2

(Previously)

"Very well... Perseus."

Artemis growled in mind, "Jackson."

--

Elianor continued, "Perseus, you know that I respect you very much. But I cannot spare the girl's life. She killed my family."

Perseus replied, "I will return your family. You have my word. The girl would be punished for her crimes. Not by you, by the Council. Leave now and I assure you, by the time you return to Tartarus, your family would be waiting for you. You know that I can do it. Please, don't try to kill the girl!" Artemis has never seen him beg to anyone, least of all to one of his soldiers.

"You do not understand my pain. What feelings does a 'monster' have, right? You think only you humans have feelings. I have feelings too. I was helpless when my son was killed by this girl you consider your sister. Oh, I know all about how you constantly watch over this girl. My heart was broken when she drove her cursed sword through my husband."

Perseus stiffened. "The powerlessness hits the most, doesn't it? More than the actual death." He seemed to be remembering something.

"Milord?" The drakon was stumped, never seen her lord in such a melancholic state.

Perseus shook his head. "However guilty or not, she will not die. She is my sister and I'm to protect her from harm, even from my own people."

Elianor shook her head. "You, humans! You would choose someone of blood over someone who had followed you for centuries. The girl will die. If you choose her life as Artemis did, then you shall share her fate." Elianor pointed towards Artemis and Thalia, still paralyzed by the poison, but recovering slowly.

"Are you threatening me, Elianor? " Perseus' growl had a sharp tinge to it, more than usual. "Do you really think you can defeat me?"

"In your current state, just after battling the Urubaeens for 5 days continuously? Yes."

"Then, bring it on, woman. Finally, I am not required to work within his moral framework."

"So be it, Perseus."

Perseus extended his hand and a trident glowed green in his palm. A sword appeared out of nothing. It was a simple Greek sword with a black hilt, but Artemis was not fooled by its simplicity. It contained the essence of sea itself. Artemis knew about this sword as her late friend and lieutenant, Zoe Nightshade was the creator of this sword. Anaklusmos.

Artemis mused, "What would Zoe say when she realises that her sword had not been given to a good man?"

But she was surprised when he extended his other hand too. As far as she knew, he only had one sword. He could not lift any other weapon due to the curse of Mars. Again, the trident glowed in his palm and a broadsword appeared in his hand. It was longer than Anaklusmos but it has a black hilt too. The light of the full moon reflected off the swords as he move forward towards the drakon. Artemis still could not see his face as it is shadowed by the hood of his jacket, but she could see that he was a wearing a black jacket over a plain dark green shirt. His jacket, along with his black trousers made it impossible to recognize him in the shadows.

Artemis could see that the drakon was paling at the sight of the swords. She began to back down. She tried to hit him using her sword but it was futile. He just deflected the sword with one sword and sent a kick to her chest. She was sent flying and landed on the sand with a loud thud near Andy. Andy had lost her consciousness after her apology.

The drakon stood and held out her hand, a bow appearing. She notched an arrow and sent it towards him. It was just deflected by his sword. She tried again with the same results. She tried again and again but it was futile. He was striding forward deflecting arrows with ease.

When he reached her, before she could move backwards to maintain her distance, he rushed forward and with a single, precise move cut the strings of the bow. She then quickly kicked him on the chest, sending him flying off and he hit the ground. His swords too hit the ground near him. Without any effort, he stood up, picking up his swords and rushed forward. Before he could reach her, she transformed. The drakon let out a loud roar and she too charged forward. When they reached each other, he suddenly moved to the side and put his swords in the path of the drakon.

Artemis could only wonder why he is helping them. He doesn't help anyone these days. Andy has always been an exception to this. Whenever she was in trouble and Artemis couldn't help her, he would help her. Though it angered Andy greatly, receiving help from her mother's murderer, Artemis was relieved, albeit reluctantly as she should have been more than enough, that someone of his power and skills is always watching Andy whenever she couldn't, however she had disrespected him. Artemis was also a bit curious about why he was so adamant on protecting Andy. Rumours about that were not a pleasant news.

When Artemis saw him putting his swords in the path of the drakon, she was sure that she is here to witness this male's idiocy. She was sure that the swords would break because of the momentum of the drakon. Not even Celestial Bronze and Imperial Gold fused could withhold that much force. To her surprise, the swords did not break. In fact, it did not appear to have any damage. It just passed through the drakon's legs like there was no resistance, making a wound on its legs.

The drakon let out a roar at her pain. Before she turned to face him, he had already made another wound on the legs. The drakon began to stumble, unable to hold her own weight. As her last resort, she whipped her tail across his chest.

Artemis could see the gash it made in his chest. Ouch... he is gonna lose a lot of blood because of that wound. Also, because of the toxin on the tail, it would be impossible for him to fight the drakon now. Artemis could see that the wound was already starting to spill his blood. He quickly moved out of the drakon's way and ran to the sea.

To heal the wound, Artemis guessed. But healing it isn't going to be enough. Poison needs to be taken out. I'm currently extruding out but even for me, it will take an hour. And, he is no God. Doesn't he know about this?

When he reached the sea, the drakon also followed him. But he entered the sea and drakon cannot do anything to him but growl. He had submerged. Satisfied that he is incapacitated for the moment, she began walking away to Andy.

Is this the great Perseus? The one who changed Immortal history?? The great General of Arcadia? The Vanquisher of Titans? Defeater of Zeus? The one who made every primordial bow down to him? Incapacitated by one of his lesser captains?

Artemis could only shake her head as her movements have been fully restored. Just like my father, arrogant and obnoxious to see every enemy equally. She prepared her bow and raised it to fire at the drakon who was standing above Andy. A hand prevented her. She looked at Thalia, who has also recovered, questioningly. She pointed to the sea.

As soon as Artemis turned to look at the sea, a spear flew by and struck the drakon's abdomen, pushing the drakon away from Andy. Artemis looked towards the sea and saw that Perseus had risen again to throw the spear. But what she saw horrified her that she has to cover her mouth in horror.

He was standing on the beach, his foot immersed in water. But what shook her to the core was the large opening on his chest, made by his sword around the wound inflicted by the drakon. It was so deep that all his internal organs were seen. He sagged to one knee due to the blood loss. The water rose to cover his body. Soon, the water around him became red along with a light green tinge to it.

The poison, Artemis realised. Effective way to remove it, but insane.

Meanwhile, the spear has dissolved from the drakon's body and she has risen again. But she was again impaled by a spear by Perseus. The throw had been perfect and thrown with such accuracy to pierce her abdomen again to stagger her again that Artemis had to give respect to his skill and determination.

Futile though, the wound isn't going to heal itself fast enough to fight the drakon. I'm going to have to finish this fight.

She summoned her godly bow and quiver. Each arrow was the equivalent of a nuclear deterrent. She took aim but Thalia again interrupted her.

Perseus had risen again, completely healed. How in the name of my father?

He began to run towards the drakon. The drakon growled fiercely at it's prey. This time the drakon did not meet him in his stride. Instead, she began to glow an unholy black aura and he stopped. Artemis recognized it- the blessing of the Maeonian drakon. So her father has recognized this fight and decided to help her with his blessing. It is one of the most powerful blessings known to the monsters, seconded only by the blessing of Typhoon or Echidna, father and mother of all monsters. The drakon began to grow. She began to rise in her height to almost fourteen foot. Her body became more elongated and her body was now covered with spikes from the manticore. She gave off a loud roar and rushed towards him. Artemis could see that he was surprised and he couldn't jump out of the way. He was thrown in the air due to the momentum and crushed to the ground, breaking more than one ribs, most probably.

He stood up quick, coughing blood. "Well, you are your father's daughter. But the bigger you are, the stronger you fall."

He then just stood there, swords dripping with some liquid.

Artemis realised and cursed, "Holy Styx".

Styx waters- Painful to both mortals and immortals, monsters and gods. It could be used to make immortals fade into the Void. How the hell did he get those waters? Styx does not give them for free. She does not give it anyone at all, not even if Chaos herself asked it. But could those waters help him defeat this monster? He is no longer a son of Poseidon. Artemis cannot say anything at this point.

The drakon took his patience as a challenge and moved forward, leisurely, like a predator that has trapped her prey. It whipped its poisoned tail towards him. He just slided sideward and slice his swords through the tail. They passed through the tail as though it was butter and the tail got separated-one part on the drakon and the longer part containing the poison injecting tip, on the ground. The drakon grunted in pain and raised its foot to crush him. Artemis watched with sick fascination as he rolled sidewards and again swung his swords. This time a toe of the foot was separated.

The drakon again tried to crush him many times but just lost its toes in the process. It could no longer touch the ground without grunting in pain. He then jumped in the air and pierced its foot in an 'X' fashion. He then ripped his swords out of the foot, tearing apart the foot. The drakon roared in pain and tried to spot him. But he had already reached the next foot. He once again destroyed the next foot.

When he tried to reach the next foot, the drakon seems to know it and swung its foot. He was thrown in the air and crushed into the ground. He had fallen near the sea and the tides were washing over him. The tides seem to come closer to provide him with the strength. He stood up, but this time he had a dark sea-green aura like the waters in a storm.

"How is this possible?" Artemis thought.

Poseidon has clearly disavowed him and removed any trace of godly essence in him. He is no longer a son of Poseidon. So, how does he have the blessing of Poseidon? But as she observed the aura better, she could see that it was not the blessing of Poseidon. The blessing was of light sea-green aura. But this was of dark, intimidating sea-green. It was not given by the blessing.

He picked up his fallen swords and attacked the still attached feet. Within minutes, both the feet were destroyed and the dragon crumbled under its own weight. It hit the ground with a loud thud. It was a thunderous sound, resonating with the thrashing of the tides on the beach. When the drakon fell, it created fissures in the ground. She guess what he said was true-the bigger you are, the stronger you fall.

Not giving the drakon the time required for regenerating the lost body parts, he quickly climbed onto its chest and reached where her heart should be. He plunged his swords in a Criss-Cross pattern and pulled it out lifting something from the body. Artemis realised that it was the still beating heart of the drakon. Blood sprayed onto him from the wound. The drakon gave off another ear-splitting roar and it began to sob. Her heart was placed between the edges of his swords. It was bloody and still pumping blood. He threw it off. He then plunged his swords into the neck. With one swift motion, her head was separated from the torso. She turned into golden dust.

He said, "You fought valiantly. One of yhr best i had fought, including your father. May your after journey be good."

Thalia was watching the whole battle with Artemis as her self-healing has started in and is expelling the poison out of her system. In her opinion, the battle was gruesome, to say the least. The man, her cousin, had become a complete beast, obeying no rules of engagement. It was not necessary to pluck out her heart or separate her head. He just had to stab her in the heart to make her disintegrate. It was as if he wanted to punish her for crossing him, questioning his decision. The blood sprayed onto him and the way he is enjoying the blood on him made her shudder. It was crushing her hopes that her cousin, who would always help people and shows mercy to everyone, even his enemies, was still somewhere in the man in front of her. She mused that her cousin had died and only this beast remained in his body.

Perseus simply started to walk away from the place where a mass of golden dust has deposited, as if such brutal and horrible killings were simple things to him, as if taking a stroll in a park. Well, Artemis thought, since he lives in Tartarus, it may be true. There would be worse incidents in Tartarus. He twirled his swords and the swords lost their bloody appearance and became like new swords as they had been before the fight. He also dripping his own blood into the shining surface of the other sword, not Anaklusmos and muttering something in a language Artemis didn't know. Though she didn't understand the contents of the ritual being performed in front of her, she knew it was a blood oath ceremony, especially by the amount of blood being dripped.

Artemis began to try to move her limbs as most of the poison had been expunged. She could feel the sensations of her hands returning to her, rather than the limb state it had been for approximately half an hour. She could see that Thalia was also doing the same with the same results. Both of them stood up, supporting each other. Artemis had many questions to ask the man like how he has been able to kill the drakon if he is not of the sea anymore. But her first priority should be the welfare of her hunters. She and Thalia immediately rushed to the hunters. Except Andy, all others were conscious but they were becoming as pale as children of Hades. They also seem to develop a green colour on their skin. The blood vessels have become green from red.

Artemis didn't know what to do. She knew that the poison had to be taken out of their bodies like they did with theirs' but she didn't know any way to do that. She could ask for help from Apollo but he could not be able to do anything as this is technically a mortal incident (not caused by an immortal). Artemis turned to Thalia, seeing that she had also arrived at the same conclusion.

Artemis asked, "What could we do? "

Thalia replied," If Andy was conscious, she could have taken out the poison as it is in blood. We have to wait until she's conscious. Then she-"

A voice interrupted in Ancient Greek, "They have maybe quarter of an hour. You might want to consider calling your brother, Lady."

Artemis looked around. Perseus. He was standing there, watching them.

"Then, why aren't you helping us? You obviously can."

"I do not have to do anything, Lady Artemis."

Thalia was shocked by his indifferent reply. "Why are you like this, Percy? Why aren't you helping us? You are a hero. You-"

Perseus interrupted, quite angrily, "I AM NOT A HERO, GODDESS. AND MY NAME IS PERSEUS. PERSEUS THESUS JACKSON. He is Percy Jackson. You would be wise to know the difference."

Thalia said to Artemis, "We need his help."

"But, Thalia, he may not control water now. You know the reason."

"Yes, I do. But how the hell he survived this fight, then? There is no other way."

Artemis searched her mind for other ways but found none. He was the only chance she got on preventing the death of her beloved hunters. But, how to ask for his help? Would he even help them? She made a decision. Her pride does not allow her to accept help from him. But her compassion for her hunters, her daughters overpowered her pride.

"Please, Perseus. Help us heal the hunters if you can. Please."

He said nothing for a minute. Artemis was sure that he would not help them and she need to prepare for the death of her daughters.

"Please"

He walked forward and went towards the hunters who had been collected by Thalia and placed in a circle. He stopped near them. Artemis and Thalia waited for him to raise his hands to take out the poison as Andy would have done. He just stood there. No movement.

"What are you doing standing there? Help them! Or are you going to just watch them die, beast?" Artemis yelled.

He still didn't reply. He seems to be contemplating.

"Damn you,woman. You always seems to make him more human, not like how a God like me should act.Fine, you win. This time."

Artemis looked at Thalia and the hunters.There seem to be some green liquid suspending in the air in front of each hunter. The liquids soon were transported in front of Perseus. He was still doing nothing. But he suddenly cut himself with his sword. The liquids assimilated to form a dark-green, almost black liquid which began to flow towards the wound on his arm. It went into his blood and soon disappeared. He fell to his knees.

"What are you doing?" Artemis asked him, concerned. He just saved her hunters. So she guesses she could give him some concern, for now.

He didn't reply.

She asked again. Thalia also asked but he didn't reply.

Artemis said, " I think the poison has affected him"

Thalia agreed. They decided to wait. But before the time they had taken, he recovered.

He dusted himself off and stood up.

"Are you okay?"

"Of course, I am. I'm a God. And why do you ask Goddess? Do you have feelings for Percy like he do?"

Artemis' mouth opened in surprise and horror. But the major shift was in Perseus. His eyes become less cold and his body a little bit soft.

"He was bluffing, Lady Artemis. I do not have any feelings as described by my other self. He just meant to disrespect you and I apologize for that."

Perseus again took on another transformation-more cold eyes, rigid body and prideful attitude.

"I said the truth. I meant disrespect and truth at the same time. The idiot is always trying to remain good in front of her. Anyway,the poison cannot exist in the mortal world as it will poison its biosphere. So, I have carried it. No thanks required."

Thalia, who was surprised at Percy's transformation and admission, stared at Artemis. She was surprised to find her blushing.

Artemis chastised herself-Afterall these centuries, I still cannot forget him.