The Unknown Destiny

| Chapter 10 || Gone for Good...? |

Chapter 10

Gone for Good...?

*Third Person Point of View*

How could this be? Surely, it was their enemy who drove their guardians' actions, as no hint of recognition flashed in their eyes nor in their hearts. And it seemed that Percy - their protectors' leader and the strongest among them - had succumbed as well, so just how strong was this enemy of theirs? Who was he, really? The mysterious being who had sent them their companions all those centuries ago, and now in the modern day? The one who'd trained such skilled warriors. If so, what else had he done to them during their time in limbo?

The gods shuddered to think upon the horrors that he'd cast them through.

Percy's face was cold. His body was there, but his presence - the warm and wonderful aura he radiated - was gone. A sneer marked his lips, curving down his jaw with shark's teeth and a hyena's morbid glee. His eyes stared into their souls as if stealing them away from their physical forms.

Artemis was the first to speak. "P-Percy?" She stepped forward. She could barely bring herself to call him by name, her eyes distracted by the dark, shining blood that coated his fingers; it was obviously still fresh, but couldn't possibly be his own. "What have you done?"

He cut her off in a voice not his own. "No! What have you done?" This voice was deep and gravelly; it sounded unnatural coming from Percy's mouth. It was a voice of pure evil, and the ruthless ire in his voice made her recoil. "This is all your doing, after all, isn't it? To summon these poor, wretched souls, stealing away from them any chance of a peaceful afterlife?" he spat the words like poison with a harsh gesture to each of his fellow guardians.

"But they choose to fight for us!" Zeus said. He put up a strong front, his voice commanding and thunderous as ever, but within, he was worried for Aikaterine. Would he ever get her back from this monster? She was one of his closest friends and advisors, even after only knowing her for - what was for him - a blink of an eye in the grander scheme of things.

"Do they?" Iago taunted through Percy, "How do you know that they weren't simply ripped from their journey's across the Styx, to be trained for a position they did not want? All because you gods felt the need to have expendable soldiers?"

"If that's the case, it wasn't our fault. You were the one to take them from the afterlife. We'd all assumed it was willing. Besides, none ever told us that they were unhappy with their positions," Hephaestus grumbled.

Percy scoffed. "You assumed? You all trusted me, a being that you had never seen, without even knowing my name! I watched over you all for millennia, and what do you do with my gifts? You squander them! You lead them into battles you do not know how to fight and expect them to defend you from your own idiocy! Hundreds of souls gone from all existence and yet you summon more, and more, but then, nothing, and now you call upon me for more, but this world of yours has fallen apart at the seams."

As soon as Percy finished speaking, a vast portal shimmered into existence behind the guardians. Iago emerged, finally showing his true face. "That ends now, for I have had enough of watching from the shadows. This world should be mine, and I will rule it right," he declared. "I will finally fix this failure of a world you call a kingdom, and I will be worshipped for my power. If you do not wish me to take this world by force, I will accept your surrender, but one way or another, this world will be mine."

Zeus looked to his fellow gods. He certainly did not want to give up his rule, especially to the likes of this new being who had appeared before them. He knew not to judge by looks, but this man (was he even a man?)'s actions spoke for themselves.