Hey everyone,
So V.L. Crawford asked me why Percy had been hunted down by the Minotaur and why Hades now has his mother if Luke never stole the Lightning Bolt, but I have a few plans for that and those will be showing themselves this chapter. I didn't really think of it at first, but when Crawford pointed it out, did a wicked plan come to me.
Thank you, V.L. Crawford,

Venquine1990


Chapter 07
Breaking Down The Law

That Evening
Harry's POV

Things have really settled down since I proved to Ethan and the rest of Camp that I am a son of Zeus and that the Gods will be coming to the Dining Pavilion this evening, yet while the tension of whether or not I was telling the truth has settled down, has the excitement over meeting our Divine parents risen sky-high since the sun started setting.
Apollo had apparently been as excited to come to Camp as the rest of us were excited to see him and his Divine Pantheon as the way the sun had sunk down had been quite sporadic, yet not sporadic enough that you really notice it unless you pay attention to it, something many sons of Apollo themselves did, but others didn't.
I have no doubt that Lady Artemis will be a little late for the party as she and her Hunters first need to make sure that the Night Sky is ready to replace the Morning Sky, yet because the woman is a Maiden Goddess are there no chances of her Divine children feeling left out, even if I am pretty sure others are starting to.

As time had passed on more and more of the Unclaimed Kids of Cabin 11 had started to become fearful that they could be born of a Lesser Divine being and that they might not get claimed, but I had assured them all, alongside Percy and Ethan, that I would do my very best to get my father to help each and every one of them.
The Unclaimed ones that had been fearing this had smiled at me gratefully and after a few more, had I told Percy and Ethan to just stay with them and to keep all Unclaimed kids together so they could reassure each other were one of them start to get worried again. I had then continued looking around and exploring Camp.
The reason I had done this was because I had been highly surprised at how easy it was for Ethan, Percy and me to work together and part of me felt as if I was back at Hogwarts with Ron and Hermione, yet that thought had reminded me of what I had discovered earlier today and that had made me need time for myself.

I had left the Cabin and checked anyone I passed if they knew who their parents were, telling those that didn't to stay with the other Unclaimed Kids until Dinner was ready and while some asked me why, did they all understand and accept my reasoning, thanking me for thinking of this before leaving me for my walk.
Strangely enough, had my stroll taken me to the huge tree that I was told holds up the incredible protective shield surrounding the Camp and when I stand right under its huge leafs and branches, do I lie a single hand on its bark and look up, the sky above me looking closer up here, yet at the same time being hidden by the leafs.
"Have you ever been betrayed?" I ask, not really sure who I'm talking with, but feeling some kind of strange connection with the power that I can feel coming from this tree and I go on: "Like, you trust someone and then they backstab and use you, pretending to care and be loyal to you, when all they want is to use you for their own gain.
Do you know about that? About how that feels?" I then end, the thought of what Ron has done to me and the spell he had actually – together with Molly and Ginny – put on me, but then my musings get interrupted as a female voice says: "I didn't want to believe it, but it's really true." And when I look back down, do I see her.

A girl that is almost the same age as Percy, who has blond hair and a pair of grey eyes that I recognize as those belonging to Athena's kids stands on the side of the strange Pine tree, one of her hands on it just like I have one of mine and her sharp gaze having a mix of slight disbelief and strong hope in them as she says:
"You really are a son of Zeus, aren't you?" I nod, wondering if the girl perhaps didn't hear my Oath on the Styx, but she just sighs and I say: "I'm Harry, and you?" The girl looks from the tree to me and says: "Annabeth, daughter of –." But I interrupt her and say: "Athena, I saw the eyes." The girl smiles at me and I ask:
"So how did me talking to this here Pine tree convince you that I'm a son of the Big man?" And the answer I get shocks me as she says: "It convinced me because the spirit that strengthens the magic of the boarder comes from another child of his. Thalia, a friend of mine who travelled here with me and who died protecting me."
This makes me look at the tree and up at all the strong branches and bright green leafs as I ask: "If – if she's really dead, then – then how are –?" But Annabeth shakes her head and says: "She's not really dead. Your father changed her into this Pine tree after she got mortally wounded trying to protect me and my friends from monsters."

"You and your friends?" I ask, my eyes still on the tree as if I am trying to see the deadly ill girl hidden within it and Annabeth makes me feel even more worried as she says: "Luke and Grover, he's the Satyr that brought us here. He found us after we had all found each other and took us to Camp, but his routes helped monsters find us."
"Like the Minotaur found Percy and his mother." I whisper, part of me shocked that so many monsters exist in a world that is well-hidden enough even the Wizarding World has forgotten its existence and Annabeth nods before I ask: "So – so my sister is now – this tree?" Another nod is my answer and I mutter more to myself than to her:
"No wonder it feels right to talk to the tree like this. I feel connected to her, meaning her presence in this tree is still very strong." Then my eyes widen and I turn to Annabeth as I say: "May-maybe even strong enough to – to be –." But then the girl shocks me and shouts: "NO!" Pure rage and fury sounding through her voice.

I look at her shocked and she says: "Don't you dare! Don't you dare try to get my hopes up! Not even your father could undo this transformation, so don't you dare suggest that you can! Talia is this tree and this tree protects Camp. Final, end of story." She then spats at me, but this last part makes me glare at her and retort: "No."
The girl herself is this time the one to be shocked and I say: "You might not want to get your hopes up, but I'm not about to lie down the chance to get even more family. Before today, I believed myself an orphan and if I can get myself a sister, I will. I'm not about to let your disbelief keep my family away from me, thank you."
The girl tenses in distress at this, obviously having not thought of it like that and I turn from her back to the tree, my hand still where I left it before I met Annabeth and I close my eyes and think: "If we really are related through a Divine Being then I should be able to –." And before I can even finish my thought, do I feel it.

A stream. A stream of power that feels like static electricity. Like a small bit of power that still holds incredible strength within its tiny source. Feeling this power flow through the tree unlike anything else, do I realize that I have indeed found something incredible and I say: "Her body's still in there. It didn't change with the tree."
Annabeth's eyes are even wider now and I close mine again, attempting to again feel that power and when I do, do I whisper: "Ennevarate." Sending a small bit of my own magic into the tree in the hopes of getting a response. Feeling my magic leave my own form, do I wait with dying breath and barely any patience and I get rewarded.
That same power that I felt before now feels to leave the tree and enter my hand and through it my blood and body, the power itself feeling strong and warm, like an older sister giving her little brother a hug. This makes tears appear in my eyes and I whisper: "She knows. She knows I'm her brother. She already knows we're related."
"Are you really talking to her? How?" But I shake my head at Annabeth's question and say: "Not so much talking, Annabeth. I send an energizing spell into the tree in hopes of reaching her and she send a small bit of her own powers back into me. The power just felt like when siblings hug, so I realized that she already knew."

The girl looks astounded and slightly hopeful, tears shining underneath her eyelids, but when I want to close my eyes a second time and hopefully cast a spell that can demerge my sister's power and form from this tree without hurting either her, the tree or the power of the barrier, do I get shocked silly as a loud horn sounds from Camp.
"It's dinner time! I – I can't believe I stayed here this long!" The girl besides me yelps and while part of me feels happy to see my father again, do I sigh, pull my hand away from the tree and whisper: "I'll come back. I won't let you stay a tree any longer, I promise." And with Annabeth besides me, do I leave the tree and the hill.
"You – you really think you can do it? pull her out of that tree, I mean?" Annabeth asks me, her voice sounding both desperate and hopeful and I say: "I'm not sure. I might need my mum as he has more magical experience and talent than I do, but I have been paying close attention to my classes back at Hogwarts the last four years."

The blonde nods and says: "I still can't believe that there are actually witches and wizards around. The Mist of the Rainbow Goddess must be hiding them from us like it hides us from the Mundane world." I nod, dad having told me this and I say: "The Lady of Magic asked this to be done when magic started spreading across the globe.
The Demigods just remained close to wherever their Pantheon was, but magic was a different source of power and so it almost escalated, but when King Arthur met Merlin, did the Lady of Magic see her chance and did she make him her Champion, making him known as the most Powerful Wizard ever in return for him controlling the mist.
He even, according to what I have been told, cast one last spell on his dying form just two minutes before he passed on and that spell linked his soul with his body and made his body vanish into a very misty swamp. His spirit then merged with the mist of the swamp and because his spirit was so wide varied in magic, was the mist able to extend.
It became a power of itself and to honor Merlin's last Act of Magic did the Lady of Magic make sure that his spirit would exist as long as the Lady of the Rainbows did. And because Rainbows are already a natural form of existence, will their lady never die either, so the Mist is an eternal thing, separating the three worlds.

Or so I was told, at least." I then end my story as we enter the pavilion, Annabeth having wide eyes as she gazes at me and she asks: "And now I'm wondering if you're not a sibling of mine." making me laugh before I say: "Trust me, my mother is smart, but not book-smart. He's not good with strategies either, so I doubt we're related like that."
The girl nods and then, to the shock of everyone but me, does the very air around us all suddenly thicken and become much denser than before, making me smile as I say: "And here they are." And I am proven right as, in a flash that makes everyone close their eyes, the Olympian Twelve all appear within the very center of the pavilion.

Dad, Lady Hera, Uncle Poseidon, Apollo and Hermes, Uncle Hades and his wife Persephone, Apollo, the Hunters of Artemis who are obviously here in name of their Lady and the other Gods and Goddesses all stand in the center of the pavilion, the eyes of all the campers wide as they are gazing at the Divine Beings.
I then, from the corner of my eye, see that Percy wants to make a move, but I shake my head, catching his attention and making him sit down from where he tried to get up, only for my uncle to notice us moving and the man smiles as he says: "Aaaah, Percy Jackson, exactly the Demigod I was looking for." Making me groan softly.
Everyone else in the mean time looks shocked and startled between the two and I say: "Uncle, there is no way Percy is your son, but why exactly are you looking for him, if I may ask?" And the man smiles at me as he says: "Because I want Percy to be the one to represent Camp as I make my upcoming deal with him."

This makes me send a raised eyebrow glance at the God of Death, but then my father interrupts and says: "Later Hades, wait a few minutes and you can make your deal. We still have an explanation to give, do we not?" The dark-haired God of Death nods and while Percy looks on wary and tempted, does father speak loudly:
"Attendants of Camp Half-Blood. As you know, today would have been your Annual Capture the Flag day, yet because of reasons I will shortly explain to you, did I order my fellow Olympian Dionysus to cancel today's event. And let me just assure you all, that my reasons are valid and will change every-thing you have ever known."
This makes many Campers, especially those of the Athena, Apollo, Hermes and Ares Cabin look and whisper amongst each other, but the arrival of Lady Artemis, who is bowed down by her Hunters stops this mumbling and the Goddess wipes some stardust off of her left sleeve as she boringly asks: "Am I still in time?"

My father nods and says: "As you all know does the Ancient Law prohibit us Gods from directly involving ourselves with our children after they have been born. However, a prophesy that blessed me with the son you all see here before you has allowed me something even I could not have expected in all the millennia of my existence."
Excitement now almost runs through the entire pavilion like the electricity can run through the thunder bolts and strikes created by my father and the man says: "The prophesy that foretold me of my son's birth spoke and said that, upon fifteen years of my son's passing, I would be allowed to help him forge a new era of Magic and Divine forces.
It foretold me that, with the help of my brothers, sisters, cousins and the children born of us all, I would find a way to once again merge magic and Divine forces together and that it would be the start of a new Age. Yet it also told me that, after fifteen years of my son's life passing, it would be up to me to make his life grand.

Because of this prophesy and by the powers that stand even above me and my Court, have I been able to officially declare the Ancient Law prohibiting us from meeting or directly interacting – down for good." And while I knew that my father had a damn good reason for cancelling the Capture the Flag event, did even I not expect this.
Feeling as shocked as everyone around me, are my eyes wide and is my mouth slightly open, only part of me catching onto how pleased and self-confident my father now looks as he gazes around at all the shocked and astounded faces before he says: "Because of this, will my Pantheon now make sure that all Undetermined kids are claimed."

Which instantly makes me turn to Percy, my shock turning into happy pride as a sea-green trident appears above his head, shocking some of those around him, yet not me as I had already known that the boy was my cousin from my father's side as his ability to calm down around water had made it a dead-give away to anyone with eyes.
Then the other kids that are sitting with Percy all get some kind of symbol glowing over their heads and I smile as I look at this, but then Annabeth draws my attention away and with her head motions for the Gods. I look at them and to my shock are they all gazing at the Undetermined group, but not moving otherwise.
Amazed that they're just focusing their powers onto their kids, but not using any real magic to claim them, do I whisper: "The Lesser Divines must be using their Divine Connection to the Olympian Twelve to spiritually come here and through that power claim their kids. No undetermined kid will be left unclaimed."

And while Annabeth looks shocked, can I tell by the look in her eyes that she believes me and then a happy gasp sounds from a point close to Percy, making me look and see that there is a symbol depicting a single line downward with another line halfway up the top and two triangles facing each other shining over Ethan's head.
"The Symbol of Nemesis, the Goddess of Revenge. No wonder Ethan was so strong in his defiance of what I claimed." I whisper softly, a smile of great joy on my face as I gaze at the young lad and how he is looking at the symbol above his head with his single eye wide and filled with amazement, proving he was still a little skeptic.

Then all the symbols die out and Hades turns to my father as he asks: "May I?" My father nods and Percy instantly turns back to the God of Death, who smiles and asks: "Are you willing to stand in name of the entire Camp for this deal?" Yet while many look shocked and worried, does Percy prove his guts as he says:
"Not before I hear your deal, Uncle." Making a small smirk appear on the face of my Uncle, while many kids around me and Percy gasp in shock at the boy's boldness before Hades says: "Your mother returned to you – in return for my children being accepted by all of Camp. How does that sound to you, Son of Poseidon."
And while I have my arms crossed and my eyes wide, do I think: "That's a done deal." Making me smirk as Percy nods in agreement and then asks: "Why did you take her anyway?" Making me curious as well as Percy's scent, even as powerful as it is, must have been masked by the fact that he was still unknown about his parentage.

Hades then sighs, astounding quite a few of those around me and he says: "I took her to make certain I could spare her from being judged. By not allowing the Minotaur to kill her, did I make certain I could provide a home for my own children once this deal has been set. I don't even understand why either the Minotaur or the Fury came after you.
As far as I know both of them are under my command, yet while you remained unaware of your father's true existence, were they still able to track you down and willing to kill you more than they ever did any other Demigod that tried getting here. The fury is even more confusing as I thought she and her siblings had their loyalty to me first."

This worries me greatly as I can clearly hear the concern and confusion sounding through my uncle's voice and then Ethan gasps and says: "They serve another force. One that also resides somewhere in your domain, but who has – or – or will have something that will make him able to conquer you. I – I just – don't know what."
And while many look at the young lad in shock, does he grunt and lie a hand on his forehead, his uncovered eye closed and I mutter: "Your mother is the Goddess of Revenge, so whoever is trying to overthrow Uncle Hades is someone who has, at one point in time, been badly harmed or otherwise slighted by him.
Is there anyone like that living in the Underworld, Uncle?" I then ask, only part of me registering how all of the Gods seem white with realization and the man sighs as he says: "I can indeed think of someone, my little Nephew, but until these events that Mr. Nakamura come to pass, would I rather believe that I know better."

And while this decision worries me, as someone who is powerful enough to make the Gods of Olympus whiten is not someone you should just ignore, do I nod nonetheless and I ask: "The Undetermined have been claimed and the reason for the Cancelation explained. Is there anything else we Campers should know?"
Dad nods and says: "Another Rule. One that, starting today, will be altered in order to protect all those here at Camp and elsewhere. In the past it was forbidden from saying one of our names out loud, but this shall be no more. Instead, will the rule now be that those who speak our names without respect will be warned and later punished.
If you wish to speak with cousins of other cabins or if you wish to challenge someone by calling them by their name and Divine parent, that is now accepted. However, if you speak one of our names with the intent of spiting us, threatening one of our own or otherwise forming a threat to our Pantheon, we will know and we will strike.
Let that be clear." The man then ends, his power sounding through his voice and while I have no doubt that Annabeth will pick up on this and hate me for it, can I not help but send a short worried glance at the elder lad that was with me and Percy at the cabin of my father and that I know was spying on me at the river bank; Luke Castellan.


Okay, that's it!
Well, this chapter is at least a little longer than last and a few important points have been brought out, but who expected for the Gods to completely take down the Sacred Law of not interacting with Demigods? To me it sounds like a valid reason to cancel something as fun and dangerous as Capture the Flag, no?
Okay, so Harry is already onto Luke, knows that Luke was spying on him and Percy and that he has a sister stuck in a tree. He also met Annabeth and was a witness to Percy getting his mother back in return for Hades getting a cabin for his kids. But what does Ethan's mysterious message mean and could Hades be right?
Find out next time,

Venquine1990
PS. Yes, the Unclaimed Kids will all be getting a Cabin representing their Divine parent, don't worry. I just didn't write about those appearing because I don't know enough about the Lesser Divine Gods to make them proper Cabins. Just imagine the Lesser Divine Gods having their cabins in mirror form to those of the Olympus Twelve.