Rated: T

Disclaimer: Once again, I owe nothing except the Ocs specially created for this story. Everything canon here or you recognise from the books, belong to Rick Riordan.

Warning: Eventual slash. Foul language ahead and a lot more stuff. A few rather needed Ocs here and there too. Oh, yeah. Slash means Boyxboy, so if it's not your taste, please don't read.


Chapter 02

Baby steps


Being a baby sucked. Big time.

As a baby, my only three available options were wail, poop and sleep. All which were not appealing one bit to a half-pissed, half-dazed mentally seventeen years old baby like me.

Of course, there was the fourth option of suckle, but I refused to acknowledge that option until it forced itself into my face when I could see clearly. Because, let me affirm this. The eyesight of a baby was absolute crap.

(And god, feeding time was probably the only time I was grateful for my shit eyesight. I felt like a bloody peeping tom every time my own mother-and how weird was that? A different mother-breastfed me. I soon came to hate it as much diaper changing time. Eugh.)

It took me a long time to recognise my situation. And it took me an embarrassingly even longer amount to accept it, after what must have been like five continuous breakdowns. I had caused my new parents a hella lot of stress during that time of my life.

All those bloody stories about characters getting rebirthed were grossly exaggerated and I had gained a new appreciation for all those people who were thrown into this kind of shit. But seriously

though, a lot of stories painted out their characters calmly accepting what had happened to them. How the fuck could anyone accept a situation like this so calmly?

After my hysteria had declined itself enough for me to think, I had skipped past the why and how I was here, figuring that the reasons would show themselves one day, to the where part of my questions.

Honestly speaking, I had no idea where I had been reborn into. For all the time that I was here, I had yet to hear-because at this point of my life, my eyes were of near to no help at all-of any clues that would help me figure out which kind of reality I had been unwillingly dropped into.

Had I been reborn on the Earth I was familiar with? The Earth I had died on? Or had I been dropped into some fictional world like every other character in my situation had been?

Because quite frankly, if I had been reborn into some franchise like freaking Akame Ga Kill, or worse, Attack on fucking titan, I would flip my shit.

Because as much as I enjoyed watching these kind of anime, I did not want live in anime shows like those two, thank you very much.

Squirming, I squinted my eyes, trying to see as much as I could with my limited field of vision. My eyes could see as far as what I estimated to be approximately three feet, so I could at least see some things clearly, although it would have been of more help if I could get up. This little factor also helped me determine my age.

And it had only felt like mere hours ago when I had popped out of my new mum's stomach. And wow, had two months really passed that fast?

Perking up when I heard the telltale creak of the door, I lifted my head up to see the loving face of my dad. My new dad was a handsome guy.

While David Johnson - I steadily ignored the numb sting of pain at the mere thought of my father - had been a lanky, thin man with neatly combed blonde hair and warm brown eyes, the man face to face with me was one of a tall but well muscled frame with military styled black hair and equally as warm brown eyes. Whereas David Johnson was a man of Western descent, this man here was clearly from the East.

Both were completely different, but I knew that I would one day come to love and see this man as my father as I had with my previous one.

Gentle hands cradled me up as he stared affectionately at me. A smile wormed its way onto his face and I just knew that I was smiling back at him just as brightly as he was at me.

"Hey, little guy." he muttered. "You're energetic today, aren't you? Well that's good. You're gonna need it. You'll be meeting some friends of your mummy and daddy today. Their kids as well. I'm sure all of you will get along just fine."

While outside I was-to my slight horror-girly giggling like a madman high on drugs, inwardly I was excited, and my head was running faster than a cheetah ever could. Finally, I could see other people! While I did like my new parents, it got boring real quick to see only them.

Sure, they had to have taken me out a few times to show off, but those times had unfortunately always happened while I was on another unscheduled nap. So really? The only people I had actually ever seen in this place were my parents.

It was so frustrating these days, as I was compelled to act like a baby at my every waking moment. Sometimes I gave in, sometimes I didn't. I seriously couldn't wait to grow up.

"Now, let's get you all cleaned up," he hummed, picking at the orange onesie laid out for me on my changing table.

I grimaced. Yup, I couldn't wait for the day my body started catching up with my mentality.


Humming a nostalgic old lullaby in Chinese that his mother used to sing to him, Frank buttoned up the onesie as his son squirmed. Once he was finished, he gave his son a quick once-over, before deeming Emmanuel well-dressed enough.

Scooping up Emmanuel into his arms, Frank propped the baby onto his hips and made his way out of the twin's shared room and down the stairs. After checking if Samuel was still sleeping, of course. As he stepped off the last of them, he quickly caught sight of a few familiar figures chatting with Hazel in their living room.

Lounging on their deep red loveseat, Percy and Annabeth conversed happily with his wife as the husband of the Jackson couple bounced their four years old, Lucas Jackson, on his lap. His wife stroking the blonde curls of their five months old, Charles Jackson, who was cuddled up with his mother.

On their other loveseat, the Grace family were also having a chat with the Valdez couple. Both pairs had their children held in their arms, although Jason and Piper's three years old daughter was too busy playing around with the toys left on the ground to bother with what her parents were doing right now. Rena Valdez and Rohan Grace were soundly sleeping in their respective mother's embrace.

The last of the couples, the Solaces, were relaxing on the smaller couch with Reyna, the only single person here, occupying the armchair by the side. His brother-in-law and his husband were cuddling with each other while Reyna watched the television made specially for demigods to safely use, paying no mind to the two men beside her. The only ones not there were the Underwoods and the Hedges. Both were currently either out of the country or busy with something else.

All attention turned to him though when he appeared and sat by his wife's side. They were all focused on the tiny infant with him who was, for once, not sleeping.

Percy was the first to greet him, "Hey Frank! Seems like Emmanuel's finally woke up."

That seemed to be the cue that everyone was waiting for as immediately, they all started commenting about his and Hazel's youngest. Every one of them were eager to see his youngest actually awake and aware of them, and not drowsing off into another unplanned catnap.

"Oh, he's so cute! He looks like a little angel."

"He's got Hazel's eyes but the rest of the face is definitely Frank all around."

"Hot Hades! He's gonna grow to be a looker someday. Just like his brother! When they grow up, Uncle Leo's gonna teach them every trick in the book to pick up girls. If they beg, of course."

"Don't you dare, Leo!"

Frank hid a small grin as his wife admonished Leo for that statement. Really, Leo should've known better than to say that in front of Hazel. She had, after all, been born in the 1930's, and had been raised with strict morals. Of course, she wouldn't let them learn such a habit, much less from Leo. But then again, knowing Leo, he'd probably do it anyway.

"So, this is little man number two of the Zhang family huh?" Percy remarked. "Gotta say, he looks nothing like his twin brother."

Nico grunted from where he laid in Will's hold. "Can't say he looks much like Hazel either. You didn't cheat on my sister with another woman now, did you?"

He let out a nervous chuckle at the threatening glare on his brother in law's face, as his mind flashed back to a certain conversation that he and Nico had before he'd marry Hazel. Frank shuddered. Nico could be real creative when he wanted to be. Especially with threats.

Hazel giggled at the terrified look on her husband's face, "No, Nico. Frank didn't cheat on me. I'm very sure I had twins, and I'm just as sure that Emmanuel came out right after his elder brother did."

Frank slumped in relief when Nico finally relented his glare. It wasn't like Frank feared Nico (Gods no, they were family after all), but his brother in law had a glare that could rival his father, Hades.

While they talked on about trivial matters and the likes, their children-or at least, the ones that were aware of what was going on-stared at the new arrival with unrestrained curiosity.

All of them had never seen the child before. And naturally as children, they were curious of this new person they had never met or seen of until today. Eventually, with his short attention span, Charles turned away from the other infant and instead, busied himself with playing with his mother's own pretty blonde curls.

Soon, Kathryn Grace too turned her attention elsewhere. In her eyes, the toys were way more fun than the baby with Uncle Frank. The last child, the eldest of the lot-Lucas-still quietly observed the sole black haired child here. He knew Aunt Hazel had twins, two children that came out of the womb at the same time.

He had only seen Samuel before, but this baby looked very different from his twin. He thought twins were supposed to share some similarities, but they looked as different as night and day to young Lucas. While he knew they were fraternal twins-Aunt Hazel had said so after all-surely even fraternal twins shared some resemblances. Right?

He also watched as the baby's face scrunched up. With what feelings, Lucas didn't know, but if there was one thing he could confirm about Emmanuel was that he definitely had more facial expression than his brother.

Determined to find if he had missed something, he narrowed his stormy grey eyes, trying pinpoint every little detail of this new unknown.

Time passed, and it was not until a sharp, shrill cry pierced the friendly atmosphere, was Lucas' concentration and observation forcefully broken. He saw Aunt Hazel huffed amusedly before going back up to fetch the other twin.

…Perhaps he'd have better luck trying to find similarities between the Zhang twins if they were right next to each other.


When my father had brought us down, I had fully steeled myself to face the gaggle of excited people in our living room who would surely squeal my ears off and bore me to death with their-to me-monotonous talks.

Sure enough, that gaggle of people were there, but they were much quieter than I expected, which I appreciated immensely for, what with my unusually sharp hearing as a baby. I had listened in a bit to their talk out of curiosity. There wasn't really anything that caught my attention, until that skinny, elfish-looking guy opened his mouth.

Twin brother.

I had a twin brother.

An elder twin brother if what these fuzzy giants in front of me were saying was true.

Holy mother of God, how had I not notice this earlier?!

Ok, so maybe my conscious has been rather spotty and erratic in pattern, but fuck. This was a twin brother. A guy who was popped out of the womb at the same time, or before if we were being specific, as me.

So seriously. How the fuck had I not noticed this?! I had been in this world for two months already, damnit! Was this the irrefutable proof of my shot-to-hell observation skills that my prior life's darling little sister had incessantly complained about?!

I was so fixated about this new life-changing revelation that I had tune out everything around me. I felt my face twist with shock, as I still tried to process this situation. In fact, I was so shocked to the point that nothing could possibly snap me out of my stupor. At least, nothing but the sudden cry that sounded through the halls.

Head snapping up faster than I thought feasible for a baby's neck to support said action, I watched attentively as my mother-Hazel, such a different name compared to Catherine. Much simpler and… sweeter too-drifted out the room to the source of the shrill wail. I waited impatiently, expectantly, for my mother to come down with my brother.

I was not disappointed.

In only minutes, my mother had finally re-entered, but this time, with an extra, crying passenger in her arms. He looked different, very different compared to me.

He looked more African than Asian like me. His curly, cinnamon hair was tousled up in a baby version of an army buzz cut. Mine was a dark black, messily curling downwards to frame my face. His eyes were a milk chocolate brown, like Dad's, which were, right now, blurred with tears. I had Mum's bright eyes, that resembled molten gold. His skin was the shade of someone who worked long and hard under the sun. Mine was pale, not the sickly kind of pale, but the healthy sort of pale.

Overall, we. . .looked nothing alike. Like literally. The only thing we seemed to share was the gender. Even the way our bodies were built were completely different at this age; with mine being more smaller and his taking after our Dad. I could already tell this guy was gonna be a giant compared to me.

. . .Were we actually twins?

"Come now, Sammy, there's nothing to cry about." my Mum soothed. "Look. Your Aunties and Uncles are all here. So are your friends."

It didn't calm him. If anything, my brother wailed even louder. I could see the few winces of pain the loud noise did to the ears of our guests.

"Do you want Frank?" She tried handing him to Dad, but 'Sammy' squirmed away from him.

"Do you want your godfather?" This time, she tried giving him to Leo, but my brother didn't want him either, prompting a mock-hurt expression from the elfish dude. So his name was Leo? And we had godparents?

"Do you want your brother?" I wonder who were my godpa-wait. What?

That seemed to be what he wanted as immediately, he stopped crying and started beckoning excitedly towards me.

Since I was a baby, I couldn't move much. At two months old, all I could do was weakly grasp things and move my hands, but that was it. So unless my Dad suddenly decided to hightail out of the house with me, I wasn't going have a snowball chance in hell to escape sibling bonding time.

I didn't hate the idea of having a sibling; after all, I had been an elder brother to one, but I had always been uncomfortable with unneeded physical contact. And the trait had still carried on into this life too.

I squirmed, but it seemed like my twin didn't like the idea of me not getting used to him, as he once again started bawling his eyes out.

Geez, ok! I get it! I thought, panicked while the cries increased in sound, prompting one baby to start crying and two others to wake up and start wailing as well. Lucky for me, the two obviously older children stayed quiet, as the adults started fussing over their respective infants. Go ahead! Cuddle me all you want and that shizz. Just. Stop. Crying.

Somehow, he understood me. As soon as he stopped, the other babies started to calm down too. For some strange, obscure reason, I felt like I had just lost a battle.

Immediately, Mum tucked Sammy into Dad's hold with me, relieved that he wasn't crying now. He cuddled into me, and after a second of hesitation, I did the same as well.

I could hear the cooing of compliments over us, and suddenly, felt rather miffed that I had given in so easily to the demands of an actual baby.

But as I felt the warm head on mine and saw the childishly happy grin on his face, all miffed annoyance left me as I gazed at the joy somehow expressed on my twin's face.

Yes. I couldn't wait to grow up. I couldn't wait to have a bigger body and was impatient for it. I couldn't wait to be older. . .but perhaps I could take the chance to try enjoy babyhood? I had a good childhood in my past life, but how many people could claim they remembered every single thing from their time as a baby. Not many I was sure.

Yes. I wanted to grow, but maybe for now, I should take things slow.

After all, baby steps, right?

Annnnd done! So here we are with the second chapter that took a goddamn month to break out.

SO, um, to all of you who like this story, Thanks! I really appreciate it. Now this author note is here to outline a few details about this story.

To WiseGirlGeek: Thanks.

To DarkDust27: Thanks for the compliment. While I will take into consideration what you want, I'm sorry to say that I can't pair Emmanuel with any of the canon cast. The reason why is going to be explained in the next paragraph.

One, this story is set after the book series. Meaning after the Giant war, after the Titan war, after everything. This story, though, will not include the Trials of Apollo, so to all those who've read that book, just pretend that Zeus gave Apollo another similar punishment. Meaning he was still turned mortal. But yeah, the story setting is after the PJaTO and HoO series.

So no offense, but I don't wanna take Thalia out of the Hunters. And Solangelo is a cute pairing. And to make my story work, I need all the canon pairings. So essentially, this entire story is about the next generation of demigods/legacies.

But don't worry! Because I'm gonna put them-specifically Emmanuel-through one hell of a time in this world. After all, they had to have inherited their parents' godawful luck. All of them.

Also sorry if anyone wanted some timeskip. If you read reincarnation fanfiction, it'll take time to develop…most of the time. This chapter is essentially just showing how dear Emmanuel is currently adapting to his situation.

So, once again, thank you! And I'm gonna sign off for some dinner now. See ya!