Consul of the Underworld: End of Disc 1

by Engineer4Ever

The Second Titanomachy is heating up and Alkaid Potter is in the thick of it! How will she, her wife and family persevere through the trails and tribulations of war? Book 3.

15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.

Consul of the Underworld: End of Disc 1

Chapter Fifteen: A Very Underworldly Xmas

Beta: ShadowofAxios

---

In the late winter, Alkaid could be found nestled in a loveseat by the hearth of her home office in her California manor. With tomorrow being Christmas, she and her wife, Pyrrha, were enjoying some well deserved R&R from the ever escalating Titanomachy. A break that was enjoying whilst dressed in an alluring purple deep V-neck sleeveless nightdress, and cuddling with her beloved as they enjoyed a romantic respite together whilst their darling children were distracted.

Enjoyment that took the form of Alkaid letting her emerald eyes trail along her love's figure and admiring how it was draped in a dark blue long sleeved pajama top irregular hem sleep shirt dress. Her Pyrrha was so beautiful that the daughter of Underworld was too distracted to notice as her wife reached out and pulled her close. Startled, the move elicited a soft gasp from her as her body was pressed enticingly against Prryha's.

And with them so close that they might as well have been glued together, her glorious red-haired queen leaned in and with her hot breath tickling her ear, asked. "You sure the girls aren't going to barge in and blue ball us?"

"My darling Py, you make it sound like I don't know how to corral our girls." The black haired woman smirked seductively, lifting a slender hand and pointing out a nearby window. "Mina is out in the garden, playing with her new pet."

Her cute little murderer had been gifted a man-eating Flemish Giant Rabbit from Mr. D for some reason. Most likely a private joke between the two deities of madness. And her adorable little goddess of serial killers was currently playing what looked like tag with the rabbit with the brown spotted coat. The little top hat that had been magicked onto the killer bunny's head shifting randomly with each excited hop it took.

"So Mina is out with Hatter in the garden. But what about Kura and Gracie?" Pyrrha asked in a sultry whisper as she leaned down to kiss Alkaid's neck, prompting the daughter of Hades to tilt her head to the side to give her wife better access.

Breathless with want as Pyrrha started showering kisses on her neck, Alkaid replied. "K-Kura is busy in her room buying prank gifts for our relatives."

"Oh?" Pyrrha asked as she paused in her kissing, her breath playing wonderfully along Alkaid's neck as she did, sending pleasant goosebumps up her spine. "What about Gracie?"

Alkaid was about to reply but before she could, Pyrrha started sucking on the junction of her neck and collarbone in a concerted bid to give her a hickey. Thus her reply instead became twisted into a pleased mewl.

"Oooooh~!" Alkaid said, her eyes fluttering in pleasure. "G-Gracie is busy brewing potions in the lab. S-She wants to give out potions for some of her Christmas gifts."

Pyrrha finally gave up her hard sucking and pried her lips free from Alkaid's pale neck, no doubt leaving a fine hickey if the approving hum as her darling did so was anything to go by.

Tittering at the light kiss Pyrrha gave the hickey and swimming in the steadily building pleasure that was filling her mind, Alkaid barely understood her wife's reply. "That's good. Our girls don't need to see this."

Letting out a hum of agreement, Alkaid reached out, pulling her fiery lover by her cheeks and stole her breath with a passionate kiss before the daughter of war could pull away. Despite her initial surprise at this move, the daughter of Ares quickly returned the kiss with equal fervor. With such burning passion in fact that the physically stronger woman reached between them and cupped Alkaid's sizable breasts, squeezing them tenderly through the satin of her nightdress.

In response, a whimpering mewl slipped past Alkaid's pouty lips, only to be swiftly silenced as said lips were claimed to continue the heated and delicious kiss. However, unwilling to let Pyrrha completely dominate things, Alkaid began to return the favor. To that end, she slid her fingers between the tangle of limbs that their arms had become and cupped Pyrrha's own wonderful breasts and slowly massaged them through her cotton dress.

The happy squeal she educed from her wife made her smile with satisfaction even as it was swallowed by their still ongoing kiss. Well, it was more a series of uninterrupted kisses but semantics!

Her move just prompted Pyrrha to up the ante and shift one of her hands off Alkaid's right boob which it had previously been lavishing with attention and slip it up onto her right shoulder and slowly, sensually began pulling her dress' spaghetti strap down until her right breast was exposed. Something that when accomplished prompted the daughter of Ares to pull out of their kiss.

This course of action had Alkaid letting out a whine of disappointment, but the sharp squeeze of her left breast turned it into a happy gasp, which soon evolved into a pleased mewl as her Py descended upon her bare breast - Because of course she wasn't wearing anything under her dress! It was lingerie for a reason! - with a smirk and began suckling on its nipple.

"Oh~! Pyrrha~!" Alkaid called out lustfully as she abandoned her massaging of her wife's breasts entirely to grab her wife's head and began running her hands encouragingly through the redhead's hair as she sucked wonderfully at her right breast.

Her wife obliged happily, not just sucking with her lips but also teasing her nipple with her teeth.

"B-Bite me! Bite me, Pyrrha!"

Py let out an agreeing hum. However, since her lips were suckling on her breast, the sound reverberated pleasantly through her teat. That was stimulating enough and Alkaid could feel herself nearing the edge of a nice small climax. However, that was of course not all that Py did, for, as she had agreed, she proceeded to bite down on Alkaid's right nipple. And that sent the daughter of Hades literally screaming over the edge.

"Pyrrha~! Cumming~!" Alkaid cried out as she dramatically screamed her climax, her mind becoming overwhelmed by her pleasure.

It was whilst her mind was drowning in literal mind blowing pleasure that a shadow portal suddenly opened under her. Too addled by pleasure, she was caught completely by surprise and as such she tumbled through it without even a hint of resistance. It was not till the forcible transport by Shadow Travel was mostly complete that Alkaid's mind cleared enough for her to realize what was even happening to her. Sadly, before she could react, she reached the end point of her transport and she found herself falling out of a portal that opened up a few feet above a snowbank in what her own mastery of Shadow Travel told her was Central Park, New York City

Gathering her wits, Alkaid managed to land with some grace, rolling with the fall and thankfully avoiding serious injury. Though that did not save the landing from being an unpleasant experience as the rough impact with the ground left her wincing a little both from the bruises it invariably left her and at the sharp cold of the snow pressed against her exposed skin.

"Alkaid?!" The familiar voice of her cousin Percy called out worriedly, causing a sense of panic to fill her as she realized her current state of undress. Panic that only grew when as she spun around towards his voice, she found not only the son of Poseidon, but also Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus and lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis.

The normally calm and collected daughter of Hades attempted to formulate some kind of response to essentially partially flashing her cousins. For all her typical poise and wisdom, the situation was unprecedented enough that she was drawing a blank. Before she could come up with a response, Thalia rushed forward in a dash and grabbed the hanging spaghetti strap that was used to free her breast and hastily pulled it up so she wasn't flashing her cousins. At the same time, she also strategically positioned herself so that she was blocking Percy's view of Alkaid's lower body, where the skirt of her nightdress must've been stained by the excretions of her recent orgasm.

"Make yourself presentable, dammit! We're in public!" Thalia hissed at her, as if the fact that she was currently barely dressed was her fault. "This reminds me too much of the times I had to block Bethy's eyes from hobos fucking in public."

"Thank you so much for both the mental image and unflattering comparison, Thalia." Alkaid said sarcastically as she gestured for Thalia to move away whilst simultaneously fixing her nightdress. "Apologies for having been forcibly summoned whilst I was Frenching my wife."

"I think you were doing a lot more than just Frenching Pyrrha, Alkaid." Thalia told her in a deadpan.

"A lady doesn't kiss and tell." Alkaid replied airily even as she wordlessly used Incantare: Umbra Spatium (Invoke: Shadow Space) to open a portal to her private shadow realm and began pulling out the clothes she wanted to change into.

"You're gonna change right here!?" Thalia hissed in disbelief.

"Would you rather I go on whatever mission we've been summoned for whilst dressed in lingerie?" Alkaid shot back even as she laid out the clothes she'd retrieved and fought down a shiver.

The prospect of changing in the open in winter was less than ideal. Very much so. She hated the cold! But so was walking around in her nightdress. It was lingerie! It wasn't suitable clothing for the snowy winter. Better to bite the bullet and just put up with it as she changed rather than have to suffer through the cold longer term.

She would've been saved the trouble if she just transfigured her nightdress into the outfit she needed with some Wizarding magic but she wasn't sure what kind of opposition, and there would be opposition, they would face on this mission they'd all been summoned for and she wasn't going to risk the possibility of being hit by some anti-magic along the way and suffering an embarrassing wardrobe malfunction in front of the enemy. Much better to just change into something appropriate here and now. It was not like she hadn't changed in front of other people, boys included, before. It happened occasionally whenever you lived in close proximity with a whole bunch of people like at Hogwarts and Camp despite whatever measures might be in place to prevent that being the case.

"It would be distracting." Percy commented, eyes averted.

"Just be a good boy and keep looking away, Percy." Thalia reminded him with a crackle of static.

"I am! I promise!"

Pulling off her nightdress, and ignoring how becoming naked had her shivering from the cold, she used it to ahem! clean her groin up - It was not the most sanitary way of doing things but beggars couldn't be choosers. She could take a cleansing bath later. -, before tossing it into her Umbra Spatium and closing the portal. As she did, she spared a glance at Percy and was pleased to see that he was indeed being a good boy. That did not however stop Alkaid from making a mental note to ask Mina to use his dreams to pay his mind a visit when he slept tonight and use her power to kill any libidinous associations that his memory of this event might have. As for Thalia, she doubted it was necessary since she was a asexual Hunter, but she'd have Mina pay her a visit too.

"You better stay that way!" Thalia growled as she looked around the thankfully deserted little clearing they were standing in. "And you, Alkaid, hurry up and get dressed!"

"Yes, yes. I'm hurrying." Alkaid replied with a roll of her eyes even as she quickly slipped on the clothes she'd pulled out of Umbra Spatium earlier. This consisted of a sports bra and matching panties worn underneath a wine red cable-knit cropped, turtleneck, long sleeved sweater and a pair of black slacks. An outfit that was completed by thick wool socks and a pair of practical black flat heeled boots.

"There, I'm done." Alkaid declared as she pulled on the fabric of her hastily thrown on clothing to make some final adjustments, prompting both Percy and Thalia to breathe sighs of relief.

"Now, you two will be the well mannered gentleman and lady that I know you both are and not mention this again, understood?" Alkaid told her younger cousins with a sweet smile that only served to emphasize the hidden threat behind her words.

"Sure." Thalia said with a shrug. "It's not like I've not seen worse."

Percy though just gulped nervously. Anxiety that only grew as evidenced by the sweat that appeared on his brow when Alkaid and Thalia both turned to him expectantly.

"What hickey? I didn't see a hickey." Percy said with a panicked look.

I am definitely having Mina pay his mind a visit tonight. Alkaid thought with a frown. She liked her cousin but she wasn't about to give him fodder, more than she did by just existing, for him to lust over. She didn't quite like him enough for that.

"Percy~!" Thalia hissed warningly as she transformed her Mace canister into the spear that was its true form and pointed it at him threateningly.

"Right! Right! I saw nothing! Nothing at all!" Percy said, putting his hands up in surrender.

Yup! Mina is so gonna be paying him a visit tonight.

"Alkaid, are you satisfied?" Thalia asked, shooting her a questioning look.

"Satisfied enough." The sorceress replied with a shrug.

"Alright, so now that Alkaid's wardrobe malfunction is fixed, maybe we can figure out why we got summoned here?"

"Yes, let's." Alkaid said in agreement even as Percy nodded. "So were both of you also summoned by Shadow Travel as well?"

"Yeah," Percy replied. "I was just out doing some last minute Christmas shopping when a shadow portal just opened up beneath me without me noticing and I accidentally fell into it. It dropped me here."

"It was about the same for me." Thalia added as they turned to her. "I was out scouting a spot for the Hunters to set up camp for the day when a shadow portal opened up underneath me too. I didn't see it and fell into it. I ended up here a bit after Percy and found him looking all confused. Not long after that, you showed up, Alkaid."

"I see." Alkaid said as she tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Since Shadow Travel was involved, it is likely someone from the House of Hades is behind all this. I expect someone will come to explain things soon. We just need to wait."

Almost on cue, and considering the gods were involved in their lives this was almost certainly the case, Alkaid's little sister, Bianca di Angelo, arrived via a Shadow Travel portal.

"Sorry I'm late, everyone!" Bianca said as she offered them a wave. "Charon was being a jerk and demanding I pay him a toll before he let me Shadow Travel out of the Underworld. And since I forgot my wallet, I had to go back to get it so I could have the drachma to pay him."

I'm thinking Mina needs to pay dear ol' Charon a visit too. Perhaps with Father and Mother in tow. Alkaid thought vindictively. She was fairly sure why the Ferryman had delayed her sister. He was likely the reason she'd shown up in her state of undress as well. Damn voyeur!

That was something to deal with at a later date however. For now, she had to deal with what was at hand.

"That's fine, Bianca." Alkaid told her little sister with a reassuring smile. Bianca didn't need to know that she'd been tricked by Charon so he could enjoy a peepshow of her changing. "So why have we been summoned?"

"Okay, so, um, something big, really big happened in the Underworld." Bianca, the poor dear, began rambling as she gesticulated wildly in a panic. "And Lady Persephone needs help. Like, all of our help. Big help is needed!"

Tensing at that, Alkaid looked to the side and opened a Shadow Travel portal that connected directly to her Mother's garden within Father's Underworld palace. All the while, Bianca kept rambling on about how Mother needed all their help for something.

Thalia looked ready to cut Bianca off but before she did, Alkaid preempted her. "Bianca. Stop. You're rambling. Let's just head to the Underworld and let Mother explain. Okay?"

Bianca nodded with an embarrassed blush.

"To the Underworld?" Percy asked with a grimace.

"To the Underworld." Alkaid confirmed.

"Nothing good ever happens whenever I go to the Underworld." The son of Poseidon whined, shoulders slumped.

"Suck it up, Percy." Thalia scolded him with an annoyed expression. "That's what it's like whenever we get called for a mission."

"Yeah, but the Underworld?"

"Percy, just shut up and get into the portal." Alkaid told him irritably. He was wasting time and she wanted to know what trouble Mother had encountered that would require the help of all the children of the Big Three because she had zero doubts that if Bianca was involved that Nico had also been dragged into this.

"Okay, I'm going. I'm going." Percy whined as he finally stepped into the portal, everyone following behind him with Alkaid going last.

Time to find out what all this is about.

---

Percy hadn't been lying about not liking going to the Underworld. Nothing good ever came when he visited the Underworld. The first time he did, during the Quest for the Master Bolt, had seen Grover, and by extension him and Annabeth when they saved him, almost get sucked into Tartarus and the eternal doom that represented. And then on his last trip he got the Curse of Achilles, which was cool and all but was something he almost died getting too. So yeah, Percy hated visiting the Underworld.

But he also loved Alkaid. And not just because she was super sexy, something which he was reminded of when she decided to change her clothes in front of him just a little while ago. He hadn't looked. He had promised he wouldn't. But even turning away, he had caught a glimpse or two out of the corner of his eye. Plus, he did catch a good look at her bare breast when she'd first showed up before Thalia helped her cover up. No, the real reason he loved Alkaid was because she was the big sister he had always wanted. She was there whenever he needed her, whether that was with some advice, help with schoolwork, or on a Quest. Even though she was super busy with her own family and her job as a Diplomat of Olympus, and it might take her a while, she was still always there for him when it counted. His cousin was someone he could count on to be his corner. So despite his dislike of the Underworld, he stepped through Alkaid's shadow portal and into the land of the dead with only a minimum of whining.

He couldn't fully squash his dislike though, especially when he stepped through the other side and saw where exactly Alkaid had sent them to. Persephone's creepy Garden was most definitely not one of his favorite places, it reminded him too much of his first time visiting the Underworld and what had been at stake during that Quest. He could've lost his mom as a result of that and the reminder of that was enough to send a shiver down his spine. One not helped at all by the petrified victims of Medusa that decorated the garden filled with bioluminescent fungi and piles of gems that served to replace the plants that would not have been possible to grow underground.

His thoughts were pulled away from his survey of the Garden of Persephone however when Alkaid exited her shadow portal behind him and immediately gasped. "Mel, Maka, what are you doing here!?"

Spinning towards where Alkaid was looking and he saw that yes, his cousin's two divine sisters were there too. How, by Olympus, had he missed them!?

Man! I'm letting my mind wander too much if I let two goddesses get the drop on me.

Speaking of the two goddesses, despite being sisters, they were like night and day.

Melinoe, the goddess of ghosts, looked truly frightening. Her left side was black and hardened like a mummy, while her right side was pale and chalky as if she had been drained of all her blood. Her eyes were empty black voids. A terrifying appearance that was only accentuated by the dress she wore with alternating black and white blocks which drew attention to the two contrasting halves of her visage.

In contrast, Makaria, the goddess of blessed death, was a beautiful woman with startling white hair and pale, flawless skin and was dressed in a gown made of what looked like flowing, evershifting white energy. If her sister's appearance was terrifying, then hers was comforting. Just being in her presence soothed Percy's soul and filled him with a deep sense of calm and a willingness to accept whatever the Fates might have in store for him.

I can totally see why she's the goddess of blessed death.

There was one odd thing about Makaria though and that was that for some reason, she was accompanied by a ram that was as big as a horse. Was it her sacred animal? He didn't think so, but it was not like he knew everything about the gods and their legends, so maybe it was.

"Looks like all the children of Hades, both mortal and divine, are here. All except Nico." Thalia noted with a frown. "Where's the kid? And where's Lady Persephone? She summoned us, right? Or Lord Hades for that matter?"

"You're right! Nico should be here." Bianca said, looking around worriedly. "He was here when I left to get you guys. Where did he go?"

Alkaid frowned at this and turned to her divine sisters questioningly.

Before either goddess could answer her however there was a burst of shadow behind them from which a new goddess stepped out. The new arrival looked like an exceedingly gorgeous, alluring and beautiful tall young woman with a beautiful, but deathly pale face. Her hair was dark and long, floating and curling as if it were weightless.

""Mother."" All three daughters of Persephone greeted her, cluing Percy in on who the new goddess was.

"Hello dears," Persephone said as she stepped towards them and suddenly split into three, one for each of her daughters, and kissed them on their cheeks in welcome before joining back into one person in the next step.

Huh! So that's a thing gods can just do.

"You as well Thalia Grace, Percy Jackson. Welcome to the Underworld."

"The pleasure is mine, Lady Persephone." Thalia said, her tone radiating her insincerity.

Glad to know that I'm not the only one who doesn't like the idea of being here.

"It's good to be here." Percy added just as dishonestly.

If the Queen of the Underworld noted their lies, she said nothing, instead choosing to give them a polite nod before turning to Thalia and continuing. "As for your question, Thalia, my husband is on Olympus at a Council meeting to discuss the war."

Guess we're not getting his help then. Percy thought with a disappointed sigh as Persephone turned to a fretting Bianca.

"As for Nico, he demanded to know what I had summoned you for and since you were taking so long I obliged. After hearing about it though, he just jumped onto his gryphon and flew off."

"You didn't stop him, Mother?" Alkaid asked with narrowed eyes.

"I did. He didn't listen when I told him to wait for everyone else." Persephone said with a shake of her head. "I didn't want to restrain him and give the wrong impression. I need his help after all."

"Stupid, impatient Nico." Bianca grumbled in worried exasperation.

"And why exactly did you summon us, eh, Mother?" Melinoe asked with an arched eyebrow. "You haven't gotten round to telling me or Maka that either."

"I would've if you two had arrived when I first called like Bianca and Nico did." Persephone said with a shrug. "What held you two up anyway?"

"W-We w-were-" Makaria began only to cut herself off and bury her head in the fluffy coat of her ram, a sight that had Percy blinking in confusion.

I don't think I've seen a socially awkward god before.

"I took Makaria to go Christmas shopping for Al and her kiddos. They live in the mortal world, so we thought it would be better to hit up a mortal mall so we could find something they'd be more familiar with." Melinoe explained with a shrug.

Wow! That's thoughtful of them! Percy thought, surprised once more.

His own dad rarely ever even gave him Christmas presents! Something about it not being a Greek holiday. And even when he did give him gifts, he rarely gave him anything he wanted and never anything from the mortal world. Usually he'd get some magical gift that would somehow (he chalked it up to his dad's divine foresight) always ended up being useful in a Quest or mission later. That Alkaid's siblings not only gave her but also her kids gifts for Christmas spoke of a closeness to her that was shocking and though he hated himself for it, left him feeling a little envious.

"Okay, that's cool and all, but can someone fill us in on why we're here?" Thalia asked, clearly getting frustrated that they were all still in the dark.

"Or can I go find Nico?" Bianca asked hopefully.

"You can go find Nico after I've explained everything, Bianca." Persephone said comfortingly. "He's looking for the same thing that I'll be sending you after as well, so your best bet in finding him is searching for it as well."

A goddess being nice to her husband's half-blood!?

Percy could understand Persephone being nice to Alkaid. She raised her alongside Hades and had even formally adopted her. His cousin was almost as much Persephone's daughter as she was Hades'. But the Queen of the Underworld being nice to Bianca too!? This was…

Unbelievable!

He'd never met his dad's wife and she'd never gone out of her way to make his life miserable like Hera did to Zeus' half-bloods, but he couldn't imagine her being as nice to him as Persephone was being. Was this a House of Hades thing? If so, Percy wanted in.

"That sounds reasonable, Mother." Alkaid cut in. "So could you please explain already?"

"Patience, Alkaid. Patience." Persephone said with a shake of her head. "Follow me to the dining room. I have had the servants prepare tea and snacks. I'll explain everything over refreshments."

Alkaid, Thalia and Bianca all looked exasperated by how unhurried the Queen of the Underworld was being but obliged her. In contrast, Melinoe and Makaria just looked unfazed by the whole thing and followed along happily. As for Percy himself? He trailed behind them on autopilot as he continued to struggle with the mind blowing realization that the House of Hades actually treated its half-bloods like family.

---

As her stepmother laid out a nice spread of tea and snacks - to be polite no doubt - and she made a cup for herself, Bianca felt her nerves fray as she worried over her silly little brother. Seriously! Couldn't Nico be less reckless for once!?

Ignoring Bianca's worry and everyone's exasperation at her delays, the goddess of spring took a long sip of her tea, and after smiling in contentment at the admittedly wonderful blend, continued playing polite hostess. "Now, as for why you are all here. Oh, did everyone get a tea cake?"

"No thank you." Percy and Thalia said quickly.

Speaking of Percy, he'd been strangely quiet. Usually he'd be full of quips and sarcastic barbs every other sentence but since they got to the Underworld, he hadn't said much. If anything it seemed like he was brooding.

What's up with him?

"Shame. Girls?" Stepmother asked, turning to look at her daughters and Bianca.

"Mother, please inform us of what the emergency is." Big Sister Alkaid sighed as she took a sip of tea. All lady-like and stuff. Bianca really needed to get those lessons. She could tell her big sister was just as anxious to just know what was going on as any of them but she somehow still kept her poise. It was amazing!

"Oh, always such a rush. But fine, my dear, I'll explain." The mother goddess sighed and pushed her tea away. "You see, with the use of Stygian Iron and one of the Keys of Hades, which for those of you who don't know, hold the power to both seal or free people in the Underworld, I had a new Symbol of Power forged."

You could hear a pin drop at that statement.

A silence that was broken when Big Sister Melinoe let out a soft whistle of awe. "With a sword made out of that, it would give whoever wields it the power to send anyone to or from the Underworld with the slightest nick."

Bianca could only gulp, her throat tightening nervously. That sounded like a super powerful weapon.

"That's pretty powerful, right?" Percy asked with a worried look.

Squeezing the unlife out of her spectral ram, Big Sister Makria squeaked out. "It is. B-Banishing a being to the Underworld can be resisted, but this Sword of Father, er Hades, essentially counters that!"

Big Sister Alkaid nodded in agreement. "Only the most powerful of beings would be able to resist a wound from such a blade."

"Oh." Bianca surmised.

"Great," Thalia mumbled under her breath. "I'm going to have to report this ASAP. Lady Persephone, why in the world would you make something like this?"

Her pale Stepmother frowned at this, a pinched look on her face as if she was contemplating answering or blasting Thalia for the question. Thankfully, for their House's relations with Zeus and Artemis, and, more importantly, the poor ghoul servants which would've had to clean up Thalia's remains if she got smited, the goddess of spring chose the former option. "That is simple, Thalia Grace. You see, during the last war council, the Big Three ended up having yet another pissing match about who was better. This time, they chose to argue over who contributed most to the Battle of Camp Half-Blood and during the course of this, Zeus and Poseidon once more insulted my husband by claiming that his contribution was being nothing more than the piggy bank to fund Camp's defenses."

Bianca felt her anger spike at that. That was just plain mean of them! How could Uncle Zeus and Uncle Poseidon belittle them like that? Funds ran armies! It was one-oh-one! The defenses that their House funded were the reason why they had won that battle!

"That is nothing new, Mother." Big Sister Alkaid said with a shake of her head. "Was that truly enough to prompt such a rash action?"

"Oh my dear Alkaid, of course I was used to such unsightly barbs towards my dear husband. It is how he and his brothers interact after all and most of it is just good natured ribbing." Stepmother replied, before her lips twisted into a scowl as if she just swallowed something foul. "However, I drew the line when they had the gall to insult you. Pulling my daughter into their little pissing contest! How dare they!? Well, if they thought it was alright to belittle my children as part of it then I felt it was high time those two oafs learned to recognize the power of the House of Hades. And with this new Symbol of Power? They most certainly will!"

Big Sister Alkaid sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as if she was dealing with a bad student or something. "Mother, while I am most certainly touched by your desire to defend my honor being your motive for all this, I cannot even begin to explain the absolute fury I am feeling towards you at your recklessness."

At her cold, chilling tone, Thalia and Percy inched away from Big Sister Alkaid as the very air around her frosted over slightly. Something that had Bianca and her divine sisters just shoot them with exasperated looks. Seriously, what was their problem? Were they afraid of the cold or something?

"As I am sure Father will be when he finds out." Big Sister Alkaid continued. "Last I recalled, both you and Father agreed to never make the sword when you first suggested it centuries ago. And yet you went behind his back?"

"Yeah, mom, while all this cloak and dagger stuff is cool, it's still going over the line. The Sword is gonna screw with the balance of power big time." Big Sister Melinoe pointed out, stabbing a tea cake with a knife several times in annoyance.

"That's right, Mother! It was why Father was against it to begin with!" Big Sister Makaria pointed out in a rare outburst. Though as soon as she was finished, she let out a 'eep' and slunk behind her cuddly ghost ram.

"Now girls," Stepmother said in a chiding yet polite voice. "I do know that, but you must understand that I was truly beyond the pale with anger. Insulting Alkaid like that just made me react. Can a mother be truly blamed for jumping to the defense of her child?"

The daughters of Hades didn't have a rebuttal for that. It was just such a sincere answer.

"Yeah, while that's all fine and dandy, but if you are bringing us all into this then, let me guess… the Sword of Hades got stolen, didn't it? And you want us to help you get it back?" Thalia cut in with an exasperated look on her face.

"That is indeed the case! Well deduced Thalia Grace." Stepmother said in a pleasant tone that nonetheless sounded mocking at the same time. And if the look that flashed across Thalia's face was anything to go by, she saw the insult for what it was. "You see, shortly after the Sword was forged, the Titans' forces launched a raid on the hidden forge located within the Fields of Asphodel and left like bandits with it."

Percy let out a low, long suffering groan and muttered something about deja-vu.

"Uh, if something that powerful got stolen, why are you so relaxed about it, Stepmother?" Bianca asked, honestly a little confused. If it were up to her, the whole House of Hades would be in panic mode right now, not sitting down and enjoying teatime.

"Why should I be overly worried?" The Queen of the Underworld replied with a shrug. "I have all the children of the House of Hades and two other children of the Big Three besides searching for it. With all of you working together, I am sure it will be recovered shortly."

"I am sure it will. But we will have words on this later, Mother. You, Father and I. Now excuse me as I clean up this fiasco." Alkaid spoke up coldly and stood, her face the very picture of regal rage as a number of the bioluminescent fungi that decorated the dining room nearest her wilted in response to her anger.

Stepmother did not bat an eyelid at Big Sis' anger, instead nodding in understanding.

"Yes, I expect we will. Your father will be most upset with me. But that's not the real worry for the moment. For now, we must focus on retrieving the Sword. The Titans must not be allowed to keep it."

"Leave it to us, Mother." Melinoe said as she and Makaria stood as well. "Between us and the kiddos, we've got this!"

---

Thalia felt her mind race as she pondered the damnable mess that she found herself having to help clean up. She didn't blame Alkaid for being pissed off at her mom.

Mom… That her own stepmother saw her as a daughter and even formally adopted her, said a lot of how being raised by a god really changed some things.

Though I don't think Hera would have changed her opinion of me even if Father raised me. The daughter of Zeus thought. Her stepmother had a reputation when it came to how she regarded her husband's half-bloods and saying it was bad would be the understatement of the millennium!

Shaking her head to dismiss her wandering thoughts, Thalia turned her attention back to Alkaid as the sorceress organized how they would go about searching for that damned sword.

"We'll be splitting up." The statuesque older woman said. "I will lead the half-bloods as outside of Mel and Maka, I know the Underworld the best."

"I'll go gather some hunters and trackers in Elysium. Oh, and my ghostly goats!" Makaria said in a chipper tone as she climbed onto the back of the ram that she had with her and teleported away in a burst of soothing lights.

From what Thalia gathered? The ghost goats were her personal honor guard. Thalia wouldn't judge, she knew a pretty cool goat too when she was traveling as a kid.

"I'll go hit up some of the seedier places and dark corners." Melinoe added. "I've got pals all over who might have spotted our sword thieves."

With that, the goddesses winked away in a mix of white soft motes and harsh ghastly spirits.

"And we will be traveling in style." Alkaid said, as she led them down a hall and in a deceptively dismissive gesture, conjured and sent away a bright, silvery, translucent fan-tailed raven.

I recognize that! That's the Patronus Charm that Phoebe taught me some Wizards use to deliver messages. Alkaid must be informing Pyrrha and her daughters what's going on. Thalia realized as they pushed past a pair of thick oak doors and walked into, of all things, a large garage.

Inside were rows upon rows of old classical cars that would make a collector weep. There were literally cars from every era. And far in the back there were even what looked like extravagant horse drawn carriages and palanquins.

"We're going to drive, Big Sister?" Bianca asked, looking at her sister excitedly. That excitement was paired with an underlying adoration that could not help but make Thalia feel jealous. It reminded her of the looks Bethy used to give her when she was a kid but which she had grown out of and more distantly of her foggy memories of Jas-

Thalia cut her mind off before it wandered down a path she didn't want to. Thinking of her long lost brother would lead her nowhere good.

Focus on the mission! The mission! Thalia told herself with determination as she watched Alkaid pull out a key fob from a shadow portal and clicked one of its buttons.

In response, the chirp of a modern alarm went off nearby. "There it is. Come on, everyone."

Following her lead through the car collector's wet dream, they soon reached a fancy car that even Thalia, who knew next to nothing about cars, recognized as an Aston Martin. Because of course Alkaid would drive an Aston Martin.

"Since we don't want to waste energy trekking through the Underworld, we'll be heading to the River Lethe with some horsepower."

"Yeah, that's one pretty pony." Percy whistled as they eyed the sleek black car.

"It's the only way to travel in the Underworld!" Their older cousin tittered as they all got in and buckled up. Thalia, as the next oldest, naturally took shotgun. Much to Percy's annoyance as evidenced by the glare he sent her way.

Tough luck, Kelphead. I want the leg room. Thalia smirked as she stretched her legs.

As she got comfortable, she turned to Alkaid and asked. "Why are we headed to the Lethe?"

"All the unguarded exits out of the Underworld are located in the untamed lands of the Underworld beyond it. I would teleport us to them directly, but we might miss the thieves if we do, especially if they go after another exit other than the one we think they would. Safer to just chase after the thieves directly." Alkaid explained as after checking that everyone was buckled in, she started the engine and began carefully driving them out of the expansive garage.

"I see." Thalia said with a nod. That made sense. The Lethe was as close to a boundary of Hades' domain down here in the Underworld as there was. If there were any exits the Titans wanted to use to escape it without getting mobbed then it would have to be beyond the River of Forgetfulness and in the chaotic wastes beyond. "Nice car by the way."

"Thank you, Thalia, Percy." Alkaid said with a pleased grin as they exited the garage and onto the rocky plains of the Underworld that surrounded Hades' palace, steadily picking up speed as they did. "It's an Aston Martin Vanquish S Ultimate Edition."

"And it can go off road?" Percy asked as he glanced out at the uneven terrain they were driving over. "I thought supercars like this couldn't."

Trust a boy to know about cars. Thalia thought with a roll of her eyes. Then again maybe she was being unfair. After all, even she knew that a normal Aston Martin shouldn't have been able to go off road.

"All of the House of Hades' cars are enchanted so they can go safely off road. It's a necessity since most of the Underworld has no roads." Bianca explained with a proud grin.

"That's cool and useful." Percy said with an impressed nod. "That includes your car on the surface too, Alkaid?"

"Of course."

"You have another car on the surface too?" Thalia asked her older cousin, more out of politeness than anything. Because of course the sorceress did. Her wife and family lived on the surface and they needed a car to get around didn't they? Plus they were totally rich. No doubt it was another expensive one.

"Oh, oh! I think I have a picture of it." Bianca said, pulling out one of those new iPhones that Thalia saw on a billboard a few times. She tapped the screen a few times and a picture showed up on it.

"It's a silver Bentley Continental GTC. Big Sis let me drive it in the driveway at home." The Italian girl bragged. Man, where did that super nervous girl from the first time they met go? It was nice to see her growing up.

"Dang, you have managed to get a cell phone that doesn't broadcast where you are to monsters? I want one. That's- Ugh, even if I could get one, it's not like I'd ever get service in the woods. Life is so unfair!"

"Maybe try a satellite phone?" Percy joked from behind her even as he admired the image of Alkaid's surface car that Bianca was showing them.

"Oh zip it!"

"It's not a phone." Bianca said with a shake of her head as she put away her iPhone. "Well it can be but I don't use it as one. It has no SIM card and so it's not connected to the network. I'm using it as a pocket computer."

"I guess that's one way around the whole curse that was put on us for being half-bloods. It was only a matter of time, huh?" Percy asked curiously.

"It is and don't fret Percy, it won't be long before we have a way around the curse against cell phones entirely." Alkaid reassured him. "My Wizarding friends are working on it. Just be patient."

"Can I say you are the best cousin ever?" Percy asked.

"Yes you may."

"You are the best cousin ever."

"And the best sister!" Bianca chirped. "Big Sister Alkaid promised to buy me my first car when I turn sixteen! She said I could get anything I want so long as it's under a hundred thousand dollars!"

"A hundred thousand dollars!?" Percy did a spit take. "For a car!?"

"Sure." Alkaid said with a shrug. "Only the best for my family."

"Alkaid, can I get a car for Christmas?" Percy asked with the best imitation of the puppy dog eyes Thalia had ever seen on a teenage boy.

"Your mum said no. I asked." Alkaid said with a shake of her head.

"Dang it, Mom!" Percy whined and slumped in his seat, even as Bianca giggled at him.

"So, my birthday just passed…" Thalia started as she sent her most pleading look at her cousin.

"Don't worry, Thalia. I've rolled your birthday present into your Christmas gift. Mina or Kura, depending on who feels like it, will drop it off tomorrow morning." Alkaid assured her. "It's not a car, not that you'd need one as a Hunter, but I'm sure you'll like it."

Thalia felt her heart warm at Alkaid's words. Having a family member that really cared was nice. Sure the Hunters all cared for each other, but it was nice to be spoiled once in a while and not 'living off the land' as Lady Artemis had them do most of the time. Unless there was a Dunkin' Donuts nearby. Lady Artemis loved donuts.

"What did you get me?" Thalia asked curiously.

"A portable wardrobe with some clothes that Pyrrha and I picked out which we think you'd like." Alkaid told her with a smile. "It takes the form of a backpack that I had enchanted so it's bottomless and will return to you even if you misplace it. It's pretty much indestructible too."

"Big Sis~! Why did you just tell her!? Christmas gifts are supposed to be a surprise!"

"Now, now, Bianca, I never did subscribe to that idea. Do you want to know what your gift is?"

"No! I want mine to be a surprise!"

Alkaid replied by teasingly trying to convince Bianca to let her tell her what she got her for Christmas and the younger sister denying her every attempt, but Thalia tuned their playful argument out. Alkaid's thoughtful and pragmatic gift for her, as a Hunter she could see how the gift that had been given her could be super useful especially since as a bottomless bag it didn't need to be limited to being a portable wardrobe, got her thinking… What would Father have given her for her sixteenth birthday if she had stuck around instead of joining the Hunters? Would she have got one of those fancy new phones to use as a pocket computer like Bianca? Or maybe if she was really lucky, a car like Alkaid's?

"I mean, you would have gotten a world ending Prophecy, but you just had to rewrap it for me. Thanks, Thalia." Percy quipped at her, letting Thalia know that she'd spoken her ponderings out loud.

As Bianca giggled like a school girl, Thalia rolled her eyes. "What can I say, Percy? You just wear it better than me. It flatters your girlish figure."

"Fair, fair. I mean, I do look good with a civilization ending prophecy. It's all the rage now. Well, that and turtlenecks."

A quick, girlish giggle escaped from their driver as Alkaid tugged the part of collar that hid the hickey her wife gave her higher and the usually cool and collected woman blushed.

"Hey Alkaid, do you have any music? Since this is a road trip and all, we should listen to some. It's customary." Thalia said with a smirk.

"It is?" Percy asked. "I never got to listen to music when I went on road trips during a Quest."

"But we're not on a Quest, Percy. We're on a mission." Bianca retorted with a playful grin.

"To-meh-to, to-mah-to." The son of Poseidon said with a shrug.

Even as Bianca continued playfully arguing with Percy, Thalia just turned to Alkaid. "So music?"

"You can try the radio." Alkaid offered, gesturing to her car's sound system. "Or the playlists I have saved in the system."

Thalia nodded and began fiddling with the sound system embedded in the dash. Much to her dismay, all she could find on the Underworld stations and the playlists that Alkaid had were jazz and classical music!

"Ugh! For real!? Where's the punk or alt rock?"

Alkaid shrugged. "That's what we get down here. Father doesn't like those genres and the Underworld stations only play what he likes."

"And your playlists?"

"I have the same tastes as Father."

"Oh, so you're just boring?"

The words had just come out her mouth when all of a sudden, a freaky cat thing shimmered into view on the dashboard, right in front of the Hunter. Before Thalia could react, it leapt at her face, landing a paw's worth of deep scratches on her cheek. As she let out a yelp of pain, it climbed over her head and before she could so much as bat at it, it leapt over her seat to land in Bianca's lap where it gave a triumphant meow and curled up.

"Ow! What the Pit was that for, Bianca?" The daughter of Zeus demanded, looking over her shoulder to glare at the younger girl as she felt some blood trickle down her face.

The olive skinned girl glared at her right back with her black eyes whilst petting her freaky cat. "No one insults Big Sister. Cait Sith was just doing his job."

"Sister dear, while I thank you for defending my honor, attacking your cousin is going too far. Apologize."

"Eh, I don't think she did. If it was up to me, I'd give Thalia a good thump on the head. A scratch isn't much in comparison."

Alkaid let out a sigh, no doubt ready to chide the two before Thalia spoke up.

"No, they're kind of right. I was wrong to say you were boring for your music taste. I find it boring, but I shouldn't diss others' choice in tunes. Sorry?" Thalia said as she tapped her face, wincing a little at the scratches.

"Apology accepted." Alkaid said distractedly. "Oh, everyone please hold on tight."

"Uh, why?" Thalia asked even as she obeyed and grabbed tightly onto her seatbelt.

Their driver just nodded ahead and Thalia looked out the windscreen to see what had got her attention. As she did, she was greeted with the sight of a mob of monsters with appearances that ranged from red-skinned, horned humanoids that seemed straight out of the pop culture description of a demon to creatures that seemed to be made of shadows with no fixed form.

"What by the Pit are those things?" Percy asked in that coldly serious tone he got when he was about to cut loose and cut his enemies to pieces with Riptide.

"Just rogue daimons." Bianca shrugged. "The uncivilized parts of the Underworld are overrun with them. They cross over the Lethe into Father's domain all the damned time and cause a mess wherever they go. Nico and I go out to cull them whenever they do but they're like the Hydra! There's no end to them."

"Okay, but what are they?" Percy pressed.

"Spirits of chaos." Bianca elaborated. "They're literally born out of the chaotic energies that make up the wild parts of the Underworld."

"Oh, cool. Awesome even."

"Yes, they are spirits of chaos. And frankly? I have zero patience to deal with them right now." Alkaid said in a chilling tone as she drew a card from a shadow portal and opening her window, tossed it out.

"Axel Shooter, Phalanx Shift." The sorceress incanted grimly, causing her card to explode in a burst of light from which shot forth hundreds of emerald bullets of magic that proceeded to streak past the car and blow up a huge chunk of the daimonic horde, clearing a path and allowing them to drive past them without slowing down.

Bianca chuckled, "Big Sister is really pissed off! She didn't even do any fanfare."

"Yeah, well, going off of what she was dressed in when she first got summoned in Central Park? I think she's got a case of blue balls." Thalia dryly said. "So she probably wants this done ASAP so she can get back to her nookie time."

Alkaid gave them all a wicked stink eye. "Zip it."

Everyone shut it after that glare. None of them wanted to be on the receiving end of the sorceress' ire like the daimons had. They liked living, thank you very much.

---

As they arrived at the River Lethe, Alkaid pulled her car to a stop a good distance away from it.

A course of action that had Thalia turning to her in confusion, "Why are we stopping here?"

"Do you see over there?" Alkaid asked, pointing a finger towards a small, bone white marble bridge spanning over the river. Let it not be said her Father did things by halves when it came to material. "That is one of the few crossings for the Lethe and the closest of those to the Fields of Asphodel where the forge was hidden. Since the Titans' agents no doubt know they would be pursued, they would most likely use the quickest path out of the Underworld."

"So we're here to search the bridge for clues?" Percy asked as he undid his seatbelt. "To figure out which exit out of the Underworld they're heading towards on the other side of the Lethe?"

"Exactly." Alkaid happily nodded. "But please stay clear of the waters of the Lethe. One touch and your memories will be dust in the wind."

Nodding, the daughter of Zeus undid her own belt and got out of the car. "Don't you worry about that, I'm going to keep a good distance from it."

"Don't worry, Big Sis, we've got this." Bianca assured her with a big smile and nudged her familiar. "Come on, Cait Sith."

Getting out of the car, Bianca placed the cat down, whispering instructions to the fae feline and prompting it to begin its own hunt for clues. Following her familiar's lead, Alkaid's sister began her own search. In contrast, Percy and Thalia stretched a little before doing the same.

"Hop to it, everyone! We're racing the clock!" Alkaid said as she stepped out of the car to join them, leaving it idling so they could drive off as soon as they got a clue about where to go next in their pursuit of the stolen Sword of Hades.

If they didn't catch these thieves before they escaped the Underworld, that would lead to a grave loss for Olympus while giving the enemy a major boon. So they needed every advantage they could possibly get in their pursuit.

With that thought in mind, the group of half-bloods combed over the bridge in a passable imitation of bloodhounds. Looking over every possible nook and cranny, it only took them roughly ten minutes before Percy let out a shout.

"Hey! I've found something!"

In response, they all hurried over to him as he presented them a crumpled piece of waxed paper.

"Let me have a look at that." Alkaid said, prompting Percy to pass it over to her.

Taking the piece of paper, the sorceress examined it with a critical eye. Turning it around, a frown marred her face as she found it covered with a bunch of nonsensical shapes and lines. It was not what it appeared to be however, not if the feel of magic that permeated the paper was any indication.

"So, we found some kid's drawing?" Thalia observed with a frown even as Percy's face scrunched up at the remark.

"No, I don't think so." Bianca said, looking at her purring Cait Sith. "I think its contents are protected by magic."

"Indeed. A good call, sister." Alkaid complimented her sibling, much to her delight as she prepared to unravel the paper's protections.

The sorceress would have used the Revelio charm, but just by the sheer amount of magic emanating from the piece of paper, it was no doubt encrypted by something more powerful than the Wizarding charm could overcome. If she wanted this document to reveal its secrets, she'd have to go for something with a bit more potency.

"Incantare: Recludam (Invoke: Unlock)." The sorceress cast towards the page and with a noise like shattering glass, the protections surrounding the paper dispelled.

The moment the wards on the paper failed, the nonsensical mass of shapes and lines quickly began reordering themselves into a discernible map with a path clearly marked out on it.

Hmm… It seems Lady Tyche has blessed us with this find. Alkaid mused to herself.

"Hey, let me take a look." Thalia said, holding out her hand. "Being a Hunter, I'm pretty good with cartography. I should have no problem guiding us on how to follow this path."

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Alkaid turned to her female cousin. "There's no need, Thalia. Based on this map, I know exactly where the Titans forces are heading."

"Oh yeah? Where?" Percy asked as he looked at the map curiously.

"Simple, Melinoe's Cave."

---

Melinoe's Cave, Alkaid's eldest divine sister's abode, looked from the outside like a cave in the wall of cavern that made up this section Underworld whose mouth was shrouded in impenetrable darkness. That was just an illusion though and its interior was a extravagant and eclectically decorated palace that fully befit her eccentric sister but from an exterior view it had a most intimidating appearance. But most relevant at the moment, it was one of the few gateways out of the Underworld.

"Big Sister! That's Big Sis Melinoe!" Bianca shouted worriedly as she pointed at their aforementioned older sister's collapsed form just in front of her own home.

It seemed that knowing that her home was being invaded, Melinoe had rushed home to defend it. However, despite her sister's best efforts, all that she had managed was to be reduced to lying defeated on the ground whilst clutching a deep gut wound that was leaking ichor. And standing over her was the one responsible for wounding her, a Titan who she recognized thanks to the spear, his symbol of power, that he wielded as Iapetus, the Piercer. A very thin and haggard, ten feet tall man with wild Einstein silver hair that stuck up in every direction, a scraggly long beard, pure silver eyes, and who was dressed in a tattered orange prison jumpsuit that indicated his fresh escape from Tartarus.

We should have teleported here directly as soon as we knew this was where the thieves were heading. Alkaid thought to herself with a frown as with the smell of burning rubber and geysers of dirt, she slammed the brakes and quickly brought her car to a stop. If we did, we might've been here to help Melinoe fight off Iapetus and his little lackey.

The aforementioned lackey was standing next to him and was some Asian kid holding a broadsword whose hilt was decorated by feathered wings, its guard decorated by a red gem, and with runes carved into a rectangle midway up its blade that must have been the Sword of Hades. The boy holding the blade looked to be of Japanese descent and had a thin build, glossy black hair, a black eye patch over his left eye, and was dressed in Greek armor that hung on his body loosely due to his slim build. He was someone that Alkaid recognized him from the intelligence reports on the Titan's Army as Ethan Nakamura, son of Nemesis.

"Get away from my sister!" Alkaid roared the moment that her car came to a stop and she proceeded to rip off her seatbelt and leaping out of it. As she did, she summoned her Le Grimoire and snapped the tome around a card that she'd summoned into her other hand, in the process casting a Divine Buster, Judgment Barrage. A spell that sent a brace of massive green beams of magical energy shooting at Iapetus and Nakamura, forcing them apart and, more importantly, away from Melinoe.

"Big Sis! Wha-" Bianca began, only for Alkaid to cut her off.

"The rest of you hold back Iapetus!" The sorceress said as she conjured a portal and Shadow Traveled into the fight.

"Mr. Nakamura, I have one question for you." Alkaid whispered in cold fury as she stepped out of a shadow portal behind the boy.

"Y-Yeah?" The son of Nemesis said as he spun around to face him.

"Die."

"But that's not a ques-" Nakamura managed before Alkaid's hand lashed out as quick as a viper and lightly pressed a finger to his head and fired a shadow bullet, blowing it away and causing his body to collapse, dead.

Just as Alkaid was reaching down to retrieve the Sword of Hades from Nakamura's headless corpse, Iapetus appeared behind her in a burst of power. His scorched clothes were evidence that Bianca and the others had done their best to hold him back like she'd asked. However, as he was otherwise unharmed, it was clear that their efforts were simply not enough.

"Not so fast, mortal." The Titan Lord of the West said with a taunting smile as he stabbed his spear down at Alkaid to impale her.

Alkaid tried to Shadow Travel away but found resistance. It felt like her powers were being blocked by some kind of metaphysical wall and were unable to coalesce properly. Shit! Iapetus snapped up anti-transport wards!

Without Shadow Travel, Alkaid realized with a fearful shiver that she could not evade the Piercer's thrust in time. Just as terror seized her heart at the realization, a wounded Melinoe rushed between Alkaid and Iapetus in a ghostly blur.

"Leave my baby sister alone!" The goddess of ghosts shouted angrily as she deflected Iapetus' spear with a ghostly sword made out of howling souls.

She only slightly deflected the thrust however and though Alkaid had hastily rolled out of the way of it as well, the spear still slammed into the ground. A strike which created a massive explosion.

"Mel!" Alkaid shouted worriedly even as raw power consumed both her and her sister.

---

A few minutes earlier…

"The rest of you hold back Iapetus!" Alkaid shouted out to them as she Shadow Traveled into the fight.

Hearing the order, Percy did not hesitate. Not even for a moment. Neither did Thalia or Bianca. Sure, there was some fear. Curse of Achilles or not, there was no way that fighting a deity wouldn't make a shiver of fear shoot up his spine. But one of the first things that Chiron taught Campers was a quote from Nelson Mandela, namely that "courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear." And Percy and his fellow Heroes were nothing if not , drawing on his experience with Atlas, Percy braced himself for what was to probably be in the top five fights of his life.

However, even as he psyched himself up and Thalia began raining down the silver arrows she got as a Hunter and Bianca's Will-o'-the-wisp familiar shot fireballs at Iapetus, the Titan just chuckled dismissively and casually batted away the projectiles sent his way with lazy swings of his spear. Undeterred however, under the cover of his cousins' support fire, Percy rushed forward and raised Riptide with the intent to cut the Titan's knees out from under him.

His feet glided across the ground, his soles pounded the ground at how fast he raced across the ground. Yet despite the newfound speed granted to him by the Curse, Iapetus responded by lashing out with a lightning fast swing of his spear that was so quick that even with the boost given to him by the Curse of Achilles, Percy still couldn't avoid it and it connected.

The invincibility that the Curse gave him made him pretty damned hard to hurt but he was still, mostly, subject to the laws of physics. And as he learned Newton's third law that action and reaction are equal and opposite still held its influence on him. So the force behind Iapetus' blow was insane enough that Percy was sent flying.

"Percy!" Bianca cried out worriedly before her Faceless familiar appeared behind him mid-flight and caught him.

"Enjoying the flight time, son of Poseidon?" The humanoid with purple skin, membranous wings with glowing bioluminescent portions, a mask-like pure white face, and tentacles for legs asked with amusement.

"Haha." Percy shot back just as Iapetus grew tired of being peppered by Thalia's arrows and Bianca's fireballs and stabbed his spear into the ground, sending a shockwave at Percy's cousins.

"Damn! We need to-"

"No need to worry, son of Poseidon. My mistress has it handled." The Faceless replied as suddenly walls of thick, black Underworld stone shot out of the ground and shielded both Thalia and Bianca.

"I didn't think Bianca could do that." Percy noted as the Faceless flew him back towards his panting cousin.

"G-Geokinesis might n-not be my speciality but I-I'm still a daughter of Hades." Bianca said as she caught her breath and Percy hopped out of the Faceless' hold.

"Talk later!" Thalia shouted loudly from the top of Bianca's conjured stone wall. "'Cos Iapetus is going after Alkaid!"

""What!?"" Percy and Bianca shouted at the same time as she began pulling the wall back into the ground and Percy began running in the direction of where Alkaid had gone to deal with that Asian kid who had been with Iapetus.

And when he saw what the Titan had been up to while he had been distracted, his blood ran cold. He didn't think seeing Iapetus preparing to impale a distracted Alkaid with his spear wouldn't ever prompt such a response from him.

He was about to shout at her and do something, anything, when Alkaid was saved by the already wounded Melinoe rushing to her sister's defense. But even with the goddess' intervention, they could not stop Iapetus from stabbing the ground and creating an explosion that consumed all three of them and sent the Sword of Hades flying. An explosion from which Iapetus stepped out unharmed, whilst leaving Alkaid and Melinoe unconscious on the ground.

"Get away from my sisters!" Bianca shouted, her voice filled with fearful anger, as she hurled boulders at Iapetus with her geokinesis, fire from her Will-o'-the-wisp, and waves of raw psychic energies courtesy of her Faceless.

"Ha! Why don't you make me, corpse spawn!" The Titan retorted back with a dismissive laugh as he just weathered the barrage as if it was nothing.

"Oh! We'll make you alright!" Percy added as he rushed forward, pulling with his hydrokinesis on some of the water he felt lurking underground and caused twin high pressure geysers of said groundwater to shoot towards the Titan.

"Then show me!" The Titan known as the Piercer shouted back as he dispersed the geysers with a casual swing of his spear.

Suddenly, with a shimmer Thalia, with Bianca's Cait Sith riding on her shoulders, appeared behind Iapetus with the two hunting knives she'd got as a Hunter, each of which were crackling with electricity, in hand. Knives that she proceeded to stab into the Piercer's thighs, unleashing the electricity into his body in a pretty impressive burst of lightning.

"Gaaah-!" The Titan Lord of the West let out a scream as he collapsed to his knees as Thalia leapt away, just barely evading the retaliatory swing of his spear that he sent the Hunter's way. "Damn you all!"

"Same to you." Percy retorted as he leapt the last few feet at the Titan of Mortality, Pain, and Brutal Death.

"Do not presume to speak to me like that, half-blood!" The Piercer retorted as he swung his spear into a guard that blocked Percy's swing and then with a grunt of exertion, pushed him away.

As he did, he left himself open to a lightning bolt to his face that Thalia sent his way. A bolt that had him releasing a growl and rocking back on his knees slightly. As he was thus reeling from thousands of volts to his face, Bianca shot a cannonball sized boulder likewise aimed at his face and which sent him crashing onto his back, landing with enough force to create a minor tremor.

All that was just a cover for Bianca's Will-o'-the-wisp to teleport above Alkaid to attempt to get her out of there. However, as it attempted to surround Alkaid in flames and transport her away to safety, Iapetus just laughed. "Did you think I wouldn't block outbound teleportation!?"

At this, while still lying on his back, he raised his spear over his head and spun it around so its point was facing towards the ground before he used it to pierce the ground next to him. In response, the ground exploded and Percy was sent flying.

Argh! Why the hell do I keep getting sent flying!? Percy thought with a growl of annoyance.

"Enough playing, mortals!" The Piercer roared angrily as he suddenly began thrusting his spear repeatedly at them so quickly that his arms and weapon blurred, releasing a beam of energy with each thrust as he did. So fast were his thrusts that the beams merged together into a veritable wall of destructive energy.

"Hunker down!" Bianca shouted out as she used his geokinesis to pull walls of stone out of the ground in front of everyone, including Alkaid and Melinoe.

The barriers held for only a second before they failed and shattered. But that was enough as instead of being subjected to Iapetus' full fury, they instead just had to weather a fraction of it. And frankly that was bad enough.

Even with his Curse of Achilles, Percy felt like he had been hit by a 18-wheeler and he found himself laid flat and desperately trying to catch his breath. Everyone else? They all looked like they had been through a wringer. Alkaid and Melinoe thankfully weren't targeted, but they were of course already unconscious. The latter honestly surprised him. He didn't know gods could get knocked out. Bianca, her familiars, and Thalia all looked worse for wear though, all of them laying crumpled on the ground and were struggling to push themselves back to their feet or float back into the air in the case of the Will-o'-the-wisp.

"Time to die, mortals." The Titan of Mortality, Pain, and Brutal Death said with a smirk as he raised his spear overhead, clearly in preparation to use it to unleash some kind of killing blow.

Luckily for them, before he could do so, there was a sudden screech.

"Oh no you don't!" Nico's familiar voice shouted as a beam of black energy suddenly shot towards Iapetus, prompting Percy to look up and seeing the son of Hades hovering in the sky above on the back of his horrifying undead gryphon and clutching the Sword of Hades in hand.

In response to the beam of the undead gryphon's Soulbreaker Breath, the Piercer quickly turned around and spun his spear like a whirlwind to shield him against what Percy knew to be a powerful soul rending attack. Distracted doing that, the Titan did nothing as Nico Shadow Traveled behind him and stabbed him with the Sword of Hades.

"You mangy piece of filth!" The Titan Lord of the West roared in agony as the Sword drained his essence. Since they didn't want him escaping they couldn't use it to banish him but they could still let the Stygian Iron of the blade work its vampiric magic.

Said blow also forced him to abandon his attempt to shield himself against the Soulbreaker Breath. It thus washed over him just as Nico Shadow Traveled out of the blast zone, causing the Titan to scream in agony once more.

"Think that'll be enough to defeat Iapetus?" Bianca asked as they all watched Iapetus be consumed by the black energies of Nico's familiar's Soulbreaker Breath.

"I don't know. Let me check." Nico said before turning towards his gryphon. "Cut off the Soulbreaker Breath."

The moment the gryphon did as it was told, and Percy had certainly wished he hadn't, Iapetus let out a roar. "You-! You think this is enough?! It'll take more than that to rend my soul!"

At that the Piercer lunged at Nico, his spear leveled to impale the son of Hades. Before he could make it a few feet however, Makaria appeared riding her giant ram which proceeded to headbutt the Titan so hard that it sent him flying off into the distance. And a moment later, they heard him crash with a loud splash into the River Lethe.

From Tartarus to the River Lethe? Man, Iapetus' luck sucked!

---

"M-Makaria!?" Nico gasped in shock.

He never thought that Makaria of all people would beat a Titan!

"Nico! Cut it out!" Bianca scolded. "Big Sis Melinoe and Big Sis Alkaid are injured! We need to take care of them!"

"Y-Yes." Makaria echoed haltingly as she hopped off her ram and she rushed over to pick up Melinoe. "B-Bianca, pick u-up Alkaid and I'll teleport us back to Father's palace where they can get treated."

"Right!" Bianca said with a nod as she gestured for her Faceless familiar to pick up Big Sis Alkaid.

And once they did, Makaria teleported them away.

In the silence that reigned in the aftermath, Nico, Percy and Thalia exchanged a look of confusion.

"So…What should I do with this?" Nico said, holding up the Sword of Hades and giving it a swing.

"We gotta bring it back to the palace too." Thalia said, looking exhausted.

Nico nodded, gesturing for his circling gryphon to land next to him. "I guess I'll fly it back. I don't want to test whether I can carry it while Shadow Traveling."

"That's a good idea." Percy said with a nod. "If it can banish things from one realm to another with just a nick, I don't think it's a good idea to teleport with it. The interaction might be pretty messy. It's probably why Iapetus didn't just teleport out with it after stealing it in the first place."

Nico, and Thalia for that matter, shot Percy a shocked look. Since when was the son of Poseidon so wise?

"What!?" Percy asked, shooting them an annoyed look.

"Nothing. Nothing." Nico said with a shake of his head. "Yeah, you're right, Percy."

Percy just nodded and turned to Big Sister's car. "Besides, I think that Alkaid will want her car back too."

"Yeah, she will." Nico agreed as his gryphon landed and he patted his familiar's side in gratitude for his role in the fight against Iapetus. "But who's gonna drive the car back 'cos I'm pretty sure Percy can't drive. Can you, Thalia?"

"I don't have a license, but I do know how to drive." Thalia confirmed with a nod.

"Yeah, no." Nico said, shooting Thalia a glare. "I'm not letting anyone without a license drive Big Sister's car."

Thalia's heckles rose at this, but Percy shot her a glare to keep quiet and addressed Nico. "So then how are we gonna get Alkaid's car back then?"

Climbing onto his gryphon, he answered. "I'll have my gryphon carry the car back."

"Won't that damage the car?"

"Don't worry about it, Percy." Nico said, waving his concerns away. "All of Big Sister's cars are enchanted enough to be practically invulnerable, it won't even be scratched by my gryphon's claws."

A statement that had his gryphon cawing in agreement.

"Okay, then let's do it that way."

"Right." Nico said with a nod and gesturing at Percy and Thalia to mount his gryphon. "Get on."

---

Everything aches in the worst way possible. That was the first thing that came to mind, prompting a groan to slip past her lips as Alkaid cracked her eyes open. Looking around, she didn't seem dead. Reaching for her chest, she was pleased to find that yes, she was still breathing and had a heartbeat.

Oh, I'm in my old room. She noted as she took in her surroundings and the growing shouts of her arguing parents.

"You forged the Sword!" Alkaid heard Father say with a growl. "Against my explicit orders!"

"I did." Mother admitted unrepentantly. "And now the next time you and your brothers argue and they insult Alkaid, you have a bigger stick to swing around to shut them up."

"That's all well and good." Father said, still clearly furious. "But look what the creation of the Sword of Hades did! Alkaid almost got killed fighting Iapetus because of it!"

"That's my own fault really." Alkaid spoke up, drawing her distracted parents' attention to herself. "I went into a fight with a Titan half-cocked and without a plan, of course I came away badly."

The moment that Mother and Father noticed that she was awake, they teleported to her side.

"Alkaid, you're awake." Mother said with palpable relief as she threw herself at Alkaid and pulled her into a hug. She took in the floral scent of her mother and felt her aches ease.

"It is good to see you are well, Daughter." Father said stoically, taking one of Alkaid's hands and giving it a relieved squeeze.

As touching as that was, what really caught her attention was Melinoe suddenly teleporting in beside Alkaid's bed and taking her free hand. The last Alkaid had been aware, her sister and her had been consumed by Iapetus' attack, thus seeing the goddess of ghosts well brought the sorceress an immense sense of relief.

"That's not true." Melinoe said, shaking her head vigorously as she countered Alkaid's earlier self-deprecating summary of her actions in the fight against the Piercer. "You only rushed into a fight with Iapetus because I got myself injured fighting him and you lost your cool. You can't be blamed for that."

"If that's not true then it's not your fault either, Mel. Iapetus is a Titan, beating him would be a tough call for almost anyone. Even you." Alkaid reassured her sister. "Speaking of that, what happened? Did we beat him? Did we recover the Sword of Hades?"

"We did." Makaria said as she teleported in behind Mel and put a comforting hand on their elder sister's shoulder and squeezed it soothingly. "Nico stabbed Iapetus with the Sword and I had my ram punt him into the Lethe."

"The Lethe?" Alkaid asked with a gasp.

Makaria nodded.

"And where is Iapetus now?"

"We fished him out of the Lethe and tossed him into the dungeons of the palace." Father informed her with an eye glowing with malevolence inspired by what Alkaid imagined were innumerable ideas on what he could subject the Titan to in recompense for what he had done to his daughters.

Normally Alkaid would have completely agreed with her Father's intent, but this was too valuable an opportunity for her to let petty revenge cause them to let slip through their hands.

"We should take advantage of this! If we can exploit Iapetus' lost memory to convince him to join our side, it would massively strengthen our forces and be a great loss to the Titans'."

Father reluctantly nodded, his lips puckered in distaste. "I will consider it."

"It is a good idea, Alkaid." Mother said supportively as she kissed Alkaid's forehead and gave her one last squeeze before pulling away. "But for now, you should rest."

Alkaid frowned. She felt fine. However, she knows that telling her Mother, of all people there, that would get her nowhere. She knew she wouldn't believe it if her own daughters told her that they were fine after they got sick or involved in a fight either.

Thinking of her family, brought a thought to the forefront of her mind. I want to head home and check in on Pyrrha and our girls.

The desire almost overwhelmed her but she knew that before she could do so, she needed to ascertain a few things first.

"What about the Sword of Hades? Where is it now?"

"I have it." Father said, summoning the blade into his hands and planting it point first into the ground and resting his hands atop its pommel. "Nico retrieved it."

Alkaid breathed a sigh of relief even as she continued expressing her disbelief at the circumstances surrounding the Sword's recovery. "Nico was the one to recover it?"

"He did." Makaria confirmed. "It is thanks to him that we beat Iapetus. I wouldn't have been able to land a hit on him if not for him being weakened by Nico, Bianca and the rest of the Heroes."

"I see." Alkaid said with a nod even as she made a mental note to reward her little brother for what he had accomplished today. "I killed one of the traitorous half-bloods in service to the Titans, a son of Nemesis. Can we pump his soul for information?"

"We can certainly try." Mother said with a nod while she brushed some of Alkaid's hair with tender care. "However, it is doubtful we will be able to gain anything useful from the effort. Kronos is wise against such efforts and thus tells his minions very little beyond what is necessary for them to carry out the tasks he assigns them. When he does tell them anything useful, he ensures their silence even in death via powerful magic."

Alkaid sighed in disappointment, sinking deeper into the soft sheets of her bed. "Then that's it I guess?"

"What do you mean?" Father asked with a frown.

Mother just smiled knowingly at Alkaid. "Would you like me to tell your mortal siblings and cousins that you thought they did well on your behalf?"

"That would be most appreciated, Mother." Alkaid said, offering her mother a grateful smile. "I would like to get home to my family ASAP."

"Ah~!" Father said with a chuckle.

Alkaid smiled at him. "So when are you going to organize a celebration for this victory, Father?"

"I am thinking of a dinner tomorrow for the Heroes in question."

Alkaid nodded. "Then I'll offer my compliments and thanks to them then."

"Are you heading home already, 'Kaidy?" Melinoe asked with a whine.

Makaria patted her arm lightly. "Mel, don't hold her back. Alkaid just wants to go home to her family."

Melinoe pouted.

As she slipped out of her bed, she offered her sister a smile. "You know that you can come with me too, right? After all, I'm sure Mina and the rest of my girls would love to play with their Auntie Mellie if she so happens to pay a visit~"

Melinoe considered the matter for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, I'll come with you. I want to be sure that you're alright."

"So do I." Makaria said with a nod. "Can I come too?"

"Of course you're welcome too, Maka." Alkaid said, offering her middle sister a welcome smile. "I'm sure that my girls will love to have you visit too."

Maka nodded with a smile. "I would love to visit with them too."

"Then," Alkaid said, offering her sisters her arms. "Are you ready to go, Mel?"

Hooking her arm with Alkaid's, Melinoe replied. "Sure! Let's go!"

"Yes. Let's go." Makaria said sheepishly, hooking her other arm to Alkaid's on the other side.

With that, Makaria teleported them from Alkaid's childhood home to the marital home she had made for herself and her daughters with Pyrrha.

---

Done and done! Thanks to Nameless and Axios as always!

And so, upon the night before Xmas, all through the Hades House, only the Titans forces scurried about! And then got mind wiped and died. The end. Man, I love the side stories, they really flesh out the world and this was a fun one to do! It was a delight to have a Big Three kid alliance. They just work so well together, they're like a well oiled machine.

Nameless: Agreed. The side stories do make the Riordanverse feel so much lived in. That they add in other details to the world just makes things even better.

Everyone got their time to shine, Bianca going all warlock, Percy doing his Hero thing with Thalia being the rogue with the invis-blast. Nico got in on it too, coming in clutch with that mount attack and stab. Makaria though was a fun treat. Ghost ram FTW!

Nameless: Yup. That joint victory was damned fun to write. But what was the most fun part to write for me was Alkaid getting blue balled by her summoning for the mission to retrieve the Sword. It was wonderfully interesting to write and so in line with the kind of capriciousness that the gods get up to in the Riordanverse. Persephone might have summoned Alkaid and she wouldn't do that to her daughter, but could you say the same for the lesser god(s) that she'd task to do so? Wouldn't they indulge in a little bit of fun as they do so? Well, you know what we think about that. ;)

You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!