Daughter of the Gods

by Faded Sky

Interlude I

Interlude I
Hecate is royally pissed off.

Hecate stormed to the portal location, finding it nowhere in sight. She fumed silently for a moment, before taking hold of something, the Mist that covered the borders between worlds. She pulled hard, and a tear appeared, which she anchored to a tree.

Something was wrong. Seriously wrong, the sort of wrong that had Hecuba all anxious and Gale the polecat particularly pungent. The sort of wrong that jangled harshly like broken windchimes knocked to the floor when she turned her attention to the mirror she'd made so many years ago, the mirror that connected this world with one of the branching worlds that lined up just so. The mirror that connected her to Celestia, to Sunset. The mirror that was - there wasn't a name for it, not really, not in any mortal language, not in anything but qualia, the sense-memories of things that are so subjective she could plant the sensation into someone else's head and they would feel it differently.

Sunset had vanished from the edges of her awareness four years ago, in a vague burst of harsh-sun-flaring-magic-rebellious-anger, vanished in a way that made the mirror she'd made chime. She hadn't been so concerned then, too enveloped in the complicated mix of grudges, stewing resentment and well-hidden affection that governed the politics of lesser gods - not that Hecate was lesser in any way ... but she wasn't exactly an Olympian, nor one of the elder gods. And she was in trouble, too, for Alabaster's choice of siding with Kronos. It had been his choice, though, his turn to stand at the crossroads of fate, with the Moirai's eyes on his back, her Mist sliding around him, and there was nothing she could do.

Sunset had vanished, and she hadn't thought on it, hadn't really had the time to, not with the war ramping up, and Celestia had loved their daughter, so she'd ... let it be, let Sunset slide to the back of her mind, allowed herself to forget until a better time arose. But this was that better time, the war was over, she was mostly above suspicion now, and the Olympians were even reluctantly grateful for her manipulation of her Mist that let her divert attention from the Battle of Manhatten, Typhon's rise and defeat and the destruction of several major bridges.

But something was wrong and she'd only just figured out what: Sunset had not been there, and now she was. It was like holding something that you didn't realise was heavy until you put it down and your arms ached, but more ... not realising you couldn't find your daughter until suddenly you could.

Hecate gathered herself, drawing all the wisps of Mist back to herself, shrouding herself and letting herself fall into three, twisting her portal around her and stepping into the amphitheatre in Camp Half-Blood, swamping the area with magic-infused mist.

She ignored Chiron, the campers who gawked at her, and focused her eyes (all six, from three different angles, each catching on a new bruise, the bags under her tear-lined eyes, her reddened nose) on her daughter, something akin to panic, alien and unfamiliar, bursting through her veins.

"Sunset?" she asked, wanting so badly to believe that this young woman was not her daughter, that her child was not looking so lost, just barely holding on to her composure, "Sunset Shimmer?"

"Yes?" her daughter replied, and Hecate stepped forwards, let herself start to coalesce back into a single form, Hecuba and Gale still around her feet.

"You shouldn't be here. You were supposed to come through next year. Did something happen with the mirror? What happened?" she asked, and maybe she already knew, in that bone-deep way that sometimes things were just known, but it was good to ask, polite, one of her lovers had said, to not show that she could read futures like a book, and a children's one at that, the sort with large font, bright pictures, and few words. It was kind, to not show people that she could rip the thoughts from their minds, and as a "lesser" goddess, it was better to be kind. For now.

"What do you mean?" her daughter asked, "I went through four years ago, but I didn't end up here. I only came here this morning."

Well now. That was something.

She let herself draw together fully, solidified into one form, one face, one pair of eyes, drew the Mist in slightly so it didn't swamp the poor children - not that she really cared, that was, but there would be problems if one of them keeled over from seeing things that weren't there. Madness may have been Dionysus' forte, but Hecate was the Lady of the Crossroads, of Choices and Magic, and seeing one's future often drove people mad, just ask the Oracle.

"Hecate, what do you want?" Chiron asked, off somewhere to her left. She didn't look at him, eyes focused on the red-yellow streaks of Sunset's hair, gentle waves tangled, her golden skin sallow with exhaustion.

Someone was going to die.

"What do I want? It is no matter of yours," she dismissed him, dark(darkdark, emptiness-of-the-universe) eyes narrowing. "Now, Sunset, why did you come here now of all times?" the goddess asked Sunset, curiosity masking the rage that flared up, green sparks contained beneath her skin (because Greek Fire was hers after all, and it seemed someone was going to burn).

Author's Note:

guys, I have no good explanation, I am so so sorry.
I'm not abandoning this work, i must reiterate.

Shit.

So a lot has happened in the ... ... five years ... ... since I last updated.

(I feel so so guilty guys, I have no excuse)

I graduated high school, I'm now legally an adult, I've started university, I fell out of this fandom and into a deep deep rabbithole on Ao3, I forgot entirely about this fic and I returned because I finally logged back on to read time loop fic.

Yeah.

This ought to tide you over until I get the next chapter up and running, which may be a while as I have to remember where I was going with this story.

It was honestly not my intention to abandon this fic, and now I have to keep going or the guilt will eat me alive so. It's not much (and looking back at the earlier chapters, my writing has improved drastically) but it should do for now.

Again, I must reiterate my sincerest apologies.

Comments, criticism etc heavily encouraged.

Comments

[Skyblazer9]

It's very good to see you come back again and congratulations on graduating high school.

I've got a very good feeling of what exactly that Hecate is going to burn down and that's Canterlot High School along with the Rainbooms.

[Efadd]

Hey, it's alive! Nice!

[badninja]

Interesting to see this story return. Now I wonder how Celestia will fare in all of this. I think Sunset’s past attitude will be concerning but I think Twilight will catch everyone’s attention.

[GhostCreator]

Is it possible to burn the goddess of the sun?

[AngelaCA]

Oh so it's still alive well that was something, the story is good so far and finally updating I hope😅 also your in Ao3 any works there of your that might peak my interest?

[Marauder15]

Good to have you back

[Haver]

More

[AvoidingFever17]

11349326
Not really

[ILikeFanfiction1234]

I hope this story continues its very enjoyable and it left off on a very interesting spot.

[Esorial]

Having read the a/n from over a year ago, it still gives me hope that this will someday get the attention it deserves, but the author needn't feel pressured. We have patience, some of us.