chapters 191-195

chapters 191-195

–A week later–

[Layla of the Fallen: Angel of Hope, Death's Favored]

[Level: 56]

[Sacred Gears: Purger of Darkness, Orb of Anywhere]

[HP: 13000]

[MP: 10000]

[Faith Energy: 23]

[Vigor: 800]

[Strength: 170]

[Intelligence: 1000]

[Luck: 150]

[Skills: Observe 4, Angelic Mastery 4, Acting 4, Light Manipulation 7, HP to MP Conversion, Mana Burst, Senjutsu 2, Six Paths, Susanoo 1]

[Perks: Never Tell Me the Odds, Lucky Shot, Mana Replenisher, ]

[Drawbacks: Sin of Lust]

[Available Free Stat Points: 0]

[Skill Up Point: 0]

I was looking over my stats as we rode the elevator down. It had been a while since I'd made any gains, but I was sure I would be making quite a bit later today.

The elevator reached the lowest level and our group stepped out.

"Right this way. This is where we've been keeping Artemis. She's been a lot more docile compared to Ares. He's now at over 40 escape attempts. Artemis gave up after only three." Agent Coulson said as he led Hela and I through the halls of SHIELDs current HQ. We were currently in the deepest level where they kept their most dangerous prisoners. The only ones that they currently even had down here were Ares and Artemis though.

We arrived in front of a clear cell that was very similar to the one that SHIELD held Loki in during the first Avengers movie. Except this one wasn't thousands of feet in the air. Artemis was inside the cage.

[She looks like she's seen better days...]

Artemis was sitting on the floor clutching her knees to her chest. Her formerly beautiful silver hair looked disheveled and was full of split ends. Her eyes were rapidly darting in every direction as she muttered to herself while rocking back and forth. She looked utterly deranged...

"We're not sure why she turned out like this. We haven't even tried to interrogate her yet and we've been giving her plenty of food and water." Agent Coulson said. "Frankly, we're at a loss."

Artemis finally noticed there were people outside of her cell. She sat up rapidly and stared at us! "It's you! The one who placed this collar on me! Please, I can't feel my Moon! Let me feel my Moon!" She begged while staring directly at me. "I'll do anything! You wanted to collar me? Make me your woman!? I'll be your woman! Let me feel my Moon again!" Artemis begged before she slumped back down and started sobbing to herself.

[Wow...I think you broke her.]

"Did I do that to her?" I asked out loud. All I did was seal away her powers. I didn't think she would end up going crazy because of that.

Hela scoffed. She stepped forward to get a better look at Artemis in her cell. "She's only been cut off from her divinity for a mere week and she's already fallen to such a pathetic state? And she thinks she's worthy of being with Layla on top of that? Ridiculous!" Hela spat out. "She is not worthy. I was cut off from Asgard for hundreds of years and never turned out like this sad excuse for a goddess."

"Gods can turn out like this when they are cut off from their domains?" I asked Hela. I wondered what Ares currently looked like then?

"Weak Gods can." Hela explained, "This Olympian Goddess has clearly never struggled with anything in her entire existence. She has never known hardship and anything she has ever wanted has been handed to her by her father."

"That would make sense. She's supposed to be one of Zeus's favorites isn't she?" Coulson asked. "At least, according to mythology."

"She's supposed to be. From what I know about Artemis, she spends most of her time playing with her immortal followers. They spend all day and night hunting animals over and over again."

[You would think that would get boring after hundreds of years...]

"That's more than I know about her. I never paid much attention to any other Pantheons that Asgard wasn't at war with." Hela responded. She then turned to me. "You're not going to get any information out of her in this state. Don't even bother. We will send her to Asgard and have the mind healers there fix her first. You can remove her collar as well. She shouldn't have much power on Asgard, so far away from Midgard's moon."

Coulson seemed a bit hesitant to allow Hela to take away Artemis. In the end, he relented because an insane Goddess wasn't useful to anybody. He opened the cell and Hela and I stepped inside. I removed the black chakra sealing collar around her neck. Artemis immediately had a look of relief on her face.

"Thank you! So mu–gah!" Artemis was cut off instantly.

Hela smacked Artemis on the back of her head and she dropped to the ground unconscious. Hela then nonchalantly reached down and picked Artemis up with one hand. I opened a portal to Asgard and Hela nonchalantly tossed Artemis's body through it.

On the other side of the portal, Heimdall was staring at us incredulously. "Uh...2hat would you like me to do with this foreign Goddess, my Queen?"

Hela waved her hand dismissively. "This woman dared to claim that she was worthy of being with my beloved. Hand her over to my stepmother and see if we can make a proper Lady out of her. A woman who plays around in the woods all day with a bunch of her servants isn't worthy."

"Ok...?" Heimdall said again and bowed. I could tell that he was very confused but dared not go against his new Queen's orders. I closed the portal between our realms and turned back to Coulson.

"Well, that was a bit of a bust. Looks like we couldn't get any last minute information about Olympus." I said. That was the whole reason we were currently down in this prison in the first place. Luke had decided to flip on Kronos and started telling SHIELD about Camp Half Blood, but he didn't really know anything about Olympus itself. He only snuck in one time and that was with Ares helping him.

Coulson shrugged. "It is what it is. In this job, you find more failure than success. Are you two ready to start your part of the plan?" He asked. "And is it just going to be the two of you?"

"Hmph! Just us will be more than enough!" Hela said proudly. "I have no doubt in my mind that I can suppress Zeus on my own. Especially considering he has lost his divine weapon to Layla's niece."

Coulson nodded. "Alright then. It'll be all hands on deck in a few hours. Ten minutes after you two enter Olympus, Captain Rogers, Agent Romanoff and Agent Barton will lead our forces to storm Camp Half Blood and rescue all of the kids trapped there."

We had been over this plan multiple times now. All of the Agents were pretty nervous. SHIELD was created to combat the Alien and Supernatural. This was the first time they were ever doing it so openly though. Fury was also using this as an opportunity to build back SHIELD's lost reputation after being so heavily infiltrated by Hydra.

XXX

–Council of the Godheads, Olympus–

"We will now convene this meeting of the Council of the Godheads! Thank you to everyone who could make it. And thank you to our friends in Olympus for volunteering to host the council meeting here." Bast spoke loudly for all to hear. While she preferred to be in her panther form. The other Godheads took her less seriously when she was in animal form. She hated being referred to as some "Minor African Goddess".

"We usually only meet every few hundred years? What is the reason that you and Olympus have pushed this meeting forward?" Nuwa, the mother Goddess of China asked. She was an incredibly beautiful Goddess dressed in silken robes. "Especially since there's not many of us left."

The Council of Godheads used to have many more members, but many Gods disappeared along with the Biblical factions when the world was cut in half. Whether all of those Gods and Goddesses chose to leave or not, none of the remaining members of the council knew. They all suspected that at least a few of the more powerful Gods had to have helped the Biblical God perform his ritual though.

CRACKLE! BOOM!

Thunder echoed over the skies of Olympus. Zeus sat angrily on his throne clenching his teeth. "I don't know about the Kitty, but my Master Bolt has disappeared! Poseidon's brat stole it and must have turned traitor against your Pantheon! Only another God could be hiding the boy from our sight!" He looked around the amphitheater wearily. He believed that one of the Gods or Goddesses in this room was against him. 'Maybe they all were!?' He thought in paranoia!

"My son did no such thing! He was clearly kidnapped by whoever stole your weapon, brother!" Poseidon bellowed back angrily. Rain clouds formed overhead with his fury at being falsely accused.

"Those aren't monsters! They're people! And they have guns!" A young girl cried out and pointed at Steve's group as he approached.

There were many kids of various ages in front of him. Off to the sides, he could see Clint and Natasha's team heading towards the center of the camp as well. The large group of kids in front of his group pointed swords, spears, and bows at him.

"Don't come any closer!" A twelve year old girl stepped forward holding a sword. "I am Annabeth! The daughter of Athena and I'm not afraid to fight you!" She said but Steve could see she was trembling. There were men with guns all around them after all. "What are you all doing here?" She asked.

Steve held his hands up. "It's OK, kids. I am Captain America. I'm here to save you all. You've all been kept prisoner in this camp. Forced to fight monsters or die! That's wrong and your parents are cruel to have done that to you! None of you have to fight anymore." Steve said.

The girl in front of him stared at Steve in shock. "What? We don't have to fight anymore?" The sword in her hand fell to the ground. She had tears forming in her eyes. "You're here to save us?" She asked in disbelief. Steve walked over to her and gave her a hug. She started sobbing softly.

"It's the real Captain America!"

"We can go home!?"

"I can see my mom again!?"

Other kids behind her started exclaiming.

"It's ok," Steve said. "Everything will be fine now!" At this point, the dozens of other kids had all lowered their weapons and many more of them had started crying. Natasha and Clint's groups arrived next to Steve's. All of the agents started preparing to get all of the kids out.

"There's gotta be at least 100 kids here..." Clint muttered. He had children himself and was outraged that all of these kids would have ended up eaten by monsters by the time they were 16 if SHIELD didn't step in here.

"Let's start moving them to the Quinjets. We don't know how long Layla will be able to distract all of the Olympians." Natasha said while looking around. She was getting a feeling that they were being watched.

"..."

"Distract the Olympians? To think that the mortals have grown bold enough to openly challenge the Gods once again!? Perhaps we need to once again annihilate a few cities to show who is truly in charge of this world!" A voice echoed around the camp. It was laced with fury.

Annabeth let go of Steve and wiped her eyes. "It's Lord Dionysus! He sounds mad!"

There was a flash of golden light and a scrappy man wearing a Hawaiian shirt appeared next to Steve and Annabeth. He was glaring at Steve with hatred. "Of course I'm mad you stupid girl! I'm mad that mortals have become so daring!"

Steve pushed Annabeth behind him. All of the kids nearby also started backing away. Their demigod senses were telling them that a fight was inevitable. "Dionysus, the god of wine, parties, and madness?" Steve asked. He had done a bit of reading up on all the Greek Gods before this mission.

Dionysus smiled menacingly. "So you know who I am and you still came here?"

Steve reached behind his back and grabbed his vibranium shield. His other hand settled on the black sword on his waist. That was his trump card that he wouldn't draw just yet. "I know that you and the other Greek Gods have killed countless people. I won't let that stand." He started walking forward. This was his second time fighting a god, but he felt that this time things would go differently. For one thing, he wasn't alone!

Natasha shot forward, far faster than a normal human should be able to move, and tried to punch the God in the face! He casually leaned his head backwards and dodged her blow. He raised his hand to strike back when an arrow flew towards his chest. "Petty tricks!" Dionysus easily caught the arrow out of the air. To his confusion, it started beeping.

Natasha jumped backwards and smirked.

BOOM!

The arrow exploded with the force of a grenade and sent Dionysus stumbling backwards.

XXX

"Get all the children to the Quinjets!" Steve ordered all the soldiers nearby before he decided to join the fight! He started charging towards the disoriented God.

"Get him, Captain America!"

"You can do it!"

The kids were all cheering for him as he gripped his shield tightly and swung it forward. It collided with Dionysus's face with a loud CLANG! The God's head whipped backwards and he let out a curse of pain. Steve followed up with his other hand and punched Dionysus hard in his stomach!

"GAH!" Dionysus felt that blow! "How is a mortal so strong!?"

Steve didn't answer him, though. He kept up his relentless assault and started laying blows into the god with both his fist and shield! Dionysus wasn't exactly a god of combat, and it had been eons since he had last been in a real fight. He couldn't believe that he was currently getting worked over by a mortal!

"ENOUGH!" Dionysus yelled in fury. A golden aura burst around him. He wasn't going to lose to a mortal! He refused! He brought forth all of his power around himself.

Steve could feel an oppressive force emanating from the God. Steve hopped backwards and regrouped with Natasha and Clint. "Looks like he's finally getting serious." Steve said. "When Ares did this, I couldn't fight back anymore."

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "And now?" She reached down and gripped the two black daggers that Layla had given her. Next to her, Clint reached into his quiver and grabbed one of his black arrows.

Steve smiled. He grabbed the black sword on his hip and unsheathed it. He had the blessing of Layla and a weapon that could seal away magic and divinity. "Now... Now I think I'm going to win." He said.

Dionysus laughed in rage. "You're going to win? I don't think so! This is the last straw! I'm tired of managing all the shitty little brats in this camp! After this, I'm going to hunt all of those kids down and kill them all! Then, we Olympians are going to destroy a couple of your human cities. We'll see how you all rise up against us after we kill a few tens of millions of you!"

"Not going to happen!" Steve rushed forwards and swung his black sword at Dionysus.

Dionysus held up his own hand and a bronze blade appeared in his hand. He might not be a god of war, but he still had a weapon at least. He swung it forward and connected it with the human weapon. He expected the mortal's black blade to shatter like glass against his Celestial Bronze. That did not happen!

CLANG!

To Dionysus's shock, the black blade slammed into his celestial bronze sword. What's more, his Celestial Bronze sword actually cracked where the two weapons made contact! "What!?" He exclaimed in shock.

FWISH!

A black arrow flew through the air and slammed into Dionysus's left shoulder. He let out a scream of pain! He lost feeling in his left arm and felt like his Godly power was suddenly being disrupted!

Natasha zipped forward with a black dagger in each hand. She went in to stab his now defenseless left side. She stabbed one dagger directly into his torso and swung the other for his neck. He had talked about casually murdering tens of millions. She wasn't risking taking him alive! Fury had been listening the whole time and had been screaming at them, in their earpieces, to just kill this God!

Dionysus managed to keep his head and ducked backwards right before Natasha's blade hit his neck. He stumbled backwards a few steps. He had a black arrow in his shoulder and a dagger stuck in his side. He coughed in pain and a bit of golden blood spilled from his lips. "What are these black weapons!? How can they hurt me!?" Dionysus tried to teleport away but found that he couldn't! The two weapons stabbing him were disrupting his divine power!

"That's none of your business." Steve said as he strode forward. He was gripping his sword tightly.

"Fine! I'll just rip these things out and find out for myself!" With his right hand he tried to grab the arrow disabling his left shoulder.

FWISH!

"GRAW!" Dionysus screamed again and fell to his knees. A second black arrow, fired by Clint, was stuck in his right shoulder. Now he couldn't move either of his arms and he felt himself grow severely weakened. He glared up hatefully at the human standing over him.

Steve looked down at the God on his knees. "Thousands of kids have been to this camp. You've always been in charge here. All those kids died. Don't you feel anything about that?" Steve asked him.

"Those demigod brats? They were lucky to even be in my divine presence in the first place. So what if they all died. That was their destiny!" Dionysus spat out.

Steve sighed in resignation. "I don't believe in Destiny, but if it is real, yours ends here." Steve swung his black sword sideways! Dionysus's head fell to the ground. He was slain by a human blessed with an Angel's Light, who was wielding an anti-magic blade. There would be no resurrecting in Tartarus for Dionysus...

For the first time in history, a god had truly been slain by a mortal.

XXX