Productivity! Whoo! The story is progressing pretty much the same way as the previous one, but with some new stuff added in. Honestly, I feel a lot better reading this version. Makes Kaneki slightly less OP and not so much of a grim reaper. Anyway, I'm going to finally reboot my other story! That'll come out tomorrow(hopefully). Time to see if I can juggle the storylines of four stories all at once. Anyway, let's begin.
Zoe Nightshade at Kaneki Ken, a silent question hanging in the air as she took in the spectacle she had found him in. Her idiot of a friend was standing over her goddess, fist cocked back in a punch. He had been about to bring it down when she coughed loudly, attracting his attention. Noting that he had been in a battle ready postion(not hard to see, considering his body tensed up like he was expecting a hit), she relaxed as he gradually unwound and calmed down, the slate grey of his eyes as unsettling as ever. She folded her arms over her chest and gave him an expecting look. An awkward silence filled the air for a couple of seconds before he dropped the fist with a sigh and stepped away from the broken body of her goddess(and she fought the guilt that threatened to surface), refusing to meet her eyes. She quickly moved forward to check on her, a scowl quickly forming on her face as she watched Artemis stare back at her blearily, golden blood dripping from her face. She whipped her head back just in time to see Kaneki attempt to sneak off, briefcase in hand. He dropped it(and she ignored the small crater it formed upon impact) and raised his hands in surrender, but didn't move.
"Is this why you told me to go check on the other Hunters?" Kaneki shuffled his feet, the cold-hearted killing machine vanishing, replaced by a man with eyes that betrayed his true age as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
"You didn't exactly cut Artemis-san that much, so I thought that I would get her out of the picture before she decided to invoke holy wrath on us. Was not expecting her to agree to fight me, so I had to do a few things that I would have regretted if she was the one that had won." Zoe resisted a groan, cursory check of her lady completed(she didn't exactly have the power to heal, so she would just have to hope Artemis' godly blood was enough) and ran a hand down her face in exasperation before freezing and shooting him a glare that promised pain.
"What. Did. You. Do." it wasn't even a question. She knew that the numbskull had definitely done something stupid. It was just in his (very mortal, all things considered)blood. She briefly wondered why she hadn't put an arrow through his skull the first time they met, before remembering what conditions they had met under and resolved to shoot one at him when they were out of danger, even if it wouldn't hurt him for long. He gave her an apologetic smile that only made her glare intensify. He shifted uncomfortably under the force of it before cracking and muttering something that her enhanced senses could barely pick up.
"Are you going to repeat that loud enough for me to hear, or do I need to go get our mutual friend to give you another day long lecture?" she emphasized the "mutual friend" portion, knowing that Artemis was still conscious, a miracle considering she almost had her nose driven back into her brain(and from the looks of it, had been hit by a tree) and not wanting to ruin the secrecy that had already begun to unravel ever since Kaneki had decided that fighting the gods for his friend was a good idea(although she was pleased to see that he hadn't changed, even after what he had been through), although it was only a matter of time before the web that he had so painstakenly spun was finally noticed. However, a little more time and the web would have served its purpose well enough. A shame really, considering how much time and effort had been put into it. Kaneki flinched and gasped dramatically, waving his hands and muttering something along the lines of "anything but that".
"I may have offered my sword and my life and whenshedidn'tbelievemeIsworeontheRiverStyx?" he started off hesitantly and ended his answer like it was a question, practically tripping over his words near the end. Pausing to absorb the information, her hands twitched for the bow on her back and Kaneki immediately scrambled up into the nearest tree that he hadn't destroyed yet, disappearing into the foilage. Not surprised, she still drew her bow and fired the arrow she most commonly used when he was being an unbelievably stupid fellow. Just before it reached the tree he was hiding in, it exploded into a net, complete with weights to prevent the target from shrugging it off. Making a sound that would have made more sense coming from an animal than from a human, the white-haired male fell out of the tree, wrapped in the steel fibers and landed face first. She repressed a chuckle and looked back to check on her goddess again, noting with some relief that her eyes had regained their focus, zeroing in on the things going on while she lay propped up against a tree. Judging from the trembling of one of her hands, Artemis wasn't exactly mobile yet. She emitted a long, drawn-out sigh as Kaneki managed to wriggle his way out of the net and quickly reappeared next to her, staring into her goddess' eyes. Zoe swatted him across the head for freaking Artemis out(drawing a whine), brushing her clothes as she stood up. Unsurprisingly, her friend shadowed her, the expression on his face a mixture of a smile and a grimace as lightning flashed and thunder roared.
"Should we leave her here? Good old King of the Massive Ego might locate us soon and I do not want to experience getting struck by lightning again. It was not fun the first time, or the subsequent four other times and I am not looking forward to the next time I get struck by lightning." she rolled her eyes aat the complaint, but didn't protest. Kaneki had a knack for getting electrocuted, whether intentional or otherwise. Hesitantly, she shook her head.
"The Hunt may have been subdued, but milady only brought the best of them. As much as I hate to do it, we should bring her along so that Olympus cannot send them after us again. Plus, she would be useful as a," she struggled to spit the words that tasted like ash on her tongue, "bargaining chip, in case something bad happens." Kaneki gave her a sympathetic smile, patting her twice on the shoulder before lifting the goddess up in a bridal carry. At the equally judging looks on the two females' faces, he defended himself.
"This way, if she does recover on the way back, I won't get stabbed in the spinal column."
"And you always wanted to cross 'carrying a goddess in a bridal carry' off your bucket list."
"That too." he dodged the hand heading for his face with a laugh, then yelped when the goddess in his arms managed to raise one of hers long enough to give him a slap, eyes burning with fury. He chuckled at the look before starting to sprint, quickly followed by Zoe, who watched their rear despite the fact that there was no one to come after them. Soon enough, the trio melted into the shadows, the only traces of them having been there was the various groups of groaning Hunters tied up, the destroyed section of the forest and a briefcase sitting innocently in the grass, one that slowly became see-through and vanished just like it's owner had done a couple of minutes ago.
Artemis would deny the claim that she, of all people, had shrieked when Kaneki Ken began to melt and blend into the shadows. Much to her horror, she herself was also doing the same, with Zoe clinging on to his sleeve, seemingly unfazed that her body was turning to liquid. After the rather uncomfortable sensation of turning to liquid, she fell into the darkness. Suddenly, all she could see and hear was nothing. Darkness met her gaze. The silence was deafening to her ears. When she tried to talk, to do anything to stop the gods-forsaken torture that was sensory deprivation, nothing escaped her mouth. She screamed for what was almost an eternity, yet at the same time a mere fraction of a moment, before the shadows that had so happily swallowed her spat her back out again. Her limbs were dead weight and her brain was still reeling from the multiple blows her opponent had dealt to it, so she chose the smart thing to do and rested her head on the cool ground while taking in the surroundings.
She had been deposited in a clearing not so different from the one she had fought(and lost) in against Kaneki Ken earlier. It was quiet, except for the gentle babbling of a stream nearby and the rustle of the leaves of the trees around them as the wind blew through the air. She wondered why she had been brought here, before remembering with an unpleasant feeling in her gut that Zoe had convinced her partner in crime to drag her goddess here, unconcerned about the possible repercussions and even daring to suggest the usage of Artemis as a bargaining chip against Olympus. Despite everything that Zoe had said and done, how she had fought alongside her for as long as she could remember, the goddess could feel her faith in her once beloved Lieutenant begin to waver. After all, she thought with more than a slight tinge of bitterness, if their bond could be so easily discarded to aid a male, of all people, it wasn't much of a bond at all. It was because of the multitude of thoughts like that running through her head that caused her to jerk away when Zoe attempted to touch her and feeling particularly vindicative, she rolled onto her side and ignored the quiet apologies coming from her once trusted friend. A few moments of silence passed before Zoe sighed and got up, padding over to where Kaneki was sitting and taking a seat beside him. The duo exchanged words too quietly for her to hear, even with her enhanced senses and Artemis suppressed a growl when the male draped an arm over Zoe's shoulders and pulled her into a semi-embrace. Much to her continued surprise, her Lieutenant did not displyay a single fraction of the hatred she held for the opposite gender, instead choosing to laugh and lean into the hug. She pushed down the unpleasant feelings brewing in her chest and bid her time. It was very likely that she would need to escape, if not to kill the insolent male that had managed to brainwash her beloved Hunter, then to warn Olympus and convince her father to just rain down lightning on this cursed mortal, divine rules be damned. Artemis felt her strength coming back, coursing through her veins and giving her the energy to be able to slowly summon a hunting knife, concealed by the way her body was positioned and a hand. When Kaneki had untangled himself from Zoe and walked over to her with the intention of checking her injuries, Artemis sprang to her feet and drove the dagger into his midsection, dragging it with almost sadistic glee lengthwise and watching his guts spill onto the floor. Ignoring the sudden exclamation of suprise and how her former Lieutenant had turned around, not getting up despite the commotion, she stabbed him again and again and again, until her target began to resemble swiss cheese. Standing up in satisfaction and wiping the blood off her face, she turned to interrogate her Hunter before Kaneki sat up with a groan. As she watched, the gouges and tears in his flesh stitched themselves back together. Soon enough, any trace of the damage she had so quickly done to him was absent and the only sign that it had ever happened was the annoyed look her captor gave her as he got to his feet.
"Well that was rude." she weighed the pros and cons of leaping at him again before deciding it didn't matter if she got to teach the irritating boy his place and pounced. Unfortunately, the same red strings that had served as a trap and alerted their master to the goddess in the first place shot up in vertical lines from the ground, forming a wall that enveloped and began to bind her. She winced as they cut into her skin, confused at how they seemed to pulse in time with Kaneki's heartbeat. Struggling only served to make her bindings tighter, so she heaved a sigh of resignation and dropped the bloody knife, which was gingerly picked up and tossed to one side. She then got to experience the uncomfortable feeling of someone tapping her in the forehead.
"You know, for a goddess, you aren't exactly bright. And you're supposed to be one of the better ones Artemis-san." he gasped in mock horror, with an expression so fake that it was more obvious than whether certain women had gotten plastic surgury. Growling again, she wished that she could just reach out slightly, just an inch, just to bite his nose off and see if he could still smile after that.
"Untie me and I'll show you how bright I am when I ram my foot up your…" the rest of the sentence was cut off when the last of the red strings formed a makeshift gag to stop her from speaking. She fought the urge not to throw up, for they tasted like blood and disease-riddeen food items. Crying out sligtly when the strings seemed to tighten around her even further, she resumed her struggles, refusing to meet Zoe's eyes(hard, considering how her eyes were darting back and forth like she had been watching a particularly interesting match of table tennis). Kaneki gently rapped on her skull and she added another reason to the "book of why she should kill the mortal" that she had generated in her head ever since he had gone from mysterious to plain annoying. What made him grate on her nerves even more was how powerful he was, so much impossible strength and speed and regeneration hidden inside the fragile body of a human.
"Now now, let's not be hasty. There was a reason for me bringing you here after all. Well, many reasons. But the ghist of it is that I want you to form an alliance with us." Kaneki gestured first to Zoe, than to the surroundings for some reason and finally to himself. She snorted dismissively, drawing a disappointed frown from the man in front of her.
"Even if I wanted to, why would I form an alliance with you, of all people? You're dangerous, a threat to the peace that we gods and goddesses have managed to keep ever since World War II. You broke every rule in the book, and then some. Anyone who's associated with you will be lucky to escape the fallout that's going to happen the moment you slip up and get captured. That drew a chuckle out of the man she was conversing with.
"Fair points, good points even. But isn't this more fun? For once, you 'higher beings' aren't the ones in control. I am. And maybe someday I will get caught. But that day is not today and the person who finally captures me will not be you. I've been running my whole life. What's a couple more years. As for why I wanted an alliance," he paused, exchanging glances with Zoe(who had been oddly silent throughout the exchange) before continuing, "is because something big is coming. A series of unfortunate events. And despite the fact that I shouldn't have, I interfered. That was more than enough to upset the chain. Now we just have to pray that the effects of my meddling aren't going to be too strong. I need help. I can't just solve every problem with a punch or a weapon. I need allies and you seem like an excellent one." at the look of confusion on Artemis' face, he laughed again(she scowled. Did he ever stop laughing?). Snapping his fingers, the strings receded till they were just bindings around her wrists and ankles. She glared at him challengingly, daring him to try to do anything to her. Zoe had finally got up, walking over with concern in her eyes. Kaneki waved a hand at her and she relaxed. He sat down in front of her, pulling a thermos and opening it to take a small sip before offering it to first Zoe, then her. Her former Lieutenant quickly snatched the bottle from him and took several long gulps, before handing it to her with an explanation.
"It's coffee. Kaneki makes the best coffee. I believe people have died trying to get the recipe out of him." she sniffed the thermos suspiciously before sipping the liquid, having sensed nothing wrong with it. Her taste buds burst with flavour and she proceeded to take an even longer drink from the canteen before Kaneki snatched it from her hands, disgruntled and muttering something about how people love stealing his coffee from him. She rolled her eyes at the statement as he capped the thermos and placed it beside him.
"I'm not sure how to convince you, but the easiest way to convince someone to be allies with you is to get to know them. I know plenty about you...so I guess it's fair that you start learning about me."
And that's a wrap. Sorry about the (kind of)cliffhanger. My hands hurt from how much typing I've been doing today, cause I had a group project earlier that I basically had to solo carry. Wasn't fun. Anyway, see you all tomorrow. Bye.