Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.
Consul of the Underworld: Grinding Phase
Chapter Eight: Shattering the Herd
Beta: ShadowofAxios
"We don't need to do this." Pyrrha told Alkaid as they stood over a map laid out on a table that the sorceress was using to scry the location of their target.
"Py, honey, I need a win right now. That last mission left a bad taste in my mouth." Alkaid strongly stated.
"Yeah, but Granger? Why can't we leave it to the wizards? It's not like we need to handle this."
The brunette glanced at her lover, who looked a touch peeved.
"Jealous?"
"A little."
"Well, you don't need to be." Alkaid reassured. "I'm just looking out for a friend."
"A friend?" Pyrrha scoffed. "You two weren't exactly close last time I remembered."
"Is my dear girlfriend a touch jealous?" Alkaid couldn't help but tease a little. "You're acting as if Gabby is hanging off of me again."
"Please! I'm just saying you used to be pretty tight with the girl back in Hogwarts is all. Like you were grooming her or something." Pyrrha crossed her arms and looked away.
"Mayhaps, but that was ages ago. So it shouldn't be an issue, correct?"
"Yeah, whatever." The redheaded girl said with a sigh.
"Ok, I've located her." Alkaid said with a smile. "Let's get going."
Pyrrha just growled in frustration. "Fine, let's go."
"Grab hold." Alkaid said as she hands a piece of rope that she quickly enchanted into a Portkey out to her girlfriend.
Frowning, the redhead took hold just as the magic of the artefact activated.
The portkey deposited the couple on a small rock ledge directly outside a cave on the side of a mountain somewhere in the Scottish highlands. They were greeted almost immediately upon materializing however by a cannonball sized boulder hurtling at them. With no time to do anything fancy, the demigoddesses dropped to the ground to avoid being hit and sent tumbling down the side of the mountain.
"What the fuck!? 'Kaidy, you didn't tell me we were coming in hot!" Pyrrha hissed furiously as she raised Miló and shot a gout of flame at their attacker inside the cave.
"How was I supposed to kno- Pyrrha! Stop! That's Granger!" Alkaid shouted as the light from the flamethrower illuminated the darkness of the cave enough to reveal a head of distinctive bushy hair shielding herself from the fire behind a boulder.
Pyrrha cut off the stream of flames as Alkaid called out.
"Granger! Granger, it's Alkaid and Pyrrha!"
"We're here to help!" Pyrrha added. "So don't lob anymore rocks at us."
"Alkaid and Pyrrha?" Granger asked hesitantly as she poked her head out from behind her rocky cover.
"Yes!" Alkaid exclaimed.
The head ducked back into the cave for a moment as if in consideration, before popping back out a moment later.
"Alright! Come on in!" The bushy haired girl said urgently. "Quickly! Before the bastards show up!"
The couple did so, heading into the cave to find a disheveled Hermione Granger. Her face was plastered with sweat and grime, the same with her naked body. Behind her were half a dozen women and young girls. Like her they were dirty and mostly nude, with only a handful of dirty rags between them. Two of them were pregnant, including a young girl who couldn't have been older than fourteen. All of them also had rope marks around their necks and wrists.
"...Fucking pieces of shit." Pyrrha snarled as she tightened her fists.
Alkaid had seen what monstrous centaurs could do before, but back then she'd only been confronted with dead bodies. Faced with living, battered proof of their depravity, she couldn't help but be even more sickened by their kind.
"We're getting you all out of here." She told them in a dead serious tone, even as she conjured some clothes for them.
The women rushed for the clothing and quickly slipped them on. Some of them doing so with tears in their eyes and murmurs of how it made them feel human again.
Granger had a nervous look on her face as she pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a loose top.
"Alkaid, I don't think we can. T-There's so many of them. I've barely been able to keep them at bay with accidental magic since they took my wand!"
Exhausted tears spilled from her eyes, which were heavily ringed and bloodshot. "They come every night, when I'm most tired and try to swarm us. I've barely managed to hold them off. They've even managed to make off with some of us."
The other women whispered names amongst themselves.
"Relax. We've got it handled." Pyrrha grinned with bloodlust rolling off her in waves.
"Do you now?" A rough male voice sounded from the mouth of the cave, causing the collection of women to spin around and find a small group of centaurs standing there.
"I'll enjoy breaking you." The beastmen's leader, a centaur with a mohawk and a row of spikes running down his spine said as he leered at Pyrrha.
The women, even Granger, recoiled at the sight. Some even whimpered in fear. The demigoddesses though were not so easily intimidated.
"Yeah, no you won't." Pyrrha snarled as she brought out her labrys and slammed it into the ground, splitting the earth in front of her. "How about you fight someone that can actually fight back you walking glue factory? Or should I tie one hand behind my back to help your ego?"
Unlike her lover, Alkaid wasn't in the mood for banter and simply commanded the deep shadows of the cave to come to life. Drawing inspiration from her family pet, the daughter of Hades had the darkness shape itself into the likeness of one of Cerberus' massive maws.
In the face of what looked like the very jaws of the Underworld closing in on them, the centaurs turned to flee only to discover their exit blocked by a wall of shadows.
Like I'd let you escape. Alkaid thought to herself with a vicious smirk even as her construct swallowed the screaming centaurs whole.
"Embrace darkness my little ponies."
Pyrrha just stared at her, "...Gods, I love this side of you."
The brunette simply gave her lover a look. As much as she appreciated the compliment, now wasn't the time for it.
"Pyrrha, call the Aurors." Alkaid said seriously.
"You got it." Pyrrha said as she used Accio to summon some sticks from the forest beyond the cave and used her wand to start a fire. With the fire going strong she pulled out a bag of Floo powder from Akoúo̱ and firecalled the Ministry.
"That was cathartic." Alkaid mused as she looked at Granger. "So, while we get the Aurors, care to explain what happened?"
Granger nodded, a small look of awe in her eyes. "I'd heard them say you did incredible things during the Battle of Hogwarts, but I've never really believed them. Not until now."
"Yes, thank you. Nevermind that for now though. Please, tell me what happened."
"Right. Um, sorry." The Gryffindor said, fidgeting nervously. "Just, um, I'm not really comfortable talking about it. Is it really necessary?"
"If we're going to deal with these rapist bastards then yes. We'll need to know as much as we can before we go face them." Alkaid insisted, causing Granger to pale slightly. "Look, I'm sorry that you have to recount what's probably a very upsetting experience, but I'm serious about needing to know what happened. Centaurs are fast! If I want to track down the whole herd of sickos which did this to you, I need to know everything and quickly. Otherwise, they'll just move on and we'll never find them again."
Reluctantly, the muggleborn nodded. "I came to speak to the centaurs as part of my job at the Ministry's Centaur Relations Office. Everyone else said never to go visit the centaurs alone. Especially if you're a woman. But I just thought it was all stupid sexist nonsense. The centaurs must have sensed how stupid I was, because they played along for a bit. Acted all nice, even offered me tea."
The poor girl trailed off then, looking off in the distance with a disgusted look. A disgust that was directed at herself.
"It tasted funny, reminded me of some of the potions we learned about in school. I even thought it tasted a bit like some of the sleeping potions we learnt in Sixth Year. But I brushed it off as my imagination. Except it wasn't. I was right. One minute I was chatting with the bastards amicably around their campfire and the next I was unconscious."
She stopped and seemed to fold in on herself. Alkaid opened her mouth to say something, she didn't know what, perhaps some attempt at comfort or a heartless prompt for her old schoolmate to continue. Thankfully, she was saved the necessity of having to do so by Granger continuing her account.
"I-I woke up, stripped and bound to a post." The traumatized woman said in a whisper even as a sob escaped her and she wrapped her arms tightly around her body. "It was horrible. I was inside a corral with other women and girls in similar states."
A brave look entered her eyes as she continued, "I was able to perform some accidental magic. It's how we've survived thus far. I managed to escape. The others saw me, but said nothing. It was easy to know what was going on." A horrified look entered her eyes, a twinge of madness mixed in them as well, "It wasn't hard to figure what I was to be about to be used for. I wasn't going to become some b-broodmare for them."
"And the others?" Alkaid asked as she looked at the huddled group of girls and women.
"I was able to set them free, but without my wand I could only free a handful at a time."
"I'm impressed." Alkaid said honestly, "Not many can do magic without a wand. Let alone under that much pressure."
"I know! It's supposed to be extremely difficult for a grown witch to learn how to do magic without a wand, but I managed. But it still wasn't enough!" Hermione balled her hands in frustration. "One of the centaurs spotted what I was doing when I had just barely freed half of us and sounded the alarm."
The daughter of Hades said nothing, softly urging her to continue as Hermione fought back some tears.
"I-I wasn't able to fight, not without my wand. My trick with the ropes wouldn't help us against those brutes and I couldn't do anything else. Thankfully, all the stress and fright I was feeling caused me to lose control of my magic and a burst of accidental magic sparked a large fire in their camp. The distraction helped us escape."
"You still managed something quite impressive."
Granger's spirit seemed to rise at the praise, "Thank you, but I wish I could have done more."
"You've kept them safe, didn't you?" Alkaid said gesturing to the women Hermione had rescued.
"Yes," Hermione nodded with a glimmer of her characteristic pride. "I've managed to hone my wandless magic a little over the past few days. It's been enough to keep us mostly safe, even if it's only enough for some telekinesis."
"Thus the big rock earlier." The demigoddess nodded and smiled at her reassuringly.
Granger started to shiver, a haunted look in her eyes now, "Even with how hard I fought though, I still lost over half of them."
Granger turned to look at the women she rescued, tears spilling from her eyes now.
Alkaid felt terrible for having to press her for more, but nowhere in Granger's harrowing account had she told her the information she needed most. As such, she was left with no choice but to be blunt. "Hermione, could you tell me where their camp is?"
The crying woman nodded and rubbing her eyes she replied. "It's about, I dunno, a half-day's run from here? Near a creek. At least it was when we escaped."
It should still be there. If there are still some of them harassing them then they have to still be nearby. That being the case, there's no reason for them to have moved. Alkaid reasoned.
With that question answered, the daughter of Hades had only one question left. One she dreaded asking, but knew she had to anyways. Steeling herself, she gently placed a hand on Granger's shoulder. The bushy haired woman flinched a little but didn't move away and the daughter of Hades took heart in that sign of trust, even as she asked, "Did they violate you?"
Shaking her head, her bushy hair bouncing, Granger spat out, "N-No. When we were running I swapped stories with the other girls. The centaurs reserve that part of the process for when they b-break us in so that we would be compliant. They hadn't gotten that far with m-me."
Nodding, Alkaid turned around and started walking towards the mouth of the cave, "Good. Now I'm going to go slaughter some ponies. Stay vigilant for them until the Aurors arrive."
Granger stepped forward and grabbed hold of Alkaid's wrist, "I'm coming with you."
Her voice held steel in it, a viciousness that Alkaid never knew Granger had. It was… intriguing.
"You sure about that, Granger?"
The other woman just gave a determined nod.
"I need to see those bastards die." The chestnut haired girl seethed as her eyes crackled with magic.
"You sure that's a good idea, Granger?" Pyrrha asked as she walked over. "Don't you think you've been through enough already? Won't seeing them again just make things hard on you? You flinched when those centaurs showed up just now."
"I know it'll be hard, Branwen. But like I said, I need this. I don't think I can live with myself if I don't get closure for this and the only way I can do that is to see them all dead."
Pyrrha grunted with an annoyed look on her face, "Fine. Just don't slow us down."
Her lover sent her a reprimanding look, but the redhead ignored it.
"Pyrrha, you'll need to stay here."
"What!?" The daughter of war shouted, causing all of the centaurs' victims to cower away from her.
"Pyrrha!" Alkaid hissed at her girlfriend reproachfully.
"Sorry, but why?"
"Someone needs to stay to look after these people."
"Why can't you stay?"
"Can you guarantee that you can take out all the centaurs? More so than I can?"
Pyrrha grunted in annoyance, but acknowledged the point. "Fine. I'll play babysitter."
"Don't sound so happy about it." Alkaid said grumpily. She didn't like this any more than her lover did, she had become accustomed to having the redhead by her side whenever she got into a fight and now felt vulnerable without her there. Nevertheless, the situation demanded it. Why couldn't Pyrrha accept that with grace?
"Come, Granger. Stick close." Alkaid said as she headed off, the Gryffindor trailing quietly after her.
It didn't take long for Alkaid, with Hermione's directions based on half-remembered landmarks to locate the centaur's main camp. Like she'd said back in the cave, it was by a small creek. Though calling it a camp was being generous. Outside of the corral with the two dozen naked women inside tied to posts by their wrists and necks, there was nothing resembling a proper structure. There weren't even any tents. Instead, the centaurs milled about around a dozen different campfires and slept directly on the hard earth.
Hovering over them on a magical platform, Alkaid shot Granger a questioning look. "This is them?"
The bushy haired girl nodded.
Pulling out a spell card Alkaid slipped it in between the appropriate pages of her newly summoned Grimoire.
"Gefängnis der Magie." The sorceress whispered to activate her spell.
Around the two women, a faintly green tinted bubble of energy appeared and began to rapidly expand to surround the whole area. It sealed the woodland away from the rest of the world, imprisoning the occupants within, all while leaving little sign of its presence beyond a faint green light that now permeated the area.
This did not go unnoticed by the centaurs below, as they began to stir in confusion and a group of them began gathering around a particularly bestial specimen. He had ram-like horns, a long metallic rat-like tail and vaguely tiger like stripes on the coat of his equine body.
"That's Motaro." Hermione said with a shiver. "He's their chief."
"Is he now?" Alkaid hummed thoughtfully as she called on the shadows to envelop the centaur's prisoners and transport them via Shadow Travel back to the cave where Pyrrha - and hopefully, by now, the Aurors - would be waiting to tend to them.
"And now, for the fireworks." Alkaid said with a gleeful smile. She so enjoyed dishing out well deserved justice.
Granger looked at her in mild confusion at her words, but the demigoddess paid her no heed at the moment. She had creatures to smite.
Pulling out another card and closing her Grimoire around it, Alkaid chanted, "επικαλούνται: Οι Επτά βέλη της η Μεγάλη Άρκτος [Invoke: The Seven Arrows of the Big Dipper]."
Suddenly, a loud noise filled the sky. The air rippled from strong winds as a roar similar to that of a jet engine but ten times more intense drowned out all other sound.
Looking up at the source, Granger gasped even as they flew past the two women. "Oh sweet Merlin…"
Raining down from the heavens were seven fiery meteors screaming down right at the centaur camp.
The idiot beastmen just stared up in stupefied awe as their doom came hurtling down upon them from the heavens. Well, not all of them. The Motaro fellow seemed to have enough sense to book it, but even a centaur's incredible speed proved insufficient to the task and he like the majority of his herd were killed by the multiple impacts of the meteors.
Unfortunately, it seemed the centaurs nearer the edge of the camp had more luck and managed to scatter before the impact.
"Tsch. Looks like there are still stragglers I'll need to pick off." Alkaid groused in irritation. "Granger, do you have any preferences on their demise or should I just wing it?"
"Uh, just kill them?" Hermione replied, sounding confused and faintly terrified.
Sighing, the daughter of the Rich One said, "Oh alright. Hm, let's try some Norse. I haven't done one of those in a while."
Peering through her cards, Alkaid pulled out one that should handle the stranglers nicely.
Snapping the Grimoire closed, she chanted, "Angriff von Balmung [Assault of Balmung]."
Dozens of spectral swords spun in the air around the two women for a moment before they flew in multiple directions, hissing as they flew through the air at high speed to seek out their targets.
"And now we wait for a moment or two." Alkaid declared as she sat down on her platform and conjured a set of holographic screens to observe her handiwork.
"I-Is your barrier going to keep them contained? They won't escape right?" Granger asked quietly.
"Oh! They've found their mark. Look." Alkaid said as her spell hit their targets and gestured towards the screens. On it the surviving centaurs were meeting their grisly but well deserved fate. Some were hit so hard by the energy swords that they literally exploded on impact. Others who were fortunate enough to have the flying swords hit them after having slowed down for whatever reason were only gruesomely stabbed through the heart by the swords.
"I see. Good!" Granger nodded and had a look of rapture as she watched the centaurs be slaughtered.
"And that should take care of that." Alkaid dusted off some imaginary dust from her sleeve. WIth a snap of her fingers, the barrier around the area collapsed. "Now, shall we head back? The Aurors should have arrived by now."
Granger nodded mutely, an awed look on her face.
After taking care of the centaur tribe, the two returned to the cave to find the Aurors were already on the scene with several scouts on brooms doing a sweep of the area. Clothing, food, and mediwitches were being brought in as each victim was tended to and Aurors took down their details. Personal details, contacts for next of kin, and whether they were magically informed.
Once all the victims were secured, Portkeys were made to transport them to Saint Mungo's for further treatment and recovery. Despite her condition, Granger had taken the lead to help any and all the victims as best she could until a mediwitch literally forced her to rest.
"So they're all dead?" Pyrrha asked as she stood next to Alkaid and surveyed the scene of controlled madness.
"I made sure of it." The daughter of Hades coldly stated. "I should have dragged it out, but we had the victims to think about. I wish they had mortal souls though, I want to torture them properly."
"I get what you mean." Pyrrha agreed. "Hmm. It looks like things are wrapping up here."
It was true, the victims were being Portkeyed out with Hermione being the last escorted out by a stern looking mediwitch.
Alkaid nodded. "Let's give our statements and head home. I want to get out of here as soon as possible."
"Yeah, I miss Mina." Pyrrha nodded in agreement.
Waving over one of the many Aurors still milling about the scene, Alkaid prepared to get this done with. After yet another trying mission that showed her the depraved depths of the world, the daughter of Hades really wanted some time with her family to recover.
After a few days, the couple received a letter from Granger asking to meet up in London. Concerned about the woman's condition after her ordeal, the couple readily agreed to the meeting.
Mina had wanted to come along, but neither demigoddess felt that their old schoolmate was in any condition to handle being introduced to their murderous little girl and so had decided to have her stay home instead. She had been pouty that she could not come, but after a promise of ice cream she was pacified. That and a promise from Alecto to teach her about another whole set of torture techniques that the Fury had developed in her long service as one of the Lord of the Underworld's chief torturers. Her daughter was just such a sucker for learning to better her craft.
Honestly, Alkaid was at once proud, bemused and worried by it. Proud that Mina was taking her self-improvement so seriously. Bemused and worried about how easy this desire could be used to bribe her to do things.
It was a problem to consider another time though and as she and Pyrrha arrived at a quaint little cafe, the daughter of Hades focused back onto the matter at hand. Her old friend, Hermione Granger.
The bushy haired woman was already there waiting for them. She was glancing at a menu as the couple walked up to the table.
She's acting perfectly normal. I would think she'd be a sputtering mess right now. Alkaid mused, clearly impressed with the Gryffindor.
"Hello, Granger. How are you doing?" Alkaid asked as she and Pyrrha sat down across from her.
"Sup." Her lover waved as she grabbed one of the menus.
Placing the menu down, the bushy haired girl smiled lightly, "Hello, Alkaid, Pyrrha. I'm doing well. The Calming Draughts and the few other potions I was prescribed are doing wonders."
"That's a good bandage for now, but they don't heal anything." Alkaid frowned as she glanced at Pyrrha's menu to pick something to eat.
"I know." Hermione agreed. "I've also been talking to mind healers. It's just- Well, even with distracting myself helping the other victims, I can't function without the potions."
Looking up sharply from her menu at the mortal, a worried Pyrrha asked. "What do you mean?"
Alkaid shot her lover a warning look, but Granger waved it away.
"It's fine, Alkaid. I'm fine talking about it." The Ministry employee assured them. "And my healers says talking about it helps too. So, really, I'm okay with it."
"If you're sure." Alkaid replied uncertainty.
"I'm sure." Granger said with a small but confident smile. "But why don't we order first."
The demigoddesses agreed and they waved down a waiter to place their orders.
"To answer your question, Pyrrha," Granger said as they waited for their orders. "Without the potions, all I want to do is curl up in a dark corner where no one can find me and cry."
Tears began to gather in the corner of her eyes but the bushy haired woman just rubbed them away and continued.
"The potions make me feel less scared. They don't take all the fear away but most of it, and that gives my confidence a boost too. I still feel the urge to look over my shoulder all the time and to finger my wand every few seconds, but they make it so I can resist the urges. Mostly." The woman concluded as her left hand traced the shape of a wand holster strapped to her right forearm.
Alkaid winced at Hermione's description of her current state of mind. She couldn't imagine how terrible it must be for anyone to have to live like that.
"That sucks." Pyrrha succinctly summarized their thoughts on the matter. "Hope you get better soon."
"Thank you. Though that's not what I wanted to talk to you about."
"Then what did you want to discuss?" Alkaid asked in genuine confusion. She had no idea what else Granger would have to talk to her about.
Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of their orders and the women took a break from their heavy discussion to eat choosing instead to talk about more mundane topics like what their mutual friends were doing lately in the meantime.
As they finished their meal however, they picked up where they left off.
"As I was saying earlier, I want to talk about Second Year and what you did to me." Granger said shooting Alkaid a look that was a mix of gratitude, anger and a range of other emotions that the daughter of Hades could not identify.
"How?" Alkaid asked quietly even as Pyrrha looked between the two women in confusion.
"The trauma of what happened, I'd guess." Granger said as she fidgeted uncomfortably at the mention of her time with the centaurs. "It must have jogged my memory somehow. After I got home from St. Mungo's, I started to recall what happened during our Second year."
The daughter of Hades folded in on herself, looking down at the table. The effect of the Mist faded away? How did that even happen?
She felt Granger grab her hand and squeeze it tightly, "Thank you, Alkaid."
Looking up, Alkaid's emerald eyes met Granger's soft brown ones. "What?"
"If you hadn't done that, make me forget what happened, I wouldn't have been able to handle it." Granger smiled kindly at her, "So thank you very much. For saving me twice."
"I, um-"
"Though I must say I am still upset that you were so cavalier with manipulating my memory!" Granger scolded her sternly, through her eyes still reflected acceptance.
"I acted as an Obliviator would. Simple as that."
"Hm, fair point." The bushy haired girl grudgingly accepted.
Pyrrha looked between the two, looking like she wanted to ask something but held her tongue.
Granger flashed a smile, "Keep in touch?"
"Really?" Alkaid asked.
"While we have a bit of a complicated history and our personalities definitely clashes too much to be true friends, I think we can still be acquaintances."
"O-Of course, Hermione…" Alkaid said, and she felt a touch lighter somehow.
"Good!"
Recomposing herself, the daughter of Hades asked, "What do you plan on doing now?"
Leaning against her seat, Hermione hummed, "Well, I will still work for equal rights in the Wizarding World. Though I won't be so naive about it anymore. If a magical race wants rights, they best be ready to conform to human standards of morality."
"Some won't." Alkaid pointed out lowly.
A dangerous look flashed across Hermione's eyes and her hand fingered her hidden wand.
"True, but if they don't, perhaps it's time that someone pressed the issue."
Pyrrha finally found her voice as she said, "Yeah, well, wizarding morality and modern morality is pretty different too. You want someone to press that issue?"
Hermione shrugged, "That's changing. Especially after the recent shows of force by the Muggles and the changes they have been pushing us to make. I happen to agree with many of their suggestions though. There'll always be differences of course, but soon most of it will just be cosmetic I think. In fact, I'm currently looking into if they have any job opportunities. Maybe I can help them out."
"It's a noble goal." The emerald eyed woman pointed out. "If you need me, just know you have my support."
"Thank you, Alkaid. I will remember that, always." Hermione smiled happily at her.
Omake: The Monster Called Jealousy
Portkeying back into the living room of their home from the meetup with Hermione, Pyrrha immediately turned to Alkaid with a cross look on her face.
"What the shit was she talking about, Alkaid? You Misted her, I know, but what for?"
"Pyrrha, I can't talk about it. It's not something that Granger would want me to talk about." Alkaid said apologetically. "I'd be happy to share it, but I'd need to get Granger's permission first."
"Oh this is typical of you! You always bend over backwards for that girl. How is she worth that? Huh?" The redhead snapped, getting right into her girlfriend's face.
Alkaid blinked as her mind whirled to figure out what had her lover so upset.
"Wait. Are you jealous?" The daughter of Hades asked incredulously.
"What?" Pyrrha scoffed at this and crossed her arms, "I just know your tastes is all."
A hurt and nervous look was on the normally confident warrior girl's face. It was a sight Alkaid didn't like at all on her fiery lover.
The brunette sighed in frustration and pulled her lover close by holding her cheeks, before she hungrily crashed her lips against Pyrrha's.
"I only," Alkaid said as she pulled away for a moment before diving in for another heated kiss.
"Want," Another searing kiss was exchanged.
"You!" The daughter of Hades finished and pulled her lover into a long passionate kiss.
In the stairwell just off the living room, Mina was struggling with her nanny Alecto on the landing. She had heard her mummies arguing and had wanted to run in to intervene. She hated the idea that her mummies were fighting.
Unfortunately, Alecto didn't agree and had tackled her when she'd tried to run down the stairs to rush into the living room.
"Calm down, Lady Mina!" Alecto hissed. "This is for your mothers to settle on their own. You need to be a good girl and let them do so."
Mina just continued to struggle. As much as she wanted to be a good girl, she didn't want that to be at the expense of her mummies being angry at each other. And she was totally sure they would stop fighting if she went into the room and that she could definitely help them talk out whatever got them so upset too.
"Calm down, Lady Mina! Please!" Alecto begged as their struggle grew more violent.
Flustered and dazed from the brief, but passionate makeout session, Pyrrha shyly looked to the side and muttered, "S-Sorry. I just, got all worked up because I don't want to lose you, 'Kaidy. I love you, you know? Like, legit I'm head over heels for you."
Smiling fondly at her, her thumbs stroking her cheeks, Alkaid pressed her lips against her forehead and brought her in for a tight hug.
"I know. In fact, I promise to show you how much I love you. All weekend long. And I intend to use every minute of that time for you and you alone."
Pyrrha's face turned as scarlet as her hair, but still smiled at the idea.
Done and done! Thanks to the team of Nameless and Axios as always.
Phew, a pretty heavy chapter huh? Still, out of all our Hermiones, I like this one the best. She might be annoying, she might be a know-it-all, but hey, she's still the brains behind Potter in canon. Even if she's a self-insert.
Nameless: And a minor Mary Sue.
So, Alkaid has a run in with another herd of Centaurs, she just doesn't have luck with these guys huh? Still, I think she was subbing them for Chiron since she's still irked with the old guy.
Nameless: So we dealt with dark subject matter this chapter again with the centaurs and how they kidnapped women to use as broodmares. Which is an actual part of their myths, though admittedly this is not consistently true over time. But hey, these are monstrous centaurs so why not make them live up to the darkest aspects of their myth. Well, we did say that we'd be pursuing dark content wouldn't we? Hope you guys don't mind.
Well, you know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!