A Dishonored Demigod

One Day More

The northern god freezes, no pun intended,"I have no idea what you're talking about."
I don't let up on my smile, instead making it more prominent,"Then you're less observant than I thought. Not noticing that your only daughter was conspiring with Gaea to betray not only yourself, but also the other gods, really? I can only imagine the fallout if such a thing was revealed now that the Olympians are in a war frenzy."
My voice takes on a more wondering tone as I cycle through possibilities,"Perhaps she would be chained up in the depths of Hades, maybe even Tartarus if she's unlucky. Heavens knows that my sperm donor holds no love for her for what she did to their son Eumolpos, nor the sky god for her attempts to kill his roman son. And then there is the matter of her trying to freeze Leo Valdez alive. If she's lucky the only thing his father would do is possibly chain her underneath Mt. Saint Helens, which I hear is still mildly active from what I did awakening Typhon some years ago."
At this point Khione herself interjects,"You lie! If you were going to do anything against me it would've been after you defeated Gaea!"
"Perhaps, if I hadn't fainted from exhaustion and my soul wasn't recovering from the forced takeover Thrafsma attempted. By the time I woke up punishments had already been handed out and the grief from Leo's supposed death was still weighing me down. Now though, I'm not only in tip top shape, but my mind is free of all burdens. Not only that , but," and blue fire roars around me as my presence covers the area like a wet blanket, forcing the ice on the walls and floor around me to melt,"I've surpassed my limits both physically and magically."
Khione is forced to her knees as I stand and even Boreas is struggling against both the heat and my presence. A few steps forward puts me directly in front of the struggling goddess before I kneel down to grab her chin and yank her head up, losing all semblance of amusement,"So when I say that I will not hesitate to expose you for the traitorous whore you are, you'd best believe me. You tried to kill one of the few demigods that I still respect and trust." and my grip tightens, drawing a whimper of pain from her as my fingernails draw a few drips of ichor from her.
I glare down at her while increasing the fire around me until the heat becomes unbearable for her and glance at Boreas,"Now, as for what I want. I want your horses for my cavalry. I want your blessings," and glance down at the writhing goddess in my grip,"both of yours. It will be quite useful among the Alaskan ice fields."
I rear my arm back and throw Khione, sending her rolling across the floor to the feet of her father,"Do we have a deal?"
The glare I receive, if possible, would've killed me on its own without the need for the venom in the wind god's voice,"Yes. Take it and leave!"
A off-white aura leaves his hand and covers my entire being, sending chills up and down my spine for a moment before settling,"And the girl's."
A blue snowflake floats towards me and I crush it with my hand, feeling something else settling into place,"Good. I expect the horses in no less than two days."
A quick turn on my heels and I'm on my way out, only to pause as the god of the north wind makes some parting comments,"Know this Perseus, that one day I will take my revenge for this disgrace."
I pause for a second before snapping my wings out,"Get in line, and eventually I'll get to you."
****
Thrafsma
My feet shift in position as I gracefully dodge to the side, letting the fae blade pass just a few centimeters from my side,"I really do appreciate you helping me get back into fighting shape, boss."
Perseus grins across from me even as he lunges forward like a wolf going for the kill, only to stop just short as my tail lashes out where he would've been if he had continued,"No problem. Besides, I get the feeling that when the time comes you'll be wanting to take your one, or ten, pounds of flesh for what Zeus did to you."
He ducks as my tail whips just over his head and I'm forced to hop back as stakes of rock emerge from the ground in an attempt to pierce my body from head to toe,"You're not wrong, but I'll settle for a few others as a warm up so he can build up some anxiety."
Azure flames burst to life along my forearms and lower legs as I drop down to all fours. The spines that had been previously folded against my spine rise up as the spikes in my tail extend outwards to create a vicious tearing machine. That only draws a smile from Perseus as he lets go of Dyrnwyn and holds his left arm out to the side as that blade forms in his hand. That massive metal club masquerading as a sword,"If you want to kick it up a notch, then I can oblige."
Black tattoos stretch across his entire body as a feeling of wrongness descends on the area,"You've been practicing with that curse."
The smug grin he gives me is all the answer I need and breathe out a cloud of steam as the fire covering my arms and legs explodes in intensity as I rocket forward with my tail posed to pierce the body of my sparing partner. At the same time Perseus settles into a stance as his weapon writhes and the red filling in the center hums to life.
"It's my win!"
The words leave both of our mouths as my tail screams forward and Perseus swings his sword down. The sound that the two make when they collide makes both of us wince in discomfort, before we're blown back and I'm sent skidding on my back until I make contact with a moderately sized boulder. It takes me a moment to get up, brushing pieces of powdered rock from my mask as I do, to see Perseus snapped a tree or two in his flight.
A shift in the air is all the warning I receive as he appears above me with a savage grin and brings his weapon down, intending to crush my head. My tail snaps out from under my body, barely deflecting so it lands just above my head and making me fall slightly lower as the ground under me craters from the impact. Undeterred, Perseus uses the weight of his weapon to pull himself forward and a fist smashes against my skull a second before my cero detonates in his face. I climb to my feet to see him smoking as burns which cover him are slowly healed by black mud that leaks from his pores,"That's enough from you two. Perseus you are wanted at command central, and I believe the moron mentioned he had something to get done today."
"Oh, look. The living luggage is here."
Empathy ignores my words as he turns to Perseus and ferries him back towards Haven, but sends a burst of liquid nitrogen out from the jewel on his tail that smacks me in the face,"Son of a!"
A quick burst of flame clears my vision, but he's too far away to justify getting revenge at the moment. So with one last frustrated burst of steam my wings form behind me and carry me into the air. I don't have to fly for long, just under an hour, to reach the destination where my meeting is to take place. Eventually I touch down on the outskirts of Russia, a mere 75 miles from Haven, and my wings disipate into blue embers that fizzle out.
The next few minutes are spent wandering aimlessly as I flare my power for anybody nearby to sense. The snapping of branches alerts me as a figure wrapped in a fur coat and wearing fur lined boots makes their way towards me from the right side of my peripherals. The person stops for a moment as I turn to face them and my mask is fully revealed, getting a choked sob from them before I brace myself. A necessary precaution as the figure slams into me and wraps my seven foot tall frame in a crushing hug.
Sighing I return the gesture as I wrap my clawed hands around the woman,"There there. No need for the waterworks, little sister."
The woman sobs even harder at my words of familiarity as a small grin creeps across my face,"But, that being said, it's great to see you after so long, Rhea."
The Mother of Olympus turns her head upwards as one of my hands comes up to rub the top of her head, and brushes away her obsidian colored hair so I can get a better look at my younger sister's face for the first time in centuries if not milenia. She's maintained her youthful look, save for the slight bags under her black eyes no doubt caused by her own children. "Thrafsma."
The sound of my name draws me out of my mind and glance down at my sister as I seat myself, with her still attached to me, on a fallen tree,"You know you can let go of me right? I won't be disappearing any time soon, if ever again."
She shakes her head and I sigh before shifting her so she's sitting on my lap and we're eye level,"I talked to mom."
I feel her start in surprise at my words,"Yeah, she told me what happened and how I, y'know, got killed."
She doesn't interrupt me when I pause so I continue,"Apparently Chaos wanted to try and recruit me as one of his attack dogs and didn't like me saying no. So he got Zeus to do his dirty work for him and used the same chains the fates used against me when Hestia was born to make it happen."
Rhea's hands clench, digging small trenches in my back from the force, not that it bothers me,"So mom cursed Zeus, and hid my body away while also preserving my heavily damaged soul until she could find a suitable host for me to recover in. And I guess you can figure out who she chose."
Rhea lets go and faces me so her eyes are level with mine,"She chose Perseus Jackson, but it didn't work. I was there. I watched as she did something to him that caused him to falter before blue fire, your fire, seemed to cover him. Then I saw him, I saw him-"
"Use my power to tear mother's consciousness apart. Yes, he did that. At the time I was furious, but later, looking back, I couldn't blame him for what he did. Mother tried to erase his soul, his soul, Rhea. You might not understand, but I do because of what my flames do. To utterly destroy a person's life, memories, experiences. To make it so like they never even existed, I can't even begin to describe what a crime against the natural order that is. So do I understand why she tried, yes, but I don't think I would've forgiven her if it had worked."
Rhea sighs,"I know, but she's mother."
"I know, and I still love her with all my heart. That doesn't change the fact she chose the wrong demigod, nor the fact that she was destroyed. But in a way, she succeeded in her attempt. It took longer than it would've with a full takeover, but I regained my power and memories of my life."
I shift Rhea so she's sitting next to me,"But I need to get down to business. You know that we're going to war with them, Olympus."
"My children, your nieces and nephews. I'd hoped the rumors were false, but it seems that hope was for naught."
I nod and Rhea slumps forward,"Our family has fought enough. Is there no way to resolve this peacefully?"
"No. I made a promise to myself to repay Perseus' generosity for letting me remain inside him even after he learned the truth of my origin , and I will follow through for as long as he requires. And to be fair, the brats made the declaration. My host would've been content with simply not interacting with them."
Rhea lets out a harsh laugh,"Hah! So the time has come for mother's curse to bear fruit!" and her eyes soften when she turns to look at me,"but that doesn't explain why you tracked me down and asked to meet."
I hesitate, because my request is sure to cause an internal conflict,"You remember, in the old days, how you said you'd always support me?"
She nods and I swallow before speaking,"I want your blessing. I want you to give your blessing for what we're about to do."
My sister freezes before,"Do you realize what you're asking? You want me to give you permission to fight, and most likely kill my children and grandchildren?"
"Yes."
A silence descends on the area,"Sister, surely you have seen what they've done to the world. What they've done to the mortals that worshiped them. They are like children playing with toys, never caring about the consequences of their actions. We may share blood, but all save Hestia stopped being my family long ago when they abandoned what you, what we, taught them."
I grab her hands in mine,"Please, sister. We will fight regardless, but with your blessing we might be able to end it quicker, and spare more lives in the process. Please."
She leans forward and I feel a wet spot form on my chest before her head nods,"Thank you. We can do that later, but for now," my chin rests itself on top of her head,"it's really, really, damn good to see you again little sister."