Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter
The Unrelenting Frozen Seas: Symphony of Tempering
Chapter Fourteen: Wrath of the Faded Gods - Lilly Garden Assault
Beta:
It was a balmy morning as summer transitioned to autumn that saw Tanya, the Godslayer, riding her mate, the Nightmare Thunderleg, as they flew through the skies off the coast of New Hampshire to a meeting with her business partner Paradigm and his faded gods allies.
"Don't fly so fast! I'm still sore damnit!" The child-like immortal cursed as her mate's gait sent repeated bursts of pain through her aching body. And not the pleasant kind either.
"Whose fault is that? You're the one who insisted on getting it on last night."
"Shut up!" Tanya shot back with nary a blush. "You enjoyed it! You were so enthusiastic that I'll have trouble sitting for days!"
"Never said I didn't. Just saying you have no right to complain."
"Fine." The sorceress conceded. "Just cut it easy."
"And what'll you do to make it worth my while?"
"I'll let you up my bum tonight, that good? I know you like how tight I am in the ass."
"You've got a deal." Thunderleg replied with an excited whinny.
Damned pervert. Tanya thought with fond exasperation and a roll of her eyes.
"So we're almost to Star Island," Thunderleg said as the aforementioned rocky, windswept and sparsely populated island came into view. "Did he mention where he wanted to meet?"
"Along the beach behind the hotel." Tanya informed her mate. "He said the place, the hotel I mean, is unmistakable. Supposedly it's the only decently sized building on the whole island."
"It's gotta be that big white building over there then." Thunderleg said, gesturing with his head towards the single large structure that dominated the island. It wasn't really all that big but in comparison to everything else on the island, it was huge.
"Yeah," Tanya agreed as she cast a spell on herself to enhance her sight, causing her eyes to glow gold. "Give me a minute and let me see if I can spot Paradigm."
A quick survey of the area around the hotel showed the bald, tall, well built Paradigm standing on one of the many rocks that made up the beach a short distance from the building. As always he was dressed in formalwear consisting of a full blown tuxedo complete with coattails and, of course, that silly metal eyepatch over his right eye. He wasn't alone either as he was accompanied by a trio of women that could have only been faded gods.
One of them was a stunning woman with long flowing brown hair, whose beauty stirred the old jealousy in Tanya's blood that she ruthlessly suppressed. She literally glowed with a faint light that reminded the sorceress of the dawn. The fallen goddess was dressed in a light gold Victorian style gown with flared bell sleeves and a host of ruffles. It was an elegant thing as befit her beauty and Tanya disliked it on principle. Stuck as a child for eternity, she after all would never be able to wear anything like it. All in all, she hated the woman on sight alone. The only thing that stopped Tanya from summoning her gun and shooting her was the subtle burning smell that she could pick up wafting from the woman even from this distance as what was left of the faded goddess' divine spark burned away at the mortal whose body she was commandeering.
The second of the faded goddesses struck a major contrast with her compatriot. Where the first faded goddess radiated elegance and sophistication, this one exuded primal fury. Dressed in a hooded cloak over hunting clothes and wielding a bow, the dark haired goddess looked every bit a hunter. Her aura also contrasted with her peer, being a soft silver colour that reminded Tanya of moonlight.
She looks like a savage. Tanya thought uncharitably as she looked over the second faded goddess searching for the telltale sign of decay that her mortal host was being destroyed by her divine essence. It was small, a sickly looking patch of skin on the back of her neck that she was hiding behind the veil of her hair and which Tanya glimpsed as she turned her head to track her and Thunderleg as they circled them whilst they came in for a landing.
The last of the three faded goddesses was a woman in an orange hard hat over a head of long hair she'd tied into a messy ponytail. She was wearing a red blouse and a set of denim overalls. She was also clutching a spade of all things. Despite looking like she'd just stepped off some construction site, she was smiling like a loon. Unlike the others though, she didn't seem to show any physical signs that her host was deteriorating due to housing her divine essence, which probably meant that whatever it was it wasn't physical.
Maybe it's mental then because bleh, there's no way anyone can look that peppy. I have the sudden urge to go to fundraisers and charities from just looking at her! Tanya thought as she resisted the urge to gag.
"All ladies this time huh?" Thunderleg commented with a chuckle. "Is Paradigm building a harem or something?"
Tanya snorted. "Not likely. That stodgy old fool is practically asexual. More likely it's just a result of the luck of the draw. These are probably just the strongest of his allies among the faded gods at the moment."
"Really? 'Cos by how much he seems to desire that daughter of Poseidon…"
"Get your head out of the gutter," Tanya chided with a roll of her eyes. "He just wants to harvest her divine essence."
"Could've fooled me. By the way he acts, he's like a jilted lover or something!"
Tanya just sighed in exasperation at how ridiculous her mate could be at times.
"Just drop it." She told him, rubbing the bridge of her nose in exasperation. "Please."
"Okay. I'm coming in for a landing," Thunderleg informed her as they neared the rocky beach. "Hang on tight."
Tanya promptly wrapped her tiny arms around her mate's neck. "Go for it."
He gave a positive neigh and dove in for the landing, Tanya holding on tight.
Paradigm watched as Tanya and her mate came in for a landing and smiled.
Good, she brought Thunderleg along with her as well. The faded god thought. This will make things easier.
If the Nightmare was here as well, he'd be to convince him to aid the little plan he'd cooked up directly rather than having to use Tanya as an intermediary. Something which from experience was unreliable at best. And he very much desired his assistance this time. He was hoping to hunt two children of the Big Three and would need the firepower.
"Tanya, Thunderleg, good that you could make it!" Paradigm greeted the two new arrivals, his arms spread wide in welcome.
"Save the pleasantries, Paradigm." Thunderleg said with a dismissive snort as he bent down slightly to make it easier for his mate to hop off his back. "Just tell us what plan you've cooked up this time."
"Hush, Thunderleg." Tanya chided her impatient mate as she straightened the smock she was wearing. "There is no need to be rude. We're all friends here, aren't we?"
Paradigm had to suppress a shudder at the predatory gleam in her eyes and the hungry smirk as Tanya said that, something that he thankfully had plenty of experience with. Though sadly his compatriots did not if the way Electryone and Bendis winced was any indication. Oddly, Soteria just returned Tanya's bloodthirsty smile with a welcoming one of her own.
What is wrong with that crazy woman!? Paradigm couldn't help but think as he looked at the faded goddess dressed up like a construction worker like she was insane. Has fading addled her mind?
"Yes, we're all friends here." Soteria said, that gentle almost ditzy smile never leaving her face. "And since we're all friends let's celebrate and build ourselves a great fort where we can be safe and feast to commemorate our friendship!"
At this Paradigm wasn't the only one looking at her like she was crazy. Everyone was.
"Paradigm?" Tanya asked, turning to look at him questioningly.
"Uh, she is a little eccentric?" He offered helplessly as he inwardly cursed his decision to bring Soteria along and ignored the faded goddess' pout.
"Ignore Soteria," Bendis said, shooting their insane counterpart a glare and throwing up the hood of her cloak to hide the patch of decaying skin on the back of her neck. "We're here to talk business, so let's get down to it already. Some of us don't have all day."
"I guess no slumber parties." Soteria pouted, looking put out as she shoved her hands into the pockets of her overalls and she used the toe of her right work boot to draw circles on the ground.
"As inviting as that sounds, I'm afraid not." Electryone said, eyeing Soteria warily. "Paradigm please hurry."
"Yes, Paradigm please do." Tanya added, her hands twitching as if she was seconds away from summoning her gun.
"Very well," Paradigm said with a sigh. "I have called you two here today, Tanya, Thunderleg, to discuss a plan that I've come up with to draw Rhode Evans and if all goes well, Thalia Grace as well, into an ambush so that we might capture them and drain the godly essence flowing in their veins."
"The daughters of Poseidon and Zeus huh?" Tanya said with a knowing smirk. "Don't think you could take them on your own?"
"More accurately we do not believe we could stand the heat from Olympus and Atlantis if we did." Paradigm corrected quickly.
"They don't trust my ability to make fortifications that will keep us safe." Soteria chimed in with a pout. "I already enchanted special bricks too."
For the sake of their sanity, everyone ignored the deranged faded goddess of safety.
"A chance to beat up on two Big Three kids? Count me in!" Thunderleg said excitedly.
"Indeed," Tanya agreed. "For the right price of course."
"Ten percent of the essence we collect." Paradigm offered without prompting.
"Thirty." Tanya immediately counter offered.
"Fifteen."
"Twenty. They are the Big Three's children, stop being stingy. They have plenty of essence to go around."
"And you only ever resale your share back to me anyways," Paradigm pointed out. "At a markup. Why don't I offer you what you really want instead?"
"No deal," Tanya said with a shake of her head. "Divine essence is a readily tradable commodity. Just because I usually resell most of it to you to get stuff I need doesn't mean I always do. Your prices for certain things aren't that good."
"You wound me," Paradigm said, dramatically cupping his hands over his heart.
"Yeah? Then slash your prices for ambrosia down by half!" Thunderleg said with a growl. "Your stuff is overpriced!"
"I'm afraid I can't do that." Paradigm said with a shake of his head. "My stock is top quality after all. Straight from Olympus. Its price is well warranted."
"I honestly could care less about the quality." Tanya confessed. "It's why I buy my supply elsewhere and why I want you to pay for our involvement in this plan of yours in divine essence. Twenty percent."
Paradigm sighed. "Seventeen."
"Eighteen."
"Deal," Paradigm said, offering Tanya both his hand and a smile.
"Pleasure doing business with you Paradigm," Tanya said as they shook on the deal. "But at that price I won't be contributing my new meat shields."
Thunderleg snorted at that. "Really? I thought you're leaving them out because they're still too battered after the last fiasco on Circe's Island."
"Shut up!" Tanya said, kicking her mate in his nearest leg.
"Ah, a shame." Paradigm said, ignoring their byplay and not letting on that he hadn't wanted them included anyways. The wizards wouldn't be much help in the plan he'd crafted.
"Now that we're all onboard can we finally start outlining the plan?" Electryone asked, sounding annoyed.
"Indeed! We have a most genius plan to lure the child of Poseidon in. And with her, the daughter of Zeus will follow like a lamb to the slaughter." Paradigm smiled, showing rows of sharp teeth.
Susan "Sue" Lilly, daughter of Hermes, was in the dining room of the manor she shared with her wife Maud, daughter of Hecate. Having finished her breakfast she was reading the papers whilst her darling wife was busy chatting with their current house guest, Michael Yew, son of Apollo, about the adventures he'd gotten up to since discovering he was a demigod.
After their eventful meeting with the daughter of Poseidon, Rhode Evans, Sue and Maud had set their house up as something of a safehouse for any half-bloods in the area and were in need. And as a result, they had entertained a fair few interesting fellow half-bloods in the past few years. Such as their current guest who had run into a spot of monster trouble whilst travelling through the area and had ended up seeking sanctuary behind their doors.
"-and so I was just finishing off that Dracanae when out of nowhere her two buddies showed up." Michael said as he regaled Maud with the story of one of his most memorable battles. "I was exhausted from fighting one of them and now I had to deal with two of them? I honestly thought I was dead, but somehow I-"
He was mid-sentence when suddenly the entire manor shook.
"Maud?" Sue asked, dropping her newspaper and turning to her wife.
"That wasn't an earthquake." The daughter of Hecate said as she stood and broke into a run for the control room where they managed their security system.
Sue and Michael immediately leapt to their feet and followed after her.
They entered the room and found Maud looking at the screens showing feeds from the security cameras looking out at the manor's grounds whilst muttering to herself at a feverish pace. In response, the Mist that they'd enshrouded their home with began shifting rapidly into an army of monsters.
"What's going on?" Michael asked, as he looked at the screens in confusion. "Who's attacking us?"
"I'm guessing it's those guys." Sue said as she pointed over to a group standing by the gate to the property.
There were six of them.
Three of them Sue didn't recognize. One was a woman in a champagne colored ball gown that radiated a weak golden light and who was shooting beams of light at the Mist constructs Maud were sending at them. She was supported by another woman dressed up like a huntress that possessed a silver aura and sporting a bow. Together, they effortlessly held the horde of constructs at bay all whilst a third woman in a hard hat and overalls worked some magic with a spade for a wand. Magic that Sue's affinity for security systems told her was slowly undermining the magical protections Maud had layered around their home.
That was worrying enough but paled in comparison to just who the three recognizable attackers were. Because standing at their gate alongside the other three were no less than Paradigm the Divine Essence Harvester, Thunderleg the Nightmare and Tanya the Godslayer. The only consolation of them being there was that they didn't seem to be actually doing anything.
"Are those-" Michael asked with a gasp as he pegged the trio as well. The son of Apollo was a Camper at Camp Half-Blood and if Sue's conversations with Chiron were accurate, the three of them were considered quite infamous among them thanks to Rhode's run-ins with them in recent years.
"Yes, they are." Sue confirmed absently as she put a hand on her wife's shoulder and squeezed it. "Maud, can we take them?"
She didn't think so, but she'd prefer a second opinion.
Without once stopping her muttering that was allowing her to shape the Mist and thus replenishing their army of constructs, Maud shook her head.
"Michael, use our landline and call Camp." Sue said as she pulled out her own cell phone. "Tell them we need reinforcements."
"Right," the son of Apollo said as he rushed towards the control room phone resting on the table below the bank of monitors. "Who are you calling?"
"Rhode."
"Help is on the way, stay inside here in the control room."
That had been what Sue had said after they'd both managed to get through to Camp and Rhode respectively and secured promises of help. But Michael was a hero. He wasn't about to sit inside some panic room and cower when faced by enemies at the gates. He was going to meet them head on. Not that he thought Sue and Maud were cowering. Maud was working tirelessly to constantly replenish the army of Mist constructs and Sue was keeping her safe while she did as was her duty as the daughter of Hecate's wife. That just left him to take the fight to the enemy and despite his hosts' protests that's exactly what he did.
Rushing to an upstairs window with a view of the front gate, Michael brought up his bow, arrow already nocked and began taking aim at the woman with the hard hat. However, before the son of Apollo could even line up a shot, a thin beam of light rippled through the air and blasted him in the face. The power was so intense it took mere seconds for his head to turn to ash, his hapless corpse dropping dead where it stood just as the fireplace in the room where he'd attempted to set up his sniper's nest burst to life with green flames.
"Electryone!" Bendis shouted angrily, turning to shoot her comrade a glare even as she loosed the arrow she'd nocked and it multiplied a thousand fold to become a deadly rain that dispelled dozens of the Mist constructs the mortals were throwing at them. "That was my kill!"
"He was a son of Apollo. As a child of that usurper to my father's rightful place, he was mine to kill." The faded goddess of the dawn retorted coolly as she waved a hand in the direction of the horde of Mist constructs and vaporised dozens of them in a wave of searing light. "Though I do say, Apollo has truly let the strength of his children wane. The fight has hardly started and he did nothing, but he's already dead. In the old days they were far more formidable."
How the mighty have fallen. The southern belle looking goddess thought with a bored sigh.
"Michael!" Rhode shouted in horror as she stepped out of the fireplace in the closest of the Lillies' guest rooms to their control room and saw the son of Apollo's headless corpse collapse to the ground.
"Rhode, wha-" Annabeth asked as she exited from the fireplace just behind Rhode, cutting herself off as she saw Michael's body.
"I am going to kill them!" Rhode roared, anger flooding her veins and driving away all rational thought as she charged out of the room.
"Rhode!" Both Annabeth and the newly arrived Thalia shouted from behind her, but she ignored them as she raced down the stairs and towards the front doors of the Lillies' manor.
"Rhode, don't! It's a trap!" She heard Sue shout as she raced after her but Rhode was in no mood to listen and kicking the fancy oak doors of the older woman's house open, she charged out into the grounds beyond.
"Ah. It looks like we've caught the fish we were hoping for." Paradigm said with a grin as he sensed the arrival of their targets and turned to his three fellow faded gods. "Ladies, I think it's about time to let the expe-"
"Not yet," Tanya said, cutting him off. "Tire her out first. You three can do that, right?"
The three faded goddesses exchanged a look before Setoria shrugged and the other two nodded. That said, neither Bendis nor Electryone looked happy about it.
"Are we fodder to you or something, Godslayer?" Bendis sneered.
"Pretty much." Tanya smiled wickedly. "Do what you were bought along for. Chop chop! Here comes Poseidon's brat!"
Charging through the ranks of the Mist constructs was indeed Rhode Evans as she made a beeline towards Electryone.
"Looks like she's singling you out," Setoria observed with a smile. "Electryone, you should do the right thing and entertain her."
Electryone sighed but nevertheless nodded. "Very well. But if I die-"
"I'll prioritize your revival." Paradigm promised. "Just like I promised."
"Thank you, now time for a family reunion." The well dressed goddess said with a tired sigh as she teleported directly in front of the irate daughter of Poseidon and unleashed a shockwave of burning light as she did, clearing the area around them of the pesky Mist constructs. The half-blood however weathered the attack largely unscathed thanks to her Pallas Armor.
Honestly, handing a former Symbol of Power to a half-blood!? Has Olympus' standards truly fallen so low?
"Hello, Auntie." Electryone greeted warmly, they were family after all. "Did you know that you are the spitting image of my mother, your namesake?"
"Are you the one who killed Micheal?" The mortal asked, completely ignoring Electryone's polite greeting and question, her tone full of cold fury as hoarfrost escaped the young woman's lips.
My, my, she had certainly inherited her Grandfather's temper. Was the boy her lover or something? That couldn't be the case, could it? Wasn't her boyfriend that infamous son of Khione everyone was cursing lately? If so, how deliciously dramatic!
"Was that his name? He hardly seemed to matter, dear. But yes, I did. Now would you please hand yourself over to us?" The goddess clasped her hands together in a pleading gesture. "I would ever so love to see Mother Rhodes once more. Mayhaps we could even make merry before you leave this realm?"
"I'll have to deny you, niece." The child of the sea declared as ice started to coat the ground, the moisture in the air chilling.
Electryone sighed and breathed out. Instantly, the world around them exploded and her mortal aunt was sent flying.
"You do realise Auntie that even though I am faded, I am still a goddess?" Electryone said as she casually walked over to her downed aunt who was struggling to get to her feet. "In fact, since I am faded, the Ancient Laws that limit the amount of power us divinites can wield against mortals are much, much looser. You can't win this."
"I beat you faded gods before!" The child roared as she surged to her feet and tried to stab her with her trident.
"Phooey Auntie, must you be such a bore?" Electryone asked as she stopped the weapon with a single finger, before flicking it and sending it flying, coincidentally breaking her Auntie's arm in the process from the violent disarming. "And really, do not compare me to those fools. Unlike them, my current host fits me much better and thus I am much more able to wield my powers as well."
"You talk too much." A new voice said from behind her just as a dagger pierced through her flesh and exploded out of her chest in a spray of golden ichor. "Rhode, you alright?"
"I'm fine," Auntie said as she pushed herself to her feet. "Thanks for the save, Bethy."
"I-Invisibility." Electryone said in realisation as she glanced behind her and saw no one. "I see now. How… A-Athenian."
"What was that?" Auntie flashed her a bloodied smile as Electryone looked at the blade sticking out of her heart. "I couldn't hear you around you drowning on your ichor."
The goddess of dawn tried to speak, tried to do something as one last hurrah, but her body was cold and her power left her as the blade buried in her body was twisted and spilled her once warm life fluids onto mother earth.
At least mortals still have their guile. Maybe the past wasn't fully gone after all.
Her vision blackened and just before she could raise a new dawn, her sun was setting once more it seemed.
Oh well. She thought as her connection to the mortal plane was severed. Guess, I'll just have to find a new host. No harm done.
"Aw~! They took out Electryone," Soteria observed with a pout. "What a shame. I liked her."
"Yeah? Well, get your act together Soteria, because here they come." Bendis shot back, sounding annoyed for some reason. "Keep the Mist constructs off me and I'll deal with the half-bloods."
"The others aren't helping?" Soteria asked, shooting Paradigm and the others a frown.
"No, softening them up is the cannon fodder's job." The mean Godslayer said with a wicked smirk.
Why does she have to be so mean.
"Okay Bendis," Soteria told the other faded goddess. "I'll keep the pesky construc-"
Soteria was still talking when suddenly a lightning bolt streaked out of the admittedly very pretty, very well fortified house and slammed into Bendis.
How rude! The faded goddess of safety thought with a frown as the lightning transformed into a young teenager whose spear was piercing Bendis right through the heart.
"I'm taking you with me!" The faded Thracian goddess roared in defiance as she shot her already nocked arrow from her bow, infusing it with her lunar power as it flew the short distance into the half-blood's shoulder.
The mortal tried to dodge but it was point blank and she frankly looked exhausted and so barely managed to move out of the way at all and the shot hit home, blowing apart a good part of her right shoulder and causing her to drop her spear.
"Gotcha!" Bendis crowed as she staggered back, pulling the spear out of her and tossed it towards the collapsed demigoddess who was clutching her massive shoulder wound and howling in pain.
Soteria honestly didn't know how Bendis wasn't doing the same with her ichor pouring out of her like a waterfall and the necrosis that was the sign of her host's deterioration rapidly spreading from the wound on her chest.
Sensing the other goddess' weakness, the Mist constructs tried to pounce her, but Soteria just waved her spade their way and they were impaled on brickwork spires that dispelled them.
"Thalia!" The daughter of Poseidon they'd come here to harvest shouted and threw a massive icicle at Bendis.
Said goddess was out of it from her injury and only managed to throw up a weak barrier of lunar energy and Soteria was a bit too slow in conjuring a stone wall to add to her defense, so the icy lance sailed over the latter and pierced through the former to skewer Bendis.
"Argh! Damn it! And I almost got myself some Zeus essence too. This sucks!" The faded goddess of the moon cursed as her host died and her connection to the mortal plane was cut.
Well gosh dangit, I'm all alone now. That stinks super bad! Soteria thought as she listened to the whisper in her head telling her how to stay safe and spun out of the way of the invisible girl with the dagger and swung her spade into her head. The blow knocked a Yankees cap off her head making her visible even as it also sent her straight into dreamland.
"It's not nice to sneak up on people, young lady. What would your mother think?" She tutted at the unconscious girl.
"There's nothing nice about a fight, you ditzy ex-goddess." The rude daughter of Poseidon shouted as she tried to run her through with her trident but Soteria just listened to her safety sense and twirled out of the way, whilst using her spade to tap the half-blood's weapon.
The blow was enough to have sent it flying but the stubborn little mortal held onto it with a death grip and that caused her arm to be pulled in an unnatural direction that wrenched it out of her socket for the second time in this battle.
Not that the daughter of Poseidon seemed to care as the arm snapped back into place thanks to the sea water dripping from her armor. Poseidon kids and their water healing powers were just cheating!
"Son of a-!" She cursed, before grunting as her arm finished healing.
"You're a meanie." Soteria huffed as she waved her spade most menacingly! "Honestly, you were about to curse? You should eat a bar of soap!"
"Oi, Soteria! You let the daughter of Zeus and that other half-blood escape!" Paradigm chided from where he was standing being all unhelpful like. "The Mist constructs dragged them away while you were scolding the daughter of Poseidon. So hurry up and deal with her and then go get them back."
"Slave driver," Soteria said with a put upon sigh even as she heeded the latest warning from her safety sense and leapt out of the way of a rain of icicles that Poseidon's daughter shot her way, retaliating as she did by conjuring four sturdy stone walls, worthy of even the greatest citadels, around the girl and having them move in to crush her.
"Fred, Tom, Phil and Paulie! Give her bonks on the head!" She cheered her walls on. "Go, go fortification rangers!"
"Dean, don't be a straggler! But take your time too." She added as she conjured a roof for her little kill box and had it rapidly descend on the mortal. "Make her into a pancake! I've got a craving for half-blood pancakes!"
"Επικαλούνται: Δύναμη του Δούρειου ίππου (Epikaloúmai: Dýnami tou Doúreiou íppou/ Invoke: Power of the Trojan Horse)!" The trapped girl shouted, casting some kind of spell that caused an earthquake, one that instantly had Fred, Tom, Phil, Paulie and Dean collapsing into so much rubble and for Soteria herself to collapse to her knees, ichor flowing down from her nose, ears and mouth.
"Anti-fortification magic!?" She gasped, shocked that the daughter of Poseidon would have something so perfectly tailored to counter her abilities in her arsenal. She was the goddess of sanctuaries and safety. That meant fortifications, at least for Greeks like her. Well, it could mean temple sanctuaries too since killing on sacred ground was taboo but it was more the former, really! It had nothing to do with her personal preference! Nothing at all! Either way, in practical terms it meant that anti-fortification magic was especially effective against her.
The Fates were really mean today, huh?
"Yup, bitch. Now go back to being dead." The foul mouthed little girl shouted as she thrust her trident at her, sending what looked like streams of deadly poisons shooting out from some kind of special fanny pack thing on her hips slithering through the air at her.
"Safety s-sense, save me!" Soteria practically begged as she ducked, jumped and rolled like her power told her to, avoiding every single one of the serpentine streams of death that was hunting her.
"Your power is bullshit." The really, really rude girl said as she pulled back her poisons. "But I know what works. So have another taste of Επικαλούνται-"
"No!" Soteria shouted, waving her spade desperately in the girl's direction and conjuring a wall tipped with razor sharp battlements shooting out of the ground towards the daughter of the seas. Sadly, she had totally forgot about those pesky Mist constructs and a whole bunch of them suddenly popped into being in front of her wall, blocking it with their lives and giving the half-blood the time to finish her spell.
"-Δύναμη του Δούρειου ίππου!"
As the world shook from the daughter of Poseidon's spell, Soteria felt her host's heart and brain literally just explode, showering her ichor everywhere. Normally, she'd think about how that would create such a mess but sadly the death of her host also meant that her connection to the mortal plane was once more severed.
Huh, so this is what it's like to have your entire world, nay, being, tumble back down into oblivion. Just like last time, it's cold and dark and scary… I'd almost forgotten. Soteria thought to herself sadly as her world went black. This was a silly waste of time. I could have used my time better, maybe built some animal sanctuaries or something.
"Guess, it's our turn now." Tanya said as she summoned her trusty submachine gun into her hands and began blasting away at the Rhode girl, suppressing her.
"Heh, maybe before we drain those babes, I could have some fun with them?" Thunderleg neighed suggestively.
Tanya gave him a flat look. "Seriously? Honestly, have some tact, you perverse horse. And here I thought it was the Satyrs that were horny beasts."
"I'll make it up to you later." He snorted and shook his mane.
"Fine," Tanya said with an exasperated shake of her head. "Any objections Paradigm?"
"Not particularly," the Essence Harvester said with a shrug. "All I really care about is the divine essence in their blood. The state of their mind and body is immaterial to me. Besides, we'd kill them by draining the essence so it's not like not letting Thunderleg have his way with them beforehand would make their godly parents less upset."
"Cool." Tanya said with a nod. "So let's go round up some half-blo-"
"I think all of you might want to reconsider." The pretty dirty blonde owner of the house they were attacking said as the bank of Mist that had kept her hidden fell away and she put a 9mm pistol to Thunderleg's head whilst chains of Mist conjured Celestial Bronze materialized around him, holding him in place. "Or he gets a Celestial Bronze bullet to the brain and takes a trip down to Tartarus."
"Eh, you could do it." Tanya said, looking bored, much to her mate's irked look. "It'd be more funny then sad."
"If you let me have to go there and reform, I'll not give you any nookie for a hundred years once I'm back." Thunderleg threatened.
"You wouldn't dare!" Tanya shouted, shocked. "You can't possibly mean that!"
"I can always find some other mares to breed in the meantime, you know I can. I love you, but I will do it if you let me die."
"Paradigm, say or do something!" Tanya shouted at her ally, only to find him very preoccupied.
"A little busy." He shot back as he found himself busy fighting that pesky daughter of Poseidon, both of them tossing streams of liquid at each other. The girl using her poisons and Paradigm using good ol' fashioned normal water. "You'll have to handle your domestic dispute on your own."
"Yeah I'm just going to shoot him for population control. And for demigoddesses everywhere." The daughter of Hermes said, starting to depress the trigger of her gun.
"No!" Tanya shouted. "I will not lose a hundred years of my sex life! Fine~! Let him go and I swear on the Styx that we'll retreat. I'll make them do it too!"
Supernatural thunder boomed to seal her Oath and the dirty blonde woman just looked at her like she was crazy. The girl obviously was having no problems being satisfied in the bedroom if she didn't understand the horror of going a hundred years without and she would have to too if Thunderleg stayed away from her, because unlike her promiscuous partner, Tanya refused to sleep with anyone else.
"Tanya, you can't be serious!" Paradigm shouted from where he was engaged in a war of wills with the daughter of Poseidon, as his torrent of water battled against her torrent of toxins. Each struggling to push the other back.
"I totally am!" Tanya shouted back. "Now teleport out of here before I make you."
"Argh! Fine! I cannot believe we let our targets go because of your stud horse!" Paradigm said, sounding incredibly disgruntled before teleporting away letting the Poseidon girl's stream finally overwhelm his own and deluge the empty space where he'd been standing.
"Now release Thunderleg." Tanya demanded.
"Sure," the daughter of Hermes said as she stepped away from the Nightmare and the chains around him faded back into the Mist whence they came. "Now get off my lawn."
"We're technically not on your lawn." Thunderleg said as she stretched his previously restrained wings. "We're still outside your gate."
"We will. You are a rude hostess." Tanya told her. "I like you though. What's your name? I want to remember it so that if I run into you next time I know to not kill you."
"She's bad with faces," Thunderleg explained to the gobsmacked daughter of Hermes, even as he flapped his wings and sent a pair of flaming tornadoes at the daughter of Poseidon who seemed bent on unnecessarily inserting herself into the conversation. "She's okay with names though."
"Susan Lilly." The girl with the gun said, her eyes narrowed. "And just get lost already."
"Okay," Tanya said with a nod as she committed the name to memory. "Thunderleg, if you'd please."
"Yeah, yeah." He said disgruntledly as his eyes glowed a malevolent crimson as an ovoid portal ringed by cursed flames opened up next to her. "Let's just go already."
"Goodbye Susan Lilly, from one scoundrel to another, have a good life." Tanya said as she teleported herself onto Thunderleg's back as he trotted through the portal he'd created and away from the Lilly residence.
"I'm sorry about Michael," Maud told Rhode as they and the rest of the half-bloods that had participated in her home's defense watched as her Mistform servants carefully placed the late son of Apollo's remains and the belongings he'd had with him at the time of his demise into the coffin she'd had them prepare. "He was a good kid."
"It happens. It's not great, but it's the life sadly." Rhode sighed with a frown on her face.
"If there's any consolation, now that Sue's won the Devil of the Rhine's respect I doubt your house will have any trouble from her. Or for that matter the faded gods, not after the beat down we gave them today." Annabeth opined. "Its value as a safehouse just went up greatly."
"That's cold consolation for the loss of a life." Sue said with a dark look on her face that had Maud wrapping herself around one of her wife's arms and squeezing it comfortingly.
"Pragmatic side of things in war time." Annabeth murmured, looking away.
"It still sucks balls," Thalia snorted with dismay, still clutching her healed shoulder gingerly. Maud was not much of a healer but her limited reality warping via the Mist could pull it off passably enough, though she'd urged the younger demigoddess to make sure she checked in with Chiron when she got back to Camp just in case.
"I agree, even if I would never put it so bluntly." Maud chimed in. "But we must make the best of the hand that the Fates have dealt us."
"Finding the silver lining huh?" Rhode said with a tired sigh. "Yeah, I guess that's all we can really do."
One of the Mistform servants walked over and bowed to the gathered demigoddesses respectfully, indicating that they were done.
"Thank you. We'll take it from here. Muad, Sue, take care for now, alright?" Rhode asked with a small smile.
"Of course. Thank you for coming so fast, Rhode." Muad said gratefully.
"Hey, you're one of us. We always help those in need."
"We still appreciate it." Sue said with a nod, even as she snapped her fingers and used her powers to manipulate their wards to allow the use of floo magic, causing the central fireplace of the ballroom in which they were all standing to flare to life with green flames.
"You two sure you don't want to come back with us to Camp for the funeral?" Rhode asked as Annabeth and Thalia both moved to lift Michael's now sealed coffin.
"We cannot," Maud said with a shake of her head. "Michael mentioned that he has friends, other potential half-bloods, in the area. He was here to scout them out and see if they were truly like us and if they were-"
"To escort them to Camp since there were no signs that any Satyrs had found them yet. They're too busy preparing for war, Michael said." Sue finished for her. "Since he's gone-"
"We need to follow up in his stead and as quickly as possible."
"After that ruckus the faded gods kicked up, the local monsters will definitely be stirred up and if those kids are really half-bloods-"
"They will need our help." Maud concluded for them both.
"I hope you get to them then." Thalia said, offering them a melancholic look.
"May Tyche be with you."
"What Annabeth said," Rhode added. "See you soon. Hopefully in Camp with a bunch of new Campers."
"If the Fates are kind." Sue agreed, offering Rhode a hand for the both of them.
"May Olympus bless you." Rhode said as she shook Rhode's hand.
With that the three Campers stepped through the green flames with Michael's remains in tow, the magical fire smothering themselves as soon as they departed.
"Let's go then," Sue said, snapping her fingers and sealing their wards once again. "We've half-bloods to go save."
"I would follow you to the Pit and back, love." Maud told her wife earnestly. "Lead on."
Done and done! Thanks to Nameless as always!
Man, now this was a chapter huh boys and girls? Tanya and Paradigm really got some crazies in this latest batch. Soteria, goddess of safety, Electryone, child of Helios and Rhodes and goddess of dawn, and Bendis, the rustic huntress and one of the lunar deities before Artemis just swallowed that domain. FYI, Soteria was my fav. A little nuts, but still kind of nice, ya know?
Nameless: Same, she turned out great. Though, just so you know we didn't set out for this set of faded gods to all be ladies. We considered a few guys like Attis but dismissed them for various reasons, such as Attis having in recent times become a demon associated with the occult which means that he wouldn't have faded.
On another note, hope you liked how we handled the Lillies. They're basically our version of the Waystation. And honestly I think it makes a little more sense. The Waystation seemed a little too contrived and OP (just look at the resources it had! They had a pair of Griffins!) for something that Campers had never even heard about. As such, our version starts off more humbly. Whether it'll end up just as insane? Well, you'll have to wait and see.
E4E: The fight was fun and honestly, it was sheer coincidence that we had made a fortification sundering spell for Rhode's bigger enemies that she could use to make Soteria's defeat happen. Like, we were mind blown after we picked her. 5D chess boys! That is how you fanfic! And once more, a salute to the lovely ladies of flowers, the Lillies! And peace to Micheal. At least we saw him die rather than him just being a statistic in canon.
Nameless: So for those of you who are wondering what Tanya and Thunderleg got up to before the start of the chapter, you can hop over to the AO3 version of this fic as there is a canon omake that details what happened written over there.
Before we sign off, I just wanted to address the anti-Su hate that the AN in the last chapter stirred up. Here's what I have to say:
1) It seems like everyone is ignoring that Rhode has chosen two options for a romantic partner. Jack or Su. Jack is the "lesser evil" in that context. Unless her loved ones want to ignore Rhode's freedom of choice/free will, they've to work with what they've got. It's not like Rhode didn't have other options but she's settled for these two. I don't know about you but Rhode would be deeply insulted if any of her friends or family suddenly tossed someone new at her and advocated she get together with that person instead, which is what Su's detractors seem to want them to do. Never mind that doing so is realistically going to lead to Rhode starting to lose trust in her friends and family. Is that what they want?
2) We've not received any convincing arguments for Su as being as bad as she's described by her detractors. At worse she comes across to us as someone relegated to the friendzone that's still hoping for a chance and taking steps to try to secure that chance. Even if Su is as bad as her detractors say, what has she done that makes her a bad romantic partner? All she's really done is talk about how she wants and/or is destined to be with Rhode. When she has done anything to further her pursuit of Rhode it's been perfectly acceptable for a romantic gesture. People smack talk all the time, it serves to foster their own confidence and hype them up. It's what they do that really counts. Does that make her perfect? Of course not! Heck, there might have even been instances where she crossed the line that I failed to recall. But again, she's not perfect. But that's the point as I'll elaborate next.
3) The Su detractors also repeatedly insist they prefer Rhode end up with someone "healthy" or "wholesome". That comes across to us as sounding like they want her to have a perfect romance and partner straight out of a fairytale. If they want to see our attempt at a fairytale romance or close to it, go read TETW. With Rhode we want to write something else and so she ends up with a flawed but ultimately good, in our opinion, partner in Su. If that's not what they're here for, my best recommendation is to read something else.
4) Related to the previous point, let me just emphasize something that should be obvious. This is our story. It means we get to decide what we include or don't include in the story. It means criticism must convince us before we consider whether/how to work any suggestion(s) into our story, after all please recall that we publish this fic for free and therefore have no obligation to kowtow to anyone but ourselves. If not and the criticism with the same reasoning is repeated then it is just undue, especially if it is repeated again and again thus becoming demands, and thus it is entirely reasonable for us to be defensive in the face of it.
This will hopefully be the last time we address this issue. We will attempt to ignore any further talk about how Su is supposedly awful for Rhode and as a character/person. We request that our readers do the same.
E4E: You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!