Second Chances: Artemis

Chapter 25

Thea was currently fast asleep next to Roy in their shared home when suddenly, she sensed a shift in the veil that was so powerful, it not only woke her up, it cause her to sit straight up in bed, her instincts going off like an alarm and she barely had time to brace herself before Artemis pulled her into the void.

"What is going on? What was that energy pulse I sensed?" Thea asked the goddess.

"Something has changed. Ares has grown more desperate than I thought, since he made a very desperate and very stupid decision." Artemis said.

"What do you mean?" Thea asked.

"When he realized that his vessel couldn't handle his power since it wasn't prepped like you were, he took a much more drastic course of action. He forced himself out of the void and used Machin's body to regain his physical form, killing Machin in the process." Artemis told her.

"Wait, could you do that to me?" Thea asked.

"If I truly wanted to, yes, at least until I regain my full power and true form, but I never would, since Ares does not realize the price that his decision required." Artemis said.

"What price?" Thea asked.

"When Ares took over a mortal form, he essentially became mortal." Artemis said.

"Wait, what?" Thea asked.

"The price to take another's form as his own is that while he'll retain his godly strength and power and longevity, he gave up his immortality, since Ares only transferred his spirit into the body, not his essence. If he dies now, there will be no chance of return." Artemis said.

"Where, at least there's a silver lining. Does he know that?" Thea asked.

"Unknown, but you can't leave anything to chance. Especially since now Ares will be looking for any way to gain an advantage over you." Artemis said.

"I don't like the way you said that. There is a way for him to do that, isn't there?" Thea asked.

"Unless you get to it first." Artemis said.

"What is it?" Thea asked as Artemis told her everything.

The next morning, Thea called a team meeting at Titans Tower to let the team know what she'd learned.

"What's going on?" Dick asked after he, Kory, Garth, Donna and Roy had all taken their seats around the meeting table, which Thea stood at the head of, though they had to keep the doors closed and the room's soundproofing on, since Thea was having Wayne Enterprises renovate and upgrade the tower into a more proper headquarters for the team.

"Does it have something to do with why you shot up like a cannon in the middle of the night last night?" Roy asked his girlfriend, who nodded.

"The reason I reacted like that was because I sensed that something had changed and it has. I spoke with Artemis last night and she told me that Ares has escaped the void." Thea said.

"What? That's impossible, it's way too soon for that." Donna said, since she knew more about this than anyone besides Thea.

"Besides, if Ares could leave the void, wouldn't Artemis be able to do that too?" Dick asked.

"Not the way Ares did it, especially considering how stupid he was to do it. Ares decided that instead of burning through vessels like Machin, he'd do it himself and actually took over Machin's body as his new physical body. He's flesh and blood again." Thea said.

"So the god of war is back. Great." Kory said.

"Fortunately, there is a silver lining, since Ares didn't realize that there would be a price to pay for what he did." Thea said.