52 A Spear Boy Makes His Rounds

(Lavinia POV)

Opening my eyes, I rubbed the dryness out of them before looking around and seeing that I was in a hotel room. And on the chair next to me was the God Slayer reading a book without his shirt on.

As I looked down and saw that I was in lingerie, he looked at me and smiled as he said, "Well, good morning, my dear, you were amazing last night." Wait what!

"Umm, Spear-Kun, did we..?" I tried to say something while twiddling my fingers nervously as he gasped.

"Oh, did you ever. In fact, I think you made so much noise last night that you would think we were making rosemary's baby." I was not blushing, and as he smiled at me with his blindfold on, I found myself flabbergasted.

"UMMM!UM Spear-Kun, I swear I am not that type of easy." At my cries, he simply started chuckling, which turned to full laughter as all his clothes appeared along with mine. As I saw this, I may or may not have started pouting.

"Spear-kun is a bully." He simply shook his head and sat down next to me, which felt nice.

"I do apologize, but the joke was too easy, but you do snore, you know. It was like a washing machine started running. And no one was able to catch it." My frown deepened as I pulled my hat down in embarrassment.

"But I must ask if you are alright? You had a rather strenuous evening, after all." His question made me think of what I learned yesterday, and the cold began to return, but he simply took his hand and placed it on my chin, and made me look right at him.

"Look at me, not at what was. Stay in this moment. It's alright to grieve, but not at the cost of your future." These were simple yet poignant words, and as I hugged him, he simply remained silent as he began reading his book again and simply started talking.

It was meaningless things like what he liked to do while asking other things about me. He was trying to distract me, which I knew, but it was nice.

So we sat there for what felt like hours as he stopped talking after a while. I remembered every moment with Glenda, and while she was a friend I loved, I knew there was no going back to that, not after what happened.

As I straightened myself out, I looked up at him as he turned to face me, and as I got closer, he simply placed a finger on my lips as he shook his head.

"Don't; you are doing this out of manic emotions. But I wouldn't dismiss starting out as friends, would you?" I then backed off and smiled as I shook his outstretched hand.

"My name is Cao Cao, professional God Slayer and master chef. What about you?"

'I am Lavinia Reni, apprentice to Mephisto and student of the Graubrazer. It's nice to meet you, Cao-kun."

He smiled and got off the bed. He summoned a small mirror and handed it to me, and as I tried to analyze it, I got nothing, as if it was a normal mirror. 

"Take this with you. If you ever want to talk, I'll be willing. You should probably return to the Grigori to report back to Azazel and see that White Dragon Boy he has." The statement shocked me at how much he knew.

"You know Va-Kun?! Thats great. You should introduce yourself to him eventually. I think you two would make great friends." He snorted at that as he summoned what looked like a portal to another place that was covered in trees and had what looked like cabins in the distance.

"I will meet the white dragon eventually, but I do disagree that we would be friends. Our personalities are a bit too different for his liking, and he would simply jump into any fight I try to plan for my encounters. Efficiency is key, after all. But Lavinia, I was serious about being able to talk. So if you ever find yourself in need of a confidant, let me know." I nodded as small tears made their way to my eyes as he went through the portal, and I went to take a shower.

As I looked at myself in the mirror, I wondered if I was unappealing to him in some way. Or maybe he liked older women; I have seen Master Mephisto reading such magazines, after all.

But as I looked at the mirror, I grazed it with my hand as I smiled to myself, and a small blush made its way to my face.

"Just friends, huh? Cao-Kun truly is different. I wonder if he would be willing to show me more after a time? I can still see it in his eyes, a small fear of trusting again, or maybe I was just imagining it. Whatever, at least he knows how to treat a woman. At least, I hope he paid for the room." As I think this, I neglected to notice how the small mirror glowed as I touched it.

(Cao Cao POV)

Lavinia was a breath of fresh air after meeting so many different supernatural entities, but I am not going to teach her anything, and she probably won't need to as her balance breaker is enough for now.

As I walked through the portal into Camp Half-Blood, I saw that it had recovered from all the storms Zeus had caused during his power high, which was nice, and as I walked towards Hermes Cabin in my concealment mode, I saw him talking with Thalia Grace with them hugging each other before going there own separate ways.

"Good to see you smiling, Luke."

Luke then turned around, and as he saw me, he did a bow and said, "Lord Cao Cao, it good to see you again after your battle with Zeus. Are you alright?"

I then bid him rise, and as he did so, I flicked him on the forehead. As he flinched back, I chuckled, "I am alright, Luke, but thank you for asking. I came here to see how you were doing, and I saw your Father's charm is helping you out with that girl I see."

Luke groaned as he looked away but said: "Yeah, it was awkward as I was 13 when she was turned into a tree, and now she is 16 as her body physically aged slower as a tree while I am 18, but she is still mentally older than me so it was something to get used to."

"How is your mother doing then?" Luke then smiled as he spoke of how she was recovering with Hermes, and since the fates were MIA and Zeus was dead, there were few gods to uphold the ancient laws, so godly parents were able to spend more time with their kids. 

"But I must admit it's been strange as Monster sightings across the country have been lowering at a decent rate, and campers have been arriving much more often in one piece. Would you have anything to do with this, Lord Cao Cao?" I simply shrugged as he sighed in exasperation.

"Have you told Thalia that you know me?" My question makes him pause for a moment.

He then nods and says, "Yeah, she does, and while she knew him, their relationship was not very good, so while she was sad that he was dead, she got over quickly enough. If you're worried that she will take out some form of anger against you, I wouldn't hold her to it."

Nodding my head, I then looked at him and said, "Well, I am happy that this place is doing better; the world knows that it should have been like this for much longer, and it's only going to get better from here, Luke. Keep going, my friend, but for now, I must depart as my work is never done. And let Thalia know that I know where her sibling is."

He then does another small bow with a questioning look as he heads off to the lunch hall to get his cabinmates while I head over to the big house. When I flew over there, I saw Chiron talking to a much happier Dionysus, and as I approached, I sat down next to them, disabled my concealment, and said, "Hello again, Chiron and it's nice to put a face to the name Dionysus."

As they both looked at me, Chiron made a slight bow, and Dionysus snorted as he continued to play cards with Chiron.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the new God Slayer if you're here to kill me and take my authorities and kill 'em, I just let you know that I will taste terrible." As he says this, his tone is completely and utterly flat as he continues to play his game.

I chuckle at the statement as I continue, "Don't worry, Dionysus, I'm not here for you, but I did hear that Athena has been looking for me, and I would rather not barge into Olympus even if I could. It's more polite that way."

He then takes his hand and puts it in his pocket, taking out a card and handing it to me, to which he says, "Go over to the highest floor in the elevator. After showing this to the guard, they'll let you in, at least if they don't want to die, that is. But before you go, I must ask one question."

He then turns to me, and with chaos and madness in his eyes, he asks, "Do you feel like a hero after everything you have done?"

After standing up, I simply looked him in the eyes and said one word, "No."

After narrowing his eyes at my answer, he wordlessly says," Explain."

I then look to Chiron as he also waits for my answer. I say, "A hero is subjective as many would consider them in a variety of lights as people consider Heroes those who have committed great acts whether they be good or ill, some consider Heroes those infallible paragons, or heroes are simply people that simply are just beyond normal. I am two of the three, but the last description is more based on self-reflection. I am not a hero because I do not think of myself as one, nor do my acts reflect this. I am a bit more of a survivor. There is a difference, which I am sure you understand."

Dionysus then scans my words for falsehoods, but after a minute, he sighs, sits back in his chair, and says, "Well, at least you know you're a hypocrite. If you said anything else, I would have thought of you as a liar. You should get going, and God Slayer, do not think me blind to Fate's prophecies, so I am in your debt for keeping my sons alive. Go with my blessings and whatnot."

Chiron sighs at Mr.D, and he then bows again. I nod back in respect and head over to New York City as the two continue their game of poker.

(Dionysus POV)

"I am surprised you let him go, Lord Dionysus." I simply shuffle my cards as he does the same.

"And what would you have me do, Chiron? He can step in and out of this place whenever he wants, and he killed old Thunderbeard, and while the world will not rejoice at his passing, not a lot of people are going to be willing to mess with them, and I am not stupid while I may be drunk, I am not stupid. And I wasn't lying when I said I owed the kid. Besides, he's Athena's problem now, and as long as it doesn't mess with my parties and my beer, we will be best friends in no time."

Chiron simply sighs as he awaits to hear the chaos from Olympus as Hera has not been found since Zeus's passing, and while no one truly cares, it still seems to put the old horse in a state of unease. 

Me, I never liked the old bat, and she would always take every opportunity to fuck with me. In fact, it was she who found me trying to flirt with that adorable nymph that Zeus had his eye on.

Now I can drink again, and I don't need to look over my shoulder for a crazy bitch or a crazy bitch queen of the gods. Besides, what can Hera do against the God Slayer other than throwing divorce papers at him?

Let the kid make his rounds while I take Chiron for all his drachmae and enjoy my wines.

Life was good.