Village of Thebes.
"SQUAWK!" Anthus screeches out, and the massive heron glides through the rural regions of Olympus. Its shadow looms over the sterile soil of Thebes, the poorest region of Olympus, due to its lack of mines, as the Greek-Olympiacos trade favors the mineral production of bronze, bauxite (aluminum), zinc, and nickel.
A frail village boy with dirt-brown hair, ash-grey eyes and wearing a dirty loincloth.
The boy was kneeling on the dead soil, picking at dried roots in the hope of finding any signs of life.
"Please, Lord Zeus...have mercy –"
"SQUAWK!" Anthus came into the boy's view.
"Achilles!" A purple-haired woman came running towards the boy, dragging her rags-turned dress across the fruitless land.
"Move–Achilles!" Her voice pierces across the land.
"Move, you stupid bird!" Hancock barks out, her heart falling at the sight of the frail boy in her captor's direction.
"RJ."
Zoom
The nimbus flashes next to the boy, scooping him up under its soft weight and flying out of Anthus's projection.
"Lightning arrow. " Ramos forms a finger gun, generating a charge at the tip of his index finger and shoots a bolt of lightning through the giant Heron's right wing.
The bird lets out a loud cry of agony, in the midst of its cry, it drops Hancock.
"Aaaahhhh –"
"I got you." Ramos flashes to Hancock with the speed of lightning, holding the Empress in a princess's arms carry, Ramos is levitating off the ground by placing clouds on his feet.
"You–caught me?" Hancock flushes out, heart still racing from the near fall.
BOOOOM
Anthus went crashing into a nearby hut, and the clay building came crumbling down.
"Sister Megara!" The boy identified as Achilles called out in worry for the purple-haired woman.
"Cough, cough...I'm fine Achilles. " She reassured the boy, coated in dust and clay piec, Megara stood up on shaky legs.
Ramos looks at the direction of the injured bird, all around him is a small village with residents peeping through the unpainted wooden doors and tarnished clay homes.
"This place has seen better days..."
"You can put me down, right now," Hancock growls in warning her arms looping around his neck shrieks back as she glares at him with clear disgust.
"Oh..." Ramos carefully puts her back on her feet.
"Vile man." She huffs out, turning her back on him to hide her blush.
"This is the second time I saved you." Ramos teases.
"False! " Hancock snaps at him, raising her leg to engage in combat.
Whoosh
Snap
Her eyes widened as her observation flared a second after the sound came to her proximity.
Ramos is holding an arrow just inches from her temple, the obsidian head is as large as her head, the body extending beyond Ramos's height as the projectile is easily towering over both of them. A hit would've been immediate death.
"That arrow," Hancock mutters in disbelief that her haki is not able to sense the arrow.
Blood started trickling down Ramos's hand as the catch wasn't clean, the obsidian cut through his palm, feeling the metal weakening him.
"That stings." The Blonde-haired marine clenches his teeth.
"Most devil fruit users would be crying right now. " A feminine voice calls out.
"Lady Artemes." Megara bows her head down in fear and respect.
Standing at a staggering 45 metres(147,6 ft)
Wearing a silk perizoma(loincloth) hanging on her muscular shoulders, hugging her athletic waist and hanging loose just by her knees, feet in straw sandals and a copper headpiece around her chestnut-hair in soft curls.
Artemes Olympiacos, the best hunter and marksman in Olympus, first daughter of Zeus and Hera.
Points her 32m long bow and 19m long arrow at Ramos and Hancock.
Thud
Ramos drops the colossal arrow, a heavy clang follows.
Ramos stares at the gash of his hand, his entire palm cut open by the arrow, bleeding at an alarming rate.
"You are quite an impressive human." Artemes praises, pulling her arrow back, a flicker of red passing at her eyes.
"I'm afraid, I can't let you take my brother's bride."
"I am not that barbarian's woman!" Hancock shoots her Mero Mero heart-shaped beam at Artemes.
"No one will possess me! My beauty is not for sale!"
The beam hits Artemes straight on her chest but nothing happens to the giant woman.
Artemes narrows her eyes at the Empress.
"Do you think I lust over women?"
Hancock gasps in shock at her ability being useless against the Archer.
Rumble
The clouds above suddenly become ash grey, and the sound of thunder grumbling above them makes Achilles afraid.
Ramos turns to the woman and young boy," I suggest you run, now."
Crackle
A lightning bolt strikes at Artemes.
Whoosh
The Olympic woman leaps out of the way, avoiding the element.
"Baisu Baisu no Mi" Artemes snaps her arrow, the weapon multiples into a dozen arrows, heading towards Ramos.
"Shxt–"
Ramos takes in a deep breath, expanding his chest as he blows out a giant gust of wind to counter the swarm of arrows.
The strong current of wind causes the arrows to lose momentum, resulting in the projectiles falling down on the ground and clay homes.
"Nooo!" A farmer screams in horror as the arrow nearly destroys his home, trapping him in the clay home.
"Be careful!" Boa curses at him for his careless use of his ability.
"Crap. My bad." Ramos apologies.
Artemes seems not to care about the villagers as she walks closer to them, shooting an arrow into the sky.
"Times 50. Rain of sorrow" Artemes sings.
"This is bad..."
The one arrow multiples to 50 projectiles descending upon them.
"Ramos–do something?!" Hancock frantically calls for him to act before the shower of arrows impales them to death.
"RJ!" Ramos morphs his hands into cloudy limbs, shooting them at RJ who consumes his father's body to grow bigger.
"Yeep!" The nimbus cloud grows to over 5 metres long.
"Take them far from here. " Ramos urges.
"Yeep!" RJ flies across the village, scooping up villagers by bursting himself into smaller pieces to collect as many people as possible.
Hancock looks at him with a proud grin."A marine actually doing his job for once." The Empress jokes.
"You should princess, this is going to be a difficult battle. "
"Oh-please. How am I supposed to save my sisters without my humble ride~"
"Mxm." Ramos clicks his tongue, turning his body to a cloudy form, darkening to gray as lightning crackles around him.
"Raijin's roar."
Ramos roars out a dance of thunder and lightning, soaring into the sky, aiming for the shower of arrows.
Snap×50
Ramos's roar of raging elements destroys Artemes's arrows.
"Turn into a cloud. "
"Huh?"
"Just do it."
Pouff
Ramos begrudgingly turns into a nimbus cloud, allowing Hancock to ride him.
"Interesting. " Artemes chuckles at the display, placing her bow and arrow down, she cracks her knuckles before leaping at them.
---
BOOOM
BAAAM
Hancock's haki-coated leg clashes with Artemes's forearm, sending a shockwave that rattles the village.
Artemes swings her left arm at the Warlord.
Crackle
Cloud Ramos shocks her with a lightning bolt to her left shoulder.
"Hiss..." Artemes kicks at the air, a combustion blast hitting her opponents.
"Aaaahhhh –" Hancock coats her arms with haki, shielding her face.
Ramos soars higher into the air to avoid the flames.
"Not so fast." Artemes kicks at the ground, black cracks forming in thin air, propelling her upwards legs a stairwell of shatters.
"Fly faster–!"
Artemes grabs a plum of cloud that tries to slip out of her fingers but her advanced armament clawing at the molecules between them.
Artemes slams the cloud down with the full force of her weight.
BOOOM
"Ughhh..." Ramos reverts to his human form, holding Hancock in his embrace, taking the brute force of Artemes's blow.
"Ramos!" The Empress groans out as her back hits his chest, feeling the cracks of his ribs.
Artemes follows up with a stomp to the two humans, sole of her foot covered in armament haki.
Ramos thrusts his left arm up to block the upcoming blow, his haki unable to match her own
Pop!
A sickening pop echoes out, his hand dangling near his wrist, a complete dislocation of his left hand.
"Fuck!" Ramos hoals out in pain.
Artemes lifts her leg again, no remorse in her cold Olympic eyes as she stomps down again.
Bzzzzt×2
A combustion of conquerors' haki thrusts at Artemes. Ramos and Hancock's wills fuse to blast the giant woman off them.
Bang
Artemes crashes into a barn of hay, a giant-sized hole forming.
Lub Dub
Hancock's heart beats against her chest, the aftermath of the conqueror's combustion leaves her hyperaware of the situation of Ramos's calloused hands holding her waist, his own heartbeat vibrating on her spine.
"R-Ramos..."
"Wait, princess. My hand hurts like hell." Ramos whimpers, looking at his dislocated limb, dangling lazily.
Crumbling...
Artemes pulls herself out of the burn, dusting off the debris as she snaps her neck.
"Both of you have the will of a King?" Artemes spoke in shock.
Rumble...
The ash gray clouds consume the whole sky, sparks of lightning flashing across angry clouds, thunder growling with the violent wind.
Artemes looks at Ramos with shock at his display of power.
"You have full control over the weather. " Artemes softly said.
"This is still hard to get used to."
Drip...drip...
A droplet of water hits Artemes's shoulder, then another, and another. Before she knows it a downpour hits her, a violent shower of water soaking her perizoma.
"Ramos!" Hancock shrieks at him as her clothes are soaking wet, clinging to her skin with a cold greeting of fabric and flesh.
Ramos was indifferent to the weather, a huge smirk on his face.
"I enjoyed fighting you Artemes but I can't risk getting injuries anymore before facing Ares."
Rumble
Artemes observation haki flashes her a future of Ramos shocking her with a high charge leaving a scorching mess on the wet sterile soil.
"Anthus!" She barks at the Heron still whimpering at its wound.
"SQUAWK!" Anthus flaps over to her, wincing at the hole in the, which wingspan.
Bzzzzt
Ramos emits a wave of conquerors haki, knocking out Anthus and to his suprise his will shook Artemes a bit.
'Haki bloom. ' Ramos chuckles inwards.
Crackle
Ramos shoots out an electric charge, at Artemes, aiming for the ground to spread the charge across the water.
Artemes lets out a painful yell, a war cry to announce her defeat. Luckily Ramos didn't hit her with too high of voltage as it would've killed or scarred her body.
Hancock looks at him, pure awe at the man casually wielding multiple elements.
'He is really strong...'
Lub Dub
"Agghh–my chest." Hancock clutches her huge chest as sudden pain in her heart sends her into frantic breathing.
"Hancock?"
Whoosh
A strong arm, grips Ramos's wrist, looking up he freezes in fear at the familiar face.
"It can't be..."Ramos trails off.
"Do you miss me, husband?" A fake sweet voice greets him.
"Smoothie. "
—–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Author's notice:
Artemes's fruit is the Baisu Baisu no Mi (multiples multiples fruit) can multiply an object she touches.
> How will his bride react to his new infatuation 👀