A Dishonored Demigod

The End Draws Near

One week after Perseus' return...
It's a peaceful morning in Alaska. The sun is shining, the wind gently rustles the tree branches, and the animals leisurely make their way through the woods until,"Hades damn it all!"
A flock of birds frantically ascends to escape the feeling of death that follows the scream,"Of all the-!"
On the ground Perseus focuses on casting a simple cutting spell but instead gets a blast of dark mud that erodes the ground away,"All that time put into mastering my spells, just for this curse to fuck it up!?"
He takes a deep breath and slowly turns his head when he hears a branch snap,"June, I thought I told you not to come near me until I can control-" and quickly changes his sentence when he sees his visitor,"Oh, hi Zoë. I thought you weren't gonna be able to visit for the next few days?"
The former huntress gives him an blank look and holds up a cellphone,"June called and told me about how much you've been stressing out over this. And from what I can see," she gestures to the clearing created by the mud,"she wasn't lying."
Percy gives her a mirthless chuckle,"The pain I can deal with because of my time holding the sky and my dip in the Styx. My pain threshold after that was enormous. In fact, my nerves have never fully recovered after the Styx."
He slowly relaxes and clenches his hands,"The real problem is that my magic energy has changed. Whenever I try to cast a spell it ends up as a curse. It's just so," and the ground around him withers,"ughhh!"
Zoë cautiously approaches him and places a hand on his shoulder,"Maybe you just can't use regular magic anymore. Have you tried some of those spiritual spells you told me about?"
She gets a quick nod,"Yeah, and even those are a fifty-fifty shot. Either a curse mixes with them or they literally blow up in my face."
She slowly sinks down to the ground, dragging him with her,"Explain this curse to me. Maybe there's something you've overlooked."
Perseus sighs and runs a hand through his hair,"Fine. Angra Mainyu is the name of the curse. A former human that through ritualistic mutilation became the vessel of all the world's evil. When he died his entire existence had become a curse in itself and he had ceased being human. Basically his curse was the container for all the curses that humanity uttered against one another, even after his death."
Zoë nods and speaks softly,"Then your existence has become a curse. It may be a simple as saying that as long as you are all the world's evil, your spells will be lost to you. You might be able to mimic some of your spells if you get creative enough, but they will just be pale reflections."
The demi-human's shoulders droop as he lets out a breath,"Yeah, I figured you'd say that. I was still holding out hope though."
He says nothing and the two just sit in the silence of the woods until evening before they return to Haven.
****
"This has gone on long enough!"
Eternity flinches at the sound of her brother's raised voice,"We've let him grow too powerful! Damnit Eternity, you could've prevented this!"
He looms over her,"All you had to do was simply set his fate after he gained victory over the Gaea! He could've very well have been our best soldier!"
"You mean your best."
The quick flash of anger that appears in her eyes goes unnoticed, but makes itself known by the irritation in her voice,"I can't simply mess with one specific person's fate like that and you know it! I have to then rewrite the fate of those that surround him or else the fallout could create a irregularity!"
Chaos steps back and snorts, causing her to go release some of her divine presence to silence him,"If you forget dear brother," she spits,"father placed restrictions on certain mortals before he entered his eternal sleep. If you had paid attention then you would know he listed Perseus among those humans!"
She only gets a sneer for her explanation,"Oh really? And you've never thought to, I don't know, try anyways?!"
Eternity stomps the ground, causing the celestial material to crack under her heel,"Watch your tone little brother before I remind you why you fear me as I fear our other sibling."
Her words causes Chaos' mouth to shut as he experiences a flashback of his sister standing over his bloodied and broken body,"And for your information I did try. The moment I touched his life thread I was rejected so badly that it took all of my power, and three weeks of recovery to be completely healed."
She pauses a moment to take a deep breath,"But you are correct, he has grown too powerful with the addition of those curses. For now though, let us continue to observe him and then determine what actions are to be taken."
She vanishes in a silver mist that rapidly dissipates, leaving Chaos fuming in the throne room,"Yes, actions must be taken. Not later, but immediately."
A murderous grin stretches across his face as and idea comes to mind,"Oh, that should work."
And without a second thought he too vanishes in a cloud of silver mist.
A Moment Later
The gods of Olympus are discussing matters when the torches and the hearth flickers just before a cloud of silver mist converges to give way to Chaos,"Lord Chaos."
Athena is the first to notice and all the gods go still for a moment before Zeus lightly coughs,"Greetings Lord Chaos. It's been quite a long time since you've last been seen."
Chaos smiles,"Ah yes it has. I believe the last time I set foot on this planet was to witness Romulus plant his spear in the ground that would later become to foundation of Rome."
His face looses all signs of pleasantry and he folds his arms behind his back,"Let us get to the chase then shall we? I am in need of you all to perform a simple task for me. I want you to wage war against your former hero."
You could hear a pin drop with how quiet the room bad after the statement,"Err, Lord Chaos," began Hermes,"we already tried that, and were brutally crushed. Perseus alone caused 25% of the casualties we sustained, while his monster army did the rest."
Chaos grimaces,"Ah yes, my brother's doing, along with Gaea's inadvertent help. Fear not though, for I will provide a way for your forces to stand on equal ground with him. This," and he creates a holographic image depicting his symbol,"is the mark I will give to any three warriors of your choosing. It holds a portion of my power that is equal to my brother's brand. And I will also provide you this."
A leather-bound book appears in his hand before it appears in Athena's hands,"Give this to Hecate. Inside are spells and enchantments that will allow you to enter Alaska with close to 75% of your full power."
Chaos smiles as the mist swarms him once more,"I trust you'll be able to follow my wishes? The next time I see you all you'd best have destroyed that monster."
****
In the Crossroads a pair of starry eyes observes the meeting,"Hmm, I wonder if I should tell him? No. It'd be much more entertaining to see his reaction."
The Outsider pauses for a moment, his concentration breaking when he detects the presence behind him,"I thought I told you to never come back here, Eternity."
The personification of fate shivers at the cold greeting,"I thought you'd like to know."
The Outsider twists his neck to glance at her for a moment before turning back to the mirror in front of him,"Really now? You'd risk your brother's anger just to tell me something as trivial as a declaration of war? Hardly. What is your game?"
Eternity pauses before taking a breath,"I want your help to strip him of his powers. In the past few centuries he's become more and more paranoid. You remember Pompeii don't you?"
The Outsider styles his hair as he answers,"Of course I do. Forcing a volcano to explode like that just because of a wild rumor that the citizens had found a way to contain immortality. Still, I'm surprised it's taken you this long to notice the change. No, you definitely noticed but chose to ignore the signs. Family above all else and all that."
Eternity sighs,"Correct. However, I need your help to defeat him. My warriors cannot stand up to his, and I can't kill him because of the rules placed on us by father."
"No, you can kill him," the Outsider says as he pulls at a knot,"trust me. Being forced to stay here for all my existence has given me ample opportunity to go over the rules binding us. You'd simply inhabit the body of one of your dogs and seal his fate before slitting his throat. The rules would recognize that the existence who did the killing would be the dog."
The knot comes undone and he turns to face Eternity once more,"You just don't have the spine to follow through. If I have Perseus do this then I want one favor I can cash in at any time. And I keep the dagger."
Eternity slowly nods and a plain looking dagger with a ruby at the base of its handle appears in her hand. She wordlessly passes the dagger over to her brother before taking a few steps back before the silve  mist surrounds her,"Please...be careful. I will be watching from the sidelines."
****
IN ANOTHER PLANE OF EXISTENCE, OUTSIDE OF TIME AND SPACE
The silhouette of a medium sized figure is hunched over a glass table that shows multiple images,"Hmm, how interesting."
The voice identifies the figure as a male as his hand swipes the image to the side to get another view,"As expected, his story is coming to an end. I wonder though, how will it end?"
A hint of white is the only indication that the figure is smiling,"However it ends, I'm sure that I will enjoy it."

I'm alive!!! After so many months of absence I'm finally back! Between college, my job, and personal affairs I've had to leave this unfinished for so long that it's not even funny. And by every thing that is holy I am finishing this book, that I swear!