All's Fair in Love and War (Demigod fanfic)

Chapter One: Vavera Grimarae’s POV   

It was a Monday. Most people loved Mondays, celebrating them as the beginning of the week, a fresh start to deal with whatever life had to throw at us. However, I hated them. Because it was also the day where everything always goes inevitably wrong, since a fresh start meant a fresh load of monsters to deal with, and, as always, the time we had to fight them fell on Monday. It was for this reason I was running away from the city, with my friends, as we were chased by a roaring Hydra.

“Why did we agree to this again?” I shouted to Leo. Yes you heard me, the famous Leo Valdez is back from the dead.

“We didn’t! The gods kind of just wrangled us together.” He shouted back as he slashed off another one of its heads with his hooked daggers. They were made of Stygian Iron, unlike most of his weapons. Which were made of regular iron.

Legends say that only a child of Pluto or Hades can wield a blade made of Stygian Iron. As it separates the soul from the body if used by anyone else. However since Leo had died, come back to life, got summoned by Hades to go through Tartarus, and do ten years of service. Ending up coming back bearing the Curse of Achilles, after bathing in the River Styx. Similar to how the iron of his blade was made. He was able to wield any weapon made of the stuff. Since his trials in Tartarus gave him firm connections with death, and he now bore the blessing of Hades after finishing them.

“I blame our parents. If they hadn’t fallen in love with each other we wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place.” Bella grumbled as she dodged pool of acid that the one of the Hydra’s heads shot at her. She severed it from its brothers using one of her feather-like, Adamantine throwing stars, that were currently attached to a central sphere she uses to make them look like a feathered fan rather than a deadly weapon. Which gleamed a pale, lacy, translucent white in the light of the fire, as Leo dashed in and burned the head. ”Love, beauty, and death go hand in hand;” was her motto.

Adamantine may not be magical metal like most weapons metals, but it seems to work just fine against monsters. It worked even better than most weapons actually, able to pierce even the Nemean Lion’s pelt when we fought it. She gave the pelt to Justin.

“True, but don’t you think that if they hadn’t met we wouldn’t be born?”  Miriam asked as she sliced a heads eyes open using her double ended scythe as it tried to snatch her up. It was an impressive weapon, a purplish-blue wooden staff with two curved, Mystical Silver blades, one set at either end. Just looking at it I was reminded of just how dangerous it was.

“Enough of the chit-chat. Let’s just kill it already! We only have one head left to do before we’re done, and personally — I’m getting tired of this!” Justin snarled. He raised his ivory wand, yelled “Ha-di,” and there was a loud “KA-BOOM” as the hydra dissolved in flames.

There was silence as we looked at the patch of burned grass where the monster had stood moments before. “Anyone want to grab some lunch?” Bella suggested, breaking the silence. “I don’t know about you guys but all this monster fighting is making me hungry.”

We all agreed that lunch would be great idea as we headed back towards the city. After ten minutes of walking we were back in New York City and eating to our heart’s content at a local diner.

“Who has the money today?” I asked as I chowed down on some fries.

“I do,” Justin grumbled, pulling out a small pouch. At a first glance it didn’t appear to have anything inside it. It was an old, emerald green, velvet pouch with golden tassels to pull it shut. The colors were faded and the fabric was worn. Making it look more like a family heirloom then something you would put your money in, but it had magical properties. Depending on how much money you wanted and what you wanted it for it could magically spawn anything from golden drachmas to to diamonds to several thousand bucks. Today we were just using it for a twenty dollar bill and a quarter.

I reached over and pulled the bag toward me for safe keeping. No offense but Justin wasn’t exactly the greatest when it came to not losing stuff. His motto was: “If it gets lost it’s meant to be lost.” Not exactly the kind of thing we want to apply to rare magical items. “I’ll just take this for you then.” I told him with a grimace.

Turning to Miriam I asked, “What does your oracle have for us today?”

She sighed, putting down her burger. “I could have sworn I saw — Satyrs picking Strawberries? But that doesn’t make much sense. And other than the occasional glimpse of what appeared to be Leo’s old friends that was it.”

We all went quiet at that. When we had first found Leo he was unconscious after finally coming back from his last mission to Tartarus. When he woke up he told us that he had been trying to rescue this girl that was on an island, but when he had arrived she was already gone. Something about the gods finally remembering their promise. He was told that since he was there he had to be the new occupant, and that in order to win his freedom back he had to serve Hades by controlling the monsters in Tartarus for ten years. He had done so, but it came at a price. One that he didn’t want to have to reveal to his friends, so we invited him to stay with us, price and all. Turns out that was exactly what the gods had wanted. Over the last two years we had learned the rest of his sad tale. He had been apart of crew. A group of demigods who were tasked with defeating Gaea, a titan he had given his life to defeat her in the end.

Leo looked shocked at this info. “Satyrs picking strawberries? That sounds like the old camp I used to go to. Camp Half-Blood. It’s disguised as a strawberry farm and Satyrs work there picking strawberries. Do you think….” His voice trailed off but we heard what he implied. Did he need to go back? After everything that had happened?

Miriam shook her head, “No I don’t think so. My visions are always sketchy at best, and I’ve never actually seen Leo’s friends outside of his drawings so it’s hard to be sure if it’s them I saw. I don’t think we have anything to worry about.” She reassured us. Leo relaxed and let out a sigh of relief as he went back to chowing down on his burger.

“Just in case though, we should try and head somewhere further away. It won’t hurt to put a little distance between Leo and his old camp. As it stands now we’re only a few miles away.” I decided, looking reassuringly at Leo who was trying to look like he didn’t even care about having the distinct possibility of running into his old friends. I could tell that he was worried though. He could never fool me. I briefly laid a hand on his shoulder as sign of support before turning back to the others. “Come on, let’s go. Before any monsters decide to attack and diminish our small chance of leaving.” I handed Bella the money pouch. “Bella, Can you get our check?”

Bella grinned, “Of course I can!”

She turned to the counter and waved her hand delicately in the air. “Waiter!” She called, adding a giggle, as if she couldn’t wait for him to show. He quickly arrived.

She twirled a lock of her perfectly straight, blonde, and repeatedly gorgeous hair around her finger as she looked up at the waiter with her big, shining, sky blue eyes. “Can me and my friends get a check please?” “Of course madame,” He stammered, unable to look away and shocked by her impressive beauty. “Would you like a date with that? It’s the latest special.” He asked, suddenly smirking. He may not have expected her beauty but now he certainly expected a date. It seemed that no one had turned him down before, the way he was acting. She’d be the first.

I sighed, they all acted like this. Either a stammering, blushing mess, or so full of themselves that the possibility that she could say no never crossed their minds. Her mother was Freya, the norse goddess of love and beauty. Combined with a British father and a French upbringing it made for a devastating combination. The boys just couldn’t look away. No matter what girlfriend they had.

Now you may be wondering what a norse demigod would be doing with greek demigods. Here’s my answer. Only one of us is greek. Leo Valdez. We’re the only group of demigods to have a mix of the five known sections of mythology. Norse, Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Mortal. Bella was Norse, Leo was Greek, I was Roman, Justin was Egyptian, and Miriam was Mortal. A rare mortal who could see through the mist and predict the future. Apparently she wasn’t the only one since Leo had told us that Camp Half-Blood had a girl, Elizabeth Dare, who could do the same thing. Though she had the help of the resident Oracle.

We kept the fact that we all followed different mythologies hidden though, since the five mythologies aren’t meant to know about each, or even interact. So we stay out of sight, lurking in the shadows and skirting around the truth. Never letting anyone know who we or our parents really are. We all have different backstories set up depending on which group we encounter.

Speaking of lurking in the shadows we should probably get going. I signaled for everyone to get up start heading towards the back, our usual get away plan for every scenario, even lunch. Bella distracts, and we head out the back.

Bella giggled, “Sorry, but I’m already taken.” She told the stunned boy.

“Wait what!” He said, shocked. His eyes grew wide as he realized that a girl had just rejected him, a pretty one at that. Trying to cover up his mistake he said. “I mean, right away madame!” Fuming, he stalked away, trying to regroup from this unexpected outcome.

We were out before he could return. Bella came and joined us a few minutes later. “Such a nice boy.” She commented.

“Nice! He was all over you!” Justin roared, shaking with anger. His amber eyes alight with fury as he glared at the door we had just exited.

“Yes, nice. Considering that every boy we meet tries to make a move on me you really should be used to it by now. However, I think I effectively staved off any advances he might want to make in the future so it’s all good.” Bella assured him, ruffling his wild black hair affectionately as she calmed him down.

As someone who had decided to follow the path of Bast, he was more cat than human. Therefore being prone to fits of anger when someone tried impeach on his territory. Which he considered to be us. If anyone tries to make a move on any of us he instantly tries to fight back. Especially when it came to Bella, who was his girlfriend.

After a few more minutes of petting he relaxed, nudging his head into her hand and purring. “I love you too.” Bella said with a smile. She lowered her hand and turned to the rest of us who were staring at her, amused. “What! He was upset!” She said, defending herself.

“Yeah,” Miriam said. “But you didn’t have to,” Leo said. Pet him,” I said. “Until he began to purr!” We all chorused.

Bella sighed, and, ignoring us, pulled Justin forward, leaving the ally. We followed.

Once we were out on the street and walking to the edge of town Leo halted. “Umm…Guys!” He said sheepishly. “As much as I hate to admit it, we can’t leave just yet. Remember why we came here in the first place? We still need to pick up the Kane’s artifact or they won’t give us back our tents.” He sighed, worried.

I looked at him worriedly, “You sure you want to risk it? We could just go get new ones instead.”

“Nah, I don’t think the Hunters will be so lenient a second time. Best not risk it. Where was the museum again?” Leo said, looking at Justin. Who, like all of us, was looking at Leo with pity in his eyes.

“Cleo said it was by the statue with golden wings.” Justin replied, pointing down the street to a museum by a statue of an angel, one with golden wings. “I think that’s our stop.”

We walked over and I led Leo over to the gift shop. “Stay here, we’ll be back in a few minutes with the artifact.” With that, I took off, with Bella, Justin, and Miriam trailing in my footsteps.

Chapter Two: Piper McLean’s POV

Seriously, I only had a broken leg! Sure it meant I’d be out of commission for a few weeks but it didn’t mean I was crippled! I could still walk (well, crutch) around a museum for goodness sake! So I sure didn’t appreciate it when we all arrived at the museum and Jason put me in the gift shop telling me to stay put.

A few weeks ago, during one of his visits between the camps, a couple of new campers played a prank on Jason and locked him in Hera’s cabin. Well it didn’t do him any harm, Hera did send him a vision that told him that what remained of the seven needed to pick up the demigod with “The Curse of Death” at the “Historic Building of Golden Wings” when the, “Sun was at its peak on the day before it vanished.” A.K.A a child of Hades, from the Museum of Natural History, at noon, the day before the solar eclipse. Nico also insisted he come along when he heard about the child of Hades part.

However due to my broken leg I wasn’t allowed to participate in the search for this mysterious demigod. Instead I was forced to wait around in the gift shop until they came back since if I left Jason would assume I’m kidnapped and tear the place apart. It has happened before.

I picked up a mug and examined it. Vaguely wondering if Coach Hedge would be interested. He probably would be. It was white and had the words, “DON’T MESS WITH THE COACH” sprawling across it in big letters.

Decision made, I hobbled over to the cash register to pay for it. While the cashier looked for a bag to put it in I spotted a boy standing just to the right fixing a broken shelf. He looked to be about eighteen, same as me, and had a tool belt around his waist. Probably the maintenance guy or something. None the less, I decided to say hi. May as well make some new friends. Grabbing the bagged mug I said a quick thank you to the cashier and hobbled over.

“Did you need any help?” I asked hesitantly.

The moment I started speaking he froze, turning and looking at me with wide scared eyes. “Piper?” He whispered, look like he saw a ghost. I probably did as well as I said shakily, “Leo?”

There was Leo, standing there in all his lean, scraggly glory. His hair a wild mess and his clothes slowly starting to smoke as he stared at me with an expression like he’d been hit by a truck, still going through the motions of fixing the shelf.

After a moment of staring at each he finished fixing the shelf and I crashed into him, giving him a massive hug. “Oh my gods, I can’t believe you’re here. The cure worked!” After a minute I pulled back and smacked him, “How dare you leave us like that! Two years Leo, TWO YEARS! The least you could have done is send us a note telling us you were alive! We had a funeral for you!

“Sorry…” He said softly, rubbing his now red cheek.

Just as my eyes softened and I opened my mouth to apologize a girl appeared at the entrance to the gift shop. “We got the artifact Leo, we can leave now.” She said absentmindedly fingering a small figurine. When Leo didn’t reply she looked up, “Leo?”

In a flash she had assessed the situation and was by his side, looking me up and down. “Piper I’m guessing,” She said curtly, laying a hand on Leo’s shoulder.

I watched as Leo instantly relaxed into her, did he trust her? Who was this girl?

I nodded, narrowing my eyes at her. “Yeah, Piper McLean. And you are?”

She gave me a considering look, as if wondering just how much she should tell me. “Vavera Grimarae, Nice to meet you. Why are you here, and who else is with you?”

“Why should I tell you?” I asked challengingly.

“Because if you don’t I’ll leave with Leo and you’ll never see him or hear from him again. He’s part of my team now and does what I say. You wouldn’t want to have to tell them that you saw him again but couldn’t make him stay all because you didn’t answer a simple question would you?” She said with a smirk.

I grimaced, that wouldn’t be fun, “Hera told us to take what remained of the seven and retrieve a kid “with the curse of death.” We’re thinking it’s another child of Hades so Nico came too.”

With those words Leo went utterly shock still and turned his head to look at Vavera. She wore a stunned expression that quickly shifted to one of grave concern as she shared a look with Leo.

Based on that I guessed, “The kid with the curse of death is part of your group?”

“Yes, but I’m not telling you who.” She said softly, her voice laced with worry as she looked at Leo.

After moment Vavera abruptly straightened and start striding out the door with Leo in tow. “Come on Leo, we’re leaving,”

I immediately limped after her, “Hey you can’t just drop a bombshell like that and leave! If you’ve got the kid then you’ve got to hand it over to us. Hera told us to get him and if it’s something big enough for all seven of us to be needed then we aren’t going back without them!” I protested.

Vavera responded by turning and plucking the metal copper rose from her hair. As she did it quickly unfurled into a full length sword that she pointed at me. While keeping a careful eye on me she turned to Leo, “Go get the others, we’re activating code achilles.” With that he nodded and ran off.

I glared at her, “You don’t only have the kid do you. You also have Leo, and we won’t be leaving without him.”

“What if he doesn’t want to go back with you!” She shot back.

I stared at her in astonishment, honestly the idea had never occurred to me, then my gaze hardened. “Then we’ll drag him back, with or without your permission. Whoever your team is it can’t possibly compare to the seven. It’s a miracle you even lasted this long, without training at one of the camps.” With that, Jason, Annabeth, Percy, Hazel, Frank, and Nico ran up. As they assessed the situation, an unknown girl pointing a sword at their friend, the friend who was in crutches, they decided to pull out their weapons.

“What’s going on here?” Jason asked harshly as he drew up behind me.

“She has the kid we came here for, AND LEO!” With those words everyone turned to stare at Vavera as if asking, ‘Is this true?’

However before she herself could answer, the universe answered for her as Leo ran up with two more girls and another boy. I scoffed, there was no way they’d beat us, we even out-numbered them for gods sake.

Vavera then narrowed her eyes at me and said, “Whose to say we haven’t been trained none the less. We were all trained by our patron gods and goddesses and therefore have more right than you.”

She then started gestured at each of her members in turn, “Bella, daughter of Aphrodite, thanks to her training she can get all eyes on her in a single moment just by blinking her eyes, and kill them all in the same second without a sound. Her motto is: “Love, Beauty, and Death go hand in hand.” Making her the assassin of the group.” She said, pointing to the girl with perfectly straight, blonde hair, pale skin, and sky blue eyes.

“Justin, son of Hecate, thanks to his training he can level entire cities just by saying a single word. He’s the power of our group, and is dating Bella so don’t get any ideas with her.” She said, pointing to a tall, roguish boy, with wild, black, uncontained hair, tan skin, and piercing black eyes. Giving a direct contrast to perfect and refined Bella with his wild and uncontrollable energy.

“Miriam, daughter of Apollo, thanks to her training she can predict entire futures just by a having a single dream. Her second ability to heal at a touch makes her both our scout and our medic. Though her weapon doesn’t make her any less lethal.” She said pointing at the girl with shirt, brown hair, light skin, and hazel eyes and then at her big double ended scythe.

“Last, but not least, Leo, son of Hephaestus, though you may know him a lot already he’s changed a lot over to two years he’s been gone and is no our leading force in battle. He’s crafted all our weapons and his daggers are exceptionally powerful, though her won’t be drawing them today.” She said, pointing to Leo.

I gaped at her, all her team members parents were average gods, who’s children we had a quite a few of at camp. However, by the sound of it their abilities were anything but average, level entire cities, predict entire futures! Jason interrupted my inner rant as he stepped forward and asked, “Who are you though? You’ve described your teammates but you haven’t described yourself.”

She nodded, “I suppose I didn’t, I’m Vavera Grimarae, leader of this team and daughter of Hephaestus.”

Jason nodded appreciatively, “And may I ask why we can’t take the kid and Leo back with us? I didn’t hear anything about a child of Hades in your description.”

Vavera looked at him, considering, “Because for the kid’s identity they don’t want it to be revealed, so they have a fake identity, and for Leo last I checked he doesn’t want to go.”

Leo stepped forward, eyeing our weapons nervously he said, “Actually Rae, Miriam came up with a plan to deal with that. “ He leaned over to whisper in Vavera’s ear and then pulled back.

Vavera looked at Miriam, who nodded, and then back at us. “I stand corrected. Leo will go with you, same for the kid you’re looking for, but on one condition. We will all go with you, to give him support, and you don’t know who the kid actually is.”

I was about to protest when Percy stepped forward. “Deal,” He said, shaking her hand in agreement.

“Sounds fair,” Jason said, agreeing.

Vavera nodded and gave a smile, “However we came to this museum for a reason. A friend has something of ours and said that they won’t give it back until we get them this figurine. Can we go drop this off and get our stuff back before we go with you?”

Annabeth stepped forward, “What do they have?” She asked, curious.

Vavera grimaced, “Some tents of ours, they’re kind of our homes at the moment so we really need them back.”

Hazel frowned, “You’re homeless, you pour things.”

Even I had to agree with that sentiment, though I was mad that Leo was homeless too because they kept him with their group my sympathy in the end won out as I limped forward, “You can definitely return the figurine then. You can meet us back here at noon tomorrow.”

Frank nodded as he said, “You need to get your stuff back.”

Bella gave him a beaming smile at that, “Why thank you!” She said happily before turning her happy gaze to me, “And thank you!”

Looking into her eyes I felt an overwhelming power wash over me, it was like charmspeak, yet different, and it compiled me to trust her. Trust this strange beauty who could, who could, who do nothing bad and was just a pour innocent soul. If her group protected this innocent creature then they must be fine in my books, right?

“Bella, STOP IT!” Vavera’s murderous voice yelled, cutting me out of whatever trance she put me in.

Bella pouted as she stepped back and Justin glared at Vavera.