Ocean Song flew through the air happily.
Everything was coming together for him now.
He had Sect members—albeit two other people, his own brother and Medusa. But now he had a Sect Protecting Divine Beast!
And it was an extremely famous and world-renowned Monster at that!
Who didn't know who the Loch Ness Monster was?
Technically, Ocean Song didn't think Nessie was a monster, probably more a Divine Beast? He didn't know the actual terminology, but monster has a different sort of feeling. Nessie certainly felt more… 'proper' and 'natural' compared to monsters in general.
Regardless, Nessie was happy to join.
Ocean Song touched down at the base of his sect and marveled.
He had been gone…about a day or so on his adventure, and it looked completely different than when he left.
Actually, he was fairly sure the mountain was larger now too.
Truly, his uncle's subordinates did good work.
The foundations had all but been established, and the workers were currently building the actual structures, which seemed like the easier point in comparison.
And he also noticed that there were clouds flying around!
Ocean Song marveled at the workers once more.
He would need to tell his uncle to reward them for their good work.
"You're back." Medusa came on over to greet him.
"Greetings, Senior Sister, how fares the sect in my absence?" Ocean Song was questioned.
"...about as well as you can see." She swept her arm out. "I think I should have actually looked at the pictures you drew beforehand, because I have no idea what they're building or if they're doing a good job."
Ah.
Ocean Song nodded; he should have thought of that as well. It made her supervising sort of pointless in hindsight.
Medusa looked at him, then around him. "Where is it?"
"Where is what?"
"You said you were bringing back a…something." Medusa didn't know what to expect him to bring back, something ridiculous, she would imagine. She half expected something like a dragon or maybe a homeless man in a dragon costume.
"Oh, you mean the Sect Protecting Divine Beast."
"Yes….that. Where is it?"
"It's right here." Ocean Song pointed right at her, or rather about a foot to the side.
Nessia stood over her, its large mouth inches away from her face as she abruptly turned to greet the face of the Sect Protecting Divine Beast.
The Greek Monster let out a string of curses, fumbling backwards in fright.
"Bawhoooo!" Nessie let out a happy noise.
"#$^@$#^$#@"
Ocean Song noted that he had just learned some impressive cursing in Ancient Greek.
"What is that! Where did it come from? Why didn't I see it?"
"That's Nessie; she's the Loch Ness Monster." Ocean Song said casually.
"...the Loch Ness Monster."
"Yup."
"The famous one, from Scotland?"
"That's the one."
Medusa wasn't sure what to say. Of all the ridiculous things she expected him to bring back… admittedly, this is actually about on par with them.
She half thought he might bring back Bigfoot, and this wasn't that far away in utter nonsense.
"You…isn't she an aquatic creature?! Why is she just sitting on land…she has fins." Medusa pointed out a rather important fact about the Loch Ness Monster.
"Don't worry, I have already considered this and made a stop before coming back to remedy this situation." Ocean Song said proudly.
"...really?" She had doubts.
Ocean Song slapped his storage bag, producing a folded clump of plastic that looked meshed together. He found a sprig on it and began to blow.
After a moment, it filled with air and unfolded.
It was an inflatable kiddy pool.
"This—"
Ocean Song put up a hand to stop her. He then took out a few buckets of water and started filling them up.
"And it's done."
"....."
The Loch Ness Monster let out a happy noise as it crawled across the ground and nudged itself into the kiddy pool that was much too small for it.
Medusa opened her mouth a few times, but words failed to appear. She decided she didn't want her questions answered regarding it anymore. Rather, she had a different question about the monster.
"Why didn't I see it? Where did it even come from?"
"Nessie is good at hiding. Even the Celtic Chief God didn't know about her existence until she showed herself willingly." Ocean Song explained. "Perfect for our Sect Protecting Divine Beast, wouldn't you say?"
Medusa looked at the large…well, she didn't know what it was.
Was it a dinosaur?
She was going to mentally refer to it as a dinosaur from now on.
A dinosaur that can apparently hide from gods at a whim.
Actually, getting another look at it, didn't it sort of look like that thing from that kids show? She couldn't quite remember the name of it; she wasn't one for watching those things and only did so randomly.
"From now on, Senior Nessie shall be known as the Void Demon Heavenly Beast." Ocean Song proudly proclaimed.
"...I'm not calling it that."
"Bawhooo!"
"I see you like it, Senior Void Demon!" Ocean Song nodded.
"I can't tell if you actually understand her because you're a child of Poseidon, or you're just making it up, and it's concerning me." Medusa muttered.
"Now!" Ocean Song clapped his hands, ignoring her. "It's time to move on to the next phase."
"Next phase? Do you actually have any real plans, or are you just making everything up as you go along?"
"Of course I have plans!" Ocean Song was offended; as a proper cultivator, of course he planned everything out meticulously!
Also, like a proper cultivator, when everything somehow worked out despite his plans being half-assed, he would take full credit so everyone praised him.
However, in this instance, Ocean Song did have plans.
He reached into his majestic robes and pulled out a roll of papers. "I have written all my plans here."
"If they're written in crayon, I'm kicking you off the mountain. Literally, not figuratively." Medusa warned.
Ocean Song slowly put his amazing plans back into his robes under her glaring.
Medusa let out a sigh. "What do we need to do next?" Because against all logic, she actually still believed his original promise.
"Well, there's still a few things we need." Ocean Song clasped his hands behind his back as his robes lightly swayed in the wind, surveying the construction of the sect. "We still need an Alchemist, and a Formations Master at a minimum. As for the sect itself, I was also going to ask my exalted aunt to bless the sect once it was finished."
"Dare I ask, which aunt?" Medusa showed a small bit of concern.
"The Great Goddess of the Hearth of course." Ocean Song replied.
Medusa immediately perked up. "Oh, that's fine."
Actually, it was one of the few gods she wasn't utterly frightened of. In fact, plenty of Monsters actually ask for her blessing on their own hearths.
Now that Medusa thought about it, she couldn't recall a single monster that actually cursed her name or had anything bad to say about her.
Not that she mingles with many monsters these days, but she still keeps up with certain things.
"However, I have a thought now. Would it be better to bless it while it's being built or after?" Ocean Song voiced his thoughts.
Medusa wanted to roll her eyes at another stupid question he asked, but after giving it consideration, she didn't actually know a firm answer either.
Logically, a home needs to be…well, built. As the goddess of that sort of thing, you would assume that Hestia could bless a full and proper home. But could she bless the foundations of a home being built to…elevate it in some degree?
Because even Medusa acknowledged the effort that Ocean Song put into his 'home' being built properly, did that mean something in this case?
"I'll just ask her!"
Medusa then panicked a little. "You can't just call up any god you want!
"Why not?" Ocean Song already threw down a small altar onto the ground.
"D-do you have an altar for every god?" Medusa looked at him incredulously because this was far from the first time he had done this.
"Yes." Ocean Song nodded.
Medusa didn't know if it was praiseworthy or utterly stupid.
"Great Goddess of the Heart!" Ocean Song intoned. "I seek your blessing and wisdom; please accept this humble offering in exchange for your exalted presence gracing us!" He put down quite a few monster trophies he had accumulated from what he had been up to recently.
The monster bits burst into flames and disappeared before he felt the godly presence loom over them.
However, it wasn't pressing down on them like many gods have done. It wasn't overbearing or aggressive; it was weighty, it was large and encompassing, but it was also noticeably gentle.
Hestia answered the summons, surprised that she received such a large 'offering,' as it's rather rare these days, and when she turned her gaze over, she noticed who had done it.
Of course Hestia was more than aware of Ocean Song at this point, the topic of many discussions on Olympus these days. And that wasn't even considering what he did to the sky not long ago.
"Your name is Ocean Song, right? My little nephew." Hestia's voice sounded out as a vague silhouette formed from flames appeared over top of the makeshift altar.
"Greetings, Great Goddess, this lowly Cyclops is indeed Ocean Song, son of Poseidon. May I call you Aunt?" Ocean Song spoke.
Hestia found herself smiling as she looked at him. Her vague silhouette reached out and patted him on the head. "I am your aunt, so it's fine."
Ocean Song smiled brightly. "Thank you, Aunt Hestia!" He was happy; everyone knew that Hestia was Bestia. "I request your wisdom, Great Goddess Hestia." He was also polite in addressing her properly when asking a favor, however.
As a proper cultivator, Ocean Song knew when to be grandiose with someone's title, mostly when he wanted something.
"And what do you need, nephew?" Hestia asked in amusement.
"Please dispel this one's confusion. I wish to seek your blessing upon my new home; however, it's not yet finished." Ocean Song swept his hand towards the sect being built.
Hestia hadn't really paid attention to what was going on around them until now. Her gaze turned to the magnificent-looking structures being built on top of the mountain. Likewise, she looked back at Ocean Song and also at Medusa at his side, confused as to why she was there, but didn't comment.
However, Hestia would guess his reason for 'calling.'
"If you want my blessing, you would wait until it's finished being built; that way it will provide the most benefit."
Ocean Song smiled happily. "Thank you, Auntie!"
Hestia giggled and lightly poked his nose. "Don't get too excited yet. I would be happy to bless it without anything in return, but rules are rules. Especially for something of this size, you need to make a "worthy offerin'g." Her tone sounded slightly miffed by the latter bit.
"Perplexing, but not impossible. I shall find some monsters to slay then." Ocean Song nodded.
As if to rebuke him, the vague silhouette of her reached up and pinched his cheek. "I don't mind offerings of monsters, but I won't like it if you go out and start killing just for the sake of it. You should know better than anything that not all monsters are evil." She lightly chastised him.
That ruined Ocean Song's easy method of acquiring her blessing. However, he was not easily deterred.
"Great Senior Void Demon Heavenly Beast, I have a mission for you!"
"Bawhooooo!" Nessie appeared, startling both Medusa and especially Hestia.
Hestia was paying attention, Hestia's divine gaze was on the area, and whatever that thing was, it completely slipped through her eyes, which shouldn't be possible.
"I require you to seek out a worthy offering for Aunt Hestia that does not require killing." Ocean Song declared.
Nessie seemed to understand him, and a moment later, it once more disappeared from view in front of everyone.
While everyone stared at him incredulously, Ocean Song was just pleased that he had competent subordinates.
"Nephew." Hestia's voice returned. "What was that?"
"That was the Great Void Demon Heavenly Beast." Ocean Song responded. "Also known as Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster."
"..."
Hestia found herself speechless. Of course she knew the Loch Ness Monster; it's as famous as Bigfoot or any other random 'myth' that humans believe these days.
Opposed to 'real myths,' that is.
She just didn't think it was also real.
She sort of understood her brother's exasperation now.
"...is there anything else you need, Nephew?" Hestia asked because he did provide a rather large offering.
Ocean Song perked up with a thought. "Aunt Hestia, you're at Camp Half-Blood right now, right?"
"I am." She was wondering where he was going with this.
"Can you tell me how Percy is doing?"
Hestia paused for a moment, then smiled brightly. "I can do that."
[Line break]
The Great Void Heavenly Demon – also known as Nessie—was carrying out her assigned mission.
She swam through the void, undetected by any being bar the most ancient and powerful.
She plopped onto the ground, surrounded by lush plants, beautiful flowers, and all manner of fantastical sights.
It was a garden unlike any other, the kind spoken of in myths and legends.
Nessie perked up as she heard the sound of music, finding a group of Nymphs dancing joyfully, singing, and playing in the garden.
Nessie stayed there for a few minutes, bobbing her head back and forth while enjoying the festivities, no one the wiser of her presence.
Reluctantly, she pulled away as she began to scoot across the ground, inch by inch, towards her destination.
She got slightly sidetracked again as she saw a large figure holding up an impossible weight.
Nessie's large body pushed forward until it came up to Atlas as he held the sky.
Atlas was sleeping, standing and still holding the sky up, a feat he had learned some thousands of years ago. However, his eyes shot open, and he looked around in confusion, seeing nothing, despite Nessie being a breath away from him, looking him over.
Curiously, she looked up and licked the 'sky.'
Atlas felt something again and became flustered but mostly confused.
The Great Void Demon Heavenly Beast lost interest and continued on her way.
Inch by inch she scooted across the ground; she made her way to the smell of something tasty.
His job was to bring back an offering.
She was very old, so she knew a thing or two about the world. And as she got closer, she recognized the distinct hue of godly golden apples.
A whole tree of them.
However, there was also an utterly massive hundred-headed dragon sleeping soundly nearby.
Nessie pushed up to it, looking at it in curiosity.
She used one of her flippers to push open one of its eyelids. The massive beast stirred slightly but didn't wake up.
Losing interest again, she then slowly made her way to the target of her mission.
The tree that grew the golden apples.
However, Nessie came to a realization.
She didn't know 'how many' she would need.
Thus, she thought of a simple solution.
She used her large mouth to reach out, turned sideways, and bit into the trunk of the tree. And in one swift motion, she pulled it out of the ground.
With the sacred Golden Apple Tree in her mouth, she decided it was mission accomplished, and she slowly began to scoot away.
Just as easily as she entered the Garden of the Hesperides, so too did she leave, even if it took her a bit of time to scoot back to the proverbial 'entrance.'
The Loch Ness monster wasn't a creature that kept track of time, but the sun was now setting, implying it had been quite a while since it had left.
It arrived back to its new home and its new friends. Nessie let out a happy noise, plopping the Golden Apple Tree down in front of her fellow Monsters.
Both Ocean Song and Medusa stared at the tree.
It only took the two of them a second to realize what was now laid out in front of them.
The two of them started screaming.
Nessie looked at them happily and let out its own bellows of happiness, joining in on the fun.
[Line Break]
A/N
Ocean Song: We need a proper offering to Hestia.
Nessie: Plops down Hera's sacred and beloved Golden Apple Tree that's usually protected by a demigod-killing, 100-headed dragon that even Hercules would struggle against.
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