DA : Chapter 49: Unbreakable Bonds III

As she walked Andromeda received polite waves and nods from sky spirits and the manifestations of the constellations which she replied to in kind.

The spirits here were very friendly and respectful, though some of the more well-known spirits like the zodiac tended to be annoying at times. She was still polite to them though and soon enough she entered a large archway leading into the arena.

...

[ Andromeda POV ]

It took a few minutes but soon she was rows upon rows of lined seats with a prime view of the currently in use arena. She arrived just as a brutal shockwave of air blasted over her, making her hair whip around wildly as she squinted slightly.

There in the arena were Jason, dressed in his usual light coat, white shite, and grey jeans with Revelation held in a two-handed grip as a heavy sweat trailed down his brow.

Next to him was Thalia, dressed in a white sports bra and matching white tights reaching her shins, a grey jacket, and her long black hair with grey streaks pulled into a ponytail.

In her hands though were two knives made of crackling blue lightning while her feet had her manifestation of power from claiming her primordial seat.

While Percy and Jason had their coats, Andy had her glove, and Rhea had emerald gauntlets reaching up to her biceps, Thalia had boots reaching up to her knees formed of what would be best called hyper condensed wind and lightning stitching.

The cover along her shins and top of her foot was made of oddly blue tinted wind while the sole of her foot and calf had lightning formed into a nearly second skin. With her boots she could literally slice through just about anything with a kick that wasn't a primordial symbol of power or manifestation of power.

Andy would know, she watched Thalia decapitate a drakon with a kick, the winds shred through the tough scales like wet mud with unnerving ease. Thalia could run damn fast too.

Across from them were Aether and Ouranus, each dressed in sparring clothes modeled after tradition greek armor with solid light braces and shin guards.

Andy also spotted a few destroyed shields, some looking like they were sliced through with seared edges. 'That would have been Jason's sword, damn thing is basically a light saber,' Andy mused as she continued to watch.

Jason and Thalia shared a look before nodding, then both dashed off in near blurs of white and blue as they closed the distance.

Thalia took the direct route against Aether, swiping both electric knives at the primordial but he managed to dodge only for Thalia to pivot on her right foot and bring a vicious back-kick with her left. Aether was too close to dodge so instead he brought up his solid light spear to block.

The impact sounded like a cannon going off as a blast of lightning and light flared along with another pressure shockwave yet neither combatants gave ground.

While they were locked Andy turned her attention to Jason as he literally became a ray of light running circles around Ouranus looking for any opening but the elder primordial was not one to let slip.

Finding none Jason suddenly rushed closer while jumping, taking a more solid form as he brought Revelation down only for Ouranus to raise his own long sword made of lightning like Thalia's knives.

The flash from the collision this time was near blinding forcing Andy to squint as massive fractures formed beneath Ouranus. Once she got a better sight she could see that Ouranus was in a deadlock with Jason, the meeting point of their blades sparking angrily as they tried to push each other.

It lasted for a minute before both disengaged only to watch each other for a moment. Soon Thalia joined Jason's side as Aether landed beside Ouranus, his spear at the ready.

Only a second passed before the combatants surged at each other again. Andromeda continued to observe for a few more minutes before she felt a familiar presence arrive beside her.

She turned to look at the spirit and as usual found her incredibly pretty with molten eyes, coppery skin and dark, glossy hair fitting of a Persian princess. She was dressed in a simple white gown reaching her knees with a cream rope tied at her waist and Greek sandals.

"Zoe," Andromeda greeted the former huntress.

"Andromeda," Zoe replied with a polite nod before her gaze went back to the fighters.

They both watched silently for a few minutes before Zoe spoke up again, "It's still hard to believe at times."

"Hmm?"

"This impending war," Zoe clarified even as neither stopped locking at the battle. "To think that the Olympians would finally go so far as to betray their greatest heroes and lead to their own demise."

"But is it truly that hard to believe?" Any asked as she finally looked back at the former titan. "After all, you were there and know how unfair or cruel the Olympians can be."

Zoe frowned but didn't object to it. Instead she sighed before looking at Andromeda.

"I can understand, it just feels like so long ago. Dying really warped my sense of time and with some of what I've seen, it's made to question everything I believed." Zoe turned away to look at the fight again.

"I remember when Lord Ouranus asked me to watch the Olympian council on the day they decided to take Percy's family.

I truly cried for the first time since I came here and for months I awoke every day hoping it was a bad dream … but it never was. Even when I accepted seeing such a cruel side to my former mistress, I still tried to deny it inside."

"And what now? Are you still denying it and wish to try to convince us to change away from war?" Andy asked with a quirked eyebrow but Zoe shook her head.

"After what they did to you I could never stomach the thought of defending them. If anything, the only thing I would ask is to give Artemis a quick death."

"You know that isn't possible with Percy," Andy replied with a slight frown.

She still didn't like the thought of her brother performing torture but then again, with the mention of Aphrodite her thoughts turn to a similar direction at times since she wanted to make the foul goddess pay for all the pain she's caused.

"I know," Zoe said softly. "… Well then at least the few of the huntresses that didn't treat men as cruelly as the rest."

"I think Percy will spare the younger ones but in the recent years they haven't added any to the ranks so it might be safe to say that all current hunters are marked for death, even if they look like they're eight," Andy answered.

"Hmm," Zoe hummed in agreement before commenting, "This is very impressive though."

"What is?" Andy asked as she watched Jason managed to kick Aether back only to rush him again in a flurry of slashes and stabs.

"This level of combat," Zoe answered. "The Hesperides weren't always limited to the garden and I did see some of the battles between the first Olympians and the Titans.

Sure, they were incredibly powerful but they only reached this range of strength and speed when they assumed their divine forms. To think that you lot could fight like this without being full protogenoi is … humbling to say the least. I have no doubts that on the battlefields it will be nothing short of massacres."

"Well when you think about it, the Olympians were scared of Gaea, the weakest fighter among the protogenoi, when it was just her and she wasn't fully restored to power even though she'd finally awakened completely. Just imagine what they'll do when they realize they are fighting several, fully awake and trained protogenoi."

"I dare say they might actually surrender to save their own hides," Zoe chuckled before gaining a dark smirk. "Too bad even then they wouldn't be spared."

"Very true," Andromeda replied sighing as she turned away.

"Are you going to find Lady Hemera?" Zoe asked to which Andy nodded.

"Yeah, I feel like talking to her for a while before going to sleep would be nice."

"Mind if I join you?" Zoe asked.

"Sure," Andy chirped before the pair left the arena, the combatants still going strong into the night …

...

With Percy, Morning After

Percy gave a slight groan as he started to stir from his sleep. He cursed Nyx mentally for drilling it into his head to always wake up early regardless of how late he might have gone to sleep the night before.

That and having a serious sugar rush didn't help him get any extra rest. Curse Rhea and her amazing cookies! Still, he was already awake so no point in complaining now so he opened his eyes while trying to sit up only to find that he couldn't.

He glanced down to see two brunette heads making him smile, especially being able to feel the warm and soft flesh resting on him.

Rhea was to his right, having used his chest as her pillow while tangling her legs with his, her near see through night gown teasing his sight of her breasts pressed up against him. Then to his left was Hestia, having taking some convincing to join them in their bed rather than take a guest room since she was a little shy around them but they wore her down.

She'd been close but not touching when they went to sleep but in the night she'd snuggled closer to the point of using his shoulder as her pillow while pulling his arm between her sizable breasts.

She was also more curled up while wearing a more modest yet still attractive, cream colored nightgown that just barely reached past her hips.

'How did I get so lucky?' he asked himself before slowly sitting up much to the protesting whines of his girlfriends. He chuckled at the adorable pouts he was getting as Rhea stirred first while Hestia tried to pull the sheets over her head.

However before anything could be said Percy felt someone approaching through flash so he looked away from the sudden blinding light. Once it died down it revealed Nyx looking both excited and a little sad at the same time.

"Nyx?" Rhea muttered as she sat up fully while rubbing her eye. "What is it?"

Percy also looked at Nyx questioningly as Hestia finally got up too and squeaked in surprise at realizing it was Nyx after throwing off the last dregs of drowsiness. Once all three were looking properly at her she spoke in a serious voice, "It's time."

At that Percy sat up straighter as he knew what those two words meant.

"Time?" Hestia asked nervously as she noticed how Percy and Rhea reacted to Nyx's words.

"Yes, Tartarus has already made the preparations needed," Nyx continued as she glanced at Hestia.

"The last test before Percy, Andromeda, Phoebe, Rhea, Jason, and Thalia claim their place as full protogenoi … and the current primordial gods move on to the Realm of the Faded," she answered making Hestia gasp.

"So …" Percy started as he looked at Nyx in the eyes. "What's the test?"

"Combat," she said before her next sentence shocked all three. "You will do something that all twelve Olympians or the group of Kronos' most loyal couldn't do … you will face and kill Typhon."

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

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