บท 45: DA : Chapter 45: Hope Comes Home III
" You left me …" The shade continued to fall apart as if assaulted, bits and pieces ripping off into the darkness until only the head remained unscratched while it stared at Artemis.
"I guess I was wrong to love you …"
...
Artemis' knees started to shake with tears welling up in her eyes before another shade appeared, this time looking like the murdered Paul Blofis. It looked at Artemis as well before a dagger of shadows formed in its hand.
The shade raised it above the head of shade Phoebe while it said.
"Heartless murderer …" The knife descended as Artemis screamed while simultaneously summoning her bow and launching an arrow at the shade but it passed harmlessly through it.
The knife was plunged into the skull of the shade Phoebe, making it dissolve into shadow before the shade Paul shifted again, this time facing Poseidon completely dismissing the hyperventilating goddess holding a shaky bow. The shade then appeared as Sally as Poseidon paled while staring at it.
"I loved you," it said in her voice. "I protected our son when you left us," it accused as Poseidon shook his head without looking away. "I raised him with love and devotion … and you used him. Now he's gone because you failed him."
"No …" Poseidon murmured as he started to sweat while looking at the shade.
"I found a better man and love," shade Sally continued as Poseidon paled even more. \
"Sally please …" Poseidon started to beg but remained unheard.
"Faithful, considerate, loving," the shade continued as it slowly stepped towards the trembling sea god. "He was a better man, a better husband, a better lover … and a better father than you ever were."
Poseidon started to have tears trail down his cheeks as he looked at the shade but then another knife of shadows appeared and stabbed shade Sally in the back as a harrowing scream echoed around the throne room before whispering.
"And you were jealous of a mere mortal … now the guilt and shame will stay until the end of your days."
By now Poseidon sat as a broken man, his eyes empty as he stared at the shade. With the sea god finished it moved to stand before Zeus and hissing, "And the filth to lead them all."
It quickly shifted between all sorts of people from across the ages as the voice boomed around them, "Rapist, murderer, liar, cheater, dictator …" The shade then split into three people; Thalia, Jason, and Hercules.
All three spoke in the same voice. "Child of Kronos, destined to be betrayed by his own children like his father before him. In the end he shall stand alone, abandoned and lost. You were never the man we called father."
Zeus practically glowed with his rage as he roared while shooting a massive bolt at the shade. There was a blinding light and deafening explosion as the throne room shook.
Hestia coughed for a moment before she waved her hand to clear the smoke to see a crater where the shade once stood making her start to worry for Percy. However the laugh returned as the Olympians looked around wildly.
"Fool of a king, you can't destroy your own demons with force alone," the voice said as the shade formed again beside the crater. Then, in a deeper and more sinister voice it spoke as power flooded the room.
"Only through blood and sacrifice can one find redemption … but you are beyond even that. The void beckons Olympians … and the first must fall."
Before anyone could say anything Hestia felt the shadows around her condense into tendrils before grabbing onto her. She started in alarm before she remembered Percy's words and calmed down … but not too calm.
He said to play along so she did, and the key was selling it. She started to thrash without using any godly power to try and destroy the bonds as they dragged her off her throne to the center of the room.
"Hestia!" several of the Olympians shouted in alarm but didn't move as a dagger of darkness suddenly appeared below her throat.
"It is only fair," the voice said as the shadows lifted her into a sitting up position as they condensed above her. She glanced up to see an enormous shade wolf form, towering above the Olympians even in their godly heights.
"The purest is sacrificed for the sins of the wretches … so says the demon, so says Umbra!"
At the name several Olympians shot up, Artemis in particular flashing dangerously as she prepared to go into her godly form.
"It won't matter goddess," the wolf said as it looked directly at her. "You have and will continue … to fail."
Before anyone else could say anything the shade wolf released a massive roar laced with power … the same power that released Hercules with a blast of cold wind, sending most of the gods stumbling back onto their thrones.
In their daze the wolf looked down at her before she felt a presence brush aside her mental defenses and heard Percy saying, 'Get ready!'
With that the wolf lounged and her and 'bit' into her shoulder as it dragged her into the shadows of the floor. Well damn if she wasn't the sibling of the ultimate drama queen for nothing.
"No!" she screamed as fake tears welled up in her eyes. She locked eyes with her two younger brothers before crying at them, "Save me please!"
They shouted her name in reply and dived at her but fell short as the shadows consumed her …
...
Hestia felt her entire world shift around wildly for all of three seconds before it settled as two strong arms held onto her. She blushed at the contact as she opened her eyes and looked over her shoulder to see that it was in fact Percy … and he looked different.
She stared into his flaming black eyes, feeling as if she was being drawn into them until Percy spoke.
"Ah … hey?" he said sheepishly as he grinned at her.
It was with the feeling of his breath passing over her face that she realized she'd been leaning closer to him. She almost gasped as her face went golden while she took a step back and glanced around.
They were in a large room made of black marble with a ceiling mirroring the night sky. She then heard some chuckling behind her and turned around to a surprising sight.
There seated before her were a the lost heroes, several titans, minor gods, and even some primordial gods all looking at a floating sphere currently showing the throne room on Olympus going insane.
"Ah Percy, you're back!" Nyx said cheerily as she got up from and walked towards them while Hestia gapped like a fish at the primordial. "Hello Hestia, welcome to my humble home," she greeted with a warm smile while the others noticed their arrivals as well.
"L-Lady Nyx," Hestia stuttered as she gave a hasty curtsy but Nyx waved it off.
"Now, now, you are a guest so no need for formalities," she said before glancing at Percy. "Wonderful performance by the way. Manipulating shadows into a fake body to taunt them, very creative. How did you get your voice to change though?"
"Hecate taught me a few tricks," Percy replied with a proud smile before it turned into a frown. "I would have done worse but I really didn't want to stick around longer than necessary and risk actually attacking them yet."
"Understandable," Nyx agreed before she turned to face Hestia. "And how are you Hestia? I hope the trip wasn't too bumpy."
"No, it was very quick," she said with some nervousness, not wanting to possibly offend the primordial.
It seemed that Nyx noticed as she raised an eyebrow before speaking, "Relax little one, I'm not going to eat you or anything. You are precious to many here and are more than welcome to make yourself comfortable … well, as comfortable as you can get in Tartarus."
"I take offence to that," an enormous man hidden in a black cloak said as he joined them with his glowing red eyes looking down at them, his sheer power and presence alone tipping her off to who he is.
"T-Tartarus," Hestia squeaked as her knees started to shake but then she felt a comforting hand being placed on her shoulder.
"It's okay Hestia," Percy said in a soft tone making Hestia relax instantly. He then pointed to their side and she followed his finger to gasp in surprise.
There stood her mother, Rhea, after millennia of being separated. Her mother looked slightly different as well but at the moment Hestia didn't care as tears built up in her eyes.
"Mom …" she said softly as her mother nodded before opening her arms in an invitation.
Hestia sniffed a bit before she ran forward and embraced her mother, feeling her arms wrap around her for the second time in all her life. The only other time had been when she'd been born just before her father had swallowed her.
After the war Rhea had been banished with the other titans before Hestia could try to form any sort of mother-daughter relationship with her.
Only Hestia's prayers had been able to get to where her mother had been hidden and imprisoned by Zeus … but now maybe she had a chance of creating that relationship. She certainly needed it and the guidance since she had no idea how to go about telling Percy about her feelings.
Their hug lasted for several minutes and in that time Hestia felt several presences approach around her. Once she released her hold on her mother she looked around to many smiling faces that made her smile in return.
"Hello Lady Hestia, it's been a while," Thalia greeted first followed by her brother.
"It's a pleasure to finally have you here with us," he said with a polite bow.
"Yeah, Percy and Rhea wouldn't shut it about wanting to bring you to us already," Nico added with a snicker only for a young woman with odd purple and blue eyes to smack the back of his head.
"Don't tease them Nico," she said before she looked at Hestia kindly, "And hi Hestia, I'm Andromeda Jackson."
Hestia gasped in surprise as the group chuckled at her before Andromeda continued, "I know, I'm used to that reaction. Long story short, Percy and Rhea are the ones who rescued me and brought me here.
Time passes five times faster as well so I aged sooner."
"And all your eyes?" she asked as she glanced around the group consisting of Percy, Rhea, Jason, Thalia, Andy, Nico while the others in the room watched on from a respectful distance.
They looked at each other with her question before they focused on Percy making him chuckled before he answered. "We'll, we're all going to become protogenoi."
"What!?" she shouted in shock much to their amusement.
"Yeah, don't worry we'll explain more later at dinner," Rhea said offhandedly before taking her hand, "For now you and me have some catching up to do."
With that Hestia was dragged away from the conference room as she dubbed it, while shooting one last glance at Percy. He saw it and gave her a faint smile with a nod before he returned to speaking with Nyx and Tartarus.
After that Hestia followed her mother until they arrived in a beautiful courtyard with grass made of shadows and ice, decorated with all manner of statutes, and a huge white oak in the center. Once there Rhea led her to a bench where the pair sat down before Rhea faced her with a beaming smile.
"So, how have you been?" Rhea asked eagerly to which Hestia smiled before having a mother-daughter talk for the first time.
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Don't forget to throw some power Stones, to keep the story going.
...
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