Rage of a Demigod

AN: Hello there, my dear readers! Well, this one came earlier than I thought it would. But hey, that's a good thing, right? I was just inspired to write more of this and, well, here we are. Read and enjoy!

Now to reviews.

sglenn3232: I will.

Guest: Thank you.

Dimension Distorter: Oh, you can bet.

Guest(2): Look, I said this many times, but I'm not open to ideas yet. I already have enough to write about. And I don't even know what this SCP foundation even is, and frankly, I don't really care.

6 How Can the Past Hurt So Much?

Marcus' head was turning to the sides frantically, his eyes and teeth clenched, perspiration forming on his forehead. He let out several gasps and grunts, messing up the pillow beneath his head with how much he was moving.

The nightmares began again, just like so many times before with no sign of stopping, prolonging his already overbearing mental agony.

But this time, the visions themselves were different. This time he saw things that never happened.

Marcus' arms were bound, the chains of his blades extended so far that it pulled his arms sideways and rendering them immobile. Some strange contraption was around his neck, pinning him down and forcing him into a kneeling position.

That was all he saw before a clawed hand came at him in a slashing motion.

The next was an image of Annabeth and Percy, standing inside what seemed to be some sort of aquarium. Then out of nowhere, there was a giant burst of water and the two were swept away.

He had a vision of some sort of black mist, with the sky being as dark as it ever could be, the demigods around him falling down one by one, even Chiron suffering the same fate.

Then came the voices.

"You left us behind!"

"You can kill him for all I care."

"There is no escaping my wrath!"

"B-but, my lady, thou can't-!"

The visions then slowly began to cease, his mind coming to ease as all the images turned into blackness. Marcus felt his lips enveloped by those of another, he slowly opened his eyes and saw that it was Zora who was kissing him.

He replied by kissing her back, making her slightly moan in pleasure. Their tongues were soon involved, but they had to part for air.

"Are you alright?" Zora asked with concern in her voice. "I saw you having another nightmare, and I thought my kiss would calm you."

"It's better thanks to you," Marcus said as he wiped some sweat from his forehead. "That helped me with the nightmare."

Zora smiled at the answer. "I'm glad I could help you," she said before hugging him with her head on his chest. "My mother says 'Love can calm an angry heart', and after what you've been through, you need all the love you can get. I wish my sister was here as well."

Marcus honestly wasn't sure if what he felt for the two daughters of Aphrodite to be love, but he definitely let them see a more emotional side of him.

Marcus wrapped his arms around the goddess. "Please, don't sell yourself short. You've done enough for me, and I don't deserve you or your sister."

Her hug tightened slightly. "Don't say that," she protested. "Our mother sent us to you because she knew you needed help, and we'll more than happy to provide it." She then looked up to him with desire in her eyes. "And we won't give up."

She then kissed him again, a gesture he once again returned. His hands then began roaming and massaging her body as he moved on to kissing her neck.

This was one of the few bright spots in his life and he will experience them to the fullest.

In the afternoon, he found himself at archery practice, nailing bullseye after bullseye. It was snowing outside but he didn't wear too much as the cold didn't really bother him while everyone else dressed warmly. He was honestly getting bored at this point, and he had to admit that training Percy Jackson has been a refresher for him.

However, Percy wasn't a regular here like he was, so over the last six months he made scarce visits and he only got a little training. But Marcus had to admit that the kid had potential and was improving with each training session.

When he fired the last arrow he took off the quiver and put the bow down before going to retrieve the arrows and putting them back.

He was honestly expecting Ares to come out of nowhere and give him another assignment.

Then he saw Clarisse not too far away from him. "Yo there!"

Well, that was close enough, he thought.

"What is it, Clarisse?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Oh, nothing much. Just wanted to see what you were doing."

He gave her a look that showed he was unconvinced. "Really?"

"Um, yeah really. Why would I be there?"

"You mean other than the fact that I have more contact with your father than you, so you think that coming closer to me would also get you closer to your father?" he suggested which made Clarisse adopt a look of shock like she was caught stealing cookies. "And don't bother lying to me. You don't exactly go to other campers to 'see what they are doing'."

"L-look, i-it's not like that, honest-"

"Save it!" he said harshly before getting ready to depart the archery range. "Look, I don't have time for this. Go back to your brothers and sisters, I'm sure they need you more."

He walked past Clarisse, who now looked at the, a feeling of shame as she knew what he was telling was the truth. She did indeed intend to somehow be closer to her father. She should have known better than that considering who she was dealing with.

"You know, you can be such an ass!" Clarisse heard and turned around to see that Marcus was looking down at… Silena Beauregard much to her shock. The daughter of Aphrodite stood there, glaring at Marcus with her arms crossed. "Why do you have to be rude to people like that?"

"Please move away, Silena," Marcus said dismissively.

"Not until you apologize to Clarisse for being so rude?"

Clarisse was actually really touched to see her friend sticking out for her like that.

Marcus, on the other hand, couldn't believe what he was hearing. "First of all, I'm not a five-year-old for you to speak like that, second why should I?"

"Look, whatever you think she's done, there is no need to make others feel miserable," Silena said sternly. "Maybe you don't care, but do you know how many of us want to meet our parents in person? Are you saying you wouldn't do a similar thing?"

"Silena, I don't have time for this!" Marcus said and walked past her but she grabbed him by the arm. She wasn't nearly strong enough to stop but he willingly did. "Silena, let go."

"No, I won't," she said. "Look, I know what happened to you, most of us do, but that doesn't give you the right to make others feel miserable for no reason. Maya wouldn't like for you to do that."

At the mention of her name, Marcus closed his eyes.

"So just apologize, Marcus."

He gave a sigh. What is with the daughters of Aphrodite and their effect on him? They don't even have to use their charmspeak.

Marcus turned back to Clarisse who was looking at him as neutrally as possible. "I'm sorry," he said.

Clarisse rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "Yeah, no problem."

Silena smiled before letting go of Marcus' muscular arm.

"However, you have to trust me when I say that you don't want to be so close to Ares," he said shocking the said man's daughter. "You will only end up disappointed." There was no sign of any negative intentions in his voice this time, so Silena knew he was being genuine. And then his attention was on Silena. "And you come back to Beckendorf. I doubt you'd want him to be jealous… again."

Silena sighed at that. She was one of the few people who gave Marcus actual attention and that didn't really sit well with her boyfriend, Charles Beckendorf, who unfortunately got jealous and protective. And considering how her mother and her daughters were known to get with more… violent men she honestly couldn't blame him.

Then she felt something strange. "Is it just me, or is it getting hotter?"

Then the three noticed some strange light in the distance. And that light… was going right at Camp Half-blood!

The object flew at incredible speed and crashed into the lake with a large crashing and splashing sound. Marcus immediately ran down there along with Clarisse to see what was going on. Out of the lake came… a bus.

"Well," a blonde man in shades said as he came out of the bus. "I'm certainly not letting her drive again."

Marcus recognized that man as Apollo, the sun god.

Several more people got out. Those included two children, who Marcus assumed were the new demigods, Percy, Grover, and several hunters of Artemis, one of which he easily recognized.

"Thou better keep that promise," Zoe said as she glared at the exiting Thalia. "I would have sworn we would end up dead."

"Like you would do any better," Thalia mocked.

"I would. I know how to drive a vehicle, unlike thee."

"Well, kids, that was a really exciting experience," Apollo said before going into the bus. "But I gotta go. The west is waiting. See ya!"

The bus turned into a red sports car and drove off in a flash of light.

"Well, looks like we got some newbies here," Clarisse commented as she looked at the two new demigods.

"Looks like it," Marcus said before approaching Zoe with his arms crossed. "What are the Hunters of Artemis doing here?"

Zoe met his gaze. "We were on the hunt for the Manticore, and we ran into the other demigods. Our lady decided to pursue the monster and a huge threat to Olympus," Zoe explained but then something else caught her eyes. "What happened to thee?"

Marcus wondered what she was talking about before bringing his fingers to the scar over his right eye that was given to him by Luke back at Princess Andromeda. "I got struck with a sword."

Phoebe eyed Zoe for a moment. Her sister hunter asked that question with what seemed to be… concern? No, that couldn't be the case. It made no sense.

"Marcus, listen!" Percy called out getting the tattooed demigod's attention. "It's Annabeth! She's gone!"

"What?!" Marcus explained. "What do you mean gone?!"

"We were fighting the Manticore, and during the fight, they both fell off a cliff! We couldn't find her so she was probably taken!"

Marcus growled. "Chiron needs to be informed of this! Immediately!"

Soon they found themselves meeting with Chiron and Dionysus and explained what happened at that military school. How they fought the Manticore, how the hunters of Artemis intervened and how Annabeth got taken.

"That is grave news indeed," Chiron said. "We'll need to organize a search party."

"I'll go," Thalia and Percy said at the same which caused them to look at each other.

"Not likely," Dionysus said with a yawn. "This Annie Bell girl may as well be dead by now."

"Don't say such things, mister D," Chiron said. "She is a smart girl, she will definitely give herself some time."

"If she is so smart she will escape on her own," Dionysus said as he took a sip of Diet Coke.

"Come on!" Percy said. "That's just-!"

Marcus grabbed him by the shoulder and glared at him, which Percy could easily read as 'Enough unless you want to get blasted to oblivion!'

"There will be a search party," Marcus told the two leaders of the camp. "Better yet, a party won't be necessary. I'll go myself."

"Well aren't you the hero?" mister D mockingly asked but Marcus just ignored him and walked away.

"Marcus, wait!" Chiron called out. "You can't go alone. A search party is necessary for this quest."

Marcus turned back. "And how long will it take you to gather this party?"

"Listen to me, Marcus. Your impatience will cause more harm than good. They told us that this is a threat to Olympus itself. You may as well end up dead and nothing would be accomplished."

Chiron trotted over to him. "Marcus, I know how much this means to you, and I know that you are very good. But this may be even beyond your caliber. Are you that willing to risk Annabeth's safety like that?"

Marcus was silent. Chiron was right, he had no idea what he was going up against. And he remembered the oath he made for himself, that he would make sure that nothing happened to the people he cared for. And going alone probably wasn't making sure that it happened.

"Fine," he simply said before going outside.

Percy was happy that Marcus was as concerned for Annabeth as he was. He knew that a search party with him will succeed in the end.

Zoe Nightshade on the other hand was curiously watching the scene before she noticed Bianca di Angelo also walking outside.

"Hey, you're Dionysus, the wine dude!" Nico exclaimed making everyone, especially Dionysus look at him surprised. "In Mythomagic, you only have, like, five hundred attack points, and everyone thinks you're the lamest god, but I think you're powers are cool!"

"Ah, thanks," Dionysus said still shocked and confused. "That's… gratifying."

Marcus stood outside the cabin with his arms crossed and a frown adorning his face. Annabeth was currently in trouble and he didn't know just what kind. He hoped that whatever Chiron cooks up will be ready soon.

"Um, hi there," he heard someone say and saw it was the new girl. "I'm Bianca di Angelo. I'm new here. Aren't you cold?"

"Not really," he simply answered.

"Yeah, well," she said somewhat shyly. "I appreciate that you stood up for your friend like that. I'll also be going on the search for her."

Marcus then spared the girl a glance. From the first glance, he could tell the dark-haired girl was a shy type but caring. Then he also noticed the weapons she was holding.

"The bow and arrow, where did you get them?" he asked.

"Oh, these? I recently joined the Hunters of Artemis and they gave them to me," she said with a smile but then she saw that he was seemingly frowning at her.

He glanced at the cabin. "That boy, is he your brother?"

She blinked at the sudden. "Um, yes, he is."

Now his face was really frowning. "Then you made a mistake."

"E-excuse me?"

"You heard me, you made a mistake. You would leave your brother behind so you could go hunting some monsters for sport?"

"L-look, that's none of your business," she said sternly but nervously. "This is something I want; I can't be constantly responsible for my brother. Besides, he will be safe and happy here."

"Responsibility for your family isn't a choice!" Marcus told in a raised voice which made her flinch. "And thinking that your brother will be happy here while his sister goes on an eternal monster hunt is beyond stupid of you, Bianca di Angelo."

Bianca stood there stunned at his words while he just scoffed and walked away.

That got Bianca thinking a bit. Was she really a bit too hasty to make the decision to join the Hunters? She really hoped not because now she was bound for life. Well, eternity actually.

"Sister," Bianca heard Zoe say behind her. "I heard what he said. Don't let it bother thee. Thou hast made thine choice."

That made Bianca feel a little better, but doubt was still instilled in her. Then she saw that Zoe was also watching him leave, but to her surprise, she wasn't glaring at Marcus like she normally would. At least that's how the lieutenant gave Bianca that impression.

"If thou art wondering, he also had a sister," Zoe explained. "But she is gone."

Bianca's eyes widened in realization, coming to an understanding about why Marcus was so aggressive about it, for the lack of a better word.

"Come now, rejoin our sisters," Zoe suggested. "I'll be with thee shortly."

Bianca nodded and walked away, while Zoe still stared at the retreating form of Marcus.

Zoe Nightshade remembered several years ago, when she and her sisters came to the camp, and what happened shortly after the traditional Capture the Flag contest ended.

The Hunters of Artemis celebrated yet another victory over the demigods of Camp Half-blood. They were able to put up a much better fight than before but the skill and experience of the immortal hunters triumphed as it always does.

Zoe walked towards lady Artemis who smiled at her. "Congratulations on your victory," Artemis praised.

"No need for such things, my lady," Zoe said.

"This shows that our Hunters are still keeping their skills sharp, and their arrows even sharper. It is quite a test."

As the two conversed, they saw one of the female demigods appear. Zoe recognized her from the battlefield but she could now see her features clearly. Those red marks on her face made her quite distinct.

"Um, I'm sorry to interrupt, I really am," the girl apologized. "But if you would allow me to talk to you for a moment, lady Artemis."

Artemis smiled at the girl's politeness. "Of course you may."

"Thank you. My name is Maya Addams, and I have to say that was an incredible performance from your Hunters."

Both Zoe and Artemis were impressed. Normally the campers here would complain about losing and how 'unfair' it was so this girl was quite a refresher.

"I have to ask, is it possible for me to join your Hunters?"

The two were surprised she would ask such a question but found it understandable.

"Well, of course, it is," Artemis answered. The girl may be a bit older than usual but she was acceptable. "You will be gifted immortality, only able to die in battle. You'll have to be a maiden for eternity, forswearing any romantic feelings."

Just as Maya was about to give an answer but was interrupted.

"What on Earth do you think you're doing?!"

Zoe saw another demigod approach, this time a male and having a resemblance to Maya.

"Marcus, what are you-?"

"By the gods, Maya, just what were you planning to do?!"

Artemis glared the Marcus. "This doesn't concern you, boy."

Marcus just glared back at her, which caught the moon goddess off guard. "Of course it concerns me, she is my sister!"

Artemis and Zoe were surprised by that piece of information.

Maya then turned angrily toward her brother. "Marcus, this is my decision to make! You can't just decide for me!"

"I can't believe you would even come to this decision! Do you remember much time and effort we spent getting here, to make sure that the monsters won't attack us?! Thalia DIED so we could arrive here! And now you're planning on running away to fight monsters for eternity until you get killed?!"

Maya was actually shocked to hear that, not really thinking about it that way. "N-no, brother, I was just thinking-"

"Enough!" Artemis exclaimed before pointing at Marcus. "As I said before, this doesn't concern you, male. If this girl wants to join my Hunters then she will. You have no say in it."

"Too bad for you, she is my sister, and I'm NOT losing her!"

Maya looked at her brother in shock. She could actually see him slightly tearing up in his left eye and knew what that meant. "Marcus."

Artemis had enough, her expression turned to one of pure rage. "You insolent boy!" Her eyes began to glow. "I shall turn you into a ferret and have my Hunters hunt you down!"

The twins looked shocked at the proclamation. And after a few moments… nothing happened.

Artemis blinked in surprise, with Zoe being in equal shock. "My lady, what's wrong?"

"She intruded into someone else's turf, that's what's wrong?" they heard a deep voice say before a man dressed in a biker outfit appeared in a burst of flame.

"What are you doing here, Ares?" Artemis asked.

"Well, you see, Arty, this kid here…" he said while gesturing at Marcus. "…is my servant. So I can't have you turn him into no ferret. That would be a direct attack on me."

Zoe tried to protest. "But lord Ares, thine servant has-"

"And you, pipe down!" Ares interrupted. "The gods are talking here."

"Ares, you can't seriously expect me to just ignore this young man's transgressions," Artemis said.

"Here's the thing, Artemis," Ares said before taking off his shades and showing his eyes. "I completely expect you to do that. So either you do that, or I'll have my sons violate every single one of your Hunters."

To say that everyone was shocked would be a complete understatement. Artemis then glared furiously at her brother. "If you think you can get away with it-"

"You'll what?" he interrupted before leaning down in front of Artemis' face and grinning. "Remember, little sister, I am right next to Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades in power so I far outclass you. And I am the god of war, I know much more about fighting than you do. You don't want to have me as an enemy." He pulled back and put his shade back on. "So you better stop whatever you're doing, and let those two sort this out. Or else."

After letting it hang in the air, Maya came forth. "Um, look, lady Artemis. Perhaps I-I was a bit too hasty when I made that decision. I-I'm reconsidering about joining the Hunters, so I won't."

"I… see," Artemis mumbled before nodding. "Very well, then. It's your decision."

"Thank you, lady Artemis," Maya said with a smile before turning to her taller twin. "Sorry, Marcus, I shouldn-"

Marcus snapped out of his daze, still not completely over what just happened. "N-no, it's fine," he said. "I'm sorry as well, I shouldn't have yelled like that. Come on, sis. L-let's meet up with the others."

"Y-yeah." Maya gave him a nod and the two walked away, with Ares watching them and grinning before turning to Artemis.

"Well, looks like this ended just fine," he commented. "See you at the next solstice."

With another burst of fire he was gone, not long after which Artemis began seething.

"Damn that Ares!" the goddess angrily exclaimed.

"He truly is despicable, my lady," Zoe said. "And that boy, how dare he speak to thee like that."

"It doesn't matter, Zoe. Let's just finish our business and get out of this camp."

Zoe nodded, but not before sparing a glance at the retreating siblings. She saw Marcus looking sorrowful about the situation, with Maya seemingly trying to ease that sorrow as they spoke.

She wondered if she would ever have to meet them again, not so much the boy though.

The day came sometime later when Zoe was out on the hunt with some of her fellow hunters. They were in the middle of tracking one of the beasts for training.

"Did thee find any tracks?" Zoe asked.

"Not yet, lieutenant," one of them answered.

"Keep searching. We don't want to disappoint our goddess." After getting an affirmative call from others they resumed searching.

Then Zoe noticed something, it just wasn't what she was looking for. She saw someone running through the woods. She wasn't sure about it but decided to follow anyway. Zoe was quite fast, at least compared to a normal man, so she was able to catch whoever was running.

When she got a good look at who it was, she remembered him as the boy who spoke against Artemis in the camp, Marcus Addams. And what were those blades on his back?

"What are thou doing here?" Zoe asked getting his attention.

"Why do you care? It's not like that's any of your business since it has nothing to do with the Hunters. I'm under orders of Lord Ares."

Zoe frowned. "Thou art right. It's not any of my business to know what someone who would swear allegiance to a god like Ares is doing."

"Not like I had any choice," Marcus muttered under his breath, but Zoe's ears were more keen than normal so she picked up upon it. "Well, I have my mission. See ya."

And with that, he began running. Zoe would have also rejoined her fellow Hunters but was left wondering. What did that boy mean? Was he recruited to Ares by force?

She shook her head. It wasn't any of her business so she ran back toward the rest of her group. However, just when she was close she turned around for a moment and saw a pillar of smoke rising. She wanted to continue but her curiosity got the better of her and she ran back.

After a minute or two, she found herself at a wooden cabin in the middle of a clearing, which turned out to be the source of the fire that created that smoke pillar. She saw three dead bodies, all of which seemed to be demigods, one of them a girl.

She then noticed someone getting out of the flaming cabin. Zoe began readying her weapons, but when she saw who it was her eyes widened. It was Marcus who was slowly walking out of the cabin, and in his arms, he was holding the body of… Maya!

After walking a bit further from the cabin, Marcus collapsed on his knees, still holding his sister's body which Zoe noticed had a huge gash on her chest.

"Maya," he said in a hushed tone. "Why? What were you doing there? You were supposed to be in the camp." He began tearing up, his lips shaking before hugging Maya's body close. "Oh, Maya, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry."

Despite not knowing what happened, Zoe couldn't help but feel sorrow as he kneeled there and wept over his sister. If she was honest she never saw a man be so… vulnerable.

Then out of the fire, Ares himself appeared, though as an apparition this time. Zoe quickly hid behind a tree, not wanting to be seen by the war god.

"Excellent, Marcus," the war god congratulated which made Marcus turn to him. "You dealt with those traitors well." He then saw who Marcus was holding. "And the final obstacle in your path has been dealt with."

"Obstacle? What are you talking about?" Marcus asked. His eyes then widened in realization. "YOU put her there!"

Ares grinned. "Guilty as charged!" he exclaimed making both the Hunter and the demigod gain shocked expressions.

"You… you knew this would happen!" Marcus exclaimed as he rose and face the apparition. "That's why you put her there!"

The war god shrugged, seemingly uncaring. "Well, you do get a tunnel vision when you get angry. But that doesn't matter now. She was in the way. She made you vulnerable, held you back. Without your sister, you can finally become the ultimate warrior, a force to be reckoned with."

The more he spoke, the more Marcus' anger grew. And Zoe's as well. So that's what he was doing? Tricking Marcus into killing his own sister so she couldn't 'hold him back'?

'How can anyone be so… despicable?' Zoe thought as she glanced from her hiding spot to glare at the war god.

"And to commemorate this occasion," Ares began before looking at the burning cabin. "Let me give a reminder of the day a great warrior was born."

With a wave of his hand, Ares made the ashes that flew around gather around Marcus. "In the past, people used to skin their enemies and wear those skins as trophies. But that's a bit old-school, I suppose ashes should do fine. Wouldn't you say, my Spartan?"

The ash gathered around Marcus then began gathering on his skin, with smoke rising from his as they did with Marcus grunting from the pain. His tan skin then began turning pale from the ash.

Ares grinned at his handiwork. "I'll see you for the next quest, Marcus. Look forward to it." The image of Ares disappeared leaving Marcus alone with the dead bodies.

Zoe couldn't believe what she saw. If she didn't resent Ares before, she did now. She remembered how Hercules betrayed her, but whatever the god of war did right now. It was far worse. Forcing Marcus to kill his sister, and branding him so he could forever be reminded of what he did. There really was no end to Ares' cruelty.

Marcus then knelt in front of his sister before running his finger across her cheek. "I'm sorry, Maya," he said before looking up in the sky. "I'm so sorry, mother. I've failed to keep her safe. I'm a failure as a brother, and as a son." Marcus took one of the blades which immediately ignited in crimson flames before putting the tip near his neck.

Zoe's eyes widened as she realized what he was doing. She couldn't make it in time so quickly took out an arrow and fired, knocking the blade out of his hands and making him look surprised.

"Stop it!" Zoe said before running over to him. "What dost thee think thou art doing?!"

"Why does it matter?" Marcus asked as he hung his head low. "There is nothing left for me."

"And what would Maya think?!" Zoe exclaimed making him look at her. "Dost thee have any idea how she would react when thou meet her in Hades! She'll be disappointed that you killed thyself!"

Marcus didn't say anything; he just looked at his sister's body again. He stared at her for a while, with Zoe not sure what was going through his mind.

"Are… are thou-?"

Marcus' expression turned to one of rage. "I'll kill him," Marcus said making Zoe look at him in shock. "I'll kill him. One day. I don't know how and when, but one day, I'll kill him, I swear on the Styx!"

That caused the lieutenant to gasp, not believing what he just said. Thunder sounded in the distance, binding Marcus to his word.

"Zoe!"

The said Hunter was brought back to reality and saw that it was Phoebe who was talking to her.

"You've been standing there for several minutes," Phoebe commented. "Is something wrong?"

Zoe shook her head. "No, it's nothing. Let us return, we have the Capture the Flag contest to deal with."

Phoebe nodded and she and Zoe returned to the rest of the Hunters. Gazing at her sister Hunter, Phoebe would be lying if she said she wasn't concerned about Zoe, and how she was behaving. She really hoped it won't end up badly in the future.

AN: And that is it for now! I really hope you enjoyed this new chapter. Once again, we got more details revealed. The next one will have more action, I promise.

And please, check out my other stories, you won't regret it. And please, leave a review. They are great motivators.

See you next time!