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Son of Hades (Percy Jackson) Chapter 257: Lucerna and Murder
🕑 Added 2025-04-07 16:15:51 +0000 UTC[Third Person's PoV]
Annabeth, leaning against Nox for support, reached to her side and pulled out a vial. She drank it in one go, the liquid restoring both her energy and lost blood.
She let out a content sigh, as if she'd just sipped away all her problems. Though the effects took a moment to fully kick in, she continued using Nox as a steadying presence.
Clearing her throat, Annabeth smiled warmly and finally introduced herself properly. “As you know, I’m the one who created you. As such, you may refer to me as Mom, Mommy, Mama—whatever feels right. No need to be formal. I see all my creations as my children.”
She extended a hand, gently caressing Lucerna’s golden-tinted cheek. Her other hand rested softly on Nox.
Lucerna’s usual thin, lukewarm smile shifted into something broader and more genuine.
“I am honored by such a privilege. In that case, I shall refer to you as Mother.”
Annabeth nodded approvingly. “Now then, do you see that very cute, super handsome boy over there?” she said, pointing to Lucian.
Lucian sighed. “Alright, I know weird things happen around me, but seriously—there has to be a limit,” he muttered.
Thalia chuckled and patted his head, trying to comfort him.
Lucerna’s polite smile returned as she glanced at Lucian, then back to Annabeth, giving a respectful nod.
“That boy right there is your Father. Your body and self come from me—but your energy and power, they come from him. You are the result of our union.”
“Don’t say it like that!!” Lucian exclaimed.
Annabeth only gave him a mischievous look, sticking her tongue between her teeth playfully.
Lucerna clasped her hands together and, in a reverent tone, said, “I see. So he is the originator of the sacred power of light I now wield. I greet you, Father.”
Lucian let out a small growl. “I’m only thirteen, and already two people call me ‘Father’...” he muttered.
Then he sighed, offering Lucerna a polite smile. “Hello. Welcome to the land of the living, Lucerna.”
Thalia burst out laughing, clutching her stomach from the force of it. She laughed so hard she had to get up from his lap.
Lucian turned to Nox, teasing, “See? Why couldn’t you have been this polite and sweet when you were first created?”
Nox clicked his nonexistent teeth in annoyance and turned his head away.
“You may stand, Lucerna,” Annabeth said, noticing the girl was still kneeling.
Lucerna rose, casting a brief, smug, confident glance toward Nox.
In response, Nox extended his arms. Shadows surged forward, forming sharp tendrils that shot toward Lucerna with intent to stab.
Lucerna raised her hand, and twin longswords manifested in a burst of ethereal golden light. She lunged, slashing the tendrils with elegant precision.
As the tendrils were cut, they erupted into volatile energy, pushing Lucerna back and causing her to skid across the ground.
Nox held out two open hands, summoning a long spear made of darkness. He lunged forward, thrusting the weapon at the same time Lucerna charged again, her swords poised.
Their weapons collided mid-air, releasing a shockwave of elemental light and shadow.
Percy, seated nearby, was sent rolling back into a table as everyone’s hair whipped violently in the forceful gust.
It became a battle of strength—Nox’s spear pressing down against Lucerna’s crossed blades.
Nox, showing only his narrowed eyes, remained stoic and unreadable.
Lucerna, whose mouth was only visible, had her lips pressed into a firm line, betrayed no weakness of her own.
“That’s enough out of both of you,” Annabeth said coldly.
Lucerna and Nox immediately froze, quickly disengaging and letting go of their weapons.
Placing a hand on her forehead, Annabeth sighed. “I get that you two might not get along because of your opposing elements, but that doesn’t mean I want to see you at each other’s throats. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, Mother,” they both said meekly, heads bowed in shame.
Though her expression was hidden behind a mask, Lucerna puffed out her cheeks in a visible pout.
“You got me in trouble with Mother,” she mumbled at Nox.
Nox scoffed. “You need to learn your place. I was created first, which makes me the eldest. Don’t go acting like you’re better than me.”
“Nox, stand down. We need to test Lucerna’s capabilities first,” Annabeth ordered. “But first…”
She turned to Lucian, a playful grin spreading across her face. “On a scale of one to ten, how attractive was I when you saw me acting like a mother?”
“Yuck. Gross,” Percy groaned, recoiling. “Did I really just hear that?”
“I wasn’t asking you, Percy!” Annabeth snapped. “Why are you even here?!”
“I was bored and curious,” he replied, giving two enthusiastic thumbs up.
Rolling her eyes, Annabeth muttered, “Let’s get this over with quickly,” then turned to Lucerna. “We’ve already seen your use of hard light when you created your swords. That’ll be useful when applied properly. Let’s see what else…”
“As you command, Mother,” Lucerna said, extending a hand and waving it past Annabeth—causing her to vanish slowly.
“Invisibility, check,” Annabeth’s voice echoed despite her absence.
When she reappeared, the entire room around them had transformed. It looked as though they were floating among the clouds, drifting in a bright blue sky.
“Illusions, check.”
Lucian noted silently how Lucerna’s abilities mirrored many of his own in his Brightheart form—though her light lacked solar influence and instead seemed purely radiant.
He looked down, resting a hand on his chin thoughtfully. ‘Since Nox can use his darkness to cause decay… then it stands to reason…’
“Hey, Lucerna,” Lucian called, reaching into his shadow and pulling out the stinger of a chimera he’d stored earlier.
“Yes, Father?” she responded gently.
Lucian then summoned a Kere—one of the daemons he’d recently slain during his trip to the Empire State Building—and let her slice open his arm before unsummoning her.
Everyone stared in disbelief as blood dripped from Lucian’s arm. Without flinching, he held it out toward Lucerna.
“I’m now injured and infected with a disease thanks to the Kere,” he said. “Help me.”
Lucerna panicked and rushed over. She extended her hand, and soft light in the form of glowing fireflies began raining down on his wound. The cut began to close—slowly—but the healing worked. Lucian nodded in approval.
“Well, add healing and ailment curing to her repertoire,” Lucian remarked. He glanced at the scar, sighed, and discreetly used his darkness to fully heal it properly.
Annabeth nodded in satisfaction, then turned toward Lucerna. “Power saving mode.”
Lucerna sparkled, her armor and mask shattering like glass. She shrank into a small wisp of radiant energy—golden with blood-red eyes—nearly identical in form to Nox.
Lucian and Thalia's expressions immediately melted as they stared at the tiny, adorable spirit.
Once it was over, Lucian cracked his knuckles with a sharp pop. “Now it’s my turn,” he said with a glint in his eye as he stood up.
“What?” they all asked in unison, surprised by the sudden declaration.
Lucian’s expression turned cold. “Arise.”
That single word—soft and chilling—seemed to echo with unnatural weight, sending shivers down their spines.
The Keres Lucian had defeated began to stir. One by one, they rose.
Red-eyed, faceless women cloaked in shadow, their large crow-like wings unfolding ominously. The backs of their wings were pitch black, while the front shimmered with a sinister red glow that pulsed like dying embers.
Thalia narrowed her eyes, observing the eerie sight. “Are you going to assimilate them into a single shadow?” she asked, more fascinated than afraid.
“Yup,” Lucian replied, holding out his hand. His palm turned utterly black, as if light itself had been swallowed. Wisps of darkness curled outward like smoke.
The Keres’ forms distorted as they were drawn into his palm, their shadows unraveling and spiraling inward. Lucian then clasped his hands together. A red glow leaked from between his fingers like molten cracks in stone.
When he finally released them, his palm remained dark—but now, a black sphere hovered above it. Inside the orb, 23 tiny red motes of light drifted like stars caught in tar.
Lucian began pinching and pulling the sphere with his free hand, shaping it like clay.
“What is he doing?” Percy whispered, glancing at Thalia and Annabeth.
“Shadow sculpting,” Annabeth explained. “He’s fusing their shadows into one entity—and now he's crafting what its body will look like.”
“Huh… That's actually kinda cool. Can he make, like, dragons or something?” Percy asked.
Annabeth shook her head. “Not exactly. The final form has to resemble what the original spirits once were. If it deviates too far, the outer shell shatters. He can tweak minor features, like horns or claws, but the essence has to match.”
“A bit of horned flair for intimidation,” Lucian muttered to himself.
After a moment, he held up the finished product in his palm—a shadow figurine. It had small wings, twin demon-like horns curling from its head, and an aura of restrained malice.
Without hesitation, he dropped the figurine into his own shadow. He grimaced as magic poured from him, siphoned away like blood through a wound. When the pull stopped, he let out a slow breath.
“Arise…” he commanded once more.
From the inky depths of the shadow, she emerged—like a fallen angel reborn from hellfire.
A demoness with blood-red skin and polished obsidian horns rose gracefully. She wore a sleek, shadow-woven toga that clung elegantly to her form. Two vast wings unfolded, stretching across the room, feathers glimmering with crimson undertones. With deliberate grace, she folded them behind her back.
She knelt, one hand over her heart, claws long and razor-sharp. Her voice, devoid of emotion yet chilling in its clarity, rang out:
“My Lord…”
Lucian looked down at her with a calm gaze. “Murder,” he said. “That shall be your name—and your purpose.”
“As you will it,” she replied, bowing low, “so shall it be.”
“Murder?” Thalia asked, raising an eyebrow.
Lucian grinned. “You saw the crow-women, right?”
They nodded.
“A group of crows is called a ‘murder.’ And since she was born from a whole flock of them…”
“Ahhhhh,” they all exclaimed in unison, realization dawning.
Comments
Toby
thanks for the chapter
Cobalt
That or when lucy is forced to act like a father in any capacity she's bring it up
Rogue_Eagle99
Knowing her she will ask again eventually
Cobalt
Love how percy completely saved Lucy from annabeths question there 🤣🤣🤣
