PREVIOUSLY ON IMMORTALITY

"To find Achilles. We have to get you in shape if you're gonna try to survive in the pit." She replied.

"Right." I simply said. We all kept mute and Catherine lifted the hummingbird off the concrete floor.
She tapped a few buttons and just like before, a section of the building slid open. Gently, the hummingbird went out the opened entrance and we were soon on our way to find Achilles."

~Chapter Nine~

She had never dared to step foot there. It was almost like a place of doom. She had all her power to protect her. Yet, she felt fear as she walked through the barren lands of Tartarus. Eyes had seen her. Word had quickly spread amongst the condemned of her presence. In the dark shadows that swallowed the dreaded place, she could make out eyes that followed her every step.

Finally she made it to the gates. The Titans Coeus and Phoebe stood before her. They did not attack her, for word had been sent to them not to cause any harm to her once she arrived.

They allowed her in. She entered a great space. Surely this was where he dwelled. It was by far the only place that didn't seem a like hell. But it was far from pleasing to the eye.

"Do my eyes deceive me?" She heard a familiar voice speak behind her. She knew the voice too well. It belonged to her brother. She turned to see Ares as he emerged from the shadows. Even in hell he looked glorious and powerful. His well built body fitting perfectly in his armor. He stood towering over her.

"It's been far too long.......sister." Ares spoke as he neared her. "Welcome to my humble abode. I have missed you well." He continued.

"Ares. I wish my heart could be filled with delight upon sight of you." Athena replied. "Sadly, it does not." She added.

"Even after so many years, you do not miss me. And neither do they." Ares said. "I must say, it is not surprising. They have never been fond of me. Not even you."

"Things could have been different Ares. But your pride consumes you and so you lay here in torment. I have not come to mock you. And it does not give me joy to know that I sent you down here to suffer eternal misery. But I had no choice. I couldn't stand by and witness as you destroyed Olympus."

"I do not seek to destroy Olympus. Just Zeus. But that was then. Now I wish to eliminate him alongside everything he has ever cared for." Ares said as he made his way to what seemed to be his throne, made out of stone. He sat and knuckled his fist under his chin.

"Zeus....is Olympus Ares. And I do assure you that destroying the cosmos will not bring you peace."

"Oh but it will. You see, Tartarus does not bring me torment. No. I only feel torment, when I have to remind myself that Zeus still sits on that throne like nothing ever happened and that you all stand at his side. That alone, brings me all the torment, more than I can carry. It's sickening to me that he will abandon his own son for the sake of those pathetic mortals he loves so much."

"Father still cares for you. He loves you Ares."

"Zeus, has no more love to give. He has wasted it all on his precious mortals........and you." He said, narrowing his eyes at Athena.

"That is not true Ares. He simply disapproves of your ways. They all do." Athena replied.

"But they approve of yours. Tell me Athena.  What makes us so different? You have always had their favor whiles I have always been the least favored one amongst all of fathers children. Why?"

"You already know the answer to the question you ask Ares."

"They say I'm too brutal. They say I am merciless. I....AM THE GOD OF WAR!!! Brutal and bloodthirsty are my ATTRIBUTES!!!!" He roared, making Athena take few steps back.

Ares was not at full power but that didn't make him weak. It did give her an advantage but she was wise enough to be on her guard. Ares was not one to be underestimated.
The place was quite after Ares words. He sat on his stone throne, huffing out in anger.  He briefly closed his eyes and opened them once more, focusing them on his sister.

"Tell me. Why have you come?" He asked in a much calmer tone. Athena took in a gentle breath and walked closer once more.

"I want you to give it up. This dream of burning down everything and everyone in the cosmos. Setting the Titans free. Give it all up. You can't possibly win even with the Titans aid. You won't know peace if you are to go forward with it." Athena said.

"You don't know that. Nothing will make me feel at peace than watching the cosmos burn and Zeus with it. Then I will take back my place as the god of war. Join me sister." He said as he got off his throne, making his way to Athena who stood her ground this time.
"Join me and you shall be my empress and reign at my side when I create a new world. A world where gods shall forever remain powerful. We shall rule the cosmos together." He offered.

"Such a world will be a world born out of blood. I cannot help you Ares. It's not the right way."

"Fine. Then you will die alongside them. They will perish. All of them." Ares threatened.

"You suffer agony Ares. This pride you have within you will end you." Athena warned.

"No sister. It is the pride and the agony that fuels my rage. And with it, none can stand in my way. Not even the mortal."  Ares said and walked back to his throne.
"Leave me Athena. The day shall come when we shall meet again. But believe me. It won't be a happy reunion. Leave now, whiles you still have the chance. I cannot keep those Titans at bay any longer." He said.

"Heed my words Ares. You will fall." With this statement, she dissolved into air and left Tartarus.

________________________

ELYSIUM

An island sat at the east side of Elysium, connected by a bridge to the main city. It was the second island out of four that surrounded Elysium. The first had the infirmary, where they treated the wounded. The second where we stood, was the armory which also served as the training grounds where they learnt the art of combat. The third was the location of what they called the Pit. That was where I was to fight for my life soon. The last island was a huge prison where they kept prisoners. None of them was from the outside world. They were all Elysian. At least that's what Catherine said.

All four islands had names. The first which was the infirmary was named Cnidus. The second, due to the weapons it stored and serving as a training ground was named Sparta. The third was named marathon and the last which had the prison was named Athens.

Why these islands were given these names was not my concern at the moment. All I had to do was pass their stupid test and get out of this place.

We soon neared Sparta and the hummingbird begun to reduce altitude. There was a huge wall that surrounded a large portion of the island.  Surrounded by the wall was the most advanced Military base the world had ever known. On top of the thick and tall walls stood huge turrets that served as the first out of many defensive mechanisms that would prevent any intruder from gaining access to the massive base.

God this city was beautiful. From above, I could see the various sections of the base including the landing zone which we were now approaching.

"Code 115-Sparta, this is the hummingbird, requesting permission to land." Catherine said over the radio.

"Code 115-Sparta it's a copy. Welcome back captain." A voice replied over the radio.

"Thanks Joe." Catherine replied and soon, we were landing. It was a soft and smooth landing.

"Okay. Let's go. No time wasting." Catherine said, getting out of the ship. Jake and I followed.

The air outside was strong due to the numerous number of aircrafts that went about the place. In front of us was the base. A man stood a few meters away from us, dressed in a black suit with blue stripe designs that looked more like nightwings's.

"Welcome captain." He spoke.

"Thank you general. I have come to see Achilles." Catherine replied.

"An emergency I presume?"

"You bet." Catherine said, finally standing in front of him.

"Section 5. You should find him there." The general replied. "You've brought new blood I can see." He added.

"Yeah. He won't be new for long if we do not find Achilles."

"Of course. Go on in." The general replied and stepped out of the way.

The doors slid open and we entered. My mouth dropped open when I saw the inside. There was literally nothing here. Just an empty room except for some few very very old automobiles probably from the 80's, Three modern day choppers and a small library of very old books.

"Wait wait wait. This is the biggest most advanced military in all of human history? Are you joking?" I blurted out, totally disappointed in what I was seeing. We stood in the very center of the huge hangar-like building and there was literally nothing here.

"I would hold on to my heart if I were you." Jake said with a sinister smile.

"A long slim metallic rod came up out of the ground. It had a small screen on it. Catherine walked up to it and a series of blue rays scanned her eyes.

"Welcome Captain. Stand by for descent." A female automated voice spoke up.  A few seconds later, I felt the ground rumble. It started mild and gradually got intense.

Just then a glass tube came up from the ground on which we stood, trapping us in it.

It suddenly begun to sink into the ground.  We sunk about two meters down before what my eyes saw drew my breadth away. Right below me was another part of Elysium.  Something i had never seen before.  On the ceiling were giant screen panels. Thousands of them if not millions. They all lit up together creating another sky with sunshine.

The base stretched so far I couldn't see its end.  There were plants and military buildings. It was a different world on its own down here. Perhaps I should have taken Jake's advice.  My heart really was about to pop out. 

The descent was about one and a half kilometers down which is equivalent to the distance between the sky and the land. After a while we finally got to the bottom.

There were all sort of futuristic looking vehicles. If this place wasn't the coolest place on earth, I don't know where is. It was a shame I had to leave and couldn't stay. I still had to find Ares and end him. Thoughts of the crash suddenly begun to invade my thoughts but I quickly pushed them aside.

The elevator doors opened and we stepped out. It was like we had just descended into a whole new Elysium.

"Quit gawking and come on." Catherine spoke up, pulling me out of my thoughts. "Get us a ride." She said to Jake.
He had a small device, almost like a wrist watch on his wrist. He tapped a few buttons on the screen.

"So, any information for me here as well? You know, a little heads up before we go see......Achilles?" I said.
Catherine immediately shot me the I hate you eye.

"You know, for someone who has quite a lot on your shoulder, you are really never serious." Jake said.

"And just what do you mean by that?" I replied.

"You make foolish decisions that is definitely gonna kill you, you don't seem to care about anything or anyone and you just piss me off." He said plainly.

"Really?" I simply said, amused by his thoughts of me.

Just then a black car just pulled up by itself without a driver. It had no tires and hovered a few inches off the ground and gave off a humming sound.

We got in and Catherine got into the drivers seat. In a short while, we were off.

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We stood in front of the building, ready to go in. It was a huge and wide building. It probably had about seven floors if I counted right. There were military people going about their own businesses. The door slid open as we approached it, revealing what looked like the colosseum but smaller. Was this the famous yet deadly pit they all spoke of.

Apparently the building was their own colosseum. Each floor served as another floor for the elliptical structure as the Colosseum had four floors. I guessed the remaining three floors were for weapons and costumes and other stuff.

Above the arena at the ceiling of the last floor up were massive lights that shone brightly down the arena, lighting up the whole arena.

"Is this it? The all so deadly pit?" I asked, quite disappointed. "If this is it, I'm disappointed." I added.

Jake sighed.
"It's a replica. The pit is on a separate island amongst the four." He simply said, ignoring my smugness.

"Well that explains a lot." I replied.
Suddenly all the lights went off. We stood in pitch darkness. I could hear Catherine slowly draw out a sword I didn't even know she had.

A spotlight was thrown upon us, creating a circle in the middle of the arena.

"You might wanna stand back." Jake said as he pushed me further back out of the circular beam of light. We now stood in the shadows. Only Catherine stood within the light. Eyes sharp and ears alert, she listened to the unknown.

Peering at her surroundings with the corners of her eyes.
She immediately brought her sword up seconds before an unknown sword clanged hard against hers, protecting her head from being sliced off. The clang was so loud my heart jumped.

The figure had disappeared into the shadows but Catherine stood her ground. I felt the need to go help her but Jake stopped me.

"What are you doing? She needs help." I said.
"Stay back." He simply said

Just then a figure jumped into the circular light beam. It was a man. He had long blonde hair, almost golden. He wore a Spartan mask and a typical black ancient armor made of four parts. The Kranos which was the helmet, the cuirass which was for the body and greaves which protected his feet.
He had on a vambrace for both forearms also black.
He was the man in black. He stood there in his action pose ready to attack.

They both narrowed their eyes at each other before dashing out towards each other with so much strength and speed.

Catherine slashed her sword towards his chest but he quickly raised his left arm. The vambrace immediately and amazingly transformed into a shield, seconds before Catherine's blade connected with it. The force threw her back, making her stumble a few steps back.

He didn't waste time. He immediately attacked, slashing the sword in different angles. Catherine quickly took a few steps back, calculated his movements and intercepted his arm movements by grabbing his right arm and kicking at his chest so hard he flew back a few meters but quickly maintained his stand. Once she had slowed him down enough, she went in for the attack, she slashed her blade hard but he got his defense up and parried. The two blades clashing together brought them closer to each other before they pushed each other away.

Catherine kept the stranger in her vision. I could feel my ability reaching for me. I felt power rush through my veins but Jake held me once again.

With the space they had made for each other, Catherine rushed to him and slashed her blade in a head level arc but the stranger took few steps back, making the blade fall on thin air.

Her momentum from the slash pulled her closer to the man who replied with a quick kick to the blade, followed by a strong punch that landed on her right cheek.

Catherine felt the pain as his fist connected with her face,making her drop the sword. But this man wasn't going to even out the playing field. He quickly attacked, performing a heavy slash towards the midsection of Catherine. She quickly pushed herself back, allowing the attackers blade to slash past her. The momentum of the slash made him vulnerable to an attack. Then with the little space created, she flipped over him, using his shoulders as support and landed right beside her blade.

Grabbing it, she rolled under his arm as he made a whirl with the blade aiming for her head. She then performed a quick slash in his head area but stopped it instantly a few centimeters away from his neck before he could perform a follow up.

They shared a stern look for a few seconds before they both let down their guard, confusing me.

"I see you still have some moves up your sleeve." The man spoke, sheathing his sword.

All the lights immediately came back on. He slowly removed his helmet, setting his golden hair free.
He was handsome. I'm not gay or anything but he was indeed handsome. He had hazel blue eyes and a strong jawline.

"It's not my fault you're getting old." Catherine replied with a smirk.

"Old, I let you have that one. I taught you that move." The man said.

"I learn to become better than my master." Catherine defended.

"No one can become better than their master." He replied. "Jake! How are you doing boy?" He added.

"Very well." Jake replied.

"And who's this?" He finally took notice of me, scanning me from top to bottom.

"Derek Bryan." I responded, doing my own introduction.

"Ahhh...the harbinger. Another bastard son of Zeus?" The man asked.

"What?" I blurted out, not knowing what was going on.

"Him? I doubt." Catherine spoke.

"You make it sound like it's a good thing." Jake cut in.

"For him, it will be." Catherine replied. "He's an Archean. Like us." She added, looking at the man.

"Wait!" I said, finally gaining their attention. "What is going on here? What is a harbinger and who the fuck is this?" I asked.

"I am Achilles." He simply said.

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