A Dishonored Demigod

Interlude 2

She once more saw him. She saw his grief over killing his one-time friend and his world's true hero. Saw him grieve in private before the rest of the gods arrived to find him cradling the broken body of Luke Castellan while the ground around them was stained with the blood dripping from the corpse's ears, nose, and mouth while his pores weeped blood from the strain created by overloading his fragile body with the power he needed to bypass the Styx's blessing and liquefy the corpse's innards. She could see the horrified awe present on everybody's face even as the ground cracked and the skies above them roared with thunder.
She saw them pry the cold body from his frozen hands and help him stand on numb legs. She saw his glassy eyes as they directed him to the throne room and let him sit on a plain marble bench. She saw his encounter with the fates and bore witness to his own end before the dead fire in his eyes sparked anew to drive away the image. For a brief moment she could swear that all three fates wear a faint smile full of equal parts ecstatic joy, and inconsolable sorrow.
That image stays with her until her servant's name is called,"Perseus Jackson. Step forward."
At that moment her third person view shifts to first person inside her servant, but with no control over her body. Her servant does so and the only sound present besides his footsteps in the crackling of the hearth,"Yes."
The majority of the gods wince at the emptiness present in his voice,"It is because of you that our power remains, and that we didn't fall against Typhon. You fought Kronos to a standstill and then managed to overcome him. For this act we have decided to grant you immortality as your father's lieutenant."
"No."
His answer shocks everybody gathered,"As much as I wish to see my father more I have no desire to give up my mortal life just yet. Besides, I don't think I could abide by the rules that come with being a god."
His answer is logical to a fault for those who know him,"However, I do have some simple requests that could supplement for immortality. I just want your word that you'll abide by my wishes."
Zeus growls,"You don't trust us?! I should smite you where you stand!"
The ground trembles violently as sparks of raw energy dance across her servant's skin,"You may try."
Tensions are high when a soothing warmth washes over everybody and forcefully causes them to relax,"Brother," a plain brown haired woman, Hestia, says,"at least hear him out."
Zeus huffs but mutters,"I swear on the river Styx that your wishes will be fulfilled."
Thunder booms overhead to seal the oath,"Very well. My wish is simple but benefits you all greatly. What I want...is for you to claim every one of your children."
"Wait a seco-"
"I want Hestia and Hades to have their own thrones here on Olympus. Family should not be excluded. And lastly I want...I want you to allow the minor gods and goddesses to have a cabin at camp."
Once more the people filling the room are shocked both by the requests and the way their leader presents himself. Upright, calm, firm, and unflinching as he stares upwards into the eyes of existences that should be far more powerful than his own. A true pillar of steel that will not yield or bend for anything less than what he's asked. A warrior that's seen hell in its truest form, the senseless butchering of others and the blood of those who were not truly in the wrong staining his body.
The silent battle of wills continues for a minute before Zeus relents,"Very well, it will be done. Now though we shall celebrate our victory!"
The throne room is transformed into a party room with drinks provided by a smiling Dionysus and music from a combo of Apollo and the muses. As everybody dances and celebrates her servant slips out the entrance and wanders until he comes upon a group of minor gods and immortals rebuilding Olympus, but having trouble moving the rubble,"Here."
He stomps the ground to make the stone crack and splits the rubble into several manageable piles,"That should be easier for everyone."
He ignores the thanks he receives and moves even deeper into the heart of Olympus before stumbling on a intact section containing a small pond. Without even pausing he transitions from dirt and stone to the surface of the water. He keeps walking until he reaches the middle of the pond and stops to lie on his back with his body partially submerged to keep him cool, but not deep enough to distort the view of the tree branches above him,"That's better."
He can feel the water entering through his skin to repair the internal damage from both Kronos and his own actions before his/her eyes close as exhaustion finally takes them.
****
The next few months are a blur for her as she returns to her third person perspective to see her servant forcibly put to sleep for months, renewing the enchantment a few times when it starts to fade from his internal struggling. When he does wake up he's different with the fire in his eyes having become a wild inferno from lack of inhibitions and morals. His training at the Wolf House passes quickly as he excels in what Lupa teaches him before she sends him on his way west.
She sees his encounters with monsters and the way he forgoes his sword in favor of ripping them apart with his bare hands. See sees his meeting with Stheno and Euyrale and their tireless pursuit of him, with usually ends with him being forced to use his sword to dismember them to temporarily slow them down. Then she bares witness to the last leg of his journey and being forced to carry the disguised goddess across the Little Tiber. She sees his face contorts in pain as the Styx's blessing is ripped away, all save for his right arm which he holds above his head so it stays dry even as water splashes his face. She sees him reach the bank on the other side and seize control of the river to grab onto the witches following him and drown them before scattering their ashes all along its length.
When that's done she gets to watch him adjust to life at Camp Jupiter and compete in the war games. Calling him a demon wouldn't do his performance justice. He moved among the enemy like a warrior god, mowing down anybody who got in his way while using the hydro cannons to cause massive explosions to cover his two teammates. When the game ends many campers are being carried away and the rest give him a wide berth while his bloodlust settles. She sees the corpse of one of the leaders before the body starts breathing again and life returns to her eyes even as the spear is still lodged in her chest.
She sees Mars in all his terrible glory and the quest he sends her servant, his son, and Pluto's daughter on to release Thanatos. She sees them meet with Phineas and Perseus' water with the vials of gorgon blood he acquired from the sisters. She sees them drink and Phineas' slow death while more of her servant's memories are restored. As Phineas dies he looks at her servant,"Damn you halfling! Whether I live or die it makes no difference in the end! The gods will fall, I've seen it! If not by Gaea's doing then their own actions will condemn them!"
He looks over her servant's shoulder and stares directly at her,"I've seen it!"
With that he dies and the questers continue onwards to seek out help from the Amazons. When she sees the office of Amazon the delivery company a sweatdrop forms on the back of her head before she witnesses the women in action, totally catching the questers off guard. She sees them meet the queen and Hazel befriending the horse Arion that they use to escape. She sees them enter Alaska and fending off the siphliyn, and sees them visit Hazel's old home to rest before making the final leg of their journey. She sees them travel to Hubbard Glacier and meet the giant Alcyoneus. She sees her servant destroy the ice under him to bring down a small army of shades and trusting his companions to unchain death. She sees him annihilate the enemy under the water until they actually stay dead before retrieving the gold eagle stand. When he rockets out of the water he's greeted by an empty glacier and hunkers down for the wait.
He doesn't have to wait long as Hazel and Frank come charging back on Arion and they take a slight detour to loot the outpost of all the weapons and armor they can carry/strap down. She sees the battle they interrupt between the forces of Gaea and the demigods before her servant directly confronts the giant born to oppose his sire, Polybotes. She sees their fight spill over into the center of the camp as her servant is able to keep up with the giant with his memory fully restored. And ultimately, she sees her servant kill the giant with a talking statue's head.
The vision blurs past her once more and she gets snippets of the reunion with his girlfriend at the time and the journey over to Rome. Him meeting Bacchus and the fight between him and a blonde haired male, the meeting with Keto and Phorcys that ends in disaster and him ultimately boiling the crab monster they send after them later on. She sees them meet Heracles and the disgust her servant feels towards him before encountering his half-brother Chrysaor, the son of Medusa. Her heart aches along with her servant's at the rage present within his brother and sympathizes with the circumstance of his birth. She sees him let Chrysaor go even when he could've commanded the sea to drown him or crush him into golden powder.
She sees his group enter Rome and later feels his rage towards Otis and Ephialtes concerning their actions towards his cousin and friend before he engages both with his blonde companion. She sees him use his earthquake infused blows to crush armor, bone, and their organs to keep them on their toes while at the same time providing Bacchus with entertainment before he steps in to finish the twins off. She sees Arachne and his decision to fall with his girlfriend into literal hell because of his loyalty.
When they reach the bottom though a searing migraine makes her phantom body curl up in a ball. She gets brief flashes of images of a red skinned man, silver eyes, a beautiful woman who's presence darkens creation, a flood of poison, and a hellish being who makes her headache worsen. She can feel regret, rage, hate, and the roaring fires of defiance within her servant as him and his girlfriend exit the underworld and return to the land of the living. Even as his other drops to the ground in exhaustion he remains standing to cut down the giant that dared to try and stop them. The last thing she sees before darkness overtakes her is his staring up at the stars and,"Bob says hello."
The next thing she sees can only be described one one word, bloody. A battlefield filled with the bodies of demigods and monsters alike. Earth and sky raged in battle as the gods and their children fought Gaea, with her servant leading the charge. For each blow they dealt her she would return it tenfold, smacking away every bolt of lightning, blast of fire, or beam of divine energy thrown at her. Soon enough the gods were thrown away like garbage and her servant's friend sacrificed himself to try and permanently cripple Gaea. She saw the explosion of flame and felt the heat even from her perspective before all was silent....for about ten seconds.
Then the laughter started, rolling over the hills and through the trees as Gaea once more rose up from the ground,"That was it, your last attempt? Then this is over."
"Not. Just. Yet."
Her servant was still standing somehow. He looked like hell, but he was still on his feet with Riptide clutched in his right hand,"This isn't over yet."
She watched the ground tremble under his feet as he limped, then walked, jogged, and finally sprinted towards Gaea with a fire in his eyes. She smiled and a blade of diamond leaped into her hand,"Very well son of Poseidon. You may have the honor of being my first personal victory."
Their meeting made the ground crack as enchanted bronze ground against gemstone. Her servant's arms shook in exhaustion, both mental and physical, while Gaea looked bored. Their fight was brief, and ended with her servant sprawled on the ground with Gaea's sword a centimeter from his adam's apple. That was when she saw Gaea's face change,"Those eyes. Just like his. Yes, you'll do splendidly."
From the ground rose a crystal container filled with red light, which promptly shattered to show the red orb flitting around before coming to rest in Gaea's hand,"Be honored mortal, for I will only let him have the best."
With that her hand plunges down and forces the orb into her servant's chest. His scream reaches the heavens as tattoos crawl over his skin, his eyes turn a bloody red, and his teeth sharpen into fangs. His body thrashes around even as his existence is at war in his body, fighting against the foreign invader. Outside Gaea simply watches,"Don't fight it," she whispers,"just accept and let yourself fade away."
Her servant thrashes even more as the tattoos crawl across the entirety of his body and blue fire starts to flicker from his arms. However, the invading soul and Gaea forget one thing,"No!"
Gaea is thrown away by the explosion of divine energy that flows off her servant as he forces himself to his feet. The tattoos have stopped covering his body and are being forced to recede,"My body is my own!"
The world itself trembles as her servant's will clashes with Gaea's,"My spirit is my own!"
Her sword shatters when he raises his right arm to block, the only part of his body not touched by the Little Tiber,"And my existence is my own!"
His eyes are a mixture of red and green as his will overcomes Gaea's own to wrestle control away from her,"And no one be they mortal, god, or something even greater will take what is my own!"
Defiance, that is what Gaea forgot. The human idea of facing impossible odds and spitting in the face of fate to somehow come out on top. And at this moment the idea is made human in the form of her servant. The battle resumes as her servant, now empowered by the soul who's will he subjugated gives him a second wind, while Gaea slowly looses power from her connection to the planet being severed. Eventually it ends when her servant uses his quakes to cause a geyser of molten rock to cover Gaea and thrusts his sword through her heart. For a moment, just before it pierced her, blue flames swirled around the weapon and she could see Gaea's eyes widen before her body breaks down and is carried off by the wind.