AN: First off I am glad you all enjoyed the last chapter. This chapter is where we get to meet the twins, I'm sure some of you have been waiting for it. Anyways, I want to thank everyone who reviewed, and I hope you all like this chapter.

.

.

.

The Sea's Daughter: Sea of Monsters.

Chapter 10: Born of Sea, Magic and Shadows.

Chiron shifted on his hoofs uncomfortably as he waited the few seconds required for Iris to connect him to Olympus' throne room.

He was lucky that the council was having a meeting, or it may have taken him longer to get a hold of Artemis.

"My Lords, ladies, I apologize for interrupting your meeting," he said, bowing as the Olympians all looked at him from the message.

Some wondered why he was messaging them from Camp Half-Blood he was sure. After all, he should have been packing to leave by now, what with Thalia's tree in such a dire state, but Thalia's circumstances would have to wait with the news he had.

"Chiron, what is this about?" Zeus demanded, in just as bad of a mood as Chiron had thought he'd be. He hadn't taken the poisoning of his daughter's tree well. Not that he'd expected the King of Olympus to be anything less.

"I'm afraid we...have an situation here," Chiron began. "It is imperative we have the assistance of Artemis, or even Eileithyia will do."

The gods all seemed even more confused on this, and Poseidon raised an eyebrow, asking what they all wanted to know.

"What sort of situation, Chiron?"

Chiron took a deep breath, and said, "She's in labor, Melinda, she went into labor less then thirty minutes ago. I've set her up in the infirmary, and had our most advanced Apollo children watch over her, but none have the experience needed to deliver twins."

The gods' eyes all widened, and Artemis stood, a look of determination on her face.

"I'll be right there," she said, and the gods all looked at her with some surprise. It wasn't everyday Artemis actually delivered babies, much less volunteered. "Apollo, I may need your assistance."

Apollo blinked, shaking off his surprise at his sister's declaration (it was rather easy to forget Artemis was the goddess of Childbirth), and nodded.

Zeus seemed as if he wanted to speak up against the two going off to the Camp, even for this, but he stopped himself; he really didn't want to get on Hecate's bad side. As it was, it didn't matter. This was a small matter in his opinion and was well within his children's duties, Artemis more so than Apollo, but Apollo was the god of medicine.

With a sigh he nodded, waving his hand dismissively.

"So be it, Artemis and Apollo, you two are dismissed."

The twin gods nodded once, and Chiron new they had left even if he didn't see them flash away as the connection ended after Zeus spoke.

"This day won't be soon forgotten in camp history, that's for sure," the centaur muttered as he turned and left the big house to greet Apollo and Artemis when they arrived.

.

.

.

Melinda laid in one of the infirmary beds, dressed in a hospital-like light gray gown, hair tied back in a low ponytail. Two Apollo children, Chance and Will were with her, and Percy, Annabeth, and Tyson stood out of the way from them as they made sure she was alright.

Unfortunately, the two Apollo children couldn't do much, seeing as they had no idea how to handle this kind of situation. Added to this there were no pain killers to help Melinda's pain, which had grown with her contractions. Mentally she was cursing Hades, and the giants who had attacked Meriwether. It was possible she'd have been in a hospital right now if not for them attacking and her having to return to camp early.

"Do you have any idea when the babies will come?" Annabeth asked, and Chance and Will exchanged looks.

"I'm sorry, Annabeth, but we don't know much about childbirth. Give us a injury to heal and we know what to do exactly, but other than making her as comfortable as we can, and making sure there aren't any health risks that we could detect, we have on idea what to do," Will told the daughter of Athena.

Percy gritted his teeth and Melinda, who sat up in the bed against many fluffy pillows, shook her head.

"This shouldn't be happening, I need a hospital, with lots of doctors and lot and lots of pain killers!" Melinda said, groaned painfully at the end at the pains going through her.

"Is Ms. Mel going to be okay?" Tyson asked, concerned as he looked at Percy.

Percy looked at Tyson, seeing the one watery eye staring back at him. Annabeth's revelation to him that Tyson was a Cyclops had shocked him, but he really had no time to come to terms with it with Melinda's water breaking.

He didn't really care though, he'd known Tyson for months now, and if he were a threat he knew Melinda would have mentioned something, and he didn't believe Melinda didn't already know. She had too much experience not to recognize him for what he was.

"Ms. Potter will be fine, Tyson," Chiron said, entering through the front with two other people.

One was a very pretty girl, maybe fourteen or fifteen at the oldest, with long auburn hair and silver-yellow eyes. She wore silver, black and white clothes. The boy beside her looked older, between eighteen and his early twenties. At first glance he looked a lot like Luke, but upon close inspection he was different.

His eyes were mischievous, and bright, blue eyes that put the sky to shame. He had a bright smile as well, cocky as it seemed, and sandy blond hair. He seemed rather laid back, much more so than the auburn haired girl.

"Chiron...who...are they?" Melinda asked, eyes narrowed at the new comers. Her gaze lingered on both, the darker green of her iris' because of the pain, and distrust for people she did not know coming around her when she was in such a vulnerable state.

"Melinda, this is Lady Artemis, and Lord Apollo."

The demigods all froze, surprised, though Chance and Will seemed to have an idea already who the blond man was. He was their father after all, still this was one of the first times they met him face to face. Not many saw Artemis older than twelve or thirteen, since that was the most common age for her hunters.

Melinda's eyes had widened, and she looked from Artemis to Apollo before gasping and letting out a short scream. She had no time to care or take a good look at either of the two.

Artemis and Apollo were at her side in an instant almost, Apollo checking to make sure she and the babies were alright, and Artemis situating herself before her legs so she could deliver the babies.

"You two did well, Chance, Will, now let me and your aunt take it from here," Apollo said, giving a bright smile to the two still stunned demigods.

They nodded, and moved out of the way.

"Okay, just a little more time, when Apollo tells you to push, push," Artemis said, and Melinda nodded, just happy she wasn't going to have to spend hours upon hours in labor.

"Children, it may be best to leave and let Lady Artemis and her brother take care of Melinda," Chiron spoke a few minutes later, and Percy and Annabeth seemed hesitant, but winced when they heard Melinda scream as she was told to begin pushing.

"AHH, I'LL KILL HADES FOR THIS! I'LL CURSE HIS..."

Melinda's words were colorful, but the gist of it, from what Percy and the other demigods understood was that she was going to magically castrate the Lord of the Dead. Her words even had Apollo cringing, but Artemis could be seen smiling almost sweetly, amusement in her usually colder eyes.

"Right, maybe we should go," Percy said, and he made the mistake of looking when Artemis said she could see the head.

"Oh...gods..." He fell back, and it was only thanks to Tyson and Annabeth grabbing onto his arms that he didn't hit the floor, but he was far from conscious.

"Stupid boy," Artemis muttered, shaking her head at the Son of Poseidon's dramatics. "You're doing great, Melinda, just one more big push and the head will be out."

"I..I don't know if I can...it hurts..."

"I know, but you have to," Artemis said, and then glared over at her brother. "Apollo, be useful for once and give her your hand to break."

Apollo's head snapped over, and his eyes widened. "What?"

"You heard me, now do it," she snapped and Apollo turned to the tired woman, and gave her his hand.

After a few seconds of staring at him, she finally took it, and gave him a small smile, that at any other time he'd probably take as an invitation to start flirting. Even like this, he had to admit Poseidon's daughter was very attractive.

During this argument, Chiron had led Annabeth, Chance and Will out, Percy being carried out by the arms thanks to Annabeth and Tyson.

"I'm sorry Lord Apollo..." Melinda began, but couldn't get out as the pain took over once more. It was like someone was casting a crucio, letting up some and casting it again – though not quite as painful as a well cast cruciatus curse.

Apollo cringed some at the tight grip Melinda had on his hand, wondering where exactly Hades was since he was sure the news had spread to the Underworld by now; It should be him getting his hand crushed after all. Still he smiled at the brunette, laughing it off.

"Don't sweat it, sweetheart, I'll heal," he said, and Melinda chuckled rather forcefully through her pain.

She could understand why most Purebloods only had one child, seeing as she wasn't too sure there was even a potion or spell that eased the pain of childbirth in the Wizardry World. Despite popular belief of muggles magic, even potions, couldn't do everything. For example, cures for ailments like cancer didn't exist even in the Magical world.

"The shoulders are out, you need to push now, Melinda," Artemis told her, and Melinda gritted her teeth together some as she took a deep breath and began to push again.

Melinda gave another push as a short scream escaped her, and she heard a snap and Apollo making a sound of pain from beside her. She couldn't help the desire to laugh, she'd just broken a gods hand after all. She kept it in though, shaking her head and grinning when she heard the cries of her oldest child.

"It's a girl," Artemis said, a bit of smug delight in her voice as she smirked over at her agonized brother. "Apollo, take her...Melinda it may be a minute or so before you need to push again, so rest while you can."

Melinda nodded, laying back against the pillows a bit as she breathed, wiping the sweet from her brow. She turned her head as Apollo and Artemis cleaned Leia off, and Artemis wrapped her in a soft purple blanket before handing her to Melinda to see.

"She's beautiful," Melinda said softly, looking at the newborn, with it's pink tinted skin.

There was slight curls of dark brown hair on her head, and her eyes were brown, lighter than Hades' eyes but still a dark chestnut brown (she was aware that demigod newborns did not have the standard blue eyes that were common to newborns, but always had the color they would develop later).

Melinda groaned and nearly jumped when a shadow obscured part of the area on her other side, and left to reveal Hades, looking kind of panicked – if one knew what to look for at least.

"It's about time," she said, narrowing her eyes, and she knew she was going to have to start pushing again.

"I'm sorry, Lin, I was detained for a few minutes after Poseidon and Hecate got a hold of me," he said.

"Hades, take your daughter while Melinda pushes, please," Artemis suddenly said, having returned to her position once again.

Hades gently took the baby Melinda offered him, looking down at his first demigod child in over forty years. He was reminded a tiny bit of Bianca when she was born, but that was probably because of the fact Leia took quite a bit after him. He wondered if Orion would look more like him or Melinda.

He grimaced as Melinda made sounds of pain, and summoned a chair behind him, scooted closer to the beside after sitting down and offered his former lover one of his hands after making sure Leia was held securely in his other arm.

.

.

.

Having Orion was a little easier than Leia, though not by much, and she was happy to have both the twins with her now.

She smiled down at both, who laid sleepily in her arms. Artemis and Apollo still there, talking to Chiron, and Apollo had helped speed up her healing somewhat, so she wouldn't be refined to bed or limits quite as long as usual. Hades stood beside the bed, actually smiling rather widely as he looked at his newest children.

Leia and Orion took quite a bit after him, it seemed, though it was obvious they were their mother's children. They had brown eyes, Leia's lighter than Orion's eyes which were nearly ebony black in color. He also had the darkest of brown, nearly black hair, and paler skin than his twin.

"I'm glad you came, Hades," she said.

"Me too, I'm sorry I was late, but I couldn't get away from the Underworld sooner."

Melinda nodded.

"I know, I understand," she said. "How long can you stay?"

Hades sighed, a frown deep set on his face.

"Not much longer," he admitted. "I'm sorry, but Persephone can only handle my duties for so long."

Melinda smiled sadly, but knew this was inevitable. Hades was still bound by the laws, and he couldn't be an active father to the twins, though there was a loophole that would allow him to see his children much more often than other gods. She, as Mistress of Death, could enter the underworld at any time she pleased, bringing along those she desired.

As long as Persephone didn't mind (as she didn't wish to upset her cousin, she'd become quite fond of her the few times they'd met and sat down to talk), she would be able to bring them to visit, and if in dire needs, get Hades to watch them when Sally could not.

The law after all said a god couldn't raise their mortal child, there were loopholes, and as long as a god didn't interfere with a quest or their child's life too much...well it wasn't necessarily forbidden to see them on occasion.

It was how Poseidon got around the laws to see her the few times he had, and even Percy when he was a toddler – too young to remember.

"Melinda," she heard Chiron say as he approached with Artemis and Apollo. "How are you feeling?"

Melinda chuckled, smiling.

"Like I just pushed watermelons out of the worlds smallest opening," she joked, laughing shortly at both Chiron and the Sun gods grimaces.

"Right...well I'm glad you're...well," he said.

"You did well, Melinda," Artemis said, "I will get a birth certificate for the twins to the hospital today, I just need their names."

Melinda nodded.

"Leia Lily Potter and Orion James Black," she told her and Artemis raised an eyebrow.

"Different last names?"

"Yes, I'm the last of two prominent families in Magical Britain. I've named Leia the heiress of the Potter estate, and Orion to the Black estate."

Artemis nodded and marked down the names on the birth certificates, and nodded to Hades.

"We'll be going then," she said.

"Take care sweetheart," Apollo said, winking at the daughter of Poseidon who simply chuckled at the sun gods antics.

Hades simply rolled his eyes at his nephew.

"I will leave you and Lord Hades to catch up, I suppose," Chiron said. "Tomorrow you can begin to have visitors."

.

.

.

"...up...wake up, Sea Witch," a familiar voice was heard as she slowly woke up the next day.

Green eyes opened and she groaned at the light that filtered through the windows, and into her sleep blurry eyes. Around her were Sam, Lou Ellen, Percy and Annabeth; her closest friends. Further back were some of her other friends, such as Katie Gardner, Silena Beauregard and Charles Beckendorf.

"Hey, glad to see you're awake," Sam said, smirking.

Melinda yawned as she sat up, brushing down the red tank top and and readjusting her jeans - she'd changed last night, during one of the trips to the bathroom she'd had to make. The hospital gown-like garment had been too uncomfortable for her to bare any longer by that point.

Looking over she saw the twins were in bassinets, sleeping. She was pretty sure they wouldn't continue sleeping through the night for long, from books she'd read at one point or another they'd begin crying during the nights for a time. Percy and Annabeth stood by the bassinets, looking kind of in awe of the babies.

"So, how does it feel to be the talk of the camp?" Lou Ellen inquired, and Melinda raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

Silena nodded, moving closer as she spoke.

"Yep, you're big news. No on has ever heard of a pregnant demigod, much less children of demigods," she said. "At least not for many centuries, or so Chiron says."

"Not to mention the rumors going around that they're children of a god, not just children of a demigod," Beckendorf added.

"Well, that's not a rumor, that's true," she said, shrugging.

Katie, Beckendorf and Silena weren't really sure what to say about that, and the ones who did know the twins' father was Hades laughed at their surprised expressions.

"What are their names?" Katie asked. "They're adorable, by the way."

Melinda grinned.

"Thanks, and they're names are Leia and Orion."

"Cute," Lou Ellen said. "Leia means weary, and Orion...I don't even know what it means. Wasn't he your half-brother before Artemis sent him into the stars as a constellation after his death?"

"Yes, and I didn't chose the names for their meanings...well not Leia at least. I chose them because I liked them," she began and seeing Sam about to open his mouth she glared over at him. "And no, the first person to make a Star Wars crack get's hit with a curse that leaves you with the worse acne a teenager can imagine."

Everyone shuddered.

"You've been hanging around the Hecate kids too much," Sam muttered, but otherwise didn't bring anything up about it.

"If anything I corrupted them, Sammy, not the other way around," Melinda said, laughing.

"Mom brought everything to camp yesterday," Percy said, smiling. "Me and Annabeth..."

"Annabeth and I," Annabeth corrected and Percy rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, Annabeth and I," Percy began. "Set the cribs, playpen-crib things up in the cabin."

Annabeth nodded, and said, "You already know we brought the bassinets in yesterday before Sally left the camp."

Melinda nodded, almost forgetting the surprise visit. After Chiron had escorted Percy and Annabeth out they had iris messaged Sally in order to get her to bring over the baby things for a long term stay at camp. She'd arrived about an hour later, just in time, since Mel had finished feeding both babies and was close to falling asleep herself.

She barely remembered Sally coming in to congratulate her – it took her a minute to remember she'd given Sally permission to enter the protective borders last year before the Minotaur took her captive to the Underworld.

"Thank you guys, I really appreciate it," she told them. "Did Chiron say when I could leave?"

"Later today," Annabeth answered. "But um, Melinda...there's something you should know."

"What, is something wrong with Leia or Orion?" she asked, concerned.

"No, of course not," Lou Ellen said, shaking her head. "The twins are perfectly fine. Not, I think Annabeth is talking about Chiron."

"What about him?"

"He's been...fired."

Melinda's eyes widened, and her jaw dropped.

"WHAT!?"