Hello! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to y'all. Here is a little one-shot for y'all. I know I don't update often at all. The inspiration comes and leaves. But here is this while I gather the courage to keep writing.
The blood red moon hung low in the sky, encompassing the forest in its ominous red hue. Down below in said forest, Percy Jackson stopped at a clearing, his lungs burning from the running he had just done.
His hair was matted to his face, the sweat giving him a sheen among the red light. His pants were dirty and so was his shirt. Usually, he would have cared about personal hygiene, but right now, the adrenaline pumping through his veins threatened to send him into a panic attack.
It had been nearly an hour ago when Thalia had sent him an Iris Message begging him for help. Her eyes had been wide, fear replacing the confidence he had come to associate with his cousin. He'd have asked for more information other than her location, but a piercing, maniacal laugh interrupted their conversation, soon followed by blood curdling screaming from off screen, and then, the Message cut off.
That's how Percy had found himself in a clearing in a forest, in a place that was unknown to him. He had no idea how to navigate the woods, that was a skill that only his cousin possessed out of the two, and a skill, he had the shame to admit, that had made him jealous of his cousin. Now, though, he stood in the middle of the clearing, the shadows goading him into desperation with the paths that lay hidden within them.
His fingers clenched around Riptide to a near deathly grip. A scream tore the silence apart, startling Percy into action as he chose a shadowed path and ran into it, trying to ignore the thrill of fear that ran down his spine.
Within the shadowy claws of the forest, whose only reprieve from the darkness was an ominous red moonlight, Percy began feeling the fear kicking in. His feet kicked up leaves as he clumsily maneuvered his way through the forest floor.
It felt like forever, and the different position of the moon in the sky confirmed it, but a good while had passed since Percy had set off into the forest to find the source of the screaming. He was exhausted, the muscles in his legs were burning and his lungs too. He'd gone from a full sprint down to a jog.
A dry sob escaped him. The despair had begun to settle in. It had been a little over an hour since he arrived. At this point, he was finding it hard to keep hope that Thalia was still alive. But he had to, she was his cousin. They'd fought together and they'd shared memories bound by grief, love, and joy. He wasn't going to give up on her. She wouldn't have given up on him.
So he kept on jogging, even if his calf muscles begged him to stop.
After what seemed like another hour, Percy finally saw the forest give way to another clearing. He sighed in relief, about to make his way to the clearing when he paused. He sniffed the air. Metallic.
His heart froze. He knew that smell.
He forced himself through the stretch of forest leading into the clearing. That smell was the scent that ingrains itself into your mind after fighting two wars. After losing too many lives.
Percy came upon the clearing, eyes landing on the mayhem in sight.
The red soft light of the moon rained upon the scene of countless dead bodies. All of them were wearing bloodied silver parkas, some of them had their arms ripped off, their skin pale from the lack of blood.
Percy felt his stomach twist into knots as his eyes took it all in. Tears welled up as he gingerly made his way through the clearing. The only sound heard was his choked sobs.
Although he hadn't gotten to know the hunters that well, Thalia regarded them as family, and if she loved them that much, then so did he...
Thalia
Percy's head snapped up in realization. After two hours of trudging through the forest, he had forgotten that it was Thalia that had sent him that Iris Message asking for help. And if all of the hunters were dead, then what hope did she have?
Percy began searching around for her. He called out her name, he even tried praying to Lord Zeus, but he received nothing.
As yet another hour passed, Percy, once more, lost any hope that she was alive. How could she be alive when her fellow hunters were all dead? And to make things worse, he had no clue who could have done this. Orion had been killed once more during the second Giant War. Artemis was a Goddess, no animal, mortal, nor demigod would have had even come close to injuring one of her hunters before she struck them down.
The only other explanation was that some other immortal had done it. But who?
Percy snapped out of his thoughts as a faint whizzing entered his auditory range. It grew louder, and before Percy could realize what it was, an arrow pierced his shoulder, knocking him back and into the pool of blood.
He gritted his teeth at the pain. He gripped the arrow, making sure not to dislodge the tip, and broke the shaft. He took a glance at the fletching, it was silver. His eyes widened, a hunter! One of them must be alive. It has to be Thalia!
Percy stood up from the pool of blood, trying to shake off the still warm liquid off of him. He grunted in pain but he made his way to the edge of the clearing.
"Thalia! It's me, Percy!" He yelled, hoping to hear back a response.
Nothing.
Just as he was about to try again, another arrow whizzed out of the forest. Being ready, Percy managed to dodge it. Then, laughter broke through the forest.
Her voice blended in with the forest, as if it were one with nature. The laughter seemed to come from the trees, the ground, the air itself. It was sweet, but twisted, something was off... broken.
Percy's good arm gripped Riptide and brought it up in defense. He spared glances all around the forest, trying to pinpoint the origin of the laugh as he cautiously made his way to the center of the clearing. A heavy feeling set in his heart.
In front of him, a flash of silver light illuminated the area, causing Percy to close his eyes. 'Artemis', he thought, the relief washing through him as the light died down. He opened his eyes to be greeted, not by Artemis, but by Thalia's broken, bloody, dead body.
Her electric blue eyes stared up into his own, life ending terror within them. Riptide dropped from his hand and the pain in his shoulder went ignored. All noise muffled, even the sound of footsteps approaching him slowly. His vision tunneled and blurred as tears formed and fell. No thought remained in his head, none, except for the constant static thought that Thalia was dead.
The footsteps stopped in front of him. He didn't need to look up to know who it was.
"Lady Artemis." He whispered, tears falling from his eyes.
She laughed, the same laugh he had heard in the Iris Message and now. His head snapped up to see her smiling at him. The type of smile that one gives to an old friend. It would have made Percy feel welcomed, except her hands were dripping with blood and her eyes were red, as if a film were covering the silver behind them, tinting the red with something more than just malice, something personal.
The grief he felt was replaced with rage. It built up inside of him as the Goddess laughed. His fists clenched.
"Why?" He asked through gritted teeth.
Artemis didn't reply, instead, with speed only known to her, she slammed into Percy, sending him sprawling yards away.
The wind got knocked out of him as he came to a stop. His ribs were probably broken, the tenderness and pain a sure fire indicator. He shakily got up, eyeing the Goddess who hadn't moved after knocking into him. She stood in the middle, her smile never wavering, never tiring. He slipped his right hand into his pocket, his fingers wrapping around Riptide. He had no chance, he knew that. She was a Goddess, an immortal being capable of bringing destruction down upon him with a single thought.
Right now his best shot wasn't to beat her, it was to contact any of the other Gods. Apollo was his best shot.
The question now, was how. How could he get into contact with a God? He didn't have any water on him, and as much as he wanted to, he couldn't just draw water from the air.
And there was also the lingering fact that he wanted to killer her for killing his cousin. He wanted to murder her. And as Lady Artemis sprinted towards him, no weapon in hand, insaner heads prevailed.
He swung at her, his shoulder causing him to slow down significantly. As if being swung at by a child, she dodged it. She punched him in the stomach with such force that it sent him sprawling once more.
He didn't get up immediately, blood pooled in his mouth. He spit it out. Great, she ruptured something. He stood up, his lungs working over time to suck in as much air as they could. There was no way he was going to win this fight.
He faltered, the thought striking him. His eyes scanned over the clearing, taking in, once more, the bloody gory scene in front of him. He was going to die here. Artemis was going to kill him.
He glared at the smiling Goddess. But he wasn't going to go down without a fight.
Instead of running at her, Percy threw his hand forward. He felt the familiar pull in the pit of his stomach, except this time it was different. This time it hurt.
Artemis cocked her head in confusion. Before she knew it, she felt her breath constricting. She looked down at her hands and noticed them clean. The blood that once dripped from them was now around her chest, squeezing her. She stumbled forward, throwing her own hand forward, about to strike down the demigod.
But before she could do anything more, the pool of blood that she had drained out of her hunters dropped on her. It seeped into her eye sockets, her ears, her mouth, her nose. She felt it rip her insides apart.
The Goddess could do nothing more as the blood of her hunters robbed her of any control of her limbs. She dropped to her knees as she saw (with what little vision she still had left) Percy, with a dark and labored expression on his face, approach her.
She snarled at him, before, with one last burst of power, ripped her hand from his control and thrust it forward, sending a beam of red moonlight ripping into him.
He lost control of the blood, and by proxy, her, and she dropped to the floor, trying to catch some breath into her crushed lungs. She tried to heal some of the damage with her Godly power but she knew she was beyond saving. She would fade. So, with nothing left to lose, she began laughing as Percy dropped to the floor, clutching at the baseball wide hole that had been ripped through his torso.
He looked at her, the life slowly draining from him.
"W-why?" He asked as she dropped next to him, her smile never faltering, her red silver eyes boring into Percy's own sea green.
"Because I wanted to." She simply replied before bursting into giggles. She didn't go for long, as the last of whatever oxygen she had remaining, left. She clawed at her throat, trying to get more air into herself. She ripped into her throat as she thrashed around. Percy stared in horror as she clawed at herself before slowly stopping. She turned to him, mouthing "I'll be back", before the life drained from her.
Percy didn't move for what felt like forever. He could feel the life leaving him as well, but he couldn't die just yet.
With all of the might he had left in him, he got up, trying to ignore the world crushing pain in his stomach, shoulder, and wound. He stumbled to the middle of the clearing, where Thalia's body rested and dropped next to her. Finally, next to her, did he allow the darkness to consume his vision, and Percy Jackson was no more.
After a few hours, Artemis' body glowed a silver red. It remained until, finally, it subsided, leaving behind the Goddess, but now different. Her hair had gone from an auburn brown to a night sky black. Her red silver eyes remained but her features became more regal, more strict.
A choked breath entered her body. She got up and stared at her hands. She took in the scene around her, corpses of the Hunters of Artemis and the son of Poseidon.
Wait.
Hunters of Artemis?
No.
"Diana." She whispered, the smile coming back to her face.
Make sure to leave a review if you liked it or have any constructive criticism. They really help maintain morale and it lets me know people actually read these things. Anyway, have an amazing New Years Eve AND Day.