Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or PJO.
AN-1: College is a bitch. 10 hours a day are going to it directly, while sleep takes about 7. I am slowly settling into a new routine, and an abundance of time is only found on weekends. Updates might suffer for the next month too as I find a rhythm, or they may not.
AN-2: I have a P*T*R*N, where you can read the NEXT FOUR CHAPTERS right now, use the link on my profile!
AN-3: A very big thanks to LordLexx and Hades for the edits, as well as an extra one for being such awesome betas
AN-4: A shoutout to my Celestial Level Patrons Gerald, Known ART, Russel M, Potterfan, Roy Wood, Michael Witkowski, Alex, Juan Hernandez, Joshua and Chris Vance and, Aiden Jones, Pardeep, Alex, Dapo Alibi, I am Lord Dems, Lord Benzy,
Sam Guardado Escalante, Matty, Brayden Sheen.
A shoutout to my Presence level patron as well, the awesome Arman Darklich, Florian Muller, Harjit Singh, Mrmeme101 and Russell Taylor, Jkat, Nashawn Bryant, Suhayb Hussain, ABsolutefoo117, WIllay Fiddle, Dracarys! You guys all rock!
It was…unfair, Harry thought as he looked at the absolutely lavish room he was in. A bed larger than what even five people would need, with white marble walls and ceiling…while just a day past, he had been living in an absolutely overstuffed, underprepared Hermes cabin. Twisting and turning on the soft mattress, Harry sighed and stood up, looking around at the unfamiliar surroundings which had just been turned into his permanent residence. Because while his divine half-brother might let him inside his cabin even now, the Hermes campers, especially the unclaimed ones, were probably not going to like it. Standing up with a frustrated grunt, Harry walked over to the mirror and looked into it, seeing the statue of his father behind him, its electric blue eyes looking down at him through the reflection.
Was Zeus able to watch his kids through those eyes? He wondered, raising his palms to look at the circular scars on his palms. And if he was…did he always do so? Like even on the girls? Shuddering slightly as he remembered the less-than-flattering myths about Zeus, Harry turned around and moved out of the bedroom, almost banging his head on the wall purposefully as he saw yet another statue in the very center of the entrance hall. Picking up the shirt he had thrown on the couch, he walked out of the cabin—a mansion really—towards the temples. While they were not really used anymore, what with them being able to pray to the gods directly, during the meals, or even in the cabins themselves, sometimes a god would demand a particular demigod to be sent to their temples. For quests that were personally given by them.
Walking over to the Apollo temple, Harry looked down at the knives that were sheathed at his sides, the rubies reminding him painfully of how Cynthia had taught him to manipulate the mist…and how the gemstone had been covered with her blood. Shuddering slightly to banish the memories back into the depths of his mind, he looked at the camp behind him, wondering if anyone else had seen what he had witnessed that day.
Walking into the golden temple dedicated to the Sun God, he looked at the statue in front of him, one which was devoid of any armor or weapons. Just a scroll in one hand, some herb in another, and a bow slung across his back.
"I always found these aspects of mine better than the others," a strong, but amused voice spoke from behind him, and Harry turned around, bowing immediately as he saw the aforementioned god before him. Apollo walked closer to him, and strong but soft hands gripped his shoulders before pulling him up—his honey-like voice dripping into his ears as Apollo made him look up into his sky blue eyes. "Rise little brother. After what you and Michael shared, and what you did to avenge him, you need not ever bow to me. Besides, we are family are we not?"
"I guess we are Lord Apollo," he muttered, shivering as he felt his whole body warm up, the kind that made him wish for back in the winters he had suffered in the streets of London. "May I ask the reason for the summons?"
"Eh..call me Big Brother," he winked, snapping his fingers to conjure a couple of simple chairs. "Take a seat first, will you? I am sure you are still not fully recovered from the epic battle you had with the chimera."
"Well, there is a mild pain in my hands, and in my leg where the snake bit me," he said back slowly, sitting down on the chair as if expecting it to explode any moment. There was a moment of silence in the temple as both of them looked at each other, Apollo with a friendly smile, and Harry with a growing discomforted expression. "I-I am sorry. I fai-"
"In saving Michael, my favored son?" Apollo interrupted, his smile and twinkling eyes gone in a second as he turned serious, "and in saving Aphrodite's favored daughter of this time, too?"
"Y-Yes," he gulped, his eyes lowering of their own accord as he felt his whole being scream at him to run away, to disappear in a hole and never come back out of it. A pressure descended on his body, on his mind, and on his soul as he felt the heat around him rise sharply, the toasty warmth of the winter Sun turning into the blazing summer that killed everyone.
"Were you purposefully late to their last location?" He asked, leaning his face against his fist, his eyes closed as a soft wind blew through the chamber. "Did you summon the chimera to their location, or impair their fighting prowess in any way?"
"I did not," he mumbled, and the stifling, scorching heat around him disappeared instantly, "I was ju-just so slow! I was late by minutes, and when I got there, Micha-"
"Shh," Apollo said as he stood up and pulled him into a hug, and Harry sobbed loudly as he unconsciously wrapped his arms around the god, "You really loved him didn't you?"
"I d-I did," he gasped between tears, finally feeling the sadness and the loneliness grip him, "He was the first adult in my life to be nice to me, he taught about swords, about bows, about demigods…about everything!"
"I know," he murmured softly, running a hand through his black hair. "He told me about you, you know? Back when you first came to the camp, and Aunt Hestia gave you the Talk. I swear, I have not been so shocked in my life. "
Harry laughed wetly at that, tightening his hold on Apollo, and for a moment, he could imagine that it was Michael he was hugging. Tears came fast as he broke down completely, and his half-brother just held him, running his hand over his back and mourning with him.
"He is in a good place, you know," Apollo muttered after a few moments, and Harry gasped as he felt water drop on his head. "Elysium, Persephone told me yesterday. And I want you to know this Harry…I don't blame you in any way or form. You did the best you could, and he did too. Now, since you were considered a brother by my favored son, and having impressed me with a number of things…I grant you this boon, Harry Potter. Either you can wish for a talent in Photokinesis equal to what Michael possessed, or you can ask a favor of me anytime in the future—given that it doesn't harm Olympus, Camp Half-Blood, or the demigods in any way, direct or indirect."
"You didn't include the mortals in that," Harry mumbled, removing his arms from around the god and taking a step back, his face burning with embarrassment even as he frowned, "and pardon my words…but why would you offer me Photokinesis?! Your own children rarely ever inherit that power."
"Call it an intuition," Apollo smirked, before he smiled softly and kneeled down, putting his hands on Harry's shoulders. "Also, I did not include mortals in that because you don't seem like the murdering type…and well, if you do turn out to be a psychopathic superpowered teenager, then it will be a danger to Olympus, and daddy dearest will end you himself. He doesn't like powerful people you know, especially after the time when your uncle, Hera and I led a rebellion against him."
"Weren't you wrong though?" He asked slowly, testing the water as he watched for any sign of anger on Apollo's face, "Rebelling against a king is always a bad thing. Lucifer was also sent to hell for the same thing."
"There are many things you still don't know about our world, and our father, both, Harry," his half-brother said with a smile, standing up as he started to slowly vanish, "We have a terrible history, Harry. Each of us, except for Aunt Hestia, has committed several atrocities, sometimes out of passion, sometimes out of anger, and sometimes of our ego. No one amongst us has a clean soul, Harry, not even him. Now…your decision?"
28 September 1988
"Alright kid, here are some cookies," Harry passed on the box to the child of Aphrodite in front of him, taking one of them for himself as they sat around the fire he had created, "So Justin, how old are you?"
"'m seven," he answered, nibbling on the chocolate chips as his blue eyes looked at him, "How old are you?"
"Ten," he smiled, ruffling the shorter boy's hair, "Rest now Justin, we will resume once the Sun has risen…and don't snore, or I will drop cold water on you."
Smiling as the boy nodded with a giggle and burrowed into his side, Harry draped a blanket over both of them, sighing as he sagged against the large tree trunk behind him. More than a year had passed since Michaels's death and the revelation of how he came to be in this world. Things changed wildly, and quickly after that. His sudden shifting into the Zeus cabin and Apollo's cryptic words aside, Harry had quickly discovered that being a kid of the Big Three was nasty business…especially after what the last three had done.
The very same day he had met Apollo, all of the camp had seemingly shunned him for some reason. Except for his friends Lee and Turner, it was as if everyone else was scared to come near him, as if afraid of catching some incurable disease. Thankfully, Chiron had been there for him, along with Aunt Hestia. Both had told him about how the children of the Big Three were mostly waiting time bombs, who changed the world in some permanent fashion each and every time—and most of the time…It involved a lot of deaths.
Well, they had used gentler language and more supportive statements, but in a nutshell, Harry had understood only this much. Three months later, Turner and Lee both had died in a quest given to them by Hermes, something about rescuing a dozen demigods that had been guided by the God of Travellers and Thieves to a forest a few hundred miles away. Turner had died there, torn apart by a pack of hellhounds, but every child had been brought to the camp successfully. Lee had died in the camp itself two days later, succumbing to the poison from a lesser hydra, as well as a couple of dracanae.
Out of those thirteen boys and girls they had rescued, not even a single one was a child of the Olympians. All of them belonged to the minor gods, and a part of Harry was thankful for that. He didn't think the Athena or the Hephaestus cabins could handle any more strength. However, the deaths of his only remaining friends had made Harry decide something, which was beneficial to him, as well as to the camp. He went out of the camp, with only twenty-five drachmas, a couple hundred dollars, and a bag filled with clothes, ambrosia and nectar. With his sword fastened to his wrist and his knives on his waist, he had set about to kill each monster in his path, and rescue each demigod he crossed paths with.
For each one he rescued, he took five drachmas from Chiron—after all, for the ones that were really far away, the only option was to hire the Gray Sisters or the Olympus travel agency. And he really didn't want to traumatize the younger demigods so soon by introducing them to the three hags. Sighing as he felt three large lifeforms move closer to him, Harry looked at the creek in front of him and swallowed the rage that threatened to overwhelm his mind, burying the hatred for Poseidon deep in his psyche as he called upon the water.
Feeling the ground beneath him shake as the cyclopes reached within forty feet of him, Harry froze the water into three lances, and felt for the disturbance in the air. It was difficult to do so, especially when there was a steady wind blowing and already rustling the leaves of the trees…but after a few moments of concentration, he got the feel of each of their heads. Grunting with annoyance, he sent the three spears to each of their heads, hearing the sound of flesh getting pierced right as one of them walked over a bush in front of him and showed its eye.
Closing his eyes as they dissolved away into golden dust, Harry leaned his back against the tree and watched the handful of stars visible through the canopy. In one year, he had grown much more powerful, physically as well as with his inherited powers…on all three sides. As much as he wanted to one day kill Poseidon and impale him with his own trident, he couldn't deny the usefulness of the Earthshaker's powers. Especially since it seemed that he had inherited all of them, though his Cryokinesis was still a little shaky.
"That's the tenth one this month," Chiron sighed as he watched Harry lead the boy into the Camp. "Do you think we should stop him, tell him to stay here for a few weeks?"
"And what would that accomplish?" Hestia asked, smiling as Harry caught sight of her and waved, "You know it as well as I do that the Fates want something from him, something which will bring an upheaval the likes of which we have never seen before. They have never restricted me before, but the moment I decided to remove the enchantment on him, as well as talk to him about what Zeus must have told him…they stopped me."
"He is growing at an unprecedented rate, even for a child of the Big Three," he muttered quietly, worry in his tone as they watched the demigod in question create a small bird made of water, placing it in the newest demigod's hands, "I feel the Great Prophecy might come to pass soon, and he may be the subject of it."
"If it comes to that, then all the better that he has the strength to survive all that he will have to endure," she placated him, laying a hand on his shoulder—and just like that, Chiron felt all of his worries melt away into hope and calmness. Sighing as he leaned back into his wheelchair, he looked at the other demigods, and the way their eyes were locked onto Harry as if he was some caged beast. Seeing where his eyes were, Hestia too sighed with disappointment, even though she could understand the reason for their apprehension. A part of her wanted to test the Fates, see if she could whisper even an iota of truth to him.
It tore her from inside, to see him glare out at the Atlantic with so much hatred and anger on his face, to see him train hour after hour with his abilities until he collapsed with exhaustion—only to wake up and repeat it once again. Once again, she felt a thought worm itself inside her brain, one that had plagued her so many times over the thousands of years she had been alive.
What would have happened had she pressed for her claim on the throne? Or had Hades done so for his claim as the eldest son of Kronos? Shuddering slightly at the images that popped up in her brain, Hestia smiled as Harry ran towards them, his eyes regaining some of that sparkle and life which had steadily bled out of them over the past year.
"Aunt Hestia," he greeted with a large smile, and she beamed at him, opening her arms in an invitation he happily accepted, "I missed you the last time I was here."
"I was with Hades," she said, patting his head and laughing as his grip tightened upon her. "You can't hog all of my time Harry, much as you may wish otherwise."
"I wish it was so," he mumbled into her cloak, sighing as he felt like he was home, not the overly-opulent Zeus cabin, but somewhere warm and cozy where he would never have to fear anything. "Can I have some cookies once again, they really help the newbies calm down…and I really, really love them."
"On one condition," she chuckled, increasing her height even more so that she could tuck his face beneath hers, enjoying the way she could wrap him in her arms, "You will stay here for at least a complete day, participate in the game today, and then spend the night in the Camp itself by my hearth. Deal?"
"Mmm, okay Aunt Hestia," he looked up at her and nodded, and beamed at her as a box of cookies appeared on the table. "Thank you so much! By the way, what was the thing you wanted to say to me last year? I forgot all about it later on, but now that I remember, you never told me about it afterward."
"It was just some nonsense dear," she smiled, cupping his face as she leaned down slightly. "Now, why don't you go and freshen up? We can talk later by the hearth in the night. For now, rest and come on time for the game, okay?"
"I don't want to play with the hunters," he grumbled, disengaging from the hug and crossing his arms over his chest, lightning literally dancing in his hair as he glared at the walls, "When I brought in Dorea, they had almost shot their arrows at me. Thankfully Dad decided to make the sky shake right then, or I would have burnt them all to crisp."
"Harry," Chiron said warningly, leaning forwards to look the ten-year-old boy in his eyes, "Control that anger. Thousands before you have perished and made enormous blunders because they couldn't control their rage, and they destroyed themselves as well as those around them. Is that what you want?"
"Seems like a good option to me," he muttered, looking at the whispering campers from the corner of his eyes as he kicked at the ground. However, once Hestia cleared her throat and looked pointedly at him, he threw his hands and turned around. "Fine fine, I'll go and do yoga and sleep the anger off. Apó tous theoús, a kid can't even joke around here!"
"Do you think his fatal flaw is anger?" Chiron whispered quietly, erecting a barrier around them as they watched Harry enter his cabin, "Sometimes it feels like it, but if that were the case, he would have picked a fight with the Hunters by now, with how rude they have been to him over the past year."
"He has the blood of Zeus and Poseidon both," she said, conjuring a seat and sitting on it, "if anger and rage turn out to be his fatal flaws, I shudder to think what would happen. But it can just as easily be an ego-centric personality, or a personal loyalty enough to destroy anything."
"All right, the Ares Cabin and Athena Cabins will be our attack force and defense too," Ivan, the eldest son of Athena at the camp said as he looked at the various cabin leaders around him. "Apollo Cabin will provide support from the treetops and foliage, and Zeus cabin wi-"
"Will do as it pleases," Harry interrupted as he brought out his sword. "I can fly and ambush them, so I will be on the attack."
"You don't know shit about ambushing Evans," Ivan snarled, taking a step forward as he pointed at their flag. "This is the first game you are going to play, and you think you are qualified enough to make decisions about your own posting?"
"Shut the fuck up you overinflated narcissist," Harry snapped in response as he rose into the air, a shroud of lightning enveloping him as his eyes glowed a brilliant electric blue, "I have rescued dozens of demigods, and killed hundreds of monsters in the last year. A chimera, a hydra, giants, hellhounds, dracaena, all dead in single attacks. What have you done in the past year beyond making origami and having these mock battles?"
Not giving them a chance to respond, Harry turned eastwards and flew into the forest quickly, disappearing between the canopy with practiced ease. Quickly jumping from branch to branch, he appeared right above the spot which marked the halfway point between the demigods and the hunters.
Now, he just had to wait for the Sun to rise.
"Fay, Miami, and Debra" Zoe grunted as she walked over to the daughters of Hecate, "Weave an illusion, make them think Hellhounds have also appeared in the forest alongside us."
"On it boss!" Debra grinned, and her older sisters nodded as they raised their hands, manipulating the mist with a delicacy and talent only the daughters of the Goddess of Magic could do. "Say, why are we having this competition again? We won the last one, right?"
"Well, A, it's fun," Miami smirked, deciding to add a small amount of blood to each of the Hellhounds' snouts, "and B, because it's an order from the King of Gods himself. Also, I heard from Phoebe that this is the first time his son will be participating. I wonder if he is really as strong as the kids of the Big Three are known to be."
"Pray that thee never have to find out," their Lieutenant warned, her voice grave and serious as she looked at each of them, "World War 2 was just them caught up in their fatal flaw and using mortals for fighting. However, they were also some of the weakest Big Three demigods I have ever seen. The myth about them being monsters in human skin is very true, and this one is already looking to be on the stronger side. He killed a chimera with his bare hands on his first quest, tearing its mouth open and smashing one of its heads to a pulp. The last time I went in to talk with Chiron, some boys were talking about how he'd defeated a lesser drakon with just a single lightning bolt, so take care if thee come across him."
"The Sun is up, everyone to their positions!" Phoebe shouted from her perch on a tree, knocking back an arrow and closing her eyes, "Also, the one who gets that flag for us will be given a new, Celestial Bronze bow blessed by Lady Artemis herself."
"Well, let's see how this son of Zeus is, eh Lieutenant," Debra raised an eyebrow as the Hunters moved into the forest, leaving behind Phoebe, Atlanta, and the three illusionists to defend their flag, "Take your time will ya? I didn't even get to take out an arrow last time!"
Nodding at her sister's words, Zoe smirked and unsheathed her hunting knives, the gleaming edges thinner than paper and stronger than mortal steel by magnitudes. Spinning the blades between her fingers, she signaled with her palm at Nairobi, the huntress in charge of the right flank. The younger woman nodded in response, whistling quietly and taking twenty hunters away from the central group, and at the same time, the left flank did the same. The plan was to cross the creek dividing their territories at the same time with more than half of their numbers, leaving behind two dozen huntresses to slow down and defeat the campers who would slip past them. Darting between the trees, Zoe whistled sharply and shortly akin to a bird, and five huntresses from her group climbed up into the canopy, jumping from branch to branch as they swiftly moved forwards.
Ahead of her, Zoe could hear the campers moving towards them, even though they were at least a hundred feet away—her divine ears enhanced by Lady Artemis' blessing allowing her much more improved senses than the rest of the Huntresses. Jumping on a rock and pushing off it, she leaped up on a tree, scaling up its trunk and peeking out from its top. However, she had to duck down just a moment later as an arrow almost got her in the eye, making her fall off the thin branch she was sitting on. Slabbing her knife into the trunk and placing her boots on it, Zoe stopped her descent and looked in the direction of the campers.
'Where are thee, Harry Evans?'
Submerged in one of the creek's deepest points, Harry waited for the Huntresses to step forth into the water, imagining a sparking, shining ball of electricity inside him that he had received from his father. Bringing that power to bear, Harry avoided the urge to control the water and drown the Huntresses into defeat, despite how easy it would have been.
He wanted to keep that aspect of his life a secret for as long as possible.
Grinning as the Apollo campers launched a volley of arrows to his left, he took a deep breath and controlled the electricity on his skin from escaping into the water. He kept up building the charge, silently urging the Naiads to move back as he prepared himself. The next moment, arrows sailed over his head, the Apollo campers on his right making the Huntresses stop their forward momentum entirely for a few moments. And as they ducked and ran to avoid the arrows, he felt more than twenty huntresses step into the creek at the same time.
The next moment, in the barely there sunlight…the whole forest lit up with a bright flash of blue, accompanied by the short screams of twenty huntresses before they fell unconscious—and the victorious cackle of one demigod as he flew up into the air. His eyes alight with power, Harry raised his arm and manifested his sword into his grip, the sapphire in the pommel shining like a star as lightning flowed into the metal. Dark clouds swirled into existence, thunder flashing between them with a terrifying brightness and silhouetting his form against them—and right the next moment, thunder lanced down to strike the middle of the Huntresses' territory, shattering the quiet that had descended upon the whole camp.
It was at that moment, with her vision blinded by white and her ears deafened by the thunder, that Debra realized what Zoe had meant when she called the children of the Big Three monsters in human form.
SO yeah, that happened.
Comment and follow and fav