A Son From Lands Unknown (PJO x Male Reader)

Entering Dis, Meeting Mammon

By now, (Y/N) had reached the sixth circle of Hell, Heresy. After Lust, none of the rings were all that interesting since no souls were being tortured. The most interesting part was the fifth, which was actually quite nice. In it, hills and fields were boundless, with plenty of room to run around and lie in what felt like actual sunlight. Overall, it was surprisingly quite nice, if you ignored the boiling river of blood that was the Styx.

But that was behind him. Now, he was standing at the walls of Dis, the Hellish city. It was the most likely place for the Sins, and by extension his father, to be living. (Y/N) walked up to the massive iron gates emblazoned with scenes of human suffering. The same turn of phrase on both gates before was seen across the center of the gate; Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here. On either side of the walkway towards the gates, there were flaming pits that roared with flame, awaiting a soul to burn.

(Y/N) knocked on the giant iron gate, which almost sounded like a bell when knocked on. The doors ground open, the eternally rusted hinges sounding like a Banshee's shriek as they opened. (Y/N) covered his ears, fearing they would bleed if he hadn't. Once the doors were open, he could see that some demons were looking at him. Apparently, no one had ever knocked on the door, at least not any time that the demons who were now staring at him could remember.

(Y/N) put one of his hands up, the other on the handle of his cane, showing that he was not a threat. "I have walked through the last five circles of Hell, alive, so that I might obtain an audience with Mammon, my father, and by extension the other Sins. So where can I find them?"

One of the demons laughed, with others soon following. "Not possible, mate," one of the demons said, bearing a Cockney accent. "Can't have kids with 'umans, not anymore. So 'ow can one of 'em be Mammon's kid?"

"How many of you have been bold enough to try?" (Y/N) asked. "And how many of you are on the level of a Sin?"

The Cockney demon looked back, clearly having doubts. Sighing at the fact he hadn't been believed, (Y/N) pulled out Tentazione. "Could a normal human hold this properly?" he asked. "This is one of Mammon's Infernal Arms. I ask again, could a normal human hold this properly?"

The demon's face morphed into a scowl. He turned to one of the other demons, who rolled their eyes and moved further into the city.

"You'll get your audience, mate," the Cockney demon said. "Careful not'ta get yourself killed."

"I'll keep that in mind."

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"Well, didn't expect you to make a house call," Mammon said, pouring what was clearly an attempt at whiskey into a glass. "Want a drink? Not as good as what you have up top, but it's about the best we can get. "

"No thank you," (Y/N) declined. "And no, I wouldn't normally be making a house call. Getting here was certainly an interesting experience, and not one I'm eager to repeat, but it's urgent. I... I think the trumpets are about to blow, and I want to stop it."

Mammon moved his head back in shock, sighing through clenched teeth. "Hell of a problem to solve, pun not intended. What's making you think it's coming?"

"A combination of things, really," (Y/N) said. "I got a prophecy back at Camp Half-Blood, saying I need to help reform all of you into Lucifer, or else I would, 'see the End, and Hell shall fold.' Though, I feel like raising the Morning Star would also cause that."

"Yeah, I imagine Heaven would take issue with that," Mammon said, taking a sip of his alcohol, "but what reason would Heaven have to blow the trumpets with the status quo?"

"The other Sins listening in?" (Y/N) asked. Mammon nodded his head, having already checked. "Then I heard your conversation with Michael. He was like a rabid dog chomping at the bit, and I know he has at least someone's ear up there."

"And I might have given him all he needs to convince them..." Mammon sighed. "In that case, I can see the reasoning behind making his fears reality. Having Lucifer back may dissuade them from actually following through, at least for a time."

"Yeah, so how do we convince the other Sins?" (Y/N) asked.

"Well, you're fighting in that Titan war," Mammon said. "How's that going? What do the Titans want?"

"Not great," (Y/N) admitted. "Half-bloods are defecting by the dozen, and for once the Greek gods aren't fucking enough to replace them." That remark nearly caused Mammon to spit out his drink.

"As for what they want," (Y/N) continued, "I can probably best describe it as undoing what Lucifer did with the apple. Humanity ignorant, shivering and cowering in caves, jumping at the movement of shadows on the wall. Massive reduction in lust because that's more mouths to feed, near-elimination of pride since the only thought will be surviving until tomorrow, less commerce to feed you, and constant busywork means Belphagor's going to have no time to rest. Not to mention that fewer humans means fewer people to do any kind of sin."

"And if they try to sell it to Heaven, they'll only include that first and last part..." Mammon sighed. "Yeah, I think that should be enough to convince enough of the Sins. Certainly convinced me."

"Well that didn't take you long," (Y/N) said, almost suspicious at how easy it was to convince his father.

"Heaven killing us all would be bad for business, as would the Titans achieving their objectives," Mammon explained, pouring another drink. "I exist to perpetuate Greed, even if it kills me."

"And that means making me?" (Y/N) asked, smirking.

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy," Mammon said, smirking and shrugging one of his shoulders.

(Y/N) chuckled a little bit before continuing. "Earlier, you mentioned 'enough of them'?" he asked. "I thought the decision had to be unanimous."

"Nope, we can drag a minority of them kicking and screaming," Mammon said. "Leviathan is probably going to need it, as will Beelzebub and Satan. Levi's an old friend, but sometimes you just need to do an intervention."

"So how do we go about it?" (Y/N) wondered.

"Not entirely sure myself," Mammon chuckled. "Never been done before, and it's not like the ol' rebel never gave us an instruction manual."

"Oh, lovely. Any guesses?"

"Well, I imagine that whatever we need to do, we need to do it somewhere in the ninth circle," Mammon said. "Ever since we got here, there's been a circle carved into the ice. It has seven other circles along its perimeter, likely one for each of us, seven rectangles damn close to each of those circles, and a bunch of glyphs inside that I won't even try to figure out."

"Can you take me to it?" (Y/N) asked, hoping the answer was yes.

He would end up disappointed. "No, I can't," Mammon said. "When J incarnated, we knew we were living on borrowed time. We approached Heaven with an offer. We would never approach that circle, and the glyph therein, and Heaven would make no advances on Hell."

"But Heaven is clearly about to break that deal."

"Each of us Sins knew the others hated rules and being restricted," Mammon explained. "As a result, we made a deal amongst ourselves. Each of us would create a demonic guard, answerable only to their creator, or someone who can answer the riddle. Until we talk to at least three other Sins, we aren't getting in there."

"Alright, who's first then?"

"Well, the easiest is probably going to be Belphagor, then Asmodeus. You want to try convincing those two, while I take care of Samael, and try Levi?" Mammon suggested. "Beelzebub and Satan are most definitely going to need to be dragged kicking and screaming. Though."

"But I thought you just said the guards only answer to their creator?" (Y/N) asked.

"OR answer the riddle," Mammon reminded. "Fortunately, those two can only think of one thing apiece: food and fighting."

"Oh, so your average pop-culture Vikings," (Y/N) chuckled, his father joining in.

"I suppose so," Mammon sighed. "Now go, you can find Belphagor in the forges, closer to the center of Dis."