The sun began to set. The sky turned to a mix of purple and yellow. In another universe, Leo would've liked a walk on a beach with a pretty girl. But the further they walked, the more paranoid he became. Finally Hazel turned inland.
"You sure this is a good idea?" He asked.
"We're close." She said. "Come on."
Just over the dunes, they saw the woman. She sat on a boulder in the middle of the grassy field. A black-and-chrome motorcycle was parked next to the boulder, but each wheel had a big pie slice missing, like it was Pac-Man. No way was the bike rideable, or at the very least, a very uncomfortable ride.
The woman had curly black hair and a bony frame. She wore black leather biker's pants, tall leather boots, and a blood red leather jacket. She kind of looked like what Michael Jackson would wear if he joined Hell's Angels. Around her feet, the ground was littered with what looked like shells. She was hunched over, pulling new ones out of a sack and cracking them open. Shucking oysters? Leo wasn't sure if there were oysters in the Great Salt Lake. He didn't think so.
He wasn't exactly jumping at the chance to approach the lady. He'd had some bad experiences with strange ladies. His old babysitter, Tia Callida, had turned out to be Hera and had a nasty habit of putting him down for naps in a fireplace. Gaia had killed his mom in a workshop fire when he was eight. Khione had tried to turn him into a frozen Leosicle in Sonoma.
But Hazel forged ahead, so he didn't have much of a choice but to follow.
As they got close, Leo noticed disturbing details. A curled whip was attached to her belt. Her leather jacket had an image of a twisted branch with skeletal birds perched on it. The oysters she was shucking were actually fortune cookies.
A pile of broken cookies lay ankle-deep all around her. She kept pulling new ones from her sack, cracking them open, and reading the fortunes. Most she tossed aside. A few made her mutter unhappily. She would swipe over the paper with her finger, like she was smudging the words, then put it back in the cookie and reseal it, before tossing it into a nearby basket.
"What are you doing?" Leo asked before he could stop himself.
The woman looked up. Leo's lungs filled so fast, he thought they might burst.
"Aunt Rosa?" He asked.
It didn't make sense, but this woman looked exactly like his aunt. She had the same broad nose with a mole on one side, the same sour mouth and hard eyes. But it couldn't be Rosa. She would never wear clothes like that, and she was still in Houston, at least, as far as Leo knew. She wouldn't be cracking open fortune cookies in the middle of the Great Salt lake.
"Is that what you see?" The woman asked. "Interesting. And you, Hazel, dear?"
"How did you–" Hazel took a step back. "You look like Mrs. Leer. My third grade teacher. I hated you."
The woman cackled. "Excellent, you resented her, eh? She judged you unfairly?"
"You— she taped my hands to the desk for misbehaving." Hazel said. "She called my mother a witch. She blamed me for everything I didn't do and… No, you have to be dead."
"Oh, Leo knows." The woman said. "How do you feel about Aunt Rosa, mijo?"
Mijo. That's what Leo's mom had always called him. After she died, Aunt Rosa had rejected him. She called him a devil child. She blamed him for the workshop fire that killed her sister. Rosa turned his whole family against him, and kicked him out. He was a scrawny orphaned eight year old at the mercy of social services. And we all know how those are. Leo had bounced from orphanage to orphanage before he ended up at Camp Half-Blood and found a home there. Leo didn't hate a lot of people, but Aunt Rosa took spot number 1 on his shit list.
How did he feel?
He wanted vengeance. Revenge.
His eyes drifted to the bike with the wheels that looked like Pac-Man. He had seen that symbol before. Above cabin 16 at Camp Half-Blood. Their symbol above the door was a broken wheel.
"You're Nemesis. The goddess of Revenge." Leo said.
"You see?" Nemesis said to Hazel. "The boy recognizes me."
Nemesis cracked open another fortune cookie and wrinkled her nose. "You will have great fortune when you least expect it." She read. "That's the exact type of nonsense I hate. Someone opens a cookie and BAM, prophecy that they'll be rich. I blame that wretch, Tyche. Always giving good luck to those who don't deserve it!"
Leo stared at the mound of broken cookies. "You know those are fake, right? They're mass produced at some factory. They aren't even Chinese."
"Don't try to excuse it!" Nemesis snapped. "It's just like Tyche to get people's hopes up. No. I must counter her." She flicked a finger over the slip of paper and the letters changed to red. "You will die painfully when you most expect it. There! Much better!"
"That's horrible!" Hazel exclaimed. "You'd let someone read that in their fortune cookie, and it would come true?"
Nemesis smiled sickly. "My dear Hazel. Haven't you ever wished horrible things on Mrs. Leer for the way she treated you?"
"That doesn't mean I want them to come true!"
"Bah humbug." Nemesis resealed the fortune cookie and tossed it into the basket. "Tyche would be Fortuna for you, I suppose, being Roman and all. Like the others, she's in a terrible state of mind. However, I'm not affected. I am called Nemesis in both Greek and Roman. I do not change, because revenge is universal. Everyone gives three cheers for it."
"What are you talking about?" Leo asked. "Why are you here?"
Nemesis opened another cookie. "Lucky numbers! That's not even a fortune!" She crushed the cookie underneath her boot. "To answer your question, Leo Valdez, the gods are in terrible shape right now. It happens every time there is a civil war between you Greeks and Romans. The Olympians are torn between their two personalities, called upon by both sides. They've become quite schizophrenic, I'm afraid. Splitting headaches, disorientation, the whole shebang."
"But we aren't at war?" Leo asked.
"Leo, you just blew a giant hole into New Rome." Hazel said.
"Not on purpose!"
"I know…" Hazel said. "But the Romans don't know that, and they're searching for retaliation."
Nemesis clapped. "Oh yes indeed. They want revenge. War is coming, and Gaia has seen to it with your help. And can you guess who the gods blame for their little… problem?"
Leo's mouth went dry. "Me." He grumbled.
"Well you don't have a high opinion of yourself." Nemesis snorted. "You're just a pawn on the chessboard, Leo Valdez. I was referring to the player who set this ridiculous quest in motion, bringing the Greeks and Romans together. The gods blame Hera—or Juno if you prefer! The Queen of the Heavens has fled Olympus to escape the wrath of her family. Don't expect any more help from your patron."
Leo's head throbbed. He had mixed feelings about Hera. She had meddled with his life since he was just a baby, molding him to serve her purpose in this big prophecy. But at the very least, she had been on their side, more or less. If she was out of the picture now…
"So, why are you here?" He asked.
"Why, to offer my help!" Nemesis smiled wickedly.
Leo glanced at Hazel. She looked like she had been offered a free basilisk.
"Your help?" Leo asked.
"Of course!" The goddess grinned. I enjoy tearing down the proud and powerful, and there are none more deserving than Gaia and her giants. Still, be warned, you will not be receiving underserved success. Good luck is a sham. The wheel of fortune is a Ponzi scheme. True success requires sacrifice."
"Sacrifice?" Hazel's voice was tight. "I lost my mother. I died! Isn't that enough sacrifice for you?!"
Leo could totally relate. He wanted to scream that he'd lost his mom too. His whole life had been one misery after another. He'd lost his dragon, Festus. He'd nearly killed himself trying to finish the Argo II. Now he had been possessed and potentially started a war. What more could he give?
"Right now…" He said, trying to rope in his anger. "All i want is some Celestial Bronze."
"Oh, that's easy." Nemesis said. "It's just over the rise. You'll find it with the sweethearts."
"What sweethearts?" Hazel asked at the same time Leo said, "The candy?"
Nemesis popped a cookie into her mouth and swallowed it, fortune and all. "You'll see. Maybe they could show you that most heroes cannot escape their nature." She turned to Leo. "As for you, child of fire. Your worst hardships are yet to come. You will always be the outsider, the seventh wheel. You will not find a place among your own kind. Soon you will face a problem you cannot solve. Though… I could help you. For a price."
Leo smelled smoke. He looked down to see his entire left hand engulfed in flames. Hazel was staring at him in terror. He shoved his hand into his pocket to extinguish the flames. "No thanks. I like to solve my problems by myself. It gives me bragging rights."
"Very well."
"But, uh, just because I'm curious. What kind of price are we talking? Cause I only have like…" Leo reached into his tool belt and pulled out a handful of golden coins. "Three drachmas."
Nemesis laughed. "I don't want your money."
"Then what would you want?"
"One of my children gave me an eye. Oh, a very long time ago."
Leo swallowed. "You want an eye?"
"Hmm. Not from you. Something else, but equally as painful."
"Just not my dick. All da ladies love Leo because of it."
Nemesis rolled her eyes. She tossed him a fortune cookie. "Just take this. You need my help, open it, and be prepared to pay the price."
Nemesis picked out another fortune cookie and opened it. "You will have to reevaluate your life choices soon." She read before chuckling. "Oh, I like that one. No changes there." She said before resealing it and tossing it in the basket.
She slung the sack of cookies onto her shoulders. "Give it some thought, Leo Valdez. You're a good child. A hard worker. We could do business. But I have detained you too long. You should visit the reflecting pool before the light fades. My poor cursed boy gets quite… agitated when the darkness comes."
Leo didn't like the sound of that, but the goddess refused to elaborate as she climbed onto her motorcycle. Apparently it was drivable, despite those Pac-Man-shaped wheels, because Nemesis revved her engine and disappeared into a cloud of black smoke.
Hazel bent down. All of the broken fortune cookies had disappeared, besides one crumpled slip of paper. She picked it up and read, "You will see yourself reflected, and you will have reason to despair."
"Fantastic." Leo muttered. "Let's go see what it means."
LINE BREAK
Percy and Zoë placed their buckets of tar on the deck of the Argo II. The ship was devoid of any life on the deck, with everyone else in their cabins and all.
"So, to Camp Jupiter?" Zoë asked, stretching her wings to get ready for the trip. She changed her clothes into a black bandage dress with a deep cut. Assassination was a formal affair.
Percy nodded. "We'll put Octavian in his place, then skedaddle."
"Never, ever say 'skedaddle' again." Zoë said with faux disappointment.
Percy smiled. "Whatever." He spread his wings before beating them and lifting off into the air. Zoë followed him into the air. They sped away from Great Salt Lake, heading back to New Rome.
What would usually be a ten hour drive was cut down to a few minutes by using the pure speed of their wings. This was the first time Zoë had ever really used her wings. Sure, she used them briefly, but this was a proper flight. She was surprised by how quickly she gripped the technique of flying. It was similar to moving her arms up and down, except with different muscles.
Though her wings were similar to those of a bat's, and bat wings are actually their hands. So maybe that's why it was similar. Either way, she felt like she had been flying for her entire life.
She felt free. She wasn't tied down to the ground. It felt like she had control. Like she could do whatever, go anywhere. It was weird, since she knew she had freedom from everything. She was no longer a Hesperide, in which her responsibilities bogged her down. She was no longer Artemis' Lieutenant, which had even more responsibilities. Hell, she was no longer a demon. She was an angel, same as her husband. She had been free for forever, but now she was free from being free.
She touched the clouds as she reached her hand out. The mist condensed on her hand as she touched them. A smile stretched across her face. Children dreamed of touching the sky, and here she was, living their dreams.
They touched down in New Rome, on the field of Mars. Percy scanned the area. The sun was setting, leaving the battlefield in the shadow of the surrounding hills. He pointed in the direction of a collection of buildings.
"There's the barracks. Octavian is in cohort one."
"So, barracks one?"
"I'm assuming that's how they're numbered. If not, I guess we'll check each one. Either way, he's dying."
They walked across the field, coming up to the first building. They didn't bother knocking and just walked right in. The barracks was empty, except for one boy rummaging through a stack of papers in a bunk at the far end of the room. A boy with blond hair, a skinny frame, and a teddy bear strapped to his belt.
"Can you believe our luck, Zoë?" He asked her mockingly.
Octavian turned around with wide eyes.
"Oh, Percy. I can't believe it." She said in the same mocking tone as Percy.
They walked up to Octavian, who was backed against the wall. He seemed to be trying to phase through it with how hard he was pressing his body next to it.
"I have to say Octavian. I don't appreciate what you're doing. It's kind of causing me some problems." Percy said before unbuttoning his coat. He reached into it and pulled out a metal tin. Octavian flinched as Percy opened the tin. Percy pulled out a cigarette and lit it. He took a drag and breathed out. "I'm here to stop these problems. But I fear that…" Percy took another drag. "...it won't be enough. If you were to die here, you will be raised as a martyr, and I can't have that happening. You are going to be my example to your kind. A reminder not to cross me or Zoë. Enjoy the next few minutes of sleep, they'll be your last before you rot in Hell."
Zoë raised her fist and punched Octavian in the head. His eyes instantly rolled into the back of his head. He collapsed to the ground. Percy sighed and picked up Octavian, slinging him over his shoulder.
The sound of footsteps resonated from behind them. They turned around to see a young woman staring at the couple in shock. "What… what are you doing?" She asked.
"Ah, Sandra! I need you to round up everyone and have them meet on the field of Mars."
"And why should I listen to you?"
Percy took a step forward. "Because the future of Rome depends on it." He said slowly.
Sandra's eyes widened before she turned on her heel and rushed out of the barracks.
Percy turned to Zoë. "They're gonna arrest us after this and bring us to trial immediately. We can't resist arrest. Once on trial, leave everything to me. Just sit back and enjoy the show."
"And let you have all the fun? Please." Zoë clicked her tongue.
Percy thought for a second before his face split into a grin. "I'll do the little hand thing you like." He said, making the motion with his hand. Two fingers sticking up, close together. Like he was making a gun, but with an extra finger, and pointing up.
Zoë subconsciously bit her lip. Her still intact cheek was flushed with a barely visible shade of red. "Fine, but you're using it a lot tonight. And I get to kill Octavian." She said.
"Of course." Percy said like he took personal offense to the statement. "As for Octavian, as long as you hit him with a brick first."
They walked out of the barracks and onto the field of Mars. There was a slight hill in the middle, and that's where they set up the execution. Percy crafted a brick out of a handful of grass.
Slowly, the entirety of New Rome began to gather on the field. People gawked at the unconscious augur, as well as the angels who made themselves known. Those who knew them feared them, and those who didn't feared them for their appearance. Both standing tall, with wings that spread past their arm span, wearing fancy clothes like this was a fancy party. Zoë's half withered face didn't help.
Once everybody and their mother was there, Percy commanded all the attention. He captured the audience's attention, oozing charisma. "Hello everyone." His voice carried across the field, despite the lack of a microphone and speakers. "We all gathered here today." he paused to let the words sink in. "To set an example. As you all know, earlier today, a warship fired on New Rome."
Angry cries rose throughout the field.
"Silence." Percy whispered. Suddenly everyone felt their voice cut off. They couldn't speak. "Now. Let me finish. As you all know, earlier today, a warship fired on New Rome. Now, unknown to you, the attack was commenced by a demon. An eidolon. One commanded by Gaia. Now, I know that you won't take my word for it. Which is where dear old Octavian comes into play." Percy woke Octavian up. "This man is the main instigator of a civil war. He fuels the fire, one that I am trying to extinguish. And as such, I want to show what happens to those who cause problems." Percy turned to Zoë. "If you'll be so kind my dear."
Zoë smiled. She held up the brick and threw it at the blond augur. The brick nailed him on the back of the head. His blond hair had specks of red in it as he fell face first into the grass. Zoë grabbed him by his locks and raised his head to her waist so he was facing the crowd. She grabbed the knife strapped to her leg under her dress and pulled it out of its sheath. She held the blade to Octavian's neck.
She slowly drew it across his skin. The knife was barely poking him, more like resting on his flesh. The cold metal threatened to draw blood as Octavian's Adam's apple bobbed up and down. Zoë practiced the line she was going to draw before drawing the knife across his throat in one quick, fluid motion. Blood seeped out of the cut, running down his neck. The crimson stained Octavian's white robes that marked him as an augur. Zoë continued to hold his head up. The cut seemed to grow as gravity pulled down on the lower half of the cut. More blood seeped from the wound. She had cut the jugular vein, and the amount of blood showed it.
The entire crowd reeled back as they saw a respected official slaughtered in front of their eyes. So boldly done as well. But the angels weren't done. Zoë dropped his head, allowing the dead body to fall onto the grass, staining it red.
The crowd suddenly felt outraged. Their voices returned, they called for the arrest of the assassins. Percy and Zoë held their hands up as police rushed up to them. They placed the couple's hands behind their backs and bound them with rope.
They were paraded into New Rome. Terminus sat at the city limit. He scrutinized Zoë, who was in front of Percy. "Weapons!" He demanded. She raised her arms behind her back.
"Sorry, nothing I can do." She said with a smirk.
"Fine. I'll do it myself."
Knives began to float out of all the places she had hidden them. One, then two, then four, then ten. One final one floated out of her cleavage. Zoë gasped. "Don't you know it's not polite to touch a woman there without her consent!" She mocked.
Terminus grunted and let the police take her into the city. Percy didn't have nearly the same amount of weapons. Just Riptide, which floated out of his pocket.
"Can't wait to see you in jail." Terminus said to Percy. "You sick fucks."
Percy grinned. "Aw, come on. Have a little faith in me. Have a little faith in the Devil."
He was shoved into the city.
The parade ended at the senate building. Percy and Zoë took center stage. Or, center floor. Percy walked up to the railing and waited for the trial to start.
The final person to enter the senate building was Reyna. She took her place at the front of the senate, like she was the judge in a courthouse. She even had a little gavel. She banged the gavel, calling the trial to order.
"So, Lucifer." She started. No need to address him as Percy. This was the Devil she was dealing with now. Not the guy who came here a week ago, saying he could save the camp. "You and your wife have been charged with assassination. Do you confess?"
"What a stupid question. 'Do we confess?' Like you didn't just watch us kill him. You know what I confess to? The fact that this whole thing is fucking stupid, and a waste of both your and frankly, my time."
Reyna raised an eyebrow. "The trial where you prove yourself innocent is a waste of your time?"
"Well duh! We aren't innocent. We killed him. And we are stopping a civil war because of it."
"You do realize that because of this, we aren't likely to drop anything?"
"Of course I do. Which is why I have something else to say." Percy brought his hands to his front as the rope fell to the ground. He placed them along the railing.
"How did you break free?"
"I've had a lot of experience with knots, if you know what I mean." Percy winked. But then his face grew serious. "Even think of advancing on Camp Half-Blood, and I swear I will give you a task that will keep you busy until September, at the very least."
Reyna laughed. "What task do you think is so large that it will take us months to complete?"
"Funeral planning."
"What?"
"I will give you so many funerals to plan."
A senator laughed. "I'd like to see you try."
Percy turned to him. "You wanna try? Right now. Right here. In fact, I will let you have the advantage. Anyone else want to try along with him? You can all come at me at once."
Several senators stood up.
"Hell, you want even more of the advantage, I'll give you weapons." percy turned their chairs into swords, which the senators picked up.
The senators jumped over their tables and down onto the floor. Percy stared them down and took off his coat, which was still unbuttoned from earlier. He handed it to Zoë, who also had her hands free. She could already tell that whatever was about to happen was going to be hot. She was super glad he agreed to do the hand thing, because goddamned did she want it and he hadn't even started fighting yet.
The first senator charged at Percy, elected by the others to test the waters. He charged at Percy, jumping over the handrail. Percy punched him in the stomach and dodged his falling body. The senator vomited as he landed on the ground next to Percy. The Devil stared down another senator as he stomped on the boy's head. The crunch of his skull being shattered was heard throughout the room.
Percy picked up his foot. His entire shoe had changed from black to dark red. Some blood had gotten onto his pant leg as well. Percy raised his arms in challenge.
They all charged him at once. He couldn't take them all, right?
Right?
Wrong.
Percy dodged the first one to reach him and back kicked him so hard the dude tripped and fell onto his sword. The blade went straight through his neck, killing him. Percy caught the next guy's hand as he went for an overhead swing. Percy twisted his wrist, making the senator's twist around 360 degrees, breaking it. The senator cried out in pain before he was punched in the nose. He flew back and hit the handrail. His head hit the leg of it and left a splatter of blood on impact. He fell dead.
Percy sidestepped another sword slash and swept the senator's legs. Percy caught the lady by the neck and bashed her head onto the handrail repeatedly. Blood started to leak out of her ear, before Percy slammed her head down so hard, the side of her face flattened. She crumpled to the ground.
There were two senators left. They nodded to each other, agreeing to attack together. Only one charged, the other backing out. Percy disarmed the senator and twisted him around. He put the senator in a headlock and made him face his comrade. Then Percy twisted his neck violently. The crack was heard across the room. Percy dropped him and stepped over the body, making his way to the last senator.
The senator held his sword out in front of him. His hand was shaking so badly that the sword was making a wobbling sound. He swung at Percy, who caught it. He tugged the blade out of the senator's hand. The blade catered to the ground next to Zoë, who looked like she was on the verge of losing a battle against her horniness.
The senator threw a punch at Percy. Percy blocked it and counterattacked with an uppercut that sent the senator flying into the air. He fell onto the handrail. He coughed as Percy approached him. He looked at Percy with fear in his eyes before Percy punched him in the head, snapping his neck over the handrail.
The whole room was in silence as they took in all of the blood and grotesque bodies. Percy took his coat from Zoë and slipped it back on. His wings popped out from the coat with a ruffle.
"Like the demonstration?" Percy said.
"Lucifer, you keep digging a deeper whole for yourself." reyna said.
"Oh, boo hoo." Percy said sarcastically. "I did you a favor. I just rid your senate of the corruption that had been infecting it for years. All of those were Octavian's lackeys. All of them vying for more power instead of having their interests in the good of New Rome. But most importantly, this was a show." He paused and breathed in. "I told you already. Think of attacking the Greeks, and I will decimate New Rome. I can, and I will. For now, I give you funeral duty. Me and Zoë will be going."
"We haven't made a verdict yet." Reyna said.
"What prison could you make to hold us? We left Hell regularly for vacations every couple of centuries. So take this as it is. Use it to better New Rome. Elect new senators, a new augur, and do better."
Percy turned around and walked over to his wife. He held his arm out. She interlocked her elbow in his and they strode out of the senate building. Once they were out, they separated, spread their wings and took off.
They dropped down onto the deck of the Argo II. Immediately, Zoë tackled Percy and began to grind against him.
"Room first." Percy grunted.
Zoë stopped, before getting off of him and making her way to their room. Percy stood up and got ready for a super long, but pleasurable night.
A/N. Hey guys. So it's uh, it's been uh, almost four weeks since an update, and I'm sorry. But my personal life has been kind of wack lately. For one, my great grandma died, so there's that. Then literally the next day, something else happened, something I won't share for privacy reasons. I also just finished junior year of high school, so there's that. And yeah, so I've been kind of preoccupied.
Now, I know what you're thinking, 'Bread, you said that the rest of Leo and Hazel's quest was going to be this chapter.' And yeah, it was going to be. But as it turned out, I forgot about that whole thing with Nemesis. So as I debated whether or not I should cut it out, I decided not to, as it will help out later on. So yeah, sorry, but I didn't want to make this chapter even longer.
Now, how about Percy, huh? That was kind of brutal. But he's the Devil, so you know what, it makes sense. He's still angry, despite Zoë being there. But notice how he kept a calm demeanor? He put his rage into fighting. Love it or hate it, I don't care.
And yes, before you ask, Percy was referring to BDSM when saying he had experience with knots.
And yes, the chapter title is the album from My Chemical Romance. No, I will not be apologizing, I feel like it fits.
Thoughts?