Chapter 1: Origins
~Orange, California. February 12, 1993~
3rd Person POV
A dark, brooding man stood in the corner of the hospital room as the woman he had fallen in love with cradled their son, Darren Theseus Haller. The boy was born a child of Hades, Greek God of the Underworld and Riches, though the boy had no idea. His mother knew of the Greek world however, because Hades had told her and advised her to take precautions that she pointedly ignored. She was a stubborn woman. And it wouldn't be her last interaction with the Greek world.
~Orange, California. April 6, 1995~
A tall, tan skinned man stood at the bedside of the woman he had fallen for; the same woman that his older brother had, without his knowledge, sired a child. She did not share that information with him, as he did not share the information with her that he had had another child on the other side of the country two years ago.
But there he was waiting patiently for his turn to hold Mitchell Jason Haller, the newest son of Poseidon. Luckily for his mother, Darren was staying with his Aunt for the time being so that Poseidon would not recognize the son of Hades and smite him where he stood. The little two-year-old was bummed that he couldn't go to meet his baby brother, but he was beyond ecstatic to be a big brother.
Little did he know that he'd be given the opportunity twice.
~Orange, California. September 23, 1997~
The two siblings were bouncing up and down in excitement at the addition to their family. Garrett Pythagorus Haller was, in fact, a son of Zeus. That made the three eldest Gods fall for the same woman and in turn she bore them each a son in the same order that they were born; Hades, Poseidon, Zeus.
Zeus did not show up to the hospital room for the birth of his son in fear that his wife Hera would find out. Darren, the oldest and four years old at the time was a rather bright child and questioned his mother where their father was. He had yet to figure out that the three of them had separate fathers, but look similar enough to pass for brothers.
Mitchell was a bit of a ditz, even for a two-year-old and his mother simply hoped that he would grow out of that with time. They received an unexpected visitor that night in the form of the Goddess Hestia.
Hestia POV
I flashed into the hospital to see the woman that managed to win all three of my brother's hearts. She was a beautiful and strong woman. That much was evident to have to put up with my younger brother and sire each of them a beautiful baby boy.
"Hello Patricia," I said and she looked up from the bundle in her arms and the sleeping tots on either side of her. "Lady Hestia," she addressed me and I was just as surprised that she knew who I was. "You have created three beautiful boys and got yourself into quite the predicament," I said and she just smiled at me. "Indeed it seems I have," she said and I smiled again.
"I have come to offer you help," I said and she raised an eyebrow at me. "There is a place in Las Vegas. The Lair of the Lotus Eaters, that acts as a dimension where time inside flows exponentially slower than the outside world. I can hide them there," I said and she looked confused.
"But if they are there, they will not age," she said and I smiled sadly. "Usually, you would be right; however, I can acquire a potion from Hecate that will remove the effects of the place, while still keeping them hidden. I will also train them myself," I told her and she began to contemplate. "Will I ever see them again?" she asked and I frowned.
"I can promise a visit for each of their birthdays, but we cannot take them out of hiding until the time is right," I said and she reluctantly nodded. She kissed each one of them on the forehead and told them that she loved them very dearly and always would.
A stray tear fled my eye as I watched and then she nodded at me and I disappeared to Hecate's palace with the three sleeping boys.
Hecate POV
"Hestia. What is this?" I asked as he showed up with three boys, one a completely newborn babe. "These are the Haller brothers. They are children of my brothers in the same order which they were born," she said and my eyes widened comically. "That's… not possible," I managed to get out in reply and she just shook her head at me.
"So why did you bring them here?" I asked and Hestia looked around nervously. "I told their mother I would take them to the Lair of the Lotus Eaters and protect them, but I need… a potion so the time effects of the place do not affect them," she said and I scoffed. "Why would I?" I asked and she looked at me pleadingly.
"They did not ask for any of this and they only have each other. Please Hecate," she said and I crumbled. "Oh fine. Here," I said and conjured up three doses of the potion and handed them to Hestia. "I may check on them and have them run errands to me on occasion," I said and Hestia nodded before she flashed out.
~Time Skip: 10 Years~ [AN: Lazy writing, I know]
3rd Person POV
Patricia watched intently as her three boys took their final test with Lady Hestia before being allowed to leave the Lotus Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. It was a simple 3v1 spar with Hestia herself who, while an advocate for peace, was definitely no push-over in combat. As Darren and Garrett's favorite quote from her goes: "Just because one is peaceful, does not mean they are harmless."
Speaking of the brothers, Darren was now 14 years old and a rather small and scrawny teenager. He was still muscled from training for the last six years (Hestia refused to train them with weapons until they were eight, but educated them on their powers and mythology instead) but it was easy to tell he would be the smallest of the brothers.
His powers over shadows were impressive, being able to shadow travel large distances alone and short distances with passengers. He could manipulate the shadows into weapons and to conceal his presence from others. He could summon small gems and could only crack the ground and summon the dead when he was really pissed. He didn't get pissed often, though then he did it was terrifying.
He wore all black clothing pretty much regularly and was quite pale like his father, with dark brown hair and obsidian eyes. His weapon of choice was a scythe of Stygian Iron that disguised itself as a skull ring on his finger and he was surgical with it. He had a spare knife as a back-up (always on his hip) but really loved his scythe.
Mitchell, the middle child, was 12 years old and still a total ditz. Much like all children of the sea, he was ever going with the flow in an almost uncaring nature. However, when he was angry or when someone threatened his brothers, he was as unforgiving as his father. He had dirty blonde hair that looked more brown than blonde with swirling sea-green eyes and was the tallest of the three with a lean swimmer's build.
While a total ditz, he had a hero complex and wanted to save everyone and be everyone's friend (much to Darren and Garrett's annoyance). His weapon of choice was a classic Greek xiphos of Celestial Bronze that shrunk down to a ring as well and a Greek shield that collapsed into a watch on his left wrist. His powers over water were rather hit or miss. He could move mass quantities of it, if motivated enough, but lacked the spark for them.
Garrett complained to him every time of the possibilities he held with his powers. Ice, vapor, steam, and any other liquids that had water in their composition, but Mitchell never had the thirst for power like Garrett did as a son of Zeus.
Garrett was the youngest at 10 years old and a complete and total handful. He was arrogant, though honest. He knew that he had a thirst for power and accepted it, but he did not believe he was entitled to said power. He knew that he had to work his ass off to obtain power and that drove him. He was the strongest of the three, physically and powers-wise. He was stocky, but would still grow and was well muscled at a mere 10 years old from relentless training.
He preferred his hair long and would pull it back into a bun for training and eating, but otherwise let the light blonde flow to his shoulders. His electric blue eyes crackled with power and always carried a mischievous and smart ass twinkle in them.
His weapon of choice was unorthodox to say the least. Two rings (one on each hand) housed a pair of gauntlets that were composed of Imperial Gold, Stygian Iron, AND Mortal Steel. Garrett was a hooligan and a brawler, for lack of a better word. He was the smartest of the three and had no problem with telling people how it was. He antagonized and pushed buttons because he thought it was fun.
That being said, he also had a rather short fuse that influenced his powers greatly. When irritated, sparks would jump off of him and the wind would pick up. His back-up was a bow and throwing knives (stored in a necklace) as he could manipulate them with the wind to hit their mark and he was a deadeye. When he was really angry, he was deathly calm and calculated unlike his brothers and it was a different kind of scary.
Back to training, the three brothers were pressing their Aunt Hestia with a renewed fervor. Garrett sat to the back and continually tried to pick her apart with arrows and throwing knives that replaced themselves so he nearly never ran out.
Hestia kept dodging and blocking every one of them with her spear, on top of Mitchell leading the charge with his sword and shield, doing the brunt of the battle with the goddess. 'Damn hero complex,' Garrett thought as he fired more arrows.
Darren was observing from the shadows and traveled in to expose an opening with his scythe, but Hestia was just fast enough to block his attempts and kick Mitchell away as well. 'They're doing really well,' she thought as she dodged another arrow from the youngest.
"Garrett! I hate to be that guy," Mitchelle started, but Garrett interrupted. "Then don't!" he yelled back and Darren reigned them in. "Just shut up and get in here!" he yelled and Garrett growled. He launched one more arrow, but this one had a trick.
Hestia caught the arrow between her fingers and smirked, only to see Garrett smirk back. His bow and knives collapsed back into his necklace and a jolt of electricity shocked the goddess causing her to falter. It wasn't much, but enough.
Without missing a beat, Mitchelle bashed his shield into her kneecap while Darren hooked his scythe into her spear to rip it from her grasp. As this was happening, Garrett bumped his fists together and his gauntlets sprung out, coating his fists. He manipulated the winds to increase his speed as he charged his Aunt.
As he did, Mitchelle delivered a low sweeping kick to the kneeling Hestia as Darren pushed her back with the butt of his scythe. Hestia's eyes went wide as Garrett appeared over her with his fist cocked back and let it fly. She closed her eyes for the blow, but it never came.
She opened her eyes to see the fist inches from her face and a cheeky 10-year-old grinning at her. "Come on, Auntie. You didn't think I was actually gonna hit ya in training!" he exclaimed and his gauntlets retreated into his rings before he helped her up.
"Doesn't stop you from punching me," Mitchell grumbled and Garrett smiled wider. "That's 'cuz you annoy me!" he said cheerfully like that made everything okay.
"Good job boys. The teamwork was flawless and Garrett that was a nice trick with the electric arrow at the end," Hestia said and Garrett beamed. "A little warning about that would have been nice," Mitchell said and Darren smacked the back of his head. "We've been training for how long and you still don't expect him to do something crazy and potentially idiotic with a hint of genius?" he asked and Garrett beamed again at the praise.
Then Patricia came up behind him and smacked him upside the head. "Ow! What the heck, Mom?" Garrett complained and Patricia scolded, "Don't let it go to your head. You know who does that." Garrett grumbled something about a useless old man and a pompous half brother.
"It is time for you boys to go to camp. Two children of Hades are currently in Maine and the camp will be sent to rescue will go assist them and follow them back to camp," Hestia said and the boys grumbled. Well, except for Garrett. He was excited to be around more than just his brothers.
They ironed out the details and Hestia relocated their mother in New York so that they would be closer to her at camp and flashed them to Westover Hall in Maine. It was the end of the year dance and Mitchell immediately took to the dance floor; that's just how he was. Garrett stayed near the snacks, too embarrassed to go near the dance floor or any of the people there. Darren stuck to the shadows and watched.
Then Darren noticed the two siblings on the bleachers and whispered to the shadows that relayed it to his brother Garrett while Mitchell blended in. "Bleachers. In the shadows," was what Garrett heard and he casually glanced and nodded to Darren. Then the campers entered.
"Something's wrong," Grover said and the group stopped. "What do you mean?" Annabeth asked and Grover shook his head as Thalia and Percy looked around the dance. "There were only the two strong demigods before… but now I smell another three of them," he said and looked around. "Are you sure it isn't just us?" Thalia asked him and he shrugged his shoulders. He noticed the two on the bleachers and told them to blend in.
"Campers are here. They brought a satyr. He's going to be able to smell us," Darren whispered to the shadows and Garrett rolled his eyes again while Mitchell started playing with his ring. "Salt and pepper hair. Military outfit. Demigod sense is acting up. Monster," Garrett whispered back to the shadows and noticed said man made a beeline for the two on the bleachers.
"I'll cut them off outside. Mitchell you distract the campers. Garrett tail him," Darren said in the shadows before he vanished and went outside. Mitchell went and got punch and tripped on air, spilling the punch all over the campers. 'Gods damn you Garrett,' he raged internally and knew Garrett was chuckling as he trailed the demigods and monster.
"Oh my gods! I am so sorry! Let me go get napkins!" Mitchell said to the campers and vanished as they tried to right themselves. "Wait. Did he just say 'Oh my gods'?" Annabeth asked and the campers whipped around to the bleachers to see the demigods were gone. "Shit," Thalia said and they headed outside.
Darren cut off the monster and stood there in the snow. "So… are you a monster or just a pedophile? Guess both are equally monsterous though," Darren muttered and the man tensed. "Just transform already!" Garrett yelled from behind the monster and made him whirl around. "More children of the Big Three?!" he said surprised.
"Nope. Just a few brothers that really don't like bullies," Mitchell added as he joined the scene. The campers were outside shortly after and looked at the scene with confusion. "Who the Hades are you guys?" Thalia asked and Garrett turned to them. "Oh hey! I'm Garrett. That's my brother, Mitchell. And that's my other brother Darren," Garrett said cheerfully before he grabbed his necklace and it transformed into a bow.
Mitchell and Darren drew their weapons after that, making the campers and captured demigods' eyes go even wider. "Well, we showed you ours. Are you gonna show us yours?"Garrett teased the monster and the brothers rolled their eyes while the campers snickered. The man began to transform to reveal himself at the Manticore and Garrett lit up like a kid on Christmas.
"The Manticore. NO WAY!" he exclaimed and everyone face palmed. "Garrett. Just make him let go of the kids," Darren said and Garrett turned a little red. "Oh right," he said and before the campers could realize what happened, two arrows pierced the beast's hands and Mitchell rushed to push the Manticore away from the demigods.
Garrett turned to the campers and asked, "Y'all want in on this orrr…" He trailed off and Thalia chuckled as she drew her weapons and Percy did the same thing. "I like you, kid," she said and Garrett frowned. "Don't call me kid," he retorted and Percy ruffled his hair.
Darren and Mitchell were doing fine on their own with the Manticore before the campers and Garrett joined in. Now it was boring. That is until the Hunters of Artemis showed up. The hunting horn blared and the Manticore froze. "You are not allowed to interfere!" he yelled. "I hunt down foul beasts and you are one of them," Artemis said and the attack commenced.
The Manticore launched a volley of stingers at the arrows so he wouldn't be hit and turned back to the gathered demigods. "I just need to take one of you!" he yelled and lunged for the girl from the dance. Darren and Garrett reacted before anyone; Garrett with an arrow drawn and Darren sliced with his scythe. He separated the arm holding the girl and Garrett released his arrow, hitting the Manticore between the eyes.
"Score 1 for the G-man," Garrett said and his brothers rolled their eyes. The Hunt appeared on the ground before them. "Who are you, boy?" the one with the tiara asked. "Easy there, Princess. We're here to help," Garrett said and she loosed an arrow at his face in anger. Mitchell tossed his shield in front of Garrett and Garrett caught it as the arrow hit it. Darren in the meantime shadow traveled and had his scythe blade at her neck.
"Don't attack my brother unless you want a one way ticket to the Underworld," Darren spat and Garrett beamed happily. "T-That was shadow travel," the blonde camper said and Garrett turned to look at her. 'Gray eyes. Athena,' he thought. "That was a pretty dumb thing to say. Are you sure you're a Daughter of Athena?" Garrett asked and got a smack upside the head from Mitchell. "Don't be rude."
Artemis walked up to the group, but her hunters still had their arrows drawn. "Who are you boys?" she asked and Darren did the talking so Garrett couldn't get them into more trouble. "I'm Darren, the oldest. That's Mitchell, and the little shithead here is Garrett," he said and Garrett scowled.
"Are you a son of Hades?" Annabeth asked and Garrett went to be a smartass but one look from Darren shut him up. Darren nodded to her. Everyone gaped at that and it was rather uncomfortable. "Right. I need to bring you three to Olympus for questioning," Artemis said and the brothers looked at one another.
"Err. Pass," Garrett said and the Goddess glared at him. "It would not be wise to defy a Goddess, boy," the Princess spat again and Garrett rolled his eyes. He looked at his brothers and they rolled their eyes and held up their hands in a surrendering motion. Garrett turned back to Artemis.
"We'll go with you… IF you can beat me in an archery contest," Garrett said and the hunters blinked in surprise while the campers face palmed. The hunters erupted into laughter and Garrett just stood there pretending to not know what was so funny. "She's the Goddess of Archery, boy," the Princess said and Garrett shrugged his shoulders. "I guess you've got nothing to lose then," he said and he knew he had her hooked.
They swore on the Styx and Artemis made a range appear out of nowhere and everyone took their seats. The two drew their bows and Darren and the Princess served as judges. "Ladies first," Garrett said cheekily and Artemis rolled her eyes. Bullseye. Garrett took a breath and relaxed. Bullseye. Artemis was a bit surprised, but still confident that she'd win.
She pulled back. Bullseye. Garrett pulled back. Bullseye. They altered back and forth for four more rounds and both had all bullseyes. Then Garrett decided he had enough fun. Artemis drew an arrow and pulled back and Garrett wiggled a finger as the arrow flew and it struck. Half an inch outside the bullseye. Everyone was shocked.
Garrett drew back his arrow and took his cleansing breath. He released and it struck true. A quarter inch outside the bullseye. The Princess looked back and forth wide-eyed as did everyone else. "Looks like I win," Garrett said smugly and Artemis could only glare until Darren came up.
"Tell you what, Lady Artemis. Us three will join you in your tent and tell you our story but you have to swear on the River Styx that you won't tell anyone without all three of our permission," Darren said and Artemis thought about it. "If my lieutenant makes the same oath, may she be present as well?" she asked and Darren nodded.
Later they found themselves in Artemis's tent all seated comfortably. Artemis and Zoe (the Princess) made the oath and were waiting to begin. "I am Darren Theseus Haller, Son of Hades, and I'm 14," Darren said and they nodded. "I am Mitchell Jason Haller, Son of Poseidon, and I'm 12," Mitchell said and their eyes widened. "Yo! I'm Garrett Pythagorus Haller, biologically a Son of Zeus, but he's a bastard and I'm 10," Garrett said and their eyes got wider.
"H-How?" Artemis asked. "Well, all three of them fell in love with mom two years apart and here we all are," Garrett said. "Hestia discovered our… situation and hid us in the Lotus Hotel & Casino for the last 10 years," Darren added. "But how are you so old then?" Zoe asked and Mitchell took his turn this time. "Auntie got Hecate to give us each a potion that negated the effects of the place while still hiding us."
"Look at you using a big word like negate. Atta boy," Garrett said much to Mitchell's annoyance. "Is he always that…" Artemis asked and Zoe picked it up. "Arrogant?" Garrett replied, "Pretty much." Zoe was fuming. "Be careful with your arrogance, boy. It will ruin you. Expecting people to just give you things just like him," she said and Darren raised his hand to stop her.
"He said he's arrogant. Not entitled. The difference is Garrett knows he has to work his ass off to obtain the power he lusts for. He's prideful, sure; but he doesn't expect to receive anything," Darren defended and Garrett beamed at him.
"Also I must apologize again for my youngest brother's actions," Darren said and they look puzzled. "Why?" Artemis asked. "He cheated during your contest," Darren answered casually and Artemis and Zoe whipped around to see Garrett with his head down. "How?" Zoe asked, still glaring at the boy. "I may or may not have manipulated the winds on the last shot and pushed yours off target by half an inch and made mine off by only a quarter inch to make it look believable," the boy said sheepishly.
Garrett turned to Darren. "How did you know?" Darren laughed. "How long have we been training together? You've always been bad at losing and I saw you wiggle your finger," he said and Garrett grumbled and pouted.
"Right… My brother will drop all of you off at camp tomorrow morning while I have a solo hunt to do. Dismissed," Artemis said and they left the tent to join the other campers. The brothers stumbled up the campers tent that the Hunt lent to them and gathered around the fire.
They got five seconds of silence before the Daughter of Athena started with the questions. "So you're a son of Hades," she said to Darren and he nodded. "So are those two," he said and pointed at the demigods that were rescued and eyes widened. "Does that mean we have more siblings, Dare?" Garrett asked and Darren turned to him and said, "Only if you want more."
Annabeth turned to the youngest one next. "Are you really brothers?" she asked and Garret replied with a resounding "yup" while popping the p. "So you're all sons of Hades?" she asked. "We're under a Styx oath not to say anything," Mitchell replied. Annabeth just narrowed her eyes at the trio.
"Did you really beat Lady Artemis in an archery competition?" Thalia asked. "Darn tootin'," came Garrett's reply. The rest of the night was filled with a rather boring Q&A about the trio and they could only answer so much for the group, much to Annabeth's displeasure.
"Can we even trust them?" Annabeth asked Thalia, Percy, and Grover. "They did help rescue the kids. And the youngest one has skill. I'd hate to see how the older one's truly are," Percy said trying to defuse the situation. Reluctantly, they let it go and night turned to morning.
Apollo pulled up the next morning in his sun chariot and got bombarded by a million questions from Nico, the demigod boy that was rescued. Apparently he played this game called Mythomagic which pertained to Greek myth and was Garrett's age, but they didn't really get along. "Different energies," Garrett said with a shrug as they loaded onto the school bus themed Sun Chariot.
"Who wants to drive?"Apollo asked and Garrett raised his hand. "Too young little man," he said, which made Garrett frown. "I actually just had a question," he said and Apollo motioned for him to continue. "If something were to exit the Sun Chariot whilst we were flying through the sky, what would happen? Would it fall to the Earth from the perceived height we were flying, would it be chucked out to space where the actual sun is, or would it just burn up the moment it left the confines of the Chariot?"
Annabeth had gears turning in her head at the implications, Percy and Thalia's heads hurt, Darren and Mitchell knew exactly what their youngest brother was thinking, and the rest of them were silent. "Good series of questions. For all intents and purposes, we are in a perception of the sun itself, not the actual sun. We are in what people and cultures believe the sun to be, but we are not actually in space. So it would fall to the Earth. And since the velocity at which we are traveling is so great, the wind would likely prevent it from burning up," Apollo answered.
"Whooaa… that's meta," Garrett said after a moment of silence before he was scolded by this brothers for thinking of doing something so stupid (he was planning on jumping out the window and flying once he got close to camp). "Thalia. You drive," Apollo said and she paled significantly. "Daughter of Zeus scared of heights. That's ironic," Garrett snickered to his brothers silently.
After almost dying multiple times, they finally arrived at camp and unloaded from the bus and Percy, Annabeth, and Thalia led the trio of brothers and the two other siblings to Chiron and Mr. D at the big house. "Children. Quite the haul you brought!" Chiron exclaimed and Mr. D grunted in response. "Yeah. Meet Bianca and Nico Di Angelo, children of Hades," Annabeth said and their eyes widened.
"And these three are Darren, Mitchell, and Garrett Haller. Darren is also a son of Hades and the other two are under oath not to reveal their parentage for some reason," Percy told Chiron and their eyes widened again. "Right… welcome. Please if you three would show them around," Chiron said and the group walked away.
"Interesting," Mr. D said with narrowed eyes as they walked away.