Red Bull Horns Aren't For Grabbing (Percy Jackson/FGO - Asterios SI Chapter 5)
"Ha... Hades is our father." Bianca was overwhelmed.
"...Woah." Nico stared at nothing as he rubbed the back of the hellhound on hi lap. "Hades has 4000 attack points, but 5000 if the opponent attacks first."
Silence fell on the room. I tried not a laugh. Nico looked up to see both Bianca and I just staring at him.
"I was surprised and that's the first thing that came to mind, okay?" He said back.
Bianca chuckled, and brushed his little brother's hair with her hand, before she turned to me.
"Hades is... he's important, right?" Bianca asked.
"Yeah, obviously!" Nico was the one who answered. "I mean, they are always the top three cards, Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. If you don't count the cheating ones like Kro—"
I moved instantly, leaning forward and with my long arms, easily reaching and covering Nico's mouth. Shadow the Hellhound puppy, bite my hand, but didn't even scratch me.
"Nico." I said seriously. "A very important rule when dealing with anything supernatural. Names. Have. Power." I said sternly. "Do not ever carelessly speak them. To speak a god's name is to invoke them. To get their attention basically. Understand?"
A wide-eye Nico nodded his head.
I removed my hand and leaned back into my chair with a sigh.
"Is saying our father's name dangerous then?" Bianca asked.
"How does saying the name thing work?" Nico had his own question.
"The way it works is like this," I began to explain. "Imagine our at the start of a hallway at school. It's the middle of the day and kids are moving between classes. The people moving is all the supernatural stuff going around, maybe it's work related to the god's domain, or whatever. Someone is at the end of the hall and you shout their name. That's basically what it is. They will hear it. They can look and pay attention to you who shouted, calling their name. If they're busy and going somewhere, they won't pay attention unless you're shouting their name is insistently calling on them. If they're free, you will get their attention.
"And if the hallway is empty, they will most definitely hear you loud and clear, and wouldn't be able to help but look and see who you are. That's how it works for gods and spirits. That's why names are very important, and something you need to be very careful with. This also applies to monsters."
"Wait, saying a monster's name also gets their attention?" Bianca scrunched her eyebrows.
"Yep." I popped the 'p'. "When you say a monster's name and they're alive, it's like you're calling them to your location. That's why you use colorful nicknames, like useless spider, Bullman, or spikes for tails."
"Who?" Asked Nick.
"Mani, and then apple." I made an okay sign with my hand.
"Core? Mani! Oh, got it." Nico grinned.
"And if the monster is dead, having been killed recently, then calling it's name is like bringing it out of Tartarus faster. As if you're making it that much more likely to manifest. Same hallway example, but every time you call their name, they take a step toward you."
"Oh. Okay." Nico said very calmly, and gave a very serious nod.
"That's why gods and spirits, and especially important and big deal gods had so many titles. It is a way of speaking about them without getting their attention." I said.
"So... we shouldn't," Bianca paused, taking a heavy breath and letting it out. "Say our father's name." She said resigned.
"The opposite actually." I smiled reassuringly. "Your dad is the one god whose name you can say with impunity. Out of all the gods, I can think of no other than Hades, who loves their kids as much as he loves you."
How pitiful is it, that it is a beast that reassures my children of my love for them. Hades thought with a small scowl. He still remembered the times in which the Minotaur had bested and slain a child of his, in eras past.
Yet the God of the Dead couldn't help but smile as he saw the relief and tears of joy on Bianca and Nico's faces, as their disbelief was being washed away.
Even before the Minotaur—Asterios purposely invoked his name, Hades had been watching the transformed monster as he slayed the traitorous Keres, the instant he he could no longer fool her, and she placed his children in danger.
"T-Then where is he?" Nico asked, through a sob, as the infant hellhound whined and nuzzled closer to its master to comfort him.
"Yes. If he cares about us, then where is he?!" Bianca said, her voice growing louder, as power rippled out from her emotional outburst, causing the room to shake.
Asterios extended an arm and calmly placed a hand on her shoulder. The infant hellhound growled, but didn't move to attack the beast. While Asterios hasn't shown any deceit or malice toward his children thus far, Hades has not yet given his trust to the age-old demigod killer.
Yes, the Minotaur has changed, drastically and in a manner that's unexplained. Yet that doesn't mean bull monster's goals are benevolent. The Hellhound was placed to monitor him and protect his children should Asterios reveals his real self. It was there to help them escape, as it's presence was enchanted to be the exact same as the sword he had paid the beast for his service. That way it can't be noticed and could sacrifice itself in a surprise attack to help his children escape danger. Shame that Nico revealed it, but what's done is done. The boy didn't know.
Yet watching Nico tame the hellhound, even if it's one so young, brought a joy to Hades' heart.
"He can't be with you for several reasons. First among them is that he's confided to the Underworld and can only leave on the Winter Solstice. This is because of a treaty he has with his brothers. Hades rules all that is under the earth. If he was allowed to roam the surface, the he'd rule all the lands as well. So he agreed to stay in the Underworld to placate the Lords of the Sky and Seas, in order to maintain the peace." Asterios had an annoying gleeful expression as he shook his head from side to side. The transformed minotaur was far too expressive than he used to be. The old him only grunted and roared, rarely speaking with words. "But I think he can get out in summer if he's sneaky enough. Winter is when his wife, Queen of the Underworld and Goddess of Springtime and Vegetation is around, after all."
"You mean, Perse—"
"A-Hem." Asterios coughed loudly.
"Right. The Queen of the Underworld." Bianca frowned as she contemplated that thought. "Does she hate us? Is that also why he isn't around?"
Hades' expression went crestfallen at that thought. While he hating hurting his wife with his love affairs, her not being around left a gap in his heart. A gap that sometimes, surprisingly, would be filled by mortal lovers. Those who would ease his heart, while accepting his pessimistic, dreary nature.
"Well," Asterios looked thoughtful. "I don't think she likely you but that's not the reason." He said looking serious. "He does it to protect you. One, a demigod learning of their heritage of being a demigod causes their scent to become stronger, and get picked up by more monsters. Them knowing how their divine parent is, increases the scent even more. Them having a divine parent as one of the Big Three? Well, let's just say you're a buffet letting out a smoke signal from miles away."
The more Asterios talked, the more his children pales. Hades was close to cursing the Minotaur for enjoying terrorizing his children for his amusement.
"T-Then why tell us? You shouldn't have told us!" Bianca cried out, standing up in a panic.
"Because I'm the strongest." Asterios spoke, and now Hades frowned for a different reason. It seems the more human the monster became, the more gripped with hubris it had. "Your dad assigned me to protect you. And in this entire world, across land, skies and seas, there is no monster than can best me."
Hades closed his eyes, and slowly raised a hand to cover his face.
Welp, it's clear I'll need to take them out of the beast's hands. The Fates most definitely heard that declaration and will bestow some humility upon that poor idiotic bull's head soon enough. Best to take out Bianca and Nico away from him, before they get involved with such affairs. Hades thought.
"What about Ladon?" Nico asked. "Even Heracles had to run away from it."
"It's just a lazy lizard that never moved from where sat down millennia ago." Asterios chuckled before his expression turned more somber. "Another reason that Hades can't be by your side is that he's trying to protect you from his brothers."
Hades sat up at that.
How would he know about the prophecy—The Keres. It mentioned that Asterios was meant to be a general in father's army before he deserted his post. His desertion likely also has to do with his transformation. Hades wagered. Then he was high up enough in Krono's command to know of the prophecy. ...Although the Titan Army could also not care about information security and anyone who heard of the prophecy freely talked about it. He realized with a dissatisfied frown.
"His brothers? You Ze..." At seeing Asterios' look, Bianca adjusted his words. "The Sky God and the Sea God?"
"Correct." He sighed. "You see there is a prophecy, about a child of the eldest gods, who will reach sixteen years old, and if they manage that, they will have a choice. To either save or destroy Olympus." Asterios shrugged. "Although personally I think the prophecy is a bit hokum with how vague it is. Heck, it might not even mean the Big Three, but a child of the Titans. Why would those be considered the 'Eldest Gods', I don't know. The most common interpretation accepted however, is that it's a child of the Big Three."
There is no newborn children of the titans. We made sure of it, and they despise humans too much to mate with them, even to ensure a prophecy is on their side. Thus they seek to subvert the Demigod to their side instead. Hades narrowed his eyes, as he recalled that argument before by Athena.
"So, we're in danger from other gods? From our uncles?" Bianca said in disbelief. "All because of something that we might do? How's that fair?"
"Bianca," Asterios leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees. "Nico," he gave Hades' children his most serious, yet most kind look. "This is the most important reason why your dad isn't around. Something that Demigods learn far too late in life, and sometimes never."
Hades was intrigue and worried about what yard the monster might spin for his children.
"Gods. Are not. Human." Asterios spoke with finality.
And to that... Hades could not help but frown in utter dissatisfaction as gratitude entered his heart.
Gratitude at the lesson the child of Pasiphaë was about to impart on Bianca and Nico.
"Gods. Are not. Human." I said definitively, as Nico and Bianca looked at me with rapt attention. "They can look human. They can act human. They have emotions just like we do. But they. Are. Not. Human." I repeated for emphasis. "Gods are literally the forces of nature personified. Loving a Sea God is like loving the sea. It can be calm, or it can be rough and full of heavy wind, rain and storm, but avoid all it will always have dark mysterious and scary depths. Loving the God of the Dead would be like loving the darkness in the depth of caves. It might be quiet and calming, but it is utterly terrifying and unknowable." I explained. "Your father loves you and will offer his support to you in any way he can.
"Be it him," I pointed at the puppy hellhound. "Or me." I gapped a thumb at myself. "But he'll never be the type of dad that you imagine. The one that tells you bedtime stories. The one that tucks you into bed and tells you he'll shoo the monsters away. ...He probably has them on his payroll." They laughed at that joke, through their tears. "If you want anything more than the relationship you have, you'll have to be the one to initiate it. Because my advice? Take what he's giving you. Because I assure you, he's most definitely giving you his all."
The two kids were quiet for a long while as they processed their emotions and what they learned. Bianca took some tissues to dry her tears, and blow her nose, before getting another handful and giving them to Nico, who did the same.
"So... We can never meet him, unless it's in the Winter Solstice?" Nico asked.
"No, you can meet him anytime you want." I said, much to the shock of Hades' kids. "If you just want to talk sacrifice something, an item, a piece of food, anything you have to some fire while saying his name, or that you're sacrificing something in his name." I gave them a pointed look. "Of course, don't start wild fires. Use something simple. A fireplace, or the kitchen or something of that nature, that won't cause trouble." The two kids nodded and I hope for their sake they took that warning seriously. "Also," I added with a grin. "When the school year is over and the summer break begins, I'll take you to visit him in the Underworld."
"How?" Asked Bianca blinking in surprise.
"There's an entrance to the Underworld in Los Angeles. We can go there then." I explained.
"But," Nico eyes widened. "That's on the other side of the country!"
"I'll figure something out." I shrugged.
Maybe it was luck, maybe it was destiny, but surprise, surprise.
During my stay here at Westover Hall... I discovered an entrance to the Labyrinth.
AN: Next chapter should be finishing the Game, and then road trip! On foot. Kinda.