1
"Hello, Alala and Dudley. It's nice to finally meet you."
Percy hadn't slept at all. Only coffee kept her going through everything she needed to do. She had been rather excited these past days, wanting to meet her daughter and Lily's nephew. The children were sitting across from her in the playing room — as they had been playing in that room for a while. The demigod wanted to take things easy, but she knew somehow that she would have to reveal more than she wanted. The children were after all demigods like her.
"Hello." The children whispered in response.
"I'm Percy and I'm… Alala's mu— mom."
"Wow, your accent is weird!" Dudley commented, stars shining in his eyes.
"This is because I'm an American from the United States."
"Alala has an American mom. Awesome!" The child said with a large smile on his lips, surprising the woman.
"How come you weren't there before?" Alala's quiet and yet harsh voice asked.
"It's a story that I must tell you," the woman paused, staring in the eyes of her daughter before continuing, "Ten years ago, I gave birth to you, Alala. I've been in the United Kingdom for a couple of months, getting to know the Potters from the main line. After your birth however, I was sent on a mission. I was a mercenary, still am actually. Terrible things happened, I nearly died and was put into a coma. Meanwhile, James and Lily acted as your adopted parents."
"But they died too." Alala added, frowning.
"Yes. And you were sent to Dudley's house because someone thought that it was a good idea."
Fucking Dumbledore.
There existed ways of ensuring the safety of a child and yet he discarded everything. Alala's magical godfather was in prison for something he didn't do — it was already exhausting to think about it. Her godmother was in a sort of vegetable way. No healers from the United Kingdom wanted to ask her from other countries. The goblins didn't give her many details about those two people.
Percy decided to tell a short version of her story, speaking of a mother, a step-father and a father she had seen for a while. Of friends that didn't want her to travel through the world. Of the Potters she met ten years ago in the United Kingdom. Of the circumstances of Alala's birth and her disappearance.
"I'm not going to hurt you, never. All I want is to be your mother, Alala. To raise you like I wanted before that… particular day. I missed so much."
"But da…" Dudley trailed off, tears picking his eyes, "they said we're monsters."
"If you are monsters, then I'm one too."
"But…"
"You are no monsters, they are the monsters for starving and neglecting you. Abuse is not normal." Percy firmly said to the two children.
Silence fell. Then, Alala moved suddenly and embraced the woman, tears falling on her cheeks. Percy took the child in her arms, asking silently at the boy if he wanted a hug too. Dudley ran to her. Goblins and other magical creatures had been nice to them and had offered comfort however they needed someone to love them.
"I love you, my children." She whispered, her words carried away by the wind blasting through the windows.
Percy added after a few minutes, "Take your time, sweeties."
The children sobbed into her arms until they fell asleep. Mar popped in, looking worried, but the woman waved him off, smiling. She put the two children in their respectives rooms and let them sleep.
It was too early.
Unfortunately for her, there were too many things to do such as hiring someone to update the protections of the island. And again, unfortunately, goblins couldn't help her with that particular request. She had letters to draft and to send to a couple of people. There was also the matter with the Potter goodies — clothes, children books, and other things — that had been sold in the past couple of years. Too many matters to deal with.
She sighed, holding her cup of coffee in her hands.
Percy had never been a morning person. The woman was sitting at the table in the smallest dinner room of the castle waiting for the two children to arrive. She slowly drank her coffee, staring at the portrait of one of her ancestors hanging in front of the long table.
"Morning, miss."
She almost chuckled at the term used by Dudley.
"Call me Percy if you want."
The children were still wearing their pajamas, they had been led to the dinner room by Mar, the house-elf that specializes in taking care of children.
"Please, eat the food you want. You have the choice."
Dudley and Alala nodded, eyeing the food. The goblin healers had already made such wonderful work, the two children were eating normally. Due to divine blood, demigods ate more than a normal human.
"I hope you had a good sleep."
Dudley drank two hot chocolates, a glass of orange juice, and a plate of eggs and bacon while Alala ate a sugary breakfast (toasts half with ham, half with nutella), two glasses of cold milk, and at the end ate slices of an apple.
After the breakfast, Percy accompanied them to their bedrooms. She stood outside in the corridor in case any of the children needed to help them to get dressed. Then, when the two children came out, wearing nice and comfortable clothes, Percy proposed to go to the library to read a little.
Unsurprisingly, both children had dyslexia and ADHD.
"Welcome to the team," Percy chuckled, searching for Greek books, "no worries, kids. You'll slay it."
"It's hard."
"Back then, I was never a fan of school. But I still went through it. Don't worry, I'll support you!"
Percy put down a book in Greek in front of the two children. Alala leant towards it and read without difficulty the words. She straightened her back and exchanged a look with her cousin.
"How is that possible?" Dudley asked his new caretaker.
"Is it magic?" was Alala's question.
Percy chuckled, but kept the secret. Greek demigods were born with the ability to read, write, and understand Ancient Greek and to a further extent, Modern Greek. It was the same thing for Roman demigods.
They spent the morning reading aloud and writing, playing fun games with Percy who intended on making school fun in every way. Lunch arrived, but none of the children had an appetite, therefore only Percy ate. The demigod ate a snack. Then, they decided to go play outside under the eyes of the house-elves. Percy stayed with Dudley and Alala all day, allowing them to be themselves.
It felt good to be on the beach.
Percy missed it, missed Montauk, the beach that her mother would often take her as a child. She didn't dare to admit it, but she missed her mother, Paul, and her friends. Everybody, even Zeus, her annoying uncle. She pulled herself out of her thoughts as she followed two excited children running towards the ocean.
Thanks the gods, they knew how to swim.
"Father," her voice cracked a little as she stared at the calm sea," may my gift be carried to you."
Percy kneeled down, threw in the water a box of used wands, and then, she turned her heels. Her daughter was playing with her cousin in the sand, making castles and such.
"Let's make another tower here!"
"I'll build another road here!"
The two ten year old children chatted under the gaze of Percy, the warrior was tense and ready to fight. Having not fought any monsters in days was weird. Any monsters could attack them.
Alala never liked Petunia and Vernon, she hated them for the way they treated her and later one their own son, Dudley. The boy had always been kind to her, sneaking food to her when his parents weren't looking, and then weird things started happening to Dudley too. It was useless to say that Petunia and Vernon weren't pleased that their child was an abomination like her. And then, Alala and Dudley were removed by unknown people and taken to a place in which they were healed.
And then, a few weeks later, they met Percy or rather Alala's mom. Alala liked her a lot, perhaps it was because of her aura. Her guts were telling her to trust the woman. Nevertheless, Alala wasn't ready to call her 'mom'.
"Look, Alala!" Dudley said, making a bottle of a strange liquid appear.
The boy placed it at the center of the park inside of the castle. Alala smiled widely while making small figures of sand.
"What's inside?" She asked, curiously.
"No idea!"
"Can I taste it?"
"Absolutely not, children." Percy was towering over them, eying the bottle of wine stuck in the sand.
"Aw.."
"You'll taste it when you're older."
There was no way in hell that she would let the kids drink wine. Percy witnessed the children using their powers as demigods during the rest of the afternoon, confirming that Alala was really Ares' daughter and that Dudley was the son of Dionysus. For Dudley, it wasn't one hundred sure. He could be the son of a minor god having the same domain as Dionysus.
Percy sighed. Her children— did she really consider Dudley as her own son? A smile appeared on her face. Yes, she did. Her children. It sounded good. Her children would only be claimed at camp, which was a time she didn't really look for as she hadn't spoken to anyone in years — not that she had planned on falling into a coma.
"... build another castle there so we'll have another country!"
"Oh, awesome! I'll get water!"
Did her daughter inherit powers from her side beside the typical set of powers that a child of Ares has?
Percy suddenly tensed. She glanced at where the children were playing then started looking around for the potential danger that was lurking around. She sneaked her right hand in her pocket, grabbed the pen while walking around the children. Dudley and Alala noticed her behavior and stopped playing.
"What's happening?" Dudley asked, shyly, putting his toys away.
"Be sure to stay behind me, children. Something is coming."
Roars of monsters sounded through the island. Percy gritted her teeth, stretching her hearing as much as she could as she pulled out her pen. Her sword in Celestial Bronze suddenly appeared. She took a protective position before the children. A few seconds later, the monsters broke the ward she had put at their arrival on the beach and launched at her. Dudley and Alala were terrified as they stumbled in the back.
"Mar!"
The house-elf popped in, shaking like a leaf. He stared at the abominable beats roaring and trying to kill his employer.
"Get the children in the castle. Raise the protections too!"
"Yes, ma'm!" Mar obeyed, grabbing the two crying children and popped out.
Relief filled her chest, knowing that her children were safe behind the still powerful barriers of the castle with house-elves as last defense.
"Perseus Jackson!"
"Perseus Jackson, you're going to die!"
That didn't change at all. Even though she disappeared for years, monsters still kept calling her by her full name. Well, at least those who actually fought her several times.
"Well, hello to you." Percy mumbled as she started dodging a wave of attacks.
She swung her sword and then the first monster disappeared in golden powder, back to Tartarus. She ran through an alley of monsters towards Kelly, an empousa, and stabbed her in the heart. Percy narrowed her eyes, noticing how the monsters kept appearing. Perhaps, the wards surrounding the castle weren't so powerful. At least, they protected the property well enough to repel the monsters. The woman jumped and fell on the Minotaur's back, she took a dagger and cut its back in half. It roared as it slowly disappeared. Worrying for her children's safety, Perseus decided on going on level two. She focused on the sea behind her, and the water rose at the same time her arms went up.
For a second, she felt everything at once. She heard the screams and words of the folks living under water, the emotions and feelings of the oceans, her father's quiet whispers, and then, the water crashed down on the monsters washing them away, back to Tartarus.
A few house-elves popped in the moment the danger was gone. The woman sighed in relief and recaped her sword. Seeing her employees' faces, she relaxed. Another battle waited for her.
"Destroyer is amazing!" Mur squealed in delight in her native language to her kin.
Percy decided to check the entire island to make sure that there were no other monsters roaming around. It took her a little more than an hour to do so. Nothing. As the rain started to fall, healing the few scratches she had, the woman arrived at the doors of the castle. No damage, she thought to herself as she walked inside.
I really need to hire someone for the wards.
"Young Alala and young Dudley are in the living room next to the smallest dining room, ma'm."
Nodding her thanks, she made her way to the room.
"Are you okay?" Alala asked the moment she walked in the living room on the first floor.
"Yes?"
"What were those monsters?" Dudley quietly asked, hiding his face behind a pillow.
Percy sat down on the floor, prompting the children to fall silent. The woman started gathering her thoughts. They were sitting on the couch in front of her patiently waiting for her to speak.
"You and I are part of another species. We are not human, or at least, we're part human. I'm a demigod or godling, there are so many names. A demigod is born from a mortal, it could be a female or a male, and a god or goddess. You and I are demigods."
Alala didn't say anything while Dudley clearly wanted to speak but couldn't form any words. Therefore, Percy started explaining the basics of Greek and Roman mythology, speaking of the main gods and goddesses and the heroes that were known through their history.
After a dozen minutes, she announced, "My father is Poseidon. God of the Sea and Waters, Horses and Earthquakes."
"And us?"
"I'm not sure. I'm almost sure for you, Alala, but Dudley is still unknown. You'll know when you'll go to camp."
The children quickly accepted the news and fired questions to Percy to answer. The demigod did her best to satisfy their appetite for knowledge. She ended up showing them photos of camp, of her teenage years at the camp, of the people she befriended.
2
The Quibbler
By Xenophilius Lovegood.
Secret kept behind the closed doors of House Potter
House Potter has kept a well-hidden secret from us for years. How do I know about it? It is simple; I received a letter from the new Lady Potter. A mysterious person that everybody has yet to see. Yet, most nobles from our country know one or another about her.
Lady Perseus Potter was born as a member of the American branch of House Potter, and according to Lord Black, a lesser branch of House Black. With the help of Lady Potter and an Unspeakable, we established through documents of the late Charlus Potter that Lady Perseus Potter has been signed off as a potential heir more than a decade ago. Due to a terrible event, she spent the last ten years in a coma.
House Potter hid the fact that the late James and Lily Potter never had a child. Yes, readers, you read well; they never had a child. How is that possible? Both of them were sterile. They just adopted a kid from a comatic relative.
Alala Potter is Lady Perseus Potter's daughter and heiress.
It was important for Lady Potter to establish the truth.
[...]
Minerva set the newspaper down. She took a deep breath and slowly let the air out. Anxiety filled her mind as she attempted to calm down herself. The witch sat down on a comfortable chair, closing her eyes.
Her former students never had a child. The truth was surprisingly easy to accept as she had always been close to them, as close as a teacher could be. She always thought that something was off but she never tried to confront them about it. The woman put her hands on her face, memories of a two years old child flashing through her mind.
A child that was put with unknown people in a house that depicted magic.
"Minerva."
Filius Flitwick watched his friend pull her wand out and cast a spell. Her cup of tea appeared in her left hand. She opened her eyes. Filius frowned upon seeing different emotions such as anger and sadness.
"Filius. I think I fucked up."
Clearly, it wasn't something he expected her to say. At all. He sat down in front of her. A house-elf popped in and made a cup of tea with sugar and honey on the side. He thanked the house-elf with a smile and then he put some honey in the tea. He began to sip his tea waiting for his friend to talk to him.
"Minerva?"
It was unusual for her to be at her home during this time of year. Surprisingly, she asked for a period away from all classes. Dumbledore, himself, was replacing her.
"What do you mean, Minerva?" The half-goblin prompted the older witch to answer him.
"I should have never listened to Albus." was Minerva's quiet response.
He waited patiently for her to continue.
"Now, I'm regretting it." While saying those words, she shot a look at the newspaper sitting on the dining table.
"What happened?"
"We all believed that young Alala was James' and Lily's child, even Albus. He put her in the care of Lily's sister, a woman that hates magic. I didn't want to let him do it at first, but he convinced me."
At the revelation, the half-man frowned.
"Did he do it with the avail of the Ministry?"
"No," the woman trailed off for a couple of seconds before continuing, "it was for the greater good."
"You really need to stop this nonsense. Hell is pathed with good intentions after all."
Well, shit.
There was no doubt that wixen and other inhabitants of the United Kingdom would be happy with the revelation that the newspaper did. Filius wondered why House Potter chose the Quibbler to make this public announcement.
"I trusted him."
"I know."
What could he say to the woman that was the most devoted follower of Dumbledore, a fallen hero from a previous war?
"I gave up everything for him. My husband is no longer talking to me and my children don't want to have anything to do with me!"
He narrowed his eyes at the admission. While he knew that his colleague had a family on her own, she never talked about them.
"Why did you do that?"
"I… I'm sorry, Filius, I can't tell y—"
Her sentence was suddenly cut by a sharp pain in her chest. Her cup fell on the floor and the tea spread quickly around the impact. The woman gritted her teeth, tears picking her eyes, as she tried to not scream. Filius paled at the scene and immediately went to her right side, he put his left hand on her shoulder to support her.
"I'm… I'm sorry…" Slowly, after a few minutes, Minerva breathed in and out as the pain faded away.
"What was that?"
"I've been sick for the past couple of months. I haven't told anyone. The healers here don't know what I have."
"Have you thought of going to see one outside of the English sphere?"
"If only." Minerva scoffed.
Filius pulled out his wand and cleaned the mess while his friend started talking again.
"I'm too dependent on Albus. It is perhaps time I mend my mistakes," the woman paused, looking at her small house with deep sadness, "I'm dying, Filius."
"Is that what you asked for..?"
"Oh no… I could say that, but…"
"I'm here for you."
"I hope Albus is going to be punished."
"Then, give any information you have, Minnie." The Charms Professor said.
Filius Flitwick decided, after his meeting with Minerva, to gather information about the new situation. He first went to his home knowing well that his father was spending his mating season with his mother. He was greeted by one of his many siblings at the gate and led towards the main house.
It was not rare for a wixen and a goblin to mate. However, it was not really accepted by both parties. Usually, only close family members accepted the union. His father came from a noble bloodline of goblins, high members of Gringotts. With his surprising mating with a human, the goblin had gone through a trail of problems until people eventually accepted it. Filius was not the oldest child of the household, however, he was the first to have gone to Hogwarts and then later on became a teacher.
"Filius!" His mother, not even taller than her husband, greeted the moment he passed the main doors.
"Finally, you show up." His father grunted, not pleased with his choices.
"You're late." His older siblings, the first pair of twins, born with more goblin genes than human genes, said while standing next to their father.
"Sorry." No need to explain further why as they would not accept it.
"Bath and change your clothes." His father ordered him, not wasting time with pleasantries.
Filius didn't dare to oppose him and obeyed. His father watched him with cold eyes as he made his way to the sleeping area of the house. He showered quickly and put new clothes on and then, he came back to the living room.
"You're dirty." His older brother commented after looking over at him.
"I took a shower."
"Father said to take a bath." His older sister responded instead of her twin.
"And you aren't wearing the clothes from home as you're supposed to." Another sibling added with a grin.
"It's fine," he gazed over his siblings, "I don't plan on staying longer than necessary."
"You are staying here for the entire holiday."
Filius frowned, confused. "I have classes to—"
"I already fixed that. I called you sick." His mother suddenly appeared, smiling.
Filius stared at his mother for a few minutes.
"Mother, I…"
"Be grateful, you're working too much." His father interrupted.
The tall goblin looked at him. He then suddenly narrowed his eyes when he noticed in what state his son was.
"Did I not tell you to bath and change clothes?"
"You did. I did."
"Filius said that he took a shower." One of his siblings informed their parents, not helping.
His parents exchanged a long look. Filius started to feel anxious as he watched as his siblings immediately stepped out of the living room. His parents took his arms and led him to the common bathroom in which there was a large pool with hot water. Understanding what was happening, the professor resigned himself and stripped out of his clothes. His mother pushed him in the water.
"Do we really need to treat you like a child?"
"I can do it myself!"
"Obviously not."
Before he could answer, his parents came in the water and started bathing him. Filius thought that perhaps he would have to redesign his plans for 'his sick leave' as his mother called it. Gathering information about House Potter might be harder than he thought.
Best to not anger his parents anymore.
3
Lou Allen didn't like staying in Great Britain, even for her job. The demigod didn't like the mentality of the English wixen — they were too backwards for her taste. There were too many problems to deal with.
Lou worked for her mother, Hecate. Her job was simple on paper, but it was more complicated than that. Spreading magic and making sure to save it from going extinct was a hard job that children of Hecate somehow inherited from her. The English community was the worst community.
"Is everything okay?" Clovis, her boyfriend and working partner, asked.
The son of Hypnos was laying on the couch in the living room, barely keeping his eyes open.
"Yeah.. It's just annoying to be here!"
"We're soon out of here, don't worry. It sucks here." Clovis tried his best to reassure his girlfriend as he moved to let her sit with him.
"Thanks Clovis." Lou kissed him afterwards and leant against him.
They had been together for a decade now to the surprise of most people. Clovis usually worked for his father for the first couple of years then he decided to help his girlfriend.
"Oh, I bought the newspaper when I was out this morning." He stood up and went to his coat.
"Have you read it?"
"No, I haven't."
He came back on the couch with the newspaper from the Quibbler in his hands.
"Let's read… Secret kept behind the closed doors of House Potter… Now, this is interesting."
"Look, Clovis. Below the first paragraph."
He frowned and looked where Lou indicated. There was a photo of a woman looking very familiar to him. He knew he had known her younger. He exchanged a look with Lou.
"It's her." Lou mumbled.
"Her?"
"Jackson, the daughter of Poseidon."
Now, she said it… Clovis narrowed his eyes. The other demigod had certainly changed in the past years.
"We need more info, Lou." Clovis said, after reading the article on House Potter.
"Do we tell others?"
"Best to gather information first and then we shall see."
Clovis had never been a friend to Percy Jackson. Hell, he had never spoken to her before. Her sudden departure from the camp and the country as well had been a surprise. No one had heard about her in all these years. The article mentioned that she had been in a coma for a decade, something that was yet to be proven.
"Let's work, then."
4
Percy stood in the garden watching in the distance the waves crashing down the hills. Finally, after a few weeks of searching and spending time with her children at the same time, she found someone very competent to update the wards surrounding the castle and perhaps protect the entire island. One month ago, she had met someone, a professional teacher usually hired for tutoring children before school. Satisfied with the competent man, a legacy of Hecate and son of Phobos, she decided on hiring him for the children. Now, Alala and Dudley were learning about both worlds.
"Next week, I'm going to test them on their knowledge of our world." The teacher said as he stepped in the garden.
"That's good. Wish i had that when I was younger."
"Me too."
"Thanks for coming today, Aurélien."
Aurélien smiled at her. His mother had been a child of Hecate, a skilled one that didn't let anyone dictate who she was. A quick affair with Phobos, one of the immortal sons of Ares and God of Phobia, and Aurélien was born in the east of France.
"Wish I went to camp earlier."
"When did you go to camp for the first time?" Percy curiously asked her children's teacher.
"I was fifteen. It was before the start of the second war."
Aurélien ended up leaving the camp two years later in order to complete his studies. He then started as a part-time professor in small wizarding schools and later on, he became a free-lance tutor for children.
"I have not gone back yet." He said to her, looking at the surprisingly blue sky.
"Same. I can't bring myself to do it."
Aurélien smiled sadly. Upon meeting her the first time, he had been shocked to be a familiar face such as Perseus Jackson, one of the greatest heroes of their time. Discussing with her permitted him to know the truth behind her departure. He was still upset at the people close to her for being inconsiderate. After all, why did people try to make her stay within the United States? The woman was free to do what she wanted. She didn't have to be there all the time or be available for whatever use people might want.
"See you next week." The man muttered as he stepped towards the point of apparition.
"Yeah."
The sun shone in the distance, its light washed over the island. Percy smiled as she began to walk towards the beach. She went through her garden noticing a few house-elves taking care of plants and flowers and as well as vegetables — because they were also growing vegetables, it made less money to spend. Then, she left the property and walked on the path, slowly descending to the beach. Percy's feet were warmed up by the sand temperature. She went into the sea and sat down in the water.
In the distance, there was a ship.
She could see the white mainsail from her position. As the ship went closer and closer to the island, the demigod perceived someone standing at the bow of the ship. The person cast the anchor a few meters from the island. In a small boat, the unknown person started to row. Percy observed the stranger, her shoulders tense, ready to fight if necessary. Finally, the person arrived at the beach.
"Ha.. A fellow demigod," the stranger muttered the moment she arrived at her height, surprising her, "Nice to meet ya, I'm Lùnùur."
"Let me guess… You already know my name."
"Well, you're Lady Potter, but otherwise I don't remember all the demigods' names." Lùnùur chuckled.
"Lùnùur.. Weird name." Percy thought aloud.
It wasn't even easy to pronounce it.
"Yeah, I can guess. It's not a name from your time or this part of the world, but yeah. No worries."
"What?" was Percy's startled response.
"Yeah, don't worry about what I usually say."
'Not a name from your time' what did it mean? Percy narrowed her eyes at the person smiling at her.
"So, what kinds of protection do ya want?"