Well, here's chapter two. Enjoy.
Hades stood by the window if his throne room overlooking the courtyard. His hellish, obsidian palace stood as a towering monolith over the rest of the underworld. It was far enough removed from the Fields of Punishment that the screams of the damned could not be heard. Despite what many thought of him, Hades didn't find pleasure in his position; he just understood that he had a responsibility to rule. Even with the Elysium Fields and the Isles of the Blessed, his kingdom was still a very bleak place. There was no sunshine; only grey-purple storm clouds that blanketed the so-called "sky", with the occasional sharp stalactites that protruded through their coverage.
Hades' eyes weren't on his domain, though. Rather, they were on Ivan practicing his forms in the courtyard. His wife had taken kindly enough to Ivan when Hades had brought him home. It seemed that Persephone's eternity in what was literally hell hadn't made her lose touch with her compassionate side. His wife nurtured and raised the boy to the point of semi self-sufficiency, which came quite quickly at the age of 5. By that point he was already reading by himself and thoroughly exploring every room the maze of palace halls. He would sneak into the kitchens when he was hungry and eat by himself on the softly sloped roof of the castle. A curious child, who somehow seemed to find existence there joyful. The boy had grown up with skeletons and ghosts as frequent appearances and so he did not scare easily, either.
Social interaction was an important part of development, though. Hades regularly had Ivan attend Camp Half-Blood to get acclimated with other heroes and learn how to interact with other living beings. Receiving instruction from Chiron would also do him good. Knowledge, wisdom and experience had to be sought from a variety of sources, in order for the wielder to be well-versed.
Ivan had grown up mostly under his roof. During that time, Hades had long pondered Ivan's parentage. Sofia, the woman he had found Ivan with, was not Ivan's real mother; they didn't share very many features at all. The list of Gods and Goddesses was too long to run through, and each train of thought accrued too many unprovable assumptions. However, the answer came abruptly and serendipitously one day in his youth which took Hades and his wife aback. So how… Hades left the thought trailing. Whether Ivan knew himself was a separate matter.
His long, black hair was tied up behind his head in a bun, though some strands did fall free over his face. He was muscular and well-built, but not bulky. His physique served him well functionally in combat, which he held a natural aptitude for. Whenever Ivan was home, Hades had asked Achilles to oversee his training, if only to spare him the fate of being submerged in the Ryver Styx like he had. On his 16th birthday he was given a ring that would represent his adoption sonship. In a practical aspect, it would allow him to draw any weapon from his arsenal from the mist for immediate use. Hades considered this a reward more than a gift; in the time taken to reach his age Ivan had learned a lot. His long devotion to training had put him on par with Achilles, who only surpassed him marginally due to his enhanced reflex from the Styx.
Taking a break from training, Ivan sat down by the side of the fountain overlooking the Elysium Fields. Hades couldn't see his face, but Hades could guess what he was feeling. Sorrow. Heartache. Longing. Resignation. Hades understood; they'd both lost important people that day. But the living have to keep living. It was around that time too that his demeanour changed. Hades had rarely seen the Ivan smile; only when he was petting his pet wolf could a soft curl in the corner of his mouth be seen. Even then though, his eyes gave the hint that it was out of nostalgia and painful reminiscence.
Unfortunately, the momentary peace of the present would have to be broken. Hades' brothers had fathered children, despite the pact they had all made. First there was that tree girl who had just recently been reanimated, followed by that audacious son of Poseidon who dared to accuse him of thievery. And if that wasn't enough, Zeus decided to father another son on top of that. Hades had been the only one to remain faithful to his word. To say that irritated him would be an understatement. Trouble was brewing and dissonance was on the horizon and rapidly approaching. That meant that the prophecy that was spoken all those years ago could potentially come to pass in the coming days, and Hades would not sit idly by without influence. No; it was time for him to move his pieces into place.
/ / /
Ivan sat cross-legged on the fountain edge and gazed longingly towards the Elysium Fields. His wolf, Lily, had come and laid her head in his lap, which he was stroking affectionally. She had a dusty silver-grey fur coat with no noticeable patterning, and oddly matched eyes; one blue and one yellow. This wolf was quite large; about the size of an average horse. She liked to try and bait Cerberus into playing games of tug-of-war despite Ivan's protests. Clearly there was an issue here in discerning size disparity. Attributable to her size, she was large enough to mount and ride. Ivan rarely rode her though; she disliked the saddle. The weight posed an additional burden to mobility and slightly restricted her movement if she wanted to pivot rapidly. Ivan relied on her mainly as a means of shadow traveling when the situation was dire. Given the infrequency and short duration of shadow traveling, Ivan could cope with straddling bareback and clinging to her fur. Being a wolf, Lily could (and had) come to his aid in combat, if he needed.
He was deep in thought when he heard footsteps approach from behind him and a familiar voice call his name.
"Ivan." Hades said.
Ivan took a moment before stirring Lily for her to move her head. Ivan got up and turned to face the God of the Underworld while Lily dropped her head on her paws and returned to her slumber.
"Father." Ivan bowed as he addressed him.
Yes… father. That's what Hades was to Ivan. Ivan knew, of course, that they were not related by blood. But fatherhood sometimes transcended blood relations.
"I have a job for you. Do you remember our last conversation?" Hades asked.
Ivan nodded. "The Great Prophecy and the war. A disturbance in the mist."
"Yes. So far, we've been mostly observing, but with the emergence of two potential children of prophecy we should finally start moving."
Ivan could guess where this was headed. "Do you want me to collect Bianca and Nico?"
"Yes." Hades affirmed. "Escort them to the demigod camp and get them acquainted with Chiron. Beyond that, you're free to do as you see fit."
"Alright. I can set out in the morning."
"There is one thing, though." Hades followed up. "If you can, get a read of the two powerful ones; I want to know who the candidates are."
"Are you not worried about the Roman, then?" Ivan asked.
"Not at this stage, no. He and his companions will have their own battle to fight."
"Okay. I'll see what I can do. Come, girl" Ivan called for Lily.
Ivan turned to leave and was accompanied by his loyal hound. Hades watched him go.
"Be safe, Ivan…" he quietly spoke to himself. He would never say this, but he loved his children; even Ivan. Hades could be confident in Ivan's abilities, but never in his circumstances. Such things were out of his hands and left to The Fates.
/ / /
Ivan rarely obtained quality rest. At most, he would get 4 hours a night. When he did sleep, his dreams were often plagued with nightmares that were experienced lucidly and vividly. He often wondered if he had done something to offend Morpheus that prevented him from peaceful rest. Ivan had acclimatised to this reality over the years, however.
As he couldn't sleep, Ivan instead took the time to plan his next moves. He was in the stable in which Lily would rest. Lily was asleep and curled in an arch, with Ivan nested in the middle. The subtle rise and fall of her stomach where he leaned was a comforting rhythm that resonated throughout his body. He sat and contemplated how he would proceed and get his siblings into the camp.
From what he knew, satyrs were still the ones responsible for identifying demigod children and escorting them to camp. However, if there was a strong monster within the locality, they might call in for extra assistance. This usually happened at a school; around the dawn of puberty did the demigod scent become detectable to monsters, and so that might be the way to go. And then there was the other thing to consider: the children of Zeus and Poseidon. Ivan wanted to observe them on the field at least once. So, he'd find a school with a powerful foe residing there. His siblings would act as bait to warrant the camp sending out their strongest half-bloods, and Ivan would be able to get a read on them and gauge their capabilities.
His siblings wouldn't be in any real danger, of course. Ivan would be watching the whole time, ready to intervene. He just wanted to know how they'd fare in action. Thalia… Perseus… These names were familiar to him. He knew of them and their ventures vaguely, but anything relating to their character or competency was still a mystery. One of them might be the child of prophecy, and so it'd be important to gauge which one it was.
And Chiron… Ivan would be lying if he said that he didn't feel some enthusiasm at the prospect of seeing his old mentor again. The two had parted ways on an abrupt note in the past, without proper farewells. Life had just gotten in the way and demanded his attention. Furthermore, he could wander the camp and see how things had (or hadn't changed). While he did enjoy the time he spent there in the past, as they say, there's no place like home.
The subtle vibration of his phone interrupted his train of thought, prompting him to check the time and silence the alarm. 6:00 am; time to head out. He got up and gently stirred Lily from her sleep. Her eyes opened slowly. She let out a large yawn and rose, before affectionately nuzzling up against Ivan's chest. He responded in kind by scratching behind her ears. Walking side by side, the two set off to retrieve the di Angelos.
As you can probably tell, this segues into The Titan's Curse. Ivan has been doing his own stuff for the events of the first two books, but now is when he enters the main series. Been a bit slow so far, but things pick up in the next chapter, I promise.
I could have just made Ivan be Percy, but then I'd need to find a substitute for Percy anyway, and so I thought it'd just make more sense to do. That way I could create an OC while still have the original Percy retain all his personality traits.
In addition to sucking at dialogue, I think I might also be leaning too heavily into exposition. But I don't really know. Feel free to let me know what you think.
Lastly, I've been trying to weigh the merits of third person perspective against first person to see which one I should exclusively or predominantly employ. There's also the question of past or present tense. Going first person would allow me to make it more personal, I guess, and present tense would be as if all these things would be taking place in the present moment. I suppose this whole thing is an experiment in progress anyway, so we'll see how it goes. Hopefully it's not too jarring for you to read.