AN: First response to a review for this story. To the Guest reviewer, yes technically there's no reason Percy couldn't adopt a demigod. However, I don't think he would for a few reasons. The biggest being that he is the patron of all demigods not just a select few. In my opinion, he would be unlikely to adopt any demigods because he would feel like he is not being fair to all of them. If your next question would be why can't he adopt all of them that's also fair, but at that point, it wouldn't change anything. It'd just be with the semantic change of adopted.

To anyone else who has reviewed thank you. I read all the reviews and it means a lot you think the beginning of this story is going at least okay. This one is more challenging for me to say the least.

Also, this is the beginning of something I started foreshadowing in the first story but might be a bit controversial. I hope those following will continue to enjoy the story.

As always I own nothing you recognize from officially published/licensed works, only my imagination.

Chapter 4: Across the Sea

"Moonlace? Percy how did you... When..."

"Calypso, come one. Is that really a..."

Percy stumbled a half step backward as Calypso jumped at him, her arms wrapping around his neck. He swung her around once then brought them both to a stop. When he released her she just kind of hung around his neck for a moment giggling as he didn't even stoop under her weight. Eventually, she dropped to the ground and was wrist-deep in the soil surrounding their cabin in no time. Percy smiled and shook his head slightly while he turned to go back inside. She had asked if it was okay for her to start a small garden around the cabin. To which he had responded that it was as much hers as it was his. She had been removing sod, planting, transplanting, and a whole host of things that Percy was sure he would ruin for a few days when he realized there was no Moonlace.

He knew she had brought a pot of Moonlace from Ogygia but sometime in the past few years, she had given it away as a gift to Lady Artemis. Percy didn't feel like intruding on Artemis so he figured he would simply return to the source - Ogygia. As soon as he appeared on the beach the smell took him back to when he had last stood on the beach. He smiled ruefully and made his way to Calypso's garden in the interior of the island. To his surprise, the garden was in better shape than he expected. He still recognized many of the plants though they were no longer so organized or as well trimmed. There was plenty of grass and other weeds growing amongst the flowers and other plants, but that didn't matter. Percy knelt and began to scoop Moonlace plants from the soil. After he had removed several dozen he flashed them and himself back to New York to present them to Calypso.

Now however he would leave her to her gardening. He was glad she had something that she loved and that she could do separately from him. It gave them time to be themselves, by themselves, which Percy appreciated. He rejoined the portion of his consciousness in New Rome and found himself standing on the bridge over the Tiber. Looking down at the water the memory of it washing the curse of Achilles away made his skin tingle madly for a moment. Continuing toward Camp Jupiter he hailed the guards who opened the gate for him, returning the salute. He wandered from place to place for a while all while dodging Lares, helping the occasional legionnaire with something, and much else besides. By the time he found his way to the forges, it was well after noon, and they were busy, to say the least.

After nearly a decade as the god of weaponry, he had grown used to the sounds, smells, and much of the activity going on inside the forges. He was by no means a master but then again the metal seemed to want to become a weapon when in his hands. The sons of Vulcan often teased him about that as, much as his summoning, he couldn't create armor. Today however he was not here to practice or hear a demigod's good-natured ribbing. He was here to see an old friend that he knew he would find here. Walking through the forge he greeted everyone whom he passed and touched a few weapons that were offered to him. Each time his power flared as the new weapon was added to his ever-expanding library of armaments. After extricating himself from the smoke and sparks, Percy opened a heavy door into the workshop space. It was a huge vaulted room that the legion used to build, repair, and maintain their siege engines. From ballistas to the terrifying onagers there was at least one to be found here at any time.

It was because of these massive weapons that he was here. A group of five was clustered around a catapult near the back wall and seemed to be learning about the minutiae of its construction from the older man seated nearby. Currently, they were disassembling the firing mechanism and Percy was as impressed as ever with their skill and teamwork. He was not here for them all, he was here for the oldest of them. A young man approaching his eighteenth birthday who was here in New Rome to learn from the Roman engineers before starting college in the fall.

"Harley!"

Percy called over the sound of tools and conversation between the students. All of them looked up to see who had called, but only Harley remained interested. Percy was nothing new to these legionares and he appreciated that they acted like it. Harley glanced at the older man who waved a dismissal before turning his head and nodding respectfully to Percy. He returned the gesture.

"I won't keep him long. Promise."

The man waved dismissively again though Percy could see a twinkle of humor in his eyes.

"Bah. You Olympians always getting in the way when a bit of work gets done. Suppose it doesn't matter. Today is mostly review anyway."

Percy smiled and greeted Harley who extended a thick, calloused hand. Percy shook it immediately and once again marveled at the change the years had wrought. Percy had kept up with Harley over the years but times like now always made it hit home that he would remain unchanging for thousands of years so long as he didn't fade. He steered Harley outside so they could talk with relative privacy, their words blanketed by the sounds of hammers and tongs.

"I got your prayer. Is everything okay?"

Harley shifted and glanced around uncomfortably.

"Yeah? Maybe? I don't know. I had this dream and... I don't think you need to worry about it."

"Harley. What was the dream about?"

Percy kept his voice carefully under control. He had far too much experience with his dreams to not take this seriously. Though there was no point in alarming Harley unnecessarily.

"I only remember pieces of it. Some of it reminded me of... you know... when Lord Apollo..."

"Tell me everything you remember. Now."

Percy knew he was letting his tone reveal something of the possible seriousness of the situation but if Harley was talking about what Percy thought he was then he needed to be honest. Harley launched into a detailed explanation of the recurring dream he had been getting, at least in part, multiple times a week for over a month. He explained how at the beginning it was just brief flashes that had been jumbled and confused. Then he had heard brief bursts of the song in a language he didn't recognize. Every time he saw and heard different things except for one consistency, the sound of crows and black feathers. He explained how eventually the hooded and horned figures that had served Moros against their will had begun to appear.

Percy had no idea what to make of the dream other than it was a bad sign. He did his best to hide his worries, the last thing Harley needed right now was to see him worried. Percy began to pace back and forth as his thoughts raced from possibility to possibility. The most obvious was that Moros was active again and he was coming for Harley, but if that was the case why were the dreams so unlike everything Percy had experienced with demigod dreams? Most of the time if what he had seen was in the present he saw events as they were happening without interference.

"I need to talk to Apollo, and maybe Morpheus. We'll figure it out. Just let me know if..."

Even as Percy was talking he felt something, some sort of power wash over him that he didn't recognize. Turning to Harley to ask if he had noticed caused Percy to go rigid and uncap Riptide. Harley's eyes had gone completely black.

Six Years Ago

"So what did you think?"

"It was a good fight. Better than I expected to be sure."

"Oh come now. I know you have your doubts but he was made the god of weaponry for a reason. Besides he is an Olympian and you are still my heir."

Triton scoffed heavily at that and glanced at his mother to see her reaction to his father's words. Triton refused to show more than disdain for his younger half-brother but his feelings were incredibly complicated, especially now. His indignity was beginning to wane now after so long listening to his mother argue against it and Perseus had fought with honor, never utilizing his godly powers against those who had no such advantages. He was also jealous of his brother, though he would never admit it. Poseidon favored him, the other gods and goddesses of Olympus respected him, and at only seventeen had been made an Olympian god himself. No matter who he spoke to, outside of the stuffy old Atlantian aristocrats, they had nothing but praise for him. Triton did not begrudge his brother his fame, he knew all too well the suffering that always precedes, and all too often follows, glory. However, it was still a hard pill to swallow as relatively early in his immortal life he had been relegated to a symbolic role.

The mythological world had been at peace for almost all of Triton's life. Until the world wars, the oath, and the Great Prophecies. In just over a century the world had all but turned upside down it seemed, and here Triton found himself at an odd sort of crossroads. He met his mother's eyes and saw the hope in them, the hope that he would accept his half-brother despite how he was born just as she had. Triton knew he was many things, but he loved his mother more than anything else in this life. If she wished him to make peace with his brother then he would try.

"I think that he needs to learn to fight with an Atlantian weapon before anything else. Imagine a son of the sea not being proficient with our weapon."

Poseidon's face broke into a smile, but it was the look of pride in his mother's eyes that he appreciated most. His father clapped him on the shoulder and steered him toward the throne room. As they glided through the water Trition sensed that the throne room was full of all too familiar beings.

"A full meeting? Now? Really?"

Triton asked for the first time that day sounding unsure. Stopping dead Poseidon turned and met his eyes.

"Now is as good a time as any. They must recognize a new Lord. Triton, I must thank you. I wanted to wait to formally introduce him until you were willing to at least be amicable. Your support will be crucial for him I believe."

Triton felt a surge of pride at the unexpected praise especially because he could feel no ulterior motive from his father.

"You know many will still be unwilling to accept him? He was born to a mortal and a human no less."

His father laughed then, a full belly laugh that echoed in the halls.

"That may be true my son, but just as you are more than just prince of the sea and my heir; Perseus is more than a god and hero. They did not accept you at first either because your mother is in their words 'merely a nereid' as it were. Perseus has less of a royal claim in their eyes but I believe with your help he can make them see reason."

Triton smiled in response to these words, he had never been a politician and neither was Poseidon. Triton imagined that Perseus would likely be much the same. Triton was sure he could help Perseus make the older and more... cantankerous members of the older families see reason. However, that would depend on how quickly he learned what Triton knew he would need to teach him.

"So then where is Perseus?"

"Oh yes. He is likely still asleep, give me a moment."

Poseidon vanished and returned moments later with a half-conscious Perseus. Triton forced himself not to laugh at his half-brother as he swayed sleepily for a few moments. It seemed that their father had simply pulled him out of bed with little preamble if Perseus was this out of it still.

"What the... What just happened?"

"You're about to be introduced to the Atlantian Council formally for the first time."

Triton couldn't stop himself from laughing this time, the look on Perseus' face was too comical. Triton saw his brother's eyes flicker toward him and then back to their father. Poseidon began to give Perseus a rundown of the situation and everything he needed to know. Judging from the increasingly glassy appearance of his eyes, Triton thought it was likely to go swimmingly in the meeting. He shot his father a glance after he turned to walk into the room and he could see the suppressed mirth behind them. 'Oh, this is going to be fun.'

BOOM

The doors swung open with the same echoing boom as always. The sound reminding Triton of listening to waves crashing against the shore as heard from far below the surface. All eyes swiveled to face them, some curious, some bored, and others haughty and aloof. Triton suppressed the urge to look over and see Perseus' reaction but it turned out not to matter. Poseidon stepped forward and everyone in the room turned to listen to their king.

"It is time to introduce a new sea god. My son Perseus Jackson was made a god some time ago and among his domains are the tides and currents..."

The room remained deathly silent as Poseidon paused to gauge reactions to this pronouncement. Triton knew that even the most judgemental and stubborn members of the council would make no obvious show of disapproval. Though Triton did see some less than pleased expressions and in one case a subtle shake of a head.

"As you well know, Percy was born mortal and has brought much honor and glory to the sea. Thank you for your time, you are dismissed."

Most of the members of the council soon disappeared, but a number of the younger members stuck around, as well as the commons representatives. They came forward to introduce themselves to Perseus who seemed to be handling it much better than Triton had expected. He shook their hands, exchanged greetings, and behaved himself fairly well all things considered. Perseus seemed rather irked after one of the older commons representatives introduced themselves, and Triton thought it was time to intercede.

"Hello Lord Arthus. It is good to see you again."

The older merman bowed deeply before addressing him.

"Lord Triton. As it is you. I will take my leave."

The room was now empty save Perseus and himself. Triton pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers and sighed heavily.

"I do despise these meetings. Father does insist, however."

Triton drifted back toward the royal chambers and Percy followed walking on the floor. The fact that his brother chose to walk rather than move effortlessly through the water would never make sense to Triton, then again he had been born below the waves. He began to explain the rules of court life to Percy, but he did so a bit differently than his tutor had taught him all those years ago. He would often pause and tell Percy how he could avoid causing offense while remaining within the rules of public behavior. His brother always grinned and Triton knew that he would have appreciated such effective lessons on how to properly insult the more irksome members of the council in such a way that they could not publically object to his conduct. As the minutes passed into an hour Triton found that Perseus was far easier to be around than he had expected. He hated to admit it but his mother had been right, yet again. His younger half-brother was truly a breath of fresh water compared to so many. His openness and sincerity alone set him far apart from the majority of the people Triton had to deal with on a day-to-day basis. Percy wore his feelings on his sleeve and he wore them proudly, it was refreshing to see as too many tried to emulate the mysterious nature of the sea. Like him, his brother simply did not care about the way others viewed him and Triton respected that. Soon enough they found their way to the sparring fields and Percy began to look around far more interested in their surroundings than the talk about proper etiquette and Triton didn't blame him in the slightest.

"First time seeing the sparring grounds?"

"Yeah! How come no one ever showed me this?"

"Not sure but then again you haven't exactly spent much time here so far as I am aware."

"Yeah...Guess you're right about that. Want to spar with me later? I wanna try some new stuff out on you. You'll be better to test it on than Dad."

Triton paused then considered the request, and shrugging slightly replied.

"I don't see why we couldn't find some time to spar later, though we really should finish your education in Atlantean etiquette."

"Oh gods why? How do you remember all this crap?"

"Honestly? I don't half the time but you need to understand the basics. Which we haven't finished with yet."

The look of horror and incredulity on Perseus' face was perfect.

"This is the basics?"

"Indeed. Now as I was saying. When you are addressing a group..."

"Harley?!"

No response was forthcoming from the younger man and Percy began to notice crows gathering on the roofs around them. After a tense minute in which Percy considered every possibility he could imagine Harley moved. His head cocked and the movement seemed wrong to Percy, almost birdlike.

"Hello, Perseus Jackson. Do not worry, we are not your foes, though we know who is. We wish to meet and you should bring the Messenger. Most of the Olympians don't get along very well with us but it has been sooo long..."

As suddenly as it had begun the presence seemed to lift and Harley's eyes returned to normal. With a storm of flapping the crows lining the roofs took off and dispersed in every direction. A single large black feather floated down in front of Percy though it seemed to be falling far too slowly to be entirely natural. Inscribed against the black feathers was an address in New York to Percy's astonishment. A moment later however Percy's attention whipped back to Harley who seemed to be in control of himself again.

"What...What was that?"

"Honest answer? I have no idea. I'd bet Riptide that it wasn't good though."

"Thanks for that insightful information. So what's with the feather?"

"Got an address in New York on it. Though it's in Queens so..."

Harley was looking at him with an eyebrow raised so he waved a hand.

"No reason for you to worry about it."

"I get possessed, a crow air drops an address to you, and you tell me not to worry about it?"

"Okay you've got a point but you're not coming with me. Though I won't cut you out of this entirely. If you've got any ideas in that head of yours you think would be helpful against our old friends, get to work. I might need them."

Percy saw Harley's Adam's Apple jump and the skin around his eyes tightened somewhat. To his credit, though he didn't keep badgering Percy, he turned and moved back toward the workshop seemingly lost in thought. Percy willed himself to appear back on Olympus just outside of Hermes' palace. Moments later the god in question pulled the door open after Percy knocked and just handed him the feather.

"Black eyes? Lots of crows?"

Hermes didn't even look up at Percy as he asked the questions so he didn't see Percy's jaw open slightly.

"Uhh yeah... How'd you know?"

"Dealing with an old acquaintance."

"How old?"

"Very. Very Very."

"Like they're old or you met them a long time ago?"

"Yes."

"Ooookay. Well, do you want to tell me something useful then?"

"Well, she's a goddess. Okay, she's three goddesses."

"I said something useful not gibberish."

"Just follow my lead when we get there. She's an interesting character though we always tried to stay out of each other's way back in the day."

"Back in the day as in?"

"As in when we were still located in England back in the day."

"Oh."

Hermes smirked and grabbed his shoulder. When Percy blinked he found themselves standing in an oddly natural area facing a dome of glass. On the small structure in front of them printed in large block letters even Percy could read was the word 'Aviary.'

"Umm, Hermes? Where are we?"

"Queens Zoo, looking for the Aviary. Like I said just follow me."

They made their way into the Aviary and Percy wasn't sure if it was normal for there to be no one around but something felt odd... and old. However, it wasn't the same as the feeling Percy had gotten all those years ago from Moros' slaves. They came upon a single woman dressed in all black that seemed to shimmer until Percy realized that it was shimmering as she was wearing a cloak of raven feathers. The woman cocked her head at him and smiled, but something about the smile seemed odd. He gripped Riptide as it sat in his pocket and glanced at Hermes who was looking distinctly tense as they got closer. They came to a stop about ten feet from the woman and her grin only widened, her lips stretching an inhuman amount exposing her teeth which seemed just a little too sharp. As he looked Percy realized it wasn't just her teeth that were wrong. She was allowing some concealing magic to fade, even as they watched the beautiful black-haired woman was fading. She was being replaced by a woman who looked incredibly like her but the planes and angles of her face were just a little...off, almost birdlike somehow.

"We are the Morrigan, Badb, and Macha. If you have not heard of us we will not be surprised."

Her voice was even stranger than her appearance, it seemed as though three women were speaking at once. Their voices formed a discordant harmony that set his teeth on edge. He could feel Hermes' power swelling ever so slightly at his side and he knew that Hermes was ready to summon his caduceus at a moment's notice.

"There is no need for violence gentlemen. We have come to talk."

"Hermes? What am I missing here?"

"She's a goddess. An Irish goddess to be specific. I only ever met them once but there were supposed to be three sisters."

"That is only partially correct. I am the goddess of war."

The deepest voice, of the three, spoke, and her eyes seemed to begin burning suddenly red.

"I am the goddess of valor."

The rasping jumping voice intoned and the woman's eyes flared yellow.

"And I am the goddess of doom."

The third and final voice spoke like the croak of a raven while her eyes turned deepest black. Percy knew that had she wanted to attack she would have, but for whatever reason he believed them. However, he was not the same demigod who had been so trusting as he once was.

"Swear you are here only to talk and I will listen."

He held up a hand to silence Hermes' complaints as he stared into the changing eyes of the goddesses before him. That thought was almost enough to give him a headache by itself.

"I am the god of loyalty. Any oath made in my presence is binding and there have been none willing to test that. They will give their word and keep it, or they will understand why I am also the god of weaponry."

The grin on the goddesses' face grew if possible wider.

"Oh, we like this one. He knows how to play. Very well. I swear I am here only to talk and not fight."

Percy felt the oath and nodded his thanks.

"Thank you but only the one who spoke is bound. All three of you must promise or I'll call Apollo and lend him some of my fun arrows."

The goddesses' eyes flashed red and yellow as each goddess swore her peace. Percy relaxed somewhat but remained on his guard, she might not be alone.

"Cernunos is in the world again. We believe you have dealt with some of his experiments."

Percy heard Hermes suck his teeth sharply and he resisted the urge to turn and ask him.

"Who is Cernunos? And what do you mean by experiments?"

"You should ask the golden one or his twin to explain. They are most familiar with him."

Percy turned and looked at Hermes who was incredibly pale though his face was set in hard lines. Even from more than an arm's length away Percy could feel the god beginning to radiate power even more strongly. Percy felt the surge of power that meant Hermes was communicating with someone at a distance and he could only assume it was Apollo. His suspicions were confirmed moments later when Apollo appeared with a flare of golden light beside Hermes. The look on his face was a mixture of disgust and anger that seemed to be directed at the goddesses before him. Without so much as a glance away from their faces, Apollo answered the question.

"He's the reason I had to develop that elixer to counteract Moros' cursed poison. He's where Moros learned to twist those he controls into the beastial forms you're familiar with Percy. He developed an... obsession with my sister. No one knows Cernunos better than the goddesses before us, at least to my knowledge."

The Morigann's voice now took over as she responded.

"We have little doubt that is the case for those that you know, however little is known about Cernunos even amongst our brethren. He was once the greatest of us but then millennia ago he disappeared and he was not seen for hundreds of years. When he returned he was nearly unrecognizable, his body was warped and twisted into a monster. His power was even darker, filled with sorrow and death as it had never been before. We have never been able to discover what happened to him but by the time you and yours arrived on our isle he had disappeared into the wilderness in exile for his blasphemous experiments on nature and men."

As she talked Percy felt his skin crawl and the small hairs on the back of his neck begin to prickle. He knew all too well the sort of dark and twisted appearance that this twisted god must have borne. He had felt the aura of ancient twisted darkness that accompanied the slaves of Moros who had been twisted in the same way as this god though their corruption must pale in comparison with his.

"How does this affect us?"

Percy thought he knew the answer but he needed to be sure as dread was beginning to fill his gut.

"If he has returned then he will likely seek his old ally, your foe. You must not face him without being prepared."

"Face him? Aren't you here to take care of him?"

The laugh that sounded from the goddesses' throat was the single most terrifying noise that Percy had ever heard. All of the birds in the Aviary took to the air and began to call loudly the air filled with a cacophony of calls and wings.

"Oh no Perseus Jackson, he is much too powerful for that. As I said he was once the greatest of us. He is still the most powerful of my brethren he is just no longer of our number."

Percy groaned rolling his eyes to the sky.

"Of course. Why not? I just had to ask."

Hermes chuckled weakly at that before laying a hand on Percy's shoulder. Without taking his eyes off of goddesses in front of them he stepped backward and transported them to Olympus. They were inside his palace and Percy let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

"What the Tartarus just happened?"

"That was one of the goddesses, well that was three of the goddesses of Ireland. We rubbed shoulders when we were in England. It's a long story that in all honesty doesn't need telling. The important thing is that the Morrigan and her sisters are let's say an ill omen. Soldiers on the battlefield often spoke of seeing one of them reveling in the destruction. The gods of Ireland were and are very different to us."

Apollo decided to chime in at this point and Percy wasn't entirely sure who he should listen to.

"That's not entirely true. You remember Cú right Hermes? His father would get on with Percy like a long lost brother..."

"Yes but.."

Percy was looking between his two friends growing more and more confused. He knew there were other pantheons, he knew the heart of the west had moved over the years, but now he was having to deal with some unknown threat from a god from another pantheon?

"What is happening?"

Percy asked the ceiling as he threw his head back and groaned heavily.

"Yo! Goldy! Mail Boy!"

Both gods stopped in the midst of their discussion to look over at Percy incredulously.

"Mail Boy?"

"Goldy?"

"Had to get you shut up somehow. What. Is. Going. On?"

Percy just wanted them to stop talking about random people from England or gods from Ireland for thirty seconds and answer his questions. Hermes glanced at Apollo who gestured to Percy extravagantly as if to say 'Be my guest.'

"OOkay. From the top. Though your sister would know some of it better than me Apollo."

Apollo shrugged and Hermes moved on.

"When the Heart was still in England we had to deal with the gods that had dwelt in Ireland since the beginning. Don't ask me how they can be as old as we are if Gaea is Mother Earth. I cannot answer your question and to be honest I'm not exactly sure I want to know the answer. Anyway like us they are both a part of the mortal world and separated from it. However, unlike us, they are wild, natural gods. Our people have always subjugated the world, built civilization, and more, they lived alongside nature. That's not to say they were uncivilized but they had very different ideas about how things should work than us and that led to the embitterment of the conflict between our English sons and daughters, and the sons and daughters of Ireland."

Now they were in territory Percy knew something about and it was beginning to make his skin crawl. He remembered learning that mortal conflicts often mirrored immortal ones but this was one of the oldest grudges in history, and Hermes was talking about it like a schoolyard scuffle.

"At some point, a certain god or goddess took a keen interest in Artemis and her hunt. She blamed Moros but we could never actually find out who was responsible for sure. I believe you're familiar with the sort of attention I am talking about?"

An image of lichen and moss-covered horns flashed before Percy's eyes and he nodded.

"Well then a long while before the American continent had even been explored it just stopped. We didn't see anything until I can assume you walked into Artemis' tent waving a black arrow around."

"That's true Hermes. You did miss a few details but otherwise, you did well."

Percy glanced over his shoulder to see Artemis stepping through the front door accompanied by a concerned-looking Calypso. Percy extended an arm toward her and she wrapped her arms around his waist. He kissed the top of her head and left his arm around her shoulders.

"Okay. So now we know who it was. That's good right?"

"Not exactly. I always suspected Moros because my blessing allowed my huntresses to escape their mortal doom, at least for a while. Now it seems as though I wasn't entirely wrong, but there was more going on than I thought."

Percy rested his chin on the top of Calypso's head and wrapped both arms around her now as he watched the other three discussing the situation. Calypso turned in his arms and looked up at him so he looked down to meet her eyes.

"How is Harley?"

"Oh, he's fine. Seems like today's adventure might have been the reason for his nightmares. I hope at least."

"Percy?"

At the sound of his name, he looked up and saw all three of the other gods looking at him. Apollo was smirking, Hermes seemed to be suppressing a smile of his own, and Artemis was deadpan as ever.

"Don't make me regret bringing her along Percy."

He kissed the top of her head again before nodding.

"Okay, sorry I'm listening."

"Good, because I was just saying you're probably going to have to keep a handle on yourself now more than ever."

The humor seemed to rush out of the room like a candle had just been blown out.

"Uhh whys that?"

"Percy," This time it was Apollo who was speaking, "If Cernunos is in America then who do you think the first person he would go to would be?"

"Moros..."

Percy immediately grasped the implications of what they were saying. Gods couldn't simply waltz into each other's territory but Tsrtarus was even more punishing. If Moros wished to aid his old ally then he would have to leave the Pit. He felt Calypso's hands grasp his and he squeezed hers back thankful for her support. He would be lying if he said his old anger at Moros was not even now coming back to him. After everything he had done not just to the heroes of the past whom Percy was patron, but to Jason it was challenging for Percy to say the least. The worst part of the situation was almost the fact that, despite his instincts telling him to descend on the earth and raze every shadowy hole until he found Moros, he knew he couldn't do anything yet. Percy took a long shuddering breath and gently squeezed Calypso again before looking back at his friends.

"You don't have to worry about me going rouge, yet. Though I can't promise anything if something happens to one of the camps."

Artemis inclined her head and Hermes gave a humorless chuckle.

"Let's hope it won't come to that. However, I will still ask you to refrain from acting rashly. He wants you above all others and now we have the addition of Cernunos. There is no telling what will happen now."

Percy wasn't surprised by Artemis' words but that didn't mean he had to like them.

For a moment Percy directed more attention to the aspects of himself wandering the camps, everything was as it always was. There were no alarms, no sense of impending doom, and no panicked screams save those of the campers on the climbing wall. Part of him had half expected things to already have gone to pieces while they had their little meeting in a glorified birdcage. He felt someone looking at him and turned to see Chiron looking at him from beside the Big House with an expression on his face that told Percy that Chiron was already suspecting that things were not as calm as they seemed. How the old horse always seemed to know what was going on still eluded Percy, even now after being a god for nearly a decade. Percy nodded to him then returned more of his attention to his main self in Hermes' palace.

"See what you needed to see?"

"I guess. I just... I don't like it."

"No offense Percy but you're not the only one worried about them. My kids are down there, and some grandkids too unless I am much mistaken so please don't forget you're not the only one who is worried about the camps."

Percy nodded slightly sheepishly, yet another thing that hadn't changed over the last nine years was his habit of falling back into the way he had thought and behaved when he had been mortal. For the most part, this wasn't an issue, but times like now he was reminded how different he knew the world to be. When he had been a demigod their godly parents were distant and slightly inconvenient at the best of times, but often much worse than that. Now he knew just how much many of the Olympians especially cared for their children but were not allowed to show it because of the ancient laws. How many letters, messages, gifts, and more had he been asked to pass on to a camper on behalf of one of the other Olympians? He had lost count within the first year. Watching just how strongly his father, Hermes, Artemis, Demeter, and even Hades fought to protect the demigods had turned his understanding of things on its head.

How many demigods' lives had been lost in the last Titan war simply because the gods were not allowed to show their children just how much they did care? How many people, him included, had allowed Luke's version of the truth to color their minds even now years after his death? It was an extremely sobering realization for Percy to recognize that despite his experiences he had allowed the attitude that Luke had shown toward their parents to take root inside him. He hated everything he had suffered and mourned everyone he had lost, but he didn't blame it on the gods alone anymore. There was so much more at work than them, though Zeus was still more trouble than he was worth most days.

"So what's next then?"

Artemis smiled wolfishly before replying.

"Now my girls and I get to go hunting."

AN: Bit of a shorter chapter and after two weeks... Yeah, I apologize. I've been struggling with this story more than I did the first one and I want to do it justice. I know adding another pantheon might not be the most popular decision but this has been planned since 'I fight the swamp thing' at least. It is also time to talk about another inspiration for some of the characters in this story. There is a book series, The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, that is a major influence on the description of the Morrigan, her sisters, as well as Cernunos. Much like Fate however the extent of the inspiration will be just that, inspiration. This will not be a crossover I simply like how these two characters were described in that series. For those few who know Fate, I won't rule out Cu making an appearance but if he does he will be more mythologically accurate than the version in Fate.