Chapter 5 – Balance and Aegeus Hates Mutts

AN: Time to explain, that how fast time goes in a Primordial's domain depends only on the Primordial or if Chronus himself decides to influence it. Tartarus can make it that a year is a day or a day is a year in his domain. Now Tartarus is speeding the time, so that the twins have time to train before the war against Gaea begins.

The twins are here! I'm too fucking lazy to develop them, so I'm just going to plop them ready and here for the moment. Of course, later in the story there will be more development, when they really mature. I also hope to see what you think of their names!

I will explain some things that have happened during these 12 years during the story.

12 Years Later in Tartarus (9 months on Earth)

Two people were fighting in the Arena of Tartarus with different monsters and beings watching them. It was the two teams- a boy and a girl against different groups of monsters. The boy had two xiphoses, one was bronze, slightly glowing in blue-greenish light and the other was black, glowing in a blood red color. He was 1.75 meters, pretty high for looking just 16 years old and had a muscular build, though not too much. His muscles just looked defined and he had almost no fat on his entire body. He had high cheekbones, making him look handsome for a mortal. His hair was jet black, but his eyes were weird for a human. They were black on the outlines of the irises, ending in a dark sea green color in the middle of the pupil though there were also specks of the same glowing blood red color as the sword's glow, making them look absolutely mesmerizing. The middle of the pupils were from time to time flashing in lightning, making them smaller monsters jump just from seeing them.

The girl on the other hand was just 1.65 and was much leaner. Not that she looked weak, but just wasn't as defined as the boy's. She also looked 16 years old and had absolutely the same features as the boy-black hair, the same high cheekbones and almost the same eye color. Though while the boy had red specks, her eyes were pitch black, and looked as if drowning the light in the room. But on her, the outlines of the iris looked dark sea green, going darker until the pupil. Both looked like siblings. The girl fought with two slightly curved hunting knives. Thought they by no definition looked normal, as they were so intensely dark, they consumed all light around them, giving them an almost black aura.

The boy was in full battle armor. It was completely black and red and practically screamed malevolence. From the knees until the waist were faces of screaming and tortured souls, making everybody feel sick after looking at it too long. The same images engraved also on the torso and arms of the armor. Almost every side was outlined with red-sides of the feet, legs, waist, and the entire torso and until the wrists. Two holstered .50 Desert Eagles, reinforced with Tartarean steel were on his waist. On the front of the torso was a black raven, showing the warrior's allegiance to Nyx. He had no helmet, but he could not afford it, since to defend himself against more opponents, he needed better vision and to be able to turn his head quickly.

The girl was dressed completely different. While the first looked like a heavy-grade fighter with battle armor, she had a much lighter attire, like an assassin. Her entire combat gear consisted of leather clothes. Everything was completely black. From her boots to her fingerless gloves. The black raven of Nyx stood on the assassin as well. Many different weapons showed though, that this one was also not to mess with.

First were the two blades at the front side of her boots, used for slicing monsters while kicking and having a more balanced stance, when she buries them to the ground, while not disturbing her speed. Then four black throwing knives stood on her waist and two more were placed on each shoulder. On the assassin's back was a beautifully engraved black bow with a silver string, though no quiver was to be found. Finally, two vambraces with hidden blades, perfect for assassination stood on both forearms.

What they were fighting against right now was a group of dracaena. The dracaena had many different styles of fighting. Some had bows, some had a spear and shield, and some were duel-wielding swords.

The boy was the center of attention. All ranged dracaena were firing at him, while at least three were fighting him in melee. But he somehow managed to deflect every hit headed at him with his twin swords. He could not go to the offensive with so much enemies, but he held his own easily.

The girl on the other hand, was plowing through the monsters. With her dual knives, she wasted mere seconds on a single dracaena, when she assaulted another. She was ducking, sidestepping, rolling and overall moving with an incredible speed. After approximately every three dodges, she went for the kill. That way, she decimated 4 melee monsters, before going for the ranged ones.

Then the girl's hunting knives turned into two identical black rings on both her ring fingers and she took the throwing knives, sheathed on her left shoulder and threw them at two of the snake-women. After that, the girl shadow travelled behind the other four archer dracaena. Using her hidden knives in the vambraces, she slit the throat of one from behind and plunged another through the back. Then, using the hunting knives yet again, she ended the last two ranged monsters.

The boy was also getting an advantage. With all archer dracaena gone, he could kick one of the monster's shield, incapacitating it, and kill two with incredible synchronization of both blades. With amazing for such a heavy warrior speed he ended the last of speared monsters, before only 4 were left.

Both swords turned into bracelets, one red and another blue. Then the warrior pulled both black pistols and managed to shoot two more monsters in the heads.

After both last dracaena charger at the warrior, he got his swords back, before he sidestepped left before kicking one of them. Then he managed to deflect with one sword and with the other he decapitated the dracaena. The last one was killed by a black arrow, fired from the girl, who grew impatient after killing all snake-women with bows.

The boy threw her a dirty look.

"Why did you have to steal that, Zoe?"

Zoe played innocent completely innocent. "I didn't steal anything, little brother."

At that, the boy scowled even more. "You are only a few minutes older and I'm taller."

The girl just went to her brother and ruffled his hair, standing on her toes.

"But you'll always be my little brother, Aegeus. Now let's go see dad."

At that both siblings went to the stands, one smirking smugly and the other glaring at everybody and everything. There stood five people – their Patrons and parents.

On the left stood their uncle and Zoe's Patron – Erebus, Primordial of Darkness and Shadows. In his hand was their mother – Nyx, Protogenoi of Night. On a throne, right to their mother stood another uncle and Aegeus's Patron – Tartarus, Primordial of the Pit. Closest to the stand was smiling their father – Percy Jackson, who they knew as the strongest demigod in history. And next to Percy was also his adoptive father and the kid's grandfather – Ouranos, Primordial of Heavens.

Most were looking proud, except Tartarus, who looked more maniacal and sadistic, as if planning something. But he was always sadistic, so that made no difference whatsoever.

"Damn, Tartarus and Erebus trained you well." Whistled Ouranos, while said Protogenoi were looked smug. "I wonder if Aera and her companion can defeat you anymore."

The children of Nyx shivered at the mention of Aera's companion. Who knew Tartarus could be so good in birthday gifts?

Flashback – Aera's 18th birthday (3 years after last chapter)

Aera had already been training for three years after coming to Tartarus. She had created a very close relationship with both her father and Percy in this time. And today was her 18th birthday. Mortals considered 18 to be an age of maturity. For immortals and demigods though, that was nowhere near true. But she was still thrilled. Would she be able to have a license?

Aera had no idea what kind of license she would receive.

At the morning, the whole Palace of Tartarus had 'Happy Birthday' posters. It was so comical for Hell to be decorated on her birthday, it had taken Aera a few minutes to stop laughing.

After going in the throne room, Aera had found both her father and Percy with a very dark chocolate cake. She could never unsee Tartarus with a birthday hat, as much as he hated it. After blowing the candles, she looked at Percy, who had in his arms a black shield that also had red outlines and a dragon's head roaring in the front.

The daughter of Tartarus asked about it, but she only managed to receive a wink and a 'you'll understand later' before her father spoke.

"Aera, I will teleport you to your birthday gift, but remember you must prove yourself to it." The daughter of Tartarus was confused. Why did she need to prove herself to her gift?

Then she got teleported. Thankfully, as her present was in Tartarus, she could teleport without the usual nausea. What she saw left her flabbergasted.

A giantfucking dragon.

Her birthday gift was a dragon?

"Oh, my Chaos." She muttered. Her father wanted her to ride that monstrosity of awesomeness?

The dragon was massive. It was over 30 meters in height and at least 60 meters wingspan. The entire dragon was black with red claws, wings and eyes. She could only imagine what those red eyes would do to the enemy. Most gods would probably pee their pants if this dragon attacked them.

The dragon then stood up and went to Aera. Its face was literally inches from hers. But she remembered.

'You must prove yourself.' That probably meant, that she must not show any fear. So glared at the dragon and released her aura.

At feeling Aera's aura and seeing her glare, the dragon knew what to do. He bowed his head in front of her.

The Demiprimordial touched his forehead with her palm and pain exploded all over her head. That was one of the worst headaches ever. So she almost fell over when she heard the deep, primal voice.

"Greetings Mistress, I am Draco, Father and King of all Dragons."

"Hello Draco, I am Aera, Daughter of Tartarus. You are a magnificent creature and it is my honor to have you as my dragon."

"I know who you are, young one, and now Lord Tartarus is calling for us. I hope later I can get to know the only mortal offspring of my wise creator."

End of Flashback

Aera had lived up to every piece of her parentage while fighting with the dragon. A giant black and blood red dragon, roaring hellfire with an armored rider was scary as shit. And Aera spend every moment outside training with the freaking dragon, even sleeping next to him.

The next who spoke was Nyx, who looked excited for some reason.

"Children, I managed to speak with my son Thanatos and he will give you a gift for the next mission."

With that, shadows condensed in the corner of the wall before a hooded figure came into view.

The hooded figure had fully black attire, from boots to a trench coat with a hood. You could see his glowing golden eyes underneath though. On his back was his signature scythe, showing his role in the mythological world as the Soul Reaper.

Thanatos then went to the twins and completely without their consent just fired a blast of energy at them with a flick of his scythe.

After a few agonizing screams, both siblings were on their knees, panting hard, but something had drastically changed.

On their backs sprouted 5 meter long pitch black wings. Without the armor now both looked like some sort of fallen angel. Practically their appearance now was every bit the children of Night.

With that the God of Death just nodded to the Primordials, without saying absolutely anything and vanished from the room for more reaping souls.

As the twins were admiring their new assets, Ouranos decided to speak.

"As my sister said, you have a mission. We are afraid the war against the giants is already begun and the gods will fail. But before we announce ourselves, both of you must infiltrate the camps and look for new followers. I think it will be best for Aegeus to go to camp Jupiter, while Zoe goes to Camp Half-Blood." Zoe looked ready to retort, she had absolutely no wish to spend time at the place that hurt her father so much, before Erebus cut her off.

"My Champion, since the Olympians have cut themselves off, the Hunters are also at Camp Half-Blood. You being a girl, can get to them too. The only problem are the nosey satyrs, but unless an immortal visits, you will be undetected. And you were always a better actor, children of Athena are even more annoying than satyrs." Ignoring the 'hey' from Aegeus, Erebus continued.

"We will contact you, but for the most part, you are running in blind. Be very careful, beware from Chiron, gods, charmspeakers or lie-detectors. You will be there for about a month before the quest for Greece begins. The prophecy you know has been spoken by the new Oracle and their ship is almost ready. Though both the Olympians and Gaea have no idea of our side."

Aegeus and Zoe were both really excited for their mission. While they had seldom been in the mortal world, they could defeat an Olympian at 1v1 combat with their powers. Their parents were just really worried about not being found. Anyways, it seemed like an easy job. Go to a camp of weak godlings. Find forgotten godlings. Seemed like a no-brainer. Before Zoe had a question.

"How will we introduce ourselves? We can't say 'We are children of Nyx, hi and die!'." At hearing that, Nyx just shook her head, while muttering 'Why did they have to get the sarcasm?' making Percy smirk in victory.

Erebus spoke again "We were thinking children of Nemesis, all of mine and Nyx' children are on our side, so she can claim you. It will explain the combat skills, affiliate with the minor demigods and help Aegeus with a side quest of his." That made the son of Nyx raise an eyebrow. Tartarus was quick to explain.

"While the Greeks know of the Romans, they latter have no idea of the other's existence. If Aegeus, using Nemesis's domain of revenge, persuades the Romans to attack the Greeks early, the Olympians will be between their two aspects and we can easily land an attack against Gaea without much intervention." But Percy interjected.

"But what of the demigods? Why must they die?" The son of Ouranos used to be a demigod, plus even with all of his years in Tartarus and the Mansion of Night he was not somebody cruel, killing without reason. The Primordial of the Sky was quick to calm him down.

"Son, preparations for war and making a camp takes months, before even the fighting is started, we will end it." Percy looked down, still unhappy about the demigods' deaths.

"Also, hide your wings. If not, I'm sure Draco will love to pluck them out. And if you need anything from us, you just have to pray." After that, Aegeus and Zoe got ready for leaving and hid their wings in the slits in their backs, but not before Nyx giving them a hug and going into typical motherly mode.

"Did you get some clothes? The weapons?"

"Mum..."

"Some ambrosia if something happens? The transportation pendants?"

"Mother please…"

Erebus then came to their rescue, chuckling from the encounter. "Nyx, you have tortured them enough, they are ready."

Seeing the almost omnipotent Primordial Goddess of Night pout was one of the highlights of living in the Mansion of Night.

Line Break – Zoe

Zoe Jackson had not felt this disgusting since Tartarus decided to take over her training for a day. This day will never be mentioned from her again. But with leaves sticking from her hair, sweat covered her entire clothes and overall grass on her jeans and Nike's (every demigod wore Nike, the Goddess of Victory cursed most Adidas wearers) she was being no Aphrodite. Daughter of a Primordial and all, she admitted that she was beautiful, but she shared many traits with her namesake ex-Hesperide.

People (mostly Aegeus) called her hot-headed, rude, sarcastic and even slightly feministic. But that were also traits from her mother and father, so she had no idea what to think about it. While her brother was more or less a goody-two shoes and a big momma's boy, Zoe was much more rebellious.

That by no extent meant she resented her parents, she was probably one of the only half-bloods in history with a truly caring godly and at least somewhat-mortal parent. She felt bad for all demigods, who never knew their godly parent or their mortal one hated them.

Then she remembered the main issue that caused these problems.

The Olympians. The thought alone made her burn with anger. The gods had hurt so many people for their pride and enjoyment. The worst she had heard was her father. She could never believe how somebody could hurt such a good man. The worst was Poseidon to kill his own lover in his anger and then abandon his son.

And while Aegeus was a momma's boy, Zoe was definitely a daddy's little girl. The daughter of Nyx absolutely adored her father and thought he was the best person to ever live.

And while Zoe had powers from a legacy of the Sea God, she almost never used them. She was trained in them, but Aegeus was much better than her in them.

Overall her brother was better in elemental magic like Poseidon and Ouranos' domains. Having the blessing of Tartarus made him even stronger and gave him more control over the earth and making him able to use hellfire.

Aegeus Jackson could practically use the domain of night, meaning teleportation in the night, actually being able to make it night for a few minutes (mostly when Hemera is feeling generous (meaning almost always, she was a real sweetheart)), making him even stronger, then water, lightning, wind, the earth and hellfire. Talk about overpowered.

Zoe on the other hand was a much better fighter in combat. She could without that much effort kick her brother's butt in melee or even in ranged without any powers. She also much preferred the use of her Mother's powers.

Combining them with her Patron Erebus, it made her an incredible fighter during the night. Instead of only being able to teleport after dusk, the daughter of Nyx could also shadow travel and use shadows and darkness overall in combat. Also being a child of the Night, she could easily sense everything in her Mother's domain.

Putting the domains of Nyx and Erebus into mostly one, Zoe had such control over the darkness, she could make shadows hard and even cut things with them.

Another thing from having both Nyx and Erebus' domains, she was also pronounced Queen of Hellhounds a year back. Since the first King of Hellhounds was a son of Nyx and Erebus and was overall evil, Zoe challenged him and got the title. There have been no Hellhound attacks on demigods ever since.

While the sibling often sparred, there really was no actual victor. Zoe was better in melee combat and was a pro with a bow and arrow. Aegeus simply had too many domains to lose in elemental combat. And when they fought in melee with powers, it was a coin toss.

(AN: This is overall the extent of the powers and personalities, hope you understood everything, though most of you could probably guess most of it.)

Right now Zoe was trekking through the woods of Half-Blood Hill, hating every moment of boredom. Her father had guessed she had even more ADHD then normal demigods, being more powerful and also being the daughter of a demigod. Actually Zoe had never even tried out her dyslexia, both children of Nyx only really reading in Ancient Greek and Latin, but she would probably have it harder than normal. Just her luck.

After a few more minutes, the daughter of Nyx was finally nearing the end of the woods, before she saw what she knew was the camp. It looked a lot like her father had described, but also had a few things he had never mentioned.

She could recognize the blue, three floored building, called the Big House. She then saw the twelve cabins for the Olympians, standing in the oval shape of the council on the Mountain. But Zoe could also see many cabins, smaller than the big twelve ones, standing somewhat awkwardly overall the whole camp. Those smaller cabins were a lot less perfected, that she could easily recognize. Then she remembered her father's wish at the end of the Second Titan's War.

'No more unclaimed or Minor Gods' kids in the Hermes cabin. New cabins for every God and Goddess.'

So that meant those were the minor gods' cabins. But of course the Olympians' ones were much bigger, shinier and obviously had much more kids in them.

She had to restrain a snort at the Council's ego. It would not be hard to find new allies in the camp.

Zoe then went to the Big House, pretending to be tired. Of course, that was nothing like racing Charon on foot or overall jogging around Tartarus with monsters on your trail.

A 14-year-old-looking girl with black hair and black eyes noticed Zoe going to Big House and immediately went to her help.

"Hey, who are you, where are you going? You look pretty old, how much are you, 16?" After being swarmed with questing, Zoe just held out a hand in the air, stopping her.

"I am Zoe, daughter of Nemesis. My mother spoke to me to come to a camp for people like me." The girl smiled at hearing the introduction, though Zoe had really no idea why.

"Good, then you are my sister. I'm Kassandra. Let's go meet Chiron and set you up. You already know about everything here right?" Well, she now had a 'sister', what would that girl think if she knew Zoe was actually her aunt?

"I know of the gods and my heritage, nothing more." She knew much more than even the Olympians knew these days, but she ain't telling nobody that.

"Well in that case, I'll bring you to Chiron. He's the Camp Director for Camp. Here live demigods. You know, gods go and seduce mortals and have children. These children, A.K.A us, come here to live and train. Also, these are the cabins for the gods." Kassandra said, pointing out to all small houses.

Zoe then decided to make her move and point the seed of doubt in her 'sister', while of course, innocently questioning her.

"Why are some cabins bigger than others?"

At that, the real daughter of Nemesis' look darkened before answering.

"The bigger ones are for the Olympians. Our mother is one of the minor gods, so they think she does not deserve such a good-looking cabin."

Kassandra glared at the twelve bigger cabins, before sobering up and continuing her way to the Big House.

The daughter of Nemesis then knocked entered the three-floored cabin and both girls found the ancient centaur.

Zoe was obviously acting surprised and all, but she had seen much things older than the stupid half-horse. For the sake of Chaos, her half-siblings and mother were older than him.

"Are you Chiron?" Asked the daughter of Nyx, acting, though she knew it would be hard to deceive the centaur.

"Yes, and who might you be, young one?" Asked Chiron, looking at Zoe with his three-thousand-year old brown eyes, inspecting her.

Then Kassandra, thinking she obviously knew more than Zoe, answered.

"She's also a daughter of Nemesis, Chiron. Mother had talked to her, but she just came here." Chiron then narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"You look 16, and you just came here. How have you survived and not joined Kronos' army." Damned centaur, he had to suspect her. At that, Kassandra's eyes widened, she had not considered that specific possibility.

"My mother gave me weapons and I have been living on the streets, about 8 months ago she told me to go Long Island." Kassandra got a jealous look, she had never received a gift from her mother, though Zoe looked much more experienced than her and she had to acknowledge it, her mother was the Goddess of Balance after all.

Zoe then flicked her hands before her black hunting knives appeared. Chiron had a thinking face, the centaur was old, but he had never seen such a metal. It was also so black, drowned light around it. He decided not to ask about it, but he could not really even ask a god, since Olympus was closed off.

Kassandra then decided the conversation was over so she dragged the daughter of Nyx out.

Line Break

Zoe and Kassandra were alone in the Nemesis cabin, the goddess only had one real daughter in camp. They were talking about how camp was, or really it was Zoe more or less pushing the right buttons to anger the daughter of Nemesis.

"But why are you the only other daughter of Nemesis here? The other cabins have at least 10 demigods in them!" Kassandra looked saddened by the fact, while she had not met more of siblings, she truly felt bad for them.

"It is because there was a war about 8 months ago, where all children of Nemesis from camp went to fight for the wrong side. I had not gotten here yet, but the campers still call me traitor sometimes, because of my mother. They think, that she being the Goddess of Revenge is evil. Everybody forgets she also has Balance as a domain." Kassandra at that point was grasping her sword handle so hard, trying to reign her anger, her the daughter of Nyx could see how really bad she was treated in camp. Should she make her move now? After all, Nemesis is on their side in the coming war.

"Kassandra this camp looks like it sucks. Is there another place to live as a demigod?"

"You can obviously live in the world, but it is dangerous." Zoe inwardly smirked, so she was only here for the protection.

"What if I tell you, that there is another way to live as a demigod and actually meet your mother?" The first moment of Kassandra's widening of pupils was enough for her to realize, that that was a perfect shot. Then she remembered what Chiron had said. What if this new, somewhat trained demigod was actually a traitor?

"How? You are not talking about joining Gaea and the Giants, right? They are just as bad."

"No, I am actually talking about meeting your mother. You see, I am actually not really a daughter of Nemesis. There is going to be a three front war soon Kassandra. It will be the Olympians Vs Gaia and the Giants Vs the Primordials. All children of Nyx have decided to abandon Olympus like Nemesis, Morpheus and more. You can meet be with your mother if you choose our side."

At this proclamation Kassandra was backed off at the wall. She had no idea this new camper was actually a turncoat.

"So you want me to go traitor? And why do you say only my mother, or is Nemesis not your mother as well?" Zoe just shook her head.

"Kassandra, my parentage is extremely important. I will tell you only if you are onboard. Just so you know, my side only want the Olympians and Gaea dead, not the demigods."

Kassandra was really torn. Being with her mother and with people who understood her or remaining in the blasted camp. Then she finally made her decision and nodded.

"I'm in. If Mother is on your side, she must understand the balance of the sides is there too. She made a mistake with Kronos but she was just really bitter. I trust her and I hate this camp." Zoe just smiled. Already one follower.

"Well Kassandra, my real name is Zoe Jackson, my father is Percy Jackson and my mother is Nyx, Primordial of the Night."

Kassandra's jaw dropped at the proclamation. A daughter of a dead hero and a millennia old goddess, much more powerful than Zeus? It seemed impossible.

"But Percy Jackson is dead. Chiron told us he had turned traitor and offended the gods." Zoe just shook her head at the Olympians' insolence.

"Do you know what he did to offend them? He denied Godhood. Dad just did not want to be a God. That's it. The Olympians were too prideful to admit that being mortal is better than being immortal. Then they tried to kill him. But my adopted grandfather, Ouranos saved him and adopted him."

Kassandra understood, but was even more angered. How dare these gods kill their Hero? But something still puzzled her.

"How are you 16? It has been just 8 months."

Zoe shook her finger. "Time in Tartarus passes differently, and with me being so powerful I am actually just 12."

"But isn't your mother married and all?" At this, Zoe somewhat cringed. She really did not like to talk about the relation between her mother and father.

"My mother had always wanted a demigod child and my father, well he was willing to comply." At seeing Zoe's face while explaining, Kassandra just laughed for the first time since this pretty serious conversation.

"Alright, so why are you here then? I realize you have lived with both of your parents, right?" Kassandra was yet again envious of the daughter of Nyx, she had even lived with her godly parent.

"Yeah, actually since apparently I lived in Uncle Tartarus' domain, Ancient Laws don't count." The daughter of Nemesis had never believed someone would say 'Uncle Tartarus' as a living being, most understood him as a prison for torturing. No demigods have ever really lived there.

"So you said the Primordials were on your side. Care to mention who exactly?"

"Dad had resurrected most Primordials, so they owe him. Of course, Gaea is lost in her madness and how her domain is treated today, so she is out of that equation. Some like Achlys are just too weird, so dad just left her alone. So we also have most minor gods like Iris and Eris, many Titans like Phoebe, Metis and Themis, who were not imprisoned and me and my twin brother."

Kassandra had a thinking face for a few moments before continuing with her questions.

"So when can I meet my mother?" That really was probably her biggest thought. The poor girl had never even talked to Nemesis.

"Soon, Olympus right now is closed. About a month later, when the war truly begins, we will also announce our side and you can see her. "

"Then what do we do now, I mean we have to stay a month in camp."

Zoe then put a comforting hand on Kassandra's shoulder.

"Hey, I'm here to find people like you, then also see how strong the camp is. We'll be fine."

"Fine, but how strong really are you? I mean, daughter of a Primordial and all."

Zoe thought for about half a minute before answering.

"Well, my brother, father or I could defeat one of the Big Three. And while I am more powerful technically then my father, he is better in combat."

Kassandra was looking at someone who could defeat Zeus and was not being arrogant about it.

"Well, what do we do now?" Asked the daughter of Nemesis.

"Now, we see how strong this camp truly is."

Line Break – Aegeus

Aegeus Jackson was not a dog person. His sister being the Queen of Hellhounds, made it even worse.

But he did not even know if the enormous mutt in front of him was even considered that. Of course, if said mutt could read his thoughts right now, it would not be so funny for him.

"Pup." Ha! As if he could not send her to his uncle Tartarus right now.

"Yes, Lady Lupa?" The Wolf Goddess seemed impressed that he knew her name, most gods did not tell their lovers the truth about them.

And the goddess was genuinely surprised by the boy in front of her. His smell was incredibly strong, almost as much an immortal was in front of her. But he did not smell of anything, he just took all smells around him and numbed them. She had never seen such a thing in her immortal life.

"Pup, you know who you are?" It was not really a question, but Aegeus expected Lupa to be suspicious.

"Aegeus, son of Invidia." (AN: Probably never heard it before, but Invidia is Nemesis' Roman name)

Lupa was getting more and more interested in the pup in front of her. From all 200 legionnaires there was no child of Invidia in the XII Legion right now, so this would prove interesting. How strong was this demigod?

But why the Greek name? Aegeus was obviously not a Roman name, and she could not even read his mind, somebody more powerful was protecting him.

The son of Nyx was very well aware how the goddess was sniffing him and trying to figure him out, but he just put out a confident face and continued.

"How may I prove myself, Lady Lupa?"

Immediately after saying those words, a black blur tried to tackle Aegeus, but that really was nothing for somebody trained by Tartarus himself since he was four years old.

The son of Nyx managed to tumble right and deck his attacker right in the mouth.

Now he recognized it as a big black wolf with yellow eyes, growling at him. Some new camper would probably shit himself at seeing it, but Aegeus was made from something else.

So he growled at the wolf as well. The mutt seemed somewhat unsettled by the lack of fear in the 'demigod', but went for an attack again.

This time though, Aegeus was completely ready. He sidestepped and managed to grab the wolf in a headlock, pushing it to the ground. The wolf seemed to struggle, but after a few moments, relented.

Lupa was trying not to show any reaction to what was happening in front of her. A pup overpowered on of her most powerful wolfs. The demigod must have had some really hard training to defeat such an opponent so easily. It made some sense, that a child of Invidia was a good fighter, but not this good. She just steeled herself and went to talk to Aegeus once again.

"Good, pup. You'll bring Rome honor. Strong and fearless, but listens to orders. Now, go west and listen to your instincts. You will find a place with your brethren."

Damn gods and their cryptic answers.

Line Break

Aegeus hated sunrise. Sue him, his mother was the freaking Night. He had travelled for the whole night, not really stopping to rest. His mother's domain gave him strength and he usually slept only about an hour or two after dusk. He really did not need more sleep.

But just the feeling of being so weak in the day, terrified him. He was of course by no extension weak for a demigod, but he had at least a few times more strength and stamina before dawn. That's why he and his sister usually slept after the sun rises. It made them feel at least a bit refreshed and they adjusted to the lack of power. Now that would be a problem in Rome.

After nearing the bridge, where Camp Jupiter was, Aegeus bit back a few curses at Apollo and found himself nearing the two demigods on guard duty.

The male legionnaire had skin not too pale, but he had definitely not seen that much sun in this days. His dark hair was completely out of place and seemed, that he had not even looked at it for a second. The thing that set him out from being a mortal were his eyes.

A dark violet eyes that almost screamed mischief. This man was definitely a troublemaker, same as his mother, which Aegeus had met a few times. Because of his eyes, the son of Nyx could recognize them anywhere.

His irises were the same as Eris, Goddess of Strife and Discord and another one of his many half-siblings. Of course though, this was not a son of Eris, but rather her Roman aspect, Discordia.

The girl too had dark hair, though a bit lighter and silkier than the boy and even paler skin. But what really showed her parentage were her eyes and accessories.

The charms around her arms and her poisonously bright green eyes identified the girl as a daughter of Hecate, Goddess of Magic, Ghosts and Necromancy. Of course though, this girl was a daughter of Trivia and not exactly Hecate.

'Good, it will be a lot easier to recruit children of minor gods.' Thought Aegeus, plus both goddesses were already on their side in the coming war.

"Halt! Who goes there?" Yelled the son of Eris. Aegeus quickly put his arms in the air.

"My name is Aegeus, I have come to join the Legion. Lupa send me here." At that, both guards seemed more at ease.

"Good, I am Alec, son of Discordia, fourth Cohort." Said the now known as Alec demigod, the twinkle in his purple eyes never dyeing.

The girl then made a mock-bow before introducing herself.

"Ariadne, daughter of Trivia, fifth Cohort at your service. Let's get you to Praetor Reyna. And do you know who is you godly parent?"

"No, Lupa did not tell me." Of course Aegeus knew both his real and fake godly parent, but he wasn't just going to reveal it like that

Aegeus was genuinely impressed by New Rome. His Patron Tartarus had explained to him what it is and how the system goes, but the huge city was simply fascinating. Even for such a peculiar person as the son of Nyx.

"Impressive, eh?" Asked Alec, seeing Aegeus' expression.

"Well, there really is nothing like Rome." At that, both demigods just nodded.

After walking through the gate of the Via Pratoria, Aegeus soon found himself in front of a pretty big in comparison to the others house. It had two stories and it was a Roman design one. Well the Roman part was quite obvious.

When the son of Nyx entered the office of the Praetor, he immediately noticed the two guard dogs, seemingly made of metal as one looked silver and the other gold. They were both glaring at the demiprimordial, as if they knew why he was here.

Then before Aegeus came a girl that looked like a Latina, with tan skin, long dark hair and black eyes. She look overall cold and intimidating. The Praetor narrowed her eyes at the son of Nyx and examined him quickly, before speaking.

"So, a new legionnaire. Who are you, and don't you dare lie to me, my dogs detect it." 'Shit, what do I do now?' Asked himself repeatedly Aegeus, he just had to tell the truth, but go around the edges.

"My name is Aegeus Jackson, Praetor. I know my godly parent is my mother, and I have lived with my father and uncle until now. But they told me to go here."

The Praetor was as always looking at him suspiciously, but since the dogs said nothing, she just settled for glaring at the new demigod. He seemed far too at ease to be real newbie and any skilled demigod could recognize that. She decided to keep her eye on him and dismissed him with a motion of her hand.

"Go to the augur, Jackson. There we will learn which Cohort you will join."

At that Alec and Ariadne went to a hill, where it seemed as if small shrines were placed. But a bigger one stood out at the back side. The son of Discordia decided to explain.

"This is the temple of Jupiter, we are going there. Octavian, a legacy of Apollo, sacrifices his teddy bears there."

"Teddy bears?" The demiprimordial was truly amused, Tartarus had definitely not mentioned that.

"Teddy bears." Stated Alec, as if it was obvious and there was no need to elaborate further. Aegeus just shrugged and entered the temple, going under the big 'Jupiter Optimus Maximus' sign. He barely restrained his snort at the King of Gods' ego.

At the middle stood a pale and thin blond man, who looked to drilling his knife in a panda. Poor teddy bears. Aegeus was not sure if the augur was afraid of them or the teddy bears should be afraid of the legacy of Apollo.

At seeing the son of Nyx, Octavian ceremonially threw his knife in the air before plunging it in yet another sorry toy. Then he looked in it and sniffed it a few times before addressing the elephant in the room.

"The coming of this new recruit speaks badly for the legion. Hard times are coming, but the Protector will lead us through them for a better Age. So, what do you say for yourself, Graecus?"

Aegeus was immediately alarmed. His name practically meant 'protector' in Ancient Greek. And he thought the augur was a fraud.

"I do not know, augur. I am here to join the legion." Octavian narrowed his eyes, before they slightly darkened from their sky blue color and his body seemed as if losing control of himself.

Then he began searching again in the dead panda's plush and continued.

"Ah, and you will join the fifth Cohort! Go to your group of misfits, Graecus!"

With that, Aegeus decided to leave the weird legacy of Apollo, though Ariadne was fuming at him. How dare the pesky augur insult her Cohort!

At leaving the temple of Jupiter, the son of Nyx spotted two demigods, a boy and a girl. The boys looked frankly a lot like him with his pale skin, onyx hair and dark eyes. The girl on the other hand had much darker skin, curly hair and honey golden eyes. The boy seemed to be leading the girl to the temple of Pluto.

Aegeus decided to ask about them, since the boy, while looking just 14, seemed like a hardened warrior.

"Who are those people?" At that, Alec made a face of slight disgust, as if seeing something sour.

"That's Nico di Angelo, the Ambassador of Pluto. He's probably bringing a new girl, no idea who she is. But don't go near di Angelo, he's creepy."

But Aegeus felt as if in Elysium. If he could only talk to the son of Hades, he was sure he could recruit him. He had heard from his father, that Nico somewhat resented the Olympians even before his cousin and best friend's death. That was just a golden opportunity.

"Well, I'm going to talk to him for a bit. See ya later!" Before the son of Discordia could even remark, Aegeus had already bolted.

Nico saw the newbie going towards him amused, usually people avoided him. They thought he was creepy, or antisocial. In fact, probably the person he had truly opened up and was not disgusted by him was Percy Jackson. But of course, the gods killed him. He did not even know why for his Father's sake!

The new legionnaire though looked a bit like Percy and gave him a bit of nostalgia. If you don't count the skin color, which looked paler, and the weird black-to-green eyes, he looked like a copy of the son of Poseidon.

"Nico di Angelo right?" Asked Aegeus, giddy on the inside. He would meet one of his father's best friends and probably the strongest demigod from both camps.

Nico just nodded, not really seeing why the newbie seemed so excited.

"Well, Nico, can I speak to you alone for a moment?" The son of Hades narrowed his eyes and tried to glare, but Aegeus just stood there unfazed. Not really seeing the harm, Nico motioned for his younger sister Hazel to go and looked up to the son of Nyx.

"Before we speak, can I get an oath on the Styx not to blab about it?"

"What's so important for me to swear, demigod?"

Aegeus did look a bit offended, but it really was because Nico had called him a demigod, when he was so much more.

"It concerns a friend you had, but died. The thing is, he is actually alive."

At hearing that, Nico got even more confused. What was this kid even talking about?

"His name was Percy Jackson. Your cousin." Nico took a step back and his sword materialized. No Roman should know of that, especially not a newbie. But curiosity got him, so he swore the oath.

"Fine, I, Nico di Angelo, swear not to tell anybody about this conversation with…"

The son of Nyx just smirked before answering. "Aegeus Jackson."

Nico's pupils widened. What the actual fuck was going on here?

"with Aegeus Jackson without his permission."

Thunder boomed, signaling the oath was sealed and Aegeus leaned on the wall.

"Now, son of Hades, let's talk about my father."

AN: And cut! Longest chapter to date! Introduced Aegeus and Zoe Jackson! Really hope you like them and also the slight cliffhanger. HAHAHA!

Questions: tyhiersimon57: I wonder when Artemis will squeal about Aera's savior to Zeus and the council's reaction…

Artemis is too prideful to admit, that she has not succeeded a mission.

Omega Alpha Hydra: Awesome story, so glad I found it. I'm interesting in seeing how both Percy and Aera will develop and how the twins will turn out. Also I like your taste in fanfiction, Reign of the New Protogenoi is an epic story and Don is an epic author.

I'm really glad you enjoy it with all its faults and here are the twins! What do you think about them?

Draconic king: I fucking lost it when Percy told Zoë he slept with her mother.

It was just a random idea, but hey, it's awesome.

LoverOfArtemis: Is this going to be a Percy x Rhea pairing since she is one of the main characters?

Probably.

kyuzo3567: Never thought of that Apollo thing actually... While I love Artemis or Zoe as a pairing I always hate how abusive they are all the time, even after they get together with Percy so I'm glad you aren't going with them this time since Zoe is pretty mean in this story.

They are obviously mean, immortals don't change without something drastic happening. The Hunters are going to be bitches in this story. And Zoe, she sees Percy isn't a bad person and all, but her inner instincts of a man-hater are too cemented after 3000 years.

So Perseus means Destroyer in Ancient Greek, so I decided to make his son Aegeus, which means Protector. What do you think about that?

I just like Zoe too much as a character not to name the girl after her. How's that for you as well?

Also, like I said, I'm lazy to do years in between. Deal with it.

Leave a review and hope you like it!