Cross-posted on AO3 (account: Death-cloud).
1
Hundreds of buildings glued together formed the inhabitations of a thousand of people living under the direct protection of a Hyruslone pack co-leaded by the notorious Hyr and Hyrul. Streets of cobblestone and stone brick drew the boundaries of the neighborhood. Hundreds of trees decorated the town, surrounding the three temples and protecting the Sacred Tree that held all the attention of the visitors. Near the said tree was an amphitheater dedicated to Dionysus. A few farms were noticeable near the military barracks. At the top of the hills above the military buildings was the palace in which the Hyruslone pack lived. The town was protected by tall and thick stone walls, eight high towers that were watched over by dozens of soldiers every day.
Hyruslin was the heart of the kingdom. Often Gods were found wandering through the streets, sometimes walking around with a mortal that picked their interest, and children were the fruit of those particular unions.
Strong muscular individuals walked down the stairs leading to the administration buildings of the town. Long dark blond hair falling on their armored chests, shining eyes watching the busy passers-by as the pair slowly descended. People bowed every time to them with respect while children whispered between each other about the twins. The immortals strode along the alleys of colorful flowers and singing plants while nymphs eyed them in wonder. They went through the park located around the temple dedicated to Ares, passing past gardeners and walkers. Finally leaving the edge of the park, they crossed the road and headed to the temple of Apollo, where their rendezvous was waiting for them.
"Alphas," the workers of the temple all bowed to them.
Hyrul nodded, a smile flourishing his face as he headed to the entrance, his sister by his side. Inside, there was no one beside a few fire spirits. The immortals went to the heart of the temple giving silent prayers to Apollo at the same time. In the center of the main parts of the building was a large campfire that was taken care of by a ten year old daughter of Apollo.
"Greetings, Alphas!" the Oracle burst out of nowhere, a coat hanging over the rather strong shoulders of the priest of the temple.
"Greetings, Kalrul," the twins chorused as they slightly bowed to the twenty-one Oracle of Delphi.
Kalrul led them inside his chamber. Hundreds of paintings decorated the walls of a circular room, cushions and couches filled the space. Paints and other drawing accessories were spread all around the chamber. There was one large balcony.
"I have dire news for you, Alphas," the Oracle said as he took place on his throne — a rather charming armchair made of marble and shining stones — his unusual golden eyes staring right at them.
Hyr remained motionless while her brother took a seat. The Oracle didn't speak for a few seconds. The twins shared a look. If Kalrul was so grim, something terrible would happen to them, or worse to the town. Kalrul opened his mouth and Delphi took over, speaking enigmatic words.
Of trials and battles, of power and choices
You will face the end
To destroy and save the world
Either choice will have consequences
"Wonderful," Hyr sighed as she sat down next to her brother while Kalrul regained control of himself.
"Why am I not surprised?" Hyrul asked, frowning as he pondered on the words, "a bit more information would have been great."
"Sorry, Alphas," Kalrul bowed his head, "that's all I have for you."
"It's alright, Kalrul," Hyr crossed her arms on her chest, "at least, we know that something terrible is going to happen…"
"...and that we're part of it until the very end."
"I fear for you, Alphas."
2
Cabin eleven was the most crowded place of Camp Half-Blood.
Cabin of Hermes; God of boundaries, roads, travelers, thieves, athletes, shepherds, commerce, speed, cunning, wit and messages. The cabin welcomed the unclaimed kids.
If the Hephaestus cabin was tasked with building more cabins, it took time as not many people were able to help the said cabin in their task. Most demigods were sent to gather materials from the forges of the Olympian as sorts of mini-quests.
Unfortunately for the twins, there was no intimacy in cabin eleven, which was going to be a problem. The twelve year old demigods proved themselves to be competent when they caught on too many times the children of Hermes trying to steal their belongings. Small growls were enough to keep them away, but it also caused a few surprises among the crowd.
"You sound like animals," Travis Stoll said with a surprised look on his face.
"You're not far from the truth," Percy grinned, showing his sharp teeth to the other teen confusing him even further.
Life at Camp Half-blood was easy, if not a little bit boring since the twins missed fighting with the monsters. In the mornings, in the beginning they had Greek classes with children of Athena, but when it was discovered that their Greek was fine, the twins were free to do whatever they wanted. In the afternoons, Percy and Dorea were doing activities with cabin eleven. It was discovered that archery was impossible for them. Shooting an arrow, only for it to hit Chiron that was standing behind them was apparently a record. Running with the wood nymphs was cool. The demigods quickly showed that they were able to keep up with them to the surprise of everybody.
The twins befriended Pollux and Castor when coming to help to gather the strawberries. They spent time with the children of Demeter and the few unclaimed kids with abilities that concerned nature. Life inside cabin eleven wasn't eventful because of the sons and daughters of Hermes, however, the twins succeeded to be untouchable when they brought war to the cabin of Hermes.
Plus, apparently burning food to Hermes was appreciated overall by the children of Hermes. It even prompted a few unclaimed demigods to do the same.
Dorea found herself wandering to Hephaestus' cabin. With her brother, they asked a few questions to the demigods of the said cabin, about their project and if they needed some help. It was strange that no one in the camp was interested in building more cabins. It was said that a few 'unclaimed kids' had actually been claimed, but had no cabin within the camp.
"Ever heard of Louisa the space herd?" Dorea asked the counselor of Hephaestus' cabin.
Charles Beckendorf gasped. He grabbed her shoulders and demanded that she give all the information she had. Chuckling a bit, the younger demigod agreed and spoke of Louisa the space herd. It was a large group of nature spirits that found among the trash and kept them inside a former temple in Maine.
"We can contact them if you want," Percy offered, making the older teenager turn towards him with tears in his eyes.
"Please!"
On Fridays, it was Capture the flag.
"Boring," Dorea said to her brother as they were on border controls.
"Thought we'll be fighting the Ares' kids," Percy sighed, rubbing his nose.
"A shame, really."
Cabin eleven allied themselves with Athena and Apollo while the rest of the cabins were allied together. The twins were assigned by Luke Castellan, their counselor, border control.
"So, what are we going to do? We can't stay here," Dorea sat on a large rock sensing nobody near their position, "we've still got things to do after all."
"I don't think that the camp director will let us leave Camp Half-blood," her brother commented, a frown on his face as he contemplated the choices they had, "it's going to be a problem."
"We can still leave at the end of the summer, but somehow I feel we're going to leave earlier."
Their presence within Camp Half-blood wasn't a coincidence. While in Maine, the twins had been severely attacked by the Kindly Ones, the three of them searching for one particular item. When accepting Grover's proposition to come to the camp, they had thought that they would have some hints concerning that missing item, but so far they had nothing.
"Rachel said that we're needed here," Percy mumbled as he straightened his back, looking around his surroundings with a bored expression on his face.
Dorea added, "And we need to accompany her here to become the new Oracle."
"We should speak to the camp director about this. I don't know about Chiron, but I don't trust him. I mean, before we never met him so—"
"Yeah, I feel you, mate."
The demigods moved out of their spot. They followed the path that led to their flag seeing no one on their way. As they reached the flag, the twins saw dozens of demigods standing and cheering. Their side seemed unhappy with the outcome, but the pair couldn't care less. If they had been able to fight the sons and daughters of Ares, perhaps the outcome would have been different. Or at least, it would have been interesting for the pair.
"The victory goes to Ares' cabin!" Chiron proclaimed as cheers were heard over his voice.
"We didn't see at all," Pollux whispered to them as soon as the twins joined the sons of Dionysus.
"Oh, we were stuck at border—"
"— control, it was so boring."
"Next time, I'm sitting—"
"— out because we don't get to fight."
"It can be boring when it's always Ares and Athena leading the teams," Castor nodded in understanding.
Capture the flag ended to the twins' relief. As the demigods were beginning to walk in the direction of the cabins, something appeared out of nowhere causing panic.
"It's a hellbound!"
"Someone summoned a hellbound!"
"Now, it is interesting," Dorea grinned as she pulled her sword out at the same time as her brother.
The hellbound saw them and made a deadline towards them. The twins tensed and then jumped on their side. The demigods stumbled away from the monster. Percy and Dorea turned to face the hellbound, excitement washing over them as they bent their knees. They jumped high in the air and drew their sword above their shoulders. The swords strongly cut through the air, causing a powerful blast that slashed in half the monster before it could react, and the twins rolled up on the ground.
"Thank you, Percy, Dorea," Chiron said, shock evident in his voice.
Whispers spread through the demigods. Pollux and Castor were staring at them with shock in their eyes while a few people from various cabins warily eyed them.
"Look!"
"Above their heads!"
"It is determined—"
Above the twins' heads were two blue glowing tridents.
Cabin three.
Cabin of Poseidon; God of Sea, of Horses, of Storms, and of Earthquakes.
Whispers and rumors followed the twins everywhere they went. At least, they could choose their own activities and spent more time with the twins of Dionysus, the only ones beside Ares' cabin that didn't act differently. Even Beckendorf acted weirdly when they came to see him.
"I can't believe we have one of the eldest gods as father," Percy said as he laid on his new bed, pulling his shoes off his feet.
"It's definitely weird. Now, we have to be very careful with our other capacities."
"Yeah."
At least, there was space in cabin three. There was no risk of losing their belongings and during lunch and dinner, they had a whole table for them.
3
It was rather early when the twins woke up from a night full of past memories, nightmares, and demigod dreams that involved a certain voice in the pit.
It was only five o'clock. It was still dark, but the Jacksons rose from their bed and began their morning routine. Quick shower and a set of new clothes, the teens then ate a bunch of fruits and snacks that the naiads gave to them ever since they had been claimed. Soon enough, a ray of mist appeared in front of them. It was Rachel.
Their friend was a legacy of Apollo from a few generations ago. The three of them spoke for a while, sharing various news and laughing together. The call ended up with Rachel rushing out of her bathroom because of her uncle calling her and with the twins promising her to speak to the Oracle.
Percy and Dorea went to the mess hall to eat breakfast. They cheerfully waved their friends — Pollux, Castor, and Grover — and their training partners — basically the whole Ares' cabin because their stunt with the hellbound had clearly impressed them — and sat at their table.
One of the brats from cabin six was eying them with a calculing look.
After breakfast, the demigods headed to the fields with Pollux and Castor chatting and laughing together. Grover came searching for them.
"Chiron is asking for you two."
It turned out that the symbol of power of the King of Gods was missing as well.
"Oh, just like the Helm of Darkness then," Dorea sighed, rubbing her hands while she wondered if the two cases were linked.
"Wonderful," her brother agreed as he rose from his seat.
"Wait—" Grover stuttered as Chiron looked at the pair of demigods, his eyes narrowed.
"The Kindly Ones kindly asked us to find the Helm of Darkness," Percy replied before Chiron or Dionysus could ask the question.
"Let's see the Oracle then!" Dorea cheerfully said as she grabbed her brother's elbow and led him towards the stairs.