Hi guys! I managed to finish this chapter, though it took more time than the previous...
Like I said in the previous chapter, things are probably be going a bit slower while my crowdfunding campaign is on!
For a reminder: the campaing will be starting on Monday for my TTRPG book, you can subscribe to be warned when it starts on bit . ly / H2S-ulule-soon, I'll update the campaign link itself Monday... And I'm sorry but for now the book is only available in French.
The stress has been rising since I've set the date last monday, I'm always like this... So I've bee having trouble sleeping, and when I sleep badly, I ends up with a bad back-ache... I call it the circle of stupid. Seriously, I'd really like this campaign to work, but if it doesn't then... It's not the end of the world, right? I know... Stress like adumbarse all the same...
Anyway, on to happier thoughts! thank you all for reading me, it's all those comments and people suscribing to my stories updates that keep me going and writing! I love all your comments, they are always great! Hope you'll enjoy the chapter.
Chapter X. The Mark
Adrasteia had come back from school on the Yule holiday set on fulfilling her self-vow and checking on the Roman.
Jade had dramatically pouted – then declared he was coming with her to America to do some 'marketing study' to check if the local wixen and godly communities were ready for his shops, making Adra laugh then helpfully point out that Boston was rather popular among the Norse pantheon.
Loki was heading to Huston to spent some time with Esperanza and little Leo – while Tristan and Frederick were both coming to England for the holiday season – the elder Chase thanks from some scheming from his daughter, that had seriously informed the family that the man needed to be cheered up after a bad break-up, while Tristan was coming for work, and as such taking the opportunity to stay with them and commute to the local set.
As such, Adrasteia was heading to San Francisco with her brother – but had rather logically decided to ask more about Camp Jupiter to one of the Greek Gods she was on good terms with before heading there.
Hades' eyes had widened when she'd ask about it, and she'd felt a shift of power.
Which is how she learned that Romans – were a split personality of the Greeks.
Adra sighed, feeling a headache rising as she realized that the god was having trouble setting on one personality, then, as they were in the Underworld, she unleashed her aura, feeding enough power to Hades that it temporarily stabilized him, as he was the one she knew best.
He settled back in his chair, looking rather ruffled.
"Thank you." a sigh "This is becoming worse and worse…"
"Why?"
"Athena." the Greek god sighed "Not that I can't understand why mind you but…" he waved his hands "When the Romans started to worship us with new names, they attributed different things to us."
A flare of power, and the room they were in was much richly decorated in "For example Pluto is far more venerated as the Lord of the Riches… While I'm more closely tide to my powers as Lord of the dead." he explained
A wave of his hand, and the luxurious appearance disappeared.
"All in all, it honestly wasn't that bad. A small shift when a roman rather than a greek prayed to us, and that was it…"
He closed his eyes tiredly.
"Then came the battle of Athene. The Roman demi-gods tore down the Athena Parthenos, vowing with this to break the Greek spirit, and the curse was set."
Adra's eyes widened, eyes swirling golden as she reached toward her fellow god's soul like she'd never done – it wasn't really polite, as she knew he was feeling what she was doing…
But if they were cursed, she had to know what was going on.
Hades clearly understood, as he wistood her scrutiny, forging on "Athena was depossessed of most of her powers as Minerva, and became furious and bitter at the Roman, always spurring on her children to compete against them, vowing to never lay rest to her grudge so long as the Athena Parthenos wasn't given back to her…"
The goddess' eyes widened, as she caught indeed the first whispers of curse.
"A first conflict started, then another, all started by demi-god children of Athena… and it soon became clear that our personality was becoming more split and fractured with each conflict between our children, and we finally separated them, weaving the Mist so they forgot about each other and putting a whole country between them."
"But the curse is still there."
"The curse is still there." Hades agreed "And I sincerely doubt it'll ever settle so long as peace hasn't been brought between our two sides, and Athena's grudge put to rest..."
Adra settled deeper in her seat, twelve tails settling around her in a cocoon, and asked in a dry yet humorous tone "Why is it that each time I feel I've been doing good progress, I find another problem popping up?"
The Greek god laughed "Well, it had to be a bad situation for an Old One to have to intervene!" he pointed out "Anyway, if you need to go to Cam Jupiter, you can go as an emissary in my other half's name." he suggested "Given that our power are similar, I'm pretty sure I could claim if needed." he pointed out "That'll give you a good reason to be there without going through the military service. People will be a bit ambivalent about you since they respect most those that went service in the Legion, but they'll have to listen to you least they offend me."
"And you are sufficiently self-aware of each other that he won't mind?"
"Well you can check with him, but honestly the two of us aren't that different…"
¤.¤.¤
After she took her leave from Hades, Adra did just this – it just wasn't polite to presume of his agreement if they really were two separate personalities after all.
Pluto – didn't look quite like Hades.
While they had the same eyes and hair, his hair were cropped short in a military buzz-cut, and where Hades wore an old style toga, Pluto had a modern-days, very smart dress-suit, that like the few accessories he wore, all screamed money.
The Roman god had also been favorably impressed by the fact she took the time check with him is approval of using his name rather than assume that because Hades agreed, so did he.
Like Adra had been warned, there clearly was a more war-like side to Pluto – by she'd been through enough life that it didn't really bothered her.
She'd led a full world war but a century earlier after all, even if it wasn't in the same world!
And so – with Pluto's approval – Adrasteia called the shadows to her and stepped out in the nearest familiar place in the area she was aiming for – Pluto's Shrine in Temple Hill, in the heart of Camp Jupiter.
Gasps and surprised whispers echoed as she appeared right in front of the shrine decorated in bones and diamond.
Adrasteia eyed the place with a raised eyebrow before turning to the nearest person "Excuse me, could you take me to the Senate?"
The teen boy, that didn't look much older than her and wore Roman armor and weapons, nodded, words visibly lacking in that moment.
Adra didn't formalize herself, used enough to the reactions deities tied to death could sometimes cause – after all, the Greek hadn't been much better on this point at first…
Camp Jupiter was far more impressive than Camp Half-Blood she had to admit as she watched with undisguised interest as the legionary led her from Temple Hill, where she'd arrived, toward New Rome – and in the distance she could see the Roman Legion Camp, which from what she'd understood was where the half-bloods and legacy were trained before gaining access to the city itself.
The rather negative point – was that she knew legionaries had to give 10 years of their life before being elligible to retire in New Rome. Before that, they were sent back to the outside world.
Ten years seemed like quite a long time, and the fact that the twelve year old looking legionary leading her had what appeared to be a hot iron tattoo on his arm – an imprint of the SPQR symbol, a roman number for his cohort and four lines for his number of year of service, from what she'd heard from Pluto…
Well, if the Greek were not organized enough, the Roman organization, on the other side of the spectrum seemed far too harsh.
The split personality between their two halves may have far more consequences than the Greek-Roman gods thought, Adrasteia suddenly realized. Because really, the perfect Camp for half-bloods – to her eyes seemed to be somewhere halfway between the Greeks and Romans ways.
There was some sort of border crossing at the entrance of New Rome, Adrasteia noted – with a minor god taking a very hands on approach to his job.
"What are you doing here, legionary?" the marble bust asked rather harshly as the kid approached with her
"I'm on an escort mission!"
"New recruit aren't to be taken to New Rome!"
"I'm not a new recruit." Adra corrected the minor god firmly, flaring lightly her aura – enough that the poor legionary, and the teenage-girl working as the god's 'hands' had to step back a few feet
"So I see." he agreed hastily, clearly not wanting to anger her, before turning his attention back to the poor legionary "Well, go ahead, you know the rules!"
The boy nodded, quickly removing weapons and armor – and they were entering the city itself.
By now, he seemed to have recovered enough to be able to talk – but was still to shy for it.
"I'm Adrasteia Potter." the green-eyed goddess said "I'm an emissary of Pluto."
"Julianus Lucius, mam." the boy hastily saluted "We've nearly arrived to the Senate!"
"Thank you for taking the time to escort me, I'm afraid it's my first time around." she smiled – the poor boy blushing brightly
Soon enough, they arrived on a large, sunny place surrounded by large white columns, a young woman in her twenties, wearing a rather similar tattoo, though it attested to ten years of service, raising an eyebrow at the stammering legionary who reiterated like in front of Terminus, the boundary god of the city, that he was escorting Adrasteia.
The Potter Heiress smoothly took over, deeming that the poor legionary had been sufficiently embarrassed for simply showing her the way – and as she once more introduced herself, she felt godly powers swirl around her and a shimmering shape appear above her head…
This, she recognized, was the Greeks and Romans way of acknowledging their half-bloods. And right now, it was the perfect timing, confirming to the Senate member that she was indeed who she said she was.
The young woman looked rather unprepared to deal with the situation, and hastily bowed "Apologies, my lady, we aren't used to deal with direct envoys of the gods."
Adrasteia waved her flustered apologies away "I'm not here to kick to much of a fuss." she reassured the girl "Quite frankly, it was deemed I didn't have any time to give to the legion given my circumstances, but I still needed access to the Camp."
"Of course." the young Senator was seemingly calming herself down and remembering her duties "Do you want your identity to be shared with the rest of the Senate so they know to accommodate you?"
The two settled down to haggling – Adrasteia having ,strangely enough, to convince the Senator to make too big a deal of her presence in the area. Eventually, they agreed that her identity would be shared to all Senators, the Praetors and the Augury, but that she'd be simply given a token that would ensure regular people knew she was allowed to come and go if the rest of the citizens needed to have a proof of her identity.
¤.¤.¤
Thanks to that – Adrasteia was now able to come and go from camp, and had as such been able to drop by Vancouver to share her memories with Emily and Lei Lan.
The mother had been rather understandingly rather underwhelmed by the idea of sending her son there – but she was also intelligent enough that she'd realized that Fate had something in store for her son, otherwise he wouldn't have been cursed on the very day on his birth…
And with destiny ahead, it was better for the boy to be prepared, and learn to know his fellow comrades before it was too late.
Remus' understanding had been rather similar.
He knew quite well by now, after all, that Adrasteia was a goddess…
And that if she'd acknowledged Jason as Fate's Touched, then a destiny lied ahead of the boy he'd adopted years ago. He'd also seen the changes in Luke, Thalia and even Nico as they got to know their fellow half-bloods.
The werewolf quite frankly didn't agree with Camp Jupiter's way of training it's young – but he'd endure the worry, for his son.
Self-imposed mission accomplished, Adra had dropped by Boston, spending an afternoon with Hardwin, Ayesha, Natalie and little Magnus and Samirah, had fetched back Jade, that had apparently been making a salesman speech to Hotel Valhalla's doorman – and they were back to Britain.
Without any surprise, she'd been pelted with questions about Camp Jupiter there too. Annabeth in particular, had been rather starry-eyed, as even at eight year old the little demi-goddess – and that was to create a master-piece of architecture.
Something like the rather more grandiose Roman camp did seem like a dream come true for her.
While she wasn't up quite yet to create her grand oeuvre, the girl had managed to convince them to go on a visiting spree of London's famous museums.
It was around the third day that they went to the London Mitrareum.
The family being so large, everyone wasn't always together, and today was no exception. Pyxis had managed to finish enough paper-work that he and Frederick were designated adults in charge of Annabeth, Piper, Jason, but also Luna, Adrasteia, Sirius and Hermione, with which both Sirius and Adrasteia had kept in touch over the holidays.
The first part of the museum was just below the surface, as a modern building had been build over the ruins – with numerous pictures, recent and old, it told about the temple's history, how old it was and how it was found in the fifties – eventually relocated, then brought back to his original place.
Needless to say, Annabeth was enthralled.
Pyxis and Adra shared a glance, as they could feel as they approached the ruins themselves, seven meters underground, that there were both shades and lingering spirits in the area…
Neither was too worried, as between the two of them they could easily exorcise the spirit if needed, while shades, like the Hogwarts phantoms, were powerless.
It was at a display table near the temple itself that things took a turn for the stranger.
Annabeth – became all but enthralled, even Hermione by her side tilting her head as if she was trying to listen to a distant voice whom words she couldn't quite make out. The Mist thickened, the display table rearranged itself as Annabeth reached her hand toward the coin bearing her mother's symbol, the protective glass seemingly intangible for a second.
A spirit materialized, making all jump – and despite his shimmery, silvery quality, it was easy to see that his eyes were crazed – and impossible not to note his likeness with Annabeth…
"You'll take up my Mark, right little sister?" he proclaimed -making them realized he must have been tied to the coin the demi-goddess had just picked, and that he was indeed, just like her, a child of Athena "You'll take my Mark and suceed where I failed!"
"I guess his demi-god blood kept him sane longer than a regular mortal…" Adrasteia mused, worried as she felt that powers were stirring around them
"She's too young for a quest!" Frederick protested, having realized something was going on
"It's too late." a voice contradicted – the tone wavering between cold and worried "The coin has been picked. The Romans sins must be atoned for."
Jason eyes widened at the affirmation, stepping back a bit under the heavy glare sent his way – and suddenly guessing who it was they were seeing.
Adra had told them but a few days ago after all, of the personality split of the gods, and the feud between Greeks and Romans.
Proving a courage far greater than his seven years, the boy bowed as he'd been taught by his father "I know you don't like us my lady, but I can at least make up for what my people did by helping your daughter on this quest."
"A Roman? Helping a Greek?" the laugh was harsh and disbelieving -it was pretty clear Athena was swinging between her Greek and Roman personality, and that the Roman one was particularly bitter, perhaps more even than the Greek one, that seemed more worried for her daughter
It was the worry that won in the end, as she nodded "So be it, little hero." the tone was stern, but less crazed than Minerva's one "But beware… Should you reveal yourself just as treacherous as Romans usually are, I won't be lenient."
"I won't let you down."
¤.¤.¤
"Then the quest is set." the goddess nodded, turning toward Luna "Will you grant use with a prophecy little seer?"
Luna smiled serenely.
And it was the voice of the Queen of the Fae from Gaia that echoed, as her eyes shimmered in impossible colors.
Three to follow the blazing trail
East and West unite or fail
A web of threats to face or fear
At the dawn of Yule all will be clear
The goddess had disappeared as Luna talked – Frederick was still shaking his head in denial, but Annabeth walked to her father, piercing grey eyes fixing him seriously "You know I must do this."
"You're so young still."
"To be fair, it's clear mother hadn't intended this quest for me, or at least not right now… But now that I've picked it up…" she hugged the professor lovingly "I won't say I'm not scared, but I know I have to do this." a smile, then she stepped back a few steps "Besides, I won't be alone."
"You're the one explaining this to Remus once your back." Pyxis said dryly to Jason "He's going to be driven mad with worry."
Jason nodded, both a bit guilty, but quite certain of himself.
Piper hesitated "I…"
"Don't have to come." Annabeth reassured the daughter of Aphrodite "We're young, and I know you really don't like fighting and there's going to be this, and more in a quest. Your time will come eventually."
The argument seemed to hit true, as Piper noded one, both grateful and reluctant, and smiled brightly despite the worry in her eyes "May Nike show you the way, Annabeth, Jason. I'll pray for you."
"And I'll come along." Adra added "After all, if you want to be done by Yule, you'll need someone able to move around quickly!"
Annabeth nodded – she had realized after all, that this line of the prophecy hinted that they had less than forty-eight hours to pull off this quest since it was the 19th right now.
"So, you're the leader," Jason commented to the grey-eyed girl "So where are we going?"
"The trap-door under a heavy layer of Mist in the ground of the temple with an owl symbol burning would be a good starting point." the daughter of Athena dead-panned
Jason did a double-take – as did Frederick, Piper and Hermione "Wow, OK, this is impressive I didn't even see it! Good job wise girl!"
Annabeth turned toward her father "Well, we're going." a smile "See you for Yule."
"Take care, baby girl." Frederick whispered as the trio of questing half-bloods settled my the floor, messing with what appeared to be a mechanism – before disappearing unnaturally fast in the darkness below
[Life Quest updated! Athena's Mark…
Goal Complete: Annabeth was given Athena's mark
Reward: +10XP
Bonus Goal Complete: a Prophecy was given
Reward: +20XP, +1PP
Bonus Goal Complete: a proper quest party was assembled
Reward: +20XP, unlocks Fate Willing Perk]
[next perk unlocked
Fate Willing (5PP): +2 LUCK, +10 Divination
Available: 12PP]
[Level up! You are now level 44!
+1SP]
"Oh this is nerve wracking." Frederick groaned "I'd hope to have a few more years to prepare myself!"
"Don't worry," Sirius reassured him "With Adra there, things will turn as best as they could."
"It's true she couldn't have had a better back up for her quest." the History professor had to admit "Doesn't mean I don't need a drink right now."
"We could use a scrying bowl to check on their progress…" the Egyptian god suggested, gaining an intrigued glance for Hermione
Catching his class-mate curiosity, he explained "It's an alternate form of magic, usually best for divination, but it is possible to divine the present too. The downside is that you can only see a surface the size of the bowl… But there's a pond in the Black Moon House."
Frederick was nodding enthusiastically "Yes, this, let's do this! The gods bless Egyptian magic!"
The Egyptian god present raised an eyebrow, rather amused at the redundant bit of worship, and Pyxis was opening a portal through his shadows – earning half a dozen questions from Hermione, who'd never seen him use those before, and was using the questions to keep the worry at bay.
¤.¤.¤
As soon as they'd managed to open the trap door, the atmosphere changed drastically.
Annabeth and Jason both felt it immediately, though they weren't quite sure what was going on, while Adra frowned "We're not quite in the mortal world anymore." she informed them
"Well," Annabeth mused, getting her favorite celestial bronze dagger out of her Inventory, calling the wardrobe system to equip the arm-guards she'd received as spoil of war the previous summer "Everyone at the ready then."
With a call to Chaos Game, Adra's clothes changed from her regular ones to her favored battle outfit – Kitsune haori tucked in a short enchanted hakama-skirt, Amestrian military boots in her feet and Alpha mask to the side of her face. Fuurinkiba was clearly visible to her side, and her wand was easily accessible on her arm.
Jason had a Roman Imperial Gold sword, large enough that the boy had to strap it to his back, and a basic but well-fitted leather armor that Remus had had made in Diagon Alley for the boy to get used to more equipment before he joined Camp Jupiter. It wasn't ideal for a quest – but they'd have to make do.
They crept carefully in the corridor that looked like a very old sewage system, with old stone walls smooted by time, and murky, ankle-deep water running in the middle – Adra was rather stunned to realize she knew this feeling, though she hadn't encountered it in this world yet…
The corridor in front and behind them was strangely blurry, and just like with Duat travel, or like the Mist travel Shippou did, she knew they'd covered far more ground than they though.
This was when the corridor suddenly enlarged, and they stumbled in a very large, still underground area – which looked startlingly similar to a ranch like seen in western films…
On the wooden arch that signaled the entrance, the words "Triple G Ranch"
"Oh, intruders, eh?" a voice mused -dangerous yet not, they realized, truly hostile
Indeed the man, with his long, unkempt, white hair and his cowboy outfit, looked rather reluctant as he stated "Ah well, the rules are the rules, and any trespassers are to be taken to the boss!"
"What! We're not trespassers!" Jason protested hotly "We didn't even mean to arrive here!"
The man, whose face was weathered by time, seemed rather sympathetic as he explained "Doesn't change anything, and Geryon doesn't like much you half-bloods lot."
Annabeth's face scrunched up, as if she was trying to remember something, but did gesture for them to follow the man peacefully for now.
The followed the old coboy toward the ranch's main building, where a largemonster, looking like some kind of demented deformed experimentation, with the lower half of a man, though as tall as a regular man – and the upper body composed of three men's torsos.
His voice boomed loudly "Ah! Eurythion my lad, what to we have here?"
"Intruders, boss."
The laugh was just as grating as the voice "Look at that, baby half-bloods! I guess the horses are having an extra tonight!"
It tilted for Adra then – this the stable where Hercules had had to do one of his twelve labors, though the man – or rather monster – seemed to have expanded his business over the centuries…
Clearly, Annabeth had noticed as much, as she protested "Wait! I'm sure we can arrange something else! We are so small we'd barely be an appetizer for those magnificent horses we spotted while arriving!"
The monster's laugh redoubled "Oh! It's true my stables need a bit of cleaning…" his smile was predatory "But then again, you're not the first half-bloods to offer your services!"
"Then clearly, they either didn't manage, or it was a long time ago." the little girl retorted back with a rather impressive mettle
"None of them ever manage! Nbut I'll you have the same deal as they all had if you're so eager… Twelve hours! I'll give you twelve hours to clean up the stables, other wise…" he pointed toward the rather feral looking horses "You'll be horse feed."
With that, he gestured the cowboy that had escorted in "Get them to the stable my lad, would you"?"
"Sure thing boss."
The reluctance was clear enough in his voice, though he complied, that said boss was still laughing when they exited the building.
¤.¤.¤
"Why do you work for this bastard?" Jason couldn't help but answer
"That's a part of the deal I signed." the white-haired man answered with a resigned sigh 'There's nothing to do about it."
Yet – as they crossed the pastures where beyond the famous flesh-eating horses, they could see firer-breathing horses, giant scorpions, and even – Adra had to make a double-take at the latest beasts, some downtrodden looking red cattle from which she could feel the faint powers of lower ranked holy servants…
"What are those?" she asked Eurythion, who badly hid his wince
"Oh, these are meat cattle."
The goddess raised an eyebrow, and could see the man preventing himself from shuffling awkwardly as he explained, false cheer in his voice "Of course! We've come a long way from the days we merely bred flesh-eating horses! Cattle are an important part of our trade, even endorsed by the gods!"
"Endorsed by the gods, uh…" Adrasteia repeated, eyes still set on the brightly colored cattle - the clearly godly favored cattle that she sincerely doubted were meant to be meat cattle
"Indeed! But here, this is where you're going to work!" he pointed out, clearly enthusiastic at the idea of diverting her attention
Still despite how uncomfortable he seemed about her questions, he seemed genuine enough as he wished them good luck.
The herd of dangerous horses, turned toward them, teeth drawn in a spooky smile – Adra, thanks to her beast speak ability, could here them crow about "New, live food."
Worst, the beasts stables were the dirtiest they'd ever seen, filled with manure, with humans and other creatures bones laying here and there, clearly not having been cleaned in quite a while.
"How did Hercules manage this task?" Jason whispered to Annabeth, proving that clearly, he too had realized where they were
"By convincing the spirits of the nearby river to help…" Annabeth winced, eyeing the waterbed not too far from them "This would be a good time for Percy to be with us."
"Well, Seaweed brain isn't there, so clearly we're going to have to do without him.'"Jupiter's son retorted, making Adra snort – the friendly rivalry between the two boys never failed to amuse her
"Somehow, I doubt even an overpowered Aguamenti would work…" she mused
"Could you try one anyway?" Annabeth asked "Just so we can see what it does, if anything at all?"
Adra nodded, taking her trusty wand out and gathering her powers.
While water magic was elemental in nature, and thus tied to Life, she did have a small blessing for all elemental nature despite her own nature as Death's sister.
The spell that came out, thanks to this and her own powerful magic affinity, was rather powerful, water flooding the whole stables nearly up to their ankles. Really impressive – but barely enough to move a few dredges of the dreadfully dirty stables…
Annabeth nodded thoughtfully, and turned toward Jason "You have started to learn to fly, right?"
"Yes?" the younger boy agreed hesitantly, clearly nod seeing where she was going
"So you can manipulate wind bursts?"
"Somewhat…"
"Then!" Annabeth smiled, plan now made "Adra will call more water, and you'll rune the wind outward to help the manure move, and I'll help sweep it up behind the two of you!"
Jason stood mouth agape for a moment, while Adrasteia's smile widened – and finally the Roman god nodded "Wow! Yes, great, we'll do that!" he agreed eagerly "No wonder Percy said that when in doubt, the best solution was always to listen to you!" he laughed "I though he was just lazy!"
With that, the three questing heroes went to work – the lone witch among them giving out Pepper Up potions a few hours in when the weariness started to settle in, musing that she really should work on an ambrosia or nectar laced versions for the demi-gods, as the regular potions clearly worked less effectively on them than on regular mortals.
[Life Quest updated! Athena's Mark…
Goal Complete: you've managed to complete Geryon task
Reward: +10XP]
The three children shared glances of disgust as they eyed the state they were in -it had taken them a bit more than ten out of the eleven hours they'd been allotted to manage their task, and they were now so filthy they could barely manage to look at themselves…
"Shall we make use of the nearby river?" Adra was the one to suggest – having already tried a few powerful Scourgify, that hadn't been enough against the thick coat of grim and manure
"Will it be safe?"Annabeth wondered, torn between wanting to clean herself up and the natural weariness of any half-blood out on a quest
"If we only wash one at a time, with the other two keeping guard…"
¤.¤.¤
Both Jason and Annabeth had been a bit reluctant, but the temptation to be clean again was far too big for either of them to resist.
"Why aren't you embarrassed at all?" Jason, who'd volunteered to be the last one to go, asked as Adra was the one of the two look-out looking in his direction
He could see Annabeth tilt her hear from her position keeping watch on dangers coming from the other side, clearly curious too.
"Well, first thing is… I live with Leifr and Alys, and my room-mate at Hogwarts, Blaise is a gender-fluid demi-god, just like them." she reminded them
Annabeth and Jason's eyes widened, neither having really realized that leaving with those half-bloods, be it at the Black Moon Mansion or at school meant that indeed, Adrasteia was rather used to people of either gender.
"But beyond that," she went on, voice dropping into what all of the young half-bloods deemeds her 'teaching voice' "You'll have to realize that being embarrassed is really counter productive and dangerous."
"Dangerous?" Annabeth was the one to ask, voice rising a bit
"Well yes. Whether we like it or not, as half-bloods, we'll always be preys to the monsters." the eleven year old went on explaining
Both Roman and Greek demi-god had to nod at this – even Jason, as young as he was, faintly remembered his very early years, when Thalia was the only one desperately protecting him from the world…
"There's a lot of things to learn, to take the fight back from the monsters and become the hunter rather than the prey." she said, something she'd already expressed quite a few time before
"And being sufficiently at easy with both your, and others' people body is an important part of this." she went on "Sure, as puberty hits, you'll learn to appreciate the beauty of the feminine or masculine shape depending on your preferences…" she easily admitted
"But you'll have truly mastered yourself when you'll learn that to admit that… Yes the body you're seeing is beautiful, or on the contrary quite unappealing… And no, it's not necessarily the time to care about it."
"Well said indeed." Eurythion's voice interrupted as the cowboy arrived toward them
The cowboy seemed both awed, and sad at their feat.
"You don't think your boss is going to keep to his end of the deal, do you?"Adra mused
"You didn't make him swear." the other easily agreed
Annabeth's eyes widened, and she looked ready to hit herself. Any half-blood worth it's salt knew that monsters weren't to be trusted, so why didn't she remember to make Geryon swear by the Styx?
"Hey," Jason reassured her as he was putting on his clothes again "I didn't remember it either, don't beat yourself about it." a smirk "I'm sure we can take him on anyway."
The reassurance calmed her down – and she couldn't help but be rather impressed that the boy, despite being even younger than her, had managed to keep his head so cool. She wondered if it was because he was a child of the Big Three, because he was Roman, or simply natural talent.
"Say…" Annabeth couldn't help but ask, having seen how reluctant the cowboy was to take them to his boss "Why are you working for this guy anyway, you don't look like you're enjoying it!"
"I do like the beasties… Even if not the way we take care of them." he contradicted her "But as for the boss," a shrug "I was stupid and got done in by a contract."
"Contracts have loopholes." she contradicted automatically
"That may be," he agreed "but I'm a son of Ares, not a brainy kid like you."
"Well," Adrasteia mused "we're a bit on the clock right now, but once we've taken care of your boss, I do happen to have a someone who'll know how to get you out of this contract if it's possible."
"Yeah! Go dad!" Jason cheered, guessing easily she was making the proxy of House Potter take the case
Remus may not be a lawyer himself – he'd been working in politics for a decade now, and as such had had quite a few dealings with the official Potter lawyer.
Eurythion had a hint of hope in his eyes.
"Tell you what…" he smiled "Can't help you with the boss… But I do have to feed Appolo's cattle, so I may not be able to help him either. May the gods favor you."
The trio nodded seriously – and soon, they were splitting in front of the ranch's main house, the cowboy going back to work just like he'd said while Annabeth called, far more boldly than she really felt "Come out Geryon! Your stables are clean, and it's time for you to held your part of the bargain!"
The tall monster did come out, a stunned look on his face.
"Clean you say?" he repeated "Well, let's see it!"
They trekked back to the stables, the deadly horses looking just as eager to eat their master as they had the demi-gods – only kept at bay by the deep instinct that told them Adra wasn't a prey but a predator to them.
"Clean indeed." the monster nodded "Well," his smile was wide and full of yellow teeth "I thank you for your work, really but I'm afraid my horses still need some food for the day!"
"Surprise, surprise." Jason grumbled, as the man let out a shrieking whistle that seemed to agitated the horses
The next moment, all the monsters – Geryon included – were attacking.
¤.¤.¤
Of course, the questing trio had been ready for it.
"I'll take care of the horses." Adra shouted toward Athena's daughter
"Then we'll take care of big and ugly!" she answered, dodging right under one pair of hands while Jason was going left
Adrasteia turned her back to them, trusting the duo to manage – they'd both been trained since they were five year old, had been taken monster hunting a few times over the years to teach them how a real battle felt – had had Chaos' Game help, for over a year for Annabeth and a few months for Jason.
Thunder crackled in the underground ranch, and she smiled, knowing they'd be alright.
She focused her attention back on the horses.
Thanks to her beastspeak, she could hear the crazy mutters – hear their natural weariness of Death battling with their unnatural hunger.
She let the usual control she had on her glamour and her senses recede back, twelve tails waving in her back and round ears turning sharp – fangs replaced her canines, and claws her nails, and she smirked at the herd in clear defiance.
What appeared to be the leading stallion snorted in rage, and stomped forward, drool dripping along his jaw and bulging, blood-injected eyes sparkling in madness as he answered the challenge.
She saw fro the corner of her eyes the rest of the herd fan in a circle around them, and heard what must have been the clearest sentence coming from the horses as the stallion kicked the ground in front of her "Will you dare face me with your claws, little alpha?"
Her smirk grew bloodthirsty, and she dropped Fuurin back in it's sheathe.
She wasn't that surprised – after all, youkai in this world were spirits, quite similarly to the monsters. They were wilder than their counterparts from her own world, more tied to their instincts…
This would be a true battle for dominance over the herd – the pack.
Monster against monster.
The girl could only feel a flicker of regret at the fact she had made so little progress on her True Form but didn't let it deter her.
While she did best with a blade, she hadn't trained only in it, and the rather powerful youkai instinct would help make up for the know how she may be lacking.
Taking a crouching position, she dropped closer to the ground – and pounced just as the flesh-eating stallion charged forward, deadly teeth clattering so close it made her ears pop. She grabbed the beast around the neck, claws digging trough skin and flesh.
The monster reared back, violently shaking himself to dislodge her, a scream of both pain and rage escaping it's mouth. With a shake more powerful than the previous, Adra had to let go, rolling a few times on the ground – then one more time to escape the dangerous hooves that hadn't wasted a second in trying to stomp her.
She got back up, bruises already sprouting from her fall, hands covered in gore.
The next few moments, she spent dodging around, looking for a window to get back on the offensive, but the stallion, mad as he was, was far from stupid and didn't want to let her anywhere near it's throat again.
Of course, Adra mused as she threw herself under his hooves, wincing as she felt her ankle getting hit – the throat was far from the only tender part on a horse.
Claws dug deep in the monster's belly, making him rear up once more, and this time she got away before he could shake her up, jumping back – and forward just as fast.
This was something she'd never done in human form as Taishou Tsukiko, Adrasteia mused – as this time, her claws hit the jugular, spraying her and the ground around in blood.
The stallion's knees hit the ground – and before he could die, the mare, gelding and non leading stallions all swooping on their former leader, ready to eat him just as they did half-bloods and other creatures.
Adra let an inhuman snarl escape her throat – and the herd was stepping back, neck bowing as they acknowledged her position as their new leader.
[Hunt Complete: Flesh Eating Horses (LV50)!
Reward: +10XP, unlocks Flesh-Eating Herd Spirit, Flesh-Eating Alpha Stallion and Flesh-Eating StampedePerks]
[New Perk unlocked
Flesh Eating Herd-Spirit (1PP): +10% to shields and defense when fighting in a group
Flesh Eating Alpha Stallion (2 PP): +10% to attack when leading a group
Flesh-Eating Stampede (10 PP): you may call the herd to your help once a month
Available: 12PP]
¤.¤.¤
Battle over, Adra turned her attention toward Annabeth and Jason.
She could feel the herd's emotion and hear what they said far better now – and there was deep hatred and fear when they saw Geryon. She wondered how bad the monster must have treated what had once upon a time been regular horses for them to became the terrifying creature they now were.
She also hoped that Eurythion, once freed from his contract, would be able to turn them back – if not to regular horses, at least to less vicious creatures…
Annabeth and Jason, as young as they were, were demi-gods, with fighting in their blood – and right now it shone clearly, as both had taken a few scraps and hit, but had given as good as they got.
Annabeth' eyes lit up when she saw Adra coming their way, making the witch just know Athena's daughter had a plan.
"Jason can use his lightning again to immobilize this big lump, but alone I couldn't get hit a weak point in three different bodies at once." she explained as Adra arrived next to her, not even batting an eye at how covered in the blood the other girl was
"But with two of us…"
"We'll manage." Annabeth nodded as the British girl took out her tanto
A few meters away, Jason, who'd clearly had been waiting for this, closed his eyes in concentration, making Geryon laugh and taunt him "Giving up, little boy?"
The next moment, lightning was raining, and Annabeth and Adra launching themselves, each toward a different torso of the monster, Adra to the left, Annabeth to the right, they swiftly made use of their blade and using her free hand, the witch spent a spell toward the last torso.
Geryon fell to the ground, dispelling in a heavy cloud of golden dust before he'd touched the ground.
After that, Pyxis and Mooney had been called to deal with Eurythion's contract problems, the man clearly looking forward to be able to truly car for the ranch's creature rather than abide by his boss' torturous way, Adra had forbidden the flesh-eating horses to eat sentient creature and admonished them to listen to the cowboy, and after being told what quest they were in, the son of Ares, after thinking a bit, had shrugged "I can't say I really know about the statue… but there's an exit in Rome, next to a Mithra temple. I mean, since it's the Romans that stole it…"
[Life Quest updated! Athena's Mark…
Bonus Goal Complete: You've helped Eurythion
Reward: +20XP, +1PP]
"Of course!" Annabeth' eyes widened "I mean, they were war like but not particularly cunning!" she said, clearly talking about the old empire "They would hid the statue in the heart of their empire!" a wistful sigh "Oh if only were weren't on such a short time-line, I'd love to sight-see in Rome…"
"We'll do that one day." Jason, not taking umbrage of the 'not cunning' comment, reassured her, patting her on the back – which was rather an amusing sigh given that the Roman demi-god was still smaller than her
Adra had taken a rapid dip in the river once more – and Eurythion had led them toward a new corridor behind the ranch's main house.
Once more, Adra could feel that space was distorted around them as they progressed – and after a few more event-less hours, the corridor changed once more, the smoothed, man-made stones replaced by a more natural tunnel.
Something started to ping on Adra's senses – and as they reached a large cavern, she suddenly understood why.
"This is a temple." Jason mused
"A temple to Mithras." Annabeth shimmed in – they had just been visiting one of those after all
"And souls that have no business being here." Adra concluded, as a dozen of ghost appeared around them
Except, contrarily to the shade that she'd met in Hogwarts, or the Lares of Camp Jupiter that were minor deities, those were souls that had lingered on.
Most of them wore the Roman legionary uniform, but a few wore togas.
All of them, she could fell, had anchored themselves to the large, golden statue of Mithras, torch in one hand, gladius in the other, that took the place of honor in the cave. There was a faint feeling coming from said statue, making Adrasteia wince – this was all that was left of the faded god, she realized.
"Intruders!" the wraiths shout-whispered, their voice echoing strangely in the cave
"Unbelievers!" the one that wore a more elaborated toga added louder
"Graecus! Here to steal from the Empire!" another said, pointing an accusing finger toward Annabeth
"You're the one that stole from us first!" the girl couldn't help to answer indignantly
"They aren't sane enough to reason with." Adra said, laying a hand on her arm to calm her down
The younger girl blushed, a bit embarrassed to have so easily fallen to the ghosts taunts. Trying to redeem herself, she eyed the cave – and felt a hint of sadness.
This may not be a god she prayed to, it really was a shame to see a temple that must have been beautiful in it's own way now reduced to a dilapidated cave all but ready to fall on itself…
"Death to the unbelievers!"
And just like that, she felt the spark of pity fade.
"Choose you death! Fire or dagger!"
¤.¤.¤
She rolled her eyes – she had no intention to die here after all. She was about to state as much when Adra's aura flared around them, filling the cave so much she could nearly see the flood of magic and godly powers. Annabeth stilled, both awed and feeling the same sort of anxious nervousness she felt when she met her mother.
The demi-goddess wasn't stupid – it was rather easy to guess there was more to the Potter heiress and the two Black than what they showed on a daily basis, and clearly it wasn't really hidden, more unspoken of until needed.
The spirit, apparently, must have triggered something for the girl she'd know since as long as she could remember to finally show her powers in front of her.
"I'm sorry, but lingering souls are something that would be rather difficult for you to take care of." Adra said "And it is part of my job to ensure they end up where they are supposed to."
Annabeth smiled – it really was just like the witch to both perform an astounding feat and humbly explain herself to the leader of the quest.
"There is a reason why we're three in this quest." she pointed out, falling behind the other girl with Jason
The boy, she noted, didn't seem too surprised, so she asked "So? What made her react, you seem to have an idea?"
"The souls, I'd say." the boy mused "Dad explained to me that the ghosts of Hogwarts aren't souls but shades, echoes a wix left behind. Those aren't echoes." a shrug "Mind you, it's just a guest I was a baby last time she used her powers so I don't remember what happened back then and all I know is that it had something to do with fate and prophecies…"
Annabeth nodded her thanks for the answer – that truth be told had only increased her curiosity, as she was making and discarding multiple theories regarding the third member of their questing group – and both of them focused on the girl, and the ghost.
The ghost that were quite clearly unable to even move anymore, with just her one flare of power, and were now eyeing her with wide and fearful eyes.
Whispers of "Mors" and "Mara" echoed in the cave, and it took Annabeth but a moment to remember that Mors was Thanatos' Roman name.
"Do you have enough powers left to take form?" Adra asked, seemingly to no one as she was quite clearly ignoring the frighted souls
For a few seconds, it looked as if nothing was happening – then Mithras' statue flared in golden powers, gaining a few hopeful whispers from it's worshipers – and a new silhouette appeared.
The god – and it wasn't hard to guess that it was him, as the statue really did look like him – must have been pretty impressive once upon a time, all golden skin and hair, fine features and light green eyes.
But he was looking like a ghost himself, colors faded and body see-through, and there was weariness plain to be seen on his regal features.
"Don't be too hard on my faithfuls, Old One." he asked "They took their oaths to heart and paid the price for it."
Mithras, Annabeth remembered – beyond being a god of the Roman legion, had first been a god of light and oaths in Persia.
"Their mind has long since been taken over by madness," Adra answered "they can't linger here anymore."
"I know." the god sighed "I was just selfish and wanted to hand on the last of them for as long as I could…" he closed his eyes "No matter, I've known I was fading for a long time." a shrug "Ever since the legion took me to this place and gave me this unwanted role of guardian."
"Guardian?" Annabeth whispered
Her eyes widened, as suddenly, it was rather evident to her.
Mithras, after all, embodied all that had been taken from her mother's form in Minerva.
"You are hiding the Athena Parthenos!"
"I am the door-holder." he corrected "Do not make the mistake to believe I'm the only guardian, or you'll die like your siblings before you."
Annabeth whitened as she finally acknowledged the bones in the cave, and discarded celestial bronze weapons.
"Isn't telling this to us as good as breaking your oath?" she couldn't help but ask
"My oath ties me to my faithfuls." Mithras answered, casting a sad glance to the ghost "And the dead don't belong to me."
Annabeth felt the sadness she'd felt earlier spike back – it was easily to empathized with them when they weren't trying to kill her after all.
"You faithfuls are long overdue in the Underworld," Adra agreed "But you don't have to stay here anymore either…" she pointed out softly
"I can pray to you." Jason pointed out easily "I'm a Roman. And oaths and light are things I can stand behind."
"It's generous of you," the nearly-faded god admitted with a faint smile "But I'm afraid it won't be enough."
"I won't make him better." Adra agreed "But it will held you in this state." she added toward the god
"Half-faded?" Mithras waved a see-through hand "I might as well disappear if people don't need meanymore!"
"There's still a legion though!" Jason protested "I just have to remind them of you!" a stubborn nod "I will remind them…. Once I'm there."
Annabeth had to contain a laugh at the last part – this stubborn streak, she was pretty sure, came from Thalia and his godly father. But while she didn't particularly intend to pray to the god that had participated in making her mother so much less than she really was among the Romans, she could understand the boy's wanting to help Mithras.
Jason was a Roman after all, for all that he hadn't stepped foot in Camp Jupiter yet, and it shone in his personality – and not in a bad way at all. Despite his young age, the boy cared about honor and was true to his word, he had a real fascination for military history rather than lone heroes stories, and knew both how to respect authority yet think for himself.
¤.¤.¤
"Go to New Rome." Adrasteia advised the god "Jason will pray to you no matter how hard you try to discourage him," a smile "and I do have access to the camp, I can give them a reminder."
Seeing it wasn't worth protesting – and hoping, against all odds, not to completely fade, Mithras bowed his head toward all three of them "You have my thanks, Old One, young Roman." then toward Annabeth "I wish you better luck than your siblings. Rest at my temple, it can still be a safe haven for you tonight…"
With that, the see-through silhouette disappeared, and Adra turned her attention back toward the ghosts that seemed far more sane than they'd been earlier.
"It is our time, then?" the once that appeared to be their leader asked with both reluctant acceptance and weary hope
"You've kept to you oath far beyond what you needed." Adra agreed "It is more than time for Greek and Roman to put their feud to the side."
"I can't imagine it…" the ghost admitted "But it is as you said, this world has long since stopped being our." a shrug "Maybe are descendants have change enough that they really can have peace between them…" he mused, looking at Jason and Annabeth amicably standing side by side
Adra's powers swirled, and while Annabeth and Jason shivered a bit at the cold feeling that seeped throught their body for a moment, the ghost had a peaceful smile on their face as they disappeared.
[Life Quest updated! Athena's Mark…
Goal Complete: You've cleared Mithras protection
Reward: +10XP
Bonus Goal Complete: the ghosts of Mithras' faithfuls were exorcised
Reward: +20XP, +1PP]
"Well," Adra mused "let's take advantage of Mithras' welcome."
Annabeth and Jason nodded – Between the cleaning of the flesh-eating horses, the fight against Geryon and the hours spent trudging through the tunnels, it was probably already quite deep into the night, and they were more than ready to rest a bit.
"I'll take first watch." Adra reassured them
Both younger children nodded their thanks – and Adra took a look around the area. Just like Annabeth, she saw the bones weathered by time, the weapons of the fallen warriors… Her eyes widened in surprise as she noted that all shared on accessory that seemed to have weathered the assault of time fairly – an accessory she was rather familiar with at that.
Getting up from the fire around which Jason and Annabeth slumbered in the sleeping bags both kept in their Inventories, she went about, gathering the weapons, bodies and beads, to be taken back to Camp Half-Blood.
It may have taken a long time – but the Greek half-bloods deserved to get home one last time.
When she was woken up a few hours later for her watch turn, Annabeth realized immediately what the witch had done – and nodded her thanks, throat too tight to speak.
There was over a dozen necklaces adorned in the wooden beads that symbolized each summer spent at Camp. And those – had all belonged to her siblings.
She wavered a second, ready to put the beads in her Inventory, like she knew Adra had already done for the weapons and bones.
Then shaking her head, instead methodically went to tied each necklace around next her own. They would see this quest through – with her – she vowed silently, not noticing Adra's eyes slightly widening as she felt the echo of numerous half-bloods answer to her vow
A few hours later, last watch turn done with, the three of them were heading toward the two tunnels behind Mithras' statue. One, going upside, probably lead to Rome they guessed.
The other, going downward, had an owl symbol that started blazing as soon as Annabeth approached.
Down then went, this tunnel looking far more decrepit and menacing than those they'd traveled through the day before. Soon, Adra was taking her wand out, sending a few shinning spheres of light floating above and around them.
Then, the spiderwebs started to appear.
Jason and Adrasteia shared a worried glance – both of them knew well of their friends more than justified arachnophobia.
"Well," the daughter of Athena said, voice shaking "I guess we know who's the last guardian. It is logical I guess, to put someone that hates all of mother's children to prevent us from getting the statue…"
It was rather clear that talking was helping her cope with her fear – so despite the fact that staying silent would probably have been more logical with an enemy at the end of the road, both Jason and Adra answered and kept the girl talking as the spiderwebs grew more and more numerous.
¤.¤.¤
Finally, followed on all side by a slew of spiders of every size, the trio arrived in front of a gaping chasm, so dark even the floating lights summoned by Adra failed to reveal it's depths.
The goddess frowned as she realized that a familiar feeling was emanating from it – the familiar, strange feeling of the Dream World, albeit a rather sinister version of it. This wasn't an opening toward a pantheon's Underworld or Domain, this was a breach in a prison for particularly malevolent beings.
"Well," Jason mused 'this looks like a big fall."
"You can fly." Annabeth reminded the boy dryly "And Adra has her portals." a sigh "I really would have been in trouble if I'd been alone though."
"I'm sure you'd have found something." Adra reassure her "Knowing you, you already have some ideas, right?"
"There's the silk…" Annabeth admitted reluctantly – neither of her quest partners calling her out for omitting the word 'spider' "I'm pretty sure it's sturdy enough to craft a makeshift rope." a shrug as she eyed the other side "I could throw it like a lasso, there's a few rock that should be good to hold a rope."
"See." Jason smiled "You'd have taken more time, but you'd still have managed."
"Wouldn't have been enjoyable though." the daughter of Athena said, not needing to fake her shudder at the idea of using anything related to spiders
"Now that we've established that like always Wise Girl had a plan B," Adra winked, shadows swirling in front of her – and opening a few meters ahead on the other side of the breach "shall we?"
Annabeth nodded firmly, stepping forward first, dagger in hand "Let's finish this." she agreed
The trio moved forward in a tunnel where the spiderwebs were more and more elaborated – until they were true work of art.
"You know," Jason mused "I don't get why your mother punished Arachne, she really is good at weaving."
"She is, and it isn't why mother punished her." Annabeth explained "The story got distorted with time, but mother did agree to a tie when then battled. Her punishment was for her arrogance in mocking the gods."
"Ouch." the boy winced "Yeah, Roman and Greek are rather alike on this one, they don't like disrespect."
"Oh, intruders, come, come closer child, let me see who managed to come so far…"
The voice was strangely sweet, and nearly hypnotic – but any effect it may have was countered by the rather fearsome figure Arachne cut, a female upper-body on a gigantic spider body. The humanoid half may have been beautiful one day, but the long black hair were unkempt, and the rib-cage nearly visible through the skin proof that the monster was far too thin. The mother of all spiders' eyes widened when the trio stepped into the large room that was her lair.
"A questing party. How… Unexpected." she seemed unsettled "Never before did that wretched woman send a party." a snort "Has her pride finally been damaged enough that she lowered herself to ask for help?"
"This wretched woman is my mother." Annabeth commented coldly "And the only reason why you're still alive."
"And I should be thankful? I wanted to die! She took the best thing in my life and destroyed it, then she condemned me to eternity!"
"This form isn't a curse." Adrasteia pointed out "If it was, you wouldn't be able to still do the one thing you loved above all."
"True," Annabeth shimmed in, pointing to all the startlingly life-like tapestry around her "look at all this, isn't it the proof she respected you ability enough to give you an eternity of honing them?"
"An eternity stuck underground."
The demi-goddess snorted "You're seriously trying to say that it's Athena's fault if you're guarding the statue the Roman stole? No the only one at fault here is you, and your spite!" she retorted heatedly "You are the one to held on a grudge so deeply you've punished all of us children for it, and have kept my mother suffering for centuries!" she shook her head "Your work is beautiful, perhaps even truly better than Athena's now that you've spent so long honing it… But you're no better than the gods you mocked in your tapestries, eaten by your flaws and blind to them."
Something, in the heated speech, had given pause to the monster, the trio noted.
"You… A daughter of Athena… Would say I'm better than her?"
"When it comes to weaving?" Annabeth shrugged, not really seeing the problem in repeating what she'd said "Sure. Mother invented it, and you'll never be able to take this away from her, but you really do have a gift, even she agreed."
The half-woman, half-spider, creature frowned.
"Impossible… They told me she cursed me, that this was why I couldn't leave this room."
Adra's eyes widened at this affirmation, and she let her ability to feel and see magic come forward.
"The only thing keeping you here are wards." she said "Powerful wards, but wards nonetheless. Wixen-made wards."
"Wixen?"
"Magic users. Witches, wizards." Adra answered "Mortals that have inherited Hecate's or any other deity of magic's blessing. Mortals." she reitared once more, puting the emphasis on what was truly the more important of her explanation
While she was rather bitter toward Athena and her children – it clearly didn't extend to other demi-gods, and while she seemed cautiously dubious at first, Arachne was clearly thinking through what the witch was saying, remembering something...
"They told me it was to protect me!" she whispered, voice seething as she realized she'd been fooled "They told me that otherwise Athena would send her children to kill me and that only by keeping her powers sealed I could avoid it!"
"But it was not for you that we came." Annabeth corrected "It was for this." she gestured toward the middle of the room, where a gigantic cocoon didn't quite hide the power swirling around the twelve meters tall statue at this distance, no matter how well it may hide it from further away
¤.¤.¤
"Can it be undone?" there was – a hint of despair in her voice
Suddenly, the trio wondered how long she'd spent alone with a statue whose powers clearly were waging wars against her, who knew how deep under Rome, in a place that looked to have been forgotten since at least the fall of the Empire.
Adra focused her attention to the wards.
Pyxis had been the one doing most of the work on the wards, half-magicals, half-godly powers, that they'd set up around the Lotus Casino about fourteen months after rescuing Nico and Bianca from the place, but she'd still learned quite a bit about the topic. Add to this her in-depth knowledge about runes and arithmancy that meant all seventh years at Hogwarts were going to be useless to her on those topic – she may as well take the OWLs and NEWTs on it during the holidays, now that she thought about it – and well, she could elaborate a few theories, make d owith guess-work and…
Powerful those wards may be, they were still well over two thousand years old, some progress had been done on the topic since then.
"I can break them." she nodded after a few moments of thinking – during which Jason and Annabeth had found themselves looking at the multiple tapestries around the room with renewed awe
"But… You must give us back the Athena Parthenos." Annabeth pointed out, looking to be rather angry at herself to say this to someone that only wanted to be set free, yet still wanting to complete her quest
Arachne herself it seemed could see that the girl was conflicted.
She eyed the gigantic cocoon she'd spent so long hiding.
"Take it." she agreed "If you can really free me, I don't care anymore. Greek, Romans." there was new-born resentment in her eyes with the last word "They're all the same in the end… I just want to see the sky again… And preferably, no Greek or Roman ever again."
Annabeth nodded.
It was surprisingly hurtful to hear someone put all of your people in one big basket and declared them not worth of her time – but at the same time, given that it was Arachne… She much preferred indifference to the centuries of hatred and resentment.
"As long as you don't go to North America, it shouldn't be too hard to avoid them." Adra explained "And well, wixen did trap you, but nowadays we don't have anything from spirtis as long as they don't hurt us…" she eyed the tapestries around once more "And quite a few people would pay a very high price for any of those."
¤.¤.¤
Adra took the room in.
The floor was thin under the multiple coating of webbing that were apparently keeping all the room from falling – under, toward the malevolent feeling the goddess had already felt earlier.
And breaking the ward – may well send them all tumbling in the void.
She turned toward Arachne "I'm going to need your help." she said, explaining what she'd noticed about the ground
"Yes," the half-spider woman agreed "Athena's spite weakened the area, and dug deeper and deeper, and now I'm afraid that Tartarus itself isn't far under out feet."
The affirmation elicited yelp of fear from Jason and Annabeth, that were now looking at the floor with weary eyes.
"Wow, it's the first time in my life I'm thankful for spiderwebs." Annabeth couldn't help but remark, surprised herself about it – and making Jason laugh
"Well remember the feeling and hold to it." Adra warned "Because we're going to have to have a lot more webs around us if we don't want to all fall to the pit."
"I don't like the sound of this." the daughter of Athena protested, eying both Arachne and Adra in turn before turning toward Jason "She's about to do something I'm going to really hate, right?"
"Well, we can't leave the room without destroying it because of the wards around Arachne. And while I can fly…"
"I'm finding a winged monster to hunt to gain the perk to have wings as soon as we're out of here." Annabeth vowed as Arachne, agreeing to Adra's plan, started to weave more and more strong and sticky silk around them – enough that the entrance of the room now nearly looked like a balcony where the all stood.
Better safe than sorry - she was also gathering enough Perk Points to breath underwater, and any other live-saving physical trick she could think about the daughter of Athena decided in a corner of her brain as she watch Arachne work.
Finally, strong ropes were weaved, winding firmly around the cocoon in which the statue was hidden and anchored in the same area.
"Well," Annabeth said to the monster that had haunted so many of her nightmares as a daufhter of Athena "I'm not too surprise to have my life in your hands," she admitted "but I really didn't expect it to be this way." she completed
"I didn't think I'd ever want to save a daughter of that woman." there was still no respect in the spider's tone – but she hadn't added any insult either, which given how long she'd held on her resentment, meant much - and there was no anymosity toward Annabeth herself anymore, this was quite clear
¤.¤.¤
Adra took her wand out, and pouring power in it, aimed at the large, lozenge-shaped keystone in the center of the roof – Annabeth wondered for a bit how had Romans gotten the idea of a keystone like this one, as architecturally speaking it really was unexpected given how old the room was.
The could feel her magic struggle for a while – then with a loud crack, the stone broke in pieces, and all around them the whole room started to crumble – the three half-bloods and the monster rushed out of the room, and from the corridor, started to struggle to pull up the Athena Parthenos that was now dangling in the newly formed pit.
And it was – far harder than expected between three heroes with bodies far stronger than regular mortals and a monster, it really shouldn't have been this hard. But there was something trying to drag all of them down on the other side – and if this really was a breach toward Tartarus, they really didn't want to fall inside.
Finally, Annabeth growled "We need to do something to make the other-side let go! Adra, do you have anything in stock?"
While her godly powers would work – it would take too much time, the goddess realized easily.
On the other hand, she did know a spell that was meant precisely to reppell malevolent creatures.
She hadn't tried it in this life yet, though she knew that the theory was the same as in her world…
"I've got a spell… But I'll be letting go of the rope!"
"Do it!" Arachne said, just as unwilling as them to get thrown in the gap "I don't want to die for a statue of this woman, and I told you I'd give it back to her!" she said, missing the rather impressed look all three demi-gods were sending her way – they were more than used to be betrayed by monsters after all
The spider woman was creating silk all around them, anchoring them once more to the area so they couldn't be dragged back toward the now destroyed room, and around them a multitude of her children were swarming around, trying to help in their small way – and not even Annabeth found it in herself to panic at their presence..
Adra let go, calling for all of the happiest memories she could find -Sirius offering her a place to stay, in her first life, the few stolen moments with Fred before the war took over… Tsuna and the feeling of completion of sharing a full set of guardian with her brother, Padfoot finding her again, and her first wedding with Reborn.
¤.¤.¤
"Expecto Patronum!"
As Adrasteia Potter, much like in all her incarnations since she'd ascended as a First Circle God, she had many, many more good memories than Harriett Potter.
She had but a moment to wonder if the stag that symbolized he father would have changed, as patronus could sometimes with life-changing events – she had had her share of those after all – then the build of magic flared, two silhouettes bursting from her wand.
A stag.
And a doe.
The two large, silvery spirits, so dense they seemed to be real, raced toward the void – and they all could nearly see the wave of positive magic raging against the breach, as pulling the still cocooned statue suddenly become far easier.
Goddess, half-bloods and monster fell to the ground in the room before the tunnel, near another gap that now felt far less terrifying, while the multitude of spiders around them went to work to seal of the tunnel.
"Such a shame all those work of arts are now lost…" Annabeth couldn't help but mourn as they regained their breath - like quite a few of her siblings, she'd inherited love for weaving, knittings and other similar works from their mother, not that it was the most advertise trait to gain from Athena
Arachne laughed "Art, I can redo, while the pit would have killed us all…" a smile, that transformed her emaciated face "Now that I'm free, I just want to see the sky."
Annabeth nodded "And you will." she promised seriously "We can escort you back to Rome if you wish?"
"With this?" the monster pointed toward the Athena Parthenos, still in her cocoon
"Er... We may have to split up." Annabeth allowed "Adra could take the Athena Partenos to camp while Jason and I come with you."
"It is your quest." Adra contradicted softly "Yours, and that of all of your siblings." she said, pointing toward the numerous necklace around her neck
Shadows swirled "I'll keep the portal open while you and Jason get help from camp to drag the statue. I'll take Arachne see the sky."
Annabeth nodded – and for the first time in centuries, a Greek and a Roman went to report on a completed quest together.
ADRASTEIA LV 44 (11 YO)
BODY
Agility 15(37)
Strenght 10(22)
Endurance 11(14)
SPIRIT
Intelligence 11(43)
Wisdom 16(27)
Fortitude 10(30)
HEART
Empathy 12(17)
Perception 10(32)
Sociability 14(24)
LUCK 13(30)
PERK ACQUIRED (67PP spend, 14PP available)
Black First Rite (1PP): grants Easy Black Magic Potency (+10 to Easy Spells of Battle Magic, War Magic and Curse)
Moon First Rite (1 PP): unlocks Light Battle Aura (+10 to all damages)
Potter First Rite (1 PP): unlocks Sensing Skill up to 25 SP
Ravenclaw First Rite (1 PP): unlocks +10 to easy memory tests and +5 to Mentamancy Skill
Moon Aura (2PP): unlocks a battle aura that grants +10% to all damages when active, and drains 25 MP per minute active
Khonsou'Small Favor (2PP): grants Easy Shielding Magic Potency (+10 damages parried by Easy shield spells)
Thot's Small Favor (2PP): grants Easy Healing Magic Potency (+10 healing done by Easy spells of all Healing Schools)
Black Curse Magic Understanding (3PP): grants +10 to curse
Lovegood Divination Magic Understanding (3PP): grants +10 to divination
Moon Strategy Understanding (3PP): grants +10 to strategy
Peverell Healing Understanding (3PP): grants +10 to healing
Potter Transfiguration Understanding (3PP): grants +10 to transfiguration
Ravenclaw Rune Understanding (3PP): grants +10 to rune
Black Magical Potency (4PP): Grants +10% to MP
Lovegood Light Magic Seeing Ability (4PP): unlocks magic seeing skill up to 25
Moon Blood-stealing Aura (4PP): the Moon aura now allows the user to get back your Blood Skill % of HP per attack
Peverell Reiki Potency (4PP): grants +10% to RP
Potter Reiki Potency (4PP): grants +10% to RP
Black Heir (free): grants +5% MP, one free bloodline talent to be chosen (All Regen rate +5%)
Moon Heir (free): grants +10% KP, one free bloodline talent to be chosen (Atavism)
Peverell Heir (free): grants +5% RP, one free bloodline talent to be chosen (HP +10%)
Potter Heir (free): grants +5% MP, one free bloodline talent to be chosen (RP +10%)
Jack of All Trade (5 PP): +1 SP per level
Natural Genius (2 PP): double book learning rate (locks Hard Work Genius Perk)
A Father's Strength (5 PP):+5 to all Communication
Blood of the Pharao (5PP): unlocks all Egyptian Magics
Cyclop's Skin (2PP): +5 to Physical and Elemental Resistance
Slytherin Member (free): +2 WIS, access to the Slytherin Students Rooms
Gryffindor Honorary Member (free): +2 SOC, access to the Gryffindor Students Rooms
Ravenclaw Honorary Member (free): +2 INT, access to the Ravenclaw Students Rooms
Hufflepuff Honorary Member (free): +2 EMP, access to the Hufflepuff Students Rooms
FIRST PATH - Mind(+10 and RP, +5 to SPIRIT MC, +10 to Magic Skills)