I didn’t know what to expect as I heard the loud knock come a second time, but as I looked out the window, I realized it was too dark to see who it was. I looked back to the curled up, sleeping body of Cat lying beside me and decided it was best if I dealt with this. I stood, making sure to cover cat with one of the fur blanket laying beside the couch to keep her warm before manuveuring my way to the door. I made it there using the dim light from the candles spread through the house and, before opening the door, quickly grabbed a knife from the kitchen table. I open the door just enough to peer out, fearing the worst, but let out a sigh of relief as Artemis pushed open the door past me.

“Isn’t it rude in human culture to let someone wait on your doorstep?” Artemis asked as she walked towards the living room with me following close behind, pausing to drop the knife off in the kitchen. When I walked back into the living room, I saw the spectacle that is Artemis sitting much similar to how Cat was, but with Cat in her lap instead of me as Artemis looked down at her smiling. “She’s the only child I kept and raised…..Apollo said when she was growing up that she looked just like me and I just wanted her to be better than me…..she sees something in you that no one else can and we are no putting our entire faith in you, so it’s only right that I do my part in helping prepare you for what’s to come. I am here to train you in hand to hand combat so that you can protect yourself when the war truly breaks out.” Artemis stood at this point and put her hand on my shoulder reassuringly, but suddenly started to squeeze very roughly, hard enough to feel my shoulder ready to pop out of the socket. “But know that if you dare hurt my daughter, you won’t live long enough to regret it.” She let go at this point causing me to exhale sharply, not realizing I had been holding my breath to begin with, to which Artemis smiled and even laughed a little at.

The sound of her mother’s laughter caught Cat’s attention, and as she arose from her light sleep, she stretched out before walking to my side and yawning adorably. At this point I don’t know what compelled me to say it, but it the words just seemed to slip from my mouth. “You don’t have to worry, I couldn’t hurt her, not with how I feel.” I felt my face turned a shade deeper as I realized what I had said, but this only made the same happen to Cat as Artemis smiled. She quickly moved to the door and turned her head back towards me as she left.

“Come to my house in one hour prepared to fight for your life, or you’ll die before you can prove those words to me.” Cat’s eyes widened at her mother’s words as she realized why she had visited.

“Wait, my mom is going to train you?!” I shrugged before stretching out my arms and casually wrapping one around her shoulders, causing her to pause for minute and pull me close, before stepping back and resuming her pout. “That’s so unfair! Hand to hand combat was the one thing she would never train me in. I had to ask my uncle to teach me and now you get to train with her? Ugh, you are getting hurt later for this, I hope you know that.” She smiled towards the end of words as I realized she was joking around so I pulled her close and started to tickle her a little before heading back to the living room to prepare to leave. Cat helped me stretch and taught me a few basic fighting stances and how to block and absorb a punch before we left, but I had the sneaking suspicion that she knew this wouldn’t end well for me. It took us only a few minutes to ride Lukos to near the other side of Mt Olympus where Artemis sat in front of what looked to be a miniature coliseum. She had changed her attire from her normal hunting attire to a set armored braces and shin guards along with a normal tank top and fur form-fitting pants, and as we moved forward she put her hand up, causing Cat to stop walking.

“Catarsus you may come in, but understand that once you do, you are just as much apart of this as he is. If you still insist, make sure to stay near the edge so as to not interfere.” She turned to me at this point as she took a few steps back, putting herself into the center of the coliseum, before speaking to me directly.” Understand that once we begin, the only way to stop will be to kill me……or to die. If you hesitate in the slightest, I will end your life, and you must fight with that knowledge for the rest of your days. So when you come at me, come at me with everything you have.” She smiled at these last words before putting up her fists in an unorthodox fighting stance with her feet spread apart and her left foot slight behind her right. Her hands went to just below her neck and she seemed to rock back and forth on the balls of her feet in preparation for what was to come. I took a deep breath and nodded once before putting my hands just below my nose about six inches away from my face. I separated my feet a little and started moving towards Artemis, but as I reached the center of the coliseum, she started side to side with her light bouncing, much to my confusion. I decided it would be best to try to get a good hit in early so I timed her bounces and swung with a swift jab towards her rib cage at the height of her bounce.

This couldn’t have gone farther from my hopes as I watched, almost in slow motion, as Artemis’s hands opened and snaked around my forearm. In the same instant her hand were wrapping around my hand, her feet pushed up from the ground as she used her momentum, as well as my own, to rotate and then flip me over her head towards the ground. I was too amazed by what I was watching and, to my fear, I quickly realized I wasn’t flipping onto my back but onto exposed face in an attempt to snap my neck. If I had realized it any later than I had, I might not have had enough time to my chin to my chest and take the brunt of the collision in to the back of my head. As the rest of my body caught up to my now pounding head, I landed with a thud onto my back, only to see that Artemis still had my arm locked and looked down at me with anger. “Why are you going easy on me! Use that power you used against Cronus damn you!” She swiftly brought a knee down onto my chest as I felt all the air in my lungs rush out and could hear a few of my ribs break from the impact. Cat, having the watched the whole thing stood up quickly, preparing to step in, but was stopped Artemis turned her gaze upon Cat. “Don’t you dare intervene or I will kill him right now!” This rose Cat to her place, allowing Artemis to return her attention to me as she lifted her knee off and through my arm aside before stepping back. “You have to use your powers, if you don’t you will die and all that has been said about you will go to waste. Now get up and do it again, attack me with everything you have!”

My breathing was labored and my head was clouded, but I couldn’t do anything but stand and fight. This was my only option now and I wasn’t going to go out without giving it everything I had, so I slowly stood and raised my hands yet again. Over the next 15 minutes, Artemis proceeded to attack me with everything she had, mercilessly using every ounce of her strength to try to bring out the power I used against Cronus, but nothing seemed to work. To make matters even worse for her, I kept getting back up. Artemis knew that the attacks she was using were crippling my body. I shouldn’t have been awake after five minutes, let alone still trying to fight after 15. As she looked back towards me trying to stand up after her latest barrage, something clicked in her head. I stood emotionlessly, my breathing ragged as I tried to assess the situation. My head felt like it was split open and I’m sure it must have been at this point with the beating it had taken. All I can smell and taste is blood and I’m with all my might not to drown in it, but my right arm won’t work properly anymore to wipe the blood away from my face. My legs were having trouble standing against the wind at this point, but something inside me told me I couldn’t stop, so I raised my left arm shakily and prepared for her next attack, but it never came.

“You are a waste of time, and we as gods made the wrong decision in letting you live. You are not the one who will help us in our time of need and I am done playing these games with you!” A wave of relief washed through my body that I didn’t expect to come as my left arm dropped to my side. I had no more energy to move and simply stood there breathing heavily as she continued. Cat, listening to all of this quickly started moving towards me, but was stopped by what Artemis said next. “You wasted our time and my own daughter’s life! She stood up for you and now will fall all because you couldn’t protect her like you said you would.” Cat’s eyes widen as she watched in fear as Artemis turned and moved towards her. Artemis hated that it had come to this, but I had left her with no choice. She knew this was how to get to me after what happened in the courtroom and she prayed it worked again.

My body was broken down, but my mind and my heart were still with me, so when I heard Artemis say Cat was going to die, I felt something change. The sign on my palm started to beat in time with my own heartbeat, but I didn’t know why I was still awake. I could feel power spreading down to my legs, but most of it stayed in my hand as I looked up and saw Artemis heading for Cat. This was all it took as nothing else seemed to matter to me. I could hear a soft whisper coming from within my soul that told me everything I needed to know.

“Do you want Cat to die?” Artemis was only a few feet away from Cat when she felt something powerful coming closer to her. Had Artemis not turned to her left when she did, she might have died, but as it went, she turned just in time to see me pulling back with my left hand, glowing a bright yellow, before throwing it with all my might towards her head. Artemis wasn’t just strong, she was quick and cunning, so this straight forward attack was easy for her to dodge even when she was caught off guard. She quickly moved her hands up in front of her face and push my hand to the right, just missing her. It was at this point that Artemis watched with wide eyes as the air around my hand seemed to combust right beside her face. The combustion itself was silent and unnoticeable, but what was noticeable was Artemis who was sent sprawling to the ground several feet away from where I stood. Cat could only watch with fear as I too fell to my knees and passed out soon after.

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