Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson
LAST TIME:
"So you are him huh." Alex said walking up to my 21 year old figure towering at 6 foot 4 as she stood maybe 5 foot 8. So basically another Artemis I could say. She then reared back her fist and punched me in the gut, causing me to double over as she smiled.
"That was for mom." She said shaking her hand as I just smiled under my hood, man my acting had gotten much better. But as time went on I found a nice tree branch to take a nap in, it was over the massive group of hunters. Who were all currently listening to Thalia tell stories about me and my embarrassing moments. As well as how their mother was doing, all the stories were listened to without distraction as Cloey sat in Alex's lap.
Thalia had told me not to talk to most of them because they hated men with a passion, Alex was the only one who could stand a man. But because of that I decided a nap was sufficient for the time as the 30 to 34 hunters all listened to Thalia as they cooked up the deer. The group said they had another they could give to her as payment for the stories.
But I just laid there quietly with Silent doom embedded in the branch so I could easily grab the handle and jump into action. But as I was about to fall asleep I felt the small shade that had made my cloak its home give me a warning about something coming out.
That something was 5000 Otherworlder troops coming right in our direction. And they were armed with the latest swords and crossbows and looking to kill.
NOW:
PERCY/FLAW POV:
"Little ladies we need to move now." I said, dropping down and startling all the daughters of Artemis. Along with Thalia who looked like she just about zapped me for surprising her. I guess her story telling must have made her forget I was right above them.
"Why do we have to listen to you boy?" Asked Alex, who was a little mad I was demanding something of them. While all her sisters were just glaring at me, some even had bows out. Then, to answer her question for me I heard a horn go off, it was a horn for battle. All the girls just looked in the direction of where the sound came from.
"Isn't our camp in that direction?" One asked as Alex just nodded.
"Yes it is along with another group of hunters." She said as they all looked scared at the realization.
"We have to save them!" One shouted as I just laughed. As they all turned to me as I stopped and just looked at them.
"Save them? Please there are 5000 of them, there is no chance they even survived. The most we could accomplish is creating more blood stains on their clothes." I deadpanned as Alex looked at me like I was a male like Gabe.
"Why you!" A hunter shouted as she reared back her hand to slap me but a hand caught hers. I just turned to see Alex holding back her fellow sisters had with a face that held no emotion.
"He is right there is nothing we could do against a force of that size, we have to get to Mother. She will know what to do." Alex said as I just smiled at the hunters under my hood. She just had a face for anger as she shook off Alex's hand, then proceeded to walk behind me.
"Thalia please take Cloey and the rest to Artemis…I will go check on the enemy to see if they have anything I should note Artemis on." I lied to them as I just got a Shade to check in that the enemies had captured the other group of Artemis' daughters. Which I wasn't very pleased about. If they had just killed them it would have made my job easier to flee with everyone.
"Got it." Thalia said as I just nodded but then I stopped as I snapped my fingers as I forgot something.
"Thalia please come here for a sec." I said as she just looked at me wearily as she walked over.
"φιλί του θανάτου." I whispered as I leaned down and kissed her on the lips but as I did the whole world seemingly tuned out, as I focused solely on her lush and perfectly plump lips. They were absolutely perfect for kissing even though they streamed insults at me daily. They tasted like strawberries and a hint of almonds, as her scent of ozone filled my nostrils. Her warm lips seemed to almost thaw my cold heart. After a few seconds I pulled back. As I pulled back as I did a small spark jumped from our lips completing the moment.
At that moment I wanted to kiss her again, which was funny because that had never happened to me before. I just wanted to kiss her for eternity, not ever stopping to have the moment never stop. I just wanted to bury myself in her like the moonlight buries itself in the sea. To never escape from her grasp of love. In that instant my eyes opened up to her, I saw everything about her I never noticed before.
Her electric blue eyes seemed to have the very bolts of electricity from the sky bouncing in their electric blue color. Her light freckles that peppered her nose, not too many, not too little, a perfect balance to make her look absolutely beautiful. Her light tan that covered her face from her hours of running in the sun. Her spiky black hair that fell barely past her jaw line and its light blue highlights that never seemed to leave her hair.
To complete it her smell of ozone filled the air around her along with a hint of strawberry shampoo. Her slender body and C cup breasts hidden in the black shirt, while all were encased in her forever 18 year old form. Her deadly curves that would lead any man's gaze to them. Her long legs hidden in her camo pants and combat boots. All of this was an instant as my dark hole my hood made met her thundering eyes of coming anger.
I didn't stick around to wait for her to explode as I shadow traveled off to a tree branch about 100 feet away. My heart was racing as I gripped my chest, I had never felt this way before not even with Annabeth. Why did kissing Thalia activate this feeling in me? All I wanted in this moment was to be in her arms and kissing her again. I just closed my eyes and calmed my breathing as this once lady killer was brought down to a sorry state because of one kiss.
As I steadied myself I heard a crack of thunder above signaling either Artemis or Zeus just found out. Or Thalia herself just realized what happened and was completely pissed off. Well I would find out later as I took a long breath and stood up. Just gazing upon the trees as I let a smile creep across my face as the spell I just activated started to work. You see, φιλί του θανάτου or kiss of death has two main features. One of them is what it is currently doing to me.
What it does to me is strengthens all my joints in my body and tendons, makes my body physically stronger by at least double. It makes my movements more swift and agile which they are already at fluid like level and it just makes them even better. It makes my skin harder to pierce and muscles as well. The main feature is what it does to my face, which I always found super cool.
As I felt all the things the spell does for me finish I felt the final change to my face begin, I felt all my hair slick back to my head as if I just used a gallon of hair gel to plaster it to my head. As that happened I felt the usual creepy sensation of my skin pores expanding as a thick white liquid began to come out of them. As this went on I felt the liquid begin to mold to my face as I let out a whimper of the extreme pain it was causing to me. It was one of the prices I had to pay to do it.
It finally stopped and I felt the shadow over my face lighten a little until it just covered my eye sockets. Yep eye sockets my head was now a skull in the front with deep and pitch black eye sockets. Like a mask I could feel it covered my face, as I let out a deep sigh. As I did I heard a much deeper voice exhale as I got used to my deeper voice that came with the changes to my body. This is what the kiss of death did for me, it made me better in every aspect of my body. It also gave me a killer ass mask that was molded to my face, and looked like a skull that also acted as armor.
The second thing I mentioned was that it gave me a tracker on the person I kissed so I always had their location in my head at all times while this was active. You see this spell was invented by Death as a way to keep track of his new wife (Bianca) in case she got in trouble in hell. While it had no effect on him as he was Death, it did this to immortals who used it. So as of right now I had Thalia's exact location in my head as she currently punched a tree threatening to kill me.
"Sorry." I said sheepishly as I darted off in the direction of the daughter of Artemis' camp to see if it was still in one piece. My movement through the trees quieter than air itself thanks to my cloak, and Silent Doom humming happily while on my back. He was happy that I was in this form because he liked the power I had in it, that meant I used him a whole lot more. Which was nice because I am going to need my emotion control and fatal flaw control, if I want those hunters back.
LINEBREAK:
This was going to be much harder than I thought. In front of me was a brand new wall. Yeah a wall as in a 15 meter tall brick construction that somehow got put up in under an hour. I was impressed at how fast it got put up, I had to admit that is fast even by magical standards. That meant that a major Other Worlder god or an immortal of equal power was inside. I just let out a low chuckle as I hopped off my tree and shadow traveled to the top of the wall.
As I got to the top I found no people were guarding the top or they were just changing shifts. I just silently strolled across the top of the wall. I just looked around my mask completely hidden in the shadow of my hood. Nothing came after me as I spotted a sleeping shade in a deep shadow of a corner of the wall. I just smiled and patted his head as he seemed to purr at the touch. I loved shades to be honest, just like a dog or cat they are very loyal to me as any normal animal would be to its master.
They made great company as well since they shared a mass telepathy almost like a hive mind but not quite. Allowing each one to share each other's knowledge on whim, so they made great chess players that was for sure. So far though I have won them all as they all struggle to beat me at it, while forever becoming more knowledgeable as a species under my control. As I pet the shade below me who was currently in a dog-like form I heard a noise signaling that someone was coming.
"I have told you a million times already dude there is no way the general is going to let you fuck one of Artemis' daughters. It is just the way the general is, okay?" I heard from the hallway that led inside the wall. I just pat the shade one more time before I shadow traveled to the bottom of the wall. As I landed softly making no sound I found what looked to be like hundreds of tents. Only about 500 of them which meant each one was magical if it wanted to fit all of the men and women.
I just looked around to find some people eating by campfires as I strolled silently in the darkness, no one seeing me as I was surprised that they hadn't found me. As I walked in the shadows I found more shades asleep and other small harmless monsters taking refuge in these cozy shadows. I walked through the camp and I finally found the tents I was looking for, 10 silver tents much different from the rest stood directly in the middle of the camp.
No one was guarding them whatsoever as it seemed almost suspicious but I didn't mind as I quietly strolled over to them. As I did, someone suddenly walked out of a tent in front of me. The male just yawned loudly as I stopped and just looked at him. He just finished yawning and scratched his head then turned to look at me. The fear in his eyes said it all as he stumbled backwards and tripped.
As he fell his head hit one of the stumps used as a seat around the campfire effectively knocking him out for me. As he lay unconscious on the ground I just shrugged and continued on my way inside the tent. You see like the Other Worlder tents they all were magical on the inside making they bigger on the inside that what the outside told you.
As I walked in I heard laughing which surprised me a lot, but as I looked in I saw a woman sitting on a chair talking to 30 tied up hunters. The woman just looked at me through her white demon fox mask and then all the hunters turned to me. Some looked terrified, others looked surprised at my features like they had seen worse. But what the woman said sent shivers through my spine.
"Took you long enough, I have been waiting forever for you to get here." She said in a deadly tone as I instantly realized it was all one big trap. Knowing that I was in extreme danger I bolted out the door to find a very troubling sight. In front of me stood maybe 500 or more troops fully armed and looking at me like I was a fool. I just stood maybe 20 feet from the door of the main hunter tent as the woman with the demon mask walked out of it.
"You know if you just surrender we will be merciful to you. We might even let these little girls go." She said motioning a hand to the hunters who were all being dragged out of the tent in a chain gang style. All wearing their uniforms as they seemed to analyze their situation, which wasn't looking good as I grabbed Silent Doom and slid him off my back. As I did this all the men readied themselves as I stood ready to kill anybody who got in my way.
Silent Doom hummed in happiness as it was about to taste human flesh once again, the black smoke poured from his mouth like a fountain. I just twirled him slowly in a circle at my side, every warrior around me saw my stance had no openings as I slowly twirled Silent Doom. The shadows crept around me making a cloak of darkness that expanded for 10 feet around me.
"I am sorry but I don't think I will be surrendering tonight." I said as I stopped the spin on Silent Doom and slammed the end of it in the ground. As I did a large echo sounded through the camp, even over the talking of the warriors it was clearly heard. Then I did it again and again until I counted 10 times. I just turned to the woman with a grin on my face, but since I couldn't see hers I couldn't tell her mood.
"You might want to watch the shadows more closely from now on." I said as I suddenly disappeared leaving a poof of black smoke in my last location. As I reappeared I was already swinging Silent Doom at full speed at the woman's head. This was no faster than an instant this happened as the blade met something that wasn't her head. A large stone hand stopped Silent Doom's blade; the woman remained unmoving as I lurched back as a foot found my chest.
As I rolled on the ground from the kick I found my footing and stabbed Silent Doom's main blade in the ground making me come to a stop. As I looked up I found a man that stood at least 9 feet tall right behind the woman. The woman just continued to stare at me as the man silently stepped in front of her protecting her. He looked just like…
"Hercules?" I said out loud as I heard a few of the men chuckle as I watched a sneer cross the man's face.
"I told you Colonel you look just like the guy." The woman said as the man seemed to disregard her statement.
"General, stand back please I don't want his blood to get on you, I know how you react when that happens." The giant man said as I noticed his arms were covered with rock, as he popped his fingers. The rocks seemed to just act like gloves as I watched it slowly grow over his clothes and body until just his head remained. The rock easily gave him an extra foot to his height as she stepped forward everyone around us making the circle bigger. Then I saw something out of the corner of my eye that made me stop.
"General, we found another little hunter. She was wandering outside the walls, we tried to make her speak but she won't say anything." Said a man as both me and the Hercules look alike both turned to see Cloey bloody and bruised. She was in chains as the man threw her on the ground, a dry cry came from her mouth as she looked over at me. She just gave me a small smile but then proceeded to cough and puke as the man kicked her in the stomach.
Just the sight made my world slow down as I stared at the crying little girl, she clutched her stomach in pain as I saw one of the other hunters try to go to her. Sadly, she was still chained to the others so she couldn't even move a foot. I just stared at the small crying girl, I didn't even feel the punch to my face from the man as I was flung across the arena right into a wall of shields.
As I fell to the ground I coughed up a large amount of blood as I saw the colonel walk over to me cracking his knuckles. My sight didn't leave Cloey as she cried on the ground, I just felt anger swell in me as I felt it all rage forward. All I did was let out a cry of war that quickly turned into a demonic roar. The very anger inside me fueled me past the broken rib as I stood up. All the warriors stepped back from me as an aura as black as the deepest pit of Tartarus started to come from me.
As I stood up I felt my mask crack from the blow of the Hercules wannabe, as it did a piece around my left eye fell off revealing an eye that was completely black with rage. I just stepped forward as I felt my bones cry in pain but I didn't care. All I have right now was one mission and that was to save Cloey and the rest even if it meant I myself had to be captured.
"αύρα έγκαυμα." I said silently as my aura suddenly began to come out faster and then suddenly it turned into a black flame covering my body. This was aura burn, a very deadly move that I have only used once before. As I took a step I suddenly appeared behind the giant of a man and then swung Silent Doom right at his chest. The blow hit his chest but didn't make it past the rock but then the fire around me proceeded to leap onto my weapon then onto his chest.
As this happened I dodged a strike from behind to find the woman with a very elegant sword in the shape of a leaf trying to decapitate me. I just disappeared again behind her and gave her a kick in the back as I then shadow traveled over to Cloey. The man by her suddenly ignited in the black flame as I touched him with just a finger. As that happened I reached down for Cloey and picked up her shivering body as I shadow jumped over to the group of hunters.
"Take her." I said to one of them as the rest of my mask began to crack my injuries beginning to get the best of me. As I gave one of the girls Cloey I began to mass shadow travel the group. As I did this, I felt a suddenly sharp pain to the back of my neck making my vision go fuzzy. As I looked behind me I saw the woman with one arm up signaling she just tried to knock me unconscious.
"Tell the gods that I have been captured!" I yelled at them as I proceeded to force them to shadow travel to Artemis's camp. As they disappeared I felt my consciousness waning, all I managed to do was stand up and turn to the two in front of me. The Hercules had managed to escape the fire by shedding his skin of rock but he didn't look so well. The man that had been caught on fire was now a husk of a human that lay on the ground smoking.
"Surrender." The woman said as I just smiled as I grabbed Silent Doom that appeared back on my finger. As I summoned the weapon I used it as a cane to keep myself up as my vision was about to go out. All I did was look at the main blade and then proceed to make a small cut on my finger on it. As the blood pooled on the tip of it I pressed into the blade and then ran it along the length of it.
"You man feast now Silent Doom." I said as I felt my vision fade as I officially lost consciousness.
LINEBREAK:
THIRD PERSON POV:
"General is there anything we can do?" The males asked the women with the fox mask on. They just stared at Flaw as he stood silently in the middle of at least 200 dead soldiers. All decapitated and limbless, blood poured from lifeless bodies or stumps of bodies. So much blood in fact it had created a large pool that came above his ankles. The general was just outside the pool watching as her colonel was being choked to death by Flaw.
But Flaw himself had suffered major injuries as well as he had giant gashes from the swords of the enemies. Blood flowed from his body into the giant pool as he stood unmoving. Silent Doom was currently standing up straight impaled through 3 bodies as the main blade dripped heavily with blood. Its stomach was full as it gave off the normal black smoke making the bodies dissolve that were floating on the surface of the pool of blood.
Their souls screaming in pain as they were absorbed promptly into Flaw's cloak that was almost dripping with blood. His own wounds have no effect on him as he just remained staring into the distance as he choked out the Colonel. As well as the large cuts on his body Flaw was missing his other hand completely that still held onto Silent Doom. Still Flaw remained a killing machine as he killed almost 30 of them without Silent Doom.
The Colonel himself was littered with cuts and bruises as he gave his last breath, his eyes rolling in the back of his head. Flaw didn't let go as the Colonel's body suddenly dissolved into the black smoke and went into Flaw's cloak. He didn't move an inch as he remained silent, all the other warriors remained vigilant but the General just started walking over to him.
The black smoke began to retreat into Silent Doom as there were no more bodies for it to dissolve. Flaw still remained unmoving as the woman approached him, as she finally got to him. He still didn't move as he suddenly fell backwards. His back found Silent Doom as something to make sure he didn't fall in the blood lake.
"General, get back, he can still attack!" One of the men shouted as he began to run out to the general but she just stopped him as she raised her hand.
"He is of no threat anymore, just look at him. He lost consciousness right after he put his blood on that weapon. He has been fighting on pure muscle memory and instinct for the past hour. He has no idea any of this even happened. Let alone his injuries he has no idea about, never have I seen a man fight so savagely before without a hand." She said as Flaw's eyes were now fully closed signaling he no longer had any fight in him.
"Seth, come and grab him, and heal his injuries. I don't want him to die, I feel he can be of use to us later. I will handle the weapon." She said as a man ran out that had the same uniform the Hercules look alike wore. He just picked up the unconscious man and started off towards a medical tent not too far off. While the women just looked at the weapon and then picked it up. As she did you could hear a gasp come from her lips as Silent Doom's defense mechanism activated.
In her mind she saw the millions of tortures ever performed in the pit, all the nightmares it contained. The massive blood lakes that filled its lands, the trees that had actual needles as thorns. The acid rain that melted skin off the very monsters trapped in it. All of this ran through her head as she let go of the weapon panting a little. She then looked at the hand still grasping it as she got an idea. She grabbed Flaws stump and picked up the weapon feeling no effects of the mind tricks the weapon just performed.
"You take this and put a sheath around it, do not touch anything but this hand. Later we will reattach it to the male." She said handing the stump of the hand to another soldier as he nodded and ran off with the weapon.
"General what are we going to do now, the hunters have most likely told the gods what has happened to him." Another soldier said as she seemed to think as she walked back to her tent, just walking on top of the water like it was nothing.
"For now we will move our base back to the last one and stay put. Burn this place down for all I care, just make sure there is no trace that we were here." She said as he nodded and started commanding soldiers to pack up and burn the place. At the same time the sun just broke the horizon as she looked into the sky as it changed colors.
She just stared for a little as she walked back inside her tent leaving the soldiers to clean up.
LINEBREAK:
THALIA POV:
"Milady!" I screamed as we ran into camp exhausted from our full out sprint back to camp. Alex and the rest followed behind me close as we came into camp. It was just before dark as we barely made it into camp. As we ran in I saw Artemis run to me with a panicked face as she suddenly wrapped me up in a hug. Which surprised me because Artemis doesn't hug me, just her daughters and that is it.
"Oh thank the gods you are alright." She said as I was confused as she let go of me then over to her daughter who all got hugs and were all as confused as I was.
"What's up with you?" I asked her, forgetting that I was in a hurry at the moment. As I my eyes met hers I saw fear and worry.
"Cloey and the other group of hunters just shadow traveled into camp, they said Flaw sacrificed himself to send them back. Cloey also has internal bleeding and several broken bones. I don't know what to do right now." She said panicking as I grabbed both her shoulders making her look right into my eyes.
"Artemis, calm down and call Apollo okay? He can fix her. I know he can. What do you mean he sacrificed himself?" I asked her, worrying that I wouldn't be the one to kill him.
"One of my daughters said that after he saw Cloey in the state she was in he went crazy so to speak. Then his aura went black and turned into flames. After that he said he was struck in the neck by some woman, after that he said to notify us that he was going to get captured." She said still a little panicked as I figured if I told her what he did to me she would break.
"Okay Artemis go call Apollo okay I will talk to the hunters okay?" I said as she nodded and ran off as I let out a long breath.
"You think the male's is going to be okay?" Alex asked me as I turned to her.
"Knowing that fool, no he is not but he will survive that is for sure." I said as she just nodded.
"Why don't you go check on Cloey? I will go check on the others to make sure they are alright." Alex said as I nodded and began to jog to the medical tent. As I walked in I saw Artemis in a chair looking intently at Apollo as he healed the small daughter of Artemis. The sight almost brought me to tears as blood ran down her clothes from her mouth. Her face was beaten and bruised to a horrible extent, it just made me want to cry seeing her in this state.
"Artemis." I said as I walked over to the goddess and gave her a hug as she hugged me back. My problems no longer exist at this moment. As I hugged her I felt her cry in my chest as I just hugged her tighter. Slowly she fell asleep as her tears still streamed from her eyes, I just looked at Apollo as he worked for an hour fixing up Cloey. Finally after an hour he stopped and just nodded to me and then looked at Artemis.
"Let me take her to her room. Okay, she needs the rest? Thalia, stay with Cloey if you can." Apollo asked me as I nodded as he picked up the 13 year old Artemis and carried her out of the room.
"Why did it have to be you?" I asked her as I grabbed her tiny hand, it felt so frail in my hands as I put my forehead to it.
"M…" I suddenly heard as I looked up at Cloey's face that had one eye and the rest covered in gauze. Her one eye was looking at me as she gave my hand a tiny squeeze as tears streamed from her eye. A small smile crossed her face as she opened her mouth again but just incoherent words came out.
"Cloey don't you need rest." I signed to her as I rubbed her hand.
" Mowmys gone." I hear her manage to say, as I looked at her as she struggled to make out a couple more words.
"Thawlia." She said my name as I felt my heart just burst open as a flood do tears met my eyes. As I began to cry I felt her other hand hold mine. She tried to speak again as I could tell from her lips moving. I just put a finger to her lips to silence her. Then I began to speak normally knowing she could read my lips.
"Please don't you must rest okay, your injuries are severe you need to rest." I said as she just nodded and laid her head down as she quickly fell asleep. I just smiled at the sight of the sleeping child. As I watched her I found another bed and pulled it up beside hers, as I laid down I began to think of why Flaw would risk himself for Cloey and the rest.
He was just a male and selfish like any other male, but deep down I knew that wasn't true. The way he acted around Cloey was like a brother and younger sister. I felt he was hiding his true self, which I had come to realize as I got to know him better. His normal mood with the hunters, the one that made us all hate him was just a show. For when he was around Cloey he laughed and even smiled sometimes.
It was just too confusing for me to understand why he would do such a thing. As my thoughts raged on about him they drifted to the kiss that made my heart skip a beat. It was blissful as I blocked out the world for the moment. His lips tasted like salt water taffy, but they were so cold somehow. The way the kiss made me feel pissed me off, why did my heart skip a beat? I am a hunter. I am not supposed to enjoy things like that let alone do them.
It was just too confusing to understand all of it as I let out a sigh as I remembered his scent, it was like the sea and fresh cut grass. It was blissful… I mean absolutely disgusting. Damn brain thinking of stuff like that. It just made me mad that one male was doing this to my emotions. As I turned to the right I saw Cloey fully asleep. I guess I would catch up to her then as I closed my eyes and felt myself drift to sleep.
As I fell asleep I couldn't help but let that annoying male in my head but as I did another face popped up. One I didn't recognize but felt so familiar in a way, like I should know this person. He had sea green eyes that seemed to stare into my soul and rip away my defenses. His scent of the sea brought me to my knees, his sculpted smile made my heart flutter. His messy black hair that I want to run my finger through… I remember now.
That man is Percy Jackson, the one who was cast into Tartarus, the only man I ever had feelings for. Standing next to him was a man that looked exactly like him but I recognized that face. It was Flaw without his hood and cloak on, they both looked at me and smiled as I just looked at them both as Flaw came forward and whispered something in my ear.
"Think daughter of Zeus, connect the dots. You can do it, pinecone face." He said as it all made sense now.
Review please.
E/N: Jeez, stale Author's note for a chapter where THALIA PIECES TOGETHER THE TRUTH! Gods back then you were sad Nuts, I can tell. I am here now to make sure you are happy though! - Sidus