A Dishonored Demigod

A Peaceful Visit

Perseus waited at the edge of Alaska with Ulquiorra and Wonderweiss at his sides,"Remind me again why we're doing this?" Wonderweiss grouches.
"One of the goddesses brought up her biased view on our kind and Perseus-sama simply wants to show her how wrong she is," Ulquiorra answers.
Perseus grins,"Correct Ulquiorra. Artemis is the goddess of virginity and despises men. Coupled with the fact she hunts down our numbers without even considering that it's just instinct that drives us makes her very dangerous."
The three wait until Hestia appears in a burst of warm fire with Artemis, Annabeth, Reyna, Thalia, Phoebe, and Jason. I open my arms in a fake greeting,"Welcome! Hope you enjoy your stay!"
Hestia gasps and rushes to him,"What happened to you?!"
Perseus coughs sheepishly,"I'll tell you later, when we're alone. Ulquiorra. Wonderweiss. Grab them."
Before the demigods and goddess can object the two arrancars manage to grab them and vanish in a sonido. Hestia sighs,"Did you really have to do that?"
Perseus shrugs,"It was funny. Anyways, we should make sure nobody gets killed."
His face scrunched up in concentration before he sighs apologetically,"Can you do it please? My body and power is still messed up from a new transformation."
Hestia places a hand on the monster's shoulder and the two vanish in a burst of fire and materialize in front of the woozy demigods,"Sonido takes a few times to get used to. Welcome all to my home. Welcome to Haven."
The demigods look around in amazement and a shadow covers the group. Perseus looks up and grins,"Down here Lej!"
The massive being looks down with its two portholes for eyes and kneels down, going slowly to avoid crushing any of the humans under him. When he's done he extends an open hand and Perseus gestures the group forwards,"Get on," and seeing Artemis' scowl quickly adds,"don't worry about Lej, he wouldn't hurt a fly unless he was attacked."
Perseus pushes the wheels of the wheelchair he's confined to onto Lej's hand and the gentle giant lifts him to a hollow in his chest and allows him to wheel into the hole. The young monster thanks him and the others hesitantly climb onto the giant's hand while Ulquiorra and Wonderweiss use sonido to land on his shoulders. The giant starts rising up and takes his passengers with him until he's at his full height and lumbers towards Haven. Annabeth and Reyna look back at the giant and the Roman is the one to ask the question that's on everyone's mind,"What sort of monster is he?"
Lej brings his hand closer to where Perseus is seated and the black haired man answers,"Lej is a very old monster. The last of his kind actually. His kind were called Pygons, giants made out of enchanted stone and machinery. They were a peaceful race until the Asgardians moved in on their territory and drove them to near extinction, with only a few escaping by retreating into the ocean. Lej here just showed up one day last year, scared the crap out of everybody at first."
Jason looks down at Lej's hand and gasps,"Incredible. I can see the electricity going through pipes that mimic veins."
Perseus grins,"Yes, its amazing how much his anatomy is like a human's. We can discuss this later though. For now, enjoy the view."
Artemis turns from staring at the beast and the demigods follow suit as their mouths drop open in shock. A circle of evergreens surrounds Haven as a transparent bubble presses against the demigods' and goddess' bodies before allowing them in. A swarm of bats swarm past them along with a group of birds with flames rolling off their plumage. One of them birds lands on Perseus' shoulder and nips his ear affectionately,"And hello to you my friend."
The bird lets loose a melodic cry and takes off from his shoulder to rejoin its flock and he notices Reyna staring at him,"What?"
"That," and she swallows,"that was a phoenix?"
"Yup!"
Her eyes trail the birds as they move out of view,"How did you find such beautiful creatures?"
Perseus frowns,"I found Dedric, the phoenix who landed on me, when a group of humans who practice dark magic tried using his immortal life force as a sacrifice to open a portal to Hell and contract a demon. On another note never try eating demon flesh without a glass of milk, very spicy."
Reyna's face turns green at what the monster implies but Perseus looks up at Lej,"Right here. Let us down here."
The giant gives no indication it heard the monster but lowers its hand to the ground for the group to get off and makes a ramp for Perseus to roll down. Mia and Ignitus are waiting on the ground when the group is all together and lets Perseus wheel past them,"Come along children. You mustn't get lost or your parents will worry."
Artemis' face darkness in anger at the blatant disrespect but she's stopped from acting upon the emotion when Ignitus' eyes become a slit pupil and lightning dances over Mia's skin. The group follows after the monster and Annabeth asks,"Where are you taking us?"
Perseus glances back at her,"Since this was brought up on Olympus by the redhead, the orphanage."
The group makes their way down streets and the gaze of every disguised monster is on them, with some snapping their jaws together or let their hands become claws. One makes a move to take a chunk out of Thalia and is thrown back when Perseus mutters,"Thrust!"
The monster slams into the wall of a building and slides down unconscious. Perseus' lips lift upwards as the tattoos that herald his transformation spread across his face and his neck to show a gleaming set of fangs bared in a dreadful snarl. An aurora of pure terror rises from his being as he hisses,"Take this one to the clinic and have him fixed up. Any other attempts to harm our visitors will result in the loss of a limb!"
A group of smaller monsters carries the attacker off and the rest give the group a wide berth while not meeting Perseus' eyes as he wheels past them. The group of demigods continues on in silence before Reyna whispers to Mia,"Why did he react so strongly? Considering he views us as enemies, I'm surprised."
Mia checks to make sure Perseus isn't listening before she whispers,"Honestly, I don't know why he does what he does half the time. I'm actually pretty sure he just acts on random whims for the majority of the time. In this case though, his dominance and standing as the unofficial leader was challenged."
She freezes when she feels eyes on her and looks forwards to see Perseus glaring back at her with the shadows from his hair making him appear more menacing. Mia gulps and clams up for the rest of the walk until they reach a three story building made up of what seems to be several trees twisted together to form the rough outline of the building. All is quiet until Perseus puts his fingers to his lips and lets out a shrill whistle.
From all around them children ages 4 through 13 emerge from different sections of the,literal, treehouse. Each one is different, but all have at least one abnormality ranging from simple claws to patches of scales that decorate their skin. They creep forward with caution until they notice one particular visitor,"Auntie Hestia!"
The goddess is swarmed by the children and many of the young who are still dependent on instinct try to get her to pet them or simply dart around her. The goddess has a soft smile on her face and her eyes are a soft orange,"Hello little ones. I hope you haven't given Monique much trouble while I was gone."
Said werewolf appears leaning against the entrance of the orphanage,"Nah, they've all been bundles of joy ever since Perseus told them you'd be visiting."
From behind her legs a small girl with dark hair and golden eyes peeks out at the group and bolts into Perseus, causing his wheelchair to be moved back a few inches,"Well hello there little one. I don't think I've had a chance to meet you yet."
The girl mutters something that only Perseus hears and the monster easily lifts the girl onto his lap,"What was that?"
The girl leans to whisper in his ear and Perseus grins,"It was no problem. That human had it coming to him."
He rubs her head and the tension in the girl's shoulders melts away while two cat ears pop up from being pressed against her head and a slender tail curls around his arm. He continues petting her for a minute more before placing her on the ground and gives her a gentle nudge towards Hestia,"Go join the others. You'll like Hestia."
The girl nods silently and darts over to the goddess while Mia and Ignitus answer questions asked by the demigods,"Yes, they all have monster blood in them. Yes, they're all ones that the boss has picked up from different cultures. No, they aren't hostile. No, they aren't trained to fight yet."
By the time the two are done answering questions Hestia has herded the kids away and is entertaining them by creating different images made of gentle orange fire. Perseus turns and glares at the goddess Artemis,"Careful little goddess. I might mistake that look in your eyes as a threat."
The goddess pauses in her glaring at the children and grits her teeth,"Why do you even bother? In the end all monsters only care about themselves. All those monsters who served Kronos and Gaea did so out of personal greed and concern for their selves! For all you know these children could stab you in the back and claim your power!"
Perseus' eyes narrow at her tone and the hand rest on his chair cracks,"If it ever would come to that, and that's a big if, then I will simply retreat from this place."
Artemis scowls at his answer before smirking,"So you'd act like a coward? I never took you for a runner."
Perseus wheels over to her and even sitting he's still able to look her teenage form in her eyes. Cold red looks into moonlit silver and the monster gives her an arrogant smirk,"As they are now, and as their growth projects, they will never overcome me. I am the strongest in this place in both magic and body. As for my leaving...I would with those who wish to remain with me."
He wheels past her but gets off a parting shot,"Unlike you, I offer a choice even after my followers take their oath. If they wish to leave they may leave without consequence and without my interference in their lives after."
He grins when he feels the atmosphere behind him change,"You hate it don't you? You hate that," and his grin turns feral,"I'm right. You hate that one of the very things you perceive as insignificant is better than you."
He moves his head to the side as the goddess sails past and there is mirth in his eyes,"Oh, did I hit a nerve?"
The goddess glares at him and he can see Mia and Ignitus appear at his sides with their hands resting on their swords,"Now now. I'll deal with this myself."
They back down while Artemis raises herself off the ground,"You intend to fight me in a wheelchair?!"
Perseus easily rises from the metal chair and stretches,"What made you think I needed it in the first place? True my body was recovering, but I was physically sound. My magic and other...various powers returned while I was at rest."
He snaps his fingers and his brand glows before a dome of light yellow energy cuts them off from the rest of the world,"In here you are free to use your full might. In other words: hold back and I'll kill you."
He gets into a boxing stance while willing Thrafsma's tattoos to fully cover him,"Well then shall we begin?"
Artemis scowls and summons a silver bow that practically pulses with divine power,"I'm going to enjoy this."