Hi.
Well *ahem*, how many months has it been since I've updated?
A few.. would be the hesitant answer. A lot would be the truthful one. Deepest, most sincere apologies for the delay... and I guess a due consequence for such a belated chapter would be to have no readers left ... but if you are reading this, which you must be- I am sorry.
Future chapters will be posted every couple of weeks.
That was the good news (that and the fact I will be revising this story once I get round to it because frankly, I wrote this a few months back and my writing has developed since then.)
The bad news? I had to shorten the story..a lot. Whole chunks were removed... big chunks. Including Character developement and the like. But, the revision this story is crying out for will include these sections...
Anyway, my author notes are going on for far too long so ..
Enjoy :)
Chapter Five: Preparations and Consequences
Olympus had been transformed into a fortress, its great walls rose indestructible and foreboding among the comparatively miniscule structures which surrounded it. Ares had been supervising the construction which had been masterminded by Athena, and he had to admit it was of a genius design.
"They cannot win." He muttered, smiling triumphantly.
However he recalled Athena's statement when he had first been shown the plan, "If they manage to penetrate the inner walls we will not stand a chance."
Indeed even now he scrutinized the inner wall, the final defence against the Titans before they reached the citadel. It was much larger than the others and, if possible, more menacing. It looked impenetrable; over 300ft of solid adamantine- the only material which even the Titans would have trouble breaking through. Enchanted black flames lined the wall, these flames were known to incinerate everything they touched, excluding of course the adamant itself.
Automatons stood in rows along the front of the inner wall. Their bronze carapaces sparkling in the rays of the sun. He had been assured that the glitch the old batch had was fixed, and these would not spontaneously combust in the middle of the battle. Ares strode over to the foot of an armoured Greek hoplite automaton, and ran his hand along the metal coating.
Hephaestus has done a good job
Ares grudgingly complimented the work of the blacksmith, even he was impressed with the workmanship involved. Glancing around at the efforts it was clear that for the moment at least his supervision was not required and his thoughts focused on Athena.
Where was she?
The god listened for Athena's presence, and found it in a place he was completely unfamiliar with. Nevertheless he focused on the goddess' energy as his destination and closed his eyes.
When he opened his eyes, his theory was confirmed- he had never been in this particular room before.
I never knew we had a library
Sure enough Ares was standing in a huge space filled with enormous bookcases piled high with scrolls and well, books. Leather bound tomes thicker than his muscled arm were stacked in haphazard piles around the room; many were sprawled open at dog-eared pages. These pages displayed ancient drawings of long forgotten civilisations, blueprints of now ruined structures and to Ares' interest, depictions of the Titans on weathered and scorched pieces of parchment.
Ares noticed Athena at the farthest end of the vast library near the base of a marble statue dedicated to the goddess. Athena was hunched over an archaic volume entitled, "The ages of the Titanomachy" .She was scanning the pages of the book with inhuman speed, her eyes flickered from one side to the other in a matter of seconds.
The war god approached, weaving his way past the towers of ancient literature and knowledge. His sword brushed one such unstable stack and it fell, causing a domino effect which left Ares standing in the middle of the carnage. He grimaced, waving his hand in the direction of the disarray and the towers reformed.
"Hello Ares." Athena said, her eyes still scanning the book.
Ares muttered a greeting, his attention mostly focused on the room around him.
Athena smiled at Ares, "You haven't been in here before, have you?"
Ares grunted, "I have never felt the need to look in books." The god lifted the cover of a nearby manuscript, looked at the title and scowled, "Why are you wasting your time looking in them anyway? I thought you were the goddess of wisdom; you should know all this stuff already."
"There are some pieces of information that cannot be learned from merely observing and listening, information that for many has been forgotten for generations. That is the reason I'm looking at these books. They contain knowledge which would be incredibly useful in the imminent war."
"Such as…."
"Something which, no doubt even you would be interested in." Athena turned the book she was reading so Ares could see the picture engraved in it.
"According to father the Titans are as hard to kill as we are. Like us they personify their individual domains, but it is not the only thing they rely on…" she pointed to the roughly sketched diagram on the ripped script. "It's a power source, their equivalent of a soul. It can be damaged by a physical assault, thereby draining their reserves of energy to a critical leve-"
"So basically we have to keep hitting them…"
"Well if you want to be laconic…." She trailed off at the expression on Ares' face, "Yes, we have to keep hitting them."
She continued, in a marvelled tone, "It's the only reason Father was able to enchain them in Tartarus, ingenious really- the chains that they were bound with used their own brute strength and power to keep them imprisoned. However, it's also the reason why us, I mean the Olympians cannot be simply bound in chains, our bodies are made of pure essence, literally raw power. We could teleport out of the chains if we want to. Or the chains would drain a large proportion of our power before we had a chance to escape, because we rely completely on that one source of energy. Then again…" Athena continued muttering to herself.
Ares listened for a couple of moments, but his tolerance was considerably shorter than normal, and simply her vocabulary had started to expand to a point where he could only understand the 'ands', "Athena, please back to the point at hand."
Athena's head snapped up, "It's unlike me to digress like that-"
"You're worried, it's only natural." Ares shrugged, "We've got a chance of winning this."
"Trust you to be optimistic about a battle between two immortal, omnipotent forces."
"It's a battle, and if there is one thing I know, it's how to win battles. I've won countless battles which had seemed un-winnable."
"So I being Goddess of battle strategy am irrelevant, as well as how many times I have beaten you in battle." Athena said dryly, and quirked an eyebrow.
Ares answered irritably, "You could be useful."
Athena laughed, "I'd thought you would say something like that."
There were several minutes of silence as each pondered the fate of the other and how this moment could be the last relatively hopeful and positive one they have. Ares shuffled nervously, it was an odd action for the fearless god to make and it immediately caught the goddess' attention.
Athena watched as Ares cleared his throat, "Athena, have- you thought about the order in which we are going- to die?"
" I have." She had expected several of the gods to ask her this question, it was a topic that none of them had ever imagined would be discussed, and understandably it would be something of curiosity and dread for them to even conceive.
"When do I – die?" His fiery red eyes pierced into Athena's grey ones. In them she saw only the infant who had experienced suffering from an early age and every emotion he had ever repressed- for he was a god of war and could not display weakness. Anguish, torture, pain and death, mostly death. This man who was portrayed as cruel and heartless, a man who never displayed his true emotions was now showing every single one to Athena in a dizzying and frankly disturbing array of sensations. This god had only ever reaped death, he had never contemplated his own demise and it was terrifying him.
She dropped her gaze and stared at the torn map in front of her, forcing herself to fill her mind with mathematical calculations and ancient knowledge, trying to purge the emotions which she had observed in the gods eyes.
Conscious that Ares was waiting to an answer to his question she forced herself to look up into the god's eyes, "I cannot be certain. I can only ascertain the Titan's obvious attack. Or rather what I would do in their position."
"What would you do?"
Athena thought about her answer, an infinite amount of tactics and strategies raced through her mind, What would I do?
Her search stopped as she saw the strategy which would guarantee a Titan victory with the current Olympian fortifications, she spoke in almost monotone, "I would focus my forces to distract the more hostile of the Olympians, those most willing to fight as well as those more experienced in battle. You Ares, myself, Apollo and Artemis have all been trained for intense combat. The elders would have to be severely weakened for a direct attack to be even remotely successful. Demeter and Persephone would not be willing to fight unless their hands were forced but they would act to defend themselves. So I would eliminate the mortal cities, the act would force others to enter the battle. I would then attack Olympus, lead by a Titan and a small band of resistance. Of course this would be yet another distraction, My main forces would focus on the sun itself. With that gone, a chain of cataclysmic events will take place." Athena's mind visualised the literally earth-shattering results of the sun being destroyed, she shook her head and continued, "As I mentioned in the council, the destruction of the sun will be the catalyst to the end of the world..when it gets destroyed all of us will be weakened trying to maintain orbit. Giving the Titans the perfect opportunity to focus on Olympus with their full might behind them. Life will start to perish on the earth, and the gods will die."
Ares sat down on the edge of a chair, "So you think the Titans will attack the sun? Which means Apollo… What about Artemis?" he paused briefly then continued, "Demeter and Persephone-"
"Please Ares, don't." she cautioned.
"So it's going to happen isn't it. I mean I wasn't there in the first war but you and Zeus seems to think we are all going to die." He slammed his fist into the table, "Well I'm not going to give up without a fight!" Ares bellowed, pulling himself up to his feet.
"I wouldn't expect anything less from you Ares." She muttered softly, her voice again devoid of emotion, "I also expect others will feel the same as you do."
"And you are not one of those people."
She murmured her answer, her head lowered, "It's possible…."
"If we can't count on you or Zeus, who can we count on?" he demanded, his aura brightened and expanded slightly so it appeared he was engulfed in flames.
"We can count on each other-in the end." Athena whispered.
Ares turned away, it was the not the answer he had been hoping to hear. They were doomed then. Not even Athena-she who always knew the path to victory- believed it was possible. Their path was bathed in darkness, for only death awaited them now.
He teleported in a blaze of fire, and Athena was left alone to ponder the fate of her family.
The goddess looked down at the rough plan and sighed; it was not going to be enough.
...
"Why does it have to be dark?" Apollo muttered, his bow drawn.
"We are facing the apocalypse and you're worrying why it's dark?" Artemis mocked, amused by her brother's complaints.
The two Gods had been pursuing monsters since the close of the council; Artemis had been using her hunting abilities to gradually track the legions of fiends which had escaped their torment. So far they had intercepted -and utterly destroyed- only a fraction of the escapees. Artemis was accustomed to spending many a month in the forest, but of course Apollo had only become more and more agitated as the journey wore on.
"Are you sure you can feel monsters here?"
"I'm sure Apollo, if you weren't completely focused on the absence of light you would feel them too."
The questions had been a constant feature for the last couple of hours, and Artemis' patience could only hold out for so long.
Artemis stopped, raising her face to the wind. She shook her head with a troubled expression and continued on with their brisk pace.
"What is it?"
"My tracking abilities are not as effective as they should be…their presence is being hidden."
"Perfect." The conversation stopped for a precious few seconds, but then; "Why would they join the Titans-"
Artemis interrupted, giving her brother one of her signature glares, "It was because of us they were in Tartarus to begin with Apollo! The Titans obviously befriended them."
The goddess paused, recognising her brothers endless questions were due to anxiety. Apollo was worried, not to the degree he was during the council, indeed he almost seemed to accept their fate. And now he was savouring every moment left.
Artemis lowered her bow and gestured for Apollo to do the same.
"Why?" Apollo whispered
"Because the monsters are slightly closer than we think."
There was a snap of a twig to Apollo's left. "How close?"
Artemis unsheathed her silver sword, "Very."
All of a sudden a massive creature barrelled through the undergrowth, its horned head lowered towards the huntress. Stabbing her blade into the ground beside her, Artemis ran to intercept the beast. She launched herself between the trees, jumping from bough to bough. As the monster passed underneath Artemis, she dropped and landed onto its neck. With a swift yet brutal movement she thrust her hand into the creatures spine, grabbing it in her fist. She twisted her wrist causing the bones to disintegrate and then leapt off as the creature fell to the ground. Apollo looked at his sister with awe and revulsion as she wiped the crimson blood from her hand.
"Show off." Apollo smiled.
In response, Artemis quirked up an eyebrow and pointed to just above Apollo's left shoulder.
"What?..." Apollo wheeled round into the face of what can only be described as a giant lizard.
"Oh."
The lizard swiped at him and Apollo hastily side stepped – missing him by millimetres. Out of the corner of his eye the sun god saw Artemis lean against the trunk of a nearby tree, her arms crossed.
Guess it's just me then
Apollo noticed Artemis smile slightly and then incline her head.
Did she just ….
She nodded again, pointing at the lizard who was rushing towards the god.
Apollo raised his hand, focusing his innate heat into the limb. When the appendage was illuminated with golden light he forced the energy out towards the creature- a ray of such power and intensity that anything it touched was reduced to little more than dust, this included the lizard. When he was sure the creature was destroyed entirely, he ceased his attack.
"Oh and I was showing off."
Apollo indicated behind him, where a very distinct path of destruction had been caused, "That was nothing."
The ground trembled and Artemis span round towards the north, "It's not finished."
Sure enough, a very large gathering of monsters emerged from the shadows. Some were colossal-their footfalls shook the ground with each laboured step, a select few were smaller than the twins- their movements quick and restless.
Artemis retrieved her sword whilst Apollo made his appear in his hand. With a bow of her head to her brother, Artemis charged towards the monsters, her form irradiated with silver light. Apollo followed, his body engulfed in golden flames.
For a brief few seconds the monsters seemed to withdraw from the two gods with a collective expression of terror. But it quickly passed, their expressions returning to fierce determination and ferocity, as they stampeded with renewed vitality.
When the monsters were within firing range, Apollo skidded to a halt -his fists clenched at his side. The air shimmered as a wave of heat descended on the land. The sun god knelt down, the ground around him had started to blacken and die. The black circle slowly spread further across the forest as Apollo concentrated his heat.
Artemis had already engaged the enemy; oblivious to her brother's efforts. She slashed out with her blade, slicing through the chest of a giant as easily as a knife through butter. It slumped over and Artemis kicked out, sending the creature flying backwards. The goddess continued, leaping onto the bough of a tree and grabbing onto a nearby branch, she swung round and flipped onto it- her silver bow at the ready. Ignoring the quiver on her back, she formed 3 arrows in the palm of her hand and placed them in the bow. She effortlessly pulled back the bowstring, and after charging the arrows with her power, she let go. Artemis watched with grim satisfaction as the arrows sliced through several Cyclopes.
She unleashed volley after volley of silver arrows. The charged projectiles pierced with unnatural accuracy and wave after wave of enemies were obliterated from the huntress' hand.
The goddess killed many, yet they continued to arrive in their hundreds- clambering over their fallen comrades. Artemis was so preoccupied with her assault she did not realise that Apollo had been forming an attack of his own.
"Artemis!"
The goddess turned to her brother where she raised her eyebrows in surprise.
The sun god had steadily increased the temperature of the air around him until it was almost unbearable. He stood with his arms raised at his sides, behind which was a vast wall of fire. Roaring flames licked at the seared foliage around it as the wall expanded, burning everything in its way.
When it was evident the inferno could not be held back any longer, Apollo swung his arms in front of his chest . The fire raged past him in a column straight towards Artemis and the mass of monsters. Artemis managed to leap out of the way, but the monsters weren't so lucky and they were utterly incinerated.
Apollo strode up to Artemis, "That's how you fight monsters." He sighed, nudging the singed leg of a giant with his foot, "Well, at least they won't be bothering us again."
"I wouldn't be so confident about that Apollo."
Unbelievably the charred remains of the monsters had begun to reform. The eviscerated torsos and the shattered limbs were piecing themselves back together, a gruesome jigsaw of sorts as they rolled themselves into position.
"You have got to be kidding me…." Apollo muttered as he braced himself for another stampede.
"Brother, I don't believe these monsters are in the 'kidding' mood." Artemis replied, loosing a couple of arrows into the frenzied cluster, they pierced two heads- pinning them to the floor.
Apollo groaned, "Shall we?"
"Of course."
They again entered the fray. Apollo went for the more direct attack, using his pyrotechnic powers to set the monsters ablaze. Artemis was using an impressive array of acrobatics as she attacked with a cold and calculating grace, her form shifting to various animals when required.
Artemis thrust her hand out, turning a group of harpies into dust and allowing the goddess a few seconds of thinking time. Her immortal mind quickly figured out the very reason why they were being endlessly attacked by a persistent horde of enemies.
They keep coming.
They can't kill us. Which means….
"Apollo! It's a distraction!"
The god reared around, still grasping the head of a monstrous lion. "What?" Apollo exclaimed shoving the blade of his sword into the lion's head.
Artemis slammed her elbow into the chest of a minotaur-like monster then whirled round and snapped the neck of a griffin.
"We need to get to Olympus!"
...
Again ..apologies.
A lot was sacrificed in this chapter, including a trip to the darkest corners of Hephaestus' forges, a segment with Artemis and her hunters and a scene in the Underworld with Hades and Kronus.
*sigh*
Well I hope you enjoyed that, and (I hope) I will be back soon...
Speaking of which :
Coming Up!
Dionysus and Hermes' last stand (as well as a certain attack on Olympus and the suprise appearance by a Titan, who is most certainly not a fan of Artemis')
:)
Good bye (for now)