Chapter 18: We do not condone animal violence…

[Zoë's Pov]

This quest was going as good as I'd hoped so far.

Not counting the two trespassers, but so far so good.

What was Luna even thinking; if Lady Artemis was captured by the general, then…

…no, it is now too late to complain about her accompaniment. All I can do is protect her the best I can. Even if I had to, to face the general…

I gripped my bow tightly to stop my hands from going weak.

I admired Annabeth's tactical abilities and intellect. A truly worthy daughter of Athena if you ask me. But even then I hoped her dreams and estimation about the general would be somehow wrong, even if it made perfect sense.

He can't be free. He can't have escaped from his prison. No one would dare offer to lift it off his shoulders. Not after that buffoon did it eons ago, and he only narrowly escaped being trapped under there forever.

Now, that would've been a satisfying sight to see. Then I wouldn't have to come to face any of his wretched attributions to the world, which would have been a better place with those, surely.

And that Poseidon boy won't have the sword, either.

How on Gaia's name did that end up on his hands; and why? I suppose Chiron would've given it to him, that'll mean he saw the boy as the next new biggest hero─the true heir to Hercules the great─

I couldn't restrain my snort. Some men glanced at me, but I shot them away with a glare.

'Greatest hero in history' ─just shows what mankind values: So-called great achievements that merely prove that he is nothing more than a giant gathering of muscles and ego; not bothering, or allowing himself to credit others than himself.

…not bothering to keep his oath. An oath of a family-

Now, just the idea of it makes me want to throw up. He would've just ended up killing me and the children again, anyway.

'Hera had driven me insane, as if!

I hate heroes. Those greedy, selfish lots…they'll take anything, do anything they want to get their stupid quest done. Some might look kind, confident, and even selfless at the beginning, but I know their true color. The hunt knows. Lady Artemis knows.

Not to exclude that Ares boy. He may be showing innocence and kindness now (I guess. The Amazonian belt felt slightly hot in my pocket), but in no doubt, he'll show his nature as well; especially if the boy's father is Ares─the worst among gods, I dare say.

That's the reason I brought him along, anyway. I will not have any hero to be a pleasure being in my memory. Not saying that the boy was pleasant to me, it's just…

...Even if he keeps taking unexpected turns, he can't surprise me forever.

"Incoming!"

"Rwarrrr!"

With a loud crash, something big and hairy dropped down from the ceiling. Pedestrians all screamed out and scattered much to my thanks. The furry ball seemed to be wrestling with each other until the hair part threw the un-hairy part down at my feet.

It was the Ares boy.

"Ow, hi. Ow."

I ignored him, bleeding on the floor.

The hairy ball roared out as it pulled out a dark blade lodged in its shoulders. Blood splattered on the floor and tinged its brown fur into a dark-red shade. Its beady little black eyes latched onto me, and it growled out of fury.

"A flying bear man. What shall I call you, before I hunt you down as I have done to countless of your beings?"

"You. I've heard about you, Zoë Nightshade."

That thing knew my name.

Disgusting.

It growled, the anger in its voice getting deeper every second.

"Our mother was betrayed! By the goddess you serve!"

That made me falter; and the beast took its chance and lunged, spreading the wings wide and striking forward with bronze claws.

I jumped up, onto the things back, and fired right at its neck. Blood splattered up as the thing howled, and I drove it straight into a display of Roman armor stand, jumping off at the last second.

It toppled over the flying bear beast, clanging and crashing against the floor. The Ares boy was running up with his sword in hand, but I held out my hand to stop him.

"I do not need the help of thee. That thing is already dead."

"Not, yet!"

The bear roared out, knocking away the various armor in every direction. A knee protector came sailing into my face, but it was a simple target to dodge. I saw the boy scramble behind a model of steam engines to protect himself.

Pitiful.

The bear beast was growling at me. It was having trouble controlling its anger, which in turn was sealing its fate of death nicely for me.

The swipes it made with its claw were violent, straightforward, like men.

I pulled one arm beside me and stabbed at its snout, ripping it in half before pushing it back into the broken armor stand. The beast howled in pain as it staggered back, trying to cover the snout but the claws were preventing him.

"You have falsely accused our goddess with thy filthy mouth, beast. You will die a painful death for that."

"That's a bit cruel, isn't it?"

"Say that to thou father, boy!"

The boy shut himself up. That might be the one good aspect of him; he shut up when I told him to.

Cruel against a monster; I'd believe the boy was a son of Aphrodite─a cowardly son, at that.

The bear beast had staggered back up to its feet. I shot it at both knees and it crumpled down again. Now it was laughing, gurgling in its blood, but the black eyes were still looking at me with hatred.

"Falsely accused…as arrogant as proud, and you used to be our mother's best friend."

It made a weak slash with its arm. It didn't even reach me. I shot both of its arms as well, making them slump next to its heaving chest.

"I don't make kinship with a beast's mother."

"Really? Then tell me, Zoë Nightshade, does 'Polyphonte' ring a bell?"

My heart sank. How does this beast know a banished hunter's name?

"She betrayed her oath. She deserved what she got."

"Deserved?!"

The beast roared out with such fury that I stepped back; my fingers slipped on the bowstring and the arrow whizzed over its head. The beast now had bloody foams dribbling out from its mouth. It'll bleed to death soon.

"She didn't deserve anything! Aphrodite ordered her to fall in love. She refused and ran to Artemis for help. But when Aphrodite bewitched her to fall in love with a bear, Artemis abandoned her hunter in disgust."

"Aphrodite is at fault, not-"

"My mother has died giving birth! She cursed your goddess with her final breath, Zoë Nightshade. Aphrodite might have cursed her; but the one who abandoned her, the one who abandoned her promise of protection was your goddess: Artemis!"

"She is not dead! Lady Artemis changed her into an owl out of pity-"

"Pity!? It was her shame and guilt that forced her. Your goddess is nothing but a hypocrite! A liar! That's why we swore on our mother to never stop until every single one of you was killed."

"We?"

Then, I heard a swoop of a pair of wings and the most ridiculous laughter.

"Hehe! Hehe!"

"Watch out!"

The boy's sword flung past my head. The laughter turned into a howl of a bear, and I turned around just in time to see another flying bear beast tumbling down onto me, a sword stuck in its shoulder.

I jumped out of the way, but it swung the giant ax in its hand and hit me with the flat side of the blade, flinging me across the exhibit.

I braced myself to smash right through a glass pane, but something grabbed me instead and we fell over.

It took me some time to realize the Ares boy had caught me, his hands wrapped around my waist.

Goosebumps instantly spread across my arms and I instinctively elbowed him in the stomach. Hard. The boy grunted in pain and his arms weakened, allowing me to spring up to my feet.

My face was red hot, and my heart was pounding in my ears; I was furious. Furious that he dared touch my skin. But, at the same time, the beast's last words were ringing in my head.

{"Your goddess is nothing but a hypocrite!"}

The Ares boy heavily stood up, one hand over his stomach where I smacked down. I expected him to protest. I would've preferred him to, over what he did.

"Sorry. Not touching was, one of your rules, I forgot."

"…Do not."

Don't apologize.

Don't make me a hypocrite.

"What?"

The boy was looking puzzled. I gathered my wits together.

"Never mind. We have the battle to fight, and thee are weaponless. Throwing your weapon is not an ideal strategy, boy."

The twins of beasts were now back up to their feet. The one wounded to the brink of death was also back to full condition after chugging down a sack of some liquid handed from its brother.

"Not in my case. Watch."

The Ares boy stretched his arm out at the sword sticking out of one of them. The sword dug itself out. The second bear beast also howled in pain but chugged down the same liquid and the wound healed up.

The sword nearly impaled the boy, but he managed to duck out of the way and retrieve it by hand.

Thankfully, the bear beats had run out of the healing elixir with that. They threw away the sack on the floor and drew their weapons: One had a set of bronze claws, the other had a two-handed battle-ax, which split in half to make two smaller axes and held it on each hand.

"Oreius. The time has come for our grand revenge! Before the undead gets hold of them, we'll kill this one painfully."

"Hehe! Hehe!"

Undead?

The boy was looking confused as well, but he raised his sword nonetheless.

"You need to have a talk with Artemis after this."

"I-be quiet! I do not believe their story. It is false."

It was not. But I couldn't bear the truth.

Not now, when I had to fight those things.

…I'm sorry, Polyphonte.

I really am.

[David's Pov]

Zoë wasn't in any condition to fight; emotionally speaking.

She was notably shaken by what the bear twin has said. Which to be honest, wasn't a story that really would boost your mood unless you had a really weird kink (No judging).

I was also not in any condition to fight; physically speaking.

Turns out smashing down into a glass ceiling with a flying bear man is not good for your back, or any other part of your body, realistically speaking. I could still feel drops of blood running down my back, but I did my best to ignore them.

Children of Ares had resistance against pain. Clarisse said. Not immunity, resistance. That was good enough for me at the moment.

The bear twins roared out like bears and both took to flight; whizzing down upon us like a low flying plane, and we had to duck and roll over to dodge them. It wasn't pleased with all the broken shards of glass on the floor, but the twins had to swerve around in a large circle to turn around, giving us an opening.

Zoë let loose on her arrows. The one with the claws, Agrius swatted them out of the sky and slashed down at her head. Her reaction was a bit off. I quickly stepped in and blocked the strike with my sword.

"A hunter getting saved by a man? You'll get turned into a bear for that."

That seemed to jar her from her stupor.

"Shut up!"

Zoë whipped out her hunting knives and tried to stab Agrius in the jugular, but he flapped away, pushing us off the balance with his wings as his twin hacked down with his axes.

I lunged forward again and dodged the attack, while Zoë cleverly used his strength to climb up to his back. She tried to stab at his neck from either side, but Oreius did a loop-the-loop and threw her off.

Zoë landed on all fours on a model of a battlefield with miniature modern soldiers littered over a river.

"The Germans were a bit further behind than this."

I didn't even have time to ask how she knew that.

The flying bear man twins both roared out and flew towards her. They had a serious grudge against the Hunters of Artemis. I was just a random demigod to them, as far as they're concerned.

I quickly scrambled up a display of a steam engine and jumped down, right onto Agrius's back and slamming him against the floor. I felt pretty good for 3 seconds as I rode him like a snowboard on the marble floor, then Agrius growled out in frustration and shook me off with his strength.

I could see Zoë jumping from exhibition stand to exhibition stand, trying to gain distance from Oreius to get a clear shot with her bow. But as dumb as he sounded with his laughs, Oreius seemed to be keeping his distance close for his axes to be a threat to her, but not enough for her bow or knives to be effective.

I ducked as Agrius smashed another glass stand, knocking over a giant replica of a lightbulb and raining down broken shards of glass over my head.

"Why do you even bother?" The bear-man growled as I tried to dart around him. "The hunters don't know gratitude. They are a selfish lot, casting aside their 'sister' at a moment's notice when she needed their help the most!"

He knocked an old-fashioned steampunk car over. I had to scramble back just not to get squashed under it and deflected his swipe with my sword.

My hands felt numb just from blocking that one strike; these bear men were extensive with their strengths. If their movements were not straightforward enough, I would've been dead in the first 30 seconds.

I tried a jab at his snout, where he had trouble grabbing earlier. But he swatted the blade away with a snarl.

"Join us! Half-blood, you do not yet know your fate."

That jarred me.

"What?"

Agrius grinned. His sharp yellow teeth were, somehow, worse than Dr. Thorn's.

"A fate of every hero; to be used as a tool for the gods, only to be neglected and forgotten. This war would be their price for their foolishness!"

For a second, the gloomy faces of the undetermined campers came back to my head. I shook them away.

There's going to be a war.

Now, as a child of Ares, maybe I should've gotten excited, or at least determined. Instead, I felt something cold slide down my back.

"A war between who? Who would want to attack-"

Agrius laughed out loud, flapping his wings to fly up near to the ceiling and ripped off a ceiling fan.

He threw it at me with malicious force, and I had to duck behind a statue of Abraham Lincoln. The fan blade got lodged in his shoulder with a loud screeching noise of metal tearing open metal.

Sorry, America.

"Your ignorance amuses me, demigod. Perhaps it'll be best for you. But that won't save you from your upcoming death!"

I was about to dash out from the statue, only for Agrius to land right in front of me with a 'thud' and knock my sword out of my hand. It clattered down to his feet, to which he kicked it far away to the under of a large table with a model of a medieval castle.

I stupidly thrust out a punch. That must've even taken the bear-man in surprise because I managed to give his snout a nice whack.

Then instantly after he slashed at my body. Blood splattered out from my stomach or chest as black dots popped in my vision simultaneously. My legs felt like twigs as I stumbled back, and I fell over.

Agrius put his foot on my bloody chest and pointed his now blood-tinged claw at my throat.

"Now. Last chance, half-blood. Surrender! And you may be spared."

My head was spinning and throbbing, my chest and back were on fire with Agrius stepping on it to make it worse. Zoë was still busy with Oreius, who was now swinging his axes as if he was playing a whack-a-mole game.

It was over. I lost.

Unless…

"Answer!"

Agrius pushed down on his foot. I had to bite down on my lip hard to not groan out like a punk, and tried to recall the tugging sensation in my guts.

For a terrifying second, nothing happened.

But then the tug I had felt at Capture the Flag came back, and the sword rattled against the table. I still needed a decently effective way to control it. But how?

Agrius growled, his claw poking at my throat, ready to rip it out.

"W-wait! At, least, before I change my sides, I'd want to know who I'm joining?"

I didn't think it'll work. The bear-man laughed out loud and stood back up. His foot was still on my chest, but at least my throat wasn't an inch away from being gouged out.

"Now, you'll join the General's side. Become one of his trusted soldiers!"

Like Dr. Thorn. I shuddered at the thought of being colleague with him, but the bear-man mistook it as a shudder of fear.

So, about the control thing…

"Yes, quite terrifying for you. But the General values talent. Unless you prove yourself to be a fool, he'll find a use for you, and you'll find your rightful place in the army."

…the problem with the last time was that I couldn't control it. Possibly because my thoughts were too vague. If, if I can only image a more precise method of control…

I got it!

"And after joining his ranks, we will revive the great Titan back to his glorious self, and match straight to Olympus─"

Agrius cut himself short from his speech, because of a peculiar noise that was issuing. To be exact, issuing between my lips.

A low tone of a whistle that was steadily going higher up the note.

"What are you-"

I made a short, fast tweet and he became quiet.

That's because a black sword that had floated up into the air unnoticed had flown straight towards him, stabbing him at the back of his head, and coming out of his mouth.

His throat gulped at the air once and then toppled on his back. It was a gruesome sight of a corpse, at least until it crumbled down into a pile of dust.

There was an anguished howl from my right.

Oreius had abandoned his laugh and was propelling himself at me; his two axes molded back into one and held high, ready to split me in half for revenge.

My body froze; I was in no shape to dodge or even attempt to block his strike.

But right before he took a swing, a silver arrow sprouted from his hairy chest. Oreius howled and tumbled over in mid-air, crashing his head against Lincoln and falling on the ground in a heap, his ax clattering onto the floor.

"Zoë,"

"Stand back."

She notched her bow again. Oreius was growling, clawing at the floor to get himself up, blood spluttering from his neck. A set of arrows were set to flight and landed on its neck again. He coughed out some more blood and slumped onto the ground.

"…Mother…"

Then, it dissolved into golden dust.

Zoë let her arm fall to her side and looked away, turning her back against the entire scenery of battle. Her shoulders were slightly trembling.

"Zoë."

She flinched in her spot. She hurriedly wiped across her face with a silver scarf, then looked back at me with her usual cold look. Her eyes were slightly red.

"…Polyphonte was one of the greatest hunters I had known. She was…she didn't, deserve…"

Her voice shook, and she looked away again.

I looked down at the two piles of golden specks of dust. A lump rose in my throat─a similar lump to what I had at the observatory platform.

"Yeah. She didn't."

Judging by her look, I thought Zoë was either going to slap me or kick me, but we were interrupted by a huge roar of a lion echoed through the entire building.

Nothing like a perilous fight to bring two people close to each other, eh?

I'd also like to say a special thank you to RedHood001, for writing Reviews with kind words and depth.

I'd like to say more here, but it's nearly midnight, I had an afternoon job prior and my eyelids are drooping.

So, tootles! Thank everyone for reading!