Hi Readers, sorry about the long wait, however I'm in the middle of my exams so I've only been working on this as a side project. I must say that revision is not exactly enjoyable. Anyway, I wanted to say to those people concerned about the possibilty of me using the norse gods... Everything is not as it seems (Insert evil laugh here). Also, I am trying to keep my story original, so if you start to find it a bit cliche, please tell me so that I can fix it, unless I've deliberately put it in. I hope you enjoy the story, also I have no ownership of the Percy Jackson characters.
The world crept dimly into focus as Annabeth slowly woke. She heard voices, softly murmuring in the background, along with the warm crackle of a fire. A gentle, homely aroma drifted over to her, and she slowly twisted to find it. At the fire, Perseus was talking with a small girl in a brown dress; she couldn't be older than eight. Perseus looked over at Annabeth and made a quick comment to the girl, who laughed lightly before beckoning her over. Groaning, Annabeth stood up, stretching her aching muscles as she headed over. As she walked, she realised that the roadside was covered with small, silvery tents. Slumping down at the fire's edge, she glanced at the young girl curiously. Perseus smirked at her, as though amused by her exhaustion. Everything hurt, her legs, her back, her head… Everything! The young girl smiled at her, and some of the pain seemed to fade.
"Good morning," the girl chirped happily, "I'm Hestia." Annabeth did a double take. This young girl was Hestia?
"A… As in Hestia, goddess of the hearth?" The girl smiled and nodded,
"Yep that's the one." Annabeth was shocked at how flippantly she said it, as though it was no big deal.
"Lady Hestia, why are you here, if I may ask?" Annabeth managed to get out. Hestia simply smiled again,
"Well you see, this big lump here," she said nudging Perseus, "Was up most of the night keeping watch. So I decided to keep him company." Once again the sheer… humanness of that idea stunned Annabeth, the idea that a god was so human was strange to say the least. "Anyway," Hestia continued, "We got talking and an hour later, after some deep and meaningful flattery on his part," Perseus looked a bit sheepish here, "I decided to make him breakfast, as well as introducing him to a wonderful drink called tea." Annabeth frowned slightly, confused. Hestia grinned at the prospect of another person to share the marvellous drink, quickly summoning a cup for her. Handing it over, Hestia began to explain the drink. "I discovered it at the last 'Divines of Home' convention, where I bumped into a lovely goddess from India, and obviously we got to talking, and in the end I introduced her to Nectar, and she gave be this self replenishing box of tea leaves and an instructions sheet. Of course I tried it out first chance I had, and I must say, it is quite delicious." Annabeth nodded in agreement, being already halfway through her cup. Suddenly a bright silver flash lit up the clearing, disappearing as quickly as it had appeared. Annabeth blinked a couple of times to clear her vision. When her eyes started functioning again, she found herself looking at a girl a similar age to herself, if not slightly younger. She was tall, with flowing brunette hair that fell lightly down to her shoulders. Annabeth was sure that most people would call her beautiful, as her face was pristinely carve smooth and delicate, with royally high cheekbones. Glowing silver eyes peered at Annabeth, as though staring into her soul. Next to Annabeth, Hestia sighed.
"Niece, you're doing it again. Remember what I said about the eyes?" The girl blinked in surprise, tapping her head slightly as the glow faded, leaving her eyes almost human, but with silver irises. She smiled sheepishly at Hestia.
"Sorry about that, Aunty Hestia. I always forget the eyes when I turn human." Hestia shook her head fondly, stepping up to hug the girl.
"Its fine Artemis, but I think you spooked poor Annabeth over there. Perseus should be used to it by now." Perseus grinned slightly but Artemis simply looked at him blankly before turning to Annabeth.
"You must be Annabeth, I was told you were interested in joining my hunt? Or has that male already corrupted you." Annabeth shook her head,
"Perseus has been the perfect gentleman in bringing me here I assure you." Artemis frowned slightly.
"Do you wish to join the hunt?" Annabeth nodded,
"If you will have me." At this Artemis grinned, brining Annabeth into a hug.
"I am always grateful for another huntress. Repeat after me 'I pledge myself to the Goddess Artemis. I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood, and join the Hunt'" Taking a deep breath, Annabeth spoke the words. As soon as the last word left her mouth, she was suffused with a bight, silver glow. Artemis pulled her into another hug. "Welcome to the hunt, sister." Grabbing her arm, she pulled Annabeth towards a large silver tent, leaving Perseus and Hestia behind.
Perseus smiled slightly at the scene, though he was saddened slightly by the loss of his companion. Turning to Hestia, he found her in her older form, studying his face. Obviously finding what she was searching for she smiled sadly at him. "A hero after my own heart it seems." Perseus blinked, confused as to her meaning. Sighing, Hestia sat down once more by the fire. "Perseus, do you know why I gave up my thrown on Olympus" He nodded slightly,
"You gave it up because it was the only way to prevent strife in the Olympian family." Turning to face him Hestia continued.
"And do you think it would have been easy for me to do so." Perseus paused, trying to put himself into a similar situation.
"No, by releasing your thrown, you gave up a large amount of political power, and sacrificed some of your importance in Greek society." Hestia nodded once again.
"So why did I do it?" Perseus blinked, surprised at the question.
"Because it was the right thing to do, not the easy thing." Hestia looked into Perseus' eyes before speaking.
"And that is how it is with you. I can tell it was not easy for you to lose your companion so, to give her to the hunters, however you knew it was the right thing to do. It is the same with many of the choices you have made in your life. Accepting a command you did not want. Training constantly to be a hero for your father. Sparing prisoners of war from the wrath of your soldiers. All of these decisions have had harsh consequences, and you knew they would. So like I said, you are a hero after mine own heart." Perseus stared at her, shocked that she knew so much about him, shocked by her obvious admiration of him. Taking a step towards him, Hestia rested a hand on his shoulder. "Your life will always be full of these challenges, for that is the path you choose. Know, however, that it is the dark times that make the good shine out so much brighter." Perseus nodded, accepting her words. "Your father gave me something for you." She continued, reaching out into the air and conjuring a strange metal rod. The rod was slightly longer than Perseus' forearm, and glowed faintly silver, near the middle of the rod was a black leather grip. Presenting it to Perseus, Hestia quickly took a step back. As he held it, the weapon expanded out into heavy trident, the three points glinting wickedly in the rising sun. As he held it, a hot, green glow began to burn from where his hand was. He spun it in his hand, unwittingly causing storm clouds to begin to form. As he swung it it, he could feel the winds around him beginning to pick up and water begin to form around him. He planted it firmly on the ground, the thud echoing across the clearing and the wind and water disappearing as though they had never been. As soon as it all had stopped, Perseus collapsed, leaning heavily on the trident. He glanced at Hestia, to find her staring at him in astonishment. He was about to make a sarcastic comment, addressing the foolishness of giving a demigod a weapon this powerful, when he suddenly found himself thrown backwards by a silver arrow lodging in his chest. Falling to the ground, he heard, rather than saw, the hunters gathering round him as Hestia began to yell at them all. Then his hearing joined his sight in the realm of the dysfunctional.
Artemis ran out of the weapons tent as Hestia's shouting broke through the barrier of her and Annabeths conversation. The fact that her Aunt, the most peaceful goddess on Olympus, was yelling at her hunters was… disconcerting and not in the least bit worrying. Pushing aside the tent flap, she saw her Hunters all gathered around Hestia and what appeared to be a body. Cold fear began to seep through her as she realized what her hunters must have done. Praying to anyone who might be listening the situation was salvageable, she ran into the huddle of girls, barging past all of them to get to the middle, where Hestia was busy working on Perseus. By the time she got to the center, Hestia had removed the arrow from Perseus' chest and had begun using her powers of the heal him. Slowly, exceedingly slowly, color returned to Perseus' pallid face, and his breathing became less labored. Hestia sat back, exhausted from the effort.
"I can do no more, he will have to heal at his own pace now." Shooting the hunters a glare she turned to Artemis. "You are lucky I was here, if not for me then Perseus would have died." At this one of the hunters scoffed,
"Why should we care if this boy, dies?" Even Artemis shook her head at that comment. She did not want her hunters to mindless killers of men, hypocritically butchering innocents for the crimes of others. Hestia, however, did not stop at shaking her head, her usually calm features bursting into irritation.
"Foolish girl. This 'boy' is Perseus, son of Poseidon, Champion of both Hermes and Mercury, and the general of the Norman armies. Should he die here, the entire wrath of his father, patron and his brother William, King of Normandy, would fall upon the heads of all the hunters. What is more this man is likely the best of this age. Do not allow hate and prejudice to blinker your vision of the world." Looking down in shame the hunter backed into the crowd and Hestia flashed away.
"Now, does anyone want to tell me what happened?" Artemis asked, looking round at her hunters until her lieutenant stepped forward.
"Milady," Zoe began slightly nervously, "As usual, the hunters spent the majority of this morning in our tents, catching as much sleep as we could before you set us to moving again. However this morning, instead of being woken by you, we were woken by the sound of heavy rain beating down hard near our location, along with fierce winds tearing at our tents. Cautiously, we peered out of the tents, trying to avoid being soaked by the apparent storm, only to see this boy slam a trident into ground, sending a ripple of energy through the ground. Clearly Phoebe thought the boy was a threat, not seeing lady Hestia, and decided to act upon it." Artemis frowned, she could easily see why Phoebe had acted as she did, seeing someone wielding the weather as Zoe had described would have been frightening to say the least. What was more surprising was that Perseus wielded such power. Glancing round, Artemis could not see any Trident, or any weapon at all.
Suddenly, Annabeth broke through the circle of hunters, quickly moving to Perseus' side. Resting a hand on his neck, she quickly checked his pulse, before looking worriedly at the goddess. "Milady, we should move to a proper resting place to recover. His pulse is weak and he seems to have a temperature." Impressed, Artemis nodded towards to other hunters, who approached Perseus with expressions of distaste. Turning back to face Annabeth she smiled at the new hunter.
"How did you know to check his pulse and temperature? Not many girls know such things before joining the hunt." Annabeth shrugged slightly, keeping a watchful eye on the progress of the two hunters carrying Perseus.
"I used to help out around the village sometimes. I simply refined my technique with Perseus on our way here. We had a lot of time to talk." Artemis nodded once more, accepting her answer, though she was beginning to have concerns about the girl's relationship with the boy.
"Milady, why did Perseus wish to come here?" Annabeth blurted out suddenly. "He mentioned that he was already planning to come meet the hunt, and I mean no offense milady, but the hunt does not seem to be a group any sane male would wish to meet." Artemis smirked,
"Tell me Annabeth, does Perseus truly seem sane to you?" Annabeth gave a quick laugh.
"No milady, however he does seem to have a modicum of good sense." It was Artemis' turn to laugh; she was beginning to like the girl's sharp wit.
"Fair enough." She replied. "In truth Annabeth, I promised Perseus I would train him in archery should he manage to kill Python. Although from what I hear, that could be a very long and drawn out process." Annabeth looked quizzically at Artemis who smiled humorously. "You see, Perseus has a number of tales told through out the Greek world, and he is commonly hailed as one of the greatest warriors of this age. However the tales also say that he is so appalling at archery, that he managed to shoot his teacher, who was in the opposite direction from the target." Annabeth stared at her for a few seconds, trying to comprehend what she was being told.
"Surely no one can be that bad." She exclaimed. Artemis simply laughed.
"Well we'll know by tomorrow whether he is or isn't."
It was at that point that there was a loud thud, punctuated by several under breath curses. Turning they saw the two hunters standing over Perseus' body, clearly having dropped him. Growling in irritation, Annabeth stomped over to help them carry him to the medical tent. As Artemis turned to go back into her tent she noticed a flash of silver on the ground. Crouching down to get a better look, she saw the flash had come from a metal cylinder with a black, leather grip. Picking the strange object up, she could feel the latent power in it. With a jolt she detected the same sea green aura of power around it that she got from Poseidon, and from Perseus, though his was now confused with the gold of Hermes. Holding it in her hand, she realized that this must have been the trident Perseus was wielding. 'Why would he have such a weapon?' she asked herself. It was obvious his father gave it to him, however it was uncommon, even for Poseidon, to give their children such powerful gifts. Thinking about it further, she realized it also said something about Perseus. Something that was, in a way, terrifying. In order to use such a weapon, the wielder must have a godly core larger than the potential energy of the weapon, and Artemis could tell that the godly core required for this weapon was not massively far below hers, close to the level of many minor gods. That he had been using it at all, even if for a short while, was impressive. If he worked at it… there was no telling how powerful he might become. She wondered if she should tell Zeus, more than likely he would attempt to kill the boy for being a potential threat to Olympus, though in his defense he would at least allow the boy to plead his case, which was an improvement on the paranoia that began in Rome. Shaking her head, she knew she could not tell Zeus. For one, the boy had come to her for aid; accomplishing what many thought was an impossible task for any but a god. The second point was that if Zeus did indeed decide to kill the boy, it would send Olympus into a civil war unlike any other in their history, Poseidon was incredibly attached to his youngest son, and his first since… Orion. Sighing at the thought of her old friend, she turned and walked slowly to the center of the camp; where her Hunters were organizing themselves breakfast.
Perseus blinked rapidly as his eyes adjusted to the dull light of his surroundings. From what he could tell, he was in a medical tent, which was a given seeing there was a large bag of medical supplies standing on the table next to him. He turned his head to look around only for him to find bundle of blond hair staring down at him. "You're awake," Annabeth said, punching him in the arm.
"Ow!" Perseus rubbed his arm where she hit. "What the hades was that for?"
"Nearly dying on me. Lady Hestia said that you would have died if not for her." Perseus looked up at Annabeth, seeing the pain his incapacitation had caused her. He flashed her a smile,
"Hey, its alright. Look at me, I'm as good as new!" She gave him a quick grin in return, and gave him another, softer, punch. Suddenly she looked confused,
"I saw you take worse hits in the battle against Python without collapsing, why was this time any different?" Perseus blinked, confused himself. All he remembered was using the trident, before an arrow slammed into his chest. Hesitantly, he tried to put together a theory.
"Well, after using the new trident Aunt Hestia gave me, I remember feeling incredibly tired. Perhaps the exhaustion and the injury worked together, becoming too much for my body to handle." He glanced at her again, noticing the silver uniform she was now wearing. "I see you've been fully kitted out."
"Yeah, they gave me a new bow and quiver, along with some protective clothing. You know, despite appearances, the clothes the hunters wear are actually personal, with several differences depending on the person. For those from Greece or Rome, the have material and designs that match the era, while for the more modern hunters they have a lot of the current designs, so long as they are functional of course." Perseus nodded slightly before hesitantly asking,
"Did you keep the knives?" Annabeth's eyes widened.
"Of course I did, they were much better than the knives lady Artemis tried to give me. Plus, if I gave them up, what would I have to remind me of our journey here? Of you?" Perseus grinned, before breaking out into a hacking cough. Annabeth quickly passed him a glass of nectar as he looked around once more. "How long have I been out?"
"Not long," She answered, grabbing some ambrosia from a pack on the ground. "Its just before lunch." He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, simultaneously pulling himself into a sitting position. Annabeth flushed bright red, and Perseus realized that he hadn't got his shirt on. Quickly moving to the end of the bed, he grabbed his shirt, noticing that it, along with the rest of his clothes, had been repaired. Pulling the shirt over his head, he shot Annabeth a questioning look. Realizing what he was asking, Annabeth quickly obliged,
"Artemis made Phoebe and another hunter who disrespected Lady Hestia repair them in recompense."
Perseus grabbed his sleeveless jacket and pulled it on, swiftly followed by his heavy ankle length over coat. Grabbing his weapons from their pile in the corner, he began to fix them back on, wincing as he looed his sword belt over his chest. He ruefully rubbed at the wound, giving Annabeth an almost embarrassed look.
"I guess I haven't healed as fast as I thought I would." Annabeth laughed, chucking him his boots. Fastening his boots, he quickly strapped on his greaves and bracers, before walking out of the large tent, having to stoop slightly as he went through the door.
The light outside was considerably brighter than inside, and it took Perseus several seconds to adjust. When his sight returned, he was surprised to find Artemis already walking towards him. Reaching him, Artemis immediately gestured for him to follow her. As they walked, Perseus took the time to learn the layout of the camp. As could be expected, the site was centered around a large fire pit, with space enough around it to comfortably eat and cook. The tents were arranged in a U shape around the fire, leaving the open side facing onto the road. Behind the tents, and hidden between the trees of the forest, the hunters that were not in the woods hunting were practicing their archery, only visible due to the occasional flash of silver. "I trust your injury is not serious?" Artemis finally asked.
"Indeed, a few hours of sleep, along with some nectar and ambrosia, and it should be fine." Artemis nodded, accepting the answer.
"And your clothes? Are they satisfactory." She asked.
"Very much so, you did not need to make your hunters repair them, I'm sure I was and unnerving sight." Perseus smiled slightly.
"Indeed." The eventually reached the command tent. Pushing the tent flap aside, Perseus stepped through the canvas doorway, and into a large stone room with windows that looked down upon fields of snow. Perseus' jaw dropped, stunned by the seeming teleportation. He spun round, taking in as much of the new room as he could.
A large, circular table sat in the middle of the room, with several seats scattered around it. On the wooden table lay numerous maps, dotted with markers and lines drawn in string. A cabinet lined one side of the room, filled with expensive wines, decanters and cups. Lying atop the cabinet, Perseus saw his trident in its collapsed form. "It's a 'Dream Gate'" Perseus spun round to face Artemis, finding her sitting on a chair by the window.
"Pardon?"
"A 'Dream Gate', Athena came up with the idea just after the fall of Rome." Seeing he was still oblivious as to what she was talking about, Artemis sighed. "Gods do not need to sleep, and as such we do not dream, however we do occasionally need to escape into our own minds. As such each god has places called 'dreamscapes', worlds of our own creation. These places are where gods talk to demigods in their dreams. Athena hypothesized that if we could bring the consciousness of a demigod to a dream place, and that we could go to our dreamscapes physically, that it must be possible for others to enter said dreamscape physically as well. Of course, she had no proof for this theory so father did not back any sort of funding or council time for the idea. Eventually, Athena, along with Hephaestus, Morpheus, and Hypnos, managed to create a working doorway to one of her dreamscapes. Finally having proof of her theory, she was able to convince Zeus to give her the funding required to start producing and improving her creation. It took another two centuries for her to make the gates portable." Struggling to comprehend the information he was being bombarded with, Perseus slowly nodded.
"So, were inside one of your dreamscapes now?"
"Indeed."
"And you and the hunters use this as your planning room for hunts."
"Indeed."
"So the room would be sealed and would block all forms of espionage?"
"Indeed."
"I'm going to guess that you brought me here to question me."
"Indeed." Sighing, Perseus pulled out a chair from the table, sitting across from Artemis, before spreading his hands in a 'ask away' gesture. Taking the hint, Artemis leaned forward over the table, resting her elbows on the surface and pressing her palms together, the tips of her fingers underneath the end of her nose.
"Firstly, did you manage to kill Python?" Perseus shot her an incredulous look; surely she knew he had.
"I did, though I would not have managed it, or recovered from my injuries so quickly, without Annabeth and her father." Artemis frowned,
"That is a different story to the one Annabeth tells. She said you killed the snake single handedly." Perseus sighed.
"I first fought the snake in its lair, one of Hephaestus' old forges, however I was not alone. Moments before the snake arrived, I had been fighting Annabeths father, who had been given little choice other than to get rid of her. When the snake appeared, he and I both worked to force the snake out of the cave. Afterwards, I fought Python, along with a Pegasus named Blackjack. Despite being injured and having Blackjack taken out of the fight, I managed to eliminate the beast- though only barely." Artemis blinked, surprised. Despite not being the god of truth, she had spent enough time around Humans to know when one was lying, and Perseus had not told a single lie in that recounting.
"Very well. Do you have the spoils of the conflict?" Perseus nodded, tacking a small wooden grip from the quiver at his side. Artemis was about to growl at him, until he flicked his arm, causing the rest of the bow to snap into existence. He placed it on the table, sliding it across to her. Picking up the bow, she almost jumped in surprise as it began to shimmer and shift, before settling on a glowing silver bow, much like the one she already owned, although more ornate. Frowning slightly, she turned to Perseus. "Why is the bow decorative for me, but for you, it was simply functional?" Perseus shrugged.
"Perhaps it is attuned to what the holder wishes. Although, a quiver should have appeared for you" Artemis glanced around, checking, before shaking her head. Perseus furrowed his brow in confusion.
"When I held the bow, the quiver appeared, hanging from my waist, appearing to be only half the length of the arrows it provided." Artemis nodded, though Perseus could not tell if she were confused, irritated, or another emotion entirely.
"It seems," she started slowly, "That the bow has coded itself to you, only allowing you to fully utilize it." Perseus froze, hoping that she wouldn't be irritated with him. Looking up at him now, Artemis continued to speak.
"While this is not ideal, I was planning on giving you this bow anyway, simply after your training." She hesitated, "Indeed, I think I shall continue with that plan, simply because I cannot use it, it does not mean I need to allow you to have possession a deadly weapon, one which you cannot use safely at the best of times." Perseus couldn't think of a counter argument, everything she said was valid and logical. "On the subject of deadly weapons, would you mind explaining to me exactly why you were using this," At this point she picked up the trident and dropped it on the table in front of him, "In the middle of my camp." Perseus reached towards the weapon, only to have Artemis slap his hand away.
"Lady Hestia gave me the bow this morning, after you left with Annabeth to sort her out with gear. I was simply getting a feel for it, before I realized the effect it was having on the weather. I assure, I meant no harm."
"I believe you, however I don't want you to use this again when in my camp. If you wish to train with it, you can go to secluded spot, or, better yet, you can ask me and I will bring you to a dream scape, where I will be able to teach you." Perseus looked up, stunned at the goddess' statement.
"You would train me?" Artemis frowned.
"Of course, I am going to be training you in archery anyway, so one more weapon will not make much of a difference. Also, the faster you learn to use this godly weapon, the better you will be at your guardian duties." Perseus blinked.
"Guardian duties?"
"Indeed, while you are here you will be acting as a guardian for the hunters, at least, when I am not training you." Perseus immediately became wary.
"What will these 'duties' include?"
"Nothing too strenuous, do your fair share of the chores, make sure the areas we camp in are secure locations, take at four of the night shifts as a sentry, and protect the hunt in battle. Also I would appreciate it if you would train my girls in close combat, however that is a request not an order." Perseus dipped his head in acquiescence.
"Perhaps it would be better if we were to wait for a while before I begin to train the girls. Give them a chance to become accustomed to my presence so to speak."
Artemis nodded quickly in agreement; simply glad he had agreed to train them. While she might not like the fact that she was going to a man for help, she could not help but admit that he was one of the most accomplished fighters of the age, and that if there was any man she would ever consider worthy of training her girls, he was it. After all, all of Olympus knew what he had done for Athena, despite her original dislike of him.
Picking up the trident, Perseus quickly looked over his person, trying to find a place to store it. Finally he realized he didn't have anywhere available. Rolling her eyes, Artemis finally gave up on the idea of him figuring it out himself. "Unlike your sword or bow, that trident is a truly godly weapon, and as such it can be summoned like one. Think. How does your father summon and store his trident." Frowning, Perseus tried to remember. He had a faint memory of his father with his trident, and the weapon seemingly disappearing into water.
"Water. He stored it as water." Artemis nodded exaggeratedly,
"Yes, now try to do the same." Perseus closed his eyes, concentrating. Slowly, he exerted his will over the trident, his brow folding as he force the metal to shift and waver, falling from his hands and disappearing from the ground. Opening his eyes, he found Artemis smiling at him, seemingly proud.
"Well done. Now you should be able to call it back to you at will. And it should be much easier." Suddenly, Artemis tensed, an almost scared look creeping into her eyes. She turned and sprinted out of the room. Perseus quickly unsheathed Anaklusmos, before heading out after Artemis.
The sight that greeted him was not friendly. Somehow, a group of monsters had managed to sneak up on the hunt, and now they were surrounded, the hunters' defensive circle being forced ever tighter as hunters fell to injury and were quickly dragged back by their fellows. Perseus saw Annabeth narrowly dodge the swipe of a hellhound paw, and began to sprint towards her. As he neared, the hellhound managed to catch her in the side, sending her tumbling backwards. He roared in anger, leaping towards the beast and dispatching it with a quick strike. He slung his shield round, slipping it onto his arm, and continued to attack. Anger fueled his strikes, and not a single move was wasted. Ever stroke did damage to the enemy and every block saved either himself or a hunter. He buried his sword in the head of a Cyclops, before using his now free hand to send a dagger flying into the eye of a hellhound attempting to sneak up on Artemis' lieutenant. He snatched up his sword once more as he turned around. He was shoved back a few steps as a club hit his shield. A claw swiped his face forcing him to duck. He lashed out, ramming the hound with his shield, before following up with a quick thrust through its heart. He jumped over the club of the Cyclops and spun, chopping off its arm. As it crumbled to dust he ran on, slashing at another hellhound. Wherever he went in the battle, a whirlwind of golden sand followed, however for each monster he killed, another, if not two, took its place. The hunters quickly found themselves backed against the fire, and Perseus found himself next to Artemis. "Do you think you can get your hunters to the command tent?" Artemis nodded slightly in response, reluctant to waste unnecessary energy.
"Why?" Perseus quickly block an incoming arrow, courtesy of the Dracanae archers.
"You know that weapon you told me not to use as it's to powerful and I'm not properly trained to use it? Well I think this might be the perfect time for a bit of untamed power." Artemis shot a sideways glance at him.
"Are you sure you can handle it."
"It is my judgment as a warrior that if I do not at least try, then the hunt is not likely to last much longer." Artemis took a spare second to glance around the clearing, before shaking her head.
"Very well, lets move. HUNTERS, TO THE COMMAND TENT!" she yelled out. Gradually, the silver block of hunters began to move, shifting through the sea of dark monsters. As they moved, Perseus began to reserve as much godly energy as he could. He did not commonly use his powers, though he was skilled with them. He knew from experience that powers could fail or be blocked, but the only thing that could beat technique was someone with better technique. And there were very few people who could boast better technique than him. The reached the tent and Artemis began directing the hunters inside. As the last hunter entered, another hunter leaning injured on her shoulder, Perseus summoned a wall of water to force the monsters back.
Focusing on his hand, Perseus summoned his trident back to his hand. Water ran up from the ground, and Perseus could see the metal trident forming in his grip. With a burst of green energy the trident appeared, solid and glowing with power. Releasing control of the wall of water, Perseus began to move. He swung the trident in a circle, summoning winds to his command. Raising the trident overhead Perseus could feel as the storm cloud rolled overhead. He seemed to instinctively know what he ought to do, so instead of thinking, he surrendered to his instincts. He spun, waves forming and crushing rows of monsters. He blocked and thrust, each motion of the trident summoning the powers of the storm bringer. He slammed the trident down, sending an earthquake smashing through the ground at the monsters feet. In truth, he did not know much of what he did. Only that the power he wielded crushed his enemies to his feet. The storms raged for what seemed to be hours, but in reality it was barely one. He saw the forest, torn and shredded by his power, but empty of any monsters. He took a few steps, the trident falling from his grasp, disappearing into mist before he fell to his knees, collapsing to the dirt in front of the last tent standing. He entered unconsciousness, his just reward.
I hope the characters don't seem to be OOC, however my idea is that, with Artemis for example, her man hating views haven't developed to quite the same stage. I hope you enjoyed reading, and any reviews are appreciated.