CHAPTER 17: DANTE

"Hope you two had a filling mean, it's time we talked."

Chiron stood outside the dining hall alone, waiting for Dante and his sister. Now with a full stomach, awakened powers, and restored motivation, Dante felt ready to hear about their mother, Maria Angelos.

"Now that everything is out of the way, we can finally talk about our mother and possible grandparent, right? No more stalling like we gotta get our weapons first or we need to armor fitted?" Vanica asked with a great deal of impatience in her voice to Chiron. The centaur nodded his head to tell the two, "Yes, yes I'll explain everything about your mother and grandfather. After that, there is an issue that will involve you two. For now," he started to trot off away from the dining hall, "to my office, I have some surprises for you two."

Chiron led Dante and his sister to what looked like the town's city hall. The building looked a lot like the White House, albeit smaller in size. Running around the building were ladies with vibrant hair colors and flowery clothing designs, which got Dante thinking these might be nymphs, as well as other people with different animal features. The office Chiron took them to was a lot like the Oval Office at the White House but the seal had a palace on a mountain; the decorations were of weapons from different eras of history, people in portraits along with numerous books and scrolls for its library. The desk was much taller to accommodate Chiron's height but luckily there were a set of beige couches for Dante and Vanica to sit down in. "Now, what would you two like to know?"

The son of Hades looked to his sister, she seemed most excited so he allowed her to ask first, "We've been told our mom was the demigod of some other Greek god, one tied to the Underworld, according to Alex. Our…" she paused as if the word she wanted to say was cursed, "aunt Sofia's dad, George," then Dante understood why she hesitated, "treated her badly because of it. So who's her father?"

"Your grandfather," Chiron explained, "is a being whose chance of a demigod child is low to practically non-existent. When I met your mother, she ran away from home at age thirteen, she looked to be near death. Said she couldn't control her powers and kept scaring people away from helping her. Maria would have been locked away for good by the MDA if it wasn't for me. Her abilities involved raising the dead, decaying objects at an exponential rate, the power of shadows and darkness. I thought she was a daughter of Hades," he paused for a moment to reach into his desk and pulled out a photograph, of four teen girls but the one that stood out most was the one with black wings, flying above the other three, "until I saw her wings. It was then I found out that your mother, was a demigod of Thanatos, god of death."

Dante looked at the photo with his sister to see their mother. The only other photos of their mother that they ever saw were one with Grandmother Rosalia and her as a baby, as well as another of their mother in a graduation gown. Now, Dante could see one of his mother, Maria, with black angelic wings. His mother looked a lot more like Vanica but her hair was wavy and she ditched the light tomboy theme for a purple summer dress and flip-flops. "Your mother found friends here in New Hellas," Chiron told him and Vanica, "she shaped up and was an excellent student here at the university, as well as a good hero. She had difficulty controlling her powers as any demigod would, but I think you two can be on her level."

"Or rather," Chiron continued, "excel. I think your blood ties to Thanatos and Hades advanced your capabilities. You know of Calypso's mother, correct?" Vanica looked up from the photo to tell the centaur directly in the eye, "Only that Calypso got a freezing power from her. She froze my drink into a solid block of ice instead of a slushie. Which did sound good, not going to lie."

The centaur told the twins, "Then you can see how a demigod can gain additional capabilities to their own power arsenal. Calypso's mother," he pointed to one of the women in the same picture wearing jeans, white boots, a baby blue t-shirt with the same silver hair as the daughter of Zeus, "is the daughter of Boreas, the north wind and god of winter. Both he and Zeus have abilities related to the wind, so I assume Calypso's own natural wind-related skills will be further advanced. In my years of aiding heroes, I noticed that demigods having blood ties to one god outside their parent's domain can lead to abnormal combinations."

The son of Hades thought back to Piper at the dining hall. Being able to change her physical appearance, he thought it seemed like the more fitting power for the daughter of Aphrodite. "Piper could be an excellent spy with that skill," he thought to himself, "but what about that tail…" that was the only part he couldn't figure out yet.

"However," Dante returned his focus to Chiron, "having relatives in similar domains, a demigod with two divine blood ties can develop more advanced skills than previous heroes or even a 'mutation' as opposed to the traditional set. As children of Hades, you would both be excellent at using your power to control the dead, shadows, and even some control of the earth like your father. With the blood of Thanatos in your veins, your chthonic abilities could now be far-exceeding your mother. This is why I think your ties to Thanatos allowed your powers to advance this far. The Underworld is more than just the dead, Angelos twins. Different realms for the dead, the riches of Earth, and various monsters. Which is why," Chiron looked to Dante, "I assume you now possess the Flames of Tartaros, taking on the darker aspects of your father's realm. While you," the centaur turned his attention towards Vanica, "take up his aspect over riches."

"So my brother gets this powerful hellfire," Vanica began to ask, "while I get to summon gems? Honestly, I think that's fair. He gets this cool fire-based power, while I can summon a year or two worth of my allowance in an instant. Hmm…" she pouted her lips and tapped her index finger on her chin, "I wonder if I can summon undead soldiers with diamond clubs? That'd be a good way to kill a bad guy."

"Only time will tell," a new voice entered the conversation. Entering the room was a woman in her early thirties with short black hair, medium-brown skin, and green eyes while wearing a cream-colored pantsuit. "Abbiejean Kelly," she introduced herself, "Oracle of Delphi. I assume you told them already, Chiron?" Dante was now puzzled, but then he remembered that the centaur wanted to talk to Vanica and him about something important. "Oh right," Vanica spoke out, "you had something important. I just found the information on my mother more stimulating. So, what exactly is so important for us? We just got her and awakened our powers, we're too green for any job."

"Yes, but as Oracle, what I saw involved you two." Abbiejean sat down on one of the couches, "Here at New Hellas," she explained, "we allow our heroes to take on jobs that require their help ranging from watching over a godling, an extraction mission, or an occasional monster. However, now and then I, and those before, would foresee more important events yet to come. Just recently I had a vision involving you two, and it wasn't a mere coincidence."

Chiron pulled out a vanilla folder to show the party members some photos and files that were inside. "Agent Darby arrived here on the island for this. I'm afraid one of our heroes, descendant of Notus and son of Persephone named Salazar went missing."

"Woah, woah, woah, woah!" Vanica frantically exclaimed, waving her hands so she could make Chiron stop talking, "Persephone, the woman who pretended to be an old, homeless woman named Ethel, is his mom? Also, by extension, our step-brother?"

Dante tried to recall what Persephone was like in myths. He knew she fought over some handsome guy named Adonis from Aphrodite, but didn't think she'd cheat on their dad. Clearly, he knew her dad couldn't keep it in his pants since she exists, but Dante didn't think Persephone herself would do such a thing herself.

"I was just as surprised as you are, child," Chiron answered. "Salazar Callius was born here on New Hellas Island. His father is a demigod to Notus, the summer god. He's a year younger than you two, which makes me suspect that you two are the reason for his birth. I think you would like to meet him. He's energetic as you, Vanica."

A step-brother, the idea of extended relatives came back to Dante's mind. In this large, mythical world he wondered who he was related to in which way. Now he felt bad for Calypso and Alex since he knew how their dads are.

"His assignment" Chiron explained, "was to extract an orphan girl who we assume is a godspawn. Her orphanage in New Jersey has been rumored to be "haunted" as children get horrible nightmares, and little animals were said to be spotted running around with grave injuries."

Dante looked at a photograph of a five-year-old girl with short, shoulder-length black hair and dark purple eyes. Her name read "Syrah" but the last name listed from "Gillette", "Archer", "Kane", and "Figgis". Dante felt bad for the girl, from what he could tell, this young girl went through numerous families and returned to an orphanage.

He was glad someone shady didn't get their hands on her for whatever nefarious purpose, but he could tell she needed a real home. "This little girl is responsible for madness and zombie animals?" Vanica asked the adults, "She looks too young to cause such problems for others."

" Salazar was to extract her from the orphanage so she could be brought here. From the reports, Syrah is an early bloomer with her demigod powers. However, the question is from which parent?" Abbiejean explained, "We might have a hint since I got this prophecy not too long ago."

Ms. Kelly's eyes glowed a golden light from her eyes and mouth so suddenly. This made the son of Hades think the woman was being possessed by God Himself. Vanica whispered to him, "This reminds me a lot of a certain book with this kind of scenario." Dante would soon hear Abbiejean talking as if more than thirty women speaking at once,

"The Descendants of Death shall find two of Underworld

Damnation and rebirth on the Upperworld

Children of old shall begin their rise

A demon and angel shall cause an era's demise."

Ms. Kelly's golden glow died down until returning to normal. The Oracle's voice lost its echo tone as she spoke to the twins, "The descendants of death," she pointed her fingers to them both, "are clearly you two. Syrah must be connected to a chthonic deity but not sure if she's the 'damnation' or 'rebirth' one the prophecy talks about. Though now it seems your mission will be to now extract two demigods instead of one in Johnston, New Jersey. Well, technically three including Salazar Callius."

"We might be seventeen but we literally just awakened our powers," Dante told Chiron and Ms. Kelly, "I might have this literal hellfire but I can't exactly control it. I might burn down that orphanage if I go now. I don't exactly want to scare a five-year-old girl into thinking she's in some bad company like a cult."

"I'm aware of the danger, Mr. Angelos," the trainer of heroes responded, "Mr. Darby will be acquiring fake identification for you and your sister, as well as Ms. Toussaint and Prince. However, who will you bring along on your mission? Normally a mission would require three heroes. Mr. Toussaint, Mason, and Chase were the ones who wanted to bring you two and Rebecca here to New Hellas, as your close friends. For this mission, because of the prophecy, we must extend the member count to seven. We'll give you time to learn to control your powers, we find that field experience helps heroes-in-training improve themselves. When the time comes, report to me with your desired team."

Chiron pulled out two plastic cards, "I was told Persephone didn't allow you two to pack any essential clothing. These cards will cover food and other expenses you need at the Market. Tomorrow I recommend going to the training grounds near the recreational center. You'll be able to test your powers on a combat drone. There your friends can assist in controlling your abilities. Before you go, Vanica," he opened a drawer from his desk, "I believe you're owed a weapon. Your brother has his two swords from Persephone, which reminds me," he looked to Dante directly, "I suggest visiting the forge to have those swords appraised, see if they have any special capabilities." His gaze turned to Vanica, "As for you, my dear, this was your mother's."

Dante's sister was handed over a silver ring with a large skull at its center. His twin would place the ring on her right ring finger and stare at it for a few seconds. "Hmm…" she hummed before she rubbed the silver skull and had it glow brightly. The son of Hades recalled John rubbing the red gems on his bracelets in order to transform the jewelry into the swords the goddess Persephone gave him. He wondered what kind of weapon his mother had when she was alive. Within a few seconds, he and Vanica got the answer.

In her hands was a large, two-handed scythe with a silver handle and a large curved blade of the same metal. The blade was extended from the back of a silver skull fused into the stem while its sides were decorated with two large horns like a demon. "Wow," Vanica said in amazement, "Mom had great taste in design." Vanica lightly waved the weapon up and down, causing Dante and Abbiejean to step back. "Once you infuse your powers into these weapons," the trainer explained, "you can switch your weapons' forms in and out of their disguises."

"That will be very useful," Vanica responded to Chiron as she rubbed the silver head for the scythe to morph back into the ring, "it'll get very annoying to just rub this ring like a genie bottle."

"Another thing," the centaur kept surprising the two, the old trainer was full of surprises. Another photo was revealed but not just with their mother, but the twins and their father together. Hades looked the same as when he saw his father at the gym when Dante's body felt like it was on fire. However, instead of black Greek robes, he had modern clothing like a fancy black suit, white undershirt, and red tie, smiling happily as he held a baby in a pink onesie, most likely Vanica. Their mother was wearing a short, black dress with her hair tied into a ponytail while she held a baby in a blue onesie, most likely Dante himself.

"So…that was Dad I saw at the gym when I thought I was dying." Vanica had small tears fall from her eyes while she looked down at the photograph. Not that Dante had a similar reaction, for years he wanted a family photo of his family, even if they were so young. Now this trainer of heroes had the only picture of his family together. "You two can keep it," he informed the demigods, "for now, go and prepare yourselves for your first mission."

CHAPTER 18: DANTE

"Hey, John, meet me at the forge, Chiron says I need to get these swords appraised."

Dante texted John Mason on his phone as he and Vanica left the office. "So what's your plan now? I'm heading over to see what these swords can do. Honestly wish Persephone told me before I faced that jerk, Ron." He asked his sister to see what her plan was now that she had a new weapon too.

Vanica simply waved her new plastic card, responding, "Well, I'm meeting with Rebecca, Zoe, and Calypso for some shopping. I only have this outfit and that ruined dress. After that, I'm going back to my new room and going to bed. It's been a very long day and I need to recoup. I also need to find a CVS around here so I can make more copies of this photo." She pulled out the photo Chiron gave them of the only time the family was ever together. All he did was give a small smile and walked off to the Forge while telling her, "Yeah, Aunt Sofia would love to have a copy. Don't lose it, or I'll get Spot to tear up your new clothes."

While walking off to the Forge through New Olympia, Dante thought to himself, "Wait…where is that dog?" Dante looked around the town. He saw kids playing around, some turning into griffons and flying off, but no sign of the rottweiler. The son of Hades decided it was a long shot, but knowing there was a dog that could grow as large as a bear would be troublesome. Pressing his lips together, Dante loudly whistled to call out the canine. He waited for a little while, wondering just how far away the dog was from the town. Before he would continue on his way, Spot appeared in a small eruption of shadows.

"Where the hell did you go?" Dante playfully asked the dog while Spot licked his lips and gave cute, whining noises as most canines gave. After petting Spot's head, he whistled again, ordering, "Come on, Spot, let's see what your mistress gave me. Then we'll get you some food. There's a pet store on this island, right?"

Dante found the Forge underground. A cave opening led the son of Hades and his pet into a large underground cavern with multiple furnaces burning, stacks of weapons, armor, and target dummies. Walking around the Forge were some men and women with standard fire-resistant attire such as aprons, gloves, and welding helmets. Dante noticed some looked completely human while the majority had only one eye, "Cyclopes?" He asked himself as a smaller cyclops walked past him carrying a fiery hot metal mold with tongs.

Dante found it strange, but given the summer heat, along with the inferno that was being given off by the multiple furnaces, the son of Hades didn't feel uncomfortably hot. He use to leak sweat like a sprinkler in Louisiana's humidity but now his current surrounding felt as if it was only seventy degrees Fahrenheit. He looked down toward Spot, seems his hellhound didn't find the heat a bother either, but Dante knew not to keep any dog in a hot area for long.

John was hammering out some metal with the same hammer he used to break open the skulls of the panther-griffons. John no longer wore his gym attire, but now the same attire as the rest, yet no gloves. "I guess you have an incredible immunity to fire and heat, right?" Dante asked loudly to get the son of Hephaestus. Lifting up his welding mask, John gave a welcoming smile and greeting, "I see you're adapting to the Forge. Most people who come here sweat ten pounds and drop from heat exhaustion. I guess now you have immunity too. Just be careful; you might be fireproof but not your clothes. I learned the hard way," he gave a shiver of disgust making Dante think he had an embarrassing experience with his powers.

"Well," the son of Hades replied, "luckily I came to the right place. At least I hope. In any case, Chiron wants you to examine these," he summoned forth his swords out of their bracelet forms. John set the hot metal off to the side in a bucket of water and laid the two swords on his workbench. "Underworld material," John said in amazement, "man I'd like to see what methods they use to make these weapons. From what I've heard, they melt in bones and cool it down in blood."

"If or when I meet my father I'll ask about it. What makes Underworld-made tools better than the stuff you guys have?" Dante asked while John examined his weapons like a paleontologist over a dinosaur bone. "Well," he explained, "from what I heard, special warriors in the Underworld use materials like this to get escaped souls or monsters. Sort of similar to the Shinigami of Japan, or at least in anime. These weapons affect the very soul, bypassing our mortal forms."

"Where was this when I was watching anything with Hercules?" Dante asked when he got behind John to inspect the weapons as well. "Well," John explained, "there was only so much the ancients had to remember and transcribe. The Illiad and Odyssey were bitches to memorize. So much mystical information mortals have forgotten over time." The son of the smithing god would flip over each weapon and then find what he was looking for. "There they are."

Looking over his friend's shoulder, Dante could barely make out small writing engraved on the base of the blades. He noticed they weren't in English, but Greek, which didn't surprise him. "Well, what do they say?" He asked with curiosity.

"Three of the words are fairly normal for all our enchanted weapons," John explained once he returned the sword and knife to Dante. "Metamorfóno, agogós, and epistrofi; respectively, they mean 'transform', 'channel' and 'return'." The blacksmith pulled off the pendant on his necklace when it morphed into the flaming hammer he witness bash skulls open last night. "See," he revealed the words at the handle of his weapon, "these words are on our weapons so they can hide as something more harmless. Like a hairclip, a necklace, bracelets, a ring, or a pen." The idea of a sword hiding as a pen sounded very familiar to Dante yet didn't know why.

"In addition to the hiding ability," John explained to the son of Hades, "they'll return if lost. When you're being chased by monsters or guys with guns, it tends to happen. As for the channel, it'll allow the user to let their godly powers be used in it during combat." A demonstration was shown as John's hammer turned the flames on and off like a flashlight. "See? However, most of the time there's an extra engraving for another additional ability. Both the knife and sword have an extra. Your sword has antígrafi, while the knife has metatrépo."

John got up from his spot towards a closet. Inside were some staw-stuffed scarecrows held upright via pole up their backs. The son of Hephaestus pulled out three and stood them in a line. Spot sniffed one of the dummies and attack its leg like it was a chew toy. "Hey, Spot," Dante ordered his dog, "get over here." His hellhound returned but didn't get scolded by Dante, just pet behind the ears. "Okay so," John informed him, "to get this going, first activate the weapons by saying 'agogós' then your demigod power should flow into like charging a phone."

His emerald eyes gazed down at the weapons Persephone gave Dante, after griping the handles he said out loud, "Agogós." Both weapons glowed in black light, the area even got darker as if the blades were now that of a black hole. In the final phase, the darkness disbursed after the blood-red flames erupted, as red sun formed on his weapons. Once done, the sword and knife looked normal, but the Greek words now glowed dark red. "Okay," the smithing demigod informed Dante, "part one is done. When I did it, my hammer erupted into lava and fire. Now, let's see what the sword's skill can do. It had the word 'antigrafí' which means 'replicate' in English."

"Replicate?" The son of Hades asked as he wondered what Persephone had in mind. Curious to see what the Goddess of the Underworld and Spring made for him, he said, "Antigrafi." After saying this word, Dante's body felt very off. His head began to feel as if someone was hitting it with a railway spike, trying to split it apart. He could hear Spot barking wildly but didn't know why. He looked forward to see John's eyes open wide in shock as if he was witnessing Dante becoming a demon. The pain subsided in Dante's head and then felt two hands touching his shoulders. His first theory was some of the Forge workers but when he looked to his right and left, he was sorely mistaken.

On both sides were exact clones of the son of Hades. Perfectly identical clothing and copies of the sword and knife the original had in his hands. His right side spoke to everyone present, "This is crazy, I got two identical copies of myself!" The left clone exclaimed, "This would have been so helpful with the restaurant and school! I'm like fucking Naruto! Or Meliodas. Whichever is better."

The original noticed Spot looking confused as he went over to the right clone for some loving pets while John looked ecstatic and examined the left duplicate, "Incredible! Sophia is going to want to see this! Identical clones, not just in appearance, but personality and the physical material." He pinched the left duplicate's arm, "Ow! John, I can still feel that you know." Ignoring his cry, John flicked his index finger on the blades, giving off the metal clanking noise.

"Well, try the other one!" John ordered Dante with an exciting exclamation. The original one remembered the knife had "metatrépo" on it, in total sync the three said, "Metatrépo." The blade didn't glow, Dante couldn't feel his body transforming or even the room shook from the phrase. His right clone sighed in annoyance, "Well, that didn't do jack."

Agreeing with his clone Dante walked over to one of the straw dummies John set up and just leaned on it to rest his back. Not wanting to hold the weapons, he quietly said their phrase to revert them to bracelets. "So the sword can make clones that think like me yet the knife does nothing."

"It's got to do something," the clone next to John replied to the original Dante, "why else would a Greek goddess give us the knife? For shits and giggles?" John pointed his thumb over his shoulder, "I agree with…you," he explained, "the word means 'convert' in English. It's got to do something. I've seen some particularly interesting skills heroes' got from their enchanted tools. Maybe you're just not doing it right. You got to try another test."

Leaning back on the straw dummy more, Dante thought about what his sword would do. The word 'convert' gave him the impression he'd be some sort of priest, but instead of God and Jesus, he'd preach the word of Hades and the abyss. He took and deep breath and muttered "metatrépo" while thinking. The crackling of a fire and red light were now around the son of Hades as his clones and friend backed away in shock, "What?"

Looking behind him, the straw dummy was now on fire via the Flames of Tartaros, but the young man was sure he didn't let his power ignite it. What was once burlap and straw on a post began acting as if it was alive. Its fake burlap skin now looked more like real leather while its missing hands and feet were replaced by glowing hot cinders while its head formed eye sockets that burned with the fire like a jack o' lantern. To make the dummy scarier, it moved on its own.

Dante backed away as the now living dummy walked away from the pole it was once attached to. John yelled, "Move back!" Heeding his words, the son of Hades moved out of the way for John to throw his hammer at the monster, pinning it to the ground when the blacksmith demigod laid both hands on the ground, "Erupt!"

The ground under Dante's monster glowed red and became more like a liquid. Lava formed and began to make the monster sink into the ground like quicksand. John's hammer returned to his hand while the monster sunk into the lava. "What was that ,the scarecrow from Hell?" John asked with concern. "All I did was say convert in Greek and that happened. I didn't mean to play Frankenstein."

"Wait, you said the phrase for your weapon while it was hidden and that happened? Were you touching the dummy with your hand?" John asked while looking back to the current lava pit he formed in his workshop. "Yeah…" the Underworld demigod thought back prior to the incident, "my hand was on the figure, I said the word and that happened." The clone that formed on Dante's right side walked over to an old rusted hammer, making John ask him, "Wait what exactly are you doing?" Dante's clone replied, "Humoring you."

Placing the blade's tip on the old forging tool, the clone repeated, "Metatrépo" and a similar effect occurred like with the dummy. The knife combusted into the blood-red fire, as did the old hammer.

In a matter of seconds, the flames of the clone's knife died down and the rusty hammer got a make-over. Instead of a head covered in rust and a splinter-covered handle, the tool now possessed the same black metal as the sword and a leather-covered handle. "My clone just gave your old tool a goth makeover."

John grabbed the hammer and studied it up close, "Okay, I need to show this to Professor Thatch. This is practically alchemy!" The son of Hephaestus looked over to the clone that performed the deed, but in a flash of shadows, he disappeared. Even the clone with Spot underwent a similar transformation and disappeared, leaving Spot confused and whining as if he was abandoned. Cheering up his dog, Dante pet Spot's head, "Relax buddy it was only a clone, but…" he held his own head in pain, "I can see what their memories were real."

Even though all his clones were in the same room and witnessed the events that transpired, the Underworld demigod regained their memories from their point of view. From different angles, it altered Dante's perspective on what happened. Regaining his composure, John was told, "Hey, I'm going back to my room, and passing out on the couch. Erupting fire, making clones, turning dummies into monsters, and being given a mission, is too much for one day." With that said, Dante ventured out of the Forge with Spot, his head feeling ready to explode.