DA : Chapter 80: Guns on the Dance Floor I

He moved steadily through his chambers, making short work of fastening his suite tie. Pitch black against a tastefully grey Armani suite and pristine white collared shirt.

His shoes shined like polished obsidian and his hair had been grown out slightly to be pulled into a low tail of raven locks. His pale complexion and steely grey eyes contrasting as he checked himself in a full length mirror one last time.

Altogether he felt himself looking crisply formal yet tasteful … if one ignored the wails of agony coming from the faces of trapped souls within his suite, granted the faces were just barely visible.

He would silence them before leaving but for now he let them be. He then glanced back to his wife and queen, noting with some concern how she seemed to stare off into her own mirror.

"Dear," he said in a gentle voice unheard beyond the walls of his chamber but his wife made no sign of having heard. "… Persephone," he called with a little more volume.

She jumped slightly as she finally looked at him, her eyes clearing from their daze as she gave him a smile that failed to meet her eyes.

"Yes honey?" she returned as she stood from her vanity seat and smoothed out her dress.

It was a lovely little number, reaching just to the knees with a teasing slit on the right side to show some creamy skin. Tight and giving a generous idea of her curves, the dress was a vibrant green to match her eyes with flowers designs etched around the lacy collar holding up the dress.

With the back open Persephone allowed her chestnut hair to flow free and spill nearly to her lower back. Lastly was a small crown of ebony with diamonds encrusted on it, matching his own bone crown with one large diamond.

"Are you feeling well?" Hades asked as he stepped closer to gently touch her cheek.

She leaned slightly into it but before that Hades saw the flash of worry in her eyes. That concerned him though. For the last week or so Persephone had seemed to be more tense and restless.

To all others she may have been able to fool with her queen mask but he knew her. No one knew Persephone as well as he did after their millennia together but he could not recall ever having seen her so distressed and unwilling to broach the subject.

"I'm fine," was her airy reply, again her eyes straying off his near imperceptibly.

He withheld his sigh though and gave her a small smile as he offered her his arm. Perhaps after the party tonight she would open up about it, after all, today is a day for celebration. Today, the Olympian Council had called an emergency meeting and all were attending. What better time or place to execute a god?

"Is this … not in poor taste though?" she asked softly as she glanced down at herself. "To have a celebration on the eve of declaring war?"

"What would you have otherwise?" he returned as they slowly walked out of their chambers and down towards their own throne room. "There are eons of bad blood directed at the council and many wish to see Olympus burn.

Not to mention, this will finally allow all who have sworn allegiance to the Primordial Council to be together, even those that have been spying since near the beginning. There will be many to welcome tonight."

Persephone gave no answer other than a non-committed hum. With that they fell silent and upon reaching their throne room.

Hades gives one last nod to some of his top ghouls and ghosts that will be in charge of the Underworld, the lead being one Mrs. Sally Blofis, the newest of his three judges. Getting a smile and nod back from her, Hades and Persephone soon flashed golden, on their way to the temple of Primordials…

...

( Medusa POV )

Medusa walked steadily through the temple of Primordials, her gaze set on a large set of marble doors. The click of her black heels echoed through the chamber and she could hear the faint hum of chatter and such in the throne room as gods and titans of all sorts entered the chamber.

She soon arrived at the door and fixed her strapless black dress, making sure that her dress didn't ride up too much but it was dangerously short to begin with.

At least she got to preen whenever she noticed her king's lingering gaze … and oddly enough her two queens as well. She still wasn't sure what had been decided with Andromeda and the love goddess has been keeping a slight distance with them but Medusa felt like there was more to it.

She couldn't help but feel like she was being carefully watched by her king and queens and yet, it gave her an odd sense of excitement! Oh well, maybe she would ask later in the night about it but first she had to get Phoebe. So with that in mind she knocked on the marble doors, being mindful to not be too loud otherwise Phoebe would scold her … again.

Not a second later the doors soundlessly slid in and taking the invitation, Medusa stepped into Phoebe's office, the large and slightly dark expanse looking like it simply went on forever. She didn't see Phoebe around as she looked until a smooth feminine voice called her.

"Ah, Medusa dear, is it time?"

Medusa turned to see her friend, a smile on her face. The woman was a deadly beauty. Her snow pale skin seemed to glow in the soft darkness of the chamber, her silvery hair cut to short bob just reaching past her chin.

She wore a black and silver embroiled corset pushing up her sizable breasts exquisitely with her toned midriff exposed.

On her arms were matching, elbow length gloves and matching collar, her six pitch black eyes all focused on Medusa. Two in the standard location with the four others in pairs just above her eyebrows and far smaller than her main eyes, the left ones partly covered by a bang.

However her differences didn't end there, with her lower half just passed the waist being a monstrously sized black widow spider with the iconic red hourglass being silvery instead. Around her waist she wore a white miniskirt and each of her eight legs was decorated with cloth collars and a white ring near the middle of the legs.

"Hello Arachne, is Lady Phoebe ready?" Medusa asked after exchanging kisses on each cheek with Queen of Spiders.

"Yes, she was just having a little last minute discussion," Arachne said with a little titter of laughter.

She then turned and motioned for Medusa to follow. The pair seemed to walk on forever, their heels and claw tipped legs clicking along what looked like a marble floor. As they moved the lighting shifted and where once nothing but darkness was, now became four figures.

As they got close enough Medusa was confused to see what looked like Phoebe speaking to three young women suspended within wire. Phoebe, dressed in a white dress reminiscent of a chiton and her hair done up in a bun with two bangs framing her face was looking annoyed as she studied the trapped women.

To Medusa they looked like sisters with slightly tanned skin and rich brown hair. Sadly their faces were marred with cuts, along with their entire bodies pulled into painful positions. The wires were cutting through their own chitons and skin alike, dripping ichor along the floor as all three sisters gasped and twitched only for more pain as the wires cut deeper.

"Stubborn lot," Phoebe quipped as she finally turned to look at Medusa and Arachne. "Yes?"

"Mistress," Arachne started reverently making Medusa wonder if she sounded the same when talking to Percy. "It is almost time for the show to begin and the council is gathering."

"Ah yes, the Olympians are beginning their emergency meeting soon. Hmm, never thought they'd go as far as to inviting representatives from the camps and minor gods as well," Phoebe replied as she sparred one more glance to the three women, all of whom were glaring at her with pure hatred in their eyes.

"I will see you girls later then," she said cheekily.

One of the women, the left more one, spit a glob of ichor but it fell short of reaching Phoebe. She looked at the divine blood with distaste before she flicked her wrist, a series of taught wires appearing connected to her fingers.

"That wasn't very nice," she chirped even as she flexed her fingers in, the wires holding the women responding in kind and constricting on the women.

All three screamed as spurts of blood followed wherever the wires got tighter and Medusa heard a distinct pop as the middle one's arm was pulled too far back. She didn't really flinch at the brutal display but the heavy breathing made her glance over to see Arachne eyeing Phoebe like a piece of meat with a mad blush. The S was strong with this one.

"Well then, let's be off," Phoebe said as she released the wires around her fingers and turned on her heels to walk away, Arachne falling in step to her right and slightly behind her.

Medusa followed along, still wondering who were the girls and what had they done to deserve Phoebe's ire but they soon faded from view. They walked in silence for a few minutes until Medusa let her curiosity get the better of her.

"Um, Lady Phoebe, who were those three?" she asked.

"Hmm? Oh! I forget no one has seen their true forms in eons," Phoebe replied while clapping their hands. "Those were the Fates."

"The Fates!" Medusa shouted as she looked at Phoebe as if she'd grown a second head. "How? Why?"

"Oh it wasn't hard at all," Phoebe shrugged with an easy smile. "I'm more connected to the realm of Fate than they are now and finding them was a simple matter. Sadly negotiations fell within minutes and I had to take them in or else they would have run off to the Olympians."

"But what have they done that needed your attention?" Medusa persisted after getting over the shock of who the young women were.

"Simple. They've gotten a little too comfortable, too complacent with their power," Phoebe answered, her cheery demeanor falling through as she looked at Medusa intently.

"Anake once had her own laws on how and when she would allow others glimpses into their futures through prophecy. However, even she knew that there is no true set path until the moment has already passed.

Until we make our most important decisions, entire realities are possible, many of them similar, others so distinct you'd think they don't even relate to the same person." Phoebe paused as she glanced up, Medusa following her gaze.

She gasped lightly at the sight of thousands upon thousands of strings, all formed into interlocking webs of some kind, stretched on endlessly into the shadows beyond even Medusa's ability to see.

Crawling across those webs were all manner of spiders working diligently, tying, removing, severing, and extending the lines between webs, and as they did so Phoebe continued on.

"The power of free will it's what makes it all possible. That is why Lady Chaos made her laws to forbid gods encroaching on free will, even if we can create suggestions and ideas within mortal minds through the Mist or our own abilities." Phoebe turned to look Medusa directly in the eyes, her own amber ones glowing with power.

"The Fates have forgotten this and instead use their prophecy as law and affect chance and probability to make them correct.

They know that all fear the unknown and so grow dependent on their prophetic word, giving the Fates power over mortals and gods alike but also creating greater risk for said gods and mortals themselves.

I was merely asking them to reconsider their positions and learn to leave the gods and mortals to their own."

"And they didn't take it well I'm guessing," Medusa finished as she glanced back into the darkness where the Fates ounce were.

"Not at all," Phoebe sighed as they finally arrived at the door leading out of her office.

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

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