Keep still, Artemis. Keep very still.
Artemis was still and silent as she hid amongst the bushes. Somehow, the fight between her and Demeter had gone all the way from the cul-de-sac neighbourhood to the dark forests surrounding the area. She did not complain though, for she was glad that she could now be able to fight in an area that was full of elements she was very adapted to, being the Goddess of the Hunt and the Wild and all. Furthermore, they had garnered the unwanted attentions of the Heatherton residents, who were all in complete shock from seeing the unnatural and 'unholy' power of the two women.
Artemis had already used up half of her arrows, all which she shot at Demeter. Thanks to her great and expert archery skills, she had managed to aim her target perfectly each time. Being immortal and all-powerful, Demeter was not gravely injured or maimed, although she did attain some scratches which healed slowly.
Suddenly, Artemis could hear stomping coming within her range. She too could feel the powerful aura of the wrathful Harvest Goddess approaching. Her supernatural senses heightened then, her breathing became small and shallow and she could nearly hear the pounding of her own heart as she pulled back her bowstring.
And then, in a heartbeat, Artemis got onto her feet and turned in the direction of Demeter, one hand gripping the curve of her bow tightly while the other released the bowstring, sending the arrow flying.
However, she did not notice that Demeter had already put up a shield around herself, already anticipating her attack. The arrow was deflected easily, and Demeter unleashed a new wave of force from her hand at the same time.
Luckily, Artemis too quickly developed her own shield. But unfortunately, it was not able to reach its maximum power by the time Demeter's wave of power struck her. It did no direct harm to her, but the impact between her shield and the older goddess' power sent her flying several feet back.
Suddenly, as she landed on her back onto the hard forest floor, she could sense immediately that Lord Hades had successfully managed to get out of town with Persephone. She silently thanked Mount Olympus that their plan for her to distract Demeter while he went in to rescue his wife had worked.
But now, she had to make her own escape.
Artemis lifted her head and saw that Demeter was approaching her slowly and dangerously. Quickly, she got back up on her feet and held Demeter's glare with an intimidating stare. But as she kept her eyes on her, her mind was thinking of a quick escape plan.
Just then, she noticed the tree that was just right beside Demeter. A plan formed into her mind then, and she quickly readied one of her last few arrows onto the bow once again. Demeter assumed that she was going to try and shoot, and she brought up her shield once again.
Artemis smirked to herself. She was glad that Demeter assumed she was going to use the same attack. That gave her the advantage to execute her plan.
She channeled all her powers into the arrow before aiming it directly at the tree. Finally, she released the bowstring, sending the arrow flying at top speed in the air, and immediately ran away from the scene.
Demeter looked at her in confusion, and she did not realize that the arrow had already come in contact with the trunk of the tree, causing the tree to explode into bits. The impact of the explosion sent Demeter flying several feet away from where she originally stood, same as Artemis just a few minutes prior.
By the time she heard the explosion die down, Artemis had already gotten out of the forest, thanks to her quick, godly speed. She saw that she was back in the cul-de-sac neighbourhood, and immediately took notice of the destruction that she had partially caused. Instantly, her heart was filled with guilt and regret at the thought of her causing hurt to the lives of the residents.
I'm so sorry… she said to herself in her mind.
Just then, she noticed some of the residents pointing accusing fingers at her. Their eyes were wide with shock and fear as they stared at her. Of course, they remembered her as the strange girl with a bow and a quiver full of arrows and who exhibited supernatural powers that caused damage to their neighbourhood. They assessed from head-to-toe, taking in the sight of her ragged and torn clothes.
The stares she got became too much for her then, and she dashed out of the neighbourhood immediately. But as she ran away from the scene, she suddenly felt a vibration coming from one of the pockets of her combat jeans. Her hand dove into her pocket, and pulled out her cell phone, which had miraculously managed to stay intact despite her gruelling battle against Demeter.
She took one look at the caller ID, and immediately answered it, saying, "Hello? Hermes?"
"Artemis," his voice replied, sounding slightly relieved of the fact that she was alright. And then it became worried. "Where are you?" he asked.
Looking behind her for a while to see if anyone was following her, which there wasn't, she answered, "Still in Heatherton. Got into a mess with Demeter but I made it out fine."
"What about Lord Hades and Persephone?" he inquired worriedly.
"They've managed to escape without a scratch. Something tells me they're already halfway towards Portland. Where are you and the others?"
"We're coming to get you," he told me urgently. "We got your passport and ID already. Wait for us at the town borders. We're reaching in about five minutes or less."
"Got it," she replied before putting down the phone and immediately started running to the town borders.
Demeter staggered into her house, her body thoroughly exhausted. She had attained a few cuts and bruises, which were now slowly healing.
Slowly, she climbed up the stairs, intent on checking up on Persephone first. But suddenly, she realized that she could hear no sound coming from Persephone's room, when she should still be screaming to be released.
Alarm washed over her like a tsunami, and her pace up the stairs quickened, despite the fact that her body was still physically exhausted. But she did not care. She pushed herself to go faster, praying to the Great Mother that her daughter was still trapped to the bed.
But her fear heightened when she saw that the door to Persephone's room was open.
"PERSEPHONE?" she cried out, literally throwing herself into the room.
Instead of what she had hoped to find, which was her daughter unconscious on the bed and still held by restraints, she was met by an empty room.
"NNNNNNOOOO! PERSEPHONEEE!" she cried out in anguish.
Demeter's knees immediately became weak and she could no longer hold herself up. She felt as though all her fears came crashing down upon her as she crumpled to the floor and felt the horrifying thought that Persephone had escaped once again overwhelmed her.
But as she cried her pain out, she began to realize one thing; Persephone was still too weak in powers to get out of her hold, meaning that somebody had helped her daughter escape while she was occupied with Artemis.
The only other person that would be strong enough to defeat the powers of an elder was another elder.
And she did not need to ponder about who it was.
Suddenly, she screamed out loud in frustration and cursed herself for not being more careful about keeping her daughter away from Hades. But mostly, she cursed Hades. Cursed him with all the hatred she had for him.
"DAMN HIM!" she snarled violently and poisonously. "DAMN HIM TO TARTARUS!"
She was frustrated. Now the two of them had run off once again. But to who knows where?
And then, a thought appeared in her mind. A thought that gave her a quite clear idea as to where Hades and her daughter were running off to.
Quickly, she got back on her feet and walked quickly out of Persephone's bedroom to her own bedroom. There, she made her way straight to her night drawer, where she picked up the platinum card that she had placed there just the day before.
It all happened so fast. In just about forty-five minutes or so, Hades was already putting the jeep into parking at the parking lot of the Portland International Airport.
After cutting off the engine, he threw the keys into the glove compartment in front of my side and got his bag from the backseat. Then, we both got out of the vehicle at the same time.
He held my hand tightly as he led me inside the huge building. Everything was a blur to me as I trotted along with him, but I do know that there weren't many people in the airport right now, considering the fact that it was around four-thirty in the morning. I did catch sight of some people sitting around on the waiting chairs, some sleeping even. Probably waiting for their flight.
I turned my head to see that the both of us were at a lone counter, which I realized was for private flights. I became confused then. We didn't actually have flight tickets to Greece (that would have taken ages to get). So I wondered how Hades had managed to secure us a private flight.
"Can I help you?" said the sleepy woman who was manning the counter by herself. Her carrot red hair was pinned up into a bun and her green eyes were looking very exhausted. I understood why she looked as though she could fall asleep any minute. I mean, who wouldn't if they had to work before the sun even came up?
Hades then began to rummage through his backpack and pulled out two silver cards. I didn't know what those cards were for, but I caught a glimpse of the big and bold words 'EVANS INDUSTRIES' printed on one side.
"I have two VIP passes for one of the Evans Industries' private jets to Athens, Greece," he informed the counter girl as he gave her the two cards in his hands. She took it from him as she began to type something on the computer.
"Names?" she asked him, flashing a look to me as well.
"Aiden Cole and Spring Korey," he answered her. I blinked when I heard him say those names. It seemed like it had been a very long time since I heard anyone refer to me by that name.
The counter girl keyed something into her computer, her green eyes slowly scanning the words on the screen. Finally, she said, "Alright. I have the both of your names in the system already. All I need now is your passports and identification cards."
Hades quickly got out our passports and IDs and gave it to the counter girl. She keyed in some more necessary info into the computer, stamped our passports with the seal of the airport before returned our passports and IDs to us and telling us where to go to get to our flight. Hades thanked her quickly before once again pulling me away.
I did not where we were actually going. As Hades led me down hallways, turning around corners and running down empty moving escalators, we suddenly came upon a gate that led directly to the runways of the airport.
There was a big and burly security guard there, and he asked us to show him our passes. Hades got out our passports and showed him the stamps that had been imprinted on one of the pages. The security guard looked at it closely for a while before finally allowing us to pass. Hades gave him a nod of thanks before pulling me out into the open.
The air was freezing, and the cold bit my skin instantly. I shivered fervently, my teeth chattering as well, and I used my free hand to rub my other arm for warmth. If only I was not wearing just a tank top, capri pants and ballet flats but instead something a lot warmer.
Suddenly, I noticed that we were rushing towards a very fancy-looking jet. It looked like it cost several million dollars, and it had the word 'EVANS' imprinted on the side of its white body.
A wheeled staircase then appeared, pushed by two airline employees in grey jumpsuits, and it was situated right beneath the door of the jet. The door opened just as Hades and I ran up into it, and it closed instantly just as we got in.
When I had finally recollected myself after the rush of things, I was suddenly taken aback by the entire interior of the jet.
Only one word could describe it; LUXURY.
As Hades spoke to two people who were already on the plane, who I assumed was the captain and a flight attendant, I wandered off on my own to do a little bit of exploring.
The main room was absolutely stunning. There was a row of cushioned seats lining against one side of the jet, with satin pillows adorning it, a coffee table situated in the middle and a plasma television (A PLASMA TELEVISION!) lining against the opposite side of the jet. It was like a small living room, only it was in a jet.
Damn... The wonders you could own if you were filthy rich….
Before I could wander off even more, I felt a hand on my shoulder and I turned around to meet Hades' wary eyes.
As he stroked my cheek with his finger, he said, "You better sit down. We're taking off soon."
So obediently, I sat down on the couch, clutching a green satin pillow to my chest. Hades sat beside me, encircling one arm around me and pulling me to him. I rested my head on his shoulder, concentrating only on his warmth.
In a few minutes, the jet took off into the air.
The Fates had their green eyes on all the Olympians, who were all scrambling as quickly as they could to catch a flight to Greece, before the hour of the rapture arrived.
As they watched intently, Atropos ran her fingers through her blood red hair, Lachesis kept on wringing her hands whereas Clotho stood still.
"So begins the race against time," Clotho murmured under her breath.
Author's Note:
The airport scene was extremely confusing to me. Considering the fact that I have NEVER been to America, I do not know how the system of catching a flight there works, so I had to rely on my imaginations. So if any of my readers are from Portland, please excuse my false information.
Muse of Fanfiction