Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.
The Ever Twisting Wind: Threshold Breakthrough
Chapter Twenty Eight: Battle of Claymore
Beta: ShadowofAxios
In a small, rainy New England town, Andi and Hecate sat in the small community's only cafe sipping at cups of rather lackluster coffee.
"This coffee sucks." Andi observed with a grimace as she put her cup down and pushed it away from her.
"You can't exactly expect much from such a small town." Hecate retorted with a shrug.
"Yeah, yeah." Andi replied with a roll of her eyes.
"Are you still upset that I insisted that you send your Aurae lieutenant away?"
"You think?" Andi told her superior with a mild glare. "You wouldn't even let me bring Hunter."
"They are not needed." Hecate insisted. "Besides, did you honestly think that if I had you send away the Aura, that I would not protest with having the Kyôn Khryseos around?"
"I'm a pack creature." Andi huffed and took a sip of her disgusting coffee. "Besides, I feel uncomfortable being out in the field without Wendy."
"Trust me, Andi." Hecate said comfortingly. "Not having them here is for the best. If they were, they would complicate things."
"So you keep saying," Andi countered. Her eyes narrowed as she observed her fellow goddess. "So what is this then?"
"...A story reaching its end." Hecate said, grief laced her tone as she took a sullen sip of her own drink.
"Yeah, whatever." Andi said dismissively.
"Andi, I know you are unhappy about me having negotiated Alabaster's freedom-"
"You also got him off for his betrayal against Olympus during the Second Titanomachy without any repercussions." The goddess of the Wild said with a snarl.
"You don't understand yet. But you will." Hecate told her with a patronizing smile. "You will understand why I am doing what I am when your children end up in a similar conundrum."
"Then it'll be a while," Andi scoffed. "I'm childless after all and I plan to be such for years to come."
Hecate shot her a discomforting knowing grin in reply.
Before Andi could question the older goddess about the look however Dr. Howard Claymore, the reason they were in the town in the first place, walked by the cafe distracting her from the matter.
"That's him? He looks… so plain, boring even." Andi couldn't help but comment with a scrutinizing look. "Is he seriously going to be the key to defeating Lamia?"
"Indeed he shall." Hecate assured with glint in her eye. "With his help, Alabaster will finally banish my wayward daughter."
"But not kill her?" Andi asked with narrowed eyes.
"Considering the situation with Taratarus and the Doors of Death, would killing her be a good idea?" Hecate countered. "Wouldn't she just reform immediately?"
"The Doors getting stolen is convenient for you, isn't it?"
"I won't deny it." Hecate admitted with a pleased look. "Again, you will understand my motives when you find your children in a similar situation. After all, while Alabaster is my son, do not forget also that Lamia is my daughter."
"Yeah, I guess so." Andi rolled her eyes. "All I care about is that Lamia is dealt with. That's the only reason I agreed to help that traitor Alabaster at all. Because no offense but pardon or not, he is still very much a traitor in my eyes."
Hecate sighed and shook her head.
"I understand." She said. "I appreciate your help despite your reluctance."
"That's his house?" Andi asked with a raised eyebrow at Alabaster's rather plain suburban family home. "I dunno what I was expecting but this wasn't it. Shouldn't it be a little more magical?"
"That would bring in attention, no?" Hecate rebuked.
"Fair." Andi shrugged. "Blend in with the locals to hide like a rat I suppose."
"Hiding in plain sight is hardly being like a rat." Hecate said with a sigh. "Your animosity against my son is getting the better of you, Andi.
"Sorry if I have a grudge against someone who was all too happy to kill his own siblings just because they were fighting for the other side."
Hecate had no counter to that and Andi chalked it up as a win for herself.
"Oh, she is here." Hecate said, pointing as Lamia finally slithered unto the scene on her serpentine lower body. Her reptilian green eyes glowing with malice and her shriveled lizard like claws flexing as if hungry for blood.
"Gah, I could blast her to atoms right now." The younger goddess glared at her magical matron flatly.
"It will not be necessary." Hecate replied firmly even as Lamia shot them a smirk as she began to pool her magical power.
"Incantare: Aequaliter Nubila Inlisae (To Enchant: Pummeling Rain)!" The monstrous daughter of Hecate cast, conjuring a powerful storm that sent down sheets of rain that slammed into Alabaster's house, causing the magical dome that protected it to flare into visibility.
"Rain, Lamia!?" Alabaster shouted out of his house in defiance. "Are you trying to imitate that accursed son of Poseidon?"
"Does it matter what element I use when it works?" Lamia replies with a grin as her spell finally shattered the barrier that protected Alabaster's home and she slithered towards the building whilst sporting a triumphant grin.
"Don't count your eggs before they hatch, sister." Alabaster said as he saw Lamia slither towards his front door with a smirk on her face. "Incantare: Procursus (To Enchant: Explosion)!"
At his incantation, an explosion of force shattered his doorway and sent Lamia flying at the same time.
"Claymore! Stay inside and keep looking for the right spell!" Alabaster shouted as he used one of his Mistform cards to summon his Imperial Gold sword and stepped out the hole he had blasted in his own house to confront the monster.
Stepping out onto the street, he glimpsed both his Mother and her subordinate, Lady Andromeda, standing on the corner observing the fight. Lamia followed his line of sight and smirked.
"You really shouldn't look to them for help." Lamia sneered. "Just like always, they can do nothing to help you."
"Like I ever expected help from the gods anyways," Alabaster scoffed. "I've always only ever relied on myself."
"We shall see whether that's enough." Lamia said with a dark smile. "Incantare: Gelu Semita (To Enchant: Path of Frost)"
In response, a blizzard spontaneously appeared out of nowhere that enshrouded the entire suburban cul-de-sac they were fighting in, bringing on total whiteout conditions. Though it conveniently did not hinder her movement at all as she demonstrated when she teleported close to Alabaster and lashed out with her claws.
The son of Hecate reacted just quickly enough though to quickly cast a "Incantare: Sa Augurium (To Enchant: Remove Enchantment)" to dispel the conjured blizzard even as he clumsily parried Lamia's strikes with his Imperial Gold sword.
This is not going to be an easy fight. Alabaster thought as despite his desperate defense, Lamia forced him to the ground. I hope I'm strong enough to survive this.
Why is a Greek demigod using a Roman weapon and magic? Andi thought absently, before she quickly dismissed the thought to focus on the fight.
"Incantare: Sagitta Ex Vi (To Enchant: Arrow of Force)!" Alabaster cast, managing to throw Lamia off him with a burst of raw force.
"Oh, good move." Andi commented with a nod.
"I don't believe Lamia agrees." Hecate countered as her aforementioned monstrous daughter hissed in annoyance as she slithered back into an upright position from the sprawl that Alabaster's spell had left her in.
"You'll pay for that, boy." The monster growled. "Incantare: Acidum Nubes (To Enchant: Acid Cloud)."
Her spell conjured a sickly green cloud of gas that hung over the whole area like a fogbank.
Alabaster, clearly having discerned the deadly nature of the conjured gas, began holding his breath even as his skin looked like it was being burned!
"Yikes, she doesn't do things by half." Andi wrinkled her nose. A spell that can eat one up from inside and out? At the same time? Sadistic.
"She has always had that mindset. It's what makes her such a deadly foe." Hecate added, her face neutral.
"I-Incantare: Sa Augurium." Alabaster managed to force out through a minor coughing fit, dispelling the poison.
At the same time, he kept up his guard as best as he was able. His vigilance proved wise when Lamia tried to sweep his feet out from under him with a swing of her tail and allowed him to jump over it.
"Incantare: Sagitta Ignis (To Enchant: Fire Arrow)." Alabaster cast while still mid leap, sending a flaming bolt at his monstrous half-sister.
Lamia slithered out of the way with reptilian grace, eyes looking gleeful at the half-blood as she launched into her next attack.
"Incantare: Tempestatum Tegem Arenam (To Enchant: Arena of Storms)" The monstrous spellcaster hissed with malicious glee.
Bolts of lightning slammed down from a clear blue sky in a ring around Lamia and Alabaster, even as storm clouds materialized out of nowhere and enshrouded the area marked out by the lightning, and nowhere else, in their shadow. From these new clouds, fresh bolts of electricity crackled earthward, most grounded themselves harmlessly but a good number twisted and forked towards the demigod.
Lightning travelled fast. Too fast for Alabaster to even react and he was struck, causing him to fall to his knees as thousands of volts of electricity coursed through his body.
"Shit! Hecate, we need to do something!" Andi said urgently, but the goddess of magic just shook her head.
"This won't be enough to take Alabaster down." She said confidently.
"Incantare: Sa Augurium." Alabaster roared in spite of what must have been the unimaginable pain he was suffering through.
His spell thankfully dispelled Lamia's field spell once more, but it had taken its toll, leaving him looking winded as he struggled to keep his sword up.
"Time to finish this, little demigod." Lamia said with a smirk as she slithered unhurriedly towards Alabaster even as she slowly, dramatically brought her claws forward, preparing to strike the killing blow.
"The bitch." Andi hissed. "She's obviously dragging this out so she can savor Alabaster's suffering. Hecate, surely we can do something! Anything!"
"Restrain yourself, Andi." Hecate told her, her face seemingly etched in stone for the lack of emotion she was displaying. "And be patient. This fight is not over yet."
Almost on cue, Claymore suddenly ran out of the house, shouting excitedly.
"Alabaster! I think I've found the sp-"
He was however cut off mid-sentence when Lamia teleported to his side and coiled herself around him.
Alabaster rushed to his aid, but was too slow as Lamia slit the man's throat with her claws but not before Claymore tossed a tome with a hastily dog-eared page at him. The boy cried out in grief but that did not stop him from catching the tome and flipping it open to the marked page, before he immediately began chanting the spell that Claymore had given his life to find for him.
Andi watched as the demigod began his chant and magical energy began rippling around him.
"I'm stunned that a mere mortal like Claymore managed to find the spell that would banish that bitch." The younger goddess commented as she glanced at Hecate. "I'd get it if he had a magical history or was a practitioner, but I suppose that mind of his was the reason you nudged him into this whole affair."
Hecate didn't bother to reply instead just nodding towards the fight, wordlessly telling Andi to pay attention. The goddess of the Wild frowned but obeyed. The goddess of crossroads was right to ask her to pay attention to the fight though as things were quickly escalating to its conclusion. Snarling like a mad beast, Lamia seemed to start a chant of her own.
Not liking this, Andi rubbed her heel into the ground, about to use a small bit of her power to throw off the monster. Yet Hecate reacted faster, raising her hand to halt the younger goddess.
"Incantare: Templum In- (To Enchant: Temple of Fi-)" The monster managed before suddenly Claymore in a Mistform body appeared right in front of her, wielding rather ironically a massive claymore in one hand and a 9mm pistol in another.
Lamia looked gobsmacked for a moment and Claymore immediately took advantage of this, swinging his hulking sword at her. The serpent monster went on the defensive, halting her casting that most likely would have destroyed the spellbook Alabaster was using as she tried to deflect the blade with her claws.
"Feeling ironic, Hecate?" Andi asked with a raised eyebrow as he saw the dead man force the surprised monster back with another swing of his sword.
"He suggested it," the older goddess said with a shrug.
Andi giggled lightly. "But can his weapons even hurt Lamia? I mean he and them are mistform, but they aren't divine metal."
"They'll cause damage. Not as much as divine metal, but enough." Hecate replied as Claymore used the opening that his awkward sword swing created to fire a shot from his gun at her.
"You shot me!?" Lamia cried out in shock as she reeled back from Claymore.
"Of course," Claymore replied with a snort. "I know heck all on how to properly use a sword, but taking a shot? That I know."
He punctuated this statement by taking another shot.
Unfortunately, Lamia was ready this time and in a burst of supernatural speed she evaded the shot. Well, mostly. Despite her speed, a bullet was fast and she couldn't avoid it entirely. Not when it was fired from so close and it grazed her on the shoulder, causing her to hiss in pain even as she dived towards him, her claws slashing at him.
They tore into the mistform man, cutting deep grooves into his false body. Yet the Mist that made it up just flowed around the claws.
"You really should have remembered that I got an upgrade." Claymore said with a smirk as he shot Lamia point blank in the head.
Her monstrous hide prevented deep penetration but it did throw her head back, disorientating her and leaving her open as Claymore clumsily swung his sword into her side causing a deep wound before she finally regathered enough of her wits to swiftly slither away.
"What are you? You are no ordinary Mistform!" Lamia shouted in shock.
"You expect me to know?" Claymore said with a laugh. "You should ask Lady Hecate if you want to know."
Lamia shot Hecate a glare but the goddess just kept her face as emotionless as ever. For her part, Andi waved teasingly whilst sporting a smirk.
"Mother! How dare you betra-"
Alabaster's spell finally took effect and ethereal chains appeared out of nowhere to bind the former queen of the Libyan empire. The spiritually heavy bounds proved too much as the monster was pulled to the ground even as she thrashed and screamed.
Deciding to be cautious, Andi cast a few of her own binding spells to strengthen the seal being placed on the monster. Some from nature, others from the air and just plain raw magical bindings too. They were small, but they meshed well into the one Alabaster was using and most importantly wouldn't be easy to discern as having come from her.
Hecate nodded with a proud look on her face.
"You're learning." The goddess of magic said. "We can't interfere directly most of the time, but that doesn't mean we can't slip in something when the opportunity presents itself."
"Thanks for the compliment, Hecate."
They both watched as Lamia was sealed away into a bobblehead. Her face cartoonishly hideous as it bobbled up and down on the road.
"Guess, he's taking a cue from Lucy." Andi said with an amused snort.
"So it would seem," Hecate agreed. "Well now that everything is over, let's go talk to them."
The two walked over to the demigod and mistform duo. Andi listened somewhat on and off to what Hecate spoke of with her wayward son, she had her own piece to say, but his mother's came first. In the meantime, she decided to have a few words with the undead man.
"So welcome to our world," Andi told the man with a bittersweet smile. "With all its good and bad. Are you ready for it?"
The man shrugged. "I made my choice already. I'll just have to live with it from now onwards, my lady. By the way, know anywhere where I can learn to use my new sword?"
Andi chuckled, amused by the man's nonchalant attitude despite the worldview shattering events that he had just found himself going through.
"Alabaster can teach you." Andi suggested easily. "Either that or he'd know where you can go to get the training you'll need."
"Andi," Hecate said, apparently done with informing her son about how she'd set things up so he could survive on his own. "I'm leaving. Are you coming?"
"In a minute," Andi told her superior. "I want a word with Alabaster. That's okay with you?"
"It is why I asked for your help with this in the first place, so of course." Hecate said with a nod as she held out a hand towards the Lamia bobblehead, causing it to fly into her hand. "I hope you will get through to him. For my part, it is time for me to leave and place my daughter away somewhere for safekeeping."
"I'll try my best," Andi told the older goddess. "See you later, Lady Hecate."
Hecate nodded politely in farewell before teleporting away in a passing bank of Mist.
"Alright, first off. I'm just going to say you're being a stubborn ass." Andi bluntly told the demigod as she turned to look at him sternly. From experience as a demigod, she was happy when a god would just give it straight and now that she was in the god's shoes, it was time to play the part.
The boy started to open his mouth to defend himself, but a firm look from the goddess of the wild had him zipping up. Good boy.
"Just, look at what you managed to do today. You wanted to protect Claymore, so you are obviously a hero. But even if you ignore that. You want to fight the Earth Mother? Who wants you dead? Most likely because of what you just found out here. That means, Alabaster, you and the Olympians have a common foe. With me so far?"
"Yes." The green eyed youth said with a frown, but said nothing else. So Andi continued.
"Then you can work with them to reach a common goal; defeat the Earth Mother. It wouldn't compromise the terms of your exile and your opinions of them which prevent you from working for them. Like a contract, it's all about the legal loopholes, or the not so legal ones." Giving him a stern look, she added. "Just think about what I'm saying here, alright?"
With that, the goddess of breezes teleported away in a small gust after waving goodbye to Claymore.
"Man, talk about a hassle of a day." The young goddess said with a tired sigh as she materialized inside her palace garden.
Barking caught her attention and a smile graced Andi's face as she bent down to greet Hunter. "Hey boy. I missed you today~"
Cooing, she rubbed his doggie cheeks and rubbed noses with the Golden Dog. Getting an excited lick to the face, the goddess giggled and stood up. She frowned, when following just behind Hunter was a nervous looking Katie holding Brick tightly.
"Hey Katie, what's wrong?" She asked, walking over to her friend/subordinate.
"Um, Lady Andi, I don't know how to tell you this, but, uh…" Katie's green cheeks tinted brown from a blush. "Ladies Antheia and Pannychis stopped by and brought along their… daughters."
"Oh?" Andi said in surprise, knitting her brow in thought. "I didn't know the Charites even had children."
"How could you not know, Andi!?" Katie gasped. "You're the father!"
"Wait, what!?" Andi replied flabbergasted as she flinched back in shock, nearly toppling over onto the soft grass flooring of her palace in the process.
Done and done! Thanks to Nameless and Axios as always!
This was a fun little chapter to work on. Honestly, I'm not a super fan of Alabaster. He's got some spunk though, so I'll grant him that. The side story was done by Rick's son, Son of Magic, and I think it was a nice flesh out job for the magic side of things. Honestly, the Mist terrifies me greatly at how much it can warp the normal mind to the point a person can't even tell they are being burned alive.
Nameless: Too bad that Rick didn't use it much outside of the side story, this despite Hazel supposedly being a sorceress. What wasted potential.
And one who focused on being a horsewoman on top of that too, honestly Hazel is too much a grab bag of powers and skill sets that feel all over the place. More like a plot power character lol.
Nameless: So true. It is one of the issues with her that we are totally going to have to rectify to some degree when we introduce her. Focus her more on one skillset or another. Not saying we're cutting out Arion or anything, but if say we make her a caster specialist then she'll stop using her spatha as a weapon as she rides but instead just use his speed for its mobility. Something like that basically.
On another note, at least Andi got to say her piece at the end and then learned some more radical news! Yikes, just what were in those three hundred drinks she drank to get that frisky?! XD
Nameless: Who knows. But at least we now get the chance to explore the side of Olympian godhood where they have kids with every damned thing that moves. XD
You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!