Disclaimer: I don't own HP or PJO.
AN-1: I am so happy for all the positive responses this fic has received, and I hope that this one continues to please you guys over its journey to completion.
AN-2: As always, a big thanks to my editor LordLexx, and my beta Hades, who both have done great work on this chapter.
AN-3: A shoutout to my Celestial level Patrons, Gerald, Arman Darklich, Known ART, Mrmeme101, Russel M, Potterfan, Roy Wood, Michael Witkowski, Kaiseth, Juan Hernandez, Joshua and Chris Vance and Russell Taylor.
AN-4: I have a P*T*R*N, where you can read the NEXT THREE CHAPTERS right now! The link is on my profile.
Blinking his eyes open, the first thing Harry saw was a large painting of a golden-haired, golden-armoured, golden-eyed man standing over a giant snake.
A very large, very mean-looking, dead snake.
"That's my father," a girl spoke from his right, and it was only his years of exposure to sudden sounds that prevented him from screaming his head off. Turning his head, he blinked as a blond girl looked at him with a wide smile as she pointed at the painting. "That painting is of when he slew the Pit Snake."
"Abigail, let the boy breathe," a much older boy said as he walked in, carrying a small bowl with him. "After I have seen his injuries, you can take him to Chiron. Okay?"
"Okay Michael," she chirped and bolted out of her chair, her golden curls bouncing wildly before she disappeared out of the door. However, before even a moment could pass, she stuck her head back in and frowned at Michael, "Hey brother? Do you know where Ester is? She said she was going to create new arrows for me!"
"Ester…is dead Abigail," the older boy declared softly. Not looking his sister in the eyes as she sat down in her place, "They are about to burn the shrouds by the beach…head there. I will be coming along shortly."
"Oh." the girl blinked, squeezing her eyes shut. "I…I will go then."
"Dozens of demigods were killed in today's monster attack," Michael softly said as he waved a hand and a spoon appeared in his hands. "You sure picked quite a day to come here…err, what is your name?"
"Harry," he said, sitting up with the blond's help. "Harry Potter."
"Well Harry Potter," the teen flashed with a blindingly white grin as he shoved the golden soup inside the small bowl under his nose, "Drink this up if you can move your hands, or I will feed it to you. After that, we will go to the Burning of Shrouds…and then you will meet Chiron."
"The Centaur?" He asked, taking a sip of the soup and shuddering as the taste of chocolate filled his mouth. Looking at the decidedly not-chocolatey-looking liquid, he licked his lips and frowned "Why is this chocolate golden?"
"It is not chocolate," Michael smiled. "It is a soup of Ambrosia and the water from the purest of underwater springs. Good for rejuvenation and clearing the cobwebs from the mind…don't heat it though, it is terribly explosive."
"But why does it taste like chocolate?" He asked once again, taking a bigger spoonful than the last and sighing happily, "Ambrosia…is that a type of chocolate? I have never seen a golden one."
"No," he laughed, opening the drawer on the table beside him and pulling out a golden-brown cube. "This is Ambrosia, food of the Gods. Demigods consume it in small quantities to heal, and it tastes like your favourite thing—a gift from my father because little kids like you usually fussed due to its originally bland taste."
"Woah," he looked at the cube with wonder, before he caught up with the rest of Michael's words and frowned. "I am not a kid. Kids need their parents to look after them, and I lived alone in London for two years."
"You are not alone in that," he laughed, lowering the collar of his shirt to show a pair of long scars. "A dracaena cornered me when I was about your age, and I burned her away with an arrow of sunlight. Not before she gave this to me though."
"What is a Dracaena?"
"The thing that caught you on your shoulder," came the answer, and Harry blinked as the image of a disgusting, pale…mixed together woman flashed through his mind. "They have poisonous claws, and the older one is, the more potent its venom becomes. I was probably scratched by one of the oldest, given that this scar has not disappeared even after years of Ambrosia and Nectar."
"So, mine was a kid?" He asked, pulling up his—new—shirt's sleeve and seeing nothing that indicated an injury. "She was pretty big though."
"Monsters are like that," Michael chuckled, standing up from the chair and eating the Ambrosia as he walked to the painting of his father. "Chiron tells us the Python was hundreds of meters long and his mouth was wide enough to swallow a large building whole. So finish that soup Harry, you need your muscles to be big and strong for when the monsters come after you."
Positively gulping down the literally divine soup, Harry jumped off the bed and felt a pleasurable heat spread throughout his body like he was next to a bonfire. Nodding as Michael raised an eyebrow at him, he followed the older demigod out of the room, only to emerge out in a large grassy land.
"How long was I out for?" Harry asked, looking at the long shadows and the red sky, "It is the evening, right?"
"Yeah," he nodded at him and started to walk to their left. "Come on, the Burning must have started by now. After the Shrouds have been sent off into the sea, you can get your tour of the Camp."
"So…what was the thing that was roaring so loudly?" he asked curiously, spotting the destroyed treeline a couple of hundred feet to his right and remembering the monstrous roars and explosions of fire that had come from the forest. "Was it a dragon?"
"Drakon," Michael corrected, "and it has several subspecies too. The one that attacked us was a Higher Drakon, amongst the deadliest of its kind. Thankfully, our traps proved effective against it…but the bastard still took several of us down."
Looking at the utterly wrecked landscape around where the Drakon seemed to have exited the forest, Harry gulped once, imagining the humongous body that must have rampaged through the area. Even now, after several hours had passed, the smoke was still coming off from the trees in the distance, black clouds rising up in the coppery sky with orange embers burning within them.
"What are the wolf-like things called?" He asked, the shadows between the trees reminding him of the way those large, red-eyed wolves had jumped at him after he had stabbed that Dracaena. Thankfully, a black-haired boy with a large sword had jumped between them and cut them all down, though he had lost consciousness before seeing anything else, his last vision being that of golden dust falling upon him.
"Hellhounds," he answered, shuddering a little as he looked at the shadows around them. "Probably the worst nightmare of any inexperienced demigod, since they can travel through shadows…and you are never without one. I went on a quest two years ago, to recover a sword rumored to belong to Lord Ares from the Alaskan border. There, one of my teammates got swallowed up whole by a hellhound, which had emerged right from beneath his feet like a shark."
Gasping a little at the image of the hellhound which must have been large enough to swallow a human whole, Harry gulped and looked down at his feet. Suddenly, the darkness of the alleys and rooms he had spent the last two years in didn't seem so fun anymore.
"Here we are." Michael's voice broke him out of his thoughts, and Harry blinked as he suddenly saw the hundreds of peo—demigods in front of him. Most were still in their armor, scratched, injured and in some cases even barely standing…but were holding their respective weapons. "Oh right, I forgot. Here is your weapon, Chiron gave it to me. So I am go-"
Catching the familiar silver cylinder Michael tossed at him, Harry didn't hear any of his next words as he felt something…crawl over his skin. His hair stood on the end, just like it had the night he had killed the Dursleys with the giant lightning bolt, or like the time he had taken a dip in the ocean for the first time.
It felt…right.
Moving a finger over the fine engravings over the metal, Harry looked at the demigods ahead of him, and like he had done earlier in the day, wished for a sword. With a… ripple that he felt in his bones, the metal wavered and flowed downwards, forming into a beautiful sword with the handle being wrapped in leather. Marveling at the weapon Gaphrus had gifted him, he ran his thumb over the tiny sapphire set into the part where the blade started, and walked towards the assembly in front of him.
"Demigods!" He called out, summoning his longbow to his hand as he looked at the sea of faces in front of him, "Today…our home was attacked yet another time by the spawns of the Pit…and several of your brothers and sisters fell in the battle. Now…we stand here, giving them the final farewell, with a hope that they may achieve the Elysium."
As was the custom, and as it had been done several times before, the spirits in the water carried the boats away, their own mourning lighting up the waters with a neon blue shade.
Pulling back the string, he looked at the boats with regret and sadness, once again wondering if it had been a lack in his teachings that had resulted in so many deaths.
A burning arrow formed in his hands as he stared at Ester's boat, the orange shroud on it dipping halfway due to the lack of half the body. Tears sprang up in his eyes as the moment of her death, and that of everyone who had died to that Drakon's blood swam through his mind…and of the thousands that had been before them.
Behind him, the cabin leaders knelt on the ground, followed a moment later by the rest of the demigods as he shot the arrow into the sky—a prayer to Lady Hestia, Lord Hades and Lord Apollo for the wellbeing of the souls that were going to the underworld, as well as their families that were about to receive the news. As the arrow reached the zenith of its ascension, the boats slowly started to disappear into a sudden mist, and Chiron lowered his arm as he saw Ester's shroud fade from his vision.
"Michael," he called out, turning around to look at the Leader of the Apollo Cabin. "Tend to the demigods that refused treatment until now, and send out teams to bring in the ingredients and herbs for refilling the inventory right away. After the army we have defeated today, there should be no monsters for miles around the Camp."
"On it Chiron," he nodded and turned around, his golden longsword flowing back up to his wrist to form a bracelet, before he turned around and said, "Oh, and Harry is awake now, he must be around somewhere."
Nodding at the information, Chiron looked around himself for the black-haired demigod, and almost jumped in shock as he found him…right beside him.
'How in the name of Chaos did this child come so close to me without me realising it?' He wondered, using the mist to take on the illusion of a wheelchaired human, 'A legacy of Hermes or one of the Underworld deities?'
"Hello…Harry," he greeted the child, once again feeling the worry and fear gnaw his insides as the features of Lord Poseidon stared back at him, "How is your shoulder?"
"It is fine," he nodded, jumping a little as the xiphos in his hand reformed into the metal cylinder, which in turn turned into a silver watch on his right wrist. "Whoa! How did it do that?!"
"A method to conceal it from the mortal eyes, so you can carry it with you everywhere you go," he explained, gently taking hold of the demigod's wrist and turning it over to look at the dial, "It is a beautiful weapon Harry, I don't know from where you got it, but do take care of it —and it will do the same for you."
"Okay," he nodded, taking back his wrist and rubbing the watch, before his eyes narrowed at the wheelchair. "How did you do that?"
"That?" Chiron asked, looking down at his human legs as he wiggled his toes, "That was a gift from the twin children of Lady Hecate, so that new and young demigods like you are not scared or intimidated by my real form."
"I was not scared,'' he huffed, looking at the slightly greyed-out hair and the warm eyes of the immortal centaur. "You are not scary at all. Uncle Vernon was scary, with his big hands and that loud voice…and those monsters that attacked me earlier today were scary."
"Well, I am quite happy you think that Harry," he laughed, grateful for the sheer honesty and the bit of levity the little demigod had given him after the day he had experienced. "Now, how about a tour of the camp, before I show you where you have to live, hmm?"
"Mhm," he nodded, following after the disguised centaur. "I didn't get to see much of the camp while walking here, but there were a few…different houses on the way."
"Those are the cabins of the Olympians," Chiron spoke, pointing at the one nearest to them, a sandstone and marble structure done in soft blue, with green tinted glass mosaics. "That one is for Lord Poseidon. His children used to stay there while they were in the camp, and similarly, the one beside him is dedicated to the King of Gods, Zeus."
"So, where is the one for Lord Hades?"
Chiron winced at those words, and an unnatural chill spread throughout the whole camp as within a single moment, the ruler of the Underworld decided to show his…displeasure. The torches all over the Island died out, every flame winking out of existence save for the Hearth where even Lady Hestia sat upon the logs silently, not doing anything to ward off her brother's presence.
"Lord Hades…doesn't have a cabin for his children, Harry," he ground out, reaching out with his own infinitesimally feeble presence, begging and pleading with the Dark One to leave the campers alone, not when it was not their fault that this insult was given to him, "And I beg you to not speak of this again."
"O-Okay," he gasped out, stumbling back to his feet as the weight from his shoulders receded, and his senses stopped screaming at him to run away. "Wha-Was that Him?"
"Yes," Chiron grimaced, looking at the Poseidon and Zeus' cabins with sadness. "Now, let's continue before you offend another God, and this time they actually decide to smite you out of existence."
"I am sorry," he mumbled, rubbing the watch once again and feeling a sense of warmth and comfort envelop him. "I didn't do it on purpose, how was I supposed to know Lo-he would get angry."
"No, you weren't," he sighed, turning around to look at the demigod. "I am sorry…my words were out of reason. Now, did Gaphrus tell you anything about the Camp's structure, protections or general days here?"
"No," Harry shook his head, "He only told me about the Olympian Council, the basics about each of them, and then he gave me this weapon before he disappeared into the forest."
"Well, I guess we should start with the most important parts then," Chiron began, turning his wheelchair around so that he had a full view of the cabins. "The cabins are built to house the respective Olympian's children, save for that of Lord Hermes and Lady Artemis. The former also provides a home to the children of the various…Gods who don't have a cabin to their name, while the latter is for the Hunters of Lady Artemis."
"What are the Hunters of Artemis?" He asked, looking at the silver and white two-story house with curiosity. "Are they those silver-dressed girls who were fighting with knives?"
"They are," he nodded, before he sighed and said, "and now that the topic of the Hunters has been brought up, remember one thing Harry. Don't you ever, ever talk to them, walk to them or even look at them until and unless your very life depends on it. They don't take kindly to boys, and if the boy is a demigod, then even more so."
"Okay Chiron," Harry nodded, deciding to do just that—he had never been good at talking to new people anyway. "So, the Olympians have their cabins, in which their children live…So what happens to Lady Hestia's kids? She was an Olympian right? Before she gave her throne to Dionysus? Where is her cabin?"
'Why the hell is this kid asking all the difficult questions on his first day?' Chiron nearly groaned out, the only thing keeping it back being the thousands of years of patience he had developed, 'I didn't come out alive of that meeting only to get killed a few hours later due to these questions!'
"That is because I am a maiden goddess, Harry Potter," a soft voice whispered from right beside them, and Harry actually jumped in his place at the sudden words. His hands immediately lit up with fire, two years of living in the streets having cautioned him to the dangers of people who could walk silently.
"Hmm, so what I felt was right," the newcomer—a girl, Harry realised, seeing the long, brown hair falling down her back as well as the strangely, slightly luminous amber eyes. "You are a wizard…it has been many years since a union between a god and a sorcerer happened."
"Who are you?" He asked, and Chiron gasped at the clear rudeness, as well as at the way the flames grew bigger and hotter, "And what do you mean I am a wizard?"
"I will answer one at a time, child." The girl laughed, moving her finger over the fire in his hands, "I am Hestia, the eldest child of Kronos and Rhea and the Goddess of Hearth, Home and Family. Now, you wanted to know why I didn't have any cabin to my name, despite being an Olympian prior to my nephew's ascension?"
"Mhm," he nodded, removing the flow of energy to his hands as on some level, he simply knew that Hestia wasn't going to harm him in any way or form. "I did. Especially because every Olympian save for Lord H-him has a cabin here. Even Lady Hera, who Gaphrus told me hasn't ever given birth to a demigod, and neither she will."
"True, Hera isn't the one to break her marriage vow," she nodded, looking at the magnificent, over-the-top cabin her sister had commissioned for herself a few centuries ago. "Regardless, the reason why I don't have a cabin is that I am a maiden goddess. Which means that I will never have intercourse, and thus, I will never give birth to a child."
"Don't know what intercourse is…but I read something about 'maiden goddess' in the book," Harry frowned, closing his eyes and thinking back to the various paragraphs he had read since last night, before a picture of a spear-wielding goddess came back to him "Ah! Now I remember, isn't Lady Athena a maiden goddess too?"
"She is," Hestia laughed, conjuring a barrier just in time to block her niece from hearing their conversation. "But her way of creating her children doesn't involve physical intimacy, so she still adheres to her vows, while creating her children at the same time."
"What is physical intimacy?"
And that was the day Chiron watched something he had never imagined happening. Hestia, the purest and the most reclusive of all Olympians, the first goddess to swear herself to Eternal Maidenhood…gave an eight-year-old male demigod a lecture on what Intercourse was.