her, ignoring her defensive position. Before he got too close, however, Zoe stopped him.

"What are you doing?" She asked hostile.

Remmy realized that he probably couldn't simply walk up to the huntress, and replied. "I just wanted to get a closer look."

Zoe glanced down and realized he was talking about the knife given to her by Artemis. She thought about it for a second, and decided to see what the wolf would do with it.

She slowly took it out it's sheath and handed it to the wolf. Remmy grabbed it, but Zoe didn't let go for a second.

"Do not try anything stupid." She said.

Remmy simply nodded before Zoe let go.

He raised the dagger to his nose and took a sniff, something that may have looked odd to most people. He glazed his fingers over the hilt, reminiscing of an old feeling.

"Sometimes...sometimes I think back, and wonder what could have be-"

Remleon was cut off by Zoe shooting up to her feet and whipping out her bow. The huntress knocked back two arrows and let them fly immediately.

Remleon, in all honesty, froze in fear for a half second. The thought that he had lowered his guard to say something may have costed him his life made him sick, but after a split moment he realized that was not the case.

Remmy stayed still as the arrows flew past him and hit something deep into the woods.

Remmy mentally sighed as he turned around in the direction Zoe had fired.

He slyly handed Zoe her knife back as his hand slowly transformed into a paw with claws protruding from it.

His hair remained black as he didn't believe he needed to transform too much for whatever was coming.

It was quiet for a second before something emerged from the bramble.

Two red tendrils of mist appeared, both wrapped around each of the arrows Zoe had fired. Following the mist appeared a woman with long black hair and a silky red dress that seemed to change from a solid to gas as it became one with the mist.

"Well look what I've found here." She said in a taunting voice. Just my luck to find you two instead of my dear, young Perseus." She said, feigning sadness.

"You are...Neikea?" Asked the huntress as she struggled to remember what god she was looking at.

"Oh dear, to think that the lieutenant of Artemis's own hunt knows my name, quite the confidence booster I must say." She said as she whipped forward some of the mist, hitting the area in front of Remleon.

Zoe scowled. "What do you want with Perseus, you sick goddess. You and your fellow Androktasiai claim to be after his head, but I'm starting to think differently." She said as she raised her bow.

Before the goddess could respond, Remmy spoke. "I know you." He said darkly.

"You were there, back in Greece."

The tone of his voice had changed, almost sounding hollow. It sounded like he was about to cry while being incredibly mad at the same time.

The goddess smirked.

"Yes, little wolf, I was there. You know, my domain involves quarrels, and there were plenty of those back then on Olympus." She said.

Zoe noticed Remleon clutch his fist as he started to radiate a dark, dark energy. It wasn't like what Perseus emitted, instead it was the feeling of intent. The intent to kill.

"You know wolfy boy, Perseus is such a cutie, but when it comes to aura...you are my favorite." She said, getting closer to the wolf.

"You know, the Androktasiai are embodiments of different struggles every living being goes through, and you, Remleon, have gone through every toil known to man.

Hardship, pain, battle, betrayal...those our just some of our domains, and you have lived through every one of those to the fullest extent, even more so then your dear demigod friend.

But you know, all that can change for you, my dear Remleon."

Remmy flinched when the goddess made contact with his skin, touching his chin and staring him in his eyes.

The goddess turned the wolf around slowly and lifted his hand, pointing it at the huntress.

"All you have to do is take care of the one thing standing between you and your freedom, your freedom from the demons that haunt you." She said. "Kill her."

:)

Btw, if your confused because I didn't specifically say it in the story, the androktasiai are gods of "manslaughter" as a whole, but have separate domains individually as gods. I didn't go into detail about their domains because that would just be long, but if you were to search them up, you'd see why they are so relevant to Perseus and Remleon specifically (due to both of their backstories).