"This is unacceptable!" Aphrodite shouted amidst the council of gods, yet no one made a move to silence her. "How many times have I been told off, huh? How many times have I been warned or even punished for even thinking about another Pantheon?"
It was a strange atmosphere inside the uppermost level of Olympus that housed the Thrones of the gods.
They had all gathered, as they do often, but in this particular instance, it was once more about a certain child down below.
"And yet, she casually spreads her legs open and pops out a child from Lucifer, and we're sitting here without even a 'stern word' sent her way?" She finally finished her rant.
"I did not spread my legs!" Athena hissed back.
Aphrodite rolled her eyes. "Oh yes, my apologies. I forgot that creating brain babies without the father's consent or knowledge is somehow better."
Athena scowled deeper but found it hard to retort. Which had started becoming a normal occurrence these past few days.
She mostly hadn't had a chance to stabilize herself after her 'daughter' had reappeared after so many years, and it's been one thing after another.
Her daughter mingling with other Pantheons? Well, that was bad, but it wasn't unsalvageable. She already had dozens of ways to swing it in a way that didn't land her in hot water. But finding out that her daughter was…was whatever she was, that had been difficult to defend.
"She's not wrong though." Ares added in, much to Athena's further annoyance. "We need to decide how to serve out rightful punishments." Ares wouldn't waste an opportunity to see Athena get punished for her arrogance.
There was a round of nodding from quite a few gods that felt similar.
"I'm still confused as to how you didn't know that you were apparently mind-fucking the devil." Dionysus spoke up.
"Maybe we should take away her 'mind baby' privileges, since she clearly can't be trusted to produce children so quickly without causing problems." Poseidon added as well.
His words were particularly cutting towards Athena despite sounding casual. If Athena was no longer 'allowed' to make mind children, that meant she would no longer have any children due to her swearing an oath to be a virgin goddess.
This would almost certainly be her last generation of demigods, which went against many of her plans.
"Outrageous!" Athena raised her voice. "Who was the one who went against their oath and had a child that threatens Olympus with the Great Prophecy!?"
Poseidon stood up, his presence weighing down. "Who had a child with the embodiment of evil!?"
"Enough!" Zeus slammed his hand down on his chair, silencing everyone. "Punishments will wait. Our first priority is to decide on how to deal with the…child."
"Dear Uncle already popped her back up at camp, so let's just vote and get this over with." Dionysus waved his hand flippantly through the air as he spoke before taking a drink of his wine.
"Wait!" Athena spoke up. "Must we make such a rash decision? She could be valuable to Olympus; she's already showing potential equal to the old heroes. Imagine what she could achieve under our watchful eye." She tried to sway them to her side.
To her credit, several of the gods did consider that point.
Who wouldn't want a powerful and competent pawn to use at their whim? Especially with talks about the Great Prophecy and uncertainty on the horizon.
"Are we forgetting what happened earlier?" Apollo raised a point that made many of them pause as well. "Heck, look what happened to Ares' cabin, no offense."
Ares wasn't offended by his remark; he was still confused and surprised just as well.
"Are we going to let that flagrant violation of the rules go?" Poseidon asked. "Regardless of who did it, they overstepped. Just another mess caused by someone who claims to be so wise."
Athena frowned. "No rules were technically broken. The cabin belonged to my daughter as per the wager."
"It was in the middle of camp," Apollo pointed out.
"The location of the 'temple' is irrelevant if the temple itself belongs to another." Athena countered.
"She's right." Hermes spoke up as well. "I've had the rules drilled into my head for centuries since I'm the one bouncing around other territories for 'official business' when it comes to that. Despite the fact that they made a move—which is startling in and of itself—they hadn't broken the rules."
Of course, they all knew who the 'they' Hermes was referring to was.
The Abrahamic faith was one that rarely presented itself these days.
"Even they wouldn't dare to break the rules." Zeus's loud voice boomed with a not-so-subtle hint of arrogance.
Oh, it was insulting regardless, but it wasn't to the point where Zeus was demanding retaliation.
These kinds of 'insults' happened from time to time when other pantheons rubbed against each other. It was just another in a long list of reasons why the lines are drawn so firmly in the sand and they are vehemently against inter-pantheon mingling.
"If we're going to vote, then I'm going to abstain." Apollo raised his hand. "I'm not feeling the good vibes on this one after what happened."
Artemis rolled her eyes at her brother. "I vote we kill her and be done with it."
Athena snapped her head towards Artemis. "Were you not trying to recruit her?"
"I'll accept her as a Huntress as an alternative to teaching her proper manners, but if she refuses still, then it's better to remove her entirely. A dangerous beast that can't be controlled should be put down."
"Kill." Hera said casually, which surprised no one.
She despised all the bastard demigods regardless. If she didn't have a personal attachment or reason, if it were ever voted on, her answer was always to kill.
"Not kill." Ares spoke next, surprising several. "What? I like her."
"She stole your cabin." Apollo pointed out.
"Yeah…can't say that didn't sting. But if one of my brats can't get it back after having this fire lit under their asses, then they can sleep in—whatever she's naming it that day."
"Not skill." Dionysus raised his glass. "This is too fun to watch."
Several gave him a sidelong look for his reasoning, but as the god of Madness, it was also expected.
"Kill." Demeter said softly. "I don't know what kind of foulness she might bring around; it's best not to risk it."
"I'll abstain too; I don't have a dog in this fight." Hermes chimed in as well.
"Not kill." Athena threw out, but everyone already knew that.
"Kill." Aphrodite immediately gave her answer with a smug grin. She didn't care either way, to be honest, but she just wanted Athena to suffer a bit.
"Not kill." Hephaestus similarly gave his reply right away. He only voted to spite Aphrodite, and the Goddess of Love scowled, knowing this.
Athena frowned because only two people were left to vote, Poseidon and Zeus, and she knew how this was going to go.
However, before she could try to salvage the situation, Poseidon spoke up. "Not kill."
And the room went rather quiet.
Even Zeus gave his brother a strange look.
Athena stared at Poseidon, who scoffed her way.
"I still demand a sufficient punishment for your breaking of the rules, but she protected my son and his mother." He grunted, leaning back in his throne.
"Kill." Zeus answered as well, ending in a 5-5 tie.
He didn't need to make some grand statement or explain why he voted that way; they all already knew. Anything that even had the smallest chance of causing upheaval in their corner of the world, he would be the first to throw out votes for smiting.
Despite no longer being on the 'council,' there was one person who became relevant in discussions when a rare tie of votes came about. An agreed-upon tiebreaker that no one could argue against due to who held such a powerful status.
"...tie breaks go to Hestia." Athena said softly as all eyes turned to the goddess quietly tending to the Hearth not far away.
@***@
"So, where's the idiot you need help with?" Mordred asked.
"This is Annabeth; she's ma half-sister." Arachne gestured to her.
Mordred gave her an evaluating look. "Yeah, she looks like the type that thinks they're clever but is actually an idiot."
Arachne nodded, looking towards her half-sister. "See? a told ya Mordred was really smart."
Annabeth was just stunned into silence.
She couldn't ever actually recall when someone called her an idiot so blatantly to her face. And it didn't feel like an insult but was like…a genuine description rather than trying to make her mad.
"What's going on? Who are you? How did you get here? Annabeth blurted out all at once after her brain rebooted.
"A told ya, I was bringing mah Big Sister." Arachne put her hands on her hips. "Did ya not hear me?"
"That's not what I mean!" Annabeth stomped her foot. "How did you even get here? You just…there was like a portal, then you suddenly appeared."
Mordred looked at Arachne. "Are you sure this is a magical camp or whatever?"
Arachne let out a sigh. "They're kinda dumb here, a don't know why." She put her hands up, shaking her head. "A told them to try practicing some magic and it was like a told them the moon was made o' cheese."
Arachne was already frustrated by their lack of common sense, but she was sure that her smart big sister would help her stupid younger half-sister out there. \
"But don' worry 'bout that; this is more important!" Arachne reached out and wrapped her hands around Mr. Blueberry. "This is Mr. Blueberry; he's mah best friend, an' a love 'im."
Mordred silently stared at the big cow-fish, the thing that Arachne was holding in her arms.
"Moooooo~"
"...cute." Mordred whispered.
She took slow steps and also went up to hug the Blueberry.
There was a reason they were 'sisters' despite not actually being blood related in any capacity.
"Stop ignoring me!" Annabeth shouted. "How did you get here? There's a barrier around the camp."
"Did ya not see me get scooped up by Uncle Hades earlier?" Arachne tilted her head.
"Uncle…?" Annabeth shook her head. "That's different; that's a god."
"If no one can come in or out, then how'd you get in?" Mordred poked Arachne.
"A walked in." Arachne stated casually.
"...then what's the big deal?"
"That's not…!?" Annabeth took a deep breath. "You just…teleported in!?"
"Okay, she's finally on the same page, it seems." Mordred nodded. "It's going to be a pain in the ass, but since you asked, I guess I can help her."
"Thank ya, Big Sis." Arachne smiled brightly. "We need to go find Percy too."
"Who's Percy?"
"He's a friend a made!" Arachne said very proudly.
Mordred felt her lips twitch in amusement, and rather than tease her or anything like that, she reached over and rubbed her head, much to the younger girl's annoyance.
"Moooo." Mr. Blueberry nudged her.
"Mr. Blueberry says that Percy is down by the lake." Arachne quickly swung her leg over the side, mounting the big bullfish.
Mordred's eyes lit up seeing that they could actually ride it, quickly joining her younger sister. "Come on, brat, let's go find her friend."
Annabeth was still fuming, but she gritted her teeth and slowly climbed up onto the animal. She was doing her best to keep her temper in check because it was clear her 'half-sister' knew things she didn't, and it was important to learn them.
Especially since the gods were being very quiet on the issues and refusing to elaborate.
Mr. Blueberry started moving towards the lake on the other side of camp. Which wasn't actually that far away, and they didn't need to ride on him. But both Arachne and Mordred were having fun, and Mr. Blueberry liked it anyways.
"Percy!" Arachne called out as Percy sat at the end of the lake with Grover; he was practicing his water powers before he turned around and waved happily towards Arachne.
Grover, though, looked much more apprehensive about her arrival.
"Percy, this is ma big sis, Mordred; I brought her over for a bit!" Arachne quickly introduced her.
"Hey." Percy waved.
"Sup." Mordred responded back.
"Oh, this is Grover." He gestured to the Satyr.
"Baaaaah." The satyr let out a nervous goat noise as he looked at Mordred, feeling a strange sense of pressure emanating from her.
Mordred eyed him curiously for a moment before ignoring him.
"A brought Mordred to help Annabeth because she's not very smart. do ya want to join in?" Arachne asked.
"Like training?" Percy asked.
"Ya."
"Sure!" Percy agreed happily.
Annabeth, meanwhile, was continuing to fume at the way she was being addressed. "I've been training for years; he's been here a few days." Annabeth pointed out, feeling even more annoyed that Arachne was grouping her and Percy up together in this way.
Arachne looked at Annabeth, and it made Annabeth scowl deeper as she realized she was being silently pitied.
"What makes you such an expert anyways? You barely look older than me." Annabeth put her hands on her hips, challenging Mordred.
Mordred raised an eyebrow, glancing towards Arachne. Arachne gestured for her to do whatever she wanted.
Mordred turned around, holding out her hand as Clarent appeared within her grasp. She raised it up towards the lake and swung it down, splitting the water to the lake bed from the force of the swing.
"Is that enough?"
Annabeth stared slack-jawed. Similarly, Grover was mimicking her just as well.
"Holy crap, that was awesome!" Percy perked up in stark contrast to Annabeth's stunned silence.
Mordred preened under the praise. "Of course!"
"H-how!?" Annabeth forced out. "That's not something a mortal could do!?"
Mordred snorted. "Kid, I'm not even a demigod."
"She is technically a dragon though." Arachne pointed out. "Cause auntie Artoria is a dragon incarnate even if she's human shaped."
Mordred huffed. "There are plenty of humans who could do that. Shit, that wasn't even hard; that was just me controlling my mana properly."
Though, as soon as she said that, they were strangely silent.
"What?" Mordred asked.
"What's mana?" Percy asked in confusion. "I mean, I know what it is, I think. I've played a bunch of games that use the word…"
"Wait, do you guys not know what Mana is?" Mordred was the one confused now.
Percy shook his head. "Grover?"
"Um….no?" He answered hesitantly.
Mordred's gaze fell on Annabeth.
Through gritted teeth, Annabeth answered. "No."
"...what the hell is wrong with this place? You're demigods at a magical divine camp meant to train you, right? How the fuck do you not know what Mana is? Maybe it's fine that he doesn't know –" She pointed at Percy. " – cause you said he was brand new, but how do you lot not know after being here for years?"
"It's why a said a needed yer help, big sis." Arachne spoke up.
"Goddamn, I see why you called me." Mordred sighed. "Mana is magical energy. There's a bunch of technical terms, but I just say 'mana' because it's easier."
"Like for casting spells?" Percy asked.
"Yeah, kinda. You lot all have it, but you don't need to be a Magus to use it. Shit, anyone worth their salt knows how to at least manipulate their own mana to fight. I'm no magus, but I know how to use my Mana properly." She gestured to where she had just swung her sword at the lake.
"Wait." Annabeth was repeating the conversation in her head to make sure she didn't miss anything. "Did she say you're a dragon?"
"No, I have a dragon aspect." Mordred corrected. "I have a Dragon Core; you lot have Divine Cores."
Annabeth didn't know what to say back because these were new terms she had never heard before. She felt like she had been living a sheltered life so far despite being in a camp full of gods and demigods.
"...why have they never told us stuff like this?" Annabeth whispered.
Mordred shrugged her shoulders. "If you're talking about your 'gods' or whatever, there's a pretty big chance that it's because they're assholes. Most gods are assholes; the sooner you learn that, the better."
Annabeth slowly sat down, looking lost.
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything." All eyes turned to the one who spoke; Athena had appeared.
"Mom." Annabeth perked up.
"Wait, is this the dumb bitch?" Mordred blurted out without a second thought.
And it was like there was a grinding of gears coming to a visible halt as Athena slowly turned her head towards Mordred, forgoing whatever it was she was going to say previously.
"...excuse me?"
"Yeh, that's me 'mother'." Arachne's very clear disdain was painfully obvious for the goddess as well.
Grover and Annabeth stared at Mordred with mouths open, in utter shock at her boldness.
"Talk about a downgrade." Mordred grunted.
Athena's eye twitched.
And then she looked, really looked at Mordred beyond mortal means. Her anger and growing fury had suddenly taken a back seat as confusion set in. "Who – what are you?"
Because she had never seen something like Mordred before. That is to say, something human but not human, something dragon but not dragon, and a spirit, but not like anything she had ever encountered or heard about.
"That's me big sister." Arachne answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Yup." Mordred nodded.
Athena felt the bubbling anger from a moment ago return but decided not to act on it. This was a very delicate situation; despite the very blatant insults that she would have never let go in any other circumstances, she needed to do her best to get her 'daughter' under control. And being 'wrathful' was not going to win any favors.
She took deep internal breaths.
"The council of Olympus has voted, and due to my convincing, they decided not to kill you." Athena looked at her daughter, expecting some form of thanks or acknowledgement.
"Yeh, okay." Arachne just seemed to ignore it completely, genuinely uncaring about the so-called 'vote.'
Athena nearly sputtered in response, clearly caught off guard by her lackadaisical attitude.
It was one of the few times in her life that she had been stunned into silence. Her response was so far divorced from what the Goddess of Wisdom predicted that she was put on the back foot.
"You don't understand, child. You represent something that shouldn't…exist. The gods are weary of your other half. You will very well be an outcast from the others; even the gods will not look favorably upon you due to your evil origins." Athena tried to play it up, looking for some manner of desire for a hand reached out on her part.
"Because of ma horns? He's got goat legs, why do ma horns matter?" Arachne asked, pointing to Grover, who very much did not like being put into the spotlight.
But to her question, Athena didn't have a very good response, mostly because she was grasping at straws.
"I like your horns." Percy spoke up.
Arachne blinked. "Ya like me horns?"
"Yeah!"
"R-really?" Arachne's hand slowly reached up, and she unconsciously grabbed some of her hair between her fingers.
"They're really cool." Percy nodded.
Mordred raised an eyebrow because she saw her little sister's face turn a light shade of red.
[Line Break]
A.N.
Athena: Doom and gloom!
Arachne: Yeah, okay, anyways.
If you want to read 4 chapters of his omake head, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / astoryforone
I also have a boosty if you can't use the above under the same name.