The Shadow Knight,

Chapter 2,

Zeus spoke out shakily.

"Who are you?" He asked firmly with a hint of uncertainty. The intruder stood there in silence for a couple of minutes before he opened his mouth.

"I am the God of Punishment." He said in a deep and masculine voice. The Olympians could tell this man had been through a lot just by hearing him speak. Zeus laughed his arrogant laugh from his throne.

"Oh, I thought you were someone important." Zeus mocked. There was absolutely no reaction from the God of Punishment. Hera placed her left hand on her husbands shoulder warning him to be careful with his words. Zeus ignored her and stood from his seat.

"So, what brings you here…" Zeus asked stretching out his sentence looking for a name but he didn't get it. The God of Punishment stood there in silence, obviously unimpressed with his company.

"I am here for you." He stated with his mysterious voice. Zeus laughed as he began to walk in circles around the unknown God. The intruder paid the lord of the skies no attention, as he stood there, emotionless.

"For me? What could you possibly want from me?" Zeus asked as he smiled stupidly.

"Your head." The God of Punishment said firmly causing Zeus to stop in his place.

"What's your name fool!" Zeus screamed across the room. Once again the God remained in his calm but strong posture as he stared at Zeus, unwilling to give an answer. Zeus laughed in disbelief.

"Do you wish to be torn limb from limb? Or are you just a little slow?" Zeus mocked, earning a few snickers from Ares and Apollo. The mysterious God remained silent as he smiled under his helmet. The Olympians could see the corners of his grin through the gaps in his helmet and this really pissed off Zeus. How dare he bring himself here and disrespect the Zeus. Within seconds Zeus was launching himself towards the God of Punishment in pure rage, Zeus threw his lightening bolt towards his opponent at a blinding pace but was dodged. The God ripped his sword out of his belt and began to explode in to the air bringing his weapon down on Zeus ferociously. The lord of the skies barely managed to block it and was now panicked as he quickly stood up. Zeus grabbed his bolt and swung massive hooks towards his opponent but it looked like the God of Punishment blocked his attacks with minimal effort. The rest of the Olympian council watched the battle in horror. Zeus has always been regarded as one of the strongest and most powerful Gods but he seemed to be way out of his league on this fight. To prove this the mysterious intruder swept his blade under Zeus, sending him straight down on to his ass. Not even a second passed before he was up on his feet. The God of Punishment smiled as he jumped in the air and sent an extremely powerful kick to Zeus's face, sending flying in to one of the pillars of the throne room. The Olympians gasped and soon Ares was on his feet ready to fight but a sharp glare from his mother kept him seated. The throne room was in absolute silence as everyone watched the God in absolute awe. The God of Punishment looked around the room, analysing each face carefully. He wanted to know what they were feeling, respect, shame, fear…please not fear. He was just doing his job, doing the right thing, right? It wasn't long before his thoughts were interrupted.

"Perseus?" Athena asked from her throne. The Olympians looked at each other, confused.

"You can read." Perseus stated, referring to the engravings on his sword. Athena did not like her intelligence being insulted but she buried her anger, not wanting to get her ass kicked.

"If I may ask, how were you created?" Athena asked in a gentle tone, trying to be careful with her expression.

"No you may not." Perseus responded firmly. It wasn't a harsh response, but it was enough remind every one who kicked Zeus three meters deep in to the pillar over there. Perseus seemed to get lost in her grey eyes and her thick wavy blonde hair that sat perfectly under her shoulders.

"Ah, hope has arrived." Hestia whispered, walking over to Perseus in an overly calm matter. Perseus wanted to warn her to back off but she seemed to be so innocent in her twelve-year-old form.

"What is your purpose? To punish those you feel fit? I know my brother is cruel, but sometimes cruel is necessary to keep society under control, don't you agree?" Poseidon yelled interrupting Hestia. Perseus seemed to take offence to this.

"Yes I do. Isn't that what I am doing, aren't I being cruel to keep society under control?" Perseus responded pointing to the unconscious Zeus. The lord of the seas nodded his head in realisation of his mistake while Athena just scoffed.

"Gods you are an idiot." She mumbled in her hands as she cupped her face. Poseidon ignored her as he continued to play with this beard. Perseus was about to turn back to Hestia but noticed the loud thumps of Zeus's feet on the ground. This took him by surprise so Perseus quickly changed in to his horned owl form and gently flew away, angering the lord of the skies even more because he was too weak to do anything about it. Zeus grunted angrily as he blew his hair out of his face.

"Would someone like to tell me…what the hell just happened!" He screamed at the Olympians.

"You guys are my family, yet you would let me get embarrassed like that?" Zeus yelled. Few Gods sat and silently giggled in their thrones, but most hung their heads in shame, knowing they should have done better.

"I want this Perseus to be killed immediately." Zeus spat as he walked back to his throne. Many of the Olympians shook their heads in agreement but Athena was the first to speak.

"Father, I think we should-" Athena started to speak but was interrupted.

"I want him dead! Have I made myself clear?" Zeus yelled to the Olympian council earning a few nods. Many of the Gods agreed that this unknown warrior could be a threat to them all, but few believed that he could be a resourceful ally.

"Artemis!" Zeus screamed, glaring at the maiden.

"Yes?" She replied raising her eyebrows.

"I want you and your hunt to track down this fool and kill him as soon as you get the chance! Have I made myself clear?" Zeus yelled at his daughter. Artemis waited almost half a minute before responding. She didn't like being told what to do, but she was going to find Perseus before her crazy father did.

"Yes." She said firmly. She knew that she was not the only one that believed Perseus could help. To prove this Hestia spoke up.

"We should be careful with our act-" She started but was interrupted by Apollo.

"Don't worry father, we will find this fraud and bring him to justice!" He said earning a few cheers from the council.

"Ok, you are now dismissed." Zeus said calmly and instantly the council began to flash out of the throne room.

Athena's point of view

I know nothing of this God of Punishment, so I decided to consult the wisest person I know. Mother Victoria, a speaker for the Gods. She had been studying and teaching about the Gods for almost fifty years. There is no one more committed. Using her powers she teleported herself down to the streets and began to walk north. She was going to consult Mother Victoria to see if she knew anything about Perseus. After a couple of minutes walking Athena entered the church and walked down the aisle. The old floorboards creaked every time she took a step. Within the church she saw statues of herself and other Olympian Gods. Among them were some Primodials and Titans. The old lady walked out of her quarters at the sound of the footsteps and greeted Athena with a warm hug.

"Mother Victoria, it has been so long." I beamed with joy as I removed myself from her elderly hands.

"Yes it has, I am afraid I will not be on this Earth much longer dear." She stated in a shaky voice. Mother Victoria was definitely pushing eighty years.

"But I know you did not come here to chat, what do you need?" She asked as she looked at Athena with dark brown eyes. Athena always admired how smart she was, but it was a shame I did not get a lot of time to spend with her.

"I was wondering if you would know anything about a 'God of Punishment'?" I asked and instantly I noticed her eyebrows raise.

"Ahh this has been a mystery for years now." She answered.

"You know nothing?" I asked slightly disappointed.

"Not much, but not nothing." Mother Victoria corrected. She began to walk to the shelves of book on the left side of the room. She searched through the book for a couple of seconds before ripping out a scrapbook.

"Over the years people have been coming to me claiming to have met this God of Punishment and I have been recording it in this book. He is a Greek vigilante, fighting crime but only acting at night, which is how he was given his name." Mother Victoria stated.

"What name was he given?" I asked.

"The people know him as The Shadow Knight."

Artemis's point of view,

I teleported myself back to the camp. It was early in the morning so there were no hunters roaming around the camp. I stormed in to my tent were my war table was. It was hard to plan a strategic search without any solid evidence of your target. I was extremely confused as I ran the plans through my head over and over but came out empty handed over and over again. I slumped down in my chair; I had officially given up, how am I supposed to find someone if I don't even nowhere he is from, am I just supposed to look everywhere? Suddenly I heard the flaps of my tent rip open. I grabbed my dagger and turned around to find the Goddess of Wisdom herself.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I have vital information about Perseus." She stated as she stepped up to my war table.

"Mother Victoria told me that for years, the people of Greece have been affected by The Shadow Night, they say he has been fighting crime and saving people for years." Athena stated she looked down at the map on the table.

"This is good. We now know that he acts in Greece and only at night." I said.

"True, but that's not the problem." Athena said looking rather frustrated.

"The problem is convincing him that were not enemies, and that were not going to use him." I answered for her. Athena nodded. We both knew that this was not going to be a simple task but it had to be done. It will be extremely beneficial if we could have Perseus fight on our side, but the other Gods refuse to see this.

"I'll gather the hunt and we will begin." I said to Athena. She nodded and flashed out of the camp. I walked out of my tent and began to bang on a cooking pot. Quickly the girls began to line up in front of me. A few minutes passed until every hunter was listening.

"Pack your weapons, clothes and whatever needed. In two hours we move out, in two hours, the hunt begins."

Perseus point of view,

I felt the wind blow the feathers on my body as I soared through the streets of Athens. Gods this was a beautiful city. For some reason, I was able to transform myself in to a owl, but not anything else. I ignored the issue and continued to focus on the view. I loved being up here. It was peaceful, but more importantly it was a good place to watch people. I was completely fascinated at how people went on with their lives in peace. Something I definitely wanted. After the events that took place earlier tonight, I am definitely not as close as I thought. I thought I was making an impact, but clearly my cause is still unknown. Why is it that people do what they do? Why is power and social status such important things? Why do we let pleasure and greed cloud our thoughts? Questions that Athena herself couldn't answer. The humans rely on the Gods more then you could ever imagine. Gods and their actions influence humans to think evil thoughts. You have people killing and raping other people, and then you have Zeus more worried about his throne? It is ridiculous. How can such beings be so stupid? The Olympians have power and knowledge like no other and yet they do nothing. If they worked as a team, thinking about others and not themselves, they could make the world a beautiful place. Humans are not to blame. If they knew the Gods that I know, most of them would see why it is wrong, but they don't know the Gods I know, so they think they are making the Gods proud, which on some cases is correct. My job is to restore order, but with no help, my effort is useless, absolutely useless. This really upsets me. I was so close, or so I thought. Most people don't understand the Olympian approval of Zeus's action will influence humans to act poorly for centuries now. I shook my head in disappointment and frustration. Trying to free the stress I looked around and recognised the streets around me and dropped down to the ground. Once my feet touched the ground I returned to my normal form. I looked up at the house that I was raised in. It hadn't changed one bit. I missed this place. I missed my mother. In situations like these she would know what to do. I walked up to the doormat. It was still the same 'Welcome' doormat that she made. I remember she spent weeks on that thing. No matter how much I told her it was the most hideous thing I have ever seen, she was still happy with her work. The smile on her face as she placed it down in front of the door. I opened the door and walked inside. I instantly recognised the smell of home. A mixture of her and home cooked meals. The memories I had in this place hadn't died over the years, although the plants did. I looked down at the necklace around my neck. It was Mum's, I stole it for her birthday, I never told her that. I remember her and I walking down the street and she saw it in the shop window. We were too poor to buy something like that. The candles from the last time I visited were still here set up next to the wine bottle. Memories of that night began to flood my head. Her screams pierced my ears causing me to clutch my head. I stumbled and tossed around the room. Visions of her blood flowing out of her stomach like a raging river. Her dull grey eyes burned my brain. I screamed and yelled for it to stop, that smile that was once on her face was gone forever. Tears streamed down my face as I ay on the floor. Glasses and furniture were broken and scattered across the room. I struggled to breathe as I cried. I could here and feel the wheezing of my lungs. I stopped crying as I gathered myself. I stood up and sucked the air in to my lungs. I was not going to die a failure. My mother knew exactly what I was capable of. Although she never told me, I know what she wanted. A world where she would wave and people would wave back, a world where you could let your kids walk to the shops without getting mugged, a kind and generous world. I was going to find that world, for her. It is crazy how one person can have this effect on you. It was my mother's fate to be murdered that night, and it was my fate to make sure she didn't die for nothing. I exited the house and began my journey to another location. I was walking down the streets of Athens. It was late at night, almost two in the morning and yet people were still out. People were playing violin as well as holding out there hat for money. I stopped and watched an elderly man who was doing magic tricks. There were a dozen young kids seated around him wish massive smiles on their faces. He was making coins disappear and puling them out of their ears. They were laughing and smiling. It made me happy just watching them enjoying themselves. I walked up to the old man and looked down at his hat and realised it was empty. I frowned and reached in to my pocket. I grabbed all the coins I had and dropped them in to his hat. He looked down and smiled at me with great gratitude.

"Thank you." He said as he looked at me sincerely. I gave him a nod and continued on my way. I reached the gates of the graveyard and walked almost forty meters down the field. Hundred of stones were planted in the ground. I looked at each one as I walked down. I reached my mothers grave. It was a simple stone that only one word engraved on it.

"Hope." I said out loud to myself. I heard some footsteps behind me. I felt a familiar force as I heard the person speak.

"Yes, hope."

POLL is up. If you are a "Unique" voter just drop the pairing you would like to see in a review. Let me know if there are any issues with the story.