A Nascent Kaleidoscope.

Hermione Granger's POV

"There you guys are! I was looking everywhere for you!" Ron came stomping in, earning a loud shush from the librarian as he basically shouted without any consideration for everyone else.

At least he looked sheepish in embarrassment.

"Where else would we be, Ron? Our assignment is due tomorrow." I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, but we have all of tomorrow to finish it before class."

"Not all of us like to wait until the last minute." 

"Come on, Harry, isn't 'Mione overreacting? We still have plenty of time." Ron turned to Harry, whom I had to practically drag here.

"Sorry, Ron, I have Quidditch practice tomorrow; I need to get this done now." Harry smiled awkwardly.

"I guess that makes sense; Quidditch is way more important." Ron nodded as if understanding, missing the point entirely.

"Hey, did you guys hear about the first years? They're saying that one of the first years—the girl with the tails—had a broom that was faster than anything on the market right now!" Ron's attention span showed how remarkably finicky it is.

"Wait, really?" Harry got distracted too.

"Yeah, they said that it went so fast that she went past Hogwarts grounds before any of them could even blink!"

"Ron, don't be ridiculous." I shook my head. "If a broom were that good, wouldn't it be everywhere by now? I read that broom designers take years to even get a small upgrade to their brooms before they release them to the public." 

I didn't care much for flying myself, but the study of it was fascinating.

"But what if it's some super secret broom that doesn't exist yet!? Maybe she brought it from whatever country she's from." Ron argued.

"Japan." I iterated. "She's from Japan, Ron. And Japan has its own professional Quidditch teams."

"Oh right, the Kyoto Dragons." Ron perked up, remembering that singular fact among everything.

"They are first years, Ron." Harry pointed out. "Maybe they're exaggerating. You know how we were last year."

"Ginny was there though! She told me herself that it was true." Ron replied. "She also said the Muggle professor ran up the side of the castle to catch one of the first years that fell off their broom."

".....Ron." I sighed again. "That's utterly ridiculous."

"All the first years are saying it!"

"Ron, if he's a Muggle, he can't just run up the side of the castle. He's a muggle." This whole conversation was exasperating.

"Maybe the …. " Ron leaned in. "Dark Witch did something to him."

"Do you really think they'd hire a Dark Witch to teach one of their classes, Ron?" 

I didn't need to say it; even Harry was having trouble believing Ron this time. "And Professor Medea has had nothing but stunning reviews from everyone who has taken her class."

I admit I was excited for it too; each year gets one day a week since it's an elective.

"I heard that everyone's too scared to ask her any questions." Harry whispered. 

"I heard that she's teaching dark magic to anyone who asks." Ron added.

"Ugh, stop with those ridiculous rumors! Dumbledore personally hired her; if you can't trust her, at least trust Dumbledore." This wasn't like last year, where it was hidden! He supposedly directly interviewed her personally!

"I'm just saying it's weird! Dumbledore hired a famous Dark Witch, and she's married to a muggle!? Isn't that weird?" Ron threw out the wild accusation.

"They're engaged, not married." I scoffed. "And what's wrong with Muggles, Ron?"

"Nothing's wrong with them; it's just weird." Ron defended without giving any actual explanation. "This year has been barmy so far. We got a famous Dark Witch, a Muggle teacher, and even a girl with a bunch of tails and ears."

"At least Malfoy and his goons haven't been causing any problems." Harry pointed out.

"Yeah, you're right." Ron perked up. "The weasel is probably too busy sucking up to the Dark Witch and bullying the tail girl, though. Slimy snakes are the worst."

"Isn't Kunou also a Slytherin?" I pointed out the hypocrisy.

"Yeah, but she's Ginny's friend, so she's probably not bad like the rest of them."

"You're just saying that because she gave you a sweet roll."

Ron blushed a little. "It was good. And no other slimy snake would do that, so she must be good." He puffed up proudly with that Herculean bout of logic. "Besides, she has the super broom, so she can't be bad."

I shook my head again; there was no arguing with Ron; it was like arguing against a wall.

"Do you think she'll let me ride her broom? Or better yet, tell me where she got it from." Ron continued in excitement; the only thing that caught his attention was either Quidditch—and things Quidditch related—or chess, surprisingly enough.

"Wouldn't it have come from her parents?" Harry pointed out. "If she has the broom like you said, she had to have gotten it from them."

"You're right! Maybe I should call her parents? Ask them if they had any more to give me. It would be wicked to fly around on a broom that's so fast! What was her last name again, Schin Schween something…?"

"Schweinorg, Ron." I corrected him absentmindedly, but it made me pause my writing.

"Something's wrong, 'Mione, you looked like you left the stove on; my mom has that same look sometimes." Ron looked at me.

"No, it's just…. I could have sworn I heard that name before, and it's been bugging me ever since I heard it again." I shook my head.

"What, like she's from a famous family or something?" Ron asked. "Didn't Ginny say she's like a princess or something?"

"Maybe that's it…but her last name isn't Japanese; that sounds German if anything."

"Why don't you just look it up?" Harry offered before getting up and walking to the front of the library. He disappeared for a few minutes before coming back with a book in his hand. "Madam Pince found this for me when I asked her." He set the book down in front of me.

'Notable Wizarding Families from around the World'

I scoffed, partly because I was so oblivious to the obvious about just looking it up myself and partly because it only says 'Wizard' and doesn't include 'Witches.'.

How backwards.

I still opened it up and flipped through the pages until I found what I needed. I don't know if I was surprised or not to see the name Schweinorg listed.

"...Merlin." I whispered.

"What, did you find it?" Ron perked up.

"It says here that a man known as Kiscur Zelretch Schweinorg defeated Grindelwald during the Second World War, which inevitably led to his downfall at the hands of Dumbledore!"

I barely even touched the magical side of the Second World War; there's so much I was missing still!

"But I thought only Dumbledore beat Grindelwald; it's why he's so famous, right? That and, well, You-Know-Who."" Ron scrunched his nose.

"Who's Grindelwald?" Harry asked.

"He's…a Dark Lord that came to power during the Second World War. He allied with the Axis powers—Hitler and them." I explained briefly. "He's responsible for a lot of the Pureblood rhetoric that you hear nowadays. He wanted to enslave all the muggles."

"So she comes from a good family?" Harry tilted his head.

".....it says here that the one named 'Zelretch,' as he was called, was a Dark Wizard." I read over the passages and couldn't help having my eyes widen. "Grindelwald took his most trusted and personally trained soldiers and disciples and attacked Zelretch at his home in Germany. It says that Grindelwald wanted to recruit Zelretch into his army, but he refused. It concluded with Grindelwald running away—suffering serious injuries, and nearly all of the people he brought dying at Zelretch's hands."

"Why does that make him a Dark Wizard? I mean, it was a war, right? It's not like we beat the Nazis by talking to them nicely." Harry questioned.

"Because after what happened, the Allies'—our' side—began to look into him because he was unknown at the time. From what the book says, they were able to dig up some information on him, and his existence dates back over a thousand years. It says here that rumors from the Ministry are hiding some of it and that he was even around during the time of Merlin himself. They claim he performed very dark magic and gained some type of immortality or that he's a dark creature with a long lifespan."

"Wait, just because he's old, they're saying he's dark?" Harry furrowed his brow. "Isn't Nicholas Flammel like 500 years old? He isn't considered a Dark Wizard either, and he has the Philosopher's Stone."

I shook my head. "It's what the book says, Harry. They say only the darkest of magics can let someone live that long, and there's no other explanation."

"So Ginny is friends with a Dark Witch!?" Ron blurted out,. "I have to go tell her!" 

"Ron, stop making assumptions!" I hissed under my breath as he was starting to make a scene. "It's still the same person as she was five minutes ago. Maybe we should just look into this more."

Without another word, Ron turned around and started shouting his sister's name as he ran out of the library. I swear, he's frighteningly intelligent for some things, and for others….this.

I looked at Harry, who looked back at me. 

"Do you need help with the homework?"

"Could you check it after I'm done? Professor McGonagall takes off for spelling mistakes."

"Sure, Harry." I smiled.

[Line Break]

Ginny Weasley POV

"Hey Luna, hey Kunou." 

"Ginny!" Luna smiled brightly. "Kunou and I were just talking about trolls. Did you know that they had a troll sneak into the castle last year?"

"Yeah… Ron said he fought it or something." He made up a lot of stories.

"Oh, that's true." Kunou stated. "They said that Ron, Harry, and Hermione teamed up and beat it."

I find that hard to believe. " Ron also said that Harry fought and killed the Defense Professor last year."

"Now that's just silly." Luna shook her head. 

"Yeah, if he could beat your defense teacher, then wouldn't he be the defense teacher this year?" Kunou replied.

"What?"

"That makes sense." Luna seemed to agree.

"The stronger one should teach." Kunou nodded.

That…kinda makes sense? But he's Harry Potter! It doesn't count; he's the exception. 

I ignored it for now. "Did you two do your Charm homework yet?

"Yeah, look!" Kunou took out her wand and started waving it around as sparkles followed in a trail. 

"Oooh, pretty!" Luna clapped. "I can't make mine change colors."

"How did you get it to sparkle?" I looked at her in surprise.

"I can show you; it's easy!" Kunou smiled brightly.

I was worried at first, but she's actually really nice and…normal. Besides the weirdness from when we first met…and other things, I'm glad we're friends.

"Look, the youngest of the poor Weasleys is hanging around animals." A group of girls walked by, wearing Slytherin clothes; they giggled to themselves.

I frowned but noticed something out of the corner of my eye as Kunou said something under her breath and jerked her wand.

Suddenly, the small group of girls yelped and slipped altogether, as if the floor were ice.

Did she cast the slipping Jinx?

I looked back at Kunou about to say something, but then I saw Luna also say something with a movement of her wand. And as the girls tried to get back up and move, their laces were tied together, and they fell over again.

It became something of a spectacle that drew a crowd, laughing at them.

All three of us looked around and started laughing along with everyone else.

The girls quickly got up and ran away in embarrassment.

"I think I need to talk to them later." Kunou hummed, and I didn't know what she meant by that.

"Oooh, little icky first years, I saw what you did~" A haunting voice popped up above her. A ghost flew over, and Ron told me about it, Peeves, the Poltergeist. He was the only ghost in the castle that could physically interact with anything. "Naughty Naughty, I'm going to tell~" He held his hands out, and something that looked like balloons appeared, and he started throwing them at people.

They splattered, and…was that paint?

Were those water balloons filled with paint?

He hit a bunch of others with them, and they were covered in all sorts of colors. Then he turned to us with a big grin.

"Don't." Kunou narrowed her eyes.

His smile only grew wider.

"Ginny!" Ron's distinct, shrill voice echoed down the hallway. "She's an evil witch; stay away—

Ron got hit right in the face by one of the balloons; he let out a cry of confusion, blinded by red paint, and he stepped right where Kunou cast the slippery jinx from earlier onto the ground and went sliding across the ground with another cry, tumbling down the stairs.

Even Peeves went silent as it happened.

Ron was whimpering, so he was alright.

I heard that they actually enchanted the staircases so even if you fall all the way down them, you don't get overly hurt. 

Though my shock was broken when the aftermath of something wet splashed across my face. Only a few drops of it, as the majority of it hit Kunou, who was now partially green.

"Oh dear." Luna whispered.

And then I noticed Kunou's expression.

[Line Break]

Dumbledore's POV

"Here she is, Dumbledore." McGonagall sat our newest student right down in front of my desk with a stern expression before walking out.

"Aunty Medea!" Kunou smiled, waving at Medea, who was standing at the side.

"Oh no, you're not using your cuteness on me to get out of trouble." The woman crossed her arms.

Kunou clicked her tongue with a huff.

"Ahem." I cleared my throat. "Do you know why you're here, Miss Kunou?"

"No." 

"Come now, there's no need for a lie." I looked at her a bit more sternly.

"I didn't do anything." She huffed, crossing her arms.

"So you didn't, and I quote from Minerva—'Beat Peeves until he started crying for mercy'?"

"He deserved it." She crossed her arms with another huff. 

"You can't just go around beating up people." I approached it in a more grandfatherly tone. The green paint on her…well, it painted a rather obvious tale of what occurred even without the report I received.

"Ghosts aren't people." Kunou countered,.

I opened my mouth to respond, but I found myself not knowing what to say.

"Technically, she's right." Medea spoke up.

I shook my head because technically, she was right by definition. "Peeves has thoughts and feelings."

"That's why I beat him up." Kunou said as if it were obvious,.

"..." Once more, I found myself speechless. How can she say something so aggressive yet with such innocence? "How…exactly did you hurt him?" I recall seeing her mother grab him as well…

"I used Touki."

"Brat." Medea quickly interjected. "You remember what your mom told you."

"She told me not to use it, my classmates! And only on humans that are trying to hurt me!" Kunou quickly defended.

"Well, I suppose that's fine then."

"I'm lost, but that doesn't sound good." I voiced my concerns. "What is…Touki?" I think I pronounced it right.

"Touki is Touki?" Kunou replied as if confused.

Medea let out a sigh. "It's…you can consider it something like Qi or Chi, or fighting spirit if you want to be blasé about it."

"I'm sorry, I don't follow." Is this the first time I've ever heard about this?

"Have you ever heard a story of a person accomplishing an impossible physical feat? And I'm not talking about an athlete or something like that. Say, a child lifting a car to save their parent."

"I may have heard some vague situations like that."

"They most likely tapped into their Touki. It's an innate energy that every living person has. Youkai are predisposed to it, and she isn't an exception. But it takes a lot of time and energy to master. It's not magic; it's more a…physical exertion of will. It would take me hours to go into it further, and I'm not an expert."

"Fascinating." I ran a hand through my beard. "Based on what you said, it makes you physically stronger, yes?"

"Stronger, faster, more durable. It can contend with Magic if utilized correctly. If you coat yourself in Touki, you may as well have a metaphysical shield of willpower surrounding you."

Why have I never heard about this until now?

But that was something to ponder later. "I can understand your trepidation. I would also like to reiterate that you not use that on your fellow students, Kunou."

"I wasn't going to!" She pouted. "I only know how to use it a little bit anyways."

"I believe you." I smiled, seeing her innocent and good-natured reaction. Despite being…aggressive, I could tell she had a good heart and wasn't the type to hurt people for no reason.

Before I could say something else, a burst of flames erupted in the middle of the room, and Fawkes reappeared from his annual jaunt, flying around to wherever he likes to go.

He looked around excitedly at our guests; first, his eyes landed on Medea.

"Marvelous." She breathed out. "You would make the most marvelous research materials."

Fawkes's wings flapped out, and he squawked in disbelief at her brazenness.

"It was a joke…mostly." She whispered the last part. 

I'm fairly sure Fawkes moved his wing in a gesture that was considered rude in his own language.

He ignored Medea and instead hopped over to Kunou and pushed his head into her chest.

"You're so pretty!" Kunou cooed as Fawkes let her pet him. And I just noticed that a certain feathered bracelet on her wrist began to let out a soft cry, the exact same phoenix cry as Fawkes.

"I wasn't aware that Fawkes gave out one of his feathers. What a marvelous magical item that was made!" I glanced at Medea. "Your work, I'm assuming?" Because I could now tell it had an enchantment that rejected notice that was exceedingly powerful. If not for Fawkes drawing attention to it, I may have overlooked it myself.

"Her father also helped…a tiny bit; it was mostly me." Medea smirked.

Just further proof that young Kunou here is a sweet young lady. The feather still had the touch of his magic and didn't reject her.

After another few moments, Fawkes gently escaped her grasp and returned to his perch at the side of the room.

"Now." I clapped my hands. "We're going to need to talk about punishment. As this is the first time I'm having to punish someone for fighting a ghost, I find myself unsure of what to do."

"Punish?" Kunou's eyes widened.

"Mmm, detention probably." I stroked my beard. "Perhaps with Professor Snape cleaning cauldrons." I looked at her as she fidgeted in place. "Or maybe helping clean up the bathrooms." And she squirmed even more.

"Why not both?" Medea offered.

"Ohoh, that doesn't sound like a bad idea." I grinned mischievously as Kunou paled.

"No!" Kunou shot to her feet and suddenly a puff of smoke filled the room and in her place, was a small fox with Nine Identical tails, it started yipping before jumping down and running away.

"....Miss Medea."

"Yes, Headmaster?'

"Did Kunou just turn into a fox and run out of my office?"

"She did." Medea answered.

"This is a first." I leaned back in my chair.

"Having one of your students turn into a fox? It's an ability that all Kitsune have."

"No, well, yes." I corrected it. "That is a first. But I was talking about having a student believe they could…run away from me."

Medea let out a sigh. "It's partially the fault of her parents. Calling her a princess isn't wrong. She's willful and mischievous, and she's never really suffered consequences that didn't come from her parents. She's not used to other people having proper authority over her."

"Ah, I believe I understand. She must have been quite startled by talks of punishments then." Yes, her behavior makes a lot more sense now. A different flavor of entitlement compared to the likes of, say, Young Malfoy. She's simply not used to having consequences even if she doesn't particularly do anything…bad by certain standards.

"Are you not going to stop her?"

"Oh, I wanted her to get her hopes up a bit more before I dashed them completely." I smiled, running a hand through my beard.

Medea, of course, just cackled.

"And I wanted to ask why Mr. Weasley was running through the halls shouting that she was an 'Evil Witch' as well." I let out a small sigh.

"Who knows, children can be strange and silly sometimes."

"I suppose it doesn't." She managed to get rather far before she slowed down and turned back to normal, but I could see her from where I was in my office. "Regardless, I apologize for interrupting you. You had come to my office because you wanted to talk about your classes?"

"Yes, after having my first couple classes, I realized that it was…inefficient, and I wanted to propose a change."

"Oh? Do tell." 

"Since Magical Theory isn't part of your O.W.L. or N.E.W.T. curriculum, I wanted to shift around how classes work. I wanted to separate it into three tiers instead of each year having its own 'materials.'"

"Three tiers rather than individual years associated with each class? Tell me in detail." I believe I understand what she was trying to say.

"Simply, instead of it being based on individual years, simply set it so it's separated into three tiers with escalating difficulty. Tier One is the introductory material, Tier Two is the intermediate material, and of course, Tier Three is the expert material. One must complete and pass the previous tier to move on to the next. It gives the students ease of access to the class to fit their own schedules."

"You would be fine with having classes with mixes of different ages?" I could understand what she was asking rather easily.

"It wouldn't be hard. And you did say you were opening my lessons up to first and second years rather than just extracurriculars for third years. The second-year class was tomorrow. It's still early enough to shift things around without causing any confusion. For this year, I'll tweak things appropriately, but I want to set this going forward."

"I see no problems with what you're suggesting. Run your plans along with Minerva, but I'm sure she'll agree."

"Then I'll go find her right away!" She said happily, wasting no time leaving the room.

I leaned back in my chair again. "This is certainly going to be an interesting year, isn't it, Fawkes?"

My old friend looked at me and let out a happy squawk as if to agree.

"Well, would you mind going to fetch Miss Kunou?"

My faithful companion flashed away in a burst of fire, only to reappear moments later with Miss Kunou back into her chair.

"Welcome back, Miss Kunou."

"Meep."

"Indeed." I smiled good-naturedly. "Now, let's talk about your punishment."

[Line Break]

Non-Canon Omake: The Little Spider, Chapter 9

High up on Mount Olympus, you could hear a pin drop.

No one spoke as they looked down upon the scene happening in the camp. Surrounded by their children and other demigods, a young girl, supposedly the child of Athena, had two resplendent wings shimmering behind her and a halo above her head.

None of the gods of Olympus were stupid; even if she didn't proclaim it outright, they could all recognize the origin.

Surprisingly, Ares was the one looking the least shocked or concerned.

Beating Ares in a duel, that was a feat that would make any of the parents proud of their children. Even if it was only Ares basically possessing his daughter in some minor capacity.

However, not even Athena opened her mouth to gloat.

It was rare for something to silence all of them at once.

Though that silence was ended by the sound of laughter.

Dionysus started laughing on his throne, a full-stomach laughter that almost had him kneeling over.

It opened the floodgates.

"Athena!?"

"What in the name of Tartarus did you do!?"

"Seriously, who did you mind fuck to get that?" Aphrodite chimed in.

"Since when do those guys appear?" Apollo asked in confusion, hinting at a very reclusive 'pantheon.'.

"Bravo, dear sister." Dionysus clapped his hands, but everyone ignored him.

"And here everyone was saying I was going to eventually break the rules by fucking someone from another pantheon, but surprisingly, our Virgin Goddess beat me to it." Aphrodite was thrown out again amidst the shouting and arguing that abruptly started.

"She should be killed." Hera frowned.

"You're welcome to try." Poseidon scoffed, with an eye roll, making the Queen of the Gods glare at him.

"I want to inspect her spear." Hephaestus stated, less concerned than everyone else, and likewise, he was ignored.

"Seriously, how did you land an Angel? Can you teach me?" Aphrodite looked at her with genuine sincerity.

"I did not!" Athena finally lost her composure, an extremely rare occurrence in the history of Olympus. "Her father was a normal human!"

"I wonder if this is how all the fathers feel when you just appear and drop a baby in their laps." Poseidon looked at her, not missing an opportunity to take a jab at her.

Athena snapped her head at him, about to retort, but a thunderous crackle reverberated throughout the halls.

"Enough!" Zeus slammed his fist down on the throne. "Athena, explain now!" He demanded, looking at her with a furious gaze. "You are more than aware of the ancient laws. Inter-pantheon children have been forbidden for thousands of years."

"I'm serious; I really don't know. Her father was a normal human." Athena quickly defended herself, completely confused, just as they all were.

"...Are you sure about that?" Ares raised an eyebrow.

"I am sure, yes!" She clenched her teeth.

"Did you check?"

"..." Athena found herself speechless. Mostly due to the ridiculousness of the question.

"So you didn't check, hmm? So much wisdom there." Ares's lips curled up in a mocking smile.

"I dare any one of you to tell me the last time you 'checked' with any mortals yourselves." She swept her gaze around the room, and it was silent. "I know a human when I feel one. There was nothing extraordinary about him."

"He could have hidden himself." Hermes pointed out.

"Why would he attend a mortal school hiding himself?" Athena questioned.

"...Why did you?" Why?Hermes asked her in response.

Once more Athena was silent, realizing she had said something so idiotic and ironic. She wasn't usually like this; the whole situation had her on her back foot, and she wasn't on her normal game.

"…So did you bang an angel or not?" Aphrodite asked.

Athena wanted to scream.

"So to clarify, we have a demigod who may or may not also be an angel or part of another pantheon, who also has in her hands the monster spoken of in prophecy that can bring down the gods?" Apollo looked around.

Everyone went silent again.

"It's the spear." Hephaestus spoke up again for the second time during the meeting. An image floated in front of him, that of the spear she wielded. "The spear is letting her do that; it's not natural."

He was the authority on weapons, so no one questioned his words, especially when he didn't have a proverbial dog in the fight.

"See?" Athena looked around. "I had no contact with them, as per the rules."

"...How'd she get the spear then?" Ares asked.

Once more Athena went silent with a scowl, without any words of response. Of course she had no idea how it happened.

"Athena." Zeus's stern words reverberated throughout the hall. "Start from the beginning. We will hear your side before making a judgment."

Athena took a deep breath, calming herself. It wasn't like her to be so emotional. "I was visiting the human school as I often do. I met a young man—Annabelle's father."

"Arachne." Dionysus corrected, earning a glare from Athena.

"His name was Wilhelm Henry Schweinorg, a completely mundane human." She added. "Not to mention he was Japanese, visiting the country for schooling. The idea that he's connected to them is extremely unlikely considering how loathed they are in the east."

Her words held merit; Heaven didn't have much of a foothold in that part of the world where the mortals still openly worshipped other gods.

"If it was accidental, then it's forgivable." Artemis spoke up, usually on Athena's side. Despite her own disgust for the Goddess of Wisdom siring children the way she does, they're usually cooperative.

"Why wasn't this discovered until now?" Hermes asked.

"If you will recall, I asked you to search for a missing daughter of mine some years ago." Athena quickly calculated a means to defend herself.

Hermes scratched his cheek. "Right, I do remember that. So, it's this one, huh?"

"I too was asked to track her down, and I was unsuccessful. This should prove that Athena was also not at fault if whoever was responsible was able to escape so many of us." Artemis added.

Zeus frowned, but his temper wasn't flaring, so Athena internally breathed a sigh of relief.

"I will withhold a judgment until this matter is properly settled. But it appears as though the ancient laws were not intentionally broken." He finally settled on it, but he was far from happy. In fact, his first instinct was to start throwing lightning bolts, but he held himself back for now. "But the mystery still remains."

Ares tapped his throne. "She did mention who her mom was and who also taught him. You're the one who keeps up with 'foreign affairs', sister. Who is Scáthach, hmm?" He asked, knowing the answer himself.

It's not like he's oblivious to what happens outside of their part of the world. In fact, he knows the names of almost all the impressive non-gods, even from other pantheons. If someone is a master of bloodshed, he knows them.

"Is that someone famous?" Apollo asked. "I don't recognize the name. Another god?"

"Athena." Zeus looked at her, wanting to know the answer too.

For the King of Gods, he didn't keep up with such things. Precisely why he had Athena handle all of it in his stead.

Athena was silent for a moment, not because she didn't know the answer, but because she was dredging up the information from her mind. As the goddess of wisdom, she never forgot any bit of information. She had read up on nearly every figure of importance across every pantheon in every part of the world and kept it stored within her mind.

It only took her a fraction of a second to recall the information she needed, and she resisted the urge to facepalm.

"She is a famous figure originating from Ireland during the Ulster Cycle. She's most famous for teaching the son of Lugh—the Celtic God of Light—known as Cu Chulainn. I could give you the entire biography, but she is essentially their equivalent to Chiron." Athena summarized pointedly.

"Well, that makes things easier, doesn't it?" Hermes looked around. "We can go issue a complaint to them to settle things. Problem solved."

Athena resisted the urge to sigh again. "She's entirely human, so the ancient laws don't affect her."

Hermes pursed his lips, understanding what she meant by that.

Frankly, they were just looking for someone to blame because someone had to take the blame to smooth everything out.

"And it doesn't answer the question of who gave her that spear of hers." Ares pointed out. "I should mention that it was able to cut away the divine power I was supplying with my daughter."

It wasn't said outright, but everyone understood what that meant.

A genuine Godslaying weapon was in the hands of one of their children down in camp.

Just that would be enough for Zeus to usually throw a fit and show paranoia. Considering it's in the hands of both a girl presumably raised by another pantheon as well as having a certain creature at her side…

Well, it was lucky that he wasn't deciding to smite now and ask questions later.

"There's a simple way to remove any complications regarding the girl." Artemis spoke up.

"What, are you going to have her join your hunters?" Aphrodite responded with a clearly mocking tone.

"Would it be wrong?" Artemis countered. "If she joins my hunters, would that not mean we have an absolute claim on her, mitigating any further annoyances that come with her uncertain identity?"

There was a beat of silence where everyone considered that, even Athena. Athena was 'confident' in the face of everyone's arguing that Wilhelm was human, but truthfully, her confidence was wavering at this point.

There were many inconsistencies that hadn't been brought up yet that she was willing to not speak about herself lest she be put back under the spotlight.

"And it would also solve the problem of Mr. Blueberry that everyone is also worried about." Dionysus seemed to support her, which sent everyone snapping their heads, looking his way.

"...Are you mocking me?" Artemis was genuinely confused at why he was supporting her here.

"Not at all, I think you should do your best to get her to join your hunters." He raised a glass full of wine towards her with a big smile. "Because I want to watch it blow up in your face."

Artemis twitched slightly, ignoring him further. "If anyone has any better ideas, you're welcome to voice them."

"You can try." Zeus gave her permission. Of course, one couldn't just demand it, as joining the hunters had to be a voluntary action on the person's part. Especially if said person apparently had links to other pantheons, it would be a smooth way to cut off any other claims if she willingly joined the hunters.

"I got a suggestion." Apollo raised his hand.

"And what brilliant idea do you have, Apollo?" Artemis rolled her eyes.

"….why not just ask her?" He said. "Like, 'Hey, where'd you come from? What have you been doing for the past how-many-years, and who have you been doing it with?"

"That's crazy talk." Dionysus was the first to reply, while chugging down another glass of wine before snapping his fingers, and an image of the girl in question appeared, rather a projection screen of her down in the camp. "By the way, Ares, say goodbye to your cabin."

They watched as down upon camp, Arachne was climbing up the side of the Ares cabin before grabbing hold of the Ares sign that hung above the door.

"Uh…are you sure you should be doing that…?" Percy followed along because…well, he didn't really know anyone else at the camp other than Grover. And Grover was off doing... things that Satyrs do, he assumed.

Especially after the whole fight thing that happened a couple of hours ago, everyone else had been avoiding them.

Percy was still new, though, and didn't really understand a bunch of the implications.

"It's mah cabin now, and A want to replace the sign." Arachne huffed, nearly falling off the roof as she kept trying to pry off the signboard.

For the gods of Olympus, they were taken aback by the blatant disrespect. Of course, they knew that Ares made a bet…but honestly, none of them believed any of their children were idiotic enough to actually go through with it.

At the very least, even their parents would warn against doing something so…debasing to another god. It would have been a good opportunity to extort something from Ares in this case.

For the girl, having a cabin meant absolutely nothing. But having a promise or a boon offered by the God of War reflective of saving his face in front of the others and his actual cabin, that was significantly more valuable in their eyes.

Ares, to his credit, didn't say a word of complaint. Oh, he surely seethed silently on his throne as he watched his cabin—a literal temple of his—become debased so openly. He could even see some of his kids hiding inside or from a distance, just watching.

Not that he believed they should stop her.

He was firmly of the ideal that to the winner goes the spoils.

He made a bet; he lost; thus, she claimed her rightful prize.

Was he going to hold a grudge? Most assuredly, but he also wasn't going to go back on his word.

In fact, Ares let out a small sigh and stopped being petty, letting the girl take off the signage without his divine power stopping her.

At the very least, the God of War could use this as a way to get his kids to up their training and light a fire under their butts.

"Are you going to kick out all of the people living here?" Percy asked as everyone listened.

"No, why would I do that?" Arachne frowned. "It's their home, a aint that mean. I'm just changin the name of' the cabin."

Ares's anger diminished to a noticeable degree.

He made a mental decision that the next time he fights the brat, he won't permanently maim or kill her when he teaches her a lesson.

Regardless of what she did, it was still technically his cabin, as it was woven with his divine power and was still a veritable temple of his.

"So what are you going to name the cabin now?" Percy asked.

"A am going to name it after my aunts and uncles." Arachne dropped to the ground as the Ares sign hit the dirt.

"Wait, aunts and uncles, as in plural?"

"Yeah."

"What do you mean?" Percy asked in confusion.

"Monday is gonna be for Auntie Meridia since her name starts with the same letter." Arachne started, and as she called out each name, she produced a piece of wood and some paint supplies, drawing their names and symbols next to it. "Tuesday is gonna be for Auntie Tiamat because the same. Wednesday is going to be for Uncle Odin because his day is Wednesday. Thursday is going to be for Auntie Izanami. Friday is going to be for Auntie Jinn because it's her favorite day of the week. Saturday is going to be Auntie Raiden. And lastly, Sunday is going to be for Big Grandpa."

"Big Grandpa?" Percy asked in confusion.

Arachne finished by drawing a cross next to a literally inscribed 'Big Grandpa' on her individual signboard.

Percy could put two and two together.

Likewise, the gods watching this little interaction also had the capability of putting together the very obvious clues.

All the gods looked at Athena.

Athena wanted to smack her head against the nearest wall.

"It's Sunday, so you need help hanging it up?" Percy offered.

"Nah, it's alright; a can ask for help." She held up the sign to the air. "Big Grandpa, can you help me with this?!" She shouted to the sky.

Before any of the gods or anyone else watching could say a word, the clouds parted, and a gentle ray of bright light shone down around them, enveloping not only Arachne but the cabin as well.

Within the blink of an eye, the signboard was displayed across the door to the former Ares cabin.

In the halls of Olympus, once more, you could hear a pin drop.

"...Hey Ares, did the Biblical God just sanctify your cabin?" Dionysus asked.

Ares didn't answer him but instead turned to the other God of War in the room.

"Athena, what the fuck?"

[Line Break]

A/N

If you want to read 10 chapters ahead or support me, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / astoryforone

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There's also two more chapters ahead of the Arachne Omakes.