Authors Note: I'm throwing in a potential warning, not sure if it's needed but there will be captured children's segments. And maybe deaths that might make this fic M rated? There's no blood though so I really don't know. Let me know, I guess.
Chapter 20: Unofficial(Hopefully official) god team purges the evil!
"Why in the world are we in the Underworld?" Apollo asked, shivering. "We could have nicely met up in sunny Delphi, but no! Dark, spooky and creepy caverns is the definite meeting spot to plan an all-out attack."
"Keep quite you dolt! We are sneaking in first of all and there is no way I want to come face to face with the Furies." Artemis hissed.
"Is it true that they have fiery whips that can inflict poison acquired from drakons? I would like to get my hands on something like that." Hermes said.
"There whips can inflict fire, but I'm not sure about the poison." Perseus said. "I'll check on that later. Oh, and watch your step. There's a couple of steps missing over here which our uncle still hasn't bothered to fix."
"You mentioned you visited the dungeons once, right Percy? Are they comfortable, will Hades give us nice food to eat, is at an open toilet or-"
"What makes you think he's going to throw us in lockup Apollo." Perseus said with a laugh.
"Oh I don't know, wait let me quote my sister. Ahem...we're sneaking in without permission!" Apollo cried.
Perseus just shook his head. "First of all, you'll be fine. I basically have access to anywhere in this realm and I know this place like that back of my hand. And I'm passing that access to you three temporarily so we can meet Hecate. So if you wouldn't mind, can we stop whining and hurry up already?" Perseus snapped, his eyes glowing a faint purple. Apollo visibly deflated which Perseus noticed and sighed. "Look, I'm sorry for snapping but I have a really bad situation happening up there regarding my only two mortal friends which I definitely don't want to see anything bad happen to. And I'm grateful for you guys helping me out. Heck, how about I'll throw a mini tour of this place?" Perseus said, a small smile on his face. "Speaking of which, it seems like we reached. Welcome to the Underworld everyone." Perseus announced, as he watched his friends take in the large cavernous utopia just below the earth.
"Dang, Uncle Hades has a palace that rivals the size of the Father's palace and the throne room together." Hermes muttered.
"It's almost as beautiful as Olympus." Artemis said in awe.
"You should see uncle Poseidon's place as well; the coral park is a definite must see." Perseus said with a grin. "But Persephone's gardens are a blast to explore through, it's actually a maze."
Suddenly, loud flapping noises and hisses were heard as the group looked up, coming face to face with three shriveled up faces, sneering at them.
"Would you look at that Alecto? Our little brother got us some prisoners for the dungeons. It's a shame they can't die, I would have loved to pit them in punishment." Megaera drawled out.
"Oh please, Percy wouldn't throw us into lockup, would you Perce?" Apollo asked, Hermes nodding in affirmation.
"If you tell more people my name is Percy, then I might as well have to dispose you two off." Perseus said, giving a sly smile.
"See I told you he likes me the best, he wouldn't do something like that to me." Artemis said.
"You hardly have any material on him to warrant that!" Apollo protested.
"Even if she did, Perseus still wouldn't do anything cause it's Artemis." Hermes said, nudging Perseus.
"Two young gods for us? Oh thank you little brother. The things we could do to you down in the dungeons." Tisiphone cackled, licking he lips as she eyed up Apollo and Hermes, who immediately hid behind Perseus.
"Tisi, you're drawing a line." Perseus muttered. "We're here to see Hecate. Is uncle Hades around?"
"Our lord is in the mortal world, along with our lady." Alecto hissed. "As for our sister, she has been expecting you."
"Oh yeah, you three are related to Hecate as well." Perseus noted. "Wait, I would be related to Hecate then... but she's adopted..."
"You'll still be related distantly, and I don't want you to dwell on that any further." Artemis warned.
"We'll be off, you know where to find us if you need anything." Alecto said, she and her sisters flying off. Perseus then led the other gods to Hades's palace, pointing out certain locations as well.
"That path leads to a lake where the five underworld rivers meet, and then it splits again when it empties out into Tartarus." Perseus said. "And speaking of Tartarus, that road leads to a direct entrance into the pit. Just one jump into the massive hole and you will be in literal hell."
"So that's where I would have gone if I had wanted to chuck Hermes into Tartarus." Apollo said with a chuckle.
"Good thing that didn't happen, right cuz?" Hermes said.
"Yep. But touch my cows again, I'll dangle you over the abyss of Chaos itself."
After walking some more, playing with Cerberus for a bit, they finally reached Hades's palace, and soon, Hecate's floor.
"About time you came in. I was starting to wonder you already did whatever it is you want to do." Hecate said, ushering the group in. "So, this is your rag tag group of gods I'm supposed to be a part of? Not bad." Hecate mused.
"Percy."
"Yeah Hermes?"
"How come you didn't mention your friend was hot." Hermes said with a grin, as he took hold of Hecate's palm and kissed her knuckles. "The name is Hermes milady. Messenger of the gods, patron to those who use the roads. God of mischief, thieves, trav-"
"She isn't interested in all that!" Apollo shouted, shoving Hermes aside. "A real pleasure to meet you ma'am, real pleasure. I'm Apollo, the new sun god and poet extraordinaire. Your lovely dark locks of hair are itching me to come up with a lovely song." he commented, as he grasped Hecate's wrist.
"Uhh,,, I'm charmed." Hecate said nervously, glancing at Perseus with a weirded-out expression that screamed 'HELP!'. "Guys no time for your idiocy." Perseus said as he took Hecate aside while Artemis pulled both Hermes and Apollo aside by their ears and started berating them.
"I'm so sorry about that. Next time, I'll make sure to let you make their mouths disappear but we're kinda running on a tight schedule." Perseus said apologetically.
"I didn't think of doing that... thanks for the tip. And I'm used to it... somewhat. Been a while since I had male gods lining up in front of me. I think the underworld helped repelling them." Hecate said with a chuckle. "Shall we get started then?"
After a few apologies and mutterings of 'stupid male gods', the five assembled around a table and were blessed with the heavenly drink, tea.
"I definitely need a bag of this stuff." Perseus muttered as he took a sip. "So, what was that thing you said you could Hecate?"
"Scan the city. And it was quite easy. Just place some mist stones in four surrounding locations and 'snap!'." Hecate said as she snapped her fingers. A large bellow of green mist bellowed in front of them, forming into a translucent structure of the entire three-dimensional map of Kichyros.
"That's really impressive." Artemis commented. "So this is the full city? With every nook and cranny covered?"
"Yep. Buildings, roads, drainage systems and most surprising of all, this." Hecate said, pointing at a series of interconnected-
"Tunnels." Apollo muttered. "They're everywhere."
"And all of them connect to one main location. This building." Hermes said, Pointing at a building at the far end of the city. "Look at this, this place literally has an underground bunker deep inside. How in the world all this is unnoticed is beyond me."
"Some tunnels lead into the acropolis. Look, there's one literally connected to the king's palace. And some of them lead outside the city if I'm not mistaken." Artemis said.
"So that's how those idiots managed to capture Phoebe in the first place." Perseus muttered, as he stared at a tunnel that connected to a familiar looking house. "They literally had direct access."
"And I won't be surprised that the reason why these tunnels may have gone unchecked is because of Mados's very own men." Perseus told Hermes. "Mados basically has like one-third of the city in his control, not to mention that's a powerful fraction. He literally has men posing everywhere, covering up all his dirty work. Well, that's going to be stopped real soon." Perses said with a growl.
"So, what's our plan of action Perce." Apollo asked, leaning back on his chair. "And please don't say that me and Arty are only going to be doing eclipse duty."
"Hey!" "Oohh yeah, today is your first official eclipse as it's god huh?" Hecate asked.
"Yeah, though I'm not sure what will happen to me if an eclipse happens." Perseus said sheepishly. "i hope it's not something over the top."
"Maybe you'll grow wings, I'm thinking black." Artemis said with a grin. "You will glow in an eerie way, your cloak billowing as your eyes stare down on the city. Your weapons all out as huge shadow tendrils consume the city, purging the foulness that stains it, and-"
"Arty, stop daydreaming about Perseus. We know he's hot and badass." Apollo said, with a shit eating grin on his face. Artemis blinked a couple of times and then grabbed Apollo's head and smashed it through the table, making a head shaped hole in the process. She glanced at the other stunned gods as she grabbed her cup of tea and began to drink it.
"He called me Arty." Artemis said simply as she tried to cover her now golden blushing face as she pointedly avoided everyone's stares. "What are you going to be doing Hermes?" she asked, trying to break the tension.
"Um.. I'm not sure exactly," Hermes said, glancing at Perseus who was also blushing slightly. "I'm supposed to be scouting?"
"Hmm? Yeah, uh wait no... not exactly really. I want you to use your speed and stealth to map out the best possible routes I can take as well as the routes Mados will use to move the kids in. The four of you'll will have to be really discrete in your participation, we can't risk any of you'll breaking any supposed ancient laws." Perseus replied.
"So I'll be scouting tunnels, got it. It's going to be a bit tedious though, running up and down in order to communicate with you."
"I have a solution for that!" Hecate shouted, running to a set of drawers and rummaging through them. She then came back and dropped a bunch of stones with a symbol carved on them.
"Ta-da! These rocks are carved with a special symbol that will help us guys communicate with each other. Just think of the person you want to talk to while holding this and you can talk. Even though the usage is temporary, but I'm working on that! I call these, commrocks!"
"Um... Hecate? We can already communicate telepathically as it is since we'll be close by. There's no need for another method. And no offense, but the name sucks" Artemis noted.
"... Oh." Hecate muttered, visibly slumping.
"Wait a minute, I still can't telepathically communicate with anyone because of that mind block my mom placed. It's going to take more than a day to get that out." Perseus said with a groan.
"Yay! That means you will be using my commrocks!" Hecate cheered, immediately wrapping her arms around Perseus.
"Ahem." Artemis coughed, glaring a bit harshly at the magic goddess, who immediately unwrapped her arms around Perseus with a smirk. "Anyway, what am I going to be doing Perseus?" Artemis asked, pointedly coming in front of Perseus's view."
"Well, I was thinking of you being our aerial supporter. See that there are no external forces that will stop us and if you see any stragglers, shoot them down." Perseus said with a grin. "And Apollo can join you on either one of your chariots. Apollo, if you want you can- Apollo?" Perseus asked as he stared at his friend who was still in the same position as before when Artemis pulverized him. "Is he awake?" Perseus asked.
"Pretty sure he's dead." Artemis said in a deadpanned voice as Hecate sighed and got up. "I have an awakening draught." she said, walking to one of the many vials and bottles laid out on a shelf at the other side of the room. She then returned holding a bottle filled with an orange-colored smoke. On making Apollo smell a bit of it, he immediately woke up.
"Oww... my head is pounding. Man, this feels worse than that morning after Sparta. What happened?" Apollo groaned out.
"You incurred your sister's wrath. Are you properly awake for listening purposes?" Perseus asked.
"Yeah... kinda. I'll have you fill me in later." Apollo said, his eyes crossed. "Holy moly, you didn't mention that Hecate has a twin sister Perseus." Apollo said with a grimace.
"Not this again." Perseus mumbled as he glanced at Artemis as if to say 'really?!'. Artemis just blushed in response.
"Am I going to do anything interesting or am I just your supplier?" Hecate asked.
"I'm not sure honestly." Perseus muttered as he stared at the king's palace on the map. "Hecate? Can you create illusions, or no?" he asked.
Hecate blinked. "Yeah, of course. I can do that with the help of the Mist, won't be that difficult."
"How can you create illusions with the mist?" Hermes asked. "Mist is well... mist. It's like cold condensed water vapor or something like that right?"
"I'm not going to be using that mist." Hecate said with a smirk. "I'm going to use the Mist. The magical kind."
"There's a magical kind of mist?" Artemis asked, confused.
"Of course, there is, it's everywhere around you. Are you telling me you four never learned about the Mist?" Hecate asked, also confused.
'There was one small paragraph in Athena's lesson books if I remember correctly." Perseus recalled. "But I'm sure if it was regular or magical mist."
"I'm not going to give a lesson otherwise Perseus will get really impatient. So, looks we know what we have to do right?" Hecate asked.
"Artemis and Apollo will be aerial support, I'll be scouting the tunnels, Hecate is going to keep the traffickers occupied with illusions and Perseus is going to meet them head on. I like this." Hermes said with a grin.
"Oh, oh, we should have a team and code names!" Apollo said with a grin. "We can call ourselves... I'll figure that out later. But I could be gold leader, Artemis could be lea-deer, Percy could be-"
"We're not doing code names." Perseus facepalmed. "What's the time now?"
"Past five in the evening." Hecate replied.
"I think now is a good time to start. You two have to even hold on to the eclipse if I'm not mistaken so we have to go now." Perseus said, glancing at Artemis and Apollo who both nodded. "Well then, good luck everyone."
It was almost eight in the evening, as the city of Kichyros were preparing for their last meal of the day, or to go to sleep. But unknown to many was the fact that something sinister was happening deep underground within the city. And they might have an inkling as they stared at the moon tonight.
"The moon is red tonight; do you think that the gods are angry?" A man asked his friend as they loitered next to a dolmen.
"Pssh, angry. There have been red moons like this plenty of times over the years. They are rare yes, but nothing has come out of it."
"Yeah, but I find it a bit forbidding. Since tonight we are going to be doing... that." the man said, involuntarily shuddering. "I still feel that this may be wrong."
"Don't tell me you're getting cold feet now Picoles? Let me remind you what you're going to get out of this, money. Cold, hard money that could potentially carry you for the next five years if you use it wisely. You will never get an opportunity like this at all so be grateful that the gods have given you, their blessings."
"I doubt they'll be partial to this." Picoles muttered.
"Eh, I've heard they have done worse." the other man said. A creaking noise was heard as the two men looked behind to see a trap door opening below the dolmen. A burly man then came out of it, and unnoticed by everyone, a white blur as well.
"Picoles, Goto. Are you ready for the extraction?" the burly man asked. On receiving two affirmed nods, he laughed. "This is going to be a night to remember. You have been a great service to Mados. Let us hope that our services will be required once again."
"I just want to go back to Argos." Picoles muttered.
As the three men started talking among themselves, Hermes crept from behind as he glared at them. He then flew away using his winged shoes to the forest area where Perseus was waiting for him.
"Got what you wanted Perce. It's a total maze down there but luckily, none of the minor routes are being taken. Though I do have some maybe bad news." Hermes said.
"What is it now?" Perseus asked.
"Mados is planning to get more kids under his belt now by making his men sneak into houses and kidnap the children in them. And it gets worse, he's basically drugged the entire city as well."
"What?!" Perseus, and Artemis who was with him also shouted.
"I managed to overhear what one of Mados's right hand man had to say. They got hold of some sleep powder or something and had distributed it to the towns people over the last couple of days. As much as I'm starting hate this guy, his skills and tactics are very refined and in tune. As a god of thieves, it's admirable to say the least." Hermes admitted.
"You didn't bless him or answer any of his prayers by any chance, did you?" Artemis asked.
"Of course not! I'm not only a new god, but I also make sure to see if those who have started praying to me ask for help in like petty thievery. There's no way I would let something like this slide at all, you have to believe me!." Hermes protested.
"Don't worry. We believe you Hermes." Perseus said. "Did you find where the children are kept?"
"Yep. They are divided into two rooms; one is directly under the orphanage while the other is below Hades's temple of all places. And both lead out to different locations where a couple of people are waiting to 'extract' them."
"Artemis, I need you and Apollo to spy on them. And see if you spot any kidnappers breaking into any houses as well. I'll come up in a jiffy." Perseus said.
"Hermes, I need you to give me the best possible route for me to take and can you get Hecate over here please?" Perseus asked. Hermes nodded and then brought her over. "Hecate, you still have a hold of that awakening draught?" Perseus asked. "And how powerful is it?"
Hecate raised an eyebrow. "Really powerful, can wake up a mortal or immortal no matter the circumstances. The process of waking up may vary though, like say if Hypnos curse someone to sleep for who knows how long, the draught will wake the person up, let's say a mortal, in like a week."
"What if it was like a sleeping drug, applicable for say half a day on a mortal?"
"Then the draughts effects will be instantaneous." Hecate said with a shrug. "Why?"
"We might need a ton of those probably." Perseus said with a sigh. "Mados has drugged mostly the entire city to sleep. Can you mass produce the draught?"
"Possibly." Hecate muttered. "I would have to use a lot of my powers though to pull this off, the draught can only be completed during the morning but I can work my way. The problem is, I don't think I'll have enough energy to make your illusions."
"We'll deal with that later. Hermes, you found anything?" Perseus asked.
"Yep. This alleyway has an entrance that you can use." Hermes said, pointing at the city's three-dimensional map. "You want find any guards or anything like that as you progress further so you'll be fine. It will also lead you straight to the room under Hades's temple as long as you remember to take the second left when you first enter."
"Second left, got it." Perseus said getting up. "Has Apollo returned already?"
"Yep!" Apollo shouted as he stumbled out of the woods, scorch marks present all over his body. "Never send me out to space ever again Percy! I almost got skewered by a bunch of constellations and some winged idiots with harps. It was scary let me tell you, really scary."
"Looks like the sky still has some grudge over the earth dwellers." Hecate said, glancing up. "There were a lot of rumors that about the relation between the sky and the earth that are quite fascinating. Though not sure if they are even true."
"How about we'll discuss that later. And I only told you to check the upper atmosphere, not up-up there Apollo. I don't want you and Artemis to get bombarded by wind spirits or anything like that." Perseus said.
"The sky is clear, but why are we using my sisters chariot that thing is small." Apollo whined.
"You want to use your 'sun' chariot, that flashy piece of junk, during nighttime?!" Artemis asked incredulously.
"I could make it less flashy." Apollo mumbled.
"Enough guys, we already made our plan so can we please stick to it?" Perseus asked as he opened a shadow portal. "I'm going in guys, use the commrock if you guys need to update me on anything and vice versa. Stay safe and please don't do anything stupid that will alert the Fates or anyone else." he said. After getting a chorus of 'yes' and 'good luck', Perseus slipped into the portal and the blood moon began to glow brighter.
Perseus then emerged out in a deserted alley as he took in his surroundings. Even though it was a bit early into the night, the streets were fully deserted and even the occasional bark of a dog wasn't heard at all. It seems like the city was actually asleep.
Perseus then walked along the alley as he came to a dead end. According to Hermes, a tunnel entrance was located here. Though he never specified where.
"Great" Perseus muttered as he felt along the wall, searching for something out of place. Perseus then felt a tug in his gut as he stepped aside, quickly noting that his terrakinesis was acting up a bit. He once again checked out the wall and the ground when he found what looked like a deeply carved symbol etched on the floor and on the wall just above it. Quickly realizing what it was, he then manipulated the dirt to form a makeshift key that connected both symbols on the floor and the wall. On turning the key around, a large chunk of the wall and floor where the locks were placed was pushed inside, revealing the entrance to the tunnel.
"This is some piece of machinery, who is this guy exactly?" Perseus wondered as he stepped inside. There was a chain system that connected to the rock, which explained how it was able to move about. Perseus then began to walk along the path, a sword and shield out. He then took a turn at the second left, and immediately cam head first at what may have been a guard.
"What- Who?"
CLANG!
The guard crumpled on the floor as Perseus winced. He hoped no one heard that noise. He opened another portal and swept it through the man, making him disappear. Hopefully he got transported back to Hermes, if not then a monster may have got him in the plane. Perseus continued to walk ahead after another couple of interruptions where he sent a guard away, he then reached a fairly large room guarded by a large number of people with swords and axes. And right at the center, was a large group of children, tied and gagged up.
Perseus growled as he scanned the room. Most of the guards were close to the walls... almost touching them. The burly ones were circling the tied-up children, scaring them by swinging their weapons about. And Perseus definitely knew what to do.
Flicking his wrist, a series of shadow tendrils emerged as they blende with the abundant shadows, resting nearby by the burly guards. He then manipulated the earthen walls to form human shaped indentions while also making sure that a shadow wisp was nearby as well to grab them.
"You think we could do some kind of sacrifice to our patron god for good fortune, maybe he would like some runts as gifts." a burly guy said, as rested a sword on a child's neck, making it whimper.
"Eh... if there are any leftovers, I don't think boss will be happy if a potential candidate is mindlessly killed off." another guard said with a yawn.
"I'm sure our lord below will be very pleased; he does have the reputation of being the most cruel and evil god out there. And the residents of his city are no better." the burly guy said with a grin.
Perseus's eye twitched. "Cruel and evil?... you want sacrifices... I'll do the pleasure of giving mindless sacrifices to my uncle. He will definitely enjoy the likes of you all!" Perseus said with a shout as he raised his hands.
And chaos soon ensued. The guards standing next to the walls were promptly grabbed by the wisps and placed them into the indentions which immediately closed up on them, thus encasing them alive into the wall. The other burly guards were immediately swung into the air as they all came crashing down back onto the ground, accompanied with a couple of broken bones and screams.
Perseus then stepped into the room; his dark blue aura fully flared up as he grinned at the fallen guards. "Look what I have here, idiots who think they know the will and working of the gods. Truly pathetic." Perseus said, as he walked around the room stabbing each and every guard inside. He was sort of glad that the children's eyes were covered. They definitely did not deserve to witness more trauma. He then finally reached the burly guy whose limbs were bent at a funny angle and was frothing as well. One glance at Perseus, and he immediately began to thrash around.
"You look familiar." Perseus muttered as he stabbed the guard, instantly killing him. "I'll make sure to give you your punishment myself."
Perseus then glanced around, watching if there was anyone else that might pop up but no one was there. He took out a commrock and thought of all his friends outside. "First room is cleared, all targets eliminated." Perseus said, smiling slightly when he heard four distinct cheers.
"Nice job Percy, I received your parcels by the way. Though some of them had their... various parts bitten off. You have any idea on that...?" Hermes asked.
"If you're asking if I ripped out some body parts, then no." Perseus said with a chuckle. "I suspect some hellhounds got to them first."
"Ah, makes sense. So, are those guards dead or?"
"Uh yeah, they are pretty much dead." Perseus said, as he disposed of the bodies into the shadow plane. "Just giving the shadow travelers a little treat."
"Are you still in the room under Hades or you left?" Hermes asked.
"Still here, what's the next route?" Perseus asked.
"Just continue down straight for now. And once you come to a four-path forked road then call again." Hermes replied.
"Perseus, I think we might have a small situation." Artemis's voice rung out. "I think your stunt was witnessed by someone cause Apollo just told me that he got a vision of someone talking about you... being a demon from hell and trapping soldiers in walls?"
"Uh yeah, I kinda did that. Think I can catch up to the witness?" Perseus asked.
"Obviously not, that's a vision of something going to happen, not an alternative to a future." Apollo grumbled.
"Hey Percy, how are the kids?" Hecate called out.
"Still tied up, I'll get them out soon. Keep that empty building in check for them." Perseus said, disconnecting the call. He then glanced at the tied-up children and smiled sadly. "I hope they are fine, physically at least." he muttered as he gently removed the bonds and gag from a kid, who was staring at him with shock, fear and awe.
Perseus smiled. He gave a thumbs up as he slowly moved to the next kid and removed his bonds as well. Soon, he had every single child huddled up together. Staring at him with the same reactions as the first child. Only this time, there was slight... recognition?
"Hey everyone, I'm Perseus." Perseus said slowly. "You don't have to worry about those big scary men who tied you guys up. I... took care of them, for good. You don't have to be afraid anymore." he said, a pensive look on his face.
The children continued to stare at him until a young boy walked up to him and whispered. "You're the one who saved Phoebe, right? The one who moves within the shadows." the boy asked.
"Are you the one with ground powers?' a little girl asked.
"You really have blue and black eyes."
"Celyn mentioned you were great with a bow."
"Whoa, whoa, calm down. I can't process all your questions." Perseus said quickly, making a 'calm down' gesture with his hands. "First of all, how do you know me?"
"Phoebe comes to visit us sometimes." a boy piped up. "And Celyn has told us a hunting story with you in it."
"Huh, this makes things easier. Thanks girls." Perseus mumbled, but frowned when he noticed they weren't here. "Probably in the next room, maybe with the older kids." he thought as he noticed that the group consisted of relatively young children. He then gave a bit of a forced smile.
"Well, I'm flattered honestly. Now, I'm going to create a portal which will lead you guys to a place where you will definitely be safe. I have some friends that will watch over you, though you might not be able to see them. But I swear, you will be safe." Perseus promised.
There were some hesitant looks but the majority nodded. Perseus then opened another portal, this time making sure that both sides were really close to each other. Which also meant an extra toll on powers but it was manageable.
"There, you can see the inside." Perseus said, as he glanced behind. "I'll be with you guys once all of you'll are in there, you don't have to worry. And I will check up on you guys and rescue all your friends as well. The promise of rescuing the others seemed to be the final part as the children looked up at Perseus with regained hope. They all went through the portal and into the room, where a ton of foods was waiting for them as well.
"Eat how much you want; more will pop up soon." Perseus said as he distinctly heard marching sounds approaching. "Got to go, see you'll soon." Perseus said, giving a wave and closing down the portal. He then let out a long sigh as he watched more of Mados's men enter the room, armed with a variety of weapons.
"Is this the full brigade that's come to stop me?" Perseus asked with a grin.
"In your dreams magician." the lead guy snarled. "Our men said you were a demon but you just look like a regular dud in a fancy get up. All your powers must be all an act!"
"Really..." Perseus asked, yawning. "Then tell me, where are your men, and the children you captured?"
The makeshift army shifted uncomfortably, some of them realizing what the human shaped mounds stuck on the wall might be. "An illusion!" the man shouted. "There's more who will appear who will contribute in your demise."
"Really! That sounds amazing."" Perseus said with a grin as his vambraces formed a claymore. "My ichor is pumping, let's see how many I can kill in one swing!"
Up above in the city, Artemis and Apollo were hanging out on the moon chariot when they received an update from Hecate.
"Group number one safely brought over, just gave them their food. Has that city wide kidnapping started yet?" she asked.
"No, and I've already filled the banner spires with enough silver arrows to last a group of archers." Artemis said with a yawn. "Apollo, did you see any other vision for tonight?"
"Yeah. Perseus is getting up from a pile of rubble and that's it." Apollo said, as he plucked a tune on his lyre.
Artemis frowned. "Was he buried under the rubble, or was he on top of it?"
"I'm not sure, maybe on top? The lighting was dark, which is obvious since its night but still." Apollo mumbled as he strummed a chord. "Yeahhhh-Hoo!"
"I should be down there with him." Artemis muttered. "I know it's a bunch of mortals but still-"
"Artemis, Percy will come out of it with maybe a scrape, and that's because he tripped on his cloak." Apollo said with a chuckle. "He'll still be very much alive for you to confess your feelings for him or vice versa."
"WHAT?!"
"Don't you dare throw me off the chariot now, you know what I said is true." Apollo cried out.
"NO! It is definitely, definitely not true! I, liking Perseus?! He's my best friend for crying out loud!"
"So? Best friends can have feelings for each other, it's not a big deal." Apollo said with a shrug.
"I know that, but Percy is, he's different." Artemis argued. "My first ever friend, outside of you. There is no way on earth I can risk something like that just because I want to kiss his face on a daily basis!" she yelled, her shoulders slumping. "And cuddle, or go out on adventuress, maybe even- no No. I'm content, I am very much content with what I have right now with him and there is no way I'm going to change that for something that might... fade out." Artemis mumbled. "Especially if he turns out like... the others."
Apollo stared at his sister incredulously. "Did you just assume that Percy might turn out like the other gods, like father?! Are you daft?!" he cried out.
"No! He can never become like them I know but it just... plagues my mind sometimes." Artemis said, glaring at her brother. "And you're not helping that thought when you straight up tried to flirt with Hecate when you're literally dating Ourania!"
Apollo winced. "Yeah, I agree with you. I was acting so stupid that time. But I can safely say, Percy will never do what I just did, ever." Apollo said with a grin. "Or what eighty percent of the Greek gods do when they want to get frisky. Heck, I'm pretty sure Hestia would send Perseus down to Tartarus if that ever happens."
"Mhm." Artemis said, nodding slowly. "I don't want our bond to go weird. For all I know, just confessing to him, and he not returning my feelings could jeopardize everything as well."
Apollo sighed. "I'm just letting out a quick warning, if you decide to confess, do it fast. Cause ninety-five percent of the female deities already have the hots for him... and I'm pretty sure there are some guys mixed in as well."
"I'm not even sure if I full blown like him, it could just be a... crush?" Artemis said, unsure.
"Uh-huh, and my chariot is painted pink." Apollo thought."
"... What's this sudden questioning about my love life?!" Artemis asked.
Apollo shrugged. "Just a bit curious, nothing special really. Though I was wonder-"
"GUYS! WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING UP THERE!" Hermes shouted.
"Ouch, go easy on your internal volume" Apollo cried as both he and Artemis clutched their heads in pain.
"I don't care! Mados's men have already started breaking in and some have even got hold of the children. You guys were supposed to be on lookout!" Hermes shouted again.
"Oh shit." Apollo and Artemis muttered together. "You stay in the chariot, I'll go down." Apollo and Artemis said together, looking at each other. "What? No, I'm going down there, you stay up here." they both said together. "Bloody time-out!" Artemis cried out, making a T symbol with her hands. "You control the chariot and give me locations. I'll do the man slaughter." Artemis said, handing over the chariot reigns to a bewildered Apollo.
"But I don't know how to handle your chariot!" Apollo cried.
"It's just a regular chariot, it doesn't have the fancy levers and buttons your chariot has!" Artemis snapped, as she jumped off the chariot. Turning into a silver blur, she quickly sped down, unsheathing her hunting knives. She then made a sharp turn as he barely touched the ground as she crashed into a house, immediately stopping to find a guy carrying a sleeping child while another guy had himself draped with jewelry.
"Um... you're trespassing girl?" The jewelry guy said, though it came of as a question.
"No." Artemis said, brandishing her knives. "You are."
Artemis then lunged, swiping the man carrying the child's wrists, making him drop the child. Artemis managed to catch the child, and immediately set it down in order to dodge a strike from jewelry man. She managed to grab him before he can fall on the child and then kneed him on the private area, immediately incapacitating him.
"That seems very effective." Artemis muttered, slashing her knife at the other man, and immediately castrated him, making him fall down and faint in agony. "That's even more effective." Artemis said with a grin as she dragged the two men out, who she had already knocked out as well. "Apollo, how is it looking up there?" she asked.
"Really good, I'm getting all those outside who are just breaking in." Apollo telepathically communicated back. "I'm seeing a lot of lit houses and I'm pretty sure it's not because the residents are getting a late-night snack. There one to your right, just a block ahead."
"Got it, keep shooting." Artemis said, as she once again sped to the next target. Down below, Perseus had just finished sending another batch of guards through the shadow plane. He nodded at one of Hecate's illusions that helped him, a stone golem which dissolved into mist. He then rested along the wall as he tried to make sense of some thoughts in his mind.
"Those men just now were definitely from Argos, there is no mistaking that city emblem." Perseus thought as he closed his eyes. "But why would there be soldiers from Argos all the way over here, it doesn't make sense." Perseus then let out a sigh as he then jogged ahead, forming a spear and a body sized shield from his braces. After going through more guards, he then reached another room, similar as before. Only this time, it had more men guarding the room, and a number of Argos soldiers holding their swords against children's necks.
"You have swept through are men like it was nothing." a man said, which Perseus immediately recognized as Ichiron, from Phoebe's capture. Seemed like he had not only escaped, but was sadly still alive.
"It would be unwise to think of you as a magician. Maybe you're a demigod? A son of Ares perhaps, with that demonstration of brute force and weaponry." Ichiron said.
Perseus smirked. "Not even close. Perhaps this will jog your memory." Perseus said, as he raised his hands. A slew of shadow tendrils emerged everywhere, some of them taking hold of those who had their weapons on the children. Ichiron had already started shaking like a leaf as he fell on his knees, sputtering and blubbering.
"N-N-N-No... I-I-I-It ca-ca-ca-ca-can-can-"
"Shut up" Perseus said, flicking his wrist. A stone spike emerged from the ground, instantly impaling Ichiron. Rocks the size of boulders erupted from the ground and were launched at the guards trapped by the shadow tendrils. Perseus then clashed his spear and shield together and charged at the remaining men present. He used his shield to knock down a guard one by one and then used his spear to pierce through all of them. He then changed his weaponry into a sword and shield immediately destroying a full rank as he hacked and slashed his way through. Perseus then used his powers to lift up the ground beneath the children high up in the air while also forming a protective dome around them. He then noticed a slew of arrows coming his way and immediate dodged them though one arrow did leave a cut through the side of his face, making him wince. He glanced up to find a dozen of archers filling an upper open floor, readying another barrage of arrows onto him. There was a large set of doors where more guards seemed to come out from.
Perseus grinned as he willed stone pillars to erupt beneath him, making him gain height. On jumping up, he then willed some shadow wisps to hold him up in the air. He then made the wisps move his body up and down while he got his bow and arrows ready. Perseus then he made the wisps twist his body around and soon started firing arrows everywhere, all of them meeting their targets n the upper floor. He then descended down and tapped the arrow case, making his arrows come back to him. He then made the wisps launch him into the air as he did another quick succession of attacks on the remaining archers, as well as the other guards. On noticing that the top floor was clear, he then sung his bow back, formed a claymore, and then did a backflip as he launched himself down on the ground. He swung the claymore on the ground and as soon as the weapon made contact, sending a cloud of dust and a tremor erupted which caused the remaining soldiers to fall and get trapped or pinned by the very uneven and cracked ground.
Perseus panted as he slowly got up to his feet, taking in his surroundings. The entire room was decimated, pits, bodies and large cracks were seen everywhere. Perseus was pretty sure that more damage would probably make the room fully collapse, starting with the roof. He then remembered of a certain piece of rock floating above and then gently set it down, taking down the dome as well. Perseus then fell on his knees, gasping as he used a couple of shadow tendrils to untie the group of kids and then slumped down on the ground, taking a minute for himself.
"Too much... strain." Perseus gasped and immediately groaned out loud as he felt something fall onto him.
"You came, I can't believe you actually, I can't believe-" Phoebe gasped, and immediately broke into sobs as Perseus hugged her, patting her on the head.
"I'm going to always be there by your side Phoebe, no way am I going to let you go through these demons alone. You can always count on me." Perseus muttered as he stroked her hair.
He then slowly sat up, Phoebe still in his arms as he glanced at the group of kids who were staring and shuffling awkwardly around him. "Phoebe, I think you should-" Perseus began to say but stopped when Phoebe shook her head as she grabbed onto his cloak. "This is going to be difficult." he thought, as he waved out to the children.
"Hi, I'm Perseus, nice to meet you. Not here to hurt you, rescued you, forgive me if I'm acting weird, I, I guess we all had a very long night. Your friends or siblings or whatever are all there so you can join them." Perseus said, waving his arm around to form a shadow portal. The first group of kids were all huddled together, eating and laughing among themselves. They all noticed the portal opening and shouted joyfully when they saw their remaining friends.
"No way, this has to be an illusion." an older boy cried. "Mados's men said so themselves."
"It's real Arius, can't you see?" an older girl said. "That has to be Perseus the god, why else will Phoebe be hugging him?"
"A god?" Arius said, dumbfounded. "An actual god... that helped us... why?"
"I would love to explain, but I'm dead tired." Perseus gasped. "Just chalk it up t fate for now."
The older kids were still a bit apprehensive but slowly broke out of that shell as the younger ones greeted them and told them about Perseus's rescue. However, there were still some that looked very fearful which Perseus noticed. And something else as well.
"Phoebe... where's Celyn?" Perseus asked, a bit of dread pooling into him.
Phoebe remained still for some time and then immediately scrambled up as she frantically looked around. "How could I forget!" she cried. "Mados, he has her and others as well. Percy, you have to save them, you have to save Celyn, you ha-"
"Phoebe calm down, calm down. Deep breaths, take deep breaths." Perseus said as he soothed her, it was times like these that Perseus desperately wished he got his mother's knack for calming people down. Maybe he can ask for that.
"Phoebe I need you to listen to me. I will save Celyn, and your other friends as well. I will see to it that they will return safely. In the meantime, I need you and the others to go to that safe house on the other side of the portal. I'll send someone to check up on you guys, heal some injuries if present. You all will be out of this nightmare soon, I promise." Perseus said, grasping Phoebe's shoulders.
"You look pale though." Phoebe said, a bit of fear in her eyes. "I know you're a god and all, but I doubt you can take on Mados."
Perseus scoffed. "Come on Phoebs, you said it yourself. I am a god, I can handle wimpy Mados myself."
Phoebe smiled slightly at the mention of the nickname but still looked fearful. "You don't understand Percy. Mados is... he's... different. Like super weird."
Perseus frowned. "Different? How so?"
"I don't know. All of us kids said that they felt something odd about him, even his own men. And when I saw him for the first time, the air around felt cold. And that stare. That feeling when you see him... it... it almost feels... divine."
Perseus was definitely intrigued by what Phoebe had to say, but he still kept his expectations low. "Well, nothing a new Olympian god like me can't handle." Perseus said with a grin. "Go join your friends, I'll be back as soon as possible. With Celyn and the others of course."
Phoebe still looked unconvinced but did as Perseus said. After some thank you's and hugs, Perseus closed down the portal and took out the commrock. "Anyone up?" he asked.
"Percy! How did it go, did you get everyone out safely?" Artemis asked.
"Mostly. I still have to confront Mados, it seems like he still has some kids' hostage. But I think I fully cleaned out his men so nothing to worry about."
"Nice, I'm clearing up here as well. Let's just say, castrating a man is definitely going to be my go-to move if I want to incapacitate any pigs out there." Artemis said with a laugh.
"Oh... that's nice to hear." Perseus said with a wince. "Listen you free right now from attacking private parts?"
"I only have two houses to go, you know, I think I came across a bunch of Argos soldiers raiding some houses as well. I have a feeling... but what was it you wanted?" Artemis asked.
"I need you to check on the kids in the safe house. If possible, treat any injuries and get Apollo down for serious ones. As for the Argos problem, we'll talk about that later." Perseus replied.
"Yeah, I could definitely do that. See you soon, and talk to you later." Artemis said. Perseus then pocketed the rock as he reached out for a packet of ambrosia, only to find it empty.
"Looks like I burned through my reserves." Perseus muttered, glancing up. If Perseus had to guess, the door might lead straight to Mados, and end this once and for all.
"That feeling when you see him... it... it almost feels... divine." Phoebe's words echoed inside Perseus's head as he mentally sighed. "Probably just a very charismatic dude, or a demigod? Who knows." Perseus thought as he opted for sword blades attached to his braces. His eyes glowed a slight purple as he trudged forward, with one intent. Give Mados the most gruesome death, ever.
So... did I just write an entire chapter on one plot point, didn't even finish it and left you guys on a cliffhanger? Yeah... and I'm sorry! Really, I already burned through 8K words and I can't write more T_T. But I promise you guys I will never leave a chapter on a cliffhanger for the next five updates : P and make sure to give a satisfying conclusion to this Mados arc I for some reason have created.
Oh, and this little bit is for 'Greninga19'. Don't worry man, this will be Pertemis, pairing is set and all so don't worry. Only reason I'm putting this here is cause you're a guest and I'm not sure if I can PM you. But yeah, definitely Pertemis.
Other than that, I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, really sorry if I dragged this out unnecessarily(let me know if this was applicable for T rating!) and I will see you'll in the next update. Bye!...\/