章 103: Ch.5
I took it easy this time I traveled and made it to San Francisco a month later. I'd battled everything under the sun it felt like. Spider women, the Nemean lion, and even some harpy's. The best fight though, and by far my favorite was against Orthrus, the two headed dog and brother of Cerberus.
I didn't kill him though as I had a better plan in mind for him. I simply took him into my inner dimension and let him roam free looking for things to kill. Every now and then I took in a cow or whatever barn yard animal I could find off hand and I would hold him down and train both heads to obey.
It was intelligent and knew what I wanted but on occasion it would still try to bite me. That is until I got tired of it's crap and unleashed my killing intent on it. It pissed itself and rolled over showing it's belly to me. From then on training became much easier as it had submitted to me fully.
I fed it plenty and taught it some neat tricks like balancing bacon and pecans on it's noses before snapping my fingers and letting them it. When I asked it to shrink it's body, hoping that it could, it worked! From then on it rode shotgun with me in the car and only got out to use the bathroom or kill whatever was hunting me at that particular time.
Surprisingly it could mimic my shadow travel as well. So when I moved it followed like a game of chase. Unfortunately it's shrinking ability didn't work on it's appetite so it emptied out a few farms along the way.
I had to be careful with it around strangers as well because it would growl and in it's own way, ask for permission to eat them. I let it snack on a few rapists and thrives in San Francisco but for the most part it behaved and stayed by my side.
Surprisingly when it killed other monsters they didn't turn to dust so it could keep eating them. I found this out when a particularly affluent Sphinx called me a very nasty word and Orthrus are it. It stood no chance as Orthrus was several stories fall in it's full form and by all rights should've simply squashed me like it did the Sphinx.
On the bright side the San Francisco Bay Area got some rain when he went to take a leak and forgot to shrink. The yard of the senator's house even became fertilized as he took a dump. I laughed my ass off with my window rolled up and the ac on with air fresheners and my nose covered.
Orthrus followed me for several miles before I let him back in the car. Luckily his digestive tract is slow moving or he'd be an island maker. As it is you couldn't see the senator's house from the road and the whole area smelled like a sewer pipe of rotten corpses and shit backed up into his yard.
When we arrived at the Oakland Hills, south of Berkeley, I had Orthrus stick his heads out the window and tell me when he could smell half-bloods. It took an hour but as soon as he started barking, I stopped the car.
I let him out and put the car away before telling him to lead on as I hopped on his back while he grew to the size of a horse. He ran through the shadows until we arrived at a service tunnel. I hopped off and told him. "Puppy mode."
His heads snorted but he shrunk all the same into a puppy I could easily carry. He crawled onto my shoulder and licked the side of my face. Sighing I told him. "Alright, it's only fair I guess."
I shadow traveled to the end of the service tunnel and when I got to the other side, I felt the mist strongly pushing me away at first until I took Orthrus off my shoulder and activated my mother's cloak.
I put Orthrus in the front of my vest armor vest while his heads poked out. The cloak covered all but the front of me and that was by choice so I didn't smother Orthrus. I passed through the mist without a problem now and came upon a winding road that lead to a river and a bridge small enough to walk across easily but wide enough for a car.
When I got to the bridge, I took off my cloak with a thought and was stopped by a Roman gods bust. Terminus, the Roman god of boundary's, spoke to me. "Name yourself this instance!"
I snorted. "I am Wraith, son of Nox and brother of Mors."
The Roman deity trembled as I showed it my necklace and it's scythe charm hooked to it. He apologized politely as my mother was one scary mofo no matter the religion or faith. "I'm truly sorry for not having recognized such an established pedigree. Give me but a moment to confirm your words and summon an appropriate escort."
I nodded and amazingly his bust disappeared for a while before he came back and a bunch of scouts came claiming to be apart of the fifth cohort. I looked at them coldly as they stared at me before Terminus declared. "You're not lying thank your lucky stars but Nox has not deemed to answer either way if you could-"
I didn't wait for him to finish as I started radiating the powers of night and activated my mother's cloak. He gasped in awe before saying. "You truly weren't lying at all. There's no way you'd be alive or even capable of using that if you weren't her son. Plus this feeling, it's definitely her."
He turned to the cohort and told them. "Take him to Lupa. She needs to see him right away!"
As soon as I steeped across the boundary he yelled. "Stop! You've brought a monster with you!"
I frowned. "I brought a pet. He's harmless, well, mostly harmless anyway."
I pulled the puppy formed Orthrus out and showed the statue and the cohort. Terminus cursed something fierce before I put Orthrus in my inner world saying. "Fine, fine, he's gone see? He's just a cute puppy I trained."
Terminus didn't believe that for one minute. "That thing is a monster! It's killed untold amounts of demigods and humans alike!"
I shrugged. "So? I trained it and it listens to my every word. He's completely safe now, does it matter what he's done before I trained him?"
The god was flabbergasted and sputtering while the current leader of the fifth cohort spoke up. "Come on, we'll take you to Lupa and get this sorted out."
I shrugged and followed them. They led me passed aqueducts and a fighting grounds where legions were training. They brought me to a cave on what they called temple hill where I assumed they prayed to the other Roman deities.
When they backed away, I waited and felt a thick bloodlust and killing intent coming towards me. I grinned and released my own, matching and surpassing the one coming out by far. The density of my bloodlust and killing intent far far greater than even this goddess's.
When she finally came out, all seven foot of her, I smiled. "Such a beautiful wolf. You must be Lupa, goddess of these weaklings."
She smiled in the only way she could before saying. "You must be Wraith, son of Nox. Well met. I can feel your strength from here and I have to wonder how your killing intent is so vast that it outreaches my own."
I shrugged. "I like killing things and I enjoy the hunt."
She analyzed me and nodded. "I can see that. So, what have you come to new Rome to do? You clearly don't need it's protection or training."
I chuckled. "Actually, the training I do want. I'm used to single combat or one against many in most cases. I could use a brush up on my group fighting skills. Besides that, I thought I'd do a few solo quests and kill a few monsters before leaving to do my own thing. You know, build my own street cred."
She snorted. "Mortal talk."
I nodded. "Mortal fun to. Power is good and all, but respect is more useful in some cases. Perhaps I'd like to challenge everyone in New Rome to one on one matches in the Colosseum before I leave."
She huffed in amusement. "Do as you will."
I chuckled. "If I had a wolf form, I might take you up as a mate. Truly a beautiful and powerful mate to be sure."
The Roman soldier behind me a little ways stilled and so did the she wolf. She snorted at me and I unleashed all of my killing intent as the air grew heavy and my bloodlust visibly effected everyone around us for miles.
She looked to me with far more than just respect now. I could see the slight traces of fear and lust in her eyes before I put my intent away. She sighed softly. "If you were wolf I might let you try."
I smirked. "Perhaps one day I'll come back and take you up on that offer. For now though, it seems my escorts passed out."
She snorted at them calling them weak before remembering her own state before. "Leave them be. I'll call more over to pick them up and take you to the barracks. You'll get your first SPQR brand and be assigned to a cohort for training."
I remembered something and said. "Wait a second. I have a pet monster I want to keep and raise. I'd like your permission to do so within the boundaries. He's a bit of a glutton but he obey's my orders so there shouldn't be any trouble so long as idiots don't attack him."
She snorted. "What monster?"
I took Orthrus out and showed him to her. She was a bit shocked at first as his form was far bigger than her own. I made him shrink and he became her size while whimpering for me to pet him. I snorted now. "You're going to have to shrink further than that if I'm to pet you."
No sooner did I say the words than he shrank to the size of a full grown boxer. I scratched behind his ears and gave him a quick petting before turning to Lupa who sighed with clear annoyance now. "Do as you wish. I'll inform Terminus not to kick up a fuss so long as you have it under control."
I nodded and bowed lightly, after all she is a goddess in the end. Soon enough another cohort, the third, came to take the fifth away and lead me and Orthrus to the barracks. I was branded with the SPQR and assigned to the third cohort.
There I met Mike, Steven and Jess who were children of Mars, Bacchus and Vulcan respectively. With the exception of Steven and the other children of Bacchus, the rest were far more military like and serious than their Greek counterparts. Heck, even Steven had a serious side that saw me taking him far more serious on the field.
For the next four months I fought, trained and ate with these soldiers as there was no other way to put it. We fought side by side in the training fields and on quests. We quested, at my own request, a lot! Almost every time we returned we were sent out the next day with marching orders to retrieve an artifact or kill a particularly mast beast.
We even went to the sea of monsters to kill Scylla, a dog headed hydra like creature that was far bigger than the original hydra, Charybdis, a kraken like creature I had to get swallowed just so I could use it's own stomach shadows to rip it to dust, and Circe.
Yeah, that last one was not fun at all. For a good deal of the time I was avoiding being turned into a pig or any other animal for that matter. When we finally struck her low, I cursed as she started to reform. Her blood was golden and that meant she was a goddess!
Finally I had to resort to using the bronze sword and the imperial gold one I'd been given to send her off to Olympus where I knew she'd reform fully next. It didn't matter much to me as she only saw and recognized us as Romans.
With her dead, all those she'd turned into animals reverted back to human form. Many of which hadn't been human in a very long time. Some of the Greeks, I noticed, slipped away as the mist covered them while the Roman officers rejoined us for our voyage home.
Tales of how I slew a goddess spread and reached even Lupa's ears. When she approached me the night we returned from that last trip, she asked. "Which goddess and what pantheon?"
I sighed. "Circe, Greek. Hopefully it won't start a war as none of the Greeks saw us."
She nodded. "I suspected you knew about them. Were you one of them?"
I shrugged. "Not particularly. My mother, Nyx or Nox, depending on what you choose to call her, is my mother either way. I've no doubt she'd claim me no matter the pantheon."
Lupa nodded before telling me the next mission was to retrieve the helm of Pluto and return it to the god. I had stilled in that moment when she said. "Mars has hidden it in the junkyard of the gods. This is a solo mission and the last I'll be giving you for a great while I suspect."
I sighed and headed out to where she indicated it might be, Gila Claw, Arizona. I drove my car with Orthrus in the passanger seat once more. It took three days only traveling by night and car, to get there.
When we arrived it had just became night again. Oddly enough when we entered the junk yard we heard voices of others in here as well. I gave Orthrus an image of the helmet before saying. "Go fetch."
He bolted off while I went to find out who had arrived at the junkyard before me. I was a bit surprised to see Percy there with Thalia, Grover and two others that I hadn't recognized. When I saw one of the girls I didn't recognize about to pick up a Hades figurine, I stepped out of the shadows and grabbed her wrist. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. If you try to take something from this place well, it won't be pretty."
She stilled and the others turned to me ready to fight until they saw it was me, then it was only the two girls I didn't recognize ready to do battle. Percy mumbled. "Unless the child of night is found, thus saving those death shall reap."
I raised an eyebrow. "Is that a prophecy you're spouting about me?"
He nodded and I snorted. "I told those idiot gods to leave me out of their crap."
I released the girl who was being foolish before saying. "I'm going to kick Apollo right in his shiny balls for this."
The girls and even Percy looked shocked but Thalia just rolled her eyes. I sighed. "Hey thunder head."
She smiled and leapt into a hug before I released her and she told me about Artemis's offer that she took. I rubbed her head and slapped the hand off the daughter of Hades that tried to grab for his toy figurine again. "If it's in here it's protected by automations that will kill anyone who takes from them."
I picked up the figurine and waved it in her face. "I'll hold onto this until we're out of here. A small curse like this place is nothing for me but it'd kill a newbie like yourself. Free advice, try and master your powers over death before you go challenging the gods. They can't do much against me as even Zeus fears my mother, but you, well, Zeus would strike you down just for a laugh."
She frowned and I chuckled before I heard a bark. I whistled and Orthrus came running with a helmet in it's mouth. I chuckled when Bianca as Thalia called her, gasped. "That's my dads!"
I nodded. "I got a quest to return it to him but here, take it. If you'd like to see him, just come with me. I'm headed that way anyways."
Percy asked. "What about our quest to find Artemis?"
I shrugged. "Come with and I'll see what I can do."
I lead them out the way I came in and they were headed. A giant robot tried attacking but my shadows swallowed it as I took it inside my inner world. Smiling as I'd gained a toy to play with, I lead them the rest of the way out.
They were completely shocked now, especially when I took my car out and told them to hop in. I told Orthrus. "Puppy mode or you won't fit."
Orthrus came running at Grover who was in the front seat to his shock and fear until he leapt through the window as a puppy and landed on my lap. I smirked while Grover nearly soiled himself. "Relax, he's just a puppy now."
He looked at the two headed dog with true fear in his eyes. Chuckling I drove the degenerates to the Hoover dam as they requested. There I waited for them to get done with their business and when I saw them leaving on the back of some big ass bronze statues that flew away, I followed in my car at high speeds while covering it in the mist.
When it ran out of gas I quickly put it away and gave Orthrus the impression of San Francisco before hopping on his back. We were off to the races now as he followed them faster than I could at this point.
A few hours later we were there when they landed in the park. Sighing I told them as the flying angels set them down in front of us. "You could've at least told me where you all were going! I had to ride Orthrus all the way here because I thought these bronze feather heads were kidnapping you!"
Thalia reminded me. "But you have wings!"
I smacked my own forehead in a classic face palm. "I'm such an idiot! Wait why am I the idiot? You lot tried to leave me there!"
I glared at them as the angel statues left. They fidgeted before I sighed. "Just tell me your damn prophecy so I can at least help you interpret it."
Zoë Nightshade spoke up. "Five shall go west to the goddess in chains, One shall be lost in the land without rain, The bane of Olympus shows the trail, Campers and Hunters combined prevail, The Titan's curse must one withstand, And one shall perish by a parent's hand, unless the child of night is found, thus saving those death shall reap, he alone will make even titans weep."
I sighed and rubbed my forehead. "Well that sucks for you lot if I'd stayed gone. You'd all be screwed if you left me before the prophecy ended."
I looked them over before saying. "The bane of Olympus is the Ophiotaurus, a half bull half snake sea cow creature."
Percy froze and went to the nearest pond calling out someone named Bessy. Almost as soon as he said it's name it appeared in the water. I sighed. "And that would be it. If you kill it and sacrifice it just right you'll gain a lot of power or so I'm told. But it's generally an innocent creature and to do so is deemed an evil act."
Percy snorted. "We're not killing it!"
I nodded. "Then you'll want someone to take it home as it'll continue following you if you don't send someone back."
Grover raised a hand. "I'll do it. I need to tell the council about the Erymanthian boar anyway."
He looked to the others and apologized but ultimately they agreed. He hopped on the sea cows back and they disappeared in a burst of water that shot at me. I dodged of course and Thalia got wet. I chuckled until she tried electrocuting me. Zoë asked. "So where do we go next?"
I shrugged. "Well, the titans curse and being killed by a parent is very specific. My mother isn't a titan but a primordial being so it isn't me. There's are gods and that only leaves you. So whose your parents and where are we headed?"
She paled. "Atlas is my father."
I nodded. "So he's the General then. This is good, we know where he'll be then."
Percy frowned. "Where?"
I smacked him upside the back of the head. "Don't you read? I built a library in the camp for a reason. No wonder Annabeth calls you seaweed brain."
Thalia sighed. "It's Mount Othrys. Where the earth and sky meet."
I nodded. "We'll need a way up there and quickly. Demi gods can't hold up the sky long as it forces their bodies to age and their human blood to burn off because the god half is being used so frequently to keep them alive. Sort of like a forced mutation from those comic books the Hermes cabin has, the X-men I believe there called."
Percy frowned. "Wouldn't that just mean they become gods?"
I looked at him like he was stupid. "No, as a matter of fact, this is real life dumb ass. You'd need an injection of more god blood or a golden apple-"
I gave Zoë a look who confirmed it. "He's right. Even then you'd only be immortal and not a god."
Thalia spoke up. "I've got it! Annabeth's father is from around here. We can go to him for a ride. She mentioned he has a private plane."
I shrugged and followed her lead as I pulled out my car after we walked to the nearest gas station. We drove to where Percy remember Annabeth telling him they lived. When they asked the best route he mentioned a way by car as the gathering storm around the mountain would be a suicide run.
Back in the car we went and up the mountain until we were forced to trek by foot. When we passed into the Garden of Hesperides, I smirked at the slumbering dragon. Zoë said to let her take it but I shook my head. "I got this, I always wanted a pet dragon."
She looked at me like I was crazy but I shrugged it off and told them to hide. I slipped on my cloak and took Orthrus into my inner world, far away from the robot that deactivated when it couldn't find anyone to attack.
I snuck next to the dragon and touched it, sending it into my inner world with a thought while it woke up startled. It didn't have a chance to react before it was gone. I took a golden apple for good measure and Zoë stopped them from taking any more.
She eyed me wearily while I put the one I took inside my own inner realm near the dragon that was all tuckered out after I suppressed him inside. It curled up around the Apple like it was it's precious treasure.
Smiling I told Zoë. "Lead the way before I'm tempted to take the whole tree."
She shivered and nodded leading us further up to where we saw Artemis holding up the sky while Annabeth was in chains, tired next to her. The 'General' was wearing a tux and standing with an army of monsters at his beck and call while Luke was there with his own white streak of hair.
I raised an eyebrow and sighed. "Hello cousin, are you looking for a fight?"
Atlas was surprised to see me looking at him for a moment until he saw my necklace, then shock played out on his face when he recognized what it was. "The child of night I presume?"
Like spoke up. "Yeah, that's him. His name is Wraith."
I gave Luke a scowl before growling. "I'd piss off if I were you Luke, I'm in no mood to deal with your shit, and I'm not afraid to throw you off this mountain."
He shivered a bit before Thalia told me. "I'll handle Luke. You take on the general."
I nodded. "That leaves you three with the goddess and Annabeth. Orthrus will deal with the monsters."
They nodded and Bianca put on her father's helmet, going invisible. I told Orthrus as I brought him out. "Attack mode boy."
He barked happily and grew so damn big he covered half the mountain top. I unfurled my burning wings and flew at Atlas, drawing my sword and my bother's scythe as I went. We clashed repeatedly in mere moments as the air itself shook. While he had brute strength, I had skill, talent and experience on my side.
I heard Orthrus howl in excitement as monsters of all kinds attacked and climbed up the mountain into his waiting maw. My first real wound was traded with one to Atlas as I cut his ankle while he sliced into my side as I dove past him.
It was a jagged exchange of blows that wounded us both pretty badly. Soon enough though, Artemis was at my side healing me while Percy held up the sky. Atlas went into a rage and sucker punched me before I was fully healed, sending me towards Percy. As I slid back, I checked my ribs and shoved him aside as I took the weight of the sky on my shoulders.
I growled to him as I kneeled like he had before. "I'm injured. Finish it quickly! It takes more than just a single tired god to beat a titan."
I couldn't say much more as the weight really was insane. My muscles strained and my wings expanded as I grunted from the sheer agony of it. If my hair wasn't already white, I'm certain it would be turning that way anyways.
I felt my own body starting to give out in it's weakened state and pushed it further. I blocked out the pain as while it was heavy and bone crushing, I remember far worse inside the stars I trained in.
As I remembered that pain, something happened. My wings burst into a blazing inferno that lit up the sky and turned it green. In that clear moment on the razors edge of death and life, my inner world, below the dimension, finished forming.
I felt clarity clear my mind as my laws were purified but my own soul as it burned. The great tree that housed it, broke through the 'ceiling' it had reached in one final push. Just as I thought it'd go further, I heard Lucifer, my real father, whisper. "Well, done, but you can't break through anymore here or this reality will collapse."
I felt him lock it all away once more and I wanted to curse and rail at him until I remember the golden apple. I took it out and with my shadows, held it up as I took a bite.
One bite was enough as it seems to turn my human blood and DNA into ichor. I felt an overwhelming vigor as I pushed the sky up and held it there easier. I put the rest of the apple back and sent my shadows out to help them now that I could focus more. My shadows engulfed the titan and dragged him to me, kicking and screaming.
As soon as he as in place forcefully, I dropped the sky on his shoulders and rolled out of the way. He screamed and railed in his own way while Percy, no longer dealing with a pissed off titan, spartan kicked Luke of the side of the mountain and into his own sea of monsters below.
They were just going to keep coming so I decided to leave them with a parting gift. I grabbed everyone and tossed them onto Orthrus's back before giving him the impression of camp half-blood and telling him. "Go home!"
He bolted through the shadows and I half stepped into the shadows before dropping a pissed off poisonous dragon and a robot onto the incoming army. "Have fun with that!"
I could build a better robot and I can always find another dragon in a different reality. I shadow traveled to Orthrus back who hadn't yet gotten beyond my reach at night. There I laid down as Artemis and Thalia caught me before I could fall off.
The changes happening in my body were extreme and ongoing. I'd used up the last bit of the energy tossing the sky onto Atlas's shoulders and making the shadow portal to Orthrus.
Remembering something, I sat up groggily and ate some nectar and ambrosia before grabbing Bianca and the helmet of darkness and tossing them inside my inner realm and hopping off saying. "Go on without me. I've some business to do. Tell Orthrus to return to me when you arrive at camp!"
I pulled on my mother's cloak and prayed for strength as I shadow traveled back towards the way I came. It took an hour to find the place but it was as I expected. The Roman camp was fighting a giant, one of Gaia's later children from this world.
I appeared in the midst of battle and summoned my sword to help the first and second Legion fight the giant's followers, monsters made of earth and clay. Enceladus, the giant made to fight Athena, was being dealt with by the fifth cohort lead by Jason, a son of Jupiter.
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