I had ya worried, did I? Well fear not, because today is a public holiday in my country. I say in my country because it celebrates freedom and historic stuff that happen today a long time ago. So I'm not sure if your leaders really thought it was important enough that you would rejoice as well. So I updated late because I took that extra day to finish this mega chapter. I planned on finishing it yesterday but I felt like I should keep going...
And sorry if this chapter is a little confusing... because I'm referring to a guy who is actually a girl as a her but everyone is seeing her has a him... sorry if this does your brain in.
●○ DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PERCY JACKSON OR THE MAZE RUNNER ●○
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● THIRD PERSON # ●
Their plan centred on Apollo, but it didn't start with him. Their plan started with the other Olympians.
Gaia had given her new race all the necessary powers and tools they needed to trick the Greek gods. One of those tricks were the power of disguise. They selected certain Revengers to look like the gods with whom they shared similar talents. Each Revenger could use their newly acquired powers to disguise themselves as specific gods and challenge them to... whatever they were good at. But, of course, it had to believable and it had to matter. They couldn't have the Apollo dopple-ganger challenging Hephestus to a Build-A-Rocket-Ship-With-Cupholders-in-30-seconds. It was just not Apollo's domain. And making Apollo 13s with cupholders wasn't one of them.
So Medusa had pulled out her Hello Kitty notepad and jotted down Apollo's domains (along with snakes making the shape of a heart). His domains were as follows: archery, song, poetry, shepherds, cow herds, sun, plagues, medicine, basket weaving and young boys. Most of the other Edíkisi didn't have any kind of talent related to that, or any talent in the opinion of some.
One exception, particularly with respect to archery, however was Kallisto, who was the one who had a burning hared directed towards Zeus. It was hard not to when she got raped by him, then kicked out of the Huntresses of Artemis for not being faithful, transformed into a bear as part of her banishment, and then killed by her very own family.
Eager to utilise her vicious accuracy with her bow, she stuffed herself into the hateful disguise of a male, a gender whom she despised even before Zeus sexually assaulted her, and then a particularly loathsome, male - Apollo. She hijacked a chariot and glammered it until it looked like a Ferrari. She took Pandora with her, who was lounging in the shotgun seat next to her. Pandora was a little over-dressed, with more than half of her bosom tipping over a tight red dress, topped off with a fur jacket and far too much make up. She had, of course, dyed her hair blond, and had gotten a horrible fake tan.
In her disguise, Kallisto had broad shoulders, wind swept blonde hair and a dreamy smile that made her want to puke when she saw it in the car's rear view mirror. How many maidens had been led astray with that smile? How many homes had been laid to ruin? Men -especially Apollo- made her want to skin every slimy man alive and with their hides, make a gigantic picnic blanket. She would have happily picnicked on the blanket, eating sandwiches without having to worry about guys ogling her. But hey, - that's why she had joined the Huntresses in the first place.
She gripped her hands on the reins-or the steering wheel as the mist told everyone but her- and took a calming breath. When she was done with this, it would be out of her hands and then up to Marsyas to carry out the remainder of the plan. And if they did their job properly, then those gods who were saw themselves above justice, so indestructible, would fall from power.
Her body jolted as the wheels hit with speed the mud of the small open space in the forest, and she screeched the cursed vehicle into an accidently dramatic and elegant swerving stop. In front of her were sat her former family, her past murderers, surrounded by a variety of domed tents and a large fires. They were definitely 'roughing' it out in the woods.
Fighting not to wrench the car door off and go charging into the camp, she over-compensated and opened the door very slowly, firing off a heated whisper to Pandora that she was to stay in the car. She heaved herself up, sliding flawlessly out of the impractically low vehicle. She swaggered towards the camp, sunglasses glistening like the snow on the ground. She felt so at home, so comfortable in the wild, it wasn't hard to smile languidly.
The arrival of the car had drew the camp's attention, with everyone watching with ready alertness. Her exit from the ostentatious car and the approaching crunch of her boots drew a stream of girls dressed in an assortment of pyjamas, combat gear and jeans, all of which was silver. The shortest of the camp members stormed forward, growing taller and taller with every step she took until she was at eye height with Kallisto. Artemis looked just like Kallisto had remembered her. Her ginger hair fell into a messy pony tail, her silver eyes looked far too wise for such a young face and her expression, fierce and aggressive. So unlike that pitiful look Kallisto had gotten when she was banished.
"What are you doing here, Apollo? You are only due next week for these monthly 'sessions' of yours," she asked angrily. She seemed to be particularly peeved, probably because she didn't want him to catch any of her Huntresses off-guard.
"Yes, but could I survive another week without seeing my sister? I couldn't possibly have waited a week to see your face. Though, it's quite sad that although we are twins, your beauty does not begin to compare to mine," Apollo said, with working hard to make sure that he sounded like a cheerful and irritating brother. "And, of course, your beautiful sisters. My sisters, you know? Much like how Hera is to Zeus, we are ---".
Although Kallisto thought he was doing a good job of being arrogant, Artemis interrupted her with a scolding tone, "What have I said about respect? Flirt with my huntresses again, and I'll castrate you with a boar's tusk." Artemis stepped forward to shield her inappropriately dressed huntresses behind her.
"Who said I was flirting, lil' sister? I was merely brainstorming ideas, thinking about how things could pan out..." Kallisto gave Artemis a dirty smile, hands fanning out in a surrendering gesture.
Artemis glared at her again, hands gripping her bow like she was convincing herself not to hit her fake brother over the head with it. After moments of tense silence, Artemis sighed in exasperation. "Could you just go, before I grind you into a pulp, just like I usually do."
"Since when have you ever grinded me into a pulp? I beat you at awesomeness and being the all-round alpha twin! You know it's true, lil' sis. You can't handle this!" Kallisto pinched her collar and pulled it a little down to reveal a dark blue muscle shirt beneath. She hoped it looked as arrogant and mannish as she hoped. Artemis had to rise up to the bait. Oh, Gaia, please, please, please, please... she kept chanting in her head.
She almost collapsed in relief when she saw Artemis' jaw harden, eyebrows scowl, eyes burn and hands flex around her bow. "Don't insult me, brother... You know what? I'm sick of you coming here, flirting with my huntresses even though I ask you not to, even though you know I'll get mad, even though you know that all my huntresses have hatred for the likes of you! Of you and your kind! You come here and -"
Artemis' jaw flexed and her grip was white knuckled as she took several calming breaths. But even after that, her shoulders were still trembling with effort and her voice came out in a gravelly hiss. "Let's see who is oh so superior. I challenge you to an archery duel. It's been a long time coming and it's time to settle this once after all, little brother. If I win, I get to castrate you. When it grows back, I do it again. For the next decade," she smiled sadistically. She folded her arms over her chest while her companions giggled and made sounds of approval. The man-hating part of Kallisto (which was all of her) wanted to grin, imagining Apollo getting the punishment he so richly deserved. But because Apollo couldn't have appeared pleased at the notion of his sister stripping him of his manhood, she pulled her face so as to look horrified.
"Whaaaaat? That's my manhood, lil' sis! My pride and joy! You can't do that! Pick another punishment!" she pretended to balk, trying to determine whether Apollo should go to his knees or not. Would that be too much? Would he start crying and plead with her to change her bet if Artemis beat him?
"All the more reason," Artimis replied evenly. "You ignore my rules in regards with my huntresses. The decade of castration will stay." Artemis smirked, her jaw jutting out stubbornly.
Kallisto felt a swirl of conflicting feelings twist in her stomach. Artemis was once her best friend, someone who shared her love for the wild, hatred for the male half of the population and an obsession with archery. Kallisto had loved Artemis for the mother, sister, friend, leader that she had been. But Artemis was also the one who, despite knowing that she had been raped and had gotten pregnant as a result, had shamed and punished her. Kallisto hated her for her injustice, being her murderer and a backstabber (although that would have been a mercy instead of being hunted then skinned). But there was that tiny, tiny part of her that tried to justify and rationalise Artemis' actions, a feeling that was nurtured and fanned by her love that would forever remain faithful to Artemis. And this was the reason that she wasn't Artemis' Ekdíkisi. No, her pure blinding hatred was directed at the source of her untimely fate - Zeus. She had not a shred of positive emotion directed to Zeus.
She raised her eyebrows and popped a bright, devious grin as if she just came up with an idea. It was a sentence she had practiced over and over during the last month. "If I win... I get to win the hand of one those of those beautiful ladies behind you. You gave your side of the bet. The challenge was stated... you can't back out now, Smarty Arty. Get it? Smarty Arty? Like as in Artemis Fowl... because that dude was called Arty and he was smart..." Apollo grinned charmingly, although her eyes were serious.
Artemis eyes widened, the grip on the bow twisting as she swung it towards her arrogant twin. Kallisto flinched, her arms raising to protect her face. The edge of the bow halted right in front of her shocked eyes. The metal-tipped wood glistened like diamonds, hard and calculating. Kallisto lowered her splayed hands from her face, and looked at Artemis with a deliberately bewildered look on her face. Apollo's twin's eyes were so murderous that the trees trembled and in the distance, wolves and other animals howled in agony. Red tinted her face as she took heaving, cooling breaths.
"I am going to change my bet. If I win - when I win - my huntresses and I are going to flog you live on Hephestus TV. Thalia, prepare a shooting range before I put my reward into action right now," she growled, her muscles trembling hard and her entire form glowing a harsh silver that hurt Kallisto's sunglass-protected eyes. She gave Kallisto a glare that would have flayed her flesh off her quivering bones. She spun so aggressively that mud splattered fake Apollo's designer jeans. Kallisto gave a whine of irritation, becquse that's what Apollo would do if he saw the demin ruined by nature. That made Artemis spin and slam a shoe into her gut.
The air whooshed out of her lungs, but she didn't fall. She couldn't be weak and fall down like a human. So she grinned sarcastically in response. "When I don't want to have a decade of castration, I'm not allowed to complain. But just I just want to show one girl a good time, you have a temper tantrum. You know what? I think I feel a Haiku coming on... A-"
"NO! Don't speak another word, or I'm going to murder you! I am literally going to shoot you between those stupid eyes!" Artemis screamed, throwing her bow away in disgust and frustration.
She then charged away, disappearing into a sea of nervous eyes.
Fake Apollo gave a charming smile at Artemis' hostile followers, and winked at them before she headed for her fake Sun Chariot. She groaned in relief as her muscles loosened. She hadn't realised how stressed she'd been during the whole conversation.
"So how's it going?" Kallisto almost launched herself out through the sunroof in surprise. Then she remembered Pandora had been sitting in the car while she played Apollo. Pandora was the Eldíkisi of Aphrodite because it was Aphrodite who had a big role in her creation, and the one who had come up with the stupid but successful idea of getting the box opened and having her husband's family blamed. It was her fault that the Christians thought that what happened to Eve (Pandora's equivalent) was proof that women were stupid and weak and it was a result of this action of Aphrodite that the world was ruled by men. In fact, Kallisto wouldn't have minded taking Pandora's place as Aphrodite's Revenger because she also harboured considerable hatred for the goddess of love. It was Aphrodite's fault that her father had cast her out for not wanting marry any of the slobbering idiots he had presented to her. Like she was a pure bred horse to be trophied by male a$$holes, a slab of meat to be auctioned off and consumed.
Kallisto wighed before listing off the conditions of the situation. "She's going to compete, she's completely livid, along with her crew. It's going fine. But you better lipstick my face up quickly. We may need to move fast when Artemis is ready. Which could be now," she said curtly, trying not to feel awkward.
Pandora leaned forward, making her breasts look even more precariously close to popping out of her dress. She pressed her lips all over fake Apollo's face, smearing lipstick. Kallisto wanted to sink into oblivion, to just not exist, to just die. The last time she had been kissed by a girl, he/she had turned out to be Zeus disguised as Artemis.
After torturous seconds of slobbery kissing, the reflection that stared back at Kallisto was blushing like a furnace and the bottom half of his handsome face red with lipstick stains. Pandora reapplied her lipstick and re-adjusted her revealing dress. Kallisto tousled Apollo's hair, harassed her collar so it looked like Apollo been woman-handled.
"APOLLO!!! COME OUT YOU BASTARD!!!!" a feminine voice screamed murderously. Kallisto took a deep breath and put on Apollo's signature arrogant grin on her face. She stretched herself out of the chariot the same time Pandora did.
"If I'm a bastard, what does that make you?" she asked cockily.
Artemis scowled further. Her eyebrows made one enraged stripe across her scrunched up face. But, being a goddess, she still remained beautiful, not physically uglied by anger and hatred as humans were. Kallisto wondered if that rule applied to her now that she wasn't mortal anymore.
"Come. Let's finish this," Artemis growled. She led (stalked more like) to a clearing. There was not a target in sight, but she knew that this would be some distance away. And because they were the gods of archery, they both could shoot accurately over countries.
As if confirming her suspicion, Artemis stated that the targets were all in the South Pole. Then she promptly evaporated, before Kallisto did, teleporting to the cold expanse of ice. In the centre of the barren, white landscape, there were two round target boards that stared at her like bloodshot eyes. One of them was silver and clean, while the other was punctured and had graffiti like 'Apollo Sux' and 'Z+Nobody 4ever' in a heart.
"Hit it in the centre. I've got girls here who are going to be measuring exactly," she gestured to two girls who stood alongside her and whom were so swaddled in furs, that they hardly looked human. "We shoot from back at camp. Winner flogs you. When I say winner, I mean me. I'm not sure if you were familiar with the term if it doesn't have Apollo in it. "
Kallisto shrugged and then gestured to the furry girls and flirted obnoxiously. "So modestly dressed. I can't even see your beautiful eyes. So mysterious, babe." Then she winked at them and quickly teleported before Artemis could hit her again.
They came back to the same place they had been earlier. The only difference was that the clearing was rimmed with fierce looking girls. Pandora was leaning against a tree, her ripe beauty paled horribly amongst the ethereal maidens. In her hand, she held a golden bow that wasn't really Apollo's authentic godly weapon, but rather a glamoured weapon. If anyone stopped to think, they would have realised that Pandora shouldn't been able to hold one. It would burn her hands right off.
Kallisto glared at her subtly, and Pandora realised her mistake with an elongated face. She galmoured the weapon further by wrapping it in hide. Kallisto swaggered towards her, arms outstretched to reach for the wrapped bow. She stripped off and dropped the fabric onto the ground. It was warm to her touch, the calluses of her hand fitted so perfectly with its handle. It was a part of her, her flesh, bone and soul.
"Get to your positions!" Artemis' lieutenant barked. Kallisto quickly jogged to the designated spot two metres away from where the moon goddess had stood proudly, her back facing him. With their bows and arrows pointing in the same direction, the lieutenant shouted. " 1... 2... 3... FIRE!"
Kallisto pulled at her bowstring, muscles flexing against the resistance. The arrow soared past from her curved fingertips as naturally has her own breath exited her lungs. The light glinted off its shimmering shaft as it disappeared like a wink into the clouds.
By that point, the shaft had evaporated. Seconds later, it would reappear from the slate grey sky of the Antarctica. The golden arrow lagged behind the diamond shaft as it sliced through the air and speared the targets.
Immediately a circle of she-warriors, a revealing girl, a silver women and a golden man appeared on the snowing landscape. Everything was still, so still it could have been a black and white photograph. Nature seemed to be holding its breath as if suddenly it understood the weight of the situation. Dancing snow stopped their celebrating. The sky stopped shifting, feeling the scent of danger.
Everything was quiet.
The two divine beings swore on the river of Styx that the reward will be carried out, that there had been no cheating (good thing the Ekdíkisi were on good terms with Tartarus. He would bail them out of a horrible fate), the results would be accurate and that the loser nor the winner would harbor any ill will or inflict further harm to the other.
Two girls tentively crept toward the targets, who would usually be excited if there were a boys VS girls competition, but were terrified that if Apollo would pick them if he won.
The took out their bright yellow tape measures. Artemis' arrow was 2 millimetres away from the dead centre. And Apollo's was... dead accurate.
They remeasured about ten times, despair ripping their hearts apart. The little ones, the ones who had their experiences with males more fresh in their minds, were crying into the arms of their sisters who stared at fake Apollo with unrestrained hatred in their stony faces.
Kallisto was smiling smugly. But there was some guilt that burned in her chest for bringing this suffering to these girls who had done her no ill. But this would be a small but vital step to a godless future. A better future.
Yes, she was also felt ashamed that she had been reduced to cheating. Using some of the intervention powers she had acquired, she had altered Artemis' arrow's path, and used the same magic to make sure that hers hit the perfect centre of the red inner circle.
"You won, baby! Come here!" Pandora charged at her (which was extraordinary in those pillar high heels in snow) with her enlarged boobs bouncing so much it looked like they could hit her on her face. Kallisto silently prayed for mercy before Pandora slammed into her, arms wrapped around her neck and her waist. She planted a gigantic kiss on fake Apollo's mouth.
"See, babe? I told you I was awesome at archery!" Kallisto tried to say, but it sounded more like "Ee, abe? A oh yu a us awwwum a arery!" Then Kallisto tried to push her off as politely as possible, but was blistered by the blubbering questions that erupted from Pandora.
"What did you win? Do I get a giant stuffed polar bear? You got me giant polar bear!" Pandora squealed, ignoring fake Apollo's attempts to correct her. "I want one of those really fluffy ones! I want it to call it Apollokins, after you! My soul mate-"
"I wouldn't call us soul mates, more like bed mates-" Kallisto tried to halt her rambling.
"And he should have these big round ears and cute innocent eyes-" Pandora continued.
"We both know I'm not innocent-" Kallisto tried again.
"It would be awesome if it had a heart stitched on its chest-"
"I AM NOT WINNING A PANDA!"
"Polar bear," Pandora corrected.
"No, I'm getting a new girlfriend, you harpy!" Kallisto snapped. Pandora's face dropped, her arms lowering as she deflated.
"Bu-bu- I'm your girlfriend. We were going to have kids..." Pandora started to tear, and Kallisto had to remind herself that Pandora was acting. The heartbreak that made her hazel eyes look so... heart-breaking.
Kallisto reminded herself that she was also acting. She turned to Artemis, as if forgetting Pandora's existence. Artemis was red in the face, having witnessed the heart of a female - her responsibility - being discarded like a carcass. She wanted to rip off her brother's face, to rip off that deceitful face to show the world what he truly was - a monster.
Suddenly there was a scream of rage, and an arrow whizzed past Apollo's ear. Artemis instinctively dodged, but her expression wasn't angered by almost being shot in the face as she watched her lieutenant marching towards them and thrust her weapon against Apollo's cheek.
The sky crackled, the sky bubbling as it was jolted out of it terrified stillness.
Thalia's hair under her tiara was thrashing in the wind. Her eyes mirrored Artemis', glowing in rage.
"Get out! Go, you son of a-" she thundered. The sky roared in agreement.
Kallisto forced herself to keep a calm demeanour, her face still smiling. "No celebration of my victory? Such sore losers, you all are. What happened to sportsmanship?" Her question hung unanswered. "Tough crowd. Well, I'll just grab my prize and get going," fake Apollo said it like he was just picking up his phone that he forgot at a friend's house.
Artemis was still thinking of ways to kill him, but there wasn't much she could do because of her oath. She bowed her head, so vulnerable from defeat that she felt all her defences fall along with her tears. She didn't want to let any of her hunters go. It was like asking her to cut off her hand and feed it to the maggots.
Fake Apollo, however was strolling along the line of hunters, like he would down the aisle of a grocery store. Sickening minutes passed, with Kallisto eyeing up each of the girls and getting saliva spat into his face. Artemis generally wanted to strangle him whenever his eyes scanned a girl's body appreciatively, but she absolutely wanted to destroy him when he so much as looked at her huntresses. She had made one of the girls hold her bow in case she broke her oath and tried to claim her prize even though she hadn't won. But how could she have not won? She had more experience than Apollo in archery, because she hunted every day. He had only about an eighth of the training that she had. And that eighth was less about practice and more about showing off his skill, killing people who disrespected him.
Artemis suspected foul play, but Apollo was as bound by the ancient laws as she was. He swore on the River of Styx that he hadn't cheated, and he was still standing there looking as arrogant as the day he was born (and before that).
Kallisto made a big deal of deliberating his choice, but the choice was already made when the plan was originally conceived.
"I have chosen, lil' sis. It was a hard decision, but I believe it is the right one," Kallisto drawled. Practically all the girls were crying now, all of them convinced it would be them who would be taken away from their family. They were standing in a perfectly straight line, their arms wrapped around their chests, protecting their bodies from Apollo. Kallisto had never felt so guilty, like her blood was cold as thing she was doing now. She imagined herself standing there, remembering how her father had presented her to a slimy old man. Nobody deserved that fate. But the one who was to be chosen would be given everything she needed and more. She would not be touched if Kallisto could help it.
Fake Apollo fixed his collar, and wiped his face to rid it of any remnants of Pandora's affection. "I know you're all eager to know which lucky girl gets to be my one and only - well at least, for a short while," she winked, "and girls, try not to be jealous. You're all so beautiful, and I would gladly be with you all if I could. But sadly, my arms are only so big. Not all of you can handle my awesomeness. So I have chosen your finest, your strongest, the one who said I was 'hot' the last time I talked to her... Thalia Grace."
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Kallisto's life before she joined the Hunters is made up. I did research but that was after I wrote it and I didn't feel like changing it for something as unreliable as Wikipedia that says that she was a nymph. So in this story she was a mortal whose father was willing to give her to a old guy. Then she ran away.
BOOK OF THE WEEK: Percy Jackson and the Greek Gods by Rick Riordan - This isn't me being sarcastic like I was when I recommended Maze Runner. All the Ekdíkisi come from that book, I made sure of it. So if you want to catch wind of what's going to happen in this book, you can read it. And if you want some epic Persassy. And it's really funny. I've read it 3 times.
○ PUBLISHED: 27 April 2015 ○