The Hunt Knows Now - Old Gen
Athena didn't know what to do, Hera seemed to notice this, "Run along Athena, I can take care of the rest." Athena nodded and flashed back to her library when she looked at the mess she had created she sighed and began to pick up the books.
The Giants were upon them.
The darkness of the night was penetrated by the moonlight. Said moonlight peered through the trees and landed on a walking figure. Apoth strolled through the woods, his thoughts wandering around. Ever since he recruited the two monsters into helping him he felt different.
More. . . powerful. Apoth smirked at the thought. Of course, he was powerful, but what he would do with it is what he was stuck on.
First, he would destroy Olympus, that far he already promised to do. But what would he do after? Apoth shrugged his shoulders to no one in particular, he would decide when he crossed that bridge. His red eyes flicked to the light of a fire that was stationed far away. His ears perked as he heightened his senses.
Sounds of growling and grunts filled his ears. Apoth smiled to himself, the monsters could either be an entertainment or soldiers of his. He huffed, not able to come up with a way to deal with it. Entertainment, or recruits?
He couldn't decide which he would go with. He gave up on deciding and challenged himself to a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors. Apoth's right hand won the game so his mouth twitched into a wide smile. He loved it when his right hand won.
This will be fun.
Apoth sucked in his aura so he wouldn't be able to be detected. He turned to the closest tree and sprinted up it. He grabbed onto a branch, his grip loosening as he swung to the top of the tree. Once he was at the top he jumped from tree to tree, his stealth instincts taking control of his body, allowing him to move at top speeds but quiet enough to not be heard.
His eyes were pinned to the massive fire that neared. When he reached the tree above the monster camp his legs flexed and he plunged towards the ground head first.
Still falling he came eye level with a massive cyclops. Apoth waved to the monster and vapor traveled to a nearby shadow. He watched with satisfaction as the monster stared at the spot where Apoth disappeared.
He scanned the camp and counted the number of monsters that this camp was populated with. Only 10. Apoth's mouth turned into a pouting gesture, he had thought there would be more so he could have more fun. He shrugged, he would make the most out of them. Apoth quickly pulled the scythes that formed an "X" off his back.
He gripped the hilts to get a comfortable feel. Apoth held the scythes so the blade was below the hilt and the blades were pointing towards him. Sort of how you would hold a dagger. He vapor traveled behind the cyclops and slashed his right scythe across its back.
The cyclops made a weird sound before falling forward onto its face. When it hit the ground it burst into gold particles. The commotion caused the rest of the monsters to direct their attention to him.
Each and every monster took a step back in fear, they had all heard of him. Apoth smirked, "What? Monsters scared of little old me?"
The monsters' wide eyes turned to a monster that stood behind them. The monster was shaking, and it reeked of fear. The monster seemed to notice the change of attention and gulped. It took a hesitant step towards Apoth before it was reluctantly pushed to the ground in front of Apoth.
Apoth smiled, "Your aura is filled with fear to the brim," he stated. The monster slowly looked up into Apoth's bloody eyes.
Apoth's smile slid off his face and he became expressionless, "Now, why are you all so scared of me?"
The monster looked down at Apoth's Stygian iron boots, "Because you are Apoth, Death, and Destroyer of our kin."
Apoth smirked, "That's right," Apoth mocked, leaning forward, "and never forget it."
Apoth's eyes glowed red and the monsters' blood stopped moving. He leaned away just as the monster fell forward, exploding into gold dust. He turned to the remaining few, "You few will never do," Apoth sheathed his scythes back onto his back.
He glared at the monsters, raising his fist. The monsters floated a few inches off the ground. He had complete control. "Return and you will suffer a fate worse than what I offer now."
Apoth clenched his fist, and the monsters fell down to the ground. Apoth's left arm glowed brown as he manipulated the Earth to create spikes below the monsters. Apoth turned away, only the sound of squelches fillings his ears. He chuckled as he watched a monster barely alive attempt to crawl away.
He vapor traveled over to it and bent down to its level. The injured monster stopped crawling, giving up hope.
"One question Death, what is to come? The monster asked. Apoth smirked as he grabbed a throwing knife off his cloak, "War."
He stabbed the monster's neck, curling his lip with satisfaction as it faded into dust. Apoth slowly got back up, examining the destruction he created.
He slowly looked up into a tree, his red eyes meeting silver ones.
The Hunt stalked the monster camp that they had been following for the past week, but eventually, they grew tired. It started with the younger ones, but soon the Hunt let themselves be careless.
Only the persistence of Artemis kept the hunt on their feet. Their Mistress seemed to always be invigorated and would always be watching. Currently, Artemis sat at the tallest branch of the tree closest to the monster base. Her auburn hair was perfectly clean and gleamed when the monsters' fire sparked. Her pale skin was smooth and glowing with beauty. In all reality, she was perfect even when working, perks of being a goddess.
Artemis' silver eyes darted to every inch of the monster ground. She sighed; at this point, even she felt weary. It was hard to imagine how the rest of the Hunt felt. Artemis closed her eyes and leaned back against the tree trunk. She extended her senses, trying to find if any other monster camps were near.
Her eyes snapped open, she felt something, about a mile away, and it felt weak. Not weak like almost dead, just, mortal weak. This perked her interests, 'what was a mortal doing out this far in the forests?'
Artemis started to relax against the trunk but then she noticed that the mortal was approaching. Approaching fast. She immediately got into a stance on her branch, there was no possible way that something could move that fast.
No human could run that fast. Hermes fast. Artemis turned to look down at her hunters, "Hunters ready, something is approaching."
Artemis caught a few smiles from the hunters, 'must be the rush of a predator's instincts', She thought.
Artemis looked back to the camp, she closed her eyes, extending her senses once more. She focused, slowing her breath. She felt the presence on the opposite side of the enemies opened her eyes. Artemis held her breath as she waited for something to happen.
Her eyes widened when she saw a black figure plummet towards the ground. Her eyes followed it but she couldn't comprehend what was happening. She saw it disappear right when it was at ground level. Her mouth opened slightly in confused awe but she closed it almost immediately.
'What was that?'
Her eyes were pinned to the spot where the figure disappeared, she didn't realize that something happened until she heard the familiar "pop" of a monster's death. Artemis scanned the monster camp, looking for the gold remains. When her eyes landed on the gold dust she saw the figure that had disappeared.
She was tempted to take out her bow and shoot, but she needed to see what was going to happen next.
Artemis felt confusion wash over her as the monsters stepped back from the figure, 'why would Monsters be scared of some wannabe ninja?'
The figure's voice broke the silence of the night, "What? Scared of little old me?"
Artemis' nose scrunched up in disgust, 'males'. That voice, she could tell it was one to be afraid of, but it was so familiar. Artemis had made many enemies during her immortal life, she didn't need another one.
But she couldn't assume that this was an enemy; if this male was the reason why the monsters were disappearing than she couldn't kill him. At least not yet. Artemis hesitated, reaching for her bow. The male could be one of her old enemies. She sighed, restraining herself. She couldn't take the chance.
She took in a sharp breath. She had forgotten to observe. The figure held beautiful dual scythes, and he held them very loose, not very masterful like.
"Now, why are you all so scared of me?" the male asked. Artemis leaned forward, 'yes, why are they so scared of you?'
When the monsters answer reached her ears she almost jumped for joy but also felt fear rush through her. "Because you are Apoth, Death, and Destroyer of our kin."
Finally, Artemis had her answer as to why the monsters were disappearing. But still, a questioned seemed to itch her, 'Why are they scared of someone so weak?'
She inched forward, and she barely heard the figure speak. "That's right, and never forget it," he whispered, leaning forward.
The monster trembled, shivering under the harsh gaze of the figure. Then, it simply died, turning into gold dust. All from a look. Definitely not weak. Artemis felt sweat begin to form on her forehead as she got a feel of the being's true power. She growled, she should've known not to underestimate anything concerning her mission.
There was a reason why these monsters feared this being, and yet she still was oblivious. She should have known better. The sound of metal on metal snapped her out of her thoughts; she quickly turned, expecting some sort of battle.
The figure was sheathing his scythes, 'Could he possibly be surrendering? No, not possible, he was much too strong. She had only been in his presence for a few moments, but she could sense the power.
"What are you?" Artemis whispered. She eyed the man carefully as he raised his fist.
"Return and you will suffer a fate worse than what I offer now," the male growled.
Artemis' jaw dropped at what she witnessed. The monsters rose off the ground. She caught a slight clench of the man's fist. The monsters fell to the ground. In that split second Artemis grew confused, but with her trained eyes, she saw the man's left arm glow brown.
The action was almost unseeable but Artemis saw it. Before she knew it spikes, each the size of the tent, jutted out of the ground, piercing through the monsters.
Artemis cocked her head. 'How many powers does this man have? ' She surveyed the now unpopulated monster camp. She grimaced, her eyes landing on the lone survivor.
The monsters were almost dead. Fresh wounds covered its entire body. At this point, it would be merciful to kill it. The man cocked his head, appearing right in front of the monster. The monster said something, but Artemis couldn't hear it from her location. She hoped one of her hunters on that side of the camp caught the monster's last words.
Artemis quickly closed her eyes, focusing her senses.
"War," the man said. Artemis' eyes quickly opened as she watched the man swiftly pull out a dagger and stab the monster's neck.
Artemis watched as the man scanned his surroundings before looking up to her tree. At her. She shivered. His red eyes would haunt her forever. In them, she saw so much. Death. Despair. Anger. Hatred. And so much more.
Artemis wanted to look away but she couldn't, his eyes kept her there, not allowing her to leave. Artemis grit her teeth in frustration, 'why couldn't she move?'
In the corner of her eye she saw her lieutenant, Thalia Grace, aim her bow at the man. Thalia glanced at her mistress, realizing that Artemis was somehow stuck. She released the arrow that was planted in her bow. The arrow soared through the air, aimed straight at the man.
Yet, the man caught the arrow. The man looked to the arrow, twirling it across his knuckles. Artemis gasped, stretching her fingers. His attention was diverted. Artemis flexed her jaw before she jumped into battle, knives out she dove for the man.
The hunt surrounded the man with their bows out, but he didn't spare them a glance. He eyed the arrow in silence. Artemis fumed. This male dared to ignore her. Her eyes flashed an intense silver as leaped forward. When she was dangerously close she swung her right blade.
To her surprise, the man ducked under her arm before grabbing it. He took Artemis' arm and folded it behind her back. The man flexed his finger and had a hidden blade across Artemis' neck. Artemis struggled to get free from him, but her attempts were futile, his grip was too strong. She felt his hot breath against her neck, and this sickened her to the core. She was incredibly close to a male and for once she was not kicking ass.
"Make one move hunters and your mistress is taking one permanent trip to the land of the faded," the man said.
Artemis growled, pushing against his grip. There was nothing she could do. She sighed, "Stand down hunters." The Hunt reluctantly lowered their bows.
Thalia stepped forward, "What do you want with our Mistress?" She yelled. Her eyes flashed with lightning.
The man snickered, "I believe it was you who attacked me first or am I wrong?" He questioned, pressing the blade against Artemis' neck.
Thalia growled, "She couldn't stop looking at you, so she was obviously in a trance you put her in," she replied. The daughter of Zeus curled her fingers around her bow. She really wanted to shove her bow up his ass.
The man chuckled, "No, no, I just have that effect on women," he replied smirking.
Phoebe, one of her other hunters growled, "You males make us sick," she spat.
The man sighed, "and what the hell does that have to do with this conversation?"
Thalia glanced at Phoebe before meeting his eye. "That doesn't matter, now if you let her go we will let you go."
Artemis glared at Thalia, but the man had other ideas, "Yes, yes, I believe that would be a fair trade."
"Okay, now let go of her," Thalia yelled. The man nodded and loosened his grip on Artemis. He pushed her forward.
Thalia grabbed Artemis, "Fire!" She screamed, drawing her bow. With centuries of experience, the Hunt let loose hundreds of arrows in the blink of an eye.
The man smirked, "Oh well that just won't do," he called as his eyes flared a dark shade of red.
He rose his hand, and the arrows stopped mid-air. Then he disappeared. Artemis stared at the spot where the man had stood. How could she have let him escape?
She walked up to her lieutenant, "How did he do that?" She snarled.
Thalia's wide eyes explained it all; she had no idea. Artemis growled, she examined the rest of the hunters. "Was anyone close enough to the injured monster and that man's conversation?"
The hunt hesitated, many hoping at least one of them had heard on the conversation. Artemis' eyes flicked to each of her hunters, "Well?"
A hesitant hand rose amongst the crowd. Artemis' attention immediately turned to one of her younger hunters.
Artemis' eyes softened, "Yes Kira? Did you hear what the bad man had said?"
The hunter, Kira, nodded, "Yes, the man said that war was coming."
Artemis stared at the young hunter for a while, she turned back to Thalia, "Take the hunt to Camp Half-blood."
"But Lady Art-" Thalia started, Artemis' eyes glowed silver, "That's an order, Lieutenant Thalia."
Thalia froze at the backlash, her eyes flickering in a rebellious way, "Yes, Lady Artemis."
Thalia turned to the hunt, "C'mon girls, we got ways to go before we reach Camp!" She shouted.
All the hunters nodded and ran after Thalia into the woods. When the hunters were all out of sight Artemis sighed. She examined her surroundings once before flashing to Olympus. A chuckle broke the silence after the goddess left.
Apoth sat in the same tree Artemis had, "Well, well, well, the first part of the plan worked, they know about the war. Time for part two."
He smirked before vanishing into thin air.