Chapter Text
Curt and Owen were sitting on the steps of a temple. They had just bid goodbye to a good friend of theirs, the Informant, who told them that he was leaving for Athens to work on a biography of Curt.
"Well, guess I'm on the way home," Owen said. "Wanna come along?"
Curt's eyes briefly fell on a young woman dressed in leather armor, with her brown hair pinned up.
"There's someone I need to talk to first," Curt answered.
That someone, the brown-haired woman in leather armor, was Emma Perkins, the warrior princess. For years, alongside her sister Jane, and Jane's lover Thomas, she traveled to numerous countries making her name feared and known. When Thomas was killed at the Battle of Corinth and Jane died giving birth to her son (whom Curt guessed had died as well, or Emma had abandoned him on the doorstep of some orphanage) just days later, Emma's fury grew worse, with the flames being fanned by Curt's half-brother, Ares, the God of War.
~oOoOo~
During her most recent return to Greece, she planned to kill Curt in order to conquer Arcadia. Knowing she couldn't take the demigod in a one-on-one battle, she concocted a plot wherein she tricked Owen into falling in love with her. Once Owen was bewitched by her, she began to poison him against Curt. Her trickery was so strong that she managed to drive a wedge between the heroes, eventually even causing them to fight one another. Finally, Owen realized was Emma was doing to him, and re-joined Curt to fight Emma and her army.
Emma and her army managed escaped and continue to plunder the nearby villages, but there was dissension among the ranks. Emma's lieutenant, Samuel, began to openly question her orders and disobey her. When Emma was scouting ahead of her army, Samuel ordered the men to attack a village and kill all the men, women and children. Fortunately, a single baby survived and Emma saved him, giving him into the care of the Informant, whom she met after an attack on another village. Memories flooding back about her sister and her nephew, Emma grew furious that her men killed women and children. When she tried to discipline Samuel, he and men loyal to him, decided she was no longer fit to lead the army and they forced her to walk a Gauntlet. No one had ever survived this before, but Emma managed to get through, bloodied but not beaten. She left her army and went off to heal.
A short while later, Curt had encountered Samuel and the army headed to attack Parthus. Along the way, Curt encountered Emma, who had been also tracking the army. The two fought in a titanic battle and Curt defeated Emma. However, he spared her life and told her, "Killing isn't the only way of proving you're a warrior."
However, Emma declined when Curt asked her to join him in fighting her army. He let her leave and continued to Parthus where he helped prepare the villagers for an attack. When the attack came, Emma appeared and fought alongside Curt against Samuel and her former warriors. Emma killed Samuel in combat and the remains of the army scattered. Parthus was saved and Emma asked Curt if she could travel with him to discover what is next for her.
Emma traveled for a time with Curt and the Informant. The trio eventually met up with Owen, who was understandably displeased to see Emmaa. They learned that Samuel had been restored to life by Ares and been given the mission of feeding Graegus the bodies of innocents.
In time, Curt was able to convince Owen that Emma had changed and was now definitely on the side of good. Emma apologized to Owen for hurting him and he forgave her.
The heroes tracked down Samuel. Together, they fought off the remnants of Emma's army and manage to turn Graegus on Samuel. The beast was able to kill Samuel for good and the darkest chapter of Emma Perkins' life was ended.
~oOoOo~
Curt walked up to Emma as she readied her new horse, whom she had named Diane.
"You're leaving?" he asked, sounding disappointed.
He had grown to care about Emma deeply, though it was different than how he felt for Owen, which was... complicated. Raised as an only child and born into a pantheon of siblings who either despised like his stepmother Hera or were simply too busy with their tasks, he was beginning to see Emma as a potential little sister figure. Though, saying that out loud would scare her. After what happened to Jane, he didn't know if a familial bond was something she wanted.
"You're going to make this tougher on me than it already is, aren't you?" Emma asked, trying to keep her voice from breaking and still keeping up her stoic nature, though she was learning to be more transparent with emotions other than anger.
"It doesn't have to be that way," Curt pointed out, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Please don't," Emma begged. "You're gonna make me cry and I haven't done that since..."
She trailed off, wanting to lie and say the last time she cried was when she was a child.
"Since Jane died."
"Emma..."
The demigod and the warrior princess shared a hug, and Emma felt a tear or two begin to escape from her brown eyes. It had been so long since she felt the embrace of someone else, romantic or platonic.
When they finally pulled away, Emma continued, "Let me go. There's so much in my life I have to make amends for. I've got to get started."
"I wish you'd let me help," Curt lamented.
"You already have," Emma told him. "You unchained my heart."
Emma hugged him again. "Goodbye, Curt."
She climbed onto the back of her horse, taking one more look at her former enemy and now friend, before she finally rode off, ready to atone for her past sins.
Owen walked up to join Curt. "You all right, love?" he asked.
"Yeah. I think so," Curt replied, though he wasn't so sure himself. At least the good guys won."