Chapter Text
As Kronos was brought onto his knees, the King of the Titans' eyes swept across his treacherous children, shining with malice.
"My children, you have brought me great pain, great suffering," he smirked, staining his chin with gold, "but, I am gracious and will make sure you don't have to suffer like me,"
The sky darkened, the wind stopped blowing, everything was quiet, frozen, waiting for the King to speak.
"I curse you, my unfaithful children.
May your seed bear no fruit and remain forever infertile.
May your wombs remain forever empty and may that emptyness bring you an ache like no other.
May you look into your empty cradles and desperately, futilely wish for children to claim as your own.
You shall watch atop of your mountain with jealousy as the pathetic mortals easily birth child after child.
You shall look at the mortal children and desire them more than anything, to the point of madness.
You shall cry and wail in misery and pain as your precious infants die in your arms.
And, if by some trick or spell, you do manage to produce a child, its existence shall drain you and torture you like nothing else will."
The Kronides were frozen, eyes wide in shock, as their father's curse took hold.
Poseidon was the first one to break out of the daze, his siblings following suit, charging towards the Titan Lord, weapons bared.
Kronos' thunderous laughter shook the sky and mountains, as his children cut him into pieces.
The curse brought devastating damage to the Pantheon.
The gods, in their desperate want for children, went ahead, despite the looming threat and laid with one another.
The punishment for that was agonizing.
Their screams and cries shook the heavens and earth, white-hot knives stabbing every inch of their bodies, the pain pinned them down, rendering them as helpless as the wailing or maddeningly quiet infants near them. That brutal torture kept going, until the godling was given a domain, or faded away, leaving the parents to deal with both the physical pain and heartache.
So, they changed tactic and seduced mortals into loving them.
It was a disaster.
At first, everything seemed fine.
But, when the day was nearing, the women either broke out into screams, as the child burst from their wombs, a hideous monster, who consumed them or they birthed corpses, which left their parents heartbroken.
Only a few, lucky times did gods manage to sire children, who lived.
The lack of children weakened the tapestry of Fate and made the gods miserable, aggressive to the mortals, who dared to mistreat their children.
Fate saw their pain, their longing, how weak they were due to the curse and knew something had to be done.
So, it left its world in search of healthy babies to bring home.
The search was long and trekked far and wide, but, finally, it found a world much more fortunate that its own, where the gods could sire freely.
Even if it knew that, Fate was still in awe, when it saw just how many children there were with ichor flowing in their veins along with mortal blood.
So many....
It couldn't help but tremble at every turn, every new, perfect face it saw.
Sweet heavens....
It saw boys who bore Hermes' curls and smile, one with Apollo's locks, others wore the cow-eyes of Hera.
But why were they here, and not on Olympus, with their parents?
Why were they dressed in such strange, rough-looking garments?
They were grandchildren of Zeus Panhellenios, precious jewels that should only be treated with the finest of care.
Where were the silks and satin, the gold befitting such royalty? Where were the attendants, the nymphs and satyrs to make sure they wanted for nothing?
Why were not the gods fortunate enough to blessed with healthy children here?
Looking around, Fate grew more and more shocked.
The children had weapons.
They were giving these babies weapons!
It heard chatter up ahead and sped up, until it was met with a simple pavilion.
Once again, it was amazed by the sheer amount of miracles.
It suddenly turned sharply, sensing a presence.
At one of the tables sat a man, along with a boy who shared his curls, although in a bright blond.
Dionysus?
He looked so different and... unhappy.
But why? He should be thrilled to have so many miracles!
Well.... If the children were unwanted here, its gods would gladly have them.
Late that night, Fate slipped into this other world. It slithered around, pondering which children to take first, since bringing too much at once would alert their parents.
Dionysus stirred, sensing something was infiltrating his turf, but, with a quick wave of its hand, the Camp's entire population was into a deep sleep, rendering them defenseless.
Now, which to choose?
The first two cabins were empty and the Earthshaker's son had more than enough of his father's attention to be put on the waiting list.
Hmm, Demeter could use some new children, especially after the devastating loss of Kore.
It chose two daughters, lovely and lively, perfect for the Harvest.
Smiling, it went to sever to connection between them and the goddess.
Hmm... they were quite strong, radiating in loving adoration, content with never letting them go, the claim was etched into their skin like thorns. A golden bracelet shone on the oldest girl's wrist, a gift from Demeter and another claim. The demigoddess' own smell could be felt, though it was buried deeply beneath her mother's.
Vines grew from the walls and wooden planks of the cabin, wrapping around the goddess' children's legs and lovely necks in an imitation of a hug. The aroma of all kinds of flora drifted through the air, soothing them. Fate slipped the bracelet off her wrist and flung it away. These children belonged to her goddess now.
After some hard pulling, the bounds finally tore and broke, causing both girls to tremble and whimper in their sleep.
Demeter had surely sensed it as well, but that won't matter. Fate would be done and gone by the time any of the gods figured out what had happened.
Onto the next cabin, two other children caught its eyes one a girl with dirty blonde hair, the other with Ares' curls. The girl wore a bronze ring on her forefinger, the boar engraved on it shining proudly. It took it and dropped the jewel onto the ground, clincing sadly.
Their bounds were firm, like a guard protecting something precious, spear gripped tightly, daring anyone to harm them, like a vulture circling its prey.
It took some time, but, soon enough, they were in the bag, too. The girl grunted and the boy shivered.
Fate decided not to bring any of Athena's children yet, due the confusion it would bring.
In the next, it chose the two sons, whose bounds were tightly coiled around them, alert and pulsing with their father's divine might, holding the three close, refusing to let go. On the oldest's head shone a golden circlet, which the boy probably didn't know he had, drenched in his father's scent.
Fate pulled it off his forehead, dropping it and kicking it under the bed.
They were some of the toughest to tear, but the two were soon in the bag.
Hephaestus had a lot of lovely darlings, it chose the girl with the Queen's eyes and an adorable little boy.
Theirs were warm with love, strong as steel, possessiveness licking at the edges like flames. A bronze belt was tightly wrapped around the girl's waist. It lifted the blanket, examing it, a fire symbol was engraved into the metal
Fate grabbed it with both hand, pulling hard in opposite directions. The belt finally broke, losing its shine.
It let the pieces drop onto the floor.
A couple of pulls later, the bonds lay on the ground broken, before turning to dust.
The Lady of Love had a lot of beautiful babies, however, three could use some more attention. The black-haired one had a lovely, silver diadem with rose gems in her shiny locks. Fate took it and crumbled it in its hand.
The bounds were tight with the goddess' love and divine adoration, the cabin was dripping with the her scent, soothing and lulling the children inside. It took about ten minutes to break them.
Oh, their Hermes had such pretty children!
After some consideration, it decided to take all three of them. The middle boy had a blue pendant with his father's Caduceus around his neck.
It snapped the string and when the child was lifted, it cluttered to the ground.
Their bounds with their father were drenched in his love, watching, like a shepherd did with his sheep, wrapped around them like snakes.
Soon, there was only dust on the ground, and it disappeared.
Dionysus had only one, lonely darling.
It blinked and there were leopard marks on his cheeks, another blink, and they were gone. A golden anklet sat on his ankle, shimmering softly in the dim light, and, soon enough, it lay in pieces on the floor.
His bound seemed strangely fuzzy, wrapped around his entire slim body, tying him to the bed.
The smell of grapes and wine sat heavy in the air, getting the child drunk on itself, lulling him.
Fate grabbed the bound and tugged and pulled, until it was finally broken.
Satisfied with its pickings, Fate left, leaving the demigods to deal with the chaos, that would ensue, once the gods find out.
Demeter was in her private palace, tending to her lovely garden, when she suddenly felt a sharp, hot pain in her stomach.
She grasped at her abdomen, it felt as if a hot sword was stabbing her.
Shocks shot up her spine, before abruptly stopping.
Turtledove feathers appeared on her arm, standing at attention. A bird cry left her lips.
The goddess panted, as she fought to regain her breath.
Something was wrong.
..... she just didn't know what.
Ares was in the middle of polishing his shield, when a terrible headache hit him.
His shield cluttered to the ground, and the god crashed down onto his knees, clutching his head.
Holy Mother, it felt like he way going to birth another Athena.....
His yell of pain shook the entire palace, black vulture eyes replaced his normal ones, grey-black feathers were tangled into his curls.
And then it stopped.
What in Olympus' name was that?
Apollo stood by one of the windows in his bedroom, absentmindedly strumming his lyre, calmly admiring his sister's night.
How quiet and lovely the stars were...
Agony exploded across his back.
The god was in so much pain, he only managed to produce a choked garggle and the rest were hisses.
The lyre made a clink, when he dropped it, falling down and going to craw to his bed.
Apollo gripped onto the sheets tightly, swan feathers appeared onto his arms, shoulders and back.
His massive wings tore his night chiton into pieces, spreading out in panic.
Bronze sweat shone on his back.
For a moment, wolf fangs grew in his mouth, before disappearing.
Finally, the pain stopped, and the god felt strangely hollow.
Hephaestus was in the middle of crafting a sword, shaping the sharp blade with his hammer, when his right shoulder started to sting.
At first, it was barely noticeable, but, gradually, it encreased to a horrible ache, that almost made him fall over, had he not grabbed his cane.
His hammer fell, so heavy, that it broke the floor of his workshop.
The god was brought to a kneel, gripping his shoulder.
His yells of pain shook the workshop, various tools rattling and shaking, before falling.
The burning stopped.
Hephaestus brushed the bronze sweat away, panting heavily, fighting to get onto his feet.
Aphrodite was about to head to bed, when pain split her chest.
The goddess gasped, grabbing at her night robe.
Dove feathers appeared on her stomach and neck, ruffling in panic.
She couldn't even scream, only gasp, as her chest burned.
Gradually, the ache stopped, and Aphrodite was left on the floor, soaked in sweat.
Hermes was running another late shift, in the middle of delivering packages to postal services.
Small shocks starts to go up his spine, towards his neck.
The god pulled at the collar of uniform, shifting uneasily.
George and Martha slithered up his bronze staff to look at him, tongues darting out questioningly.
The force of the shocks soon increased, causing bronze sweat to start polling at his neck, breath coming in short, gasping pants.
George and Martha hissed in alarm, when their god doubled over in pain, hawk feathers on his arms and back, wings unfurling.
Fangs burst through his gums, swelling with vemon.
Hawk cries and pained hisses filled the air, as he writhed on the ground in pain.
The agony stopped abruptly.
Hermes breathed, bronze sweat dripping down his face.
George and Martha quickly left the Caduceus to go wrap around him in their version of a hug and Hermes automatically petted their scaly heads, staring into nothing.
"What was that?" George hissed, tongue darting out nervously.
"I don't know," the god answered, "But something is terribly, terribly wrong,"
Dionysus felt like he was drowning.
Whenever he tried to wake up, it was like pushing against impenetrable jelly.
Cold sweat covered his body.
The god tossed and turned, unable to sleep, but also unable to wake up.
Fangs grew from his gums and he growled, sensing that something was terribly wrong.