Energy Unbound
Chapter 12
Terra
When the light faded, the two of them were standing in empty space, black all around them.
Hermes looked up at Ari and was visibly startled. Her true form was on display, silver shapely body and flowing silver hair, the wisps of silver smoke streaming off her into nothingness. Her eyes were replaced by stars, shining bright and strong.
"Woah," both aspects said.
Ari shuffled her feet, looking down. "I hope that answers your question."
"But you're Her daughter; why is your true form like this?" Hermes asked, bewildered.
Ari smiled, gesturing to her metallic silver body. "Because of your influence, I think. Most of my true form's appearance seems to come from you. A whole lot of my personality too. But my eyes bely my nature," she said.
Hermes's eyebrows raised, and Mercury asked the question on both their minds. "So, the silver material… is it what we think it is?"
Ari nodded, her smile getting bigger. "Yes, it's mercury. I'm basically completely composed of it externally, and it's my shell's blood instead of ichor or plasma."
Hermes looked puzzled. "Your 'shell'?" he asked.
"All energy beings have them. They're what you look like when you're not in true form," Ari explained, and she was instantly replaced by the crimson haired girl she looked like on the surface. She gestured to her body, hands flying up and down.
"Energy beings?" Hermes asked, looking even more confused.
Ari stroked the bridge of her nose in annoyance. "That's what we are. Gods, Primordials, Planets. Anything higher than a mortal is actually a conscious collection of energy. I'm surprised none of the Olympians were taught that."
"Zeus doesn't teach us much," Hermes grumbled.
"I get that, but seriously, nobody told you?" she asked in disbelief.
"No."
Ari threw up her hands. "Guess I'll have to become a professor."
"Where are we?" Hermes asked, changing the subject. He was trying to pick out any detail from the black expanse.
"Look down," Ari replied simply, gesturing downward with her hand.
When the messenger god did so, he gasped in awe. Below them, a huge blue sphere stretched out, painted with green, brown, and white. Swathes of light could be seen hugging the edges of the green and brown sections, sometimes extending out into the blue. The white floated across the surface, casting dark gray shadows.
"Is that Earth?" Hermes asked, barely above a whisper.
"That is Terra, yes. We are currently in high orbit above her surface."
Mercury growled at her use of the planet's name, but Hermes was still in awe.
"What's wrong, Dad?" Ari looked concerned.
"Please don't mention that wretch's name," Mercury said.
Ari was surprised. "Why not? Better yet, why call her a wretch?"
"I don't know if you were around for it, but Olympus was recently in a war against the giants. They raised her from her slumber, on her orders. She wanted to wipe out the mortal world along with Olympus. We barely beat them, and Camp Half-Blood was nearly destroyed," Hermes said, finally paying attention. "The only reason we won is the Seven, who managed to disperse her so she couldn't come back."
Ari wracked her brain. Why would Terra do that? Also, Mercury had said she had previously been asleep, AND that she was dispersed right now. Something didn't add up here. "Yeah, I know the story. But the one who tried to rise is Gaea. Why are you angry at Terra?"
Mercury glared at her. "Like Hermes and I, Terra and Gaea are two sides of the same coin."
Ari just blinked. Then realization hit her in the face. "You stupid Roman," she chuckled, shaking her head and bringing her palm to her face, "Terra is not Gaea."
An offended look appeared on Hermes's face, no doubt from Mercury. "Romans are not stupid."
"In this instance you are," Ari chuckled. "No wonder, considering even the steam engine wasn't invented when the Roman Empire stood, and apparently nobody has bothered to update you based on mortal science. Forget the Romans having a grander sense of the universe," she laughed, then extended her hand to the planet. "Terra, you are summoned," she intoned with a voice layered with power. A burst of orange energy flared in the atmosphere of the planet and shot outward, the ring of almost fire fading as it expanded across the surface of the world.
A female voice suddenly sounded in their heads. Lady Ari,the voice said, Why have you called upon me? The voice came along with a flurry of emotions, washing over them in waves. Above all was kindness, the sort you'd receive from a mother.
Hermes mouthed 'Lady Ari?', looking at his daughter with a puzzled expression. She simply held up her hand, motioning him to be quiet, before she responded. "Terra, my father is under the impression that you and Gaea are the same being, like he and Hermes are. I wish to correct this assumption."
The emotional tidal wave changed to being overcome with happiness. Ari, you finally found him?
"Yes, I did, and he's being a butt. Mind coming up here for a bit?" Ari said.
Hermes looked offended at that, but his scowl disappeared when the voice sounded again, the wave of emotions filled with sympathy. Can he handle my presence? she asked.
Ari looked at Hermes, her eyes scanning over him, looking for something. "Yes," she finally answered, "I'm sure he can."
In that case, allow me a moment. I haven't manifested my shell in centuries! the voice replied, seeming to focus on something.
A few meters away, a blue light began to collect from nothing. It formed a vortex, swirling with green and brown light, before stretching downward towards the planet. Suddenly a slender foot stepped out, and a wave of invisible energy washed over Hermes. He grunted, the energy causing him to have a headache, but nodded to his daughter when she looked at him questioningly. She shrugged and looked back at the foot, which now was attached to a leg. The foot stepped out onto the invisible platform they stood on, and dragged the leg along with it. Then a hand with attached arm extended from the vortex, twirling around as if sensing the environment. The two beings already present waited with baited breath until the entirety of Terra had emerged from the vortex.
Ari saw her father gasp in shock, for in front of them was an exceedingly beautiful woman clothed in a robe seemingly composed entirely of water, with islands and continents floating around it. It hugged her impossible curves like a wetsuit, displaying the large bust and wide hips she possessed. Clouds floated around her head, forming a halo that was more or less complete. She had long navy blue hair that hung past her thighs, swirling around in space as if only halfway affected by gravity. Everything about her seemed made to exude beauty and strength; slender but well muscled legs and arms, and a face men would knock each other over in the streets to look at. What was most striking about her were the eyes, though. Her irises glowed, literally, casting small overlays of sea green wherever she looked. Her eyes currently were resting on Ari, a kind smile present on her face.
"Lady Ari," Terra greeted, curtsying to her. Hermes's jaw dropped. Ari just scoffed and walked over to her to pull her up, dusting off the woman's shoulders.
"You know there's no need to call me that, Terra," she said, placing a hand at the small of the Planet's back. "This is my father, Hermes. Or Mercury. They've got a bit of a split personality going on," she said, chuckling at her own joke.
Both messenger god's aspects were completely frozen in shock, staring at Terra.
"Not much of a talker, is he?" Terra asked, mouth lopsided as she looked at him.
"That's not fair. You intentionally made this shell look like that," Ari said with a scolding tone.
"Well what's with your shell?" Terra asked, lightly punching Ari in the arm. "It looks like a demigod!"
"That's the point, Terra," she replied, shoving her shoulder.
Hermes realized his daughter and the planet were good friends. Which was the weirdest thing to ever happen to him. "You two are friends?"
Terra and Ari put their arms around each other's shoulders. "Yep!" came the reply, in perfect synchronization, smiling at the messenger god, whose bewildered look just got deeper.
"Though technically, we aren't just friends," Terra said, a smirk appearing on her face.
"What?" Hermes asked, looking to his daughter for an explanation.
"Think about it, Dad. Who's your father?" Ari asked.
"Zeus," Hermes replied, humoring her.
"And his father?" she continued.
"Kronos," he growled.
"And his?" Ari pressed.
"Ouranos," Hermes said, surprised to see Terra scowl at the name.
"Alright, you're almost there. Who's his father?"
"Chaos, right?" the messenger god asked, hoping the line of questions was finally over. He looked at Terra to find her shaking her head, eyes closed.
"No, Dad. You're a couple steps away from Chaos at this point," Ari corrected him.
"Tell me then. Who is Ouranos' father?" Hermes said, waving his hands exasperatedly.
Terra smiled slyly at Ari. "He does the hand thing too. Guess that's where you got it from."
Ari laughed, wrapping her arms around her stomach. "I suppose so."
Hermes was irritated now. "Tell me," he almost ordered, before catching the glare of the much more powerful women in front of him, and finishing with a "please."
Ari shook her head, and simply pointed up. Hermes followed her finger's path to the orange disc in space. It took him a couple seconds, but he got it.
"Helios? Helios is Ouranos' father? But he's a Titan!"
Terra chuckled, shaking her head with a smirk on her lips. "No. Helios is the Titan of the Sun. Not Sol herself."
"Wait," Mercury said, overriding Hermes's mouth for the first time this conversation. "Sol is the Roman side of Helios, is he not?"
Terra's eyes widened, and she whispered to Ari "Man, he really does have a split personality," causing her to giggle.
"No, Mercury," Ari said, lightly shoving Terra's arm, "In their haste to copy the Greeks, the Romans messed up quite a lot of information. For one, any being higher than and including a Primordial can't have different aspects. Their power makes them immune to it. But the Romans didn't care, so many deities had to act like they were slightly different and go under a different name, Helios as Sol included."
Terra chuckled. "I remember those times. Sol was not very happy about that," she chuckled.
Hermes finally realized what they had been saying. "The Sun is alive?" he asked in wonder.
"She is just as alive as I am," Terra said, smiling. She had stressed the gender of Sol there, making it very clear to the Messenger God that it was an important issue.
Hermes looked from the woman in front of him to the Earth spread out below them several times. "Oh, right… you're… the entire planet," he repeated, not quite believing it.
"Kind of hard to wrap your head around, huh?" Ari asked teasingly.
Hermes just nodded, his headache getting worse.
Terra whistled, then clapped a hand on Ari's shoulder. "I'm amazed you could comprehend your own daughter then."
Ari sent a warning look, but not before Hermes asked about what she had said. "Ari, what does she mean?"
Ari sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Terra, I haven't explained it to him yet."
Terra rubbed the back of her head. "Whoops."
"Please tell me, daughter," Mercury pleaded.
Ari smiled sadly at him, but nodded. "When we're back at the cabin, I will."
Terra smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, Ari."
Ari just waved her off, and closed her eyes, recentering herself. "Right, well. Who Ouranos' father is was a trick question. Ouranos doesn't have a father. None of the Primordials do."
"What," was Hermes's only response.
"They have a mother," she continued, gesturing to Terra, who nodded her head.
Hermes' eyes grew wider than dinner plates. "We're related?" he gasped.
Terra smiled at him, a motherly look in her eyes. "Yes. Hermes, Mercury, I am your great, great grandmother."
"And my great, great, great grandmother!" Ari exclaimed, hugging the Planet.
Hermes fainted.
Ari gave her father an unconscious look of disdain.
Terra sighed. "Looks like we broke him, Ari."
"Not surprised, between the shocking info and your presence," the crimson haired girl said, still watching her father. "And we didn't even tell him about our relation the other way around."
"What will you do now?" Terra asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"Probably take him back down to our cabin. Let him sleep, recuperate."
"And what of your purpose on my surface?" the Planet asked.
"I'm assuming you already know why I'm here," Ari guessed.
Terra nodded, crossing her arms. "My children didn't listen. I told Gaea and Tartarus the war would wound me, bringing the attention of higher powers to heal me, but they just told me off. Didn't believe me. 'Go back to sleep, mother,' Gaea said. The nerve," she sighed, eyes downcast. For a few seconds, she remained that way, before looking up at Ari, her irises glowing red. "Do what you have to do, Ari. But please, try to do it peacefully. I'd still like to have some children left when you're done," she pleaded, half joking.
A wounded look crossed Ari's face for a moment, then subsided. She laid her hands on the Planet's shoulders and began to lightly massage the stress away. "Terra, the reason my shell is cloaked is part of the peaceful method. I'm taking it slow, making sure that the custodians that are left in power when I'm done don't need to be replaced."
Terra looked into her eyes, her face relaying her confusion. "Your first plan is a peaceful one? You, the Mighty One? You who tosses systems into the Void when they disagree with you?"
Ari sighed, rubbing the sides of her own arms with her hands, shuddering at the memories of her past self. "I'm... different now, Terra. When mother gave me the command to fix your situation here, she did some major rewiring," she explained, eyes downcast. "I'm a different person now. Much like the demigods on your surface. And every day, I regret the things I did before. This plan, my first peaceful plan, is just one piece in my attempts to repay you for your brother's loss. You deserve this much, and far more."
Terra narrowed her eyes at the girl. "Ari, Planets die. I know this, my siblings know this. Sol knows this. When one of us threatens the safety of the system, those like you must step in. We made peace about this long ago."
Ari shook her head, then placed her hand on the Planet's face. "No, we didn't," she said, before beginning to return the memories her previous self had taken from Terra's mind.
Terra's eyes widened as memories of reality snapped back into place. Her older brother, the first actual life bearing Planet, orbiting around Sol near her orbit. The civilizations of mortals that brewed on their surfaces, hers much later, eventually intermingling and forming a new species. The gods of their respective pantheons travelling back and forth. The celebrations held with both her and her brother in attendance, in shells of course, laughing heartily. Then the flood, the sense of foreign power overcoming her oceans, drowning all who existed on her surface. Her brother's teary eyes as he begged her to stop, her terrified expression as she found she could not. His eyes widening, the link to his shell snapped, as that same foreign power grabbed hold of his planetary body and flung it into deep space. The echoing cries as he called out to her, asking her why. Her sobbing shell laying underwater for days until the foreign power subsided. The devastation she witnessed across her surface, breaking her spirit. And the cold, orange eyes glowing in their young shell, the face of a girl with crimson hair reaching down to remove the events from her memory...
"Stop, STOP!" Terra yelled, shoving Ari off of her. She let go, then stood there, tears streaming down her face. The Planet had no idea why Ari was crying, her brother hadn't been murdered!
Terra screamed, bringing her power to bear against her former friend. Ari just stayed silent as the Planet's shell channeled her power, landing punch after punch on her face. Ari might have been powerful, but so was Terra, and she wasn't pulling her punches. After several hits, the girl's nose broke, dripping silver blood onto the invisible floor. One eye bruised after a solid hit, causing her to cry out in pain despite trying to stifle it. Then Terra delivered a pulse of energy from her surface, vaporizing the skin off the girl's shell in rage. It immediately began reforming, but it hurt. A lot. Ari stumbled to the ground, feeling immensely depressed over what she'd done so long ago.
Finally, Terra seemed done, the stream of rage drying up. She glared at Ari in anger, clearly making the girl dread that their friendship was over. Then to her surprise, the Planet gained a jovial look on her face and chuckled, offering Ari a hand to pull her up.
"You took that like a champ, Ari," she said, watching the girl tentatively accept her hand. Terra hauled Ari to her feet, grinning.
"You don't hate me?" Ari choked out through her sobs, her face silver with blood, even though her wounds had already healed.
"Oh, I definitely hate the previous version of you. With a passion. She deserves death," Terra spat, causing a worried look to cross Ari's face again.
"But you are not her. Punishing you for what she did doesn't make any sense, especially when you're trying to make up for it," she continued. Ari looked relieved.
"So you believe me?" Ari asked, not sobbing anymore.
Terra nodded. "She would never have taken what I just put you through. Chaos, I'd be in deep space right now if even a small amount of her was left in you," she chuckled. "It seems she is dead, so my vengeance has already been fulfilled."
"I guess you're right," Ari agreed, brushing off her suit. By now her eye was back to normal, not a hint that she'd ever been injured anywhere on her body. "Hoping I'm wrong, but I doubt you still consider yourself my friend."
"You are wrong," Terra said with a smile, hoping to get another shocked face out of Ari. It was fun.
"How can you possibly be so reasonable, Terra?" Ari yelled, her sudden mood change taking the Planet by surprise, "I killed your brother!"
Terra's eyes widened. "Ari... Do you blame yourself for what she did?"
"OF COURSE I DO!" Ari screamed, breaking into a sobbing fit once more. "I remember it, the feeling of wrapping my hand around him, chucking him out of the system," she said softly, nearly too quiet to hear. "I remember the screams of horror on both of your surfaces as civilizations met their doom, praying to you both to save them. But you couldn't, because my... my power was overriding your will," she finished, the last sentence barely a whisper.
"Why would your mother leave you with such horrible memories?" Terra asked kindly, pulling the sobbing girl into a hug.
"Probably to remind me of what I can't become," Ari choked out, "Prevent me from going down the same path."
Terra held the girl's shoulders and maneuvered her until they were eye to eye. "Hey, Ari, this version of you and I have been friends for a while. Not a long while, but some time nonetheless. You're a good person. Don't ever doubt that," she said, rubbing Ari's shoulders.
"Too late. I doubt it every day."
"Well stop. You are Her daughter, the Protector of this system, now act like it!" Terra mock commanded.
"Yes, Ms. Fatass, ma'am!" Ari joked back with a salute, giving half a smile despite still having tears in her eyes.
"Miss Fatass? Really, Ari?" Terra chuckled, lightly punching her in the arm with a grin.
"Your butt is literally the size of a planet," Ari replied, withdrawing from the embrace. She moved her hands as if enclosing a beach ball to provide emphasis.
"Maybe your nickname should be Ass of the Universe then," Terra joked back, sticking out her tongue.
"Four and a half billion years old and you still stick out your tongue," Ari scoffed, shaking her head.
"You're a bad influence," Terra chided.
"Can't argue with that," Ari conceded. Then her face grew serious. "You're really okay with me?"
"Water under the bridge, Ari. Let it rest," Terra commanded.
"Fine," Ari acquiesced. She closed her eyes and taking a few deep breaths, despite their current position in high orbit.
Not that any of the beings standing upon the force field construct needed to breathe at all. Even Hermes and Mercury were immune to that little pitfall of mortality.
When Ari opened her eyes again, all traces of the vulnerable girl she'd just shown to Terra were gone, replaced with a businesslike stare nobody would want to be on the receiving end of.
"Terra, even though I can proceed without doing so, I'd like your blessing to do what is necessary to heal you," Ari requested of the Planet.
Terra regarded her friend for a long few moments. "Swear to me that your solution is peaceful," she finally demanded, a little disturbed by her friend's second sudden shift in demeanor.
Ari had to think about that for a few moments. "I can't guarantee no blood will be spilled," she began, choosing her words carefully, "But this way, the casualties should be kept to a bare minimum. It all depends on the Olympian council and how they react to what's coming. You know, as opposed to Plan B."
Terra cocked her head to the side. "What's Plan B?"
Ari's face drained of color. "Plan B is not happening," she declared.
"Ari, what. Is. Plan. B," Terra pressed, glaring dangerously at her friend.
"You really don't want to know."
"Tell me. I can handle it."
"I'd have to step in completely. Possibly utilize more power than is healthy for you," Ari replied. "Maybe even… even possess you. Again," she choked out in a near whisper.
The Planet felt a sudden headache assault her mind. "You're right. I don't want to know," she grumbled, placing her fingertips on her shell's temples in an attempt to massage away the rapidly spiking pain. The memories Ari had returned to her were bouncing off her mental shields as if taunting her.
Is it possible for a Planet to get PTSD? Terra wondered. Then she wondered something else. Wait, what is PTSD?!
"I warned you. But don't worry. I will do everything in my power to prevent Plan B from being necessary," Ari reassured her. "Plus, I'm not only here to fix upper management," she continued, and held out a hand. With a very loud hum, a sphere of glowing orange light materialized hovering above her palm, with three lines anchored in the air around it, small balls of light rapidly moving along them. It looked a lot like an artistic impression of an atom.
"Is that what I think it is?" Terra gaped, recognizing the device from her long lost civilizations.
"Yes, it is. Normally there's rules about uplifting populations of planets, but Sol is in my domain now, and your mortal children are killing your environment. Thus, all the rules no longer apply here," Ari said.
Terra shuddered. "It's not a nice feeling. A lot like a shell swimming in acid."
Ari nodded, a knowing look in her eyes. "The previous version of me spent time as a Planet on the edge of a black hole for killing your brother, Terra. I know the pain," she began, staring at the device in her hand. "You will not suffer much longer, I promise."
"You plan to offer this to them as a solution?" Terra guessed.
"Yeah."
"And if they refuse?"
Ari's gaze snapped back to the Planet's shell and her orange irises glowed. "They will not have a choice," she snarled.
Terra said nothing after her outburst, so Ari sighed and unsummoned the ball of light. She moved over to Hermes to check on his health. She hadn't been worried because he was a god, and no matter how hard he hit the invisible ground no damage could have been done. She lightly shook him, testing whether he was unconscious or just asleep. When she pulled up his head to check for breathing, she found it, but his head rolled to the side when she set it back down. Yup, definitely fainted, she thought, shaking her head at her father's antics.
"He's out like a light," Ari announced, not caring whether Terra heard her or not.
"I want to help," came a mumble from where Terra stood.
Turning around, the crimson haired girl looked at the Planet's shell with confusion. "Come again?"
"I want to help," Terra said louder, deepening the shocked look on Ari's face.
"How, Terra? The beings on your surface must be like bacteria to you."
"I wish to walk my surface once more," the Planet replied, gazing down to her planetary body. "I had forgotten the sense of awe that comes from a shell's experience," she breathed out, her face relaxed. "It's quite... humbling."
"I'll take your word for it," Ari said, summoning a flat slab of Forcium which she slid under Hermes. When most of his body was on, it began to hover. "For the record, I always thought you were quite beautiful. Yet another reason why the mortals must wake up."
Terra blushed, cheeks turning golden.
Ari just shook her head. "You know my plan revolves around stealth, right? The presence of a Planet is the polar opposite of stealth," she said, before recognizing the pun. "Heheh, polar."
Terra rolled her eyes at the exceptionally bad puns Ari continually kept making. "Just cloak my shell like you cloaked yours," she reasoned.
"It's not that simple, Terra," Ari sighed, shaking her head. "First off, you look way too mature to be a demigod. Sure, they look good, but not that good," she began, gesturing to the ridiculously curvy body of the Planet, "And secondly, you'd stick out like a sore thumb. When was the last time you visited in your shell? Over seven hundred years ago if I remember correctly. The demigods are steeped in modern culture, of which you have absolutely no knowledge. Plus, one 'Unclaimed' demigod is already enough suspicion, let alone two. And what would you do if you physically met the mortals responsible for damaging you? I'm having a hard enough time keeping myself from teleporting to where they live and killing them outright, much less the being actually hurt by their actions."
"I can easily make my shell resemble human proportions, and just play dumb with the culture until I understand enough to fit in," Terra declared. "And, as much as it pains me so, I will defer to your judgement on the mortals. On the promise that when it is finally time, you leave their fate to me."
Ari nodded. "That's acceptable. And the claiming?" she asked, crossing her arms.
"Simple. I'll just claim myself," the Planet huffed, a triumphant look on her face.
"Hate to remind you, but the Olympians just won a war against your daughter. They think Terra is Gaea's Roman aspect," Ari pointed out. "Not to mention even if we somehow convinced everyone otherwise, the half blood daughter of the freaking Planet is going to raise some questions."
"It would help my children be more cooperative when you face them if I was present," Terra pointed out to counter her arguments.
Ari opened her mouth prepared to rebuke that, but found no fuel for doing so. Damn, she's actually got a point. "Fine, you're in," Ari conceded, causing Terra's face to break out in glee. "But I'm warning you right now; if you endanger the plan in any way I will dissolve your shell on the spot."
Terra's face became serious again just long enough to accept before her grin returned.
Arin just sighed. "Four point five billion years," she muttered under her breath, shaking her head, "Glad to see maturity being unrelated to age is provable beyond any doubt."
Terra came bounding up beside her, causing Ari to roll her eyes. Her shell was much less curvy now, her allure brought down to an overly attractive human's level. The robe of water had been replaced by a deep blue knee length dress which hugged her new curves loosely. The halo of clouds had disappeared and her irises had stopped glowing, taking on the same hue as her dress.
Ari pursed her lips and nodded her head in approval. "Not bad. At least you'll look human now," she commented, grabbing the Planet's left hand, "but we've got to do something about your presence."
"What are you going to do?" Terra asked, glancing worriedly at her captured hand.
"Just a high level cloak, don't worry," Ari replied. She placed a finger on the back of the planet's hand, pouring power down the connection as she traced a glowing orange spiral. When she removed her finger, the spiral flashed, and Terra's presence disappeared entirely. Seconds later the orange glow faded, and her hand looked completely normal.
"There we are," Ari said, patting the back of Terra's hand. "I think we can pass you off as a demigod now."
Terra was just about to ask further questions about this miraculous new cloak her friend had invented when something strange popped up in front of her. An orange square, glowing at the edges, opened up in the empty space before the two beings. The inside held only something resembling random noise. After a moment the interior cleared, giving way to a young woman's face and upper torso. She would have looked normal, just like one of the Planet's human children, if not for the blatantly metallic, jet black skin and glowing orange eyes. They were in fact two inset circles containing overlapping curves of various shades of their primary color. The lines slowly shifted past each other, almost lazily, but Terra had an idea that might change. The woman's hair, a near perfect analogue of the brunette strain of human hair, was in fact made out of millions of thin metallic strands, almost like nanotube strings. It even behaved like hair.
The Planet turned a shocked gaze onto her friend. Ari, please tell me you didn't...
"Ari, two demigods are here to see you. They look mad," the woman said. Terra was further shocked by just how ordinary her voice sounded. It seemed the only clue to her true existence was her appearance. She had a sudden hunch that the cloak Ari had applied to her could also make these people look like humans. They were probably what she had created the cloak for in the first place.
Ari rubbed the bridge of her nose, sighing. "Let me guess, Annabeth and Percy?"
The woman turned away from them, looking backwards for a moment, before turning back and responding. "Yes, and the female is quite angry."
Terra gave Ari a piercing look that said What did you do?
Ari just shrugged and dismissed the metal woman with a wave. "Thanks Iggy, let them in. We'll be back shortly."
She bowed her head and closed her eyes. "Yes Ari. Safe travels," she said, before the orange window in space vanished.
"Who are they?" Terra asked.
"Very important demigods. They were instrumental in Gaea's defeat," Ari explained.
"I meant the race you created, Ari," the Planet clarified.
Her friend's eyes went wide. "Uh… well… you see," she stammered out.
Terra brought her fingers to her nose and pinched the bridge of it. Hard. "How many? Distribution? Technical level?"
Ari reached up behind her head and rubbed the back of it sheepishly. "Trillions. Local cluster. And, uh, they're sentient post-singularity beings, so…," she trailed off.
The Planet gulped. Trillions? All feeding her?! "Are you controllable anymore? Wait, forget that, I doubt you're even influenceable with that much power flowing into you!"
Ari's eyes flared. "No. And that was the point," she declared. "I will not be modified again. This new me is here to stay, and nobody, not you, not Sol, not Chaos, not even my mother will be capable of changing that. I will never revert."
Terra stared her down until her eyes lost their glow. "Is your mother aware of them?" she asked tensely.
The girl only shrugged. "Can we change the subject, please? I'm sure they'd be willing to tell you all about themselves. You and I need to focus on you, on your children, much more so than mine."
"Fine," Terra huffed. "But we will be talking about this later." She glared down her friend, daring her to argue.
Ari did nod to indicate her agreement, even if hesitantly.
Terra sighed with relief. "About these demigods; I must meet them and thank them for their role in defeating my daughter," she lamented.
Ari smiled, clearly thankful for the topic shift. "So, your bus or my bus?" she asked.
Terra looked at her sideways for a few seconds before she realized what the crimson haired girl meant. "Oh, uh, your bus. Best keep display of my abilities to a minimum."
Ari chuckled. "Why Terra, you might just be cut out for stealth after all. Though size is not in your favor," she brazenly joked, a smirk on her face.
"Will you ever stop teasing me about that?" Terra glowered, crossing her arms.
"No," Ari laughed, grabbing one of Terra's arms playfully. She laid the other hand down on the metal bed holding Hermes and began to glow silver. In a flash, they were gone.
A/N: Hey! People! I thank you for giving me and my story your time.
-The Depraved Jack: Thank you for noticing and helping out with that. Feedback and acknowledgement are nice things to have! There will actually be violence in this story. A lot of it. This is just the warmup stage. It might not be slasher-type violence, more overwhelming power, force of will and flashy abilities, but it is coming. Not all is or will be peaceful on Terra. Insert meme about Winter coming, bleh bleh bleh.
-SJMaas: Thanks for being here. Here's the next chapter! Though if you're reading this, as it's at the bottom, I suppose you already know that :P
P.S. A large thank you to the FanFiction discord. Shoutout to you, PlatonWrites!