Artemis of the Blue

"Hey idiot, yeah you, fuck you!!" = Conversations

'Idiot?! Me?! I hate this guy...!' = Thoughts

"Begone Thot!" = Spells, Attacks, Rage moments, demonic forms, yada yada yada. You get the point.

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Artemis's POV

My name is Artemis, firstborn of King Poseidon and Queen Neptunia. I don't have a surname like my youngest sister does, Gawr Gura, but most humans from the surface like to call me Artemis of the Blue. It stuck to me since then, and I couldn't find myself getting rid of it.

Sera, my second younger sister, teased me about liking a surface dweller's name for me. Of course, I shrugged it off by saying. "Hey, at least they gave me a name. What about you?".

I chuckled to myself as I remembered Sera throwing a tantrum right after I said those words. I had to get help from Gura to make her forgive me.

"I miss you..."

I silently wiped the lone tear falling down my cheek. It was too sudden. One moment, me, Sera, Father, Mother, we were all planning about Gura's upcoming 5000th birthday. It was supposed to be a fun and joyful day. But then everything came crashing down, figuratively and literally.

The ceiling of the castle crumbled towards our heads. While we were shocked by the sudden incident. Father, however, took action the next second.

My father, Poseidon, as old as he was, was still one of the top fighters in the world. I watched him smoothly block every block and slab of rubble, and protect me, Sera, and Mom. I was in awe. My father was still so powerful even when he is an old man now. Yet, it wasn't enough. After father protected us from the onslaught of rubble, we were able to escape out of the crumbling palace and only to be greeted by a grim sight.

Atlantis was in chaos. Dozens of portals appeared out of nowhere. Their ink-black color and texture horrified me and Sera. Strange creatures appeared one after another, becoming more disgusting as they grew in number. Atlantis is surrounded, and no one expected an attack.

I can feel its pain. Atlantis is crying. Its woes of help and pleas of fear are making my heart clench in fear as well. Something is wrong. Even Atlantis can feel it. It's reaching out to somewhere far away. I looked at the direction it was reaching out and thought about one person.

'Gura...'

Then a screech made me drop to my knees and cover my ears. Sera was in no better condition than me, as she too dropped to her knees and covered her ears in pain. I looked up to mother and father and beamed in both worry and pride.

They stood tall, unlike Sera and me. They didn't flinch at the grating and screeching sound. They didn't frown. They just stared at the front with grim determination.

"ATLANTEANS! COME TO YOUR KING!" Father's voice boomed out, the sea shook, and the ground trembled. Followed by a canopy of...

"TO THE KING!"

I teared up as our people and soldiers converged in front of my Father- no, in front of our King. I also collected myself and stood tall towards my dad's right. Sera followed suit and stood beside mom's left.

"THESE INVADERS HAVE COME UNANNOUNCED AND WITH HOSTILE INTENT. THEY DARE STRIKE THIS KING AND HIS FAMILY. WHAT DO WE ATLANTEANS DO TO SUCH HEINOUS CRIMES?!"

"PUNISHED BY DEATH!"

"THEY CAME WITH THE INTENT TO HURT OUR BELOVED AND OUR HOME, WHAT DO WE DO?!"

"KILL WITH NO MERCY!"

"THEN BY THE ORDER OF THIS KING, STRIKE DOWN WITH THE WRATH OF THE SEA, KILL!"

"HAAH!" My blood boiled as the soldiers in front of me gave a battle cry that shook the sea and earth. My father's words echoed through the hearts of every Atlantean that stood before us, women, men, children, elderly. They all roared in anger at the invader's attack against our home.

I couldn't help myself and shout with them, I brought my pair of harpoons into the air. They glowed intensely with a dark blue hue and showed that this princess was just not some maiden to be saved.

I, Artemis of the Blue, Firstborn of King Poseidon and Queen Neptunia, sisters to Sera Sky and Gawr Gura, will fight to the death against the invader of our home.

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It was a losing fight. From the very beginning, I knew that we only fought because we hoped for a miracle to happen.

We were naive. There was no miracle. There was no hope. We only clung to the thought that maybe, just maybe, we can turn the tide around. Those thoughts were dashed when the Priestess of this group of black-robed men stepped in.

She was covered in a huge violet-colored robe, black abyss colored magic circles levitated around her and it struck fear to the hearts of many. Tentacles of unknown origin appeared from those magic circles.

Dad confronted the Priestess while I fought against three abominations. I heard how he asked why were they causing all this destruction and deaths. The Priestess, however, didn't bother to reply to my Dad and attacked the second he got close.

Every single one of us saw hope when Dad got rid of all the tentacles and was about to chop off the head of the Priestess. However, to our confusion, the Priestess lifted her hand and we all thought that she was about to surrender. The next set of events, however, made us all lose hope.

I shouted as Dad got impaled by a dozen amount of tentacles the popped out of nowhere. I struggled to get away from my entanglement as I watched in horror and despair. Beside me, Sera was pale like a ghost as she desperately tried to reach Father.

When all lost hope, mother was the one who rescued father. She dropped down from above and cut off all the tentacles with a twirl of her dual crescent blades. I watched in awe as my mother was the person I admire the most. Her prowess, her grace, her posture, everything about mother was perfect in my eyes.

But even then, all of that was for naught when faced with that Priestess. Because she failed to kill my father right there and then, she went mad and sent an onslaught of tentacles and magic beams towards mother and father.

Mother was quickly overwhelmed by the number of attacks that came own on her and father. I heard father mutter to mother to leave him behind and make sure to keep me and Sera safe. But I know my mother all too well, she refused to leave the man she loved and watch as he gets killed.

Finally, in a spurt of luck and the right timing, Sera and I broke free from our entanglement and rushed towards mother and father. However, that was a mistake. Mother noticed the two of us the moment we rushed towards them and tried to tell us to run away. It was due to this that mother was caught off guard and was captured by a tentacle that attacked her in her blindspot. Our father was also taken by a tentacle when our mother was struggling to tear her restraints off.

We watched as the tentacles surrounded mother and father as they covered them from our view. Then, with a sickening crunch, the tentacles tensed and crushed our mother and father to juices.

It was our fault, Sera and I knew that as we both saw the pale face and terrified looks on our faces reflected from our eyes as we shared a look. It was that moment that I stilled as a tentacle rushed straight towards me, I stared at that tentacle as I desperately tried to move away from its trajectory. But alas, my mind was muddled and in a state of panic as I reflected on what I have done.

I couldn't move, my lungs felt suffocated as the picture of my parents getting captured and crushed to death replayed again and again in my mind. I was so caught up in my regret that my body refused to listen to me. It refused to move away from the tentacle that is threatening to take my life.

It was Sera who pushed me away from the tentacle's trajectory. My eyes widened and my mouth agape in horror as I watched helplessly as the tentacle pierced through Sera's abdomen and came out just a few inches away from me. A splash of blood decorated my face as I stared at Sera's face questioningly.

I wanted to ask why, I wanted to shout why, and I wanted to cry why. Why did she push me out of the way knowing that it will hit her instead?

Sera coughed up blood as she smiled at me.

"Don't blame yourself silly. I can see it in your eyes. Run, get away from here as fast as you can. As long as you can survive, I know mother and father can rest easy knowing that you will be there for Gura. I guess this is goodbye Artemis of the Blue. Hehe, I'm jealous you know? Why... did humans... love you more... than they... love me...?"

My throat hitched as Sera's last breathe disappear and the tentacle retracted from her abdomen and showed me how big the actual wound is. Almost all of her stomach is gone, her heart stopped beating as only half of it remained, her lungs suffered the same fate. It made me nauseous, I wanted to run, I wanted to escape, but my legs gave out on me and I sat there and stared at the smile on Sera's face as she lay in front of me, dead.

I looked up to the Priestess and shouted. "ARE YOU SATISFIED NOW?! YOU MONSTER! WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT FROM US?! ATLANTIS IS ALREADY DESTROYED BECAUSE OF YOU! HOW HEARTLESS ARE YOU TO KILL MILLIONS OF INNOCENTS?! "

I watched in confusion as the Priestess suddenly stopped in her tracks. I heard her growl as she twitched and convulsed on her spot. I tried to make out of what she muttered as she backed away slowly. Her hands clutched her head as if she was in great pain.

I tried to get up but my legs refused to listen. I wanted to strike but my body was too powerless to move. As such I can only watch as the Priestess writhe in pain.

Then I was finally able to make out what she was saying.

"I'm sorry..."

My breath hitched as anger clouded my mind. The scenes of my kin and people dying, to my mother and father, crushed to death, and lastly, to Sera who pushed me out of the way to save me.

"I'm sorry?! Do you think your sorry will bring back everyone?! I don't care who you are or what you are but mark my words. If you don't kill me at this moment, I will not hesitate to give up everything I have just to kill you!"

I shouted over and over again as the Priestess retreated while she clutched her head in pain. My shouts went still, however, when I caught a glimpse of the Priestess under the hood.

Childlike face, contorted in pain and suffering as one of her eyes glowed eerily yellow while the other was dull violet. One thought crossed my mind.

'Possession'

My heart ached and at the same time raged in righteous anger at the thought of someone possessing a child to kill millions and was forced to watch as they die by her hands was enough for me to do whatever it takes just kill whoever was responsible for all of this.

'Enma... Take care of Gura for me...'

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