Thalia entered the forest and felt a vague sense of unease settle over her. She had never felt this way before, at least not on a Hunt. Suddenly, she felt the surrounding air pressure drop. The ground seemed to be moving, rustling slightly in an invisible breeze as the hair on the nape of her neck pricked upwards.
"Static electricity", she thought, and instantly raised one arm, activating Aegis as she did so. The bronze shield expanded outwards, revealing the terrifying visage of Medusa's head, and just in time too, because the next second, a bolt of acid-yellow lightning arced out of the dark forest, striking the shield and flinging her back into the foliage.
She got up, pulling out her bow and loading it as she scanned the forest, Another bolt struck her, leaving her Celestial bronze armour red-hot and flinging her back, straight through a tree. In the distance, her Huntress-enhanced eyes spotted a figure with glowing, yellow eyes and a manic grin flitting in and out of sight.
Thunder rumbled as another bolt barely missed her, singing her hair as it shot past her. The figure was getting closer now, and with a final bolt of lightning, that struck her square on the breastplate, and a leap, he landed directly in front of her form as she lay on the ground, her chest smoking as molten Celestial Bronze dripped from her armour
The attacker was a tall, lithe man. He was dressed in what looked like Imperial Gold armour, decorated with Celestial Bronze embellishments. His armour was patterned after the feathered pattern found on the wings of eagles, and branched out into four small horns, directly behind his shoulders, that also functioned as sword-holders. He wore a golden mask that resembled an eagle's beak over his face, but there was no mistaking the giant burn that covered well over half his face. From the branching pattern, it looked as if lightning had struck him there. His eyes, an eerie acid-yellow colour seemed to glow with small crackles of lightning erupting from his irises every so often
He knelt down and grabbed Thalia's chin, forcing her into making eye contact with him, as he spoke in a raspy voice (judging by the fact that those burns extended to cover his throat, likely because his vocal cords were cooked raw), "Hello Thalia"
Thalia, unsure of what to do, blinked and responded, "Hello"
The man giggled and spoke again, "Don't you recognize me ?", he pouted slightly, " I'm hurt"
"No, I'm hurt. You just fired a bolt of lightning at me"
The man had the audacity to shrug, "I was testing your reflexes. You failed"
"For being unable to dodge fucking lightning ?"
"For being unable to dodge your own element. It should've been second nature to you"
Thalia wanted to fry this guy, and she would've too, had she had the energy to summon even a few sparks.
"In any case, I'm being very rude, aren't I ?"
"You tried to fry me, so yes"
He giggled again, and spoke in a graver tone, "I am Rapture"
"As in the Biblical Armageddon ?"
"Fitting, isn't it ? Yes, the very same. Although my mother said it meant "rescue in a burst of light""
"Light, as in…"
"Lightning, yes. Unfortunately, my mother was wrong"
"My mother met a similar fate. I'm sorry for your loss"
"Don't be, it was years ago"
All was silent for a few seconds before Rapture roughly pulled her to her feet
"Hey, what the fuck ?! I'm injured !"
"Enemies aren't gonna wait for you to heal"
"What enemies ? You probably fried them all, you trigger-happy maniac !"
"Serenity calls me that too. And I said I was sorry, didn't I"
"No, you didn't"
"Oh. Then I'm not"
"Who the hell are you ?"
He turned to face her, a wide grin on his face. He held out his hand, "I'm Rapture, son of Zeus"
Chapter Management