Perseus: Excidium Troiae

Seven

A/N: Welcome to chapter seven of ARC II of Perseus: Excidium Troiae. Enjoy.

P.S—This chapter is short.

PERSEUS watched from his spot in the trees, eyes narrowed and squinted, trying to catch sight of the son of Thetis who had wanted to kill him in Skyros. He saw Achilles, standing near the beach next to a dark haired boy and another brown haired middle-aged man. The son of Thetis looked older now. If Perseus' calculation was correct then Achilles was exactly twenty-three summers. His eyes roamed the entire terrain, and he frowned when he saw Odysseus and Menelaus deep in conversation. Those were the only ones he recognised—although they were a bit older—and none else.

"Are you sure I can't burn their ships right now?" He questioned, voice low. The son of Anchises glanced to the side, eyebrow arched questioningly at the god of the sun.

"No," Apollo said, voice hard. "You cannot interfere. Zeus has granted them safe passage to Troy because they offered the correct sacrifices and prayed to us all for a good voyage."

"But," Perseus bit his bottom lip, his hold on the tree branch tightening. "You told me that you had a plan to delay them. How can we do this if we're not allowed to interfere?" He demanded.

"Be patient," Apollo advised. "Artemis said she has something in mind. If we play our cards right they'll never get to Troy." He wasn't satisfied with the god's answer, but it was the best he would get and he knew it. He would just have to wait and see what exactly happened.

He watched as the Greeks all moved towards their ships. They were a lot, far more than the Trojan army, and that was saying something. Immediately Apollo had informed him of the second gathering, the green eyed man had told Hector and Priam. As of now, Troy was sending messages to several of the surrounding cities and all of her allies. That included his brother. Aeneas would be returning home with an army which could match Troy's in size. Several of his city's allies would also be coming. Hopefully, they would be enough to combat the might of the Graeceans.

He squinted once more to see properly. The son of Anchises could make out the fair haired Achilles, now at the prow of one of his ships, shouting orders to men down below. In a matter of minutes the ships were ready to sail. He scowled. If Apollo and Artemis were going to do anything it had to be now.

The sails were raised, the oars began moving. He tensed in the leaves, ready to spring into action. The ships moved. And then lurched to a stop. Perseus relaxed, then turned to glance at the sun god. "What did Artemis do?"

"I stopped the winds," The goddess in question appeared next to her brother in harsh silver light. "Father cannot punish me because it is well in my rights to do so. I've been wronged by Agamemnon and the slight cannot go unpunished."

Perseus nodded his approval, then asked, "What did he do though?"

"The filthy mongrel killed one of my sacred deer," The moon goddess snarled, and he could already feel the anger pulsing around her. "I cannot let that stand."

The dark haired Trojan grinned. The twin gods were crafty, that much was certain. Artemis was killing two birds with one stone. He could see some of the Greeks backtracking, others trying to row forward but unable to move. After what seemed like hours, all the ships were back at the beach. The frustration on Achilles' face was visible, and Perseus beamed at the sight. Several others looked thoughtful, and more seemed confused. The Kings and commanders met, just a few feet away from Perseus and the two gods.

"What is the meaning of this?" One man asked in visible anger. "We keep getting derailed and held back."

"The gods are not pleased with us," Achilles spoke up. "Obviously. Someone has done something to offend them. First that storm eight years ago, now this."