OH. MY. GOODNESS! You must be thinking that I'm lying about having more work to do, but seriously, this weekend, I don't have to wake up that early, so I literally spent up to 6 A.M. yesterday (Saturday) working on the first half of this chapter. Now, I've worked up until Sunday morning on this chapter. Jeez. Most parts may seem rushed about this... but that's the point. I feel that if I expand too much on this, it will become to boring. Get to the point instead of lingering around, right? Gods, I'm so tired. Anyways, here's the next chapter. I'm not going to write too much because I feel like passing out right now, but let's just say I'd rather post this now rather than later.
WARNING! READ THIS PLEASE!
PARTS OF THIS CHAPTER ARE RATED M. FOR MODERATORS AND READERS ALIKE, PARTS OF THIS CHAPTER ARE RATED M! IF YOU DO NOT READ THIS AND TELL ME THAT THIS IS NOT "T," THEN YOU OBVIOUSLY CAN'T READ AND/OR ARE STUPID!
WARNING! READ ABOVE PLEASE!
I've almost reached 100 votes on my poll. Keep 'em coming, though people seem to like Nico as mysterious and not involved in lovey-dovey stuff.
QUESTION OF THE CHAPTER: WHO DO YOU LIKE BETTER? NICO OR BIANCA!
Most of you are probably going to answer Nico, but I don't care. Just tell me. Also, the short story thing is coming along. I don't want to spoil too much, but let's just say that those stories will be pre-written and released once a week, not to jumbled everything at once. Whenever I finish the main short stories, I will update them once a week. I will decided whether I want to include fan-proposed short stories.
Wow... look in my previous sentence "I will decided..." My grammar is terrible. And I'm too tired to even go back and change it. Yet I'm still typing this. I'm crazy aren't I. Don't ask me to drink coffee. I've tried that... it doesn't help me and I hate the taste of coffee, tbh.
So, either way, short story thing is coming along. I've already started planning the Second Titanomachy... and the story I'm going to write for school, I may put that on FanFiction... just adding in Percy as the main character. Though... I don't think it really fits under this category. We'll see the reception that it gets...
I mean, like for my "On the Run" series, 400 people favorite it... but then barely half favorite the next in the series because for some reason, people don't like reading author's notes or cannot read at all. Anyways, I'm just glad pretty much the entire core of the audience of "The Argonauts" has followed this "Trojan War" continuation of the series.
I SWEAR, IF I DON'T SEE YOU AT LEAST FOLLOWING OR REVIEWING THE NEXT STORY, I'M SENDING YOU A MESSAGE! AND THEN YOU CAN TELL ME WHY YOU HATE THE NEXT STORY.
In any case, I'm dead tired, so I'm signing out for tonight. Thanks for reading... and if you don't enjoy it.. oh well. Nighty night.
Chapter 18
The Fall of Troy
Through the wood, Perseus heard everything that occurred outside. For the first dozen hours the men lay there as still as possible, sometimes shuffling to adjust themselves. They didn't utter a single word; no one even dared to whisper.
They heard the burning of what remained of the Greek camp by Sinon and the start of a campfire. Perseus could smell the smoke, though the fire didn't seem that close. If the Trojan Horse caught fire, all the men inside would die in their attempt to trick their way into the city of Troy.
Through the peepholes, the men decided that the Trojan had finally shown up at around midday, around lunch time. There was a large envoy, and the sounds of clanking armor and weapons signified an army of any size approaching.
Perseus hoped Sinon was ready. Because Perseus sure was ready. And so was Odysseus. And Menelaus. And Diomedes. And Podarces. And Menestheus.
This was their defining moment. When the Trojans questioned Sinon, they could only hope that they would take the bait that he would lay out for them. If they took the bait, they would seal their fate and the city of Troy would be doomed to fall.
Voices became clearer as the Trojan approached as well. Perseus heard the voice of King Priam arguing with the voice of another unknown man. Perhaps it was Helenus. It wasn't very familiar to him, so he couldn't decipher the speaker.
"A horse," said King Priam. "What is there a need for a horse? Knock down the gates and check the entire camp for signs of hiding Greeks."
"This does not look promising," said the other man. "We should turn back now before we are lured into a trap. There has to be some way that we can just let the Greeks fade away. They have sailed off. That is clear enough."
Then there was the sound of something crashing into the wooden gates of the wall that had been constructed around the Greek camp. Perseus couldn't tell if the Trojans were just using manpower and their shields or they had actually brought a log to ram the gates with. Either way, it did not take them very long to smash their way into the gates.
"Search the camp!" ordered a familiar voice: Helen. "I know the Greeks better than any of you. They will have a plan to trick us. Odysseus will be the one."
"What will we do about the horse?" asked a man.
"Shut up, Laocoön!" exclaimed the king. "Look!"
They had spotted Sinon. It was hard to see out of the horse's body, but Perseus guessed that Sinon was just sitting by the fire, minding his own business. The arrival of the Trojans would be no surprise to him as it was a part of his facade.
"Who is that by the fire?" asked Laocoön.
"Trojan guard!" called Priam. "Interrogate that man!"
There was some shuffling of armour, clanking past the horse towards Sinon. They sought out the man who tended to the fire like Hestia would, the very first child of Kronos and Rhea. She tended to be the most peaceful and what some would call "The Last Olympian" for she was true to heart.
The only difference was that Sinon wasn't imitating Hestia. He was imitating Hermes, using his slyness and trickery to form lies that were believable. That was Sinon's only goal. He was an essential part of this plan, and if the Trojans didn't believe him, it would be the final stand by the Greeks. They would never take down Troy without getting into their walls.
But to Perseus, he was itching to just jump out and end what he had come here for. He had come to kill Helen, nothing else. For a woman like her, sleeping with many men (as Perseus had known her to do), she didn't deserve any mercy. Not like the Hunters.
He went against every instinct in his body, all of them shouting "Kill her now!"
"Later," whispered Odysseus.
He knew exactly what Odysseus was talking about. He would get the chance to kill Helen later. But thousands of innocent lives would be lost. He knew he could do something about it. Prevent the Greeks from burning Troy to the ground, men, women and children alike.
"Sir!" a Trojan commander said boldly. "What happen to the Greeks and what is this horse?"
There was no answer from anybody. "What are those engravings on the side of the horse? What are they meant for? What are they supposed to signify?"
"Isn't it obvious?" replied Sinon calmly. "For their return home, the Greeks dedicate this offering to Athena. The Greeks have fled. Nine years full of casualties have been too much for them and they wish to leave. They respect you, Trojans. They admire your battle strength, battle tactics and your marvelous walls. However, they must be returning home, so they offer this horse to Athena and hope she allows safe passage. It's too bad Odysseus wanted to sacrifice me instead."
"Excuse me," Perseus heard Priam say. "Did you just say that Odysseus wanted to sacrifice you?"
"Oh, yes." He could imagine Sinon nodding. "Odysseus captured me as a prisoner in the first year of the war. Ever since then, we've been rivals. So, he figured that sacrificing me to the gods would suffice to please the gods and please his happiness, for you see, I made his life bitter. I ran, though, when I found out."
"The Greeks tried sacrificing you?" asked an outraged Laocoön.
"To the gods, yes. I ran to the swamps down between Kolonai and Pedasus. Odysseus never found me there. I knew him well enough to not fall for his tricks. I even stayed there when he buried the area I was in with giant piles of mud and threw fire into it. I never budged. After many futile attempts, I heard them leave. I stayed in the swamp for a few more days before coming here to find this giant horse awaiting some company. So, this morning, I set a fire to enjoy the celebration of the Greek invasion fleet leaving! Oh, what a grand day this is!"
An uproar of cheering came from the Trojan troops.
"The Greeks are finally gone!" cried one soldier.
"I'm not so sure..." muttered Laocoön.
Suddenly, a familiar voice called out from somewhere: "Odysseus, my love! Where are you? I've been looking all over for you!" Suddenly, the voice changed. "Diomedes? Oh, are you there, my wonder?"
"I found a note written by a man named Perseus," continued Sinon, interrupting the womanly voices. "It said that the Greeks had built this horse so big that the Trojans would not be able to take this into their city in hopes that it would atone for what has been done to the temple of Athena at Dardanus. He noted that Odysseus was an arrogant man who wanted nothing but to sacrifice a man for his own personal revenge. However, he also noted his own eagerness to end the life of a young woman named Helen. If the news was correct, Paris has passed away?"
"Yes," replied Priam somberly. "He has faded to the Underworld, killed by an arrow that shattered a rib. Into a million pieces it seemed to have gone, one piercing his heart. Many were sad to hear of the deaths of two Trojan princes. But at least we still have Helen and Deiphobus." He said it without that enthusiasm that signified good leaders. They had lost a good king in Hector and a good advisee in Paris, but Helenus and Deiphobus were obvious disappointments.
"And this Perseus mentions a woman named Brisēís being found dead near Mount Ida, killed by Trojan archers. He hopes the gods take revenge on them for the betrayal of one of their own. Brisēís was a Trojan, yet she wasn't accepted back into her family like Cassandra was. And Cassandra, he hopes, is living her life out happily. He says she is a beautiful young woman and has the potential of becoming a great queen.
"Yet there is more. I read something torn up. It looks old, like really old. There is mention of Jason and the Argonauts, but I found it in the small collection of notes that was left behind."
Perseus looked surprised. He thought he had sacrificed his glory through that journal years ago. How had Sinon known that he had kept a journal? Maybe it was just a guess and the man didn't actually know that Perseus had made a journal about his adventures with the Argonauts.
"The last thing I found was a note saying that the Greeks prayed to the goddess Athena for a safe haven back in Greece. To never be attacked by the Trojans on their own homeland. That was also a part of the horse offering."
"That will gladly be accepted," muttered another man.
"So, the Greeks have departed?" asked Priam. "They will be here no more? We will not have to fight them any longer in battles that we are sure to lose?"
"Father, you cannot possibly think that this is all true," said Helenus, speaking up for the first time. "You have heard some predict that the Troy will fall at the hands of a vengeful Greek. I also believe that and the Greeks have come. This is our end. Do not bring this horse into the city. If we fall, we will postpone it. We need more time to prepare the evacuation of the city."
"They're in the horse," Helen said suddenly. "They have to be. There is nowhere else that they could be hiding."
"I've checked the horse," said Sinon. "Those ropes hang loosely and will fall if you try to climb them. There isn't a single door or opening in this horse either. There is nowhere where the Greeks can hide."
"O, how mad and miserable you all are," Laocoön said. "Do you not know who our enemy is? Achilles has gone. Ajax is dead. No other leader is fit enough to lead them after Agamemnon's years of failures. Except for one. Odysseus. He is cunning and guile. But those are not good qualities. He is an evil, a devil sent from Hades to destroy Troy. Burn the horse, I say!"
There was silent for a split second before the ground began rumbling. The Greek warriors inside of the Trojan Horse had to hold on tightly or their cover would be blown. Perseus could tell this was not a creation from his father. This earthquake wasn't his anger.
Then came the bloodcurdling cry from Laocoön. He screamed as if no pain had ever hit him before. The screams rang across the ocean and deserted camp like horns. Everyone within audible distance would be able to feel his pain with him. But Perseus knew he couldn't feel any pity. He reminded himself that death had to occur. As every moment passed, humans... mortals... had to eventually fade into black. He tried recalling back to what his father told him during his quest with the Argonauts.
There is glory in death.
So badly, then, Perseus had wanted that glory. It was from being out on the sea. He wanted recognition for what he went through as a young child. Yet... now that he really thought about it, did he want recognition among all creatures? Monsters and mortals? Gods and Titans? To be known by everyone? Or was it better that he helped those who could get recognition? Would it be better to live and let others die or die and save many?
To sacrifice the world to save a loved one, a voice whispered in his mind. You think you know what is best... the grey-eyed goddess curses the son of Acoetes. The bait will be taken.
He shook his head and broke out of his thoughts.
"Laocoön?" asked Priam. "Are you all right?"
"My sons!" cried the man. "Where are you? Everything has darkened! Blackness has consumed the world!"
"No, father!" replied a younger, stronger voice. "You are blind!"
"A curse from the gods?" asked Priam.
"That does not matter!" Laocoön shouted. "In every case, Helen must not fall into the hands of our enemy. She is to marry Deiphobus now, to wed your fourth son. This horse will ultimately lead to her death and Troy's as well. Our city will fall just as Dardanus has fallen, just as Lyrnessus and Kolonai and Pedasus!"
"Dardanus was taken at its weakest point," countered Aeneas. "It was taken by the Myrmidons, who are the fiercest warriors of the world. They were led by Achilles, one of the best combatants that I have ever heard of. But he is dead now and so is their spirit. It is obvious that this horse was sacrificed by the Greeks for their departure. They will not attack the city. Their morale is far too low."
It was quite the opposite.
"Even so," the son of Acoetes continued, "this horse signifies our doom. Why would they build it in the form of a horse instead of an owl, to personify Athena?"
"To pray to Poseidon as well," replied Deiphobus. "The horse is his sacred animal."
"That is not the point!" yelled Laocoön. "The horse is also our symbolic animal! This is deception! This is all a trick! This is complete madness!"
With that last syllable, everything rang out into silence for what seemed like eternity. Then, he said as his last line, "Do not trust the Horse, Trojans. Whatever it is, I fear the Greeks, even bearing gifts."
Perseus heard the sound of a weapon being picked up and something slamming into the belly of the horse. Odysseus whispered, "Do not move a muscle!"
And in those heart-pounding seconds, waiting to see Priam's judgement of whether to destroy the Horse, a huge bellow came up from the sea. Perseus heard someone scream "Sea serpent!" and then the sounds of a screaming Laocoön and his sons reached the Greeks' ears. It was nerve-racking and heart-pounding.
With another loud bellow, the "sea serpent" dove back into the sea, making waves wash onto the shores of the beach of Troy and causing silence to envelop the shocked Trojan bystanders. No one seemed to have expected that.
"Please, my lord!" cried Helen. "This is a trick! Do not believe what has just happened! There are Greeks inside there. My old husband is in there, Menelaus! Listen, I'll prove it."
Then came the sounds of different women, each of them the wives of each man inside. Most barely resisted the sounds of their pleading wives, but one, Anticlus, moved to call back. Odysseus reacted quickly and covered his mouth. As Anticlus struggled, Odysseus had the nerve to snap the Greek soldier's neck. There was a quiet yet sickening crunch as he killed Anticlus.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, his words echoing in the empty belly of the horse. "I had to."
"Percy!" came the cry from Cassandra. "This is actually me, not Helen! Please, don't be in there. Think of the consequences of you doing this! All the men and women dying! Remember you telling me about Zoë? Would she want this of you? To become a slaughterer of children and innocent lives? Please give up!"
Perseus closed his eyes and breathed deeply but as quietly as possible. He tried to shrug off those words, but having talked to her for nine years, she knew a lot more about him than he would have liked to imagine.
He caught the look of Odysseus, who was shooting him a look of warning. Perseus nodded back, knowing that he wasn't going to reply.
"Just... if you are in there... convince Odysseus to leave! Convince him to give up now so that the death of thousands of men and women do not have to happen. Think of what it would be like in our perspective. Think of Athens or Sparta or Mycenae. What if the Trojans were sieging one of those cities? Would you not want to protect it with your last breath? Please, Percy."
He still did not answer, despite how much he wanted to explain everything to her.
"There is no one in there," Priam said. "Bring the Horse back into the city. Give Sinon some good accommodations and let the partying commence. The Greeks have fled. They have lost this war."
The partying lasted for hours, the lyres and horns blowing as the city celebrated. Outside of the Horse, a sense of relief washed over the citizens of Troy. They thought that the war was finally over and that they would never have to hide away from the attacking Greek soldiers ever again.
In a way, they were right. They would never have to hide away from attacking Greeks. They would fall quickly to their swords, spears or the fire. It would be horrible.
Perseus could smell the strong odour of wine, stenching up the stinky insides of the wooden horse. It truly smelled like animal guts inside the horse.
But as time passed, the noise level from the citizens of Troy decreased. Children would have had to have gone to bed by now, and those left would be too drunk to truly notice anything abnormal happening. Still, Perseus and Odysseus agreed that they should wait just a little bit more. Until the streets were near silent.
"Podarces," said Odysseus quietly. "Go out first when I say go. Make sure you do not move, but when we clear the area we are in, take your bronze armour off and run to the front gates of Troy. Make sure no one sees you. If you encounter someone, kill them."
"Yes, sir."
Everything fell into silence once again. They were all trying to tell if the streets were near empty. There were the sounds of dull fires whimpering, ready to die out. There were the sounds of snoring men, none sounding awake. Then they heard it. It was the call of an owl. Odysseus immediately froze, but Perseus knew what that was.
"A sign from Athena," he said hoarsely. "Go Podarces."
Protesilaus' brother immediately sprang forward and opened the trapdoor. He leaned outside, grabbed the rope and began repelling down. As soon as he moved out of sight, those closest to the trapdoor followed him out. Making sure that they couldn't be heard, those in the courtyard of Troy were immediately slaughtered in their sleep.
The Greek intruders gathered at the foot of the Trojan Horse. All eyes turned to Odysseus, even Perseus', to see what the King of Ithaca ordered next. The son of Laërtes looked at all of the men standing before him.
"This is it, my friends, my lords, my men." He said the words with a booming confidence that only he could do in a quiet voice. "Podarces, go! The rest, split up. Some go help Sinon light the fire. Make sure Agamemnon is ready to attack. The rest must look for Apollo's temples to destroy."
"I'm going after Helen," Menelaus growled.
"As well as I," Perseus added. "We each have our set duties."
"Go... but go my way. Not Menelaus'."
"What do you mean?" asked the King of Sparta angrily. "Not my way?"
"He means Helen is going to be up in the palace," Perseus explained. "We're going to have to go in stealthily and healthily, not loud and proud."
"As long as I get my revenge on Helen," Menelaus said, "I am okay with going any way you like."
"Right, let's go."
Immediately, right when Podarces left to the front gates, which were quite a ways away, Perseus and Menelaus immediately went up to the palace that stood atop Troy's city-center. It wasn't long before they reached the top, though guards stood there sleepily. Perseus took advantage of their tiredness and let two precisely shot arrows fly. Both arrows caught their recipients right through their throats. Neither of them uttered a sound.
"Move their bodies into the shadows," Perseus ordered Menelaus.
It was odd, a peasant ordering a king, but Menelaus happily obliged. He knew from the very beginning that the son of Poseidon was a dangerous enemy. He knew that being his ally would mean good things. Plus, he was well aware of the vengeance that Perseus felt towards the Trojans. Paris may have died, but Helen also needed to perish, if not by his hands, Menelaus' hands.
They sneaked into the palace and kept an eye out for any guards looming about. They kept quiet, tip-toeing around the palace. That was until they reached a point where they had no choice but to take out the guards. Perseus hesitated for a moment, but Menelaus immediately surged forward. Luckily, there were only two.
Menelaus crept up from behind them and motioned for Perseus to join him. As soon as Perseus moved with catching distance, he knocked one out with a swift hand slice to the neck and grabbed the other, covering his mouth. Perseus caught the first guard and moved him to the side of the hall. Taking a wine bottle that he took from the courtyard, he placed it in the hands of the first guard to make it seem as though he fell unconscious from the alcohol.
Menelaus held the other guard tightly and firmly, whispering quietly to him, "Will you tell us where Helen is?"
The guard nodded, evidently scared for his life.
"You promise?"
He nodded again.
"If you shout out just a little bit, I swear to the gods that I will snap your neck like a twig. Do you swear to the Styx?"
The guard nodded shakily, nearly in tears from the frightening threats. The King of Sparta let go so the guard could speak. The guard spoke shakily: "She's through this door to the right, down the hall, turn a left, and the room at the end of that hall."
"Good," spoke Menelaus in a cold voice. "If you're wrong, you'll be woken up and immediately find yourself in the House of Hades. Sweet dreams."
The King of Sparta covered the guard's mouth and repeatedly hit him on the temple until he fell unconscious. Wiping his hands, he looked at Perseus. "Ready to go?"
The son of Poseidon nodded. "You first. I'll sweep."
Menelaus took the lead, going down the right door hall. There were no obstacles. The next left turn he saw, he turned. There were also no guards. Then, at the end of the hall, was a magnificent double door that clearly led into the room of a royal. Both of them stood side by side at the double door, and at the same time, slammed their way into the room. As the guard had told them, Helen was inside, being raped by Deiphobus.
She was clearly struggling, but his mouth was over her mouth, and only muffled noises were heard from her. Just then, there was an explosion from way outside of the palace, clearly a sign of the Greek invasion.
Deiphobus whirled around only to be met by Menelaus' spear. It was thrust into his heart before he could say a single word.
"Menelaus!" cried Helen gleefully, as if she were being rescued.
"Stay away from me, you whore!" he roared, not even looking at her. "Do you think that merely because the one you loved, Paris, is dead that you can come running back to me? That I will welcome you back with open arms? Well, here is something that you should note, Helen. Your death will be my only pleasure."
"What are you doing in here?" growled a voice from behind them. Aeneas was standing there with no armour at all. He was joined by an astonished Priam.
Just then, a cloaked figure ran past Menelaus and Perseus, a dagger in her nimble hands.
Immediately, the King of Sparta charged after her, running right past the two in front of them. Perseus followed suit, though not before body slamming Aeneas into the wall. Chasing after Menelaus and Helen, they weaved through the palace as Arachne would weave her tapestry. It was a long time later when she ran out of the palace, and not a moment too soon. Aeneas and a few Trojans were on his tail, ready to kill. Perseus managed to shut the door on them and set fire to the entrance before resuming his chase of the former Queen of Sparta.
At that moment, he got a good look at the rest of the city. It seemed as though it were glowing in the night sky, buildings and temples burning. However, only temples of Apollo and Aphrodite were burning at that moment. The rest were mostly shops and houses.
The screams of the Trojans pierced the night sky in harmony with the battle cries of the Greeks. They were as one, in sync, symphonic. Yet terror definitely stood out as the main emotion of everyone. The Greeks felt terrorizing; the Trojans felt terrorized.
Chaos was brimming out amongst the city, like a fire quickly catching from one thing to another... which was exactly what was happening. Perseus saw women carrying children away, trying to escape the brutality of the bloodthirsty Greek forces. Most never succeeded. Most died trying.
There were things unimaginably cruel that it was horrifying to watch. Perseus knew that this was something no child should ever have to watch or endure. There was a pregnant woman who was attacked by a group of five Greek warriors. Pinning her up against the wall, the tore her robes open and reached up into her uterus. The unborn baby inside was torn out, tearing at the mother's skin. Her screams, as loud and piercing as they were, were not the loudest that could be seen.
The sack of skin that was yet to be a baby was thrown brutally into the fire, and the throat of the mother was slit. She was left there to die on her own.
There were men, teenage boys, who were caught by the barbaric Greek forces. They forced him to the ground, cut open his chest and used his own ribs to pierce his heart. Bloodcurdling screams were heard everywhere. Some of the invading forces were into the killing so much that they devoured the blood and organs of their enemies.
Another man had his guts cut out of his body, spilling across the ground. Others had their heads burned, yet no other part of their body entered the fire. Some were beaten to death with their own cut-off limbs. The male babies would have their chubby necks snapped and have their bodies thrown into the fires of the burning city.
Gruesome images filled Perseus' mind as he chased Menelaus.
They ran through nearly the entire city when Menelaus caught Helen in the main courtyard, right at the foot of the Trojan Horse.
"I have you now!" bellowed the King of Sparta.
Perseus turned around and saw Agamemnon, King of Mycenae, running up the street to watch his brother kill Helen once and for all. There were some Trojan maids who had been caught as well, watching fearfully as three of the most powerful Greek soldiers appeared in their presence.
But when Perseus turned back to Menelaus, he noticed that the King of Sparta was being seduced by the naked Helen. She was holding him close, caressing his armoured arm. He watched in slow motion as she reached down for her dagger. A name flashed in his mind: Katropis.
"Menelaus! It's a trap!" he yelled.
But it was too late. Helen drove Katropis into Menelaus' shoulder, down towards his heart. Stunned, he collapsed to the ground. Immediately, Helen grabbed her cloak and went to slaughter every maid that was around her. Perseus thought he saw a glint in her eye that looked of madness.
"NO!" screamed Agamemnon. "Menelaus!"
Both he and Perseus knelt down at the dying king's side. Menelaus coughed blood. "That slut," he coughed. "I swear to the gods that she has to die."
"You cannot be dying," sobbed the King of Mycenae. "You... you cannot be dying."
"This is the end, brother," said Menelaus. "I should have seen that coming. Kill her, Perseus. For me, for every Greek that has died in this war. We did not lose thousands of men to let Helen escape unharmed. Hunt her down to the edges of the world."
"She will die here," he promised.
"Good," the king sighed. With every word he spoke, he seemed to be getting weaker and weaker. He looked pale and blood seeped out of his wound just as blood had seeped out of Achilles' wound. Perseus remembered Nestor's bloody wound, and Ajax's self-inflicted one. "Take your revenge on Troy. Make the city fall. You... you are the king of... of Mycenae. You... will... destroy... Troy... You... are... my..." Menelaus was nearly silent. "Brother."
The last word was uttered so quietly that the both of them barely heard it. But those were Menelaus' last words. Agamemnon dug his face into Menelaus' armour, sobbing for his dead brother in the middle of the chaos.
Perseus looked up to see the bodies of the dead maids. They all had their throats slit at the hands of Helen. She was a murderer, not only of men but of innocent, young women. That was a double strike for the daughter of Zeus. He cared not of her ancestry but of her merits. He knew he had a duty to do for Menelaus.
Grabbing his bow, he sprinted in the direction where he had last seen Helen run into. As he turned down more streets, he realized this section of the city was entirely burning. Helen would have been crazy to go down here. Then he remembered the glint in her eye.
Crazily, he dove into a burning building to cut through. Just as he hopped out the other side, the building crumbled behind him, sending ash and debris flying. But it wasn't a complete failure. He caught a glimpse of Helen, who seemed to notice him just at that same time.
Sprinting after her, he turned on his top gear, sprinting as if he were into a burning forest. As a burning building fell into his path ahead, he leaped over the fire as if somersaulting over a burning log. Helen wasn't far ahead, though like a madwoman, she dove right through a burning building. It collapsed as she entered, but there was no doubt that she had gotten through to the other side. Instead of collapsing forward, that building had collapsed on itself, a mountain of burning rubble in his path. He dove through the building next to it and leaped out the other side. He saw Helen turn the corner down to his right. She was a lot closer now.
He turned the corner only to find that it was a dead end. He looked around desperately to see where Helen had gone. At the last second, he noticed a small window that she had probably climbed through. Cursing, he turned back and ran around the long way.
Just as he turned onto the street he expected Helen to be at, he crashed into a small, running figure. They tumbled forward, and to Perseus' surprise, Helen managed to recover first. She ran away, knowing who he was.
Perseus reached for his bow, but to his dismay, it had shattered, just as his previous bow had been destroyed when Aeneas attacked him so long ago. Then he noticed something on the ground. It was a silver bow.
"Apollo, master of the silver bow," Perseus muttered. "Or silver, the Hunters of... Artemis!"
On instinct, he ran towards it and knocked at arrow. Just as Helen reached an intersection, he let an arrow fly. Running over to her, nearly tripped on something. Looking down, he saw Helen's dagger, Katropis. Picking it up, he made his way over to the fallen woman, an arrow impaled in her thigh.
Tears fell from her eyes, both hands clutching her bare leg. He immediately turned her over, making her teary eyes face her.
"All I wanted was to marry someone I loved!" she screamed, her frustrations coming over her. "I loved Paris! Can you not relate to that? I've heard your stories. Travelling the world with a girl you loved but gave away! What is the crime in that?"
"Not everyone can get what they want," he sneered, his voice louder than the fires raging around them.
"Like you would know," she said. "You're but a cruel, heartless man who desires nothing but to kill a woman who left her homeland out of love. Is that not what Medea did for Jason? Is that not what Ariadne did for Theseus? But Paris treated me like I was only woman in the world."
"He loved you as much as he did his first wife and the women he bedded with before you," he snarled. "Aphrodite can start a love, but it is up to the person to decide whether they love them or not."
"And that is exactly what I did!"
"But sometimes, you have to choose to give up your love for the greater good," he retorted.
"Love is more important than anything else in the world," she screamed, her voice cracking. "You would know that too if you loved your woman like Paris loved—"
"I gave her up because it was better for the both of us!" Perseus bellowed at the top of his lungs. "Do you think I don't regret what I did? But what if I hadn't done that? Achilles would not be half the warrior has was when he died. You could have been married to our son instead of Menelaus, and maybe you wouldn't prance off for Paris! Then what? No one will ever remember us. Everything has its benefits and its doubts, but sometimes it is better to give something up that selfishly keep it. I've learned that from my time as an Argonaut. I was a spoiled and annoying child. I wanted everything the way I saw things. I was an idealist. But what am I now. I know that now I cannot control everyone's fate. Since that is my fatal flaw, I will never be able to get rid of it, but I am at least aware and conscious of the choices I make! You are a fool!"
"And you'd rather have an entire city burn, countless men, women and children dying than allowing me to peacefully love another man? You've seen what your own kind have done. And you support them? Cassandra might as well be raped at this very moment. Yet you care less about her than my death? What kind of being are you?"
Perseus froze at her words. A million thoughts raced through his mind at once. Those things were true. He had immediately resolved this whole thing as just killing Helen. He had forgot that Cassandra had been accepted back into Troy. What was happening to her at that very moment? The images of the horrifying things that the Greek soldiers were doing to the Trojan citizens flashed in his mind.
Looking down at Helen, he slowly slit her throat, not killing her, but letting her feel the pain as she died. Feeling conflicted, his mind went into autopilot. He felt another force enter him, something that felt powerful. He felt more connected to the gods as ever. But most of all, he felt as though he were the gods' wrath.
Slowly breaking into a running speed, he began to reach the part of the town where Greek soldiers were murdering men and boys everywhere they went. The women and girls were captured as slaves. And running on autopilot, Aegis and Anaklusmos were out in a split second. Before Perseus knew what was happening, ten dead Greeks lay at his feet.
He wasn't even done.
Perseus ran to the acropolis and ran up its side, Greek soldiers storming the palace and raiding its wealth. He saw as a couple of them tore Hector's son away from Andromache.
"Astyanax!" she cried.
"Let me go!" the boy wailed.
"Neoptolemus' orders!" shouted the head man, holding Andromache back. "Throw him over!"
And without a moment's hesitation, Astyanax was thrown off the side of the acropolis, the boy screaming. Not a second later, he was joined by three other Greeks. The head man lay dead at a horrified-looking Andromache's feet.
"My son," she wept.
Feeling pity and sorrow for Hector's wife, Perseus suddenly snapped out of his vengeful wrath. It was almost as if a switch had been flicked and he became normal again. He grabbed her carefully by the shoulders and led her down the acropolis. At the bottom, he saw Aeneas with his own wife, child and father, ready to escape the burning city.
Making a last second decision, he shouted, "Aeneas!"
The son of Venus turned and faced the son of Poseidon with fear. But Perseus was in no mood to kill Aeneas. The weight of Helen's words had spurned him against his own people. At this very moment, he knew which word he was breaking. It truly wasn't Zoë's oath he was disregarding. It was the oath to the gods and Chiron. He was no longer the Prostatis Hellas.
"Take Andromache!" he yelled. "Leave the city! Settle on Ausonia! Far to the west, away from Greece and Troy! Leave!"
Without another word, he gently pushed Andromache forward and ran back up the acropolis. Easily forgetting what had just happened, he focused his attention on his current problem: Neoptolemus. He knew he should have killed the kid a long time ago, but he never expected him to be a problem of such caliber.
The switch in his brain went off again and his anger seemed to multiply by a thousand times. Running through the palace, he killed anyone in his way that was wearing armour until he found himself in the Senate Room. Priam was being repeatedly stabbed through the stomach by a merciless Neoptolemus.
The King of Troy saw the son of Poseidon one last time before his vision turned black and his soul left with Thanatos. Immediately, Perseus cut down any Greek that tried to protect Neoptolemus. Then, with pure anger, he hurled his sword as if throwing a spear. Forgetting that it was a sword, the son of Achilles tried grabbing the weapon out of midair. Many of his fingers were cut off and he howled in pain.
Perseus lunged forward and knocked the son of Achilles off balance. He grabbed his throat and slammed his head against the marble floor repeatedly. "I am ashamed to know you are Achilles' son," he growled. "You are a worthless piece of junk. You dare disgrace the body of a king? I will show you mutilation!"
Pulling Neoptolemus up, he spun the son of Achilles around and began crushing his windpipe. The grandson of Thetis was losing oxygen and he couldn't breathe. His face was getting red, slowly turning to blue and purple as time passed. Then, with a sickening crunch, Perseus crushed Neoptolemus' neck in his grasp so hard that blood began spurting out.
In violent rage, Perseus picked Anaklusmos back up and ran out of the Senate Room. He ran out of the palace and towards the nearest temple, a temple for Athena.
Inside, he saw Lesser Ajax raping Cassandra, the very girl he had given back to Troy. Without even thinking, he lashed out at Lesser Ajax, stabbing him mercilessly until he was certain he could not make out the dead man's face anymore.
"Percy!" she cried out, hugging him. His face of anger slowly dissipated into one of comforting, and he hugged her back. He had seen her naked before, so it didn't really bother him that she was really digging herself into him. His bloody armour must have been warm from fresh Greek blood.
"Get some clothing on," he told her. "Then, run to the ships. Try to find Aeneas. If you cannot, then go with a Greek man back to Greece before escaping his grasp and fleeing to Ausonia. You will find refuge there, I'm sure of it."
"Where are you going?" she asked, her voice laced with concern.
"To punish the Greeks for what they have done," he said. He felt the anger bubbling inside of him. "They dare to burn the temples of the gods..."
Mesmerized, and in a trance, he slowly made his way out of the temple of Athena. He and Cassandra drifted apart as he killed every armoured man in sight. He left the defenseless alone. Twirling, turning, slashing, hacking and stabbing, he slowly made his way around the city and outside the walls, driving Greeks back to the ships that they had landed earlier.
Everything passed by in a blur, the night sky slowly changing to morning. Perseus could still hear the screams of the Trojan citizens and could still smell the smoky fire rising from the rubble of Troy, but he wasn't sure whether it was all his imagination.
He didn't feel any cut on him whatsoever, and he swore he could have seen a man he cut down have pits of fire for eyes. Rage devoured him, just like vengeance had devoured Achilles. Slowly, as the numbing pain of Helen's words eased into his brain, he seemed to realize what he had done. First, he remembered the slaughter of Trojans and Greeks alike to his sword. He remembered the surprise and the shock of the Greek commanders at his rage. Second, he remembered the terrifying things he'd done with those dead corpses. He did the very things that he thought he was doing justice for: throwing bodies into fire, playing with beheaded heads and bodies, and even more.
He reached the beach, a trail of dead soldiers behind him, and though the battle still raged in the city, the anger inside of Perseus suddenly and completely evaporated. The guilt and sorrow of what he'd just done hit him.
"Stop him!" he heard a female voice shout from behind him.
He dropped to his knees and looked at the dead body that lay in front of him. The damage that had been done...
Tears welled in Perseus' eyes. "What kind of monster am I?" he shouted. "What have I done?"
He tore his breastplate off and raised Anaklusmos. "Better to die than live dishonourably," he said. "To atone for what I have done to you, gods of Olympus!"
But just as he was about to stab himself, a hard kick sent Anaklusmos flying out of his hand and into the ocean. He felt someone, a smaller and slimmer figure wrap herself around him. She shouted, "Lock him! Paralyze him!"
Not even looking to see who it was, he summoned a huge wave to flood the beach, sending the person grappling onto him further up onto the beach. Perseus saw Anaklusmos by his feet, and reaching out to grab it, he plunged the blade deep into his abdomen. It pierced his back, the sharpness protruding on the other side of his body. He cursed in pain before tearing the sword out and collapsing to the sandy ground.
He felt someone crawl up towards him and hold his wound. The image of a very beautiful girl with long, silky black hair appeared over him. She had coppery-like skin and volcanic black eyes. Anxiety sparkled in her eyes, which made him smile.
He saw her lips move, but there was no sound. He couldn't hear a thing. He felt a little weaker than usual, and numbness enveloped him far too easily. Blood loss, he knew was happening. There was absolutely no doubt. His mind, feeling like it was racing as quickly as Arion, finally settled on relax.
At least he would be able to see Achilles. Maybe the gods would punish him for the carnage he caused, but at least he would be able to apologize. He would be able to see Achilles at least once.
He felt himself reach up to the girl's face, which was fading, and gently caressed it. Darkness began to envelope him. A lone salt tear fell into his slightly parted mouth, before he lightly tapped the girl's nose.
Then everything went pitch black.
Hey everyone,
Hope you enjoy this chapter. Remember to tell me if you like it or not.
I apologize for any grammatical errors in the chapter above and if any historical facts are actually wrong. I have spent my time looking through different websites, and even a couple of books, but the story that will continue may have incorrect historical info. Still, I believe it just adds to the effect.
Thanks a bunch,
SharkAttack719