Red Bull Horns Aren't For Grabbing (Percy Jackson/FGO - Asterios SI Chapter 8)

Bianca swung her blade once more. Metal struck against metal, ringing out in the training arena.

Over and over she tried to overpower her instructor. He wasn't as fast as Asterios. He wasn't as strong as Asterios.

Yet he kept moving, dodging and maneuvering with this precise grace. Every action weighted and calculated, never taking her swing fully head on. When he deflects he redirects her strikes, bleeding out all the momentum.

Frustrated at getting tired yet her instructor looking not even bothered (as illogical as it was to get angry at that), Bianca put all her weight in a straight down slash.

Yet as the sword was half way down, her opponent already moving aside, her drew on her demigod power.

Control over the earth met she could telekinetically control her sword. The weapon would then feel as light as a feather.

She could control shadows. Could enter and exit them for travel. Then shouldn't she be able to pull or push things through them as a gravitational force? A logical extreme as Asterios once told her about anime power ups. She had read manga and studied physics. Technically shadows and gravity have nothing to do with one another.

But as her monster teacher once said, belief is the strongest force in creation. Even if shadows have to do more with light, she could follow a logical fallacy as if its true and then "bullshit reality" with her divine heritage. Blackholes are the darkest thing in creation. No light can escape them. Thus from the darkest of shadows, she can pull anything into them. And if she can pull, she can push. Attraction and repulsion.

Everything casts a shadow. Her giant sword cast a shadow as it moved. Thus Bianca pushed from behind the sword, and pulled from the front. Combined with the telekinetic control of geokinesis, the hulking blade zipped at her instructor like a whip.

Yet somehow he anticipated her. Dodging the second strike with a backward dash. She dashed instantly with a spin, using her ability to sense the dead, so he can't escape her in the moment her eyes are off him. Again.

He held his sword with the flat side facing her, one hand on the back of the sword to distribute the force of her strike. Her blow connected, deflected aside.

She carried the momentum into another overhead swing.

But before she could halfway complete the motion, his sword was at her throat.

She forced her body to stop, as she was holding her sword high up, but there was no point. She's now "dead".

"You were too committed to your attack once you used your power, princess." Said the spirit, who looked like a wise old warrior.

Hair and beard were white from age. All spirits eventually learn to look as they wished in death, rather than how old they were when they died. But Diomedes seemed to enjoy looking like a grandfather. Something about taking pride in having survived long enough as a demigod of Athena to die of old age.

"You're not fair." Bianca scowled, as she lowered her great sword, and her instructor stepped back, now to tell her where she messed up and how to improve.

"And using your powers in that last part were?" He raised an amused eyebrow.

"You can literally see into the future while fighting." Bianca whined said, before taking a deep breath to center herself.

"Only a second or two, and its not something I depend on, even if I mastered." Diomedes shook his head. His future sight was something he gained by training his mind, his demigod's heritage of divine wisdom to its utmost limit. An ability with such power, that it took multiple gods aiding other warriors for it to be overcome, and even then not completely. It also the way in which he managed to find the love and war gods in the Trojan War, while they were disguised. He simple spammed that ability, to find who was saving the Trojans in battle over and over again, till he stumbled onto hidden deities, and with permission from Athena, injured them. "Also, you need to stop using your powers to lighten the weight of your sword. You're not gonna build the muscles to wield that thing otherwise." He said giving a pointed look to the weapon as tall as Bianca, and twice the width of a normal blade. "Or you can use a normal xiphos."

"No, I'll manage it." Bianca stubbornly shook her head.

It had started due to a mistake by Asterios. When he was making training blades for himself as Bianca, he made two wooden swords that he could use.

Asterios realized only when he presented the training sword to Bianca, how unfit his wooden sword was for her. The practice weapon was as tall as she was, wide enough to be a shield, and far too heavy and unwieldy for her strength and height.

Yet Bianca continued with the giant wooden sword. Asterios advised her that it wasn't fit for her, yet she wanted to sharing something with her teacher. To have something in common with him. He relented and let her train with the giant training sword.

It proved difficult. It quickly tired her. She couldn't swing it properly, and couldn't connect her strikes well. Yet she kept presisting.

Asterios joked that it's like she was Guts, or was using the Buster Sword. She only understood one of those references back then. She watch Nico play Final Fantasy 7, so she knows Cloud. She asked Asterios who Guts was, the protagonist of the manga, Berserk. Asterios told her that that manga wasn't for kids.

Since she clearly wasn't a child, she had asked her father for the story once she reached the Underworld, and he provided it to her. ...Okay, it was a bit graphic. How could Hades give her something like this without reading it first? Okay, she was starting to see what Asterios meant by gods not being human. Nico most definitely wasn't reading that type of story. He wasn't ready yet.

Speaking of her father, Hades was... she couldn't really believe she'd say it, even in her own head but he was awkward. He had a grand presence to him. Unmistakable, the dreadful God of the Dead. Yet, he was gentle with her and Nico. Afraid that he might harm them, as if they were made of glass.

Oh he didn't show that affection, always keeping a stern face. Always pushing them to better themselves if they are to be in his "service". Yet if it hadn't been for Asterios words, she wouldn't have looked for the kindness underneath his actions. That he would provide them with the games, or items they wished. That he'd listen to Nico about his Mythomagic card collection, or even play a game with him when he was free. That he'd get Bianca the best trainers and equipment for her training, even if he disapproved of her weapon choice.

She now had a real Dragon Slayer. Although she didn't outright call it that. That would be embarrassing. It was actually the same sword Asterios had gotten from her father, and gifted back to her. Bianca asked Hades if he could reforge the sword into a giant one. Hades asked why? She said she wanted to get strong enough to wield such great sword.

She wasn't lying. But that wasn't the full reason. She asked her father about why he gifted Asterios such a small sword for one of his stature. Hades said it was a precaution and a test for Asterios, one that Hades reluctantly acknowledged he passed.

The true reason is that Bianca was going to gift the Stygian Iron Dragon Slayer to Asterios, in place of the sword he received from her father, once she met him again.

This was the impetus to Bianca and Nico's harsh training under their request. Bianca wanted to return Westover Hall once the summer break was over.

Bianca told Hades that she and her brother couldn't stay in the Underworld forever. She told her father that their presence could be an affront to his wife, and that she didn't want to cause tension in his house.

Hades looked unhappy, but agreed with her as she had been speaking the truth.

But it wasn't the full truth. She had...

Asterios said they'd never meet again. Yet young Bianca had hoped that by going back to Westover Hall, they might meet again. That he'd just come next year and be a teacher there again. A childish hope maybe.

Bianca had been trying to learn to use this Infernal Flame that her father once showed her, when she was telling him a story about Asterios.

Hades had asked a lot about her Bullman teacher. Asked what he was like. If she noticed his appearance ever change while they were at Westover, or if his human face is all he ever showed. How did he arrive at Westover? Was he looking for something at Westover? How did he stumble on Bianca and Nico? Was Asterios watching them at Westover before they found out about him protecting them? Did Asterios ever try to harm her or Nico, or so much as try to scare them?

Bianca felt annoyed at the questions, but understood where her father was coming from. Asterios even warned her about this, and told her to be patient and truthful, as her dad had the right to worry about her. Yet she couldn't help but feel annoyed that he was only showing concern now.

She understood his worry. Asterios thought he was quiet when he went on patrols to slay monsters that came to Westover, but Bianca and Nico would use shadow travel to sneak around and watch him. She saw griffon. A cyclops. Even something not from Greek mythology once, a troll.

Although... finding out about the Lotus Casino, about her mother, the reason why Hades hide them away, not even letting himself come see them. She understood that. She hated that she understood that. It wasn't just monsters after them, but maybe other gods. Because of that stupid prophecy.

One thing that got her to think a lot, and get different point of views was working the Fate game with Asterios. Since she and Nico spent a lot of time in his office, while he was writing his notes, she would ask about the characters, and their choices in the different routes. It was just fantasy, just entertainment to talk about those stories. But it got her to think on what different people would do in different circumstances.

The responsible thing for her father to do was keep her here in the Underworld, where she and Nico would be safe.

But regardless of his reluctance, he still let her go. Still agreed that she should decide the course of her life. She's not sure if that was what a responsible parent would do or not, but she was grateful to Hades for that. He was still giving her all the help and training she needs but the rest would be up to her. Living her life would be up to her.

She was ashamed to admit that for a while now, she saw Nico as a burden. Less a brother and more someone she had to babysit. But with everything she experienced, with she finally felt like his sister again. She could be her own person, while being there for him.

Back at the present, her instructor Diomedes had finished lecturing her on what she could improve upon.

"At least you have your insane reflexes going for you. I'd have thought you were a child of Hermes with how quick you are." Diomedes commented.

"Yeah, haha, I had a good sparring partner before." Bianca said looking aside.

This was Asterios' fault. Back when they spared, Asterios didn't know how much stronger he was than Bianca, and didn't realize even while moderating his strength he was still moving too fast for her. He only thought she had trouble fighting him due to how heavy the wooden training sword was.

But with constant spars, and doing the meditations Asterios suggested to tap into her divine powers, she grew rapidly in response to the adversity she faced.

Her strength wasn't where she wanted it to be, but she knew she was on the right path. Like Asterios said, the harsher the Training from Hell, the greater the power-up.

"I'm going to use the shadows to increase the gravity on my sword." Bianca said. Diomedes an eyebrow waiting for her to explain. "It will make the blade lighter when I fight for real. The harsher the training, the better the result, right?"

"Haha, wise words. Alright kid, I'll go more on the offensive from here on out. You don't have a problem with that, do you?" Diomedes smirked.

"Bring it, old man!"

Returning back to Westover Hall was... a disappointment.

Asterios didn't return as a teacher.

The school year wasn't as exciting as there nothing big like the game design project, Asterios had them working on.

Bianca would blush at the though of the Fate game. She wondered if Asterios ever found out about her she uses Shadow the hellhound's power to sneak into the 12th Grader's rooms, learn how coding works, and then put back the Byanka sex scenes, along with her ending of being alone, but still loving Hera Asterios.

It was just... the students worked hard on those, so it would be a shame to delete them.

...No. The truth is, she had been getting... feelings whenever she thought of Asterios that way. No one knew of course. No one found out. She never so much as whisper a clue to anyone. She didn't even... touch herself there, when she started having those thoughts and getting wet. Puberty was a bitch.

Well, she never touched herself while in the Underworld. Even if it was her father's home, that didn't mean monsters, spirits or whatever else wouldn't have been able to find out about it with their sense of smell or something else.

Asterios, thank the gods, never found out as she'd shower and uses soap insistently. No one discovered why the soap seemed to be used up quickly last year.

She had also seen a lot of Asterio's notes for the future games.

Fate/Stay Night. Fate/Apocrypha. Fate/Extra.

And something called Fate/Grand Order.

The notes on that one was the most spares. That was the game that had the normal Asterios from the setting's own world in it. Bianca felt that Asterios purposely didn't write down some of the notes. Even if there were a lot of details on places, new Servant (a lot of new Servants), and new concepts, like Demi-Servants and Pseudo-Servants.

Most of all however, Bianca wondered why the sister of Medusa was featured a lot with Asterios in that story. When did Asterios meet this Euryale?

Speaking of Fate/Téras Konístra, the game launched.

The principal during the school's opening speech said that Mr. Bullman had found a lucrative publishing company and they're working on releasing the game.

A month later it did release to a resounding acclaim. Everyone who worked on it was credited. The students who graduated even got invited to work at Delta Maze Gaming, the company Asterios managed to find.

Bianca got to see people saying she looks like a "famous game character". If she walked in the streets, some kids would do a double take at seeing her.

Thank god her father got her to have some magic teachers, from Hecate demigods that died long ago. Asterios tried to teach Bianca how to use the Mist so she could hide if she wanted, but with everything else, training and school, she could only learn one skill, before summer break came and they left for the Underworld.

Thus her father coming to her aid again by having the spirits of Hecate demigods teach her magic. As Asterios said, truly nepotism is the strongest superpower in the world of monsters and gods.

Nothing else of note happened throughout the year.

Well, there was that one teacher Dr. Thorn, a biology teacher than ended up being a monster. A manticore.

Seeing a monster's true form through the Mist was most important skill Asterios insisted she learned. Knowing what monster she was facing was essential to plan on how to take them out.

Thus while Dr. Thorn was trying to find out if Bianca and Nico were demigods, they were observing him in turn to plan how to take him out.

Once the manticore was alone, walking around the school building to learn about its ins and outs, Nico used shadows to have skeletal undead under his command, reach out from Dr. Thorn's shadow and hold him in place.

Bianca jumped from the second story window, quickly while the monster was distracted. It seemed like he was mentally prepared for a fight, as wasn't completely taken by surprise.

Dr. Thorn quickly, reflexively, fired one of his thorns at her from his scorpion tail.

Bianca reacted as well. She caught the spike, and jammed it into Dr. Thorn wide shocked eyes. It didn't kill him fully. So while he was screaming and cursing in pain, Bianca drew her Stygian Iron Dragon Slayer from her shadow and cut the manticore down. His essence was devoured by her blade.

Later on a satyr arrived, who Nico confronted about him stalking them. His name was Grover Underwood, a satyr from Camp Half-Blood. He kept nagging at them that they need to come with him to the demigod camp, that they were in danger.

Bianca didn't want to. She still hoped that Asterios would come back to Westover. And besides they weren't in danger. She and Nico were the danger.

Then the Hunters of Artemis arrived. They were passing by, found out about Bianca and Nico, and went to talk to her.

Bianca met Artemis then. The Goddess of the Hunt trying to recruit her.

"What seems to bother you about my Huntresses, Bianca di Angelo?" Artemis, who looked like a pre-teen asked, her silver eyes perceptive to Bianca's hidden distain.

Bianca... didn't like to think badly of other. She didn't just people for who they are, just what they do.

And she didn't judge people before meeting them. But...

Asterios told her that his view might be not the correct one. That she shouldn't have to talk his words for it, and decide for herself.

But in all her time knowing the half-bull half-man, she had never seen him angry. Actually genuinely angry.

He kept himself looking calm, yet Bianca could see the anger in his eyes. Artemis and her Hunters infuriated Asterios.

When Bianca asked why, he had to take a deep breath to physically calm down.

He said they only recruited women who were weak and vulnerable. Those that had nowhere to go. Admirable, but they made them too dependent on the Huntresses, unable to function without them.

Sure the immortality was great, but then those girls have to watch as all the people they know will die, till they have no more connection to the world other than the Hunters.

The make their members cut off their former relationship to their family, especially if it had guys. Separating mothers from sons, daughters from fathers, and sisters from brothers. Sure they dressed it up all nice and sweet that they girl would be safe and strong. All while poisoning their minds to how half the human race was evil. Making all men seem like devils and nothing more.

Yes, they don't outright say that. But humans are social creatures. Any girl that joins and still has a good relationship with a male would be socially ostracized within the Hunters, encouraged to not bring up that relationship, because it might hurt the feelings of some other hunter.

Yes, a lot of the hunters the join are those who were preyed upon by men. Yet Asterios wondered how many of them had actually managed to move on from their trauma due to the Hunters. No. They just strengthen the girl's body, while leaving her heart and mind as weak as it always was, from the day they joined. All the better to make more loyal followers.

Artemis may say that a Huntress can leave at anytime, but it was a crapshoot if they will leave as a human, or as some animal due to the goddess's whim.

"They are ultimately nothing more than a predatory cult." She remembered Asterios saying. "But you know, I don't mind if it was just that. Evil people exist in the world. Misguided people exist in the world. That's all fine. But do you know what's egregious about all this? It's that Artemis is suppose to be the Protector of Children. Children means girls and boys. If she only cares about one side, then she shouldn't have that title. Titles gives power too, but with it comes a responsibility. Artemis has long since failed hers."

Asterios apologized afterwards for getting angry, and told Bianca not to take his words as gospel.

Yet right now...

"What about my brother?" Bianca asked. "We only have each other."

"My Hunters can tolerate males, but they can't live with them." Artemis neutrally said. "He will be well taken care for, at Camp Half-Blood."

"Why? You had male Hunters before." Nico chimed in with childish prickliness at see something that didn't smell right.

"Oh?" Artemis smiled amusingly, as the other Hunters glared at the ten year old kid. "Quite knowledge young Nico, but would you really be willing to forgo seeking relationship all together with the other sex?"
Nico scrouched his face, showing confusion.

"I'm ten and I don't like girls." He said in that child-like tone of saying they don't like vegtables.

Artemis raised an eyebrow, while the other Huntress with her frowned at a boy speaking casually to a Goddess.

"Male Hunters haven't been in the Hunters for a long time now." Artemis replied. "It simply hasn't worked out, and as the Goddess of Maiden I had to prioritize who to look after. Some of my girls have had bad experiences with males, Nico." She said, sounding sympathetic. It... revolted Bianca on the inside.

"But they're strong now. They have been training for years, and they have you." Nico pointed out.

"If you were to be in the same room as a monster who terrorized you, who hurt you, would you same the same thing?" Artemis pressed.

"Is it the same monster, or just one that looks like it?" Nico asked with genuine curiosity.

Artemis chuckled at his brazen response.

"Thy words are of an ignorant child. Ceases troubling Lady Artemis with your prattling, boy." Artemis' Lieutenant, Zoe Nightshade said with a glare.

"Watch your tongue. That's my little brother you're talking to." Bianca spoke, her fear aura blazing out, surprising Zoe. The Huntress would have been frightened had it not been for the Goddess's presence.

"Calm yourself, Bianca. Zoe is simply too spirited in looking after me." Artemis said. "Zoe, she is right. He is but a child, calm thy self."

Zoe bowed her head. "Yes, my lady, I apologize."

"I believe the matter is settled. What is your answer, Bianca?"

The matter isn't settled. Bianca thought, about to say that the Huntress should have apologized to Nico, not the goddess, yet the look in Artemis' eyes almost seemed challenging, regardless of a lazy look of just taking things in they seem to have.

Bianca remembered Asterios' stories about what happened to girls that Artemis was pissed off at. Callisto, Niobe, Aura. Bianca knew to let it go. So for her brother's sake she did, but her decision was made.

She had though to ask if she could join the Hunters for only a little period. A year. To gain the hunting skills and then leave. She would have been upfront about why she'd want to join for the skill, as Asterios always treated with her in honesty, and being honest with her dad (except for wanting to meet Asterios again), and things worked great for her.

But this time, she didn't want to even bother.

"No thank you. I have life, family," She looked at Nico smiling, "Responsibilities and I can't leave them to join your Hunters, Lady Artemis."

"Very well," Artemis nodded. Zoe looked disappointed and said nothing. "We will stay in the area for a while. If you change your mind, come find me at our camp."

Bianca thought the Hunters were staying for a day or two.

For a week they stayed close by to Westover, Bianca seeing more and more of them around.

Eventually Bianca got fed up of this passive aggressive recruiting.

"Fuck this. Nico, pack your stuff. Let's go find the goat and head to Camp Half-Blood already."