[A/N] And thusly the remastered version continues, so let's keep right on going…
Perspective rules are as follows:
-A- Armani's perspective
-3- Third Person
Shadows of the Hunt
Chapter 8: Pride
"My name is not important. All you need know is this: I am thy enemy," the shade said in a deadly tone.
Oh great, an undead Huntress with a speech impediment…
"Zoë…" Aren choked in despair.
"If it helps, that's not really Zoë Nightshade," I said, not taking my eyes from the shade. "It may look like her, it may talk like her, but it's not really her."
The shade cocked her head slightly. "Then why did thou refer to me as such?"
I sighed. "Because I couldn't very well call you Zoë Nightshadeshade, now could I? Of course not, that would sound silly. Now, what is it you want? Is it just me you're after or did you come to murder your fellow Hunters too?"
She tensed; she seemed torn, as if she were thinking one thing but doing another. She steeled herself after a moment. "I will kill you in the name of Artemis, boy! You—you who was created by a violation of the mistress' sanctity!"
It would seem Hades has been whispering nasty things in her ear. But if she wants a debate…
"Then why did she claim me as her own?" I posed.
"Her hands were bound by oath!"
"And why did she give me the power of a Hunter? Without bothering to have me take an oath?" I demanded.
That's it, keep throwing her…keep confusing her.
Her brow tensed again; she seemed thrown, but after a moment she gritted her teeth. "Lies! A typical male deception! So if there is nothing else, prepare thyself to be cleansed!"
"He's not lying, Zoë!" Aren pleaded desperately. "Please! You have to-"
"Aren!" I snapped. "Stay down and stay out of this! If you get in her way, she'll kill you without a second thought!"
"It pains me to admit it, Aren, but the boy is correct. I shall slay any who get in the way of my objective. Now boy, if you have any last words you wish to speak, I shall give you a second to speak them."
"You speak as if you have me bested already," I said. Then I glanced at Aren. "…and has she always randomly interspersed her speech with Ye Olde English, or did Hades just mess up somewhere?"
"No, she was always like that, but normally only when she was tense…or seriously pissed off."
"Check and check. And if I might ask you, 'Zoë,' what makes you think you have me beaten when we're clearly in a stalemate position?"
Her proud brow clenched into a frown. "What jest is this? A stalemate? I have you ranged, boy!"
"And I'll just shoot down your arrow again," I said with a sigh, "and if our reaction speeds are at all similar we'll have nocked another arrow each and be right back where we started. That is, until we run out of arrows…although I feel I should warn you, I never run out of arrows."
Her teeth clenched and she fired. So did I. The outcome was as I predicted; one arrow deflecting another.
In a second we had nocked arrows again, and again she had done as I expected; she had nocked two this time.
"Impressive," she said grudgingly as I gripped my own two arrows.
I smiled. "No…this is impressive," I said and materialized a third arrow in my hand.
I loosed without hesitation. Two arrows collided midair and the third, shockingly, missed her by a hair's breadth as she leapt straight up with all the grace of a cheetah.
She drew her sword in mid-air and I did likewise.
Right, she's still just a Hunter. And Artemis isn't on her side this time. How tough can she be?
I found out a second later.
I blocked her overhead strike, but the force knocked me back two feet. Her blade slid the length of mine, and she used the motion to spin into a back-handed attack that pushed me back even more. She reversed the spin, hit me with another powerful blow, and I staggered.
A guard break!
She flipped her sword around in her hand and drove it towards my abdomen, but my reflexes were just good enough that, with the split second I had to spare, I managed to lean back limbo-style, and her stab missed me by a millimeter.
I braced myself on the ground and hit her with a double kick to the chest that sent her flying backwards. She didn't strike the earth, though; she merely parried herself off one hand and flipped right back onto her feet.
Okay…so she's not half bad.
She paused, "Thy instinct saved thee, boy. State thy name; I wish to confirm thee as my target."
"Armani Dove. I assume you actually have orders to kill me? Or do you just not like my face?"
She inclined her head, ironically polite. "My purpose in being here is indeed your death; that is my only goal. Should anyone attempt to prevent that goal from being accomplished, they will also be felled by my hand, as I have already proven."
"All right…but if I might ask…if you really do serve my mother, as you claim, why did you kidnap the Hunters? How can you be loyal to her and betray her?"
She was about to spit something out in retaliation but froze. She was obviously confused, but seemed to recover after a moment. "It was my purpose. You were my target. My former sisters were merely bait to ensure you brought yourself before me."
It would appear her programming is paramount after all…
I heard Aren give a tiny gasp of pain at the phrase 'former sisters', and for some reason I was getting very upset at how distressed Zoë was making her. "You truly aren't Zoë. And it is in her name that I will defeat you, so I can send her back to the place she earned through two thousand years of loyalty and love!" I yelled, shifting my weight to lower my center of gravity.
The shade obviously didn't like my speech. Faster than my eyes could follow, she had bolted towards me and hit me in the chest with her elbow. I was unprepared for the brutality of the strike and found myself thrown backwards into the dirt.
Cripes…she fights like a demon!
Her dull eyes showed little to no emotion, and as Hades had said in my dream, she seemed to have retained her physical power as a Hunter. The two thousand years plus of combat experience weren't something to be shrugged at, either.
She leaped up into the air and embedded her sword in the ground where my head would have been had I not flipped myself backwards and onto my feet.
She didn't stop, though. She simply used her buried sword point as a lever to swing herself round and kick me in the abdomen. I flew backwards and slammed into a black marble pillar.
She yanked her blade out of the ground and charged me.
As she raised the sword to bury it in my chest, I grasped hold of the pillar behind me for leverage and thrust my foot under her guard, square into her chest with all the strength I could muster. Her eyes widened in shock as the kick made contact and sent her soaring backwards and flat onto her back. Her sword skittered to the ground nearby.
I just Sparta Kicked Zoë Nightshade…
"Sure…now it works," I muttered under my breath as I pushed myself away from the pillar.
"That's the spirit! Tear her to pieces!" a deep voice called sportingly from the sidelines.
"Shut up, Atlas!" I snapped angrily.
The shade pushed herself to her knees. She obviously knew she couldn't get to her blade, so she summoned her bow and made a grab for her quiver, which was resting on the ground a few feet away.
I didn't give her the chance. I tossed my sword down, summoned my own bow and fired an arrow right into her extended palm, pinning it to the ground.
She screamed in agony, and I hesitated.
Finish her off!
I froze, and I realized with horror why she kept pushing me back so hard, and why I wasn't beating on her with the force I normally would have.
It's because you don't WANT to beat her. Deep down, you don't want her to die…
It was true. If she were a beast of some sort, I would've simply attacked her on instinct and cut her to pieces with everything I had. But I was hesitating; I'd never even met her before, but there was some sort of lingering sentimental attachment. Was it from my mother? Was it because I was a Hunter? I didn't know, but what I did know was this:
Unless you pull yourself together, she'll pick you apart. Stop thinking and start acting!
"Sorry," I muttered, then narrowed my eyes. I called on the song of the wild, and it responded, flowing through my veins, my body glowing with an ethereal silver light as I drowned my sentiment in cold intent.
As Zoë pulled herself up, she tore the arrow free of her hand. The blood turned to dust as it fell and the wound closed up around her hand.
She turned to face me, her features a mask of rage, but I didn't give her a second to act.
She took a step forward and I fired again. The arrow struck her chest; she staggered, but kept coming.
Another arrow. This time in her right leg; she barely staggered, however as she took up her sword from the ground.
Stop holding back!
I blinked back a tear I hadn't realized was there and fired another, right into Zoë's heart.
This time her eyes widened in shock as she collapsed backwards. Then she was still.
Sword! NOW!
I retrieved my sword and advanced on the still shade. I raised my blade up over her throat and used all my strength to hold back my emotions.
I gritted my teeth and swung my sword down to remove her head. Then the unexpected happened, as it invariably does. With a blur of movement, the shade tore free the arrow in her heart and stabbed it into the back of my lower right leg.
Okay…ouch.
"YAAAGHH!" I screamed and I staggered forward as Zoë tore the muscle open. My blade missed and I drove it into the ground to stop myself from falling flat on my face.
Get back!
I used the sword to parry myself around and hop back as Zoë climbed to her feet, pulling the arrows free.
She stood waiting for a second as the wounds on her body healed. I, on the other hand was not so fortunate.
My bag was behind her on the ground, so I had no ambrosia or nectar to heal myself with. Nico was down; there was no way he could fight with an arrow embedded in his shoulder.
"You fight well, but you should have killed me when the chance arose," she said as she began to advance on me, sword in hand.
Bow!
My bow shot into my hand with a flash of silver light, and I fired three arrows at the girl.
She was prepared this time. She swung her blade around in an arc and severed the three projectiles from the air.
"I'm starting to see how you lived so long," I grunted, using most of my concentration to stay on my feet. I knew that if I put any pressure on my other leg I'd tear the muscle right open.
So, fine, all I had to do was take her on one leg. All I had to do was fight her on this one spot and win without moving.
You're dead. You know that, right?
Why is it that when the crunch comes your instincts only state the obvious?
I dismissed my bow and grabbed my sword, just in time to block Zoë's blade as she moved to separate my head from my shoulders.
She smirked mirthlessly, swung her leg around and swiped mine from under me. She elbowed me in the chest and sent me crashing onto my back.
Her foot slammed into my chest, pinning me down as she raised her sword point up. I summoned an arrow, but her other foot stomped down onto my wrist, pinning that as well.
I stared up into her dull black eyes as she smiled coldly. "Mission accomplished."
She clenched the hilt of her sword and prepared to thrust, but was abruptly stopped when a black iron blade suddenly erupted from her chest cavity.
She froze dead, staring down at the Stygian iron. I glanced behind her to find Aren, sobbing openly, with Nico's sword in her trembling hands.
Everything went oddly silent for a moment. Then a confused voice spoke up. "Aren… Where am I?"
It was Zoë.
Oh, gods, no…
-3-
Meanwhile…
Away from the docking area, the main courtyard of the deserted Alcatraz prison was unnervingly quiet as Artemis disembarked from her chariot, flanked by Annabeth and Clarisse. The world around the small island was invisible due to the mist (and the Mist) that surrounded it. All that was visible was the water sloshing up against the rocks.
The goddess and the half-bloods stopped. Artemis' eyes flicked about, assessing the area, one of her hunting knives drawn.
"Am I the only one who has a bad feeling about this?" Clarisse muttered.
Artemis eyed the ground curiously. "If our enemy is here, I sense nothing, which does give me a bad feeling."
Annabeth frowned. "What's this?" she said as she crouched down.
Clarisse stared at the ground she was examining. "What's up?"
Annabeth ran her hand through the soil, "the earth around this whole area's been disturbed for some reason," she said as she looked around. The well-trodden earth had indeed been dug up in long trenches down the courtyard.
"Landscaping?"
The daughter of Athena frowned. "Unless they're planning to grow potatoes on Alcatraz Island, then I doubt it."
Artemis plunged a hand into the earth, rummaged for a second, then pulled out what looked like an assorted arrangement of teeth and bones. She eyed them curiously, then smelled them and tossed them away in disgust.
"Lady Artemis? What's wrong?" Annabeth asked.
"The stench of death, of the Underworld; this place is saturated in it." She glared at the doors in front of her. "If I am indeed part of this quest, then I will handle the situation myself. Remain here; I will enter and find my Hunters." Without waiting for them to agree, Artemis began striding towards the main doors.
"What if it's an ambush?" Clarisse called after her.
Artemis didn't stop. "Then my enemies will have saved me the trouble of hunting them."
"Will she be okay by herself?"
"She's a goddess, Clarisse," Annabeth said with a sigh.
"Right, right, keep forgetting that. It'd be easier if she weren't so small," the daughter of Ares whispered back.
"I heard that," the aforementioned small goddess muttered as she stopped, staring up at the tall doors.
Her eyes moved to rooftops left and right, then up to the buildings that surrounded them.
There was nothing there. Absolutely nothing.
And for some reason that really disturbed her.
She shook her head and continued towards the door.
As she raised her hand, there was a loud 'Clank', like the sound of a switch being thrown. Night turned to day as she found herself suddenly bathed in the beam of a spotlight on the corner of one of the buildings.
She swung about as another beam of luminescence blazed to life, from another spotlight on another building. Then another turned on, and another, and the goddess of the hunt found herself illuminated from all around. Her shadow stretched in four directions as she glanced about.
Finally from the roof just behind her, two more turned on, lighting up the two half-bloods, who reflexively leapt into defensive stances.
The whole area was now illuminated in blinding, eerie artificial light. The only sound was the panting of the two half-bloods. It was only lights, but Annabeth felt like the entire building was now glaring down at them.
Clarisse recovered in a moment, her spear crackling angrily. "That supposed to intimidate me?" she shouted. "Why don't you stop being such cowards and come out and face us!"
As if in response there was a sudden groaning noise from all around.
Artemis glanced to the sides. The guttering had opened, exposing two soak-away pipes on either side of the doorway. Others had opened at different points, from other buildings.
The air was filled with the trickling sound of water and Artemis watched as liquid began running out of the drainpipes and flowing into the trenches and branching off into smaller ones. It was like an agricultural project on steroids.
The goddess realized, however, that it wasn't water that was flowing out of the pipes. The dark crimson glint and cloying scent were unmistakable.
She highly doubted it was tomato juice.
The blood ran down and seeped into the upturned soil from all directions.
Annabeth had also noticed it, and it only took a second for the pieces to click together. She gasped in horror as she realized just what they had walked into. "The bones… Clarisse, back away!"
"Why, what's going on?" she asked, her voice low and cautious.
"We were right; it's an ambush, a very big one." she turned her attention to the goddess, "Lady Artemis!"
"I know! Take up a defensive position; I will handle them when they come"
"You heard the lady, Clarisse! Let's back up; get the water at our backs!"
Clarisse backed up, looking decidedly irritable. "You wanna tell me exactly what's going on?" she hissed angrily.
Annabeth opened her mouth to answer but was cut off by a loud rumbling sound that was seemingly coming from all around them. It felt like the entire earth was suddenly trembling in fear. "You're about to find out!" Annabeth shouted, and drew her dagger just as a bony hand erupted from the upturned earth nearby.
Another burst of earth followed, only this time it looked like a claw of some kind.
Moments later, limbs were exploding out of the earth all around the courtyard as undead creatures of all species began pulling themselves free.
As soon as one emerged, another limb would erupt from almost the exact same spot, as if the former had made way for the new one to grow.
Zombie policeman, army officers, Roman centurions, and various other period uniformed undead lumbered out, their bones visible through shimmering flesh. Undead bears, tigers and other large animals joined them, looking no less terrifying.
Annabeth and Clarisse stepped back as the small army emerged in front of them, cutting them off from Artemis. The creatures blinked and stretched as they attempted to find focus.
Once the courtyard was so packed that no others could emerge, one by one they fell silent, pausing and sniffing the air as if searching for something.
"But they don't have a scent!" Annabeth whispered. "Perhaps without one they won't-" her words died as the undead force suddenly seemed to turn their attention to them.
Nearly all the monsters seemed to find odour du Artemis particularly irresistible, as they all seemed to turn in perfect synchronization towards the small goddess. That did not, however, excuse the two half-bloods. About six of the undead men, armed with various-bladed period weapons, turned their interest to the two girls.
The monsters seemed to forget they were lumbering husks of dead bones and shimmering flesh. They immediately drew their swords with eerily fluid movements and began advancing on the duo.
Clarisse scoffed. "Six? You think just six of you can take me?" she shouted, hefting her crackling spear.
Annabeth drew up to her side, blade ready. "Don't be too careless, Clarisse, these aren't shades. It can take a lot more than removing a head to kill one."
Clarisse snarled viciously, "Then I'll just have to keep chopping until there's nothing left!" On that she swung her spear like a club, knocking the undead onto their backs, and then stabbed down, impaling one through the head.
Annabeth scooped up his dropped sword and swung it down to shatter the skull of another.
Meanwhile the remaining zombie force lunged at the Goddess of the Hunt like the largest pileup in history.
The battle was on.
-A-
"Pull the sword out!" I snapped, ignoring the pain as I did my best to push myself to my feet, using my bow for leverage.
Aren nodded, tears still running down her face, but as she moved to pull the sword free, Zoë reached behind her, her hand grasping Aren's small, trembling one. "Do not!" she choked. "If you do, I shall…shall disappear immediately." .
"B-but-" Aren began.
"I shall bear the pain for the moments left to me. I remember… I remember now…what it is I have done… Oh gods, my sisters," she whispered. I doubted the pain in her voice or the tears in her now-brilliant black eyes were caused by the sword in her chest. She swayed and her knees buckled. Aren jumped forward to help her, but the former lieutenant sank to the ground, teeth clenched.
"It wasn't your fault," I grunted as I helped Aren with Zoë. The blonde knelt down to support her, trying not to disturb the blade any further.
"But still…my heart weeps for the pain I have caused my fellow Hunters…"
I was choked with emotion too, but there was no time for guilt. "There was nothing you could do. But there's a chance you can still do something with the time you have left. Zoë, you have to tell me—are the other Hunters still alive?"
She nodded weakly. "They are safe—in the prison in the bay. The only one there was to worry about was Aren. I cannot describe how elated I am to see you well," she said, as she reached up to brush a tear from the blonde Huntress' cheek. She coughed violently, then sighed. "Please, do not weep for me, sister"
The blonde barely managed to speak through her tears. "But we're going to lose you again!"
Zoë smiled pityingly. "You are as emotional as ever, but this is no occasion for sorrow. I will return to my peace in a moment. I ask you be happy for me, Aren, and shed no more tears for my passing, for that happened quite some time ago."
Aren nodded, wiping her tears on her black tunic sleeve.
Suddenly her eyes turned to me and I saw some kind of realization in them. "Why…it's you," she said in a weak voice, a small smile on her lips. "…The immaculate one, the mistress' child…"
I inclined my head with a smile. My eyes were moist, but I fought to keep my emotions under control. "So they tell me."
"Yes…" she breathed. Her sparkling eyes slid out of focus, but her smile widened. "…I've been watching you."
I frowned. "What do you mean?"
She laughed slightly and raised a shaking hand, pointing to a spot in the sky. "From there… You are indeed…" she twitched, but continued. "an…interesting one, and I know you have the strength to complete the task ahead of you."
My brow knitted into a frown. "What task?"
She smiled warmly and closed her eyes. "The final task—the task that was for you and for you alone. You must go to Lady Artemis' side now, for it is on this night that she will have her greatest need of you. You…must protect the heart of the mistress. That is the task that you, and only you, can accomplish."
I didn't bother to ask for clarification. I realized she was already beginning to fade, flecks of sparkling light beginning to float off her skin. I merely nodded and blinked a tear out of my eye. "Understood…rest in peace, sister."
Her smile widened. "Good hunting, brother." And with her final words spoken, Zoë Nightshade faded into brilliant stardust and returned to her place in the heavens, where she belonged.
I turned my gaze to the sky above me as the Huntress reappeared, to continue her run through the stars for all eternity.
-3-
Elsewhere…
In the dark of night in the middle of a desert, a dark figure stood staring into the skies at a constellation that had suddenly reappeared. "So, they got her too, eh? Well, it's all in good fun anyway."
"What are you mumbling about?" a short man in a UPS outfit and winged trainers enquired curiously as he checked something on his clipboard.
Hades merely laughed slightly. "Oh, nothing, just a little game, nothing I need to bore you with. Now, what is this urgent message I must collect in person? You know how much I loathe being out on the surface."
"Don't kill the messenger, Hades. The instructions state I have to deliver the message to you in this exact place and in this exact moment," Hermes said as he pulled a small white envelope from his pocket. "Sign here," he said, and Hades grumbled as he scribbled some symbols on the clipboard. They immediately erupted in flames when he was finished. Hermes patted them out with agitation. "Typical… Anyways, here." He handed the envelope to Hades. "I'm out of here," the messenger god said and disappeared in a white flash.
Hades muttered several Greek curses and tore the envelope open. Yanking free the single sheet of paper, he read the four words written in the middle of the page.
We need to talk.
No sooner had he finished reading them than the sound of a powerful engine roaring to life blanketed the area as the entire section of desert was suddenly illuminated in blinding daylight.
Apollo's sun chariot descended, its lights on full beam and aimed directly at the lord of the dead.
Hades cowered from the light as Apollo emerged from the driver's seat.
"What is this, Apollo? Using the sun in this way is forbidden, and you know it!" he roared as he tried to block the light with his hands.
Apollo sighed, leaning back lazily on the hood of his chariot. "Oh, come now, uncle, you've just been spending too much time indoors. It's not that bright. But then, we all seem to be doing nasty forbidden things lately, don't we?"
Hades dropped his hands to his sides, squinting through slatted eyes. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
Apollo inclined his head. "Oh, possibly not. But regardless, I simply felt I had to bring you out here to make you aware of a few facts."
"Is that so? And just what might these facts be, nephew?" Hades enquired tersely.
"First, you are aware of the latest prophecy, are you not? And how it involves your son?"
Hades shrugged. "What of it?"
"There are rumors that you are the one responsible."
Again the lord of the dead just sighed. "And what if I am? I've disturbed no balance. You may recall unjust accusations were made against me in the past, and I was sanctioned appropriately with not an ounce of compensation when it came to light that I was not at fault! If anything, I've merely restored the balance; that is, if I were somehow responsible for any of this prophecy. Now, is there anything else, or did you just bring me out here to make me aware of rumors?"
Apollo shook his head. "Not at all! Like I said, I just had a couple of facts that I wanted to run by you."
"Go on."
"Firstly, you are aware that most of the heroes on this quest will die, given the current odds against them."
Hades flicked a bit of lint from his robes. "You worry about precious little Artemis?"
Apollo laughed, "Oh, nothing of the sort. See, excluding my sis, of course, the hero in this tale was originally supposed to only have two companions. All in threes, as the old rules state. Artemis was excluded from the calculations, of course; as we Olympians usually are from these things."
Hades' eyes narrowed. "What do you mean 'originally supposed to'?"
Apollo just laughed. "I don't know. But it would seem someone, somehow, made a minor alteration to the wording of the prophecy."
Hades scowled. "You mean you—"
Apollo cut him off. "Me? Would I ever do such a thing as to interfere with a prophecy? Shudder the thought! I just noticed the line that ended in the words 'Daughter of the fight' and, gosh darn it, next time that I looked, for some unfathomable reason, it said 'Daughters of battle and fight'!"
Hades groaned. "What's your point? So they have two pathetic half-blood girls along instead of one."
Apollo shook his head. "There was the additional help the other girl could render, but I don't think that was the primary reason someone altered it like this."
"Oh?"
"Tell me, uncle; you do know where the heroes are fighting right now, don't you?"
He waved it off. "Some prison over in San Francisco, I believe."
"Very good, uncle! Now, suppose, just suppose, that this 'Daughter of Battle' were a daughter of Athena."
Hades shrugged. "It wouldn't make a real difference."
"No? And what if it were a particular daughter of Athena? Just what playing piece might be lured inevitably onto the board if that child were to be put in danger?"
Hades eyes widened.
Apollo's smile widened as well. "I see you get it. So why don't you remind me: this prison we were talking about. What exactly was it surrounded by, again?"
Hades groaned. "You know what, nephew? Sometimes you really do take all the fun out of things."
Apollo put a hand to his heart. "Oh, I'm hurt you would say such a thing. But regardless, that wasn't the important fact I brought you out here to discuss."
Hades frowned. "Oh, and just what is it then?"
In response, the sun god snapped his fingers, and four celestial bronze chains erupted from the sands and wrapped themselves around Hades' limbs, dragging him to his knees in the sand.
"WHAT IS THIS OUTRAGE?" he bellowed, struggling in vain. Apollo's entire body was now glowing with blinding sunlight, the sand beneath his feet turning to glass as he walked.
He slowly strolled around the back of his chariot and popped the trunk. "The fact—and it's one that everyone seems to forget," he began with an ironic laugh. He drew out what appeared to be a celestial bronze baseball bat, which he twirled experimentally in his hand. "The fact…is that nobody messes with my little sister. Nobody."
-A-
We gave the departed Huntress a moment of silence, and I turned to look over the bay. "We have to keep moving. Are you okay, Aren?"
She took a few steadying breaths. "I…I'll be okay Armani. I'm happy for Zoë to be back at peace again, but what happens now?"
I squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. "Now we follow my mother. Nico?"
"Y-yeah?" he asked as he walked over. He had remained silent throughout all of Zoë's final words, and was looking extremely solemn now.
"Take some ambrosia from my pack to heal your shoulder. I suppose I could use some too," I said, still trying not to aggravate the wound on the back of my leg.
"Right," he said, quietly obliging. We both consumed some of the divine food from my bag. The arrow fell free from his arm as the wound closed around it. I sighed in relief, the muscle and sinew knitting itself back together. I tested my leg gingerly and found I could stand normally again.
"Nico, do you think you can shadow travel all three of us to Alcatraz?"
He still seemed shaken, but seemed to steel himself. "I'll do my best," he said, retrieving his dark blade and sheathing it.
"That's the spirit. Are you ready to go, Aren?" I noticed she was staring at the arrow that had fallen from Nico's arm. She bent down and retrieved it.
I observed as she stared at it before turning to Nico.
"Listen, Nico…" she began after a moment. The dark half-blood froze, eyes flicking nervously to the arrow, as if he expected her to stab him with it. I was strangely offended by his low opinion of her character. "This would've killed me if you hadn't gotten in the way, so…thanks for that," she said, tossed the arrow to him, and walked to my side.
I guess self-sacrifice is one way to prove yourself.
Nico didn't respond. He just nodded sheepishly as he pocketed the arrow and walked off into the shadows. "Let's go, then."
I nodded and turned to the encumbered titan. "Hey! Atlas!"
He glared at me angrily. "What?"
"I've decided to offer you some help."
His eyes widened in shock. "Really?"
I smiled. "Sure! Just remember...Lift with your legs."
He let out an indignant roar as I turned to walk away. "YOU THINK YOU'RE FUNNY? I'LL TEAR YOU TO PIECES!"
"Sure, sure…"
"I'LL USE YOUR ENTRAILS FOR SANDWICH FILLINGS!"
"Yes, Atlas, all the entrails…"
"I'LL GRIND YOUR BONES TO MAKE MY BREAD!"
Don't even dignify that with a response…
"Are you ready, Nico?" I asked as I joined him and Aren in the shadows.
"Yeah, I've got a path ready; I'll get us there in just a sec…"
"What did Zoë mean, about you having to protect Lady Artemis' heart?"
I glanced up as the clouds began to clear. My eyes narrowed at a certain patch of night sky. "She meant it's not quite over yet…"
-A-
"Not quite over yet" was an understatement. We materialized out of the shadows to find all hell had quite literally broken loose.
I drew my sword instantly. Nico did likewise and Aren already had her dagger in hand.
"What?" Aren gasped.
Clarisse and Annabeth were fending off over a dozen very unpleasant-looking roman swordsmen. It wasn't so much fending as it was Clarisse batting away the advancing enemies with her spear and Annabeth jump kicking any who got through.
"Those are undead!" Nico shouted, running off to the girls' defense without a second's thought.
I sighed. "So impulsive. Into the fray then…coming, Aren?"
She nodded sharply and we dashed off in pursuit of Nico.
Nico skidded to a halt in front of Clarisse and swung his Stygian blade around in an arc. "Get back! I command you!" he roared. The armored undead recoiled from the blade and seemed to pause in confusion. "The son of Hades commands you to return to the Underworld!"
"Nico! Get back!" Clarisse shouted.
"Annabeth, just what in Hades—" I trailed off as I saw what was happening beyond the warriors advancing on us.
There in front of me was what looked like a tornado of flying bones and dust. Within the vortex I spied a small form leaping about, kicking skeletal forms into the air and slashing them into dust, dropping down and laying waste to even more targets. "…is that…"
"Nice to see you could join the party, Armani. Yes, Lady Artemis is fighting most of the enemy. They just swamped her and she…chose to fight back."
"What's going on?" I felt this question rather needed to be addressed.
"Bones, hundreds of them, buried and grown from blood. As many as Lady Artemis destroys, more just keep coming."
It was true. As I watched, lumbering forms were pulling themselves from the dirt around the sides of the courtyard. I even noticed that a lot of the bones in the growing pile of dust where my mother was fighting were rolling together and reassembling themselves.
"I dismiss you back to the Underworld!" Nico insisted.
The line of soldiers seemed to look at each other in confusion. I could've sworn they shrugged their shoulders, then leveled their blades and began advancing on Nico.
He staggered back a step and I watched as he tensed up with a scowl on his face. "You would disobey the Ghost King? So be it!" he shouted and stabbed his sword into the chest of the lead soldier. The zombie stared down at the blade then, without a sound, erupted into flames and was reduced to ash. "So that still works, at least." He turned his head to us. "Something else is controlling them! I've tried opening a fissure too, but something's got control of the whole area!"
The death of their comrade must've signaled a change in plans, as a huge number of the undead amassed around my mother suddenly changed their focus to us and began advancing in a huge semi-circle.
Clarisse grabbed Nico by the scruff of his neck and yanked him backwards to her side as we took up a defensive line.
"All right, Nico, you're the expert, how do you suggest we kill these things?" I asked.
"You could start by being a child of Hades…"
"Nico!"
"All right! Stygian iron."
I sighed. "And I left my stash back at camp. Anything else?"
He shook his head. "Not that I know of, short of just grinding them into pieces like Lady Artemis is doing."
Clarisse laughed. "Grinding sounds good. I like grinding."
Suddenly the line of enemy parted, and I saw what lay between. "Archers!"
A volley of dark arrows shot at our line from the undead bowmen.
Thankfully, as half-bloods, our battle reflexes saved us. We either dodged or batted the flying projectiles aside.
In that moment of distraction, however, we were set upon by the others.
Three soldiers dressed in medieval battle armor charged me. I dodged one and leapt up in time to kick away the other. I twirled once in mid-air and hit the other with a spinning backfist strike. His head dislodged from his shoulders and went skidding to the floor, and the rest of him went patting around looking for it.
A roman centurion managed to give me a shallow cut with a rusted short sword, and I had to leap back to avoid being mauled by an undead Bengal tiger, whom I decapitated by driving my sword up under its chin and leaping into the air to get free, taking the centurion's arm and then head off in the same motion.
I saw Clarisse out of my peripherals, fighting demonically, her brown hair flying wildly as she tore through her opponents with her spear.
Nico was slashing wildly with his Stygian blade. The enemy seemed to be doing their best to avoid him in particular, but some were taking chances at his sides and he already had a few painful-looking gashes.
Aren was fighting like a right little hellcat; she'd leap up, kick one in the face and slash open another opponent's head with her blade. I noticed her skin glowing menacingly as she viciously carved open her enemies.
Annabeth was fighting with cold, calculating grace; she'd wedge her sword in under her skeletal opponent's neck and cleave it off, then swing about and take off its limbs in a brilliant backhanded attack.
As brutally as we were fighting, and as much as my mother was keeping the majority of the enemy at bay, I noticed that even as she killed them more were coming out of the earth to fill the gap between her and us. There had to be at least a hundred now, a good portion lined up ready to fight us. We were being pushed back.
I glanced at the reflection in my sword; we were mere feet from the water's edge now.
Nico was kicked to the earth beside me, and as he staggered to his feet, a stream of blood running down his arm, I saw the spear hurtling through the air towards him.
I saw a flash of blonde hair, and for a second I thought Aren was the form that crashed into Nico's side and sent him clear out of the spear's path, but it wasn't.
Time seemed to freeze as the spear struck Annabeth in her right shoulder and sent her toppling into the dark waters of the bay behind us.
"Annabeth!" Clarisse roared. She clenched her teeth and, with a cry of rage, swung her spear around like a bat, sending a huge semi-circle of our opponents flying back through the air.
I turned to dive into the water, but then about twenty various skeletal beasts leaped over the heads of our opponents. Again time slowed as the hideous beasts hung in the air, about to rip us to shreds.
And they would have succeeded, had not the waters of the bay exploded up from behind me and batted them out of the air like insects.
What?
I rose back to my feet and looked behind me. A huge, serpent-like tendril of water hung in the air, and a second rose up to join it out of the murky waters.
I ducked reflexively as both lashed out and batted our opponent's lines like a pair of giant arms. Dozens of undead were sent flying back like rag dolls.
I glanced into the depths and backed up as a shimmering sphere of water began to rise up out from the surface. It rose up and hung in the air several meters above the water's surface.
I squinted, and saw what looked like Annabeth's form inside the bubble of water, along with… something else. A second later, the spear that had struck the daughter of Athena was tossed out from within and clattered to the ground next to me.
There was silence, a short pause, and then the waters around us simply erupted, missing us as if on intent, but crashing into the undead like a great river washing away a village.
I get the feeling someone or something is very upset...
The waters retreated, and still undead climbed free of the now-sodden earth. But they had stopped fighting; they were paused, as if waiting for something.
Suddenly I heard a noise over the silence and swirling of water. It was…applause.
I noticed that my mother had stopped to stare—first at the hovering sphere of water, and then up at the source of the slow clapping.
I glanced up at the roof of the main building, where a figure in a black hooded cloak now stood silhouetted in the moonlight. He had hunting spear under his arm. Its head was pitch-black, and I immediately recognized the non-reflective surface as Stygian iron.
He stopped his slow clapping and took up his spear. "Very impressive show, all of you. But you..." he said, pointing his spear down. "...I don't believe I put you on the guest list. What's your name, young half-blood?"
It took me a second to realize the figure wasn't speaking to us, but to the sphere of water behind us.
It lowered to the ground, and the water melted away, back to the ocean.
I saw Annabeth resting in the arms of an extremely furious half-blood with black hair. The waters swirled angrily around his feet. "I am the son of Poseidon! My name is Percy Jackson!"
To be continued…
-XA-
[A/N] Ahh, who doesn't love a cliffhanger? Well I wont keep you hanging for long and I'll catch you all in Chapter 9: Heart