War of the Gods

Before

Maria stood before Arti, but not Arti. This woman wore brown leather pants and an old fashioned, green shirt that was encircled by a thin brown belt made of corded rope. Attached to it were many knives, including the one she held. On her back was a quiver of swan-feather arrows and in her left hand a beautifully made bow engraved with the moon and stars. Her tunic was covered in blood, some dry, most of it fresh.

"Artemis. We must move on" a deep voice intoned. A man stepped into view. He was beautiful, with curly golden hair that reached his shoulders, which was held back by a golden laurel. His eyes were like molten gold, as was his skin. He was tall with a fair amount of muscle.

Arti, who was now called Artemis, let out a sad sigh. "Alas, brother. I fear they will send us away" she whispered. Her voice was soft, but her tone cold. "Our father will be expecting us. Let us return to Mount Olympus with our victory" she murmured. She sounded unsure of herself as if the victory had been a loss somehow. She turned on the heel of her barefoot and set out at a fast pace. Her brother, who must have been Apollo, followed after. They moved in silence, one that was filled with an undeniable tension. It seemed they had both been in a fight when their battle had occurred. How Maria knew this, she was unsure. She felt as if she had heard of this before. But she was hallucinating, wasn't she? She couldn't possibly know any of this, and Arti could most definitely NOT be Artemis. I mean, Greek Mythology had ended almost two thousand years ago.

Apollo drew to a standstill. "I feel we are being watched" he whispered, so quiet to the point that Maria could barely hear him. Apollo turned around, eyes widening when he saw her. "Anubis. What are you doing here?" he asked, walking straight through her.

Maria spun around to see the Anubis from detention. He was still beautiful, with shaggy black hair, golden eyes, and perfectly tanned skin. He was of average height with a muscular build. "My Pantheon has come to help" he stated.

Artemis scoffed from behind her brother, stalking forward until her bare feet came flush with his brown sandals. "Your people only help when they want something. Spit it out, dog boy!" she snarled, sweet tone suddenly icy.

Apollo dragged her back. "Anubis, your people want Bastet and you to be part of the six that are left behind, do they not?" he murmured.

A small giggle was heard and a tall woman with the grace of a cat dropped down from the trees. She had shoulder-length black hair that shone in the light, sky blue eyes, though slightly darker than Artemis', and olive skin. Though beautiful, Maria would choose Artemis over her any day.

The olive-skinned woman grinned slyly as she stalked up to Apollo. "You need our help. We will help, but only if you let us stay" she murmured. Her blue eyes narrowed, turning slit like a cat. "And I highly doubt daddy would be happy if he found out you turned down an entire Pantheon's help" she finished, voice mocking.

Artemis snarled and tried to break out of her brother's grip. "You selfish bitch!" she growled. She gripped her bow in a harsher grip, causing it to creak and groan and threaten to snap in half. Not that it would; it was made with the magic of the Dryads, which never wore off. Even her strength would be unable to break it.

Apollo shook her roughly. "Arti, enough. We don't have the time to fight amongst our friends. Let us return home; we can worry about this after a warm meal, a decent bath, and a good night's rest" he assured her, voice soothing.

Artemis took a deep breath and nodded, pulling out of her brother's grip and turning around. The forest was once again alive with animals, and she wished she could spend time surrounded by the beauty of it. Unfortunately, there was a war raging on and she had no time for such luxuries.

Anubis and Bastet followed, walking in silence. The silence was awkward and filled with tension, even more so than had occurred before. No one dared to speak; they each held a prejudice against the other and knew to squabble now when they needed allies was not a good idea.

One minute, they were walking serenely through a forest, the next, two beautiful people appeared covered in blood. The man had long black hair in a thick braid. He had two different colored eyes, the left a burning gold and the right a dark green. His skin was pale, and he was thickly muscled, towering well over six feet. Across the bridge of his nose was a fresh wound, weeping out blood.

The female had long red-gold hair that curled softly around her heart-shaped face and pale blue eyes, like the color of winter water covered by ice. She was of average height with curves to rival the earth and skin white as cream.

"Bastet, Anubis. Apollo, Artemis. Dani and I have been sent to retrieve you and go into hiding" the mountainous man intoned; his voice was deep and powerful and filled every inch of the silence.

Dani giggled softly. "What Arawn is trying to say is that we need to go to the Human world and blend in" she murmured. Her voice was soft like a kitten's mewl. "Skadi and Loki will be meeting us in Spain" she continued.

"Wait; they have decided to send eight of us?" Artemis asked. She sounded outraged, though Maria didn't quite understand why. "And why from the Norse Pantheon? We all know how barbaric they can be" she muttered under her breath.

Arawn nodded his head in agreement. "The Kings have their reasons, though I can hardly say I do not feel the same" he rumbled. He nodded his head again before walking through the forest; for a mountain of a man, he was very quiet and graceful on his feet.

Maria followed until her vision turned fuzzy around the edges once more and she found herself spiraling back into the darkness.

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When she opened her eyes once more, she was in a stone room. On the walls were old paintings, medieval paintings. In one sat a girl that looked exactly like her except she had dark hair; her natural hair color, to be exact.

In the middle of a room was a large four-poster bed, covered in silky bed sheets and downy comforters. There was a large wardrobe to the right of the bed made of solid oak. It was flung wide open, doors almost completely off of their hinges. Clothes were scattered throughout the room, and a large stained glass window was shattered, pieces of fabric clinging to the shards still intact.

Maria walked over to it and looked down to see the girl from the painting sprawled out on the ground, neck bent at an unnatural angle. Standing above her was her brother, except his white hair was down to his shoulders and he wore a silver band that held it out of his face. "Oh, Maria; I told you to stay out of the business of the gods" he muttered.

Maria stared down, confusion written across her face. She jumped out of the window and landed lithely behind him. "Shaun" she murmured. She reached out to touch his shoulder, but her hand went straight through him.

"He can't see you; none of the living can" a deep voice intoned from behind her. She swirled around to see a man with neatly trimmed hair and beard. His eyes were dark blue and he had the coloration of fresh snow. "Let me introduce myself; I am Hades, Greek god of the Underworld" he intoned.

Maria swallowed and shook her head. "I must be hallucinating" she muttered, mostly to herself.

Hades chuckled darkly. "In a way, yes; you are seeing the past. In truth, your past. And Artemis', but that is only because your two lives are entangled" he answered. He snapped his fingers and they appeared in a musty basement; in a corner sat her brother. "He died here, blamed for your death. The Celtic goddess of fertility, along with other things, took pity and gave you each eternal life. You will live through generations until the war ends, and then you will live in the Hall of the Gods" he rumbled.

"What war? Eternal life? I have no clue what you're talking about!" she snapped. Her head ached something awful to the point she felt as if it was going to burst in two.

Hades grimaced. "You're about to wake up. Listen, don't trust anyone that doesn't seem familiar" he rushed as Maria's world spun out into the darkness.

She opened her eyes to see her bedroom. It was dark, and she was alone. The things she had seen seemed to float away as she tried to recall where she had come from. Or, better yet, what she had seen.

Word count: 1531