Celebwen Telcontar: Well that was fast. I don't own anything save the plot bunnies that bounce around like battery mascots in my brain. I am going to be cramming ten long years of war into this chapter. I hope you don't mind. This starts out from the viewpoint of two of Priam's distant cousins, about a couple years younger than Paris.

As a reminder, ActaeonHarry, TithonusRon, and KilissaHermione. Actaeon and Tithonus are soldiers in the Trojan War.

I have rated this chapter as R, for violence and sexual situations. If you are under 17, leave now. I will not warn you again. This fanfic is about war, a bloody, messy, nasty pastime of the human race. Please leave if you are under 17.


Deianira held the lamp steady as Antigone caught up to her.

"I can't believe Paris! He brought home a Greek queen, and set us up into a deathtrap!" Antigone fumed.

"Antigone, we're in a walled city. How by Zeus are we going to be captured? Unless Hermes ferries one of their kings across the wall, it will be impossible."

"Deianira, don't be so blinded by the architecture. I may not be able to do anything but sit and spin, but that doesn't make me stupid! They'll break through sometime. The walls are too old and rickety."

"Antigone, they're solid stone!!"

"And besides, I've heard rumors of a pair of great sorcerers coming over, able to do miraculous things with their little wooden sticks. Solid stone can't hold back a sorcerer."

"You, my dear cousin, are hopeless." The flame in the lamp flickered and wavered for a small period of time, and the women looked out to see the light growing in the windows.

"Gods! Father's going to kill me!" Antigone hissed, sprinting as fast as she could to her bed.


Actaeon sat inside his domed structure, carefully sewing up his new wound, wincing and hissing with the pain. His thigh would be a mass of pain in the morning, no question, but he knew that he could just vanish the stitches when the muscle healed. The arrow had caught him unawares, and ripped a large gash in his thigh. The shaft had broken off, and he had to have Tithonus dig out the head, or else he would pay for the wound with a major infection. He sincerely wished Madam Pompfry could be here now, or at least Kilissa. And he couldn't Apparate with a wound, since that would be purely disastrous. Wincing, he cut off the thread and cast the needle on the ground.

"Ouch. That looks painful. Do you need help?" Tithonus asked; pushing aside the leather tassels that served as a door.

"Not unless you have any willow bark potion."

"No, I don't. I don't know how to stop pain either. Save some Avdel."

"Do you mean Advil?"

"Uhhh, I guess. Well, Odysseus has called a meeting."

"Right. I'll be there as soon as I can—ahhh!"

"Here! Use my shoulder to stand!" Tithonus offered his shoulder to Actaeon, and the other wizard managed to get to his feet, before leaving.

When Actaeon and Tithonus returned, they found a woman in each shelter, bound and gagged while being tied to a post. Actaeon immediately unsheathed his dagger and unbound the woman in his shelter, removing the gag.

"Don't worry. I won't hurt you. Calm down. My name is Actaeon, and you are?"

"Antigone. Please, Milord Sorcerer, don't turn me into anything unnatural!"

"I won't. And you can call me Actaeon. I won't force you to do anything you don't want to do, but you should stay here for your own safety."

"Thank you. Oh, Actaeon, you're hurt!"

"It's alright, nothing to worry about." Antigone sighed and glanced about. "Here. You can sleep over here." Actaeon spread out some furs and she lay down next to Actaeon, staying near her for her own protection.


The arrow sped down from the walls with its counterparts, headed straight for Actaeon. The wizard yelped and put up a shield, but it wasn't enough. The arrow split down the middle of his wand, rendering it useless. He roared with rage, staring at the broken bits of wood. He transformed into his animagus self, a smallish white deer with golden antlers: a male form of the sacred hinds of Artemis, and fled the battlefield to gain a sword from his shelter. On his way, Tithonus leapt onto his back in his Animagus form of a large grasshopper. (a.n., in Greek mythology, the original Actaeon was a hunter turned into a stag by Artemis and the original Tithonus was a mortal prince who was granted immortal life so to live with Eos, the goddess of the Dawn, but she forgot to ask for immortal youth for him, and so he slowly grew older and older until he was a grasshopper.) Actaeon skidded to a halt in front of the shelter and Tithonus hopped off, changing back into himself.

"My wand broke. I need to find some regular fighting materials."

"Same here. Some blockheaded Trojan, probably Aeneas, stepped on it." They quickly got their swords and spears, and returned to the hellish warfare, being twice as careful now.


Actaeon stared as Hector and Achilles circled one another. Hector feinted, and slashed Achilles' throat, spilling blood. Hector removed Achilles' helmet, and found that it wasn't Achilles at all, but Patroclus. Actaeon roared with rage, and several others of the crowd surged foreword to remove him of his life. Hector fought his way back to the city, and managed to slip through the doors. Achilles would be in a blind rage for Hector to have slaughtered his lover.

The next day, Achilles stood alone outside of the city, and roared at Hector to come out and face him like a man. Eventually Hector did exit, and the two men circled about one another. Actaeon and Tithonus looked on with the rest of the encampment, holding their breath. From history lessons, they knew that Hector would die this day, then Achilles would be killed by Paris, and Philoctetes, a friend of the late Heracles, would kill Paris. Hector feinted to one side and tried to strike, but like a serpent, Achilles was faster. His blade passed through Hector's heart, and the majority of the Greeks roared with appreciation. Like in Roman times, violence, eating, drinking, and sex were the four things guarantied to get your head off of something bad, and this was one of the best shows ever: two champions having at it until one of them died. Achilles cut a slit behind the tendon in his adversary's feet, passed a violet baldric through the cut, and lashed the ends of the baldric to his chariot before driving off to the cheers of the Greeks.

"Deianira won't be happy about this," Tithonus muttered, absently finger combing his beard.

"Neither will Antigone."

"I'm not surprised." The two friends watched the chariot disappear into the dust, and then went back to their shelters to sleep off the effects of the day.


When Actaeon entered his shelter, the first thing he noticed was that Antigone had cooked a dinner for them both, and had mended his spare set of armor he had conjured before his wand snapped. She had her hair down and brushing her shoulders, and was clad in nearly nothing. He became aroused looking at her, and walked over. She handed him a plate of food, and he heartily dug in. She kept sending amorous glances at him, then lowering her dark eyes to her own plate. When he was finished, he noticed that she was trying his patience very hard. She had been there for him for the entire war, tidying up his shelter, mending his sandals and armor, fixing meals, and mending his wounds. She had lost her shyness, and proved a good debate companion, and he found that it was fun to argue with her. She seemed even more beautiful to him when she was flustered, and he would have had to be an idiot to not notice the feelings he invoked in her. But he couldn't let tonight be so passionate before telling her what had transpired that day, as was his habit.

"Achilles killed Hector today. He dragged his body behind his chariot, and I'm afraid of what the city will do."

"Hector is... Hector is dead? I... I mean... He was my cousin, and I didn't know him well, but still..." He felt as if this announcement had completely squashed the passion she had been feeling. "I did know him a little bit, and he was never all that nice to me. The only people he was nice to were his wife and son. I think I'll live..." she said. She had picked up several British sayings as well during the nine years they had known each other.

There were the sounds of a scuffle in the next shelter, and one of Tithonus' sandals went flying out of the shelter. Actaeon had no misconceptions about what was going on in that shelter, and soon Antigone was naked before him and in the bed. Actaeon removed his armor and weaponry, the only clothes he wore, and slid into bed beside her. Her lips touched his, and then crashed down on them. He tangled his hand in her black hair, pulling her body close to his, and swept his tongue into her mouth, hearing her moan in desire. His arousal throbbed with the ache of being so close to her, and she grabbed his hand and placed it on her breast, and then he slipped his free fingers down to her moist folds. She gasped and pressed herself farther against him, tangling her legs with his, and then she broke the kiss, whimpering in desire. Her hands raked his back, and he groaned with the passion of the action. Then, she wrapped her legs about him, drawing him up into her. He gasped and cried out her name, amid her cries of pain and ultimate pleasure. She initiated the movement, but then he got his momentum, and thrust deep into her. Antigone cried out his name, throwing her head back. Actaeon kissed her bared throat, and felt her hands clutch his body as close to hers as possible. A sobbing cry escaped her throat as she came, and he gave off a low cry as he came right after. She ran her hands in his hair and beard, kissing him fiercely.

"Oh, Gods, Actaeon, I love you... I love you..." she murmured, falling asleep. He soon followed, resting his cheek on her hair. He breathed in her scent, of wood smoke, their dinner, and sex, along with the smell that just simply said Antigone. He let himself drift off to dreamland as he thought he should make her his wife. The only complication would be that he couldn't go to her father, so he figured the wedding should be like those in his native time.


Two days later, the next event in the domino like chain of events happened. Achilles and Odysseus came and began fighting with the Trojans. Then, Paris drew and arrow, fitted it to his string, sighted down it, and let the string go. The arrow hissed through the air and, with a cry of pain and dismay, Achilles, the mightiest of the Greeks, fell to his knees. Odysseus cried out in despair, and glared up at Paris. Achilles muttered something inconsequential, and then his eyes grew sightless and he died. Odysseus grabbed a shield as Ajax grabbed the body of the fallen hero and the two made their way back to the camp, Odysseus shielding Ajax. The Ithacan King was suppressing his grief: Achilles had been an excellent friend to him, but this was war. People died in war, left right and center.

At Achilles' shelter at dusk, the Greeks gathered to mourn their fallen champion. Priam came and claimed Hector's body, and both sides had twelve days respite from the war. The Greeks observed their funerary games, and Achilles' armor was dolled out to the bravest of them. Ajax claimed that he was the bravest, but Menelaus decreed that Odysseus should have the armor, and Ajax, in his grief, took his sword, and ran it through his own heart. Menelaus and Agamemnon decreed that Ajax should receive a proper funeral, and so was buried near the ocean in a fresh cut tomb. Achilles' body was placed on a pyre, a coin was placed under his tongue, and the flame lit. It burned long into the night, the eerie light sending shivers up Actaeon's spine. Odysseus sat a little ways apart; holding a wooden horse another soldier was carving for his child. Actaeon gave an unnoticeable smile; the war would be over soon. Tithonus came over.

"Hey, mate. You doing okay?"

"Well enough, considering the circumstances. Philoctetes had better get Paris tomorrow or the next day, unless we get him on the raid. Look at Odysseus."

"The horse is running through his mind."

"It won't be long now."

The next day, Philoctetes was killed by Aeneas, and, as he was dying, he managed to struggle from the battlefield. He found Actaeon, and gripped his leg in a pleading gesture, holding his stomach, and his entrails, inside his abdomen.

"Here... Sorcerer Actaeon... Use them well... Please, knife..." Philoctetes mumbled, handing Actaeon Heracles' arrows and bow. Actaeon knew what his old friend and comrade meant by "knife," and drew his bronze weapon.

"May you travel with honor to the Elysian Fields, my friend..." Actaeon said. Then, with a swift movement, he dispatched his friend who was in extreme pain. "Tithonus! Cover me! Let me get a clear shot," he growled at his friend. Tithonus grabbed a forgotten shield, and deflected multiple arrows. Actaeon strung the great bow, and knocked an arrow. The butt of the shaft fit perfectly into the string, and he drew back the mighty weapon as much as he could. The bow made a low groan in protest, and Actaeon sighted along the shaft of the arrow. He let fly the arrow, and watched it hit Paris in the thigh. It wouldn't be long before the hydra blood was in his system, and nothing could save the prince of Troy now.

The next day, Odysseus gathered the men together and explained his plan. The construction of the horse took a week, and then the men cleared off the beach and sailed for a nearby island not seen by the Trojan walls. Ten men, including Odysseus, Menelaus, Agamemnon, Actaeon and Tithonus, were crammed inside the belly of the great wooden equine, and fifteen more wheeled it to the shore during the night then fled back to where the others were waiting.

"Get some sleep. You'll need it for tonight," Odysseus' voice hissed near Actaeon's ear. The younger soldier took the advice to heart, and, ignoring the sandal in his ribs, the head on his stomach, and the utterly cramped situation, he fell into a light slumber.

He awoke as he felt the horse moving. He knew not to make any noise, and his nerves were too keyed up with the prospect of a bloody massacre in Troy that he couldn't get back to sleep. Tithonus stayed asleep, thankfully not snoring, until lunchtime. There wasn't anything to eat in the horse, and the cramped situation was only making his full bladder more uncomfortable. He resigned himself, and, pulling into a vertical fetal position, began to wait out the day.

Finally, the light that seeped through the planks in the horse's flank waned and failed altogether, but the Greeks would not leave the horse until they were sure that the Trojans were abed. Finally, one of the planks fell off, pried by Odysseus. Actaeon cast down a rope, and Tithonus held it fast while the other Greeks scrambled down. Tithonus then fastened the rope to one of the planks and swarmed down it, the plank breaking when Tithonus was barely two feet from the ground. He landed lightly on his feet, trying to regain use of his body after so long inactive. After relieving themselves, the Greeks went off after the Trojans. Actaeon and Tithonus jogged to open the gate, and let in the Greek swarm that soon overwhelmed Troy.


The scent of burning wood was strong as the two wizards jogged along the streets. The screams of women and children, and the cries of men, were ragged in the night air. Actaeon watched as a man with blue hair grabbed Aeneas, and vanished.

"That was Poseidon, or I'm still in England," Tithonus remarked as Menelaus dashed past with murder in his eyes.

"She must die!" the Spartan king roared, sprinting into one of the houses that was soon aflame.

Lesser Ajax ran past and to the statue of Artemis, where a woman was clinging and screaming. He ripped her away, and the two wizards dashed through the streets, not wanting to see the woman raped. In an outburst of screams, the two wizards Apparated from the city, and grabbed their lovers, then met outside.


"To Ithaca?" Tithonus asked. Actaeon nodded curtly, and the four people Apparated from view.
Celebwen Telcontar: So, what did you think? I know it's a bit violent, and sexual, but that was the day and age. What I said earlier about violence, sex, eating, and getting drunk were truly some of the only things there to get your mind off of current events. I'm sorry if I depressed you by the sex and violence situations. Please review. I need it to boost my self esteem. And I haven't finished with Voldie yet. I will have Actaeon, Tithonus, Kilissa, and their spouses return to England. Now I need you to tell me what the Dursleys should think of the new Harry/Actaeon. More of a Freak now that he's survived the Trojan war, and with multiple scars and skills to prove it? Please tell me. See you later.

CT