"We need to pull back!" yelled a hunter as she fired an arrow into the nearing group of monsters. "We can't pull back, we are surrounded!" yelled Thalia as she drew her hunting knives, shifting into a better position.

The hunters had been stalking what had seemed like a pack of hellhounds. It seemed like an easy enough task especially with Artemis away on Olympus.

But of course, it wasn't that easy.

The hellhounds lead them to a trap, a seemingly empty clearing which became obvious that it wasn't when a small army of monsters surrounded them.

The circle of maidens started to close in on itself as the monsters closed in and as more of the hunters started to fall.

Thalia remained in control but not for long as she saw her friend Phoebe get hit by a black arrow. She just managed to not charge into her enemies and end up getting killed. She narrowed her eyes as she ducked under the jab of a dracaena's spear, thrusting her knives deep into the heart of the creature.

Even before it crumbled into dust completely, she turned to deflect a sword that was heading to the hunter next to her.

Suddenly as it started it stopped.

As if by an unspoken command, every monster took a few steps back, looking around nervously.

"What's this," barked a telekhine, "I thought he died?"

"Apparently not, you fool," hissed a dracaena, as her twin snake legs shifted agitatedly, "We must go before he arrives!"

"Too late," a voice echoed throughout the clearing, chilling the bones of everyone that heard it, yet the voice sounded eerily familiar to Thalia. She tried to remember but kept pulling up blanks.

But it became clear to her as soon as he stepped into the clearing. It was obvious who it was, same aura and voice of uncontrollable malice was evident in this being's presence.

The name leapt unbidden to every creature's lips that had met or heard of this being in front of them.

Or actually, only his titles as his name were unknown.

The Destroyer

The Hooded One

He took steps into the clearing, monsters and hunters alike both moving out of his path until he was standing in the middle. His face covered by a dark hood tilted upwards slightly, until only his smug smirk was visible.

"Runa!"

He shouted only one word but it still made every creature jump back in shock.

The hunters and monsters felt another presence enter the clearing but no matter how hard they looked, could not spot a new player on the field.

A white light flared on the opposite side of where the man was standing, causing everyone to look away unless they wished to be blinded.

When the light faded and everyone blinked away the spots in their eyes, gasps could be heard from every mouth.

It was a woman.

But not just any woman.

She was dressed in a pure white hunters uniform, with a white hood over her face. Such a stark contrast to the man who watched with amusement in his eyes. The only similarity was the same amount of power leaking off her presence.

It was as if the entire council of the gods inhabited her body, you just felt the need to beg for forgiveness.

She walked forwards until she was facing the hooded man, ignoring the monsters, either incredibly brave or they were of no concern to her.

Shall we play a game?" taunted the man as he unsheathed his dual swords which I hadn't seen before.

"We shall," spoke the lady in white, smirking playfully, her voice echoing in the same way the Destroyer's did.

And they disappeared.

For a second every living being in that clearing let a sigh of relief escape, believing that they had left.

That was not the case.

Immediately monsters started to fall silently as they became dust. Blurs of movement could be seen, but whoever it was didn't stop moving long enough for anyone to see them.

That was the screams started.

They weren't the screams of the dying but screaming of the living. Monsters ran in every direction trying to escape but as soon as they neared the woods, they dissolved.

Panic filled the air as each and every monster started to realize there was no escape.

The two figures suddenly stilled, one on either side of the huddle of monsters who stared back at them fearfully.

Thalia could finally see the weapons the two carried, the man in black wielded two swords at once with startling skill, one of the blades was gold and the other was clearly silver. He spun them lazily in circles as he stalked up to his prey.

The women on the other hand, wielded only a single blade. She sheathed it over her shoulder but not before Thalia got one glimpse of the blade.

It was bronze.

She pulled a pure white bow from her shoulder and aimed it at the cluster of monsters. As soon as she pulled back the string, a gleaming white arrow that slowly and surely moved to any monster that moved out of line.

The hunters were frozen in shock, two people, if they could even be called human, had single-handedly taken down a small army that had almost overtaken down the hunters.

If they were to turn to them next, the hunters wouldn't stand a chance.

That was the thought that came to a peak in every hunter's mind as soon as Runa fired a single arrow into the midst of the monsters. The arrow glowed a bright white before every monster was disintegrated within seconds.

"Aww, you destroyed our fun," chided the man, while Runa just stuck her tongue at him.

Thalia was awestruck, these two massively powerful beings were acting like children.

But that thought dissipated as soon as the man turned to her, "Show us your camp," he ordered as he brushed off monster dust as if it were nothing at all.

Artemis appeared in her hunter's camp, completely annoyed at questions Poseidon kept asking about his son, but after 5 years, it starts to become annoying to even omnipotent deities.

As she neared the campfire, she noticed all of the hunters clumped together, seemingly terrified. Confused, she headed towards them, the first hunter to see her started to get the rest of their attention. Soon as they all saw her, they all started to whispering, she could only catch bits of their conversations,

"What will she do?"

"Will she win?"

"What should we do?"

"The Destroyer,"

The last sentence almost stopped her in her tracks, he was here in her camp?

She pushed through the crowd and stopped at what she saw.

A menacing man dressed in black talking quietly with a woman dressed in white. She was wearing the same exact outfit of the hunters, only a different color. Her aura was familiar, almost as if she knew this being.

But that was impossible.

"Ah, Artemis, we were just talking about you, we need to talk," his voice did not echo as she remembered it did, but was as deadly as it was before.

They lead the way deep in the forest, finally stopping far enough away from the hunter's camp so they would not be heard.

"What do you want?" Artemis asked, crossing her arms and staring at them defiantly.

"We will tell you what we can, but first you must swear on the Styx that your will never tell any being, alive or dead, who we are, unless you have our permission," said the girl, deathly serious.

Within a second I made my decision, "I swear to your terms,"

"Thank you milady," said the girl as she pulled her hood off.

Artemis clapped her hands to her mouth in shock, her eyes tearing up.

"Zoe?"

"Yes, but I go by Runa now," she replied and Artemis just nodded numbly.

Her companion stepped forward and Artemis turned her attention him reluctantly.

As he pulled his hood down, Artemis didn't recognize him until she saw his crooked grin. His eyes were different and his whole facial structure was different but the grin was the same.

"Perseus?" As he nodded, she was overcome with shock, "You are the Destroyer?"

"Yeah, about that name…" he trailed off, "It doesn't matter, I go by Raze now," he said firmly.

He was completely different from the brave, loyal hero she once knew.

He had died that day, torn to shreds by the ones he had once loved.

And his place was something completely different.

In his place was a killer, a man that would stop at nothing to achieve what he wanted.

And that frightened her.

For in his place was a monster.

A monster of their own making.

Hey Pixels, sorry for the late update!

Dedicated to anubisandnicomyloves for being so much fun to talk to. Shout out to jungle321jungle for helping me set up a protest for absolutely no reason! Anarchy for no reason at all!

Catch ya on the flip side Pixels!

-PixelUp