The Altered Seven

Camp Jupiter

The snake ladies were starting to get annoying.

That's what Killian Vixon was thinking as he ran up a hill. A week earlier, he had woken up at some house with no recollection of how he got there and told to go south by a wolf lady. Normal enough. Then these two came along and would not die. He may not have his memories, but he's pretty sure that when someone gets their head sliced off, they die. They had been chasing him south for two days and would not stay 'dead', or golden dust, for more than two hours. It had been that long since he had last killed them so he expected them to catch up to him sometime soon.

Killian was running until he came to a stop at the top of a hill overlooking an apartment building and the freeway. His internal radar was going crazy. As he overlooked the freeway, he realized that there was most likely a tunnel underneath where he was standing. The freeway ran right underneath the hill.

Suddenly the sky darkened, alerting him that something was amiss once again. He pressed a button on his watch and a blade formed in his hand. The watch was something that he had on when he woke up with the wolves. He refused to take it off ever because he knew it was the key to him remembering his past and Lilly.

Lilly. She was the one person he could remember. Nothing else, not even his parents. Killian knew she was special to him and he refused to let her memory slip away. Her curly and flowing brown hair. Her sparkling green eyes that seemed to glow in the dark. Her tan skin, soft and smooth. Her beautiful smile and laugh when he said something funny. Her lips on his when he made a fool out of himself. She must've kissed him a lot, then.

Hissing drew him back to reality as he readied his sword to defend himself.

"Put that away, young man," a hissing voice said to his left. He turned to see a snake-haired lady come out of the bushes. Her hair was a nest of red coral snakes and she had bronze boar tusks coming out of the corners of her mouth. She had rooster feet instead of actual feet.

"I'd rather not," Killian retorted. "Where is your idiot sister?" There had been two of them tracking him down.

"Do not worry about her," the snake-haired woman said. "Just put the sword away and let me kill you." Killian didn't do as she said. The slope behind him was too steep for him to run down and he didn't want to die. He had so much to live for still.

"No, I would prefer it if I did not die," Killian retorted again. Suddenly Killian felt a presence behind him. He whirled around and blocked a strike from a set of claws.

"Aww, it didn't work," the other snake-haired lady pouted as she walked out of the range of his sword. This one had green snakes instead of the coral snakes like her sister. "You said it would work Eurayle."

"Stheno, it's your fault," Eurayle growled at her. "Now come on, He can't take on both of us at once."

"Oh, I beg to differ," a new voice said. A woman suddenly appeared from the shadows. She had pitch-black hair and wore a dress that resembled the night sky. When Killian caught her eye he nearly stumbled back. The sheer power that was contained behind those starry eyes...

Her appearance at least seemed to have shaken the two gorgons. They both trembled in her presence.

"You...You can not be here!" Eurayle shrieked. "You belong in Tartarus! The gods did not give you permission to come to the surface!"

The woman smiled. "My, my, how ironic. You, also, belong in Tartarus, wretched monstress. I, however, do not require the blessing of another to go anywhere. I go where I please."

"She will come back," Eurayle growled. "Even you cannot stop her!"

The woman's face tightened. Dark power swirled around her hands as she ascended into the air. The world itself seemed to grow dark. Her voice was filled with power and rage as she bellowed, "DO NOT SPEAK TO ME OF MY SISTER, MONSTRESS! BEGONE WITH YOU, TO THE DEEPEST CREVICES OF TARTARUS!"