Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.
Consul of the Underworld: The Game Begins
Year One: Wrath of the RNG God
Beta: Siegfried01
Alkaid tilted her head, "A daughter of Ares. My, no wonder you had that troll on the ropes so quickly." She complimented.
Pyrrha just gave a wide grin, chuckling a bit, "Yeah, it was pretty much a pushover. Still, I think we should bail," the redhead grimaced, "The Mist has never been my friend."
Alkaid offered a kind smile, "I'm actually very good with the Mist." She held up her hand, white wisps floating around her digits, "I'll handle it."
With a snap of her fingers, the room felt like it shifted somehow, but still looked the same.
"Shall we leave?" Alkaid asked, getting a smirking shrug from Pyrrha.
"I guess so."
As they walked out the other door, the two girls were casually strolling down the corridor. They were in no rush, after all the Mist would cover for them. Well, Pyrrha was still a bit nervous but Alkaid was so absolutely confident in her Mist manipulation that even she was feeling relieved enough to feel like there was absolutely nothing wrong with just nonchalantly walking away from the scene of the fight.
The two girls were thus still well within hearing range of the trophy room when a few moments later, the professors entered.
"The troll!" A voice that both girls recognized as the Astronomy Professor, Sinistra, shouted out. "I think I'm going to be sick."
Curious now, both half-bloods paused to eavesdrop.
In contrast to their colleague, the next two voices sounded incredibly calm.
"What happened to it." McGonagall's distinctive brogue sounded off of the old stone walls. "Filius, any ideas?"
"A defensive ward of some type?" Flitwick replied, sounding incredibly uncertain.
"Impossible. There are no wards here in Hogwarts which could do something like this." McGonagall said sharply. "You know this."
"I do." Flitwick affirmed. "I wonder why I thought this was the work of a ward…Compulsion!"
"Indeed." McGonagall hissed. "Whatever or whoever did this is apparently very skilled in magic, but not so in terms of logic."
Alkaid was affronted by this and barely resisted the urge to retort. Only the thought of all the trouble getting caught would bring stayed her tongue. That and Pyrrha slamming a hand over her mouth to silence her.
"True." Flitwick said replied. "We should count ourselves lucky though. If not for that failing, I doubt we would have been able to shake off that compulsion. It was powerful and well crafted."
"Agreed. Now do you see any clues as to the real troll killer?"
"Nothing so…" Flitwick began only to cut himself off, "Ah. What's this?"
"Let me take a look." A moment later, McGonagall spoke up again. "Looks like a bloody footprint."
"The troll's?" Sinistra asked, having apparently returned from being sick.
"Too small." Flitwick replied clinically. "Judging by the size and the treadmarks of a shoe… Hmm… First year? Second at best?"
The two girls really should have run off by now, or at least Alkaid thought so. But she didn't move, neither did Pyrrha. They were both too curious for their own good.
"First year." McGonagall gave her opinion.
"But how?" Sinistra breathed audibly shocked.
"No idea and now's not the time to find out." McGonagall said testily. "If there is a first year about, the child may have been injured fighting the troll…"
"Or a child playing truant might have stumbled on this sight before we got here and was traumatized. Either way, we need to find the child. Filius stay here and keep watch. Aurora you're with me."
The girls looked at one another at that and Pyrrha summed up what they should do.
"Cheese it!" She hissed and the girls bolted down the hallway.
Alkaid, slower than the daughter of war, saw the red bloody trail Pyrrha was making, "You have troll's blood on your foot!" Alkaid hissed at her.
Pyrrha craned her head to the side to see the trail she was making, "Oh come on! The Fates suck to the extreme!"
Alkaid rolled her eyes, the Fates were fickle old grannies, that was without doubt.
"I thought you were good with the Mist?" Pyrrha grunted ahead.
"I am," Alkaid frowned at her back, "But you just had to ruin it with your boots."
"Hey! My boots rule." the redhead shot back.
Alkaid looked ahead and spied a classroom, "We can hide in there!"
"But my boot!"
Alkaid pulled out her wand, quite a feat considering they were still sprinting at full speed down the corridors, and pointed it at the footwear, "Aguamenti!" a splash of water hit the sole, washing away the blood and grime, "There."
They quickly ducked into the room, Alkaid weaving the Mist before the door shut. Both girls pressed into the walls of an opposing corner from the door.
"What did you do?" Pyrrha whispered.
"Shh." Alkaid answered, looking at the faint light the window pane gave off.
"There! The trail continues down towards the south wing!" Sinistra cried out, following the 'trail' likely with McGonagall in tow.
After a few minutes of quiet, the girls let out sighs of relief, sliding down the wall and onto their posteriors.
"So," Pyrrha raised a brow, "Trail?"
Alkaid smirked, "To use the Mist, you must make the victim see what they want to see. I merely gave them the trail they wanted." she answered smartly.
Pyrrha looked impressed, that was a move a kid of Hecate could pull off. "Still, sorry for the boot print."
"No, it was my fault. I should have constructed a better tale for them to follow." Alkaid stated with some abashedness.
They both laughed at their equal part in messing up of the event.
Pyrrha chuckled a little, "That was the most fun I've had since I got here."
Alkaid hummed, tapping her chin, "It was enjoyable to me as well."
"Well," Pyrrha pushed up on to her knees, and then bringing herself back upright, "I think we should get back. I've got a feeling I'm going to be tip toeing through my dorm."
Alkaid nodded as she stood up as well, "I believe I will be fine with my dorm." she held out her hand, "It's been a thrill, Pyrrha."
The redhead took the pale hand in her strong grip, shaking it, missing the wince Alkaid gave off, "Hey, you ever want to go Scooby Doo on this place again, let me know."
Alkaid cracked a smile at that.
When Alkaid returned to her dorm, she'd expected an inquisition of sorts waiting for her. She had after all run off with barely a word to Blaise to cover for her. She was not worried of course, she was confident she could talk her way out of any wrongdoing. Or if worse come to worse, use the Mist to get herself out of trouble. Even with the recent mess with the troll, she still had faith in her skill in the Mist. Thus, imagine her surprise when she arrived to the Ravenclaw dormitories to find that she had not been missed. Apparently Blaise had skillfully misdirected everyone who had thought to check up on her, both the prefects and her friends. The daughter of Hades was mightily impressed, the boy was proving himself surprisingly capable.
It had been a week since the incident with the troll and in the interim, Alkaid's study group had been going well. Pyrrha quickly becoming one of the group since her discovery of Alkaid also being a demigod. Though the daughter of Hades had to watch her wording around the daughter of war, just in case.
But, Alkaid did note that she had started to make waves within Hogwarts. She was excelling in her classes, and that was catching people's attention. But it wasn't enough. If she wanted to make a mark and succeed in this world, she needed to do something else. Hm…There was the bullying problem that seemed to plague her House. With so many intelligent egos in one place, there would, inevitably, be clashes, and since they were all children, juvenile behavior was a sure thing. There was nothing more juvenile than petty bullying.
Perhaps a little house cleaning, pun intended, was needed. It might be a small step up from just doing well in her studies, and likely wouldn't gain her much attention outside Ravenclaw itself. But baby steps. She didn't want to draw too much attention, too fast after all. That and she desperately needed something to occupy herself with because, by the Pit, she was bored! Joyous, the whole Hogwarts experience was becoming so tedious that she was cursing now. How unrefined.
How should she go about it though? Looking around the Ravenclaw common room she was lounging in, the daughter of Hades silently sought inspiration on how to proceed. Over in the corner she spotted her yearmate, Su Li gophering for a group of older girls by bringing them some hot drinks as they studied.
Briefly, Alkaid considered intervening, after all it seemed quite unfair to her that Su had to run errands for the seniors. She stopped herself though as she knew that juniors gophering for their seniors, especially those who would be sitting for important exams soon, was expected and even accepted in boarding schools like Hogwarts. Plus, it was not like the gophers got nothing out of the arrangement. After all by running errands for their seniors, the younger students got the chance to build connections that they otherwise might not have.
The Potter heiress was about to put the matter out of her mind and look for inspiration elsewhere when the tone of the scene in the corner changed drastically all of a sudden. One of the older girls had stood up and was shouting at a cowering Su and whilst she was too far away to hear what was being said distinctly, the girl's gesturing to her cup gave her a pretty good idea.
Looks like this is what I was looking for after all. Alkaid thought to herself as she stood up and walked over to the group. Idly noting as she walked over, that despite the fact that this blatant act of bullying was happening in full view of the whole common room that besides a few curious looks no one else looked ready to intervene.
Now that was just a shame.
As she got close enough to hear what was being said more clearly, Alkaid quickly confirmed her initial suspicions on what the older girl was angry about. The harpy, and that was a charitable description, was whining about how "her coffee was ruined!"
"Amy, that's enough don't you think. The poor girl's terrified." One of the harpy's friends tried to interject.
"Oh shut up, Pond!" Amy the harpy retorted. At the same time, she turned to face her other study mates and leveled a glare at them, warning them not to say anything either.
Turning back to face Su and presumably to continue her tirade she instead found Alkaid standing before the Chinese girl, almost protectively, a sunny smile on her face, "Now now, this terrible display was wholly unnecessary. You should really stop. You're embarrassing yourself enough as it is."
Amy the harpy turned an ugly shade of red at that, "What was that, Potter?"
Alkaid's eyes gained an edge to them, "I said, perhaps if you stopped whining like a babe, you might not make a bigger fool of yourself." She gestured to Su, "Miss Li got you your drink, perhaps a thank you would be nice? Or does human decency elude you?"
"She ruined my drink!"
Alkaid tilted her head, "Oh? Was there too much sugar? Perhaps it was diluted with too much milk for the little princess? If so, why not stand up and get your own drink. Or is that task too complicated for you? House of the wise indeed." She scoffed.
"Watch your mouth, first year." Amy threatened.
Alkaid raised a delicate brow, "Oh? And what can you do? Besides whine like a toddler of course."
Amy reached for her wand, "Oh that is it. I've had it with the smug act you prance around with."
"Amy!" Pond said, standing up and reaching across the table to physically restrain her, "Come on, just let it go."
Alkaid frowned minisculy, she had wanted to stretch her magic muscles a bit.
"Let me go Melody!" Amy screeched. "Sister, let me go!"
Alkaid looked confused. The two were sisters?
"No! I'm not letting you attack a first year just because she struck a cord. Imagine all the trouble we'd get into. Mum will be furious." That finally seemed to have the desired effect and Amy finally calmed down.
"Fine." Amy ground out between clenched teeth, before she turned to the two first years. "Get out of my sight, the both of you."
Su bolted. Alkaid, though, gave the two older girls a smile and calmly walked over to her spot. She was soon joined by her friends.
"What were you thinking, Alkaid?" Anthony chided as he sat down in a chair opposite the demigoddess.
"That Amy girl was bullying poor little Su, I just had to intervene." Alkaid confessed.
"There's been plenty of bullying around here before now. Why step in only now?" Padma asked as she finished settling down.
"Just couldn't take it anymore. I guess." Alkaid replied with a shrug. Her friends eyed her skeptically though, so she had no choice but to elaborate, "That and I was bored."
Padma and Anthony both sighed in exasperation at this. Terry on the other hand outright laughed. Lisa just shook her head at her friend's antics.
Just then a draft blew through the common room as the entryway opened for a group of students.
"Honestly, this November air is horrendous." Alkaid stated, bundling up with one of the blankets covering the couch she was sitting on.
"Don't whine Alkaid, it's not that bad." Terry told her, the rest of the group was not shivering like the California girl.
"I'll have you know, that well-mannered young ladies do not whine. And I am most certainly a well-mannered young lady."
"Then what do they do?" Lisa asked curiously.
Alkaid answered with her usual smile, "We complain."
It was Saturday, a day where students could relax, do their homework and cocoon themselves in blankets due to the chill of November. To Alkaid on the other hand, that just meant Demeter was going into her traditional winter mood.
Honestly, it's common knowledge to all those under the Greek Pantheon that her father could hold a grudge, but let it not be said that the rest of the family did not share this trait.
Back to the wondrous day that was Saturday, Alkaid was not snuggled under a blanket, reading a good book as she sorely wanted to. No, instead she was currently being dragged down a hallway by Pyrrha.
"Pyrrha, where are you taking me?" The daughter of Hades asked with a dull look in her eyes, her voice garbled under the blue muffler scarf she was wearing.
"Duh, to train." the daughter of war rolled her eyes, "After scouting out the school, I finally found a good place!" She grinned like a loon.
Alkaid just offered an unimpressed blink at that.
"I know! It's great!"
"You do realize that I'm not interested, right? Physical training is not what I'd consider fun."
Pyrrha stopped and raised an eyebrow, "And you call yourself a demigod? I mean don't you have to keep in shape? Besides, what else is there to do? I know you already finished your homework yesterday in the study group in like, an hour."
"Don't you have homework to do?" Alkaid deflected.
"Meh, just homework." Pyrrha shrugged uncaringly as she smirked at her, "Come on, us demigods gotta keep in shape." She said, dragging Alkaid by her arm once more.
The daughter of Hades did note that Pyrrha was very strong for a girl her age.
"I'm not really in the mood to train." The Ravenclaw stated.
"You cold?"
"…Yes." Alkaid dryly answered.
"Well, getting the blood pumping'll warm you up. So, no excuses. Plus I wanna see what you got!"
Alkaid frowned behind her muffler. She pondered this for a moment and gained a gleam in her eyes, "Well, if you insist. I could stretch my muscles...but you will owe me one." she winked playfully.
The other girl let out a laugh at this. "You drive a hard bargain, my friend." She said trying to sound like some generic businessman from TV.
"I try." Alkaid smirked back teasingly. "But I am being serious about the favor."
"Fine." Pyrrha shrugged her shoulders, "Just don't ask me to do your homework."
Alkaid just shot her a dry look. "That would be counterproductive considering I'm better at my studies than you are. I will not waste my hard earned favor like that."
Pyrrha held her heart playfully, "Ouch, right here."
"My aim is indeed frightening."
The two girls laughed at their byplay and continued onward.
They eventually reached an old, dusty classroom with the large mucked up windows wide open, the harsh winds kicking up clouds of dust.
Alkaid just raised an eyebrow at the dismal sight, "This is where you wish to exercise?" she said, lifting her muffler over her nose as she wrinkled at the state of the room.
Pyrrha gave an awkward laugh, "Yeah, well, I thought, you know, we could clean it up." She said, looking around, "Maybe get a few mats, sweep it up, and make it sparkle or something like that."
"We do know magic."
Pyrrha rolled her eyes, "I don't know cleaning magic." She paused and glanced at Alkaid, "You?"
Alkaid answered by merely taking out her wand, pulling down her scarf and getting started. "Scourgify!" she cast and in seconds, all the grime and dirt in the whole room was gone. Dust still hung in the air though, so she pointed her wand once more and said, "Ventus!", creating a forceful breeze that pushed all the dust right out the open windows. With a final flick of her wand, Alkaid slammed the windows shut and locked them.
"Daaamn." Pyrrha offered a low whistle at the now spotless looking classroom, "How'd you even know that kind of magic?"
"Reading."
Pyrrha just gave the other girl a playful glare, "Funny."
"I do enjoy my wit," Alkaid said with a teasing smile after pulling her muffler down further.
"A real riot, Kaidy."
Alkaid pursed her lips, "It's Alkaid."
Pyrrha's face started to grow a small grin, "Oh? Hit a nerve?"
Alkaid merely scoffed, "Not at all. I just do not like people butchering my name into some cutesy nickname."
"Uh, last I checked," the redhead's grin widened, "Butcherin' stuff is sorta what I was born to do, ya know?" she commented with mirth while taking off her cloak, and holding up her fists, "So, come on! Let's get started!"
Alkaid gave a tiny frown and waved her wand in a large circle over her head. Five red floating orbs fired out, scattering around the room, instantly warming it up.
Pyrrha looked surprised at this. Fireballs? She moved her hand to one nearby, her fingers feeling tingles of warmth as she made contact but she wasn't burnt. Whatever the orbs were made of, it wasn't fire.
"If we are doing this," Alkaid said, gracefully removing her muffler and cloak, "Then I am doing it in a controlled climate."
The war child laughed and pumped her fist in excitement, "Nice! Hell, I'll even give you the first punch." She generously offered.
Alkaid's eyes glimmered at that, "Truly?"
"Yep!"
The daughter of Hades' face gained another one of her smiles. It dissipated in a second though as Alkaid's face turned emotionless, her eyes turning cold and calculating. She raised her fists, just like Pyrrha's. But the redhead noticed that Alkaid's form looked professional, perhaps even flawless.
She didn't have time to contemplate this as Alkaid rushed in at decent speed, pushing a fist forward for Pyrrha's face. But the fist stopped midway before it contact, a feint! Pyrrha raised her arm to block the coming kick, only to feel a sharp tug on her limb, "Huh?!"
She looked to see her arm shackled down by a glowing green chain that was anchored to the ground by a magic circle.
And that one look earned the daughter of war a kick to the face.
"Ow!"
Alkaid didn't even give her opponent a chance to comprehend her binding as she struck once more, her kick striking true on Pyrrha's knee, forcing it to buckle. The redhead fell to one knee and flinched her eyes closed as Alkaid launched a palm strike to her face, pausing an inch from her nose.
"I win." Alkaid smugly claimed her victory.
Pyrrha blinked open her reddish brown eyes and glowered, "The hell was that?!" she snapped, her pride bruised.
"Fighting." The child of war's opponent replied unfazed by her anger. "And me winning."
The simple answer riled up Pyrrha as she stood up, the chained binding holding her arm in place dissipating into particles of magic.
"Foul!" Pyrrha childishly said, "This was supposed to be hand to hand."
Alkaid twirled a lock of her hair, "You never stated that. All you said was that we were going to train. Not once did you mention that we could not use magic." She ever so innocently said.
Pyrrha's eye twitched at that, "Okay, then let's go again. No magic." she stressed sternly.
"No."
The simple dismissal took Pyrrha off balance, "Come again?"
Alkaid sighed, "No. Because if we do. It would be pointless. You would win in a pure battle of brawn."
"You don't know that!" Pyrrha protested.
"I do. There is a good reason why I fight the way I do." The heiress rebutted with a resigned sigh.
"Oh really?" The daughter of Ares sneered. "Because from the way I'm looking at it, you're only fighting this way because you're a coward."
"Say what you will." Alkaid deflected without care. "I know my strengths and physical combat is not one of them."
Pyrrha ignored Alkaid's explanation though and began to taunt the other girl. It worked for her dad when he wanted to get what he wanted, it'd work for her too, right? "Yeah, that's only because you're too much of a wuss to fight fair and square."
"As I said…" The daughter of Hades began to say, but was interrupted by her companion's cries of "Coward!", "Loser", "Chicken", etc.
Finally losing her cool, the usually refined girl turned sharply to face the daughter of war. "By the Pit! I'm none of those things! Stop calling me them! You want a fight? Fine."
Pyrrha smiled then. "No take backs." She said as she shifted back into a fighting stance. "And sorry for the name calling, that's how Ares and his kids get what we want."
"How uncouth." Alkaid sniffed as she too adopted a fighting stance.
"Well whatever works, right?" Pyrrha unapologetically said. "But if you're upset about it than I'll let you have first strike. Again."
"Feeling charitable are we?" The Potter girl responded. "Well, I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. I'll take you up on your offer."
"Whenever you're ready." The daughter of war said with a nod.
Alkaid dashed in and went for a kick again, aiming for Pyrrha's ribs. The warrior girl blocked it, but felt no...umph behind it. It was a perfectly executed move but where was the force?
She pushed Alkaid back, who hopped back a few paces to make some distance between them.
Pyrrha charged in, her speed greater than Alkaid's. She feinted a punch to the face, her opponent blocking. Alkaid however failed to block the elbow to the gut that the punch masked and as a result was forced to let out a pained gasp as the air was forced out of her lungs. Disoriented, Potter was unprepared by for the follow up body check and was sent stumbling back by the move.
Pyrrha frowned as she pressed Alkaid, testing her and soon found that the Ravenclaw was right.
After sending the daughter of Hades to the ground in a sprawling mess, the redhead said, "Damn, you suck." she bluntly said.
Alkaid snapped her eyes to Pyrrha's, "I do not." she mustered out, despite the bruises that were no doubt forming from the pummeling.
"No, your form is good. Like legit good. But you hit as hard as a little kid."
"Don't you think I know that?" Alkaid responded scathingly. "Are we done with this spar?"
Pyrrha folded her arms behind her head, "Err…Yeah."
"Blessed Elysium!" Alkaid said as she pulled out her wand and began casting some basic healing spells on herself. "As I said earlier, I know my strengths." She continued as she used magic to freshen up her appearance, "And physical combat is not one of them."
"Well, you punch like a kindergartener." The daughter of war critiqued harshly. Alkaid just shrugged though, clearly unconcerned. That just pissed Pyrrha off.
"Well, if that's how you fight then it's obvious you need to go through some major training. With enough effort, I'm sure you can kick some butt the right way. So I call Boot Camp!"
"Excuse me!?" The stunned look on Alkaid's face screamed her dissent where her voice failed her. "The right way? A fight is a fight. How I win it is my own affair."
I have to come up with a reason to deflect her, otherwise she will not let this matter go. Alkaid thought to herself. Perhaps a little bit of the truth?
"Besides, I simply do not possess the drive to hit someone hard enough."
Pyrrha gave her an incredulous look, "Drive to hit someone? You take your fist and knock the hell out of them. There's no science involved here!"
"Be that as it may, it's not so simple for me. By the Pit I wish it was. I've tried everything to get over this issue. It's a mental stumbling block my kickboxing trainer keeps telling me. But whatever I try, it just doesn't work." Alkaid claimed in uncharacteristic frustration.
"I don't get it." Pyrrha said, still genuinely confused.
"Of course you don't. No one ever seems to." Alkaid said still venting even as she finished with her recovery from the spar. "In the name of Rhea, I am so tired of explaining this crap."
"Well, I've never heard it before." Pyrrha said amused, she'd never heard her friend curse before now. "Wait, you can cuss? Wow, and here I thought you were all refined and lady-like." she pointed out.
Alkaid sniffed, "I happen to enjoy reading my thesaurus."
Pyrrha just gave a dull look, "…Nerd."
"That was a joke." Alkaid said to deny that she actually did do that.
"Riiight." Pyrrha drawled disbelievingly.
Alkaid pressed her shirt down and brushed her sleeve, covering her nervousness over the topic by nitpicking her appearance, "As I was saying, this mental hurdle is what's holding me back. One I most likely will never overcome, but I've made my peace with this."
Pyrrha tilted her head in thought, eyes closed. After a minute they opened with a predatory gleam and she grinned, "Well, I don't believe that. Like I said, with enough effort you can do pretty crazy stuff."
Alkaid gave her a look of disdain. Enough effort? That was fairy tale logic. Not everything could be overcome with effort. She should know, just look at her father's relationship with his family up on Olympus. His sister Hestia had put in an enormous amount of effort to mend the gaps in their family with little success. "I don't think so. If you insist then I'm calling in my favor. I've spent years and years trying to fix this with professional help and have gotten nowhere, I'm not going to waste anymore time and effort on it."
Please believe me, Alkaid thought with annoyance, I don't want to drag this out any longer.
"Oh come on." Pyrrha whined. "It can't be that bad."
"Trust me, it is." Alkaid bluntly said.
Pyrrha wasn't giving up though and continued to pester her, "Tell me about it?"
"Will you get off my case if I do?"the daughter of Hades asked hopefully.
"Maybe?"
"Fine." Alkaid conceded with a sigh, even as she began telling her nosy companion a little bit of the truth behind her aversion to physical combat. "Basically I didn't like hitting people with my fists at first because I wasn't very good at it. I know most people work through that. It's kinda something all beginners go through. But for me it was compounded by the fact I didn't want to. You see I always liked the idea of being a refined noble lady. So I've been working on turning myself into one since I was a little girl. And ladies don't go around bashing people's skulls in."
"But what about your magic?" Pyrrha pointed out her scary talent with the arcane arts.
"That's different. Magic has always been considered an acceptable art for a lady of standing. Even back in Ancient Greece this was true. Just look at Medea, Pasiphaë, and all the other famous sorceresses. They were all royalty. So it's perfectly fine for a lady to use magic."
"That's pretty shaky logic." Pyrrha again pointed out a weakness in Alkaid's reasoning.
"I know." Alkaid sighed once more. "I know that very well. But telling that to my subconcious? Well, it's never worked out."
"Well, it wouldn't hurt to still practice, right? I mean not Boot Camp style, but you've obviously got some training in martial arts so some practice to keep up with it makes sense."
"True."
Thank the Abyss, Alkaid thought, perking up a touch.
"By the way, how come you're so insightful all of a sudden?" Alkaid asked teasingly.
"Hey! You calling me an idiot?"
"You said it, not me." Alkaid said with a mischievous smile.
"Hey!"
Alkaid sighed as she brushed her bangs out of her eyes. She and Pyrrha were standing before the door to the third story corridor, the one labeled: Off Limits unless you wish to die.
The mid-December chill filled the corridor, much to Alkaid's displeasure. She had been curious about what was behind Dumbledore's deadly corridor from the get go and had been investigating what it could be in her free time since it was announced back during the Start-of-Term Feast. She knew from early on, ever since she'd first passed by the corridor, that whatever was being hidden there was a powerful gem of some kind. The gem sense she'd inherited as a daughter of the Rich One had told her as much, though her version of the power was not refined enough to tell her precisely what gem it was. Despite that, it was still a major clue and she'd started researching powerful magical gems in her free time trying to figure out which was at Hogwarts. Unfortunately, there were simply too many options: Ancient Magical Foci from legendary Wizards of the past were pretty common, apparently.
Her little investigation was saved though when a conversation about wizarding security systems among her Study Group reminded her of the break in at Gringotts just before the start of school. Talking with a few of the wizarding information peddlers, via proxy of course, and a little gold had easily revealed that the contents of the vault that had been broken into had been emptied just before it was breached by Hogwarts' own groundskeeper, Hagrid. From there it was easy to assume that whatever was in the vault was what was now behind the third floor corridor. A little more gold to the intelligence brokers and she discovered the vault had, through several shell accounts, belonged to the Flamels. With that the mystery was solved, the Flamels were famous for their Philosopher's Stone after all. Unraveling that mystery had been a nice distraction while it had lasted and had occupied her free time for weeks.
Why such a powerful artifact was in the school, she had not the faintest idea but assumed Dumbledore wished to use the powerful object to tempt out enemies, potentially whatever remnants may have been left of Tom Riddle's forces.
Now, with both Snape and the rat cleared, Alkaid really had not much to worry about in terms of who may be after the stone. With no threat to the stone she saw no real need to go after it. It was not like she had any interest in possessing the stone herself, as considering her heritage she could easily get all the gold she wanted and immortality too if she so wanted, so long as she played her cards right.
But one mention to Pyrrha about the fact that a treasure was behind the door and her fellow demigoddess was biting at the bit to retrieve it for some action. Apparently she hadn't been on a quest yet at Camp Half-Blood and claimed this was a perfect warm-up or practice run for one.
So the daughter of war insisted to going 'Indiana Jones on the place'. Of course, since quests were group affairs and Alkaid was the only other demigoddess available, the child of Ares had insisted the other half-blood tag along too, much to Alkaid's irritation.
Standing in the corridor, Alkaid held her business card holder in her grasp as Pyrrha had her Swiss Army Knife in her hand, flipping out a knife part, "I've got this, learned some stuff from a Hermes kid." she bragged.
Alkaid just took out her wand, "Alohomora." With that simple incantation and a flourish of the stick, the door unlocked in an instant.
Pyrrha gave her a dry look, "Oh come on, have a little fun."
"It would have taken too long." Alkaid stated plainly, "You can test your Breaking and Entering later."
Pyrrha grumbled and snapped the blade closed, pushing the door open, "Well let's see what kind of security...they...have…?" she paused, looking stunned at what she was seeing.
Alkaid walked next to her and raised a delicate eyebrow.
A very large, black furred dog filled at least half the room. Oh, and it had three heads.
Alkaid could only wonder where they got a baby Cerberus. And yes, a baby. The actual Cerberus, the one who made sure the dead didn't escape the underworld, was twice the size of a wooly mammoth and a purebred rottweiler, not some mutt like the one in front of her. She should know, it was her family pet.
Pyrrha was about to pull out her labrys, but before she could, Alkaid held out her hand, "Stop." the daughter of Hades hissed.
"What?" Pyrrha told her with a look, "We gotta kill it!" she whispered back, hoping the monster wouldn't hear her.
Alkaid rolled her eyes, "Honestly, violence isn't the only solution. Think of this as an RPG, you have options in any quest. Use them." She educated her companion as she walked up to the puppy, much to Pyrrha's alarmed shock.
"Hello," Alkaid cooed to the doggy as the young pup craned its heads to face her all at once. They leaned in and their nostrils flared and sniffed. It was so strong, Alkaid's hair flew upward.
Suddenly, the Cerberus opened its maws near her, Pyrrha crying out with worry, only for all three heads to lick the daughter of Hades from head to toe.
Alkaid giggled, despite been covering in slobber, and reached her hands out and petted the center head and scratched the chin of the right head, causing his tail to wag, "Good boys." she cooed to them, "Would you let us through?" she asked and got a chorus of barks.
Pyrrha was slack jawed as the monster not only complied, but also assumed a sit position in the far corner to show the girls a trap door.
Alkaid, using her wand to clean herself, Cerby was a messy licker as well so it was no surprise that his descendant was too, just turned to the daughter of war, "See? Words can take you very far."
"What are you, the dog whisperer?"
Alkaid just gave her usual smile, "Perhaps. Now let us continue forthwith."
"Wait a moment, My Lady!" A hoarse whisper suddenly called out from the walls, causing both demigoddesses to tense and the Cerberus pup to start growling threateningly.
"Who is it?" Alkaid asked tersely. She knew the speaker was a ghost, her powers told her that much.
"It is I, My Lady." The gaunt looking face of the Bloody Baron declared in his typical whisper, as he drifted through the wall and into the room.
"Busted!" Pyrrha hissed as she gritted her teeth whilst the Cerberus growled deeper.
Alkaid turned to both of her friends and hissed, "Calm down." Quickly, she turned back to the bloodied spirit and said, "What do you want, Baron?"
"Merely to be of assistance to you." The dead Noble said even as he gave her a respectful bow. "I have come to warn you that there is deadly Devil's Snare in the chamber below. "
Alkaid gave the creepy spirit an unblinking look as he floated with the same noble poise that he always did, unfazed by the daughter of Hades. She gave a curt nod, "You have my thanks." she said tersely, "If you would be so kind to do me another favour?"
The undead noble merely nodded.
"Keep Filch away from here this night. I have business to conduct."
"Certainly. It will be my honor, My Lady. If you'll excuse me, I'll begin my task immediately." The Slytherin House ghost said before he gave the two demigoddesses one more respectful bow and gracefully floating back out the room.
Pyrrha just looked at her, "The hell was that?"
Alkaid gave a coy smile, "Ghosts like me."
They moved to the trapdoor, the puppy Cerberus' heavy breathing filling the room. Alkaid opened it and peered down. As the child of the dark prince, she could see through any darkness, like night vision in a way. Thus, she could see hundreds of writhing trunks of the Devil's Snare at least a mile down.
"Devil's Snares are weak to light," Alkaid told Pyrrha, "So we need a bright light to get them to leave us be."
"So a Lumos spell?" the redhead suggested.
Alkaid smiled, "Exactly, but we need a powerful blast of it." she opened her business card holder and pulled out a card.
"Hey, that's one of your magic cards, right?" Pyrrha pointed out, "Don't you need your book for that?"
The magical expert shook her head, "No. While the book increases the power of my spells. I can use the cards without it. In fact, it's quicker using them this way. They just lack some of their punch. Hm, think of them as magical grenades."
Pyrrha whistled, "That's pretty handy."
Alkaid giggled, "Yes, I can pull off a few card tricks."
Pyrrha rolled her eyes at the lame joke, "Yeah yeah, so let's do this thing already." she said, itching for some action.
Alkaid nodded and tossed the card down the trapdoor like it was a discus. After a moment, a supernova of white light exploded and the plants below screeched in agony.
Alkaid tried to suppress her smile as she took delight in the screams of the plants. Perhaps her father was rubbing too much off on her.
The light hung in the room, continuing to provide lighting for the girls and suffering for the foliage.
"How the hell are we going to get down there? That's a huge drop!" Pyrrha frowned, her brow knitted together, trying to find an idea.
Alkaid shook her head, "Pyrrha, dear, fret not. I always have a plan." she said and held out her hand. Then, right under the trap door a large green magic circle, at least five feet in diameter, appeared with a star overlaying the center. There were so many symbols on it that Pyrrha lost count. She could only recognize the small Greek letters at the corners; π (pi), δ (delta), ω (omega) and ν (nu). All the other runes etched into its numerous rings and squares just flew over her head. The Gryffindor looked at Alkaid, wondering just how good with magic she really was.
Alkaid stepped onto the circle that acted like a platform, she held out her hand to Pyrrha, "Come. We can use this to hover down."
Pyrrha took her hand and hopped on the magic circle, finding it to be perfectly stable. They hovered down and proceeded to the next room.
The rooms beyond the one with Devil's Snare contained obstacles too. The next held a flock of enchanted flying keys and a locked door. The two demigods had just rushed across the room and Pyrrha had hacked through the door, the celestial bronze cutting right through its meager magical defenses, whilst Alkaid used her magic to shield them from dive bombing flying keys.
The room after that was occupied by a giant chess set, with a pair of empty spaces on their side of the board, clearly waiting for her and Pyrrha to fill in for the missing pieces. The sight of which stirred Alkaid's blood in a way that the previous obstacles didn't. The others had been child's play, hardly a challenge. But chess? Especially wizarding chess, especially with oneself as pieces, and thus subject to injury? It was fun! So much so that Alkaid was tempted to play another game even after winning her way across. In the end, Pyrrha had to drag her to the next room.
The next two rooms were disappointments though. They were empty. Clearly whatever protections were slated to be placed within them had yet to be set up. So the two half-bloods just walked through them without a second glance and entered the penultimate room in the corridor. Within was a single ancient, ornate mirror. It had clawed feet and a gold frame inscribed with the phrase "Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi."
"A mirror? I thought this place was hiding a treasure." Pyrrha voiced incredulously, a scowl on her face.
Alkaid ignored her friend for a moment, instead circling the mirror and examining it. "It is. The treasure is hidden in the mirror somehow." the girl deduced in seconds.
"In the mirror? How did they do something like that?"
"I don't know." Alkaid said testily, upset that she couldn't figure it out. "I do know however that this is the Mirror of Erised. It shows upon its surface, the greatest desire of the one looking into it. Additionally, it's also able to seal away small objects."
"If you know what it is, then can you unseal the treasure?" the daughter of war asked hopefully.
"Unfortunately not." Alkaid sighed. "At least, not right now. Perhaps with some research…"
"Damn! So tonight's a bust?" Pyrrha asked as she slumped her shoulders in irritation.
"I'm afraid so. My apologies." Alkaid replied sincerely, her lips pursed.
"Not your fault. It's getting late anyway. Let's head back?"
"Let's."
Weeks passed and Alkaid held true to her word, she did research how to extract the Stone from the Mirror. She however did not do anywhere near as much as she could have though, as it was hardly a high priority for her. Due to this, progress on that front was dreadfully slow. Pyrrha was frustrated by this, but Alkaid honestly did not care. If the other demigod wanted to get the Stone so badly, she could do some of the research herself. Leaving it entirely in her hands had irritated the daughter of Hades so much, that part of her lack of attention towards the matter was out of spite.
Most of it though came from the fact that there were simply a whole host of other more important things to hold her attention. There was her schoolwork, which as a matter of personal pride as well as part of her efforts of image-making, was something that she needed to continue to excel in. Besides that there was also spending time with her friends and acquaintances in the castle, building up for herself a reliable network of contacts for her plans for the Wizarding World. In line with this there was also her need to keep up to date with the current affairs of said community. It was thus whilst doing the latter that she came across the first big piece of evidence of her handiwork, in the form of a report in the Daily Prophet:
Light Shined on Black!
New development in the Case of Sirius Black: New evidence from body of Peter Pettigrew leads to retrial!
By A. Fenetre
New evidence has emerged from the post-mortem examination of the body of Peter Pettigrew, which as readers will recall we reported to have been recovered in mid-September. In light of this new evidence, the DMLE last night at a hastily arranged press conference announced that a new trial for notorious mass murdering Death Eater, Sirius Black will be arranged. …
Pleased that her actions was having a noticeable impact on Wizarding Britain, Alkaid quickly became glued to following the Black Case. She was however a little surprised that Pettigrew was dead. Apparently, someone in the Ministry was not above a little summary justice.
The Trial of Sirius Black: Evidence of grave injustice
Proceedings prove that Black was sent to Azkaban without trial!
By A. Fenetre
The world was stunned today when court proceedings proved that Sirius Black had been sent to Azkaban without trial ten years ago. This revelation, corroborated by Ministry documents and multiple witnesses, is a grave miscarriage of justice as expressed to this reporter by several highly placed Ministry sources. It was thus unsurprising to see it met by outrage both in the courtroom and without…
Things just kept getting more interesting, Alkaid reflected as the case continued.
The Trial of Sirius Black: Black Innocent!
Real Death Eater, Peter Pettigrew!
By A. Fenetre
The verdict for the trial of Sirius Black was announced in court today. The poor man was found not guilty of all counts brought against him. An unsurprising outcome considering the mountain of evidence that has emerged over the course of the trial. Here are some highlights:
…
After being exonerated, Black was whisked away before reporters could speak to him. However, this reporter understands from her sources that Black will be spending the next week or two at St Mungo's for a mental evaluation, which preliminary results from tests done on him during the trial suggests will likely be extended to a year at least for treatment. Those same sources also suggest though that he will try to contact his goddaughter, the Girl-Who-Lived, Alkaid Medea Potter, in the interim in the hope of eventually taking her in when he is well again.
In related news, the Ministry is doing everything it can to salvage its reputation in the wake of the embarrassing revelations that Black's trial unearthed. ...
Alkaid stopped reading there. She knew she that she should read how the Ministry was reacting to all the criticisms that had come up in the wake of the trial. Doing so would give her a much needed handle on how the Ministry worked. But she couldn't.
She was too upset. Black wanted to take her in!
Irritation flared within her. Black wanted to play catchup with her? Mend the gap he himself created? By the Pit, she would love to see him try! He abandoned her for revenge -irony, she knew, but it wasn't the point!- and after doing that, he still wanted to take her in?
After a few breaths, Alkaid calmed herself. She was letting her anger talk here. Attaining a calmer mindset, she could see things from Black's perspective. The man probably did not know her current circumstances and was just trying to -finally- live up to his responsibilities as her godfather. If so, then the very least she could do was give the man the benefit of the doubt. She would decline of course, but she would do so as graciously as possible. No point burning a potential asset.
With that thought in mind, the daughter of Hades returned her attention to the paper and the Ministry of Magic's attempts to save its reputation.
The train ride back to Platform 9 3/4 was relaxing for Alkaid. Of course, she was huddled under a blanket with a good book. Her acquaintances rode with her; Blaise, Daphne, Tracy, and Pyrrha. The other members of her clique were in their own cabin cars doing their own thing.
Everyone chatted about what they would be doing at home and agreed to exchange letters with each other during the Christmas holiday.
Pyrrha had tried to get Alkaid to join her at Long Island. But Alkaid declined her offer for obvious reasons.
"I still think you're sorta nuts for living near that." The daughter of war had commented.
By that, she was referring to the Mountain of Despair, Mount Othrys, the former palace of the Titans, which resided in San Francisco.
It was understandable, with the mountain so nearby, it attracted many monsters. And with the Romans nearby too, the Gods had tried doubly hard to make Greek demigods stay away from the west coast.
After waving her acquaintances off and greeting their parents' politely, Alkaid waited for but a moment before she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see Melinoe, who was in her usual punkish attire.
"Sup." The goddess said lazily, "Dad's busy with work. You know the death rate goes up during this time of year." She rolled her eyes.
Alkaid nodded, "Yes, I do. He tries to get as much of it done so we can have Christmas dinner without worrying about him dashing away."
Melinoe nodded to that, "Mom's back, and maaan, she was in a mood! Gotta wonder what Granny did this time."
Alkaid stifled a groan, "I don't wish to even dare a guess."
Melinoe snapped her fingers, Alkaid's belongings vanished, "There, your stuff's in your room. So let's go." She said while walking to a shadowy area of the platform. Alkaid was right behind her as they vanished into the darkness.
Alkaid looked a touch winded as she entered the throne room of the underworld. Unlike its usual dark and commanding presence, the room was decorated with fresh holly leaves strung up from the walls with speckles of mistletoe here and there. The hearth crackled powerfully as fireballs hovered overhead.
Her Father must have been in the Fields of Punishment or something since he wasn't there, but someone else was.
She was a tall, beautiful, young woman with pale skin and flowing curled black hair with a laurel of holly leaves woven in. She was in a long white dress, and her eyes were multi-colored, though they looked washed out in a way.
The goddess of springtime, Persephone, was pacing along the throne room, Thomas Jefferson quickly walking behind her with a long parchment list and quill in his capable hands.
"We'll need at least five dozen of those little cakes from that sweet shop I like in Frisco," the goddess told the famed writer as he jotted it down. Persephone held her chin in her delicate fingers and hummed, "Oh! And the gift baskets as well." She sharply turned around, the spirit nearly bumping into her, "Let me see."
Jefferson flipped the long, long list around, the goddess' eyes absorbing all that she had commented on.
"Hm, yes, that should do it. Wait," her lips curled downwards, "What happened to the ghoul attendee idea? We don't need another Hypnos incident again with him falling asleep in the punch."
"You never said that, milady." The honest son of Apollo stated.
Persephone narrowed her eyes.
Alkaid cleared her throat, garnering the attention of the goddess and Thomas (who looked thankful) towards herself and Melinoe.
"Mom, stop ragging on the dead." Melinoe said, walking up to the two with her hands behind her head, "That's my job."
Alkaid curtsied in greeting, "Stepmother."
"Suck up~" Melinoe sung out to her sister in a low voice.
Persephone gained a soft smile, "Girls, hello!" she said in a cheerful mood. Though she frowned towards her daughter, "Melinoe, could you at least wear something festive?"
Melinoe gave a dull blink and snapped her fingers. Her black shirt had shifted into a red one with a Christmas tree on it. Which was on fire.
Persephone's smile strained, "Better." She turned to Alkaid, "Welcome back as well, Alkaid. I hope your schooling fared well?"
Alkaid nodded, "It did indeed. Though I find the work slightly…slow paced, though I have been entertaining myself by other means."
"And by that," the ghost goddess said in a chipper tone, "She means offing every poor bastard that she's got an axe to grind with."
Alkaid shifted her starry eyes to the younger goddess, "Spying on me, dearest sister?"
"The dead speak to me," Melinoe shrugged uncaringly, "And Charon said he got chatty with a guy about how you poisoned him. Nice job on that. Hadn't had an epic poisoning since Jonestown."
"Melinoe!" Her mother scolded, "There was nothing 'epic' about that!"
Melinoe just gave a toothy smile, "But I like mass murder."
A long suffering sigh escaping her lips, Persephone said, "Yes, I know…" refocusing on Thomas, "And you, take down the ghoul idea and watch your cheek. I can always get Hancock to do this."
Thomas just jotted down the note and nodded to the subtle threat. At the goddess' open palm, he handed her the parchment and was dismissed. It was no doubt his time at the judgement pavilion anyway.
Persephone looked at the list, "What I wouldn't give to have my old handmaidens back, but no, mother just had to turn them into the Sirens. They didn't even have the gall to come back, lazy birdbrains."
"But you can summon any other handmaiden, can you not?" Alkaid asked curious.
Persephone replied with a dull blink, "Yes, with very 'yes ma'am' personalities and skinny to the bone."
"Just ring up Hecate, not like you don't drone on for hours with each other." Melinoe rolled her eyes at how overdramatic her mom was prone to being.
The wife of Hades disagreed, "Dear, I'm organizing the party. It is far too poor form to have a guest help me."
Shrugging, the ghost goddess departed and said, "Well, good luck with that, mom. I've got things to do."
Persephone scrunched her nose, "I hope you aren't seeing that mortal with all the piercings again."
Melinoe turned her head and grinned lecherously, "Nah, the one with the tattoo on his-"
Alkaid held up her hands, "I don't wish to know." Her stepmother agreed instantly.
"Whatever." Melinoe said dismissively, leaving the throne room.
Shaking her head, Persephone turned to Alkaid, her hand on her hip, "Well, I still need to get antlers on the Furies. Care to join me dear? They're very stubborn about it for some reason."
Alkaid's face lit up with amusement, "I would love to."
Just because the daughter of Hades viewed the Furies as family, didn't change the fact that she loved to tease them in their, ehem, holiday attire.
And of course a red nose for Alecto. As their leader, she had to bite the bullet and be Rudolf, such was the burden of leadership.
"Brilliant." The spring goddess smiled a glowing smile.
Alkaid smoothed out her sleeveless green dress that was decorated with gold and silver flakes. She adjusted her Mary Janes and fixed her silver hairband and smiled into the mirror. A knock on her door drew her attention, "A moment!" she called back. Brushing some hair behind her shoulder, and putting on a pair of silver bracelets, Alkaid finally opened the door.
She did her best to suppress a giggle, but failed miserably.
"Milord is waiting." Alecto spat, irritation wafting off her as the red nose she was wearing flickered on and off, and every move jingled the bells on the antlers the Fury wore.
"O-Of course, Rudo-I mean, Alecto." Alkaid said past her quivering lips.
Alecto just sent her a withering look, and gestured for her to follow. The daughter of Hades complied, doing her best to smother her giggles all the way.
The party had already started by the time they got there, gods being gods after all, so as the only mortal attending, she could afford to be fashionably late. The self-centred gods would not even notice. Those that did? Well, they liked her enough already to not make it an issue.
Alkaid entered the ballroom where gods, spirits, and the dead mingled as music was provided by a host of famous deceased musicians like Frank Sinatra, Leroy Carr, and even Louis Armstrong. She could even spot Mozart piano freestyling with Beethoven.
Ah, the oldies but goodies.
Alkaid sighted her father close by and walked over to him and Persephone. He was dressed in his souls of the damned woven suit. He really liked that suit, even if it creeped everyone else (even in the family) out. It was his version of the demonstration of power that most gods showed off at these gatherings. Persephone was dressed in a fur-lined green robe with a holly wreath set with shining icicles on her head. She was dressed up as the Ghost of Christmas Present, though far more feminine, apparently. And pulling it off spectacularly. Following the light of Alecto's nose, Alkaid was by her Father's side in no time.
"Alkaid," Hades smiled softly, turning to the goddess he and his wife were talking with, "I would like you to meet Sophrosyne."
"Call me Sophy." The goddess said with a long-suffering sigh. "No one ever seems to be able to pronounce my full name properly."
Alkaid titled her head in thought, "Aren't you one of the spirits that Pandora released from her pithus?"
Sophy smiled happily, "Indeed I am! Goddess and embodiment of moderation, self-control, temperance, restraint, and discretion. A smart young lady you have here, Lord Hades."
"Indeed." Hades acknowledged with a pleased smirk. Persephone just huffed in the background and muttered about having done a fair share of the raising too. This earned the Spring goddess a apologetic look from both her divine counterparts and an agreeing one from her stepdaughter.
"Apologies, Lady Persephone." Sophy said genuinely. "I meant no offense."
Persephone just waved her off, before turning to Alkaid. "Dear, Sophy here was just asking about you."
Alkaid looked at the goddess with interest. She wasn't overly beautiful like most goddesses, but she was not ugly either, more of a moderate beauty. Her hair was in short ringlets with a rustic color and her eyes were a lovely lilac color.
"She was?"
"Oh yes." Sophy said mildly, even as her eyes seemed to shine with excitement. "You're such a self-controlled individual that I've wanted to meet you for some time now. Few, especially someone as young as yourself, are as good at exercising my domain as you are."
"I thank you for the praise, Lady Sophy." Alkaid said with a curtsey, even as she spotted Hades smiling proudly at her. Her heart swelled at that. Of course, this was the precise moment that her stepmother chose to embarrass her.
"Oh Alkaid! There's a smudge on your cheek! Here let me." The Queen of the Underworld said as she leaned down to rub off an imaginary smudge of dirt off Alkaid's face with her handkerchief. Whispering for her stepdaughter's ears only, the goddess instructed her to, "Relax. Don't be so formal. This is a party. Enjoy it."
Mortally embarrassed and face burning a cherry red, Alkaid nodded even as she thanked her stepmother.
Desperate to get away, Alkaid bid her adieu and went to mingle among the crowd, Alecto sulking behind her.
Heading to the punch bowl, Alkaid poured herself a glass as Charon and Thanatos were nearby chatting together, somewhat.
"Gods, I miss Dionysus," Charon bemoaned as he adjusted his cuffs, "Least he always had some good ale on hand to drink." he complained as he picked up his scotch glass.
"Hm." Thanatos said, far more indulged in his new PDA.
Charon raised a brow behind his tortoise shell sunglasses, "Hey look over there, Aphrodite let a tit slip!" He said, crying wolf since the goddess wasn't even at the party.
"Hm, I see." Thanatos answered, eyes glued to the screen.
Charon scowled, "Tartarus' asshole, I could take a piss in the corner and the wall would give me a better conversation!"
"Then by all means, make a fool of yourself." The god of death replied in his baritone voice.
Charon sipped his scotch, "...You're such a dick. To your own brother. Mum would cry you know."
Thanatos actually looked up, raising an eyebrow, "Mother? Really?"
"...Yeah, you're right. She'd just go sadist on us with a whip or something. Then again, I knew this one broad that was really into-"
"Ehem," Alkaid frowned at the topic, so vulgar.
Charon turned around lazily, "Well, ain't it the Little Lass herself," he raised his glass, "Cheers to another boring year of dead sods."
Alkaid just chinked her glass against his, "Indeed."
Sipping his drink, the ferrier said, "So, thanks for the raving lunatic at the DOA. Really livens up the place." he smiled crudely.
"Was that supposed to be a joke?" Thanatos muttered derisively even as he continued focusing on his PDA. Looking up though as he came across a particular entry, he turned to Alkaid.
"Yes. That said, good job in dealing with Riddle's Horcuxes so far." Thanatos droned.
"Is that not your job, Lord Thanatos." Alkaid replied scathingly.
"Burned by an eleven year old. Hey! We did get some comedy tonight." Charon cackled.
Thanatos frowned at the girl, "It is a mortal task to preform."
"La-zy." Charon jeered on.
"...Am not."
"Are too."
"Am not." the death god glared at his brother.
Charon grinned, "Are too~!"
Alkaid smirked at the scene, sipping her punch, entertained by two of the most feared gods behaving like children. After about five minutes of listening to the gods trading insults and who mother likes best, she decided to depart to have an actual intelligent conversation.
Alecto dutifully followed behind Alkaid, muttering all the while about her idiot brothers ignoring her and how of course their mother liked her and her sister Furies best. They had whips! The daughter of Hades ignored her, it was the smart thing to do when the children of Nyx starting arguing about their mother's affections.
Alkaid perked up immediately at seeing a beautiful woman with short blonde hair and emerald green eyes, who was wearing a silver dress with green runic and alchemical symbols floating seemingly at random across the surface of the gown. Alkaid spotted that the symbols often came together to form complex patterns, considering the gown's owner, probably the basis of some great act of alchemy.
She was talking to another woman with her back to Alkaid. The second woman was dressed in a red leather jacket, black jeans, and black boots. And oddly a whip strapped to her waist.
What was with all the whips tonight?
As Alkaid moved closer, The women in red left, heading into the crowd.
"Alkaid." The woman in silver said. "It's a pleasure to see you again."
"Lady Hecate," Alkaid formally greeted as she smiled brilliantly, "So kind of you to join us this evening."
"Yes, well, Hades and Persephone throw a wonderful party. It would be a waste not to come. Even Nemesis decided to come this year. Skipping the party on Olympus to do so."
"That was Lady Nemesis?" Alkaid asked genuinely surprised, she'd not expected anyone to skip out on a party on Olympus just to visit the underworld. Especially when doing so required taking an oath on the Styx to keep everything learned at said party (like who else attended or the existence of certain forbidden demigods) a secret as part of the process of accepting the invitation. Even if it was a sensible security precaution in place for centuries to keep any attendees from suffering any Olympian retribution for snubbing their party.
"It's not a great loss. At least here we'd be appreciated." Alecto chimed in to explain things to her charge.
Hecate, with pursed lips, nodded. "True, you do get drowned out up there by those on their glittered thrones."
Alecto snorted. "Their egos don't help things. See how they mistreat our Lord Hades. They basically lost touch with us. Not even bothering to talk to us unless they want something. Hermes just goes by email nowadays." she sighed, "He had such nice hair."
Hecate and Alkaid both eyed the Fury oddly. She crushed on Hermes? Who knew.
Trying to steer the conversation onto a more productive track, Alkaid turned to Hecate. "Lady Hecate, I have a few questions about some new bits of magic I'm been experimenting with. Is that acceptable?"
"Of course."
With that Alkaid and Hecate began a lengthy discussions about magic. The merits of certain elements over others. The way certain spells could be structured to achieve specific aims. And other far more complex things.
Alecto surprisingly also contributed meaningfully, though her suggestions tended to be more about how to make a spell or magical effect hurt a target more and thus be an effective weapon than anything else.
The trio were just discussing the possibility of using a magical binding spell like a whip, -Seriously why was everything about whips tonight? - when a hush settled across the ballroom. Turning to the source of the silence, they saw that a new guest had arrived. A very important, very unexpected guest. Rhea, the Titaness of Motherhood, the Titan Queen of Mount Orthys, Alkaid's grandmother had arrived.
Rhea was absolutely beautiful, truly living up to her moniker as the most beautiful titaness of all. Her dark curly hair swept her shoulders, eyes as green as meadows, and a smile that was brighter than the sun.
Hades and Persephone rushed over to her even as they gestured to Alecto to bring Alkaid and Melinoe, who had been literally haunting the guests from the shadows, to join them.
With a hasty goodbye to the goddess of magic, who gave an understanding nod, Alkaid followed her old nanny to join her family.
"Greetings mother." Hades said, looking genuinely pleased as he spoke in the most polite tone Alkaid had ever heard him muster. "Welcome to our Christmas Party."
"It's a pleasure to be here, Hades." Rhea said kindly to her son. Her very presence making everyone in the area feel pleased and comforted.
"Grandmother, you remember our daughters." Persephone picked up the introductions. "Melinoe," her heel nudged the young goddess. Melinoe gave her mother a look of mild irritation, it was like her mother didn't trust her to know when to behave. Though she restrained herself from kicking up a fuss, she knew better then to make a scene with Rhea around.
"Hi grandma." Melinoe said casually, a forced smile flashed the titaness' way.
Persephone gestured to the only mortal attending. "And Alkaid."
"It's nice seeing you again Grandmother." Alkaid replied with a broad and genuine smile. She was feeling happy not only at her grandmother's visit but also her stepmother's easy public acknowledgement of her as one of her children.
"Of course! How could I forget." Rhea smiled, "You girls look wonderful." she advanced towards them and hugged them. While Melinoe grunted at the strength, Alkaid struggled for air.
Even as a peaceful titan, Rhea still had the strength that came with her species of immortals.
Thankfully it was a brief hug and Rhea stepped back, looking warmly at them.
Alkaid quickly caught her breath and in a excited voice asked, "Grandmother, are the lions well? Did you bring them with you?"
Smiling the titaness answered, "They are doing well, my dear. Though I did not bring them with me this time."
"That's good to hear. A pity though that they aren't here." Alkaid replied even as she inwardly whined. Aw, I wanted to play with them.
Rhea, apparently reading her thoughts, patted her on the head. "Don't be upset. You'll see them the next time we meet."
Alkaid smiled at the promise. She trusted her grandmother, she always kept her promises.
Having mollified her granddaughter, Rhea turned to Hades, a worried look on her face, "Son, is it not getting late?" Rhea commented as he escorted her through the party. "Perhaps it's best for young Alkaid to head to bed."
Hades paused for a moment, taking note of the time and conceded. "Yes, it is. Alecto. Take Alkaid to bed."
"Yes, Milord." The Fury answered sharply, before turning to her charge. "Come along, Princess. It is time for you to retire for the night."
Alkaid pouted. It was not that late. She turned to her stepmother and sister to try to get some support but found none.
"I think I'll come with you Alecto. To make sure lil' sis gets to bed." Melinoe said. The traitor. She was just using her to escape the party early.
"Have a good rest, Alkaid." Persephone said kindly to her stepdaughter, before turning sharply to her daughter and in a peeved tone, began chiding her. "Oh no you don't Melinoe. You're not skipping out on this party so easily. Honestly! Taking advantage of your sister like that."
"Dammit…"
Alkaid smirked, served her right.
Alkaid sighed in bliss as she relaxed in her white night gown. It was late into the night but the party was still roaring on after her Father sent her to bed.
But since she was alone, Alecto having left after delivering her to her room, Alkaid decided to stay up a touch longer.
At least she got her Christmas presents. The possible best one was the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. But still, she could play that later. She had to do something far more important to preform.
Sitting in her spinning chair, Alkaid booted up her desktop and smiled as the AOL started up. She selected the StarCraft icon on the screen and waited for it to load.
After popping open a Mountain Dew bottle to keep her caffeinated, the game finally loaded.
"Now," Alkaid smiled smugly, "Which of you peons wish to perish before the mighty Protoss?"
After getting into a game of 8 players (no allies on her side), she was well into over an hour of gameplay, nearly hitting a second one. And Alkaid was dominating.
"Ha! You think your little Zerg Rush will help you? Fools! Photon Cannons to the face!" Alkaid gave a mock sad face, "Oh? Are my Zealots too much for you? Too bad, so sad~!"
After wiping the sixth player off the map, leaving one weakened opponent left, the daughter of Hades giggled.
"Yes, yes! Quiver at my keystrokes, shake in terror at my mouse clicks, go to your porcelain throne at my almighty skil-wait what?" she paused, staring at her screen...that had frozen.
"No...no, no, no!" Alkaid rapidly typed a few keys, clicking her mouse fruitlessly, and even whacking the monitor in a vain attempt to save her coming victory!
With no hope of return to this battlefield, Alkaid could thinking of only one thing.
"Son of a bitch!" She thundered and shot out of her seat, glaring at the ceiling of the underworld, pointing her finger at it, "Damn you RNG god, damn you to the deepest, most horrendous parts of the Pit! First the troll, then the blasted stone, and now this?! You've gone too far!"
No one messed with Alkaid's games.
No one!
"If we ever cross paths, you will beg for my mercy and I will only answer with; No!" Alkaid fumed, slapping her empty Mountain Dew bottle across the room as she took deep breathes to calm down and plopped into her chair, making it glide slowly backwards.
A moment later, her door opened, Hades peeking his head in with a raised brow, "Were you cussing?"
Alkaid forced a sunny smile to her lips in a second, a drop of sweat trickling down her neck, "What? Daddy! No, never! I wouldn't dare do something so uncouth. I'm above such pett-"
"Grounded." Hades simply said, looking at her computer. With a snap of his fingers, it was gone, along with her TV and videogames, "One week."
"But that's my entire holiday!" Alkaid whined in protest.
The lord of the dead just smiled, "I know." And with that, he withdrew back to the party.
Alkaid crossed her arms, wearing a mighty pout.
No one messed with Alkaid's games, no one.
Except for her Father.
Omake: Mother's Pride
Hades looked at his watch, watching the seconds until his babysitter arrived. He and Persephone were going out and he didn't have a proper sitter for young Alkaid. The Furies were out, Melinoe wasn't really...babysitter material, and he had trust issues with who to watch his mortal child.
So he called in a favor.
"Hello, son." A melodic voice greeted. Hades turned to see his mother Rhea.
"Hello mother, thank you for coming."
Rhea waved it off, "Nonsense. You know I adore children. Still," she frowned a bit, "Breaking the oath? I expected Zeus to be first."
Hades cleared his throat, "Yes, well, you know how little I care for such a thing, mother. They bullied me into it anyway." he said to shift the blame.
"Yes yes," Rhea said, she had heard this many times already. She smiled at him, "Well, where is the dear?"
"In her room, reading." Hades commented as they walked to Alkaid's room.
A knock on the door made Alkaid turn her head as she was colo-, er, reading. She saw her daddy open the door along with a pretty lady accompanying him.
"Hi daddy!" She waved eagerly, getting the lady to smile.
"Oh she's precious."
Hades smiled, "Yes, I know. Alkaid, come over and greet your Grandmother."
Alkaid stood up and padded over, looking up curiously at Rhea, "Don't you have lions?"
Hades pursed his lips as his mother giggled, "At least say hello first." he whispered to his child.
"Oh." Alkaid blinked, "Hello! Can I pet a lion?"
Rhea giggled once more, "Of course dear." she said, summoning a large lion that was nearly half her height.
Alkaid squealed, hugging the fluffy mane of the king of felines.
"Yes, well, I leave her in your capable paws." Hades smiled.
"Nice pun. And I'll try my best." Rhea commented as Hades gave her a parting hug and left. Now alone, the titaness turned to her granddaughter and smiled, "So, what shall we do, little one?"
"Can we watch Aladdin, Grandmother?" she asked politely, clammering up the lion's back. Or at least trying to.
Rhea held her up and smiled, "Of course dear. But just call me granny in private." she winked.
Alkaid giggled, "Okay granny!"
Rhea placed her toddler granddaughter on top on the lion and smiled as the young child began cuddling into the beast. As the girl settled down, she turned an expectant look to her grandmother.
Still smiling indulgently, Rhea waved a hand and conjured a big screen television on which the opening for the requested movie was already playing.
Alright! Another awesome chapter, thanks Nameless and Sieg. Originally we were just going to finish year one in this chapter, but our ideas ballooned so we cut it.
Sieg: Her...actions, regarding the...RNG of her situations also do show a more childish side of her.
Nameless: Ok first order of business today, Alkaid's weakness as a CQC fighter. I know quite a few readers are going to be disappointed by this. However, me and E4E spent quite some time brainstorming on this matter and we ultimately decided that this was the way we wanted Alkaid's "build" as a demigod to be. It fit best for the plot we want to write in terms of power balance. Plus its an interesting subversion of the demigods [at least demigod MCs] all being great CQC warriors trope in the PJOverse and fandom. We thought having a magical glass cannon of a demigod would be rather original.
As you've seen, Alkaid has shown some spells that might allude to where we are taking her, hope you can figure it out~
Nameless: Second issue we want to comment on is why Alkaid is weak at CQC. It's actually pretty complicated. But basically she's just not interested in it enough. Magic is kinda time intensive to study and has her full interest. So she's so focused on learning magic and well her CQC suffered. Add that to the issues she raised in this chapter [which are by her own admission here true, though not the whole truth] plus a healthy dose of lack of talent and you get a CQC weakling. Now some may wonder why I'm explaining it here. Well… Ideally this should come up in-story, but it might not for one reason or the other. We might forget or just fail to find an appropriate moment, etc. So rather than leave the readers hanging, I'm explaining it here.
I mean, imagine a black mage busting out an Omni-Slash! It's called a balanced system for a reason. D&D gave us the basics. We've got warriors, rogues, and mages. And then a plethora of sub and cross classes branching from them. And yes, we are going with gaming logic here since Alkaid is a gamer girl~ A pretty good one at that. Damn you dialup! Bane of my childhood.
Sieg: E4E...please. Control yourself.
Right, right, thanks Sieg. I'm sure you guys are curious about Pyrrha. First off, she was based off of RWBY's Pyrrha Nikos, but, Ares-fied. I got her design from a pic of a concept OC PJO character on Devientart where I saw a punk redhead with her long hair braided and branched out from there. Her weapon, a labrys, was the first thing I could think of. I didn't want to go cliche with swords or spears, I wanted something different. The weapon has a rich culture with Greek history and usually related to female divinities for authority. Look it up if you want, it's pretty cool.
Nameless: Like how we set up the family dynamics for the House of Hades here? We tried to keep things in-character based on canon characterizations. Hope we pulled it off. What do you guys think? Did we?
So, Persephone hasn't turned Alkaid into a daffodil, progress on her part and that already puts her a level higher than Hera and more closer to her stepchild than Amphitrite (who's kinda chill with Percy, at least he says so in Percy Jackson Greek Gods). She had helped raise Alkaid for a decade, so she could get over her hurt from Hades' affair. Still, they do get along in a way and we thought it would be nice to show that not all stepmothers in the immortal spectrum are mean.
Nameless: I personally think they get along quite well. Persephone will probably never love Alkaid as if she was her own flesh and blood. But she does see her as her daughter. But that's after years of helping raise the girl and having the time to get over all her issues about it.
Nameless: Ok, as a final note, I'd like to address a few things that came up in reviews for the last chapter. Firstly, I would like to reemphasize that the omakes are canon unless stated otherwise. Secondly, something more specifically related to the CCS crossover omake last chapter, some readers (Korrd looking at you here) misread it as Sakura ending up in the Underworld from another dimension. This is incorrect. She ended up there due to her screwing up her inter-dimensional spell, yes. However, she clearly states that she had ended up in her world's Underworld. So she hasn't crossed realities, she's an inherent part of the COTU reality.
Be kind and review, no flames please, and until next time, peace off!