What in the Hades is wrong with me?
I sighed as the thought circled in my mind for the tenth time.
Why did I fly off the handle like that?
I never cared about Artemis before. She was never important. Heck even my dislike of her and wanting to change her image in the games, was more of a, thumb her nose in the sense. "Look at all these examples that are better than you" type of thing.
Yet, facing her, talking to her... The more I interacted with Artemis, the more this sense of... hurt resentment kept building up.
Why?
She literally means nothing to me in the grand scheme of things. She's not important, so why did her actions bother me?
No. It's obvious right? She touched the Labyrinth Button. Of course I'd be pissed... yet Daedalus kinda did the same. I didn't care. Well, he didn't really push it. Lean on it maybe? It was so insignificant, I already put it out of my mind. Heck, he even reunited me with my mom. Daedalus is a swell guy, if a bit shady as fuck at times.
I need some time for some actual introspection on this.
"Hey so... the plan to take out Atlas is screwed, isn't it?" Percy asked in a "are we there yet" tone.
And I can't really do any thinking with these kids following me like some ducklings.
"Yeah, this alliance is dead in the water now." Thalia nodded. "So what do we do about Atlas? Any more plans in those horns?"
I stopped and looked back at the daughter of Zeus, with a raised eyebrow.
"Like maybe they are connected to your brain like an antenna, and that's how you get future knowledge?" Thalia asked.
"You mean like... bees and ants?" Percy said with scrunched eyebrows in deep (stupid) thoughts. "Are you basically a hive? You know, with all the other versions of you, you can bring out?"
"...What the heck is going on in those brains of yours?" I muttered, shaking my head slowly.
"So where are we going?" Thalia asked.
"And what are we gonna do about the, you know, quest and holding up the sky and all? Seem, really important that we don't mess it up." Percy added.
"We are doing nothing. I am going monster hunting." I said, but... I didn't actively push the kids away, or manipulate space to send them back. Fuck, do I really want someone to talk to that badly, that I'll just choose kids?
"Why are we going monster hunting? And how's it gonna help with this whole situation?" Percy insisted.
I stopped and half turned to stare down at the kids.
"What Kelp Head said." Thalia said.
"Thanks, Sparky." Percy said back, getting an annoyed stink-eye smile back.
I sighed. Yeah, I'm not getting rid of them, am I?
"Anything killed in the Labyrinth is added to its essence. Meaning monsters killed in the Labyrinth are added to the Labyrinth, and those monsters would be under the Labyrinth's control, and thus my control." I began to explain.
"We kind of already know that." Thalia crossed her eyes, with that pout of "I'm so much smarter than you" rebellious girls tend to have.
"Didn't know that part about controlling monsters killed by the Labyrinth. Scary but cool." Percy added.
"Also," I continued over being interrupted. "It means that I could just have the Labyrinth keep that essence to strengthen its structure, rather than resummon the monster. Meaning stronger Tower, meaning more time holding up the heavens till Sky Crash O' Clock."
"Oh? Oh! That's good. How long do we have?" Percy asked.
I felt mentally tired. Really tempted to just say "About a day. Yeah I lied, since I needed you guys motivated", but I didn't want to deal with that line of questioning, or them getting too relaxed and lazy from there being little to no pressure.
"Four hours now, I think. Should be able to buy two more hours. Maybe." I lied as easily as I breathed.
"Wait, what?" Thalia blinked. "If this place has four hours left, then what could possibly be able to power it up that much?"
"Wait, I thought we had six hours, three hours ago. Annabeth said so." Percy said. Seems he asked Annabeth about this before they followed me.
"Ladon gave us an extra hour." As easily as I breathed. "And the other one is an ancient monster that has never been beaten before. Well, never been beaten by a demigod. Took your old man to personally kill her, to free the Cyclopes and Hekatonkheires." I gestured to Thalia with my head.
"No way, are you crazy!?" Thalia cried out, as her eyes widened in recognition of what I said.
"What? What is it?" Percy urgently asked.
"He's talking about the Kampê!" Thalia exclaimed.
"The what?" Percy asked, tilting his head like a puppy.
Thalia facepalmed. "For fuck's sake, Kelp Head."
"Big deal monster during the Titanomachy. Krono's ally and jailor of the giants, the Cyclopes, and the Hekatonkheires. She was so strong that it took Zeus to beat her. I think she was the first being to get a taste of what a Master Bolt to the face was like. And because she has never been beaten by a demigod, it became part of her myth and why she's so strong." I explained.
"Oh... so how are you gonna kill it? I mean, you didn't really manage to hurt Atlas that much when you fought him one on one, and we had to help." Percy said in that matter-of-fact tone, that almost sounded like a know-it-all. Did he get that from Annabeth? I swear, the foot-in-mouth syndrome is strong in this kid.
"I was pulling triple duty, holding the sky, fighting the monster army and fighting Atlas. You haven't seen what I can do going all out, kid." I looked at my hand and clenched it a few times, just to see how it would feel while overlaying myself with a few minotaurs. Yeah, I instinctively knew it made me stronger, metaphysically... denser I guess you could say. "Heck, I don't know what I could do going all out."
But I didn't know in practice how stronger this made me, or what effect it would have.
That's why I need to test this.
"I never thought of using both the Mist and my power together like this." Bianca said in concentration as she tried to used her shadow control with the Mist infused within it.
"While a demigod's divine powers and magic are similar, they are not one and the same. A demigod's powers comes as an inheritance of their godly parent, a sign of their love. It is in a sense a miniature of their parent's domains, or a link to those domains through their parents. Magic however, well, there is magical energy in everything. In yourself, in the world, and through spells you manipulate that energy to alter reality to your wishes. Although that's the broad strokes of it." Pasiphaë explained. "To speak in terms of that video game you worked on my son with, godly powers are a divine right, while magic is manually changing the world through your own skill at the language of reality."
"I don't think it was explained like that, but I think I get it. But don't I have to learn spells, chants and the like for magic?" Bianca asked as she took a break.
"That's a misconception. Spells, chants and potions are just using magic that have associations that are already proven. Like invoking my father Helios and his holy sites or acts from history to make a fire spell." Pasiphaë held an arm out to show her future daughter-in-law. "Εν ονόματι του Ηλίου, καθώς έλαμψε στη Ρόδο, φέρτε ένα άρμα πυρός, τόσο πιστό όσο το ταξίδι του από τη δύση στην ανατολή!"
A ball of fire erupted from Pasiphaë's hand. Big, strong, heavy and hot. It looked like it could eat through concrete, yet the moment it left the sorceress's hand, not even a meter away, it petered out and was extinguished.
"Woah! That was strong, and you put it out so quickly." Bianca said.
"That spell represented my father's journey across the sky, and invoked the belief that was held to him in one of places he was strongly worshiped, the Isle of Rhodes." Pasiphaë said. "By casting it to your left side, or by your left hand, it would represent how his journey goes, which is why the flames quickly cease. But had I cast it by my right hand, it would be like recalling it from the dying light of sunset, to the blazing light at noon."
Pasiphaë cast the same spell again, but this time launched it with her right hand to the ceiling. It started small, then grow bigger and hotter the further it moved away from her, before making a massively loud explosion, reminiscent of a bomb that could destroy a one story building.
The two were far away from the group in a different section and floor of the Labyrinth. Pasiphaë had been granted a small bit of control of the Labyrinth by her son, to be able to move around freely and navigate it. Thus the two could practice away without interacting with the Goddess of the Hunt or her Hunters.
"Woah! That was awesome!" Bianca grinned. "But given that you're the daughter of Helios, I guess you'd be strong with fire magic."
"Hmm? Hahahahahahaha, oh no. No dear. Did you think that was comparable to how I would use my father's gifts?" Pasiphaë laughed and shook her head. "No. This is how strong my divine powers are."
Pasiphaë held out her hand, and from it heat and light were conjured, so densely and strongly that a miniature sun formed in her palm.
She threw the mini-sun, and this time the heat and wind that erupted from the divine power shook the room, sending out shockwaves strong enough that Pasiphaë had to hold onto Bianca to keep her from losing her footing. The destruction caused by the fire spell was nothing to that of mini-sun.
"T-That...!" Bianca said wide-eyed.
"Hmm..." Pasiphaë rolled her shoulders, looking a bit tired. "That was much weaker then it was in the past. Natural given my father's unfortunate's passing. It takes too much out of me as well." She pouted. "Also all that fire and noise is very inelegant. Much better and easier to use light directly."
"...What happens when you use both divine powers and magic together?" Bianca asked excitedly.
Pasiphaë smiled back, she called on her powers, moving both light and magic by her will...
And Bianca saw the world change and reforms around her, almost like when Asterios constructed the Labyrinth Tower.
Bianca found herself in a meadow outside, with the sky bright blue above and sun gently shining.
Bianca looked around her at the flowers by her feet. One seemed particularly appealing. A blue azure radiant flower, that seemed to make her want to pluck it. So she did.
And it turned into monster plant! Bianca jumped away, summoning her great sword and—
She was back in the Labyrinth. She looked around her and they were still in the same place.
"Hahahaha, it wasn't real, daughter." Pasiphaë said chuckling.
"That was mean, mother-in-law." Bianca pouted before looking very interested again. "It all felt so real though. The light, the heat, smell and touch."
"That is what combining magic and divine power can do." Pasiphaë smiled. "And for you, someone with great imagination and will, it should allow you to control darkness itself as your father does. Maybe even one day, you might mimic his mystic divine might when he uses his Symbol of Power."
Bianca grinned, ready to give this a shot once more.
"Wait what? How do you not know how strong you are?" Percy asked Asterios as they kept walking through the Labyrinth.
Or rather it felt like they were walking on one of those airports walking tracks, while the Labyrinth changed itself around them. Freaky but cool.
"Since I gained this form, I never really had to actually try." Asterios shrugged.
Percy hummed at those words and walked after the monster turned cool monster.
Honestly, he know that gods have done bad things a long time ago, but he just never thought about it. Now that those topics turned up right in front of him, Percy wasn't sure how to react. The whole thing was just very awkward.
Percy left because he didn't think he stay around Artemis given everything he just learned. He frowned remembering Annabeth looking like she wanted to go with them, before looking back at the dejected goddess, then shaking her head 'no' to him, and going back.
How could she just go back, after everything she heard? How was that a 'wise' choice?
He needed to distract his head, so beating some monsters up seemed like a good activity to take his mind off things, and help out.
"Hey, that speech you made about the Hunters." Percy said as he remembered something.
"Hmm?" Asterios tilted his head a bit to the side to show he was listening.
"'Hatred comes from anger, which comes from fear', did you plagiarize that from Star Wars?" Percy asked, holding back a laugh.
"Ha! I knew that sounded familiar." Thalia laughed and snapped her fingers.
"Okay first!" Asterios began. "I said hatred comes from anger or fear. And second... yeah, basically." He nodded unashamed making them laugh.
"I can't believe you've just been quoting movies and video games or whatever this whole time." Thalia said between laughs.
"What were some of the other things you said from? Like the whole 'you only accept death when its over and then meet it and smile' bit?" Percy asked once he calmed enough to talk.
"I think maybe 'Rocky', 'Harry Potter' and a few others." Asterios shrugged. "I read and watched a lot of stuff."
"Did you get inspired to make a video game because you played a lot of them?" Thalia asked, actually feeling a bit intrigued.
"Eh," Asterios wiggled his hand up and down. "Kinda. The thing is, wisdom can be found in the most unlikely but also the most common places. Children's media and entertainment are rife with wise anecdotes because the entire point of them is for kids to watch them, and internalize those lessons, to take as their own and live by them." He said in that tone that reminded Percy of Chiron when he acted as Mr. Brunner, and made his classes seem larger than life. "Star Wars and Luke learning to trust in himself, not let his emotions rule him, and accepting death. Or Snow White and that the kindness you put out into the world comes back to you. Or Spider-Man and using your powers for something good no matter how tough things get. Or Ninja Turtles and discipline, working on yourself and your weak points till they become strengths. Or Superman and—"
"No it's not." Percy reflexively cut him off. He blushed at the rude act of interrupting the bull man, but Asterios raised an eyebrow, so Percy took it to mean, for him to elaborate. "Ninja Turtles is about teamwork and pizza. That's literally what Splinter always talks to them about, and what they talk about is their favorite food."
"Well—" Asterios nodded.
"Uh oh, Bullman is about to school you on TMNT, Kelp Head." Thalia said.
Asterios chuckled and continued. "Michelangelo is the goofy one that's hyperactive, and his weapons are nunchucks which are very difficult to master and need focus to use right. Donatello overthinks things so he's given a stick to be reminded to keep things simple, and its the easiest weapon to master. Raphael has a lot of aggression, so he's given a sai which is a defensive weapon that's for blocking and controlling movement in a fight. Finally, Leonardo is given katanas, because he's the leader, calm and always in control of himself, so is given swords because they are weapons strictly meant for killing."
"Oh...!" Okay, that... Percy blinked at the answer. Actually kinda makes sense. Not gonna let him have this though. "Well, you're a nerd."
Asterios snorted and shook his head.
"Nah. I'm the nerd that tells you, you're gonna work in his company when you're both older, and then turns right." Asterios said with grin.
"And then get bought up by a larger company because you're only good at what you nerd at, and not business." Thalia interjected, making both guy monster and guy demigod look at her in surprise. "I didn't exactly have a selections of TV shows while on the run." She joked back.
The trio chatted and joked as they went on their way.
Okay! This might be a little bit overwhelming! Percy Jackson thought as he slapped another monster—a large spider! He understood Annabeth's fears now!—with a blast of water.
Neat trick Asterios told him, there is always water underground. Better trick, Bullman can just getting water from around the Labyrinth for Percy to use or even better, seawater.
Percy still couldn't make earthquakes, or make earthquakes inside of monsters, but he learned a few things. His water doesn't have to hit with the same force as the amount of water he controls. If he imagines a very large wave in a splash of water, he can crush monsters into paste, or even blow them up from the force hitting them.
Also, if he winds his arm up before throwing a punch, like the water pulling back before a big wave or a tsunami comes, he can hit way, way harder than he normally could. He wouldn't even say twice, or three times as strong, but something way above that.
Percy ended up learning all of this since he can't use Riptide. His sword was still cursed by Ares, that petty asshole. He gave the sword to Thalia since she'd have better use of it. Combine that with her shield and she was going through monsters like a lawnmower.
Although, having the squad of minotaurs as back-up really helps the demigods feel at ease with all the spider and snake monsters.
And then there's Asterios running circles around the Kampe. Percy couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Despite his taunts, Percy knew that Asterios came back a much stronger minotaur. Yet watching the first monster he ever beat, absolutely demolish the worst and scariest monster Percy ever laid eyes on, was hellva humbling experience.
The Kampe looked like greatest nightmare of your greatest nightmares. She had a human head, with snakes for hair, like Medusa. She has a half human body, like a centaur, but with reptilian skin and a dragon half, with gigantic claws, and where the human half meets the dragon half, the skin bubbles and makes all these animal heads. And she also had giant wings to fly is that wasn't bad enough.
Asterios descended on her like a meteor cutting the wings off with his axes. That was the first thing he did.
Then he smashed her dragon half's limbs making her unable to move.
"You worthless traitor! You will pay for that!"
Right. Asterios was supposed to be the general of Kronos' monster army. Damn was Percy glad he was on their side.
Honestly it almost seemed unfair.
The Kampe used some kinda flaming whip. Asterios' hand glowed with heat, grabbed the whip and ripped it away from her hands and threw it behind him, making it disappear somewhere.
The snake tail struck at Asterios from behind. Without even looking back, he threw one axe and cut it away.
Kampe was pissed off, although that looked like her normal mode.
"I will break you. I will tear you limb from limb, and make you watch as I devour these little demigods you call friends. You will rue ever thinking of going against me! Against Kronos!" Roared Kampe as... much to Percy and Thalia's dread she began healing.
Limbs snapping back into place. Her tail growing again. Her wings reforming.
So this is what it means to fight a monster that has never been beaten by a demigod before. A beast that only a god can slay.
For a moment Percy wondered if they should go find Artemis to help them kill the monster.
The thought was immediately discarded, looking at Asterios' face.
Their bull friend didn't looked worried, or pushed, or anything. He just had that look of intrigue like someone playing a game and wanting to try things out.
Asterios held one axe with both hands. He held the war axe behind him, as it started glowing red with head, till the blade turned white.
"Hey!" Asterios called out. "How hard do you think I could hit you with a weapon, I'm using both hands on? I'm thinking one hit is enough."
"HOW DARE YOU—"
Before Kampe could finish her scream Asterios moved.
A sonic boom erupted.
Kampe's eyes widened as she barely brought her scimitars up in an x-shape to block—
CRACK! CRASH!
Any monsters with even the barest amount of intelligence stopped and looked at the clash with shock and horror.
The legendary Kampe's scimitars shattered. The monster herself only started to register what happened, as a new emotion finally was born in her heart.
Fear.
"Huh. Guess it wasn't one hit." I noted and prepared another swing.
"H-Huh? W-Wait—!"
I swung again. This time I sliced, while taking out Son of Poseidon Minotaur from the overlaying, to focus the strike on cutting rather than explosive damage.
I sliced through the Kampe's chest completely like a hot knife through butter. Her upper body was launched into the air away from her body. I cut her body vertically in half and decapitated her for extra measures.
Honestly Helios Legacy Minotaur, Fighter Minotaur and Blitzer Minotaur were hell of a combo together.
Helios Legacy was straight forward. He was the Minotaur who had heat and fire powers.
Fighter Minotaur was the myth of the Minotaur being Minos' personal gladiator and executioner. He was actually taught how to fight and while would use the environment of the Labyrinth to his advantage, he was more of a skilled straight forward fighter. Much different from Assassin Minotaur who was trained to use the Labyrinth for maximum steal in order to ambush and slay Minos' political or warrior enemies.
Finally Blitzer Minotaur was one who took the whole "run and ram into things like a bull" to its extreme. He was the Minotaur who was a danger in the Labyrinth because he would speed ram into anyone in his path, using the corridors and hallways narrow lengths. In a wide area he could be easily dodged, if one is fast enough, but in a small area it was a death sentence, as he would ram into his opponent in an instant. If the force of the large body hitting you didn't blow you to chunks of meat, then the sharp horns would impale and end you.
Yeah, Blitzer Minotaur was bad at making turns once he started dashing, but I can remedy that by manipulating space in the Labyrinth to always be running forward. OR I could use my strength to pivot but it did strain my thigh muscles a little.
Son of Poseidon Minotaur was helpful in adding big booms and oomph into my hits, but not helpful in technical, precise attacks.
It was a little tiring to overlay so many "prominent" minotaur selves on myself. Prominent in that, they were a bit unique in how their myths, and thus powers manifested.
However, while this fight was a good exercise... it wasn't really fulfilling. It didn't feel like I really pushed myself.
First few exchanges with the Kampe I overlayed a few dozens of the "nameless" minotaurs upon myself. Minotaurs who were just the normal standard of the legend, or those of the minotaur race.
Then a hundred, then two hundred, then five. It didn't feel like I was fully equal to the Kampe in strength, but approaching it.
I... got impatient and just used the unique Minotaurs to try and really test how far the ability stacking can go, and actually do some damage to the legendary monster bitch.
Turns out I can do a lot of damage when using the unique minotaurs, and with good combinations.
Now that the big monster was defeated, the rest started running. Naturally with my army of minotaurs and Labyrinth captured monsters it was short work to take them all out.
I went to one of the walls and sat down to rest. Thalia sat down next to me, with Percy sitting next to her.
"Oooof, that was a work out." Percy sighed.
"You didn't actually need us, did you?" Thalia asked.
"Nope." I said honestly. "But I appreciated the company." I smiled at the kid. She looked like she needed the encouragement.
I summoned some food and water for them to eat and drink. Actual food and water this time. Fresh water is available in the Labyrinth. As for food...
"Is that...? Chicken?" Percy asked, as he grabbed a cooked bread crumb fried chicken drum.
"This may surprise you but there is a farm in the Labyrinth. And before you ask, no. I don't know who's crazy enough to have a farm inside the Labyrinth. The owner was just not there. I waited for them, but they never showed up, so I had a stack of these made, readied, cooked and put in a static field by my mother. Can take them out at any time and they're pretty good, if I say so myself." I told them.
With an excited cry of "cool" and "thanks" the two dug in.
I ate with them, so as to not seem like the odd one out, as we sat in silence for a while.
"...Hey." Thalia spoke after finishing half her plate. "Since you're the one who taught Bianca everything she knows, and all that—"
"I didn't." I quickly said, lest Hades thinks I'm taking credit for Bianca's training and skill level. "I taught her the basics. Told her how her powers work, and demigod powers work in general, and her dad did the rest."
"...Right." Thalia frowned, and seemed to push herself to not get angry. Huh, Zeus' daughter after all. She sighed before gathering her thoughts and continuing. "Okay, look. You seem like a fountain of knowledge for some reason. Bianca seems to have everything figured out, so do you have any wisdom to lay on me as well?"
Oh boy.
"Well for starters I have to know what you're asking about. I'm not omniscient, kid." I chuckled.
"Don't call me 'kid'!" She growled, letting off some sparks. But when I didn't react, she just pouted, and huffed, looking down. Percy, in a surprising display of maturity, just ate his chicken, kept quiet and watched. "I think... I think Luke might have a point."
Percy choked on his food and started coughing.
"W-What!?" Percy cried out. "Thalia, what are you saying?" He said wide-eyed. "You can't actually believe that, right? You fought him and tried to kill him."
"I was pissed off about holding the sky, Percy." Thalia said back. "And you saw Artemis. What she was like. She found something shiny, and threw a fit when it didn't work out for her. In the middle of a fight to save the world. And she had sacrificed kids in the past for her ambition, when she's suppose to protect them. Do the gods actually care about us? Because more and more, the answer seems to be no. Fuck's sake, dad never answers me, or even helps, or just...!" She choked on her words, eyes watering. She sniffed, and hide her face in her arms.
"The gods really have a shit ton of flaws." I said, making Percy look at me betrayed. "They're vain, arrogant, self-righteous and don't care about who they hurt to get what they want. However," I said before Percy could blow up and interrupt me. "Look at the world around us. The one you and mortals live in. You have cars, airplanes, TV, medicine for nearly everything. Humanity has reached the point where they are fighting the failings of the body due to aging, and soon aging itself. A poor man today lives like a king five hundred years ago." Percy and Thalia looked at me, enraptured. "Imagine what life would be like five hundred years from now."
"So we have cooler shit than before, and that makes it better?" Thalia said, trying to sound dismissive, but it feel like just being rebellious for the sake of it, rather than for a reason.
"Yes," I said blunted and nodded, throwing her off. "The thing is, while Luke does have a point, he decided to address the issue in the dumbest way possible." I all but growled as I described Luke, because fuck me was that kid the epitome of what a "angry dumb teenager" was like. "The Titans would make this world an absolute hell. At least with the gods things are slowly getting better, bit by bit. If you appeal to their better nature, then you can help them become better as well, and make the world a brighter place."
"You saying that!? After everything with Artemis?" Thalia said, incredulous.
I was quiet for a moment, to gather my thoughts.
"My argument with Artemis was a very personal thing, about a very specific situation." I finally said. "With a clear mind, I could admit that there's a lot of good that she's done. At least helping girls and women in trouble is better than doing nothing. It's just..."
The anger I felt for Artemis was gone. That's what I wanted to say but it felt cheap.
...Actually wait, I don't feel angry at all!
The anger of the Archetype Minotaur. It was always there. Ever-present in the back of my mind, it was such a fundamental part of my new existence that I barely even registered it anymore.
Yet when the confrontation with Artemis brought out new emotions from the Archetype Minotaur, I just never realized.
Guilt. Shame. Regret. Sorrow.
Those emotions were so at odds with how the Archetype Minotaur normal emotions of anger and hatred, that it ended up affecting the Asterios and human side of me. Those sad emotions ended up overtaking me, and led to my blowing up at Artemis.
After that, there was just a sense of emptiness from the Archetype Minotaur. And catharsis.
And suddenly it's like the anger and hatred had an off switch.
"I think that anger I had was just something repressed all this time." I finally said. "But now that it's spilled out, I think I just... don't care anymore. I have my own life and goals and," I felt a chuckle, and a sense of relief. "Artemis, just isn't part of any of it." I met Thalia's annoyed yet envious gaze. "But I get the feeling that it isn't so simple for you. Your connections to the gods aren't something you can just disregard. Or rather the connection to one in particular."
"...My dad. Zeus." This time, when Thalia said his name, and I realized with my new connection to the Labyrinth I could actually stop the Name of the god from invoking them, and getting their attention. So I did. Now when Zeus is spoken about in the Labyrinth, unless I allow it, he won't even know someone said his Name here. "I don't know what does he want from me. Whether he wants to kill me to avert the Great Prophecy. Whether he wants to use me as a tool. Whether he just doesn't care about me. I... dunno anymore."
"...He cares." I nodded. "He's just shitty at showing it."
"How would you know?" Thalia said confrontationally.
"Because if there is one constant about the King of the Gods, its that he loves his children." I said gently. "Except Ares, that seems to be the exception."
Percy snorted and Thalia laughed as well.
"Ha! No wonder he's such a sore loser." Percy exclaimed.
"Do you want him to curse you again?" Thalia chuckled.
"Yeah, that would be annoying." Percy said. "But... weren't you going to go talk to him anyways? Why not just follow up on that after this quest is finally done?"
"He didn't help me when Atlas attacked, or when I was stuck under the Sky." Thalia pointed out, frowning.
"He can't help." I said, getting there attention. "I don't know all the details of the Ancient Laws, but gods can't actively help out in a quest. They can intervene, lend aid, or give help equal to a sacrifice or offering made for them. But at the end of the day, it's your quest. Your life. The freedom to live it how you choose is the best gift they can give you."
"How can you call if freedom, when we're hunted by monsters, have to do these stupid quests to get their attention, or try and stop the world from going to shit, and have to do everything for them, yet they don't bother to pay attention to us." Thalia growled.
"What happens in life isn't your fault, but it is your responsibility how you respond to it." I said back.
"Enough with the fortune cookie shit!" She shouted. "Give me something real!"
"...Okay." I gave an amused frown and nodded. "Here's something real." I turned while sitting so I was facing the girl. Thalia sudden felt like she may have gotten too much of my attention. "Your father is Zeus. The King of a Pantheon of Gods. He is an embodiment of nature, personified and given emotions and perspective, and is as old as the civilization of this world. He loves you. But you are also one of the thousands of children he must have had in his long, long life. A life that would continue far after you, even far into the future should you somehow gain immortality." I spoke, and held Thalia's attention in an iron grip. She gulped as listened to me. "You are never going to have a normal life. That is the simple truth. You can ignore that and complain about how unfair all this is, doing nothing helpful and just end up hurting yourself and the people around you, the people you care for. ...Or you can accept the reality of your life, and do something about it."
"...Do what about it?" She asked.
"Like you originally planned. Talk. To. Him. Yes, it is that simple. Be respectful yes, since he's a god and all, but just tell him everything. Your feelings, your hopes, your fears, and if you don't like the answer... then leave him behind, and go live your life as you choose."
"..." Thalia said nothing, lost in thought.
"But if you find a connection. If you find a link that could allow you to be father and daughter? Then hold onto it. Find a way to make it work. Appeal to his better side, and try to make him act on those positive traits more often, or at least help you out in a meaningful way when needed. But throughout it all, keep in mind that your dad isn't just some guy that you can always reason with. Or someone you can have a normal relationship with. Never forget that he is a god and you're a demigod. Accept that and you'll see that life opens up in a way. Yes, some things will be closed for you. 'Normal' being among them. But," I smiled jokingly at her. "You're talking to guy with bull horns and white fur on his body, in a living cave, having fucking chicken after we killed a shitload of mythological monsters. 'Normal' is," I shook my head. Thalia and Percy smiled holding back laughing. "Never gonna be a thing. You want to have a life, you get it in spite of the bullshit life will throw at you."
They couldn't hold it in.
"Do you teach classes on how to talk like that?" Thalia asked.
"Oh yeah sure. Lesson one: 'Don't believe in yourself. Believe in me who believes in you'."
"Pfffft-hahahahahaha! Okay, that has to be from somewhere. Where did you get that?" Percy said, pointing at me.
"Gurren Lagann. Bar none, the best fucking anime ever. You should watch it. Like in one sitting. All of it from start to finish. You'll thank me." I pushed myself and stood up. "And now, it's time to go back."
"Wait, what?" Percy blinked, as he and Thalia stood up. "You're gonna go back to talk to Artemis?"
"Gonna go back to talk with everyone. We dallied around long enough. Time to go fight Atlas. Whether Artemis wants to help out or not, I'm telling everyone my plan and giving them the option to participate."
"Yeah, I'm getting tired of the mushy shit." Thalia punched her fist into her palm. "Let's go kill a titan."
"Yeah, first though, given that you still can't use air powers, and Percy can't use earthquakes, I think it's time to bring out the trump card, just to make this an overkill."
""Trump card?"" Both demigods asked at the same time.
"Jinx!" Thalia said to Percy.
"Jin—Dammit!" Percy pouted.
"Haha. So yeah, but I don't want to repeat it. I'll tell we get everyone together."
"..." Artemis who was a moment ago just sitting grumpily and frowning, was now looking at me bewildered, mouth agape.
"So can you do it or not? The kids are fighting a titan and will need the edge." I said after she was silent for too long. So overdramatic, I swear.
"...I'm sorry, can you repeat that? I definitely misheard you." Artemis finally spoke.
I sighed.
"The kids need a loose sense of mental limitation. They need to stop thinking with the rigid framework of the world they currently have. We don't have years to train them in doing that, so we'll take shortcut through you. The Moon was once thought to bring madness to people, from its different phases. The word 'lunacy' comes from that. So," I grinned. "You're going to use your moon-moon powers to give them a teeny tiny bit of going cray-cray. Can you do that?"
She kept staring at me flabbergasted.
I looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
Honestly she makes it sound like I'm asking something unreasonable here.
AN: I think, yeah, fight starts next chapter.