Bab 109: Chapter 106: Of course there is a horse named Stanley
A/N So here's the next chapter and the end of Nyx's arc.
...
(Nyx POV)
Finally, we had reached it, the milk white river flowed in front of us. We stood in the front of the riverbank or better yet. As close as we could get.
The glass underneath our feet crackled, the air made me cough and there wasn't a single vending machine here down in Tartarus.
"Stop breathing so heavily." I snapped at Hemera, she was gasping like she had been running for hours. True, we had been dragging a struggling primordial for a few hours. True, Hemera and Aether were less resistant against the hot smoking air of Tartarus. Still, she was overreacting.
The white mist swirled in front of us, a white fog that hide a white river. Most people (read mortals) Think that the river Lethe was just a river, but they were wrong. The river itself was surrounded by white fog that sometimes went on fore miles. Making it almost impossible to reach the river itself.
The white fog had the same effect as the river itself, touching, breathing or taking pictures of it would have the same effect as taking a dip in the lethe.
It was one of the few things Chaos had done before she began to mess with time.
The fog even prevented immortals from getting close to the actual river. It was the ultimate defense system. You couldn't reach the river from above and the fog couldn't be wielded like the other elements. The water of Lethe itself could only be wielded by Chaos and Percy but even Chaos herself couldn't remove the fog anymore.
But luckily for us, we didn't need to reach the river. Only talk to Lethe herself.
I stood in front of the mist, careful not to touch it. Hemera restrained Aether, so he wouldn't stumble into the fog accidentally.
"Lethe!" I yelled, waving my hands, "Anyone home?!"
The mist in front of turned solid and the outline of a woman slithered out of the mist. She was dressed in all white, her white dress faded into the fog, her face blended with the fog, in fact. She was made out of fog.
"Hi Lethe." I said on a cheerful tone, "What's up?"
Lethe frowned, "How dare you to enter my realm Mortal!"
I chuckled, "Cut it Lethe. I darkened the vision of all peering eyes. No one is watching us."
"The sky it burns." Aether muttered helpfully
Lethe smiled, "Good to see you again Lady Nyx."
I smiled, it been a while since someone called me by that title, My mother refused to call me that and Percy only used it in a teasing manner.
Of course, I could walk into the Olympian throne room and reveal my true identity (Which I cleverly hid) and have all of them bow for me. But that would mean I couldn't hang out with Percy anymore.
"Lethe," I began, "I need your help."
Lethe sighed, "You know you can't use my river for pranks. Chaos forbids you."
"That was my past life," I shrugged, "But this is serious business."
I pointed at the drooling Aether, "He's been infected by some kind of fear gas. It traps him in some kind of personal Hallucination."
Hemera nodded, "You need to help us. This is a case of…"
She probably wanted to say, life or death but in our case it was kind of complicated.
I narrowed my eyes. "Look Lethe. I know Chaos said no one could use your river but this is beyond personal reasons!"
Lethe crossed her arms and gave me a skeptical glance. "How so?"
I grinned, now I could explain stuff and look smart. "Well, for starters. Someone is developing a weapon against primordials.
"We are not sure," Hemera interrupted, "It's just a theory."
I glared at her, "No it's not a theory. I'm like, 70% sure that's what going on."
"Donuts," Aether added drooling.
Lethe was silent for a second,"Tell me everything."
So I did, I told her about the christmas party. The metal orb, my conversation with Eris and the revelation.
When I reached the end of my amazing story Lethe asked one thing.
"Who created the bol."
I shrugged, "Eris told me she had an idea, but she wouldn't reveal it to me. Something about a dramatic reveal."
Lethe nodded understandably, "Okay, fine."
She snapped her fingers and vial appeared in her hand, it was small and I would almost mistook it for some kind of medicine.
She tossed it to Hemera, and she caught it, "What does it do?"
Lethe gave me a warm smile, "It set Aether's mind back 2 months and cancels the effects of the fear gas."
Hemera sighed in relief and opened the vile, "Drink it my dear husband."
However, Aether was still struggling like he was drunk.
"Work with me," Hemera groaned when Aether kept pulling his face away. Finally she just poured down the white liquid, not caring if he choked in it.
When she was done, Aether fell to the ground, unconscious.
I turned to Lethe, "Thank you for your assistance."
Lethe nodded, "Just this once, just remember this is an exception. You know how strict Chaos is about my river."
I nodded and turned to Aether and Hemera.
"Well, that was successful." I grinned.
(Magnus POV)
On the dawn of the next day, we began to scale the mountain once again.
After breaking camp and packing everything up, we wasted no time with climbing.
Except Percy, who asked for five more minutes with a yawn and his hair messed up from sleeping.
As we climbed from branch to branch, I happened to recall my conversation with Jack yesterday, when I was sure everyone else had fallen asleep.
I couldn't sleep after hearing that woman cry, the sobbing sound kept lingering in my head even after it had stopped.
"So, what was it you wanted to talk about compadre?" Jack had whispered with a small yawn.
"My father," I had replied reluctantly.
Almost instantly, Jack had snapped to attention and adopted a serious expression.
Well, he had tried as hard as a magical sword could.
"What do you want to know…?"
"Do you still hate him to this day?"
"Well, I wouldn't call it that," He had said,
"More like a strong dislike."
"Is he...a bad person?" I had asked.
"It depends on your definition of bad. Oh sure, like every other God, he's had his fair share of mishaps and mistakes. But at the end of the day, he will accept whatever burden or responsibility has been placed upon his shoulders with unflinching determination."
"Really?" I had asked, a little puzzled.
"Trust me, compadre," He had answered, "I knew, know, him better than anyone else. And frankly, I may know him better than he knows himself."
Those words continued to echo throughout my head as we continuously climbed to the top of the mountain.
At this point, we were close enough that we could actually see its toppest point, taunting us to come greet it.
However, that's when a tragedy of epic proportions struck, delivering crushing news.
"Hey guys, I don't know if you guys have figured this out," said Percy, reluctantly, "But it turns out we're on the wrong side of the cliff."
"What?!" exclaimed Sam, "How?!"
"Well, it just now came to me," replied Percy, "While I was falling through the sky, I saw what looked like a fortress with its back to Thor's palace."
"And you just remembered this?" Sam asked, sounding a little agitated.
"I guess," said Percy sheepishly.
And Percy was right, I actually saw the fort. It was quite big, with towers rising from the ground it looked like some kind of fairy tale fort.
The bad news: did I mention the mile-wide chasm? The clifftop where we were standing was no more than a narrow plateau. The drop on the other side was just as precipitous as the one we'd climbed.
"Gosh darnit, kid," said Blitzen, shaking his head, "If I knew this was gonna happen. I would've asked Thor for directions."
"That actually might have turned out worse for us." I pointed out.
"Good point," said Blitzen to himself, "Hearth, mind using Stanley?"
Hearthstone nodded as they held a silent conversation between themselves.
Pulling out what looked like a rune, Hearthstone scrunched up his face in concentration, then held the rune high above his head.
The rune began to glow, and when the light subsided, a horse with multiple legs was levitating in mid-air.
"Everyone, say hello to Stanley!" said Blitzen.
Percy and I looked at the multi-legged horse with confusion, while Sam gasped in awe.
"THE Stanley?" She asked, "Son of Sleipnir?"
Correct Signed Hearthstone, though she couldn't understand him.
"What's a Sleipnir?" I asked, then a remember popped up/
"Sleipnir," I said, "Isn't he a son of Loki?"
"Yes, Magnus," answered Sam, "Sleipnir was born from the relationship of a Giant, and my father." She said the word father with apparent disgust.
"I thought so," I said, "But isn't Loki the mother?"
"The mother?" Percy asked, genuinely confused, "How is that-"
"Save the questions for later!" said Blitzen, "We have to hurry before the effects of Hearth's rune run out."
Pressured with that sentence, we all clambered onto the horse. Once we were all safely aboard, Stanley begun to fly through the air.
Simply put, I was amazed such a magnificent creature could fly.
"Just what was I missing out of on the streets of Boston?" I mumbled to myself.
One time, Stanley had some turbulence, and I thought the world was ending. But it was just a false alarm.
As we soared through the air, the day changed visibly from a light orange, to a deepening red, and finally, into a pitch black dark.
By the time we had gotten off of Stanley and onto solid ground, the stars hung above our heads.
Thank you for your help, O Majestic Beast. I saw Hearth sign out of the corner of my eye.
Stanley neighed before disappearing back into rune.
"Well," said Percy, stretching, "That was quite the ride."
"So uh, any idea what we do now?" He asked, pointing forward.
As we followed his gaze and saw a giant fortress looming in front of us, reaching impossibly high into the sky.
Compared to it, we were nothing but ants.
"Eep." said Blitzen, letting out a little sound of fear.
"Good question," I muttered, the very size of the fortress intimidating me.
"What Magnus meant to say, is that we wait until day." said Sam, seemingly unfazed.
"We can't" Percy groaned, "We got a deadline, and I got a bet to win. So I suggest we go inside, try to figure out what the giants know about the hammer. Then we'll kill them."
"Indeed." Sam said, "We got no time to lose."
"For once agree with her." Percy grinned.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone