Monster? No, I'm a Cultivator! (Percy Jackson)

The Fates weren't having a good day.

Well, it would be more accurate to say they weren't having a good past month.

"Cut it harder!"

"I'm doing it as hard as I can!"

The sisters argued as two of them pulled a golden thread taut, while the third tried to use their scissors to cut it, but no matter what they did, they couldn't even leave a scratch on it.

"Hurry, before it's too late."

"Do you want to switch with me? I'm telling you, it won't cut!"

Their bickering continued as several other strings they had woven began to unravel from the carefully woven motif they had constructed. The past month had been more trying for them than the past thousand years. However, the past several hours had caused complete chaos.

All their plans, all their machinations were threatened. 

All of a sudden, a bunch of new Demigods whose fates should have been forgotten or otherwise unimportant had suddenly lit up again.

Not to mention, the two brats of Hades, whose fates were tied to future events, had suddenly broken free and were now entangled with the Golden Thread as they began to reach out and threaten to become entangled with other threads.

They were panicking, and they had never faced this dilemma before.

A clearly mortal thread—if of the monster variety—should not be uncuttable!

Technically, it was even possible to cut the threads of gods. Albeit with extreme circumstances, and their actions wouldn't go unnoticed. 

So why did it feel like they were trying to do just that!?

Why did it feel like a god on par with an Olympian was keeping the thread from being cut!?

Regardless, at this rate, they felt like the teetering balance they'd managed to create over the millennia was going to be destroyed!

It wasn't easy to balance the fates of so many beings, to carefully manage them all so the world didn't fall into chaos.

And of course, to make the outcome they desired.

"Plan B."

"Hephaestus?"

"He should be finishing with that thing now."

They spoke one after the other in quick succession, as if they could guess or know what the others were speaking.

Without so much as a warning, they popped away.

Far off on Olympus, the god of the forge was quenching a newly forged sword. It hadn't even had a proper hilt put on it yet, as it had just been pulled from a container of water, steam wafting off of it.

Hephaestus marveled at his newest creation, pleased and prideful at what he had created. However, just as he turned around, three old, decrepit faces were staring at him mere inches away.

"Bwah!?" He reacted, dropping the sword, and it stabbed into the ground, falling through Celestial Bronze-infused stone flooring like it were made of butter until the blade nearly disappeared entirely.

There was a moment of silence as the Three Fates stared at the God of the Forge.

".....Please don't tell anyone what I made." He asked quietly. 

The Fates pulled the same thread taut again, holding it for him to see. "Cut this thread, and we won't say anything." Antropos, the one who cuts the Threads of Fate, demanded.

Hephaestus had a little secret. It wasn't a big secret, but it would be a little bad if it got out. The thing is, he's the God of the Forge; he forges things all day, every day. He wants to make bigger and better things.

Occasionally, he gets the urge to make something that could match a Symbol of Power.

Truthfully, he does it for no other reason than that he wants to, and he usually destroys them after he's satisfied. But if the others knew that he casually creates weapons on par with some of their own highly valued and vaunted Symbols, well….things might get a little spicy.

Not to mention Zeus would probably explicitly forbid him from making anything too 'strong' out of paranoia, even if they don't reach the feet of his lightning bolt.

Hephaestus stood up straight, looking at the thread, not questioning why they were asking this of him. He was an old god; he knew when not to look a gift horse in the mouth or inquire about things he really shouldn't be.

"Why is it golden? Is it supposed to be like that?" He inspected it.

"No. Now cut it quickly!"

The God of the Forge shrugged and awkwardly pulled the sword out of the hold in the ground. He was slightly happy that he got to test this thing; he was about to destroy it before they came along out of the earlier fears.

He wasted no time lining it up and swinging it down onto the thread.

The strangest thing happened.

A symbol he didn't recognize appeared and blocked it. A black and white circle that spun around, it appeared out of nowhere, and all the strength behind his swing was reduced to nothing as if he were gently pressing the blade against it rather than swinging with his full godly might.

That sensation only lasted for a moment before another strange surge of power erupted, and the blade bounced off and went flying from the Forge God's hands and impaled into the wall.

The eyes of the Fates widened in disbelief.

With a shrill cry, Lachesis, the one who measures each thread of life, kicked the God of the Forge, sending him flying right through the wall of his workshop.

They didn't care for the God of the Forge anymore.

"Plan C!" Lachesis demanded with a strange look in her eyes, even for the three of them that were going crazy trying to figure this out.

The other two sisters looked at each other and shrugged, following along as Lachesis disappeared from the workshop.

A bewildered Hephaestus returned only a few moments later, not any worse for wear, but utterly confused as to what happened.

And his pride stinging a little bit.

He looked around a few times to see if he were alone before grabbing the sword and working on smelting it back to its base components as if nothing happened.

(Line Break)

The Three Fates appeared down at Camp Halfbood.

Of course, they made it so none of the ones there could perceive their presence. Other than Hestia, who hid herself and tended the hearth, and Dionysus, they kept a wide berth from both of them so as not to get noticed.

Just like how Fate can sneak up on you unexpectedly, Lachesis grabbed the scissors from her sister, turned them into a baseball bat, and cracked one young demigod over the head with it.

The young demigod, Luke Castellan, hit the ground, eyes rolling back.

He, or no one else, was any wiser to the old crone dragging his unconscious body away from the camp.

They were, of course, aware of what he had done and his fate.

The one responsible for stealing Zeus's lightning bolt. 

They just needed to…borrow it for a moment.

The young demigod's fate wouldn't be altered in any meaningful way. He would wake up to find a naked harpy, also passed out, ontop of him and come to his own conclusions when he discovered the bottles of alcohol out of his own hidden stash nearby.

It was a perfectly laid plan.

Or it was a plan that they couldn't be bothered to care about and did the bare minimum to make sure his fate wasn't altered.

Regardless, they rummaged through his things until they found a hidden pouch sewn onto the inside of his shirt that could house large objects without being revealed.

They easily retrieved the Lightning Bolt and disappeared from the camp.

They found a secluded spot in the old world, beyond the bounds that the Olympians tend to look to.

Once more, two of the sisters pulled the string taut, and the third held Zeus's lightning bolt and tried to stab at the string.

It was the strongest weapon of the Greek Pantheon for a reason!

Yet, once more, the Tai Chi symbol emerged and resisted the full power of the Divine Weapons. It resulted in a cataclysmic impact that sent thunderous shockwaves rumbling through the skies.

With a surge of lightning and an array of various lights, the lightning bolt was pushed away, sending the sister holding it tumbling down across the ground.

Her hand sizzled a little from the impact, enough that she dropped it unconsciously.

"This defies reason."

"There is someone interfering."

Two of the three sisters commented, confused and perhaps a little scared as to what was happening. Never had they been so utterly defeated when it came to trying to cut a string.

It was the third sister who was silent, eyes widening as realization set in due to her purpose among the three.

"Sister?" One of the three looked to Lachesis. 

The second followed up quickly. "What have you seen?"

It was the one who measured the string that could perceive the changes in it, and she now understood what was happening.

"The owner of the string is protecting himself from the future!?!?" She screeched in disbelief.

(Line Break)

In Hotel Valhalla, Odin returned to his true form within the sanctity of his room. He climbed up onto his favorite chair, put his legs up, and cracked open a beer.

Odin was under the firm belief that one of the most important things a king needs to know is how to relax when he has time to do so.

He briefly contributed part of that to the reason why the Greeks are always causing so many problems.

Well, they were mostly problems coming from Zeus.

There was a secondary reason that he felt that he was better than Zeus as a king.

The door opened, and Thor happily walked in. "Father!" He exclaimed, taking up the seat next to him. "Did you invite me to watch more television?"

The difference between the two was that Odin took the effort to spend time with his children and grandchildren even if they had long left the proverbial 'nest.'. Contrary to Zeus, who is constantly wary and paranoid about his own children, Odin had a good relationship with his family for the most part.

A cruel and ruthless God of War he was in the past, but he still made sure that all of his children knew their father and had fond memories together.

"I had Huginn and Muninn follow the Cyclops brat after he left Hel." Odin replied as the TV was showing scenes from their eyes.

Also, one of the reasons that Odin felt he was better than Zeus was that he kept up with the times.

Who needs to take the effort to see through the eyes of his Ravens when he can connect them to his 70-inch plasma widescreen television with surround sound? Of course it also had Netflix, but that wasn't really relevant here.

"Most excellent." Thor joined his father in cracking open a beer. "Have the Greeks fixed the sky yet?"

Odin grunted. "Zeus fixed it some days ago."

Thor let out a boisterous laugh. "What a great Cyclops! I can't wait to spar with him again; I may be able to take it to the next level if that's what he's been hiding!"

Odin also had some thoughts on if he could get the cyclops over to their side. A monster—technically a mortal—wouldn't be bound by the same laws that they as gods were. He would be a powerful piece in the ever-changing landscape that was Ragnarok.

"Father, I heard the most interesting news from Brother." Thor chugged down his drink before opening another. "He says that Hel had sent another love letter. He's always been kind in his rejections, but even he has his limits. He revealed that he intended another stern rejection, but there was a second to accompany it, and it was intended for his wife!"

Odin turned to him and found himself chuckling, knowing a few more things than his son did.

"Baldr said that from the contents, Hel is attempting to court both of them!" Thor slapped his knee with a hearty laugh. "Poor Nanna was too flustered and didn't know what to say." Thor leaned in. "But Baldr told me in secret that she did offhandedly say how pretty she thought Hel was."

It took a lot of effort for Odin to stop from laughing himself silly.

Not many could see it, but to Odin's sight, he could pick up on the slight changes. For some reason, Fate and Destiny seemed to skew in his presence, as if he didn't belong.

The images on the TV flashed as they followed along with Ocean Song's adventure.

They even saw how he sung to himself when he thought no one was watching, and he flew through the air.

"Curious." Thor spoke up. "I wonder if I can ride on Mjolnir the same way he flies on his sword."

Odin looked at his son and blinked once. He was the God of Wisdom, but even he could be humbled by certain thoughts.

Odin too wondered if his son could accomplish that and wanted to see it tested.

It didn't seem too difficult to him, and he also had many different thoughts on how to weaponize it and utilize it for his Einherjar if needed.

The Cyclops was flying fast, so any silliness aside, the All-Father didn't overlook the utility of such a thing.

"Oh! It has been too long since I've been to that city!" Thor excitedly narrated as time went by. "If only I was not banned from returning." Thor let out a sigh. "Break a few tables and throw a few slot machines, and they kick you out of the city for good."

Odin looked at his son again and pat his shoulder.

He knew that his son was fully the one responsible and that he got angry after losing all his money and started throwing things around.

Odin did have to cast some magic as the Cyclops entered that particular casino. "Lotus Eaters." He hummed out loud.

"The name sounds vaguely familiar, Father. Is it a Greek thing?"

Odin grunted again. "A bunch of brats who are too big for their britches." He was aware of who they were, a bunch of monsters, previously some sort of people, who reveled in greed and excessive indulgence. If given a few more centuries, they could have properly turned into Lesser Gods by how much they accumulated.

He didn't pay much attention to them; why would he? They were Greek random things, and he never visited that part of the world. It was enough that he felt he knew everything about them and their attempts to ascend by gathering wayward demigods and other monsters that trapped themselves in the casino.

If one wanted to be more specific, it would be called a ritual.

The fact that they didn't force anyone into it was the particularly important tidbit.

However, as the thoughts ran through Odin's mind, he suddenly paused, then crushed the handrest of his chair.

"They overstep!" He exclaimed in anger.

Just as Ocean Song entered and noticed other Demigods, Odin also noticed them.

The eyes of his Ravens flashed over many of the residents.

Greek, Roman, Celtic, Native American, Mayan." Those are what he could notice at just a glance. However, that wasn't what drew most of his anger; in the corner, he noticed the divinity descended all the way from his own. Specifically, it came from his grandson, Magni. Those Greeks had one of his great-grandchildren trapped in that wretched place.

Odin would admit he wasn't perfect. He cared for his children, his grandchildren, and sometimes even his great-grandchildren. But once it started branching out from his grandchildren, he often didn't pay much attention.

If he were to get angry every time one of his descendants died or was wronged, he would be spending way too much time managing them.

But this situation was a little different.

They were under Greek eyes and basically kidnapped by Greeks. The casino was under the purview of Olympus; that means they were responsible! Odin was more than aware that the casino acted as a 'neutral' ground for the Greeks, meaning that it was managed by them directly.

Pride and arrogance weren't traits only associated with the Greeks.

It trampled all over their own pride to know that one of theirs was kidnapped by a group that Olympus should have directly been overseeing.

"He has Magni's eyes." Thor spoke quietly, but his anger was no less than his father's. A god's pride was not something that could be stepped on. And while they were much more easygoing, their pride as gods was still without reproach.

Odin didn't have a burst of anger beyond the first; he was calm and collected as he analyzed the situation.

He noticed a few more things. A Hindu demigod? Possibly a Japanese one as well if what he saw was correct. The Shinto were protective of their own, more so than most other pantheons, same with the Hindus. Hell, Odin even saw an Egyptian Pharaoh's descendant among the bunch, essentially the Egyptian's equivalent to a demigod.

The vast majority were Greek and Roman, but the fact that so many other demigod children came from other pantheons means this was going to be a gigantic clusterfuck for the Greeks.

One Odin was happy to fan the flames of.

Odin and Thor watched happily and with a certain amount of respect and praise towards the Cyclops who fought for the freedom of them all at the wager of his own imprisonment.

Odin didn't even bat an eye when he noticed that the Goddess Styx stared at him through the ravens roosting nearby.

The All-Father didn't care; he knew the Goddess Styx wouldn't care either; she was one of the most reclusive goddesses in the underworld.

Odin stood up seeing the Cyclops clean things up, giving a nod towards him even though Ocean Song had no idea he was being watched.

"Where are you going, Father?"

"I believe some other pantheons would like to know about some of their lost children." Odin spoke casually.

But for Thor, it sounds rather ominous.

(Line Break)

A/N

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