"It's good you're not running, saves time." Leman Russ
"By the gods, what tiz that stench?" Zoë demanded, covering her nose with her hand.
"That would be my attempt at crafting an old drink." I answered stepping into my little hideout in the woods near Alexandra's house.
Since coming here, I took up the old task Russ set for me. Creating Mjød, he had been craving its taste for a while now and I was interested why the Primarch loved it so much. My attachments have yet to reach Russ' standards, but I've got past the insults to the "it was ok" territory. Zoë was now discovering that Russ and I had been taste testing many different drinks trying to get something close. Simply put, my hideout smelled like a drunkard's home.
I walked over to my brewing station and quickly put together some Mjød, I also took the time to make a watered down version for my guest.
"Tis unnecessary." Zoë refused the drink offered to her.
"Oh come now, we are to be allies for the time being. Why not try it?" I returned, my hand still outstretched.
"I do not require any." Zoë firmly replied.
*Thirty minutes later*
"When I wake up and put on my hunter's uniform, I know that I carry with me the honor and expectations of my lady Artemis." Zoë drunkenly declared, sitting on a stump close to me. "Every member of the hunt stands with me and I with them."
"Hmm." I replied, refilling her half empty drink.
She quickly took another long swig. She let out a satisfied gasp. "This reminds me of my own family, we would drink and dance together. Then thrice scoundrel of a demigod, Hercules, left me to take thine own fall." Tears began to swell up. "My father banished and disowned me."
"She does not have a strong constitution." Russ observed as Zoë began to dive into her life's story... again.
I listened again, as she had caught me not paying attention to her and got mad. Her anger quickly switched to sadness, which in turn switched to self-loathing, which led to asking me if I thought she was still beautiful. Of course answering this question led into another story about her first love, some milk-sob named Hercules. Then she would talk about how she was banished by her father and how she met the apparent Greek goddess Artemis and joined her as a follower.
All of these points cementing Greek mythology's existence as being real. Once upon a time I would have called "BS" on the idea, but not anymore due to my current situation. Zoë was by no means a normal human and her leader gave off an unnatural vibe. It wasn't too far-fetched to believe that some of the mythologies, if not all of them, were still around in some capacity. Though, while I was no expert on the matter, I did know that the Greek gods were not known to act very godly.
"Ar't thou still listing!?" Zoë pouted, puffing her cheeks.
"Yes, yes I am." I reassured the hunter while refilling her drink.
Zoë's pout turned into a smile as she took another few large swigs. She held up her cup waiting for a refill as I looked down at my own cup, then to the empty cask.
"You've drunk me dry." I commented humorously, well I was out of what left I was willing to share.
"Uh?! Then thou shall produce more!" Zoë ordered.
"I'm out of supply Zoë, as in I have to go find more ingredients." I clarified.
"Then thou should go fetch more!"
"I'm not leaving you alone here, some of this stuff is flammable."
"I am a hunter of Artemis! As my Lady's Lieutenant I-'' She tripped as soon as she stood up and fell onto the ground. "Oh, greetings ground, thou ar't warm."
The soft sound of snoring came up from the ground. I took the now spilled cup from her hand and placed it back on the table. Next, I threw the hunter over my shoulder and began walking back to the house. Zoë was mumbling something as I carried her but even to my enhanced hearing it was incoherent. I found one of the other hunters who was off on her own going about her own business. She jumped up from her seat when I sat Artemis' Lieutenant next to her. Before she could make some claim about me hurting her I quickly told her that she passed out from drinking too much and left them both to take care of it.
Eventually I happened upon Gabriel who was training with a sword and spear. Both were made from wood, as they seemed to have been made for him. I watched him for a moment. I pitied the poor invisible enemies he seemed to be fighting, there was an equal amount of fury and precision in his attacks. What was even more impressive was the fact that Russ was silent. He always had something to say about someone when we are looking at someone else with martial prowess. He would scoff or make some offhand comment about being better. Even if he only did it to keep up a façade, being bonded to him meant that I was able to see through his well-crafted mask. Even still, Russ did not make a comment about Gabriel's display.
"Need someone to practice with?" I asked while approaching him from the side.
Gabriel stopped and turned to face me, he gave me a courteous smile. "I wouldn't mind a sparring partner. Would you prefer the sword or the spear?"
'The sword.' Russ answered in my mind as if the spear had offended him.
"The sword if you don't mind." I answered, as Gabriel spun the wooden sword in his hand and offered me the handle. "First one to deliver a decisive blow?"
"Agreed."
"Also, if you could, be gentle with them. They are made of wood after all." Gabriel requested to which I nodded.
I took the offered sword and gave it a few test swings. Yes, this wooden sword was made for him. I began to take my own combat stance as did he after performing a type of salute. We both watched each other's forms, searching for even the slightest twitch of muscle from one another so as to predict the other's move. For some time neither one of us moved as we waited for the right opportunity to strike at one another. Then, as if an imaginary gunshot signaled the start of our match, we both rushed each other. With him using a spear he would have the ranged advantage but there was only one sharp end while my sword had a much more cutting edge. So, it would be up to me to stay close.
Once in range Gabriel stabbed his spear forward as I parried the spear upwards in response while keeping my momentum and continued to charge forward. He quickly saw what I was trying to do and used his wings to gain some distance from me. I rushed him once again as he readied himself to receive my attack. This time he stood his ground and made multiple quick thrusting strikes at me. I parried and deflected each of the attacks as I pushed forward to close the gap between us. Once within optimal range I shot out my empty hand and grabbed the spear's shaft as it clashed with my weapon. I fixed my grip upon the wooden weapon; I could feel it start to splinter and wane in my hand. Gabriel tried to pull the weapon back, but it was too late. With my sword now free I thrusted my sword forward. Just before it could make contact Gabriel let go of the spear and jumped back narrowly avoiding the hit.
He leveled a smile at me as I flipped around the spear. "I concede."
I returned with my own smile, though showing more teeth than him. "You got the whole angelic fury about you, or maybe it's just the wings." I tossed the wooden spear and sword back to him.
"And you the wild ferocity of a wolf." He answered, catching both weapons with one hand.
"I can't help but wonder how much of your other side was helping." I added jokingly. "Can't say I would imagine someone who smells like he has been indoors for most of his life to have this much skill with a weapon."
"True enough, after I became… this, my parents did not let me out often. Sanguinius did help me but he did not take control if that is what you are insinuating.
"I didn't know our other selves could." As I became aware of it, my arm rose without my command and began opening and clenching its fist. "Hey none of that!"
Russ' only reply was an assumed humph. Sanguinius appeared at Gabriel's side in all his armored angelic glory.
"It does take a bit of concentration to do so without our host's permission. Though I would only perform such an action if the moment was dire." Sanguinius explained before changing the subject. "I do worry about the beings that reside here, the energies of the immaterial flow around them. They are not natural and powerful, I fear what would happen should they turn hostile. Your bodies have not yet fully adjusted to that of a primarch's."
"So, we are getting stronger?" I asked.
"To an extent, but physical strength is not all you shall inherit. Our wisdom, intelligence, and psyker abilities are just a few of the things you shall receive."
"And what happens once we fully merge? Are you guys going to take over our bodies?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
Sanguinius looked down and to the side. "I would hope not, but I can only assume that our minds will mix in some form. Both our hosts and ourselves coming together to form one mind."
I crossed my arms. "Sounds like either way we're gonna change, and not be the same."
"To be fair." Gabriel interjected. "I don't think anything would be the same as it was."
"Yeah… I guess you're right." I relented.
We stood in silence for a few moments before the voice of Alexamdra called out to us.
"Hey! The twins found something!" She called waving us over.
Sanguinius disappeared as both Gabriel and I followed Alexamdra to the rest of us and the so-called twin gods along with the goddess' hunters. The twins were sitting in front of their own computers quickly typing away at the keyboards. I saw the screens they were looking at, opening and closing browsers as they quickly moved from each bit of information to the next in seconds.
"You guys found them quickly." I observed while entering the room.
"It was rather easy." The Alpharius answered.
"So much data and information, free to plunder and exploit." Omegon added.
"Without much in the way of security or care." Alpharius finished.
"Where are they then?" Artemis demands getting in between the twins.
"Tennessee." Apharius answered simply.
"Moving inland from the sounds of it if we were to assume by going off the appearance of reports and sightings." Omegon answered.
"Let us be away, I will handle this myself." Artemis declared as she headed for the exit, however I stood in her way.
"Not so fast, some of us are going too." The goddess shot me a cold glare.
"You have done enough; do not think I was not informed of the status of my lieutenant." She proceeded to get in my face, or attempted to. "If I find you did-"
"You'll find that my taste does not fit any of your hunters or you for that matter." I cut her off by getting in her face. "too much like rabid animals you lot, controlled only by your base emotions, so blind to reason and ignorant of the damage you cause. I've seen bums on the street worth more than you."
The goddess looked like she was getting ready to attack, but her brother quickly stepped in between us, pushing us both back from one another. "Now now, if you two can't play nice I'm going to put you both in timeout. I can transport us to Tennessee so we can get this sorted out a little faster. So who is coming along besides my sister and her hunters?"
"I will go." Gabriel called stepping forward.
"Me as well." Asenath declared.
"I'm going of course." I added.
"I shall also go." Finn stated from the side of the room.
A few more moments passed, none of the others voiced their willingness to go. The god nodded, then spoke.
"We'll take my chariot!" The supposed Apollo declared as a bright light came in through.
The hunters present shielded their eyes from the light or outright turned away from it. The rest of us shielded our eyes, but my senses told me that something unnatural had just landed in front of the house. The four of us and the hunters, plus their godly patrons, made our way to the front of the house where a long yellow bus sat awaiting us. Apollo waved us toward the bus after a bit of finagling, as we were bigger than what the bus was built to hold. We were seated in the back, and everyone else was in the front. Freki and Geri were lying down in the aisle.
Once Apollo was in the driver's seat, I was expecting him to turn into the driveway heading towards the exit. As it turns out, soon after the god grabbed onto the steering wheel, the bus lifted off the ground as if we were on the magic school bus. Russ let out a few grumbles in my head, but I did not catch his exact words. As we flew, Finn leaned over toward me.
"I don't suppose you know something you've yet to share," he whispered, while keeping an eye trained on the supposed gods.
"Suppose so," I admitted, keeping my voice low. "The girl leader is the Greek goddess Artemis, and our driver is her brother Apollo. Apparently, mythology was not so mythological."
Finn looked at me for a moment before returning to looking forward. He seemed to be talking with his inner self if the quick eye movements and twitching jaw were anything to go by.
"Who gave you this information?"
"Artemis' second, she was intoxicated at the time, so I don't think she was lying. She claimed to be the daughter of the titan Atlas as well."
"It seems so unlikely." Finn countered, but he did not sound like he was unbelieving.
"Is it so hard to believe? Look at us, hosting the souls of super soldier generals from the future. It would not be too far-fetched to believe that there is something more to our world than what we used to assume," I reasoned.
"Hmm, if what you say is true and these are, in fact, the gods from mythology, perhaps coming along was a mistake," Finn replied grimly. "The Greek gods are renowned for their sinful nature; they do as they please no matter who gets hurt in the process. Konrad calls for their deaths, however I am currently attempting to hold him back, but I don't know how long I can stave off his thirst for retribution."
That was less than good...
"Is he actively fighting you?" I asked, ready to restrain him if need be.
"He is not trying to take over, but I can feel his desires as if they were my own." A small smirk appeared on his face. "He is currently standing over Artemis with his claws extending into her, then back into his gauntlets... then back again."
I looked over to Artemis but couldn't see Finn's primarch.
"Are you going to be alright?"
"Yes, but if they do try something," he then leveled a serious look at me, "I will have no qualms with putting them down."
"Turns out your observation about them was more accurate than any of us knew," Asenath commented; apparently, she was listening in. "If they try something, kill the hunters first; it will provide a distraction."
"Or we will incite the goddess' wrath," Gabriel added. It seems like everyone was listening in.
"I do kinda owe her for saving my life once." I noticed one of the younger hunters trying to give Geri a treat. Given his size, however, the treat might as well have been a crumb, so he gave her the "that's all" look. "Just this once, I would like it if we could avoid killing them... just this once."
"If you are so adamant about your so-called debt, then fine," Asenath sighed.
"If push comes to shove and comes down to either us or them, I will not hesitate to act." I clarified for my fellow Primarchs. 'I wasn't about to lose another family.'
Before long I felt the flying bus begin to descend followed by a thump as the wheels touched the ground. The sun god then called to everyone that they had landed, the silver clothed girls beginning to exit the bus along with their goddess, then we soon followed afterwards. Once everyone exited, the bus began to lift itself back into the sky before racing off into the clouds.
Now being out of the relatively tiny bus I took a moment to stretch, my joints cracking in response. The two gods and the hunters gathered around each other as Artemis quickly began laying out a plan. While they were doing that the six of us did our own little group huddle. Asenath passed out some phones built for our size.
"Here, gifts from the twins." She explained while handing out the phones. "They're supposed to be encrypted and allow us to communicate with each other and the twins back in Texas."
I examined my own phone while Asenath explained their features. Mine had a light blue case around it, Gabriel's red, Finn's blue with lightning bolts, and Asenath's a white steely color. I quickly set a password, but I thought it was going to keep the twins out if they wanted to get in.
"They have unlimited text and data. It also gives the twins a way to directly access things if we plug them into the network."
"Wonderful, this will help in coordinating our efforts." Gabriel commented, smiling as he interacted with his new phone. "I'm glad it's big enough for us to avoid fat fingering the screen."
"Hmm, never had one for myself." Finn explained, eyeing his phone. "The only ones I've had were ones I used for a moment or stole temporarily."
"Well, here's to having one that you own." I cheered and lightly tapped him on his back. "Now for our plan, I suggest we find our fellow Primarchs before our tagalongs do."
"We will most certainly end up coming to blows with them, Marrok." Finn countered, gesturing with his head towards the gods. "Beings like those who have so much power and very little in the way of morality or countability do not back down when faced with reason. They have long since decided that they decide what is right and wrong, only power keeps them in check. When the time comes they will see if their power is enough to make us bend to their will."
"I know, but maybe this will be the day something new happens for all of us."
"Whatever the case may be, the twins just gave us the most probable direction of travel our fellow Primarchs are heading in." Asenath explained looking at her phone. "Hope you guys are ready for a run."
Looking at my own phone I saw that my maps app had already been open with a red line going through the state with a side caption of "most probable route" beside it. I smiled.
"I'll race ya!" I called while breaking into a sprint, my pack brothers soon following after me.
"Damn it Marrok!" I heard Asenath's voice trail after me.
My laughter was my answer in response.
Definitely one of the pluses of being a Primarch was the seemingly endless supply of stamina. As my fellow Primarchs chased after me, my muscles did not strain or grow tired from their constant use. The same could be said for the Primarchs chasing after me, as they showed no signs of slowing down.
Minutes turned to ten minutes, ten minutes to an hour. All four of us, plus my pack brothers, sprinting through the wilderness like a pack of wolves on a hunt! If I was being honest it was a very good feeling to cut loose with my fellow Primarchs. Even if we weren't breaking a sweat, the feeling of my hearts going was amazing. I would have kept running, and begun to outpace my fellow Primarchs but I found myself running into something and tumbling over with it and rolling a little ways.
When I came to a stop I found myself looking down at a hooded figure. He looked back at me. It was at this moment, I felt it…
"Well hello brother." I greeted the other Primarch.
"Brother… get off me." The hooded Primarch request.
Before I could even reply. Two arms warped around my waist and I suddenly found myself being squeezed like a plushy that had just been recovered by its owner.
"Ahaha, another brother! It is so good to see you brother friend!" A very happy voice declared.
I felt as if I was being squeezed between two industrial presses. Just as I was about to cry out, the two industrial presses stopped pressing down on me. When I finally got a moment to look at the one who was squeezing me to death, I beheld a massive man. Unnatural jet-black skin and full red almost burning eyes. He was smiling brightly at me.
"Hello brother." I grunted. "Can you let me down now?"
Before he could reply the other three entered the opening causing everyone to look towards the new entries. The big man smiled and dropped me, ignoring my pack brothers barking at him.
"Brothers, sister!" The big man cried out happily and rushed towards them, arms open wide.
Each of them got into a fearfully defensive stance, even Finn looked a little shocked by the overly friendly display.
"Forge, if you could control yourself for a moment." A man in pale green armor. Causing the now named Forge to stop.
"Master, that's the one I told you about." A girl who wore the same uniform as Artemis' hunter.
"Yes, Naomi I'm glad you recognized him." The man answered, patting her head. She seemed very… very happy from his acknowledgement.
"I'm glad that we found each other at last." The hooded one commented while getting up from the ground. "Saves a lot of time."
"I guess introductions are in order."
"That will have to wait, Marrok." Asenath commented, turning towards the trees where Artemis hunters were emerging from.
Artemis soon emerged with her brother. Her eyes went to the one called Naomi then they shot to the one she was standing beside. Her expression quickly changed to anger… or rage.
"I told you we would meet again." Artemis growled.
"I never doubted it, but as you can see." He then gestured to the rest of us. "I'm not alone anymore."
"Now before we start trying to kill each other, let's remember that we have a truce." Asenath quickly reminded everyone. "We both promised we would attempt to settle this peacefully."
"We did." Apollo quickly answered before his sister could. "So if you could return my sister's hunter I think we can each start on a good footing."
"Lord Jack is the one I serve now, and I won't let anything come between us." Naomi declared getting in front of "Lord Jack" and drawing her daggers.
Both gods adopted a shocked expression. Artemis' expression turned murderous.
"What in Chaos' name did you do to my hunter!?" Artemis demanded rage, filling her voice.
"An accident, when I was getting information from her." Jack answered, his expression still neutral. "I have been attempting to fix this."
Apollo jumped on the opportunity. "Then I might be able to help her."
"By all means then."
"No!" Naomi protested turning to Jack. "Please my lord, I don't want to leave your side. I promise I will do anything you need me to do!"
"You're sick, Naomi." Jack answered her, kneeling down to her level. "It's time you were healed."
Before she could reply. Jack stuck a syringe into the side of her neck and injected its contents. In the next moment Naomi's eyes rolled back and she crumbled down only to be caught by Jack. The Primarch lifted her up in his arms and approached the two waiting gods. Apollo met him half way and took the hunter from his arms. Jack then retreated back to us.
"I believe we have both gotten what we wanted out of this." Gabriel commented. "Shall we both return to our own dwelling in peace?"
I studied Artemis body language for hostility. There was much, whether or not she was going to act on it was up to her. Both our groups watch the other… waiting for any signal.
"Stand down." Artemis ordered her hunters. "When we return to your house. We will discuss this further.'