Disclaimer: I don't HP or PJO.
AN-1: I have a P*T*R*N, where you can read the NEXT FOUR CHAPTERS right now, and the same for the subscribestar.
AN-2: A very big thanks to LordLexx and Hades for the edits, as well as an extra one to the latter for being such an awesome beta—despite the bullying and mental scarring, he is a sweet guy!
AN-3: A shoutout to my Celestial Level Patrons Gerald, Known ART, Mrmeme101, Russel M, Potterfan, Roy Wood, Suhayb Hussain, Michael Witkowski, Joe Schindler, Juan Hernandez, Joshua and Chris Vance and Florian Muller, Aiden Jones, Pardeep, Alex, Dapo Alibi, Russell M, Shadow Wolf Sage, Brayden Sheen.
A shoutout to my Presence level patron as well, the awesome Arman Darklich and Russell Taylor. You guys all rock!
Burning crimson eyes were the first thing Harry saw as the monster started to come out of the shadows, its steps shaking the ground beneath his feet. A plume of fire burst out of its snout as a loud snarl echoed around the cave, the sound of its claws striking against the rocks making his hair stand on the end. Gripping his sword tightly, Harry watched as the eyes started to gain height, the bone-chilling sounds of its growling breath increasing in volume.
As a bolt of lightning erupted in the direction of the monster, the flash of light illuminated its face for just a split second…but it was enough to send a shiver of fear down his spine.
A Chimera.
A fucking Chimera.
It stepped out into the meager sunlight, the bloody snout dripping crimson as its giant form loomed over him. With burnt orange fur forming its mane, the lion's face glared at him, fire escaping its maw as it breathed heavily. Behind the head, a series of gleaming white spikes traveled down its spine, flanked on both sides by two large leathery wings and looking as sharp as the muddy, bloody claws on its paws. The chimera snapped its jaws once, revealing the large, long, and numerous teeth it possessed—and the barbed tongue that was cleaning off the blood and flesh stuck to them. The snake sprouting out of its back turned around to look at him with poisonous yellow eyes, and as its tongue flicked out to taste the air, Harry shivered at the cold voice that reached his ears.
"Another demigod?" It hissed, and the lion head seemed to growl in agreement as the chimera bent down at its knees. "And we barely finished the last…but this one seems more powerful. By the Great One, this demigod will keep us fed for a long time!"
As the snake finished hissing out the words, Harry decided that those were going to be its last. Holding his sword with both hands, he blurred into motion, his xiphos coming down in a diagonal slash that cut through the chimera's hide. Sliding on his knees underneath its belly, he carved through its abdomen, jumping back to his feet once he was past its hind legs. However, in his haste, Harry had forgotten about the snake head, and only his reflexes saved him from getting his throat crushed in by its maw. Stumbling back onto his feet, Harry whirled around with a telekinetic blast ready on the tips of his fingers, but now that it was alert, it was laughably easy for the chimera to smack him in the ribs with its prehensile tail. The motion was so quick that it took him a second to realize what had happened, right before he slammed shoulder first into the cave's walls. He groaned painfully, half of his body inside the stone and his chest hurting like after one of Mia's punches.
However, before he could even think about pulling himself out, the snake wrapped itself around his leg—and almost crushed the limb beneath its grip. Crying out in agony as he felt the serpent constrict even tighter, Harry instinctively released the energy inside him, a wave of electricity exploding out of him…right into the snake's face. The serpent shrieked in pain as the lightning imbued with divinity seeped inside him, its eyes bursting into ruptured holes right away while the rest of its body spasmed and jerked away the demigod's leg. But, even as it suffered with the painful voltage the beast jumped away with a painful roar that shook the walls, it realized that something was not normal.
In the past when it had tangled with the demigods able to wield lightning, their elemental attacks hadn't been this painful. At least not with the amount of electricity this one had shocked him with. Unknown to both of them, it was not only the divinity inside Harry that had mixed in with his attack, but the magic that came from his wizard side as well. Pulling himself out of the wall, Harry grimaced as his leg and shoulder both screamed out in protest, but thankfully, the adrenaline was numbing the pain for the moment. Something slid down the bridge of his nose, and Harry swiped it off only to blink at the familiar feeling of blood on his fingers. Looking down at his hand, he sighed slightly even as he willed his powers to heal the wound on his head. Thankfully, it wasn't a large gash, as it seemed the lightning which had empowered him for those short moments had also increased his durability by an order of magnitude.
But before he could think more about the shroud of lightning that had enveloped him, the chimera roared loudly and pounced upon him, its maw opened and it was full of bloody, wickedly sharp swords. Or at least the canines were—Daggers at the very least and the rest of the teeth didn't exactly look too inviting either. Knowing that he would tire long before the monster would, Harry realized that he had to finish this fast. Especially because the chimera had an insanely fast regeneration on its side too—the large cut he had delivered to its side and stomach had already healed, not even a hint of the wound remaining behind. Jumping sideways, he tried to bring the lightning back, but other than the normal electricity he had been producing for years at this point, he didn't feel anything different. Moving deeper into the cave to avoid the lunging bites of the monster, Harry thought hard on anything he could do to kill it. As he stumbled upon a rock, an idea came to his mind, and he willed a light ball to form high above him, revealing the ceiling of the cave…which was devoid of any stalactites. Of course. Ducking behind a large rock to take a moment as he heard the beast struggle against the somewhat tight opening, he looked around at celestial bronze weapons lying all around in the cave. There were more than three dozen swords and spears, some of them not even bloodied as they rested on the floor…some of them he even recognized.
And then his eyes landed upon a set of knives resting at the other end of the large chamber, the rubies laid into their hilts catching his eyes amidst the blood they were lying in. His blood froze in his veins, and Harry mechanically walked over to them, not even noticing how the chimera had finally made it inside the opening. Stopping a foot away from Cynthia's knives, Harry fell to his knees as the unmistakable truth hit him. The Daughter of Aphrodite was dead. And it had not been that long ago too, he realized, watching the blood ripple slightly as the ground shook from the chimera's weight. He had failed, by mere minutes, and as the hot, putrid, rotten breath of the monster washed over his back, he watched the blood in front of him ripple even more.
"It is rare that we find a mate for ourselves out of the Pit,' the snake's hiss echoed around him, drowning him in the clear sadistic glee the monster was feeling as the serpent came around to rest its head on his shoulder, 'But then…the Daughters of Aphrodite do make for a good enough substitute. It felt good you know, her screams as we took her like the victors we were after snatching her away from her mate. Even now, she continues to please us, her flesh and divinity making us stronger by the minute as we absorb her body…or whatever was left of it after we mated."
Like it had happened a few minutes ago by Cynthia's car…he once again felt something inside him shift, but this time it felt more…heavy, for the lack of a better word. Lightning once again exploded out from him, but this time, the whole cave shook as the ground itself trembled at his fury. Eyes glowing a vivid shade of azure like the bluest of lightning bolts and the purest of waters, his hand snapped up, catching the snake head within its grip before it could even realize what had happened.
The snake started to thrash and hiss at once, and the body of the beast raised its paw to strike his head, something which would have undoubtedly finished the fight right then and there. However, the next moment, something unexpected happened. Growling in a bestial manner much like the monster behind him, Harry grit his teeth as he tightened the muscles in his arm…and simply crushed the snake's head like an overripe fruit. Feeling the blood and flesh drip between his fingers as the other two heads roared out in pain, Harry felt his anger grow even more. Grabbing onto the body of the snake that functioned as the lion's tail, he unleashed thousands of volts right into the monster's bloodstream. His eardrums were almost blasted away by the agonized howl the monster let out, and the ground shook even more as the large monster thrashed wildly.
Slowing down to a stop once he felt the electricity reach lethal levels, Harry stared at the monster with a frown. Looking at the charred stump where the snake's head had been, he raised his foot and stomped upon it, flattening the stub with a squelching noise as blood splattered out of it onto the ground. Looking at the blood on his shoes, he remembered when he had moved a puddle of water back in Surrey after a rain, making it flow into the garden where it belonged. Reaching out to the blood around him like he had done it with water so many times in the past, he imagined molding it to his desires, moving and shaping it like how he wanted…and the blood did that readily. The droplets rose into the air, collecting together trickle by trickle, the pool of blood at his feet too answered his call.
Once a sphere the size of his head collected in front of him, he looked at the weakly groaning chimera, the monster still stunned from the lightning it had suffered. But a part of him was confused regarding one thing. Though this shock had been leagues more powerful than the last one, a chimera shouldn't have been crawling away from him. Even now, the monster could have easily turned the tables upon him, one bite from its maw and it would have been over. And since it had the strength to crawl across the ground, he was flummoxed regarding why the monster wasn't attacking him. However, unlike Harry, the monster had realized him for what he was.
For who he was.
Shaping the blood into a crude spear-like shape, Harry looked the chimera right in its eyes, the crimson orbs no longer as hateful and hungry as they had once been. Delighted in the way it shied away from his eyes, and tried to move away despite the sparks still jumping across its fur, he raised his arm as if the spear was within his grip instead of floating in the air…and brought it down sharply.
The condensed, hard mass of blood followed his directions perfectly, the sharpened tip connecting with the chimeras pupil. The hardened eyeball, an evolutionary trait of the chimera after too many arrows to the eyes, resisted for a moment, but the next moment, Harry roared loudly and pushed through it. The eye burst into a bloody mess instantly, his spear sinking into the monster's head before he let his control over the blood fade away.
It howled once again, breathing out intense gout of flames at the demigod as the blood splashed upon the ground. Pushed back by the sheer force of the attack, Harry grunted as he slammed back first into the wall, feeling his clothes burn away due to the fire and his sword drop from his fingers. But, contrary to what he had expected, his skin was not burning along with them. Oh sure, demigods had higher durability to elements compared to mortals, but this is no normal fire. Even a demigod could endure only so much of a monster's flames before his skin started to burn away…but that was apparently not the case with him. As he started to walk towards the chimera, the flames continued to wash over his form, but instead of the rising heat across his body, Harry didn't feel a thing.
Even his hair was untouched by the heat and fire.
Grabbing onto the opened jaws of the Chimera, he grunted as the ridiculously sharp teeth pierced into his flesh, going through his palms to come out of the other side. Pushing his body to its limits, he started to pull the jaws apart, and the Chimera started to thrash even more as it realized what was happening. The fire cut off immediately as it started to close its maw, pushing against the ground to stand up, its right paw already moving in an attempt to bat him away. His knees buckled as the beast rose up to its full height, the sheer weight and power of its large body pushing him down as its jaws inched closer and closer by the second. His own blood fell upon his face and flowed down his arms, and Harry watched the glint of victory once again appear in the Chimeras eye as it growled softly—the ruined mess of its left eye already bubbling and shifting as it regenerated.
Feeling his wrists scream out in pain and protest, Harry saw the moments Michael and Cynthia had suffered from in his mind. His brother, surprised and killed before he could do anything but pull his sword out…and Cynthia, ravaged and defiled in the most disgusting, horrifying of ways before this monster ate her remains. The walls rumbled even harder this time, cracks spreading throughout the cave, his eyes glowed a vivid shade of sea-green, and the slowly closing jaws stilled instantly.
The chimera whined in confusion, and a pained sound came from its throat as the muscles in his arms bulged, the veins pushing to the surface as he grit his teeth and pushed. Bit by bit, inch by inch, he forced the jaws apart, and the chimera could do nothing but struggle as it tried to remain on its feet. Moving even an inch would have meant falling on its flanks, and the monster knew that would mean a death sentence with how much it was straining to keep its jaws from being torn apart to the neck. However…this beast was not The Chimera, who was a Tier 5 monster—and whimpers left its throat as Harry started to stretch its mouth wider and wider, his nose beginning to leak blood and his head started to throb painfully.
With how much the ground was shaking, it soon lost its footing too, falling to its side just like it had feared a moment ago. However, before it could do anything…Harry screamed loudly, and tore its mouth apart as the creature lost its focus on its muscles for just a second. The monster stilled instantly, blood fountaining out of its exposed throat as the cave stopped shaking too.
He breathed heavily as the monster started to disintegrate, golden dust falling to the ground as it returned to Tartarus. The glow in his eyes went away at that, sea green clearing away to show the shining emerald as Harry fell to his knees in exhaustion— the shock of using his powers in such magnitude in quick succession hitting him hard. He winced as the holes in his palms finally began to sting, his nose practically sprouted blood to the ground and his headache increased even more. His body began to burn up as the sweat on his body began to steam off, and Harry groaned weakly as he coughed out some blood, his throat raw and parched. Deciding to call Chiron for support, he tried to crawl over to where his clothes had been burned away, hoping to use the drachma for an Iris message.
But before he could move more than an inch, blackness started to envelop his vision, his skull feeling like something was crushing it from inside out. A whimper left his throat as he coughed, his hand reaching out to Cynthia's knives as strength started to leave his body. As his chin met the ground and his eyes finally closed, and the last he heard was an eagle cry loudly right above his head.
"My Lady," Alecto, currently in her human form, bowed her head as Persephone, the Goddess of Spring and Queen of the Underworld appeared at the entrance of Hades' palace, "I assume the winter is to come early this year?"
"Quite," the beautiful woman nodded, her yellow sundress changing into a black, form-fitting gown, highlighting each curve she possessed, "There have been some happenings in the world above which need to be brought to my husband's attention. Where is he right now?"
"Lord Hades is currently hosting Lo-" Alecto stopped midway as the ground trembled mightily, and Persephone felt thousands of souls enter the Underworld in just a moment, "WHAT IN THE NAME OF CHAOS IS HAPPENING?!"
"That's Poseidon," she murmured, floating off the ground as the stalactites above began to fall down, "But he hasn't raged like this in centuries."
"What caused the Earthshaker to be so furious?" Alecto asked no one as her wings materialized out of her back and she flew up, watching the lines of the dead increase more and more with each passing second, "Did someone attack his demigod child?"
"Poseidon broke his oath?!" She asked, turning towards the Fury, her face paling rapidly as she momentarily lost her control over the flight before righting herself. "How long have you known this, and why was I not informed?!"
"Because I decreed it so," Hades said, appearing above both of them as his aura flared brilliantly, stopping his brother's rage from destroying any more of his world…to a degree. After all, there was no stopping Poseidon's rage once it was triggered, especially when it was his brother who was the Earthshaker. "Dammit Poseidon, I get why you are so upset, but direct this Earthquake to New York will you?!"
Growling in irritation as a stalactite landed on his head and shattered, Hades poured out even more of his power, his divine form shining through for a moment before the Underworld stilled completely. Satisfied that his world would be disturbed no more, he floated down to his wife's level, seeing her after more than five months. Persephone shivered as she once again felt her husband's dark, terrifying power wash over her. Knowing every single tick and habit of her after thousands of years, Hades smirked with satisfaction as he felt her arousal, her nipples stiffening beneath her tight dress in response to his show of power…and of course, the fact that she was seeing him after five months of separation certainly factored into her state.
But there were other matters to be discussed, namely, her husband's decision to keep her out of the loop. Growling in her throat, Persephone floated down to the ground, crossing her arms over her chest as the other two followed her. Her eyes flicked over to Alecto, and the Fury understood her wish instantly, her head lowering in a bow as she sank into her own shadow.
"Why was I not informed about Poseidon siring a demigod?" she asked once again, staring her husband right in the eyes, "You dare hide something this huge from me?!"
"Careful my dear," he murmured silkily, reaching out with his hand to stroke a finger down her cheek, as he leaned down, his mouth right next to her ear "Don't raise your voice too much…the dead don't like it. As for why you were not told, the last time I said something of such importance to you…you shared it with your mother, and the Master Bolt claimed the lives of Maria and my children both. You remember it, don't you?"
A primal fear washed over her mind as she remembered that day, when Hades had truly shown her how powerful he was, when the Master Bolt had struck the hotel his mortal lover and his two demigods had been living in. His divine form had utterly destroyed their palace to the last particle, and the whole Underworld had suffered apocalyptic damage in the wake of its Master's fury.
"So yes my dear, I kept you out of the loop this time," he hissed, his hand rising from her cheek to the back of her head, where he gripped her hair so tightly that an involuntary cry of pain escaped her throat. Her head tilted back to alleviate some of the pain, and Hades chuckled as he felt her arousal spike. Placing featherlight kisses along her pale neck, he bit down harshly upon where he knew she liked it the most, and savored the taste of his wife's skin even as he spoke with anger, "And now, you can know about it, because it seems your father has crossed all limits and somehow changed Poseidon's son into half his own."
"H-Has he went mad?!" she half-moaned and half-gasped as her thighs rubbed together, her mind stuck on a single thought. Poseidon was going to declare war. "Why would he do something like this? He already has a demigod girl running arou-Mmm!"
"I don't know," Hades growled, feeling his lust reach a fevering high as he watched Persephone's breasts strain her dress to the point of tearing it, "But what I do know is that you have been ignoring your wifely duties for five months, my dear. Get to them before I decide to take you right here and now in full view of your subjects." The smoldering look he got in return let him know that he had successfully taken her mind off of the spawn of his brothers for the time… and put them on a much more enjoyable activity. He may be the ruler of the dead and damned, but he still enjoyed practicing making life.
So, that happened.
Comment if it was good, and if it wasn't, tell me why it didn't live up to your expectations.