Chapter 186: The Goddess Artemis
Ugh...I am such a softie. Heres the next chapter, 7 hours early.
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(General P.O.V) (Phantom Zone)
"It is time my love."
Zod stood up from his meditation and addressed his wife. His wife, Ursa Zod smiled as she turned to order the Kryptonian soldiers behind them. Her face settled into a cold expression. Any positive emotion was reserved for her husband alone.
"For long, we have endured such an unjust sentence. All because we dared believe in a Krypton that was strong. A Krypton that could stand tall and endure the test of time. For that the council punished us by confining it's strongest warriors to a life of unfeeling. It ends today."
Ursa then turned to Zod in anticipation. He had been working on something. What it was he wouldn't tell her.
Zod cleared his throat.
"I have a mission. One of greatness, one of a path to unlimited power. Necessary and sacred, for it was issued by none other than Rao himself. Our god."
Zod stopped talking as a look of confusion closed all their faces.
Ursa herself frowned.
"What is this you speak of my husband?"
She asked, a touch of concern in her tone.
"I apologize my love, for I have not been completely honest with you." He sighed, hands clasped behind his back, vision set to a far off distance.
Despite the unexpected words, none of the soldiers broke their formation or interrupted. They were disciplined, patient and above all obedient to the last general of the Kryptonian race.
"For 2 months now, I have been getting these visions. Impossible things that no one, except a true Kryptonian and more would know. Vivid visions of a time that was, the time that is now and the future we can forge from it."
"I do not understand." Ursa spoke up. "But you have the undying loyalty of everyone here."
Zod nodded With a smile.
"I will not fail you." His eyes blazed with a ferocious light.
"And so...I present you with a gift from Rao. A gift for his chosen children, a way out."
Zod held out a hand to his front, his face burning with silent confidence.
As if on cue, a swirling portal of pitch black, manifested before them all. The vortex begun pulling them in. The force was strong yet, they remained unshaken. Using their will, something forged from a long time in the phantom zone, they held themselves in place.
"Now this...is a fitting anniversary gift. Thank you my love."
Ursa sauntered towards Zod and kissed him passionately. Despite the fact that all sensation was robbed from them, Zod enjoyed the closeness of their spirits.
"And soon, I shall give you the whole world my love."
With that they stepped through the portal.
(The Dreaming)
"My Lord are you sure about this? This could very well be a variation of a Dream Vortex."
Lucienne asked warily, staring at the swirling mass of chaos.
Morpheus stepped forward with an intrigued look on his face.
"No Lucienne, this is not any kind of Dream Vortex. I would feel it. This...this has his signature, I just know."
His foot stepped through the bounds of the vortexes' suction area but apart from his clothes getting ruffled, the Lord of Dreaming was unaffected.
"Just because you know who's responsible does not mean you act without caution. Please my Lord, step back into safety."
The stern Librarian implored with concern in her tone.
"You're too worried Lucienne." Dream threw over his shoulder. " Have you forgotten who I am? In my Realm, I am invincible."
"I do not doubt your power my Lord. I am merely concerned. It is okay to study the damn thing but why do you want to use it to create a dream?"
A glint of excitement appeared in Dream's eyes.
"A talk I had with Destiny, Lucienne. Change...it scares us, makes us wary of progress. It is crippling in its fear, yet it is the crucible of reality. A foundation. For without change how can something be?"
(General P.O.V)
Golden arrows numbering in the thousands fell like drops of rain. Aimed towards a lone figure standing on a hill in the mountainous highlands making up half of the moon's terrain.
The crest of the hill was the only area in the whole planet that was not covered in darkness. Aden's purple form stood in place, blazing with power and arrogance like a war god.
He watched as the arrows bore down on his position, a crazed smile that he did not seem to notice, on his face. He then swept out his hands at the volley of attacks. A pressure blast of chaos halted the descent of the divine projectiles.
"Filthy male!"
Artemis shouted out. She flexed her divinity, her bow resonating with the arrows stuck in mid flight.
"Enlargen!"
The arrows suddenly increased in size, the weight of some managing to break through the hold Aden had on them. They tore into his body as one, leaving him skewered on several of the arrows.
Artemis shot off towards him at speeds no mortal could ever achieve. At least not one unconnected to the speed force. Her eyes blazed with untold fury. He dare he? How dare he hurt Apollo!! Her and her twin had grown up shunned by everyone. Her mother had suffered so much ordeal just to bring them to the world and when things were supposed to start going well, they went even worse.
But they had had each other. The strength of their bond was their biggest advantage. Kill him! kill him! kill him! She arrived at the mortal's position. Sensing her flight, he flowed off the arrows in a cloud of purple darkness before reforming a ways off on another hill, the darkness retracting away from him.
Artemis landed on his previous position, a bow wound back and letting loose a single arrow that multiplied in number. From one arrow to hundreds.
"You're not getting away!! Where is Apollo?! WHERE IS MY BROTHER!!!"
She shouted, her divinity spreading out to give her real time omniscience of her surroundings. It was her most useful ability during hunts.
The cloud of purple ballooned out and exploded, taking out the arrows in a sudden wave of darkness that spread out to encompass Artemis. The virgin huntress, felt her domain start getting suppressed by the wave of power. She wisely strafed to the side, trying to use her divine eyes to pinpoint the Monster's weaknesses.
Her arrows, filled with astonishing amount of divine energy streaked across the barren landscape, unhindered in their path, yet at the last minute, they would be pushed back, corroded or the monster would let them land and simply remake himself somewhere else, completely unharmed by the torrential wave of divine energy exploding out.
All the while, Artemis tried to pinpoint Apollo's location yet her actions yielded no results. She could feel he was under the darkness somewhere but not where exactly. And she was wary to touch that darkness. If it could trap a sun god like Apollo then it would probably do the same to her.
Her silver eyes were pools of hate, penetrating through the haze to see the cross crossing lines of existence that distributed life energy through a creature's body. More arrows wouldn't do the trick. The male had proven to be more and more tricky.
Artemis' size increased from her 18 year old looking body to a massive form of shimmering light. She didn't need a bow for this attack. She was the bow. She could feel the gentle star light from Orion reach her form, strengthening her resolve and power. The projection of her lunar divinity expressed itself in the manifestation of another moon above her, shining down Light on the darkness covered moon.
"Die mortal!"
A shockwave of pure white energy exploded out of her, causing a pressure wave that decimated the surroundings, seeking purchase in the darkness yet failing to penetrate the first layer.
Moon rocks and dust floated up due to the aura of her divinity being fully unleashed. A huge curtain of darkness rose up to block the attack and managed. The lunar light shining above her, changed into nymphs made of shimmering white who covered her sides, letting out millions then billions of arrows out at Aden.
The arrows then landed on the wall of darkness elected by Aden to protect himself from the arrows, before the attack proved too much and he was drowned under by the Goddess of the Hunt's power. The moon projection disappeared, followed by Artemis' followers. What greeted her was a heartbreaking scene.
The vile creature was dead but Apollo... Artemis flew down as the darkness from before fully disappeared, revealing the moon's white surface and Apollo chained by black chains that were sapping out his energy from him. His face looked gray and filled with cracks.
"Brother!"
Artemis gingerly hugged him, a swipe of a hand breaking the chains and letting him down.
He was unresponsive. His eyes were closed and she could feel she was losing him. He was fading away into death. Something unnatural had been done to him. "No! I am not going to let you go brother! Aunt Hestia!!!"
Artemis cried out for help. Her grief too much for her to even focus on anything else. Suddenly her position blazed with yellow gentle flames.
Normally teleporting from the mortal realm to Olympus itself was not possible without Zeus express permission. And given that, she had blatantly disobeyed him to come to Apollo's aid, there was no way he would help her. But there was another Olympian who could. Hestia.
When the flames faded away, Artemis stood before her fellow gods in the hall of the gods.
"Please... Apollo needs help!"
She hastily rose up.
"What is the meaning of this Artemis!!"
Instead of the reaction she was expecting, anger, shock and fury was present in everyone's eyes.
"Father...I don't understand. What..."
She begun, shrinking under his fiery gaze.
"You intervened to go save Apollo without waiting for my permission and instead of doing that, you bring back the enemy with you!!"
"What..."
Artemis looked confused.
"Ara Ara, don't blame her. I fucked with her mind a little. Chaos is very good at that. Shitty control with everything else but with the mind...oh ooh trust me, it's like an eager puppy."
The new voice she heard, came from behind her. Instead of seeing Apollo...she saw someone else completely.
A male...no a boy, dressed in a long coat that reminded her of the Dream Lord, a too wide smile on his face and his body blazing with a purple aura. The red symbol on his chest sent fear coursing through everyone present. Artemis stumbled back.
"Aden Strong milady, I'm terribly sorry for the deception. It was necessary you see." He cocked his head to the side. "For an Olympian, you are very weak. I could have ended the fight in a..."
"How dare you stand so brazen in my presence Mortal!!"
Zeus roared out, an outburst of power leaving him. A demigod would have been sent to his knees by the aura and a mortal would have been squashed to paste, yet all Aden did was spare him a side glance.
"Settle down old man and be patient. I'm not through insulting your daughter. Wait your turn, jeez."
Persephone, sneakily brought out a camera and started filming the whole thing.
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