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

Consul of the Underworld: End of Disc 1

Chapter Twenty-Three: The enemy of my enemy is my friend - Slaughterhouse of Horror

Beta: ShadowofAxios


Trigger warning: Cannibalism, Humans treated as meat


In the early summer of 2009, acting on Kronos' orders, Circe had done what she usually did best, plot. The results of which saw her inviting those blasted Potters' enemies to a meeting in a conference room with a nice view of her island's jungles at her newly reclaimed and repaired C.C.'s Spa and Resort in the Sea of Monsters. A resort that she was pleased to note had finally managed to achieve a three star rating on MythTravelAdvisor dot com, and would, Chaos willing, soon fully regain its usual five stars.

But that is a concern for another time. The Goddess of Magic thought to herself as she stood behind her seat, overlooking a round table that dominated the room and greeting her guests. "Welcome, welcome one and all. Now, please take your seats so we may begin."

The first to enter was the short blond woman with orange raptor-like eyes that was the former Queen of the Amazons, Tabitha, Daughter of Bia. It was rare to include a mere mortal in such august proceedings but all coalitions of wicked intent needed a pet mortal to fetch the coffee.

The Amazon grunted dismissively and just moved to take the seat that Circe indicated. Joy, she had been hoping for a level headed warrior, not a meatheaded brute. Oh well, she was mortal. What should Circe have expected beyond disappointment?

Mortals are such useless creatures. The Immortal Sorceress thought as she turned to her next set of guests, the Goblin King and his Queen.

The Archfae king was a short, handsome man with flamboyant blonde hair in an ever changing array of styles. Whilst his consort was a stunningly beautiful woman with pale gold skin, hair as black as midnight and eyes like liquid emerald. Both of them wore feral, silver crowns as symbols of the rank and were dressed in finery more befitting a medieval royal court, or, more accurately, a fae royal court.

"Lady Crice, thank you for hosting us." The former human, Sarah Williams, nodded in gratitude and with a sharp, deadly smile.

"Oh no thanks required, It was my pleasure. I might have organized this meeting on Kronos' orders, but that was merely in response to your proposal. You were the one who set this little alliance of ours in motion." Circe responded with a predatory smile of her own.

In contrast to his consort's politeness, the Goblin King just snorted and pulled out a chair for his wife before moving to take his own seat.

For an Archfae he is such a boor. Circe thought disapprovingly. Honestly, Williams could do so much better. I cannot fathom why she would but I suppose she remains loyal to him for helping her ascend beyond her mortality.

"You have quite the slice of paradise here, Circe." Her next guest said as he entered the room.

A guest whose mere presence sent a shiver down Circe's spine. Which considering who her guest was, was no surprise. For, standing in the form of a smirking, clean cut looking Persian man dressed in ornate midnight black robes was the Zoroastrian All the World's Evil, Angra Mainyu.

Circe might be a goddess, but before the evil might of a being such as Angra Mainyu, she was a nobody. Frankly, no one in the room was. She doubted even Kronos could match this god of evil's power.

It thus boogled her mind that no one else in the room so much as flinched at the great god's presence.

"That's because unlike you, we're not cowards." Tabitha spat at Circe.

Circe rounded on the Amazon with a glare and angrily demanded, "You wish to repeat that, you whelp?"

"I said you are a coward. And unlike you, we're not, you spoilt layabout of a goddess." The Amazon taunted with a large smirk.

"You dare insult me, Amazon!? Within my own home!? You dare!?" Circe demanded as she surrounded herself in an aura of her power and she prepared to smite the impudent girl.

"Oh do calm yourself, Lady Circe, you're making a fool of yourself." King Jareth sniffed with distaste. "The Amazon is right, you know. You are a coward, that is an established fact and known by all. Taking offense to the truth is unbecoming of a goddess of your standing."

The vile Angra Mainya chuckled deeply at the insults flung Circe's way as he claimed a seat. "It does help that I am quite the terrifying individual as well."

Williams, the harlot, let out a giggle. "Both are indeed true."

Crice's frown grew more pronounced as she was repeatedly insulted! In her own home no less!

"Is this what I can expect from this group? Petty in-fighting?" Circe's last guest, the Nephilim Sorceress, Angel, said as she stood at the door to the conference room.

Turning to the young woman with long auburn hair and dark blue eyes, Circe's face smoothed into a friendly smile. "No no my dear. This is just some teething problems in our new little partnership. I'm sure given time, these small differences will be smoothed over."

The girl did not seem convinced but she nevertheless sauntered over to her seat beside Angra Mainyu and asked, "Is this really how you expect to defeat Alkaid Potter and her wife?"

"We will!" Tabitha said with a vicious growl.

The Angel girl surveyed the table and let out an impressed whistle, "I must say, this is quite the impressive roster. It seems Alkaid Potter and her paramour have been busy kicking up dust."

Circe smiled and nodded, "Without doubt, my dear. And now her foolishness will come back to bite her like the snake she is."

Honestly, why Mother spoke of the mortal of that bonehead with such fondness she'd never know. If only Mother would visit her resort and see what she'd achieved. Then she'd know who she should be impressed by. There was no way a mere half-blood could rival her accomplishments! She was Circe! Alkaid Potter was nothing compared to her!

If that's true then why hasn't Mother visited the resort in ages? A traitorous portion of Circe's mind whispered. Why does she remain so distant from you whilst being almost proud of that mortal's achievements?

Ignoring the whispers of doubt with the ease of long practice, Circe just watched as Angel hummed thoughtfully and said, "I'm sure that Alkaid and Pyrrha will love to hear of this. Ta-ta."

And with a burst of holy light, the powerful sorceress teleported away.

Just as planned. Circe thought with a devious smirk.


As the Nephilim Sorceress teleported away, Tabitha jumped to her feet in alarm and shot Circe a glare. "Why did you let her leave!? Now she'll tell the Potters that we're targeting them and they'll be prepared for us!"

"Yes, she will." Circe said with a satisfied smile as she sat down. "She'll go running to her Mistress, the Sorceress Supreme, who in turn will undoubtedly alert the Potters."

"Yes, exactly as we want her to." Angra Mainyu said with a chuckle.

"We want the Potters to be prepared?" Tabitha asked, looking at the gathered immortals she'd chosen to align herself with in confusion.

"Of course." The Goblin King said with a scoff. "It is all about setting the trap."

"I'm surprised you cannot see that. Are you all brawn and no brain?" His consort added mockingly, shooting Tabitha an inhuman smile with a hint of far too many teeth.

"I don't understand." Tabitha admitted with a frown as she sat back down. "What's the good in letting the Potters know that we're gunning for them?"

"The satisfaction of catching the Potters by surprise even though they are expecting us." Circe explained with a pitying look, like Tabitha was slow and needed help understanding something so basic.

"Satisfaction?" Tabitha scoffed. "Don't you mean your pride? You're letting the enemy know to expect us out of pride?"

The idea of doing so against an enemy that had proven itself such a thorn to all of them present as the Potters was something that Tabitha could not approve of. Yet, what could she do? She was very much aware that of those that Circe had brought together for this anti-Potter alliance, she was the weakest and most expendable. In light of that, if she wanted her shot at revenge against the Potters, she had no choice but to just disgruntledly bite her tongue.

"Yes," The Goblin Queen said with a smile. "Sadly, beings as powerful as Archfae and gods are prideful creatures. You get used to it."

"Are you not among that number as well, Goblin Queen? Are you not an Archfae yourself now?" Angra Mainyu pointed out with amusement.

If he had intended for what he said to needle the former human, he must've been sorely disappointed because all it managed was to get her to smirk as she replied. "Oh, I know. At the same time, I am self-aware enough to realize how oh so prideful of a creature I have become."

Her husband chuckled affectionately at her confession. "And that self-awareness is one of the many reasons why I love you, my Sarah."

A statement he punctuated by taking one of his wife's hands and kissing it lovingly. A gesture that earned him a pleased giggle from the woman as she playfully slapped his arm. "Stop it, Jareth. We're here for a serious meeting. Not to flirt."

"I must agree with your wife, Goblin King." Circe said as she rolled her eyes at the couple's behavior. "And I think it is high time we begin the meeting proper, no?"

"Yes, we should." Tabitha said irritably. We have wasted enough time already!

Thankfully, the two main time wasters agreed with nods.

"Apologies then," Angra Mainyu cut in. "But before we begin, I would like to inquire about something from the Goblin monarchs."

"What do you want to know, All the World's Evil?" Jareth asked, shooting the god a questioning look.

"I must know how committed you are to opposing the Potters." The Persian asked seriously. "I must confess that after hearing that you have backed down and stopped supporting the Titans after their little Black Team invaded your kingdom, I have doubts as to how far you are willing to go if you'd fall back after such a minor setback."

"Ha! Backing down after a single attack? That must've stung your so-called pride something fierce didn't it, Goblin King, Goblin Queen?" Tabitha couldn't help but taunt the two Archfae.

Her jest earned her a deadly glare from the former human that was accompanied by images of her being flayed alive by the Archfae being projected into her mind.

Is that supposed to scare me? Like I've not seen and done worse!? Tabitha thought with an unimpressed roll of her eyes.

"What? Can't stand a mortal being uppity?"

"Not from one that does not have a leg to stand on." The fae woman snapped back as her glare grew even more furious.

"Enough, Sarah." Jareth said as he put a restraining hand on his wife's arm. "Let us not fight amongst allies. Though, Amazon, if you can call yourself that still, I would ask you to tone down your snark."

"I second that." Circe said with a warning look.

"Fine. Fine. I'll hold my tongue."

I know when to back off. Tabitha thought as she once more recalled how she was the weakest and most expendable person in the room.

Nodding in satisfaction at her acquiesce to rein herself in, Jareth turned to Angra Mainyu and addressed the god. "As for your question, Angra Mainyu, fear not for our commitment to this cause. Our decision to scale back our support for the Titans was merely a matter of tactical necessity. As much as I hate to admit it, the attack by Potter and her merry band of miscreants weakened our kingdom's defenses substantially. Allowing the Titans, who are at best allies of convenience and not to be trusted, into our realm when it was less able to defend itself than we would've liked would've been foolish. Doing so would have invited invasion. Besides, we still provide them with supplies, do we not?"

"You think of us so poorly, Jareth?" Circe asked, a look of faux hurt on her face. "Are we truly nothing more than 'allies of convenience' to you?"

"Can you swear on the Styx of yours that the characterization of our relationship with the Titans is incorrect? That it is not justified when we all know that if it would be to your advantage that you would turn your blades against us at the first opportunity?" The Goblin Queen asked pointedly as she shot the goddess a decidedly unimpressed look.

Circe just replied with a coy smile.

At least she has the grace to admit how untrustworthy her side is.

"Ah, be that as it may." Angra Mainyu said, rejoining the conversation. "I cannot help but think of your actions, Goblins, as those of cowards."

The two far monarchs bristled at the accusation but outside of shooting glares around the table, they refused to rise to the bait.

"Your attempts to rile us up to test our resolve will not work." The Goblin Queen told them bluntly. "We are determined to be part of this. I will make Alkaid Potter pay for costing me my job with MI5. I liked that job."

"And it helped serve as an anchor for the remains of your humanity." Circe observed airily, earning herself a glare from the Ascended Changeling that she ignored.

Shooting Circe a glare of his own, that was likewise ignored, Jareth added on where his wife left off. "And I am resolute in my desire to make Pyrrha Potter pay for injuring me the last time we fought."

Humming thoughtfully, Angra Mainyu said, "Are we sharing our reasons for wanting the Potters dead now?"

"We might as well." Circe said with a shrug. "It will put everyone on the same page about our motivations and level of commitment to our joint cause."

Rolling his eyes at what he clearly saw as a pointless gesture, the Persian god nevertheless complied. "If that is the case, then let it be known that I am here because the Potters have defeated me on one too many occasions and my hurt pride demands I return the favor. As I have failed to achieve this on my own thus far, I am here to seek assistance in the task in the hopes that doing so will lead to a more favorable outcome."

Nodding at the other god, Circe turned to Tabitha expectantly.

"Do you even need to ask?" Tabitha said with a shrug. "Potter and her whore cost me my title as Queen of the Amazons. I want payback for that."

"Oh? Is that all? Did you not also want to make Potter your pleasure slave?" Circe asked, faking interest.

The goddess might think she looked genuine. But she was anything but.

Sitting in her island resort and cutting herself off from the rest of the world has done a number on her skill as a manipulator.

Despite Circe's degraded skill, Tabitha had no reason to not answer the goddess' question so with a shrug, she proceeded to do just that. "I wouldn't mind some time with her after we've beat her to complete her humiliation, but right now, all I really want is to see her dead."

"That can be arranged, right?" Angra Mainyu asked as he looked at the others questioningly.

"I don't see why not." Circe said with a smile.

"Indeed." The Goblin King said with a predatory smile full of fangs instead of teeth. "Seeing the Potters humiliated will be quite a sight."

His wife just nodded whilst sporting a similarly bestial smile of her own.

"We have all spoken on the matter." Angra Mainyu observed as he turned to Circe. "What about you? Why do you want the Potter dead, Circe?"

"Frankly, I care little about the Potters." Circe said with a shrug. "I have had little to no dealings with them and so have no grudges against them like the rest of you do. However, she has proven herself quite an obstacle to the Titans' war effort and I am part of this little team up as their representative."

"That is a good enough reason I suppose." The Goblin King said unhappily.

"It is." His wife assured him.

"Yeah, that's not the best. But it's the best we can get, I suppose." Tabitha said with a shrug.

"Agreed. But it is good enough for me." Angra Mainyu added.

"Then we are all in agreement." Circe said with a cheerful smile. "Shall we get down to planning what exactly we intend to do to engineer the downfall of the Potters?"

This was met with ready agreement from everyone at the table and they began making plans.

Just you wait, Alkaid Potter. Tabitha thought as she played her part in the brainstorming session. You'll get your comeuppance soon enough!


Immediately after ditching Circe's little villain team up meeting, Angel had dutifully informed Sakura-sama about the group of powerful beings that had gathered to target Alkaid, only to be instructed by her mentor to inform the Potters of the threat. She had thus made arrangements to meet with her fellow Sorceress and her wife to discuss what she had learned. Arrangements that translated into a lunch meeting two days later with the couple in one of San Francisco's premier restaurants, the Mediterranean restaurant, Kokkari Estiatorio, for dinner. The place was a well appointed fine dining establishment with an aesthetic that invoked the old-world charm of a rustic Mediterranean country inn thanks to an inviting fireplace, extensive woodwork, hand-made pottery and freshly picked flowers.

This isn't the kind of place I would be holding a meeting like this. Angel couldn't help but think as she was shown to the table where the Potters were waiting for her. It's too extravagant! How the hell can we focus on what we need to talk about in a place like this!?

Despite her misgivings, when she'd asked for the meeting, the couple had insisted that they be allowed to choose the venue and this posh restaurant was their choice.

Are the Potters really taking this seriously?

"Angel, it's good to see you again." Alkaid greeted her politely as she reached the Potters' table and her fellow sorceress gestured for her to take her seat.

"Yes, nice to see you." Pyrrha said more gruffly.

"Alkaid, Pyrrha." Angel returned with a nod as she allowed the server to pull a chair out for her and she took her seat. "It's been a while."

"It has." Alkaid agreed and nodded towards the menu. "Order whatever you like."

Angel just nodded distractedly and quickly read the menu before placing her order with the waiting server, followed soon after by the Potters. And as the server left to inform the kitchens to prepare their meals, Alkaid snapped up a few privacy wards.

"Angel, we are genuinely pleased to see you, but what was so important that you needed to come to California to tell us in person?"

Angel shrugged. "I would agree with you that it's excessive but Sakura-sama insisted. She said that with this kind of news, unless vitally urgent, it's best delivered in person."

The married couple exchanged a confused look at that, but before they could reply, Angel continued. "More importantly, why the hell are we meeting here of all places? Couldn't we have met somewhere more secure?"

"Do we need to? You didn't specify that we needed a secure meeting place." Alkaid countered with a shrug.

"And since it's been a while we thought it would be a good idea to treat you to a meal." Pyrrha added.

Angel sighed. "I appreciate you guys wanting to be good hostesses. I really do, especially after the not so pleasant foot we started on. But if you really wanted to treat me to a meal, couldn't you, I dunno, cook me something?"

"We just thought you might want something special." Alkaid said with a shrug. "And Kokkari Estiatori has some of the best Greek food you can find in all of Cali."

"And," Pyrrha added. "Like 'Kaidy siad, you didn't say we needed to meet somewhere secure. But if that's a problem we can head home after lunch and discuss what you came to tell us then. If it could keep for a couple days like you said when you set this meeting up then it can wait an hour or two."

Angel frowned. They're right. It is my fault for not telling them to pick a more secure place, isn't it? And yeah, we can discuss this later at their place… But do we really need to?

It wasn't like what she was about to tell them was some secret. The only reason she was meeting them in person to tell them was to make it clear how important the news was, not its secrecy or urgency. Well, that and because Sakura-sama insisted, which she wouldn't put it past her mentor as being because she wanted to use it as a way to hint to Angel that she needed to get out more.

What could anyone who might spy on this meeting even do about the information anyway? Take advantage and send even more assassins after them? Angel thought with a shake of her head. And that's if they can get past Alkaid's wards.

"Okay, you guys make good points." Angel conceded. "Fine. I'll tell you guys now."

"Thank you, Angel."

"So what do you have to tell us?"

"Basically, I was invited by Circe to what I can only call a villains meet-up." Angel said with a shrug.

"Circe? The Greek goddess of magic?" Pyrrha asked with a frown.

Angel nodded.

"Let me guess, they're planning some kind of scheme targeting me and Pyrrha?"

"Yup. That and your team, Black Team." Angel said with another nod. "Circe, the fae monarchs of the Goblin Kingdom, Angra Mainyu, and some former Amazon called Tabitha."

Alkaid sighed. "A nice collection of our greatest enemies."

"Yeah." Angel agreed. "I got that vibe too."

"How did you know who attended? Did Circe inform you ahead of time?"

"Nope. I showed up to see who would answer her invite and bailed the first chance I got after everyone showed up. I was honestly a little surprised they didn't try to stop me."

"Which can only mean they let you go." Alkaid concluded.

"My thoughts exactly." Angel agreed. "They want me to tell you they're coming after you. Considering we're been known to work together, I'm betting that was their intent from the get go."

"Most likely." Alkaid said before sighing irritably. "Why is my life suddenly like something out of a Saturday morning cartoon?"

"Well, I told you this would happen eventually." Pyrrha said as she gently elbowed her wife's ribs. "You're really good at making long-term enemies outta of the foes you don't just kill off."

"I think this is more serious than a Saturday morning cartoon." Angel said with a frown. Whilst she understood the comparison, and couldn't deny it was fitting… It didn't seem appropriate considering the threat this particular team up of 'villains' posed. Something she tried to impress on the Potters. "I mean, setting the former Amazon Queen aside, this team up involves some super heavyweights like Angra Mainyu and the Goblin monarchs."

"I'm afraid that's just the caliber of opponents we've picked up over the years," Alkaid said with a careless shrug. "Sadly, as Pyrrha said, it is to be expected that our enemies would join forces eventually. It's a cliched part of being a hero for a reason."

"Unfortunately." Pyrrha said with a tired sigh. "Thanks for telling us Angel. We'll just have to be on the lookout for whatever trap Angra Mainyu and co. have set for us going forward."

"Unless you happen to know what they are planning?" Alkaid asked, looking at Angel hopefully.

"Sorry." Angel said with a shake of her head. "I got out of there before they got around to doing any actual planning. Considering who was there, I made myself scarce as soon as I got the names of who was attending. I didn't want to take any risks."

"A shame."

"Yeah." Pyrrha said with a shake of her head. "Guess that means all we can do is remain on alert."

"Looks like." Alkaid agreed.

Angel frowned. "Are you serious?"

Whilst she might not have much love for her rival for Sakura-sama's attention as a sorceress, even she felt the weight of this threat. She was thus a little unnerved by the cavalier attitude the woman and her wife were taking towards the situation.

"What else would you want us to do, Angel?" Alkaid asked, looking at her seriously. "Take the fight to our enemies? We've already invaded the Goblin Kingdom once and blown up Jareth's Castle. If we did something like that again, it would just make the enmity he and his wife feel towards us grow."

"It's not like we can kill them." Pyrrha added. "First off, killing Archfae isn't exactly easy. Secondly, doing so would make us enemies of Titania and Oberon and all fae with them. They might tolerate the conflict we have with the Goblin King and Queen as is but they won't take the killing of a pair of Archfae as anything less than a declaration of war against all faeriekind."

Alkaid nodded. "And attacking Angra Mainyu is just madness. If he moved against us then Ahura Mazda might stand with us but if not, well we can't exactly stand up against All the World's Evil."

"Ok. Then why not at least go and wreck Circe's tacky resort?" Angel suggested. "I mean, according to what I heard it was sacked by some pirates and a couple of demigods a while back, wasn't it? If they can do it, surely, you and your team can manage it."

"Certainly. But what good would that do? Does Circe actually need her resort to be a threat?"

"Alkaid's right." Pyrrha continued. "Even, in the unlikely case, that she was keeping some valuable magical reagents or artifacts there that if destroyed or stolen would be a setback to her, how much would it be? And would it be worth it to walk into an obvious trap?"

"Besides, Circe probably keeps the most important of her magical resources somewhere less obvious. Or more well defended like Othrys."

"Taking all that into account, the best thing that we can do is just be on the lookout for the enemy attack."

Angel frowned. She hated to admit it. She preferred being proactive. But she couldn't refute the Potters' arguments. As it stood, staying on alert was probably the best move on their part.

I can probably think of something better if I think about it some but… As a whole, their plan to just be vigilant isn't exactly a bad one.

"The food's here." Alkaid said, pulling Angel from her thoughts, as she dismissed her wards and gestured to a pair of servers bringing their starters.

"Thank you." Pyrrha told the two waitresses politely as they placed the dishes on the table whilst Alkaid and Angel both offered them nods.

"We can talk more business later." Alkaid told Angel. "For now, let's enjoy some nice Greek cuisine."

Angel frowned. Even though she agreed with the Potters' approach to the situation, she still harbored doubts. Despite that, she just nodded and obliged Alkaid's request.

However, even as she tucked into one of the grilled lamb riblets, Angel could not help but repeat her thought from earlier. Are the Potters really taking this seriously?


Alkaid, her warrioress' wife and the rest of Black Team were, as part of their efforts to sabotage the Titan Army's supply lines, attacking what on the surface had appeared to be a simple supply base. From the intel they had gathered, it had appeared to be stockpiling rations for an invasion of Manhattan.

Alkaid had personally felt the location that the monsters had picked was rather drab and cliche when she'd first learned of it. She had thought at the time why couldn't the Titans find a nice ranch? Or maybe something in Florida? No, it had to be some slaughterhouse in New Jersey.

However, the moment that she and Black Team had set foot into the base and saw what the Laistrygonians operating the facility had been preparing as their 'rations', such petty thoughts had immediately gone out the window. Even jaded by death as she was from being a daughter of Hades, Alkaid found herself horrified by the human meat processing plant that the cannibal giants were operating. At that point, Black Team went full all out annihilation mode. Or in Pyrrha's words, fuck subtlety.

And that was how they had found themselves fighting the Laistrygonian plant workers in a meat locker full of gutted human bodies hanging from meat hooks as if they were nothing but pigs.

"Die! Just die, you sick cannibal shitstains!" Pyrrha roared angrily as surrounded by the blood red aura of her Αιμοληψία (Bloodlust), which she had spontaneously cast on herself at some point, as she brutally cut any Laistrygonian that got within reach of her labrys' blades. Blades that thanks to the Hesken spell that Alkaid had cast on her wife's weapon had been enshrouded in red energy that spun and hissed like a chainsaw, much to the raging daughter of Ares' satisfaction

Peggy in a departure from her usual tactic of using the rotary gun of Athena's Wrath to spray and pray whenever she found herself in a target rich environment like she did now, was, partly out of cold fury and partly out of a desire to not harm the bodies of the poor victims they were fighting in the midst of, instead relying on her oft underused Celestial Bronze sword to methodically dispatch the Laistrygonians.

If Peggy's rage ran cold then in contrast Caelus' burned with the intensity of a star. Roaring and howling like a vicious beast, he pushed the superhuman physical abilities he inherited from his godly ancestors to their limits and streaked across the battlefield like a blur, slaughtering Laistrygonian left and right with a feral brutality.

Even Helena and Michael were acting with uncharacteristic bloodthirstiness as they commanded their spider and wolf drones to engage the cannibalistic giants with a ferocity that most would find unsettling. They had the smaller arachnid shaped drones swarm the giants, crawl up their bodies until their guns were level with their orifices before they fired. At the same time, they had their wolf drones unleash such powerful blasts from their sonic weapons that they literally reduced the Laistrygonians to mush before they died and became gold dust. And that was only some of the tamer things that they had their drones do to the monsters.

As for Alkaid herself? Well, she had plenty of her own disgust and rage at the depravity and inhumanity of the Laistrygonians to vent and thus was hardly exempt from the brutal massacre.

"Todesdolch."

"Axel Shooter, Phalanx Shift."

"Lightning Lancer: Phalanx Shift."

"Elmekia Lance: Phalanx Formation."

She cast shooter spell after shooter spell at the cannibalistic giants, sending everything from conjured explosive daggers to bullets of magical energy to lightning bolts to lances of light flying. A barrage that effectively created a living bullet hell that tormented the Laistrygonian butchers wielding massively oversized carving knives that were defending the slaughterhouse with the helplessness of their struggle before killing them.

In the face of such fury from Black Team, was it any surprise that it took little more than ten minutes for them to sweep the place and cleanse it of the three dozen monsters that were operating the gruesome facility? No, Alkaid thought not. If anything, she felt that it was ten minutes too many!

"That's the last of them." Helena confirmed in a still coldly furious tone from a spider drone hanging from the ceiling above Alkaid as Pyrrha finished chainsawing her way into the skull of a Laistrygonian, causing its death and its body to collapse into gold dust.

"Are you sure of that?" Peggy asked from within Caelus' arms as the Roman Legacy hugged and comforted his lover.

"Yes, we've swept the place twice over." Michael assured them from a wolf drone standing over a pile of gold dust.

"Good." Pyrrha said as she released the Αιμοληψία that she had cast on herself, just as the Hesken spell on her weapon faded. "What do we do now?"

"We should bury these bodies and give them proper burial rites." Caelus said in a deeper, almost animalistic tone, as he gestured at the hanging bodies around them.

"I agree." Alkaid said with a nod. "But just to be clear, there are hundreds of dead people in this meat locker alone. And there's at least two others just as big in this facility."

"We know." Pyrrha said as she put away her labrys into Akoúo̱'s (Listen) hammerspace. "But we should do it anyway. These poor people deserve it."

"Yeah, they do." Helena agreed.

"Just give us a sec." Michael added. "We'll come help out too."

Alkaid nodded. "Then let's get a little more help than just the six of us, shall we?"

Reaching out with her Necromancy, and supplementing it with her magical energy, she had the ground in front of them crack open as a dozen skeletons pulled themselves out of the earth. A move that was met by appreciative nods from the rest of her team.

"Let's get started. The sooner we do, the sooner we can give these poor souls the proper sendoff they need to reach their fated rest."

Oh, that's something Father would say… I am becoming just like him now, aren't I? She realized in the safety of her own mind. No one could ever know.


Seated on a deck chair by the pool of Circe's C.C.'s Spa and Resort, Angra Mainyu watched through a holographic projection over the pool that their hostess had conjured as Alkaid Potter's Black Team started respectfully preparing the bodies of the many dead humans in the slaughterhouse they'd just liberated from the Laistrygonians for burial. All the while feeling expectant glee at the trap that was about to be sprung.

Despite his excitement, the ancient King of Daevas was well versed enough in human nature to know that at least one among his co-conspirators behind this trap should have had a reaction, much like the various members of Black Team had, to the Laistrygonians' little slaughterhouse. He thus turned a curious glance over towards the former Amazon Queen, Tabitha, who was leaning back and suntanning on a nearby deck chair.

"Tabitha, you are truly unfazed by what the Laistrygonians were doing to all those humans?"

The mortal scoffed before replying. "Should I be making a mess of it like those fools? Those who became meat for the Laistrygonians just deserved what they got."

"My, my, you're just the kind of mortal I like best, did you know that, Tabitha?" The dark god said with a laugh.

"Whatever you say, All the World's Evil." The mortal said with a dismissive roll of her eyes.

Oh! She's just darling isn't she? The Zoroastrian god of all evil thought with an amused grin.

Swimming up to the edge of the pool and resting against the poolside just ahead of his chair, a bikini-clad Williams asked. "Is it time to strike yet? Alkaid Potter seems quite exhausted already."

"Be a little more patient, Poppet." Her husband urged her as he swam up and hugged her from behind. "We want her and her team completely exhausted before we strike."

"I know. I just want this to be done!" The former human grumbled. "I just want Alkaid and Pyrrha Potter dead so I can move on from this utter nonsense."

"Well, you're about to get what you want, Sarah. You just need to wait a little longer. You can manage that, right?" Circe informed the Ascended Changeling in a condescending tone from her seat at a nearby bar. She sounded like she was talking to a spoiled child rather than an Archfae that despite her youth, Angra Mainyu was sure could permanently kill the upstart goddess of magic if she put her mind to it. The ability to manipulate memories and loss that were the forte of the Goblin Monarchs was not to be trifled with when gods like them were so strongly shaped by the beliefs of the mortals.

To Williams and her husband's credit, neither of them rose to the bait beyond a glare at the impudent goddess from the Goblin King. As for his queen, the woman just replied in a frustrated grumble. "Yes, but only for a little longer or I will be liable to do something rash. My patience is wearing dangerously thin."

"Then luckily, it looks like we're all about to get what we want." Tabitha cut as she pointed at the hologram above the pool where the image showed Alkaid Potter was in the midst of performing the final rites for the victims that she and her lackeys had spent the last few hours preparing for burial.

"It's time." Jareth said with a smile full of teeth too sharp for any mortal creature as he cuddled with his wife as they tread water by the edge of the pool.

"Yes." His consort said with a triumphant grin full of supernaturally sharp teeth of her own.

"Time for our revenge." Both Archfae said together as they activated their power and their eyes began to glow a brilliant gold.


Some time earlier…

Pyrrha was helping to pull down the body of a young brunette Hispanic woman who was roughly her own age from the meathook that had been shoved through her neck and used to string her up like a slab of meat. A body that had been disgustingly violated. The skin and hair on her head were still there, so that, according to some of the disgusting signs they'd found scattered over the horrid slaughterhouse, the flesh could be recognizably human when they were served. The Laistrygonians apparently got a kick out of that. But sadly her torso had been cut open and her innards removed and her breasts cut off. It seemed that a woman's breasts were a delicacy for the disgusting Laistrygonians and were cut off to be served separately. They had found cans of that and of other human body parts that the Laistrygonians considered delicacies - women's internal reproductive organs. men's testes and penis, and, most stomach churning of all, unborn fetuses - packaged separately in another part of the facility.

Having freed the woman from the meathook, Pyrrha laid her down and closed the poor woman's eyes. Eyes that still radiated the terror she must have felt in the last moment of her life. A look that lingered even after her death because the horrific Laistrygonians liked to keep their 'meat' alive for as long as possible during the butchering process it seemed.

Damn monsters! Pyrrha thought with a growl as one of 'Kaidy's summoned skeletons came over to help carry the body over to the large hole in the ground that her wife had opened with her geokinesis and which they had been using as a mass grave.

Turning to said wife, Pyrrha saw her, radiating the anger everyone felt at what the Laistrygonian had done, directing the skeleton and the others also carrying the bodies into the grave so that they could be placed respectfully within.

"Must we put them all in a mass grave like this?" Caelus asked from where he was lowering the butchered body of a man in his mid-thirties respectfully to the ground. From the poor soul's unkempt hair and beard, Pyrrha guessed that he was a hobo. He, like most of the victims of this charnel house, were likely all what some would call dregs of society. People that would not be missed if they disappeared. People whose disappearance the Mist might not even need to step in to cover up.

"It's the only practical thing considering the sheer number of bodies we have on our hands." Peggy told him as she gently lowered the body of a young woman whose arms showed the many needle marks of a druggie.

"I know that." Caelus countered half-heartedly. "But it feels wrong. They deserve better than just a mass grave."

"I know." 'Kaidy said with a tired sigh. Maintaining so many skeletons was quite a strain on her, so much so that they had already had her downing all the Nectar the Team had on hand. Even then was still starting to wilt under the strain. She wasn't exactly all that great at Necromancy. At least not to the extent of controlling dozens of skeletons for the hours that they had spent preparing to give the Laistrygonian's victims their proper rest. "But doing individual rites for every one of them is simply not feasible. Ideally, I would summon the spirits of each of these victims and ask what faith they follow so we can give them the appropriate rite but that would take us weeks. That's enough time for any number of them to become vengeful spirits and be denied their peaceful rest. It's better to just give them a generic burial rite now to prevent that."

"Talking about feasibility," Helena said as with Michael in tow, she arrived in the meat locker where they were preparing the mass grave and leading a group of skeletons carrying the cans of Laistrygonian 'delicacies' that had been stored separately. "We're lucky we hit this place between shipments of fresh supply. If not we would have to deal with however many prisoners that the Laistrygonians captured too."

"Yeah," Michael said with a disgusted shake of his head. "I knew that the Laistrygonians were cannibals but to think they would snatch people off the streets to turn into their rations…"

"Every last one of them deserves to be sent to Tartarus and never return!" Peggy hissed as she moved to help the Bertinellis and the skeletons load the cans of mutilated body parts into a shelf of the mass grave that 'Kaidy had created for that purpose.

"But not before dying a painful death." Caelus added as he lowered a lanky young man into the waiting arms of one of 'Kaidy's skeletons.

"A slow, painful death." Pyrrha corrected as she removed the last body from the meat hooks, one belonging to what she hoped was just a petite Asian woman and handed it over to a waiting skeleton.

"Sometimes I wish Father had jurisdiction over monsters like some of the more ill informed fantasy IPs(Intellectual properties) claim." Her wife said, sounding exhausted and sad. "Then I could have him torment the Laistrygonians for an eternity before rendering their race extinct."

"Yeah, I wish Lord Hades had that power too." Helena said as finished putting the cans into the pit, she, Michael and Peggy exited the pit that was to become the mass grave for the Laistrygonians' victims. "Or the gods. They might be dicks at times but even they wouldn't stand for this if they could help it."

"No, they wouldn't." Alkaid assured them as she directed the skeletons in the placement of the last of the bodies. In a feat that must've exhausted her, 'Kaidy had made sure that even though they would be buried in a mass grave, each body would have a small niche all their own. "Sadly, monsters are Tartarus' domain. And powerful as the gods are, they cannot destroy the Protogenos of the Abyss."

"What would that actually take? Destroying the Pit." Caelus asked, his tone still a little feral.

"More power than we could ever muster." Alkaid said with a shrug as she dismissed the skeletons, causing them to collapse to the ground as heaps of bones that swiftly sunk back into the earth from whence they came. "Now, hush, and let me perform the burial rites."

Everyone fell silent at that and Alkaid nodded in satisfaction before she began.

"Είθε να βρείτε ειρήνη στη μέλλουσα ζωή .(May you find peace in the hereafter.)" Alkaid said in a solemn voice. "Ως παιδί του Κάτω Κόσμου, ως κόρη του Άδη, σας εύχομαι ασφαλές πέρασμα στον κόσμο πέρα από τη ζωή, όπου κι αν είναι αυτή. Αναπαύσου εν ειρήνη. (As a child of the Underworld, as a daughter of Hades, I wish you safe passage into the world beyond life wherever that may be. Rest in peace.)"

"Αναπαύσου εν ειρήνη. (Rest in peace)." Pyrrha joined everyone in intoning together as her wife finished the simple burial rite and using her geokinesis sealed the mass grave.

A use of her powers that had the tired daughter of Hades swaying on her feet and prompted Pyrrha to rush to her side to steady her. She had just caught 'Kaidy and prevented her from falling on her face when suddenly, out of nowhere, their surroundings were consumed by a golden light.


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

Pardons for the grim scene and settings, but hey, monsters! What better way to really highlight how wicked and vile they can be than show the grim consequences of their actions? So, we hoped we gave the characters time to show their rage well enough over something super messed up. And of course, we have our villains council, which is a super surprise since now Alkaid has to deal with her enemies ganging up on her! Plus, the trope of council of evil is always fun and I don't think we've used it much before in PJO. Except the big bads in the Apollo series.

Nameless: Okay. The Laistrygonian slaughterhouse is extreme. We know that. We included that to remind everyone just how terrible monsters can get. How horrific that the Titans are by recruiting monsters like that as part of their army. Canon implies it. See the mentions of the Laistrygonians being cannibals and the Minotaur with many Camp Half-Blood necklaces tied to its weapon during the Battle of Manhattan. We just decided to be more up front about the horror of the Riordanverse that is hidden in canon.

It's, well, bad. Terrible. Horrible and just plain stomach turning. But these are monsters. The monsters from Greek mythos that did horrible, terrible things just because that's what they were bred for. To hurt humanity and by extension the gods. But mostly humans.

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