Artemis sharply turned to her left at the sound of a bush rustling, her bow drawn back with three arrows set to be fired. The Moon Goddess inhaled sharply and closed her eye, carefully prying two arrows from her bow and lined up the shot before letting the silver tipped arrow fly, and a monstrous cry was heard from behind the bush and the monster then exploded into golden dust, showering the forest.
She let out the breath she had been holding in, and nocked the remaining two arrows and drew the heavy bow string, ignoring the small trickle of golden ichor running down her index and middle fingers due to having a constant grip on the bow string.
"Lady Artemis." A dark figure loomed through the darkening forest, stepping on the trees as if they were nothing but insects.
"You..." Artemis stammered, her liquid silver eyes widening with fear. "You're supposed to be under the sky! How is this possible?!" The usually gracefully goddess stumbled backwards, tripping and falling flat onto her rear. Her bow hit the ground and landed on the snowy ground.
The figure laughed half-heartedly, his stony grey eyes burning holes into Artemis as he took in her weak and frail form. "That young Athena spawn did the trick, my young goddess. Now, I wouldn't resist..." The figure rumbled and a stream of earth came out through the snow and snatched Artemis' bow, dragging it underground as the pre-teen goddess lunged for her most prized possession.
"You won't win! He will never raise!" Artemis spat as tendrils of earth shot up, causing the young goddess to shriek in surprise as the earthbound her arms and legs together so she was hog tied.
"Ah, my beautiful Artemis, but you are forgetting some important facts." The figure grinned, his slicked, black hair falling down over his face. "We have Hell on our side." He grinned, and Artemis' eyes widened.
"No..." She muttered, grunting as she was picked up by the 7 feet tall giant, "It was true..."
"Get used to it my goddess!" The figure grinned, turning to Artemis. "Kronos is rising along with Hell! The Olympians will fall once and for all!"
"No, we won't, Atlas." Artemis sneered, and Atlas snarled at the goddess as he slung her over his shoulder.
"Oh, you will. You will watch from Othrys."
Artemis' blood ran cold when she heard that.
The Demon Rites
The young, fourteen-year-old growled disgruntledly, throwing the evil sword he had strapped to his back away, massaging his temples.
"Why do you not obey?" A dark voice boomed from the inside of the boy's head, and he hissed in pain.
"Because you're a jackass. He was going to report our failure, get them killed..." Percy growled out, his sea green eyes brimming with tears.
"Casualties are necessary for victory! That Moon Goddess will get us killed!" The voice argued, and Percy sighed, obviously fed up.
"NO!" Percy shouted, standing from the bench he was sat on. "Nobody needs to die!"
"They do! Not everybody can be saved!" Percy felt like a sledgehammer was being rattled around inside of his skull as the voice screamed.
"They can be saved if I try!" Percy hissed, clutching his head in pain.
"Fool." The voice snapped before receding away, along with the echoing pain inside of Percy's head. The young boy sighed in relief at that. He then looked around, curious as to where he was.
It was a fairly public place, with numerous people walking around. Tourists were everywhere, snapping photos and a lot of them conversing in languages Percy couldn't understand. In the distance, an enormous white structure stood tall and proud, screaming superiority. A small itching sensation began in the back of Percy's head as if the place was of extreme danger.
He shook it off as nothing, and turned his attention back to the building 50 metres or so to his left, with a number of people walking in and out. The place was the National Museum of Natural History if he remembered correctly. And it was to be a meeting place between the Demons and the... What were they called? Racking his memory for the words, Percy eventually gave up. Either way, they didn't get along with Olympus.
A grey haired man caught Percy's attention as he walked up the steps to the museum. He turned at the last second, and Percy caught sight of his heterochromatic eyes – one blue, the other brown. And then a scorpion tail flicked out from under the man's jacket. Readying himself, Percy picked up his sword and began walking to the museum, making sure that his sword was fixed to his back.
"What are you doing, Perseus?" The sword asked, and Percy growled, but ignored the sword. There were more important matters at hand than the voice in his head.
The fourteen-year-old walked up the steps and slipped into the museum, looking around carefully. On the side was a scheduled off room, with two strange women standing outside. They were hideous, one leg being that of a donkey and the other being made of some magical bronze material.
"How may we help you?" One of them asked, leaving her position at the locked doors as she caught Percy staring.
"Point me in the direction of Azazel." The Champion of Hell said abruptly, and both of the monsters shared a knowing glance.
"Who?" She turned back to Percy, only to scream as Percy's sword slid through her neck, gurgling as her head flew into the air as her body disintegrated into a shower of golden dust. Raising his sword like a baseball bat, Percy hit the decapitated head mid-air and it flew, nailing the other beast in the face. She was about to scream when he ran at her, jabbing his sword with marksman accuracy at her neck, and she exploded into golden dust like her friend.
Percy quietly tested the door, but it was locked. Cursing, he knocked on the wooden doors, holding his sword ice-pick grip The door opened, and a tall, stocky cyclops stepped out, gasping in surprise when he saw the golden dust. Acting quickly, Percy pulled the cyclops down and stabbed the creature in the chest, and it dissolved into golden dust like the two vampire-like women.
Slipping into the room, Percy spotted a tall, military-like man sat in a chair, his features shrouded by shadows. Next to him stood a rather lanky 18-year-old blonde boy, his features haunting. A nasty, jagged, red scar ran down the left side of the boy's face, giving him an evil look. A leaf-shaped sword was strapped to his waist, the blade a mixture between bronze and steel.
Below them, stood an assortment of monsters around the perimeter of the small gallery they were in. Thorne was in the centre of the room, Percy remembered him from a week or so before at Westover Hall.
"Do you have the dragon teeth?" The militaristic man asked, and Azazel stepped out of the shadows from behind. "Here, General." The self-proclaimed King of Hell handed a small doggy bag over to the General, his golden eyes glowing menacingly.
The General threw them down to Thorne, who planted them in the dirt behind. Then, Alistair walked out of the shadows and down the steps, holding a watering can. The contents smelt metallic – blood. Percy's breath hitched as Alistair watered the planted dragon teeth with blood.
"No..." Percy breathed out, knowing fully what they were doing. A skeletal hand burst from the soil, a translucent, grey plasma formed over the skeleton as it raised, giving it an almost human look. Almost.
Spartoi.
"It appears we have a visitor." Azazel; said, looking directly at Percy.
"Bugger." Percy cursed as all eyes turned to him. He dived backwards, the doors slamming open and he ran, ignoring the fading roars of anger from the General and the cackling Spartoi.
Looking around as he ran out of the museum, he ran across the road, ignoring oncoming traffic and onto the grass, straight at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. He hoped to lose them there. As he crossed over the road, he saw a van with the words "Delphi Strawberry Service" written on the side. The van was somewhat familiar... But where?
"Think, Percy." A female said from behind him. He turned quickly, hand on his sword.
"What do you want, Astaroth?" Percy snarled, glaring at the dark haired sorcerer.
"Hell to remain alone and intact. And to do that, I must help those who are good." She spoke calmly, not fazed by Percy's threatening nature.
"That's bull, and you know it. You're a Demon, Astaroth – you only destroy." Percy answered back, peeving the demoness off slightly.
"I have agendas, yes." She shrugged, before pointing at the Air and Space Museum. "There are two Hunters of Artemis, a demigoddess and a satyr inside of there, at the food court. The Spartoi has one of their scent."
"And?" Percy asked, not caring for them.
"They need you, Percy – as you need them. If you go with them, you can meet your mother." She said, and Percy stepped back slightly.
"She's dead-"
"Her name is Sally Jackson, a Daughter of Poseidon. She lives in Manhattan, and has one child who she called Perseus Jackson, but he was kidnapped when he was one month old. She is searching for her son at the moment, who she heard is alive from Artemis." Astaroth explained, and a tear ran down Percy's cheek.
"You lie." He snapped, before walking past the demoness to the museum.
"Then why are you heading towards them, then?" She inquired, and Percy cursed.
"They need to be warned." He answered simply before leaving her, and entering the museum.
Astaroth looked over towards where Percy had just come from, and saw the Spartoi there, walking towards the Air and Space Museum. The Princess of Thrones strolled away, her form melting into the ground as she returned to Hell.
Percy reached the food court of the Museum with haste, and scanned the area quickly. Sitting at a table with three others, was a familiar Persian-like girl Percy remembered from Westover. He walked over there, pushing a strand of hair out of his eyes.
"Go away, boy." Zoë spoke haughtily, not even looking at Percy until he rested his hands on the table.
"I'm here as an ally, Huntress." Percy snapped, before crouching down. "I'm here to warn you guys to leave as well. The General was here, and he's summoned a group of Spartoi and given them one of your scents. So, you run or die."
The girl across from the Lieutenant of the Hunt huffed, crossing her arms. "And why should we trust a murderer?" He turned to the girl who spoke. She was like a punk, her raven black hair was cut short, and was wearing black clothes including a "Death to Barbie" t-shirt.
"He was going to bring a Demon horde to kill us all, so I carried out the necessary action you fool." Percy huffed in annoyance, before the fire escape doors are slammed open, revealing four Spartoi dressed in military gear, all carrying guns.
"Crap." Percy cursed, before bringing his sword out and slicing a table out of the ground. The table top flew into the air and with his other hand, Percy punched the table and it flew into the Spartoi, shattering two of them. "Go on then!" He yelled at the questers.
They didn't need telling a second time.
The five of them ran out of the opposite fire escape, and they ran back to the van with the words "Delphi Strawberry Service" printed on the side. The four of them clambered in, the satyr, Grover, left the doors open.
"Come on then!" The punk-girl yelled at Percy, who shook his head.
"I have better things to do than help with a petty quest." He shook his head and left, and the Daughter of Zeus slammed the rear doors shut and Zoë put her foot down, the van speeding off.
Percy shakes his head, and then a feral growl could be heard from nearby. Percy turned around slowly, catching sight of an enormous feline leaping over him, the giant cat's golden coat rippling from the piston-like muscles driving the wild beast forwards.
And it was going directly towards the van the questers had just escaped in.
"Bloody hell." Percy cursed, running after the two. He saw them make a left, and Percy cut across the large green between the two rows of Smithsonian Museums.
The Camp van just about to drive past when Percy leapt out, and dug his sword into the side of the van, clinging on for dear life. The overgrown lion behind the van roared thunderously, the magnificent creature's amber eyes glowing with a dangerous light which promised pain and suffering.
Thalia opened the side door and pulled Percy in causing him to leave his sword hanging in the side of the van. Thankfully, the blade hadn't hurt anything.
"Thanks." He breathed, carefully taking hold of the blade to the sword and pulled, causing it to fully tear through the camp van's side, leaving a massive hole.
"Too scared to face that thing?" Thalia joked, reading her spear as the massive beast drew closer.
"That is the Nemean Lion thou fools! Thy has never been killed since Heracles!" Zoë called out from front, and Thalia rolled her eyes.
"But we're better than that jackass!" Thalia yelled back and Percy chuckled.
"There, that abandoned train yard!" Bianca called out, pointing to a train yard as they left the city of Washington D.C.
The Lieutenant of the Hunt drove into the train yard, the Nemean Lion still hot on their tail.
"Stupid idea time! Shoot the thing when you get a shot!" Percy yelled out, before hacking off the joints that attached the rear doors to the van before kicking them, sending them hurling at the Nemean Lion.
The golden lion continued running, and roared before it leapt at them, her claws sinking into the roof of the Camp van.
Thalia punched Percy. "Very stupid idea!" She yelled, before almost falling out of the van. Grover grabbed hold of her, and Percy helped pull the Daughter of Zeus back onto her feet.
"Well, you're going to love this – a blade made of darkness cannot kill her, but can maim her." Percy grinned, before swinging directly upwards. The blade just bounced off of the creature's golden fur, but allowed for the claws to dig deeper into the van.
Zoë suddenly stopped the van, causing the lion to fly forwards, ripping the entire roof off in the process. The windscreen shattered into a number of pieces, covering both Bianca and Zoë . Percy, Grover and Thalia were all thrown against the front seats, squashed against one another.
"Get off me!" Thalia pushed Percy and Grover off of her, before slapping her bracelet and expanding her canister of mace. In replacement of these objects were a celestial bronze shield with the face of Medusa imprinted onto the face of the shield and spear which crackled with electricity.
In front of the trashed van, the Nemean Lion was struggling to get herself upright, but constantly turning to face the questers and Percy, hatred burning through her bright, golden eyes.
In the front, Bianca was peeling her face off of the dashboard of the van, her inky black hair stuck to a small gash along the top of her head. Zoë's nose was bleeding from where she had stopped too suddenly and face-planted into the steering wheel. "Run..." The Lieutenant of the Hunt croaked out as Percy shakily stood up.
The golden-furred beast was rolling from side to side, her impenetrable hide restricting her movement as if she was in a suit of kevlar.
Zoë pointed towards the end of the train yard, where a train slowed down to a stop.
Percy followed her gesture and could barely see the name of the train: "Sun West Lines".
"Come on then!" Percy carefully pulled Zoë out of the drivers seat and passed her to Thalia, while he then helped Grover get Bianca from the passenger side of the car.
"Percy!" Grover called out in surprise as a burning sensation hacked its way down Percy's back, splitting open the flesh. He cried out in pain and was forced down to his knees, struggling to grasp the open wounds as blood profusely ran down his back. He brought his hand back around, hating the warm and sticky feeling of his own blood. A metallic scent wafted up his nose, causing a sickening feeling to bubble up inside of him.
Above him, the Nemean Lion roared thunderously at the four others, and Percy groaned in pain.
The descendent of Poseidon closed his eyes, reaching out for a water source. He found one, not too far away. Now...
A small tugging sensation began in Percy's stomach as he drew the water closer, the pain growing worse as he continued his grip on the water.
"Get... off... me..." Percy managed out before commanding the water to knock the enormous lion flying into a nearby freight cart, before dousing himself in the liquid. Almost instantaneously, he could feel the long, jagged tears through the flesh in his back slowly repair itself, almost shivering at the feeling of his flesh slowly stitching itself back up, the skin stretching and folding in on itself almost made Percy bite back a whimper. He didn't know what was worse – the accelerated healing from the water or the actual wound being opened by the Nemean Lion.
Grover rushed over and helped Percy up onto his feet, ignoring the fact that a massive chunk of hair had been hacked off due to the monster's claws. The satyr began to lead Percy over to the train, but Percy shook him off, reaching into the remains of the van and pulling out his evil sword.
Grover shivered as he took a look at the sword, the evil radiating from the hellish creation. It's strange shape sure did bring out Grover's worst fears, almost as if it was a nightmare itself. He was all the trees in the world burning, while Juniper, his girlfriend, was slowly and cruelly burnt to death. It made him feel sick.
There was a whimpering from the freight car that the Nemean Lion was in. Slowly, the beast's glimmering golden fur could be seen leaving the freight car, stumbling as the lioness made her way down to the sandy ground, her hateful golden eyes burning as they locked onto Percy and Grover. But she couldn't run, as golden ichor was gushing from her front left paw – the claws had been ripped out.
"Zoe, can't the lion's claws kill it!?" Percy yelled out, Grover helping him retain balance as the wound on his back finalised repairing, leaving three, sickening red tears in the skin.
"She thinks so!" Thalia yelled back, and Percy sighed, glaring at the gigantic, golden lion.
"Good." Percy grunted, heaving his sword up and shook Grover off of him. "Get to the train." He ordered the satyr.
"And what happens to you?" He asked, his goat legs quivering in fear.
"I go another way, meet my mother." Percy said as the Nemean Lion stalked towards them, avoiding pressure on her wounded paw.
"Alright. Don't die." Grover said, reluctantly leaving Percy to face the snarling lioness alone.
The two circled one another, Percy desperate to get one of the claws from the shredded van roof. Just a few more metres... The lion roared and lunged at Percy, who dived backwards towards the claws. He felt his hand wrap around the barbed claw, hissing in pain as it pierced his flesh. He continued to roll, finally stopping at the wheel of the wrecked van. Groaning, Percy stumbled to his feet, awkwardly holding the barbed claw in his hand. The Nemean Lion roared and lunged, and Percy ducked down and slid under the mid-air lioness, sinking the claw deep into the lioness' abdomen.
SHLICK!
The claw sliced open the Nemean Lion's underbelly, her intestines collapsing out like a chain of sausages over Percy. Golden ichor spewed from the wound, the stomach hanging out of the lion's open underside. The lion shrieked out in pain, collapsing to the ground in a crumpled heap, skidding across the snowy ground. Ichor poured from the wound, staining the snow.
Percy picked up his fallen sword, and drove it into the lion's exposed, and beating heart, ignoring the cries of pain and spasm as the Nemean Lion slowly died. She then melted into fine, golden sand, leaving behind a golden fur pelt. The sand was scattered by a breeze of wind, and Percy staggered, exhausted. He was never doing that again.
The Champion of Hell collapsed to his knees, wheezing out air as wave after wave of pain shook through his body. His hands had pins and needles from the claw biting deep into them; his chest felt constrained, restricted if not. It was getting harder and harder to breathe.
"Percy!" He barely heard Grover as he ran over, his goat legs caked in snow. Everything went black, the voices slowly fading in and out of existence until... Nothing.
They were extinguished, like a small flame.
The Demon Rites
Percy groggily opened his eyes, unsure of what had happened.
He was unsure of where he was. He was in some barren cave, a mass of boulders was located on the far side, a dark brown haired woman crouched down under them. She looked around her mid-30s, and her sea-green eyes were vibrant, almost like Percy's. A faint chant then started, catching Percy by surprise. He could barely hear it, making out a few words.
"Five... West... Chains..."
Percy looked around, confused. A young blonde boy walked through Percy grinning as he stood over the woman.
"Your son coming to save you, Jackson?" He snarled, glaring at the woman. Percy gasped in surprise.
Was this... Sally? His mother?
"One... Lost... Land with... Rain..."
A young, auburn-haired girl was then thrust out of the shadows, landing on the ground with a grunt. She looked back, her silver eyes glowing with hatred. She tried to cover her exposed flesh from her torn up silver dress, so bright it almost matched her beautiful eyes.
"Arty..." Percy's breath hitched as he looked at the weakened goddess, a pair of bronze cuffs wrapped around her wrists.
"The Beast... Trail..."
The chanting was slowly growing louder, and Percy took a step backwards.
"Campers... Hunters..."
"She'll die, goddess. What will you do?" A deep, thunderous voice mocked from behind, and Artemis shifted over to the weakening Sally.
"Remove these." Artemis demanded, holding her cuffed hands out.
The blonde boy raised his sword and sliced the chain in half, and Artemis instantly took the weight of the black boulders from Percy's mother.
"Titan's curse... One withstand..."
"Mother..." Percy croaked out, just as a voice from behind spoke loudly.
"Make her death slow, Luke."
"And one shall perish by a parent's hand."
"NO!" Percy roared out, and Luke drove his sword into his mother's lower back, going all the way through her stomach.
"No!" Artemis cried out, and Percy burned with rage.
"Boy..." The deep voice from behind Percy spoke dangerously. "I don't like trespassers."
"I'm going to kill you..." Percy snarled, and the deep voice from behind laughed.
"Good luck with that, swine." The voice snarled, before a meaty hand grabbed Percy, and threw him out of the cave, everything once again returning to darkness...
The Demon Rites
Uh... Don't kill me. Pretty please.
Yay.
Okay, so no bull crap excuse as to why I didn't update other than the fact that I'm lazy. Like, REALLY lazy.
And I'm sorry. Good? Good.
I don't have much to say other than I hope you enjoyed the chapter! And until next time!
~ The Prince of Souls