In Defiance

Chapter 3

-Harry-

Stifling a yawn, Harry stood next to Luna on the deck of the ship, the first hints of the rising sun just starting to peak above the horizon. Said blonde rogue was happily humming to herself as she sat on the rail of the ship, legs dangling as she didn't show an ounce of exhaustion from the early hour.

"And why," Harry finally gave up holding back his yawns, "exactly are we up this early Luna?"

"Because, another new friend is going to be arriving soon." Luna's statement would have been mysterious or suspicious if it weren't for the sheer unadulterated excitement in her eyes, the joy in her voice. Over the couple of weeks that they'd been travelling together he'd learned several things about his new companion. Once he stopped trying to run anyway; it hadn't taken long to learn that if Luan Lovegood wanted to find you, then she would find you.

Luna was from the 'Arcane Kingdom', much as he had technically once been, and would technically have a life of 'prestige' there. For mages, two types of classes stood out above all others.

The first were Warlocks, a class many had little to no respect for. People who made deals with demons or other beings of old or foreign magic to gain arcane abilities that they either were incapable of using without a deal, or just did not want to devote time to studying. The deal would increase the stats associated with magic, grant them a new class, and new skills. But always at a cost. Few were willing to trust one who would willingly pay the price most demons would ask of a Warlock.

The second, Sorcerers, were seen in the opposite light. Those who had the old magic flowing through their veins through a fortunate chance of birth or being descended from beings of old magic. They could shape magic in ways other mages could never even dream of. Sorcerers were always respected amongst Mages, especially in the Arcane Kingdom where, even if one came from a family that wasn't respected, a single sorcerer appearing if the trait manifested was enough to elevate them to prestige.

Luna hadn't cared about that at all, she loved animals and had picked Rogue for the sole reason of becoming a Ranger or similar class upon further ascension. To have the most animal companions she could, to the point even her personal passive reflected this. 'Vivarium', a skill that allowed her to house as many animal companions as she wanted within her spirit and, for a bit of mana each time, could swap them out as she saw fit. Currently she had a squirrel out and curled up on her head to sleep.

He refused to admit that he was currently jealous of said squirrel.

"Another friend huh?" shaking himself from his thoughts, he glanced back at Luna out of the corner of his eye, remembering the title of 'Seer' that she'd shown him. How she'd explained that even amongst mages her Fae blood and seer traits made her odd, had others their age avoiding her for being so different. How she wanted friends more than anything else, which was what had led to her love of animals to begin with. She'd told him how she had visions of where to go to meet him, and that her visions made it clear that he would be someone she could find as a genuine friend.

And, he had to admit that despite the frustration she made him feel at times, such as now by ending his sleep, she had rapidly grown on him. Now he just had to wonder who this 'new friend' would be, the ship having stopped to resupply before moving to Olympia.

"Ooooh, here he comes." Luna perked up as Harry followed her gaze to the ramp of the ship, the crew having been moving since they'd arrived in port to buy fresh supplies for the last leg of the journey to Olympia, a location Luna had insisted they go for their 'new life of adventure'.

Mixed in with all the large sailors though, he saw someone that looked to be the same age as himself and Luna, someone who could honestly pass as his brother.

Oh, there were certainly differences between them. Harry's hair was a touch darker, this new person's eyes a sea green compared to Harry's Emerald green, Harry had paler skin and nowhere near the amount of muscle mass on the newcomer. But it was still a striking similarity.

"Hello Percy Jackson." aaaaaand Luna had already bounded over to the skittish looking newcomer while he'd been distracted, "I'm so glad to finally meet you. I think we're going to be wonderful friends." Recognizing the same thing she'd said to him word for word, he wondered if she'd spent time practicing it in desperation for getting friends.

"Luna, you're going to scare him." He sighed as he approached to save the new guy, knowing how he'd nearly been scared off by a strange blonde girl walking up and just knowing his name.

"But I'm not scary!" Luna insisted with a huff, puffing her cheeks out as she protested.

"She's a seer." He ignored his rogue partner, lips twitching as she started to, ineffectually, pound her fists on his shoulder "She apparently had visions of me as a good potential friend and it looks like you're the same."

"I…I see." The new guy, Percy if Luna was to be believed, nodding warily before looking at a still sulking Luna "And…and how much did you see?" the question was pointed enough to have the hairs on the back of Harry's neck raise but Luna just looked at Percy with a sad expression.

"I saw the truth, and I wish I could have done something, anything, to help her and you. Sally Jackson seemed like an amazing Mom." Luna's response told Harry next to nothing but was apparently enough for Percy who gave a shaky nod.

"Yeah…yeah, she was." Percy's voice was tired, broken, but hopeful "Your screen said your name was Luna, right?" the hopeful question had Luna beaming for pulling Percy into a tight hug.

"Yep!" the blonde tried, and failed, to pick the larger Percy up before rolling with it as he easily lifted her into the air, moving her away from the ramp of the ship so that they wouldn't be in the sailors' way when they returned from the supply run.

"This is so exciting!" Luna was bouncing up and down eagerly, her squirrel animal companion having to hold on to not get bucked off, "I can't wait to get to Olympia so all four of us can spend time together."

"Wait, four?" He and Percy noted at the same time but, as usual, Luna just gave a little smile and didn't answer.

-Poseidon-

Smiling softly to himself, Poseidon walked along the seafloor, a scrying bubble letting him watch the ship carrying his son slowly move overhead. Spotting movement out of the corner of his eye, he lazily lashed out with his trident, skewering a forming monster that dissolved with a screech lost to the currents of the seabed.

Despite the depth he could see without issue and as far as the eye could behold, the towering entrances of Dungeons dotted the landscape. Some close, many far away, no more than distant silhouettes on the landscape of the sea floor.

But it made sense, as sad as it was for the mortal races. The world collected negativity; it collected hate, greed, rage, and every other negative emotion and siphoned them down into the Grand Dungeons where the energy could form into monsters without risking the spawns appearing in the overworld. Lesser dungeons were just a result of offshoots, 'vents' for the Grand Dungeons that would only last until someone went through the Lesser Dungeon and defeated its boss, letting the negative energy dissipate.

Except that many formed on the ocean floor do the negativity of those sailing the waters, forming Lesser Dungeons on the seabed that only an exceptionally rare handful could ever reach without being one of his own children.

The Lesser Dungeons of the sea had existed so long that their monsters were often able to exit, stalking the seas themselves freely, making water both the fastest way to travel but one of the most dangerous for most.

If it wasn't for Zeus and his blasted 'laws' he'd have purged the Lesser Dungeons of the sea long ago, or at the very least given ways for adventurers to reach them safely. But bound by the laws he was.

Which was he loved loopholes.

"Oh, I'm not interfering in my son's life." He chuckled aloud, "I'm merely taking a little stroll. It's just a coincidence that the ship my son is on happens to be above me, and of course I'd deal with any monsters annoying me on my walk. They interrupted it thus making this personal." He'd at the very least kept Percy a secret from most of the other gods. Those in his court knew of course, as did Hermes who he now owed a favor to for placing a lost and forgotten thief cache near Percy's camp, and swearing not to speak of his son to the other gods.

But, for now, that was all he could do. At least until Percy discovered more of his heritage.

"Grow strong my son." He looked up at the ship far above him, "I believe in you." For now, he would follow the ship in secret, doing what he could to help his son without letting Zeus learn of him.

For as bad as his son's struggles had been so far, if Zeus had known of him, then they would have been far worse.

-Voldemort-

"Well?" Voldemort hissed as he stared down at his trembling follower. For years he'd been searching for that stupid child, the one his enemies called The Boy-Who-Lived'. It was a rare few who could say that loathsome title in his presence and survive.

"There was no sign of the boy my Lord." Malfoy cowered, eyes locked on the ground, "We tortured the mageless for information, they said he vanished in the night when he turned seventeen."

"Hmph, I can't say I'm surprised." Voldemort sent a sneer at the burning building where he knew the still living mageless were trapped in the flames. A suitable enough punishment from the likes of his followers, these vermin were unworthy to be graced by his spells directly.

"They had a son as well, another mageless, who has also departed my Lord." Malfoy bowed further, the man's anxiety growing by the moment in his presence, much to Voldemort's amusement, "Do you wish for us to find him as well?"

"No." Voldemort scoffed, waving away the suggestion, "A waste of time and resources. Potter will resurface eventually, and he will pay for the slights he has inflicted upon me." Having the sheer gall to destroy one of his Phylacteries could never be forgiven. That Potter likely didn't even know only made the grave insult worse, "For now kill the puppets you brought and leave. Let the smoke tell the 'truth' of what happened." As he spoke, he saw the imperiused bandits and guards killing each other. A simple, yet effective, deceit that would paint an easily dismissed picture of a bandit attack not being stopped in time.

Dismissing the spelt that was keeping the smoke from rising, he turned away with a crack, vanishing along with his minions as the screams of the mageless filled the air along with the smoke. He would relish the day he could burn this kingdom to the ground, but this 'land of steel' had grown specifically to fight against those blessed with magic. It would gain him nothing to be hasty, his followers were far less durable then he and still had their uses.

Appearing back in his throne room, Voldemort smirked as he opened his 'Status' menu.

Name: Ļ̶̺͕͒̊̆̿͝o̵̳͛ŕ̸̢͈̓ͅd̶̬̔̇͠ ̴̧̟̠̯͓̐̽͛̈́V̷̱̰͑̈́͗͝ͅǫ̴̒͒͂͑̇l̷̪̟̟͋̃̈́͠d̵̦̈̏͒̆e̷̼̱͐͌̔m̵͚̹̟̙̦̊̓̒̅̈́o̶̳̅̏̋r̵̙̟̈́̊͝t̸͎̒

Title(s): Dark Lord

Race: Lich King

Class: Dark Lord (Master Class)

Level: 113

-Percy-

Bag slung over his shoulder, Percy walked down the gangplank with Luna and Harry. The journey had been suspiciously calm without a single monster attack during the voyage. The adventurers and heroes had certainly been on edge with how quiet the trip was.

But now they were safely docked at Olympia, the sprawling city a bustling center of activity. He could see buildings going far into the distance, hear sounds from the chaotic markets, and smell the scents of cooking street food.

All those new sensations were rather overshadowed by Luna cheerfully leaping down the ramp into the arms of a redhead at the bottom, screaming "Rachel!"

"Hello to you too Luna." The redhead, Rachel, laughed and hugged the enthusiastic blonde back "It's so good to finally meet you in person."

"Luna, you uh, know her?" Harry spoke up, sounding just as awkward as Percy felt.

"Harry, Percy, this is Rachel." Lune gestured to the girl who was adorned in fine silk robes "We have been sharing letters for some time now, to discuss the visions we both receive." Today was going to be complicated, he just knew it.