Chapter 208: Ameos

Chapter 208: Chapter 208: Ameos

Approximately a month had passed since the events in the Underworld and, fortunately, the weeks that followed had been much calmer for Damon. That said, the rest of the world had continued moving forward. Kuoh, for example, had changed quite a bit since Artemis arrived with the small group of demigods that had originally accompanied her.

As the weeks passed, other young demigods from Camp Half-Blood had decided to join them. Some out of curiosity, while others simply found the idea of discovering an entirely different side of the supernatural world too tempting to ignore. The group had grown enough that they had begun establishing a sort of second camp on the outskirts of Kuoh, still much smaller than Camp Half-Blood, but with enough space to train, sleep, and stay away from the human population.

Artemis didn’t seem to have any problem with the group growing either. As long as the demigods followed her orders and didn’t cause any unnecessary trouble, they were free to stay. Percy, Annabeth, Thalia, Luke, Selene, and the others had already grown fairly accustomed to life in Japan, and having more familiar faces around certainly hadn’t hurt.

Thanks to Artemis, they had also managed to avoid any unnecessary contact with the other factions present in Kuoh. Damon had already warned her that two young women belonging to the Devil faction lived in the city, but the Goddess of the Hunt preferred to stay completely out of their way. The longer the Devils remained unaware of their presence, the better. She had no interest in drawing attention or turning the city into another point of tension between factions.

For that same reason, Artemis had been fairly strict with the demigods. No drawing attention, no using powers in crowded areas, and above all, no approaching anyone who seemed connected to the Devils. So far, the strategy had worked. Rias, Sona, and their respective groups still had no idea that a Greek goddess and a steadily growing number of demigods were practically right under their noses.

Asia, on the other hand, had adapted to the group with an ease that even Artemis found surprising. The little girl had grown quite close to the demigods and, as the weeks passed, had begun treating them like a new family of sorts. Percy and the others hadn’t taken long to accept her either, especially after learning about much of what she had gone through within the Church.

Even Artemis had grown fond of her, although she would never admit it out loud. Asia could be far too kind for her own good, and her constant references to God, the Church, or some Christian teaching managed to irritate the goddess from time to time. Mostly because Artemis couldn’t understand how they had managed to fill the head of such a young girl with so many ideas, fears, and lies.

The ironic part was that Artemis herself rarely stopped to consider that she had done something fairly similar with many of her Hunters, spending centuries instilling a deep distrust of men in them and constantly reinforcing the idea that staying away from them was almost always the better choice. Naturally, if anyone were brave enough to point out the contradiction, Artemis would probably come up with a very long list of reasons explaining why her situation was completely different.

And for now, none of the demigods seemed particularly eager to start that conversation.

Among the news that had caught Damon’s attention the most was the appearance of new Sacred Links among some of the demigods who had joined Artemis’ group.

Clarisse La Rue had been one of them. The daughter of Ares had awakened the ability to manipulate metal, something she was still learning to control but could already use to pull weapons toward her hands, alter the trajectory of metallic objects, and even deform smaller pieces if she concentrated hard enough.

Luke, of course, had wasted very little time finding a way to annoy her about it. According to him, Clarisse had basically become the female version of Magneto from the X-Men.

Clarisse had almost hit him over the comparison; she hated that kind of stuff. To her, superheroes wearing tight suits and ridiculous names were things for punks, not genuinely tough people. Luke had taken that reaction as more than enough reason to keep calling her Magneto every chance he got.

Another demigod to awaken a Sacred Link had been Kayla Knowles, although that case had been far less surprising. The daughter of Apollo had always stood out with a bow even among other demigods, so her Sacred Link had taken the form of a weapon.

Kayla could summon a magical bow capable of condensing an enormous number of projectiles into a single arrow. When fired, the projectile split apart in midair and unleashed hundreds of smaller arrows over a target or an entire area. She was still figuring out the exact limits of the weapon, but that hadn’t dampened her excitement in the slightest.

In fact, the demigod seemed far more interested in imagining herself facing an entire horde of monsters and wiping them out with a single shot than in figuring out exactly how her new ability worked.

Damon still didn’t fully understand what determined the form each Sacred Link took, but every new awakening gave him a little more information about the system and, for now, he preferred to watch how it developed before he started interfering.

His relationship with Melinoe had also changed somewhat since his visit to the Underworld. Damon had made it perfectly clear that she was welcome to visit Olympus whenever she wanted, something the Goddess of Ghosts had received with some surprise. He had also mentioned that Kurama wasn’t the only animal she could spend time with if she ever decided to accept the invitation. Between his wolves, the various creatures that seemed to come and go from his life, and the Bijuu themselves, she certainly wouldn’t be short on options.

The idea had sparked far more curiosity in Melinoe than she had wanted to admit. But if there was one thing Damon had truly devoted a good portion of that month to, it was Amaterasu.

The two of them had been able to enjoy something resembling peace within Olympus. Damon still had responsibilities as king, and Amaterasu couldn’t completely ignore her duties toward the Shinto Pantheon either, but they always managed to find time for each other. Sometimes they talked for hours; other times, they simply enjoyed the palace without worrying about whatever was happening beyond its walls.

The reality that they would soon become parents was becoming more present between them with each passing day. Amaterasu still wasn’t showing many physical changes, but that didn’t stop Damon from placing a hand over her stomach whenever they were together, as though expecting to feel something different from one day to the next. The Goddess of the Sun teased him about it, although she rarely moved his hand away.

Even their son’s name had already been decided.

Ameos.

The original idea had been Damon’s. He wanted his first son to have a name deeply tied to the Shinto Pantheon, mainly in honor of Amaterasu and everything she had meant to him long before either of them had ever imagined they would one day start a family together.

Amaterasu had loved the sentiment, although she ended up making one small change of her own. Adding the "os" ending gave it, according to her, a slight Greek touch that represented the other half of their son as well. Damon had no objection; if that was what she wanted, then Ameos it would be.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Olympus

Damon was finishing up some paperwork in one of the palace’s private rooms when he felt a pair of arms wrap around him from behind. He didn’t need to turn around to know who it was. Amaterasu rested her chin on his shoulder and glanced over the papers in front of him. "I thought you were done for the day."

"So did I," Damon replied, setting one of the documents down on the table. "Then more things to do appeared out of nowhere." Amaterasu let out a small laugh and shook her head. "The perks of wanting to be king."

Damon snorted. "Every day I understand a little more why Zeus spent so much time ignoring half his responsibilities." That earned him a raised eyebrow from the goddess. "Don’t use Zeus as inspiration." Damon turned his head slightly toward her. "Trust me, I wasn’t planning to."

He finally set the documents aside and settled more comfortably into his seat. Amaterasu moved back just enough to stand in front of him, and Damon’s attention almost instinctively dropped toward her stomach before rising again. "Staring at my stomach again," the goddess teased.

Damon raised an eyebrow. "I didn’t even do anything."

The Goddess of the Sun shook her head, clearly amused, before taking one of his hands and placing it over her stomach herself. "I’m just saying you’re going to have to learn a little patience."

"I’m a pretty patient person, unlike you. Or did you forget who used to look at me suspiciously every time one of my attempts to bring peace to the Elemental Nations failed?" Damon shot back, rolling his eyes.

Amaterasu let out a slightly nervous laugh. As much as she wanted to argue, she couldn’t find any flaw in Damon’s logic. "I suppose you’ve got me there."

Damon simply pulled her a little closer, and Amaterasu settled beside him, letting the moment last as long as possible while they enjoyed being alone. A few minutes later, the goddess cleared her throat, breaking the comfortable silence. "By the way, we’re going to have visitors soon."

Damon turned his head toward her curiously. "Who?"

A small smile appeared on Amaterasu’s face. "Yasaka."

Damon blinked. "Yasaka? I honestly wasn’t expecting that," the redhead admitted, fairly surprised.

Amaterasu covered her mouth with one hand, holding back a small laugh. "Ever since she found out about my pregnancy, all she’s wanted to do is come visit me. The poor woman had been trying for a while, but with all the work on her shoulders she hadn’t managed to find any free time until now." The Goddess of the Sun tilted her head slightly, her smile taking on a more mischievous edge. "By the way... she said she wants to see you too."

Damon raised an eyebrow at the way she said it, but before he could respond, Amaterasu reached out and pinched his nose between two fingers. "Although now that I think about it, there’s something else you should probably remember."

"Hmm?"

"Kuroka and Koneko," she replied, rolling her eyes before letting go of him. "Didn’t you promise you’d go get them soon?"

Damon froze for a moment before bringing a hand to the back of his head.

Right....

He had literally said he would go get the two Nekoshou and, between one thing and another, had ended up leaving them stranded in Kyoto all this time. It hadn’t been intentional, but he doubted that explanation would save him much when Koneko saw him again after so many weeks.

"Ahhh... shit."

Amaterasu crossed her arms, clearly entertained by his reaction. "So you really did forget."

"I didn’t forget," Damon replied on pure instinct before sighing. "It just... got buried under about twenty other things."

"That’s called forgetting," Amaterasu replied.

Damon decided not to argue. If there was one thing he knew for certain, it was that he was going to need a pretty good apology for Koneko. "I’m going to need a lot of sweets before they get here." Amaterasu covered her mouth with one hand, letting out an amused laugh. "Ohhh, dear... I think you’re already a little late for that, fufu."

Damon frowned at the way she said it, but before he could ask what she meant, footsteps began sounding from the other side of the door. The redhead slowly turned toward Amaterasu and found the Goddess of the Sun wearing an entertained expression. "You said they’d be here soon."

Amaterasu gave a slight shrug. "Well, technically, I didn’t lie."

Damon barely had time to roll his eyes before the door opened. Yasaka entered first, dressed in one of her elegant kimonos with her nine tails moving calmly behind her. Kuroka walked beside her with a relaxed expression, while Koneko followed a little farther behind. Damon’s attention moved from Yasaka to the two Nekoshou before finally settling on the younger one.

It took Kuroka less than a second to notice his expression, and a mischievous smile appeared on her face. "Nyaa~ well, look at that. Seems like someone finally remembered a promise. I expect a very good reward from you for making me wait so long," she added in such a shameless tone that there was very little doubt about the kind of reward she had in mind.

Koneko, on the other hand, said nothing. She simply crossed her arms and kept her eyes on Damon with such a dry expression that the redhead almost would have preferred it if she had started complaining.

Damon cleared his throat, deciding that particular problem would have to wait a few minutes. For now, he rose from his seat and turned his attention back toward Yasaka, who stepped forward with a much warmer smile.

"It’s been a while, Damon."

"So it has," the redhead replied. "Welcome to Olympus, Yasaka."