A Nascent Kaleidoscope

Chapter 571: + Arachne Omake 5

Chapter 571: + Arachne Omake 5

A/N

Couple things before the chapter. I fucked up, this was supposed to be the last chapter, so it's a little awkward. Second, I was trying something new with this chapter because I was having trouble writing it, I did a 3rd person POV despite never doing that before. It was mostly just a little experiment, it wasn't really received well, so I won't be doing it again. As a bonus because these two things, I added an Arachne omake in addition.

@***@

POV – Winter Queen's Throne room, 3rd person.

A cool air filled the throne room, many whispers could be heard from nearly every corner.

It was filled with the who's who of the Winter Court, who the Queen favors, the rising stars and the ones who hold any semblance of power.

"The ambience had been greatly increased." An elf in rather flamboyant clothing held a glass of presumed whine in his hand.

"Of course, of course" Another similarly dressed elf nodded. "It simply matches the decor of her highness. Why, I think this should have happened far sooner."

Katerea Leviathan stood at the far end of the hall, listening to these Fae ramble on. It wasn't just those two, the group gathered within the Winter Queen's court was extensive and varied.

She looked at them then at the gaping hole in the side of the building that let the snow storm blow inward.

There were plenty of Fae literally covered in snow and ice that made no move to remove it, smiling as if it was all planned and normal.

It wasn't merely the throne room that needed repairs. A significant portion of the Winter Queen's castle was destroyed in what only could be described as an arrow made of sunlight slamming into it.

Of course, the Winter Queen herself didn't simply sit there and wait for it to happen.

She was by no means weak. Despite some….whispers around the court, her losing her arm many months ago in the human world was not a matter of her losing her strength.

It was one matter to extend her reach beyond her seat of power and leave herself so vulnerable. It was another matter entirely for her when sitting at her strongest.

Even still, she suffered a wound from blocking the vast majority of that attack.

One might look at the destruction and think the attack succeeded, they would be wrong.

It contained enough power to annihilate the castle and everything within miles, yet the damage merely equated to about half the castle – albeit rather large in stature – in ruins.

"Is that a new dress?" One of the Fae women asked towards the other.

"Oh, this old thing? I simply decided to match her highness with the new fashion." She smiled slyly, her dress covered in snow from outside and she also made no effort to clean herself off.

Backhanded compliments, insulting directly without doing so with a smile on their faces. Even their Queen was not safe from this behavior as it was ingrained deep within them. A moment of weakness showed was an opening one needed to pull you down into the mud.

It was the normal court for these Fae.

The normal behavior continued despite the dilapidated room until a screech caused the music and festivities to cease.

The Winter Queen, high up on her throne, ran her nails against the arm rest of her chair.

Everyone shivered and immediately went quiet. It was one matter to subtly insult her without actually doing so. It was another matter to be flippant with your tongue while she was angry. ?À?????

And the many – many years they had lived, they had to know when she was angry in order to survive in this court.

"Where is my royal pixie!?" The Queen's voice, like shattering glass resounded throughout the icy domain.

With a flash of purple and pink dust, a small, two-foot 'person' appeared within sight. "I am here as called, your majesty!" The man spoke with a cheerful tone and a strange wooden wand in hand.

Pixies were a strange people even among the Fair Folk.

It wouldn't be wrong to call them the darlings of the world. While the vast majority of Fae were blocked from entering the Human World, the Pixies could come and go if they wanted. However, most of the time, the thought never occurred to them, or it wasn't enticing.

They had the mentalities of children often time, but that didn't belittle their frightening intelligence and capability. They only seemed to move when something interested them or due to previous commitments.

Perhaps the least malevolent of all Fae, but prone to mischief all the same.

They were even capable of certain feats that the Summer or Winter Queen could only be envy towards despite their power being significantly higher.

"I want you to divine the background and status of the one who dared attack me and my castle!" She demanded, killing intent palpable.

The pixie began to move around in a circle, as if dancing awkwardly, fidgeting and twitching at certain intervals.

If someone from the human world saw this, they may have assumed there was a problem with him.

He raised his wand up as if casting a spell and his eyes widened. "Oh no!"

Everyone around him seemed used to his actions, treating it all as normal. However, the Fae seemed surprised at his sudden exclamation, even the Winter Queen paused in her angry tapping of her throne to stare at him.

"I need to use my secret technique – escaping punishment!" He shouted and ripped his own head off, tossing it far to the side.

His headless body raised its 'wand' up and caused a new head to grow just before a bolt of lightning fell from the sky and turned him into a smoking corpse.

The original head twitched and gruesomely regrew its body.

"Whew, that was close." The pixie hopped back up on his feet. "I was almost consumed by the causality backlash. Thankfully, I was smart enough to kill myself before the backlash could kill me." He said proudly.

"Royal Pixie." The Queen said, her chilling tone still present. "What are the results."

"No can do, Queenie. You're on your own this time. I can't touch the background of the one you want. A big Tree and the scary Night gave me a warning not to play around!" He winked at her before poofing out of existence.

Katerea, who had been there this entire time on the behalf of Lord Rizevim was just staring at the scene in shock, wondering if she was hallucinating, or if she drank far too much.

It took a moment, but the Winter Queen's fury was made apparent even if she was silent and unmoving. The cold winds bashed against the castle, causing it to creak and groan with each passing tempest.

It all started because one of the Queen's stray children had decided to venture off on her own.

She had several children, some of which had fallen out of her favor and she stopped paying attention to. One of which, ventured into the human world in an attempt to curry her favor or win her praise.

Both Summer and Winter as well as all the realms knew about the upheaval that arrived not long ago.

The Winter Queen was forced to acquiesce to the closing of the Realm to the Human World.

The Lake dwellers had many favors to call upon, and when debts came due, they moved in a way that shook the realm all those years ago.

Not to mention the First Dream silently supported their efforts.

Not even Summer or Winter dared to have thoughts on matters regarding the First Dream.

Neither Summer nor Winter were particularly thrilled at the closing off the Realm, but there was nothing they could do. So, both of them ruled over the Seasons, so too did the Lake Dwellers control the paths, and they had to begrudgingly accept the course of events.

And as tensions escalated as they tend to do between the two rotating Seasons, everyone felt it.

A new path opened up, a foreign path, a path that didn't exist before but suddenly revealed itself.

It wasn't impossible to send people out to the human realm, merely consuming time and effort that could be used elsewhere and with a certain cost.

Her daughter snuck out among the ones meant to scout and infiltrate.

As the Queen, once discovered, she of course had to provide a proper response. How dare some creatures outside take prisoner her daughter? It was only right that she shows them her wrath.

Winter's wrath had long been forgotten by the human world, she felt it appropriate to remind them.

What she did not expect was for some….thing wearing flesh and blood to sever her arm. She could admit that she overextended herself in a moment of fury seeing one of her trusted captains – one of her doted lovers about to be killed.

To extend her reach across realms like she did….well, it wasn't a surprise that her hand was severed so 'easily'.

She could not immediately retaliate, her position was shaken, as comical that was. She was Winter, who could dare claim her position as the Winter Queen?

Despite this, there were whispers, intentionally revealed to probe her.

She had to squash all opposition quite thoroughly.

And it was enough time for those creatures outside to do something so laughable that she couldn't even imagine it beforehand.

They invaded.

It was the first time in the history of the realm that things from the human world invaded and conquered.

She could feel it, she knew that Summer could feel it.

Part of the realm was usurped.

Divine Authority?

She knew about Gods. They mocked gods, depending on the sustenance of such fragile creatures like humans, despite how much amusement their compatriots took in the lesser ones.

To her, at best, they would be cute pets.

Regardless of her feelings, the power couldn't be denied, which is why deities were treated with a certain…respect.

There was even a time where both her and Summer shared the same lover – a God in the far past.

Despite this invasion, her court was…..unconcerned.

Even she only found it mildly amusing, a reprieve from the normal cycle of monotony.

Sure, their farm lands were being taken over, but that only made them laugh at the thought of animals thinking they're superior for ruling over other animals.

The mocking notions of the creatures outside thinking they achieved some great victory by conquering farmland.

The only more ridiculous thing was the 'devils' strutting around her domain.

They were useful, so she allowed it.

However, everything seemed to be turned upside down by what happened just recently.

She felt rather clever about the defense she left at the entrance to her domain through the ocean. No need to put some of her people to guard, it would take care of itself.

What she never envisioned was someone using that to destroy parts of her domain!

Thousands of her warriors were dead.

And her monthly offerings were destroyed!

She normally didn't care about the farmlands, but now it would take far too long to restock her amenities.

How was she supposed to offer tea when she had no tea to offer?

Utterly ridiculous and an insult to her as the Winter Queen!

Just this alone had her executing hundreds of people in her court that she didn't like. They had no hand in it, but all the same, through clever word play, she easily had them confess to the crime.

As for others, well, she gave them a light punishment.

They would become bricks to repair her castle.

And it was a short punishment! They simply had to tell her when they wanted to stop, and she would let them go.

It didn't matter, that as bricks, they couldn't speak.

That was their problem.

But that was all irrelevant.

She was going to intervene, to show that despicable creature her wrath for not only destroying part of her domain, but also for cutting off her arm!

She recognized the feeling of the one responsible. Truthfully, she was content to sit back and watch the show previously as his reflection killed him in her stead.

Yet, when she made the decision to involve herself directly, he retaliated in a way that she never could have imagined.

Even now, after experiencing it, she couldn't' understand it.

It was wrong.

An object in the shape of a bow, so much power contained within it. The creature could only use a fraction of that power, but it was still enough to get the advantage on her.

She hid it well, but she was wounded from taking the brunt of it.

Even at this moment, she was using the power of Winter to crush the warmth that permeated her body against her will.

Under her dress, her body cracked, light seeping through before quickly being snuffed out by the deathly cold.

That should have been the end of it. The peak of her being mocked and shamed but a lowly thing.

However, then that arrived.

Oh, she noticed the other creature initially. She noticed the little god that ascended from a former resident of the realm. The large snake that held impressive power. And even the sapient wand, of which piqued her interest.

But that was all overshadowed by the fourth among their group.

The Winter Queen initially thought it was one of her kind at first glance. Yet it only took a blink to not recognize the being that trespassed within her domain through unknown means.

It was no Winter, no summer, no Autumn nor Fall. Yet, all the same, it felt wholly welcomed within the realm as if it belonged. IT was seemingly also a being of their caliber at least in existence.

She was beyond the common Fae of the realm, a higher sort.

So too was this thing higher in scope.

Casually, with a wave of its hand, it was able to assert dominance over her domain!

And then, it did something that nearly made her faint.

It created its own realm.

A large castle that dwarfed hers, and a Red Moon that hung high up in the air that sent fear down her spine.

Her, the cold and ruthless Winter, felt fear.

The only grace she acknowledged was that the creature didn't seem innately hostile. Because she questioned how she would defend against the creature dropping the literal moon ontop of her head.

The answer was unsurprisingly concerning for the Winter Queen.

Caution was needed, but no longer could she sit idly by.

At the very least, the creatures that invaded the realm needed to be dealt with appropriately. She needed many more bricks to repair her castle and she was running out of dissenters.

"We are at war." The Winter Queen spoke, hushing all murmurs. "The creatures have invaded the domain of Winter!"

Katerea, the Devil still standing far in the back, she wanted to blurt out an 'obviously'. But to all the Fae in the room, they were surprised, shocked even.

It was an acknowledgement.

They acknowledged that the things they thought funny, the 'animals' they considered taking as pets once captures – they were something worthy of them going to war in that only the Queen considered the Summer Court her match so far.

"Your Majesty, it's merely some farmland. I will personally lead my warriors to capture them, is there a need to declare war?" One particular Fae took up, bright and large butterfly-like wings on his back.

"Wilan." The Winter Queen called out and through a misty haze, a man donned in bone-like armor appeared and knelt at the feet of her throne.

"Yes, your Majesty?"

"Prepare the warriors, rally all our troops. And Spric here – " She looked at the one who spoke up a moment prior. "— has volunteered to be on the front lines."

The Fae with the wing's had his eyes widened as he realized he misspoke and basically volunteered to be cannon fodder.

"We must know our new enemy that dares invade the Winter Domain!" She declared, leaving no room for retort, snapping her fingers and many images – in real time, of the red-headed creature and his fellows appeared around the room.

"How uncouth. We're certainly lacking new decorations; I hope this will revitalize the décor. I could use a new human-skin rug, but we haven't had any new ones come in so long." One finely dressed Fae woman spoke.

"Oh, most certainly. I feel like the ones I have currently are broken. One of my pets promised me that they would stop defecating on the floor. Yet, they continued to do so! I was so aghast that I had to unchain them from the wall and feed them to my hounds."

"How unfortunate, I remember how well that human brought the whole room together."

The Winter Queen looked around and there were no whispered words against her decree. They also knew what transpired not but hours ago, and even if they would not admit it, it stirred something inside of them.

The Winter Queen cast her gaze towards the Dragon.

The beast dared to ignore her summons time and time again, yet she didn't get angry.

He was a Dragon, so such behavior was expected.

It was like telling her, Winter itself, to stop being cold and harsh.

But the Dragon noticed her gaze, seemingly uncaring as he watched over the human with the interesting thing inside of him.

If it weren't for the Dragon protecting the human, she would have taken him for herself.

The human fainted, but she didn't pay attention to that. What she focused on was the things that he spawned out of nothingness.

A cruel smile crept up on her lips.

She had lost a great many of her hunters and warriors from the arrival of the thing before, but that was far from enough to neuter the Winter Court's strength.

Her gaze returned back to her court.

"We must understand how these things think, how they act, and know best to hunt them." Her trusted General Wilan was speaking to the court, rallying their enthusiasm.

It was a novel thought, since when did they have to understand their lessers?

But his words had merit.

Yes, she looked at the picture of her most hated foe.

The Red hair of his was too eye catching to ever miss.

Even now, he did something she didn't understand, and it only served to annoy her due to feeling ignorant.

Why was it that every time she looked his way, he would raise his middle finger towards her gaze?

Clearly, it must hold some significant since he continues to do it.

She would discover its secrets and there was nowhere he could hide to escape her wrath.

@***@

NonCanon omake - The Little Spider Part 5

It took a while for the God of Madness to finally calm down, wiping a tear from his eye as he still chuckled a few times.

"Great, this is great. You're officially my favorite little demigod now, kid."

"...What about your children, Mr.D?" Chiron asked.

"Hooh, I hadn't laughed like that since… well before dear ol' pops took away my booze." He looked at Arachne, ignoring Chiron's comment. "I may even be a little sad when you eventually get mauled and eaten by a monster for some stupid reason."

"Why did you get your booze taken away?" Arachne seemed to focus on that tidbit.

"Oh, you know, I went after a nymph that was 'off limits.'" He waved his hand flippantly through the air, underlining the sarcastic undertone of his words. "Thus, I have been tortured to not allow anything alcoholic past my lips for a hundred years."

Arachne's eyes widened. "I'm sorry for your loss." She said with full sincerity.

"...you're a strange one."

Dionysus felt strange himself; he never had a good impression of a demigod that wasn't his own before.

Yes, he had the strange feeling swelling up inside of him; he didn't want this one to die so horribly…at least immediately. Give it a few years, and he'd probably come to despise her like all the others.

"Are we still allowed to drink here?" She asked.

"Absolutely not." Chiron spoke up. "You're only—"

"I'm being punished; I haven't turned into a buzzkill." He deadpanned.

"…Mr. D, please don't encourage children to drink." Chiron sighed.

"A am Scottish." Arachne defended. "Me mum gave me whiskey for the first time when I turned ten."

Well, technically her mom let her try it on her tenth birthday after begging from the younger Arachne.

She, of course, couldn't hold it in. It's not like Scáthach was a bad mother who let her 10-year-old daughter drink whiskey every day.

It was only a recent development that her parents had laxed her alcohol usage, considering she wasn't human and there technically wasn't any real harm.

"Ah, a people after my own heart." Dionysus sighed happily. "Wait, your mom?" He refocused.

"Mom, not mother." Arachne rolled her eyes, knowing what he meant.

"Right, right." He nodded in understanding. "So you know who your parent is? She usually doesn't let the father tell the kid, preferring to do the whole 'reveal' at camp."

Arachne scoffed. "My Da does what he wants."

Dionysus looked at her for a moment and shrugged.

Not his clowns, not his circus.

He was just happy to watch the show from the audience.

"Be that as it may…" Chiron seemed to choose his words carefully. "It's perhaps wise not to flaunt it until you're claimed by your godly parent. It's a… tradition and general rule that the parent has priority in—

"Blah blah, Chiron, save it for later." Dionysus interrupted. "Let's focus on the important thing. Like why you have the Bane of Olympus behind you, little girl." He pointed at Mr. Blueberry, who happily nudged against Arachne's side.

"His name is Mr. Blueberry." Arachne corrected.

"Sure." The God of Madness didn't even blink at the name. "Now, we have to deal with Mr. Blueberry before Pops starts throwing around lightning thinking we're planning something nefarious."

"We could take him up to Olympus immediately, Mr. D?" Chiron offered.

"That's probably the best bet."

"No, he's mine." Arachne interjected. "Yer not taking Mr. Blueberry anywhere."

"Listen, kid—"

"I'll stab ya in the balls." Arachne threatened, narrowing her eyes.

For some reason, Dionysus felt like she wasn't just making an empty threat.

He considered his next course of action and put his hands up in surrender. "Well, looks like there's nothing I can do."

"Mr. D?!" Chiron blurted out in surprise.

"You know the rules, Chiron. I can't just steal the girl's pet. Something something, ancient laws!" He raised up a plastic cup full of Diet Coke with a faux reluctant sigh. "My hands are tied."

He had no desire to get entangled with what was going to happen.

It's not like it wouldn't get found out; he would much rather someone else grab this hot potato.

"Moo~" My Blueberry let out a happy sound.

"Yes, yes, I am a merciful god." Dionysus nodded as if he understood Mr. Blueberry.

Chiron just looked utterly tired.

"I suppose I'll be the one to relay the news to the gods." He spoke in resignation.

"Don't be silly, Chiron. I'm the camp director; of course I have to be the one to tell my dear sister to her face!" Dionysus spoke righteously.

"…I meant the Ophiotaurus."

"Right, that too, I suppose."

"I'll settle everyone in." Chiron finally settled. "Mrs. Jackson, if you would please follow me. And... Arachne, as well."

Sally Jackson had been standing there silently the whole time, having no idea what was going on. She just nodded dumbly as Chiron led her out of the big house; Arachne hummed as she followed along with Mr. Blueberry.

@***@

"Here we are; your son should be staying in the Hermes Cabin. It's where we have all the non-claimed children stay until their parents claim them. As the god of Travelers, he welcomes everyone. We can get you sorted with a bed as well, Miss Schweinorg." Chiron decided not to use her first name for now.

"What?" Arachne blinked. "Why would I stay here? I know who my 'parent' is."

"Be that as it may, until you're claimed—"

"Nope." Arachne.

"It's the rules—"

"That's dumb."

"...let's go inside."

Arachne followed along, poking her head inside the log cabin with the picture of a Caduceus hanging over the threshold.

It was about what she expected, only more cluttered and bigger on the inside than the outside.

Lots of random things were thrown about.

"Mom!?"

"Percy!"

The mother and son pair reunited quickly as they both hugged each other tightly. The other kids in the cabin quieted down, able to read the room rather well.

Arachne felt like she did a good deed and was feeling proud of herself.

Her mom and dad always told her that while she can be selfish and prioritize her own self-interests, it's important to also be compassionate and kind when possible.

"Mom, what happened!? I thought…"

"I was saved." His mom smiled, glancing at Arachne.

Percy's head peeked out from behind her and looked at Arachne, the latter of whom waved.

There was clearly a lot he wanted to say, but he was more focused on the fact that his mother was alive.

"You did a good thing, Miss Schweinorg." Chiron praised Arachne. "It's rare that I have a camper so…skilled come into camp for the first time. You managed to slay such a legendary monster like the Minotaur without proper training."

"Proper training?" Arachne scoffed. "Of course I've been trained. My mum had trained me since I was old enough to hold a spear."

Chiron coughed awkwardly. "Apologies, I meant training in the proper ways such as for one of your godly heritage."

"…yes?" Arachne seemed confused. "It isn't the first time Mom had trained a demigod."

Chiron just looked at her, rather confused.

"Chiron, you—" A new girl walked in, pausing as she saw everyone, and then her eyes landed on Arachne.

Her similarly grey eyes.

"Ah, Annabeth, this is our new camper, Miss. Schweinorg." Chiron introduced.

Both pairs of grey eyes blinked at one another.

"Annabeth Chase." The girl smiled politely.

"Arachne Uathach Schweinorg." Arachne said without much emotion.

Annabeth, however, nearly choked once she heard the name.

Annabeth was by no means stupid. Like the gods before, seeing the grey eyes was nearly a dead giveaway on who her parent was, in addition to some facial features that ran in the family.

"Is that really your name!?"

"Of course it is." Arachne said as a matter of fact.

"You can't be serious." Annabeth gaped. "You have to change it!"

"Why would I do that?'

"B-because it's… you can't have that name!"

"It's mah name, and nothing can change it." Arachne huffed, crossing her arms.

"...what's wrong with the name?" Percy was the one who spoke up.

"It's a slight against my mother!" Annabeth squeaked out.

"So?"

"S-so!?" Annabeth repeated in astonishment. "You don't care…?"

"Why would I? Just cause she's my 'mother'?" Arachne frowned.

"Wait, you know that, and that's still the name you're calling yourself?" Annabeth was even more disturbed. She took a moment to organize her thoughts. "That can't be the name she gave you…"

"Of course not." Arachne rolled her eyes. "But it's the name my da and mum gave me, so it's the name I use."

"...you can't use that name." Annabeth said again.

"Perhaps—" Chiron took a small step between the two girls. "You should heed her advice, Miss Schweinorg? Annabeth is the Head Counselor of the Athena Cabin; her words hold weight."

"…head counselor?" Arachne repeated.

"That's right!" Annabeth nodded, thankful that Chiron helped her there as her brain nearly short-circuited at the sheer absurdity of the situation.

"That means you're the strongest?" Arachne asked again.

"...yes?" Annabeth blinked. She considered that, and she would be the 'strongest' in such a narrow term, of her cabin.

"...Why are you so weak?" Arachne blurted out.

"What!?"

"Why are you so weak?" Arachne said once more without an ounce of grace. "If you're the 'head' or whatever, then does that mean everyone else there is weaker?"

Annabeth didn't know how to respond to that, but she noticed something particular in Arachne's gaze.

Was that…disappointment?

There was an awkward silence that filled the cabin, because it was more than just Arachne and Annabeth that had been involved. Besides Chiron, Percy, and Sally, there were campers of the Hermes cabin who just happened to be here at the time and who had silently been watching the scene unfold.

"I am not weak!" Annabeth finally regained her thoughts, defending herself.

"...barely middle class?" Arachne mumbled. "Maybe...less. What can you do then, huh?"

"What do you mean? I'm a daughter of Athena; I can wield any weapon expertly. I can fight and beat people twice my size. I'm the best strategist in the cabin and—

"Isn't that something every one of our siblings gets by default?" Arachne interjected.

"Well, duh. What else do you expect?"

"...you haven't learned any magic?"

"Magic? I'm not a child of the Goddess of Magic." Annabeth said with a bit of sarcasm.

"How...disappointing." Arachne lost interest.

Annabeth just gaped at her with a mix of confusion and anger as silence once more returned to the room.

"...So who's my dad?" Percy broke the awkward silence, asking the question that's been on his mind this whole time. He was told that he was in Hermes cabin until his dad claimed him, but now that his mom was here, he just decided to ask it so bluntly.

"Percy, you have to wait—"

"Poseidon." Arachne blurted it out, noticing the familiarities with her da's authority.

She could practically taste the storm on him.

Her disappointment in her 'half-sister' was pushed to the side in favor of the boy who seemed to exude more of a presence despite being completely ignorant about his innate bloodline.

"Miss Schweinorg, you can't just—" Chiron's words were abruptly cut off as a glowing trident appeared over Percy's head.

His eyes widened, and everyone but Arachne and Sally shot to the ground, kneeling towards the glowing symbol.

"Poseidon. Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God." Chiron spoke reverently.

"...so, that answers that question, huh?" Percy said amidst the awkward stares his way.

"I...will show you to your new cabin, Percy." Chiron's words were stiff.

"Sweet." Percy beamed. "Come on, Mom!" He practically pulled her out.

Arachne, however, found herself confused.

Where was Mr. Blueberry!?

While they left somewhere else, she went to find her pet, leaving a bewildered Annabeth and Hermes cabin behind.

@***@

Arachne searched all over, tracking Mr. Blueberry.

He seemed to have wandered around a bit, leading her on a bit of a chase. However, after searching for a while, she eventually found Mr. Blueberry lying down in the lap of a woman with a simmering fire nearby.

No, it would be wrong to call it a simple fire, but more a hearth.

The young-looking woman turned her head and gave Arachne a gentle smile as she rubbed Mr. Blueberry's head.

Arachne stopped dead in her tracks, eyes widened.

"You're –"

The words found silence before they could escape her mouth.

The young-looking woman put a gentle finger to her lips. "Careful, I like to keep my identity a secret so I can tend to the hearth in the camp without causing a commotion." Her voice was extremely gentle. "I'm curious how you noticed me so easily."

"Isn't it obvious?" Arachne tilted her head.

The young woman—or rather the goddess Hestia—looked at the demigod before her. "You must have much better sight than most demigods. Just be careful about blurting out the names of other gods so easily."

"A wasn't going to blurt out your name." Arachne stated.

Hestia blinked. "You weren't?"

"A was going to say that you're the prettiest girl I've ever seen before." She said a bit bashfully, contrasting deeply with her usual demeanor. "I like how the fire dances in your eyes."

Hestia blinked again, finding a response hard to formulate.

Her first thought was surprise that a demigod could see the 'flames' in her eyes, as she put it.

The second... well, that was much more obvious. Never had a demigod so blatantly flirted with her before.

"...I assume you're here for your...friend?" She decided to ignore it.

"Mr. Blueberry."

"Moooo." He made a content sound of happiness.

Hestia found herself smiling. "He is a very pure and innocent creature. Not what I would expect from something called the 'Bane of Olympus.' Be careful about who tries to capture him."

"A will protect him properly." Arachne puffed up her chest. "Thank you for watching him." Mr. Blueberry got up from Hestia's lap and floated over to nudge Arachne.

"I was no trouble; he's welcome to come back whenever he wants."

Mr. Blueberry let out another noise of happiness.

"Come along, Mr. Blueberry, we need to find where we're going to sleep." She patted his head.

"Moo~" He began to fly off rather quickly with a huffing Arachne following behind.

@***@

High up on mount Olympus, the gods gathered at the beckoning of one of their own.

"Dionysus, why did you call a meeting?" Zeus's voice, despite not shouting, boomed across the room. "If this is another attempt to get out of your punishment—"

"I'm sorry, if you don't want to know where the Ophiotaurus is, we can call the meeting here." The God of Wine said rather evenly.

Everyone stilled as they looked at him.

Everyone knew the legends and the validity of them when it came to the Ophiotaurus. Zeus in particular went rigid when the creature was mentioned.

It was only by the skin of his teeth last time that he managed to prevent the Titans from completing the ritual during the great Titanomachy.

The fact that it reappeared now of all times... it just furthered the chaos.

"Where is it!?" Zeus demanded.

Dionysus picked his ear. "Hmm."

Zeus narrowed his eyes. "Son."

"It's hard to speak with my mouth so dry."

The sky above became thunderous; lightning threatened to drop down any moment.

Dionysus looked up, admittedly frightened, but he kept a calm expression. "Come on, pops. You know I have no desire for that thing. But you also know there's something I want. Reward and punishment should be meted out properly. Discovering the location of the Ophiotaurus should be more than enough to cancel out my punishment, right?"

Zeus's hand gripped the throne with a large frown.

"Father, he doesn't speak incorrectly." Athena spoke, one of his most trusted aides. He tended to listen to Athena more than anyone when it came to arguments. "If he truly knows where the Ophiotaurus is, then that's a large merit to consider."

Zeus calmed down slightly. "I will recognize the merit." He finally said. "But removing an established punishment would set a bad precedent." He tapped the armrest of his throne. "You will continue to serve your time as Camp Director, but I will lift your restriction on drinking."

A middle ground that allowed Zeus to save face while also rewarding Dionysus for such a valuable merit.

"I'll take it." Dionysus could deal with being the camp director for a few more decades if he could at least get utterly drunk every day.

"…and the location of the Ophiotaurus?" Poseidon asked, earning a glare from Zeus.

The two were still at each other's throats. Zeus accused Poseidon of stealing his Master Bolt while the Sea God vehemently denied it. It didn't help that a new spawn of the Sea God just so happened to arrive at camp during these turbulent times.

If it weren't such an important matter, Zeus would be bellowing out his anger towards his brother for everyone to hear. However, he was keeping moderate decorum while they handled the primary issue at the moment.

All the other gods leaned in with anticipation, ready to swoop in and secure it at all costs.

"Oh, it's down at the camp. One of Athena's newest brats waltzed right in with it as her pet." He said cheerfully. "No takebacks."

Zeus twitched with the desire to smack his son rather hard, but that was overshadowed by the fact that the Ophiotaurus was literally in their camp under their noses.

And then, all eyes turned to Athena.

"What do you mean, one of my children has it?" Athena asked in confusion.

"One of your daughters just arrived at camp and saved the mom of the other brat from Poseidon's loins while she was at it. And the Ophiotaurus was right at her side." Dionysus said without reservation.

Zeus furrowed his brow because he knew who the demigod he was speaking about was. Of course Zeus knew about Poseidon's breaking of the oath. Zeus even threw a lightning bolt at them in anger and watched as the boy safely made it to camp against his wishes.

Though he didn't pay attention to the mortal woman, why would he?

It seems he missed something else in his anger.

Likewise, Poseidon furrowed his brow because he knew about the girl. It drew his attention when he was called out so abruptly without the chance to claim his son on his own terms.

He obviously couldn't ignore his son after being named his own; he just hadn't gotten around to punishing the girl for daring to do so without regard for his wishes.

And of course, it would be a child of Athena; he expected nothing different.

He used that moment to turn his gaze down to the camp at his son and blinked when he realized that the girl was in the cabin with him and his mortal lover—Sally.

Not only that, his eyes widened when he noticed that the Ophiotaurus was inside his cabin too!

Was it drawn to his connection to the sea?

"Percy, you can't just... you can't speak for your father in something like this." He heard Sally's voice since the cabin was quite literally a temple of his.

"Why not? I'm the only one in the cabin; doesn't that make me… what was it? Counselor or something? Yeah, I'm the head counselor of the Poseidon Cabin, so I can make the rules, right?"

"That sounds logical to me." The daughter of Athena agreed with my son.

"Moo~"

"So it's settled; she can sleep here!" Percy stated.

Poseidon was conflicted.

He absolutely despised Athena and her children, but at the same time, she did save a woman that Poseidon still loved.

The Sea God's gaze returned to the discussions taking place among his kin.

"Why are we even talking about this? Just go down there and take the damn thing." Ares grumbled.

"It's technically not allowed." Hermes replied. "It could be considered a 'spoil' of hers, so as gods, we can't just take something she 'earned' without permission. Either she has to offer it to one of us, or it has to be a willing trade."

"I could hunt it." Artemis offered. "It's a beast, regardless of 'ownership,' and I have permission to hunt beasts."

"You're forbidden to hunt within the confines of the camp." Aphrodite rebuked her just because she disliked the Goddess of the Moon.

Artemis scowled in response but couldn't argue as that had been a rather old rule at this point due to certain… incidents in the past.

"Why don't I go down and speak with her?" Athena offered. "If she is in fact my daughter, she can be reasoned with. It should not take much effort; perhaps offering her a reward would be appropriate as well."

Zeus let out a low hum. "Very well, I give you permission to descend into the camp discreetly."

"Thank you, Lord Zeus." Athena smiled, then turned to Dionysus. "Which of my daughters is it, Dionysus?"

"Do you have so many that you lost count?" The camp director snorted.

"Watch yourself." Her eyes narrowed.

"Yes, yes, I wouldn't want to lose my drinking privileges after just getting them back." He rolled his own eyes, but a strange gleam appeared with a smirk. "But if you want to know your daughter's name, I would be happy to tell you. Why, it's none other than Arachne Uathach Schweinorg!"

There was a beat of silence.

"What did you just say?" Athena's voice a noticeable pitch higher.

As the name registered with everyone, it was Ares who started laughing.

Poseidon almost followed along with him and decided in that moment that he wouldn't oppose her staying in the cabin with Percy's permission.

Athena nearly jumped from her seat and waved her arms around, a large and visible tear in the air as they could all peer down towards the camp, almost like looking at a television screen as it found the target of discussion.

"You can have this bed, since you get more privacy." Percy's voice rang out for all the gods to hear.

"I thank ya." The daughter of Athena replied gracefully as she apparently got settled into the cabin.

"Poseidon, why is my daughter in your cabin!?" Athena let out a shrill cry.

Before he could answer, something strange happened.

"Quiet, we're being watched." Arachne's eyes shot up, and to all the Gods looking down, it was as if she were looking back at them.

There was a flash of surprise amongst the gods that a young demigod could notice their combined gaze. Different than when Poseidon utilized his connection to the cabin to check in due to it being a temple of his. The collective gazes of the Gods made for a much more...robust presence as it bore down. Despite this, it was genuinely surprising for them that a demigod was able to detect it.

"Dad says you owe 14 years of child support." The daughter of Arachne said, looking right up at all the gods despite not being able to actually see them.

There was another beat of silence before Ares burst out in laughter again, this time joined by Dionysus and Aphrodite.

@***@

A/N

Yeah, it was an attempt at something different. Don't think I'll be doing it again, a lesson learned and all that, but it is what it is.

If you want to read 10 chapters ahead or support me, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / astoryforone

I also have a boosty if you can't use the above under the same name.

We have two Arachne chapters and a Cyclops snippet ahead as well. Also, the next world was revealed and we're heading there next chapter(Maybe).