Percy talking

Percy thoughts

Adamos talking

Adamos thoughts

Characters are owned by Rick

(Except Adamos he's mine)

Chapter 24

Movie night IV: The age of Gods and Heroes

"You know what the best part of this is?" I asked rhetorically. "The fact that I can eat movie theater popcorn, candy, and soda and NOT have to worry about cavities." I said as I deposit a sour straw into my mouth.

"Really? That's the best part of all of this?" I nodded at Adamos's question. The response put him into a mock sense of hurt in his expression. "And here I thought that you were enjoying our brotherly bonding."

"I mean that's a plus too I guess." I shrug.

…

…

…

"Give me that." Adamos said as he forcibly grabbed a handful of the blue sour straw candies and ate them in one go, effectively leaving me with only a few left.

"Hey!" In response I counterattack him with a pillow. But that was only phase one of the plan. With his vision thoroughly blinded I jumped over and snatched his plate of nachos from him. It was a swift and decisive maneuver of retaliation.

Adamos tosses the pillow away but his eyes widen when he sees what I did. His mouth still full of candy, he quickly chews and swallows. "Give that back!" He yells, which in turn only makes me eat faster than before. I try to move out of the way as he lunges at me, but he's too fast and manages to latch onto my legs. "Give me back my nachos Percy."

"No!" I say defiantly, despite my mouth being full. I extend the hand holding the tray away from him as he tries to pull me closer to grab it, but I didn't give him the chance as I kept squirming my legs and using my free hand to push back. It wasn't a lasting plan, I knew that, but I hoped that it would give me enough time to think of something else.

Sadly, that next plan of action would never come as Adamos made another lunge. The surprise loosened my grip on the nachos. The two of us watched as the world seemed to slow down as they fell. I could practically see the look of sheer horror on Adamos's face as the food hits the floor. Then suddenly the world seemed to speed back up as be both stare at the mess.

"My perfect nachos." I hear him whisper in disbelief. He then lets me up only to shift into a sulking position. "They were taken before their time. They were innocent."

"Geez I didn't kno—"

"SHHHHH!" I try to apologize but Adamos cuts me off. "Let me mourn." He loudly whispers before he then goes back to his weirdness.

"Ooook." I think to myself as I reach over and grab the remote to start the next quest.

The scene opens to darkness. It was pitch black with the presence of muffled voices being the only other form of presence in the void along with Adamos who seems to be slowly regaining consciousness. Steadily the voices began to clarify and sound familiar…and very angry.

-ucking care. I'll kill him!" This voice was deep. Masculine.

"You'll do no such thing." The second one melodic and feminine, despite its cold yet furious tone.

"He's already infected you with a parasite and now he tries to steal from me." The first voice growls.

A sensation of cold washes over everything as Adamos's body shivers involuntarily. "If you talk about her like that," The already ice-cold tone seemed to hit absolute zero. It sent a shiver of fear down the spines of all those that heard it, even beyond the safety of the screen. "I will skin you alive and beat you to death with a flail made from your own hide."

That brief shock sent Adamos's instincts haywire. His fight or flight instinct kicked in in the presence of such danger that if forced him back to consciousness.

Adamos bolts with a gasp for air an immediately regrets it as his body is wracked with large amounts of pain. His face contorts into a grimaces as he hunches over.

"Ada!"

"Adam!"

Two voices shout out as all present hear his cry of pain. Gently hands steady him as he is slowly pushed back into a laying position, but his body propped up into a sitting position. No longer having to struggle to stay up the young god is finally able to open his eyes.

He was… in a bed. His body was heavily bandaged and the sour earthy smell that filled his nose indicated that the bandages were covered in medical salve of some kind. His eyes focused as he looked around him. At his sides were two equally distressed goddesses.

Aphrodite was looking like she hadn't slept in days with the way her hair seemed all over the place. Nyx on the other side looked just as tired but more presentable. In front of him however were three less glad looking figures. A furious Pontus, a stone-faced Gaia, and a…boy on a mount?

No that wasn't right. There was no head for the mount, rather in its place was the torso of a young boy who couldn't be much older that fourteen to fifteen years of age.

"Wait? Is that…Chiron?" I asked as I looked at the figure on the screen. He looked years if not decades younger, but it was definitely him. He had the same brown hair and eyes. He was missing the beard that he now sported, and he looked very much like a nervous wreck. Which is kinda understandable when in the presence of multiple primordials.

"Huh?" Adamos lifted his head up from his nacho funeral. "Oh, uh yeah." He didn't elaborate and instead just sat down, still slightly sulking.

"ADAMAREYOUOKAYYOUWERECOVEREDINBLOODANDIDIDN'TKNOWWHATTODOANDIFOUNDTHISWEIRDKIDANDTHESEPEOPLESHOWEDUPAN—" Aphrodite began to speak in rambles before Adamos put a hand over her mouth.

"Can someone else explain what's going on?" Adamos asked in confusion to the group around him.

"Ada," Nyx spoke from his side. She had a pleases smile on her face which the godling returned. "You have been unconscious for about four days." At the Adamos raised a brow in surprise.

"Yes." Pontus butted into the conversation and fixed the god with a sharp glare. "And now that he's awake, he can die like a man."

"You even think of trying it and I'll—"

"Enough. Both of you." The commanding voice of Gaia pierces through the tension. Both primordials back down only slightly as they both knew that Gaia could intervene, and a three-way brawl between the primordials was not something that reality needed. "Pontus." The earth goddess's gaze flicked to the male primordial, her eyes as hard as stone. "The boy has completed your task exactly as you wished. There is no reason to seek out a conflict." She reasoned.

"He's already tainted it with his blood! He—" Pontus shouted but was cut off by Gaia.

"Was unconscious at the time that it happened. Anything that happened was HER choice." Gaia emphasized that one word, making Pontus visibly deflate.

Pontus turned his gaze to the injured god. He didn't move, not that he would need to kill the godling, but instead sent him a glare. "You had better take care of her or else I will end you." Pontus disappeared in a plume of water and leaving a large puddle on the floor.

"Good riddance." Nyx mumbled.

"Can someone PLEASE explain what's going on?" Adamos explained in exasperation.

"I think it would be best if the two of you leave this to us." Gaia spoke to Aphrodite and Chiron. While her tone was pleasant, there was an underlying tone that wouldn't take no for an answer. Cautiously they both left. Aphrodite for fear of what would happen to her friend, and Chiron because he didn't seem to know what was happening. Gaia turned back to the wounded patient once she was sure that it was just the three of them. "It seems that we have a lot to talk about young man."

Adamos unconsciously flinched at that. "Please don't say it like that. It makes me sound like I'm in trouble."

"That is because you most certainly are." Gaia spoke with a matter of fact tone that made the young god shrink a bit. It was basically the same feeling he got whenever his mother was disappointed in him. Nyx just chuckles at how uncomfortable he was, even when he sent a small glare in her direction. "Or at least you would have been had we not been here."

"That seems to happen regardless." Adamos muttered truthfully but a little exasperated at the roller coaster of emotions that Gaia was putting him through. "But, thank you for healing me."

"We only half healed you actually." Nyx spoke. "It was the kid that was in the corner that kept you alive until we came."

"Although we did have to use some of those phoenix feathers in you possession and merge them with your heart in order to fully save your life, otherwise you would be reforming in Tartarus." Gaia explained. But Adamos just internally groaned at the fact that they went through and used his stuff.

"Really? That's what your worried about?" I asked incredulously. I mean seriously he was on deaths door and he's focused on random things like that.

"Shove it you." He snapped back but there was no actual bite in his remark. "Do you know how hard it is to find primal phoenix feathers?" He asked rhetorically. "Really hard." I just rolled my eyes at his cheapness and went back to watching.

"You should consider yourself lucky Ada." Nyx scolded. "All those wounds and with the amount of blood you lost should have killed you. It's a miracle that you were even alive. But I guess the phoenix's regenerative abilities aren't anything to scoff at. And don't even get me started on Pontus's desire to drown you."

"Yeah, what was that about?"

"Did Pontus ever tell you what he had you steal?" Gaia asked, and sighed when Adamos shook his head. "That treasure that my son had in his possession was in simple terms the essence of a primordial. Pontus's wife Thalassa to be exact."

Adamos raised a brow. "That explains the power that was rolling off the thing." That got a nod from the two goddesses.

"The problem was that during the time of your retrieval and our arrival…" The earth goddess hesitated to pick the right words. "Something occurred. The essence of a primordial, even one that has…passed…like Thalassa is incredibly powerful and still holds sway over its domains. Evidently some of her will must have been left behind because the essence chose to absorb and mix with you essence, or rather the ichor from your wounds."

"So, what does that mean?" Adamos asked. His gaze locking with the goddesses.

"It means that you're going to be a father." Adamos's eyes widened.

"Of two to be exact." Nyx added on, but this surprised both others in the room, although only one of them got the meaning.

"So, the egg has twins?" Adamos asked. Nyx blinked once and then face palmed. Her hand fast tracked to the back of his head.

"No, you idiot. I'm having the other child." She gives him a pointed look. Adamos just remains silent at the news. The only indication that he heard was that his eyes had widened. The expression stretched on for a while until Nyx waved a hand in front of his face. "Yeah, he's passed out." She said when she didn't get a response.

"With both his injuries and the news, I'm not surprised." Gaia spoke as she eyed him over. "On another note, I think I'm beginning to see what you see in him." Nyx edged closer and wrapped him in an embrace. His head buried in between her cleavage, a position that any man would have enjoyed immensely, but the young god couldn't because he was still unconscious due to shock.

"You better not try anything. He's mine." Nyx's narrowed gaze bore into the earth goddess, but there was a surprising lack of heat behind the look.

"You made that very clear after the first meeting." Gaia rolled her eyes at her fellow primordial. "And the second, and yesterday."

"And don't you forget it." The primordial of night said with a huff.

Yet another roll of the eyes from Gaia. "Of course, though I am curious as to what the future has for him. He may not realize it, but he is far different from the other immortals. I honestly can't tell if its some sort of cosmic mistake when he was born, or if Ananke and the three fates have spontaneously decided to have fun."

"If there's one thing that we do know. It's that things will be interesting with him around." Nyx says fondly as she strokes his hair.

"Well I'll leave you to him." Gaia gave a simple wave as she departed but stopped as she reached the door. "Before I leave though, tell him that he needs to head north in a week if he wants to complete his last quest. And that he needs to take the boy with him." With that the earth goddess walked away, disappearing into the ground as she walked.

It only took a few hours for Adamos to wake from his shock, after which came numerous questions and some joyful cuddling. After that Adamos fussed over Nyx as soon as he was able to walk, but that ended when both Nyx and Aphrodite put him through a wall after he tried to handle the cooking. Speaking of the two goddesses, once they had a nice chat they got along surprisingly well. A bit too well at times if you ask Adamos as he once accidentally walked in on the two as Nyx was teaching Aphrodite how to use her 'feminine' assets to get what she wants. Against his better instincts he decides not to intervene and instead stay near the egg that's apparently his child.

Yeah. Totally not a weird thought.

Speaking of children. Nyx's pregnancy was coming along splendidly, according to her. It should only be a couple of months before the baby is born. Normally you would think that the two parents would be the most excited, but if you were to watch the three immortals you would confuse the goddess Aphrodite for the soon to be parent with how she practically bounces off the walls, muttering aunt Aphy under her breath. Clearly nothing was going to stop her. Adamos could only wonder at how his father, aunts, and uncle would react to the two new additions along with Aphrodite. Actually, he can imagine it pretty well.

Hera and Hestia would want the babies to call them Nanna or something and spoil them. Hades would be very uncomfortable at first as children aren't something that he's overly good with. Zeus and Demeter would barely care, although Zeus would probably try to get closer to Aph. His father Poseidon, well he'd probably start crying if they call him Granpaseidon.

The thought brings a chuckle to the young godlings lips as the screen shifts to Adamos walking in a forest, lost in his recent memories. He had left the two goddesses behind as Aphrodite still wanted to learn from the primordial of night as well as help in the babies delivery. Adamos wanted to be there as well, but Gaia gave him a deadline for his departure and Nyx was very persistent that he abide by it.

"If this is supposed to be the life of a hero, I pity the fool that tries to pursue it." Adamos said with a mirthful grin. His title of the first ever hero had always amused the god as when they first called him it, he had no idea of the trials and tribulations that he would have to deal with. He'd much rather be with the his future children, one of their mothers and his enthusiastic friend.

He turned to his travel companion, one who has been mostly silent for the week. Adamos learned that the half mount/half boy was named Chiron, and he seemed to be decently skilled with medicine and a bow. Not as much as he himself mind you, but for someone who was self-taught for about a year it was quite good. "So…what exactly are you?" Adamos decided to ask, deciding to toss manners and common courtesy out the window. A few days of silence and awkward glances were all he could take.

Chiron flinched at the question. He had been jumpy since he first came across the god and goddess and helped them. That then lead him to being trapped taking care of him as the primordials argued about what to do. No, he was currently being forced on some sort of 'quest' with the god in question. "I—I'm…"
Adamos huffed in irritation as Chiron stumbled over his words. So many other conversations were exactly the same. Adamos trying to start one and Chiron stumbling over his own words. The godling was about to scream into the heavens at the uncomfortable atmosphere when a voice spoke up.

"He is what is referred to as a 'centaur.'" A female voice spoke from around them. Chiron seemed to tense, his hooved feet prancing around, showing how skittish he was, but he didn't run away and instead just shakily nocked an arrow in his bow. Adamos on the other hand was far more composed. His eyes locked onto a small corner of the forest around them. His gaze never wavering. His composure was rewarded as a small bolt of green energy flew directly at him.

Adamos just smirked as he lazily swatted it to the dirt ground with the spear that he had been carrying. "Cloaking spells are cheating you know." Adamos shouted with a smirk before turning to his companion. "Put that away before you hurt yourself." Adamos scolds Chiron as he jerks his aim back and forth with the bow in his hands.

"It's only cheating if you get caught." The female said in a sing song voice that seemed to come from everywhere. "But I guess you win this time." From behind the tree a woman walked out. Her black hair fell over her shoulders like a waterfall, highlighting her pale skin and emerald green eyes. Her red dress clung to her as she walked up Adamos. A mischievous smirk spread across her face as she stood before the god, who stood at least a full head taller than her. "Hello dear brother." The pair stared at each other in silence for a few moments.

"Hecate!" Adamos broke into a laugh as he scooped his sister into a hug, one that she didn't seemed to be prepared for.

"Let go of me you brute!" Hecate shouted as she beat him with weak fists though it all seemed to be a jest as she was smiling just like him, though a bit more subdued.

"What are you doing here?" Adamos asked as he put her down on her feet. "Shouldn't you be with mother?"

Hecate's grin fell a bit as she seemed to look a bit embarrassed. She let out a nervous chuckle as her foot toed the ground. "I…may have run away?"

"You…ran?"

"From the titans, yes." She confirmed.

"Why?" Adamos asked but there was no negative intent behind the question, only curiosity.

That seemed to set the Titaness off. "Because it's so stifling in Othrys," She groaned. "Everything is constantly watched, the four titans of the corners go around and try to do whatever they want, and don't even get me started on some of the stupid laws that malaka of a king makes." She furiously spun on her foot and fixed the two males with furious eyes of poisonous green, her stare made both of them take a step back. "Do you know how many men stop by my home looking for an engagement? All because father is one of the generals of the titan army. Its all 'Hecate your magic is so…beautiful like you,' or 'Come with me outside. Nature pales in comparison to your looks.'" She lowered her voice in a mocking way. "Can you believe that? I don't need to none of that in my life. Bunch of jackasses."

The entire time Adamos was just nodding along, though Chiron seemed entirely lost. "So, what I'm hearing is, you need your big brother to stab someone." How Adamos came to that conclusion I will never know.

"Not at the moment." Hecate waved him off, somehow completely okay with the prospect of her secret brother going out and stabbing people for hitting on her. "So where are we going?" She asked.

Adamos raised a brow. "What do you mean we?"

"I'm going with you duh." She said it like the most obvious thing in the world. "Gaia asked me to come with you. Said it would help me get in with your dad and his siblings." She shrugged.

"It would help," Adamos muttered as he thought it over. "I don't see why not. So, tell me what you've been up to." The two siblings began to walk and catch up after years of not seeing each other.

"H—Hey! Don't I get a say in if she comes along?" Chiron finally worked up the nerve to speak to the two immortals.

"No." They spoke in unison, with matching smirks before resuming their conversation.

Chiron's shoulders slumped as he trotted behind them. "Go with him on his quest, she said. You'll reach your potential, she said. It's your destiny, she said. Of course, Lady Gaia, I said." Chiron let out a weary sigh. "Why do I feel like its gonna get worse before it gets better."

The three questers traveled together north until they were able to find a boat waiting to take them across to Asia minor. The entire time Adamos taught Chiron how to use different weapons and other various skills that he had picked up while Hecate used this as a chance to teach him magic. Of course, the two siblings competed in the magic department, but the young centaur learned none the less. Their reasoning behind teaching young Chiron though wasn't really because they wanted to help him, but rather they didn't want to look after him as much. Quests like these meant that you couldn't really afford to watch over someone else's safety constantly.

Hecate took the news of Adamos's impending fatherhood very well.

Meaning she laughed at his impending misfortune and existential crisis.

Truly they were the model example of a sibling relationship.

"I don't see what's so wrong about it." Hecate asked as they continued to travel through Asia Minor. The three had traveled south from where they landed from their ship that they knew Gaia created for them.

"Because it's humiliating!" Chiron grumbled. His exchanges over the weeks with the two siblings had allowed for a level of comfortability that drew him from his reclusive shell.

"Come on. Just let me ride on you for a bit." Hecate asked.

"I SAID no!"

"But my feet are tired." Hecate whined and Chiron just threw his hands up and trotted ahead a bit faster.

"You know he's never going to say yes." Adamos spoke up with a smirk on his face.

"I know." Hecate returned with her own smirk, as if they both knew an untold joke. "But its always so funny to rile him up."

"Whatever just make sure not to torment him...to much." Adamos trailed off as a pungent smell hits his nose making him retch. Hecate seems confused at what her brother was doing until the same smell hit her, making her force down the desire to throw up. "Chaos, what is that?" Adamos said in disgust as he held his nose.

"I don't know. I think I'm gonna throw up." Hecate held her nose before weaving magic together. It took only a few seconds until the smell dissipated. "Where's the kid? I can only imagine how bad he's having it."

"There he is." Adamos pointed of a ways and Hecate turned to watch the smaller form of Chiron vomiting off to the side. His desire to get away had led him further into the smell and he hit his limit. The two siblings huffed in amusement and sympathy as they took their time walking over to the young centaur.

"Heeyyy buuudddyyy." Adamos said in a placating tone, as if he was trying to soothe his comfort.

"Just…don't" Chiron retched as he keeled over. Hecate rolled her eyes before placing her hand on Chiron's shoulder and spreading the scent removing magic to him. It took a few minutes as the smell lingered in Chiron's nose before it fully dissipated. A quiet thanks was spoken to the sorceress, who just shrugged in response.

"I seriously hope that this smell doesn't have anything to do with what we're looking for." Hecate groaned as her brother let out a sigh. His thoughts mirroring her own.

"Knowing my luck, it just might be."

"Then I'm blaming you." She shot him a half-hearted glare. " And the sooner we get this over with the better."

The three companions, now being able to ignore the horrid smell continued their journey. As time passed so too did the scenery. What was once vibrant green forests, slowly turned to a dead brown and black, the soil became dusty and cracked, like the life-giving nutrients were completely used. Even the occasional stream yielded no fish or any form of sustenance. The water appeared murky and shimmered like oil had been poured in. "What's happening here?" Chiron voiced the silent question as he observed the desolate surroundings.

"We must be getting close." Adamos absentmindedly spoke, but it was enough to draw the attention of the other two, a desire for an explanation in their gazes. "The quest is to get rid of a monster. A Drakon of sorts that Gaia herself wants gone. Apparently, the thing has a nasty habit of poisoning everything around it."

"Chaos, that just sounds like a pain." Hecate groaned as her hand went straight to her face.

"Anything else we need to know?" Chiron asked, a slight weariness in his voice as he fidgeted with his bow.

"Apparently its super durable, so if you're going to stab it, stab it hard." The two of them just gave him a nonplussed look. "Also, its poisonous so don't let it bite you or something." The two stared at his back as he casually walked away. Hecate just shrugged and walked after him, not really caring about the lacking amount of helpful information.

"Sometimes I can never understand them." Chiron grumbled as he followed.

The group traveled until the sun set and rose, and with each step the rot worsened. The trees began to die off, leaving nothing but withered husks. The bones of wild beasts littered the ground. Everything just radiated death the further they went in. The sounds of growling echoed in their ears of the three questers. "You think we're close?" Hecate asked as she eyed the environment around her. The sky had shifted to a sickly grey despite the sun being up, the waters were stained brown, and the mountains that were once blanketed in thick blankets of green were now a dead black.

Adamos reached into his bag and pulled out a map. After a few moments of flipping and folding he managed to find the right section. "It shouldn't be too long. We just need to get past that mountain." He pointed off in a random direction.

"Uh…guys?" Chiron slapped Adamos in the chest to get his attention. When the godling looked from the map his eyes followed the young centaurs direction. "I don't think it's too far off." The three immortals watched as what they thought was stones and dead trees on the mountain began to move. The mass uncoiling around the mountain, its scales grinding like stones as it moves just enough to reveal its massive head. Its mouth was large enough to swallow each of them whole, its fangs were like spears and its talons like swords. A brief glimpse of its eye sent shivers down their spines as the poisonous yellow glanced over them. "That's a really big snake."

"Drakon actually," Adamos got a slap on the shoulder from his sister. "But yeah…it's a lot bigger than I thought." Adamos felt a tingle of wariness from looking at the beast. It was easily bigger than either of those sea monsters that he fought at the bottom of the ocean, big enough that it could bite their heads off. The smell of poison reached his nose, overpowering Hecate's magic. Something that he didn't think possible, because although he would never admit it aloud his sister was the better spell caster of the two of them.

"So, you have a plan? Right?" Hecate turns to her brother with a weary smile. "Right?" Her smile slowly drops at his lack of response. She lets out a sigh. "We're going to do something stupid aren't we?"

"Most likely," Adamos walks off, the other two following after him. "We first need an idea of what we are up against. The next mountain over is a bit taller so we'll have a vantage point. After that we'll see what we can work with." Neither of the others could argue with him and followed. Adamos always kept an eye on the massive beast, never once letting it from his sights. As if just taking his eyes away would cause it to disappear.

The three questers took their time making it up the mountain. By the time that they reached a good vantage point the sun had reached its highest. Currently Chiron was busy fletching more arrows from some decent material that he had gathered. Adamos and Hecate were looking over at their seemingly unaware target. "Any thoughts on how to deal with this?" Adamos asked his sister as his eyes seemed to glow unnaturally purple.

Hecate snapped her fingers and a small spell came to life before vanishing. Her eyes soon took the same glow. Both of them were using a spell to increase their vision, almost like hyper focused binoculars to allow them to see everything in perfect detail. "The thing is creating an unnatural dead zone around it." She explained. "Everything seems to be decaying away. Seems to be innately magic in nature. Most likely something it was born with. Any magic set up will most likely be tainted with other magics. How that will effect it is up to speculation."

"It's body is easily large enough to swallow any of us whole, but I'm fairly confident I can contest it in one on one combat, if it were a normal beast that is. Though that poison seems incredibly potent and I have a feeling that just about everything in it is poisonous. Blood, venom, and saliva being at the top of that list. I don't necessarily feel like testing if the stuff will burn on contact." Adamos grimaced at the thought as the two of them turned off the spell. "That's not even mentioning what the corpse will do if we leave it. Got anything we can use against it in the pretty little head of yours?"

Hecate rubbed her chin as she thought. "I think I might have something. Although your probably gonna be in a lot of pain during the process."

"Like, from the spell or just in general?"

"Does it matter?"

Adamos shrugged. "I'd like to think it does. How much will this hurt?"

"Well you'd better get ready; I'll make something to deal with the poison for you and we can come up with counter spells for the plan. This is gonna work better at night anyways." Hecate saunters off.

"Hecate? You didn't answer my question. Sis?" Adamos follows after his sister, who refuses to acknowledge his question.

"Are you two sure this will work?" Chiron asks as he swallows some pill that Hecate gave him. According to her it was supposed to act as both an antidote and a ward against the poison. Adamos had already taken his own a few moments ago so he figured that they wouldn't kill him although they did taste terrible.

"Of course, it will work." Hecate looked offended at the statement. "Are you doubting our planning capabilities?"

"I'm more doubting on whether or not you two are insane. Still trying to figure that out by the way."

"Sanity is overrated." Adamos waves his concerns off with a joking grin. "Besides you know what they say. No plan survives first contact."

"I have never heard anyone say that." Chiron deadpans.

"Well then, I'm taking credit." Adamos grinned. "Now, you know what to do?" He asked the young centaur.

"Yeah," Chiron took a deep breath and pulled a totem out of his bag. "Place these around the mountain."

"And keep watch if it wakes up." Adamos adds. "I really don't want to have to deal with it if we don't have too." Chiron nodded and put the totem back in his bag.

Adamos took a look at the mountain as the massive Drakon slept away. In order for Hecate's spell to work they needed to set up three separate circles. Chiron was to take the outer circle as he could travel the distances much faster than Hecate on foot and there were far more totems to place. Hecate would take the middle circle as it would allow her to see Chiron's work and adjust it if needed, and her magic would easily allow her to escape if attacked.

That left the hardest job to Adamos. He needed to set the wards closest to the Drakon without waking it up as well as endure that putrid stench. This was not going to be the most pleasant experience.

Adamos crawled along the side of the mountain as stealthily as he could. His breathing shallow, partly to make less sound and partly so that he didn't inhale to much of the retched fumes the monster was emitting. "Why the Tartarus did I let her convince me to do this." Adamos grumbled as he placed down one of the wards. "She's down there and she's all like 'Adamos you're the stealthiest' and 'You are fast enough to get away.' I swear she just didn't want to go near the smell." Adamos's nose scrunched up as he was hit with a new wave of nausea inducing air.

"Ok so how bad was it?" I couldn't help but ask.

"You ever been in as sewer?" Adamos asked but I could sense it was rhetorical. "Imagine sitting in a sewer on the hottest day of July." I had to resist the urge to retch at the thought and just turned back to watch.

Adamos was already through most of his wards before he turned back down the mountain. His eyes glowed as his vision sharpened and enhanced. His gaze locked onto Hecate and Chiron, who seemed to be done with Hecate's wards and were correcting his work.

Adamos couldn't help but let out a small chuckle as he watched Hecate smack the young centaur on the back of the head as she had to fix his mistake. After all, who puts them upside down three times in a row.

It was at that moment though that fate seemed to want to completely screw with his life as Adamos's vision returned to normal he accidentally kicked a rock with his foot.

CLACK!

CLACK!

CLACK!

Like the sound of gunshots in the still night the stone fell down the mountain.

Adamos's body tensed with each moment as the ground began to rumble. Like stones grinding together, Adamos winced as he watched parts of the mountain move. His mind screamed at him to move, but he knew there was no point. He was near the peak of the mountain, there was no cover for him to hide behind, no trees to cover him.

Pushing all forms of stealth aside Adamos's feet glowed with light as he dashed off at high speeds. His movements cracked the air as he moved. His feet grinding against the ground as he slid to a stop and placed the last ward into the ground. He almost let out a breath of relief when he felt warm air roll over his body.

Warm, putrid air.

Adamos's eyes looked up and met with poisonous yellow. Like a snap the massive beast struck forward like a viper, trying to swallow the godling, but Adamos was agile enough to evade out of the way and pull his spear into a combat stance. Runes flowed down the shaft of the weapon as its tip ignited in silver and gold flames.

'Time for plan B.' He thought to himself as he lunged forward, managing to stab the Drakon right under its eye. The beast reared back and shrieked in pain as the divine energy allowed the weapon to pierce its thick scales, dragging Adamos along with it.

"Ahhhhh!" Adamos screamed as he held on for dear life. His body whipping back and forth.

At the bottom of the mountain Hecate and Chiron heard the shrieks and screams from the top of the mountain. They watch as the Drakon flails it head angrily while a small speck of light followed it. Hecate's hand hits her face in an easily practiced motion. "I swear I can't leave him alone for a moment." Her expression turns serious. "Set up the rest of the wards and don't screw it up."

"What are you going to do?"

"Just a bit of sibling bonding." The goddess speaks to quickly to hear and she disappears, the air cracking and shattering around her. Chiron takes a moment to shake himself from his stupor before trotting off to finish his job.

Above the raging battle between god and monster the air cracked as Hecate shattered into existence. Her dress billows as seemingly stands on thin air, her hands illuminate with wisps of power. "Always the troublemaker dear brother. Always leaving it to me to bail you out and pick up your messes." She seemingly scolds him to no one, but although her words seemed accusatory, the excited grin speaks otherwise of her feelings. "!" Hecate chants in an unknown tongue as she raises her hands into the air. The air begins to condense in one spot before igniting into a ball of flames. She didn't call out or hesitate in launching the spell at her target.

The Drakon so distracted with the godling that has his spear int its face that it doesn't notice that inferno until it strikes it in the face, causing it to stagger. Adamos on the other hand did notice his sister's handy work and readily flees out of the blast radius. He blurs into existence next to his sister, his feet aflame with celestial light. His spear rested on his shoulder, silver and gold wisps trailing off of it. "What? No warning?" He asked with a smirk.

"Like that would kill you." She rolled her eyes at him, but her own smirk was a mirror of his. "Since you're the supposed expert, and I believe we have a few minutes before the child is done setting up, how do we go about this?"

Adamos looks at his spear and lets out a sigh. A bit of the blood had managed to get through the aura he had around his spear. His eyes look at the damaged parts, the singed shaft and the marks of corrosion taking form. He'd only get so many more uses out of the weapon before it erodes away. "Physical assault will only go so far. My weapons won't last long enough to get through its scales to do anything remotely fatal. Same with magic, those scales are more durable than we thought and along with its natural agility…" Adamos didn't need to finish for Hecate to understand. This thing was by every definition a monster.

Baleful presence put a tingle through both their bodies. The siblings both look down as the Drakons piercing glare settles on them. "No rest for us it seems." Hecate's hands lit with magic.

Adamos's spear reignites with vigor as he levels it at his target. "We can rest after we kill it." The two of them share an ecstatic smile as Adamos charges forward like a streaking comet. He thrusts his spear forward only to miss the massive creature by an inch. His eyes widen as out of the corner of his vision a massive claw barrels his way, ready to crush him underneath. A quick pivot of the foot has him escaping by a hair as he dashes away, this repeats as the second claw comes down resulting in a pattern of dodges as the Drakon continuously tries to crush him underfoot.

Up above Hecate weaves her hands through the air, making glowing shapes and writing appear and connect in intricate and elaborate ways that make the finished result look like masterful artwork. She claps her hands together once she finishes, causing the spell craft to glow brighter and brighter till it explodes. Bolts of lightning fall like rain on the Drakon. The force of the spell strong enough to level the peak of the mountain, making a massive dust cloud. The only indication that the beast lived were the pained screeches.

The Drakon figuring that it had enough of the magical bombardment coiled its body. Its muscles tensed before snapping straight and using its powerful tail, smashing through boulders and using the debris like a form of scatter shot against its airborne enemy.

Hecate's eyes widen as the stones came at her at high velocities. She immediately puts up a barrier around herself deflecting the projectiles. Each one hitting her shield with the force of a cannonball, the force powerful enough and numerous enough that eventually Hecate's barrier broke under the strain.

"Hecate!" Adamos shouted as he saw his sister fall from the sky. He tossed his spear away as it was nothing more than a rotting stick at that point. He had gotten many good strikes in before it was made useless, if the numerous wounds on the Drakons underside and front limbs were any indication. But right now, merely stabbing it and leaving minor wounds wasn't going to cut it. Its attention was on his sister and he knew without a doubt that it would go for the kill. His mind raced before he locked onto the one thing that he could use to save his sister.

The godling quickly dashed over to a massive boulder. One that was three times his height and five times his arms width. His arms wrapped as much as they could around the massive slab of stone. His muscles bulged as his fingers dug into the stone, carving small trenches. The boulder left the ground and with a mighty roar, Adamos threw it as hard as he could, the boulder flying like a ninety-mph fast ball as it left his grip. The Drakon didn't even know what hit it as the boulder collided with its face, knocking it over and even going so far as to knock a few of its teeth out. The Drakon glares at him with enough fury to burn hell, to which Adamos responds with a scowl that seems borderline feral, and eyes that burned with wrath. "Yeah you fucker!" He shouts and draws his sword. There was nothing truly special about it, but he hoped it would last longer than his spear since it was made from celestial bronze as opposed to his spear which was merely enchanted. "Come at me!"

The Drakon rose to it full height, its neck bulging. Adamos's eyes widened and he put up the strongest barrier he could in the short time he had. The beast opened its jaw and let loose a stream of corrosive acid. The acid collided with the barrier, not being able to penetrate it but splattering all around the area. At first Adamos was confused, the acid, while potentially lethal with its corrosion, wasn't in a large enough quantity or even prayed forcefully enough to break his barrier. All of a sudden, a noxious smell hit his nose, putrid enough that he felt his eyes begin to water. All around him the remains of the regurgitated acid were letting off visible fumes into the air.

Adamos hears a sudden grinding sound as he focuses on the Drakon once more only to have his jaw drop. The beast was currently slashing at the ground with its claws, breaking apart rocks but more importantly creating sparks. "Oh shi—" Adamos only then realized what was happening as he tried to run as far off to the side and away from the puddles of acid that he could, but he was too late as one of the stray sparks hit a pool of acid, igniting it.

The sudden ignition caused the other pools to combust rapidly. The explosion hitting Adamos and propelling him through a boulder and further down the mountain. His body colliding with multiple rocks on the way down before coming to a stop. Slowly he rose, his body covered in wounds that seemed to be slowly healing. He blinked at the suddenness of it. "That's new." He muttered to himself as he watched them close, most likely due to the phoenix feathers fused into his body but now wasn't the time to question it. The sound of rumbling getting closer meant that he didn't have enough time for questions, but hopefully it was enough for Hecate to get back on her feet.

Adamos lifted his head to see a gaping maw descend upon him. He grit his teeth in frustration. He refused to accept this outcome. To let this worthless monster eat him. Fury filled his veins as he forced his body to catch the jaws that could easily crush a boulder to pieces. His muscles screamed against the force, then with quick thinking he took the sword in his hand and stabbed. Stabbed the beast in the only place that he knew it would hurt.

Right into the empty space where its fang used to be.

The Drakon reeled back in pain and Adamos refused to be flung off and followed it. Letting go of his grip on the beasts jaws, the godling climbed until he reached the top of the Drakons head, right before its eyes. And with a partially melted sword, covered in acidic venom he stabbed and stabbed and stabbed in one of the beasts eyes. The Drakon would have thrashed and rolled its body but it soon found its body restrained by ethereal chains.

A very frustrated Hecate floated into the sky once again with a multitude of chains seemingly connected to glowing spaces in the air around her each wrapping around the Drakon.

"How much longer!?" Adamos shouted to his sister as he placed his hand on top of the Drakons head. A magic circle imprinted itself on the beasts head and from it a multitude of chains wrapped around the beast. Though these were a silver and gold color as compared top his sisters that radiated a purple aura.

"It's ready!" Hecate shouted in response as Adamos hopped off the Drakons head and pulled on a ghostly chain, dragging it down to the ground. The beast thrashed in its bindings, causing the two gods to strain themselves to keep it under control. "I'm going to have to divert power from my restraints to activate the spell."

"Do it!" Adamos grunted as he poured more energy into the chains. Suddenly the glow around Hecate's chains dulled down as she began to mutter and write in the air. Adamos was almost taken off his feet as the beast bucked. Its struggles renewed with passion as it felt its bindings weaken. "Stop…squirming you…bastard." Adamos grit his teeth as beads of sweat rolled down his face from the exertion. But it didn't seem to last as some of the ethereal chains began to snap and allowed the beast some freedom to move its neck.

Adamos making a split-second decision pumped as much power into his chains before running up and tackling the Drakon and wrestling its head back to the ground. It shrieked even louder as it tried to escape his grasp but Adamos's grip was like a vice.

Seemingly locked down and with no escape the Drakon made one last ditch effort to escape. Its frills expanded, both whipping Adamos in the face as the extended and obscuring his vision. It angled its head at the ground and began to regurgitate acid in large enough quantities to pool beneath it. It raised its claws, ready to strike down and ignite the pool in a reckless attempt to escape when an arrow sailed through the air and impaled itself in the Drakons only remaining eye.

Down the mountain Chiron lowered his bow and gave a silent fist pump at the shot. His aim had improved drastically since traveling with the siblings and he finally had a chance to show it off. Although he quickly realized what was happening and hoofed it as fast as he could out of the blast zone. Being caught in the spell wasn't part of the plan and he didn't fancy the idea of falling under its effects.

Back at the top of the mountain Adamos reaffirmed his grip on the beast and started to strangle it. Its struggling getting stronger by the second as the pain that it was in drove it further to survive. "HECATE! Do it no—" The godling was cut off as a loud clap sounded out and the ground lit up like the sun.

Up above the battle Hecate was chanting at such speeds that the human mind couldn't keep up. Magic circles floated around her, each one connecting and disconnecting to each other, forming a bubble around her. Her eyes glowed with power. The entire thing was entrancing to watch as she worked. She suddenly went silent as her gaze focused on Adamos who was wrestling with the Drakon. She held her hands out to her sides and the bubble of spell craft shrank as she brought them together in a loud clap that seemed to drown out all other sound.

The wards that had been planted all lit up like stars as lines connected between them to form a massive magic circle. Hecate watched as her and her brothers spell worked its wondrous magic. She knew her brother wouldn't be effected by the magic, years of working with it had left both siblings deeply ingrained with the power and as such highly resistant to all but the most powerful of spells. That along with the counter measures they both took would little doubt of his survival. She watched as the Drakon slowly ceased its struggles and stiffened. It tried to let out one more defiant roar, but it ultimately came out as a garbled sound. Its golden scales lost its color and slowly became a stony grey. Its eyes dulled and cracks began to form along its body. The process wasn't long, merely half a minute before it all died away, leaving what was once a fearsome beast whose mere existence poisoned the lands as nothing more than a stone statue.

Hecate floated down to her brother who was laying with his back to the ground. His breathing was labored, and his body shined with sweat. There was some ichor in his clothes and on his body, but otherwise he was fine.

Both of them silently eyed the petrified Drakon, as if it were going to come alive at any moment. After a few moments Adamos decided to break it. "Well that was a thing."

Hecate hummed in agreement. "When I was asked to help you, I honestly didn't think it would involve this."

"Do you regret it?"

"No," She spoke with no hesitation. "I don't regret my choices not even once."

Adamos let a smile cross his face. They had always been competitive with each other, but they always had each other's backs. Even if they couldn't always be there they would still try, and Adamos knew he wouldn't trade it for anything.

The siblings fell into comfortable silence once more until the sound of trotting hooves grew in the distance. "Better get up, we're supposed to report that we succeeded…right?" She asked seeing as she was still new to all of this.

"They'll know." Adamos simply replied, easing any worries of having to travel to find the primordials. "I have no doubt that they'll find us. All we can do now is head back home." The two walked off only for Adamos to stop and pick something up. Hecate watched with a curious look when Adamos stood up and revealed that he had Some of the Drakons lost teeth in his hands. Each one was as long as his sword and just as sharp. Adamos handed one to his sister, a spoil of war, one fought for and earned by them.

The screen blacked out. I wiped my eyes to get the fatigue out. "So, what did you think?" Adamos asked.

"It was… definitely a thing." I replied honestly. "You think I'll have to deal with anything of that size?"

Adamos rubbed his chin with his hand. "It shouldn't be likely, but you never know." Adamos shrugged. "But anything that's bigger or as dangerous as that officially becomes a godly problem."

I couldn't help but smile at the thought of a cardboard cutout of Zeus quoting 'You must be this tall to be worth our attention' to any monster that came along. "So, there's a height requirement?"

Adamos lets out a laugh. "Yeah I guess you could say that. So, you happy with what you got?"

"Surprisingly? Yes." I was genuinely honest with it. Seeing what the gods were like before everything was mostly different and now having some form of reference for any future quests was always helpful. "I think the most important thing I learned would have to be to not let you cook. At all."

"Ha ha." Adamos laughed dryly. "You know I'm actually really good at baking." I raised a brow at him in disbelief. "No, it's true, swear to me. I'll admit my cooking is kinda crap, but my baking skills are top notch."

I don't respond and just decide to let him have this. I get up and stretch, feeling my bones pop back into place was a welcoming feeling. That along with the walk down to the first floor stretched out any stiff muscles.

"Don't be afraid to come back again. We can probably do something that brothers do." He said with a shrug. I knew that he didn't really have much of a relationship with our mutual brother Triton, so this must be new to him.

"Sure. That sounds great." I said with a smile. "Oh, before I go. I have a few questions."

"Shoot."

"What ever happened after the quests?" I asked.

"After that the war basically started. I brought Hecate and Chiron over to our side and things escalated from there. Then around that time my daughters were born." Adamos spoke with a genuine smile. "I didn't want them getting caught so I asked Aphrodite to take them far away once it became to dangerous, just for safety. Aphrodite took them and they went into hiding in Mesopotamia. Changed their names and everything, although Tiamat might have messed up and gave her real name, though Aph went under the name Ishtar and Eris went by Ereshkigal." He shook his head in exasperation. "At that point the mortals there created an entire mythos around the three of them and made a fake pantheon. I mean it worked to hide them, but it came with quite a few headaches later on."

"Ok, that sorta makes sense. But one more question?" I asked and Adamos nodded. When I was looking around the house, why was it that only one door was locked?" I asked as my eyes drifted to the single door that I wasn't able to get into in the entire place. I was so focused that I almost missed the way that Adamos straightened and the barely noticeable glaze over his eyes. It was the kind of look that you knew on everything at once, everything present and past. He opened his mouth but the voice that came out was monotonous at best. "There's absolutely nothing there."

I felt a shiver going up my spine at the tone. It was a blank tone, but with strained hearing I could tell that there was a myriad of things underlying the statement, but for once I didn't want to push my luck. "Right… So, um ho do I get ba—"

I jolt awake quickly. Too quickly as I fall out of the chair that I had fallen asleep in.

Groaning as I picked myself up off the ground I looked out of the window of my cabin. To see that the sun was mostly over horizon. I let out a quiet sigh and cracked the joints in my neck. I had thoroughly enjoyed my time and I still had a few questions but those could be put on the back burner as there was something far more important that I needed to do.

Right now, I had to prepare to see my mom again.

A/N: Hey everybody. I'm not dead and neither is this fanfic. This chapter in particular I just didn't really feel pleased with what I was writing. I had rewritten this chapter three times before coming up with something that I was at least okay with. Add in some tweaks here and there and I was satisfied. Another excuse was that I was actually moving out of my apartment and to back home so I didn't really have much access to my computer as I was busy with the moving process and selling my furniture. Any ways I hope that everyone is still doing well during the quarantine. You all deserve a cookie for your patience you sexy beasts.

Momentei, Over and out