DA : Chapter 155: Darkest Hour IV

"Still going to try and escape?" Jason asked but only got a snarl back as Apollo suddenly switched his sword into his bow and start firing away golden arrows.

...

Jason wasn't daunted though as he gripped Revelation with both hands before swiftly swinging his sword, cutting threw arrow after arrow while steadily closing in on Apollo.

Once he was only a few paces away he rushed forward while bringing his wings out and using them to shield him from some of the arrows. The moment he was close enough he swung out, the edge of his blade digging into the Celestial bronze bow before knocking it out of the way and disarming the god.

Jason followed up with another swing, this time aiming low and scoring a cut along Apollo's thigh as the god cried out in pain. Using that distraction Jason lashed out with his left hand, grabbing the god by the throat and slamming him into a tree. He watched as Apollo struggled and clawed at his hand even as the god's face remained upturned, his eyes never leaving the moon seen through the break in the trees.

Jason glanced back as well, seeing the smoking craters and cuts marring the surface, feeling the two unique signatures of power even from here. He bet the mortals seeing this from their telescopes were having a field day right about now. He then looked back at Apollo and sighed in frustration.

After all his training and efforts, fighting an opponent that couldn't even focus on him was disappointing. However, his musing were cut short as he felt another presence approaching him, making him look back and ignore the god thrashing in his grip.

Out of a break in the trees he saw her approach. Almost a mirror copy of her daughters. Dark and intense brown eyes, tanned skin with dark brown, nearly black hair framing a rather sharp face. Athletic build emphasized in her roman style, Imperial gold armor as her gladius remained primed at her side and shield at the ready.

"Bellona," Jason greeted curtly before looking back to Apollo and wondering how he could fight the approaching goddess and still make sure Apollo didn't escape him.

Luckily it seemed he didn't need to concern himself with such matters as he felt an arrival via shadow travel, one that soon made herself known as she stepped out of the shadow close to him, her lavender eyes nailed to the Roman goddess.

"I'll handle her Jason," Andromeda said as she slowly walked forward, dressed in her own battle clothes similar to her Valkyries with her knives already on hand.

Bellona's eyes shifted over to Andromeda, her posture still guarded as she eyed the winged goddess wearily. It was already known what domains Andy controlled and in other circumstances, seeing a Love goddess fighting in war would have been laughable, but not now. Even if Bellona hadn't seen Andy actually fight and her only former appearance had been once they captured Athena, the power surrounding her along with her obviously trained stance spoke volumes of how dangerous Andromeda actually was.

Still, Jason didn't bother looking as he heard the rush of wind following Andy's charge, or the echoing collision from where the goddesses met. His gaze simply fell on Apollo and not a moment too soon as he saw the golden dagger having formed in Apollo's hand. Sadly he couldn't react in time other than use his free hand to block the knife, watching as the Imperial gold blade pierced through his palm with a splash of his platinum ichor.

He grimaced in pain but didn't let go of Apollo's neck as he looked at the dagger impaled through his left hand before glaring back at Apollo. With a slight shuffle his wings twitched before the top most feather slimmed down. Without any warning his wing curled and lunged forward, impaling Apollo through the forearm and to the tree as the god screamed before Jason tightened his hold choking him off.

'Percy, you'd better hurry up,' he thought as he let the natural lightning in him to coarse out, shocking the god in his grip as he glanced back and up, seeing how darkness and shadows were starting to cover the celestial body…

...

( Artemis POV )

Pain.

She thought she knew pain. Millennia of facing vicious monsters, fighting and hunting some of the titans that escaped the first war, then the Giant War. She'd been stabbed, cut, and suffered all manner of broken bones in that time.

But that fire, nothing compared to it. She'd only been grazed with it so far, in passing cuts and hits that just barely ate past her suite and contacted her skin before fizzling out every time. Yet she almost screamed in agony every time, only made worse whenever he directly touched her. It was just so cold and yet, it burned in turn as well.

Fear.

That was something she also knew, much to her shame and anger. She'd been scared for herself and little family during those first years after her birth and wondering if Hera would leave them alone or not. She'd feared what would happen to her hundreds of times until she built up the wall of aggression and strength that kept her safe.

She even recalled a distant memory and the sheer terror of the time when she had been so new to Olympus and nearly been raped before her own aunt Hestia had come to her aid. Never before had she been so scared and felt so defenseless as Hestia turned that long since dead god into charcoal, showing just why Hestia had been feared during the first war.

And yet that just didn't compare to now. Her heart felt like it was being forced to pump from within a vat of ice water, her entire body shaking and sweating as she didn't even fight to kill anymore. No. Now her every action was simply in the desperate bid to survive even as whatever hope she held slowly wilted away.

That demon wouldn't allow anything else.

Her back skidded along the barren grounds of the moon as her cheek screamed from the pain, feeling both as if it was burning and rapidly numbing as well. Finally she came to a stop and just laid there for a moment, looking out to the endless space and sole floating planet. However she had no time to try and admire the view as she quickly flipped over and got up on shaky legs.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

She could hear his every step as he close in, the very sound taunting her as she looked back and had to bite back a whimper of fear. There was Jackson, in all his dark glory as his eyes remained trained on her.

The pressure he was giving off was suffocating, making it hard for her to even breath and was now even starting to create a pressure dip around him. His every simple step crushed the ground beneath him, the loose rocks and pebbles being pulverized from his overwhelming power. Her every fight or flight instinct was screaming at her but sadly, flight wasn't possible, she'd already tried but ran into a barrier she had no hope of breaking.

So that left fight with everything she possibly had.

And she did just that, aiming her bow on him and letting loose without another word. In seconds dozens of silvery bolts were already on top of him, each with enough explosive power to level entire city blocks.

But this wasn't like before. He knew what they were, what they could do … and how to respond to it. With both swords drawn he moved forward, his casual walk turning into a near sprint even as he swung. She watched as he danced in and out of the arrows, seamlessly cutting through them or dodging by just the smallest margins as he rapidly approached her.

Her firing got desperate as she backpedaled but he just got faster, moving with such speed that her eyes could only make out shadowed after-images. Then, from within the salvo he paused, just long enough for her to see his face. She saw that smirk. The next moment his movement speed doubled and he closed the distance between them while she barely managed to fire three more arrows, the last of which he cut down the length just as it left her bow.

"Too slow," he chuckled as he knocked her bow off aim before spinning as he kneeled, part of his wing slapping her across the face before she felt the sting of his sword dig into her shin.

She screamed as her nerves ignited, only catching a glimpse of small flecks of black fire coating around the cut before it tapered off leaving a crudely cauterized wound. His chuckled endlessly echoed around her and in her head as desperation took control. With him so close her bow was tossed aside as her knives encased in solid moonlight to make them into swords appeared and she swung.

She was simply outclassed though.

Silver blades clashed with obsidian black ones, colliding and sparking as the backlash of the force cut and crushed the ground around them. She tried to use one blade strike to hide the sister one but each ploy was seen through and countered and as the exchange continued she felt tiny cuts get scored against her.

One moment she thought she blocked a chop from the katana and next thing, the sword was already moved again and stabbed by her side and then slashed as it was pulled back, effortlessly cutting into her suite and slicing into the bone.

"Come on goddess, there has to be more!" he roared as he stepped back only to jump and bring the katana swinging down.

She brought her swords together in a cross to block, bracing for the pain she knew would come down on her arms and legs going by the monstrous strength of the attack.

However, it was a very different pain that met her as she watched, almost too shocked to really register, as the katana sliced through both swords and continued on. It was only by her reflexes that she pulled back in time but it wasn't enough to completely escape as the sword cut into her middle of her collarbone and continued down, trailing down at an angle towards the center before pulling back just at the end of her sternum.

"AAAHHH!" she screamed as she threw herself on her back, clawing at the agony erupting along her chest as she watched the flames eat into the suite and her flesh alike for only a few seconds that felt like hours before they faded out. Only with the quick numbing of the pain following allowed her to steady herself enough to check how badly the injury was.

The sight revealed horrified her as she realized the sword had not cut all the way passed the bone of her chest and ribs, possibly intentionally on Percy's part, but still the damage was significant.

The silver suite and Celestial bronze scales meshed into it had been cut and burned away to reveal a good portion of her frostbitten skin and cleavage. Several muscles connections for her left pectoral were severed near the sternum, cutting the strength of her left arm by half at least. She could also see a dense layer of fatty tissue meaning her actual breast had been cut into as well, if only slightly.

Realizing that such an attack would not only scar but had mutilated a such a part of her anatomy pushed Artemis further into desperation as she struggled to get up. However, again her instincts saved her as she ducked and spun, strands of cut hair rapidly falling around her thanks to the pressure both were exerting as she looked at him.

The way his eyes narrowed on her, that small and yet predatory smirk with the point of his fangs peeking out made her feel like a trapped rabbit and both knew it. She wasn't thinking anymore, just reacting, and that led her to lash back even if futile.

Her right arm, covered in little nicks and cuts sailed forward, the fist brimming with silver divine energy in a wild cross. Her senses pushed to the limit she watched as her fist moved closer to his face, a speck of hope blossoming in her injured chest as she saw the distance closing.

Until … he made eye contact with her.

===================

Don't forget to throw some power Stones, to keep the story going.

...

if you want to support me or just to read ahead of the public release, you can join my p@treon :

p atreon/Moonhorse