Things were changing. Fate's edicts were being discarded. The order of the world, one that had been meticulously crafted was fraying at the edges and Benthesicyme only found pleasure in the fact.
War, the goddess thought was something that she had been waiting for too long. War, a chance to finally bring down those having chosen the heavens as their abode.
She had grown bored with the same myths, the same stories, the same threads being repeated again and again in a maddening and endless cycle.
No, Chronos had smiled finally after so long and gave her what she had been longing for for so long, the end of the Olympian order.
She just would have never expected it to end because of a demigod. Her father had grown soft or maybe it was the contrary and his heart had hardened.
It was unfortunate that it took eons for such change to occur. Perhaps had it been the case, he wouldn't have been brought low.
Maybe, the laid-back attitude he had chosen to take those last centuries was a mask, a mask to hide his true feelings or maybe he had gone mad.
Maybe madness, true madness, not the one curated and controlled by the Drunk Olympian and the toy of cupid. Benthesicyme thought of True unfiltered madness.
Even immortals couldn't escape from its grasp. They were endless yet the one true foe this endlessness didn't allow them to escape was madness.
She knew what she was talking about. After all, she had been mad once. Things were better those days but this was the thing with madness, it never truly left. It simmered into your bones and essence, waiting for the perfect moment to resurface.
This madness, it whispered to her, at the back of her mind begging to be unleashed into the world in all its terrifying glory.
Not yet, the goddess thought as her gaze fell on an ensign, one that spelt Lotus Casino. Not yet but soon, oh soon. She had waited for more than a millennium. What were years, months, minutes and seconds if but a breeze?
The daughter of the lord of the sea stepped into a domain, an artificial one, one faulty and that was a mockery of a true one but she guessed she could expect nothing more from the lotus eaters she thought as she took shape, leaving the immaterial plane to become material, moulding her essence to take the shape of a beautiful olive-skinned woman with dark swirling hair with eyes so green they seemed to absorb the light around them and dressed in a green coloured Toga.
She knew there existed faults in her mortal disguise. She was a deity, a perfect existence. How could she perfectly replicate the imperfect? How could she replicate mortality when it was an alien concept to her? The mist would be handling the rest.
Her father had given her a task and she couldn't have refused when he had finally given her what she had yearned for so long.
She knew she was only one of the pieces on the giant play that was this war. She was a tool and tools like her didn't fail their missions.
The husband of her sister had forgotten his place. He had forgotten that he was nothing more but a placeholder.
On one hand, maybe she should thank him. This war was unleashed by his doing. He had been the one to send a kindly one and Pasiphae's spawn against her little brother. He even had captured the young one mother. Wars had been waged for less reasons.
The underworld was his now but it hadn't always been the case. He had forgotten that he ruled not because of prowess or strength but because he was allowed.
He may have surrounded himself with the gods of the abyss believing their twisted support would be enough but Benthesicyme knew that all weren't satisfied.
Her father may not wish for the throne of Erebos but in her veins and the veins of her brethren flowed his ichor.
Chaos was always there at the corner waiting to be released. An attempt in usurpation from her brethren and she would be enough to bring him low and divide the gods of Erebos forevermore
"How may I help yo-" The lotus eater behind the counter choked on her words as she looked at Benthesicyme.
A smile too wide, filled with too many teeth split the face taken by the daughter of the Earth shaker.
"Oh, Yessss," the godly being drawled like a snake. "You can help me."
"Is there something wrong?" a Lobby attendant said behind Benthesicyme.
"I don't know," the goddess said while continuing looking at the receptionist. "Is there one?"
The receptionist had gone white as if she had glimpsed at Typhoon, the one who had brought down Zeus long ago.
"Maam, teleporting in the Lotus Casino is forbidden according to the Article 1382-9. I'll have to ask you to leave," the lotus eater behind her said.
The receptionist shook her head while looking at the lobby attendant so fast that for a moment Benthesicyme wondered if it would stay attached.
It seemed however that he hadn't been able to understand how precariously his existence stood "Maam, I asked you to cooperate and you didn't. I'll have to remove you," the lobby attendant said behind the daughter of the rulers of the sea before trying to touch her.
The hand of the Lotus Eater didn't make contact. Had he not been a foul, had he been more knowledgeable, maybe had he been longer, he would have realized what Benthesicyme was, who Benthesicyme was.
She was called the lady of deep water for a reason. She was the child of Poseidon and Amphitrite and her divine inheritance was the abyss of the oceans.
Humans with time learnt how dangerous her domain was. Her father and her mother may have allowed mortals to thread in the surface of the Ocean but the abyss of Pontus were hers to command the way she saw as fit.
Humans learnt to step in her domain with respect, with fear, with caution. They learnt that only one error would turn their insides out. The lucky amongst them wouldn't even feel anything before she let their souls leave for the Underworld.
A moment, there was, the next there wasn't anything behind her. The Lotus Eater was evaporated as the air around him imploded for a brief instant with the heat of a blue ravenous star not leaving even ashes.
The Ocean was a part of her and she was part of it. Everywhere she stepped, she carried it with her.
It was foolishness to think a child of the sea could truly be isolated from it. The goddess scrunched her nose as she was assaulted with an unpleasant odor. The odor of Urine and feces.
The smile on the face of the goddess shifted into a frown "Really?" she said to the receptionist disgust painted on her face. "I knew Lotus eaters left a lot to desire but it seems my view of your race was more charitable in my head than the reality."
Alarms blared, filling the air with their shrill noises. Doors were closed with magical wards and runes to protect them and hurt anyone wanting to violate them. The godly being could feel a mass of liquids in humanoid shapes coming closer. She suppressed a sigh. It seemed things wouldn't be as quick as she hoped they would.
"It's your fault you know," the goddess said to the receptionist. "You should have just answered and things would have been perfectly fine but it seems my desire to avoid bloodshed was for naught."
The goddess gaze wandered around her. A sea of Lotus-eaters armed with weapons, some even that seemed to have been made by The smith god were brandished toward her.
"Do you know who am I?" the goddess asked. "Do you know against whom you are brandishing your weapons?" the goddess asked, displeasure etched on her face.
One of the Lotus-eaters walked forward. Unlike the others, he had a golden tag which probably meant he was more important than the rest of his brethren.
"We know who you are Daughter of the Earth-shaker and the Nereide, Lady of the deep swells, Queen of the Pacific, supreme General of the Undersea armies, glad o war."
The goddess felt her smile come back. Finally, some recognition! Hopefully, this was just some kind of grand posturing that would only result in them allowing her to achieve more easily her mission.
"We know who you are and what you are here," the Lotus eater spoke.
That was interesting.
She turned to finally gaze fully at him. He had now her full attention, something he would learn to regret.
"A Völur who owed us a favour told us thirty years ago multiple prophecies. One of those prophecies was that A divine enemy would come for the two treasures of the rich ones".
"A Völur? I thought we had slaughtered all those who remained in our realms but it seemed it wasn't the case," the goddess mused out loud as she leaned her head on one palm.
Gods were territorial by nature. More than that, places of jurisdiction could serve as an indirect way to ignite a fading essence, at least for gods of other pantheons.
Greek gods didn't need such things even if they could benefit from it. They were just better.
Völur or norse seers were like their gods, interesting too look but nothing substantial. Völur weren't like Greek seers like Pythia or Dodona or some children of the sun god or her father capable of seeing through the threads of the daughter of Ananke themselves.
Greek oracles saw the what will be when Norse oracles saw the what could be. Not that Greek oracles couldn't see the what could be. It's just it only happened to inexperienced seers and the clear-sighted and their descendants.
"We made a contract with The Lord of the Underworld, a binding contract that required for us to protect his children."
"Please," the goddess scoffed. "You are like Cockroaches. I'm sure that if you wished to, you could have found a way to twist it to your advantage."
Lotus-eaters weren't strong. They weren't great scholars or beings capable of great magic.
They were a step above mundane. What they had that she had to recognize was the fact that they were so inherently proficient with twisting promises, contracts and vows that even Hermes had in the past been tricked by them.
No one loved them. They were hated and they knew this. This is why they continued cheating, lying, twisting facts to amass more power, more favours, more ways to survive. Of course, they weren't dumb enough to anger Gods who would be able to destroy them no matter what they tried, at least it had been the case in the past.
It was almost admirable. This had been how they had survive for thousands of years. Unfortunately for them, they had made three error.
"My father was the one who allowed you go become what you are today. He's the one who allowed you to become the less disgusting beings you are today. Do you truly want to be ungrateful toward my father?" she asked them, her smile widening.
Odysseus had blinded Polyphemus and her father had hated the mortal for it. Even more due to the fact most of the other Olympians worked together to make sure the man would survive her father's wrath.
Her father had known of the involvement of his family and thus had tasked one of his children in this case her to give the Lotus Eaters an offer they couldn't refuse, immortality.
Of course, it would have been foolish to give it all at the Lotus-eaters before they succeeded so they were blessed with the capacity of living around half a Millennium. They would have had a complete immortality if they succeeded in slaying Odysseus.
They failed like the myths indicated but they were able to cause the death of some of the man's companions and make him lose years. This is why their partial immortality hadn't been taken back.
They were insects, beings only living through her mercy, through the mercy of her father and they had never been grateful even though they had failed. They didn't even choose to support Atlantis in this war opposing the seas and the world.
The female goddess only longed for their end, the whispers in the back of her mind instructing her how only one touch would be enough to render them inexistent.
The reason why she hadn't was because she needed their defiance. Benthesicyme was a general and she knew martial prowess was not the whole of a war. Image, perception, they were important even though she didn't truly care for them.
Truly winning meant making the ones you butchered believe they deserved it. This had been an old Lesson Delphin, her old teacher had once taught her in her youth.
"There is war, General. The ocean against the world itself and we know it is only a question of time until your side loses. We will never forget what the Lord of the Seas did for us but we can't let it stop us from thriving. We know we can't beat you but winning against you doesn't mean doing so."
She could understand why the Lotus-eaters thought such. Even if her father was strong enough to win against his younger brother, he shouldn't have been able to battle and win against all the rest of his siblings.
The Queen of The Pacific would have agreed if it wasn't for the fact that Poseidon, her father wasn't alone.
The last time, the only reason he has lost was because he had not been backed by the Ocean.
It was one of the only decisions her insufferable older brother had taken and that she had agreed with.
Pallas hadn't been only been Triton's daughter. He had also been Benthesicyme's granddaughter. Tritonis, Pallas' mother who died birthing her had been one of the two children she had ever brought in existence.
Pallas had been the only remaining from her youngest daughter and Her father had refused her the right the one at cause of Pallas' death. He had refused her from avenging herself and because of the anguish, of the hatred, her mind had broken.
When you were a divine being and you were connected at every level to other gods, grudges became as long-lived if not more than civilizations.
More than that, something was different with her father. She could discern it but it made a part of her believe deep down than even without the support of the seven Oceans, he would win.
"You see," the goddess said as her back left the counter "You made a mistake. You had confused politics, your usual drool backstabbing and squabbling as the same thing as war. The thing with divine Wars, little cockroaches is that logic doesn't old sway in them."
"More than that," she continued as her skin began to crack like a shell, something bulging from under grotesquely moving.
"You made the error of believing tricks could help you survive me."
"Now!" shouted the Lotus eater. The weapons in the arms of the Lotus-eaters moved planting themselves in the ground, a blue light growing and linking each of them around her.
A spatial distortion she recognized, one if her calculations weren't wrong would have sent her in the cosmos, light years away from here.
She had to admit it was ingenious. It would have surely worked against a deity who wasn't her, she thought before rainbow-coloured amorphous-looking thorns exploded from her ribs and the barrier Broke.
The goddess felt delight course through her as she shed her mortal disguise, as horror and realization swept through the eyes of the lotus eaters, as her reason was replaced with madness.
This was the thing with Madness. It was always there. How couldn't it be when madness was proof of sanity in a world that had gone mad?
The world, the fates had been mad enough to take again and again what she held dear. It was only ș̸͓̠̤̐̊̓̓̊́̉̽̋́͐̚͝a̷̡͓͎̪͉͉̹̮͉̦͛̈́̏̒́̔͗́̊͌̕͝n̸̯̻̱͔͂̿̔͛̐̐̀͗̒͘ë̴̲̲̤̟̫̼̖̭̣̼́̆̏̈͊̎̄̕̕̕ ̶̣̤͎̬̄̿͂̈́͋̌͌̾͋̈͛͘t̸̝̦̪̖̜͔̹̯̲͎̙͇̔ḩ̷͔̦̜͔̣͔̯̜̫̻̀͋̔̇̏͝͠ͅa̴̛͓͇̩̘̹̱̒̉͗̐͗̊̏̏͗͂́̀͜t̸̰͙̺͍͉͇͆͑̽͑̄͆̑ͅ ̶̺̀s̶̡̧̛͂̍͗̒͛̀͒͝͠͠h̷̨̨͎̱̥̖̫͕͉̹͙̩̫̮͑͂̍̈̽͆ẻ̴̘̖̥̻̲̦̗̠̮̱̇͐̊͜͠ͅ ̷̨̧̛͚̬͓̝̮͇̙͉̩̱͛͋͊͒̒̒̉̏r̵̛̥̩̩̹̺͖̈́̓̈́͛͑̎̄̋͂̔̈́̚̕ę̵̛̰͇̦̽̏̿̀t̷͔̭͔̱̻͚̺͈͚̰̻͕̟͆͑̔̈́͊̈̓͋͘̕̕͘̚͘͝à̸̡̢̧̦̭̘͇̳͔̳̣̪̠̯͊͗̀̑̏́͜l̶̨̢̦͈̫̥̗̬̲̥̺̳̦̺̈́̿̿̑́̈ǐ̸̢̱̫͖̭̲͎͎́̀̕͠à̶̦͗͂̃̚ţ̴̡̜͇͉̦̙̟̥͖̰͇̰͚͇͂̈́̅̌̅̀͝ê̵̬̦̥̠̻̦̝͙̈̀̓̆̓d̴̡͉̦̰͉̗͋͑̈͑̀̏͐̋̇̌͠ ̶̱̩͛̈́̍̿̎́̈́̔͂̾̓̂͋͐̆ͅś̴̪̼̞̱͖̜͔͕͚̺̠̠̾͐͝ͅh̴̢̡̙̭̞̠͑͆̍̈̿͒͑̉̀͜͝ẻ̵̛̦͐ ̷̦͙̣̳̺̲̟͉͔͓̙̖͎̪͕̆̓t̴̲̖̅̈̀̈́͗̇͗̀̒̋̚̚͝ͅḧ̴̨̡͍̻͔̣͖͕̗̦̗̲̪̈̆̈́̔̊́̊̕ö̵̬̪̹̪̙̲̣̤̰̜̼͊͜ú̷̡̙̬̮̘͔̩̙̞̱͔͊̇̈̇̇̓͌͊͘͝͝ģ̷̧̢̛̠̹̻̮͖͍̟̾̍͊̒̔̈́̒̒͒̍̓͋̚͠h̸͓͚͎͙̞̣̫̩̍̂̓͐͆̅̎̇̀̊́̚͘ͅt̸̛͈͎̊́̎͒̐͌͂̌̚͘͝ ̸̨͚̪̲̜͎̟̳̄̍̃̽̏̏͛͠͝͝͝b̵̝̹̦̙̪̭̗͚͚͙̰̻̃́̄͌̿͆̚͝e̶̜̜̙̳̼͓̫̘̖͍͈̬͈̒́̈́̐͒̑̏̿̓̄͊̋̋̀f̸̛̹̼̣̯̹̘̬͚̥̜̳̫̐̓̈́̈́̌̈́̍͐̔ơ̸̢̨̢̧̧̠͙͖̻̰͙̤̍̓͒̐́͒̕͠r̴̻̱͖̯̦̪̗̅͜͜ę̶͈̟͖̤̳̜͔̇̈́̑̓͠ͅ ̵̥̉̓̆̓̊̏̔̃̐̊́͛͘̚͠ḝ̷͓͇̆͋̈́́̋v̵̛̹͕̥̠̘̲͒̊̾̄̎͛͝e̷̢̤̗̞̤̾̀͠r̷̤͉̱̺͊͗͊y̶̨̪͇͍̯͎̝̣͚̬̫̦̟͎͆̈́t̶̢̮̳̥̫̦͕̰̣̮̼̞͖̰̲́h̶̗͉͙̮̥̦̟̐͌̂̑͘̚͝ͅȉ̶̢̨̧̛̟̜̭̹̼͇̭̺͈̘̽͜n̸͔̤̯͕̆̿͋̉̄͒̀́͝g̷̢̣̥͗́̈́̿̀̍̈́͌̊̄̀̈́̌̚̚͜ ̴͍̬̘̗̭̲̼̜̯͒̈́̋̇̂̓̊̇͛͘̚͝͝͠͝l̶̯̩͍̗̦̘̯̙͇̉̃̈́͒́́̀̚͝o̷̯͔̤̯̻̼̘͚̖͙͐̿͑̒̉̏͐̄̽͠͝ş̷̢̲̟̞̤̫̥̪͙̬͍͔̻̀̀̈́̇̄͛ͅt̸̮̗̫̮̖̥͚͇̞̏̑̉̌̓̅͋͠ ̵̨͈̞͙͐͒͜ṃ̷͖̈́͐͗͐̀̒̍̍̃̓̚̕̚ȩ̵̨̧̼̮̫̜̹̟̞̟̯͇̳̗̑̅́̆͌̀̎̐͋͗̃̈̕͝a̶̦̙͖̥̣̤̎n̶̨̛̦̲͉̲̖̏̋̇̃̈̂͛̈̒̀̚į̸̛̭̜̥͔̓͗̆̅̈̄̆͆͜͠͝ń̶͎̤̘̝͕̟̹͓͕͊̏̽͌̄͆́̌̋ǵ̴̨̲̟͈̥̞̆͌̔̋͗́̿̾̌.
scene*
Bianca Di Angelo had always known that things would go wrong. It was a feeling she had since her birth, a dreadful feeling that unfortunately was only proved each time true.
The beginning of the second great war, the way the shadows seemed to whisper to her, the way her mom died before her eyes in a way that shouldn't be possible, the way their father was gone, the way it was only her and Nico left. It had been months since the last time she had seen him.
Even today she couldn't remember clearly how things had gone wrong so quickly. She couldn't even exactly remember what had happened.
However, she knew She had to acknowledge the fact that things could have been worse. Even though she had stopped seeing him since her mother's death, the man had continued even indirectly to take care of them. The one thing she couldn't reproach her father was the fact they never lacked anything when it came to material comfort.
She just wished he was still there like before everything went wrong. She wished he would hug her again with his arms that seemed to able to hold the world in their grasp.
She wished she wasn't the one who had to take care of Nico, of Nico and her just by herself.
She loved her brother, more than life but she was getting tired of loving him more than she loved herself.
She was also a kid! She wasn't Nico's mother! She was his sister. What scared her was the fact that he had shared with her that he was forgetting more and more what their mother looked like. What scared her was the fact that she had heard him say her name before saying Mom while he was sleeping.
Bianca knew what happened to Orphans especially in wartime. No one took care of them and they suffered, some of them indescribable horrors no children should ever experience.
She didn't want to imagine what could have happened to her, to Nico, what they would have to do to survive if it was only the two of them.
They were just supposed to wait a while in the Lotus Casino before their father took them back. This is what she had been told.
She should have expected things wouldn't end the way she had wished they would. The casino had been attacked. It seemed even in Washington, they hadn't been able to escape the war.
It reminded her of the way her mother had died, how one instant, everything had been fine and the next one, it hadn't been, how one moment her mother had taken them in her arms and the next one, she was being told by one of her father's associate that she would be moving to the United States.
They had been in their room. For once Nico hadn't been his usual overactive self and she had been able to breathe for once.
This was after thinking such that the walls had shone before exploding. She remembered pain and losing consciousness before waking up under rubble, the stiff body of her brother with a leg sticking at an unnatural angle in her gaze.
There was a woman standing near her brother and her senses only screamed dangerous looking at her. The woman had long dark curls, green eyes and a face she knew most women would be jealous of. There was even a little smile at the corner of her mouth yet she scared Bianca. If was as if she was in the presence of a predator.
The gaze of the woman met hers and her smile widened "Hi little girl. I am your cousin and I am here for your brother and you."
There are still some corrections and modifications that'll be added up later but I think this chapter should be good enough. Hades took a hostage by kidnapping Sally. It is only right Poseidon do the same. Benthesicyme is according to the myths the goddess of the waves, of the deep swells and Queen of the ocean surrounding the continent of Africa. She is also the grandmother of Pallas. Yes, Triton had a child with his niece. She also inherited a little too much of her mother. Anyway, hope you all like this chapter. Comments are what fuel me to write so don't hesitate to do so. I also got a p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / Eileen715. You could visit to support me or see in advance chapters of my stories