Chapter 27 – Well, You Finally Showed Up
Sera, who was cheering loudly for her husband from the bleachers, suddenly froze. A deep, familiar voice echoed inside her mind:
"Daughter… come to the water."
She looked toward the lake, the dancing on the ripples, and thought: So you finally showed up, father.
She took a deep breath, glanced once more at the basketball game, and slipped away from the noisy crowd. Her feet carried her deeper into the pine-scented forest until she reached a secluded cove where the water lapped quietly against smooth rocks and no human voices could reach.
Sera knelt and touched the cold surface. The lake glowed faintly, and the voice became crystal clear:
"My daughter… how you've grown."
Sera answered, voice steady but tired:
"Well, father, it's been a long time. But I don't think you came here to see me or your grandson, right? After all, if you didn't come earlier, it wouldn't make sense for you to come now."
Poseidon's tone was gentle yet distant:
"Sera, my daughter, I cannot make contact… you know the rules."
Suddenly, a deep, amused voice spoke right beside him:
"The rules also say it's forbidden to have children with mortals, and yet you all keep doing it, right?"
Poseidon whipped around. Standing on the surface of the water like it was solid ground was a tan-skinned teenager with electric-blue hair and golden eyes with vertical, reptilian pupils. The air itself seemed to tremble with his presence.
Poseidon's trident materialized in his hand, voice dropping to a battle-ready growl.
"Who are you?"
Dante smiled sarcastically:
"Come on, grandpa. Not recognizing your grandson right in front of you?"
Poseidon's eyes widened in pure shock.
Some time earlier
Dante had watched his mother leave the festival crowd and disappear into the tree line. He followed silently, keeping to the shadows. When he saw her kneel and place her hand on the lake, talking to someone invisible, he thought: Looks like she's already talking to my idiot grandfather.
He crouched behind a thick pine, listening to the water ripple unnaturally.
"Well," he muttered, "even if he's a questionable father, he's not as bad as Zeus. So even if he can't get close to my mom, he's definitely somewhere nearby where he can see her."
Dante closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.
"Which means his scent must be here. If I can sense it, I can open a portal straight to him and we can have a nice family chat."
He focused. Acnologia from the original work could sense a dragon's scent from an entire continent away. So if I concentrate… the difference between a mortal and a god is gigantic. He stands out like a tiger among house cats.
Salt, ozone, and pure divine light flooded his senses.
"This one's unmistakable."
A dark portal tore open beside him. Dante stepped through without hesitation.
Back to the present
Poseidon stared, trident still raised, voice low:
"You're my grandson? How is this strength possible? A legacy shouldn't have this kind of power. Not even a demigod should have this strength."
Dante shrugged casually, hands in his pockets.
"Well, you know, the world is a very magical place where anything can happen. Just like a not-so-smart mortal mother giving birth to a genius child. That's an anomaly, right? And in my case, I'm the biggest one."
Poseidon stayed silent for a long moment, then said:
"You're right about that. But I never thought a demigod could give birth to a being like you. If I wasn't seeing you with my own eyes, I'd doubt you even existed."
Dante flashed a grin.
"Well, I know I'm handsome, but it's not that serious for you to say I'm so good-looking it's impossible for me to exist."
Poseidon, looking at this shameless grandson, said:
"Then why did you want to meet your grandfather? From the way you spoke when you saw me the first time, it's clear you don't have a good impression of us gods."
Dante's smile vanished.
"Well, it's hard to have a good impression of you when you keep doing screw-up after screw-up. Like having children with mortals knowing you can't take care of them, and those children become beacons for monsters, putting the family taking care of them at risk every second."
He looked seriously at his grandfather:
"But that's not why I'm here. I'm here because those idiots—your brother Zeus included—are trying to blame my mother for stealing his damn lightning bolt. And those idiots even sent a Minotaur to attack her."
Dante entered his half-dragon transformation. Black wings burst open, claws extended, golden eyes glowed, and the pressure of his aura made the lake itself tremble. He stared at his grandfather with raw anger:
"You know, in my original plan I only wanted one thing: to start a fight. Either you kill me or I kill you. But my mom asked me to try solving things without fighting, so that's the only reason I'm holding myself back."
He continued:
"The reason I came to you first was to have this conversation and second to gauge your power level. And seeing you in person, I confirmed it: I have enough power to face all of you."
Poseidon stayed quiet, then said:
"Well, I really don't know what to say. I just want you to know that even with all this power and being a dragon shapeshifter, you still have the blood of the Greek gods. Whether you like it or not."
Dante replied:
"Yeah, I don't deny that. Because denying that would be denying the part of my mother that's part of me."
He returned to normal form and said:
"That's why I'm going to honor the promise I made: to try to solve this without fighting. She asked me not to abuse this power and hurt innocent people. I'll follow that because I promised her. I don't go back on my word. And also because I don't want to be like you all, treating life and others' suffering like nothing."
Dante asked:
"So tell me your plan to get the master bolt back so we can finish this annoying situation once and for all."
Poseidon sighed and said:
"Well, I didn't know my grandson had such a bad impression of me."
Dante looked at him and said:
"Well, if I came here even with my not-great impression of you—meaning not negative—that's something. If it were Zeus or Aphrodite, my grandparents, I wouldn't even step here. I'd already be preparing for a fight."
Poseidon gave a tired smile:
"I really don't know if I should feel happy or sad with those words."
Dante said:
"Well, we've said everything we had to say. So what's the plan?"
Poseidon grew serious and said:
"My initial plan was for your mother to meet my other son, Percy, and go to Camp Half-Blood so they could gather a team of other demigods. These demigods would serve as witnesses so that when the bolt is retrieved, no god could claim the thief just got scared and returned it. With witnesses proving the bolt was truly found, no god present could accuse. I could provide evidence if someone insisted. But now that I've met you, I think you should meet Percy and help him complete this mission. And since you're her son, no god will have anything to say if you join the quest."
Dante sighed tiredly and said:
"Well, if that's the only way, fine. So how do I find my uncle?"
Poseidon took a golden compass from thin air and handed it to Dante.
"He'll be at Camp Half-Blood. This compass will take you there."
Dante took it and said:
"Well, before you disappear mysteriously, please explain the plan to my mom so she doesn't worry. And don't tell her I threatened you. I don't want to get scolded for threatening my own grandfather."
He opened a portal and stepped through.
Poseidon shook his head, exhausted, thinking: What a day…
Then he returned to speak with his daughter and relay the mission.
Back at the festival
Jasmine, seeing Dante returning, smiled:
"Honey, you took a while. What happened?"
Dante sighed and rested his head on her shoulder:
"I met my grandfather."
Amber and Jasmine were shocked:
"That grandfather?"
Dante nodded:
"Yes, that grandfather."
Amber held his hand:
"And how was it?"
Dante:
"Well, he's not that stupid. It could've been worse."
Amber smiled softly:
"Well, it's good you met him. Even if he wasn't everything you imagined for a grandfather, he wasn't that bad, right?"
Dante said:
"Well, it wasn't traumatic."
He looked at the game and asked:
"How's the game?"
Jasmine laughed:
"Well, they realized they're out of shape, and now they're calling their kids."
Dante said:
"Good thing I wasn't here at the time. A dragon playing with a bunch of kids is way too embarrassing."
He watched Lenny's kids playing and said:
"Well, we should have many kids. After all, if they want to play basketball or soccer, it's impossible to do that with normal children. One mistake from them and it's fatal for others."
Jasmine said:
"Well, I never thought of it that way, but it's true. It's impossible for them to play like normal people. So only their siblings could handle playing with them."
Amber asked:
"Honey, did that happen to you?"
Dante replied:
"No, because my power awakened later for some reason. But our kids will be born with dragon physiology from the start. So we'll have to be careful with them."
Jasmine said:
"Well, that's true."
Watching Lenny's game, Dante thought happily: With my dragon kids I can finally form a soccer team to play like Super Eleven or Kuroko's Basketball.
He smiled just imagining it.
After the games, everyone watched the fireworks show. Jasmine and Amber had their heads resting on Dante's shoulders.
Dante looked at them and said:
"Where do you two want to live? You can choose anywhere. I'll buy a house or an apartment for you there. And since I can teleport, distance doesn't matter to me. If you want to see me or feel lonely, just call me and I'll arrive in a second."
Amber kissed his cheek:
"Thank you, honey. We still have tomorrow morning. We'll think about it and tell you. After all, everyone's saying goodbye tomorrow."
Dante smiled:
"True. Tomorrow's the day. These were really good vacations. I have nothing to complain about."
Jasmine kissed him too:
"Me neither."
Suddenly, Dante heard a shout and looked to the side. He saw Marcus aiming a bow and arrow upward while yelling:
"Killer arrow!"
Dante grabbed Amber in one arm and Jasmine in the other and left the spot just in time to see everyone running toward the parking lot.