The Lover Of Artemis

by eesamaster1

Annabeth, the lover of Perseus Jackson proves how disloyal she is. Broken, the twice saviour of Olympus nearly dies, only to love for a moon goddess. Now, secrets upon secrets are building up, and if nothing is done about them, there could be another destructive war. Will Percy and Artemis become lovers, or are they destined to fail?

41. Chapter 41 - The Alpha Male

November POV

"I don't like the fact that he isn't here yet," Juliet mumbled, his fingers gently tapping the branches.

We were all perched up on a large oak tree that towered higher than the standard ones. To be honest, I don't think it was an oak tree. Maybe it's a spruce tree, but it's not like I should know. From our position, there was no way anyone would be able to see us. Many layers of branches concealed us, almost like a cocoon. That was the good news. The bad news was that, up here in the trees, we had a perfect view of the hunt, something I definitely didn't want. The naked mess on the floor had been enough to make me feel sick, and now, he was teasing the moon goddess. She was sobbing on the floor, and I was tempted to show myself, despite Percy's orders. I never liked the moon goddess, especially after my sister had died trying to save her, but I still couldn't stand the aggression my retina was presenting me with.

"Shut up," I quietly hissed, but now Juliet was making me nervous. Perhaps a chain reaction. Percy should've turned up about five minutes ago. It's not like something happened to him, but I'm worried that if he didn't come quickly, something was going to happen to someone else… and something bad. I don't know how much longer Artemis will last, but she had long since cracked, and her hunter was already as good as dead.

All armed, we ran as fast as we could. I assume Perseus was bending time along the way, because otherwise, the rabbits must have brain damage, at the rate they were jumping. Everyone ran at different speeds, each going the fastest they could. I myself sprinted, partly to reach Artemis and partly to catch up with Percy who was running the fastest. Pushing myself to the maximum, I ran towards Percy, Can a little ahead of him. Her potions surely kept her body in check… oh yeah and her metabolism. I gave him a concerning look, which he ignored, occupied with the battle that had must've already begun. We had all been too stupid, some more to blame (*ahem* Lima!), but it was still our fault.

"I guess this is the end of our fun little runaway scheme," I mocked, trying to find something funny in the grave situation we were in. Everyone always said that I used humor in too dire situations, but when else were you meant to use it? Percy looked at me, and for a split second, I saw the Percy I from five years ago in Ogygia. His eyes were weary, and the mass of muscle he had gained throughout 'The Disappearance' made him look like a really buffed up version of himself that actually knew what he was doing. He hadn't slept in five weeks, and both of his eyes reflected worry, no matter how different the irises were. The worry that stupid moon goddess was putting him through, without even knowing.

I knew the real reason why Percy was in such a rush to save Artemis. Most people would say that he had an insanely messed up crush on her, but that would be the worst thing to say. I knew the true reason, and I hated it. It actually made me feel sad, when I thought about it. Many times, when the hunt was in danger, we would rush to help them, Percy's idea of course, and I would see Percy listening to Juliet and Lima's constant taunts, and having to put up with it. Only me and Calypso knew that the truth was, he had no choice. Oaths older than 'The Disappearance' forced him to save her.

"Yeah," Percy mumbled, his hand in his pocket, most likely thumbing his stick. "So long sentiment, I guess." I nodded. "It doesn't matter anymore," he said, but I could tell from the bitter tone of his voice that he didn't want to go back. Percy had his own way of living, and it didn't involve Olympians. If we did go back, which is highly likely now, there would be a ton of explaining to do, and it would create strong divisions between the Gods. That was the last thing which would help us in this war. Percy continued running, his hand still feeling the stick which was in his pocket...

"Wait a second," I wheezed out, Percy testing my maximum speed. "Did you get your pen back from Lima?" Slowly, Percy slowed down, until he wasn't even running anymore. He turned, and looked at me in shock, recognition, and possible failure covering the rest of his emotions as he slowly pulled out a twig that had been in his pocket. I don't know how you can mistake a pen for a twig, but here we are. From the way he slowed down and had that look that everyone had when they had miscalculated something, I would say that things were looking down for the moon goddess.

"EVERYBODY STOP!" he bellowed. "I SAID STOP!" Perhaps he had somehow used time to project his voice (I didn't know if that was possible), but everyone abruptly slowed down, turning to look at him. Lima tried stopping too fast, and his momentum threw him down to the dirty grass. There wasn't anyone, with the exception of Fox who wasn't out of breath. Hotel was practically on her knees. Percy, however, was just pacing up and down fast, with a concerning look on his face. His fingers clenched and unclenched rapidly, almost as if he was having a seizure.

"What happened?" Fox asked. Percy shook his head fast, thinking hard.

"He's forgot his wood," I smirked, and Can rolled her eyes at the joke. I mean, when the opportunity comes for a killer line like that, you've just gotta take it.

"Oh soup with raw chicken!" Lima smacked his forehead, with an expression mimicking Percy's. Could he maybe use something other than food? My stomach had never been this upset before. "I put it somewhere near the tent, but you told me specifically not to put it in it. I'll need to go back and get it… that is if you want it."

"Of course he does," Romeo snapped, ending the conversation.

"Alright, so this is what we're going to do," Percy started, talking fast to save time. Ironic. "November, you go with Romeo and Juliet straight to the hunt and wait in a nearby tree. Do NOT attack, regardless of where I am. I need to greet Artemis properly, and take a proper look at the fight so we know what we're up against."

"What!" I yelled. "I'm a third wheel as it is! I don't want to-" Percy's glare shut me up. It was obvious that he wasn't having a political debate (not a good idea either). If I never did before, I certainly hated the moon goddess by now. She made me go with Juliet and Romeo to save her. I get that Percy needs to save her, but we should go straight to Olympus first and warn them of the coming attack! Or at least send someone… whoever had nothing useful to offer… like Romeo. That kills two birds with one stone! She'll warn the others and be exocytosed.

"Hotel and Can, wait here for a minute and get your energy back. You're useless in a fight otherwise, and I'll need you then, regardless of whether or not I get my stick. Fox, you guard Hotel in case of any ambush, just for a minute." He was turning paranoid now. One soldier guarding two females that were perfectly capable of turning twenty Cyclops into shish kebab. Okay okay I'll stop. I need to stop joking around and take this more seriously. "Lima, you come with me-"
"I need Fox," he stated blankly. Percy threw his hands up in frustration, growling. He paced even farther, and I could feel time mucking about. Time was slowly degenerating. It was jumping around, from fast to slow, something I had noticed Percy did subconsciously whenever he got nervous or frustrated.

"Fine! Come with us Fox, but we leave now!" He didn't even look back. All he did was sprint backwards.

"5 minutes!" I heard.

Perseus did say that he would run back, grab his stick and get here as fast as possible. With time manipulation on his side, I had expected him to get here before us. Fifteen minutes later, there was still no sign of him. At first, when we had arrived, no one could see the hunters. Only Can and Hotel's confirmation of a monster horde nearby kept us on the branch. After five minutes, the hunters had come, and we had all laughed at the pathetic excuse for the Cyclops army. The laughter had evaporated fast, settled by a dark mood as Gone had made his stand. Most of us had stared in the opposite direction when he had started on Charlotte, me included.

"If he doesn't get here in a minute, then I'm going in," Hotel, who had arrived a few minutes ago, growled. Her knuckles whitened as she gribbed her sword even harder.

"Agreed," Romeo nodded, and even Can grudgingly said, "yes." Out of everyone in the gang, Can definitely hated Artemis the most, no debate required.

"I swear I will buy that Sphingomyelin and use it on whoever decides to break Alpha's orders," I threatened. Damn, I hated these code words. Why was Percy 'Alpha', not me?

Can looked past my shoulder leaning in. Her hair swayed as the wind breezed through the leaves shielding us. Today's weather was hot with a light breeze. Sweat stuck my shirt to my body. It was soaking, especially seeing as Percy insisted everyone wore black. I could see Romeo grumbling in the back. Out of all of us, she was definitely the most sweaty, to the point where her weapon was slipping out of her drenched hand. I had lost interest in the hunt ever since Charlotte had been... 'Masochisted', but Can looked fascinated by it, or, more accurately, the strip of land behind Artemis.

"Alright, that's it," Hotel hissed. "I'm going in." She stood up, her head now visible to everyone, and began tiptoeing down the branch. It creaked and groaned from her weight. No matter how strong it was, there was no way that the branch would be able to hold her weight if she stood at the very end, which she was dangerously close to. Instinctively, both me and Lima yanked her down. Fox grudgingly put his hand on her mouth, and I slapped her back to reality.
"Per-Alpha has a plan," I whispered angrily, shaking her head. "If you want to be accountable for Olympus's first line of defense going down and a lost fight, tell me right now and you can walk right out there and commit suicide-"

"Oh my days, don't be an idiot!" Hazel everything but yelled, biting Fox's finger. "If we don't intervene, there will be no hunt to save!"

"Just follow the plan," I murmured.

"The plan isn't working."
"It will if you try!"

"No it won't. We've already failed the Gods."

"Yeah, but I'm not eager to save the same one that tried to commit Percy genoside!"

"Quite both of you," Can hushed, kicking my leg. The kick didn't hurt much, but the idea that Can had kicked me did. I finally turned my head to face her. Enraged, I lifted my leg to boot her up to space, only stopping when I saw what Can had been fixated on for the last solid minute or so.

"He's there," Can whispered, and I had to restrain myself from throwing her off the tree, for kicking me, even if I wasn't in charge. Percy would use Sphingomyelin against me had I done that.

"Look, he's going to save moony," Can gleed, and all of a sudden, everyone was leaning in to watch the figure leaning against a tree. Even I was, before pushing Hotel away and snapping at Can to put a mask on. Anyone could've seen her!

He was acting all casual, but the shuddering breaths showed me how out of breath he was, and was talking just to try and buy time. That's funny. The God of time... was trying to buy time. I shook my head. He was obviously using time to help him regenerate. Or perhaps he just didn't want Artemis to know that it was him. After all, since 'The Disappearance', Artemis hadn't seen Percy, and knew it was him. Knowing Percy, I could tell that he just wanted to make a dramatic reveal later on.

Percy had definitely learned how to dress while we had all been on the run. No, not run. Adventure . Romeo had pleaded, more like demanded that he learned how to properly clothe himself, so I could sometimes hear him growling in frustration during a cold winter as Romeo waffled on about why the golden shirt didn't contrast well with the indigo jeans and how he needed a jacket that showed off all his muscles. Even Fox had intervened at one point, after Percy had frozen time for a full day, when he had 'failed his dressing exam'. We had woken up to realize that Percy had moved on without us, forgetting how time was frozen. Then, he came back two days later, after we had left, and it was a frantic search for the other party. Now, he was wearing a black shirt, with matching black jogging bottoms. On top was a golden robe, one that suited him well, edged with black stripes. He looked like a modern pharaoh, and I could hear Romeo give a grudge of approval.

My ears were hot as I squinted at Percy, trying to understand what they were saying. Can, on the other hand, fully understood, and seemed to be excited by whatever they were talking about.

"Are they talking about raping Artemis," Can stifled a laugh, leaning even further forwards.

"Yeah!" Juliet said with a crazy grin. "He'll never do it, but yeah!"

"Seriously shut up guys," I hissed, but now I was even giggling inside. Artemis was fearing Percy, despite the fact that he had come to save her was hilarious to whoever knew what he was actually doing. I guess this was his idea of a humorous revenge. I wasn't complaining, but what the hell!

A light thud, like the one a bird would make as it landed on a branch, made everyone turn around, most of them drawing their weapons.

"Easy, it's just us," Fox whispered, hurriedly crouching down, followed by Lima who looked like he had accidentally eaten one of Juliet's chicken wraps with ice cream and BBQ sauce (warning, they taste worse than they sound.) I'd never understand where he got the inspiration for that.

"Someone fill me in," Lima groaned, lying on the floor. Can rolled her eyes again, giving him a smirk.

"Percy reached the hunt about a minute ago, and is now discussing how much to split if he were to 'rape' Artemis." Fox smirked, but that was quickly replaced with a look of pure horror.

"Oh my Gods what is that," he near screamed and was quieted with a chorus of shushes. Fox was still pointing to what used to be Charlotte, his breath pacing.

"That's the hunter Charlotte, remember?"
"That doesn't answer the question. What happened to her!?"
"Sphingomyelin," Romeo murmured, and for a second, I registered how strange that sounded to Fox. We must've looked as if we had our own language.

"I'm sorry Sphingo-what? Next thing you know, we'll have November here saying that Can had Niemann Pick Disease. Someone just give me a straight answer-'' I turned around, irritated.

"Oh my, Sphingomyelin, that spiky ball Artemis is trying to detach from Charlotte. Charlotte got tortured by Gone and now we are waiting for Alpha to cut to the weapons so we can launch in and Can can heal her. Happy!"

"Well why don't we go in and help him?" My eyes flared.

"I sincerely hope that you aren't pro-screw Percy's orders."

"Oh crap!" Fox yelled again, his mouth agape under the mask. "I think he's found out about Charlotte." Grim looks flew across the tree, with many casting glances to the heap of meat that lay near motionless at Artemis's foot. Sure enough, Percy was pointing to it while muttering, "Who's that."

"WELL!" Percy roared, staring frustrated at Artemis. She backed away against a rock.

"Charlotte, a hunter of mine," she quietly stammered. Perseus glared at Gone, and staggered forwards, taking out a purple-tinted flask. The liquid satisfyingly swirled around as he chugged it all in one gulp. Percy grudgingly swallowed it, before shuddering.

"I thought he'd already drunk that!" Juliet hissed. Lima shook his head.

"That's part of the reason why he is so late," Fox muttered, and my worry flooded me. He should never drink the purple flask before a battle, so he must be feeling bold to do it now. The only problem was that he had to drink it, or… bad stuff.

All of a suddenly, I could feel someone yanking me up and putting me into Percy's shoes. Here I was, having to make decisions that will affect Olympus. Percy had played a risky card, drinking his… juice. I don't know why he tried it! He's put us in a fragile position now.

"New plan," I snapped, getting everyone's attention. "Calypso, you heal Charlotte to functionality, before getting your ars to Percy straight away… and no, not that type. I need him healed ASAP! This is not a joke!" I roared, seeing Calypso's smirking face. Everyone went serious quickly. I didn't act like that often, so they knew that we were in a big crisis. The life of many rested on our shoulders now, a responsibility I despised.

"So how about that deal," Gone's voice sounded so small compared to Percy's tantrum, seconds ago. He glared at Gone, and I knew that he had passed the turning point. Percy was struggling to comprehend how evil you had to be to torture someone that bad.

"Perhaps a few years ago, I might've agreed, but now I've wasted two years planning against a war, only to realize that Lima had made a cryptographic error, and now I'm starting this war a year earlier than I had prepared, with no prior knowledge on anything other than who you are!"

"Hey!" Lima said in frustration. "You try decoding a message that had been swapcased, alphabet shifted +7, somehow formulated to move part of it forwards, hashed in sha 512, then sha 128, then sha 512 twice more followed by sha 256. I didn't know how that was possible, but I still did it!"

"Too many sha's!" Romeo groaned. Lima ignored her, like he usually did as machinery came into context, and I ignored him, like I usually did as machinery came into context.

"I'm Gone," the man with the black sword said defensively, lifting it up. From all the way up here, I could feel Perseus' smirk. The name Gone was too funny to not make fun off.

"Perhaps soon," the Perseus agreed, and I internally slapped my forehead at how cliché that sounded, before he whipped out his wood.

Artemis POV

At first, I had thought of it as a regular pen, similar to Riptide. The male had pulled it out, and that alone had made Gone flinch. I mean, a pen! C'mon now! What's he gonna do, write on your mask? Okay, I should take that back immediately, because I wasn't exactly cool with this pen out. Having Zoe in my hunt had told me just how powerful Riptide was, and the number of deaths Perseus had scored definitely backed her statements.

Once the male had put the pen facing down, almost looking bored, Gone ran towards the other male now, with his sword on his left, ready to block. I found that strange. Who would block a hit from a pen? I for sure would've charged in an offensive position to try and land the first blow, aka the most crucial one. Gone stopped a meter or so away from the male. He held his sword up, and circled the other male. The male didn't look back at Gone, but instead at the hunter laying next to me, Sphingomyelin still swirling around in her arm. Perhaps I truly was going through a series of painful emotions, because I thought that I'd seen a look of pain, sympathy and anger cross the males poker face. Naturally, the emotions faded away after a blink, and it all returned back to normal, as if he had just discarded all his dangerous emotions.

"You are going to regret this," the man spoke in a firm but shaky voice.

Out of nowhere, he was now holding a sleek, long staff. My eyes hadn't detected any movement. It just appeared out of the ground and into his hand. The staff was thin and tall, stretching from my feet to at least my shoulders. It was golden, and had black ends, like most of this males possessions. At the top was a small, circular hole that I couldn't see through, but was still sure had some purpose. Arranged neatly along the staff where buttons, which function I had no idea off, but could only dread. From here, it looked like it must weigh a couple of dozen kg, but the male lifted it up with no effort, spinning it in circles like a tornado.

He swung it with full power, and now I understood why Gone had been in a defensive position. Gone's sword had barely managed to deflect the male's attack, and Gone had to summersault underneath to avoid the second attack, a downwards smack. It was clear that this wasn't the males first time using a staff. His fighting tactic was beautiful, the way he swept the stick, and held it firmly between his hands. Next, a backhand blow forced Gone onto the floor, rolling along. The male kindly waited for Gone to stand up. Once he did, the two exchanged a look, before charging back into the heat. This time, Gone was much more prepared, starting to fire shots while blocking. The male swept his stick at Gone's shin, which he dodged. Then, he feinted an overhead blow, while sweeping Gone off onto the floor with his legs. Again, the male allowed Gone to stand up.

"I have trained ages for this, and honestly, I expected a little bit more exquisiteness," the male teased. Gone flared, his face going red from being taunted in front of his emotionless soldiers.

"There's much more than exquisite coming at you," he snarled, pulling himself back up. Yet again, the two were exchanging blows. Gone was struggling to find time to attack, but he did get a couple of good shots in still. At one point, the male did have to nearly limbo underneath the sword, but other than that, I found that Gone was morely on the retreat. The male kept jabbing and twirling his stick like a maniac. My eyes were a blur, along with his stick. I kept following his wood as it furiously attacked Gone, who had gone into a fit of panic. From what I knew about males, I would say that only his pride was keeping him going.

"To your left," the male said, causing Gone to face left while getting smacked in his right ribs.

"I meant my left," the man snickered. Two more jabs, followed by a rapid sweep. Gone fell on the floor, and the other male waited for Gone to get up again.

Okay, I think I'm over exaggerating this fight. Truth be told, Gone was doing much better than any of my hunters would've done against him. Hell, even I would be dead by now. It was only because the other male's weapon was longer that he was winning, amongst his beautiful tactics. Gone blocked and dodged, but what could you do when a mad sadist was running at you, armed with a killer staff. I didn't know much about them, but this male certainly did, and he knew how to use it. Besides, Gone hadn't sustained any proper damage, enough to call it a win. Perhaps if the male hadn't let Gone get up, things would be different, but he did. I'm not sure why he didn't just finish Gone and heal Charlotte. Maybe he wasn't even on my side, but wanted the hunters for himself. Another filthy rapist, I thought, before correcting myself. I made the same mistake with Percy, by stereotyping, and look where that got us…

The male loved swinging his stick. It certainly made a satisfying swoop as it cut through the air, and an even better one each time you could hear it clapping bone. It slapped bone hard, but not hard enough to break something, most likely because Gone managed to absorb some of the hits with his sword, and because the male was weaker than Gone. One blow from Gone would kill the male instantly, whereas he wasn't able to sustain any, accountable damage. That's why I always use knives, not twigs.

The point where things went bad for gone was when the male feinted a left swing, and instead jabbed Gone in the thigh, driving a deep cut. I couldn't tell how a blunt piece of wood could actually make a cut, but I supposed the buttons had to have some purpose. Gone dropped in pain, wildly swinging his sword, a mistake he should've realized. The other male hit the sword with enough velocity to flip it up. It landed a couple of meters away. He smirked, panting lightly. I guess all he had wanted was to give Gone an injury while Gone theoretically could block it. That's probably why he never hit Gone while he was on the floor.

"Ah curse you!" Gone gasped. "Why would you, out of everyone, run to her aid?"

"Some things you'll never understand. Now, if Lima was correct this time, I assume that you are about to call your army on me." Gone stared at him baffled, before slowly nodding.

"I want this man alive," Gone bellowed, his voice fainter than two minutes ago, but still loud, much to my dismay. "He will witness me rape and torture the moon goddess, before the moon goddess will watch me tear him apart piece by piece. Don't think you can flash away, little moon. My arrows are special like that. Your and the males blood with wash my-"

Gone was interrupted by a loud yawn, followed by, "you done yet?" Gone gritted his teeth, and flushed red. I'm not sure if it was from the anger or the shame, but it didn't matter.

"Get him now!"

The male smirked under his night mask, before making a sound similar to a gazelle crying. For a moment, nothing happened, and Gone grinned, his wound already beginning repair.

"Are you really going to risk exposing yourself," he snarked. "Go on. Manipulate it and everyone will know who you truly are. She will flash back and get the whole of bloody Olympus- oh I forgot she can't flash. Nevermind… but remember, your time is up." The male shook his head in disagreement.

"My time was up this morning, when Can showed me the mistranslated message." Gone thought about it for a second, shaking his head with madness.
"Go one, stop it. Expose yourself," he hissed.

"No," the male responded. "But don't forget, I can always call for reinforcements." Gone's smile dropped a little, before a black arrow punctured the nearest Itegra, sending it crumpling into nothingness.

Alone, I doubted that the male would be able to fight these monsters. He was strong, but I didn't think the odds of him against a fully trained army that had no emotions and didn't register pain were high. As the first wave of monsters came, seven Itegra, the male swung his stick left to right… hard. He swung his stick much harder than he had when Gone had been fighting. It could've probably knocked off someone's head. The blow killed one Itegra, and badly snapped another's jaw. The other five, however, ran unaffected, and reached him seconds later. When they did, only Hades- not even Hades could explain how… chaotic things were. The Itegra's tried raking his face, but he slid under. They tried kicking him, but he moved to one side. They tried everything short of a singing tap-dance, and the male somehow, somehow evaded it. Then, swinging his stick from behind, the male dented another Itegra's skull. There were three left, and each one died in its own various ways. One hit the floor, another was stabbed twelve times in the skull, and the last was un-limbed and decapitated. Finally, the male stood at rest, his lungs breathing at such a high rate. Twenty 'waves' were left, and each looked worse than the one before. No way would this male succeed in this fight. Go one, stop it. Expose yourself, I heard in my head as the male sucked up all the oxygen around him. What was his secret?

The male turned, and locked eyes with me. I looked at him with pity, while he looked at me with… amusement? Standing up straight, the male threw what looked like rocks into the air, sighing deeply. Then, he sat down, closing his eyes while the hordes of monsters marched forth, their eyes bearing hatred. He sat there, and fear fluttered into my heart. If he died, I was worse than dead. If he was captured… I don't want to think about the guilt that would wash over me. He sat there, prepared to die, or so I thought until I heard the toneless, dull sound of someone landing on the soft dirt next to me.

Nico POV

Licking my lips with anticipation, I grabbed my sword from behind me back. Unfortunately, we couldn't all have fancy pen swords, but mine worked alright. It hadn't changed much, aside from the gold-black handle Percy and Lima had installed. They sure loved their gold-black. It had been my idea originally, and it looked sexy as!

"You know the drill boys… and girls!" I smirked, crouching down on the branch we were on. From here, I most likely looked like an eagle, ready to fly high to his targets, which… is a trash simile, forget that. Fox was ready to start his attack. Hotel looked fierce. For the first time in eons, Romeo was actually paying attention. Juliet looked almost bored. Lima was armed and ready… with whatever his weapon was this time. Finally Can was staring down at Artemis. They had a complex hate relationship, which Artemis was oblivious to, and it did not help that Perseus had 'slept' with her. I looked deeply into her eyes, trying to understand what was going on in her pure mind, but saw no signs of hate, nor love. She just stared, her fingers clenching the wood we stood on. Pre-occupied at the amusing thought of how many butts I was about to smash, I grinned, forgetting Can's mood for a minute. Before making myself known, I did a last, quick check of masks, hopefully the last one. Now we could not afford to forget our masks. Just for a few more hours, I thought. Then we can show the world what we have become. And what they became...

Artemis POV

The thud made me look up quickly. Either someone on Gone's side as here, or someone who had come to help me. I sincerely prayed for the latter. The male, bless his poor soul, was furiously battling another wave of monsters, looking even worse than before. Inside, I screamed. Charlotte was dying. I couldn't see Thalia. Half my hunters were most likely dead, and I was being threatened with rape, no longer a joke. Time was up for both me and the poor man. Now, both our lives rested on the shoulders of this new person who had just landed next to me. Either I will spend the rest of my times in a torture chamber, or I will walk the valleys of Olympus as a survivor.

There was a person, female I think, walking slowly towards the male from behind. She drew out her weapon, a long sword, and held it as she crept closer towards the slowly failing fight. A few meters ahead, it seemed as if the male had met his match; he was trying to fend off 7 Tecnols and 5 Itegra's at once, and it was going poorly, as he narrowly ducked under a wild swipe from one of the creatures.

"Behind you!" I yelled, my throat raw from all the sobbing. The man couldn't turn around, without being skewered. We were done for!

"Please!" I screamed, begging on my knees. "I swear, take me, but just let my hunters go. Let Charlotte go!" I was talking to thin air, too desperate to think about doing anything else. Crying pathetically, I stood rooted in place, my fingers coated velvet from Charlotte's dying body. Here, I stood, rooted in place as I waited for the impending blow of destruction. The blow to destroy the male.

Fifteen arrows. It took fifteen arrows to disintegrate the remaining 7 mobs the male was facing. Where they came from, I was clueless, but they had come. Who had shot them, I was clueless, but they had been shot. Arrows lodged in all their brains, the remaining monsters fell dead. The next wave was approaching, but this male was running things his own way. Ignoring them, he spun around, his heels acting as a pivot, and was face to face with the sneaky girl. The two glared at each other, almost having their own independent eye conversation. Then, the male grinned, slapping her on the back and giving her a quick hug, despite the coming battle. He seemed in no rush.

"Oh my days Alpha!" she screeched after hugging him. "What were you thinking? Can will slaughter you!" She jumped up, probably trying to slap him head, but the male, Alpha it seemed he was called, leaned back.

"Nice of you to drop in," he laughed, ignoring her evil eye. "The others here yet?"

Almost as in response to the male, I heard three more sets of thuds, followed by loud steps, in my direction. There were even more soldiers now, sided with Alpha from the way they all wore matching uniforms and masks.

Two other males sprinted towards Alpha, both wearing masks. One had a mask with black glitter, and the other had brown and red glitter that obviously stuck well onto the mask. They were armed, and I could see an amusing expression underneath the masks. The two of them ran to the main site of action, the fight with Alpha and the female against Gone's soldiers. It seemed like Gone had given up on his waves, and was now sending all his soldiers in at once. Over a hundred monsters, the cruelest, charging towards them. I have no idea why Gone had even chosen to use waves. Maybe he wanted to challenge Alpha? I have no idea, but it wasn't a good idea. Now, all his monsters were in the fray, and it was a bloodbath, Alpha's stick legitimately annihilating Gone's soldiers, on a genocidal level. There was no exaggeration in that sentence.

"On your right, Lima - 69, Lima 28, bearing November Whiskey 75," one of the other males said. He had short, wild hair, and a black sword that looked strangely similar to Gone's. It glowed in broad daylight, and gave me the connotations of death. This male, I think his name was November, swung his sword at an upwards angle, slicing a Tecnol's skull in half. The black brains oozed out like playdough. That was the trick! I thought. We were meant to destroy their brains. Had I done that, I may not look like a desperate goddess anymore. What would these soldiers think of me now?

What stuck out during the intense battle between The Revenant and Gone was that none of Alpha's warriors used any powers. I actually couldn't tell whether they were mortals or not. They certainly fought like mortals, but I doubted they were. Few mortals would be able to see this fight, and even fewer would risk their lives fighting a battle that the whole hunt had lost. Maybe they had wacked abilities which they were trying to conceal from everyone, or maybe they were just insanely good demigods. Regardless, I was too thankful for their help. My life was spared, purely on the basis that these warriors, these men, were fighting for me.

When they had all started battling, three women and four men in total, the sense of fear began to escalate. The monsters were dropping faster than fleas, and all you could hear was Gone cowering fifty feet behind, yelling "What are you doing!?" or "No you fool, aim for his foot!". Gone could panic as much as he wanted, but it wouldn't change the course of this battle. November was rolling around on the floor, his sword decapitating enemies as if they were tissues. His sword made a sound sweeter than sugar whenever it sliced through one of Gone's monster freaks. From above, arrows were raining. I couldn't see the archer, but whoever it was, they were perched above a tree, and had some accuracy. It wasn't as good as any of my hunters, but for a demigod/mortal who had never been blessed by a God, they were decent. And then of course, you had Alpha. Like a beast, he was obliterating every monster in his path. That stick of his… Let's just say that it was powerful. Very powerful. It seems like he had thought of now as a good time to test out those buttons on his staff. Honestly, the buttons were doing half the work. Each one had its own feature. One created a miniature shield. Another shot throwing knives…. You get it. There was no stopping them.

"What happened to her?" A voice abruptly asked. I turned my head to see a girl glaring at me. She had caramel coloured hair that was braided neatly to one side. Her eyes were almond, and fixed me with a hard stare. Like the others, she wore a black mask, but it had golden glitter on it. It reminded me of Alpha, except his mask was a blended mixture of dark blue and gold. Hers was pure gold, with a pink outline around the edges. Once again, the girl motioned towards my dying hunter, impatiently.

"She was… tortured," I whispered, the mortifying experience still fresh. I glanced at Charlotte again, seeing her mangled body. The hole in her arm was the size of a tennis ball, and didn't seem to be shrinking. Blood wouldn't stop seeping out of the hole. Red blood that was determined to kill her. It just kept gushing out of the motionless girl, onto my hands, onto the grass, trickling through the clearing, and into the forest.

The girl wordlessly sat down next to me. Her clothes were the same as the other soldiers, excluding Alpha. She wore a black, full sleeved shirt, full of pockets, that was tucked neatly into a pair of matching black shorts. The shorts too had multiple zipped up pockets. Then, under the shorts were trousers, and, you guessed it. They were black On her hands were synthetic black gloves that snuggled up against her skin. Heaving a sigh, the girl removed the gloves, neatly placing them next to her. She then laced her fingers with Charlotte's, and began rubbing what looked like nectar onto the wound, cleaning it out. The girl was very generous with her nectar, giving plenty to my hunter. Almost anxiously, she looked at me. I watched, tense and curious, begging whatever God listened to me anymore to please let me and my hunt live. Looking away from me, the girl opened her mouth, beginning her ritual. Her voice rose high as she chanted her melodious tune. There were no sweet, piping notes of a flute for her to follow, but she didn't need them. A soft silence fell over me. I was enthralled by the intoxicating melody produced by such a slender throat. From the very depths of her soul, the song rose and swelled, and it seemed as if all could feel her sorrows and joys. For a brief moment, me, Charlotte, and the girl were as one; her pain was my pain, her happiness was my happiness. The crescendo was intense, a slow, rolling build that crashed into the souls of the listening like a great wave, sweeping them away. It sounded like nature's own song, beautiful, and coming out of this girl's mouth. Even November, a professional soldier was swaying to the song, becoming distracted from the fight.

Charlotte stirred, her arm raising ever so slightly. It was as if this girl had injected morphine into her, the way her muscles slacked and she began breathing clearer and harder. The girl had a beautiful voice, and didn't stop singing, even after Charlotte sat up straight. She sang and sang, until her throat was raw. Only then did she let go of Charlotte's hand, her breath ragged. The girl tried standing up, but tripped over her feet and fell back to the floor. Charlotte was on her side in an instant, while I stood there immobilised, still wondering which Greek god had the ability to heal people with their voice.

"You came," Charlotte blurted out, staring in awe at the girl who had just saved her life, still breathing heavily. It seemed that Charlotte was now fine. Her wounds had mostly healed up, and all that remained were a few scars, which were still fading away. She was staring at the girl, a look of delight on her face.

"Who is this, Charlotte?" I demanded, my body recovering from the moment of shock and surprise I had just been through. I stood up and walked towards the two, frowning at them.

"Oh…" Charlotte started, the gears in her brain slowly clicking. "I was just glad that The Revenant could come to save us so that we could all become friends." As lame as excuses get, I've seen worse. I looked at Charlotte, but there was no evidence to say that she was lying. Shrugging, I sat down, opposite the two, and my hunter grinned. She grinned at me, before turning to grin at the girl. Charlotte grinned at the girl, but I could see that something was wrong. Her grin was slowly fading away, and was replaced by a face of alarm.

"He won't be happy," Charlotte murmured, almost fearfully. "You should go back quickly." Shaking, the girl raised a finger and pointed at the succeeding battle with Alpha. Charlotte rotated her body, until she was facing Alpha and Gone. Her eyes pursued his staff as if flicked through the different ranks of monsters. Slowly, once again, Charlotte's gin came back, even stronger this time.

"He came!" Charlotte blurted out again. "Oh my days, Millady, now we can truly get to know these fearless warriors!" I smiled, knowing that she was not lying to me now.

"Let us first pray that they win," I said, probably sounding pessimistic, but trying to speak the truth.

Charlotte stood up, grabbing a knife from behind her sock, and ran into battle. I didn't know what magic this girl had, but it had fixed Charlotte up, and she was running back to battle, a determined look on her face.

"Charlotte, come back!" I demanded, but my voice was lost through the wind. Besides, it's not as if anything I said would stop her. Anger was fueling my hunter as she went toe to toe with an Itegra, a monster that I had fought hard to defeat. Charlotte wasn't as good as the other soldiers, but still put up a decent fight. She was fighting one Itegra, and was winning, just about. She discombobulated it by feinting twice to the right, before rolling down to avoid its claws. Then, she leapt up, to lodge her knife into the monster's skull, but had to take a big step back, narrowly missing its claws. Ducking under the next swing, she raised her knife, right into its head, missing again. Twisting around, Charlotte threw her dagger faster than my brain could let me process. The killing knife missed the Itegra's eye by mere centimeters, leaving Charlotte defenseless. Gleeing, it crept towards her, satisfied with how my hunter couldn't escape. Normally, this would be the time where I would scream out, but knowing Charlotte, I let it pass. Sure enough, I was not disappointed as she flipped out another knife from beneath her tunic (do not ask me how she got these many knives), and rammed it into the monster's head. Her aim was perfect, and it sank into her skull with a satisfying squelch that sounded both disgusting and relieving.

All in all, it took a total of five minutes for The Revenant to slaughter every last monster. That's also how many minutes it took me to check how many hunters had died. In total, a third of my hunters had died, and another third were in need of medical attention. The wounds were horrible: arms were torn off, limbs had been detached, and there was, oh my god, there was too much blood. What hurt the most out of that however, was not the dead hunters. It was not the torn off arms, or the pools of redness. What hurt the most was when I saw Amber, the hunter that had tried to warn us of this attack, laying on the ground, half bled to death. Her pulse was faint, too faint. Can was too weak to heal anyone, probably from all the energy she needed to heal Charlotte, so all I could do was stare at the pained faces of my sisters. I had tried calling Apollo, but got no response. I wanted to flash away, but I still had those stupid cuffs on me that Gone had added. When I had asked Can to remove them, all she had said was, "I can't." No explanation, just 'I can't.' Not that I wasn't grateful, but couldn't she elaborate a bit?

The only good news was that I had found Thalia. She had been trapped under a tree that had fallen after Gone's army had trampled us. Luckily, she was fine; the tree had cut her on her left thigh, but it was nothing we hadn't cured before. Right now, she was trying to do first aid on our injured hunters: they had bad wounds, and we couldn't use nectar or ambrosia because we had run out. Charlotte claimed that she didn't have any spare ambrosia, despite having given some to poor Amber a while ago.

It had been a girl who had killed the last monster. The same girl who had screamed at Alpha right at the start of the battle. She had been such a good fighter. I had actually liked her, because she was exactly what I saw in my hunters, and wanted to see in every woman. The woman fought like a warrior, relied on no one, and never faltered. Perhaps, if we could do this truce Charlotte was talking about, I could maybe even hire her. She had raised her long sword and feinted right, before swinging it right around, cutting the Tecnol's head clean off. Then, to ensure it was truly defeated, she swung her sword upwards and jammed it down with a force that punctured the monster's head. Panting, she sat down, watching as it slowly dissolved to the black ash it formed. When a scrawny bow with scruffy hair came towards her and offered her his hand, she gladly accepted it, pulling herself up and wiping off the remaining ash.

"What next?" Alpha asked a frightened Gone casually. He swung his stick around, flexing his skills as the six of them, Can excluded, advanced on the last monster.

"This was a taster," Gone muttered. "Think of it as an appetizer. You know the starter is already on its way. I'll see if you can win that without exposing yourself." The two stared at each other, and for a second, I could feel the steam of a new fight building up. Then, as if insane, Alpha laughed it all off.
"I'll see how good your starter is then. Good luck, and try not to die. I'd hate for you to die the second before I showed you how trash your training is." Alpha smirked, and I saw something inside Gone twitch. He glared at the male, before turning around and disappearing along with the strong breeze which had been with us.

"Why didn't you just kill him!" November yelled.

"Oh save it man," Alpha snarked. "If I had tried to rush him, he would've flashed away without a doubt, and then what would we've achieved?" The rhetorical question made November hesitate for a second.

"Well what did we achieve by taunting him? We're not toddlers, and he won't go crying to his jacked up mummy will he?" The girl who had killed the last monster and another boy who had blond hair shook their heads, groaning at November.

"Well he's obviously paranoid that we beat his 'appetizer', and taunting just increased his insecurity. Let's go get Can quickly."

Alpha held his staff upright, and I couldn't help but notice how it almost glowed in the sun's rays, or maybe it was just the golden colour reflecting off his weapon. He tapped something, a button I think, and at once, the staff turned back into a pen which he quickly stuffed away into his robe's side pocket, not letting anyone get a glance of it. The girl who had healed Charlotte, Can, wobbled towards him. I never knew someone could be as weak as she was. Her whole body was moving delayed, and just the act of standing up whacked her. He quickly rushed and caught her, helping her sit down. Concern lit his eyes, but she had something else on her mind. Once she was comfortable and relaxed, she pulled Alpha's head down and whispered something. Alpha hissed something back, and she glared at him. By the looks of it, they were having a very heated argument. November, the girl with the long sword, and the scrawny boy joined in, and I could hear the argument rising and rising, before Alpha ultimately ended it by growling at Can.

Lifting himself up, Alpha walked towards me, November and an irritated Can trailing behind. He got within a foot of me, before helping me up. He tried not to show it, but I knew tiredness when I saw it. Wiping Charlotte's blood off my hands, I brushed myself up, and glanced at the male. The whole time, he had been staring at me, almost curiously. As I caught him glancing, he looked away fast. Then, the male raised his hand and clicked his fingers. The pressure on my hands was relieved, and I flexed my fingers, feeling the handcuffs removed. I knew that I could run now. I knew that I could easily flash away and escape, but I didn't. I just met Alpha's gaze, feeling lost in his mixed up eyes. One was light green, and the other was golden. This was also reflected on his mask, as I noticed that he was the only person who had two types of glitter on his mask.

"What's going on?" I asked as calmly as I could, taking deep breaths. Alpha regarded me, raising an eyebrow.

"I thought you were smart," he said coyly, showing no signs of hate, nor love. "You were attacked by a group of warriors that are already on their way to Olympus now." I went wide eyed at the thought of my home being attacked… again.

"They should be arriving in about… five minutes," Lima added, checking his watch for the full effect.

"Then I best get going," I said, quickly rousing up my hunters, well the ones that were unhurt.

"Charlotte, I'm going to Olympus. Don't leave this area. Help the injured." I rushed towards my bow, quickly stringed it and put it onto my back, knowing it would quickly disappear. Charlotte stared at me for a moment, before quickly reacting.

"I'm coming with you!" she interjected, standing up quickly.

"No way!" Was she out of her mind? "You nearly died! Stay here and heal… mentally or physically, or whatever. You're not coming!" Charlotte looked at me, almost as if I had hurt her. She walked towards me, until we were nose to nose.

"I will go!" she yelled. "If you don't take me, I'll ask one of these nice soldiers to help me, or I'll get a train to get to Olympus. I'm attached to Olympus, as well as you are. I will fight for it, that's a promise."

"The Revenant won't take a child to Olympus," I half sneered.

"Well, we are heading in that direction," the scrawny boy said with a sly smile, and I cursed.

"Fine!" I walked towards her, grabbing her wrist firmly, and was ready to flash, when someone else appeared. Thalia was up and making her way towards me. She didn't even ask, just grabbed my hands. I turned my head to stare at her, and once I saw her eyes, I knew that argument was futile. There was no stopping Thalia when it came to her home, Olympus.

"Alright, so let me get this straight," Alpha began. "You think that you are going to flash to Olympus, call all the Gods, warn them of a deadly incoming army, and fight them off?"

I nodded my head, not sure I understood why he was asking. He smirked when I nodded, and another sound came, this time from his left. Next to him, Can was on the floor, laughing. Hysterically. She was laughing hysterically.

"Is something funny," I hissed, forgetting for a moment how she had saved my hunter's life. Can just continued to laugh, grinning wildly.

"You forced Percy Jackson out of Olympus," Alpha said, still smirking. "Let's see how many will listen to you when you tell them an army is approaching, and no one can back you up."

I looked at him, and my jaw dropped at the fact that he was actually right. No one would listen to me, but it was still my duty to try and talk sense to them.

"I didn't force Percy out," I mumbled, looking down. "He left."
"Did he leave because he was sick of the hunt, or because he was sick of you?" My heart stopped, as I stared at Alpha, who looked as if he had known all along. No one knew what had happened that night, aside from my hunters and Aphrodite, who had all promised not to tell anyone else. I glared at him, hard, but he didn't even falter, and just kept looking at me with an odd, uncomfortable expression.

"Who are you?" Thalia asked, who also had the expression of shock on her face.

"I'm just a soldier who does what he needs to do to save his hometown, Olympus."
"If you're on Olympus' side, then why'd you wear a mask?" I interjected. Alpha looked put off for the first time since today, but it was only momentary. Seconds later, his look of annoyance was replaced with an expression of amusement.

"You think this is a mask?" Alpha checked.

I nodded, and he smirked even louder. Now, even the scrawny boy, the girl with the long sword, and another male who had sandy blonde hair and deep eyes were also grinning under their masks.

"Then I guess I'll see you at the Masquerade." His work done, Alpha flicked his head and walked away, leaving me to dwell on those words as I flashed to Olympus and the impending doom.

Alpha POV

Five seconds… Ten seconds… Fifteen seconds.

"DAMN BRO!" November screamed out exactly fifteen seconds after Artemis had flashed out. "Did ANYONE see that insane swipe up I did?" He was giddy, almost like a child introduced to crack, not that I would know…

November stretched his legs, swinging his Stygian Iron sword from left to right. One of his black gloves had fallen off during battle, but he didn't care.

"I saw!" Romeo grinned. "But you have to admit that it wasn't as good as my ten combo." Provoked, November walked towards her, snorting.

"It can't match my twenty combo I got last year."

"What, the combo against a bunch of training dummies that you got so gassed about? Forget it."

He glared at her, before turning around to face the others.

"Lima, Fox, surely you understand how sick my swipe was." Hotel rolled her eyes, while Fox hesitantly agreed.

"I mean it was pretty sick! You killed about seven monsters with one hit, so congrats. But, I must say that my 360 noscope was way better. I hit Gone twice, and saved your butt twenty or so times." Sensing an argument forming, Hotel interjected quickly.

"Boys, I'm sure you were both good, and there's no point arguing about it. What you need to remember is that, no matter how good you were, Alpha here was hundreds of times better." As she spoke, both Fox and Juliet came to thump me on the back, and even November grudgingly nodded. I, on the other hand, just looked up confused upon hearing my name.

"I mean, my man Alpha here flippin' destroyed Gone in a 1v1!" Lima yelled above everyone else. "Not gonna lie, but that was some sick skills! How were the buttons?"

"Damn Lima, they worked like a treat!" I smiled. "Totally worth the wait."

"Buttons?" November asked. To explain, I quickly whipped out my stick to show them the new buttons alongside the edge.

"I've been trying to make them for the last year or so," Lima happily explained. "It took ages, particularly because my father had made the original version." He tossed November the staff, and he thumbed the buttons, before handing it back to me.

"Now that's another way your weapon beats mine! Why can't I ever get any upgrades?" November pouted, slumping back down to the floor, removing his mask and taking large lungfulls of air.

"Because all you do is complain about how easy all the battles are and boast about destroying a couple of dozen training dummies," Romeo snapped, also sitting down.

He went red in the face, muttering something about training dummies. Lima laughed, and Fox grinned, both sitting down. Feeling left out, Hotel and Juliet also sat down, removing their masks. Everybody let out large sighs of relief, washing their faces with water from the stream nearby. Normally I would just conjure water here, but I was so knackered after that fight, and still had another fight left. Conservation of energy, boys, as I would always say before a long fight or run. Conservation of energy.

Some soldiers, like November, did a good job of hiding their relief, but after training with them for almost 5 years, I could tell what they were feeling. Many were panting from the aerobic workout, and I could see Lima literally dousing himself with water. Lima grabbed a bucket, yes bucket of water, and tipped it all over his head. All his clothes were soaked, and that only made him grin further. Being truthful, everything was fine, until Can stepped up.

"PERSEUS DUMBASS JACKSON WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING!" she screeched out, running towards me, while panting cutely. Autonomically, November, Lima and Romeo stepped in, pushing her away from me.

"Calm down- CALM DOWN!" November roared, shaking her violently. She didn't stop, continuing to yell what was essentially a pile of crap at me. Her mask was on the floor, and her eyes alone yelled death to me.

"Take a deep breath," Romeo peacefully said, and slowly, she began to calm down. Oh no, she was still glaring at me and everything, but at least she wasn't making a dash for my ichor. As the time passed, her chest stopped rapidly moving, and she began to go back to her softer face, the one adored. When she had calmed down enough, November roughly let go of her, and she stood still for a moment, staring at the floor. Looking up, she turned around, observing the aftermath of the battle, before settling her eyes on me. There was a tense moment, where we regarded each other, before she suddenly made a run for me.
"Hey!" November yelled, making a wide grab for her, but missing and instead banging his head against hard earth. Once she reached me, she didn't try to attack me. Instead, she ran into my body, and I engulfed her with my arms, hugging her tightly. Her tears wet my shoulder, but I didn't care. A great sob escaped her mouth, and she covered her face with shaking hands. Her body shook violently against my chest. Honestly, I never would've short Can could latch onto someone so fierce and possessively.

"The emotional breakdown of Ca-" I shut up quickly when I felt the punch against my ribs, softly smiling on the inside. That smile slowly faded away, until I was left with a clear head.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, thinking straight now that we were alone for the most part. "There was too much going on for me to remember when my times were." She just continued crying for a while, before pulling away and wiping her nose. Why was it that everything she did was cute? I don't remember Artemis being like this, but Can never tried killing me so...

"I should kill you," she snarked. "The only reason you're still alive is because November, Fox, Romeo and probably everyone else will kill me."

"Are you sure that's the only reason?" I cheekily asked. Can turned around, and glanced at me again. I began walking closer towards her, but she stopped me.

"After the battle," she promised, shyly trying to hide her golden in the face.

"Awwwww, that is just so cute!" someone, Hotel maybe said from behind me. Romeo nodded in agreement. Normally, I would hang them over a cliff until they apologised, but just this once, I guess I could let it slip. So lost in my thoughts, I almost didn't realise Juliet sauntered towards me.

"Can is still right, Alpha," he said. "You know you shouldn't've drunk it."

"Well then what was I meant to do?" I asked, frustrated from everyone asking why I was drinking the purple solution. He looked uncomfortable.

"I dunno, something else, I guess." We stood in an awkward silence, all of us. The only sound was the irritating one of my friends washing their faces, for the eighth time. Only Can was being productive, going around and attempting to treat the remaining injured. Perhaps I should've told her to save her energy, but I knew that she hated uncomfortable silences. Having no more of this awkward moment, November decided to break it, and I agreed with him, except he didn't break it in the most efficient way. Noticing everyone pretending to be preoccupied with after battle stuff, he ambled towards me, and lowered his voice to a whisper loud enough for the others behind to hear.

"Did you know that Hotel tried to disobey your orders of staying still and decided to attack Gone's army by herself?" he snitched. Lima shook his head, and Hotel growled.

"Oh my days, November," Fox started, shaking his head strongly in disapproval. "Sometimes, you can be such a snake." Everyone stood, watching to see what I would do. I feel like I should just yell at her or something small, but it wasn't the right time. We had a war to fight, and segregation between my soldiers, my friends, was the last thing I wanted.. I just laughed, clapping November's back. He looked at me with a baffled expression.

"You are a good soldier, November," I started. "You're one of my best soldiers, and closest, most loyal friend, but sometimes, even the best soldiers have to do what their mind tells them to do in order to succeed." For a moment, no one spoke as they all tried to digest and process that information. Two seconds later, there was the sound of an eruption as everyone jeered November for not making the most logical decision, and we all laughed, even if November did have an extremely red, awkward face. Ashamed and embarrassed, he walked away, pushing Juliet and Hotel out of the way.

"You're watching the learning channel," I mouthed.

"Okay boys," I said, standing up to address everyone. Artemis had flashed away five minutes ago, and I didn't want to waste anymore time. If anyone was still trying to get water or prepare for the oncoming battle, they should've done it before. I didn't want to freeze time either, because that drains crucial energy. "I, as much as you hate these masks. I want this masquerade to be over too, but we've got one last step until we can do that. An army is approaching Olympus, and, as much as I hate it, we need to fight against them and have a sappy reunion with good old Zeusy. After that, we can throw these masks away, and begin our life as soldiers in war. I'm not using my powers in this fight, so I'll need you all trying your hardest, got it?" Everyone nodded, everyone grinning. "We've spent five years dressing up and planning the dance. Now, it's time for the main event: the ball."

"I'd hate to interrupt such an inspiring speech," Lima interrupted, "but the army has reached Olympus already, and I don't think it's going too well."

"Damn it," I hissed under my breath. They weren't supposed to arrive for months, and then Lima said they won't be arriving for an hour or so privately, and now he's saying that they're there. If we were to do this correctly, we'd need some insane skill. Isolation could only prepare you to such an extent. Even training against my soldiers lost it's fun after you had done so for years and began to learn their tricks. Plus, if I wasn't using my ability to manipulate time, the battle could go either way...

"Does anyone know a quick route to Olympus?" November said, quickly picking up a dead hunter's backpack and shoving a half-filled water bottle into it. We all shook our heads, knowing it was a rhetorical question. Even if we did, it would make no difference when you shadow-traveled. No, what November was trying to say was that he was leaving to go to Olympus… without us.

"You aren't seriously thinking of fighting those soldiers by yourself are you?" I half laughed. Ignoring me, he put his sword back into its sheath.

"We haven't got time to wait for all of you to reach there. It'll take too long, and cost too many lives." He slung the backpack onto his shoulders, and looked up to see all of us staring at him, mouths gape.

"Wait with us, and we'll all go together, with more power," Fox began, trying to reason with him.

"You all won't arrive for another five minutes. I'm the only one here who hasn't used his ability all day. Only I can get there fast and be ready to fight in a minute. You all know that when Alpha shadow-travels, it always causes side effects on you lot" Okay that was a little bit reasonable. I wasn't that good at shadow travelling because I was too 'imprecise', but, if anything, that should just be more of a reason for November to come with us and escort a couple with him.

You said that sometimes, I needed to go with my heart, well I will."

"I didn't mean now!" I yelled furiously. "Don't try being a hero and save Olympus. You'll bloody die within a minute!" I tried reasoning with him, but it was too late. By the time the words left my mouth, I was talking to lonely shadows.

"So how are we getting to Olympus now?" Fox asked, already bored and jumpy.. Everyone's eyes were on me. I could shadow travel us all there. We would arrive in a minute. The only problem was if someone got a side effect from the jump, such as nausea or weakness which had happened before, they would be out of battle. Pacing up and down, my mind whirred through the possibilities.

"I think it's time I called an old friend," I muttered.

Artemis POV

"Charlotte, get out and warm me if you see any monster, any at all, approaching." She curtly nodded before jogging out of the throne room, no doubt gossiping with some minor about the coming battle. I turned to face Thalia. It wasn't hard to make out her distraught, angry face. In her hand was her spear, her famous spear. Monsters feared it, but emotionless monsters… I had no idea what the outcome of that would be.

"Errr, do whatever you want, just try and avoid killing someone." She nodded, walking out of the room in the same direction as Charlotte.

"And I forbid you from touching any monster that comes without my consent." Thalia froze, turning around, flecks of anger visible in her eyes. She regarded me, not making any move, just glaring at me. I knew she would hate it, but it was the only way to ensure that she lived, and that Gone wasn't provoked to charge us upon arrival.

"That is an order," I repeated, turning my heels on her and growing to my usual twenty feet form. I sat in my chair, carefully, awaiting the rest of the council. A meeting from me wasn't something usual, so hopefully they would all listen to me just this once and actually come.

Apollo was the first person to flash in. He looked well dressed for once, wearing a stylish golden-orange robe and matching golden-orange trousers that went to the ankle. Then, to ruin it all, he had chosen sandals for his footwear. He glanced at me, before rolling his eyes and taking a seat in his throne, almost tired. Apollo crossed his legs, something he never used to like doing, and leaned his head back against the head of his golden throne, closing his eyes. Out of everyone, Apollo always saddened me. There was no way to describe how my relationship with him had crashed and burned. We didn't even talk anymore, or at least he didn't respond to anything I said.

The next person to arrive was Poseidon, gripping his trident firmly. He glanced around, noticing that it was only me and Apollo in the room. Normally, Poseidon would strike up a small conversation with Apollo, but I guess that wasn't possible when Apollo was sleeping. Instead, he just sat up in his chair, fidgeting with the netting of his throne, waiting for the rest of the council. A minute later, Zeus appeared. He nodded in my direction, before sitting down at his, much more grand throne. Like Apollo, his throne was golden, but he had made sure to make Apollo's throne smaller than his. In fact, everyone's thrones were smaller than his, but that had already been argued about enough times. Slowly, the rest trickled into the room, but too slowly. It took three minutes for them all to get into the throne room, and some of them were just sauntering to their thrones all casually, striking up conversations here and there. We weren't going to win a war at this speed. The last people to enter were Hades and Hestia, both conversing quietly with each other. Hades was the one mainly talking, but every now and again, Hestia would nod her head and whisper something back. Them and Apollo were close. They loved each other, but in more of a brotherly relationship. I knew Hestia was serious about her oath, and Hades had Persephone.

"So now that we're all here," Zeus said loudly and irritated, causing Hades to stop talking, "what is it you wanted to talk about, Artemis?" Not even daughter, just Artemis? I brushed it off, standing up from my throne, but it still hurt me, like a dagger in the heart. Just like I did to Perseus, I thought.

"I know that not many of you trust me," I began, and already Hades snorted.

"Yeah, you got that right," Hermes muttered, and a couple of others murmured in agreement.

"But we are all in grave danger," I persisted. I expected that to have some effect at least. Surely one person would be rational enough to listen to me, but not. No one seems fazed. In fact, they just seemed to be humored by my one sentence speech.

"Girl, we were in grave danger the day you were born, and we weren't wrong when Perseus left us all," Ares, the irrelevant guy jabbed. Laughter echoed through the halls, and even Zeus cracked a smile at his joke. Ares was just angry that I never wanted to be with him and that I was still a virgin. He saw the council getting angry at me as an opportunity to openly diss me without the fear of Zeus or Apollo hunting him down.

I stomped my foot down… loudly. My heel hit the marble of the throne room, and the sound filled the hall, causing everyone to quiet down, some in understandment, most in outrage that I had dared to slam my foot in the throne room, but it only signified my importance.

"Listen here, you chunky slug!" I spat at Ares, fuming. "We have an army, a full army, that even I couldn't defeat heading this way, to kill us, and you're just here guffawing around. My hunters died. Their bodies fill the floor of the forest we fought in. So many died, and you think that this is… this is... this is some kind of joke to me? I will fight for Olympus, but I feel like you're just gonna run away." Every voice in the room muted as what I said sunk in. In all of the time since 'The Disappearance', I have never cracked the way I just did.

"Give me one reason to believe you," Ares bluntly said, also getting to his feet. He hated looking up to people. "Just one reason, and then I'll happily go along with your plan."

Everyone looked at me. They all stared, waiting for me to answer a question to which I had no answer for, and a feeling of failure and hopelessness engulfed me. Alpha was right when he said that no one would trust me. Not after Perseus.

"I could swear on the Styx!" I suddenly blurted out, and my mind sighed in relief having found a solution. "Yeah, I swear on the river Styx that we have an army heading our way, one that my hunters couldn't defeat!" I looked at the rest of the throne room, triumphant. At least people would believe me, I thought, but Hades shaking his head, along with my father didn't reassure me. Was the Styx not in charge of oaths anymore?

"The Styx has gone, remember," Hades said, tapping his head.

"WHAT!" I screamed out, my pulse increasing again. Taking a deep breath of air, I relaxed my body, before asking with forced tranquility, "When did this happen?" Hades stroked his small beard, as if he was thinking.

"A couple of months ago," he said after a pause of thought.

"And you didn't think of telling me!" I yelled, losing my cool. Losing my cool like I had done all those years ago with Perseus. A mistake, I noticed. Hades stood up and faced me, his eyes each endless black pits that bore into mine.

"Don't turn it on me," he spoke in a quiet, deathly tone, one I had never heard him use before. "You would know that Styx had left if you had bothered to attend the meetings. When I called everyone to address this issue, you didn't come. When I sent out demigods to tell others that the Styx has disappeared, you wouldn't show yourself. You were too busy sulking with your group of men haters, and then you have the audacity to accuse me of not telling you, eh?" He spat out the last part, with a venomous tone, and I gulped. Hades wasn't a God who would go berserk like this. Seconds later, Hestia was next to him , hissing something in his air. Grudgingly, he calmed down and stopped breathing hard, the red colour gradually disappearing from his face.

"The Styx has left her river. We don't know why. We don't even know how this is possible, but it happened. Perhaps the other side somehow managed to catch her. Existing oaths are still present, as decreed by the Ancient Laws Of The First Gods, but new oaths can't be taken up, so we can't verify that you are telling the truth. The shore of the river is littered with new oaths, I saw it myself. Now, if you have no other methods of poof, and no your hunters don't count, then I will be on my way back to search for the Styx."

"Wait!" I yelled out. "I never knew that, but still swore on the Styx, so I am not lying, because I still swore." He shrugged.

"I can't verify that you, for one hundred percent, didn't know about Styx, so it's an unofficial oath. Goodbye Artemis."

If it hadn't been for Apollo, there would be no hope left for any Olympian. All the Gods stood up to leave, but my brother suddenly screamed loudly. His voice filled the halls, and everyone froze in their positions. Apollo screamed again, before subconsciously jumping up, and would've fell had Hades not caught and steadied him. Hestia looked at him, concerned.

"What happened," my father asked. Apollo was just shivering, despite the high temperatures of August, and him being literally hot. He didn't reply, but fear was evidently displayed on his face.

"They're coming," he whispered, before screaming it out louder. "I saw it," he half sobbed.

"Who, who!" Zeus yelled, shaking Apollo mad.

"Monsters!" he screamed. "Monsters that even you would fear!" Everyone went silent again.

"I saw the most horrible monster that we've ever encountered before! They will tear us apart like confetti. I'M NOT JOKING!" He screamed it out, frustrated with the few smirks around the hall. He went silent, being helped up by Hades. That's when the panic started. Each God had wide eyes of fear as they all scrambled to prepare for an upcoming battle. No one was ready for war. The three brothers snapped their fingers, changing into their battle clothes. Each one was wearing armour designed for war. Chainmail for Hades, and a more sturdy form of armour for the others. Aphrodite simply stared in shock, not like she would be useful in battle anyway. Only Athena was understanding of the situation and tried to take control. She slammed her spear down, one time, two times, three times. Silence eventually fell over the throne room of Olympus, as everyone remembered where they were, and turned to face Father.

"Do not act like babbling bamboo sticks!" Father roared over the now silent council. The only evident sound now was the crackling of Father's bolt. "I'll admit that my daughter, Artemis is not the most trustworthy person in Olympus, but the God of Prophecy has spoken with her, and we have no choice but to battle no that does not mean you can go and put make-up so that the monsters faint from your 'beauty' Aphrodite," he quickly added as Aphrodite began recovering from shock and standing up. "If a war is coming, the last thing I want is for the council to irreparably break down ten seconds before. Can we all put out brains and skills together for just one battle, and then we'll figure out what Artemis was doing and Apollo was seeing, and maybe why Ares was… just being annoying. Olympians, stand up, and create battle formation at the gates of Olympus. I want to make sure that we all make a great welcome committee for these monsters. Now, everyone needs to form formations at the lift, so we can kill them before they can step into Olympus"

His speech finished, Father walked out of the throne room, his head held high, along with his master bolt. Poseidon followed shortly, along with Hades and Demeter. Slowly, the entire council was outside, right in front of the lift, waiting for the enemy that they were so sure they could beat. If I couldn't beat Gone, the chances of someone else beating him were low. At least three Gods would have to be fighting him, and only then would there be a chance of victory.

"You say you fought them and lost, right?" my father asked, and I confirmed with a nod of my head. "So how did you escape them?" I saw this coming.

"If I told you that a group of psycos saved me, would you believe me?" I rhetorically asked, but Father wasn't in the mood for this.

"This isn't a game, Artemis," he snapped. "We're talking about a new war coming only a few years before another war, as you say it. How. Did. You. Escape?" I growled, frustrated. When Ares made a joke, everyone laughed, but the second I did, it was all of a sudden time to get serious and stop goofing around.

"Oh, The Revenant came and fought them off for us," Charlotte said, casually strolling up to us. Thalia was nowhere to be seen.

"Who are they?" Father askes, and I internally groaned at how poor his memory was.

"The Revenant, remember. Those soldiers with masks who always steal our food." Father frowned.

"So you're saying that a group of soldiers who love stealing your rank food… decided to come and help you? I'm lost." He walked away, muttering about how much garbage I was full of. Hestia, however, was following along, and gasped out loud at my statement.

"Did they really come and save you?" she asked, and I numbly nodded.

"Are they on their way here?"

"They said that they are coming this way, but not to Olympus," I said, and Hestia stepped back, looking almost heartbroken. Even as I said it, I once again dwelled upon the final words of Alpha. I guess I'll see you at the Masquerade. Wasn't a masquerade a type of mortal dance? Did that mean he was coming, or that he would be visiting me later? Was he asking me out? I sincerely hoped not. Maybe I would've thought more about it, but at that moment, Thalia jogged up, looking grim.

"I followed your orders Milady," she began, but was hesitant to add anything else.

"And?"

"They're here."

You could hear them before seeing them, and there was no debate at that. The overland foot movement of military soldiers sounded like drums irregularly beating in your ears. Each step was another thud that could be felt all the way from over here, making the floor rattle. The army was much larger than the previous one I had fought. Thousands of enemies marching in union to a bloodbath. That was the only way you could describe what would occur here. A blood and dust bath. Nervous by the size of the soldiers, I looked away, towards the other Olympians. In each of their eyes were fear and determination, the characteristics that made good warriors. Even I hadn't been prepared for such a force, and I had been the first to know about them, excluding The Revenant.

"How big was the army again?" Father asked. "Artemis?" Father gently shaked my shoulder but I couldn't respond to him. Fear rooted me to the spot, as memories of dead hunters came crashing back to me. And they were all my fault, because I had chosen to ignore Amber, not Thalia or Sheila, but me. The guilt nearly sent me to the floor, but that would make me look like a fool in the face or war. Instead, I leaned on Father's soldier to stay upright.

"Artemis!" A familiar voice boomed. "Long time no see, eh?" Whatever rationality had been in my mind and the talk I'd had with Thalia left me the second I heard that. Adrenal in my body, I charged at the voice. Yes, yes, I know I'm an idiot, don't tell me again. The whole of his army stood, tall and proud, and I saw that as a fit opportunity to charge. It was only Hades' quick reflexes that held me back from death. As I ran, his arm stretched out and coiled around my waist.

"Pull yourself together, at least in front of the soldiers," he hissed into my ear, yanking my body back with force.

"Errr, hello Mr…" my father began, slightly embarrassed by my stupid stunt.

"Gone," the killer of my hunters added.

"Ahh, well hello Mr Gone," Father continued, looking confident. "I see that you have brought a glorious army with you. If we had that firepower, we never would've lost so many heroes during the second Titan and Giant wars."

"Why thank you," Gone said, and Father looked pleased. It was only his authority that stopped me from yelling at how pointless this bargain he was trying to achieve will be.

"Us Olympians don't want trouble with such a group of warriors. Please can you leave with your army, and then maybe you could come around for dinner next Tuesday and we could work out some deal." That must have been the worst peace attempt in the history of peace attempts! It was just so blunt and… bad. Gone noticed, because all he did was giggle, and then snort hard.

"Let me assure you, Lord Zeus, I did not teleport my whole army thousands of feet into the air, all the way into Olympus just to bring them back down. I mean, do you know the amount of energy that requires. No way I can do that again. I hope that sounded better in your head." Knowing my father, it probably hadn't. The almighty Lord Zeus now stood, thinking about what to do. He wasn't achieving anything by doing this crap talk.

"Okay, so how about we allow you to go down the lift, swear on the Styx to let you go in peace, and then forget about all this." Now, Gone looked irritated.

"Is it just me, or are you now trying to act like an idiot?" he asked, and all the Olympians went quiet at Zeus being called an idiot. Surely you would know that Styx is gone. Actually, I am the one who captured her, so I know. Didn't Hades tell you?" Turning to Hades, Gone yelled out, "Hades! You're a bad brother!" Some soldiers snickered.

"Now enough of this chit chat. I love conversing with you and listening to your petty excuses for peace, but my soldiers came for ichor, and it's rude to deprive them of it. Your daughter has already met my appetizer in the forest near Philadelphia. They nearly killed her. Now I'm eager to see how long you'll all last against the starter."

If you think that the army I fought were a big deal, then you should've seen this one. It must've been five times bigger, with soldiers armed to their toes. Once Gone shut up, all the soldiers he had been lecturing about rumbled forwards, making the sound equivalent to twenty earthquakes. Under my feet, the ground vibrated, making me feel queasy. Ten seconds in, and I was already forced to roll to my left in order to dodge an incoming arrow. Gone wasn't holding back this time. It looked like he had learned from his previous mistakes and had let out his whole army at once. No waves this time. Just pure ichor and monster dust. For now, Gone was chilling at the back, watching the battle begin, and I could imagine him smiling cruely under that cursed mask. One day, I will burn that mask, I assure you.

My first monster was something different. Coming to think of it, I didn't recognize any of them from the previous battle, aside from the Itegra. Gone must love his Itegra's. My monster looked human, and even had a smile. Well that came as a relief. It looked as if this one had emotion, and wasn't one of Hephasteus' walking autobots. The only strange thing about this monster was it's tiger ears and clawed hands, which gave it animalistic characteristics. The claws looked sharp... We both regarded each other, before stepping into battle. Watching The Revenant fight that last battle had taught me some tricks. For one, I now knew to aim for the head, and that's where I struck. Once the monster charged at me, that was 100kg of fat, I rolled between its legs, imbedding it's left leg with an arrow as I did so. Then, standing up quickly, I lunged out for it's face. The monster stepped back calmly and tried to claw my leg, but I lifted it up, and the blow didn't affect me. Before it could react, I then quickly sweeped the monster's legs, causing it to topple onto the floor. It honestly felt good when my arrow pierced it's head, and the monster slowly died, brain damage killing it. All in all, that had taken about 10 seconds. Let's call that a warm up, I thought while running towards my next target, a similar monster. This one went much better: with my bow I feinted left, but shot straight, right into its right eye socket. The arrow hit with a satisfying thud, and it dropped to the ground a second later. Better. I had improved since our last encounter, but there was on time to waste. Knowing that my true skill was in archery, I lifted my bow up and let the arrows rain again on all the monsters. Most people would shoot arrow by arrow, but after millennia of experience, you started to get the hang of shooting five arrows at a time, and how to do it fast. Godly speed helped, but in the end, it came down to practice, and I had a lot of it. My arrows were 95% successful, but it didn't matter how many I killed; they just kept coming for more and I was struggling to see a difference. At around the 2,000th arrow mark, I could feel pain arising in my thumb, bleeding from the force of pulling the string back. Archery was hurting, and I knew that I couldn't shoot anymore arrows for now. Frustrated, but still full of vengeance, I put my bow away, and instead took out two lethal hunting knives, my favourite. That is when I got my first good view at the battle, and how we were doing.

As expected, Hestia was literally watching the battle, not engaging. She sat on a pillar and munched on her apple, her brow creased. Every now and then, there were a few monsters who foolishly tried attacking her, but each one died from some other God, such as Zeus or Hera. Hades was summoning his own army of death that destroyed both themselves and Gone's side. His face looked paler than usual, and drained, but he pushed forwards and summoned more dead than the entire Olympian graveyard. Demeter was doing… something. I couldn't tell what, but it was effective, because the monster would fall to the floor whenever she pointed at them, finished by a poison ivy whip. Hermes, or more accurately Hermes's stick was doing that sick laser thing again. Aphrodite was just walking around doing nothing, occasionally complaining about the blood on her dress, and even less frequently boosting the other Olympians' with positive comments. Apollo was firing arrows, by the tenfold. He showed no pain, and didn't stop, even after what must've been his 15,000th arrow. I struggled to see how he was still able to shoot, because my thumb was dead. Hera had a long sword, and each time she swung it, without fail a monster died. I don't even need to explain how Athena was jabbing her spear. Without her, this would be a dead battle. Ares had brought out his machine guns. PKP-Pecheneg, I remember he called it. It was his favourite gun, and the only one Hephaestus had been mothered to modify and add celestial bronze bullets to. Those were the second most effective weapon, after Athena. Between the two, they accounted for at least 40% of all deaths. Thalia and Charlotte weren't visible to me, and praying for them would be useless in a battle like this. And Dionysus? Well he would be responsible for the mad monsters, except his madness was working differently on the emotionless. The few he had tried to madden, had just killed themselves. They had no logical side, and no way to think. Suicide seemed to be the only way forwards for them.

That only left Poseidon, Father and Hephaestus. Those three were battling against Gone, with a fury I had never seen before. It looked like Gone had taken a pit stop on the way here. He had changed his clothes, and was now wearing a black, expensive, leather jacket with denim blue jeans. Bringing a leather jacket to a fight wasn't smart, because it already had ichor marks on it. His sword was there too, and it looked like he had just been warming up earlier on with Alpha. Now, I could see him properly flexing his skills as his sword swung around three Gods. Each one was busy defending their own front. The Gods couldn't find an opening, barely keeping themselves alive. Poseidon was bleeding badly in his left arm, but I don't think it fazed him. On the contrary, I think that each drop of ichor which spilled from him just made him even angrier. Hephaestus didn't have any autobots on him, so he was using a heated hammer to repeatedly try and bash Gone's smug smile off. While he did get a couple of close shots, none of them had any effect. Zeus was trying to use his master bolt, but Gone didn't allow him, and kept pressuring him to defend. Out of all of them, Father was being pressed the hardest. Had we thought this through, I'm sure that Zeus would be much better on the field. His bolt would annihilate every enemy on the street. It would've broken half of Olympus too, but that wouldn't be a large price to pay.

Godly abilities unfazed Gone. Hephaestus didn't really have any ability to use. Machines were not in this fight. I'm sure that Hephaestus would be able to make some bot in a minute, but Gone wasn't allowing it, and Hephaestus was fighting to try and stay alive. Manipulating the water surrounding him, Poseidon had managed to generate a whirlpool around him that Gone found irritating. Every time Gone tried striking, the water would push his sword off course. However, that had the same effect on Poseidon, who had now resolved to projecting the water from his whirlpool into Gone, which he easily dodged. Zeus had winds at hundreds of kilometers per hour rushing around Gone who was blinking hard. He had even used the water to disarm Gone occasionally, though Gone's sword would come back to him within a couple of seconds. Sounds like we were winning, right? Well, we weren't when you considered the plenty of spared monsters who tried charging Poseidon and Zeus from behind

I will never fully understand how he had managed to take them down. Their abilities out matched his by a tenfold, but he still seemed to have the… sheer skill to conquer them. No one else had fought Gone before, so no one else had any idea of how this battle would go. But I did. I had fought, and I'll admit lost, against Gone, and was, in a way, mentally prepared. The previous fight had ended with Gone's army freezing, and ultimately, I had a feeling that was how this one would end. Sure enough, my battle froze when the other soldiers did. I had been battling off an Estriol, which was male, despite the name. It was black like an Itegra, but had more of a jaguar's body, and a dolphin's mouth. Oh, and it almost always looked like it was smirking. Sounds adorable right? WELL IT'S NOT THAT CUTE AFTER ITS NIPPED AT YOUR WAIST! The monster froze mid strike, just like how it had back in the forest. All the God's looked confused. All of them did, but not me, and for some reason not Apollo either. I don't know what he had seen in his vision, but he was extremely agitated, and almost jumpy, a characteristic he didn't usually have. Most of the Olympians raised their arms, probably to strike a final blow, but Gone's clear voice rang out.

"How do you fight a war, when one soldier alone took down your three best soldiers, without using any special ability?" A rhetorical question. Slowly, each Olympian turned, and saw with horror Hephaestus stumbling back, his leg nothing more than a few shreds of meat. Next to Gone, Poseidon and Zeus were not daring to breathe, Gone's sword resting under both their chins. He waited, a glint in his eyes. The two Gods, two of the most powerful I knew were suffering from injuries I wouldn't be able to describe. Arms hacked off, ichor coating the polished floor, grim, pained faces across them. Gone pushed his sword harder against the Gods throats, and ichor began trickling down it.

"Choose, or I'll do this the hard, much more enjoyable way." Almost scared, the council looked at each other, and a silent agreement was decided. Clangs of metal were heard as everyone dropped their weapons, raised their hands, and sank to their knees in front of an ecstatic Gone. He was acting giddy and thrilled. Following it, dozens of monsters ran up towards each Olympian, their swords at our throats, ensuring escape would be futile.

The risk was not Father and Poseidon dying. Even if they did, I'm sure that a couple of days later, they'd reform and pop out of Tartarus. The problem was what Gone could do to us. He had taken down three, good Gods using no powers, only pure skill. Taking down the rest of us would be a walk in the park. Hades would fall next, being part of the big three. Gone's army could kill his army of dead, but when the one-on-one came, no debate was needed. Next would be Athena, the biggest threat, along with Ares. I'm sure Gone could kill them, if he defeated Poseidon, Zeus and Hephaestus at once. The others would follow, until only I remained. Then, victory a few feet away, he would kill me, ever so slowly, until the whole council was defeated. He would always keep me until the end, so that I could see everything I hated and loved being razed to the ground, and me being unable to prevent it in any way. So far, we had slaughtered two thirds of his 'starter'. With only one third left, victory might sound close, but Gone would defeat us before that could happen. I was sure of that.

"Look at the grand Olympian council, all on their knees in front of me," he smirked, his sword not leaving the two Gods. I don't think they could fight if they wanted to: both had sustained damaging wounds. On the other hand, Gone just seemed to be alive. The cut through his torso wasn't having any effect on him. Even the black goo dripping out didn't faze him. He was just content on taunting us. Everyone was on the ground, too embarrassed to look up and admit to what they had lost.

"You are nothing without Time. I wonder who's fault that is. Poor Perseus, who had to endure so much pain… from all of you!" He let that sink in.

"Who's gonna save you now?" Gone let out a loud, harsh laugh, and the wind carried it across the battlefield of blood. Gone, so sure of himself, so proud of himself, and so willing to spill blood across the pure streets of Olympus.

If I am correct, Gone was asking a rhetorical question. Now, I don't know how smart this other guy was, but he obviously didn't understand Gone's strength… making him not very smart.

"I will," a firm voice came, and Gone was greeted with an incoming kick that hit his face. He stumbled backwards, clutching his eye with his now swordless sword hand.

The smart (definitely not smart) kid didn't give Gone any time to recover. Drawing his night black sword, the kid ran at Gone and jabbed at the left side of his ribs, missing up mere centimeters. Not bothering to pull the sword back, he just dragged his sword towards Gone's head. Recovering, and suddenly alarmed by a serrated sword aimed for his brains, he came to his senses and jumped up, narrowly missing the kid's attack. Now that Gone had moved his hand, I could see the damage the kid had done. It may have just been a flying kick, but I was finding that hard to believe when I saw a clear cut under his eye, leaking blood. Dashing backwards, Gone opened his hand, and boom, his sword was back, ready to create a further mess. He swung it, to meet the kids, and surprisingly enough, the kid actually held his stand, which was a lot in the face of a true monster such as Gone. His face went red as Gone pushed harder, but the kid still pushed back. The kid then flipped around, avoiding the blade and back kicking Gone who stumbled backwards. Then, Gone feinted left, but swung right, which the kid had been expecting, countering it easily. Switching sword hands, the kid managed to block Gone's slash, but I can't say the same about Gone: Gone couldn't block the kids full-on smash to the head. The kid was on a roll now, lashing at Gone's leg, and then feinting right-right attacking left, and swirling it around him.

"I know your fighting pattern," the kid yelled over the clashes of blades. "The Olympians may have been unprepared to fight you. They had no idea who you were, what your army was like, what your style was like and your power, but I do. I was trained by the Slayer of slayer's, the Giant's bane, the living kamikaze to battle you, and I will not fail!" He jabbed forwards, slashing sideways, following with an uppercut and a downwards spin. All of these Gone evaded, but with difficulty. Gone was still trying to overcome shock and from the kick earlier, which was the only way this kid had any leverage in this fight. Still, I must credit the kids fighting, and you could tell that this kid, this mere kid was doing what no Olympian had been able to achieve, pushing Gone backwards. Anger evident in his eyes, the kid roundhouse kicked Gone's mouth, feinting left. The blow to the mouth had put Gone off, and he was unprepared. This time, when the kid feinted, Gone moved his sword to block it, only for the kid to flip his sword and slash at Gone's waist… and hit!

There were five seconds of disbelief from everyone. The council were amazed by how Gone had been hit by this kid. The kid himself was shocked by how he had landed the shot, and Gone couldn't believe that a worthless, random kid had embarrassed him in front of an entire council of gods. Following those seconds of shock, Gone roared with a ferocity I hadn't seen. He spat blood at the kid, and breathed hard. His clasped hand over his wound couldn't quite stop blood from spilling out. Gone growled, stumbling backwards. I half expected the kid to charge Gone now, while he was unprepared, but he didn't. All he did was pant hard and hold his sword up at no one in particular. As he wasn't a spinning blur anymore, I got my first good look at him, and realised why the kid looked so familiar. It was a member of The Revenant. An important one too. Short, black hair, and pale, olive skin and a black mask with barely visible purplish-black glitter… Only one member looked like that. The mischievous jester, November had come, despite admitting he wasn't coming here… so it was hard to understand why he had come. November had a wild look in his eyes, which didn't match his jokey mood earlier. He panted as he held his sword up, not wanting to charge a cursing Gone despite him being helpless. He was looking around at the unfazed army of monsters, debating whether to charge or not. The army weren't attacking November, still awaiting orders.

"What are you doing, finish him off!" someone yelled. November shook his head.

"It would ruin his plan's, and I actually would die if I tried striking him now." Every god has confused looks.

"It's meant to ruin his plans." But November was now muted.

"This one is mine," Gone bellowed, so that his whole army, the council and November could hear. He was recovering, and stood up, placing a sort of adhesive bandage over the scar. Despite being injured, Gone raised his sword. November followed.

"No!" Hades roared, and everyone froze. Why the hell was this genius commenting in a fight that he had nothing to do with. Yeah sure, it would be cool if November lived, but he was mortal after all (I think). His death would just be… a death. Just like Perseus's would've been.

"I forbid you from continuing," Hades said directly to November, who tried to ignore him, but I recognised that fleeting look of uncertainty. Unfortunately, there wasn't much time to dwell on it, because five seconds later, with a wild cackle, Gone leapt back into the fight, and I was observing the third fight that could change my life in an hour.

Anger was powering Gone now. Plus, he was prepared this time. Just like how us Olympians hadn't been prepared, Gone hadn't been prepared for November's stunt, and you could see how much leverage that had given him. This time, however, Gone knew what he was up against, and he was ready. His sword was not a mere blocker that deflected November's swing after swing, but a shredder as it blurred across November's body, pushing him back now. The kid had next to no time to react to blade after blade of strikes that I found hard to follow. Slash-slash-slash-slash-jab were Gone's patterns, whereas poor November was reduced to block-sidestep-duck-sidestep-block-block-block-duck. Hades had tried jumping in on more than one occasion, but the hordes of soldiers with swords at his neck prevented him. I'm pretty sure they were licensed to kill on any signs of escape.

"He's better than two Olympians," Gone laughed, ducking under a blow. "How so?" Zeus and Poseidon wisely kept shut. There was no point in them arguing how November knew Gone's style and how November was prepared. This was about five minutes into the fight. Yes, it was a long fight. Two minutes in, November had regained his confidence, and started thrusting his sword at Gone, as well as blocking the attacks. At four minutes in, I was wondering whether they had practiced this parry. Swords turned into blurs which turned into streaks of light. It was tense, to say the least. Most of the Olympians wanted to join the fight, and flip the tables, but it was hard to do much when Gone had half his army with swords at our throats, and magic cuffs on our wrists to stop us flashing.

"I'm better than you," November gritted, but the battle was starting to lean towards Gone. Both had sustained injuries, November getting stabbed in the leg, Gone's left arm getting scarred inches deep, and all the way across, but November's power and energy was slowly draining away. November ducked and lifted his leg over a slash, returning his own. What he forgot about was Gone's legs, and they slammed into his shins with power. Flash forwards ten seconds, and November was clearly hobbling backwards. From there, it only took a final downward slash for November to try and leap up and get jabbed in his ribs… just like he had done to Gone.

"So please intrigue me with how playing a hero has benefitted anyone in any way," Gone asked, with amusement in his voice. He sat down on a nearby racked pillar, and was now questioning November. "You're done nothing that has helped the council, aside from saving them from torture for five minutes. Wow, November, you've got the whole squad laughing, except it's a single manned squad of just you." November glared at him.

"You think whatever you want to think, tell yourself whatever you want to hear. All I ask is for you to tell me how my plan was in ten minutes."

"Why ten minutes?" Gone leaned forwards, his brow furrowed.

"Because in ten minutes, your army will be erased to less than nothing, you will be running away, and the council will be free." Gone laughed, but it came out as forced, and dare I say nervous? Uncomfortable, Gone stood up and glanced towards the council, checking we hadn't escaped yet.

"What makes you think that…" Gone began, but stopped his sentence short his mouth gaped larger than

"That's why," the mad, epic kid gleamed, and we all looked towards the now active lift, the number at the top representing floor number slowly increasing

I saw fear in Gone's face, as he ordered half his army to stand guard at the working lift. The other half were still guarding us. Paranoia.

"Who-who is it," he yelled at an ecstatic November. "I SAID WHO IS IT TELL ME YOU GENEIUS!" He was shaking November now.

"You know who comes with me," he replied. Perhaps it would've been a good idea for Gone to finish us all off now, but whether he was too scared, or he just wanted to finish us off slowly, savouring each moment, the final blows didn't come. He repositioned himself near the lift instead. It was at number 450 right now, coming up much slower than usual. 480, 510, 540, 570. Everyone held their breath in anticipation. 580, 590. The number reached 600, and a ding so loud filled Olympus. Perhaps later, we can come to call it 'The Ding Of Olympus: Save Or Raze.' My hair was on edge as the elevator doors opened too slowly. They took five times the speed they usually took. Through the gap, a wispy smoke seeped out like a veil, covering whoever was in the elevator. After finally opening and enough smoke to cook my next month's hunts, a person stepped out of the lift, their head held high up.

Alpha had cleaned off the blood from his body, and walked out unarmed, His clothes were still black, like a Ninjas, with a black strap going across his shoulder to waist, that held canisters. Basically a Ninja with a golden bathing robe.

"You!" Gone hissed. Alpha looked back at the smoke, before talking to Gone.

"Are you talking to me?" he asked, emphasising 'you.'

"This time, I will win," Gone said confidently, ignoring Alpha. "You only beat me last time, because you were meant to survive the appetizer. This time, destruction will be on my side." I don't think he wanted to go through the chit-chat this time. Alpha hadn't heard him, apparently. He brushed dust off his robe, tutting himself under his breath, before looking up at the broken council, and smiling again.

"Olympians, you have all done wrong on your heroes, and look at the state you are in. May you remember them in a better light next time." Alpha smiled cruelly. If I knew better, I'd say that it sounded like a rehearsed speech he hadn't even made.

"I live up to my word, beautiful Artemis," he smirked with sarcasm, spreading out his arms in a welcoming gesture.

"Welcome to the Masquerade."

Okay I'm sorry if this took a little long, but I had loads to do... and write. Hopefully you enjoy this chapter. Please review it and tell me how to improve :)