Breaking free

The water rippled as a shadow covered them both. Artemis's face fell into despair. Enki turned back, seeing Antares behind him, its eyes glowing with a red hue.

"Okay," Enki said.

The water bubbled and rippled, and chains erupted from them, trying to latch onto him. He jumped back, avoiding them, but soon more came along.

Artemis "Run! Don't let them get a hold of you, Ah!" she screamed at the end, the chains glowing with red light, the white pool beneath her shrunk, she grunted.

"I can't yield," she huffed as the size returned to normal.

'Okay,' Enki saw what ducked beneath another set of chains, 'what am I supposed to do here?'

-Bam

A chain slammed into his side, pushing him further away from Artemis. 'These things are getting faster.'

He moved forwards, avoiding them as they sprouted from beneath him. "Artemis!" He shouted, making his way towards her.

It was odd that Antares wasn't moving. Then again, he focused a little on the monster, but on his mission.

'What is happening? Is he my Orion?' Artemis could do nothing else but watch him running towards her, avoiding the chains that held her down and suppressed her divinity.

Artemis wasn't sure what to ask. She had so many questions and fears. Was he someone Antares had swallowed? Why is he here?

-Bam!

'Fuck!' Enki groaned as a chain whip smashed into his back. He rolled forward with momentum only to be struck again.

The chains moved and attached themselves to his neck. He found it hard to breathe. He closed and used his strength to break the chains, but he was struggling.

Artemis's eyes widened. "No!" she tried to move but was pulled down by the chains that hummed in red light as she felt herself being torn apart from the inside out.

"Mother, cough!" More chains erupted from the red pool, locking his arms and leg and forcing him down on the watery surface.

Artemis was so close if he had moved instantly, then this could've gone better. She was just an arm's reach away.

The chains glowed with red light. Searing pain surged within him. "AAAhh!" He lost control and wailed in place. His real body outside was also responding, his screaming voice echoed through the cavern.

...

"We can't wait," Artemis outside refused to watch this any longer.

She walked to Bell, aiming to persuade him to finish Antares. 'I shouldn't have clung to this hope we're going to die if Orion doesn't act.'

"No have faith, lady Artemis, please," Ryuu held back her face.

"Hm..." Hermes was watching Enki bond to Artemis and Antares through a telescope. He watched as Enki's red eyes teared up, screaming in pain, before twitching and gritting his teeth.

"He's not screaming," Hermes said, 'and he's blocking my view of Artemis's naked body.'

As Hermes spoke, everyone took notice that Enki's voice no longer echoed.

Lilly dropped her bag and pulled out some binoculars for everyone. They all quickly used them to see the same scene.

"Is he resisting Artemis's control?" Hestia asked, confused.

"That's what it looks like. It's the only conclusion I can come up with at least. We still have hope," Hermes said, putting down his telescope.

'But how long can Enki resist?' Lilly thought to herself worriedly not only her but the others as well.

The only person who didn't was Ryuu.

...

'Focus Enki!' He gritted his teeth, grasping at the chains, his eyes bloodshot as he glared up at Antares, who was mentally torturing him.

No, it wasn't torture, rather he felt connected to the chimera, he felt it. Every thought and emotion was overwhelming him. Hate nothing but hate and hunger for the world, for everything living with a soul.

This wave of emotion was so strong he felt like he was drowning. 'This explains why Artemis can't escape. She's fallen too deep,' Enki thought, glancing at the goddess, who was barely moving.

The small white pool around her that was her divinity was shrinking slowly.

'Please... someone help me...'

Enki heard the faint words among the noise of hatred. 'That's it!' Enki grinned. Everything became clear now.

"Alright I've already done this, no problem just breath," Enki hyped himself up as the chains burned brighter he grunted, bearing with the pain.

The three were now connected. They shared their power and abilities. The issue was Antares ruled Artemis. But this was a battle of wills and Enki had already won that.

He took a deep breath, his lips quivering into a smirk. "Hah!" The king's aura shot out of him. It pushed the negative emotions back, and the chains shattered into pieces.

Outside, Enki screamed with all his might as his vision flickered between the mindscape and real life.

"Torrent!" At his command, the water expanded and grew at an alarming rate, not only covering him but Artemis and Antares as well.

In the mindscape, Enki's muscles bulged as he ripped the chains off. "I'm taking control now." He muttered as a small pool appeared beneath him.

Not white like Artemis's divinity nor the red that was the ocean of corrupted divinity Antares was using, but a dark blue one with light sparks like the night sky.

Enki clapped his hands as blue chains erupted from his pool. Antares roared, launching red chains to trap him but unleashing his king's aura once the chains broke apart.

Antares lashed around now, chained like an animal.

"Hah!" Artemis took a massive gasp of air. The chains binding her turned to dust. She looked up at Enki at a complete loss.

"Take your power back now, before Antares adapts and breaks out," Enki's words were firm.

'Right, now isn't the time to waste time,' Artemis thought and stood up. She spread her arms forward, covered in a violet aura.

The pool beneath her grew and expanded. The sky was no longer red, and the water was glowing in a mix of white and violet.

"Is that all of your divinity?" Enki asked, not looking away from the struggling monster.

He asked because there was still a large red pool beneath Antares.

"It most, but it has a good portion of my divinity. It'll take a while to remove it," she said with a frown, even though chained and subdued Antares was resisting.

-Crack!

Enki's chains around the chimera were shaping, "we don't have time," Enki clapped his hands pulling them out of the mindscape

Artemis, "hah," she gasped, opening her eyes to the real world. She peered down to see her naked self before seeing Enki's body right in front of her.

Her face reddened as her first reaction was before a buzz passed through her. 'I'm free. My other self is here! Wait, am I underwater? I'm not drowning.'

Filled with so many questions, she was slow to react as Enki's eyes snapped half open. Lightning danced where the two were and slowly Artemis felt her limbs being severed free from her connection with Antares.

Antares, "REEEEH!" Screeched in both the mindscape and Enki's water bubble, it refused to let Artemis escape.

"Shut up!" Enki roared, unleashing his king's aura once more. By the time he did, Artemis was free. Her body fell on his and Enki, removing one hand from Antares, grabbed her gently.

"Tell the others to save me!" Enki said.

"W-wait what?" Artemis couldn't reply in time as a bubble surrounded her, and it shot her out of the massive water bubble.

...

"Can anyone see what's going on in there?" Bell asked, peering through his binoculars.

No one answered, unable to tell how things were developing. One moment Enki was resisting Antares and the next he shouted and his water magic erupted, covering not only him but Antares in a water bubble.

Because of that, they couldn't see what was happening within. And as Antares shrieked while inside the bubble.

Artemis dropped her binoculars, falling to her knees. Hestia, Lilly and Asfi were checking on her while Hermes, Ryuu and Bell were looking through their binoculars for any changes.

"I-I'm free," Artemis muttered, tears dripping down her face as she felt the connection to her body return.

"Something's being launched out the bubble! It looks like a person! It's coming towards us," Bell shouted.

"That's my body! I'm free!" Artemis spoke, rising.

"Enki did it!" Hestia smiled, sniffing in her place. She too was on the verge of tears.

The mass of water was heading the way they moved back as it landed in front of them.

-Splash!

It burst, revealing the real Artemis within covering her naked self.

"Oh, my~" Hermes spoke, burnging the image to memory.

"I..." Artemis paused, looking up at herself she understood as the dressed Artemis knelt. Both touched hands and merged back into one.

The light died down and Artemis was on the ground, dressed no longer nude. She stared at herself in shock and joy as tears rolled down her face. "I'm free."

"Artemis," Hestia leapt into her friend's arms, both bursting into joyous cries.

"But what about the alchemist?" Asfi asked, causing everyone to freeze and loop ahead.

"Save him!" Artemis said, standing up immediately.

-Boom! -Splash!

The massive bubble burst open, water falling in enormous waves. Antares was free and still merged with Enki.

The chimaera's eyes bulged as it let out its most ear-piercing scream, "SCREEEEEEEH!"

"We have to go now Antares has woken up," Bell said and looked back to everyone, "wait where's Ryuu?" He said noticing the elf was gone.

Everyone looked ahead, seeing Ryuu already on the move faster than any of them.

...

It was free on the outside but within the mindscape. The story was different.

The mindscape looked different with the absence of Artemis now. It was a regular blue sea with a clear blue sky and beneath Antares was a redpoll and beneath Enki was a smaller pool of a darker shade of blue.

Antares was still bound and chained. Though they were breaking, slowly they still locked the monster.

"I remember now. You called me "brother" explain yourself." Enki glared, his chains tightening around the monster.

Antares, "haha, you call me a monster, Chimera, a creation of alchemy, hah." its voice was weak but still held a defying tone as it spoke.

"You do not differ from me, you hypocrite," Antares spoke it tried to raise its claw at him.

Enki shot another glare as another chain came from his pool, binding it down.

"I don't remember being related to a monster like you," Enki said, all the while he knew now what he was.

"You are much worse than I," Antares spoke with a husky voice as it struggled to raise its arm upwards.

As it did, Enki stepped back, watching carefully for any tricks it might pull. Its claw reached up to his broad chest.

As Antares muttered, "hypocrite," a red glow came to life from the centre of his chest.

"Die!" Antares jumped, breaking the chains and lunging at Enki.

It distracted him for a second but quickly recovered. He jumped above the monster, his chest still glowing in the red light. He plunged into Antares, slamming it with an axe kick followed by a sickening crack.

-Splash!

It fell deeper into the water, the red pool that was around it shrunk massively and the pool around Enki grew further.

"God damn, why did I have to be right?" Enki let out a hoarse chuckle before sighing, "I need to get out of here."

He clapped his hands, soon disappearing and snapping back up to reality.

"Enki!" He heard Ryuu shout from a distance. They were coming to help as he planned. And Ryuu was far ahead.

'Man, I love her,' Enki thought with a tired smile. With one arm free, he looked at his palm. The circle he drew was still there.

He slammed it against the wall of flesh and, like pulling cheese, the muscles and tendons disconnected from his hand, blood and flesh mixing to reform his arm properly.

'There won't be any side effects from having Antares's blood mix with mine, right?'

-Pahk!

"I'm free!" He smiled, shaking the excess blood from his arm, and stepped back before a chill ran up his spine. He was in Antares's mouth and its teeth had regenerated.

"Oh, shi-" He said before its mouth closed and teeth sank in.