The Unknown Allegiance

| Chapter 10 || Beginning of War |

Chapter Ten

Beginning of War

*First Person Point of View ~ Perseus*

I hated Perses.

I'd only known him for about... seventeen minutes, but already, I knew he was the personification of everything evil and bad in the world. My mind briefly wondered if he'd been trapped in Pandora's box... jar... whatever... but then brushed the thought aside. He was a titan. Titans were evil. He was just... pure evil.

Because of him, my family was in danger. My huntresses and my mistress. They were under attack by a whole army of monsters. At first, I wasn't worried. I knew that Artemis and her followers could handle anything. I was just around to add a little extra comfort. I was meant to make their lives easier.

I'd relaxed, but it only caused Perses to laugh.

"You're so naïve, boy!" he cackled, "You think that I would waste such weak monsters for such an important experiment. I've hand-picked every single monster that I sent after those wretched hunters! They have my power to channel their rage onto those puny mortals. They are no match for me, therefore, will be no match for those monsters!"

"You monster!" I screamed, struggling in my shackles.

His evil grin widened, nearly cutting across his face. Cheshire was the word that came to mind. "No. I'm not. I am a titan. I am the titan of destruction. What did you expect?"

His voice was so calm and monotonous that I could almost imagine that he was saying different words. Words that weren't as cruel and heartless as the ones he actually said. Almost.

My body jolted as something sharp trailed along my thigh. I was scared to look down, but my eyes betrayed me, wandering towards the origin of the pain.

It was a dagger. Crooked and bronze, stained with old blood that coloured a terrible cross of red and brown. My throat immediately went dry. My tongue darted out to wet my lips. An audible gulp left my mouth.

Perses' eyes met mine. His mouth was twisted into a sick grin, showing off his yellowing crooked teeth. I guess they don't have dentists in Tartarus so I couldn't blame him. There's probably not a good place to buy toothbrushes either.

Suddenly, he drove the dagger into the bare flesh of my shoulder. I felt everything at that moment. I felt it slice right through my skin and muscle, slipping between my bones and straight out the other side of me, stabbing into the cold metal table. I heard the sharp cry that left my mouth, rolling off my tongue much easier than I'd admit to anyone.

That wasn't what scared me the most, though. I didn't care about the pain of the dagger in my shoulder. I didn't care that I was screaming like a newly born infant. I didn't even care that this pain probably wouldn't stop here. The only thing that my mind could focus on my the cry of pain I heard from the screen that showed Artemis and her hunters.

My vision was blurry and doubled, but I saw a shape - undeniably Artemis - fall to her knees in the middle of the battle. She was screaming and trembling. She was in so much pain. I just wanted it to stop.

Perses stabbed me again, this time into the other shoulder with a heated blade. I screamed again, my throat already going raw from the strain. Even though agony burned throughout my body, I calmed. The only scream I heard was my own.

My eyes were clenched shut tightly, but a dim light shone through. Artemis. I knew right away. Artemis had shown her true form. As soon as the light dimmed, I opened my eyes to find that Artemis and her hunters were all okay, surrounded by piles of monster dust.

I closed my eyes again. Good. They're okay. I knew they would be. A chuckle erupted from my throat. "Not so powerful now, eh Perses?" I asked.

He stood, heaving heavy, angry breaths as he stared at Artemis' unconscious form through the mist image. Then, much to my confusion, he just smiled. "Let Phase Two commence."

*Third Person Point of View*

Artemis and her hunters were back on Olympus again, both frustrated and confused. Why were the monsters so hard to defeat? Normally, it would've been no problem for them to take down such a measly army, but there was something strange going on. Shots that would've normally been kill-shots weren't, and their speed and strength seemed to be better than other monsters, if only by a small fraction.

As soon as her hunters were settled in, Artemis stormed up to the throne room where the other Olympians were already waiting for them. The moment she entered the room, she knew that something was wrong. It was quiet. Not as quiet as one would expect quiet would be, but the gods weren't arguing at all, so compared to what it was normally, quiet was the best word.

She looked around as she walked across the marble floor, her footsteps, for once, being the loudest thing in the room. The other gods were all speaking quietly with their guardians, all looking around at the others in... suspicion?

Artemis raised an eyebrow as she sat down, reaching over her shoulder to pull out her bow. She usually polished it or carved tiny images in it during the meetings, as there was nothing else entertaining to do unless she was fighting with her brother.

Artemis suddenly looked up in alarm. Her bow wasn't over her shoulder as usual. That couldn't be! It always appeared over her shoulder when she needed it! Unless... Artemis looked around, analysing her family members' faces. Unless someone had taken it from her temple, where it disappeared to when she wasn't using it.

It couldn't be, though. She was just at her temple! Her hunters were there to guard it. Artemis' eyes scanned her family members once more and suddenly, she understood. The suspicion. The whispering. The distrust in their eyes. Their prized possessions had been taken, too!

That didn't make sense! How could they all plan for each others' items to be taken at the exact same time without each other knowing? Artemis' eyes narrowed. There was something fishy going on here, and it wasn't just because the air conditioning was circulating Poseidon's odor all over the room.

Artemis stood from her throne abruptly. She was going to figure out what was going on, council meeting or not. She left the room, feeling everyone's stares on her back but she didn't care. Someone was trying to start a war between the gods and she wouldn't let that happen.

***

Word Count: 1108

Average Words Per Chapter: 1435

Word Total: 14,354

Posted: Saturday, February 11th, 2017

Edited and Re-Posted: Monday, February 14th, 2017

~CSP2708~

*Dylan_Walts*