Chapter 2
<The next day...>
Artemis was worried. The four new hunters she had sent out along with Atlanta to supervise them had gone missing a week ago. She couldn't locate them via iris messaging or godly senses.
The conch horn sounded twice. An attack!
Artemis rushed out of her tent to find a thousand monsters bearing down on the camp. Drawing her bow she shouted, "Hunters! Return fire! Seek out the stronger monsters first!" As the few cyclops fell the hunters turned their attention to the numerous hellhounds. Arrow after arrow flew as the hellhounds attempted in vain to get near the hunters.
Finally the hunters ran out of arrows and drew their hunting knifes. The hellhounds glared at them, snarling and growling and slowly circling them. A snap of fingers made them retreat and a triumphant looking blond man strode in front. "Octavian..." Thalia growled, recognizing her nephew on the roman side who nearly destroyed CHB last year.
"Ah the hunters of Artemis. Such foolishness. Surrender and I'll just make you my slaves and you won't die in the upcoming war." Octavian said smirking. "Never!" Artemis shouted. "Very well. You will be the first casualties in the war against the Mother Of Terrors." Octavian said. "Echidna?" Thalia said puzzled. Octavian laughed. "No you foolish girl. She's the mother of monsters. The one I serve is the mother of terrors. But I'll just leave you to my friend Kampé." A large woman with bat wings flew over and Artemis shook slightly. The jailer of the hundred handed ones was here. She dual wielded scimitars and multiple animal heads were on her waist. Artemis noticed three blinking dots in a triangle shape on Octavian's chest. She wisely did not comment.
"Kampé. Finish them. Leave no survivors." Octavian commanded. Kampé spread her wings and was about to flap them when a huge fire ball blossomed in front of her, throwing her backwards. Octavian gaped, the three dots stopped blinked and lines connected, forming a triangle. Energy was heard building up. A blinding light cut through Octavian's chest, a neat triangle going through and through. He crumbled into golden dust. Another explosion hit Kampé and she roared. Drones of engines over Artemis made her look up. The five missing hunters were in the cargo bay of a hovering plane, firing arrows as fast as they could at the shocked hellhounds. Kampé got up and roared just as the plane landed. "Milady. There are more arrows in here come on!" Atlanta shouted from the plane. They ran onto the plane to find bundled stacks of arrows. "Grab on bundle each girls and fire!" Artemis commanded grabbing one stack herself. Her hunters all grabbed one stack and started firing. Kampé approached them. The hunters started to turn their attention to her when a purple blur knocked Kampé off her feet. "Hey ugly!" A woman dressed in full purple armor shouted from the top of a tree. "Fight someone your own size!" She yelled before jumping off and slamming her sword into the ground in front Kampé, creating a small crater. Kampé roared a challenge as she swung her huge scimitars. The new girl jumped over the huge green sword before cutting off the head of a bear. Kampé roared.
"Come on finish the hellhounds!" Artemis shouted and the hunters concentrated their fire on the hellhounds who quickly crumbled into golden dust. The hunters turned towards Kampé, who was being driven back by a whirlwind of blades. All Artemis could see of the newcomer was that she would stop for a bit, slash repeatedly at incredible speeds thrice before jumping at Kampé and turning into a fast whirlwind of blades. Finally the girl retreated back, her armor dented and cut. Both monster and female were breathing heavily. Kampé had multiple cuts and slashed on her body oozing sand. Most of the heads on her body were cut off, but slowly growing back the heads.
"Artemis. If I can get her incapacitated or at least disable her of her weapons can you kill her quickly enough?" Avery asked. Artemis nodded.
"Well ok. Let's hope I won't be unconscious when I'm done." Avery said.
Artemis was about to ask what she was going to do when the new girl threw her arms out and screamed "Tier 30 Manability spell Beam Overload!"
She floated up into the air, purple rings humming with power appearing around her arms. "Core alignment!" She yelled and pulled her arms together. The rings glowed brighter as they neared each other, and Artemis noticed the girl seemed to have a harder and harder time bringing her arms closer to each other, like the rings were repulsing each other. Finally the rings met and glowed pure white. A ball of purple power built up at the tip of her sword and grew bigger. The beam fired just as Kampé raised her scimitars to block the attack. The beam punched holes in the scimitars and slammed into
Kampé's head. She fell back wailing horribly. "Cross cut!" Avery yelled and she sped forward from her hovering position and slashed twice at the scimitars. Then she tumbled to the ground rolling and coming to a stop beside Kampé's enormous head. Dropping metal ball that projected a green bubble around her the girl yelled, "Fire!" Just as the scimitars fell apart. Volley after volley of steel-tipped arrows fell onto Kampé who was quickly sent to reform as she turned to dust. Artemis ran over to the girl. Her skin was pale, but under the glow of the bubble she seemed to be recovering quickly. Color soon returned to her skin and she was able to stand. Her armor was badly damaged, but she suffered only skin wounds. She cracked her neck. Then bowed. "Lady Artemis. These are your hunters. I found them by coincidence on another mission and rescued them along with my mission." Artemis turned to her hunters. "It was amazing!" Atlanta said. Artemis turned to the girl. "I will take my leave now. They can explain everything to you." The girl stood up shakily, using her sword to push herself up. She limped over to the plane and started it up. Pulling sharply she flew in a perpendicular line away from the ground. The arrows inside tumbled out, and a small glittery item landed on it. Artemis picked it up. It was a torch with a sword emblem. "Mana Magicians." Artemis read.
"Maybe we should explain everything..." Atlanta said.
"We'd better sit down, it'll be along tale to tell. Call the others Milady." One of the other hunters said. Artemis nodded.
<One hour later...>
Artemis flashed into the throne room. "Father!" She yelled. Zues zapped onto his throne. "Yes Artemis?" "Call the council. I have some news." Artemis said.
One by one the council came in. Hestia rose out of the hearth. Aphrodite formed out of doves. Athena formed out of a falling pile of books. A wave splashed over Poseidon's throne to reveal the Earthshaker. Hades appeared, gloomy as ever.
Finally, all the gods arrived in the room. "Artemis has called this meeting. Artemis?"
Artemis nodded and started on her tale. "Recently I sent out four new hunters and Atlanta to go on a hunt, they went missing a day later. Just earlier today we were attacked by a thousand monsters. Guess who was leading them? Octavian." Apollo paled at the name of his Roman legacy. "He claimed to be under a new master. Someone known as mother of terrors. He was accompanied by Kampé. When he gave an order to attack a triangular beam turned him into dust. He is immortal. Kampé was blown back by what I suspected as rockets. My missing hunters were in a plane. A young female was with them. She managed to match Kampé on par with one on one fighting without using any powers, able to cut off most of the animal heads on the body." The gods' eyes grew wide. "She managed to blast holes into Kampé's scimitars, before slicing them apart." The gods' eyes grew wider again. "She got up after a bit, then left me with some stacks of arrows."
"She displayed an unusual form of powers, calling it manability." Artemis said. "She's apparently from a group called the Mana Magicians. They are apparently located somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, shrouded by Mist and protected mortal shield technology. Their leader is called Hate." At this, the gods grew puzzled faces. Hestia was the only calm one. "Who could their leader be?" Zues mused. "Isn't it obvious? Magic, Mist. Its Hecate. The first letter of her name is H, the last three is ate, making it Hate." Poseidon said. Everyone just stared.
"What?" He said defensively. "Since when did you get so smart?" Zues asked. Poseidon blushed. "Well...Athena have been helping me with my knowledge...and some other things." Poseidon said. Athena turned beetroot red. "Well let's call Hecate here." Athena swiftly changed the subject. Zues nodded then paled. "What is it father?" Athena asked.
"I just remembered, who, or rather what are the Mana Magicians. They are a group of demigods created by Hecate shortly after the Titan War as a reward for helping. She must have built up her forces over the centuries. The reason why she chose demigods was because..." Zues took out a scroll. "She says it's because they have both aspects of the mortal and godly world. They, as we know, wield the power of their godly parent. However, they also wield the power of humans. The power of Mana. As Mana is everywhere, except in us, humans are made from clay, thus they are able to use it if they know of it. Luckily for us, they can't. Possibly because of their short lifespans. But humans who can use mana could possibly take on even an Olympian if he is skilled enough." The other gods gasped. "Find Hecate. Quickly." Hermes nodded and vanished.
Soon enough, Hecate appeared with Hermes. She bowed. "Lord Zues why have you called on me?" Zues waved his hand distractedly. "Your group. Mana Magicians. Are they still active?" Hecate showed no signs of surprise. "Yes. I told them to go into hiding during the Titan and giant wars and not to involve themselves in the wars. What is this about?"
"You seem quite unsurprised. Like you expected this." Athena noted. Hecate nodded. "Yes. This is all going to my best operative's plan. She knew that when she returned the hunters to Artemis she would ask questions and the truth will come out. Gods and goddess, may I present my top operative, Avery Maeva Chaos.
"How cute, your middle name is. She who intoxicates. I assume you're quite deadly?" Aphrodite said. Avery just bowed her head.
"Lord Hades." She said. A olive skinned, Italian girl stepped from behind Avery. "Hello father," she said timidly.
"Agnes..." the lord of the dead said tearfully, before flashing down and hugging his daughter tightly. Agnes cried into his shoulder. "Why...? Why did you leave me?" She sobbed. "I'm sorry, I couldn't find you. When I was forced to put you into adoption I was so upset. Then I finally tracked the family down just to find out that they sold you away." Hades looked towards Avery. "Thank you." Avery just inclined her head.
"Wait Hades you broke the Oath?! How dare you! The girl must die!" Zues roared reaching for his bolt. A blade on his arm stopped him. "I'd rather you don't do that." Avery said stepping out from behind his throne. The gods did a double take. Wasn't she standing right beside Hades' daughter? Zues hesitantly lowered his hand, an angry look on his face. "Good." Avery turned and walked away towards Agnes. "Avery look out!" Avery turned just in time with her sword raised to block the master bolt. The blast threw her backwards. "Hah! Upstart idiot! Now for the Hades' spawn!" Zues summoned back his bolt. Hades stepped in front of his daughter, shadows forming around him into Stygian Iron Armor with his Helmet of Darkness. "Do it Zues, and I will declare war on you." Hades threatened. Ares stepped up beside Zues' throne. "It's unwise to go against the king of the gods alone uncle." Ares advised. "Who said he was alone, daddy's girl." Sneered Poseidon. Ares turned white at that insult. "I'm sorry father, but you are wrong, wanting to destroy her just because Hades is her father is just morally incorrect." Artemis stood up beside Hades.
"No War shall happen!" A voice shouted. "Only the death of Zues and his supporters now!" Everyone turned to see Avery rising from the ground. She raised her arm and shot a beam into air. Thunder rumbled in response. "What are you doing?! And how did you survive my bolt." Zues roared, blasting her again. Avery easily partied the bolt into the wall. "Your bolt is an amateur compared to what I've seen. And for your information. There are some people who you pissed off really bad." A bright light came down from the sky to reveal a blond, muscular man, with a winged helmet and a huge hammer. "Thor! What are you doing here?! You only can come here if someone powerful invites you!" Zues yelled. "She did. And I wanted to settle our competition years ago when you cheated by threatening my wife!" Thor boomed, his hammer sparking like crazy. Zues paled. "So Zues, Thor and I, against you and Ares. Anyone else want to join their clown party?" Avery said, her purple eyes starting to glow in rage. Eight flashes alerted the room to the Heroes of Olympus.
They stared at the confrontation in front of them. "Are we interrupting something?" Percy asked. "Jason! My son! Help me deal with this upstart girl while I deal with this Norse god!" Zues boomed. Jason kissed Piper on the cheek and went over to Ares. "So how did you manage to piss off my dad?" Jason asked curiously. "Oh he just wanted to kill another daughter of Hades." Avery said casually. Jason's jaw dropped and Nico and Hazel rushed over to greet their new sibling, who was rather shy. "How bout this Jason, I'll go against Ares first, you can join in whenever you feel like." Ares moved forward grinning, "Get ready to be smashed hot punk." Ares said waving his broadsword. "Put that down or you may cut off your head, not that you use it anyway." Avery teased. Ares grew red and ran at Avery, bringing his sword overhead for a smash. Avery blocked it and punched Ares' stomach, causing the god to move backwards. He attacked, Avery leant back to dodge his attack, before swiping at him with her sword. He jumped back to be met with a swing at his head. He ducked only for Avery to attack with her sword in an icepick grip. He was forced to bend backwards very far. Avery kicked him across the room.
"Come on, not a pansy are you?" Avery taunted, curling her left hand fingers in a 'come at me' gesture, holding her sword in her right. Ares ran at Avery again. This time Avery crouched and got her sword arm beside her and the sword pointing downwards. Just as Ares was about to reach her, Avery blurred forward and reached Jason who drew his gladius. Avery spun her sword in her hand before sheathing it. Ares continued running before both his arms fell off and he faceplanted into the floor. Zues turned but was blasted off his feet by Thor. "Come at me bro!" The Norse god of thunder boomed. Zues summoned his lightning and the two went at it, turning the throne room into a white color disco party. Avery just put sunglasses on and folded her arms, looking cool. She handed Agnes a pair as well. Finally Thor got the upper hand, and swung his hammer into Zues' face and knocked him into his throne. The master bolt clattered to the ground. "That was fun." Thor stretched his muscles. "Thank you lady Avery. But I must go." Avery inclined her head again. Thor disappeared into the Bifrost.
"Alright let's get down to business. I've come here with Agnes not for to see Zues get beaten up, but to show something." Avery turned to Athena. "What are the chances of a demigod being reborn as another demigod?" Athena looked unsure, then shrugged. Avery touched Agnes' forehead. "Agnes. I have this ability, called Book of lives, it allows me to see into a person's past. What were they in other lives. But I need your permission if I am to look at yours. May I?" Agnes nodded. Avery closed her eyes and muttered, "I hereby, with Agnes' permission, look at her Book of lives. The past and present together, to determine who she was before. The soul before, the soul present, together as one, forever timeless." A book floated in front of Agnes. Avery took it and read it, flipping a few pages. "Each book shows how long, and how many lives you have left. You are, roughly halfway. When you reach that point you either are remade from the ground up as a new soul, or you stay in Elysium forever." Avery explained. She flipped to the middle, ran her finger down. Avery smiled and shut the book, it evaporated into thin air.
"Agnes, tell them about your visions." Agnes told the council everything, the visions of the metal bronze man. A casino, a brother with N for his name. Something about the angel. Her mother dying in an explosion. When she finished the gods and goddesses were staring at her.
"Just as I suspected." Avery said with a smile on her face. The book rematerialized. "Just to be sure..." Avery hummed. She smirked. "Found it. Those visions you had Agnes, were those of your past life. Your most recent one. Welcome back to the living, Agnes Z B Nightshade, the reborn soul of...
...Bianca Di Angelo."
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