[DanMachi/Percy Jackson] Prytaneum

Chapter 8: Lighthouse part 2

I told Hestia I'd need water for any serious demonstration and that doing it in the city would be difficult—which was true, though perhaps not for the reasons she considered. A lot of people think my powers don't work very well in the city but while it's a bit harder to get to, where there's people, there's water and that's especially true of a place where a lot of people live. While it may not be immediately obvious, it isn't difficult to find when you think about it; there were pipes in the walls, sewers beneath the streets, on and on—if I really had to, I could get to water pretty easily even if it wasn't just standing around.

But the thing about that is, it'd be really messy. Getting to pipes generally involves tearing them out of the wall or at least ripping them open inside them, while getting to the sewers means...well, breaking open a path to a sewer. If there was a conveniently placed manhole, I could use that and keep damage to a minimum, but otherwise...well, like I said. Messy. And stinky. And unhealthy, though I didn't need to worry too much about that myself. For everyone else's sake, however, I tried my best to keep sanitation and property damage in mind when fighting the forces of evil when they happened to jump me on the streets. There wasn't much point in doing it now, either, especially when I was trying to, if not lay low, avoid pissing off people needlessly.

In fact, think about it...if the Mist was gone or at least not working and people were aware of magic...then if I did spill a sewer all over the streets, could I get sued? I didn't usually need to worry about people suspecting me of using my powers to destroy stuff—not that that had ever kept me from expulsion—but it occurred to me now that people were aware that stuff like that was possible. How did the law work in a city filled with people empowered by the gods. Were there magic lawyers or did the powers that be just send some people to meet you in the parking lot when you started to be annoying?

...Probably best to avoid finding out if I could help it.

Anyway, it luckily didn't matter. Orario was constructed near several rivers and lakes and while it was a bit of a walk, it wasn't hard to get there. At least, Hestia didn't seem to consider it particularly dangerous—but then, I suppose that if I was a monster, I'd probably want to do my thing somewhere besides right next to an entire city full of monster hunters.

"Will this do?" Hestia asked as we reached the shores of a lake. The water's surface was pure and clear and it glimmered in the sunlight, but, more importantly, there didn't seem to be anyone around. Just in case, I walked until my feet were in the water and waited a moment before nodding. If there was anyone around, then at the very least I could be certain that they weren't in the water—if they were, I'd know.

"Yeah, this is fine," I answered, walking until I was up to my knees. "What do you want me to do first?"

"Um," Hestia paused as if she hadn't considered it until now before nodding, resolved expression returning. "You can control the water, right? Why don't we start with that?"

"Got it," I replied before glancing at her. "You might want to stand back a little, though."

After waiting for her to do so, I took a deep breath, feeling the water—and then pulling. At once, I felt the water pushing me upwards, twisting around and away from me until I was standing on its surface like it was a plane of sturdy glass. I didn't stop there, letting the water spiral up my legs until each was hidden by a miniature waterspout and I was being lifted steadily higher as I drew more water in. It was more awkward than anything, like trying to stand on something unsteady, but it looked impressive, if mainly because no one had seen me throw myself into the lake a few times practicing it.

Reaching down towards the water, I flexed my fingers once and felt the water react and rise into the shape of two massive hands. They mimicked my actual limbs as I clenched my fingers into fists and then opened wide towards the sky and I pushed myself further towards the center of the lake with my waterspouts. For my next trick, I decided to try something...not new, exactly, since I'd done it be for, but something I'd never done consciously. I tugged at the air and water both and felt them rise and spiral and swirl around me in my own personal hurricane, doing my best not to start humming anything by the Scorpions as I did so. The winds stirred the once calm lake's surface into a fury, sending it washing up onto the shore and spiraling harshly. I felt it moving and turned it, making it churn around me, rising and falling.

And then I took a breath and settled it down. The storm came undone, my watery limbs melted back into the calming lake, and the waterspouts holding me in the air lowered me back to the surface of the lake where I walked back towards the shore, and towards Hestia.

"Is that enough?" I asked, feeling a little tired. I'd wanted to do something really cool so she'd feel assured and wouldn't worry about me too much, but adding in the hurricane might have been a little much. I don't know if it was because it was something new or what, but it took a lot of energy.

Hestia looked a little stunned though, so I felt a bit pleased. I'd been worried when I first saw my Status, but it seems I wasn't too bad if she was impressed.

After a moment, she took another breath and murmured something along the lines of 'Right, demigod' before shaking her head.

"Which spell was that?" She asked, expression focused again. "You didn't even need to say its name to cast it."

"I don't know," I answered, shaking my head. "I've never needed anything like that before."

Tilting her head, Hestia seemed to realize something and nodded.

"Magic usually requires a chant of some kind," She explained, probably understanding that I knew nothing about magic. "Generally speaking, the longer the chant, the more powerful the spell. By the same measure, shorter chants result in weaker spells, but can be cast more quickly. From what my friends have said, the chant will usually be recorded in a person's Status, so when yours didn't have any, I suspected they may not need a chant at all, but to not even need a 'trigger'...I suppose it shouldn't be surprising, but your magic bares more in common with a god's Arcanum than a normal spell."

Words I didn't understand seemed to be popping up all over the place, so I just shrugged and pondered her previous question.

"If I had to guess, I'd say it was probably the Blood of Poseidon?" I mused. "Because it was Instant Magic, so that'd fit best, I think. It probably covers my control over water and stuff."

"Are there other things you can control?" She asked, looking surprised.

I nodded.

"Since my dad's the god of the sea, I can do stuff like control water," I said. "And though I've only done it a few times, I can create storms and earthquakes because he's the god of those things as well. I can speak to horses because my dad created them and do the same with sea life. I can control ships, too, since he was the god of sailors."

"Thinking about it, Poseidon certainly is the god of a lot of things..." Hestia mused with a frown. "What a broad spell..."

"I'm not sure all of those things are part of Blood of Poseidon," I replied. "The other two said they were Auto-Magic, right? So I figure they're probably things active on their own, like the horse thing and maybe the ship stuff. I have a few other things like that, too."

"There's more?" She asked, seemingly somewhere between confused and amazed. Which was understandable, I suppose; I had zero complaints about the powers I'd been born with, but I'd heard a fair number of annoyed complaints around the Camp about how I should figure out the difference between what I wanted and what I needed when it came to my powers. Although I'd never actually had any choice in that regard, I'd just gotten lucky. Or maybe not? Perhaps my dad had done something to help me with the Prophecy.

"I'm stronger when I'm in the water," I said. "And faster, too. My wounds heal quickly and I can even recover from poisons and stuff. Even my swordsmanship is better. That might be the Flesh of Poseidon?"

"Maybe," She replied, sounding like she felt out of her depth. "It could be an Enchantment-type spell, but...you said you could resist poisons?"

"Most of them," I answered with a nod, wondering why she was focusing on that specifically. After a moment, I remembered what had happened on the Princess Andromeda. "And some other stuff, too. I once fought a guy who could slow down time, but I was able to break free of it when I splashed some water onto myself."

Hestia closed her eyes for a moment and looked pained, but seemed resolved to move past it.

"I don't know about time," Hestia hedged, frowning slightly as said the words. "But resisting poisons is an effect of Abnormal Resistance. As it improves, it can cover a broader array of effects, as well."

"Ah," I said, understanding. "Yeah, you mentioned that. You think it's related?"

"Maybe," She mused, frowning. "It could be nothing, but there are Development Abilities that can make you stronger or provide healing. If I remember correctly, there's even a Swordsman ability. If it's Magic...no, if it's a divine spell especially, temporarily bestowing such a think might be possible. Can you fight while you control the water?"

I nodded and she sighed again.

"I suppose it's only natural if you can cast magic instantly," She said. "But it's normally very difficult to fight while casting magic."

"So I'm strong, even here in Orario?" I asked, making sure.

"You're strong," She confirmed. "Enough so to make me worry about you. A part of me has to wonder what Poseidon was thinking..."

I was silent for a moment before exhaling and looking towards the water.

"The first time I ever really spoke to my father, he told me I was a mistake," I said, remembering it. I'd understood what he meant eventually, but at the time it had hurt. "He apologized to me for causing my birth, because of the role it forced me into. I told him I didn't mind, but..."

I shook my head.

"I'm sorry," Hestia whispered.

"Don't worry about it," I said, shrugging. "My father loves me and he's proud of me, it's just that things are complicated, because I'm a demigod. A lot of people weren't happy when they found out I existed."

At that, she smiled, if a bit sadly.

"I'm happy," She told me. "At the very least, I'm glad you were born."

I chuckled a little at that and returned the smile honestly.

"I appreciate that," I said. "I'm glad I was born, too."