A/N. Reviews!
"well now you got me interested" -Nyx's shade
I'm glad!
"I like this. It's a very cool interpretation of this trope." -Dudedudhehe
Thank you. I've wanted to spice up this trope for a while now and finally decided to bite the bullet.
"Oop ignore my first review
Anyways, I'm impressed that you managed to come up with a fresh guardian concept, still overused and overall bad, but this story looks like an exception, I like it so farm keep it up ip" -Walter
Thank you Walter. I don't really think of the Guardian concept as bad, more just oversaturated by the same shit. But to each their own. I'm glad you think differently of mine lol.
"I agree with Walter. The only Guardian of the Hunt story I've ever liked was Starblade's Everlasting Promises. But this story has been intriguing so far, no Annabeth dumping him, no Chaos. You have my attention now. Keep it up! :)" -RagingFusion
Thanks Fusion! Everlasting Promises sounds familiar, I'm sure I've read it at some point, but I don't remember anything about it, sorry. But yeah, my goal was to make a cliche new and improved. Though, I do have to admit, Chaos will make an appearance. Not as the "Chaos shows up and grants Percy unimaginable power for no reason at all, or making him general of his army or whatever", but he's just gonna show up because of [REDACTED]. Hope you still read despite this!
"I love this story so far!
But, I have a question, I want to start writing stories aswell but I have trouble slowing the plot down so it makes sense, or speeding it up so I'm not staying in the same place forever, what would you suggest? I've seen a lot of your writing and love it, and ofc I wouldn't copy anything bc I have plenty of ideas I'm just not great at expressing them xDDD" -allisonj1008
One, glad you like it!
Two, one thing I always say is outline. Just, on a piece of paper, write down what you want to happen, and any ideas you have, but don't know where to put them. Write those down and try to separate them into chapters as best you can. Like, "hmm, these two things can be a chapter, while this one event can be an entire chapter by itself" you know? Get a feel for the plot.
Three, then when you're actually writing the chapter, try to add detail. Go back and read it. If it seems like it's too fast, try to add a little bit more detail, or more to a conversation. Add some character interaction. (The too slow issue is kind of solved by itself by the outline)
Hope this helps!
"I love it so far! I hope you update soon!" -allisonj1008
Glad you like it. Looks like I'm granting wishes today, because here you go!
"More please" -Guest
Here you go!
Chapter Two
2000 B.C
Artemis was on the hunt. She stalked through the forest, keeping an arrow knocked in her bow. Her footsteps were non-existent as she miraculously avoided every twig and leaf that could alert her prey to her location.
Her prey was the one and only Manticore. The mythical beast was said to be terrorizing a small town, camping out in this forest whenever it wasn't. It was her task to bring the monster down. She was doing it herself, since the Manticore was a formidable foe. Maybe too much for her hunters right now, especially after the death of Niome. Artemis couldn't lose another hunter.
Her eyes scanned the trees. Claw marks were carved deep into each trunk. The large footprints reminded Artemis of a lion. But lions weren't in this region. The Manticore's tracks.
Artemis treaded carefully as she continued. She was in confirmed Manticore territory. While the Manticore's poison couldn't kill her, it would surely be painful as hell. Better to avoid that altogether.
There was a flash of light behind her. She turned around to see her brother, Hermes, standing there. He was tapping his foot impatiently.
"Yes?" Artemis asked.
"Emergency meeting in five." Hermes said, before flashing away, leaving her alone again.
Artemis sighed. Of course they would call a meeting when she was so close to her goal. She slung her bow over her shoulder and flashed out to Olympus.
She reappeared at the home of the Gods, in the middle of the street. Nymphs gawked as she walked by. Artemis ignored them as she walked to the throne room in the center. She started up the steps to the huge room. She grew in size with every step she took. She reached the throne room doors and opened them.
She was the second one there, with Ares already there. She ignored her violent brother as she sat on her throne. She laid her bow across her lap.
It was quiet in the room. That was weird. Usually, Ares would be loud and praising his skills on the battlefield. The fact that he wasn't, something was up. She glanced at him and noticed that he seemed thinner than usual. Less muscular. His skin was pale. He looked downcast.
A flash of light revealed that Athena was now in the room. Her eyes went around the room, observing every detail. Artemis could've sworn she heard the gears turning in her sister's brain. Athena sat down.
Slowly, the gods flashed into the room. One by one, the thrones filled up until there were only two left. Her father's, Zeus, and her twin brother's, Apollo. A flash of lightning signaled the entrance of the former, however, there was no sign of the latter.
Zeus noticed and turned to the messenger God. "Hermes, where is Apollo?"
Hermes shrugged as his hand rapped the armrest of his chair. "He was drinking with Dionysus. And Dio is here, so..." Hermes said, motioning to the God of Wine who was lounging on his throne.
"Dionysus, where is Apollo?" Zeus asked.
"I 'on't know." Dionysus said. "We flashed away at the same time." Dionysus twirled his thyrsus–a pinecone on a stick, plated in gold. "Must've got lost on the way. Didn't think he was that drunk."
His sentence was punctuated with a golden flash in the middle of the throne room. There laid Apollo, sleeping, a glass of wine spilled over himself. Laughs came from almost every God in the room.
Artemis rolled her eyes before covering her mouth with her hand as she joined in the laughter.
Zeus grumbled unintelligently before motioning to Dionysus.
Dionysus stood up and walked over to Apollo. He squatted and placed a hand on Apollo's forehead. He tapped the Sun God's skull and stood up. Apollo's eyes fluttered open. He sat up and rubbed his head. Dionysus offered his hand. Apollo took it.
They took their seats.
"Now that everyone is here, and sober..." Zeus started, throwing a look at Apollo, who looked away. "...We need to talk."
"About what?" Athena asked.
"Ares, would you like to explain?" Zeus asked his son.
Ares nodded shakily. He stood up. "As you might have noticed, I have been missing for the past few years."
"Didn't notice." Apollo said.
"Really? Time flies, huh?" Hermes said.
Artemis was surprised, though she didn't say anything. She never really paid attention to any of the other gods, only going to Athena for advice every couple thousand years. Maybe it wasn't a personal thing against Ares, but she did feel a little bad.
"Well, I have." Ares said, trying not to let it bother him. He kind of failed. "I was captured in a jar."
The room erupted into laughter. Namely Apollo and Hermes. "Oh... my... Gods... You were trapped in a jar!" Apollo said between laughs.
Ares was starting to turn red. "I was captured by a new foe. Gigantes."
Apollo and Hermes stopped laughing. A new foe? This could be serious.
"What is a Gigante?" Athena asked. "I've never heard of them."
Ares' face darkened. "They're spawns of the Earth and Hell, towering at a staggering thirty feet. They have the legs of a dragon, and skin of leather. Each one is made to oppose one of us. They are our opposite in every way. I was captured by Ephialtes and Otis, who oppose you, Dionysus."
Dionysus gripped his Thyrsus tightly as Ares sat down.
"I visited the Oracle of Delphi to see if we have hope against this threat. And we do. These Gigantes can be defeated by a god and a demigod working together."
The throne room was silent. The Gods didn't like the idea of working with demigods. They were Gods for crying out loud! They didn't need mortals to help them!
"Which is why I've been in contact with my daughters, the Fates. I have asked them to create special demigods for us to use as tools against this new threat. I hereby instate The Guardian Act."
LINE BREAK
Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos were putting the finishing touch on the last of the guardians. Artemis's guardian. His thread was being intertwined to his charge's thread, just like all of the rest.
Lachesis grabbed some more thread from her side and started to intertwine the three threads.
"Lachesis, why are you using red thread with Artemis' guardian?" Clotho asked.
Lachesis looked down. "Shit."
"Artemis can't have a lover! Her vow!" Atropos said.
"It's too late now!"
Atropos drew her scissors and cut the thread right then and there. They stared at the life thread.
"Poor Perseus." Commented Clotho.
"Tragic." Said Lachesis.
"More life than the rest." Atropos ended.
"Well, that's the last one. Let's send them out." Clotho said, turning to the clay figures sitting on the table in the candlelight.
Clotho breathed life into the figures.
Lachesis stepped up. "Rise Guardians. Form a line."
The guardians made a line. Lachesis said something to the first one. It repeated what it said, before disappearing in a bright light. The process repeated until the last one, Perseus.
Perseus approached Lachesis. She smiled at him. "Hello, Perseus."
"Hello." He said formally.
"Are you ready?"
"For what?"
"Your purpose."
Perseus stood up straighter. "Yes."
Lachesis smiled wider. "Repeat after me." At Perseus's nod, she continued. "I swear to protect the Goddess Artemis."
"I swear to protect the Goddess Artemis."
"For she is my charge, she is my duty."
"For she is my charge, she is my duty."
"Her life is my own."
"Her life is my own."
"My loyalty is to her above all else."
"My loyalty is to her above all else."
"This I swear."
"This I swear." As Perseus finished the vow, a silver light engulfed him. He closed his eyes. As he felt himself fading away, he heard the words, "Chaos be with you, Perseus." softly. Like a prayer over him.
He kept his eyes closed until the silver light faded. He heard the tweets of birds and the rustling of wind. He opened his eyes to see the blue sky peeking through the green leaves of trees. The ground below him was soft. He sat up and looked around. He was in the middle of a forest.
He looked down at himself. He was wearing a black leather tunic, with pants made of the same black leather.
He stood up. He looked around again. He glanced up and determined that it was around five in the evening. Which meant the sun was in the west.
Perseus had a strong desire to go north. A really strong desire. Almost like a need.
He set off in that direction.
A/N. Flashback chapter. I'm gonna alternate between past and present, showing the two sides side by side. The past might finish before the present does, in which case, I'll just then continue the present chapter by chapter.
Anyways, I forgot to mention something in the last chapter and I actually feel really bad about it, but the past is the past. I have a beta for this story. Everyone, welcome back Zaeng_! You might remember her from betaing The Sea's Storm last year (Which is one of my personal favorite stories of mine, go check it out), but yeah, she's back to lend her help. So give her a big round of applause.
Thoughts?