Lord of the Eclipse

8 | The Quest Begins

Perseus had told Artemis not to go hunting for the creature, and look at where it had gotten her. Now, he was watching the questing group in search for his sister depart from Half-Blood hill. He was going too, of course, but he suspected that Zoë hadn't told anyone else about that little detail yet.

He let out a sigh, leaning against the rough trunk of the pine tree towering next to him. The sun was just starting to rise, turning the sky into a mesmerizing shade of lilac. The sweet scent from the strawberry fields wafted in the air, making Perseus' eyelids droop slightly. He couldn't remember the last peaceful day he had had before he almost faded. That was probably because he never had one. He stifled a yawn just as he saw a flash of blinding golden light, and a figure materialized beside him out of the corner of his eye.

Apollo looked shaken; his normally combed-back blond hair was messy, and his impishly mischievous grin was replaced by a small half-hearted smile. Somehow he knew that this quest wouldn't end well; there will be bloodshed, and he wasn't eager to witness it. But he didn't have much of a choice now, did he? He nodded slightly at the lieutenant of the hunters, trying to mask his worry. It wouldn't do any good trying to decipher the prophecy and attempt to manipulate it, even though it was quite straightforward, because that will never turn out well.

Zoë's eyes met Perseus' for a brief second, and she looked scared; her eyes were filled with fear. But before he could fully read her expression, she turned away and led the others towards a big black car. There was a silver horse perched on the tip of the gleaming black hood, which covered the engine that gave the car power to work. He hadnt fully grasped the concepts of the new technology that had been developing whilst he was reforming, but he did pick up a few things from his hours talking to the hunters and some friendly campers. The door slammed shut, and the vehicle hummed to life.

"Good luck, and don't die. Again, that is to say." Apollo said, nudging his brother on the ribs. The gaunt look on his face sent a shiver down the Sun God's spine, and the winds suddenly died--as if it was warning something terrible was going to happen.

Perseus arched a brow.

"Do not worry, brother. I wasn't planning on it. I've only just come back to the mortal world, and you're telling me not to die? Do you not have faith in me?"

Apollo shrugged, glancing around skeptically as dread filled him. He had a feeling that he wouldn't be seeing either of his siblings any time soon. But he swallowed the lump forming in his throat.

"Just take care of yourself and get sis back, okay?" Apollo grunted, shoving his shaking hands into the pockets of his ripped skinny jeans.

Perseus studied his brother before he nodded, giving the blond god one last look of reassurance before glancing at the black car as it drove down the road, leaving a trail of dust in its path as the new quest officially began.

He sighed. He was going to go on this quest whether they wanted him to or not. It was, after all, his sister that had been taken captive.

He couldn't risk losing her.

"Well," Perseus muttered, "wish me luck."

———————

Riding an untamed horse that kept demanding for donuts--what ever in Tartarus those were--every few minutes was not fun. Sure, the black-colored stallion looked majestic, its wings spread out as it glided in the sky, but it tended to enjoy the discomfort of the god riding on it's back as it decided to suddenly drop a couple of feet for no apparent reason whenever it felt like doing so.

He barely had enough time to think of all the possible interpretations of the prophecy during his journey aboard his new 'friend'.

"Five shall go west to the moon in chains," he muttered to himself, twirling one of his warglaves in between his fingers. That obviously meant that Artemis was captured--chained--somewhere in the west. Just thinking about it made Perseus' vision tinge with red, rage radiating from his very being. The pegasus bucked and whined, almost throwing him off. He closed his eyes and silently counted to ten, trying to calm his nerves.

"Savior of heroes in the land without rain," that was him, wasnt it? The savior of heroes--and he was the god of heroes. He couldn't get ahead of himself, though. "The bane of Olympus will burn the trail," he continued. His heart slammed against his chest just thinking about it. It was impossible, honestly, but having been a god himself whom has just returned from almost fading proved that a lot of things were indeed possible.

He tilted his head slightly, feeling the harsh and cold wind rip at his clothes--a Camp Half-Blood shirt, a maroon hoodie, and a pair of dark blue jeans. Perseus, being the patron of heroes, kept thinking about other things too.

The horse--Blackjack--was still whining and rearing. Perseus stroked its mane, trying his best to calm the pegasus down.

"Can we land for a bit, if that would be okay? I'm sorry for letting you fly for too long," the god murmured, his voice soothing and sincere. He looked down at the landscape below him as the clouds parted. They were still in the trail of the black car along the winding...what were they called? Paths? Yeah, that was probably it. More cars poured out from other paths that were connected to the path that the car his friends were taking, which were connected to even more paths. All of this was going Perseus a splitting headache.

"Mortals and not combined prevail,
The Titan's curse one must withstand,
And one will perish at a father's hand."

The wind seemed to be whispering in his ears, and he felt as if someone was breathing down on the back of his neck. He involuntarily shivered.

"Come on, Blackjack. Do you see that tall grey fort? Yeah, right there beside the old broken-down one made of bricks? Let's land--"

The pegasus shuddered, tucking in its wings as it decided to nosedive towards their location. Frankly, Perseus should've been terrified of the impact, but he trusted the horse. The wind lashed at his face, and he resisted the urge to raise both his hands up just for the fun of it. But the excitement disappeared almost instantly as the smell of wine and grapes filled the air. Faster than Perseus could react, vines wrapped around his limbs, and he was free-falling into New York city.

~~

Hey guys, it's Abby here! This chapter is so bad and I'm sorry I wouldn't be able to update that much because Christmas break just ended here ugh. But I guess I'll see you guys soon?

-A/L