Thanks to those of you who've read, followed, favorited, and reviewed this fict. I really appreciate it.

Chapter 11: Eye for an Eye

What lies behind the door, was a wide hall, illuminated by hanging lanterns. A set of three giant statues stood tall in the middle of the room. They are of a woman in a robe, carrying a spear in one hand, and a shield in the other. They were positioned to circle some kind of altar.

Thalia and I walked towards it. Cautiously; anticipating any ambush or trap that they might have set up. But when we got closer, I began to notice a figure of a woman chained to the base of one of the statues. Thalia must have noticed it almost at the same time as I did, because without me saying anything, she immediately bolted towards it. I followed suit.

Once we reached the statue, I was surprised to find a girl that appeared to be in her late 20s. It was a surprise because the last time I saw her, she appeared to be no more than a thirteen years old. So, I didn't immediately recognize her at first. But the moment she opened her eyes and look up at us, it was unmistakable. A pair of silver eyes that matched mine was staring back at me. We have finally found Lady Artemis.

Thalia immediately crouched down and removed the gag from her mouth.

Artemis looked up and stared at us

"Wha… What are you doing here?" she asked. Her voice was frail, her skin was pale, and she was devoid of the godly presence that made her stand out when I first met her. If it wasn't for her eyes, one could mistake her for just another mortal girl.

"You know… saving you and stuff," I said.

"There… there was a prophecy. But that doesn't matter now, we need to get you out of here!" Thalia said.

Artemis slowly got to her feet. But just after taking a few steps, her legs gave in. She almost stumbled over if I hadn't moved quickly enough to catch her.

"Whoa… what happened?" I asked her. This was definitely a bizarre situation. Not only was Artemis appeared to be as frail as a sick mortal, but the notoriously men-hating goddess can barely stand without me helping her up.

"His arrow…" she said. "They're… no ordinary arrows. As soon as they grazed my skin, I felt all my power was drained from me…"

I frowned. But before I could ask what she meant by that, a voice suddenly came from above us.

"Aww… sweet, sweet reunion"

I looked up to see none other than Orion, standing on top of one of the Athena statues.

Without wasting a second more, Thalia quickly drew her bow and shot an arrow at him. The arrow flew to its target and-

"Wow, that was easier than I thought it would be," Orion had caught the arrow with his bare hand. "New girl, huh? I must say, Artemis, your old lieutenant was a tad better," he smirked.

"Fuck you!" Thalia said.

I sat Artemis down behind me. Then I proceed to draw my own bow and arrow, aiming it at him.

"Now, now, Aiden. Settle down…" Orion said. "Would you please at least listen to what I have to say?"

"We have enough of your bullshit!" Thalia shouted at him.

Orion didn't say anything. He just took a deep breath and shook his head. "New girl…" he finally said. "I wasn't talking to you."

And in a blink of an eye, he loaded the same arrow he caught earlier on his bow and let it fly towards Thalia.

None of us even had the chance to react. As suddenly, the next thing I heard was Thalia's cry of pain. The arrow had buried itself in her right shoulder. She fell back from the impact.

"THAL!" I screamed.

I turned my head back to Orion and steadied my aim, preparing to shoot.

"HEY!" Orion suddenly shouts. His deep, booming voice echoed around the hall. I can even feel the vibration in my chest.

I flinched. I can feel the hairs on my body stood. All focus has dispersed from my head.

When I look up, Orion already had his own bow and arrow drawn and pointed at me. "Didn't I say… settle down?" his voice got deeper.

I tried not to let him intimidate me. I steadied my aim again.

"If I wanted to kill her, she would've been dead, Aiden," he said. "Be smart."

It's probably true. He wouldn't have missed, so it's clear that he wasn't aiming at her vital points.

"Please, Orion... don't get them into this…" came the voice of Artemis from behind me.

"Well, they're already here." He replied. "So, what's it going to be, Aiden?" He said, eyes never left me.

I pondered over the situation. Orion has the high ground in this standoff. In a shootout, he probably would have a better chance of shooting at me more times than I could shoot him.

I glanced at Thalia, who was holding her injured arm and grunting in pain. I gritted my teeth. He's gonna pay for what he did. But the odds are against me now. I need to come up with a plan.

I tried to recall our first encounter. Trying to remember things that he said in my dream. Thinking maybe there's something that could give me a clue on how to take him down. I wasn't sure, though. I recalled how, in my dream, he would just ramble on and on about some kind of revenge. I doubt there's anything useful in that information.

But then, a sliver of an idea came to me. I took a steady breath.

"In my dream," I finally said. "You said you're gonna kill me."

"I'm prepared to change my mind," Orion shrugged. "The question is, are you?"

If I took my shot here, it is possible that I could take him down with one shot. But if I failed, that's it for the three of us. On the other hand, if I could stall for time and maybe distract him, I could attack him while he had his guard down. If that doesn't work, at least I could buy time for Thalia to take an ambrosia. And then we could fight him two-on-one.

"What do you wanna say?" I finally said, lowering my aim.

"There you go, I know you're better than those girls," Orion smiled and drop his aim too. "Look, I just want you to try to see it from my point of view, Aiden. You and I... we're not so different."

"The Goddess behind you. She was responsible for countless innocent death throughout millennia." Orion said. "And not all of them are monsters, as they want you to believe. A lot of them are just regular men. Farmer, father, just people who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. People who might just have said the wrong things."

Orion paused.

"Those people don't deserve to die, Aiden," he continued. "I, don't deserve to die."

Orion then pulls out a silver arrow from his quiver. This one appeared to be ancient. "Remember this?"

I squinted my eyes, "What's that?"

"This is the one." He said. "Do you know how it feels? You know, just trying to fight a giant scorpion? Trying to prove yourself to your loved ones… then BAM! Got shot right in the head with one of these," He chuckled. But his laugh came more off as grim rather than playful.

His voice then turned into a whisper. "Do you know how it feels, when death is approaching you?" Orion turned his head towards me.

I shook my head, "Was it painful?"

Orion smiled, "In that moment, everything slowed down."

"I still remember that night." He said. "The moon was shining above my head." He looked up. "And in that moment, all I could think of is… why?"

"Centuries I spent in the sky. And I kept thinking, why would she do this to me?" he paused. "Until, of course, I came up with the answer..."

"Because that's just who you are," he said. "That's what you do to all men. It is in your nature!" his voice grew angrier with each word he said.

"Orion, I told you I never meant for that to happen… it was an accident!" Artemis said.

The mad titan laughed like a maniac.

"No! I have enough with that crap! You see, Aiden? If only you knew what she had done to- AAARRGGHHH!"

Orion never got to finish what he was about to say, as his speech was replaced by a shriek of pain.

The plan had worked. Even when he visited my dream, I could tell that Orion is an obsessed man. If I could just feed his ego and made him go on a lengthy ramble, I would eventually be able to get an opening. And that's exactly what I did. While he was too focused on his monologue, I was able to quickly aim and shot him right in his eye.

"You do realize you talked too much, right?" I asked sarcastically, drawing another bow from my quiver.

I shot another arrow. With him still screaming in agony and in loss of half of his sight, he was unable to dodge it. I managed to land a shot in his abdomen.

"No wonder you were having a hard time fighting that Scorpion," I smirked. "What? Were you too busy talking to it? I killed that thing with one shot, by the way."

"You… SON OF A BITCH!" Orion screamed.

I was prepared to shoot the killing blow. But then, the unexpected happened.

The man might be a titan, but he was suffering from lethal injuries. The fact that he was still standing was an impressive feat on its own. But Orion managed to pull something that I couldn't have expected in a million years.

He managed to draw his arrow... and shot it.

The arrow flew towards me. And in those 0.894 seconds, I felt like the world moves… very… slowly…

This guy, Orion, is a truly remarkable archer. Even in rage, pain, and handicapped sight, he was still able to make an accurate shot.

The arrow is closing in.

And I can see it slowly coming at me. As it got closer, I can even see the details on the arrow. I noticed how the arrow has a golden tip instead of silver. I can even predict where it's going to land. I can easily dodge this.

The arrow is closing in.

But just as I was about to sidestepped, a realization came to me.

Lady Artemis was sitting behind me.

The arrow is closing in.

And if I move, the arrow will hit her instead… And considering her state, there's a high chance that it would be lethal.

The arrow is closing in.

If I dodge this arrow, she'll die.

The arrow is closing in.

Maybe I can catch it?

The arrow is closing in.

Maybe I-

Too late.

The arrow had pierced my flesh and skull. It struck me right in my left eye. The impact knocked me back.

But even as I was falling, everything still going in slow motion for me. I could feel the inside of my head start to throb. As if a thousand hot needles were puncturing my face.

My head never hit the hard ground. Instead, after what felt like forever, I felt a hand stopping my fall.

Everything was blurry.

My breath gets shorter and shorter.

Is this where death gets me?

Slowly, everything turns red.

And then, a dark circle starts to close in, as my vision eventually turned completely black.

Thank you for reading!

Please leave a review of what you think so far!

The next chapter will be the last for this arc. It should be up next week, so be sure to follow this story so you will get a notification when it's up.

And as always, see you next chapter!