Chapter 13: Cool!

"Yes, they don't have souls. A soul would imply that a person could somehow die once that soul is damaged. But a God, well Gods can't die now can they? They can fade, yes, but that isn't the same as dying."

"What's the difference?"

"Well you see when I person dies they lose control of their soul. Meaning the soul begins to wander off, essentially going to heaven or hell, or even staying back as a ghost."

"A ghost?! Ghosts exist?!"

"Yup! Don't worry, they are harmless," Hecate smiled, "now, back to topic, humans lose control of their souls after death. Gods however don't have souls, they just are, they are the very domains they control. In essence, they are nature itself given sentience, hence their magic doesn't just flow from them, but from their domain."

Percy was amazed, "okay...but what about me? A demigod? Half man half god? I have a soul right? And last I checked I can't draw power from domains."

"You see Percy demigods in general are the exception to every rule in the books," Heate told pleasantly, "they in fact have both types of magic, the soul of a human and the domain of a God. You yourself can control water through your father's domain, meaning you can draw magic from that powersource as well. And as you are also magical, your soul is also a viable source for magic."

"So the reason demigods are powerful is because we can use both types of magic?"

"Correct," Hecate sipped her tea, "but you see it's not just that. Your very soul is uniquely powerful as you are half devine. Hence you normal soul magic itself sets you apart from normal wizards, the domain magic you possess...well let's just call that a bonus."

Percy nodded in amazement, "wow….so is there a way for me to access them both?"

"Well your domain magic you can use already. That's essentially your control of water, though there is some added raw power in there as well. You soul magic though, well that is a bit tricky. For that you need a wand."

"So let's go get one!"

"Nope.

Percy sighed, "worth a try."

Hecate smiled. They quickly spoke more about magic and it's impact in the magical world. Percy was shocked to hear how wizards and witches treated other magical creatures. Percy never himself treated anyone like that, he loved magical creatures. Hell his best friend was a Stary! And his brother was a cyclops!

After their tea was finished Hecate brought Percy to the living room where she vanished the chairs and the futon Percy had used. She then summoned a wooden table and two chairs for them to use.

"Percy take out all that we bought yesterday," the goddess commanded and Percy obeyed.

Hecate looked at the objects and smiled. She quickly picked up the black and red cloak she brought and threw it at Percy, "put it on."

Percy nodded and did so feeling a wave of energy surround him as he did so, "what is this for?"

"It's called the cloak of the student, it's a charmed item that allows the person to gain knowledge faster, and it's connected to this," Hecate picked up the golden rod, "this is the rod of the teacher. My knowledge and experience will slowly trickle out of the rod and into the cloak. It's very effective, but only if the teacher is a very knowledgeable person. Which, lucky for you, I am."

Percy was impressed, "cool! So basically it's like sharing your memories with me?"

"Not quite, while you might gain some form of knowledge, but it will not be direct. You see we store information in a very direct way, sometimes that storing of information fails and we will be forced to relearn whatever we learnt in order to make it stick. A teacher who has found a way to do this will be able to help their student achieve something similar. Basically this rod and cloak will make it easier for you store any knowledge I pass on."

Percy nodded, "okay, got it. ….I think."

Hecate shrugged, "doesn't matter, soon you will be able to understand what I mean perfectly. But we aren't done yet my boy," she then opened a spectacle box revealing a delicate pair of glasses with feather for a frame, "this is the quick read glass. It will help you read faster. Usually it would take a lot of magic to power this thing and people are warned not to wear it for more than an hour at a time, but since you have a lot more magic than normal people I think you can probably wear this thing indefinitely."

Percy blinked, he took the offered set of glasses and looked them over, "you want me to wear this?"

"Problem?"

"Ah yeah, it's made out off feathers," Percy grumbled, "so uncool."

Hecate sighed as she snapped her fingers turning the spectacles into a common black square framed frame, "there, that better?"

Percy nodded, "much. Thanks." Percy wore them and suddenly he felt his eyes start to twitch. They they started moving from one corner to the next, it was like they were supercharged able to glide across the room in an instant. It was as if they shifted instantly from one point to another taking no time traveling the distance.

"Cool," Percy grinned.

"I know, and now for the last set," Hecate opened the last wooden box and levitated the silver blood band of knowledge out. Percy took the band and slipped it on his right hand. Suddenly the band squeezed down on him biting into his hand. Percy winced, when suddenly it let go.

The band then glowed red as the silver became corrupted turning black with red lines running across it's surface. Percy felt and saw a trickle of blood flow down his arm, but quickly it stopped.

"That was weird," Percy said wiping off the blood.

"That is a blood band, very dangerous, but very powerful. It uses your magic and blood to fuel itself giving you the ability to gain knowledge quickly. It's an equal exchange, the more magic you give the more knowledge it will provide. And considering you have a lot of magic, your reward will be equally good."