Clandestine enigmas of the subterranean [A badger and snake story]
Disclaimer: In no way, at all, do the characters or storylines of Harry Potter or Percy Jackson belong to me; they are the intellectual property of J.K Rowling and Rick Riordan respectively. The original characters are mine obviously.
Author's Note: This story is a crossover between the characters of Harry Potter and Percy Jackson; I was inspired to write after reading Ely-Baby's stories [by the way she's a fabulous writer]. The italicised parts are events that happened in the past, the parts in normal font are current. And this is my first story ever.
Prologue
Every story has a beginning, right? To truly comprehend mine, I have to let you in on some of my family's history. My parents are not normal, by any remote means, and that right there is a massive clue.
First of all, my dad is a god, literally speaking, as in one of the twelve Olympians. My mum was a goddess, before she got cursed. Her best friend, Nyx, transformed my mum from a faded Titaness into an immortal Witch.
My parents had a forbidden union, only because there was a prophecy, that was never fulfilled because the uncle I never speak of, was so terrified of my parents falling in love that he did everything [quite literally] to prevent them from ever meeting.
Eros, otherwise known as Cupid, was employed to make my dad fall for someone he would never love [amortentia has a similar effect so I'm told] and my mum was fated to love someone who would never return her affections.
[Set around 500BCE]
[Mum's P.O.V]
One dusky evening after my older brother Helios was descending from the skies with the horse-driven solar chariot, I did my nightly ritual of bathing in the waters of Okeanos before starting my evening job, so to speak.
I was relaxing, and then from below the surface of the waters, I hear a terrible row.
"You never even attempted to love me, Poseidon!" Amphitrite screeched, in a tone that would surely damage the hearing of any underwater creature.
"You know what, I can't be bothered with you any longer, Amphitrite," Poseidon declared calmly enough, before harnessing one of his beautiful hippocampi and leaving his underwater palace, presumably to calm down. I see a rush of bubbles and a shape appearing near the surface, as I exit the water to cover myself with my dress.
His head and that of his hippocampi break through the surface and he locks gazes with me, alas, it's a look I wish my mortal lover would give me, except he's constantly asleep. To hide myself from his intense gaze, I throw my sable waist-length tresses over my shoulder; strap the bridles around my two golden Pegasus, Shiner and Bright, flick the reins and set the lunar chariot into motion as we ascend to the skies.
Meanwhile on Mt. Olympus
Aphrodite was gazing in her sparkling mirror, when she felt two souls create the soul-mate bond and grinned to herself. 'Oh true love, nothing can be more beautiful, except for me naturally' she thought, touching up her changeable hair.
Meanwhile on Earth
[Dad's P.O.V]
I gazed down at the surf rushing onto the sand and whispered "Aphrodite, I need your help, please." My fellow Olympian then appeared in a shower of pink shimmering diamonds, "Uncle Poseidon, you've fallen in love with your true soul-mate so naturally I'll help." Aphrodite's hair was changing from a natural blonde to as dark as midnight. She twirled her now waist-length hair around one of her fingers, smiled and winked.
"Who else knows about this?" I ask warily, my 'niece' does have the uncanny reputation of meddling in others' love lives.
"Oh just Eros and myself, of course," she said breezily enough before frowning, her eyes turning from a light blue to a silver, as in the same colour as the full Moon. Then naturally we both heard a shriek from the depths of my underwater palace "I'm leaving you for Delphinus, and that lunar whore of yours will be forever relegated to obscurity!"
Aphrodite winced; I just shrugged nonchalantly, more than well and truly fed up with Amphitrite and her hysterics. Then from overhead and all around it seemed; we heard another voice, which made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. "Since you've cursed my best friend, reject spawn of Okeanos, you will never be able to bear any future children." Nyx snarled in a voice as cold as the Antarctic ice floes to my former wife Amphitrite.
Aphrodite remarked, "Remind me Uncle, to never piss off a protogenoi," I seconded that remark, unsurprisingly. Nyx then continued in a much softer, friendlier tone, "Selene, you will still be immortal, that first-class hag of a cousin of yours can't take that away from you; however you'll become a caster, like your nieces Circe and Pasiphae."
After Selene finished with her nightly task of driving the lunar chariot across the skies, she started descending near my temple at Corinth, and I saw her sister, Eos, trailing behind her with the dawn-light, so I took to the ocean and swam over to Corinth. I couldn't help but overhear her speaking to her pegasi, Aphrodite bless her, left a bouquet of lilies near the shore. I picked them up and approached her, clearing my throat surreptitiously to gain her attention, shameful I know.
[Aphrodite's appearance changes itself to suit the person's preferences, so naturally she appeared like Selene]
I heard Aphrodite's voice in my head, 'be cool, Uncle, don't be too cocky and sure of yourself,' naturally Selene turned around at my pathetic throat-clearing and just raised an eyebrow sardonically.
"Good morning Selene, I'm sorry about last night with that awful row you heard, to apologise for that I got you these," I babbled a bit, feeling more idiotic with each breath, as she almost glided over to me, as I held out the bouquet of lilies to her.
"Thank you, they're lovely," she said, smiling radiantly, inhaling the flower's perfume. I saw her pegasi gaze at me, understanding equines was as natural to me as controlling the oceans. They then bowed their heads, and Selene gazed at them, quirking an eyebrow at their behaviour.
I clicked my tongue, beckoning them over and they trotted toward me, their appearance almost as radiant as my own son's, the original and first Pegasus.
"You really look after your pegasi well, Selene," I commented, running a hand over their coats as their coats gleamed. I heard a couple of voices in my head, asking for a bunch of carrots, coincidentally their favourite treat. Chuckling a bit, I waved my hand and brought forth a bunch of carrots for both Shiner and Bright. They neighed gratefully, before dropping to their flanks and eating their carrots.
"Thank you Poseidon, that means a lot coming from you, since your son Is Lord Pegasus," I quirked a smile at her, playfully ruffled Shiner and Bright's manes, bowed courteously to Selene and went to inspect the damage left by typhoon Amphitrite.
As I approached the gates leading to my palace, I saw cascading pink diamonds heralding my infamous relative's imminent appearance. "Well played Uncle, I was panicking at first, but that was masterful, complimenting her on how well she looks after her pegasi, a stroke of utter genius." Aphrodite said, nudging me, still appearing as Selene's doppelganger. I just smiled and walked into the courtyard of the coral palace, my smile quickly faded though.
[Mum's P.O.V]
"Oh stars! Sel! You totally have to tell me who that dishy guy was who gave you those beautiful flowers," my exuberant younger sister Eos said, talking rapidly in her usual effervescent manner. Normally it didn't bother me, today was a different matter though.
"Eos, you have so many guys chasing you, can I have just one that you don't want for yourself?" I asked, uncharacteristically sharp with the sister I adored.
"Naturally Selene, oh here comes big bro, I better get going otherwise his horses will breathe fire all over my starry silk dress," she said smiling cheekily, our temporary disagreement forgotten to her, as our older brother's head appeared above the horizon.
I saw my baby sister take flight, her rosy wings spread, with her three daughters following in her stardust wake; then heard the thundering of Helios' fiery stallions as the solar chariot soared overhead.
"Sel, my daughter's looking for you, I saw her a few moments ago, she's on her island 'entertaining' Odysseus and his crew," Helios exclaimed with a chuckle, flicking the reins so Phaeton and Icarus cantered faster.
Muttering a brief curse word in Ancient Greek, I started navigating my way to Circe's Island, Aeaea. Naturally the currents of the sea were tumultuous around her island, I suspect that is Poseidon's handiwork, due to Odysseus mortally wounding one of Poseidon's sons.
[Yeah, we gods tend to be extremely vengeful on behalf of our children, sort of akin to how any parent should be about their child, regardless of whether their child is a Hyperborean man-eating Cyclops or a giant lion, yeah; we tend to have abnormal children]
Then as I entered the sea, the currents around me lessened entirely in their ferocity, I hoped that was Poseidon calming his domain. The waves almost lulled me over to my niece's island, rocking me gently, and then as I stepped out and onto land, I gazed behind me, thanked him and saw the currents once again become turbulent.
"Circe! Your dad said you wished to see me, darling niece," I said, seeing a man-sized pig who looked far too intelligent to be a pig, squeal and run around the courtyard, as my brunette-haired niece with wild braids tied into knots came sauntering out in her royal purple silk chiton.
"Auntie Sel! I felt something different about you," she declared musically, as we entered her house. Fragrant floral incense of jasmine, ylang-ylang, and myrtle perfumed the air, the grey smoke spiralling through the air almost hypnotically, weaving its own magic. We collapsed gracefully down on the bean-bags she had artfully placed around the receiving room; in the centre was her cauldron and looking glass.
"I know that you're aware of what happened to me Cir," I replied, cognizant that she would've been watching in her looking water that night.
"You're a caster like me now Auntie," she confirmed what Nyx had transformed me into.
'Thank you Nyx,' I thought silently, knowing what Amphitrite tried doing to me. I heard my best friend's voice in my head, as if she was right next to me, 'you're welcome Selene, that bitch isn't allowed to mess with my best friend.'
"So, the first thing you'll have to learn is how to believe in yourself, and your gift will happen." Circe declared.
Then I felt another presence join the room, my other niece Pasiphae strolled in, wearing a blazing orange chiton, her long ash-blonde hair in a long cascading ponytail, a golden collar necklace adorning her neckline.
"Phae, how have you been sister?" Circe asked, and Pasiphae just shrugged.
"Minos is being his usual self," my niece's usual melodic voice nigh barked out scornfully.
"So Auntie, your cousin cursed you?" Pasiphae now turned her emerald-green gaze to me, to which I nodded. Pasiphae wandered over to me, and closed her eyes.
"Cir, Auntie still has her own abilities intact; ooh the magic is deep in her veins," Pasiphae exclaimed, as Circe and her both rounded on me.
"Ok Auntie, show us what you can do and we'll teach you the rest," Circe pleaded, before Pasiphae abruptly interjected with "Cir, we don't even know if Auntie knows how to use her innate abilities before we even begin showing her how to do our sorts of magic."
"Oh gods you're right Phae," Circe conceded.
I closed my eyes, exhaled deeply and concentrated, feeling darkness steal over my body, effectively rendering me invisible. "Auntie, you're disappearing," both my nieces simultaneously exclaimed. I then inhaled and focussed on dispersing the darkness as my body became visible again. I then tried focussing on projecting light like my father and brother do, only my light appeared silvery, instead of golden.
Then we all collectively felt a sudden, sharp rumble that lasted for five minutes, directly accompanied by a bellow of unrestrained fury. I looked out through the entrance to Circe's temple and saw the waves of the ocean grow to an insurmountable height.
"Auntie, I'm sure the god of the seas needs you, you may be the only one capable of calming him, hopefully before he destroys everything!" my nieces pleaded, as they held each other's hands, looking terrified.
[Dad's P.O.V]
I saw my herd of hippocampi lying down on the seafloor near the stables, blood pouring from their throats, their eyes all looking glassy, the sword I gave Amphitrite to defend herself, stained with the blood of my faithful steeds.
Aphrodite gasped in horror; I struck the seafloor with my trident, triggering an ocean-wide submarine earthquake, thus earning the epithet 'Earth-shaker'. I bellowed furiously in Ancient Greek "πηγαίνετε στο κοράκια Αμφιτρίτη, ο αδελφός μου ο Άδης θα αποθεματικό μια θέση για σας στους Τομείς της τιμωρίας! Ελπίζω Δελφιν αφήνει τον κώλο εξαπάτηση σας, αυτο-εξυπηρετούν κουράδα μοχθηρό, άκαρδος, ασπόνδυλο καμήλας!" [That sentence roughly translates to 'go to the crows Amphitrite, my brother Hades will reserve a place for you in the Fields of Punishment! I hope Delphinus leaves your cheating arse, you self-serving, spiteful, heartless, spineless camel's turd!']
I cleared a space near the stables to bury my selfless companions in, before making a constellation in the form of a hippocampus, to show my affection for my fallen charioteers. Aphrodite rested her hand on my shoulder, and I felt Selene enter my domain.
I swam up to the surface to meet her and saw how terrified she was, yet determined at the same time, she was waist deep in the sea, courageously wading out further.
"What are you doing here, Selene?" I inquired, calming my temper, the waves starting to lessen, "I know something bad happened Poseidon; otherwise there wouldn't be any reason for you to cause earthquakes and rising seas. What happened?" she asked.
"Amphitrite…murdered my herd of hippocampi…" I replied, reining in my anger and sorrow. Selene just walked up to me, gathered me close and hugged me.
"I'm so sorry Poseidon, I know you absolutely adore those animals," she murmured, as I wept on her shoulder, as I realised how deep I was falling for her. I then heard Aphrodite's voice in my head 'well if Amphitrite hoped that by killing your hippocampi, that you'd frighten Selene off, looks like her plan is going horribly wrong,' she started laughing, and that thought made me smile. I then broke away from Selene, subconsciously knowing she was still involved with that Latmian prince Endymion. So I thanked her for being a friend, bowed and dove back under the waves.
Aphrodite just looked and grinned, seeing my change in mood. I was still seething about Amphitrite, but tentatively hopeful about my budding friendship with Selene.
"Uncle, we all know you don't just want to be Selene's friend," she half admonished, clicking her tongue.
"While that's true, Aphrodite, I presume she's still with that shepherd of hers and I don't want to be the rebound guy ,if I didn't love her I wouldn't care about being the rebound guy, however I'm in love with her, so I'm more than content to wait and be her friend in the meantime." I admitted softly.
"Oh gods Uncle, that's so adorable! If every guy in the world was like that, there would be no unhappy relationships." Aphrodite sighed happily, before asking the question she already knew the answer to. "So how come Amphitrite was so unhappy, because I know you happen to be a hopeless romantic."
"I was just minding my own business one day, when I felt one of your son's accursed arrows sticking out of my back, and Amphitrite was there. So I started courting her, she played coy and hard to get, so I asked Delphin to seek her out and list all my best qualities which he did. She gave in and we got married. She wanted children, and I was too busy creating my palace, so she started sleeping with Delphin behind my back, all the while screaming at the top of her lungs that I was cheating on her. Delphin came to me a few weeks ago, asking my permission to allow them to wed, saying that Amphitrite was pregnant with his child, and that she was finally considering formally divorcing me, by which time, I couldn't care less. The night I saw Selene was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back, I telepathically told Delphin he more than had my permission, and good luck. Ironically enough I did try feeling something for her, but obviously to her I didn't put in enough of an effort." I just laughed darkly.
"And you stayed with her even though she was cheating on you," Aphrodite remarked, astonished. I just nodded.
"Oh Uncle, I'd love to stay and chat underwater with you some more, but someone else is summoning me, you know how it is being an Olympian, love never rests, toodles Uncle Poseidon!" she exuberantly gave me a kiss on the cheek, winked and disappeared in her usual display of pink diamonds.
[Mum's P.O.V]
I wandered out of the sea, feeling an immense amount of sorrow on Poseidon's behalf, knowing how much he loved his sea-horses, and overwhelming confusion. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach, and as far as I knew that only happened at night-time when I took my place in the skies and saw my impossibly young and handsome, eternally asleep lover. Knowing there was only one goddess who could help answer these questions, I approached the shore and whispered "Aphrodite, please help me."
A moment later she appeared; a cheeky smile on her capricious features. "Hmm, let me guess, I have black hair and sea-green eyes now?" she asked without needing me to confirm it. 'Wait a minute' I thought to myself, 'my preference is dark haired and dark-eyed, isn't it? Oh gods I'm confused!' Aphrodite looked at me and just smiled.
"As you can tell, I'm confused Aphrodite, I mean I love a shepherd, however he hasn't ever seen me, since he's constantly asleep, and now there's a guy who is really confusing the issue." I cried desperately.
"And you want to know how these guys feel about you, naturally, I mean any woman would. Endymion, as handsome as he is, is as you said eternally sleeping. So, tell me about this other guy,"
"Well," I started to say, before blushing a wild dusky rose, "he's really good-looking, tall, dark-haired, loves horses, loves the oceans," I start babbling like a teenager with a crush. Aphrodite just grinned even more which made me blush more.
"And it so happens that he's married," I continued, sighing sadly, which I had no idea I was.
"Ah, you haven't heard the latest then, Selene, he's now single. I happen to also know that he is completely smitten with you, actually smitten doesn't even come close to it, more like head over heels in love with you, however he knows you're technically still with Endymion. I was just speaking to him and he's happy to be your friend at the moment, it's so sweet of him."
"Did he ever love… her?" I ask, my heart in my throat, fearing the answer surprisingly.
She shook her head and inwardly I breathed a huge sigh of relief; however that brought on a new series of questions.
"So why did he stay with her, if he didn't love her?"
"Misplaced loyalty, I guess, she never actually loved him at all, he was just a possession of hers, she was in love with Delphin all the time," I gasped in shock.
"It gets worse, trust me. She was sleeping with Delphin after he tried feeling something for her, but never could, because she was never the one he was meant to be with. So even though she was cheating on him, he stayed with her." Aphrodite continued.
"So why did it take her so long to release her crab-like vice hold on him?" I pondered out loud.
"Because she knew it would hurt him, to keep him from someone he could fall for and be loved in return by. When she killed his hippocampi, it was a direct sucker-punch to him."
"Vindictive old crab!" I snarled angrily.
Aphrodite chuckled, "couldn't have said it better myself, but now it seems as though you have a decision to make Selene,"
I nodded gravely, as Aphrodite bade me adieu and disappeared in her usual manner. I saw my nieces' wave frantically as they came running at full speed out to me.
"Obviously you calmed Lord Poseidon down," Pasiphae declared.
"Phae, Auntie looks like she's really deep in thought," Circe admonished, playfully swatting her sister's arm.
"Sorry my dear nieces, there's just something I have to do," I muttered, taking a deep breath and focussing on making the shadows envelop my body.
"Cir, look," Pasiphae nudged her slightly older sister, as the shadows clung to me and then I brought my arms out, making a portal big enough to jump through as I pictured the cave on Mount Latmos clearly in my mind, then stepped through. I felt the breath of my nephew Zephyros, the western wind, on my neck, as I came to an abrupt stop in the cave of Mount Latmos.
"Auntie, shadow travelled?!" Circe almost shrieked in surprise. Up until then I had no idea of what I had just done and I wouldn't learn about it until I saw my nieces, and they would explain it to me.
I bent down over Endymion's sleeping form and sighed forlornly. 'What is the point of loving someone so much if they don't even know that you exist, let alone what you look like,' I thought, facing the painful reality. I couldn't even bring myself to kiss him, knowing what I had felt for him was all for naught, so finally deciding what my next course of action was, I clicked my fingers, and his eyes fluttered open.
"Who are you? Where am I?" he mumbled sleepily.
"My name is Selene, you're in a cave, and I daresay your family will be wondering where you've gotten to, probably best to go and find them," I said calmly, before turning away and disappearing back through the shadowy portal to Aeaea.
"Cir, Auntie's back," Pasiphae nudged Circe again.
"Auntie, what happened?" Circe asked; a concerned look on her face.
"I finally let Endymion go, in the end I realised I only lusted after him for his looks, gods I sound so shallow, and we were nothing but perfect strangers to each other."
[Dad's P.O.V]
"Uncle, someone's just realised something monumental, and as a direct result of her realisation has officially let him go," I heard Aphrodite before she appeared.
"Let me guess, you've just been speaking to her,"
"Naturally Uncle, I helped her see something she already knew."
"Is she upset by this realisation?" I asked, hoping that she wasn't, but readying my trident to blast the mortal prince into the depths of Tartarus if he emotionally hurt her.
"Surprisingly no, she's actually quite calm about the whole episode, however, this might be her way of hiding any emotional pain she is feeling, so if I were you, I'd wait for her to make the next move and just have a few boxes of tissues ready if she needs to have a good cry," and people accuse Aphrodite of being dense, she actually has very good counsel and advice especially when it comes to relationships.
"So your advice is be there for her, listen, and bide my time when it concerns beginning a relationship with her," I surmised, to which Aphrodite nodded sagely.
"Speaking of a particular someone, and she's bound to appear in 3… 2… 1," Aphrodite made a quick exit as a portal appeared in my throne room and Selene stepped out of it.
"Selene…?" I asked, albeit a bit uncertainly, as she strolled up to me and flung herself headlong into my arms.
"Is it true then?" she mumbled against my shoulder, she looked up at me with those bright silvery eyes; I quirked an eyebrow, clearly not comprehending what she was asking.
"That Amphitrite and you are finished," she clarified, to which I nodded and she smiled radiantly.
"What about you? Are you and Endymion…?" I asked, not wanting to cause her any distress.
"Splitsville from an hour ago, I let him go," she replied, smiling serenely.
"And you're ok about it?" I asked reluctantly. She just grinned cheekily and nodded.
"The reason I'm more than ok about it is because some goddess chirruped in my ear and said that a certain god of the seas happens to like me, a lot." Selene teased; surely that was just my imagination?
'Uncle, she's flirting!' I heard Aphrodite yell telepathically.
"Oh, like is too much of an understatement," I replied softly, to which Selene really turned the megawatt smile up in radiance.
So over the course of a few months, we started dating, and Selene would spend more time with me in the coral palace before we finally said those few words that made us inseparable.
It was one spring morning, when we were sitting down for breakfast, that she said those few words that made my heart pound, "I love you Poseidon."
As usual, I just looked stunned for a few seconds, before saying "I'm head over heels in love with you Selene; I have been since we first met."
To Aphrodite it was no surprise that I proposed to Selene that very night after I told her how much I adored her. She burst into tears of happiness,[I think] and accepted.
[Mum's P.O.V]
We had a simple but beautiful seaside wedding, Eos being my maid of honour, my nieces being my bridesmaids, Hades being Poseidon's best man. My wedding dress was an elegant oyster-hued chiton, golden moon-shaped circlets securing the fabric. My mother Theia, adorned my sable tresses with a present she had commissioned Hephaestus' workers to make especially for this occasion, a white gold sapphire studded tiara.
"Mum, it's beautiful," I gushed, to which she shook her head.
"No, my darling Selene, you're beautiful." She hugged me close, and gave me her blessings. My brother Helios walked me up the aisle, and I gazed up at my soon-to-be husband and gave him a smile filled with love.
He looked at me as though I was the most beautiful woman he'd ever laid eyes on and I felt beautiful in his gaze.
We finally got up to the part of the ceremony where we both said "I do," and then he dipped me theatrically and kissed me, much to the delight of the family we had assembled there. Then after the ceremony was over, Hades made his toast, which caused my husband to chuckle. I yawned slightly, feeling a bit exhausted.
"Ok everyone, the bride's looking tired, time for all of us to head back to Olympus, we'll let them cut the cake tomorrow in Uncle's palace," Aphrodite charmspokeeveryone, putting enough persuasion in her voice to even sway the will of the Olympians.
"Thank you Aphrodite," Poseidon said gratefully, before taking my hand and teleporting us down to the coral palace.