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

Consul of the Underworld: End of Disc 1

Chapter Eleven: Blood Bowl - The Achilles Curse Invitational

Beta: ShadowofAxios


A few days after returning from Tennessee and dealing with the Amazons, Alkaid and Pyrrha were seated in the former's home office as they discussed a loose end from said operation.

"Mister T got back to us," Alkaid said, referencing their contact within the portion of the American government that managed supernatural affairs. "Along with sending over a new list of scheduled executions for Mina to carry out, he also sadly informed us that neither he nor his friends in the government have heard anything about where Tabitha and her supporters might have disappeared to."

"Chiron IM'd me about what the Hunters had to say too," Pyrrha added. "They haven't come across any sign of them either."

"Damnit." Alkaid cursed lightly. "That's the last of our options in tracking them down and permanently removing them as a threat. Now we'll have to keep an eye out for them popping out of nowhere to be a nuisance."

"I'm more worried by how they seemed to have so effectively disappeared." Pyrrha replied with a frown. "Some of those we contacted to help track them down aren't to be scoffed at, Tabitha shouldn't have managed to evade them."

Alkaid nodded. "They had help. Probably of the divine variety."

"Probably." Melinoe said as she suddenly teleported into the office with an audible pop. "But who exactly helped her is up in the air."

Alkaid frowned at Melinoe agreeing with her. If Tabitha was getting divine help keeping under the radar then it was likely she would have it whenever she reemerged too, which would make her even more of a pain to deal with when she did. However, she did not linger on this worry for long as she noticed that Melinoe was not alone.

It seemed that her sister was accompanied by her daughter with Alkaid and Pyrrha's Hogwarts schoolmate, Su Li, Xiao Jiao. The little girl was four years old and was looking even more like a miniature doppelgänger of her godly father then she did even as a baby. She had Melinoe's ethereal bluish looking skin, the same jet black hair with streaks of bright white going down it in vertical lines to the ends, and her divine father's striking eyes which had void black sclera and gold pupils. She was dressed in a dark blue, thick crew neck, knee length dress with an inner turtleneck and long sleeves, which was decorated by raised polka dots. A dress that was complemented by a thick cream colored scarf. An outfit that served to make Jiao both adorable and warm enough for the chilly autumn weather.

And to top off the absolute cuteness factor? She was clinging to the skirt of her father's dress, eying Alkaid and Pyrrha with a nervous smile.

Alkaid wanted to cuddle her right then and there.

"Jiao, say hello to your aunties." The goddess nudged.

"'elo." the little girl mumbled, hiding her face in the skirt of her divine father.

So cute! Too cute~! Ah, Alkaid was going to have to hug her daughters super tight later to get this cuteness overload out of her system!

Alkaid looked to her sister, raising a curious brow.

Melinoe shrugged. "My little Su had to do some overtime at work and needed someone to pick up Jiao from her daycare. So, being the amazing baby daddy that I am, I stepped up. I was going to pop in for a small visit later, but sooner works better for me too."

Nodding in understanding, Alkaid nevertheless worriedly asked. "Are you sure you aren't visiting enough to risk violating the Ancient Laws?"

Her elder sister dismissed her concern with a wave of her hand. "Nah nah, no worries. I'll be fine. I'm not gonna break the rules and risk anything happening to my little cuties. Plus this is about the time for my annual visit and booty call."

Ignoring the perverse smile on her sister's face she wore at the thought of sleeping with her yearmate from Hogwarts and the unease that came from it with the ease of practice, the mortal daughter of Hades said, "It's good you are being careful."

Whilst the two sisters chatted, Alkaid's lovely wife had been trying to coax Xiao Jiao from behind her father's skirt. And as they both glanced at this wholesome sight, Alkaid and Melinoe exchanged a smile before the sorceress asked. "Can Jiao stay for a while? It's almost ten here in California, so it should be around six in the evening back in London, correct?"

"Yeah, you're right. Little Jiao just had her dinner and needs to be home by eight for her bedtime. So, I guess she can stay for two hours."

Beaming, Alkaid gave her sister a nod and turned to Jiao.

"So, Jiao, you want to play with your cousins?" She heard her wonderful wife ask their niece.

The blue skinned girl looked interested, but also wary, tugging on her father's skirt a little to get the goddess' attention. When Melinoe looked down, she gave her father a questioning look.

"Go for it, kiddo. You'll be fine. Just don't take any of Mina's knives though. Even if she offers them. No need to get your mom to faint unless I'm the one to scare her."

Jiao turned to the married couple and whispered out a soft, "Okay."

With a smile at Jiao's acceptance, Alkaid walked over to the door to her office and opened it to poke her head out before she shouted. "Gracie, Mina, Kura, please come to my office!"

"Yes, Mum?" Mina and Kura chorused adorably as they teleported in together. By the fact that they were both wearing aprons and covered in traces of flour, it seemed that her two mentally younger daughters had been baking.

Mina was probably teaching Kura how to bake something. Alkaid concluded as she stepped back into her office.

"Mina, Kura." Pyrrha said, causing both girls to turn towards her. "Say hello to your Aunt Melinoe-"

"Hello Aunt Mel~!" The two miscreants chorused, earning an amused smirk and a wave from Melinoe and a roll of her eyes from Pyrrha who nevertheless took things in stride.

"Good girls. Now, say hello to your cousin, Xiao Jiao, too." Pyrrha said, gesturing to the toddler still nervously clutching at her father's skirt.

"Hello, Xiao Jiao~!" They obediently chorused, earning a small smile from their cousin.

Alkaid smothered a laugh at how adorable her daughters were being. A laugh that she shared with her sister. Pyrrha didn't have the luxury though and kept going.

"She's dropping by for a bit. Would you two mind playing with her?"

"We'd love to!" Kura said, teleporting over to Jiao and gingerly taking hold of the toddler's right hand. "Right, Mina?"

"Um!" Mina said with a nod as she teleported over as well and following her younger sister's lead, carefully took hold of Jiao's other hand. "Come on, Jiao! Let's go play!"

The two Potter daughters waited for Jiao to give a shy nod before beaming at her and without a word, teleporting away.

They had barely done so when there was a knock on the half open door. Turning towards it, Alkaid saw Gracie standing just outside the threshold and looking around her curiously.

"Come in, Gracie." Alkaid said, waving her 'oldest' daughter in.

Said girl was rather uncharacteristically for both her and the season dressed in nothing but shorts and a sports bra, with a towel draped over her shoulders. It seemed that whilst her sisters had been baking, the daughter of Hecate had instead chosen to hit the gym.

"Hi Aunt Mel, Sensei, Mama." Gracie said politely as she stepped into the room and frowned as she surveyed the room. "Since Kura and Mina aren't here, I take it that it means that they left already?"

"Yup, they did." Pyrrha chuckled.

"They never wait for me!" Gracie said with an adorable pout.

Melinoe chuckled as she offered some advice. "You should start teleporting around too. You're a sorceress. It's not like you can't do it. Al sure could. Then your sisters won't keep leaving you behind."

"I'll think about it." Gracie said, looking thoughtful. "But teleporting all over the place is just rude. What if I teleport in on a private moment or something?"

Melinoe shot Alkaid a look at that. "Yup. She's definitely your kid, Al. Only one of yours would be that obsessed with being polite."

Alkaid and Gracie both preened at the compliment.

Pyrrha let out a rather girlish giggle at the pair's reaction before coughing to draw their attention. "Gracie, we can talk about you copying your sisters' teleporting habit later. For now, go catch up to them. They took Xiao Jiao, Melinoe's Half-blood daughter, to go play."

"A cousin?" Gracie perked up, green eyes aglow with curiosity and excitement. "I'd love to go play with her!"

Alkaid smiled, Pyrrha really was good at mothering.

"That's good, sweetie. So go find and join them. Watch over them too while you're at it? You know how your sisters can be at times."

Gracie nodded seriously and bid them farewell as she spun around, using a spell to change out of her gym clothes into a blouse and jeans as she hurried out of Alkaid's office in search of the other girls.

With the adults alone, Pyrrha turned to Melinoe, hand on her hip. "So was dropping off Jiao for a playdate the only reason you stopped by?"

"Wow. You've really learned to pick on things haven't you, Pyrrha? I'm honestly shocked. Where's the cute little piggy from when you started dating my sweet baby sister gone?"

"Don't complain too much about how things have changed, Sister." Alkaid said with a roll of her eyes. "I have it on good authority that Su is still rocking your world. And that's not even bringing your other lovers like Apollo into it."

"Su's been talking, I see." Mel said with a self-satisfied smirk. "And correction, I'm rocking her world. Not the other way around."

"From what she says in her letters, it's quite mutual nowadays."

"...I'm allowed to experiment." The goddess huffed, looking away with a pout.

"Just think carefully before you give Jiao a sibling." Alkaid warned. "A household with two Half-bloods? The scent will draw in monsters from all around."

"Not if they live in the Wizarding World." Melinoe shot back with a smirk. "Half-blood scents are dampened by all the ambient magic. And Su lives in a flat in Diagon Alley nowadays. There's so much magic there that Jiao's scent and those of any of her hypothetical siblings are easily covered."

"Still better not to take risks. Su and your kids can't stay in the Wizarding World all their lives. It isn't big enough for that." Alkaid reminded her.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Melinoe said with an annoyed huff. "But yeah, you've really grown a lot, Pyrrha."

Alkaid and Pyrrha exchanged an amused look at Melinoe's transparent attempt to change the conversation but nevertheless rolled with it.

"Considering all the experience in reading between the lines or at least seeing it being done I've had since becoming one of Olympus' Diplomats, it would be strange if I didn't learn how."

"We've all grown over the years." Alkaid added in her wife's support.

Melinoe hummed her agreement.

"But back to my question, Melinoe. Why did you drop by?"

"Ah, that! Well, I'm actually here to pass on a message from Father."


Several days after Melinoe's unexpected visit, Alkaid and Pyrrha could be found walking out of an old and somewhat rundown home in the suburbs of Westport, Connecticut. A home that belonged to May Castellan, mortal mother of the Archtraitor of Camp Half-blood. A visit that had been prompted by the message from her father that Melinoe had delivered and had been made possible by Alkaid reaching out to her contacts to locate the woman. A woman that had been completely insane.

"Bye bye, Luke~! Bye bye, Penelope~!" The woman said from the door of her home as she waved at Alkaid and Pyrrha.

Alkaid waved politely back at the scarecrow thin woman with white hair stuck out in tufts all over her head, cloudy eyes and dressed in a ratty, out of style dress that was covered in stains and with a multitude of patches. Pyrrha on the other hand at least offered a reply as she too waved back, "Goodbye, Miss Castellan."

"See you two again soon, Son! Remember to bring your girlfriend again too!" Miss Castellan said with a wide smile with a final wave before suddenly freezing just as Alkaid and Pyrrha walked off her property and onto the street beyond. "Huh? Why am I out here? Did I get visitors?"

Clearly confused, Luke's mother turned around and stumbled back into her home. All the while muttering to herself about what she was doing and speaking loudly enough that her two newly departed guests could hear her from where they stood on the street in front of her house.

"That poor woman," Alkaid said with a sympathetic sigh, feeling disturbed at how insane May Castellan was. Her condition didn't even seem natural. Alkaid was no psychiatrist or psychologist but she did take an introductory course as an elective when she had been at Stanford and she did not recall any true mental health condition that would create the symptoms that Luke's mother seemed to be suffering from.

"Agreed." Pyrrha said with a sad look. "But we can't do anything about it, right?"

Alkaid shook her head. "Mina's powers might help her a little, but that would be against the Ancient Laws. This is May Castellan's fate."

Both Potters frowned at this. They knew it well but seeing how cruel fate could be still stung.

"Let us not dwell on that." Alkaid said after a moment. "At least, we managed to get some very important information out of this visit."

"Yeah," Pyrrha said distractedly. "I am more concerned by how a woman as unwell as Miss Castellan is not being looked after. I mean, Luke is an asshole and deserves what's coming for him but his mum has nothing to do with that. She deserves better."

Alkaid shook her head in exasperation that her wife had refused to follow her lead and drop the matter. Pyrrha did look genuinely upset though, so as her loving wife, it was Alkaid's duty to reassure her.

"There is no need to worry, Pyrrha. She is being looked after."

As if to corroborate her statement, it was at that exact moment that Hermes appeared in a violent burst of golden light.

"May is most definitely looked after." The normally affable Messenger of the Gods said, glaring at Alkaid and Pyrrha with flaming eyes and an angry visage that rivaled the most petrifying looks that Medusa was capable of. "Part of me is always here with her. Not that it is any concern of yours. What are you doing here?"

"I knew I sensed your presence, Lord Hermes." Alkaid said politely, addressing the god formally despite the usual familiarity she spoke to him. Trying to bank on that when confronted with an angry god was suicidal.

Pyrrha either did not get the memo or didn't care.

"And yet you weren't here when we got here." Alkaid's wife said with an unimpressed shrug. "Why is it that you only showed up now, Lord Hermes?"

Hermes bristled at the insinuation that he was a liar, his body becoming surrounded by a faint golden aura that writhed angrily, and growled out a reply. "Even a god like me has limits, Pyrrha. I had other matters to handle and could not send an instance until now but I was there and noted you and your wife's presence. That is why I am here now. Now, answer my question!"

"To know thy enemy, you must know what drives them." Alkaid cut in with the answer before Pyrrha could further antagonize the god of messengers. "We wanted to know what drives Luke's crusade against Olympus. There must be a reason for his hate of you, Lord Hermes, and the gods."

Hermes looked unsettled by Alkaid's words and angered too if the increasingly agitated writhing of his aura was any indication. She was tempted by this to cut her reply short, but ultimately decided to continue. After all, the god had asked her a question and deserved the complete answer.

"And upon learning that Miss Castellan tried to become the Oracle-"

"How did you know that?" Hermes demanded, his eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Father recently informed me of the fact. And before you ask, my lord, he was aware of it despite the Pythia not being under his domains because of the curse he placed on it after she got Bianca and Nico's mother killed. I got curious from there and after discovering the last person afflicted by the curse was Luke's mother, I just had to investigate."

Hermes' anger spiked once more and he clenched his fists and hissed out a demand for more information. "Why would Uncle Hades inform you of this now, Alkaid?"

"He did not say and I can only speculate but I imagine that he had some prophetic insight or perhaps his spies learned something. Either way, he was right to nudge me in May Castellan's direction."

Hermes let out a growl of raw anger and his aura started to turn blinding as if he was about to transform into his true godly form and reduce Alkaid and Pyrrha to ash. Pyrrha tensed at this but Alkaid put a quelling hand on her shoulder and shot Hermes a glare.

"Do not even try it, Lord Hermes. Do not even dare to take your anger out on us. What transpired with May Castellan is your fault. You knew the Oracle was cursed and that she was not its chosen vessel but still allowed her to attempt to become such-"

"I was just respecting her wishes!"

Alkaid scoffed. "And what did that oh so feminist respect for her autonomy cost her? Thanks to it, she lost her sanity and her son became the greatest traitor to Olympus in centuries. Wonderfully done!"

For a brief moment, the tanned glow around Hermes intensified. And Alkaid felt like she was standing next to a star ready to go supernova. Despite that she remained calm and refused to back down, Pyrrha though panicked and moved to tackle Alkaid out of the way to avoid being vaporized by the god showing his true form. Yet Alkaid decided that now was the time to put all the years they trained together to the test and resisted her attempt. Pyrrha was overreacting. There was nothing to worry about. Hermes might be blustering but he was no fool. He knew the consequences he would suffer if he killed them, especially for something as petty as rightfully pointing out his past mistakes.

She was proven right when seconds later and before he completed his transformation, Hermes' aura just suddenly disappeared and he deflated.

"I know all this is my fault." Hermes said with a defeated sigh as he slumped his shoulders. His appearance did not change but his admission seemed to have aged him decades in an instant, creating a sharp contrast from his usual youthful appearance. "I tried to fix things with both May and Luke but nothing I did worked. I even traded in favors with Apollo, Dionysus and the Arae to see if they could lift May's curse but they couldn't do anything and she remained mad."

"Of course they couldn't." Alkaid told him with an unimpressed look. Honestly, as a god he should know this. "Father's curse only weakened her spirit. If she had been the proper vessel of the Oracle all it would have done was left her sickly and led her to an early death. Her madness was caused by the spirit of the Oracle rejecting her as its vessel."

Hermes nodded. "I knew that. I knew that May's condition is a result of her stubbornness and my own inability to man up and tell her no."

Upon completing this admission, he suddenly became stern again, though thankfully without the potentially vaporizing light show this time, and added. "But the blame I carry for May and Luke's fate is irrelevant to why I am here now. What did you want from May that was so important that you could not find out from another source?"

"To be honest, I did not know. Not until I spoke to her, but now that I have…" Alkaid said, trailing off with a worried frown.

Hermes looked alarmed by her reply and shot her a questioning look.

How should I tell him what we've learned? Hermes has proven himself a volatile god when it comes to the matter of May and Luke Castellan and I know what I am about to tell him will likely set him off.

She might not fear the Messenger of the Gods killing her and her wife, but that did not mean he could not do something unpleasant to them. If he kept it relatively tame he could even get away with it. She thus had to be careful in how she responded. Pyrrha did not have the patience for her to do so however and sighing, she bluntly told him what he wanted to know.

"Miss Castellan told us that Luke visited, presumably whilst you were preoccupied and thus wasn't able to notice it, and asked for permission to go swim in a river."

Hermes paled. "The only river that Luke would need May's permission to swim in would be-"

"-the Styx." Alkaid confirmed. "Taking that into account, it's most likely that Luke intends to or has already acquired the Curse of Achilles, presumably to make himself a stronger host for Kronos."

Hermes looked greatly worried by this. "There's a reason only a handful have ever gotten the Curse. Most drown trying."

Alkaid nodded and added, "This is Grandfather's influence at work. I doubt Luke would take this step otherwise. There is too much risk involved and you can call him many things, but your son was not known for his recklessness. At the same time, with the Crooked One supporting him, perhaps Luke has a better chance of surviving the Styx than most."

The look of relief on Hermes' face had Pyrrha frown at the god's clear sign of divided loyalties at play. The daughter of the Rich One however had long since made peace with it. Luke was Hermes' favorite. All the gods had one. So of course his loyalties were divided when it came to that fool Castellan.

Honestly, for all his blustering about the gods being unfair, he fails to see that his Father still loves him even after every betrayal against our family that he has carried out.

Setting aside Castellan's foolishness. Alkaid pondered how they could go about countering him should he truly have acquired the Curse. If Luke, the 'Champion' of the Titans had it then it would make sense for the Champion of Camp to have it too, wouldn't it?

And that means I need to see how I can convince Percy it will be needed for the war.

Hermes, probably sensing she was plotting something, asked, "What do you intend to do?"

"I'm sorry, Lord Hermes, but telling you would be counterproductive, what with your conflicted feelings about Castellan."

The god flinched and frowned, but he soon let out a gusty sigh, head slumped. "Yeah, that's a good point. You're wise to do so, cousin."

Suddenly, the sound of something shattering inside May Castellan's house caught the attention of all three of them and before any more words could be exchanged, Hermes was gone and his voice could be heard from inside the house comforting his disorientated sounding mortal lover.

"'Kaidy, is there really nothing that we can do to help Miss Castellan?"

Alkaid shook her head. "Some injuries cannot be healed. May Castellan is the way she is now because of her hubris. This is her punishment. Her only release from her madness will be death, but sadly Hermes loves her too much to offer her that release."

"Love? That sounds more like selfishness to me."

"Not all love is selfless, Py. In fact, such love is rare."

Pyrrha nodded. "Yeah, I guess. I just hope our love never becomes that toxic."

Alkaid kissed Pyrrha's cheek and reassured her. "If it ever does, you have my permission to kill me and free yourself."

"Then you have the same, 'Kaidy." Her wife said as she hooked an arm around one of Alkaid's and began the first of a series of apparitions that would take them home.


Unbeknownst to all of the parties that had occupied the area just moments before, a raven with blood red eyes had watched all that had transpired on street in front of May Castellan's house from its perch in a tree across the road and as the Diplomats of Olympus departed, it took wing. It had much to report to its master.

Lord Ahriman will reward me handsomely for what I have learned.


The next day, Pyrrha and Alkaid paid a visit to Percy and Sally Jackson in the Blofis-Jackson apartment. So named because Sally had just recently married an English teacher from Percy's high school named Paul Blofis.

Though the latter was currently out running errands. According to what Pyrrha knew, the man didn't know about Camp and the gods and she had been expecting for her and Alkaid to have to work at convincing him to take a hike, maybe even Mist him, but he had just up and left once Alkaid and Pyrrha had shown up to discuss "matters about Camp" and he received a look from his wife.

Either the man knew his place or he knows. Pyrrha mused, though she was inclined to think it was the former. Judging by her admittedly limited feel of the man's character, he seemed to genuinely love Sally and care for Percy and was a good man in general. If he knew anything about Percy's life as a demigod, he would likely demand to be part of this discussion. More likely, he just thought that they wanted to talk about something private to do with the paternal side of Percy's family and he respected that as his new stepfather he had yet to earn the privilege to learn about it.

And he isn't exactly wrong.

"So what brings you by to visit me during the school year, Alkaid, Pyrrha?" Sally asked as they all settled down around the coffee table in the apartment's living room. "Outside of the occasional visit to spend time with Percy, I don't think either of you have ever stopped by when it isn't break time and we needed to talk about arrangements for his stay at Camp. And it's not even Winter break yet. Did something happen?"

"Not exactly." Alkaid said cautiously. "Sally, did Percy inform you that Olympus is at war?"

Sally frowned but nodded. "Yes, he did tell me that the gods are at war with the Titans. He's tried to keep me abreast of the situation. Has there been an important development? I was under the impression that the war's tempo calmed outside of the summer."

Not every Half-blood told their mortal parents and family the truth of what was happening in the war. Something that in Pyrrha's opinion was a mistake. She understood the desire to keep something as frightening as the fact that a war for the fate of the world was being waged and they were in the thick of it from their parents, but as the saying went, 'forewarned is forearmed'. If their mortal families knew the stakes then at least they could take measures to be better prepared for if things went badly. Thus the fact that Percy had told Sally what he could had Pyrrha nodding at him approvingly.

"You're right about that, Sally." The daughter of war said as she turned back towards the clearsighted mortal. "But just because things are toned down outside of summer doesn't mean that everything comes to a stop. As it is, the war is still escalating."

"Indeed." Alkaid said, picking things up from there. "And that's why we've come. Something has happened that could be a major escalation and we need to discuss it with the both of you."

"The both of us?" Sally asked, her frown deepening. "Why would you need to discuss it with me as well?"

Percy looked as puzzled as his mother was for a moment before he suddenly paled.

It seems he's figured it out. With him hanging around that girlfriend of his so much, it's easy to forget that he's a bright kid too. Pyrrha thought as Alkaid nodded grimly in Percy's direction, making him gulp nervously.

"What are you talking about?" Sally demanded as she looked between them. "Say it out loud please."

"Give us a moment, Mum." Percy said nervously as he looked at Alkaid hopefully. "Please tell me that Luke didn't do it."

"I'm afraid he did." Alkaid said with a shake of her head. "Pyrrha and I have confirmed it with Styx herself. Luke Castellan has bathed in her river and emerged with the Curse of Achilles."

Pyrrha shuddered at the memory of dealing with the goddess of hatred. To say it had been harrowing was an understatement. Since becoming one of Olympus' Diplomats, she'd dealt with plenty of gods but Styx stuck out as being one of the most unsettling to be in the presence of. She, at all times, radiated the emotion she personified: hatred. Raw, undiluted hatred for all things. Unlike other gods, it seemed she did not bother to tamp down her nature when dealing with mortals. Or ever.

Sally, having realized what they had come to discuss, gasped in horror. "No! I will not allow it! I will never allow Percy to do something that risky!"

"You would deny Percy the choice?"

"Would you allow one of your daughters to do it then, Alkaid?" Sally shot back.

Without even hesitating, both Pyrrha and her wife both nodded.

"Of course we would." The daughter of Ares said for the both of them.

Sally and Percy were stunned into silence.

"By their natures as a goddess and a Zashiki-Warashi, Mina and Kura couldn't take on the Curse but if they could, the situation required it of them and they were willing, we would not hesitate in supporting them in doing so."

"Gracie can get the Curse." Pyrrha said, continuing where her wife had left off. "And if she ever got it into her head she needed to do it, we would allow her too. But she isn't Camp's Champion. Her getting the Curse wouldn't be that much of a help."

"H-How could you be so willing to send your daughters to their deaths?" Sally asked weakly, stunned by the declaration.

"Look, Sally, we're at war." Pyrrha shrugged. "We expect our daughters to fight if need be. How would this be any different, ya know?"

"Yes, but they're more likely to die in the waters of the Styx than during a battle, no?!" Sally snapped with mama-bear energy. Though unluckily for her, she was up against two other mama-bears.

"Sally, that doesn't change the fact that the choice would still be theirs." 'Kaidy chided firmly.

The lover of Poseidon just looked distressed at the rebuttal, shaking her head in her hands and asked, "Why? Why would you leave such an important decision in the hands of children?"

"Why wouldn't we?" Pyrrha countered. "We respect our daughters as their own persons. They can make their own decisions. Every one of our daughters are adults by the standards of their respective kinds after all. We would worry and maybe talk them out of it, but if they insist, we would grant them our blessing."

"But Gracie isn't eighteen yet." Percy piped up.

"No, she isn't." Alkaid agreed. "But she's been on a Quest, that's what Mr. D classified her journey back to Camp after defecting from the Titan Army as, and that makes her an adult in the eyes of Camp and Olympus. You should know this, Percy, it's covered in Demigod 101."

Sally shot Percy a sharp look at this and he fidgeted uncomfortably. "Yeah, I kinda did. I just, um, forgot."

"It seems there are quite a few things you forgot to tell me, Percy." Sally said, looking at her son with disappointment. "Something we will have to correct after this."

"Yeah, you two should probably have that conversation. But for now, are you okay with leaving this decision up to Percy?" Pyrrha pressed before they got off topic.

Sally frowned and looked to be thinking hard on the matter as she looked at her son worriedly for a long time before finally nodding. "Yes. I'll leave the decision of whether to do this to Percy."

Pyrrha and Alkaid both turned to look at Percy expectantly.

He gulped at the scrutiny.

"Does it need to be me?"

Alkaid smiled in the way Pyrrha had seen charm Percy a thousand times as she replied. "Why yes, it must. The standard Power-Up trope is needed, Percy!"

Percy just looked at her with confusion and Sally cocked an unimpressed eyebrow.

"Ignore my wife, she gets excited over tropes." Pyrrha said with a smile, feigning exasperation. She was more amused by Alkaid's utterly failed attempt at a joke. It was a cute and childish part of Alkaid, but it clashed completely with the mood of the situation. That being why she thought it better to keep her amusement from showing.

Though, 'Kaidy is usually better at this which means… She did it on purpose? But why? Pyrrha thought as she racked her brain to piece together why her wife was making herself look like a fool. It took her a minute but she eventually figured it out. Sally had first met her when 'Kaidy saved her from a zombie when a rogue Underworld daimon unleashed a zombie outbreak in New York City. With such a bad first impression of her, anything Alkaid said would be tainted with negativity. Never mind that they had gotten along fine over the years. So why not play the fool and let Pyrrha, who did not have such an unpleasant history with Sally take the lead?

Wish she'd told me about this plan beforehand though. Pyrrha grumbled to herself, even if she knew that her wife had probably come up with this on the fly and had no time to inform her.

"Percy," Pyrrha said, taking charge. "You're Camp's champion. All the Campers look to you as their leader. It has to be you. Symbols have value in our world, you know that. And what greater symbol is there than Camp's, the gods', champion gaining the same power as the Titans' champion? Of two equal opposing forces facing off?"

"But wouldn't whoever from Camp getting the Curse automatically become, um, Camp's champion as you call it?"

Pyrrha shook her head. "It's not so simple. Just because someone is powerful, and the Curse will make anyone powerful, doesn't make them a leader that others will follow. You already are the Campers' leader-"

"That's not true! You two are more of a leader of Camp than I am!"

"We're more advisors." Alkaid corrected with a small smile.

Pyrrha nodded firmly. "Alkaid is staff and by being her wife even though I myself am still a Camper, I'm lumped in with the staff too in the minds of the other Campers."

Percy looked skeptical.

"It's true, Percy." Alkaid told him. "The replies during the annual Summer End Survey for last summer proves it. I can show them to you if you think we're lying."

"No. That's okay." Percy said with a shake of his head before adopting a serious expression the likes of which Pyrrha had only seen him wear before now when he was in the most intense fights and considered the matter.

The room was deathly silent for a few minutes as everyone waited for his answer. It was so quiet that Pyrrha wagered she could've heard a pin drop.

"I'll do it." Percy said at last, eliciting a sigh of relief from both Pyrrha and Alkaid and a resigned one from his mother.

Pyrrha was about to praise Percy for his courage but before she could say a word, there was a subtle shift in the air and suddenly standing behind the loveseat where Sally was seated was a smirking, clean cut looking Persian man in a black and white suit, complete with a black bowtie. A man that thanks to the vile aura that he radiated and much unwanted familiarity, Pyrrha immediately recognised as All the World's Evil, Angra Mainyu.

"Most brave of you, young Jackson." The Zoroastrian god of evil said with a smirk as he put his hands on Sally's shoulders, subtly threatening them with what he might do to her if any of them attacked him. "But as the Master of All Curses it behooves me to test you before allowing you the privilege of attempting to take on the mantle of such a great curse."

Percy looked at the god with a stone cold, murderous look on his face. Pyrrha would not be surprised if he was considering how to rip the god's head off.

"And who the Pit are you?" The son of Poseidon asked coldly.

"Oh, I'm not Tartarus. I'm something a little grander." Angra Mainyu said with a self-aggrandizing smirk.

"That's debatable." 'Kaidy scoffed as she reined in the magic she had primed the moment the evil god had teleported in.

"Alkaid! Now's not the time!" Pyrrha scolded even as she kept her eyes firmly on Angra Mainyu and a pale Sally, looking out for any moves the god might make. "Percy, Sally, this is Angra Mainyu."

Sally gasped at the name. Clearly the paling woman knew who the god who had taken her hostage was. Percy though just shook his head slightly to signal his incomprehension.

"He's basically the Zoroastrian devil." Pyrrha explained.

"Tsk. Comparing me to Lucifer? You wound me, mortal." Angra Mainyu said with a displeased frown.

If Percy had been a weaker person he would likely have freaked out at learning who had taken his mum hostage. As it were, upon learning his identity, the Leader of Camp Half-blood just glared all the harder at the god whilst keeping a worried eye on his mother, who sadly looked so terrified that she was on the verge of passing out.

"What's a Zoroastrian god even doing here!?" Percy demanded from the divine intruder into his home. "Shouldn't the Ancient Laws prevent this?"

Pyrrha grimaced. "It's kinda our fault. Since 'Kaidy and I are Olympus' Diplomats, that sadly means that forces from other pantheons can show up wherever we are at pretty much any time."

Ignoring the entire conversation, 'Kaidy looked at the god of curses with open disdain and sighed. "Honestly, your sole motivation for being here is to get back at me isn't it? How stalkerish."

"Well, you do bother me so, young lady. And I will happily admit that getting back at you for your haughty nature pleases me."

"How petty." Alkaid derided scornfully.

She's goading him!? What is 'Kaidy thinking!?

"Probably to buy time for me to show up. She has been invoking my name in her mind repeatedly since Angra here was foolish enough to do it first." A new voice said from behind the sofa where Pyrrha and her wife were seated, prompting the daughter of Ares to glance over her shoulder to see its source.

Said new arrival took the form of a barefoot woman in a light blue, almost white, dress with piercing blue eyes and who wore a goat's head hair clip that helped to secure her long blonde hair. She looked beautiful to the point it was kind of unnatural, her appearance almost a caricature of the very concept of beauty itself.

"And as for the pettiness behind Angra's motivations… Honestly, dear Alkaid, what did you expect? Surely, you know by now how petty gods can be." The woman said as she shot 'Kaidy an amused grin before turning to the Zoroastrian god. "But where are my manners? I've forgotten to offer my greetings."

"Hello Miss Jackson, Young Master Jackson, Missus Potter, Missus Branwen-Potter, and of course, Angra Mainyu." The woman said, as she offered them a curtsy of all things.

Sally, who seemed to have figured out who her new guest was, finally lost the battle with her fear and passed out. This prompted Percy to leap from his seat and to her side, catching her as she collapsed and adjusting her so that she didn't fall out of her chair and hurt herself. This would probably have been thwarted by Angra Mainyu but the god was too busy taking a startled step away from the new arrival and thus the Jacksons, looking visibly nervous as he did.

Though Pyrrha couldn't blame him for his reaction, having Lucifer aka the Devil herself show up was a terrifying experience no matter the circumstances. Even 'Kaidy who had apparently summoned him had paled and was looking very much like her sister Melinoe at her most ghostly at the moment at the Fallen Angel's presence. And all without the aura that most gods maintained around themselves wherever they went. It seemed like Lucifer let his name alone speak for itself and was above such things, which to be far was entirely understandable. His infamy was more than enough.

"What is with that reaction, Angra?" The Devil asked coyly. "Are you scared of little ol' me? Even though you were dismissing me just a moment ago?"

In the face of the taunt, Angra Mainyu seemed to gather his courage and replied defiantly, "Afraid of you, Lucifer? Never."

Unfazed by the god's bluster, Lucifer giggled in a demure and feminine way as she replied. "Oh dearest Angra, you must be going blind. Can't you see I'm nothing but a delicate member of the fairer sex at the moment? Please be respectful to my chosen form. Or do you speak to all women so brashly?"

The god of curses just let out a growling snarl and spat out, "What are you doing here, Fallen One?"

Lucifer offered a playful smile on her painted lips, coyly giggling. "I just wish to sow a little chaos as per usual. Since Missus Potter and yourself were so kind and generous as to invoke my name, I just had decided to exploit it to say… hello."

"Hello?" The King of Daevas asked with a dumbfounded look.

"It's just so much fun to mess with others' little plots and games. Can't a girl have her fun?"

"Save your silver tongued words for someone foolish enough to fall for them, Prince of Lies. What is it you want?" Angra snapped, looking like he was forcing himself to calm down.

"You're taking all the fun out of this, Angra." The Devil said as she teleported herself into Percy's vacated seat, the son of Poseidon having not left his mother's side since he'd rushed to check on her when she'd passed out.

All the World's Evils just growled and shot the Light-bringer a withering glare.

"Oh! Fine, fine! I'll tell you." Lucifer said, sounding exactly like a spoiled young lady whose plans for the day had been ruined by an unexpected turn of events. Alkaid had acted that way often enough that Pyrrha could recognize it from a mile away. "I just want to make this into a game."

"A game?" Angra Mainyu demanded.

"Yes," Lucifer nodded with a smile so demure and charming that Pyrrha just knew she had used it to tempt innumerable men to their damnation. "A game in which if I win, I want you to spare the Jackson boy your test. In exchange, if I lose, not only will you be able to continue with your test for Jackson but I will allow you to subject me to one as well. Scaled up to be a challenge for me of course."

The way Angra Mainyu's eyes lit up made it clear just how interested he was in Lucifer's offer but the god had enough sense to not be so easily tempted.

"And why are you of all beings helping Olympus' Diplomats?"

"One, because thanks to your invocation sealing off intervention by others most likely to help them, I am sadly the only one who can. After all, we wouldn't want to risk having too many god-class entities in a particular situation. The Amanos wouldn't like that. Smart move on your part. I take it you assumed I would not step in when you invoked me? Just like Tartarus didn't?"

The way Angra Mainyu just radiated anger all but confirmed that the Devil's guess was correct.

Huh? So there's a limit on how many gods can get involved at a time?

It's not as simple as that, Pyrrha. There are other factors to consider than simple quantity, but in this situation at least by invoking my name, if I had not chosen to intervene then no other god-class being could do so until the invocation faded. A window of time within which Angra Mainyu could have gotten away with his plans. The Devil answered directly into Pyrrha's mind, causing the daughter of war to stiffen even as the Fallen Angel continued explaining her motivations for intervening.

"Second, I decided the mortals needed a little help, because without it they would lose your test. But with my help, they can't lose." The Fallen Angel said, her eyes glowing with malevolence. "And when I win this game of ours, you, Angra, will hate the Potters even more than you already do. As a result, the next time you seek your vengeance against them, it will be glorious! More so than the petty little event that you had planned for today."

Great. So the Devil is helping because by doing so it'll set things up to be even more difficult in the future. Why am I not surprised?

Angra Mainyu looked as annoyed by this as Pyrrha felt, but it seemed his pride refused to allow him to back down. Not when the Devil herself was openly declaring there was no way for him to win today.

"Fine then, I will accept your meager challenge, Fallen One."

"So easily falling for my trap? How cliche can you be?" Lucifer sighed in disappointment, a delicate hand on her cheek.

"Shut up and issue your challenge, Fallen Angel!" Angra Mainyu barked.

Lucifer giggled and suddenly the world around them spun as if the entire apartment was a Tilt-A-Whirl.


Percy's day was not going well. It was cool at first, seeing Alkaid again. Her acting all classy and giving off that big sister energy of hers never got old. Pyrrha was there too, so he had to be careful not to make too much of a fool of himself. Alkaid wouldn't hold it against him if he did, but her wife wasn't that kind. But even then it was kind of alright. And then came some super evil god. He honestly had never even known gods could be outright evil just jerks.

Turns out he was wrong. Being compared to the Devil meant this Angra Mainyu guy was evil, right?

And then the actual Devil (the Biblical one!), looking like a creepy pretty lady, showed up. Things all went downhill from there as his mom passed out from the shock of who their uninvited guests were and a divine pissing contest started up between them in his living room.

So much for an easy Saturday. Percy couldn't help thinking as the Zoroastrian god and the Devil smack talked to each other.

He must've jinxed himself because just as the thought crossed his mind, as if the day couldn't get more crazy, his mom, Alkaid, Pyrrha and himself were suddenly teleported into the stands of a football stadium.

"Huh? What? Percy!?" Mom shouted as she jerked awake, almost falling out of the seat she'd been teleported into and Percy had to grab her to save her from a painful fall. "This isn't our apartment… Percy, where are we!?"

"Mom, you're awake!" Percy gasped, more concerned about how that was the case then where the Devil had transported them.

"Lord Lucifer must've woken her up when she teleported us here, wherever here is." Alkaid said with a shrug as she surveyed their surroundings.

"No need to thank me for that kindness, mortals." Lucifer's voice boomed from the arena's sound system. "There will be no unconsciousness, for anyone, for the duration of the game."

"What unkind kindness. I approve." Angra Mainyu said begrudgingly as he appeared on a throne set up in a box directly behind and over the goalpost at one end of the football field. "What game are we playing, Lucifer?"

Appearing on another throne at the other end of the field, Lucifer smiled beatifically before declaring. "I'm surprised you have not guessed, my fellow personification of evil. Let me enlighten you. The game of choice is… drum roll please!"

Obligingly, a drum roll boomed from the arena's sound system.

After a few seconds of this, Lucifer continued at last. "Blood Bowl! Today's game will be a match of Blood Bowl!"

At this, fifty demons of various shapes and sizes appeared on the field and in the benches by the side, all dressed up like an actual football team. Oh, and they also happened to be armed to the teeth. A development that caused Angra Mainyu to frown even as he snapped his fingers and suddenly an equal number of monsters appeared on his side of the field, all dressed up in a similar get up as their demonic opponents.

"Blood Bowl!? I get to watch an actual real life game of Blood Bowl!?" Alkaid shouted in childish excitement.

It was so uncharacteristic of his normally mature and, dare he say it, ladylike older cousin that Percy suffered the mental equivalent of a blue screen of death. Had Lucifer replaced Alkaid with a pod person when she teleported them here? Because he was pretty sure Alkaid would never act like this!

"Uh, 'Kaidy. No offense but why are you so excited?" Pyrrha asked with a look of long suffering exasperation.

"Because I've played the video game version of this sport before but never seen it be played in real life. So now that I get the chance, I am beyond hyped to see the real deal!" Alkaid said as she conjured little flags with little devils printed on them to wave.

"My wife is a cheerleader now. Hm." Pyrrha looked thoughtful.

"What is my life right now?" Percy asked in confusion.

Pyrrha just patted his shoulder consolingly.

"I am going to echo Percy's question," Sally said with a groan.

"It's not that bad," a familiar voice said from the previously empty seat next to mom. "At least Lucifer is on our side for once."

Spinning towards its source, Percy's eyes almost popped out of his skull when he saw his Dad, Poseidon, seated there with a beer hat perched atop his head.

"By the way, congratulations on your new marriage, Sally." Dad said with a sincere smile. "Hope you enjoyed the wedding gift I sent?"

Mom, to her credit, only looked flustered for a second, before she smiled politely and nodded. "The all expense Caribbean cruise was most appreciated. Paul and I had an amazing honeymoon thanks to your gift. Thank you, Poseidon."

"Glad you liked it."

"Poseidon! Ssh!" Another voice said from next to Alkaid on the row of seats below where Percy and his parents were seated. A voice that to his shock, he now realized after looking at its source belonged to his uncle, Hades! "The game is starting!"

"You are too excited about this, Husband." A goddess that Percy had never met but must be Lady Persephone said with an irritated groan from her seat next to Alkaid's father.

"Nonsense, Mother. This is precisely the level of excitement appropriate for a game of Blood Bowl." Alkaid countered, causing both Pyrrha and Persephone to roll their eyes in exasperation at her and Hades.

Ignoring their wives, as the game kicked off, the father and daughter cheered loudly, even as Dad alongside many of the other supernatural creatures, ranging from gods to daimons to things that Percy did not even recognize, that had filled up the stands when Percy hadn't noticed, joined them.

Shaking his head in disbelief at everything transpiring before him, including the start of the bloody brawl masquerading as a football game that was supposedly this Blood Bowl game that was being played by Angra Mainyu and Lucifer, Percy turned to Pyrrha.

"Pyrrha, considering how bloody this all is, I'm surprised Ares isn't here." Percy asked the daughter of said war god, gesturing at the field where a winged demon with ram horns and cloven hooves literally ripped a smaller, humanoid monster on Angra Mainyu's team in half.

At his question, Pyrrha glanced at the Blood Bowl pitch and where the monstrous demons and monsters of the two opposing teams were tearing into each whilst the nimbler amongst their numbers scrambled for the pigskin to use it to score touchdowns against each other. Turning away from the bloody, chaotic mess, Pyrrha addressed Percy. "I think as bloody as this is, Father wouldn't appreciate it. Firstly, it's a sport which isn't really his kinda thing. Secondly, it's being played by members of other pantheons and I don't think he has a good opinion of them."

Percy nodded in understanding.

"And they generally have just as low an opinion of him." Persephone said as she turned to join their conversation rather than watch the massacre in the guise of a game on the pitch. "Ares is ill liked enough on Olympus already and is even more disliked amongst the other pantheons."

"Yeah, I can imagine. Father's personality… Well, let's just say it takes some getting used to."

Percy, who had dealt with Ares plenty on his first Quest and even fought the god, just shot his daughter an unimpressed look. "That's an understatement."

"I know, but did you honestly expect me to badmouth my father?"

"I've never met him. Is Lord Ares really that difficult?" Mom asked tactfully as she too joined the conversation. From how she was looking a little green and averting her eyes from the field, whatever was happening down there was clearly not agreeing with her.

Percy, Persephone and Pyrrha all nodded.

"My sympathies then, Pyrrha." Mom said with a wince.

The daughter of war shrugged. "You get used to it."

"Yes, you do." Persephone said, offering her daughter-in-law a sympathetic smile. "By the way, Pyrrha, nice dress. Did Gracie pick it out for you like that time you vis-"

The goddess of spring's question was cut short when a sudden cheer erupted from the crowds and the sounds of explosions boomed from the pitch. Despite his better judgment and while cursing his demigod instincts for compelling him to do so, Percy found himself turning to the pitch and found that most of the demons in Lucifer's team had seemingly been wiped out by a three-headed dragon on Angra Mainyu's team with the remainder being systematically slaughtered by massive explosive fireballs being spat at them by said dragon.

"Argh! Fielding Zahāk!? That's just unfair!" Alkaid shouted angrily.

"As frustrating as this turn of events is, there are no restrictions on who a Blood Bowl team can field." Hades said with a frown.

"Shit! Lucifer doesn't have a full team left! How's she gonna win this?" Percy asked worriedly. If the Devil lost this… He'd be at the nonexistent mercy of Angra Mainyu and whilst he was confident he'd beat whatever stupid test the supposedly evil god had prepared for him, he wasn't exactly looking forward to it either.

"Quality over quantity I presume." Dad said with a thoughtful hum as one of Lucifer's few remaining players, a demon that looked like a mass of mismatched blades that had been forced together into a vaguely humanoid shape, suddenly blurred right in front of Angra Mainyu's dragon and transformed into a twister of razor sharp blades that quickly reduced the three headed winged lizard into a bloody mess that had to be carried off the pitch. "But let's give her a hand nonetheless. Percy, with me."

"Huh?" Percy asked cluelessly as he nevertheless followed his father's lead and got up from his seat.

"Poseidon, what's going on?" Mom asked, looking between Dad and him worriedly.

"Blood Bowl allows members of the audience to act as replacements for any players of a team that might be killed or too injured to continue the game." Alkaid explained as she and Hades stood as well.

"Yes, back in the old days there were no rules to limit the number of such ad hoc replacements but nowadays, only a dozen are allowed." Hades added. "So if we're doing this, we need to get down there now. It's first come first served."

"You're not going down there without me, 'Kaidy." Pyrrha said as she stood up as well.

"Percy…"

"Will be fine, Sally. I will take care of him." Dad reassured her.

Mom didn't really look convinced but she nodded anyway.

Smiling at her assent, Dad, probably with the help of Hades, teleported all of them to the benches on Lucifer's side of the pitch where they were joined by someone unexpected.

"Zeus," Hades greeted the King of Olympus as they all casually walked onto the pitch, with the Devil's team as reduced as it was nobody stopped them. It was clear the demons needed the replacements. "Glad you could join us."

"Did you and Poseidon think you could show off in a Blood Bowl this high profile and not expect me to come?" The Lord of the Sky said as he almost absently unleashed a storm of lightning that incinerated a whole third of Angra Mainyu's team.

"We were counting on it actually." Dad said with a smirk as he snapped his fingers and suddenly the center of the pitch exploded as the water pipes beneath burst and a geyser of pressurized water shot skywards. This lasted for only a brief moment however before under Dad's command, the jet twisted like a snake and began attacking Angra Mainyu's team and taking them out in frankly grisly fashion. The unlucky monsters either sent flying to splatter against the arena walls by the geyser striking them or being drilled through or cut in half courtesy of the pressure of the jet.

"Yes, you are predictable enough that we knew you'd join us if we both stepped onto the field." Hades added with a chuckle as he used his geokinesis to have pikes of black Underworld stone shoot out of the ground and try to impale the monsters of the opposing team. He got a good number of them but the rest proved durable or slippery enough to either survive or evade his attack.

"Foul!" Angra Mainyu shouted as he saw his team being slaughtered by the Olympian Big Three.

"How so, Angra?" The Devil allowed graciously. "There are no rules in Blood Bowl restricting who the replacements for either team could be."

Angra Mainyu let out a furious snarl at this and just snapped his fingers, summoning his own replacements for the monsters Dad and his brothers had easily dealt with. This took the form of a whole new set of humanoid looking monsters, many of whom sported some kind of bestial feature or otherwise just looked inhuman.

"Oh-ho! Are those who I think they are?" Dad asked, sounding excited as he gestured at six of the new arrivals that were standing huddled together at the rear of Angra Mainyu's formation.

"Yes, those are the six Arch-daevas alright." The demon made of blades confirmed as he warily walked towards them. "They will be a problem. Could we trouble you and your brothers to handle them, Lord Zeus?"

At this request, Zeus looked questioningly at Hades and Dad in turn and received nods from both of them.

"Yes, leave it to us." The King of Olympus said confidently as in a flash of brilliant lightning the suit he had been wearing was suddenly replaced by hoplite armor made of pure Celestial Bronze and the Master Bolt appeared in his right hand. "Brothers! Charge!"

At his warcry, Dad and Hades exchanged an exasperated look before they too summoned their wargear and charged after their youngest brother. The Big Three were soon engaged in an epic battle with the monsters that were supposedly called the Arch-daevas that saw plenty of elemental mayhem and magic of all types flung around all over the place.

I am so glad I'm not part of that. Percy thought with a sigh of relief as he turned to Alkaid with a look that wordlessly asked if she had any idea on what they should do.

"I guess that leaves us to handle the small fry?" Alkaid said with an arched eyebrow as she started shooting all manner of magical projectiles at Angra Mainyu's team, making a fair impression of a living artillery battery.

"Yes, if you'd be so kind as to keep them busy, we'll handle the touchdowns." A little imp straight out of a fantasy game said as it just flickered into view next to Alkaid, Pyrrha and Percy with the pigskin in its hands.

"Leave it to us," Pyrrha assured the child-sized demon.

"You have our thanks." The imp said with an inhumanly wide grin before flickering out of view, presumably to attempt a touchdown. At the same time, the other remaining demons on their team redoubled their efforts to attack the opposing team in support.

"Incoming!" Pyrrha shouted as a pair of monsters ran toward them, their eyes locked on Alkaid. Clearly they were set on taking her and her magical fire support out of the game.

"I'll take the red skinned one that's radiating anger." Pyrrha shouted as she stepped forward to intercept her opponent. "You deal with the succubus, Percy."

"Got it." Percy shouted back as he took a moment to pull some of the water from Dad's geyser with his hydrokinesis to drench himself and activate the power boost he got from being wet. At the same time, he also prepared a little countermeasure that he felt might prove useful. Only once these preparations were complete did he step into the path of his assigned opponent.

"You are not my target, boy. Step out of the way and I will let you live." The monster that looked very much like a stereotypical succubus said, at least by Percy's reckoning.

And damn if that comparison wasn't on the money. She fit what Percy imagined a succubus would look like to a T and came complete with bat-like wings, a tail that ended in an arrowhead, horns growing from her head, and a voluptuous woman's body that was on full sensuous display in the red dress she was wearing.

"Sorry Miss Horny, but I'm here to block you."

"Ugh, you reek of virginity. Are you sure you're Greek?"

Percy was honestly having a little trouble understanding what the monster was saying. But he had a good guess and he couldn't help but think that it was just plain mean.

"No matter, if you will not step aside for your life. Would you step aside for a night in my bed? I, Akatash, the daeva of perversion, would be more than happy to rid you of your pesky virginity." The monster offered in a tempting purr that reminded Percy uneasily of Charmspeak.

"Yeah, no." Percy said as he lunged at her even as he mentally thanked his foresight to plug his ears with some earplugs he'd made out of ice with his hydrokinesis when he'd drenched himself.

Thank the gods that this succubus wannabe's powers of seduction or whatever works like Charmspeak. If not, I'd be screwed. Percy thought as Akatash responded to his lunge by snarling and flapping her wings, took to the air.

"Really? That's the best you can do?" Percy asked, honestly feeling disappointed that this was all his opponent had thought to do. "Oh well, like Alkaid taught me, 'don't look a gift horse in its mouth'."

With that said, the son of the seas used his hydrokinesis to shape a large hand out of a portion of the waters of the still gushing geyser that his father had created earlier and proceeded to use it to grab Akatash straight out of the air and smash her against the ground. Hard. Hard enough that she went splat, her body exploding into gore with the impact.

Percy winced at the sight. Okay, I think I overdid it. Then again, Greek monsters are more durable than that. They can take a hit or two at least. What gives?

He didn't get much time to think on the matter however as he was still processing this when the whistle to mark the end of the second half and the game was blown.

"And game!" The referee, some Japanese guy with black hair and blue eyes that Percy had honestly not even noticed being there until now, shouted to cheers from the spectators. "And the winner with a score of 11-15 is Lucifer!"

The crowd went wild at this announcement and so did their team. However, even as their team celebrated their victory, Percy had one thought running through his head.

Yep, I just learned the absolute definition of a blood sport. Just going to add this to my traumatized-for-life box.

How typical for the life of a Half-blood.


Lucifer was feeling generous it seemed, at least that was what Alkaid felt. She let them enjoy their victory for a few minutes before she teleported them back to Sally's apartment.

"You have my thanks for giving me the chance to get one over little Angra. He's been more annoying as of late in the community and I have been looking for a chance to put him in his place, so this was perfect. Goodbye for now, Alkaid Potter." The Devil said with a grateful looking smile before she teleported away. A teleportation that she punctuated with an effect that made it seem like she was being erased in fast forward.

Angra Mainyu, looking far more demonic after his defeat, his crisp and proper form peeling away in places to reveal the swirling mass of negative energy that was his true nature, seemed to regain his voice now that Lucifer had departed and turned to look at Alkaid with a hateful glare.

"You may have escaped my test," the god of chaos and destruction snapped. "But the Styx's cannot be denied."

With that ominous reminder, he departed in a pillar of dark flames that left behind the lingering smell of burnt human flesh.

Charming. Alkaid thought sarcastically.

"So this Curse? We really need it, right?" Percy asked, as if they hadn't just been to a game of Blood Bowl.

Alkaid and Pyrrha shared a look. It seemed that even in his tantrum, the god forced the two to forget even meeting him. No doubt to save face in some meager way. Or just to avoid getting in trouble with the Amanos. They weren't sure on the exact wording of the Ancient Laws - if such a thing existed and the Ancient Laws weren't just the whims of the Overgods - and it was entirely possible that letting Percy remember how he'd been caught up in an inter-Pantheon conflict would be breaking them.

Pyrrha looked thrown by this, but Alkaid swiftly took control of the conversation. "Yes, I truly believe this is needed for us to stack the deck in our favor, Percy."

"I guess that makes sense. If the bad guys have it, then we need to even the score."

"So you will be willing to take the Curse, Percy?"

The son of Poseidon took the thoughtful pose he had adopted before Angra Mainyu and Lucifer's interruption and nodded, "Yeah, I mean, we need it too right? If that's what I have to do, I guess it's what I'll have to do."

Offering him an encouraging smile that had him looking flustered, Alkaid turned to Sally and asked. "Will you give him your blessing, Sally?"

Letting out a resigned sigh, the mother turned to her son and looked at him sadly. "Percy, you have my permission to swim in the River Styx."


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

And so we begin with some needed fluff. Melinoe and her Half-blood meeting her cousins. It was a sweet scene and we thought we needed to sprinkle those scenes in since dark times are coming with the war coming to its peak soon.

Nameless: Yup. We intend to start up most of the arcs in this book with wholesome family scenes before we take things in directions that might get a little dark. We know it'll be formulaic but bear with us. For the sake of not making things grimderp, a little levity and wholesomeness is much needed and it fits best at the start of the arc.

Next we have Percy getting the Curse of Achilles earlier to help him adjust to it and learn less on the fly. Adjustment is important! And of course, when curses are around, Angra Mainyu comes a-knocking. And Lucy too! And then there was blood everywhere! Good times, right?

Nameless: Well, it's called Blood Bowl for a reason. ;) That said, pardon us for not going into too much detail about the actual game. To be honest, it wasn't that important to the chapter, so we glossed it over. The big thing was that the Big 3 stepped up to help (showing that the gods do have the Campers' backs) and the typical Riordanverse quirkiness/shenanigans making something as relatively simple as asking Sally for permission for Percy to get the Curse into a whole chore. Hope it was still entertaining enough in spite of that.

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