The Horsemen

Chapter 10: Death of Two "Heroes"

A/N: Play this song. It's the chapter's theme song.

"No wealth, no ruin, no silver, no gold. Nothing satisfies me but your soul." - Percy Jackson, The Horseman of Death

Percy Jackson woke up and saw dark auburn hair sprawled out all over his bare chest and gave a slight sigh as he took in Artemis's clothed form. It has been 6 weeks since Percy and Artemis have talked about their... situation with one of them being in love with the other, while the other is just getting over his ex.

Artemis stirred and opened her eyes, before saying, "Goodmorning."

"Good morning," Percy replied as he got up and mist encircled his form, then dissipated and Artemis saw that he was now wearing a dark blue jacket that was unzipped and showed a black muscle shirt that hugged his muscled chest, a pair of dark blue jeans and a pair of black Nikes.

He then turned to Artemis and said, "I am going to kill a hero today. One that has been out of my grasp for too long."

"Who?" Artemis asked the Horseman. "Orion?"

"Now that you mention it... I do need to get him as well," Percy muttered. "But no. Hercules is the one that I'm after."

He then turned into mist and vanished from his room, before appearing in a 1959 Cadillac Coupe Deville that had a New York license plate that reads "BUH*BYE" driving into Chicago, before parking and exiting with a thin wooden cane that has a gold top and a ring that has a white stone on his right ring finger.

After getting out, Percy walked down the sidewalk, before he was bumped into and when he glanced over his shoulder, he read the man's sins and two things stood out to him: Adulterer and Murderer.

'This man has cheated on his wife with multiple women,' Percy thought. 'Along with having killed his wife after she found out.'

He then wiped his shoulder and the man fell to the ground dead. Percy then walked away, as people began to crowd the man's body.

Percy then walked into a pizza parlor and, upon seeing Hercules there, surrounded by women, flexed his aura and killed everyone in Chicago, before saying to the God of Strength, "I've been looking for you Hercules. Lets sit down and chat shall we?"

When Hercules didn't sit down with Death, Percy said, "I won't bite, Hercules, I just want to chat."

"Who are you and why are you here, mortal?" Hercules asked Percy.

Percy just gave a low chuckle as ghosts appeared around them and handed Percy some pizza, before the Horseman of Death spoke, "I am here to collect the debt that all men must pay."

Hercules was now very confused, "What do you mean, mortal? Who are you?"

"I am the one who slays man and beast alike, Hercules," Percy said after taking a bite of his pizza and swallowing it. "You know who I am, and, just like everyone else, you are scared to admit it. Admit that you are afraid of who I am, what I stand for."

"Death," Hercules said as the air around them turned misty. "Why would Thanatos..."

"I am not him," Percy said, his eyes now a ghostly white. "I gave him his one job, Hercules, and that was to monitor the humans of this world."

"Then who are you?" Hercules asked. "If you are not Thanatos, then who can you be?"

Percy sighed and asked no one, "Can the children of Zeus be anymore stupid than this?"

Hercules almost growled, but was silenced when he began feeling his immortality begin to seep away into the earth.

Percy, noticing that the pagan god was beginning to notice his powers being stripped away, said, "I see that you're finally noticing. Allow me to tell you why. You see, Hercules, I am Death the eldest of the Four Horsemen and the Lord of the Last Day. I control all Reapers and that includes Thanatos. While my Reapers are the ones who send the souls to Heaven or Hell, I am the one who instructs them on who to take and who not to. Are you following?"

"No," Hercules said. "I certainly am not following."

"Think of me being the CEO of a company and the Reapers as the employees," Percy said as Hercules thought about it and nodded a moment later nodded as Death continued. "Anyways, my job is to make sure that certain souls go to where they are needed and that they are off this plane for good."

He then brought out a pocket watch, opened it, and said, "This pocket watch shows, when I say a name, when someone is ready to die or not. So say I said, "Zoe Nightshade"."

"But she's dead," Hercules said. "At least, not before I gave her the gift of my child."

"You mean the curse that killed her centuries ago?" Percy asked. "I remember the Death at the time, taking her soul and sending it to Hades' Realm. Along with her child's."

"She seemed pleased as I took what I wanted," Hercules said, his arrogance shining through his words and tone. "I am a god and I take what I want, when I want."

Percy frowned and took away the rest of the god's immortality, before saying, "Hercules."

The pocket watch then turned to 12 and Percy said, "I am dearly sorry for this Son of Zeus, but I am to end you now."

"Wait, wait," Hercules said as Percy looked at him. "I-I can give you whatever you want. Wealth, fame, women for your own pleasure! I can give it all to you!"

"No wealth, no ruin, no silver, no gold. Nothing satisfies me but your soul," Percy told him, before thrusting a skeletal hand into the former pagan god's chest and then pulled out his hand with a shining dark light within his hand. "And here I thought he was just a soulless bastard... Guess I was wrong."

Percy then walked towards a door, opened it and before him lay a canyon filled with the screams of the most sinful. Dropping Hercules's soul into the canyon, Percy said, "And here I thought that you wouldn't be able to speak with me at all, Lucifer."

"Hello Death," Lucifer said to the Demigod. "I have no idea why father would choose the Son of a Pagan God."

"Same reason he chose my namesake," Percy replied, now turning around to face his eldest brother. "I bring about destruction to the battlefield. I bring Death to my enemies. I cannot be stopped."

"If that is true," Lucifer began, walking around Death. "Then why not be War? Why not have the power to cause destruction by controlling emotion?"

"Because War requires a more... Warrior-like persona," Percy replied. "Death on the other hand, requires a more delicate touch. Now if you will excuse me, I need to go to Orion and bring his soul here."

As the Horseman of Death walked out of Hell, he heard Lucifer say, "I will rise, Death, and I will bring a new age to the world. And no one will stop me. Not even you and your siblings!"

Right before the Door to Hell closed, Percy transformed into his Death persona and said, "I will like to see you try, Luci."

....................

Percy, after bringing back all who had died while he was in Chicago, except for the ones who's time it was, and making his car disappear into dust, appeared from the shadows just outside of the Hunters' Encampment right where his... love interest's guardian is. Orion Gringotts.

As Percy walked into the encampment, the Hunters around him bowed and some, not all, sent him gazes filled with lust.

"Where's Orion?" Percy asked, his voice echoing throughout the encampment. "His time has long been up and I am here to take what I need."

"And you are?" Orion asked as he walked up to the Horseman of Death.

"I am the one who collects the souls of the wicked," Percy said, his hand turning skeletal. "And you, Orion Gringotts, is one of the most wicked demigods alive. Your soul is now mine."

Percy then thrust his hand into the Demigod's chest and when he pulled out his hand, in it lay a white light that everyone assumed was the guardian's soul.

"Goodbye... Hunters of Artemis," Percy said before disappearing into a dark mist.