Wow wow wow wow. Three chapters three days in a row. Isn't that swell? Enjoy and don't forget to review!
He leaned in and stopped so close to her face that if she decided to headbutt him, she was sure that she would shove his nose right into his brain. She was tempted to do that, it did sound like a rather fun idea, but needed to know who this man was first.
Artemis could feel his breath on her face and could smell his scent. Rain and something else. Something familiar that she couldn't quite put her finger on.
His eyes bore into her own as if looking into her soul. "You mean you don't remember me, Lady Artemis?" the man whispered and then laughed, "No wonder it took you so long to find me. You can't even recognize me."
Artemis froze in shock, "Perseus?"
It was nice to see a familiar face. For the past few days, the only faces he saw were the Fates's and even then he didn't see them that much. They stopped by to check on him every other day or so and only stayed for five minutes at most. They said that if they stayed to long, their strong smokey scent would attract too many unwanted visitors.
Whenever they came, they gave him new tasks. Master calling to his white flames was the first one.
He sat on a log for staring at his hands for five hours until a small flicker popped from his fingertips. He was so excited that he had made progress that he broke his focus and the flames immediately went out. But it was progress he told himself. After that he was able to summon them quicker and quicker. Soon it only took a flick of his hands to ignite his fingers.
Percy was confident in his flame powers, but he soon realized that he had absolutely no control over them. His first mistake was trying to summon them past his hands. His entire body burst into flames and his panic had caused his entire camp to burn down. He tried to put it out with his water powers, but the minute he grabbed hold of some water to put the fire out, he passed out.
He guessed that these new powers had pushed out his old ones, just like how his eyes were no longer green. Thinking of that always sent a pang of loss through his heart. His old life was truly gone. He had nothing left from it.
Some days, he screamed for hours, cursing at himself and the Fate's, mourning his old self. Once in a fit of rage, he tried to claw his eyes out. Those disgusting white demon eyes. He thinks that he might have gotten one out but soon he fainted from loss of blood. When he woke up, he was perfectly fine and both of his eyes were in tact.
He was also plagued by visions. The Fates called them that at least. A better name was a mindfuck.
They started out as a pounding in the back of his head. The pounding would get worse and worse until it felt like his mind was being split in two. Then he would be thrown into 'the Abyss', that was what he liked to called the darkness. After being thrown there, he saw things.
Glimpses of the future. Clues from the past. Sometimes just faces. They would mean something eventually, but usually they made no sense at all.
Time was always different in the Abyss. Sometimes it felt like he was there for decades, wandering around in the darkness aimlessly until he almost forgot who he was. Or it could feel like mere seconds, like there wasn't enough time to comprehend what he was seeing before he was launched back into reality.
Then came his next task: Master the mindfucks.
If Percy thought he had little success with summoning and controlling his fire, then his task would be completely impossible.
He tried meditating through the pounding, seeing if he could make it go away or just lessen the pain. Instead it sent him into a half-sleep that locked up his body and made the pounding last even longer before he was sent to the Abyss.
Plan B then. Unlike trying to make the pain go away, he would try to hit it head on. The next time he felt the pounding, he focused on it, trying to make it worse. He held his breath to cut off his oxygen, hung upside down to get blood to rush to his head. He did anything that would make the pain worse so that he could be sent to the Abyss as quickly as possible.
That didn't work either. Every time, the pain knocked him out and when he woke up, the pounding was there to greet him again. After that he gave up. Trying to master the visions just made them worse. Maybe he would get used to them after a while.
He really hoped that happened soon because now he got them more often, almost every few hours. They also took over his dreams. What used to be his one moment of peace in the day, turned into sleepless nights and haunting pictures.
The one improvement that he could find was that there no longer was an increasing pounding in his head. Instead he was randomly hit with extreme pain and knocked out in the matter of seconds.
He was always doing something when that happened. The last one he had was when he was scouting up in a tree and everything went black. He wasn't alone in the darkness for long until he started seeing visions.
Surprisingly, he loved watching the beginning of visions. They always start with a swirling of a white wind that caressed his face with a warm softness. It was one of the only times he felt... whole. Like he could forget about what had happened to him. Forget that he was broken beyond repair.
Then the wind would clear and he was again burdened with reality. After the wind cleared in this vision, he saw pictures that made him freeze.
A woman sat in front of a fire in dark clothes, a bow strapped to her back, and a silver circlet around her head. A girl in the same dark clothes stood beside her, he hands behind her back.
"Lady Artemis, we found a lead to an inn 20 miles northwest from here. It might be him," the girl spoke.
The woman stood from her seat and brushed off her clothes. "Good. Tell the hunters to pack up camp. We leave in an hour," she ordered, her voice hard and cold.
The girl turned and left, leaving the woman who stared at the fire, face wrinkled in exhaustion. She tilted he head to the sky and looked at the moon.
"Please let this be him."
The world went dark again as the visions ended and the white wind faded away. Percy stood in the Abyss shocked. They were looking for him. Hunting him down. He had to leave. Now.
He woke up on the forest ground. His wrist stung with pain, probably broken, and his limbs were covered in nasty bruises. Even though his entire body ached, he ran back to camp and start to pack his things. If he left quickly enough, he might be able to put a large enough distance between them.
"What do you think you're doing?" a voice asked.
Percy didn't even bother to turn around. He already knew who it was.
"What does it look like, Lachesis? I'm running before the hunters catch me," Percy muttered as he jammed his sleeping roll into his backpack. He was already halfway done packing. In five minutes he'd be gone.
Lachesis looked him up and down and chuckled. Atropos sent her here to tell him that he needed to stay her and face Artemis, but she could wait until he was fully packed to tell him.
"Perseus?" she asked sweetly, putting on her best I'm-definitely-not-scheming face.
Percy turned to face her a look of annoyance on his face, "What?" She was slowing him down. He could have been gone by now.
Lachesis looked down to the ground, acting coy, "Well," she started slowly, "I was thinking."
Percy looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to finish her thought, but she had gone silent. He let out an agitated sigh.
"What. What is it?" he said bitingly. He still go no answer from her, "Spit it out, Lachesis, I need to leave."
"That's what I was thinking about actually," she smiled, "Before I came here, Atropos said something about me having to tell you that you're not to leave, but I can't seem to remember it all."
Percy went still, "And why could you have told me this sooner?" he seethed.
Lachesis ignored him and circled him, stopped at his back, and pulled at his pack. "I guess you'll have to unpack everything," she laughed.
Percy's body sagged with tiredness. He slung off his pack and took a seat on the ground, "You're the worst, you know that right?"
"Like you're any better," Lachesis countered as she sunk down next to him.
Percy let out a huff through his nose, "So why am I staying here instead of running from the goddess who will most likely stick an arrow in me?
"You need to heal," Percy opened his mouth to argue but no sound came out, "I know you've been having difficultly mastering your new powers and Atropos thinks that may be because you're holding yourself back. Physically, you should be able to master everything without much trouble, but you're hesitating."
"And you think Artemis will help with this?" he asked warily.
Lachesis sighed, "I don't know if she'll fix everything, but it's worth trying. She's familiar and you haven't had many... conflicts, with her in the past."
Percy mulled over the idea in his head. If this would help make him whole again, then he would try.
"Fine. What do you need me to do?"
Lachesis smiled and told him everything he needed to know. He would travel with the hunters, but he couldn't let Artemis take him back to Olympus, he would be kind and respectful to the hunters, and if he needed to contact Lachesis, he could speak to her in his mind. He only needed to think her name and she would answer.
Before she left, she said that Artemis would arrive after sunset. He had an hour till sunset. Only one hour till her saw her. He had to think of a way to keep her and her hunters from killing him without hurting them.
He built up his plan until everything was in place. The sun just dipped under the horizon, it wouldn't be long till she'd be here. She would definitely bring some of her hunters, but not too many. It would be a stealth party.
The first step would be to lead some of them away with a false scent. He had scattered pieces of his clothes all across the forest in at least a three-mile radius. Hopefully that would keep the hunters occupied.
Then he would take out anyone else until only Artemis was left. She would be the hardest part. He was definitely going to have to dodge a lot of arrows. He needed to get her weaponless. He was stronger than her and if he could take out her bow and knives, he could hold her down long enough to talk to her.
He began to clean and sharpen Riptide. He wasn't going to be using it, but it ease his nerves. Minutes later he heard the crackling of branches. He stood quietly, sheathed Riptide, and climbed a tree.
Three minutes later, Artemis emerged from the trees with two hunters, and holy gods, Thalia. She was going to kill him if she caught him. And the wolves, he forgot about those.
They were enormous and looked extremely deadly. Percy shuddered, he'd figure out how to deal with those later. He watched as Thalia and another hunter went off into the woods. Good. He only had to take down one hunter.
Once Artemis and the hunter were out of sight, he slid down the tree and dropped to the ground. He looked around for the hunter. There, in the middle of his camp. He slunk across the grass like a panther, his muscles straining to make his steps as quiet as possible.
In the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of movement. He quickly ducked behind a tree and looked for what had caused it. It was Artemis. She and her wolf were snooping around his tent.
She ran her eyes in his direction, raising her bow. She could sense him. He had to work quicker. He continued in the direction of the single hunter the moment Artemis was facing the other direction.
He stopped a few feet away from the pair. He stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out a smooth small rock. The hunter would wake up with a killer headache, but this was better than having to fight her.
He reeled his arm back and aimed at the hunter's temple. Once his arm went steady, he launched the rock at her head. It sailed true and he heard a thump, a curse, and then a deep thud as she hit the ground.
Now the wolf which was now pacing with its hackles risen. It pointed its nose up in the air as if to get a scent. When it put its head back down, its eyes locked with his.
Oh shit.
Percy slowly stood and raised his hands in front of him, showing the wolf he meant no harm. The wolf only bared its giant teeth and prowled towards him.
"Lachesis, I need your help," Percy thought.
The wolf was so close now that Percy could smell its breath.
"Lachesis, I'm going to become a chew toy if you don't answer soon."
His back bumped against a tree. He was stuck, cornered, done for. The wolf's fangs were only inches from his throat.
"Lachesis!" Percy mentally screamed, his mind straining.
"What?! Gods you're annoying. What do you want?" Lachesis's voice echoed inside his head.
"The wolf, Lachesis. What do I do about the wolf!" Percy thought desperately.
"Just tell it to stop, Perseus," she replied plainly.
"This isn't a time for jokes, Lachesis," he said, starting to panic. He could see the wolf tense itself up, ready to pounce on him.
"I'm not joking. You're words have power, Perseus. They are weapons of destiny. Good luck, champion." With that, her presence faded from his mind and he was left alone with the wolf.
Percy let out a shaky breath. Hades, he was a goner. What was he going to do? Tell the dog to play dead?
He gathered his courage and opened his mouth, "Sit," he whispered to the wolf, trying to put power into his words like Lachesis said.
The wolf hesitated slightly, but still inched toward him. He tried again, making his voice stronger this time.
"Sit down."
The wolf froze. Then before his eyes, it slowly sat on the ground. Percy let out a huff of victory. He had done it. Now he just needed to knock the wolf out, just like its hunter.
"Sleep," he spoke. He swore he could see the magic from them ripple through the air, fly into the wolf, pull it down to the ground, lulling it to sleep. Percy sighed and pushed himself off of the tree. That was close.
Percy walked in the direction of his tent where Artemis was. He was only a few paces away from her and then he took a step onto a stick which let out a loud crack. Percy saw Artemis whirl her bow in his way and ducked into a bush.
He saw her still, she was probably listening for him. She suddenly pushed her wolf forward in the way he came from. He followed her from a distance, thinking of way to proceed with his plan.
She stopped in front of the hunter and wolf he had knocked out. He could feel the anger roll off her. She swiveled around on her wolf, ready to shoot anything that moved.
"Where are you?" she hissed. Oh she was definitely furious.
He stepped closer, trying to get a better angle of her and her wolf. Then before he could dodge, Artemis twisted her bow at him and shot out three of her arrows. A burning sensation took over his shoulder. Percy let out a grunt of pain. Hades, she was a good archer.
Ok. Fun was over. Percy inched as close to the pair as he dared, holding his breath to stay silent.
He built of power in his throat and whispered to the wolf, hopefully low enough that Artemis didn't hear.
"Go to sleep."
The magic took hold and the wolf's body slowly froze and started to sink to the ground. He heard Artemis whisper to the wolf, urge it to move, but it was already half-asleep.
And before she could jump off, the wolf fell, trapping her beneath it. That was his cue. Percy took off sprinting to his tent.
He threw himself inside and grabbed one of his shirts. The he sharply turned back to the direction he came from. He heard the scrape of the wolf's body on the ground. Artemis was free which meant that he didn't have much time before she was after him again.
He ran past her rustling the leaves as he went, trying to grab her attention. She took the bait and began to stalk towards his trap. He had strung up his shit around a tree. Percy prayed it looked enough like a figure in the dim moonlight to trick her.
He ran behind another tree and kept his eyes trained on his trap. Artemis soon came slinking through the trees. He could see her brandish her hunting knives and then lunge for the tree.
After striking the tree, Artemis stilled in confusion. While she was distracted, Percy leapt from behind his tree and threw her to the ground, making sure he knocked her knives away.
She snarled beneath him and threw her feet out at his chest. He let them thud against him and focused on holding onto her wrists. If he leg her go, she would most likely shoot him again.
Percy was sure he had her, but then her foot collided with his injured shoulder. Pain blinded him and caused him to loosen his grip on Artemis's wrists. She threw him off of her and tried to sprint away.
He was too quick for her though. His hand shot out and grabbed at her ankle, sending her crashing back down. He wrapped his body around hers like a vice, making sure her legs were securely held down.
Her arm snaked out and struck his cheek with a smack. Before she could land another, Percy gripped both of her arms and forced them to the dirt. Artemis fought against him, twisting and turning, trying to get some release. He did not relent and held strong.
She gave one last tug and then stilled. She looked up at face and ran her eyes over his features. Her eyes caught his and she paused, eye widening in fascination.
Percy internally flinched, but held her stare. Was she scared? Did she think he was a demon too?
"Who are you," she whispered. Percy smiled. She couldn't even recognize him.
He watched Artemis's faced scrunch up in anger, "Answer me, boy," she growled at him.
Percy let out a small huff through his nose and pressed his face closer to hers, "You mean you don't remember me, Lady Artemis?," he laughed quietly, "No wonder it took you so long to find me. You can't even recognize me."
Her eyes widened and the anger on her face melted into shock.
"Perseus?"
So that was basically Percy's point of view of the last chapter. I hope you liked it. Please leave a review and share your thoughts!