Somewhere far removed from the mortal plane — beyond Olympus, beyond the Underworld, even beyond the Labyrinth — there was a room that wasn't a room, a realm outside of time.
The Loom of Fate sat in perfect stillness. Threads of every life stretched across it in luminous strands — subtle and strong, delicate and defiant. They moved with elegant purpose, guided by ancient hands.
Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos sat before the loom. To mortal eyes, it may have looked like a trio of old women carefully knitting socks.
Clotho leaned in, squinting. "This… shouldn't be here."
Lachesis frowned as she traced the thread in question. It had a strange….sensation to it, like it didn't belong but still somehow fit in with the others. They only noticed it recently, days ago.
"It's corrupted," Atropos muttered. "It's touching everything around it."
They watched as it became tangled with other threads, causing others to start to flay at the seams. It was as if the owner was rebelling against fate by merely existing.
And from there, it caused others to start becoming tangled. They looped in ways they shouldn't. They latched onto other threads that they should have never touched. And some of them now turned away from one another when they should have been the closest of souls.
"An anomaly."
"An abnormality."
"An Irregularity."
They all seemed to speak at the same time, eyes narrowed on that single thread that now stood out like a beacon of chaos.
"This cannot stand."
"Shred it!"
"Sever it!"
"Who does it belong to?"
The other two sisters paused, cooler heads prevailing. They were Fate; they did not make decisions based on emotions or whimsy. Fate was cruel and calculating.
"Arachne Schweinorg," Lachesis read aloud. "Daughter of Athena and…?"
"...unknown." Clotho said.
"Fate is obscured." A whisper added.
"A void left, a silhouette unreadable. Only a faint impression was left behind. There is no death, no proof of life! Never existed, never appearing!"
"Obscured!"
"Hidden!"
All three of them hissed in unison.
"Someone meddles!"
"Other forces?"
"The light of Heaven shines brightly."
"The One-Eyed God peers across the veil."
"The Primordial Mother of antiquity lays claim."
"Death from the East!"
"More, there are more."
They all spoke as if sharing a single thought, a conversation as if one would have with only oneself. All three of them in perfect synch.
Atropos raised her shears. "Best to cut it now before it does any more damage."
"Agreed."
"Sever!"
She snipped downward.
A golden hand shot out of the thread and slapped her across the face.
It wasn't particularly strong; it wasn't a cosmic crescendo that echoed across time and space. But it was rather crisp and left a red mark on the woman's cheek.
Two of the three sisters stared in bewilderment while Atropos staggered back, blinking in utter shock. "Did I just get—slapped?!"
Clotho leaned in. "You… you did."
"You definitely did," Lachesis confirmed with a following silence that seemed unnaturally heavy.
What were they supposed to say after that? This had never happened before; they weren't even sure what happened. Did someone just assault the trio and run away? Was that even possible?
Atropos rubbed her cheek with quiet dignity. "S-should I try again?" \
The two other sisters were silent for a moment before nodding. "Try again."
"See what happens."
She picked up the scissors, narrowed her eyes, and struck again.
Another golden hand emerged, palm-first, and delivered a second stinging slap, this time even harder. The scissors clattered to the floor.
There was silence.
Clotho slowly turned toward Lachesis. "Are we being… retaliated against?"
Lachesis was already flipping through a massive, dust-bound ledger. "No precedent. None. No thread has ever—ever—defended itself."
"Someone interferes. Someone we can not perceive."
Atropos stood there, staring at the vibrating thread, eyes wide and hand still on her cheek. "Who slapped me!? Twice!!"
The sisters didn't have an answer.
They didn't know who or what could have done that. Perhaps... their mother? But that certainly didn't feel like their mother. Did another primordial entity intervene on the girl's behalf?
All they knew was that it felt of…life, infinite life and light.
The three sisters stared at the shears on the ground and at the thread again.
"...we can plan around it."
"The owner is merely mortal."
"So what if the next century or so becomes chaotic? We deserve a vacation anyways."
[Line Break]
Silence gripped the camp like a vice.
Every god, demigod, and immortal being present stared at the girl with horns poking through her forehead. They were small, hidden by her hair previously, but now that they were in the open, they drew all the attention.
Arachne, still casually rubbing her wrist where she'd just dispelled a divine curse, blinked at them all. "What, never seen a pair o' horns before?"
"You're… you're a devil!?" One of the hunters burst out, eyes wide with horror.
"Half-devil," Arachne corrected, matter-of-factly, brushing her bangs aside with no shame. "Do try an' keep up."
The reactions came like a wave.
"She's a what!?" came a hiss from behind as one of the campers finally caught up to what had just been said. Annabeth was staring wide-eyed, having no idea how to process the fact that her apparent half-sister admitted to being a literal devil. "Like from the Bible!?"
That also seemed to create a new uproar.
Arachne just blinked in confusion. "You lot are fookin demigods; why is this so surprising?"
"T-that's different!"
"...how?"
Annabeth stammered, unable to answer.
"Like Satan?" Percy asked, probably the most nonplussed about everything.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, da is Lucifer's bastard." Arachne said offhandedly. "It's where I get me horns; they're still small though." She touched them lightly.
That caused another wave of both confusion and utter disbelief.
"Wait, wait!" Luke pushed through a few others. "Like, actual Satan, the Bible, Hell, all of that?" He was one of the oldest and sort of a leader in camp; he took the forefront in trying to figure out what the fuck was going on.
It seemed almost immaterial anymore regarding the previous 'conflict,' despite two goddesses still standing there also bewildered.
"Did ya not see the wings before?" Arachne blinked again. "Why are you lot being so stupid?"
It was one thing for them to see a girl sprout magical wings like an angel. But it was another for them to literally hear that she's actually the apparent granddaughter of Lucifer.
However, Arachne just found it idiotic that they were freaking out. She just shook her head in exasperation. "You all need to get out more."
"Mooooo~" Mr. Blueberry chimed in, pushing up against Arachne. As if to show off his own horns too, he kept nudging her.
"What's Hell like?" Percy asked.
"Percy!" Grover let out a high-pitched whine at his best friend asking something like that.
"Eh, it has a nice amusement park. Mum an Da took me there for me 10th birthday; it was fun." She shrugged.
Everyone just looked at her incredulously.
Athena herself had gone rigid. She was staring at her daughter like she was looking at alien life.
But Artemis?
She exploded.
"You had a child with the son of actual Satan?" she shouted, whirling on Athena with all pretense of godly decorum obliterated.
It was surprise enough that Artemis didn't even care where they were as she called out Athena. While they don't interact with other pantheons or cosmologies, it's not like they were entirely unaware of them.
They were especially aware of Christianity and the Bible. Artemis had read it herself in the past, wanting to know about the world's most popular 'beliefs.' However, their information was mostly just hearsay or what they've read or heard about here and there.
Athena's eye twitched, but her lips pressed tight.
"I did no such thing," she said evenly, though there was something stiffer than usual in her posture.
Artemis didn't let up. "You made…that!" She pointed at Arachne.
Arachne took offense to that.
"Lady Artemis, why don't we—" Chiron tried to intercede, to calm everyone down, but Arachne interrupted him.
"Says the one who has a cult of crazy lesbians."
"Quiet," Artemis snapped. "This is divine business." Though, there was a flash of anger in her eyes that she dismissed for now. However, the hunters of hers looked utterly scandalized.
"Wilhelm was human." Athena said firmly.
"About as human as me." Arachne snorted, Athena sending her a glare that could melt ice.
"She literally has horns." Artemis pointed out. "Did she get those from you?"
"I'll investigate."
"Like you investigated the random man you decided to make a child with?"
It was extremely rare for Athena to be on the back foot like this. The truth was, she was reeling and was doing her best to mentally scramble for some breathing room.
Arachne frowned as they continued arguing. It was as if they completely forgot about the hunter with an arrow in her eye or the fact that she had tried to shoot Percy.
To Arachne, she didn't care anymore; punishment had already been given, so her interest had faded if they weren't going to fight.
"Wanna get going?" Arachne turned to Percy.
"Sure, still going out onto the lake?" He answered back, though in a low voice, while everyone else was watching the two goddesses get into an argument in the middle of camp.
"Yeah, I want – " Arachne's voice died because her head jerked down and a loud cracking sound reverberated throughout the surroundings. Arachne looked down to see a crack in the under right under her.
It wasn't particularly loud, not enough that it was actually louder than all the commotion happening. But the two goddesses immediately stopped arguing, which turned into an eerie silence.
They both stared at the crack under her feet as if knowing the origin.
And before Arachne could say a word, it split open and she fell through.
[Line break]
Hades sat on his throne in the underworld, tapping his chair impatiently.
His wife at his side, silently watching his actions.
They both could see as Arachne fell through the earth and entered into the domain of the underworld. Technically Hades had done something wrong, or maybe not. He could argue that she had offended him for what had happened before.
Regardless, he wasn't in a mood to care.
The daughter of Athena—and whatever other abomination was her father—it didn't matter to Hades in this moment. He watched as she hit the ground, not a soft landing, but nothing beyond a hurt bum.
The girl stood up, confused and annoyed, but her expression changed when she realized she was surrounded.
Hades had tossed her into the middle of thousands of ghosts.
He harumphed coldly as she stiffened.
It was a fitting punishment in his mind. She liked throwing spears? Well, she can get a good beating by the many undead souls that wandered the underworld. Hades knew how to humble an overly arrogant demigod; he would leave her to it for a few hours until his anger calmed down.
"...husband."
"Hmm?" Hades stopped paying attention but perked up at his wife's call. "Is something wrong?"
"In a manner of speaking."
Hades returned his gaze to the demigod, and…he sighed, a long and annoyed sigh.
She wore a grin that wouldn't be out of place on his nephew—on Ares—as she fought and laughed happily.
Getting hit? She just laughed even louder.
A cut or stab? It just made her bloodthirsty grin grow.
Hades rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Did we grab the wrong child?"
"No, that is most certainly Athena's child." Persephone shook her head.
"...are you sure?"
"Well, now I'm not." His wife admitted.
"She's having fun." Hades pointed out.
"Yes."
"This was supposed to be a punishment." Hades grumbled. "A punishment to curb her arrogance."
His wife just gently patted his shoulder.
With another sigh, Hades straightened himself up, projecting his regal and divine might as he waved his hand, and Arachne fell to the ground in front of him again.
"You – " Hades began but was cut off.
"Uncle Hades!" Arachne beamed happily, running up to him and hugging him.
Hades sat there silently; a girl he had met for the first time had decided to hug him tightly, calling out to him affectionately.
A child of Athena.
He hated Athena.
He hated almost all her children.
The belief was always mutual as well.
The god of the underworld awkwardly sat there as she hugged him. He looked to Persephone for help, and his wife picked up Arachne like a momma cat picking up her kitten.
"Auntie Persephone." Arachne still smiled happily, completely ignoring the tension in the room.
The two stared at her, and she looked back for several moments.
"...can I go back to fighting?" She asked.
"No." Hades said sternly.
Arachne pouted, and Hades, who would never say it out loud, almost relented.
"Did ya need somethin, Uncle Hades?" Arachne asked.
Hades blinked again because he couldn't find an iota of fear within her eyes; in fact, there was a genuineness in her tone, like she was actually asking if he needed anything from her, not in a deferring way that one bows their head to a god.
"You threw a spear at me." Hades intoned.
Arachne tilted her head. "A throw me spear at a lot o' people, Uncle Hades. Don' remember throwin it at ya though."
"I went to capture the mortal woman, the mother of Poseidon's brat." Hades' eyes glowed.
Arachne's eyes lit up in realization. "Oh ye, I remember now."
"...so you admit it." He narrowed his eyes.
"I aint apologizing." Arachne, still held up by Persephone, crossed her arms with a pout. "Why you doin somethin like that, Uncle Hades?"
Hades furrowed his brow; no one had so brazenly dismissed him to his face like this. "Because Poseidon's brat stole my helmet!" He seethed, hitting his throne with his fist.
".....Uncle Hades, did ya get infected with the stupid from your family?"
Hades was taken aback by her blunt words. "What did you just say?"
"Uncle, Percy don't even know how to swing a sword. He didn't even know he was a demigod until a few days ago. How'd you think he snuck down here an stole yer helmet?"
"...then one of his other people did it." Hades scoffed. "It doesn't matter. Zeus's Lightning Bolt and my Helmet. Who else but Poseidon when he still has his trident?"
"Uncle, stop being stupid." Arachne deadpanned. "That's the most obvious frame up a ever heard of in me life."
Hades was silent as he stared at the small girl.
"Auntie, you smell nice. What perfume is that?" The brazen girl just seemed to ignore his growing anger completely, which annoyed Hades even further.
Persephone's lips twitched. "Dear, maybe we should consider alternatives, yes?"
"Uncle, me auntie Izzy said that you're one of the few good Greeks, that the others are too stupid." Arachne delivered another blunt statement. "Do ya think Percy's dad would be smart enough to steal both Zeus's Lightning Bolt and yer Helmet without getting caught until now?"
Hades grumbled, having trouble disagreeing with her. She was right; in Hades' mind, his brothers were incredibly stupid, and he couldn't see Poseidon pulling off some clandestine theft like this….
However, something caught his attention with what he said. "Your aunt? Who?"
"Izanami." Arachne said simply.
Hades was not unfamiliar with the name; he had met her on quite a few occasions. He was more than familiar with all the death deities in the world, actually.
"What the hell did Athena do?" Hades sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose, understanding now the magnitude of his niece's fuck-up when it came to Arachne's existence.
"Can a go play with Cerberus?" Arachne asked.
"...fine." Hades relented. "He's out front."
As soon as the girl's feet hit the ground, she was already running out towards his guard dog.
He watched as the strange girl attempted to Supplex his large dog, much to the three-headed hound's amusement. As if playing along, it let her.
Hades just shook his head.
One thing was for sure, if one positive came out of all of this.
He was never going to let Athena live this catastrophic fuckup down.
[Line Break]
A/N
If you want to read 4 chapters ahead or this omake or support me, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / astoryforone
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People were asking for spooder, so here's the Arachne chapter for the month.