Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.
Consul of the Underworld: Grinding Phase
Chapter Three: Smoking Hot Vegas
Beta: ShadowofAxios
After their near death at the hands of Zahhāk, the couple had taken a nice hot shower to relax. Separately unfortunately, but Hades would have tolerated nothing else. Later that night, after a quick dinner, just as the couple were gathering in Alkaid's room to go over their next move they received a guest.
"Alkaid Potter, Pyrrha Branwen," Hermes, messenger of the gods, greeted as he suddenly materialized in the middle of the room. "I bear a message from the Olympian Council."
His unexpected appearance had startled both girls, though they reacted quite differently. Alkaid had simply raised a brow in surprise, while her lover had jumped to her feet and summoned her labrys to hand ready to cut the intruder down if necessary.
If the god was affected by their display, he made no sign. A fact that was troubling. Hermes was well known for his sense of humor, as such his decision to say nothing even in the face of such a response spoke of just how serious the message he was delivering must be. And if he'd manifested directly into their room rather than her Father's throne room and asked to see them, then it had to be urgent as well.
"Lord Hermes," Alkaid greeted, standing and offering him a formal bow while nudging her girlfriend to do the same. "What has the Council to say to us?"
The god returned the women's bows with an acknowledging nod of his own before delivering his message.
"Alkaid Potter, Pyrrha Branwen, you are hereby tasked as Olympian Ambassadors-at-Large to stop the interference in Olympian affairs by the forces of the Zoroastrian god of All Evils, Angra Mainyu."
As he finished, the god's stern demeanour melted away and was replaced by the more laid back attitude he was known for.
"Has there been other attacks?" Alkaid asked, filing away the news about the apparent title that she and Pyrrha had been conferred for later and focusing on the matter at hand.
"Minor squabbles. Zahhāk's minions nosing around New York and the States at large and running into our people. That kind of thing. It tends to happen sometimes, but in the past few weeks it's gotten too common to be coincidence and it's growing worrisome. At least the more sensible ones of us think so." Hermes said, sparing Pyrrha an exasperated look.
"Sorry about him." Pyrrha frowned, looking embarrassed about her dad's behavior.
"Ares is an idiot. I'm used to it." Hermes shrugged. "At least he voted with us on taking action, even if it's only because he's spoiling for a fight like always."
Alkaid ignored the the talk about the war god. Instead, she focused on the way Hermes had described the Persians' actions. It seemed oddly similar to what they'd been doing recently.
"Are they looking for something?"
Hermes looked at her with a pleased look in his eyes and nodded. "We think so, though we can't be sure."
Pyrrha blinked in surprise. "Are you telling me the thief didn't just steal from the Olympians but from the Persians too!?"
"Quite possibly." Hermes said with a grim nod. "And judging by the way they are using the Empire State as a reference, used whatever was stolen from them to help steal the Master Bolt."
"That's most impressive." The daughter of Hades said, giving credit where it was due.
"I know right." Hermes agreed. "Whoever this thief is I'm tempted to give him my blessing."
Even as the words left his mouth, the god flinched.
"Uh. Right, I meant curse him. That's right, curse him for stealing my esteemed Father's symbol of power." The god backtracked while looking skyward at the bedrock ceiling.
A moment later he breathed a sigh of relief, apparently having appeased Zeus.
"The guy might be good, but he's an idiot." Pyrrha snorted. "Pissing off two pantheons at once? That's suicide."
"Well, if the payoff is good enough…" Hermes trailed off and shot a nervous look above him. "But I'll never do it! It's never worth it. Never!"
Alkaid and Pyrrha exchanged a look. It seemed that the god of thieves was so enamoured with the thief that he couldn't contain himself. By unspoken agreement, they decided to not mention it though. Neither wanted to get on his bad side, besides if he did somehow say something to get him in trouble with Zeus… Well, both their divine parents could stand to do with some entertainment at his expense.
"It's not worth it. Not unless you enjoy eternal torture. You'll be dead sooner or later, after all." Alkaid said with a smirk as she thought of all the cruel and unusual punishments her Father would undoubtedly use on the thief when he got his hands on him.
"Which is just terrible. I'm sure." Hermes nodded nervously.
"It is," Alkaid assured him. "You should visit the Fields of Punishment. Father says you haven't done so in centuries. He's made quite a few upgrades since then."
The god of travellers paled at the prospect and shook his head quite violently.
"So, um, any questions for me?" The shaken god asked, looking eager to leave.
"Just one. Why are we charged with dealing with other pantheons?" Alkaid said in a whine. She didn't want to sound like a child, but this was frankly a terribly large task for a demigod. A god could easily act as the intermediary for such dealings.
This seemed to prompt Hermes back to serious mode as his face regained its complexion and grew stern.
"Listen to me, Cousin, Niece. You two aren't some run of the mill beat the enemy of the moment heroes. No, both of you are meant for something more difficult. Your fates are to manage and balance the Olympians' many enemies among the other gods. It is your duty to ensure these enemies do not become threats to the destiny of Western Civilization."
"And my Lord Uncle thought this was for the best?" Alkaid asked, just to be sure. It felt as though he was embellishing just a bit.
The messenger god rolled his eyes, "It took some talking, but Athena made her case and well, Father knows when to listen to his brain baby. That and the Fates might have given Apollo a vision or two to help your case."
"The Fates?" Pyrrha gasped incredulously, even as Alkaid paled. If the Fates themselves had weighed in on the matter… Well, there was no second guessing those who weaved the future of the world was there? Though to sway the stubborn Olympians into doing something like this, the future foretold by the vision must have been dire indeed.
Hermes nodded grimly.
"Great. Where do I sign up?" Alkaid dryly asked.
Hermes snapped his fingers as a contract appeared. It was a long, roughly 12 feet parchment that curled at the end. At the bottom was a section for her signature.
"Just sign on the dotted line!" He said with a teasing smile.
"So sell my soul?" The daughter of Hades quipped with a raised brow as she eyed the words on the parchment to find that they contained nothing but a bunch of movie quotes.
"...Just sign on the dotted line!"
"We'll take the job."
Hermes clapped his hands, a handsome smile on his face, "And once again, my job is done."
Alkaid finished chanting the appropriate magical words of the ritual over the large brazier of fire she'd set up at the centre of the room to call upon the presence of Ahura Mazda, Zoroastrian god of Creation.
"Hopefully he's taking calls," The brunette mumbled as she stared at the roaring flames before her.
It only took a moment before the fire flared and reshaped itself into the image of a handsome human head that floated over the still burning logs that fed it.
"Greetings, you've reached Ahura Mazda. Leave a message."
"For real? Ugh, hello Lord Mazda. It's Alkaid Potter-"
"I'm here, I'm here! I swear, Mithra and his confounded attempts at efficiency." The floating head sighed dejectedly as his flaming eyes addressed her, "Ah, Lady Potter. So good to see you after all this time. May I ask the nature of your call? I'm currently settling several other disputes at the moment."
"Apologies for troubling you, Lord Mazda." Alkaid said respectfully. "But this is important."
"I do not doubt it, my dear. Someone as responsible as you would not trouble me for anything trivial."
Alkaid didn't fluster, but she did offer a small smile at the compliment.
"Indeed. I have had some rather hostile dealings with Zahhāk recently and wish to bring it to your attention. He nearly killed myself and companion. This was also not the only incident. We have received multiple reports of his subordinates trespassing into our domain. I would like to know whether you could enlighten me on this matter."
"Ah!" The Persian god replied, "I was wondering when the Olympians would speak to me on this matter."
"Indeed." Alkaid inclined her head and offered for him to continue.
"I cannot give you details as that would compromise the investigation, but I can say that Zahhāk is acting on orders from myself and Mainyu. He is acting with our authority and within our own rights."
"Has something been stolen?" Alkaid said, trying to finagle a clearer picture of what was going on from the god.
"I cannot confirm or deny this." The god of light and good stated. "But if there was a theft, it would have to be something very sacred to our pantheon for us to allow such invasive behavior."
The daughter of Hades was surprised, that was more enlightening then she'd expected.
"I see. Thank you for informing me of this. I shan't bother you any further, my Lord. A pleasant day to you."
"And to you." With that, the floating head broke apart and returned back into the fire.
As the firecall ended, Alkaid sighed in frustration. While the Persian god was more forthcoming than she'd expected, she still knew far too little about what was motivating the incursions than she liked.
Taking a seat in the chair she'd pulled into the room when she'd set it up, the green eyed girl rubbed her temples in thought.
"Okay, so something is stolen and I need to find it. Not like the Master Bolt and the Helm of Darkness is missing or anything."
"Still keeping an eye out for that glowing vibrator?" A teasing voice asked.
"Melinoe, sister dear, please do not refer to the Master Bolt as such." Alkaid sighed as she turned to see her godly sister walking into the room looking immensely amused.
The goddess was in the guise of a teenager today. She was dressed in the punk/gothic attire she loved to wear. In fact, if Alkaid wasn't wrong she was cosplaying as Death from DC's Sandman.
"What? It totally is. I bet Hera gets a real kick out of that thing." She sniggered as she stepped into the room. She sat next to her as her golden eyes glimmered with mirth, "So why are you even talking to the Persian god of Creation? He's sort of a bore."
"And he is also someone who can help me figure out what is going on. Or at least that was the plan but he was being cagey with anything useful."
Melinoe leaned her head on her shoulder and said, "Well of course he's not going to spell it out for you. He's a god. We don't exactly tell you mortals all the facts. Like ever. Takes the fun out of watching you trying to figure stuff out on your own. Watching you scramble around is half the fun."
A small growl rumbled in Alkaid's throat. She knew that!
"Shouldn't you be out searching for Father's Helm, Sister?" The demigod tersely noted.
The goddess grinned broadly as she fell back on the couch she'd just conjured across from Alkaid.
"Did you forget? Gods can be in more than one place at a time. All that time with mortals is making you stupid, lil sister of mine."
"Hmph."
"Besides, my sister nearly got herself killed. So, as the older, more responsible sister-"
"Ha."
"-I felt I should check up on you."
Alkaid rolled her eyes.
"As you can see I'm fine."
"And I'm glad for that." Melinoe said as she looked around the room. "So where's your girlfriend?"
"Pyrrha is out in the training yard, doing her morning workout." The younger sister informed, "She's working out the kinks from the near death experience."
"Really now?"
"Yes and her not being here is why you are here right now. So drop the hardcase routine," Alkaid stated with a frown. "You don't need to pretend to scare her into 'treating me right'. Not that I honestly think you need to do that at all in the first place."
"Hm." Melinoe said noncommittally, rolling around on the couch and stretching like a cat, "It's good to have you back home. The thought of you stuck at that pisshole of a Camp annoyed me. Made me want to visit and scare the shits there out of their mind. Would have done it too if Dionysius wasn't there to get in the way."
"Oh I know what you mean!" Alkaid huffed, crossing her arms over her bosom. "It felt like a jail with the awful orange attire and not to mention the incredibly biased staff!"
The two sisters shared a laugh at the expense of Camp Half-Blood.
As Alkaid was still catching her breath from their shared laugh, Melinoe jumped in with another teasing comment. "So heard you had some dragon trouble recently. You know, you could just try seducing him. Someone as ugly Zahhāk can't possibly be getting much."
The demigod looked ill at the very notion, "I'm not into dragons. Their rough hide is probably uncomfortable."
Undeterred, in response Melinoe made exaggerated humping noises and dragon growls.
"Stop it."
The goddess did so, but still grinned like a fool. "Fine, fine. You're into piglets instead right?"
Pinching the bridge of her nose, Alkaid pleaded, "Would you please stop talking about my girlfriend like that? Pyrrha is nervous enough as it is whenever she sees you and the rest of the family. All of you are so in her face with how you lot think that she isn't good enough for me that it's annoying."
"Whatever." Melinoe grunted as she crossed her arms in annoyance. "Fine, if it makes you feel better, Kaidy, I'll back off. Only a little though!"
Alkaid offered her a bright smile at this.
"Still think you could do way better though." Melinoe grumbled, "I know a few willing goddesses that have been asking me to hook you up with them."
Sighing in frustration, Alkaid glared at her sister.
"Sister. I think I've made my opinion abundantly clear about this. In the end, the decision of who I date is up to me and I'm happy with my choice for now."
"Yeah, I know. Can you blame a sister for caring about her little sister's well-being?"
"When she's being overly pushy? Yes, yes, I can."
"So that's a no to the orgy?"
"Sister!"
The following week was a troublesome one. After their harrowing encounter with Zahhāk, it seemed that the Persians were determined to make Pyrrha and Alkaid's lives miserable.
Just a day after fighting the dragon god, they'd had to fight off Daevas as they prepared to attack Argus while he delivered Camp Half-Blood's strawberries in the Camp's delivery van. Then they had to scare off Shahmaran, the king of snakes and his swarm of serpents as he led them on a rampage through St. Louis while Percy and his questmates were laying over in the city. They'd only managed that by transfiguring a horde of mongooses while they fought off the deadly serpentine sovereign.
Though seeing Pyrrha running around transfiguring litter into little furry critters while complaining about how that wasn't what she'd thought her Hogwarts education would prepare her for was hilarious. Alkaid thought as she smirked at the memory.
"You're thinking about St. Louis, aren't you?" Pyrrha accused with a pout. Her reddish-brown eyes narrowed in suspicion. "I still don't see what's so funny."
"It's just I've never seen you whine so much at one time before. I just couldn't help but be amused."
"Yeah, well, next time you do something funny, I'll tease you too."
"Go right ahead, Red." Alkaid shot back easily. "Fair's fair. Besides, I can take a joke."
"Yeah, right." Pyrrha scoffed, before turning somber. "You feeling better? You got banged up pretty badly yesterday."
That was something of an understatement. The couple had faced off against a pack of ghouls that had tried to turn Denver into a city of the dead while pretending to be part of a zombie walk. A fact that just went to show how different the Persian monster was from the pop culture imagining of the creature as a brain dead walking corpse.
Unfortunately, they also used their intelligence to pull a nasty trick on them yesterday. Not only had they blended into the crowd of mortals in the walk they'd organized as cover, they'd also pretended to obey Alkaid's commands as a daughter of Hades to lure her into a false sense of security. When she'd pulled a number of them out from the crowd and into a nearby alley where they could be disposed while out of sight, they'd suddenly attacked them and beat up the unprepared sorceress pretty badly before being finally taken down.
Alkaid looked to the side, her lips curled into a frown, "I'm fine. I feel more embrassassed than anything. I guess I'm just so used to the undead heeding my words. A little shocked if anything. I'll recover."
"You absolutely sure? Or are you 'fine' like yesterday when you were barely hanging on but still insisted on hunting them down in the crowd?" Pyrrha asked worriedly.
The brunette chuckled and grasped her lover's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"You know me, I'm very stubborn."
Pyrrha grunted, but nodded as her own hand tightened around hers, "I would say crazily stubborn. Still, who am I to judge on that one? Hehe."
"Besides," Alkaid said with a worried frown. "We've got a right to be worried. I'm not the only one who can see how the monsters seem to be following Percy and his questmates, right?"
Pyrrha nodded with her own frown. "Yeah."
"He seems to be a trouble magnet." Alkaid sighed, placing a hand on her cheek dramatically.
"So just like you?" Pyrrha accused.
"Worse." The daughter of Hades replied, her frown deepening. "Which worries me."
"And it seems you'll have to worry even more." The voice of Hermes said his own tone riddled with concern from a I.M. that came into being in the middle of Alkaid's room.
"Let me guess, Lord Hermes." Alkaid said with frustration. "The Persians are attacking Percy again."
The god just nodded.
"I must say, it is getting rather ridiculous." Huffed the child of Hades, "If we ever want this to end, we must find the relic that was taken. Have you heard anything, Lord Hermes?"
"Unfortunately not." Hermes sheepishly smiled.
Alkaid's nose wrinkled, but she said no more of the topic. If Hermes had nothing, then there was no point in pushing the matter.
"Is there anything else you need to inform me of?"
"It's Aži Zairita, the yellow dragon, this time."
"Who is that and where?" Pyrrha asked, some excitement in her voice.
Alkaid rolled her eyes, Typical Pyrrha. I don't see the thrill of dragon slaying.
"A massive magma breathing dragon. Sorta like a super sized spiked tortoise roughly the size of a hill. Did I mention the spikes and magma? Yeah, there's a lot of that. You know that right?"
Hermes' words cut any of her girlfriend's excitement.
"Err…" Pyrrha said with hesitation. "I know now."
"And the location?" Alkaid asked.
"The thing is marching towards the Lotus Hotel and Casino. Where a certain cousin of ours is currently enjoying a break from his quest, Alkaid."
The daughter of Hades' eyes narrowed, "That boy, I swear! How could he just walk into the blasted Lotus. What is that daughter of Athena doing?"
The Lotus Hotel was arguably one of the most dangerous places in the world. It was the current form of the home of the Lotus-eaters, who were a tribe of people addicted to the flowers of the magical Lotus Tree which when eaten made one lose track of time. Literally. Those who consumed them found themselves literally out of time, with years passing while they experienced mere moments.
"To be fair, they were, uh," Hermes struggled to come up with an excuse for the young demigods.
"Kaidy, Lord Hermes! We can talk about this later! Percy and the others are in danger!"
"Exactly! Listen to your lady friend, Cousin. Head to the City of Sin. Chop chop, gotta go!" Hermes ended the I.M. in a rush as the image faded.
"Hmph, how typical." Alkaid mused as she turned to Pyrrha, "To Vegas then? Hopefully Percy manages to get out of there."
"Let's go." The redhead nodded.
As the teleportation spell released its hold on them, Alkaid and Pyrrha materialized onto the scene of a growing disaster. Aži Zairita, the yellow dragon was a massive, magma breathing tortoise monster whose shell looked like a hill and whose scaly hide was punctuated by a whole host of spikes just like Lord Hermes said. It really deserved its moniker too as its whole body including its long tail that was easily half again as long as the rest of its body was a dull yellow color.
"...Alright it's actually pretty freaking huge." The redhead confessed with astonishment in her eyes.
"He's actually bigger than Cerberus. Hm, impressive." Alkaid examined the great beast. She wondered how hard it's shell was. Already her mind was coming up with ways to put it down.
Pyrrha had a nervous look in her eyes, "What are we going to do about the mortals?"
The daughter of Ares pointed to the many cars that were honking at the dragon. They were filled with people shouting and cursing about oversized dump trucks, road work, and everything in between.
This shouting seemed to piss off the dragon as it stopped to breathe a stream of magma over the long line of cars.
Even from a distance, a rush of heat tingled Alkaid's cheeks as the river of molten rock washed over the unfortunate mortals.
"Run! That asphalt is burning hot!" A panicked voice echoed from the crowd of fleeing commuters.
Crashes rang out all around, as people all along the famous Las Vegas Strip stampeded away from the rampaging minor god.
Not everyone seemed to understand the danger though, as instead of ditching his vehicle like every other sensible person did in the face of the walking disaster, the driver of a lone yellow hummer was still desperately trying to drive out of there. It was hopeless though as he was blocked on all sides by abandoned cars.
This meant he was still trapped in his precious ride as Zairita decided it made for a nice snack and bent its long head down to bite it in half.
Looking horrified, the daughter of war turned towards her girlfriend, "This thing has to have a weakness, right? Because I'm not seeing one."
With a troubled expression, Alkaid confessed, "I'm not too sure myself. For now, we should treat it as any other monster with a high defense."
"So basically bombard it until it's dead?"
"You know me so well." Alkaid smirked as she summoned dozens of magical circles in the air above her.
"Hyperion Smasher!" Alkaid shouted as a barrier screen was generated in front of her and Pyrrha even as the magical circles unleashed thick beams of green energy that slammed right into the hill sized dragon with immense force.
Despite that the spell failed to kill the monster, instead all the powerful bombardment achieved was chipping off small chunks of its hill like shell.
"Please tell me that was a warm-up shot?" Pyrrha asked as her knuckles turned white around her labrys' shaft.
The blow might not have done much damage but it seemed to have succeeded in garnering the dragon's attention as it lumbered around to look at them while rearing its head back.
"No." Alkaid admitted even as like a walking volcano, the dragon breathed a ball of lava at the couple.
Seeing the molten rock, Alkaid raised her hands in the air and attempted to manipulate it. Even if it was liquified, magma was still just earth.
"Kaidy, we've gotta move!" Pyrrha shouted at her, but the daughter of Hades continued her attempt even as the massive ball of flaming rock flew at them.
Sadly, no matter how hard she tried, the earth would not obey her call.
Pyrrha grabbed her around the waist and the two appeared at the other end of the street in a loud pop.
"What the hell happened?" The redhead asked as she released the emerald eyed girl. "I thought as a daughter of Hades you'd totally be able to control a little lava."
Huffing, Alkaid said, "I'm not highly specced in geokinetics. Plus, the dragon is a minor god to boot. I was arrogant to think I could manage to take control of Zairita's attack."
Their clothes were smoldering and it was only thanks to the protections that Alkiad had cast on them beforehand that they weren't roasted alive.
As they recovered and tried to think up a new plan, the yellow mass of muscle seemed to have decided to ignore them and move on. It's lumbering steps shook the streets, scattering the still far too many mortals on the scene.
"That utter bastard." Pyrrha said in annoyance even as Alkaid bristled at being outright ignored.
"We have to draw it away." Alkaid reasoned, summoning a new set of magic circles around her right wrist while she focused her magic through her Grimoire that she held in her left hand. "Not just the Lotus but out into a place with less mortals."
The five magical circles began rotating around her wrist as they finished charging up and she snapped her book closed.
"Claíomh Solais!"
Five intense emerald beams screeched through the air and blasted into the beast's flank. Each beam sent shockwaves through the air and even managed to cause Zairita to stumble for a moment.
Thankfully, the attack achieved its purpose and drew his attention as the dragon's low rumbling growl filled the air. This was followed by the dragon rearing up on its hind legs and slamming his front legs into the ground causing a minor earthquake even as a forest of sharpened spires of rock shot out of the earth under the two demigods.
The girls were prepared for a counterattack though and the moment the earth began to shake, they both apparited to safety.
"He's a turtle right? We should flip him." Pyrrha suggested as she inched in front of Alkaid to play the role of protector the moment they reappeared some distance away from the dragon.
Smiling at the simplicity of the idea, Alkaid agreed, "Excellent idea. Let's just hope it isn't dexterous enough to get back up. It would keep it here though, so we'll need to clear the area. Can you get the mortals out of the area while I set that up?"
The daughter of Ares grinned and pulled out her wand as she pointed it at the still large crowd of mortals in the area, "Fac Timore (Create Fear)!"
The spell unleashed a wave of ghastly red from the wand that washed over the crowd of mortals. Everywhere the light touched it caused mass panic within the already frightful crowd. Motorists and curious bystanders began to flee while those that were already running for their lives picked up the pace.
Focusing on the earth below the dragon, Alkaid focused her power and caused the road below its left side to rise up right underneath Zairita's feet. This startled the overgrown tortoise and it didn't respond in time before the change in footing began to cause it to tilt. When the monster was lifted high enough off the ground, the sorceress aimed another spell to send it crashing onto its back.
Snapping her Grimoire open, Alkaid flipped to the page for the spell she wanted. Smirking as she reached the page, she intoned the spell words. "επικαλούνται: σκορπιός βέλος [Invoke: Scorpion Arrow]!"
As the words were invoked, Alkaid snapped her book shut and a silvery star-like arrow descended from the sky and crashed into the dragon's side.
The force of the impact along with its current position, caused Zairita to flip over and land on its back. Its immense weight causing the earth to quiver from the impact even as its stubby legs flailed in the air helplessly.
"RRGH!" It bellowed in outrage as it rolled back and forth on its spiky shell. The minor god seemed familiar with this predicament though and quickly began lashing out with its long tail in a bid to flip itself back upright.
"None of that, you overgrown tortoise." Alkaid chided unpleasantly as she used her Grimoire to search for another spell even as she summoned one of her cards. Snapping her focus closed around the card, the sorceress began chanting the aria for her spell. "Come forth, the wind of snow, and become the fletching which falls from the heavens. Hræsvelgr!"
As she'd spoken a half dozen magic circles appeared in the air above her in a halo. When she finally finished her chant, they spat out chaotic green beams of raw power at Zairita. The magic unleashed washed over the whole area as the circles struggled and barely succeeded to direct the firepower at its target.
This spell is difficult to contain and aim but it's one of the most powerful I have at my disposal. Alkaid thought to herself even as she gritted her teeth and focused her will to maintain control over the forces she'd unleashed. I really hope this does the trick.
She'd normally not even consider using something so imprecise or volatile with so many innocents around, but Pyrrha was doing a wonderful job chasing the mortals away so she'd taken a gamble and whipped out the big gun.
The power of the bombardment engulfed everything in the area and reduced much of it to dust and slag but most of its power was channeled at the point where Zairita's tail met its shell in an attempt sever it
Or at least that's what Alkaid hoped.
When the light finally died down though, her hopes were dashed. The dragon's scaly hide was scorched and a good chunk of the flesh underneath had been gouged away leaving a gaping hole full of cooked meat at the base of its tail, but it remained firmly attached to the monster and by the way it swung wildly in agitation was still fully functional.
Cursing, Alkaid quickly began to flip through her Grimoire for another spell to follow up.
"Come on! Maybe petrification? No, that won't work on a go-" Alkaid's frantic search for a new bombardment spell was interrupted when her opponent turned its head to face her and breathed a flaming boulder in her direction at incredible speeds.
"Incantare: Rubicon Terminus!" Alkaid desperately cried out a second before the projectile would have killed her. It conjured a single vertical defensive wall of what looked like a fast flowing river and invoked the power of the Roman god, Terminus. Despite the divine power behind the spell, it barely held back Zairita's furious counterattack for more than a moment before it collapsed.
That was more than enough time however for Alkaid to Shadow Travel to safety on the other side of the street.
I guess Lord Terminus doesn't like me much. The daughter of Hades mused as she caught her breath.
"That hurt, you filthy ape!" The infuriated Persian minor dragon god roared as the wild swings of its injured tail finally delivered results and it righted itself. "I'll have your hide for that."
Pyrrha, clearly worried about her lover, apparated over to Alkaid's side. She was just in time to join the sorceress as they both stared in trepidation as Zairita reared its head back and opened its jaws, revealing the glow of the molten rock it had collected in its throat. With a cruel gleam in its eyes, the dragon spat the lava out in a tight and fast moving stream of burning death directly at the two demigoddesses.
The girls acted fast.
Pyrrha grabbed Alkaid's wrist and pulled her towards a nearby shadow cast by a casino that loomed over the Las Vegas Strip. Catching on, the child of Hades held tight to her girlfriend and used it to Shadow Travel out of there, barely letting them avoid certain death by mere milliseconds.
Unfortunately their desperate evasion meant Alkaid didn't exactly pay much attention to where they emerged back into the mortal plane. As a result, they reappeared feet away from Zairita's brutalized tail as it swung through the air in violent arcs.
"Hold tight!" The daughter of Hades shouted and raised her hands in the air. In response, a bubble-like barrier wrapped around the couple. Pyrrha grabbed onto her for safety just as the tail hit their impromptu defense and sent the two bouncing away down the Strip like a recklessly thrown beach ball.
As the barrier bubble bounced along, the two girls struggled to keep their lunches down as the random movement destroyed any sense of equilibrium that they might have possessed. Their surroundings blurred around them until they crashed into the side of the famous Bellagio.
"Oh gods." Alkaid held her stomach as he she fell to her knees.
"Holy shit that was a rush!" Pyrrha said as she stood up and looked at her. "Kaidy? Damn it, hold on! I'll grab a potion."
As they began to regain their bearings from their impromptu experiment with zorbing, a thoughtful sounding rumble had them both looking up to see the dragon striding through the artificial lake in front of the famous casino while looking at them with curious malevolence almost as if it was thinking how best to eat them.
The redhead pulled out a potion from her storage bracer. Taking the offered potion, Alkaid quickly drank it and tried to keep it down. Thankfully, the potion's magic quickly set in and the queasiness went away moments later.
"Thank you." The sorceress told her lover as she cleared her mind with a shake of her head and got to her feet. "Now, any new ideas? Because everything we've done so far have been useless."
"Yeah, I get ya, but what can we do exactly? I mean he's tanking your magic. And you do some scary stuff."
"Enough talking! Time to be eaten!" Zairita gloated as his neck stretched out impossibly long to allow his jaws to bite down on the still, if barely, intact bubble shield.
It strained under the pressure exerted by the jaw full of razor sharp teeth, its elastic shell looking about ready to pop.
Grabbing Pyrrha's shoulder, Alkaid apparited them to safety once more. Just before disappearing, Alkaid snapped her fingers. In response, the bubble shield exploded right in the dragon's maw and it hissed and reared back in pain.
Rematerializing on the far side of the Bellagio's lake, the couple gathered their wits as the dragon dunked its smoking mouth into the water to cool it off.
"Alright, overwhelming force is not working. Which is most frustrating and makes me oddly understand my Lord Uncle. So we need to change it up." Alkaid stated as she flipped through her Grimoire quickly.
"And with what exactly?"
"Surgical precision."
Pyrrha nodded in understanding, "Like a focus blast?"
The brunette held up a card, "More like a literal scalpel."
Placing it back into her weapon's pages, Alkaid snapped the Grimoire shut.
"Strike Flame!"
The spell conjured a lance of energy shrouded in a flaming aura that shot at the dragon like a bullet and lodged itself into Zairita's neck. The blow opened a small wound that wept a trickle of lava onto the pavement.
Lifting its head out of the lake, the dragon raised its brow incredulously. "Was that supposed to help you?"
Pyrrha held out her lybras. "Kaidy, power me up."
The sorceress frowned, she really didn't want to put her girlfriend in danger but nonetheless cast her Hesken spell on the weapon and enshrouded it in a red chainsaw-like aura that whirled around the blades.
Her fears were proved correct when almost immediately the daughter of Ares recklessly charged at the now wounded tortoise dragon.
"Py, what are you doing!? Don't be stupid!" Alkaid shouted aghast at her lover's recklessness.
As if the dragon agreed, he turned to breathe a stream of lava directly at Pyrrha as she rushed directly at him.
Swiftly, Alkaid threw one of her cards at Pyrrha and it travelled forward at blazing speeds. It exploded in a burst of light in front of the redhead and turned into a magic circle with a four pointed star emblazoned over the defensive barrier. The barrier held off the lava stream, causing the molten rock to splash all around the protective bubble it offered.
"Freaking Tartarus, Pyrrha! Move!" Alkaid shouted as she wove a series of magical platforms for the redhead to use.
Pyrrha took the hint and leapt onto them, running across the steaming lake as she continued the charge towards the monster. All the while, Zairita continued to focus the full fury of its lava breath on her. Using Alkaid's magical platforms as a jump point, the war child leaped into the air and swung her powered up Lybras right into the dragon's wounded neck.
"Thanks Kaidy!" The redhead shouted as her weapon ripped into the opening and widened it.
Zairita roared in pain and began to flail about.
Pyrrha dug her feet into the wound and kept swinging with her weapon, digging into and opening the wound even more. It bled lava all over her and Alkaid prayed that her defenses held.
Pyrrha, we are going to have a long talk after this! The brunette thought briefly, She is too damn reckless.
Ruthlessly, the daughter of Ares continued to rip and tear at the wound as the behemoth of a dragon continued to thrash about as it began to bleed out. With a powerful swing of its head, Zairita managed to dislodge Pyrrha off him.
The redhead fell on her rump on a hastily conjured magical platform and scrambled to get back on her feet. The platform flew off a good distance away from the death throes of the bleeding dragon.
"Foolish apes, as if this would end me!" It roared with a wheeze in its voice. Its life fluids flowing out of its body like a waterfall. "You may destroy my current form, but I'll be back. Remember this well, worms! You've made an enemy this day."
Zairita lumbered forward once more before falling into the Bellagio's lake. Steam erupted from the area like a thick fog. Even through this cloud of heat, the demigods could clearly see as the dragon's immense bulk collapsed into a mass of shadows that faded into nothingness.
Pyrrha arrived next to Alkaid moments later and let out a sigh of relief. Collapsing to the ground, she looked up at Alkaid and said, "Man, that was a hell of a fight Kaidy. Do you think that's going to be an average for us?"
The daughter of Hades on the other hand frowned at her lover, hands on her hips. "What were you thinking? You can be so reckless! Do you know how close to dying you were? I could feel it Pyrrha!"
The braided redhead winced at that, "I'm sorry. I just saw an opening."
Alkaid simply huffed at her and Shadow Traveled the two back to the Underworld.
Her mood would not improve that was for sure!
"Yo Kaidy and Piggy, you're back. How was the fight with Mister Yellow Wyrm?" Melinoe asked with a teasing smirk.
"Ridiculously annoying." Alkaid said as she headed towards her room.
"Oh, that's her diva walk. What you do this time, Piggy?" Melinoe jeered ruthlessly.
"Scared her by being reckless?" Pyrrha offered with a shrug. "At least I think so."
Melinoe's golden eyes narrowed, "Well stop doing that. Despite my misgivings, my baby sister somehow cares about you. Why? I couldn't even imagine. So try not to be stupid. Got it?"
"Uh, right, yeah. Got it." Pyrrha nodded nervously.
"Good. Now go tell her that water boy is still in the Lotus like a dumbass. Hopefully she'll be distracted by that and forgive you."
Alkaid who was still listening in, turned to face her lover and sister. "He's still there?"
"Oops. Chance lost." Melinoe shrugged while she shot a cheeky grin at Pyrrha. "And yeah, he is. I thought you said he was useful, not useless."
Not responding, Alkaid headed towards her room. She pinched the bridge of her nose and thought with frustration. I hope he gets out of there soon. If not, he's not going to be able to clear his name. And then we have to deal with World War Three.
She prayed Percy could rise to the occasion.
Omake: A Hades Dinner
It was the first day after Alkaid and Pyrrha's fight with Zahhāk and they'd taken to staying in the Underworld to recover. It was safe from any retaliation from the Persians and was the perfect place for their base of operation for the moment.
And as usual whenever his children was home since he'd taken Alkaid in, Hades insisted that his daughters joined him for evening meals. Naturally, Melinoe and Makaria were also present. It seemed to cheer their Father up when all his daughters were around him, it almost seemed to make up for the lack of Persephone's presence.
Pyrrha had been concerned at having to attend a casual evening with Alkaid's divine family, but Hades would have nothing else, despite the daughter of Ares'... fears about such a thing.
As if being surrounded by a whole bunch of gods wasn't enough, the supposedly casual dinner consisted of a Caribbean dinner served on golden gem encrusted tableware. Yeah, that was apparently casual for the House of Hades.
Despite Alkaid's assurance that this was perfectly normal, Pyrrha looked about as stiff as plywood. As she looked at the grand spread, her reddish-brown eyes looked to her lover with worry. The brunette sorceress did her best to look reassuring, but Pyrrha was only slightly comforted. Alkaid looked almost as worried as she was.
As if feeling entirely out of place wasn't enough, it seemed that the dinner was yet another opportunity for Alkaid's family to play their new favorite game namely making Pyrrha as uncomfortable as possible.
Something that they did by nitpicking every little thing they could think of.
Pyrrha did her best to maintain her cool, knowing that if she lost it she'd just be giving them what they wanted. Despite that by the second course, the demigod was ready to strangle Melinoe and glare at Hades. Makaira was somewhat more tame but her passive aggressive comments were still sting worthy. Even Alkaid was getting annoyed, shooting her family looks to try to rein them in but to no avail.
"So, Branwen, what are you doing now that you've graduated Hogwarts?" Hades' silken voice sailed across the long dinner table that was roughly thirty feet in length.
"I'm uh, just trying to figure things out Lord Hades. You know the life expectancy of half-bloods. So just trying to take it one day at a time. Maybe be a pro hero. Help around at Camp." Pyrrha said calmly as she gingerly ate some lobster.
"No plan? Seriously?" Melinoe scoffed. "How much of a blockhead are you?"
"It does seem a little reckless." Makaria agreed and looked at the redhead with pity.
Alkaid's hands tightened around her tableware as she calmly ate her salad.
"Um, yeah. I know." Pyrrha admitted easily, reaching over to squeeze Alkaid's hand to restrain her from lashing out. This wasn't her first rodeo when it came to dealing with the House of Hades' passive aggressive disdain of her. "But I've been discussing it with Kaidy. Still going through the options at the moment."
Despite her parentage, Pyrrha was actually doing her best to not be rattled by the comments. With how many were tossed her way, the redhead had grown some pretty thick skin.
She just had to endure it a little longer.
Oh, dessert!
As they left the dining room, Pyrrha couldn't help but be bummed about what had happened over dinner. It had been so damn stressful. Needing to take a break, she collapsed onto Alkaid's couch.
"You know, Kaidy, I'm starting to think that your family will never like me."
Alkaid angrily stomped into her bathroom to change into her nightgown as she replied, "Don't be silly, Py. They just have to learn to get used to you. I love you, so if they can't accept that I'll be very angry with them."
"Yeah, then when will that be? Tonight was exhausting! I don't know how long I can keep this up."
"I can't say when, but they will." Alkaid reassured her as she walked over and gently took hold of Pyrrha's hands and gave them a squeeze.
Returning the beautiful smile flashed her way, Pyrrha's cheeks flushed, "Geez, you sure know how to make a girl feel special."
Alkaid's soft lips pecked her cheek and the brunette gave her a stern look, "You are special to me."
"For a girl like you? I think I'll take any insults thrown my way."
Pulling her closer, Pyrrha wrapped her arm around the curvy woman. Alkaid eagerly snuggled deeper and the two were content to just sit there.
Forgetting, for the moment, all their problems and luxuriating in each other's presence.
Done and done! Thanks to the team of Nameless and Axios as always.
Man, those two lovebirds have had a tough week. All the monsters and stuff just keeps coming their way. I do hope you enjoyed the dragon battle. We worked hard on it to make it a bit more unique then some regular dragon.
Nameless: Well, we hoped you guys like our hopefully somewhat original take on The Lightning Thief. We quite liked having fun with the Zoroastrian mythology and having Alkaid face off against them. Hope you guys enjoyed reading it too. Oh, and for those of you who would like to know our inspiration for the dragon, it's Adamantoise from the Final Fantasy franchise.
Now Alkaid and Pyrrha have been officially confirmed in their new job position. I don't remember many ambassador position fics in like, ever. Seriously. So with having to deal with this, I hope we can branch out to include a whole bunch of new and exciting topics and characters in this story. Like Odin, everyone likes Odin. Just look at half the spells Alkaid used in this battle. She clearly likes him.
Nameless: And Odin is only the tip of the iceberg. We look forward to seeing what exactly you guys have to say about the other mythologies we're bringing in. Hopefully it'll be positive.
Now you know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!