A GOD's Alternate Paths:

Chapter 2: A Trip To Camp Half-Blood: Part 2.

Chiron honestly hadn't been sure where to start, after everyone else had fanned out, all around the camp to let their fellow demigods know of the King of the Gods' arrival.

He'd at first thought to go to the pavilion first, but he'd rather not have Lord Beerus wait for his food to be prepared, if he could help it.

Instead, he'd had Dionysus send word to the cooks to have their best meals prepared for him, and ready to be placed at his table later today, likely mid-way through the tour, because he doubted that his brother would go all the way to night without eating anything.

Dionysus had been nothing short of pleased – even though he tried miserably to hide it – to remove himself from the scene to do so, and then likely sit down somewhere to have a drink of grape juice by himself, away from him and Beerus for as long as he could.

Chiron didn't blame him for that, even if he did grumble under his breath about it.

Having Beerus appear for a tour on short-notice was definitely not something he or anyone else was prepared for and had on their bingo cards, but the fact remained that he had, and so it would behove them all to show as much respect and courtesy to the King of the Gods, as possible.

Thankfully, seeing all the cabins up-close had made the deity curious, as he'd never been inside any, other than his own, so Chiron had been able to start there, moving door-to-door, for a brief look-around them.

The various demigods present in many, thankfully, showed decent manners and addressed Lord Beerus in an appropriate way, as they passed through them. Aphrodite cabin included, even with all the flirting that'd been attempted from the older girls, and a few of younger ones, who were especially out of their depth.

The only exception to the cabins' interactions was Ares' cabin, which was oddly absent of any campers within, but Chiron paid that little mind, for now.

The King of Gods showed his fascination with the design choices of many of his fellow Gods, paying particular attention to that of his siblings' ones, as well as Pan's, Hypnos's and Nyx's.

Poseidon's, Hades', Hera's and Hestia's had all been rather simple affairs, given that none hosted any demigods, so it was just the two looking around.

Well, Poseidon's didn't host any yet. As they'd gone through it, without making much comment, the subject of Percy Jackson, his son, had come up.

A child that'd been had despite the agreement between him and Beerus' two other brothers to not sire anymore demigods because of that prophecy, who had arrived in camp a short bit ago.

When the destroyer had asked why he wasn't inside the cabin then, Chiron had been sure to let him know he was currently staying at the Big House's infirmary, recovering from an encounter with the minotaur.

The creature had attacked him, his friend, and his mother near long-island, while Poseidon was away from his son and her.

The mother-son duo had thankfully made it to camp together, yesterday, alongside the son's friend, who'd been a Satyr in disguise, named Grover.

Sally, Percy's mom, was currently looking after him, as he rested.

Beerus had then made a dry comment about Poseidon and Zeus, or, 'those two idiots', as he'd called them, never being able to hold to the pact they made with Hades, about siring of children with mortals, prophecy be damned, because they couldn't help themselves.

Then again, Beerus himself cared not for the supposed danger of that prophecy, either.

Bane of Olympus? Please, he could count several of those which had been handled by him, already. What was one more to add to the pile?

Might even give him something interesting to deal with. A potential challenge, perhaps, which he'd not had in so damn long.

Anyway, speaking of Hades, his cabin was the next they'd gone to.

He, of course, also had demigods in the past, but unlike his brothers, had actual restraint and kept to the damn pact, which Beerus wasn't surprised by. The God taking that as a chance to throw a compliment his brother's way, saying how his ability to always keep his word was one of numerous reasons he was his favourite brother.

The last mortal woman he'd been with, Maria di Angelo, had given him a son and daughter, in Nico and Bianca.

They'd both gone on to live good lives, from what he knew, and like their mother, joined their father in the underworld, when they all passed.

Regardless, the cabin, windowless and made of obsidian, was a shared one, belonging to Persephone, as well, as the divine couple preferred it that way. The place lit up by braziers along the walls that blazed with green fire all the time.

The décor, while a bit gloomy, had some nice touches of spring to go along with it, such as flowers and barley as decorations, with very opulent furniture and bedding that was dark or purple, Hades' favourite colours.

Both Beerus and Chiron had shared a chuckle at the builders of the cabin initially wanting to put coffins inside, because they thought Hades' children were vampires, for some reason.

Hades had mentioned that to the destroyer before, as well, some years ago while struggling not to laugh at the idiocy of it all.

With Hera's cabin next, Beerus had commented with some humour about her not even bothering to have furniture in it, remarking as a joke that she must've felt she could get stingy, due to having no demigods of her own.

In his twin sister's cabin, which was only a little smaller than Hera's and shaped like a temple, Beerus had been quick to sit beside the personalized, golden hearth at the centre, taking in the sweet scents that forever rose up from the enchanted item. Always burning incense under the Goddess' power, regardless of if she was physically present or not.

The inside didn't have much to it, kept mostly simple and humble, lacking any flamboyance or special touches, beyond the hearth and a mural on the ceiling. The mural depicted the Goddess sat by and stirring the hearth, alongside her mother, Rhea, and grandmother, Gaea, with Beerus by her side, chatting with her, it seemed, as the other Olympians surrounded them. The whole family together.

Beerus smiled fondly, remembering that moment in the distant past.

It was a good thing he'd refused Hestia's initial declining of her own cabin, not seeing it as necessary, and had this built, if just for that mural alone, which the Goddess had made herself, along with the hearth.

Following on from them, Demeter's cabin, with its grassy floor and ceiling, was where things had gotten interesting.

Outside of Beerus complimenting the tree inside and Demeter's phenomenal produce and cooking skills that never failed to leave him in bliss, they'd run into her demigod children. Only five within, at the time.

They'd all been respectful, if nervous about being in the presence of the King of the Gods, for the first time, which was to be expected.

There was one question that Chiron knew was coming, and which he expected to be thrown multiple times, during this visit, what with all the various, conflicting accounts of him and his relationships with a plethora of Goddesses, the demigods' mother included, naturally.

It was the 13-year-old Katie Gardiner who asked.

"Hey, uhm… Lord Beerus? Sorry if I'm interrupting, but are you and my mom, you know… involved? Like, is she married to you, or…?"

Beerus just smirked down at her. "Your mother didn't say anything to you? You have her every weekend, along with the others. Surely, you asked her at least once?"

"I mean, I did ask her once, a while ago, sir, but she was… really vague about it. She just gave this strange smile and told me that the two of you were very close, but that could mean a bunch of things."

"Well, she didn't lie. We are very close." Beerus nodded.

"Close as in, what way, exactly?" Miranda Gardiner, Katie's younger half-sister, interjected.

"Hehe. What do you think either of us mean, when we say we're close?" Beerus asked in a way that could be interpreted in a multitude of different directions.

Just as the two girls furrowed their brows in total befuddlement, Beerus bid them adieu and left the cabin behind, with Chiron at his side.

The centaur noted the God snickering a little to himself and sighed.

"You and the others always have to do that, don't you? Can't ever be straight about it or other things pertaining to the past."

"And why would I, or the others? Seeing all of their confusion, as they try to decipher what exactly I or any of them mean, as though it's some sort of riddle, will never not be funny. Regardless of how right or wrong their guess ends up being. Though, personally, the wrong ones are definitely my favourites, given how utterly absurd some of them have been, over the years." The destroyer shot back, as expected, with an amused grin.

Chiron didn't press him on it further, knowing how much he and his other half-siblings loved to play this little game. Same with the other Gods, really, what with all the varying interpretations from mortals in the ancient past.

Zeus' cabin was the last of his siblings' to be entered.

"I'll give him this, he certainly has some style to him." Beerus commented, as soon as he was moving passed the opening doors, which were demonstrating their holographic effect, with the constant sound of thunder. "Personally, I would've gone for a bit more than just lightning bolts, but it's fine. Would do away with the thunder, though. It just sounds irritating."

"You won't find any disagreement there, uncle Beerus. I tried asking him to get rid of the stupid thing, but dad was adamant on keeping that effect in to 'fit the theme', or whatever."

The God and centaur turned at the sound of a feminine voice which they both recognized, as someone approached them from the inside.

It was a grinning girl in her late teens, around 16-years-old, who came up to Beerus' shoulder in height, with a slim and slightly muscular build like that of an athlete, which spoke of good training.

Her heart-shaped, pretty face was mostly barren of makeup, aside from some dark eyeshadow and lips that contrasted well with her stunning blue eyes and pale skin, and matched her short, somewhat spiky, dark hair done up in a punk-rock style.

She wore a black, loose-fitting, sleeveless shirt with a lightning bolt emblem in the centre of her bosom, which jutted out noticeably through the fabric, along with the visage of some heavy-metal rockstar faded in behind it with the caption reading "Bring on the thunder!" all around it.

She also had on dark-blue pants that hugged the curves of her hips and slender legs nicely, showing off the shapeliness and well-earned, sleek muscle she'd gained, especially around her meaty-looking thighs, which looked like they could crush a large watermelon between them. A pair of dark combat boot finishing her outfit.

She also had a shield and spear slung over her back, crafted out of celestial bronze and polished to a fine shine, like her father's cabin-doors, with the occasional spark of electricity racing along the sharp tip of the latter that poked up at an angle over her shoulder.

"Ah. Thalia. Good to see you, again." Beerus greeted kindly with his own grin, as the girl didn't hesitate to get close and push up against him for a hug, which he reciprocated with an affectionate pat on the back. Something that got an almost amazed look from Chiron, as he watched. "I take it you were getting ready to head out for a spar or a hunt, given the spear over your back."

"Something like that. Me, Luke and Annabeth were planning on going on a little trip outside camp today. And with monsters always about, just like when we first had to flee toward camp, it never hurts to be prepared. You remember that, right?"

"Yes. The day you were ready to sacrifice yourself for those two, and your father's idea to save you, when you called out for him, was to turn you into a tree, of all things." Beerus scoffed good naturedly. "You're lucky I was up, at that time, or I wouldn't have ended up sending his ass down from Olympus to handle the problem more directly, instead of taking the easy way out."

He recalled it distinctly, even now, how he'd woken up in a foul mood, because Apollo's dumb ass had been playing one of his blasted instruments too loudly near his palace, again.

He'd actually been making his way over to that moron, with the express purpose of making him repeat his shooting star adventure from thousands of years ago, until he'd happened upon Zeus just standing over the edge of Olympus, with the sound of thunder backing him. A clear sign of subconscious distress or concern from the sky-God, as he glared down through the clouds.

Curious enough to momentarily spare Apollo his flight around the Earth, he'd gone up to his little brother, and using his divine vision, followed his line of sight to see what was going on.

The instant he'd spotted a then 12-year-old Thalia, he'd just known she was his, from her eyes alone.

They'd all been aware, already, that Zeus had another demigod, and frankly, even more so than with Poseidon, none of them were surprised that the God of thunder couldn't stick to the pact made for even a century – this was Zeus they were talking about, after all.

Beerus had never bothered, until then, to see the kid for himself, nor her younger brother later on, when Zeus had sired another child with Thalia's mother, as they were Zeus's responsibility.

He was their Godly parent and spouse, after all.

And as per the divine law he'd established eons ago, alongside Themis, to partially quell Hera's irksome temper tantrums over all the romantic and or sexual affairs going on between Gods and mortals, extra-marital or not, which were insults to her domain, he had an obligation to uphold.

Not just towards such children, but their mothers, too, for any affair had after the divine law's establishment.

He and the others had to be present and accountable as actual parents for an absolute minimum of two days a week for the children – which had just become the standard for most deities, really – up until they reached adulthood. And they also had to marry their mothers or fathers and ensure they were given what they were due, for such unions.

That being a husband – or wife, if it was a Goddess – who at least somewhat met their needs, until they died and went to the afterlife, at which point they could then freely cut off the arrangement.

Did that make things super awkward, if Zeus or any other God had cucked a spouse, whether that be theirs, the mortal's, or both?

Yes. Yes, it did. And that was part of the point. The law was designed to curb such relations with mortals down to a much less egregious degree, by making the Gods who partook in such affairs much more responsible for their actions.

Had it worked in doing so?

Eh. Yes and no. Depended on who you were talking about, and who listened to horny over common sense more. Aphrodite being perhaps the most egregious example of going with horny, as she went rampant with her affairs, even with the consequences.

Tangent about effectiveness aside, the point was, it was up to Zeus to look after the woman and his own spawn.

This being more modern times, he'd elected to do so, after Thalia had turned seven years, by bringing her, the mother, and the then two-year-old son to Camp Half-Blood.

Of course, because things couldn't just be that simple with Zeus, it turned out the buffoon had taken on his 'other' side as Jupiter when siring Jason, so he'd eventually had to be moved over to the Roman camp, instead.

In any case, the mother – Beryl, if he recalled right – had gotten herself killed around the same time, when she wandered out of camp in a fit of hysterics over some argument with Zeus that the God had elected not to speak on.

She'd tried to follow where her daughter and two friends had gone out to that day, on some small adventure, unknowingly drawing the attention of various monsters, as she did. And by the time she realized her mistake, when she did catch up with her daughter by pure chance, it was too late.

By Thalia's account, one of them had grabbed her mother and tore out her neck in the blink of an eye, killing her almost instantly, as the girl and her two friends were forced to run from the horde.

Beerus had no clue if Zeus had been watching, as that part happened, but he did know the God was watching when Thalia and the other two were being chased back to camp.

That was when he'd come upon him and asked what he intended to do. And well, being in a bad mood already, mixed in with Zeus' unsatisfactory answer had resulted in the destroyer simply telling him, "I've got a better idea." before taking his wrath out on him, and kicking him right down to his daughter.

"Heh. Yeah, and he says that didn't happen." Thalia chuckled. "He's adamant he chose to come down himself to rescue me from those monsters."

"And he 'chose' to land on his face as well, I presume?"

"He says he was out of practise diving down from Olympus, remember?"

"My ass he was." Beerus rolled his eyes, getting a lovely laugh from Thalia, as she pulled away.

"He did heal me and bring me to Olympus for the first time, though, to show me around as an apology for not acting sooner. Which was sweet of him."

"Hnn. If you say so." The GOD didn't even bother trying to sound convinced, before lending her a bemused look. "It's almost strange seeing you here, though, I must admit. I'm used to seeing you up on Olympus, since Zeus took to bringing you up there every weekend, for the last four years."

"Heh. Yeah. Wish I could spend more time up there, too, even if just for the training. It'd be a great place to hang out with Annabeth and Luke." She then narrowed her eyes slightly. "Speaking of which, I didn't see you up there last weekend. Was kinda disappointed I didn't get to spar with you, like I usually do."

"You spar with Lord Beerus?" Chiron spoke up in surprise. "This is the first I'm hearing of this, young lady."

"Oh! Chiron! Sorry, I forgot you were here, too." Thalia threw him an apologetic look, before registering what he'd said, as she placed her hands on her hips. "But yeah, I train up there with uncle Beerus when he feels like it, which good for me, is most of the time! Been at it for the last year or so, when I finally convinced him to do more than just comment on my ability and dad's way of teaching."

"Which I standby being dreadful." Beerus added. "Your father is a great warrior, but a terrible teacher of fighting."

The destroyer then spotted the large, ten-foot statue of his brother, front and centre, in the middle of the room, adorned in a more traditional chiton, like his own, from the old days. And above it, a dome-shaped ceiling for the interior of this place, with moving mosaics of cloudy skies and thunderbolts.

"…Okay, I take back what I said earlier, too, about him having some style." Beerus cringed. "The doors I could get, but the ceiling and the statue of himself inside, too?"

"Yeah…" Thalia gave a pained look. "Would you believe me if I told you that, until I asked him to change it, that was all there really was, inside this place?"

"You have got to be kidding…"

"Nope." She shook her head. "For the first few weeks here, me and mom had to sleep with sleeping bags, because he didn't even have furniture inside, let alone a bed. I'd always be in the corner, where it felt like dad's hippie statue couldn't see me, while mom slept right beneath its feet."

Beerus blew out a snicker at the 'hippie statue' remark.

He was saving that one for later.

"It's fine though. I'm sure it just slipped his mind at the time, is all." Thalia waved it off, coming to her father's defence, before giggling. "Not like he's the only one who does it, mister. Hestia's shared with me more than a few funny stories about some of your blunders in parenting."

"I'm sure she has." Beerus rolled his eyes, but the fondness was clear in his voice, with the mention of his twin. "Still, for whatever screwups I've had, I'm still far better than he is, as a parent. I learned from my mistakes, while he's still downright dreadful, at times."

The centaur gulped. Had anyone else said that, Zeus probably would've fired a lightning bolt down on their heads for the insult.

Then again, it being Beerus, Zeus would likely have more than a few comments to say about his elder brother's words there, and how much weight they really held.

Thalia just giggled again, unperturbed. "I wouldn't call him dreadful, uncle. And moving back to what you said before, I wouldn't call him a terrible teacher, either, but yeah, he isn't as good as you are, when you decide to put out. As painful as it's been, I've made some serious strides in training, since you started helping me out."

No wonder nobody in camp can beat her in battle, anymore. Here I'd thought the last year had just been very productive between her and Zeus, but if she also has personal training from Lord Beerus himself, then it makes sense now, why her movements the last number of months have felt familiar, but unlike those of her father… Chiron thought to himself with a bemused shake of his head.

With his experience, he should've guessed it sooner.

Evidently as well, from what he could see, said spars had clearly built up a bond between them, given the friendly way they spoke with and greeted each other.

Beerus even let her call him uncle instead of Lord! That spoke volumes, in itself.

The last demigod child of Zeus he'd allowed to do that, was Herakles, after all. And that was only after the man had finished all his labours, only to be accosted with one more by a spiteful Hera, which was to face and defeat Lord Beerus in a wrestling match.

He'd lost, but Beerus had forfeited him the win, anyway, greatly impressed by his ability during the altercation, and decided he wanted to help him out a bit.

"But really, though, where were you last weekend? I asked dad, but he didn't seem to know." Thalia asked again, looking the destroyer in the eyes expectantly.

"Nosy little girl, aren't you?" Beerus mused. "That's my business. I don't have to tell you or anyone else anything. Not unless you're my wife, or something."

"I may not be a wife of yours, but I have shared the same bed as you, plenty of times." The demigoddess smirked deviously, as she curled the fingers of one hand and made pumping motions. "And all those times I stroked and polished that sword of yours have to mean something."

"What!?" Chiron's eyes bulged comically, his head whipping between the God and mortal. "Thalia, don't joke around like that!"

"Who said she's joking?" Beerus rose a brow at him, with a crooked grin. "She has a way with her hands and feet, like few others I've met."

"A-Agh!" Chiron looked ready to have a stroke. "L-Lord Beerus! She's only sixteen!"

"So? Might be old fashioned, I guess, but other people do this kind of thing together all the time at camp, and plenty are much younger than me, too." Thalia shrugged, looking unbothered, as she jutted her thumb in Beerus's direction. "And I've been doing it for him since I was thirteen!"

"Thah… Thirteen…?" The centaur looked ready to faint. "Thalia… the days of doing such things at that kind of age are long passed us! You're a daughter of Zeus, not of Aph…" He trailed off, as he thought about it for a beat. "Okay, never mind on that bit… But still! It's highly inappropriate!"

"Inappropriate how, exactly?" Thalia looked at him innocently, as she crossed her arms. "Using feet might be unusual, sure, but that's only when I'm multi-tasking. And as I said, it happens a lot in camp and you've never thrown a fuss before, so why now? It's not like it's a big deal or anything. I was just being a dutiful niece."

She then tossed Beerus a sly look and a wink. "And I got paid back for it aplenty, so it's all good~!"

"I-It is most definitely not!" Chiron firmly disagreed, silently wondering how in Olympus' name something like this had escaped him, despite being so common in camp, supposedly, as his shell-shocked glare locked on his brother. "Lord Beerus! If true, this is a blatant violation of the 'Relations with Mortals' law, which you swore to uphold everyone to, yourself included! I thought you were a loyal God to his marriage!"

"What does that law or my marriage have to do with anything?" Beerus looked at him as if he'd grown a second head. "What Thalia does for me doesn't have any effect on either of those, whatsoever."

"Wha…? B-But you…" The legendary trainer of heroes sputtered, at a loss for words.

"But I what?" The destroyer raised a brow. "It's really nothing to write home about, so I don't know why you're reacting like this."

"I'm not even the only one, either." Thalia added. "Athena recently started bringing Annabeth up there too, and beyond giving her some lessons of her own, she's been getting into doing what I do, so she can learn a few things from uncle Beerus, too."

"A-Annabeth…?" Chiron had gone chalk white, at this stage. "She's only twelve…"

"And?" Beerus asked pointedly. "I'll have you know Athena's daughter happens to be just as skilled with her hands. Young as she is, she has the ability of someone many times her age and experience. Her mother taught her well."

"H-Hah…?" The perverse implications, which were so very, very wrong, swam through the centaur's brain at a thousand miles a second, as his face twitched venomously.

What the actual Tartarean fuck?

Why would Athena teach her anything like that!? That didn't make sense! She cherished her virginity and chastity!

At least she seemed to, anyway. Sure, there were loopholes, such as Hera's spring, which allowed virginity and purity of the body to be restored, but surely Athena hadn't…

No. That just didn't sound like her, at all, unless you asked that extremely fringe sex cult of idiots that'd been killed and ran out of Athens back during the days of Homer for raunchily asserting their matron Goddess had secret, illicit relations with Ares and Aphrodite.

Had those weirdos actually been on to something there, somehow?

That outrageous thought aside, he knew Beerus could be pretty blasé about a number of things, but this!? Getting involved in such a law-breaking manner with two mortal girls at such young ages… Something like this was just… it was just…!

The destroyer outstretched a hand then.

In a flash of purple light, the legendary Sword of Destruction, crafted for Beerus by the Cyclopes, appeared before him. The hilt being gripped in his hand, as the sharp blade faced upwards. The metal it was made from shining with a beautiful, reflective sheen.

"I mean, just look at this! Those girls do fantastic work! Before they came around, I hadn't seen this thing shine like this, since I first got it!"

"…"

For what seemed like a period of time that stretched on for eternity, Chiron just stared, his face setting into an almost emotionless deadpan, as the wind breezed by.

"You think we broke him?" Thalia asked, sounding somewhat serious, as she eyed the still form of the centaur.

"Possibly." Beerus shrugged, making his sword vanish. "It'd hardly be the first time, after all."

"…Why do you do this to me…?" Chiron finally asked, after a beat, groaning to neither in particular. His hand massaging his face in exasperation. "Why mess with me, on something so scandalous?"

"Not our fault you chose to take it how you did. I'd thought you smarter than that, Chiron." Beerus tsked, though the grin on his face made it clear he found the deliberately orchestrated misunderstanding funny.

"Can't go blaming him too much, uncle Beerus. I mean, if any of those tales about you running off with young maidens are true, his reaction is kinda understandable." The daughter of Zeus giggled. "What did a few of those old poets say about that Phoenician princess, whatever her name was? That she was 'only just' blooming into a beautiful maiden of marriageable age, before you took her in the middle of the night, struck with lust, and she was never seen by her family again?"

"Phoenician…?" Beerus blinked. "Hmm… Not ringing a bell, I have to say. Hey Chiron, remind me again, was that one named Dido Phoenician?"

"You mean the founder of Carthage? Yeah, she was." The centaur nodded, steadily regaining his composure, as he recalled the woman. "If I recall right, you did give her a blessing to assist in her goals…"

"Ah, yes. She was a better cook than she was a ruler, if you ask me." The destroyer smirked. "I can still recall that special puls dish she made as weekly tribute, like it was yesterday. Delicious."

This gave Thalia pause, as she eyed him. "Hold on, you mean those poets were actually…"

"Dido was a little older than you are now, when I first met her, in person." Beerus, in a rare moment, chose to actually clarify, before he shrugged with a broadened smirk. "As for how the tale went with her beyond my blessing and her tribute? Ponder on that, as you will."

"Ugh. Damnit, uncle…" Thalia threw her head back with a groan. "If you were dad, I wouldn't even have to think about it."

"Too bad for you I'm not." The Olympian snorted, before something finally occurred to him. "By the way, you didn't seem surprised that I'm here."

"Why would I be?" She rose a brow at him. "You told me two weeks ago you were thinking of taking a trip down to camp, so I've kinda been expecting your arrival for a bit."

"Wait, he did!?" Chiron balked. "Thalia, why didn't you say anything? We could've been better prepared for Lord Beerus' visit, if we knew he was thinking of coming!"

At this, Thalia looked sheepish as she rubbed the back of her head. "Ah. Sorry, Chiron. Forgot to mention it…"

"You forgot…" Chiron dragged his hand down his face, before letting loose a sigh. "I suppose, in your defence, Lord Beerus saying he was thinking of coming, doesn't mean he actually would… Even though he has…"

"Eh. She can tell you the next time I think about coming here. If I ever do." Beerus shrugged, before turning back toward the entrance. "Anyway, I think we're done here. Lead the way, Chiron!"

"Ah! Alright." The centaur turned as well. "We still have Pan's, Hypnos's and Nyx's cabins to see inside, or if you'd prefer, we could pivot and visit inside more of your children's cabins, next?"

"Leave the cabin exploration at that, for the moment. I'd like to start seeing the other sights now." The King said, as they walked out of Zeus' cabin, back unto the pathway.

"Oh, and before I forget my manners. Thalia..." Beerus turned back momentarily, only to blink when he saw the daughter of Zeus standing next to him, as the doors to her father's cabin closed.

"No need for a goodbye just yet, uncle Beerus." She said with a small laugh, sensing what he'd been about to say. "How about I join you guys for a bit?"

"Didn't you say you had a planned get-together with your friends?"

"I did." She nodded at Beerus's question. "But that was before you showed up. News of you being here has got to have reached Luke and Annabeth by now, and I know Luke won't want to pass up finally seeing you for himself."

"A fan, is he?" Beerus quirked his lips in humour.

"I don't know if I'd go that far." She giggled again. "But he's definitely been eager to meet you, after everything he's heard. Mostly from me and Annabeth, since he takes nearly every single story about you with a huge grain of salt, more than most. What with them being all over the place."

"Sounds like a clever kid." Beerus acknowledged, before he turned and began walking again, a signal for Chiron to do the same, as Thalia moved along beside him, knowing she had his silent permission to do so, as otherwise, he would've said so. "A son of Hermes, I believe you told me once? He should be at least a little entertaining, if he's inherited any of his father's mischievous spirit."

Note to self, try to make sure any interaction Lord Beerus may have with the Stoll brothers is as limited as possible. I dare not to think of the catastrophe that would ensue, if he chose to bless those boys, as he did for that other son of Hermes, in the past, for his own amusement… Chiron thought with a barely supressed shiver.

Those two's pranks were mostly harmless, if quite irritating at times. With Beerus's boon though?

They'd be nothing short of bringers of chaos terrorizing the camp, while Beerus probably laughed his ass off at the carnage.

Yeah… He definitely didn't want to deal with that.

This visit was going smoothly, so far, and he'd much rather keep it that way.

"So, where to first, Chiron?" Beerus piped up, breaking the hero trainer from his thoughts. "Hopefully not anywhere dull."

"The amphitheater." Chiron said almost automatically, knowing well of Beerus' passion for combat, even holding it as a domain. "There should be a few campers there, at least, who I'm sure would be more than happy to give you a demonstration of their fighting ability."

"Against each other, or against me?" Beerus smirked. "Because the latter might be more amusing."

"I… I'm sure they'd be willing to test themselves against you, yes…" Chiron cringed, hoping none of them were stupid enough to do so.

Thalia was one thing, being a child of Zeus and thus much more resilient, but most other campers?

A single spar with Beerus could easily see them folded like origami with how the destroyer conducted himself in those, even when he was taking things easy, as far as the centaur remembered.

All Chiron could do, was hope for the best, as they made their way there, with Thalia chatting animatedly with her uncle along the way.

They soon passed by plenty more campers, as they did. Most choosing to keep themselves and simply watch the King of Gods walk by in awe, while a few were gutsy enough to eventually make their way near and – respectfully, thank Olympus – greet and ask the destroyer questions.

Some were silly things, like "Why don't you have a beard?", or "Is this what you really look like?".

Beerus actually answered those ones honestly, instead of messing with them, to his small surprise, in saying beards just weren't his thing, and that yes, this was his true appearance, not just a form he took.

Then came more of the questions Chiron had known would crop up, and as he thought, Beerus gave the kind of responses he expected, for the most part.

"Is it true that you made all the Gods be naked during a party on Olympus, and then made them do silly dances for a laugh?" An 8-year-old son of Apollo snickered, finding the image funny.

"I'm not sure. There's been plenty of parties on Olympus, and they always got a little wild. Hard to keep track of anything said or done, especially when a certain nectar or Dionysus' wine gets involved."

"Did you really destroy an entire city because its king served you stale food?" A ten-year-old son of Hephaestus asked curiously.

"It is never wise to serve any God poor food, and yet, more than a few were stupid enough to do it with me. Enough to where it's hard to keep track of what punishment I might've given. Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. Can't remember."

"Was Typhon really so strong, he made even you flee to Egypt, when he first attacked Olympus?" A grownup son of Pan broached.

"Ahh. Egypt. You should've seen it in its heyday, kid. The structures, people, their clothes, culture, food…"

Beerus's expression became one of near-reverence, as he seemed to reminisce. The actual question itself either ignored or forgotten.

"All of it was sublime. One-of-a-kind. Some of the local Gods there were fine cats to be around, too. Mafdet, Sekhmet, Bastet…"

Those closest to the God could've sworn they heard a delighted purr as he listed off those three deities in particular, before a disgruntled look came over him.

"Damn shame I was asleep when Egypt fell for good 1800 years ago. Cleopatra's dumbass descendants couldn't inherit even a tenth of either her or Julius's brains, and just had to piss away all of her efforts to restore that beautiful kingdom to prominence. Could've ruled the world to this day, if they'd played their cards right, but of course, they had to screw it up."

The son of Pan could only blink, falling behind in his step, as he processed what he'd been told, even though it had nothing to do with what he'd asked.

He was swiftly replaced by more questioning youngsters, anyway.

"Do you love Hypnos?" A dark-skinned, 14-year-old daughter of Hypnos eventually asked with nervous eyes and a faint, reddish hue to her cheeks, before leaning in to whisper in his ear. "And dad was never clear on this, but… is it true that you, uhh… have "fun" together, away from prying eyes, within your dreams?"

"Firstly, I adore him more than you could ever imagine. Without Sleep, the world would be a terrible place I wouldn't want to be in. His contribution will never not be appreciated as one of the greatest in the Universe, for what he does for me." Beerus replied in earnest, grinning with great cherishment. "As for your second question? Depends on what you mean."

He then gave her a seemingly quizzical look. "There's plenty of ways to have fun in your own dreams, when you're in control and have a bit of imagination. We tend to mess around quite a bit in ours."

"A-Ah…!" The poor girl didn't quite know how to respond to that, cheeks now fully flushed, as her mind ran wild with what he could mean by that, but which he gave no conclusive answer for, nor did his tone give anything away, as she lost step with him, too.

Both Chiron and Thalia, who were just close enough to hear what she'd said, genuinely felt sympathy for her. The former especially, given that at one point in the distant past, he had wondered the same as what she'd been getting at.

"Is the real reason the Trojan War actually happened, because you promised Paris a favour for a great meal he gave you, and when he said he wanted the most beautiful woman in the world as a bride, you had my mom pluck away Helen of Troy right before she was married to that other guy?"

Hypnos' progeny was quickly forgotten then, as another demigod came forth to ask him that.

This one instantly recognizable to most in camp, as the 17-year-old Silena Beauregard, one of the more well-known daughters of Aphrodite, given she was the cabin counsellor, and one of the more beautiful girls in camp, who never failed to draw most eyes to her.

At average height, with a face already comparable to that of a supermodel's, her long, curly, luscious, dark hair waved around her lower back as she strode along. Each step showing off the exceptional curviness of her slim figure, particularly her meaty thighs, hips and round butt that her form-fitting, greyish pants did nothing to hide. Same as her orange top, which did well to show off her sizeable, jiggling breasts, even without any cleavage showing.

Her cerulean blue eyes were trying their damn best not to ogle his chiselled body too obviously, as a faint blush showed on her pale cheeks.

"Good question. Unfortunately, I'm drawing a blank on Paris. You should save that for your mother, when she visits you again. Since it involves her domains, she'd remember that best." The GOD answered her without answering anything.

Before Silena could come up with a reply, she was rudely and unceremoniously shoved nearly off her feet, as she stumbled away with a startled gasp.

Looking back as she righted herself, she saw the culprit and pouted angrily with her full, red lips, as another girl who most in camp could also immediately recognize took her spot, getting daringly close to Beerus's space. Closer than any other camper so far, other than Thalia, with a provocative strut and sway to her wide hips.

"Are you actually married to more than one person?" Drew Tanaka, Silena's slightly older half-sister asked.

She was a remarkably gorgeous Japanese girl with youthful features on par with Asian supermodels even without the makeup she wore, which further enhanced her looks. The bangs of her back-length dark hair that fell by and framed her face having delicate curls, as the rest was held up in a dainty ponytail.

Her figure, clothed in similar clothes to her sibling, as slender and curvaceous as Silena's, but significantly taller, at almost 5'9, with less meaty thighs, but larger, bouncier breasts and equally round rump.

Her wrists and fingers were full of expensive-looking jewellery, which her mother had gotten her, and her nails were long and painted ruby-red, as they curled over Beerus's shoulder, feeling the resistance of his dense muscles with rapt interest and desire.

Her usual stuck-up, rude attitude she was known for, and had just demonstrated with her sister, took a backseat to a more lustful one, now that she was beside the destroyer, as she openly eyed the King of the Gods' muscular, handsome form up and down with a blush.

"Because I don't mind being another, if you're willing, Lord Beerus~." She added huskily, minty breath ghosting passed her own full, red lips in a way that would've had any boy at camp shuddering, as she openly took a shot at him.

Chiron blew out another exasperated sigh as they trekked on, while Thalia tried very hard not to stare in disbelief at the girl for her sheer audacity, as Beerus just laughed.

"Quite forward, aren't you?"

"Like my mother always told me, if I really want something – or someone – I shouldn't hesitate to assert myself and take them." She shot back with a level of confidence to make Aphrodite proud, as she smiled saucily. Her words beginning to carry a subtle, hypnotic sway that would easily ensnare most mortal men and a few deities, as she squished one of her boobs against his arm. "So, what do you say? Willing to give us a try, my king~?"

Beerus simply raised an eyebrow at her, with quirked lips. "Trying to use charm-speak on me, are you? You've got some guts I'll give you that much."

He then patted her on the head as though she were still but a child, much to her embarrassment, before leaning down so they were eye-to-eye, as he walked. His amber pools boring into her brown ponds with a glowing intensity she wasn't ready for, as a shiver involuntarily went down her spine.

"Better than you have tried and failed, though. And if I were you, I'd be very careful about what I'm asking for, because you might just be biting off way more than you could ever chew, presuming I ever took you up on that offer."

The Asian teen's face lit up like a Christmas tree, dirty mind running a little too rampant, as the way he glared into her eyes conjured up more than a few images in her imagination that were unsafe for the eyes of anyone below a certain age, as she gulped nervously.

Suddenly a lot less confident now in the face of such intensity, Drew ducked away from the God as fast as her mother ducked under the sheets of a bed, when in the company of someone who'd caught her eye.

Beerus pointedly ignored the hints of arousal his nose picked up, not just from the fleeing teen, but from numerous other daughters of Aphrodite that'd witnessed the exchange, the rooted Silena included, as he rose back to his full height.

Nobody called him on the fact he never answered Drew's first question, either, as the amphitheater finally came into view.

"Oh, what in Olympus' name is this?" Chiron muttered under his breath, once he caught sight of the entrance to the structure.

An entrance currently being blocked off by most of the members of the Ares cabin.

And at the centre of the group, holding a five-foot spear made of celestial bronze, which flickered menacingly with red light at the tip, was someone Chiron and Thalia knew all too well.

A 16-year-old Caucasian girl of greater than average height, taller than Drew, with an attractive, but harsh-looking face, and a brutish attire that looked ready for a fight, with a sleeveless red shirt to show off her tensed and muscular arms, cargo pants and celestial bronze-tipped boots.

Her form itself held an ample bosom jutting through her shirt, which absolutely nobody had been ballsy enough to comment on, for fear of getting gorged, and decent curves that were overshadowed by her overall build of a muscular rugby player.

Her long and stringy pale-brown hair that fell passed her shoulders dropped a few strands by her face, giving off an almost wild look to her, as the girl's dark "pig eyes" as some other campers had put it glared forth, narrowed on their group's approaching forms.

Strangely, to other campers who weren't a part of the Ares cabin, none of the God of War's children held the trademark sneer of their father, at the minute.

If anything, despite the brave faces they were putting on, they all looked suspiciously nervous and afraid, if one looked close enough.

Chiron instantly got a bad feeling that either something had gone wrong, or was about to go wrong, as he made to call out to the group, and their leader, the ever-aggressive bully of other campers, Clarisse.

Clarisse beat him to it, though, raising her voice into a challenging shout over the din of the other campers still around them, as with all the aggression and bravado she could muster, she pointed at Beerus.

"Hey grandpa! So long as you're not a damn chicken, I dare you to come inside here and fight us!"

Silence instantly followed this.

The other campers balked in shock nearby. Thalia included.

A shadow had come over Beerus's face, obscuring his eyes, as any trace of a smile fled him, and all came to a stop.

And as for Chiron?

Currently contemplating his own existence, as he prepared to kiss any smooth sailing goodbye.