Hey hey! I'm back with a new chapter. Woo! Thank you guys again for all the support and, as always, don't forget to read and review! Enjoy! ~ DSA
Diclaimer: PJO and HOO belong to Rick Riordan. I own nothing!
A Connection of Emotions
"You drool in your sleep."
As soon as the words tumbled out of the auburn-haired girl's mouth, she turned bright red and began fumbling for something to remedy the situation. Her brother snickered silently behind her, doing nothing to aid his blushing sibling.
"Do not worry, Artemis. I take no offense; although, it is nice to know for future reference," Perseus nodded sagely as he rose to his feet for the first time in half a millennium.
Once he deemed himself well enough balanced, Perseus briskly dusted off his clothing and looked up, only to find Artemis backpedaling furiously, face a mask of suspicion.
"What? What is it? Do I have something in my teeth?" Perseus asked, gesturing to his blindingly white teeth as he glanced questioningly to the wary twins.
The Twin Archers remained stoic and ignored the failed attempt at humor. "How do you know my name?" Artemis inquired, senses on high alert, her hunting instinct preparing her to flee or fight at the drop of a drachma.
"The Fates told me," Perseus stated simply after much deliberation; the slightest misstep in phrasing could spell disaster if he wished to ever speak to these godlings again. And since the twins offered his first direct interaction with other sentient beings in 500 years, Perseus desperately hoped to not skew the younger gods' opinions of him. Yet, those blessed Fates seemed unwilling to make the task easy, based on the following response.
"You are lying," Apollo interjected, brows furrowed in concentration as he analyzed Perseus' words critically.
"Am I?" the other god paled before jerking an eyebrow challengingly, "Either you need to rephrase, or your powers require some fine-tuning, Apollo."
Apollo scowled and clenched his fists, "You are only speaking partial truth. Tells us the whole story and answer our questions. I will know if you dare speak falsehoods."
"Hmm," Perseus mumbled noncommittally and leaned casually on a nearby tree, "Would you believe me if I told you?"
Artemis growled in frustration, her curiosity increasing overwhelmingly, "Just tell us! Selene will have finished her duties at this rate!"
"Yes, I do believe so. All right, children, pay close attention."
"We're not that much younger than you!" Apollo snapped.
"You have no idea how much older I really am, despite my appearance now. The tree form slows physical aging, but I will explain in a minute," Perseus said.
Apollo scoffed, "How old could you really be?" Artemis nodded stoically from beside him.
"500 years old, give or take," the oldest god drawled nonchalantly; he took much pleasure in the gaping expressions adorning the younger deities' faces, "I am the eldest god! Older than even your father, Zeus!"
The Twin Archers were speechless. Perseus gazed smugly at the siblings and continued, "I am Perseus, Son of Ouranos, born from his heart as the goddess Aphrodite appeared from his genitals. I made a… mistake all those centuries ago, and my powers sealed me in a tree form. While I was drifting in my subconscious, I could still hear all that occurred, and the Fates kept me up-to-date until it was time for my awakening. I witnessed your births. I was present for all of your adventures, from your youth to this very day, protecting you and aiding you. You could say I was your best imaginary friend. And I must admit, you two provided quite the entertainment."
"So you were spying on us from the day we were born!" Artemis shrieked, highly unsettled by that revelation.
"Yes, but not by choice. The Fates forced me to absorb all information of the earth, so I essentially spied on everybody. Besides who caught you when you fell out of that tree, Artemis?" Perseus winked, watching the goddess' ears redden, "And who dragged you, Apollo, from the surf when you ventured too far out to sea? You see, I was here, but I was your guardian. My power extended across the island, so I could intervene in any way I saw fit."
Artemis nodded and looked down, face flushing a deeper shade of red for some unknown reason. "Why did you awaken?" she mumbled.
"Because the Fates declared that it was time," Perseus responded simply, "They said it was time for me to achieve my goal."
"And that would be?" Apollo prodded.
"Mine is a journey for self-discovery. What might be yours, godling?"
Apollo's expression darkened, and the atmosphere noticeably condensed. Perseus began feeling power rush into him, similar to that from long ago, yet darker and more erratic. And it terrified him.
"My aim… my aim is to kill Python," the younger god whispered, his voice a mask deadly calm. Perseus felt the tension slowly building, the dark energy pouring into him in increasing amounts. The eldest god finally identified the source: hatred.
"S-Stop…" Perseus pleaded, staggering backward as his irises began to turn red, "please."
"Correction, my true goal is to destroy him!" Apollo continued obliviously, his anger lashing out, much like the serpent he was hell-bent on sending to Hades' realm. The intense hatred crashed down onto Perseus, making his newly awakened powers fluctuate unstably as it struggled to contain the flood of new power being introduced so brutally.
"He was the one who plagued Mother! He forced her from the world!" Perseus sank to one knee, clutching his head in pain. Artemis began to run over to help, but Perseus stopped her in her tracks with a wave of his hand. His godly power was overflowing its bounds, and the only way to compensate was to let it out again. Perseus had subconsciously redirected his powers to Artemis, trapping her under the force of the hatred. Thus, they shared the load, which was continuously growing as Apollo ranted, the young god's passion on the subject only fueling the hatred with which it was associated.
"Apollo… Shut up," Artemis ground out as she was forced to all fours alongside Perseus.
But Apollo clamored on, blind and deaf to everything around him. His senses dulled by the hatred consuming his heart.
The decision was Perseus' now. He knew Apollo was too far gone as the emotions he had bottled up for years came spilling forth, and Artemis would soon break under the force of her brother's hatred.
Mustering up the courage, Perseus somehow contained the outpour of energy to Artemis, redirecting the flow back into himself and freeing the goddess from her burden. As he did so, the pain and pressure doubled. He began seeing dark spots, and the sensation of suffocation descended over his body. Perseus lifted his blood-red eyes to meet Artemis' silver ones and, with the last of his breath, gasped, "Erect a shield!" before everything exploded.
As the smoke cleared, Perseus slowly clambered to his feet, looking around, expecting to see the landscape once again barren. Fortunately, it seems that Artemis had managed to raise a rather resistant dome around Perseus, isolating most of the explosion, but the power was obviously too much to handle for a young goddess such as herself. A trickle of power had escaped the shield, creating a shockwave that had knocked the exhausted godlings unconscious and incinerated some of the surrounding shrubbery.
Perseus slowly examined his work, the sense of guilt and self-loathing rising in his chest once more. He must escape; he could not risk another incident such as this. As he turned away from the wreckage, a splash of auburn and blond crossed his vision. His eyes slowly focused on the two godlings collapsed on the ground, as he pondered his next move. He could leave them there and have their mother worry through the night, or he could take them home and risk discovery. Deciding on the second course of action, Perseus bore the archer twins from the ground, draped an arm from each around one of his shoulders, and towed the dead weights through the woods in the direction of their humble little hut.
As the twins' home came into view, Perseus quickly disguised himself as a giant eagle and flew the godlings to their door. The tense face of Leto appeared through the window, and she looked on in relief and amazement as the large bird dropped her unconscious children off gently. She rapidly bustled out to check on her children's wellbeing as the mysterious eagle soared through the far-reaching heavens, away from his home and his only friends in this cruel, harsh world.