Backup Plan: Phase 1: Pt. 8
Okay, everyone's under the impression that when I say Jashin is helping, I mean that SoJ Percy is here and ready to throw down. Uh, no. That would be fun to see though. Although, I can't really see much of a fight there; Shin'en's just too smart for his psychopathic interdimensional brother.
That's just my opinion.
It would still be a fun fight, watching their respective powers deadlock each other.
Now, for reactions, dams, and a mountain.
Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or Naruto
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Olympus, after Shin'en eradicated Ares and Aphrodite
Hera was tightly gripping her wine goblet, a wedding anniversary gift from Hephaestus. It was a beautiful thing, jewels here and there, intricate carvings of heartwarming memories of better times. It was the type of gift that made Hera feel guilty for ever getting rid of her deformed child. The goblet was supposedly able to withstand force equivalent to that of a collapsing star, but here Hera was, almost putting a dent in it her grip was so tight.
A few tears silently dripped from her eyes.
No, Ares was not the ideal baby for a mother, with his lust for blood and carnage and battle, but he was still her baby. She had carried him, birthed him, fed him, taught him, raised him, everything. Yes, it was a little irrational, because he would reform after a time, and he would be back, but still.
Perhaps the best the analogy for this was that Hera had to sit there and watch as her son was convicted and taken to prison.
Still, Hera would not lie to herself and say that Ares didn't need punishment. He had grown restless and more bloodthirsty than usual in recent decades; he hadn't been the same since the Great War. Perhaps now the world could experience a brief little time of peace, or at the very least, a lowering in crime and death the world over.
It was difficult, loving your son so much, yet knowing that he was the cause of so many problems in the world today.
The throne room was quiet, and the hearth was subdued, Hestia poking at the tinder without much enthusiasm. Perhaps there should have been heightened emotions, like rage, anger, wrath. Perhaps there should have been shouting, demands for blood…but there wasn't.
Zeus should've been the largest proponent for execution, seeing as not only had Perseus just killed two Olympians, but also his son, Ares. However, Zeus was uncharacteristically quiet. Mostly because he had nothing to stand on, no ground for which to base his argument. Aphrodite had, for all intents and purposes, raped Persephone, filling the child's head with phantoms and sensations that had brought her to climax.
And Ares had just calmly stood outside the limousine, fully aware of what his 'girlfriend' was doing to the daughter of Poseidon.
Speaking of the Stormbringer…he was gripping his trident with such force it was a wonder that the shaft hadn't snapped in twine. He was silent, the air around him cold and dangerous. Saying he was 'not happy' would be an understatement. Hell, Zeus wouldn't be either if he found out Aphrodite had mind raped Thalia.
Perseus' involvement in the matter was perhaps the most opportune, because if he hadn't been there, there's no telling what else Aphrodite would have done to Poseidon's daughter. Besides that, the Love Goddess's actions did not go unnoticed, and after the matter with Artemis' capture had been resolved, Aphrodite most likely would have sentenced to Tartarus anyway.
Zeus' thoughts travelled back to Perseus, and that skeletal nightmare that had surrounded him. Even here, on Olympus, watching the crisis unfold via magical viewing screen, the gods had felt stirrings in them at the sight of that nightmare. Zeus' children, those present at least, had all gripped the armrests of their thrones, their bodies tense and ready to fight or flee…just like it had been with Typhon so many centuries ago.
The main differences between now and then, however, was that where Zeus had stood his ground and battled Typhon himself, whatever it was that surrounded Perseus had made the God King grip his Master Bolt a little tighter than usual. Did that mean that this skeleton eclipsed Typhon on terms of fear-inducing ability, or did that mean that Zeus had grown soft in the millennia of godless conflict?
Either way, the thing that could not be ignored was the nightmare's power. Just making a vocalization created enough of a shockwave to erase wooden buildings and topple Hephaestus' junkyard, which activated the Talos prototype, but then that revealed the skeleton had the ability to form weapons, namely a bow that fired explosive arrows.
What else the skeleton could do was unknown, because after Talos had been completely wiped from the face of the Earth, the emerald horror faded away, and then Perseus gathered his sister and stormed off, justifiably livid.
Zeus sat in his throne, a hand resting supportively on his wife's shoulder.
Perseus was a danger, a threat, and a powerful half-blood, perhaps one even more powerful than Heracles had been, and he was cunning too. Cunning enough to put the entire Olympian council in bind, one that had them moving carefully to not endanger their children. Ares and Aphrodite apparently didn't get that deep enough into their heads, and they had paid for it. That was another thing: Perseus had slain two gods, two Olympian gods, like it was nothing. He had crushed Aphrodite's head underfoot, and that thing had bitten Ares in half, and then literally chewed him up and spat him out.
That was power that wasn't to be trifled with; that was power that could not be controlled…perhaps it didn't have to be controlled, merely directed. Yes, that was it. Zeus didn't have to worry about trying to bring Perseus to heel—all he had to do was sit back and watch as the brat handled everything by himself, and eventually bit off more than he could chew.
When that happened, Zeus would be there, the benevolent King of Olympus ready to save the day and protect his brother's son…protect his nephew.
Yes, that would be a good story for the coming generations: the mighty Perseus could not handle it by himself, so the great king Zeus took pity on the boy and saved him from certain death. From there, Perseus respected Zeus, called him lord and king, and gave his loyalty to the God of the Sky, and in return for this loyalty, Zeus granted the boy immortality, so that he could spend the rest of his days as a loyal warrior to Olympus.
Well, more like loyal bitch. The child pulled off the feminine look rather well, and Zeus wondered just how tight that ass really was. Give him a few years, and he would find out first hand. Nothing asserted dominance over another male like making his ass gape, and Zeus wanted everyone to know that it was he who was the Master of this House, and that he wasn't taking shit from anything, let alone a half-blood girly boy.
Imagine the Sky King's terror when he finds out that Shin'en's got a form of Susano'o that can not only fly, but has enough power in its overhead swing to split Olympus open like a piñata.
Now that was going to be fun to watch.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
At Camp Half-Blood
Due to time zones, where it was late evening in Arizona, it was dark thirty at the Grecian safe haven. However, that did not stop the children of Aphrodite and Ares to all shoot wide awake at the moment their parent's essences went straight to Tartarus. No, they did not suddenly lose their demigod powers; something that extreme could only happen in the event of their parent fading into the Void, taking with them every scrap of essence they had.
They didn't all go screaming to Chiron, even if they did know that Ares and Aphrodite were temporarily no more. They knew what had happened, they knew that Shin'en murdered them…but they didn't know why. And the problem was that they didn't care to find out. All they knew was that Persephone's brother had just killed their mom and dad.
As was with any decent child, that did not sit well with them, at all. Where none of them particularly liked Shin'en (really, they were all terrified), now they felt hatred for him. Even Silena felt unexplainable ire consume her. Sure, Ares and Aphrodite hadn't been model parents, but they were still someone's father, still someone's mother, and yes, meetings were almost nonexistent, but there was always that glimmering blossom of hope that one day, they could meet face to face.
Now that hope was gone.
Oh sure, every half-blood knew that if a deity was 'killed,' they were sent to Tartarus to reform. Ares and Aphrodite would be back of course…but how long before then? Days? Weeks? Months? Years? Decades? Centuries? How long would it be before any of these parentless children could hope to see their father and mother again?
…perhaps the children of Ares and Aphrodite weren't devastated by Shin'en killing their parents, but by the loss of the hope of seeing them some day.
That night, Silena contacted Luke, and told him that there were many defectors wanting a chance at Shin'en's head. That night, many children of Love and War disappeared into the woods. That night, only the councilors, Silena and Clarisse, and the younger children remained in Camp Half-Blood. That night, the children of Ares and Aphrodite that were already members of Kronos' army welcomed their brothers and sisters with open arms.
That night, Shin'en's sleeper cells infiltrated the enemy stronghold.
Exactly as planned.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Arizona
Even though Shin'en had completely totaled the junkyard, reducing the neatly packed mountains of Olympian garbage into an ocean of garbage and scrap, crossing through the mess was easy, even in the dead of night.
Not a word was said between any of the questers, mostly because Shin'en was radiating an aura so cold that literal frost engulfed everything within ten feet of him, and his breath steamed against the air. He held his sleeping sister bridal style the whole way through, and while the quest recognized that Aphrodite had tortured the girl, they couldn't stop asking themselves 'how.'
Zoё theorized that it was with torments of incest, but Annabeth silently disagreed. If Aphrodite had indeed tortured Persephone with images and feelings of Shin'en sexing her, she wouldn't have leapt into his arms. Put it this way: if Annabeth had a dream in which she had just been sleeping with her brother Malcolm, she wouldn't wake up and rush into his embrace; she would've made a conscious effort to keep far away from him.
Then again, that was how Annabeth would have reacted. She was not Persephone, and it would have been presumptuous to say she knew how the sea princess would've reacted in that situation.
Still, it didn't make sense to Annabeth why Persephone would seek comfort from the same man she had just been made to dream of sleeping with…unless Aphrodite's magic had done its job, and the next problem the quest would face is making sure Persephone didn't try to act as a proverbial sheath for her brother's proverbial sword.
The quest reached the other side of the junk yard, where they found an old four door truck that miraculously had a full tank of gas and working batteries. The mood was so subdued, no one bothered to question it, and no one bothered to argue when Shin'en leapt into the bed, and looked at them from over the collar of his cloak.
"Get moving."
Zoё took the driver's seat, Bianca shotgun, and Grover, Annabeth, and Thalia occupied the back in that order, which placed the daughter of Athena at the sliding door to the bed. She slid it open.
"Is she going to be okay?" Shin'en slid the door shut.
That was the most interaction had during the entire trip between those in the bed and those in the cab.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Shin'en was not one for emotional turmoil and self-loathing, as seen when his orphan brothers and sisters were killed and he didn't go into a recessive depression. He buried his emotions and broke his body in extreme training sessions. This was seen again when after he was pulled away from Yugito, he didn't go into depression, he put on his game face and stuck it sideways to the Land of Water. This was seen a third time when, after Shin'en had killed Yagura, he had gone back to Yūrei's base. Granted, he did break down and went comatose for three days straight, but he hauled his ass in gear and moved on.
Bottom line: he would allow his sister her time of silence and emotional sorting, she had been mind-raped after all, but he would make sure she pulled herself together and got back on her feet, one way or another.
If he had to beat some sense into her, he would. Life was too short to be spent moping about due to a single event, no matter how damaging or extreme. Morn, take some time to figure things out, find yourself again, but be damn sure that you moved on. Life was a bitch, and the universe did not care for you; no point in trying to make it care.
Night turned into morning, and morning into afternoon.
Shin'en sensed a massive body of water a few miles away. He shook his sister awake. She was groggy, her eyes still haunted, and she didn't want to let go of him. For now, that was fine, but if she was still like this when they got to that body of water, Shin'en was going to throw her into the water and hold her down there, using his greater control over water to make it like it would be to any other person. Cold, wet, heavy, and hostile, effectively drowning Persephone…until she got desperate enough and her powers erupted, causing her to shoot out of the water like a bullet from a gun.
When that happened, her mind would be way too preoccupied with anger and adrenaline to worry about Aphrodite.
Not the most humane way to cure depression, but it was effective.
"You need to talk to someone about this," Shin'en said. Persephone barely shook her head in the negative, pressing her head harder into her brother's side. "Annabeth would be fine, or Sally, but you can't keep this bottled up…you're not as strong as I am when it comes to keeping things buried."
"Can't I just…talk to…you…?"
"No. I already know what was said and what was done. Besides, if I were to hear a verbal replay of it, I would not be able to control my anger. Many people would die, and I wouldn't care."
"Okay," Seph whispered. "I'll talk to Annabeth."
Shin'en rested his chin on top of her head. "Good."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The truck ran out of gas at the edge of a river canyon. From edge to edge it was about fifty yards, and probably a few hundred feet below was a green river. The road dead-ended, which was all the same, really. Everyone got out, and when they shut their doors, all the tires blew out in synch. Shin'en hopped out of the bed, landing on his feet without a problem.
Persephone had gained enough of herself back to where she jumped out too. Now, her knees bent on her landing, where her brother's didn't so much as twitch, but still. Beads of sweat lined her forehead due to the heat of the Arizona/Nevada desert, because of the layers she was wearing.
She promptly unbuttoned the Akatsuki cloak and then the Nemean Lion's Duster, threw the duster at Thalia, who frowned when she was hit square in the face with a furry suit, and put back on the cloak with a proud grin. The quest managed to crack small smiles at the childish display, but Aphrodite's actions still weighed heavily on many a mind. Shin'en just rolled his eyes at her sister, before spinning on his heel.
"Come, the cliffs are too steep here for all of you. We will look for more operable terrain elsewhere."
He set a brisk walking pace down the edge of the cliff, past the end of the road. Bianca, Grover, Zoё and the still-zombified Thalia followed quickly. Annabeth made to as well, but her arm was gripped by the last member of the quest. She turned around, and paled slightly at the nervous look on her girlfriend's face.
"Percy told me that I needed to talk about it, but not with him because he already knew what happened, and hearing it verbally would make him angry again, so…would you listen…please?"
Annabeth's eye twitched. "Persephone Jackson," she said sternly, "I am your girlfriend. There is absolutely zero reason for you to be nervous about talking to me about anything." She pecked the sea princess on the lips and grabbed her hands.
"Come on, let's talk while we're walking."
Persephone nodded once, and Annabeth led the way, tightly gripping her girlfriend's right hand.
"From the top," the daughter of Athena said softly, "what happened?"
Persephone took a deep breath, preparing herself to relive her personal terror. Se exhaled slowly. Okay, she thought to herself, let's go.
"I got in the car and sat down in the chair. Aphrodite was really pretty, almost as pretty as you," Annabeth blushed but kept silent for now, "and she had me hold up this really big mirror so she could do her makeup—I swear she was trying to be a clown so bad. Things went downhill from there.
"She told me she was proud of us for being the only openly gay couple that wasn't a part of the Hunters of Artemis. She said we made a great sitcom on her husband's TV station, but that there needed to be more drama. I told her that wasn't necessary, but she wasn't listening anymore.
"She started rambling off all the things that came to mind on how she could our sitcom more dramatic, like sending monsters after us, making our mortal parents flip out, causing someone else to fall in love with one of us, like a god, or half-blood, or mortal, and make them try to get between us. I kept trying to interrupt her and say there was no need for that, only with harsh language because I was getting pissed off, but she just kept rambling.
"I finally managed to get myself heard when Aphrodite said the perfect thing she could do to get more ratings was to make me fall in love with my brother." Annabeth turned green. "I told her she was a sick freak, and she could go screw herself, and that I would never love Percy like that…Aphrodite gave me this look, like when you talk back to your mom and they're about to spank you."
"That's when she…"
"Yeah, that's when she started doing things to me."
Persephone bit her lip as she recalled just what Aphrodite started doing to her. Her mind and body were suddenly assaulted with everything she never wanted to experience, a hundred phantoms that all looked like Percy, all were doing something to her at once.
Persephone remembered feeling her brother's arms around her body, holding her tight, while at the same time, she felt his hands caressing her bottom, his hands on her breasts, teasing her nipples, his hands running through her hair, his hands in other places, places that no sibling should ever touch.
In her mouth, Persephone remembered feeling her brother's tongue inside there, rolling about, exploring her every oral crevice. Beyond that, just like with the feeling of his hands, she felt, at the same time, other phantoms. She remembered his shaft being in her mouth, she remembered its taste, her tongue rolling over the head, deepthroating it, licking it; she remembered his fingers being there at the same time, commanding her to suck on them, worship them; she remembered swallowing his testicles as well. She remembered all these things, all happening at once, all happening together.
Down south, Persephone vividly recalled everything there too, and just like with her mouth and Percy's hands, she remembered it all happening in tandem. She remembered her brother's fingers teasing her, his tongue teasing her, his penis teasing her; she remembered all of them being inside her at once, all of them doing different things, like hitting her G-spot, entering her womb, stretching her out, rubbing against her inner walls in a sinful torture of pleasure.
Her backend as not spared from these phantoms. Persephone remembered it well, her brother's fingers and tongue giving her a rim job with his tongue and fingers, being penetrated by those things, and by his shaft as well, all at the same time. She remembered the feeling of invasion, the wetness of his tongue, the girth of his member.
She remembered positions as well. On her back, on her sides, on all fours, face down ass up, pressed to a wall, sitting on a chair, sitting on top of him—facing him and not facing him. She remembered his hands being on her to hold her still while she was done from behind.
Oh yes, Persephone remembered these things. A hundred phantoms, all plaguing her at the same time.
A normal mortal's brain would've short circuited from sensory overload. A demigoddess' mind would've held up to Aphrodite's magic for a time, before eventually, she too would've mentally crumbled. Persephone would have too, but she had two things going for her: one, she was the daughter of Poseidon, which gave her a stronger magical resistance than other half-bloods, and two…Aphrodite didn't want her to turn into a vegetable.
The Love Goddess had been supplying Persephone with just enough power to keep her mind from breaking.
After her detailed recollection, Persephone was being held by Annabeth, who had shamefully become slightly turned on after hearing of such things, but it was horror over what had happened that won out over anything else. Her shirt was getting a bit wet, due to the few tears from Persephone's eyes.
Of course, no one but Shin'en knew the real horror that was going to befall Persephone had he not intervened.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The previous night
Aphrodite was a cruel, cruel goddess. She was vain and horrible. She believed true love was only true if it ended in tragedy. She had gone out of her way multiple times, and not just in the myths, to punish men and women for whatever they did that brought offense to her, no matter how trivial the supposed insult.
She was a wrathful goddess as well.
This little insect thought she knew what was and wasn't going to happen with her love life? The only reason she and Athena's little sex-changed whore were together was because Aphrodite allowed it. The little insect needed to be reminded that she was the fuck-mothering Love Goddess, and should be treated as such.
Hence, the phantoms.
Aphrodite's eyes glowed bright pink and her hair had frizzed up like the mane of a she-demon as she exercised her power over this naïve thing. It was always amusing for Aphrodite to watch as 'chaste' and 'virtuous' women were reduced to moaning sluts under the influence of her power, especially Artemis' little bitches. Aphrodite got no greater pleasure than by watching one of those tree-huggers go out and do it doggy-style with a pig, or a horse, or a cow, or a deer, or any animal really.
Still, there was something greatly erotic to be found in this particular little game of Aphrodite's. The insect did a good job of keeping her grunts quiet as she was fucked on all sides by visions of her brother. Her mind might have been screaming 'no,' but her body betrayed her. She squirmed, sweating, breathing heavy, red-faced, her nails digging into the upholstery, but the biggest evidence here, the one Aphrodite found the most appealing, was to be found at the insect's crotch.
The insect's arousal was seeping through her underwear and into her jeans, creating an obvious wet spot.
Aphrodite was a cruel, cruel goddess, and she had a cruel, cruel idea. The Grecian world seemed to have forgotten about the power of her wrath, and the insect would serve as an excellent example, Poseidon be damned.
"Uh oh," gently cooed the goddess, "someone's having an accident. Looks like we need to get you into your diaper before you make a mess of my car, huh?"
And she was going to do it too. A snap of her fingers, and those jeans and panties would've instantly become the padded training pants of children. Aphrodite would've watched with glee as those little designs quickly faded away due to a flood of female ejaculate. From there, it would've been a few spells and divine abilities to have Persephone locked in a crib, sucking stupidly on a pacifier as she watched Annabeth and Perseus—ahem, as she watched Mommy and Daddy fuck just outside the bars.
Aphrodite never got the chance to enact this twisted episode, for Shin'en's hand came crashing through the window.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Back in the present
Persephone looked tons better after having a heart to heart, which was good because now her brother didn't have to almost drown her.
After finding a way safely down, they found a canoe stand, closed of course, but Shin'en didn't give a flying fish about that. Really, he didn't care about the canoes period, but not everyone could walk on water and he didn't feel like parting a river. Oh, he could, very easily in fact, but he didn't want to.
After a couple of flirtatious naiads (to which Shin'en simply ignored their advances) pushed them up the river, but not before one of them spat in Zoё's face, the quest had to get off because any further would take them into a dam. A big one. Shin'en knew for a fact that id Deidara was here, the Mad Bomber would already be chewing his clay to blow this thing apart.
Hell, Shin'en wanted to blow this place apart, just to see what would happen.
Eh, he'd come back later.
Right now, they had to find a way up there so they could get those angels to fly to San Francisco, and he had to find a redheaded future Oracle.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Wait, where are you going?" Persephone asked when her brother started off across the dam, leaving the rest of the quest to stand by the dormant angels.
"To the dam restroom."
"Oh, so now you have to go?"
"Yes."
"Well, hurry up."
"I'll do my best…why don't you pass the time by letting Annabeth inform you all about everything she knows about this place?"
Grey eyes lit up with sparkles.
Persephone looked back to her brother, and deadpanned when he was already gone.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Shin'en weaved his way through the crowds, making sure to avoid contact. He was bending the light around him to make it look like he was wearing a pair of those jean things, a simple white shirt, and even simpler shoes. Just because light was bent around him, didn't mean that his cloak had suddenly disappeared.
A teen boy wearing a mysterious black cloak with a red cloud pattern and open-toed sandals would raise questions, and Shin'en didn't have the time to look everyone here in the eye with his Sharingan, especially when all he needed was to find one person. If memory served, she should be either headed to the bathroom or in the bathroom.
There was indeed a female of the appropriate age on her way to that area, and while Shin'en, if he focused enough, could DNA sequences, he did not know what codons made red hair. Besides, combing through DNA was a really long process that Shin'en did not have time for.
The demigod thought there was a staircase he could take so that he could avoid a crowded lift, but there was not one. So, mid walk, he liquefied himself and his clothes, changing his form to where he was actually wearing the ensemble he had illusioned himself with. Shin'en didn't get how his liquefied shape-shifting truly worked, beyond it being related to his divine hydrokinetic powers.
When he got into the elevator, someone, just a random man, bumped into him due to close proximity.
"Sorry, miss."
Shin'en just nodded over his shoulder, taking the incorrect pronoun in stride. It wasn't the first time, and since that was kind of the point, to be mistaken for someone else, the demigod just rolled with it. Of course, the man could've been a pickpocket, but in this form, there was nothing for him to steal.
The elevator dinged, and the people were let out. Shin'en added just a little more softness to his features, and just a little more mass to his chest, and just a little width to his hips, and just a little less to his waist. There, if there were any qualms over what gender he was then, there certainly weren't any now.
Shin'en found the bathrooms easily enough, and casually entered the women's restroom like it was an everyday occurrence. He was in luck, because while he had felt the water of an adolescent female inside, he did not know if it was the titular redheaded wonder. It was.
Even better, she had just finished washing her hands, and was currently stepping towards the door. Shin'en looked her right in the eye as she did so, Sharingan spinning. The genjutsu took hold, the girl none the wiser to the shinobi's machinations, but that did not prevent her from going:
"Wow! Cool contacts! Where'd you get them?"
"From this place in upper Manhattan." His voice was a perfect rendition of his sister's.
"No way! I live in Manhattan!"
"Really? That's cool."
"Yeah, maybe we'll end up going to the same school or something."
"Yeah, that would be something. I'm Persephone by the way."
"Rachel Elizabeth Dare."
"Red? How fitting."
Rachel snorted. "Yeah, I blame my mom for the hair and my dad for the name."
Shin'en shrugged. "My mom named me after a Greek goddess that was kidnapped by her uncle and forced to marry him, so there's that."
Rachel busted a short laugh. "That's just asking for trouble!" she giggled. "Anyway, I've held you up long enough. See ya round, Persephone."
"Yeah, you too, Red."
The future Oracle exited the bathroom, and by way of his hydro sensing, Shin'en knew that she paused outside the door, and, judging by the way her facial muscles arranged themselves, gave the door a suspicious look. Understandable, honestly. You have dreams and visions of Greek gods and monsters, and all of a sudden a random 'girl' walks in, one that not only lives in your area, but is also named after one of the Greek deities.
Yes, that is a little suspicious.
Rachel eventually walked off, and Shin'en hung back until she was far enough away that if they ran into each other, it was within a plausible timeframe for a female's trip to the bathroom. When over thirty seconds had passed, and Rachel had walked half way down the hall to the other elevator, Shin'en exited the women's room, went up the closest elevator, melted back into his regular clothing and form, and seemingly materialized next to the rest of the mission.
"…and they did it by—"
"Fascinating stuff," everyone flinched at the sudden speaking of Shin'en, "but I am done, and it is time to leave. Zeus, animate these damn things so we can go rescue your daughter."
For a moment, nothing happened, and Shin'en was about to put a blade to Bianca's throat to give Hades the proper motivation to motivate Zeus, when the angels creaked and squeaked and started talking.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
San Francisco
December 20, 2007
The automatons dropped the quest off at a pier.
"Zoё, why are we here and not at Mount Othrys?"
The Hunter knew that the calm tone used by the son of Poseidon was merely a good mask to hide his irritation.
"The Oracle said to look for the Ophiotaurus…we have yet to see it at all."
"Ah, yes, the serpent bull…why are we here?"
"Nereus," Zoё answered shortly. "The Old Man of the Se-"
"Oh, that's why we're here. Fine then."
Shin'en glided past Zoё, down to the end of the pier, where an old man sat on a bench, lounging in the evening sun. Persephone looked at Zoё.
"Who's Nereus?"
"The father of Poseidon's wife, Amphitrite. Technically, that makes him your step-grandfather. He's a son of Gaea and Pontus, making him a Titan. He ruled the seas before Oceanus and after Pontus, and is a prophet, able to see things that Apollo's Oracle cannot see. He will know the location of the Ophiotaurus," Zoё answered.
Persephone blinked. "The Ophio-what?"
Zoё looked at Annabeth. Annabeth shrugged. "She has the attention span of a guppy. Never did pay attention to my lessons."
"You butt!"
Meanwhile, at the end of the pier
Shin'en calmly sat down next to Nereus. "Calm evening, isn't it?"
Nereus glanced at the half-blood next to him, then he looked back at the sun set. "Indeed, it is."
Shin'en pulled a cigarette from the inside of his cloak, and offered it to the old god. Nereus accepted it, pulled a lighter from within his own fuzzy, smelly bathrobe, and lit the cigarette. Shin'en pulled out another cancer stick, and Nereus offered the small flame.
"Thank you." Shin'en put it to his mouth and took a drag. He exhaled a cloud of smoke. "I know you know who I am."
Nereus put away his lighter and took his own drag. "Yes, my daughter isn't quite happy with you and your sister existing."
"That's unfortunate, but I can't control my being born."
"Agreed. I've talked to by daughter about this, but you know how women can be."
"Oh, tell me about it. Can't live with them, can't with without them."
Nereus nodded sagely. "Truer words have never been spoken, my boy."
"Amphitrite and I will cross paths one day, and if she decides to be bitchy, I will be bitchy right back."
Nereus exhaled smoke. "I do not doubt that. Tell me, which of those voices you have locked up in that head of yours is the worst?"
"Sachiko. She has a penchant for tearing people apart and making snow angels out of their guts."
Nereus blinked. "Oh."
"She's only been out twice. First time was her birth, second time was when she pried herself out…I'm not entirely sure she didn't get out during the Chunin Exam."
"I heard about that…crazy shit."
"Yes it was. Killed a lot of people that day."
The two fell into silence for a moment, both men content to smoke in the face of the sun set. Then, Nereus said, "I trust this isn't a social visit, since the animal is about ten feet from us."
"How much of the future are you aware of?"
"Titans, Giants, Apophis, Ragnarӧk, so-called 'god-emperors,' things after all of that…I'd say I'm aware of a lot of things about the future."
Shin'en took a drag. "Fair enough," he exhaled, "you know that she'll come by here on her way to free Thanatos."
"Let me guess…you want me to help her along the way?"
"Not necessarily help so much as give very clear instructions on what she needs to do."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then we'll find out if it's possible to live without women."
"Are you threatening my daughter, boy?"
"I killed Ares and Aphrodite…you think Amphitrite means anything to me?"
Nereus gave Shin'en a hard look. Shin'en returned it, cold emerald eyes matching cobalt blue. They stared long and hard at each other, not so much a contest of will, but a measure of sincerity. Nereus broke away, looking at the sun set. He finished his cigarette and swallowed it.
"I swear on the River Styx that I will tell Persephone Jackson where to find and defeat the giant Alcyoneus and how to free Thanatos."
Thunder sealed this oath, and the old god transformed into a goldfish before flopping into the ocean. Shin'en finished his own cigarette, and put the butt out on his cheek without even flinching. He rose from the bench and returned to the mission.
"What was that thunder just now?" Persephone asked.
"Me getting Nereus to swear an oath on the Styx."
"An oath to do what?"
"To be more helpful from now on. Anyway, I know where the Ophiotaurus is."
Zoё stepped forward. "Where is it?"
"Mooo!"
Shin'en flicked a kunai into the water, which erupted in a spray of white when the explosive tag went off. In the spray and in the churning water, there was a strange amount of golden dust.
"Reforming in Tartarus I'd imagine. Now, we are down here, and where we need to be is way over there. Granted we have time, 24 hours at least, but I have things to do that don't involve being down here. Anyone have any ideas on transportation beyond stealing another vehicle?"
Annabeth fidgeted in place.
Shin'en looked at her. "I take it you have something in mind?"
"Uh…no. No I don't."
"So you weren't thinking about your father and stepmother and stepbrothers that live in this area, who no doubt have transportation we can use?"
"We can find another way," she said stiffly.
Bianca and Grover raised brows, Thalia stared dumbly ahead as she had ever since Kansas, Zoё narrowed her eyes, Shin'en just stared at the blonde, and Persephone put a hand on her girlfriend's shoulder.
"Everything okay between you and them?"
"Well…"
"You haven't told them about your sex change, have you?" Shin'en said.
Annabeth paled, looking a deer in headlights, before she deflated and said, "No, not yet. I…I'm nervous about what they'll say."
"Oh, what they'll say is wholly irrelevant. I am here, and Freddy is going to have more to worry about than his child's new set of genitals. Now, lead the way before I put under genjutsu like Thalia."
"Duhhhh…"
"That's his nice way of saying he'll take care of any bad mouthing. Besides, I'm here too. We've got your back, no worries."
Annabeth smiled at the support, and her smile grew more confident at the supportive looks of Bianca, Grover, and Zoё. Thalia was still a zombie.
"Alright, follow me."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Chase Household
Early Nighttime
After Annabeth pointed at the right house, Shin'en wasted no time in knocking on the door. The rest of the mission joined him on the porch. Shuffling was heard from inside, then the sound of lock being undone, before the door opened, but not all the way due to that little chain thingy.
Most of the face of a man in his thirties became visible. "Can I help you?"
"Are you Frederick Chase, father of Andrew Chase?"
Eyes narrowed. "Yes?"
"Excellent. He has something he needs to tell you."
To Frederick's point of view, Shin'en stepped off to the side, and was suddenly replaced with a very familiar looking young lady that was very nervous about something. Frederick gasped. "A-Andrew?"
"It's Annabeth now, Dad."
"Oh, gods…"
Annabeth was suddenly pulled aside, and Shin'en was back. "Now will you open the damn door? Your daughter is freezing out here, and there's business to be discussed."
The door shut, the sound of sliding metal was heard, and the door was opened wide this time, revealing the shocked Frederick, and the fearful woman and the confused twin boys. Shin'en was not feeling cordial at the moment, and glided right on in like he owned this place.
"Fred, who are these people?"
Shin'en made a noise, causing all three latter people to look at him. Shin'en looked them each in the eye in rapid succession, and they all fell under his genjutsu. "Leave us."
They all shuffled off into another room. Frederick was still occupied with staring dumbly at his daughter. Annabeth shifted.
"How's it been?" she tried.
"H-How's it been?" Frederick echoed quietly, still not wholly here at the moment. Shin'en had enough of this. He got up from the couch he had chosen to sit on, and roughly grabbed Frederick's shoulder, jolting the man back to reality. He looked at Shin'en's emerald eyes in wild bewilderment.
"Get your hand off me young man-"
"Listen to me, you slack jawed idiot. Your son is now your daughter, you can figure that out later. The seven of us are on a quest to save a captured goddess at the top of what you call Mt. Tamalpais. Now, we need a car to get there in a timely manner, and you happened to be in the area. Can you figure out why we bothered to come here, or do I need to spell that out too?"
"You want me to take you to the mountain."
Shin'en let go of his nearly-bone crushing grip on the man's shoulder, and patted his face. "Very good. I can see why Athena wanted to have your child. Now, keys, Freddy…go get them."
The man grimaced, but he did as he was told. Shin'en turned around and was met with the disapproving face of his sister.
"What?"
"That was rude and uncalled for, mister!"
"Arguable. However, what cannot be argued are the results. Frederick's on board, his head's in the game, and now we have a way up to the mountain that doesn't involve walking. You're welcome."
"You're still a butt, though."
"Indeed. And you are wearing my cloak."
"So?"
"I'm sorry, I thought we were just stating obvious things."
The garage door opened, and a chrome Chrysler Pacifica was in there, along with Fred and a set of keys.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Freddy drove, Annabeth in shotgun, Persephone, Shin'en, and Zoё were in the middle, and Grover, Bianca and Thalia were in the backseats.
"So…you're a girl now."
"Yeah."
"When…when did that happen?"
"In June. Ran into a sorceress named Circe."
"I remember that name, and she did this to you. Was there not a way to change back?"
"Probably…but I…I don't…I don't want to change back."
Frederick audibly swallowed, and kept his focus on the road.
"Are you mad at me for wanting to stay like this?"
"Not mad…just confused."
"Well, I got my first date like this."
Frederick squeaked. "D-Date?"
"Yeah…with my girlfriend."
Luckily the street they were on was mostly empty, so Frederick's wild swerving didn't cause any accidents, but he did run a red light almost got everyone killed by a late-night tractor, complete with trailer.
"Girlfriend!? You…so you're…you're-"
"Lesbian? Gay? Yeah, I am. That's not a problem is it…Dad?" You could taste the heat in those words.
Frederick swallowed hard again. "N-No—No! Not at all, just…with who?"
"Hello sir. My name's Persephone Jackson. Annabeth and I have been dating for six months now."
Frederick came to a red light, and turned around to the back seat. "So you're the one dating my daughter, eh?"
Persephone was in the middle, Zoё was on the right, which left Shin'en on the left. The demigod leaned into view, blocking out Persephone's face with his head, and he stared subzero daggers at Mr. Chase.
"She is, and I'm her brother. Don't even think about pulling the intimidation card. We don't actually need you to drive anymore. We have Zoё."
"Do not bring me into this."
The light turned green, and Frederick rolled forward.
Seph lightly elbowed her little brother.
"You butt. I handled Ares, I can handle my girlfriend's dad," she muttered softly.
"It's not about what you can and cannot handle. It's about us being on a mission, and not having time to deal with bullshit. You, Annabeth, and her father can have your meet and greet later, after we save Artemis."
Persephone huffed. "You're still a butt."
"Is that your catch phrase? 'You're a butt'? Do you have an anal fixation?"
"What? No!"
"Okay then…you're a butt."
"No, you're a butt."
"You are."
"You are."
"No, you are."
"No, you are."
"Stop copying me."
"You stop copying me."
"You stop copying me first."
"You stop copying me first."
"No, you."
"You."
"You."
"You!"
"You!
"You!"
"You!"
Zoё threw her hands into the air. "Both of you shut up."
Persephone snickered, while Shin'en just smirked.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
As high as a vehicle can possibly get on the trails of Mt. Tam
Nighttime
"This as far as I can take you."
"Thanks, Dad."
The quest disembarked from the Chrysler Pacifica.
"Annabeth!"
The daughter of Athena blinked at the sudden usage of her new name at the hands of her father.
"Yes?"
"Be careful…sweetheart. I love you."
"I love you too, Dad."
"Touching," Shin'en drawled. "Let's move."
The full moon of the night was hidden behind thick clouds.
The Champion of Susano'o set a brisk pace up the mountain, the others following him. Frederick drove back down, realizing that there was nothing her could from here. Zoё didn't have to lead the way from here; Shin'en knew where to go from the dreams he had in the past.
Soon enough, the quest came across the fabled Garden of the Hesperides. The tree with the Apples was over there, Ladon wrapped around the trunk, sleeping. Other than that, the garden was rather plain. There was a path through it, a path that led to beyond the garden. Shin'en could sense Artemis, Luke, the boat and monster army down below, and Atlas, only Atlas' fist was clenched tightly around a small object.
Shin'en didn't like that.
He walked forward, and there was a violent breeze. From this breeze, four women materialized, and they all looked like Zoё, only with their hair down. Shin'en wasn't dealing with this, not when him getting back to the Land of Grass was less than ten hours away.
"Move, or I will move you."
"Perseus Jackson-"
"Move you it is then."
His sword was out, but the Hesperides were already dissolving back into wind, looks of fear on their faces. Shin'en sheathed his sword and began walking through the Garden, a stunned quest right behind him.
"Those were your sisters, yes?"
"Y-Yes."
"I am not apologizing."
"Don't. They need a kick in the ass."
Shin'en hummed.
Soon enough, meadow turned to marble. All around the quest, the ruins of something ancient seemed to be reforming. There were pillars, arches, statues of naked men armed with weapons, and half-formed walls. Oh, and there was this oppressive, evil feel in the air.
"The ruins of Mount Othrys," Zoё muttered. "This should not be here."
"Yet it is. Let's keep moving."
They found Artemis, trapped under the sky, and Zoё was the first at her lover's side. "My lady!"
"Z-Zoё," Artemis breathed. "You should have come. He's here."
Loud laughing cut off any more conversation.
"Ah, my little traitor returns," Atlas smiled. "Tell me daughter, how many years has it been since you've seen my face?"
"Not enough."
Shin'en looked at Zoё. "You are either brave or dumb for coming here, I cannot tell which. Anyway, there's no need for banter and conversation here. All of you take Luke, I shall take Atlas. Got it? Good."
"Wha-!? Percy!" He was already gone. "That little—YOU ARE SUCH A BUTT!"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Atlas was decked in the jaw and sent skidding away, his feet dredging up clouds of dust. He wiped a trail of golden blood away from his jaw with a smile. He was hardly fazed.
"Ah, Perseus. Nice to finally meet you face to face."
"Uh-huh. Just hurry up and use whatever power-up Jashin gave you. I have places to go, things to destroy, and stuff to steal, so let's get a move on."
Atlas stared at the boy. "Well aren't you the impatient little shit. Okay, if you want your ass kicked so badly, then I shall accommodate you."
The Titan held up a red stone the size of a flip phone, and he promptly jammed it into his chest. What followed was a roar of power, a shockwave, some high winds, cracks in the ground, a sudden burst of light, a sky beam of red energy, and a sense of small sense of dread that settled in Shin'en's gut.
And you're going to experience crushing defeat before kicking major ass
Well, thank you Oracle for your wise words of wisdom.
The red energy around Atlas faded, revealing your typical power-up form for villains. The Titan was probably eight feet tall and packed tighter with more muscle than what should have been allowed. His skin was bleached white, and from the glowing red rock in his chest, a smattering of red veins shot out and covered his entire body, making him pulsate with energy.
A piece of ragged cloth was tied to the Titan's waste by a thick chord of rope.
Atlas opened his eyes, revealing that his irises were now red and his sclera black.
Shin'en lit a cigarette. "So when Jashin gave you a bit of assistance, what he did was make you more cliché? You do how these things play out, right? You get a power up, you overwhelm me, then I get a power—"
Atlas moved with such incredible speed that Shin'en's Sharingan and demigod reflexes failed him, and he took a right cross that sent him bouncing across the mountain before slamming into a pillar that toppled on top of him. Shin'en lifted the rubble off of him, cigarette still burning in his mouth. There was a bruise on his left cheek.
"Then I get a power up, and lay waste to your very being," Shin'en finished. "Experience crushing defeat, huh? Okay, I'll buy that. I'm not as strong as I once was. I just want you to know that I'll still end up winning."
Black tomoe spun rapidly around an equally black pupil, spinning into a new shape, one of three overlapping red triangles, one of a nine-pointed star.
"Let's see how much you can take, Titan of Endurance."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Well, that was a lot longer than I expected.
So Shin'en knows how to manipulate demigods, Aphrodite is a twisted bitch, Zeus has something wrong with him, Persephone successfully shook off Aphrodite's magic, Shin'en has set up Rachel Elizabeth Dare to have a really interesting conversation in the future, and has ensured that Nereus is going to help Seph during the Son of Neptune…or would it be Daughter of Neptune?
Of course, that's if those events actually happen. Shin'en's making waves, remember?
Next chapter is Atlas kicking ass, the revelation of what's under the bandages on Shin'en's arm, and then Shin'en proceeding to demolish Atlas, followed by some stuff with the sky, a council meeting, something of a party, a tearful goodbye between siblings, and the kick start of the Reclamation of Power arc.
The poll closes in the morning, so vote now! It's on my profile page, and SoJ is winning, followed very closely by AC:T and Ghoul.
Fav, Follow, and Review please!
