Chapter Text
martyn groaned. "a flat tire?! HOW? AGHHHH. okay, abolish, give me the spare tire." abolish blinked. "uhh, martyn, that was our spare tire." martyn groaned again. "fine. try to get help, and in the meantime, i'm gonna go see if we can get a third! spare tire, in case this happens again or we can't get help. if anyone wants to go with me, then come on." scott cleo and pearl nodded. the four of them set out to go find an auto shop.
wandering through the forest was exhausting, and...kinda creepy. martyn couldn't help but notice the forest was full of traps, easy enough to avoid as long as you weren't running. but they all seemed...lethal. even the snare traps looked like they were set up to bash whatever poor creature got into them against the rocks. martyn gingerly stepped out of the forest and arrived in a small town. "uhh...hi. you go- got an auto shop around here?"
a man with deep brown eyes beamed at him, smiling far too wide. "sure, but it'll take us a minute to fix your tire. stick around for a few hours! we'll get you sorted!" martyn nodded awkwardly. "sure-" martyn realised with a start that he hadn't said his tire was broken. "how did you-" martyn's friends came in through the woods. scott had a graze, presumably from one of the traps. "I ALMOST DIED, THE ONLY REASON I DIDN'T IS BECAUSE GEM- that's the girl over there- SAVED MY ASS."
the man's eyes narrowed. "oh, was it the traps? that could have been a disaster. we have those for wild animals, keep getting in and killing our livestock." pearl crossed her arms. "don't you think it's a bit cruel?" the man shrugged. "we're not great trap builders. besides, if it happens we can put them out of their misery. sheriff cub by the way." martyn frowned. "so you're in charge." cub laughed, anger barely hidden underneath. "no, no, no that'd be the council. we only have three members of it at the moment, but soon we'll have the full fifteen."
martyn could have sworn he heard cub mutter something under his breath. "anyway, come on, we'll show you around." martyn smiled awkwardly. "sure!" he immediately turned to his friends. "this place is super fishy right?" cleo scoffed and dryly muttered "what would give you that idea." martyn managed to whisper out "now's not the time to be sarcastic cleo! we need to get out. screw the tires, this place is so not normal." gem walked over. "what are you talking about? you shouldn't leave, let us at least make you some food first." martyn shook his head. "Oh no, i've seen horror movies, you're going to eat us." gem, cub, and everyone else in town gasped in offense. "no we are not! the gods may be wicked creatures, but we can agree with them on some things."
martyn blinked. "the gods?" gem nodded. "you see, our town believes in the greek gods, but we don't worship them because we think they're sick, vile beings. toying with mortals for their own amusement. pathetic children masquerading as something more." martyn nodded nervously. "right. sure. i still gotta go-" gem grabbed his arm. "please, have some lunch. we insist." martyn's hands shook. he really didn't want to, but these people were obviously crazy. if they tried to run, they probably wouldn't take it very well. "alright." he squeaked out.
martyn sat at the table with everyone else. three men entered the room cleo's face turning white as she seemed to recognise one of them. "well hello there, i'm scar, meet my compatriots, joel, and grian." scar grabbed onto martyn. "hmmm, aren't you interesting. you'd make a great hunter." martyn laughed awkwardly. "what?" scar smiled. "oh nothing. now may i talk to gem alone."
scar grabbed his hair and yanked on it. "gem! you need to be more careful! The Wind was almost killed by a trap!" gem sighed. "i know, i'm sorry." joel scowled. "gem! that would have been a total disaster! that's not how the ritual works! everyone be careful. tonight, The Beginning Of The Apotheosis is tonight, and we will all make up for our mistakes."
martyn walked around the town, looking for a way out, and it almost looked peaceful, people making food, and art, and cleaning the street. but everyone was looking at him. everyone seemed to be waiting for something. a woman put a bow in his hands. a little girl laughed and called him "the hunty-man!" a man seemed to be almost sizing him up. and everyone was trying to keep him from leaving town. "hey dude, i'm skizz, help me carry this please!" "hi, i'm impulse, would you like some cake?" "hey, i'm bigb, have this quiver!" martyn awkardly accepted everything. meeting up with his friends near the town center, martyn leaned in. "guys, this place is so weird." scott nodded. "everyone keeps calling me The Wind." pearl sighed. "people keep turning off the lights whenever i come into a room." cleo muttered. "this town is a trap, we need to go and meet up with our friends, like right now." martyn nodded. "right-" skizz, one of the townspeople waved them over. "oh martyn~ ren wants to see you!" martyn's head reeled. ren. his best friend since forever. ren who'd moved away to somewhere else and who didn't contact him as much. ren was here?
martyn ran into ren's house. ren sat there smiling. "hey martyn- oh." ren stared at the bow and arrow birthmark martyn had had his whole life. "i forgot you had that...i...i...-" martyn walked up to ren who was nervously checking the time. "ren. what's wrong dude?" ren frowned. "i don't know what to do martyn." martyn blinked. "ren, what are you talking about?" ren sighed, checking his watch. "i...really hope you can forgive me for what i'm about to do." martyn stepped back. "ren what are you talking about-" martyn's thoughts were interrupted by pearl screaming from outside, and ren beating him into unconsciousness with a lamp, apologising the whole time. "it'll be worth it martyn, but i'm so sorry. please forgive me!" martyn looked up at ren with betrayal in his eyes before he slipped into unconsciousness, and noticed a spike strip on the shelf. wait. did they-
once martyn woke up, he found himself half-naked, tied to a tree, and surrounded by the townfolk wearing masks. martyn started to sweat. "what's going on?" grian stepped out of the circle. "be honoured martyn littlewood. tonight you will die-" martyn immediately started panic laughing. "NO THANKS' I'M GOOD, I'M OKAY-" grian covered his mouth with a hand. "but you shall not stay dead. for tonight, is the beginning of the return of the golden age of the titans!" the townspeople started celebrating, but one of them, in a wolf mask- ren, it was ren, seemed guilty. "and you, martyn littlewood, are descended from orien the hunter, the perfect new lord of the hunt! for we are not only content to defy the gods, no WE SHALL REPLACE THEM! i have already taken my first step to godhood, and tonight you take yours. and to achieve apotheosis, one must perish in a way befitting of their domain and return."
joel stood next to martyn. "and since you're going to be our new god of the hunt..." joel untied martyn, and pointed a gun to his chest. "it's hunting season." half the town held guns towards him. "you're not gonna kill me if i don't run, you need to hunt me down for your crazy cult stuff." joel laughed. "Or, we could throw you to a wild animal-" martyn bolted, running through the trees. at least he had a chance to get away. these people were actually insane! a bullet flew past his head, as he barely dodged a trap. "ooh, he really does have the spirit of the hunt!" martyn kept running, barely avoiding the traps around him. "Okay martyn, just gotta find your friends, and-"
martyn was lifted by his foot, trapped in a snare, and as his head crashed towards the rocks, he just wondered one thing. "why me-"
ren looked at martyn's body, dangling upside-down from the snare with a bleeding head, a skull cracked open, with a brain slightly exposed. his best friend was dead. but it'd be fine. if grian was right he'd come back. he had to.
a new soul stood at the banks of the styx. they, like most souls in the underworld, didn't know who they were, and felt...angry. sad. why were they doomed to forget themselves, and rot forever?!? just at the whims of some deities? they didn't even have the chance to do anything else. not even the chance to beseech someone for help. just trapped, at the side of the- martyn. his name was martyn. he was a man, his name was martyn littlewood, he was english, he/him, he was not just another nebulous entity, he was martyn. maybe gem was right. maybe the gods were just a bunch of sick fucks. but if they tried to fight them outright a war would break- suddenly, he felt it. the hunt, coursing through his veins, as he rose up from the dead. a predatory smile crossed his face.
"by the titans below, your new god of the hunt arises!" martyn felt ren hug him. "do you forgive me?" martyn laughed. "Of course. why would i not? power, glory, and all that stands in my way is a bunch of overpowered toddlers. it's almost unfair. the gods are brats, and have power that rightfully belongs to the titans, and us. now, where are my fellow new gods?" joel smiled. "my wife has it handled." ren put his hand on martyn's stitched up head. grian threw a bow to martyn. "yes. this feels right. let's move!"