Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.
Consul of the Underworld: Grinding Phase
Chapter Twenty Five: Audience with the Top
Beta: ShadowofAxios
"So what should we expect on the other side?" Pyrrha asked as she checked the supplies she'd stashed away inside Akoúo̱.
"Nothing at first," Alkaid said as she finished targeting her teleport with the help of a map of the area helpfully provided by one of Sakura's maids. "I've set it so we'll appear a good ways outside of the village. That should give us some leeway to sneak closer and get the lay of the land before we plan our next move."
"Sounds good," her wife said with a nod as she finished with her stock take. "We're all ready on my end too, so let's go."
Alkaid's reply was her own nod in return and the triggering of her spell.
That was when their troubles began as instead of the smooth, instantaneous transport across the significant distances involved that the sorceress expected, they were hit by what she could only describe as turbulence. It felt vaguely like the disorientating pull at the navel feeling of a Wizarding Portkey but far more intense.
The second problem however was that they didn't teleport into the forest surrounding the target village like she'd intended but instead to a traditional Japanese garden. One that looked like it came right out of the history books, even more so than Sakura's did.
"Oh! You're here at last!" A adorable looking tanned girl with lavender hair dressed in a sailor uniform announced cheerfully from a few feet in front of them. "Yondai-nee! The guests are here!"
An unsettling feeling came over Alkaid. It reminded her of the first time the couple had run into Mina.
"They are?" Another tanned lavender haired girl, this time sporting a summer dress, asked as she opened the sliding doors of the traditional Japanese manor behind the first girl. "They are! Dainana-chan go tell Okaa-san and Otou-san!"
"Hai~!" A voice identical to the first two girls replied as the sounds of someone scampering off carried to the demigods' ears. Though this was quickly drowned up by the sound of six excited girls swarming out of the house and surrounding them. Each identical to the other save for a tattoo on their foreheads of the Japanese numeral for one to six and their choice of attire.
The most frightening thing? Each of these girls gave off the feeling of overwhelming power. At least on par with her Father.
Wasn't that troubling all by itself?
Pyrrha, play along for now. They're very dangerous though not hostile. Alkaid telepathically informed her wife.
Ya don't need to tell me that, Pyrrha shot back warily. I can feel their power.
"Um, hello?" Alkaid offered neutrally. "Might I ask where we are? It seems we might've taken a wrong turn with our teleport."
"Nope," the girl with a one on her forehead said with a grin. "You're right where our Masters want you to be."
"What's that mean, exactly?" Pyrrha asked with an edge in her voice, that Alkaid knew was due to fearful nervousness.
"No need to worry," The girl with a tattoo of a three replied instead. "The Masters will explain it all to you."
"Yeah, they're very nice." The girl with a two on her forehead insisted with a nod. "They won't hurt you or anything."
"Yeah, like Nee-samas said." The girl labelled four said with a brillant grin. "So let's go see them now!"
Alkaid opened her mouth to say something. Maybe a protest or an attempt to fish for more information. Whatever it was, and she was so startled by everything that she wasn't entirely sure herself, she was cut off before she could even begin by the girls grabbing hold of both her and Pyrrha and pulling them into the house.
Pyrrha shot her a look but Alkaid shook her head. Better not resist and risk the ire of these insanely powerful girls or their as yet unseen superiors.
As such they allowed themselves to be roughly dragged and pushed along through the very old school halls of the mansion into a formal dining room. Unlike the rest of the mansion they'd been in so far it was a mix of the classical Japanese style and more Western tastes. The room's overall aesthetic was traditionally Japanese but its centerpiece was a long Western dining table.
At the head of which were two chairs occupied by two beings, a man and a woman, who must have been their hosts. The man was average looking, with tousled black hair, blue eyes. and was dressed in a casual a black shirt. The woman on the other hand was an exotic beauty with pink eyes and long knee length pink hair that was dressed in a modest striped dress.
The sheer collective power that the two radiated was more than the entirety of all of Olympus. By at least an order of magnitude! It was enough to send both demigods to their knees if they weren't somehow held up by an unseen force, which Alkaid suspected was the very same force exerting the immense pressure on them in the first place.
Who are these people!?
"A question we'll answer in time," the man said with a smile. "But first introductions. My name is Amano Yukiteru and this is my wife, Yuno."
"We welcome you to our home," The woman smiled, picking off where her male counterpart left off. Said smile was almost eerie. "We rarely have guests, so it's a pleasure to meet you."
"It certainly is," the man said, still smiling his much more benign smile. "We've been waiting, Yuno especially, a long time to meet you two in particular."
"And why is that?" Alkaid said as she and Pyrrha were shoved into chairs across the length of the table from their intimidatingly powerful hosts.
"Oh, as overgods and overseers of this branch of the multiverse, we get so little chance to interact with mortals. Sometimes just meeting them is too much for their little squishy brains. And pop~! That's not even talking about how sometimes whole universes just go boom~!"
"It's such a shame really," the brunette said with a shake of his head. "Even when we suppress our power we can only descend to the mortal worlds very briefly without our power destabilizing reality."
"I mean no offense by saying this but I find your claims hard to believe." Alkaid said as politely as she could. "Your power suggests there might be some truth to it, but-"
"It's just a little crazy," Pyrrha added with a flabbergasted shake of her head.
Alkaid was honestly feeling much of the same. She was just hiding it better behind a forced smile. Overgods!? Just the thought of there being such beings was terrifying to her, what more dealing with them in person?
If their guests' shock registered with the self-proclaimed overgods they didn't show it. Instead, they chose to continue as if the demigods hadn't even said anything.
"But you girls are special," Yuno said with a happy little clap of her hands. "As ambassadors between the gods, you are mortals that we can interact with without breaking the rules. Those same rules also protect you two from, you know, having your heads suddenly going pop~!"
The overgoddess seemed to really like that word. Not that Alkaid would mention that out loud nor would she comment on how said woman had gotten distracted and was now angrily muttering to herself.
"Stupid rules don't even let me go visit Japan!" The pink haired woman griped. "I want to go shopping in Ginza damnit!"
"There, there, Okaa-sama," the lavender hair girl with a seven on her head said as she and her sisters took their seats, having previously been preoccupied with a game of rock–paper–scissors to seemingly determine their seating order. "I'll go down next week. You can look through my eyes and pick out what you want."
"That's sweet, Dainana-chan," the pinkette said patting her daughter's head lovingly. "Thank you."
Ignoring his wife and daughter's byplay, Yukiteru spoke over them. "Few mortals are granted the honour that you two have. In fact, you're the first in centuries. We always look forward to meeting those such as you. Otherwise we'd get no visitors."
"Yeah," Yuno said with a sigh as she rejoined the main conversation. "The gods technically can visit, but they're too scared."
I wonder why? Alkaid asked, dreading the answer.
"Okaa-sama~! That's because of the time you killed the Atlantean god king for insulting your cooking." One of the overgods' daughters, her tattoo labelling her as number five, said sounding exasperated.
Yuna's face darkened and a wild glint entered her eyes as a series of endless concentric rings manifested within the orbs.
"Ah, yes. That one. Mm, just thinking back on it makes me want to destroy something." Her terrifyingly maddened eyes turned to her daughter, "Why did you remind me, sweetheart?"
The probably suicidal girl opened her mouth to say something but was stopped from getting herself killed when her sisters proceeded to dogpile her and harshly whisper to her to keep quiet.
The whole scene had Alkaid and Pyrrha paling in terror. Not only had this overgoddess just readily admitted to killing a king of the gods just for insulting her cooking! She'd also looked about ready to kill one of her own daughters for just bringing the matter up! Just how unstable was she!?
Why do I get the feeling that the gods did the smart thing to avoid visiting?
If Yukiteru's amused smirk and nod was any indication, he agreed with her thought. Alkaid had little doubt he was reading her mind.
"Don't worry so much," Yukiteru reassured them. "You'll be fine. We won't hurt you."
Unsurprisingly, the half-bloods weren't reassured in the slightest.
"Oh! It's dinner time!" Yuno declared suddenly before turning to her daughters who were all still piled up on their recklessly brave sister. "Muru Murus stop playing, it's time to eat!"
"Hai~!" The identical girls replied dutifully before teleporting back into their seats, even as their mother clapped her hands and conjured a sumptuous spread of food for dinner.
"Tuck in everyone!" Yuno said cheerfully. "And maybe while we eat, Alkaid, Pyrrha, could you share with us what it's like for you in the mortal world?"
"That would be a nice topic for dinnertime conversation," Yukiteru said with a nod. "Good choice, saiai."
Against both sense and their own will, the married couple regaled the other family with everything that was asked of them. From their earliest to most recent memories, the Potters found themselves pouring out every little detail they could muster for the overgods and their daughters. The process seemed to take forever but at the same time only a few minutes.
As they finally finished, they both collapsed into their chairs feeling utterly drained.
"Dig in, ladies." Yukiteru told them generously. "You deserved it."
Alkaid just nodded as she obeyed, too tired to worry about poison. Besides, if the overgods wanted them dead or whatever they hardly needed to resort to such trickery. Next to her Pyrrha followed her lead and cautiously began helping herself to the food.
Their hosts meanwhile just sat back in a eerie silence with thoughtful looks on their faces.
"We're reliving the lives you shared with us in our minds," one of the tanned girls, number two, said.
"Oh! You two like getting all naughty just like Okaa-sama and Otou-sama." The youngest of the lavender haired girls said with a giggle. "But you're less noisy."
"Urusai~!" Yuno said chidingly as she reached over and smacked the girl lightly on the head.
They're reliving that too!? Alkaid recoiled. She was uncomfortable enough with their entire lives being reduced to someone's entertainment but this was a violation too far.
"It's not like that!" The sixth Muru Muru shouted defensively. "Otou-sama and Okaa-sama aren't watching that all for fun! They're using it to help them shape the foundations of a new world within our branch of the multiverse. It helps them guide the formation of a new universe from the formless void. So you're doing a great service."
That actually makes it a little less terrible.
"Is it really necessary though?" Alkaid questioned nonetheless. "I mean surely as such powerful gods, Lord Yukiteru and Lady Yuno can just scry on the mortal world and learn what they need that way."
"It isn't the same." Yuno said with a pleased sigh, obviously having enjoyed what she'd seen. "Without the person actually sharing their experience, it's different. Less rich, less impactful."
"And the more impactful the easier it is for us to use it as a basis for a new world." Yukiteru added. "It's the difference between building something from substandard and quality material."
"Exactly," Yuno said with a short round of applause. "My Yuki is so smart!"
The aforementioned overgod blushed at his wife's praise and nodded at the food.
"Enough talk for now," he said while fighting his lingering blush. "Let's finish dinner."
Warily, the demigoddess' complied. It was uncomfortable for the two as the family regaled each other with what they personally thought was the 'highlights' of the Potters' lives. Much to the two young women's embarrassment, much of these revolved around their relationship and even included some of their, ahem, nights in the bedroom.
Quietly, Alkaid finished her meal a few minutes after Pyrrha had. The redhead looked ready to bail the moment the brunette put her utensils down. As such, Alkaid was unsurprised that the moment she did, Pyrrha sent her a pleading look.
"I can see you're eager to leave," Yukiteru said, having caught the look. "So we won't hold you two much longer."
"Yeah, but before we say goodbye," Yuno continued for her husband. "We ask that you visit us again soon and share some new stories with us."
"In the meantime, we'll be watching your adventures." The second Muru Muru said with a thumbs up.
"And don't worry about the traps and whatnot outside that village you would have wasted this week clearing out." The fifth Muru Muru said with a cheeky grin. "Sakura-chan's crazy little apprentice handled them for you already."
"See we did you two a favour!" Muru Muru number seven said with a wink. "Instead of letting you handle all that mess we let you spend them with us. Ain't we nice?"
I honestly don't know whether this was really an improvement.
"Probably not," Yukiteru had the grace to acknowledge. "But at least we won't be delaying you unduly. Now, enough with the justifications. It's time to say goodbye."
With that he snapped his fingers and the next thing the demigods knew they were laying sprawled in a forest clearing overlooking their destination.
"Hey, you doing okay?" Pyrrha asked her wife as they pushed themselves back onto their feet.
"It's fine. I'm fine. I promise." Alkaid replied. Even though Pyrrha could tell that on the inside she was still shaken from the visit with the overgods.
Hopefully Alkaid would open up more once she was done processing the incident.
Before they could discuss anything else, a shimmering mist appeared next to them and formed into a screen that displayed Chiron's face in the form of an I.M.
"Alkaid, Pyrrha!" The immortal trainer of heroes cried out, sounding incredibly relieved. "Thank the gods you're okay. We've been trying to reach you for a whole week. Where have you been?"
A week! They weren't lying? We've been gone a whole week? No way! Pyrrha thought with a gasp. Is Mina okay? What the hell happened to Camp while we were gone?
"We were forcefully invited to a meeting with the Amanos," Alkaid said tiredly, earning a look of wide eyed shock from the ancient centaur. Huh, she'd never seen Chiron so slack jawed. "I take it that you know who they are?"
"Ah, yes. I-I do. It certainly explains where you've been."
"Do they always invite guests without their permission?"
"Usually." Chiron said, fidgeting uneasily. "And now that you've caught their attention, I'm sorry to say that you're likely to be seeing more of them in the future. Be careful when you do."
"We get it," Pyrrha said seriously, suppressing a shiver as her traitorous mind conjured up what could happen if they didn't follow that advice. "So, um, what's been going on while we were away?"
"Well, first and foremost, Percy led a team to attack the Princess Andromeda-"
"Weren't we still planning that?"
"Yes, we were." Chiron said, sounding almost angry. "The Counselors however decided not to wait for you and launched the attack with only a minimum of planning."
"Please tell me that it was at least successful," Alkaid said with a irritated sigh.
"Yes. Sadly at the loss of Charles Beckendorf. Overall it was a success. However, Percy returned after meeting with Lord Poseidon bringing news that Oceanus has began an invasion of Atlantis."
"Shit! Silena's going to be heartbroken." Pyrrha noted with a worried frown. 'Kaidy's face was blank as she nodded slightly.
"She is," Chiron informed them grimly. "Though- No, I won't say it here. You never know who's listening. But know this, Alkaid, when you get back I think we should look into Silena. She's behaving oddly."
"Cut her some slack," Pyrrha said in defense of her friend. "She just lost her boyfriend."
"Fiance actually," Alkaid said, shocking Pyrrha. "They came to ask Mr. D for permission to get married in Camp Half-Blood after the war. They didn't tell anyone though. Didn't want to distract from the war."
So it was a typical whirlwind demigod romance. Not too uncommon.
"That just makes it more-"
"Pyrrha," Chiron cut in sternly. "I knew their true relationship too and I'm saying she's acting strangely. Do you understand?"
Pyrrha just nodded.
"You've left some other important things out as well," Alkaid reasoned. "Are our communications that insecure?"
"Unfortunately, yes they are." Chiron acknowledged with a frustrated whip of his tail. "I'll fill you in when you get back. In the meantime, focus on your mission."
"Before that, can you update us on Mina?" Pyrrha cut in before the centaur could end the call.
"Your daughter is fine," her mentor reassured her. "Her babysitter, Baba Yaga, sent a note to Camp. And I must say, I'm shocked you managed to convince that borderline monster to play babysitter."
"Baba isn't that bad nowadays," Alkaid waved the comment away. "What did the note say?"
"She wanted us to let you know that she'll watch your daughter till you get back but that she'll expect something in return for the overtime."
The married couple visibly relaxed at the news and Pyrrha privately swore to get Baba the best sake money could buy as a souvenir for all the trouble their little girl inevitably caused her.
Before they could discuss anything else, the wards surrounding the village shuddered in the air.
Green eyes met reddish-brown and the two women nodded. "Chiron, we're gonna cut this short. The job calls."
"Right. Good luck you two. Please return safely."
Omake: Tea at the Amanos
Some time after the Potters departed the Amanos' residence, the couple found themselves entertaining new guests. Occupying the seats the demigods had previous taken were a pair of strange beings. One was a shapeshifting man that looked like Robert Downey Jr. one moment while in the next was a ancient looking man with a incredibly long hair and an equally impressive beard before once more into a woman with teal hair dressed in long-sleeved orange dress with white pearls and black boots before shifting once more. Next to this constantly changing being was a pudgy but otherwise featureless man that looked like little more than a white cutout superimposed on the environment around him.
"I have to ask you two. Why do you just do whatever you want?" Yuno asked, her eyes narrowed in annoyance. "All you do is ape stuff from whatever media you're into at the time or try to be meta."
"We're hardly that bad at our work," the featureless being said defensively, crossing his arms and giving the impression that he was glaring right back.
"I agree." The shapeshifter, now looking like Bob the Builder, stated. "Sure, we get a bit nuts at times, but we honestly try and tie things together. Nine times out of ten it works. Swearies."
"Swearies? Really?" Yuki said with a shake of his head. "Are you ten?"
"I'm a very active man-child." His form changed into a woman. "A very active woman-child."
"Don't judge us," the featureless man warned. "Remember that at best we're equals and only because of your station as the custodians of our creations. We are the ones who hold the power here."
"It's a hobby." The shapeshifter added, now a blonde woman with her hair pulled back into a severe bun at the back of her head and a cybernetic implant surrounding her left eye, muttered. "We can take it as seriously as we want."
The faceless man jabbed him in the side. "And we do take it seriously, even if we do occasionally indulge in just having fun."
"What Nameless said!" The shapeshifter, now a attractive young woman with long, light blonde hair, blue eyes and a petite, girlish figure. "Dammit this filter needs to be adjusted again. I'm stuck on the boob spectrum."
"That's just one of your typical excuses, E4E." Nameless said with a chuckle. "You just like genderbending."
"Nah," E4E said with a shake of his head, having transformed into a eccentric looking old man with stereotypical mad scientist hair. "I'm more of a slice of life kinda guy. Hmm… We should really do more of that."
The featureless man looked as though he was struck.
"Wow, right in your heart. Am I write?"
"Stop it," Yuki demanded sternly. "No more sidetracking, no more puns. Let's get serious!"
"Yes," Yuno said, giving the two odd beings her infamous murderous glare. "Why do you make the people of our subject universes dance to your whims? It's wrong to take away their free will like that!"
"I wouldn't go so far," Nameless said as he sweat literal bullets at being subjected to the dreaded yandere glare. "We do make them behave in-character. All we do is shape things so they choose the paths we like to see most."
The glare intensified.
"Uh, most of the time?" Nameless confessed, pulling at a non-existent collar.
Patting the white entity on the shoulder, E4E said, "Tough break buddy. That stare is almost as bad as Ghost Rider's Penance Stare."
"I know right, MacGyver." Nameless said with a sigh. "Nice choice of body though. Very 80s."
"Respect the mullet."
"Don't get distracted on us again!" Yuki insisted slapping the table hard.
"I'm a very distracted person. You can ask anybody." E4E wagged a finger.
"I can attest to that," Nameless said cheekily, earning himself a knife to the head from the annoyed lady of the house.
"Ouch that hurt! Not! But dammit Yuno was that necessary?" The white being said as he plucked the knife out of his head and stabbed it into the dining table.
"If it gets you to stop bantering with each other like we're not here then yes." The pinkette insisted, casually rolling another knife through her fingers.
"Okay, okay, we'll stop." E4E said diplomatically and a thick Scottish accent while holding his hands up in the universal gesture for peace. Fitting considering his Starfleet uniform. The whole organisation was full of peaceniks.
"Fine but for this insult, we're demanding ten universes from Nameless. You owe us now, you damned miser." Yuki declared with a scowl.
"I'll try," Nameless replied with a shrug. "I'm kinda too busy to just sit around making universes for you two. But I'll try. I do enjoy the task after all."
"And you better deliver." Yuno said with her yandere glare turned up to eleven. "Or else."
"...This is a weird-roused moment, isn't it?"
The Amanos clearly did not appreciate E4E's joke as they both stood and drew weapons. Yuno manifested her trusty katana while Yuki pulled out a revolver from his pants pocket.
"Protect me Nameless." E4E said, holding up the faceless man as a shield. That he'd transformed into a little girl with long black hair and adorable facial tattoos just made the whole thing all the more disturbing.
"Why don't we get out of dodge instead?" Nameless suggested irritably as he tried to push his friend off. "And dude I don't want to get falsely #MeToo'd, so let go damnit!"
"Oh right, we're omnipotent. Sweet! Adios!" E4E said with a chuckle as he teleported away.
"Yeah, bye." Nameless said as he too vanished.
"I hate those two," Yuki admitted as he put away his gun. "They are so annoying."
Yuno just nodded in agreement. "Want to go work off the stress, anata?"
"What do you have in mind?" Yuki asked, perking up at the suggestion.
"Well~, we do have the raw materials to make a new universe on our own don't we?" Yuno suggested leaning into her husband. "Why don't we go make use of that, you know, in the old fashioned way?"
"The Muru Murus could use a new sister," Yuki replied with a lecherous little grin.
A grin that would lead to much debauchery.
Done and done! Thanks to the team of Nameless and Axios as always!
Wow, just wow. This is why we stay in the ANs, Omakes are dangerous!
Nameless: Though it's fun to branch out something. [chuckles] Anyways, hope you like our choice of overgods. Before anyone asks/objects/etc., we picked them for their sheer instability and because their canon ends with them essentially becoming what we had in mind for overgods anyways. So it was fitting.
Freaking psychopaths and their universe crushing power.
Nameless: Ah, but what better to embody the randomness and potential destructiveness inherent in the universe than insane psychos?
Touche! Now onto the rest of the chapter… that was it. Huh, super short but then again it was Overgods. So you know, there was THAT.
Nameless: Well, we kinda did split the chapter so we could have both omakes after being inspired to write last week's one while writing out the chapter. So for our smut loving readers, having two shorter chapters is the price you paid for it. Hope it's worth it to you. I know it was to me. [cheeky grin]
You know what to do! Smash the review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!