Note: It has been a universally good response for my first entry in this new series and I couldn't be more proud. The Percy Jackson series has meant a lot to me over the years and I look forward to expanding upon this work.

Note: Some people might notice a bit of a correlation between Harry and Crowley's general attitude from Supernatural as the story goes on. What can I say? I loved his character, and I can't help but imagine that a human son of Hades and Persephone might just act that way.

Note: While I had a general idea of where I wanted to go with this piece, I'll admit to needing a second to decide how to proceed in this chapter. Did I start really young and show Harry's continued growth through his childhood? Or did I age him up and proceed with flashbacks? In the end I chose the latter for one very specific reason. I am not great at writing children. Sure I've done it in the past, but only in small doses for a few chapters at most. Rest assured that the important bits of his childhood will be covered in numerous flashbacks and memories as the story goes on.

Note: Also not gonna be shying away from the fact that the Greek gods were horny as hell. RR got into it a bit by emphasizing just how many kids the gods had, but due to his younger audience he didn't go much farther. I do not have that limitation.

Part Two - A Prince Amongst The Dead

In the vast palace of the underworld Persephone was freaking out. It was her little Harry's seventeenth birthday, her mother was coming, the guest quarters weren't yet prepared, Hades hadn't finalized the undead catering service, and the final induction trials of the day were taking longer than expected. Everything was off schedule! Ugh! Oh her boy was going to be so disappointed.

It was with a fresh growl that she stormed off toward the judiciary temple at the entrance of the river Styx. The new arrivals were being judged to determine what afterlife they were to receive and their line was holding everything up. Well she would just have to add her personal touch to speed things along then wouldn't she?

Not feeling like she was moving fast enough she raised her arm and snapped her fingers. A second later a harsh screech sounded and the queen of the dead found herself being carried by the hand across a vast distance by a passing fury. She quite enjoyed the experience if she were being honest. Something about the stale subterranean air whizzing by her hair just tickled her fancy.

When they were but a few minutes from the large marble building bordering the hellish river she released her grip, fell forty meters to crash into the earth, and marched the rest of the way through the doors herself.

She was expecting the usual choosers of the dead and judicial advocates to be presiding. Not her son. He was lounged lazily against a bone white chair at the head of the room while the aforementioned individuals and a team of legal scribes stood behind him whispering in his ear. Ahead of him stood a handful of waiting supplicants. Wait, a handful? There should be at least one hundred left!

Veiling herself in shadows she hid from all sight and stealthily stalked behind the chair as the next person was brought forth. A woman, mid thirties, dark of skin, and wearing an eyepatch.

Her Harry took a scroll from one of the aids and skimmed over it briefly before smiling warmly at the woman. "Sheryl McAddams." He began, "Says here that you were a soldier. You were on a routine convoy through Kandahar when an IED went off beneath your vehicle and stranded you in the middle of an ambush."

"That is correct, sir." Sheryl's posture was stiff and formal as she answered.

"My information also says that you pulled three of your downed comrades to cover before an enemy bullet took you in the eye." The smile left his face, leaving only a confidant respect in its place. "You lived honorably, fought bravely, and in the end fell saving your comrades. You have earned your reward so I will offer you a choice. Would you prefer rebirth or eternal rest in Elysium?"

To her credit the woman thought it over for several minutes before nodding to herself and answering, "I would choose rebirth. There is still much in the world that I have yet to experience, and I would like the opportunity."

Harry nodded and gestured to one of the head officials. "See to her fate." As the woman was led from the chamber by one of the robed judges, a slightly obese man with a combover took her place.

Still hidden in the shadows Persephone cringed. Even from her position she could practically smell the greed and corruption pouring off of him.

"Charles Brukay." Harry folded one leg over the arm of his chair as he read from yet another scroll. "A movie producer and director. You were poisoned in your office by an intern you were making unwanted sexual advances towards. Well, there are no particular crimes listed here but I judge that you are guilty of… something. Which I won't tolerate. Whatever it was. Tartarus for you. Take him away." He waved a hand lazily and a pair of furies dragged the man kicking and screaming from the room.

Persephone was impressed. As a goddess she could read the vast multitude of Charles' sins like the back of her hand, but her boy only had the benefits of fringe perception. That he had read into it enough to make the same call she would have made brought a warmth to her heart.

The other dead souls went rather quickly after that. Three more fell to Tartarus, two more chose rebirth, and six others ended up in Elysium. When he saw no more waiting he clarified with the clerks and aids if that was truly everyone, then he bid them all ado a started making his way out the door. He made it six steps outside before looking over his shoulder and asking, "Was everything to your satisfaction mom?"

The goddess of spring chuckled lightly as she allowed her visage to fade back into view. "How did you know?"

Harry smiled warmly. He'd never admit it, but every child had a favorite parent and his mother was his. "I'm the 'prince of darkness' mom. Shadows are kind of my thing." To emphasize his point he quickly fazed into his own shadow and appeared in another one on the other side of the room before repeating the process to arrive in hers.

"Oh my little boy is getting so good at that!" Persephone squeed before pulling her young man into a crushing hug that he happily returned. "And yes, everything was to my satisfaction. You made excellent decisions in there, but why were you doing it in the first place? Judging the dead isn't your job." She released him to hear his answer.

"No, but I saw how stressed you were with everything and decided to help out. As a prince my judgements carry the appropriate amount of weight and it was one less thing for you to worry about." He took her hand and squeezed it as the two carried on walking back to the palace. "Now what else needs to get done?"

As she told him of the myriad of tasks still awaiting her, Persephone marveled at the man her boy was turning into. He was seventeen today, bone pale and standing at just shy of six feet in height. He had grown into his father's face and his emerald eyes were just darling. His raven hair was shaved along the sides of his scalp and braided down the middle to hang between his shoulder blades, and all of his fingernails were stained black. In contrast to all the robes and old fashioned clothing displayed in the underworld, he had chosen to wear a black three piece suit with a crimson tie. Around his waist, of all things, was a katana. He had come a long way from the infant left on his aunt's doorstep.

She still remembered watching him crawl his way amongst the stalagmites. How he learned to walk by chasing after Cerberus and his little shadow hound puppy, Butcher. (Hades had a strong belief that infants grew better when paired with a puppy) His first words ('mommy' and 'hungry').

She shook her head suddenly. Going down the memory lane rabbit hole wouldn't help her get her tasks done in any reasonable amount of time.

Together they arrived in her private office and worked through her schedule, sent messengers to get the who's who of the underworld settled, and as they were directing the last of the undead catering crew to the kitchens (with appropriate full body covering hazmat suits for food sanitation purposes)… her mother decided to make an entrance.

The door burst off of its hinges to crash onto the floor, and silhouetted in the lamplight of the hallway was a statuesque woman that appeared to be in her late thirties with golden hair, laugh lines around her eyes, and a cornucopia horn slung under her arm like a purse.

"Daughter." Demeter spoke slowly, surely, and… flatly.

"Mother." Persephone responded in kind. The two held a staring contest for all of five seconds before the elder woman turned to Harry and opened her arms wide with a beaming smile.

"Well? Are you gonna give grandma a hug or what?" She asked.

A mere second later Harry was in her arms and asking all sorts of questions about how the goddess of the harvest had been, what she had been up to since he'd seen her last, and what new food she was going to share this time. (On her last visit she'd made him a bowl of raisin bran where all of the raisins were shaped like his head.)

Persephone could only smile as she watched the interaction. She had been worried how her mother would react to her demigod son when she found out, but she'd been over the moon! Something about having a new grandchild to spoil rotten. She still remembered that day fondly.

She'd been playing with a two year old Harry in her garden, rolling one of her fruits along the ground so he and Butcher could chase it and bring it back, when Demeter had chosen to just appear in a typically flamboyant fashion. Growing out of the ground in a giant switch of wheat. "Persephone! Why are you still down here? My deal with your husband still stands and you must spend this half of the year with me on Olympus! The nerve-" Her powerful tirade was brought up short when a small human child toddled up to her and offered a fruit in his tiny hands. A child with Hades' face and her daughter's ears.

She had woodenly taken the fruit, put it in her pocket, and knelt in front of the child as Persephone nervously watched on. "Hello little one." she slowly reached forward to cup his fragile, adorable, face. "What is your name?"

He smiled wide at her question and the stoic goddess felt her heart absolutely melt. "I'm Harry." His words were disjointed, clearly he was still learning how to speak well. A small shadow hound pattered up next to him and bumped his knees, almost causing him to totter over before Demeter caught him. As he righted himself and leaned back against the animal he said, "And this is Butcher. Say hi, Butcher." The dog barked happily as it wagged its tail and lolled its tongue."

Demeter laughed at the exchange. "Well at least your father can do one thing right. All little boys should have a dog." She ruffled his hair lightly, conjured a seat of oak out of the earth, and pulled Harry into her lap as she sat. As the little boy started babbling in her ear, and the dog ran around them both in rapid circles, the goddess of agriculture gave her daughter a look that clearly implied she had some explaining to do.

That one meeting had led to a month long visit that nearly drove her husband mad and even sent her up the wall. The whole time Demeter had lavished her boy with gifts and exotic foods while also guilting her for not telling her mother she had a new grandson. Though by the end she'd agreed to pause her deal with her husband until Harry was grown. In her mind a child definitely needed its mother.

Now here they were, years later, and her mother still saw her little boy as the apple of her garden. Honestly if her other children hadn't already had centuries of the same from the woman Persephone feared they might have been jealous. But as a whole they had all seemed to agree to let Harry have his century of attention before his end without a fuss.

The three spent several minutes catching up with each other before, as was her habit, Demeter took complete control of the situation and left her daughter and grandson to twiddle their thumbs. Both of them were rather fascinated by the elder goddess moving around the office almost faster than sight and issuing orders at a rate that would have made a high priced auctioneer blush in envy.

Thus it was that a series of tasks that would have taken them a couple of hours was finished in under one, and soon enough the trio found themselves in the palace's grand ballroom with guests all around. The immortal children of Hades and Persephone were drinking, mingling, and wishing their youngest brother as happy a birthday as they could. (Which translated to trying to get him to drink spiked punch. An act that both Persephone and Demeter were quick to shut down.) The denizens of the underworld passed by the open doors in droves to catch the merest glimpse of the beloved Prince of Darkness, and his extended family. (Today was not the first time he had presided over the dead, and his fair decisions, and punishments as legendary as his mother's, had granted him quite the reputation and favor of the populace.) Finally, an undead string quartet was playing a lively tune that had more than a few people tapping their feet.

Harry even thought he saw Hermes a couple of times, but he couldn't see why his father would have invited the annoying postman. Over the course of his admittedly short life there were a few gods that could not be kept away from the palace, and the god of messengers was one of them. He, like the others, had sworn an oath not to reveal his presence to Zeus or Poseidon, but that didn't mean he ever stopped talking or cracking jokes. His father on more than one occasion had complained at length about the man.

All in all it was a grand event, and Harry made it a point to hug and thank both his mother and grandmother for the effort they'd put in to make it happen. He personally didn't care so much about his birthday, but celebrating it made his family happy so he made sure to appreciate it.

The evening went on that way for a while. A lot of eating, drinking, and then the dancing began. This was the only part that annoyed the young prince to some extent. Oh he danced happily enough with his mother and grandmother, but he also had to watch all of his siblings and guests pair off with their husbands, wives, and significant others. He understood why he was secluded as he was. (Zeus, and maybe Poseidon, would no doubt try to kill him if they knew he existed) but the solitude did rankle him sometimes.

Finally it was time for the gift giving, an act that his father took very seriously. He had once said to his son that a man can tell a lot about how he is perceived by others from the quality of gifts he is given. The respect those gifts can signify.

Harry was placed in a white chair at the front of the room, Butcher sitting at attention beside him, and the guests formed a line to present their gifts to him. As the tradition was to save the best for last, the less important guests came first, giving their small envelopes of cash and well wishes. Then came his siblings. Though they were not exactly close, they gave more personal gifts. Finely covered books and first editions to add to his collection (he was a bit of a bibliophile), new rings or necklaces of jade and or onyx (his favorite stones), and video games galore. (Aside from training and presiding over the dead, video games were a great way to pass the time).

The ghosts of Lily and James Potter made an appearance and each offered a ghostly hug to the birthday boy. The two of them primarily acted as magical tutors, but the familial love was still there between them, even if they had not been his true parents. As they had died for him, they'd both been offered Elysium, yet had chosen to stay and watch over him. The two had taken on the roles of ghostly godparents in a way, and James had taken his new incorporeality to his prankster's heart and begun driving the citizens of the underworld crazy with his pranks.

It turned out Hermes was in attendance as he approached next and made a grand show of presenting a finely wrapped box. Harry was only slightly unnerved by the wicked smile on his face as he unwrapped it to reveal a box of condoms. Wait, condoms! His eyes nervously swept to his mother and grandmother who were glaring pure death at the smirking god, and looked to his father who, surprisingly enough, was giving the package an approving nod. Had he known about them ahead of time?

"Those are blessed condoms, oh cousin of mine." Hermes always called him his cousin. "They'll never expire, and they can even stand up to divine usage…" He tilted his head behind him and waggled his eyebrows as one of the most beautiful women Harry had ever seen came to stand beside the god of messengers.

"Happy birthday, young prince." Her words were verbal honey and the look in her eyes needed no translation. "Do you know who I am?"

"Y-Yes. Fine greetings to you… Aphrodite." One could be forgiven for such a reaction. Though Harry was surely a confident young man, he was being confronted with the literal personification of love and sex.

She smirked and licked her lips lasciviously as she stepped forth and cupped his chin in one of her perfectly manicured hands. "Yes, you've turned out delectably-" Anything else she might have said, or done, was cut off rather abruptly as Persephone grabbed her viciously by the ear and dragged her across the floor and out the door. Demeter did the same with Hermes, and all present winced as the double doors slammed ominously closed behind them. They could only imagine the pain those two were about to suffer.

It was as everyone was still distracted that a wrinkly old man in a traveling robe stalked up to the prince. His hood was raised to obscure his features, but Harry would have recognized his sensei anywhere.

He bowed his head, "Master."

The old man chuffed and smacked the side of his head (perhaps the only one alive, or in this case undead, that could and live). "Raise your head, boy. You're a man now before all present here." He emphasized his point by presenting him with an ornately carved wooden box. Why else would I be giving you this?"

The boy grinned widely as he took the box and quickly opened the lid, beholding a naked katana. The blade red as fresh blood, the hilt wrapped in shark skin as green as his eyes. The pommel had been finished with a jade cap, carved into a snarling impression of Butcher's face.

"She's beautiful." Harry whispered, gaining a pleased nod from his teacher.

"Aye, I thought you would appreciate it. The damn thing took your blacksmiths a whole year to forge. Damned slowpokes."

"Why a year?"

"Why, for all of its special features of course." The man, formerly known as Miyamoto Musashi, the greatest duelist in Japanese history, explained.

Behind him, Hades smiled at the interplay between teacher and student. He still remembered the day he'd brought the zombie into his home. Harry had been four years old, and he'd bypassed walking to running all over the place and terrifying his mother. He would run, climb, and jump off of every surface he could and it took everything she had to keep up with him. Who knew raising a small human child could exhaust even a god?

Eventually something had to give, and Persephone had decided to take a nap, leaving their son in his keeping. The boy had seemingly fallen asleep in the chair across from his desk, and to this day Hades swore that he'd only looked away to sign some paperwork for a few seconds before looking up and seeing he was gone.

Of course he immediately raised the palace guard and sent everyone searching for him with strict orders to not wake up Persephone under any circumstances while they searched. It took two hours, and by then it was only by looking in the very last place imaginable that he found him.

Harry, his little boy, had wandered into the armory. Over the centuries Hades had collected bits and pieces of interesting military paraphernalia from across the globe, and Harry was sitting on a giant pile of it. No doubt fallen as he climbed them, and in his hands he was playing with a thankfully still sheathed katana.

Hades had bustled him into his arms and swept him back to his office, but upon arrival he saw that the weapon was still in his hands. How it was possible for a four year old to carry such a thing so far in one hand was beyond him, even for a demigod that was strange, but he took it as a sign nonetheless. Four he may have been, but his son had chosen a weapon and he vowed to make sure he knew how to use it. That meant getting the best to teach him.

That decision led to one of the more annoying experiences of his life…. visiting the gods of the Shinto religion. They had been incredibly stuck up, and in return for the loan of one of their honored dead they had required a literal mountain of gold, and the promise of a favor to be repaid at a later date. But he'd do it again in a heartbeat. They'd come through and provided him with the greatest swordsman in their lands. Miyamoto Musashi, the manslayer, author of the Book of Five Rings, and the founder of many concepts of modern swordsmanship.

The aging undead had come to his palace, taken one look at his small child energetically moving around the room, and declared that he could indeed teach this child the ways of the sword. Flash forward to the here and now and the results spoke for themselves. Musashi had been a harsh taskmaster, and many of his 'lessons' had nearly driven Hades' wife into a rage, but he knew from experience that hard lessons birthed hard warriors, and his son would need to be just that if the great prophecy referred to him.

He could still recall walking in on one such lesson. The god had been storming through the halls searching for Butcher (the literally damned mutt had taken another dump on his floor) when he heard a shocked grunt of pain in a nearby room. Walking inside, but keeping to the shadows, he'd beheld his then six year old son on the ground rubbing his head, a wooden training sword on the ground beside him.

"Why did you fail?" Musashi was stood across from the boy, the tip of his sword in the ground so he could use it as a cane.

"Because you cheated." The boy grumbled and finally stopped rubbing his head. He healed quickly but Hades just knew he'd still have a fine bruise at dinner that he'd need to explain to his wife. "You said we were going to practice form six, but you did form ten instead!"

"Yes, I did." Musashi had a damned amused look on his face as he leaned forward to look down on the boy and explain. "But that is not why you failed. No, you failed because your opponent told you something and you took it at face value. This is the same thing that defeated many of my dueling opponents. Those that rely on honor, predetermined plans, or rules of any kind in combat are destined to die. Remember that boy."

Clearly hoping for examples of such events, Harry looked up with wide eyes and asked, "How did you defeat those opponents, master?"

The aged swordsman gave an indulgent laugh and sat cross legged in front of him, and the god (though he didn't know that). "We have more training to do so I will only tell you of three today. Understand?" When Harry nodded he continued. "For a long time I lived as a ronin, a samurai without a master, and I sought to gain renown. Now, the best way to do that at the time was to pick a fight with someone more powerful than yourself and win. I fought several easy duels to start, building experience and reputation, and then I made my first major challenge in Kyoto. I called out the head of the Yoshioka clan, and do you know what happened next?"

"No master." Harry was enthralled by the tale being weaved before him.

"Of course you don't. I haven't told you yet." the old man chuckled briefly before continuing, "We agreed on a time and place for our duel to begin, and while he was on time I arrived hours later. Can you guess why?"

The boy shook his head in the negative.

"Because it threw him off balance. Honor and punctuality were both very important aspects of Japanese life, and I was shirking both which enraged him. He stalked around, threw his hands in the air, and exhausted himself with furious ramblings about how much of a coward I must be. By the time I arrived he was practically drooping in place, but too proud to back out or reschedule. His head fell quickly then. As did his brother's when I challenged him next and repeated the process."

"The second duel of importance was Matashichiro. He was the son and brother of the two I just told you about. Now, he challenged me, and I accepted, but due to the circumstances I expected foul play, and I was right. Knowing my penchant of arriving late he showed up on time with a large group of men to aid him in slaying me. They got in position and rested, conserving strength for my arrival."

"What happened?" Harry breathed, and Hades too was rather interested in the answer.

"As I said, I expected foul play from this man, so that day instead of arriving late I was early. I saw where the men were, how they positioned themselves, and who was armed with what. This allowed me to develop a strategy and choose the best position. From there I was able to leap out of the brush, take Matashichiro's head by surprise, and begin on his men. The angle with which I arrived put them in roughly a straight line, and since they were resting and had not drawn weapons, I was able to kill twenty of them before they even knew they should be fighting. The rest ran in fear of my rampage."

"Wow!" Harry exclaimed.

'Wow' Hades thought.

"Indeed." Musashi might be a proud old man, but he'd earned it and he enjoyed how his stories lit up his student's eyes. "Are you ready for the final duel before we return to training?"

"Yes master."

"Good. Well, this was against a man named Sasaki Kojiro. He was long considered the greatest warrior in the land. A samurai without equal and martial arts teacher to the shogun. Truly a man that should have been beyond my skill to defeat. He was notorious for using a blade longer than others to get beyond the reach of his opponents. Now, having heard of my other duels, do you have any guesses for how I won?"

Harry's face scrunched up in thought for a moment before he answered, "If he was the ideal samurai then he was probably on time right?"

Musashi nodded.

"So you arrived late and made him angry so that he'd be sloppy and tired."

"Very good. Yes, I used his own nature against him, but what about his sword?"

The boy shook his head, "I don't know master."

"It's alright lad, you are still young. Anyhow, my sword length was indeed an issue as reach was vitally important against someone that skilled. So instead of a sword, I sharpened a boat oar and used that instead. This both gave me a greater reach and further enraged Kojiro. He was unused to fighting someone with an even greater range than his own, and the insult of an opponent literally not crossing swords with him drove him wild. He became sloppy and I capitalized on it."

"Amazing!" Harry exclaimed.

"Yes. So do you understand now, boy? In a fair world I should have lost those duels as in every one of them I was facing men with years more experience than myself. I won by not allowing convention, honor, or agreed upon terms to dictate how I would fight. I showed up when it benefited me, not them. And I fought with weapons that benefited me." He reached out and tapped a finger to the growing bruise on his student's forehead, "Just now I won against you for the same reason. When we cross blades I am not just your teacher, but your opponent, do not trust blindly in my words. Instead follow my feet and blade. Decide for yourself if what I say is truth or misdirection."

Having seen enough, Hades made his way out of the room. His confidence in the old samurai once more validated.

Now, back in the present he watched as the old man moved off. It was time for his gift. Stepping forward he leaned down close enough that only he could hear and whispered, "Hide the condoms before your mother gets back."

Harry blinked, "What? Dad-"

"You're seventeen, son. Unlike your mother I won't delude myself as to what that means you might get up to.

The boy blushed and quickly shoved the box into one of his suit jacket's pockets before muttering, "It isn't like I have a lot of opportunities to use them down here."

Hades smile grew bigger as he pulled something from behind his back. "Perhaps this will help with that." In his hand was an onyx belt buckle emblazoned with the three heads of Cerberus.

Knowing how impressive his father's gifts were, Harry took it gently into his own hands. "What is it?" He didn't believe for one second that it was a normal buckle.

"That, is your ticket to the surface."

"What?!" Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had given up hope of ever going topside unless the prophecy was enacted.

The god of the dead conjured a second seat and sat beside his son, watching as the other guests began to mill about now that the last gift had been given. "You have done well down here, but your mother and I have noticed how… restless you have been. It has never been our desire to make you a prisoner in your own home, my son, but we wanted to wait until today at the earliest to make sure you were able to defend yourself properly." He gestured to the buckle, "That will hide you from the sight of all gods except me and your mother. As long as you don't go crazy up there you will be safe. And who knows, you might get more use out of that box than you think." The old god winked at his stunned child before throwing propriety to the wind and pulling him out of his chair into a hug.

"Oh lighten up, Harry. You're a handsome lad and the world is a big place. You're bound to get into some trouble with the ladies."

"He'd better not." Both men cringed as they felt a pair of delicate, precious stone covered, hands grip deceptively tightly onto their shoulders. With shaky necks they turned to look between them and found Persephone, grinning the most fake smile either of them had ever seen. "Our boy will only ever treat women with the greatest respect. Isn't that right, Harry?"

The boy was quick to nod, and the act seemed to convince her as his mother released him and rubbed his cheek instead. "Oh, my little boy going out into the world for the first time. I just wish I had one of those cameras the humans love so much. You have to promise to not be gone for long. Five day trips at the most. I just need my weekly fix of Harry."

Hades sighed and pulled his wife onto his lap before she could get worked up. They'd known this would be an issue for her. "Darling, it's not like he's going off to college or moving away. He's just going to be taking some trips and going on a few adventures of his own."

"Dad's right, mom." Harry agreed. "Wanderlust or whatever it is I have right now, this is my home. I could never leave it forever." He looked his mother directly in the eyes and said, "I'll be home enough that you won't even notice I'm gone. I need you in my life too you know."

"Oh, Harry." Persephone had made a promise to herself that she wouldn't cry tonight, but in spite of that she found herself tearing up. "Happy birthday, honey."


End Note: I'll include Persephone and Demeter's gifts in the next chapter. I tried including them here in the first draft but it messed up the flow.