DA : Chapter 55: New Home I

The night sky was cloudless as millions of tiny stars glittered in the perfectly black canvas. The winds barely above the gentlest breeze, a cool caress to any out at the hour as the new moon remained hidden.

'Looks like the huntress isn't out tonight … good,' a feminine figure thought as she looked out over a sheer cliff. Below her was an immense valley nestled between the Rockies and prairies beyond.

Her raven hair drifted slightly with the wind reached the back of her coppery thighs. Her athletic and full figure was barely hidden away by a short, strapless and sleeveless black dress that reached mid-thigh with slits at the sides reaching her hips for movement.

She wore black drakon leather boots reaching just above her knees with slight heels and Tartarean Steel toes. Along her arms she wore separate sleeves with black Void crystal bracers and fingerless gloves.

Tied at her hip was a long black chain with twin barbed knives each reaching a foot in length. Lastly were her bright green eyes like those of snakes staring out into the still night as she hummed to herself.

This woman was none other than one of the most dangerous and recognized monsters of Greek mythology, made lethal with her training and new pledge. This is Medusa.

At times she would open and close her hands, still experimenting with her new found strength. Her oath taken only days ago after the new council formed … and the consequences of such a pledge …

...

Two Days Ago

Medusa and Lamia stood side to side in their combat attire. Lamia being in a similar dress to Medusa only with the addition of a black leather jacket and Void crystal bracers and shoulder guards while her bow formed of Tartarean Steel was strapped to her back.

Her creamy skin and bright blue eyes contrasting to her pitch black hair. Both stood straight and proud before their savior, their King, and not-really secret crush, Percy.

He looked at the pair sternly as well as a small table between them and two goblets of Stygian Iron. Inside the cups was bright green water provided directly by Lady Styx rather than obtained from her river.

Medusa would have been lying if she said she wasn't nervous. Percy, along with all the other new protogenoi had such an overwhelming presence now, even when suppressed and it made her instincts go haywire.

Part of her wanted to kneel and gravel, knowing she was beneath him in every sense of the word while another part of her wanted to jump him and be beneath him in all the right ways. Only her very rational fear of Rhea and now Hestia kept her at bay from trying, even though knowing Percy would never be unfaithful.

A rather annoying but positive aspect of his that she honestly loved even if it was working against her at the moment. She glanced to the side and noted that Lamia was also shuffling nervously with a shy glance directed at her King. If it wasn't the wrong time for it Medusa would have teased her mercilessly but now they stood at attention as Percy cleared his throat.

"Medusa, Lamia …" he said in a rich and deep voice making her shudder. "… Are you two ready for this? To swear your undying loyalty to me, for better or for worse, until the very end of days?"

Medusa and Lamia shared one glance before facing him without an ounce of doubt in their eyes as they said together. "We swear."

Percy looked at them intently before nodding and bringing up his hand to his mouth. He bit down on his palm, making use of his fangs as platinum ichor, another defining feature of these new protogenoi, dripped off his palm and into the two cups equally.

The green water within the cups hissed as the platinum and green liquids swirled in a perfect balance. Percy soon stopped and Medusa watched as his injury healed within moments as shadows condensed around it before he picked up the cups and offered one to each.

Medusa took hers along with Lamia and the pair looked into the cups before downing them together. Medusa suddenly felt a burning pain surge through her veins but she bit her lips to prevent herself from screaming as her frame shook, Lamia not doing much better.

The shadows writhed and withered around them, frost forming beneath their feet as their veins glowed in tones of gold. The agony only lasted for a few seconds but it felt like so much longer before she suddenly dropped to her knees panting, the darkness around them calming as well.

Sweat trailed off her brow as she looked up to the sound of Percy chuckling softly. She met his flaming black eyes as he looked at them with pride and care before he spoke.

"Well down ladies, your oaths are cemented. No longer are you mere monsters or even gods …" he said as he dropped to one knee and cupped each of their chins to keep their faces aimed at him even as both tried to suppress their blushes. "… You are now my right and left hands, my wraiths, my Shadows …"

...

Present

They were fully bonded to Percy now. Ichor flowed through their veins as they inherited abilities similar to their one and only master along with any gift obtained from their oaths.

Medusa's strength rose to godly levels as well as her aptitude for swords while Lamia gained the senses and stamina of wolves making her a perfect huntress capable of tracking any target for hundreds of miles if needed.

'Hmm … I wonder if we will start hunting soon,' she thought with a small smirk before her senses picked up a familiar presence approaching as she turned her eyes to the night sky.

The fluttering of feathers and powerful beats forewarned the arrival of whom she searched for making her smile softly. There approached a magnificent white stallion with wings as grand as the rising dawn.

She stepped back to allow some space as her son, the first and original Pegasus, landed before her in all his grandeur. His muscles coiled underneath his glowing coat as he turned to face her while tucking in his wings. His blackened muzzle, eyes, and hooves being the only thing to blemish his white coat and wings.

She watched as her son took her in after being separated from her for millennia thanks to her curse and presence befitting that of a monster. For some tense minutes they stood unmoving but then, with a small snort her son approached steadily.

She made no move until her son, standing at 6 feet at the shoulder and his head towering over her, brought his head down and tenderly nuzzled her cheek. It made her smile the way only a mother could before she gently hugged his muzzled to her as he stepped closer.

"My son …" she said softly as she stroked his neck. "You've certainly grown."

She got an appreciative snort out of it before she leaned back slightly and looked directly.

"I don't know what the years have been like with your father," she spat out Poseidon's role in disgust. "But I ask now … would you stand by me instead?"

They locked eyes as she said that. No words needed to be said between them as their emotions seemed to pass through their touch.

She could tell he'd missed her but had never been able to approach her, being forbidden by the gods ever since his birth.

She had also been a monster for some time and being filled with so much hate only made her presence more intolerable for him but now she was different. The proof was in how he found her in only hours after she came to the surface for the first time in nearly a decade.

Her own love for her child and wish to form that maternal bond with him passed into him, letting him know that she cared little for how or why he was conceived, only that she loved him regardless.

It was all made clear between the pair before her son snorted again and then nuzzled her in yes making her beam. She then leaned up on her toes and kissed his forehead … but more happened.

From her kiss a darkness like the richest ink spread through his coat. All the while he stood still, comforted in the warmth and presence of his mother as the darkness spread over him.

The very night seemed to stir around them as the darkness seeped into Pegasus before he jerked slightly but relaxed soon once Medusa soothed him. Soon the darkness and shadows dispersed but now Pegasus was reborn.

His coat now being as black as Percy in his wolf form and similar raven wings, Pegasus' eyes being icy blue completely as frost seemed to form along the ground beneath his hooves.

Medusa looked at her son in pride and felt their connection deepen to the point she took her hands off him and could still read his emotions to understand him. Her son looked at himself before rearing on his back legs proudly, approving of his new form as she smiled.

"You look good my son … now, you know where to go," she said before receiving a nod and quick nuzzling before Pegasus turned around.

He thundered off the cliff and took to the night sky, his new home as his body became one with the darkness. She watched him fly away with pride before she sighed as she looked down. The shadows seemed to seep together to form a puddle below her before she sank, leaving the cliff without a trace …

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Don't forget to throw some power Stones, to keep the story going.

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