Apollo cursed under his breath as he raised his hands over the frozen appendage and began to radiate a mix of raw sunlight and his healing magic but it barely seemed to slow the spreading frost.
...
His grit his teeth as he increased the input and soon the frost seemed to slow to a near stop but at the same time the unharmed skin at the border started to hiss and redden, burning under the Sun god's power and making Deimos scream that much more.
"To Hades with it!" Apollo snapped as he pulled out a golden blade and looked Athena in the eyes with his own glowing irises, as if the fury of the sun was behind them. "Hold out his arm!"
"What!?" Hermes and Annabeth called at the same time but Athena did as was told, knowing that when Apollo had that look in his eyes, he was not one to be disobeyed.
She held out Deimos' arm just below the shoulder as the minor god started to pull like a wild and cornered animal but now Hermes had jumped in and was helping Annabeth to hold down the god. Apollo breathed before raising his blade, the edge glowing golden and steaming in the chilled room, before swiftly bringing it down.
With sickening ease Deimos' arm was severed just above the elbow, the god releasing a higher pitched scream that made Athena's blood curl as she looked at the cauterized stump. All the while Deimos' severed arm fell to the floor before shattering on impact into morbid pieces of clumped flesh and bone.
Apollo for his part was trembling as he looked at the stump, his face contorted in fury as Hermes was forced to clock Deimos over the head to knock the poor bastard out.
Annabeth and Athena released their holds over Deimos as the god slumped down, the roar of more footsteps approaching while other gods that weren't too busy at the moment flashed in.
There was a chorus of noise as the newly arrived gods and some remaining demigods moved around to see what had happened and set up a perimeter, quickly noticing the injured god. Athena glanced to her brother, seeing him still fuming before he muttered under his breath, "I couldn't even do anything."
Before she could try to say anything on the matter he waved his hand and disappeared with Deimos in a flash, hopefully taking him to the infirmary. Athena for her part sighed as she stood, feeling even more tired as this terrible day seemed to simply get worse and worse. All eyes were on her, making her grimace before she glanced at Riptide.
"Nobody touches that sword," she ordered with authority as all nodded. "Clear out."
They started to shuffle along as Annabeth stood by her side, watching the gods and few demigods move. Athena herself had been preparing to flash to her palace and hopefully get some rest but then the frantic panting and running drew her attention as another satyr that she couldn't name ran up to her looking panicked.
"My lady!" he started as he nearly fell to his knees. "I bring news!"
"What?" she asked, already getting a feeling of dread in her chest.
"The grand oak in the Central Park, it was destroyed," he answered, the hints of fear induced madness glinting in his eyes. "The titan Hyperion had escaped!"
....
Next Morning.
( Percy POV )
Percy softly sighed as he wished he could be nursing a piping hot cup of coffee in his oversized hand, the dark liquid stirring within its bathtub size container, but sadly, he'd lost the appetite within moments of shadow traveling to their throne room.
The night had been most … eventful. Sure, he was ecstatic that he finally got some closure with Andromeda and now they were making an attempt at a relationship, first starting only between themselves before involving Rhea and Hestia.
However, the revelation of Andy's daughter which also meant his, was not something any of them had been expecting.
Andy had gotten the chewing out of a lifetime for that and Percy was sure neither Rhea nor Hestia were anywhere near close to collecting everything owed to them. But Andy had owned up to it and was willing to take any punishments either of her queens could concoct.
However, that wasn't the pressing issue at the moment. No, rather it was the news delivered just this morning by some of their scouts and judging by the expressions of the present council members, it wasn't good.
Jason was tapping his foot, his gaze on his lap. Thalia was focusing on a loose tendril of electricity running between her fingers. Hestia was exchanging worried looks with Rhea across from him while Styx kept glancing nervously at Nico's empty throne.
Phoebe also wasn't present, searching for the escapes through her sight but she'd already been gone for an hour so he wasn't expecting the best news. As for Andromeda …
'Speak of the devil,' he thought as he noticed his sis—fiancé he corrected—approach through the entrance hall, gently encouraging the young woman hiding slightly behind her as they approached.
Dressed in a simple white chiton, her long black hair cascading over her shoulders all the way to her lower back.
A figure echoing of her mother, tanned skin and eyes the color of freshly cared ice looking shyly in his direction. He sucked in a breath as he held her gaze, the gaze of his daughter, for the first time.
'She's … perfect,' he couldn't stop himself from thinking as she nervously approached, one hand gripping the back of Andromeda's shirt like a child as her icy eyes nervously scanned the primordials present. Each of them watched her in turn, their gazes mostly neutral but the traces of warmth shone through their eyes.
Even Rhea and Hestia, the only two with any reason to dislike his daughter's mere presence, smiled softly at her. After all, she was innocent of all possible transgressions and so neither of his wives would blame her.
However his musing were cut short was Andy smiled up at him, still in her mortal size, before she slowly stepped aside leaving their daughter alone before him.
She gave something akin to a whimper as she looked at Andy but her mother made no move to return to her side, instead offering an encouraging smile and nod. Their daughter swallowed thickly before facing him again, the nervous energy rolling off her in waves.
"Mi-My lord," she said timidly with a small curtsy, her gaze lowered like a subject.
He frowned at that, wondering where she got it in her head that she needed to approach him like that. Andy most certainly didn't tell their daughter to be so formal given the perplexed look on her face.
He understood that as being essentially an untitled goddess herself and already fully developed, his daughter's mind was also formed and had enough knowledge to get by as an adult until taught more or connected to a domain, but that didn't mean she was necessarily ready to act on it.
For all essential purposes, she was a child with the body and knowledge of an adult, and somewhere along that way, she'd thought it prudent to act like a simple subject before their rulers.
Well, after years of symbolically and literally flipping off pompous and highly temperamental beings as a pass time, he was having absolutely none of this formality. So with a slight grin, he reached down and placed his hand before her, startling her slightly as she jumped with a squeak.
She glanced between him and his hand, as if asking for verbal permission, to which he nodded encouragingly. Getting a shy smile in return, she gingerly sat in his open palm and then he brought her up to his eye level.
They stared off for a few seconds before he gave his warmest smile and broke the silence.
"Hello there little one," he said softly.
"My king ..." she started only for him to delicately interrupt.
"Hey, none of that now. You're my daughter, you don't need to be so formal with me."
That got a slightly surprised look from her but then it turned into a bright smile as she gazed at him.
"Papa," she said, her voice as innocent and pure as she was, as she leaned forward in his hand, her hands reaching for him.
Understanding the gesture he brought her closer until she reached out and hugged what she could of his cheek, her bright smile glowing up at him with a tear or two of happiness.
He shared the feeling as he used his free hand, or more specifically, free finger, to gingerly stroke away the tears, all the while mirroring, "The same smile as your mother."
She only seemed to get happier at the comparison and out of the corner of his eyes he saw Andy beaming from her throne as well, though she winced when moving about. The price to pay for suffering a thousand spanks from Rhea and Hestia … each.
Not his concern at the moment as he focused his attention onto his daughter, pulling his hand back slightly to get a better look at her even though she pouted at the loss of contact making him chuckle.
"Now, can I get my daughter's name?" he asked her only to have her blush in embarrassment.
"I don't have one," she murmured before Percy shot Andy a questioning look.
"I thought it would be appropriate for you to name her," the Love goddess replied with a shrug, only to wince again with her movement much to the dark amusement of Rhea and Hestia.
"Well then, what to name a beauty like you?" he asked with his usual grin, causing his daughter to blush more while also smiling shyly.
However as she did so, he noticed that her arms were starting to change as black down and feathers started to form along them. He watched in fascination along with the rest of the present council, his daughter also looking at her arms in surprise as they continued to change.
Soon her arms had completely changed to rather large, black feathered wings much like his own, with the thumb having turned into on flexile talon.
She started at them, perplexed, before she gave one test flap and immediately launched herself with a startled gasp.
"Papa!" she cried in alarm as she lost balance within seconds and looked like she was about to fall.
Luckily he caught her without issue, even going as far as giving her an amused smile as she sat up in his hand and half-heartedly glared at her wings.
"So, a little bird much like your mother," he mused as she inspected herself.
'Yet her feathers had a similar dark aura to mine and her eyes are too icy to be like Andy's birds of Paradise. No, she is a predator like me, I can see it,' he thought as he noticed the slight fangs she had just barely peeking out through her parted lips.
'Her wings look like those of a raven … wait …' he paused as he looked at her intently for a moment. She noticed and looked at him while squirming slightly at the intensity in his eyes, until he spoke up.
"Raven … how does that sound?" he asked, wondering if she would approve of the name.
She looked at him for a few moments of silence before breaking out in a grin and nodding enthusiastically.
"So my little Raven it is then," he stated, his newly named daughter beaming at him as she shuffled her arms until the turned back into regular arms in a few seconds.
===================
Don't forget to throw some power Stones, to keep the story going.
...
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