章節 102: Ch.4
Two days later I was standing over the priest as he was about to breathe his last. When he did, I pulled a feather off my wings and placed it on the bullet wound. The power inside me doing the rest. His breath came once more as he was reinvigorated.
The paramedics passed right through me as I was intangible due to the deal I'd made with him drawing my essence to him while I slept. Lucifer could see me but no one else here could perceive my visage.
I did half expect Chloe to but in the end she doesn't have the sight. She was blessed though, I could see that much at least. I nodded to Lucifer and woke up as my essence was dragged back into my body.
Gasping for breath at first I choked a bit before heading to the bathroom to rinse my face off. That experience had been a shock for me. As it turned out, Arietta had been a drug dealer for sure but the guidance councilor killed him the next morning after he'd met me.
Then came the priest the guidance councilor wanted dead to get Connor, who'd been secretly working for him, to fall in line. That brought it full circle to Lucifer and Chloe arresting the councilor and Connor while the priest and the councilor had both been shot.
Chloe had fires on the councilor when he shot the priest. A three weeks and two cases later when Lucifer got off his kicks from playing the Saint, we found out what Amenadiel had been up to. At first I found it funny as it lead back to a cult of satanists but then it turned out the police officer that'd tried to shoot Lucifer three weeks ago, yes, while he was being a 'Saint', was the one who had started killing people.
We knew this because he confessed it all right as Amenadiel showed up. I sighed. "Father, you deal with your brother, I'll deal with the insane mortal he raised to kill you."
I shadow traveled downstairs where Malcom, the crazy police officer, was coming out of the elevator and about to shoot the priest that had snuck back in to kill Lucifer. As soon as he fired on the priest next to the bar, I cut off his hand and he fell to the floor screaming.
I'd used the lemon knife the bartenders used to avoid suspicion. Once he was on the floor holding his stump, I called the detective with Lucifer's cell phone. Luckily she was already headed this way.
I merely told her. "Bring an ambulance and a coroner. The dirty cop shot the street preacher Lucifer choked. He's dead. As for the ambulance, I cut off his hand by throwing a butcher knife at it so he wouldn't turn his gun on me."
I made sure the cameras I had installed only had everything from the past hour on them before waiting for the police. They didn't need to see the drugs and everything else that's done in the club.
When they arrived I held up my hands and pointed to the cop on the floor passed out and the dead preacher not far away. Lucifer had come down and saw what had happened for himself. Chloe cuffed me while they took my statement before taking copies of the camera video.
I was hauled down to the station where Lucifer talked them out of pressing charges on me for assault on a cop. Of course I however argued saying that I should be the one pressing charges on murderous cops and ass holes that deemed it just to cuff a kid for defending himself and threatening them with jail time.
The lieutenant talked to Chloe who talked to Lucifer who asked me to drop it as they couldn't afford to look dirty during election year and if they did, then there was no chance for the lieutenant to become chief of police any time soon.
He called it a favor but I called it a deal to his surprise. When we shook on it I told him. "Now even if you're killed, you won't die unless you're extinguished completely."
He was intrigued and a little touched by the sentiment as I shrugged it off. We left the station in Chloe's squad car while he told me about the mess upstairs that had destroyed the bar.
The next day shit went to hell, almost literally. Malcom, still missing a hand, broke out of the hospital and killed his police guards. He then took their guns and snuck into Lux while Lucifer was out looking for him with Chloe.
I'd been out with Maze talking about what she's like to do with her time on earth. Apparently she'd left her demon daggers forged in hellfire at the club and that was what he was after. When Amenadiel joined the search for him and we were alerted, Malcom had been on his way to a local loan shark.
When he saw Lucifer he ran, but when Amenadiel cornered him, he shanked him with a demon blade. Maze had me take them both to the penthouse so she could take care of him. While she was healing him Malcom managed to elude Chloe and Lucifer while they were being shot at by the loan shark's men.
The loan shark himself had been killed by Malcom who'd almost robbed him until Lucifer got close and he was forced to drop the bag of cash or risk being caught. That evening Chloe got a call from Malcom to meet him at a jet hanger with the cash or he'd kill Trixie, Chloe's seven year old daughter whom he'd gotten out of school by flashing a police badge he'd stolen.
Of course while Amenadiel was passed out from Maze using the angel feather I'd shed on his wound, she stayed to take care of him. I followed Lucifer to the warehouse, only to get there in time to see him shot. Luckily though he was wearing his bullet proof suit so when he got back up, he tossed Malcom around a bit until he caught the other demon dagger to the gut by surprise.
When I saw him hit the floor, I grabbed Malcom and threw him with all my strength in the side of some shelves of engine parts. I kneeled down to Lucifer and snorted. "You idiot, why'd you have to go and let an injured mortal stab you?"
He chuckled as he coughed up blood. "He surprised me."
I snorted. "And here I thought nothing surprised you?"
Sighing I went to bring my wings out for a feather when I felt it, or rather him. The 'God' of this world stopped me with a vague impression and 'asked' me to let him handle it. I told Lucifer. "Your father doesn't want me to help you. But don't worry too much, if he doesn't bring you back I'll go to hell and do it myself."
I turned and paled as did he when we saw Malcom going after Chloe with his gun. I whispered but he must've heard. "I'm too far away."
He prayed for a chance to save Chloe and I felt time stop around us in that moment. I turned and saw his wound heal as he died and came back in mere moments. He got up and asked while time was still frozen. "Well, what are we waiting for? This won't last forever."
Sighing I got up and ran over to Malcom with him before knocking the gun out of his hand and sending him flying backwards into the started up jet turbine. Now that was a gruesome death. Pieces of him littered the hanger as time started back up again.
Chloe saw the result and was in shock before she regained herself enough to find Trixie. Luckily the poor girl hadn't seen anything or it'd have scarred her for life. We stayed and gave statements to the police while Lucifer took full credit for shoving Malcom into the Jet turbine.
It'd be one issue we'd have to deal with later as he wasn't technically guilty. We'd both tossed him close to it and it had sucked him up. Legal action wasn't taken considering the circumstances but I was warned not to go rushing into police business.
I did however pick up the demon dagger and when Chloe asked how Lucifer survived being shot, he showed her the suit's special body armor lining. I chuckled when she saw it with confusion. "It was my idea. I figured if he's going to be on cases then he might as well do so safely. He's the last parent I have and it'd be a pain in the ass to try and find my mom."
She frowned. "But the blood-"
I shrugged. "Malcom must've bled on him when he tried stabbing him. He had just lost a hand the day before."
She didn't look convinced but it really was too bad Malcom's blood and parts had contaminated the whole area so there was little chance she would find one drop that wasn't Malcom's mixed in.
That night when we got back to the Penthouse where Amenadiel was sleeping, I told Lucifer. "I'm leaving LA tomorrow. I've got things I need to be doing in the Greek Pantheon and I'd like to explore this world a bit more. I'll be back in a few months or a year at the most."
He wasn't too pleased. "Why would you want to go and do something like that?"
I chuckled. "You mean go and play the hero saving damsels in distress? I don't know, I must get it from my father's side of the family."
He caught himself at my smile and sighed. "Fine, but at least take Maze with you."
I shook my head. "Maze is building her own life. I won't take this opportunity from her. Besides, she's a Christian pantheon demon. The gods would smite her if she went anywhere near their territory or kids. I'll be fine, after all, I am your son."
He did something that actually surprised me, he gave me a hug. I sighed and returned it before heading to my room to pack. I took in all my clothes and made sure to ask him for the dagger to which he agreed easily. Apparently it's not that hard for Maze to get more.
Demons can go back and forth to hell easily if they want and have his permission so the dagger wasn't that special. He wanted to give me his car but I was against it as I already had the Maserati.
He did however insist on giving me a hundred grand in cash for whatever expenses I might have and a box of condoms as is his parental duty as he put it. I'd taken it all as a sign of his affection and simply skipped town just before dawn while he was talking to Amenadial.
I traveled as far as I could through the shadows of night, practically teleporting across California, Nevada and Utah before the sun caught up to me. I drove through Colorado, Kansas and Missouri before I got tired of seeing the open road for a while and pulled over at a truck stop to rest.
Almost immediately I was set upon by a group of Cyclopes. I used my shadows to crush them into dust and got some rest. The moment I'd left LA, I had hidden my angel like aura that marked me as a child of Lucifer. It was more pure, one could say, than that of an actual angel but the monsters and gods couldn't really tell them apart.
Not that the angel wings wouldn't have marked me as an angel myself either. They'd changed so much that even their aura had felt like that of a god's than an actual angel.
After a three hour nap a pack of hell hounds had attacked until I roared at them and they fled, pissing themselves. I took that time to wash up with a whores bath and continued on my way while the night was going strong. I felt energized every night like I was on drugs but damned if it wasn't better.
Any wound I got was healed quickly and my strength was far greater. Everything that made a demigod strong in their element was evident in me during the night. I traveled fast as I put away the car and covered the rest of the trek from Missouri to Long Island New York.
I entered the camp boundaries and saw that all was well so I stopped by Thalia's tree and felt her out. When I did I paled and got really pissed. She was dying, or the tree was anyway. It'd been poisoned from elder python venom from the depths of Tartarus.
I immediately tried purifying it out of her with what little magic I had access to but it only made a small bit of difference as it'd already taken root inside her. I wanted blood for this. Sighing I stood up telling her gently to hold on before I headed into the camp once more.
There were a lot more people, mostly added from those I sent before. I walked through the crowd while a few recognized me. Chiron came out because of the commotion and saw me. I frowned. "Are you aware of Thalia's tree's condition?"
He nodded. "Clarisse received a quest and is on it to find the Golden Fleece. Percy and Annabeth have run off as well."
I sighed. "Very well. I'll guard the barrier at night until they return. Set up patrols during the day as I too need rest then."
My offer surprised him as he asked. "What made you want to take a more active role in things?"
I shrugged. "Let's just say I've had a reminder that while the gods are giant piles of dicks, those here are still family, an family should watch out for one another. I'm still not doing quests, but I can guard the fragile barrier and kill off whatever comes at night."
I turned and left the camp, heading for the tree. I could no longer sleep against it as I'd done before because of the venom seeping from it but I still slept nearby against another while connected to Talia's mind.
Every hour or so I'd send a small purifying and healing spell to stem the poison's progression. Persephone apparently gave some dirt to the Demeter cabin to use for the tree as well but it, like my spells, only did so much to slow the poison down.
One thing I did notice though was that Chiron had changed as much as Dionysus had. He now looked very much like Giles while Dionysus looked older and much fatter. He reminded me of a white beer bellied stoner. He'd probably been sublimating too much weed and food for alcohol.
Either way things were changing and not for the better. I could feel the tension in the air as whispers of demigods leaving camp in secret spread. They were supposedly joining Luke's cause in droves. As it was the thirty or so demigods that I'd sent here almost made up a fourth of the camp now.
None of them had left though, mostly because they'd seen me and the god of death before being sent here. It left a deep impression in their hearts. Just as I was dozing off, Chiron came over to speak with me.
I opened my eyes and sighed. "What is it?"
He looked me over before replying. "I've come to ask how your travels have gone."
Grumpily I sat up straighter and grunted. "Fruitful for the most part. I've killed Medusa, the hydra, an empusa, some cyclops and Laestrygonians. I met with Thanatos, Charon and Persephone and I've seen some of the Christian pantheon in action."
He stilled and I chuckled. "Yeah, you don't need to hide that there are other pantheons out there. When I sent the demigods here, there were some Roman ones mixed in. Thanatos sent them to their camp, wherever that is, before I sent these guys and gals here."
He sighed. "Try not to spread tales of this around. The pantheons are supposed to remain separate for fear of all our war, this includes the Roman and Greek and for good reasons beyond just war as well."
I nodded. "I wasn't interested in stirring up trouble anyway. As for what I've gained, I have Medusa's head, a hydra head, a pearl of Persephone, and these."
I stood up and my wings came out fully. Green flames spread out across them as if it were alive. I put them away as Chiron murmured. "Greek Fire."
I shrugged, letting him think what he wants and didn't dissuade him otherwise. He smiled weakly before saying. "I'd suggest you say it's a family thing as Thanatos has them as well. As for the Gorgon and hydra heads-"
I waved him off. "I'll be giving them to the Hephaestus cabin to make of them what they will. Hopefully they'll come up with a way to turn all the monsters that come for the camp into stone. If not, then maybe I'll sell the head to Artemis as a collectors item. She might be willing to trade Medusa's head for a blessing of archery skills or something."
He nodded before leaving slowly in thought. I closed my eyes fully now and went to sleep. In my dreams I was visited by a woman covered in stars and looked like she was apart of the night sky.
Smiling she told me. "My son it's good to see you've grown up a bit. I don't have long before the other gods sense me so I'll be quick. The necklace I left you is my symbol of power, much like Zeus's master bolt only not used as a weapon. It's called the cloak of night. To activate it, all you have to do is push some of the shadows you control into it."
She demonstrated what it would look like and told me it worked much like the cloak of invisibility only it worked against all lower beings including titans and gods at night. During the day they'd be able to tell someone's was there if they were observant enough.
After that she gave me a hug saying. "I love you and no matter what happens I want you to know that I don't regret my deal."
I sighed content to feel loved once more before she faded away and I jolted awake. The sun was setting now so I went and grabbed some food before making a sacrifice of half the plate to Nyx before eating a bit and sitting down while my senses spread out throughout the camp and barrier.
Throughout the night I'd occasionally kill a roaming monster that tried to get in while healing Thalia's tree a bit. It was all very dull as most of the monsters were just things like trolls and the occasional cyclops.
When the sun came up, I told Chiron to start the patrols and gave him a list of things killed along with the things they left behind. It was all junk to me as it was mostly cyclops eyes, troll hammers, clubs and one cyclops axe.
All of it was either too big or nasty shit. There was also dirty underwear and hides they left behind that stank to high heavens. While the campers were impressed, I didn't want that nasty smell rubbing off on me or gods forbid my shadows.
I had them dumped in the middle of the camp where Tantalus, the current director as it turned out, cursed at me for doing so. Chiron has apparently been temporarily demoted and was being shipped off to Florida today.
When Tantalus demanded I clean up the mess of monster stuff, I dumped the rest on him before saying coldly. "Not even the gods command me idiot. Try doing so at your own peril. You think starving and thirst are the worst things out there to experience? Cross me and we'll found out how immortal you truly are."
He paled further before looking to Dionysus for backup. The surly pot head shrugged. "Maybe be a bit less dramatic?"
I snorted and left, passing off the head of Medusa and the hydra head to the Hephaestus cabin and telling them to find out a useful use for them while giving them my advice for the head and coating the weapons in hydra poison for the patrol guards.
When they said they'd try and come up with something, I shrugged and told them if they couldn't find a use for the head in a week, to give it back and I'd use it for something else. Tantalus saw what I gave the Hephaestus cabin and paled in fright, knowing I could've simply turned him to stone or poisoned him to a slow and painful death.
When I was almost away I heard him accuse me of using the hydra venom to poison Talia's tree. Dionysus snorted and dumped a bucket of wine on the man's head only for it to drizzle around him until the bucket hit him in the head. "Don't be an idiot. I'd suspect anyone and everyone else in the camp of doing so before him. He practically lives at that tree when he's not out exploring the world."
I shadow punched Tantalus, breaking his nose before shouting. "Say something like that again about me and I'll drag you to Tartarus and chain you beside the Titans down there to rot for all eternity."
My threat echoed throughout the camp as I left, heading back to my spot to sleep for the day. For the next week it became routine as I protected the barrier at night and slept during the day. When the Hephaestus cabin only came up with a shield of fear like what Athena made before, I decided it was probably best just to summon Artemis.
It only took a thought really before she appeared before me at the boundary by Thalia's tree. I held up the bag with Medusa's head and asked. "Would you be willing to trade a blessing of your skill with a bow for Medusa's head?"
She looked me over before shrugging. "Why not just get better with a bow by practice?"
I shook my head. "Then I'd have no use for the head. The Hephaestus cabin can't come up with something so unless you're willing to cure Thalia's tree-"
She shook her head. "It's not my place-"
I nodded. "Then a blessing for the head. You can use it to turn whatever god or creature you wish into stone or put it in a shield and give it to one of your subordinates as a gift or reward."
She took the sack with the head in it and it disappeared into a beam of light before she came towards me and kissed my forehead saying. "May your bow never miss and skill never waver."
What actually surprised me was she then kissed me on the mouth. She'd taken to being around me in a teenaged form but when I deepened the kiss into something more, her form wavered into a more mature one.
It was getting hot and heavy when I felt a sizzle on the back of my neck. I released her and turned to see a man glaring at me. He was tanned and rippling with muscle while looking mightily pissed. I grunted. "Hello Apollo."
Artemis turned cold and stood in front of me. "Don't you even dare brother or I'll kill off your offspring and the whores you sleep with from now until the end of time."
He actually blanched hard and paled. I gotta give it to the guy, that was a low blow. I sighed. "It won't happen again. I don't exactly know what lead to it but I do know it can't and won't happen again. She'll remain the goddess of chastity."
I turned and headed back to my spot. They argued for a bit and both left after a while. From what I could hear with my shadows, she was truly saddened by my words but those same words kept Apollo from cursing me as he put it.
It was three days later that Clarisse arrived with half of the Golden Fleece. She went to hand it to me but I shook my head. "You do it, it was your quest and for that I'm grateful as you managed to succeed. Well, partially."
I gave her a lopsided smile and she laid the fleece on Talia's roots. It wasn't an immediate change, not with it having been torn apart, but more of a gradual change over time.
Later that evening Percy, Annabeth and Grover arrived with Chiron and a herd of centaur. They were aptly chill about it all while Tantalus was kicked out of the camp once it was found out that he was messing with things he shouldn't have. Chiron was welcomed back on a trial bases as it was confirmed that Cronus was the one Luke was trying to raise with his half of the fleece.
During the night Annabeth watched over Thalia's tree with me. When morning came so did the change. The last of the elder python venom was purged and the tree itself recovered remarkably fast while at the base of it, Thalia was released, healthy and whole.
Annabeth went to get the campers while I woke her up. As soon as she saw me, she leapt into my arms for a hug that made my ribs creak. It was day time and she was damn strong for a demigod. I grunted. "Need to breathe!"
She let me go and I sighed. "It's good to see you in the flesh thunder head."
She snorted. "You as well gloomy butt. Now, where is Annabeth and what's the situation?"
I chuckled. "Well, Annabeth is bringing everyone to see you and-"
At that moment the barrier flashed and came up at full strength. She and I both watched it for a minute before she said. "Give me a boost."
I nodded and she grabbed the fleece before running at me. I used my strength and my shadows to send her flying up as she jumped off my hands towards the lowest hanging branch. She put the fleece on it before hopping down.
The other campers came running and saw her jump down. I caught her and for a moment it got quite personal as I held her there. She looked at me deeply and I released my hold on her before saying. "Go meet your fans."
They each stared at her for a while before Annabeth broke through the crowd and hugged her. Unfortunately Annabeth started telling about Luke and Thalia replied. "I know it all already. Wraith kept me up to date on everything."
Annabeth stilled before asking. "How?"
Thalia shrugged. "He could speak to me with his shadow thoughts as he called them. We talked for years and years until now."
Annabeth's eyes narrowed as she turned on me. Thalia stopped her saying. "I asked him not to tell anyone. We both thought I was death or had become a tree permanently. Neither of which was good for others to linger on. Hades, I tried to get him to leave me be as well but he's so damn stubborn that he kept coming back. For that I'm grateful, I'd have gone crazy or repressed it all if I didn't have him to keep me sane."
I shrugged when they all looked to me. "What? She was my only friend. Besides, would you all have believed me if I said otherwise without being able to prove it?"
They shuffled their feet and I nodded. "That's what I thought. I'd be the crazy guy talking to a tree."
Thalia snorted. "You are the crazy guy that talks to trees."
I frowned. "Yeah but I know they don't talk back and I don't expect them to, well unless there's a nymph inside one but that's beside the point."
She burst out laughing and the others followed her example albeit nervously. Annabeth still had her eyes narrowed at me but I ignored her as she was just pissed I didn't consider her a friend enough to tell her, which was true. I'm not friends with any of them and my only obligation to them was familial duty.
Thalia on the other hand was my best friend and knew a lot about me. Only stuff I'd learned and done in this life of course as I wasn't about to share all my secrets to anyone except my wives. The camp celebrated for the next three days and while I joined them during the night, I still slept at the tree durning the day.
Thalia had tried inviting me into Zeus's cabin but I declined the offer as I told her. "I like the outdoors more."
She looked sad and I simply touched her cheek saying. "You know I only like you as a friend right Thalia? We've talked about this before."
She bit her lip before sighing. "I thought now that I was back that it could change, that we could change."
I gave her a saddened look before sighing myself. "You're my best friend and I do love you, just not in the way that you want. I'm sorry."
She grasped my hand saying sadly. "Me too."
I gave her a hug before saying. "I'm leaving camp again. I want to explore more, maybe find the other pantheons we talked about or at least see what else is different from those books. Oh, and I have one more surprise for you."
I unfurled my wings and she looked at them in awe. They burned green and she murmured. "Greek Fire?"
I shook my head. "Nope, though that's a good guess though. I call them the fires of rebirth. I don't know if they actually burn anyone else but I'm immune."
Thalia held up a hand but felt heat so she backed off. "Nope, it's just you. They're bizarrely hot as well. I'm sure if you weren't facing me I wouldn't be able to get this close to you."
I put them away and heard an. "Aww pretty fire went away!"
I turned to see a cyclops that Percy called his brother there. Snorting I told him. "I doubt you're immune to my flames either even if you're a cyclops. Go find your brother or leave this area, I've killed plenty of your kind before and I'm not against killing more."
He looked frightened but left all the same. Thalia looked to me and I shrugged. "You were nearly killed by them and I've been repeatedly attacked by cyclopses every time I leave the camp. Hell, the camp barrier was attacked dozens of times by cyclopses over the past two weeks alone. I'm all for forgive and forget but I'm not interested in hanging out with one as well. Especially spending my last day in camp with one when I'm spending it with you."
She went quiet for a long time before saying. "Take me with you?"
I shook my head. "Your place is here. I'm told there's a prophecy or some such and besides, you can't mask your scent like I can. It's not much but it does limit the amount I'm attacked by."
She looked saddened further so I hugged her in response. She cried a bit, one of the few things she was willing to do only in my presence. When she dried up her tears I took her to the fist of Zeus and we sat there watching the sky's and the whole camp.
We sat there most of the day and as night fell she fell asleep leaning against me. Sighing I held her thee for most of the night, keeping her warm with my wings when it started to get breezy.
When it started to get light out, Artemis came and took her to her room saying. "I'll be there when she wakes up. I've an offer for her when she does."
I nodded. "Tell her I think it's for the best. I can't give her what she needs and I don't know what to tell her otherwise."
Artemis nodded sadly and went to speak but I shook my head. "We both know I can't give you it either. It would only end in tragedy. Your nature as a goddess of chastity wouldn't allow it either."
She deflated and I sighed before shadow walking and leaving the goddess there with her half sister. I headed to the road outside the camp and pulled out my car before driving towards San Francisco.
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