The Philosophy of Fear

by saxcuL. the all-knowing

[Part five to The Heir of the Hunt.] The war is upon them and as a Dark lord raises more powerful and terrible then before, the hero destined to destroy him is no where to be found, as blood runs in the streets, the divine and magical world holds their breath for the return of the Heir for his greatest hunt yet.

19. Astrophobia

Welcome once more to another chapter of The Philosophy of Fear.

In which we visit the House of Night and meet the mistress of the manor and some of her many children. Harry meets his biggest fan, and we learn a secret or two about our dear lieutenant.

On with the show.

---

Harry Potter, Mt Baker, Washington State, August 1st 1996 at 9:20 PM.

"I don't like this," Artemis says from between Harry and Zoë as she looks with a bored expression at the entrance of a dark cave on the side of the mountain. "Not one little bit,"

"Yeah. We know, you've said that at least three times since we got here," Harry says with an amused sigh and turning his head slightly to look at his mother. "Besides, I thought you said you liked her,"

"No," Artemis says candidly. "I said that I do not have a problem with her, not that I liked her. I challenge you to find a divine that actually likes her other than her own children, it would be difficult to say the least," she admits in her normal bland tone of voice as she turns to Harry. He frowns at Artemis' words before turning to look at Zoë, she too was wearing a frown as she looked at the innocuous looking cave entrance. When she notices Harry looking at her, she shrugs as if to reflect Artemis' own words, but there was still something like apprehension in his eldest sister's eyes.

"I know I've asked this a few times but I feel the need to ask one more time, are you sure about this?" Artemis asks with a slight frown on her lips, causing Harry to look back at his mother.

Harry sighs before nodding his head. "Yeah, I am. Do I think this is a dumb idea? Yeah, without a doubt but if she knows who Didi is, then I can't just pass this opportunity up," he admits, looking back at the cave.

"You could always wait," Artemis shoots back, causing Harry to look at her confused. "If this Didi is so obsessed with you, then it's only a matter of time before she shows up again to try something once more. So why not wait?" She asks flatly, knowing a good hunter has patience for his prey.

"I've considered that," Harry admits with a frown. "But I don't think it's the smartest idea, Hermione always tells me that it's better to know and figure out how to deal with something then not knowing what you are facing at all," he tells them and watches as Artemis' frown deepens. "What?"

"For some reason I am simultaneously very disappointed that Miss Granger didn't accept my offer to join my hunters and relieved that she didn't as well," Artemis says, her eyes drifting toward the woods past the treeline as she was lost in thought. "It is an odd feeling and I can not put my finger on why I feel like that,"

"You wouldn't have enough books," Harry mutters under his breath, a small smile etching on his face as Zoë snorts at his joke.

Artemis pauses for a moment before her lips twitch upwards. "Yes, carrying a library around with the Hunt would…cumbersome if nothing else," she admits, unable to hide the amusement in her voice. Harry turns to Artemis, his smirk growing on his face as he does, and rolls his eyes.

"You're stalling," Harry points out.

"Yes," Artemis says, not even trying to hide it as she looks at her son. "And stop looking at me like that, unlike you, I know exactly who you are going to meet and I know just how dangerous she is," she says, crossing her arms over her chest. "I have all the right in the world to be worried," Harry just shrugs at her statement, knowing it was true before he looks back at the cave.

"Worry not, my Lady. I'll be going with the brat to help him curb his more disrespectful tendencies," Zoë speaks up while giving Harry a mean looking side eye. Artemis sighs before bringing up her hand to rub her forehead from the divine sized headache growing right behind her eyes.

"That isn't as…comforting as you think, Zoë," The goddess says with a sigh before turning to her oldest friend. "Are you sure about this? I know how you feel about dealing with-"

"I will be fine, my Lady. There isn't anything she could offer me anymore," Zoë tells Artemis, a hard look that Harry rarely sees on his older sister's face. "Come on, brat. Before I change my mind," she tells Harry before walking forward to the cave.

"You sure you don't want to come?" Harry asks Artemis as his eyes follow Zoë with a slight frown of worry on his face.

"I'm sure, the denizens of House of Night aren't the biggest fans of the Olympians," Artemis admits blandly as she watches Zoë with the same worried look that was on Harry's face. "I would hinder more than help in your negotiations with the lady of the house. Besides, I have something I need to go do in New York anyway,"

"If you're sure," Harry says with a shrug before he begins to follow after Zoë.

"Harry!" Artemis calls out, her voice echoing across the mountain and causing him to turn and look back at her. "Don't die, I'd be rather put out if you died," she says with a small smile, Harry just grins back before waving as he jogs to catch up with Zoë as they both vanish into the dark of the cave.

Zoë and Harry walk in silence as they continue deeper into the cave with only the drops of water falling from overhead echoing in the cave. The further they go, the darker the cave becomes, but the dark bothered neither of the hunters as they matched through it. The deeper into the cave they go, the wider it becomes, opening into large underground rooms that hold pools of water. Some of the pools were frozen over while some ran like a river, but it was the odd pieces of architecture poking from the waters that caught Harry's attention the most. Some he recognized, like the Greek columns, Roman Arches, and 12th century Gothic architecture. But some he didn't, some were older flat and colorful walls with the murals almost washed away from them, some were nothing more than rotting wood and dilapidated walls from the far east.

Harry frowns as his eyes scan the scene around him. "What is all this?" He asks, unsure if he should speak in such a pla

"A graveyard of discarded remnants of what was once a part of the House of Night. The lady of the house is known to be capricious about many things, and will oftentimes discard or destroy large swaths of her homes to remake them," Zoë tells Harry, her voice carefully guarded and almost a whisper in the dark, as she continues to walk forward with her eyes set straight ahead of her.

"Oh," Harry says, as he continues to walk beside his sister. "You said you had dealings with her before, right?" He says, looking back over to Zoë, curiosity in his voice.

"I'd rather not talk about it, Harry," Zoë quickly informs him, a little heat to her tone that makes Harry raise her brown at her. He frowns but doesn't press her on the details, as curious as he was about it, he would respect Zoë's wishes on this. "Thank you," she says softly before stopping abruptly.

Harry stops with her and turns to look ahead. They had reached the end of the cave for the most part, but set in the wall at the end of the cave was a doorway carved out of a black stone. The age of the door was practically rolling off of it in waves as a chilly wind came from the doorway, leaving the hair on Harry's neck standing with goose pimples. Two black Greek columns stood on either side of the doorway that led into an endless darkness. They looked to be propping up a larger stone about the stone above the door with letters and small pictures glowing with star fire.

"Is that…are those Egyptian hieroglyphics?" Harry asks, his voice echoing around the cave so he is aware of just how baffled and lost he sounded.

"The ones In the middle?" Zoë asks, looking over at Harry as he nodded dumbly. "Yes, Old Egyptian hieroglyphics from the Old kingdom. The ones on the right-" Zoë points out what looks to be scratches and small slashes in the stone. "-are Sumerian I believe, and the final set-" she moves her hand to the far left. "-is Mycenaean Greek," she tells Harry before slipping her hands into the pockets of her jacket.

"What do they say?" Harry asks, turning to his sister and watches as she frowns and glares at the old stone work.

"They all say the same thing, a warning," Zoë says, her eyes tracing each symbol with a bygone familiarity in her eyes. "Forget the light and warmth of the sun all those who enter here, for only the cold night lies beyond this point," she says in a whisper, her breath coming out like steam while speaking the words.

"Well,...that's not ominous or anything," Harry mutters under his breath before he and Zoë walk closer to the entrance. Between the two columns was simply a wall of pitch blackness, the closer Harry got to it, the colder he became as a sense of wrongness settled over him and rested deep into his bones. Something in his mind flared, as if the Hunt was jolted awake as it sensed Harry's favorite prey gathering in one place. He grits his teeth and forces the Hunt back down, trying to quell it from getting too excited. They would get their Hunt, but not here and not now.

"This place is-" Harry begins to say before he hears something calling from the endless black on the doorway.

"If you were going to say unnerving, then I'd have to-" Zoë begins to tell him before Harry shushes her quickly, causing her to look annoyed at him.

"Do you hear that?" Harry asks in a whisper as his hand wraps around Serpent-Hunter in his pocket, trying to analyze the sound.

"Hear wha-" Zoë asks before stopping herself, her eyes narrowing as they reach for her sword on her hip. "That sounds like…"

"Squealing, right?" Harry asks softly, turning to look at Zoë who slowly nods her head.

"Eyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy," echoed just beyond the bounds of the the doorway and getting closer by the second, and just before Harry and Zoë arm themselves with their respective weapons, a figure burst from the darkness before them. "OH MY MOTHER! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE HERE!" a voice belted at the top of their lungs before a pair of arms wrapped around Harry's head and pulled his face into a pair of breasts.

"Let him go-"

"OH MY MOTHER! OH MY MOTHER! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! I'M LIKE, TOTALLY YOUR BIGGEST FAN!"

"MMMMPHAMMMM!?"

"YOU'RE ACTUALLY HERE! YOU'RE ACTUALLY HERE! OOOOOOH, ELPIS IS GONNA BE SOOOOOOOOOOO PISSED I GOT TO GREET YOU! EYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!?"

"For the love of the moon- let him go, Eris!"

"Mmmmmphahmmmm!?"

Harry felt himself being jerked back and forth by the woman who was also smothering him in her breast while screaming. He could both hear Zoë yelling and feel her trying her damnedest trying to get him free from the woman's grasp. Harry was having mixed feelings about the honestly odd situation he found himself in, on one hand he was being assaulted by some random girl while having his eardrums blown out, on the other hand; boobs.

"That's enough, Eris," a new voice says, high and gravelly, as if she had a constant growl to her voice as she spoke. "Let the boy go before you kill him," the new voice orders before a high pitch yelp could be heard before the girl that was crushing his head was ripped back and away from him.

Zoë pulls him back and away from the two new arrivals, and with a blush on his face, Harry finally gets his first look of the two women before him and Zoë. They were both short, around Zoë's height which was only a half a head taller than him. The first one was dressed in an honest to goodness American cheerleader outfit of Gryffindor gold and red, but instead of a roaring Lions head on the top, it was a golden apple with a bite taken out of it. She had a deep tan across her body and long legs, with long golden blonde hair pulled back into a high ponytail. Her eyes were a deep molten gold that sparkled with excitement and uncontrollable mischief ready to be released at a moment noticed with a smile to match.

The second woman was holding back the first by her ponytail. Like the woman she was holding back, she had a deep tan, but that's where the similarities between the two stopped. While the other one was wearing a cheerleader outfit, she was wearing black leather pants that hugged her hips perfectly, a black tank top with a blood red leather jacket thrown over it. Her hair was dark and curly, reaching down to her shoulders, her eyes were a glowing blood red in the darkness of the chamber and unlike the cheerleader; she was armed. On one hip hung a bronze short sword with the guard in the shape of a pair of scales, and hanging off the other was a long coiled leather whip.

Zoë takes a small step forward, just enough to be able to jump in front of Harry, but not enough to make it look like she was leading them.

"Lady Eris, Lady Nemesis, it's good to see you again," she says with a bow of her head, causing the two women to look at each other confused for a moment before turning back to Zoë.

"El-" the one in the red jacket, Nemesis, begins to say before stopping herself short from saying something. "Zoë, you can drop the Lady titles, for here we are just Nemesis and Eris, as well as you should know," she says with a piercing look before turning to Harry. "As for you, son of Artemis, I apologize about my sister here-," she nods her head toward the cheerleader- Eris, "-she happens to be a big fan of yours,"

Harry's face and confusion immediately drops as he scowls at the cheerleader, he could feel his eye twitching in response to Nemesis' statement.

"Nimmy! Don't say it like-" Eris tries to say but Nemesis quickly covers Eris' mouth with her hand.

"Don't call me Nimmy, Eris!" Nemesis snaps at her sister with a snarl. "But- ow! You bit me!" Nemesis screams as she pulls her hands away from Eris. Freeing the cheerleader to dash over to Harry, elbowing Zoë out of the way to grab both of Harry's hands and getting nose to nose with him. "We talked about this before, Eris! Mom said no bitting!" Nemesis almost screams but Eris ignores her.

"I'm so sorry! Nimmy didn't explain it right!"

"Don't call me Nimmy, damnit!"

"It has nothing to do with the scar or what your mom- Lily Potter- did! I swear! I know you hate that, no I'm like- the biggest fan of the chaos you leave in your wake!" Eris explains a mile a minute as she squeezes Harry's hands harder.

"...What?" Harry asks, confused as he leans back from the woman.

"The way you dive into a situation, uncaring about the consequences or for anyone else's plan. The way you leave strife, agony, and chaos in the lives of all those who had the misfortune to cross you," Eris says with a loving sigh as she bats her eyes at him. "The way you leave chaos and strife in your wake is like- like a master sculptor creating masterpiece after masterpiece just by swinging his hammer at hunks of rocks," she tells him breathlessly as the gold in her eyes begin to bubble and turn. "What I'm trying to say is- I want your babies,"

Harry opens and closes his mouth a few times as he shuffles backwards from the doe eyed goddess in front of him.

"Er- I think I need an adult," Harry admits, his face twisting with confusion and fear.

Eris takes a step forward to get back to being nose to nose with him. "I am an adult," she says with a wide and slightly insane grin.

"Ah- Zoë!" And no sooner did Harry call his sister's name, a silver blade appeared between him and Eris.

"Eris! That's enough!" Nemesis says as she reaches forward, grabbing Eris' ear and twisting it as she drags her sister back to her side. "I swear to mother! I will toss you into a cold shower if you keep harassing the boy!"

"Wait- no!" Eris moans in pain, tears in her eyes as she reaches out for Harry. "Think of the chaos! The glorious chaos our hypothetical children will cause!" She begs before Nemesis grabs the back of her Cheerleader outfit and tosses her back through the doorway of darkness.

Nemesis sighs as she dusts off her hands and turns back to Harry and Zoë. "Sorry about her, she can get pretty obsessive at times," she says with a roll of her eyes. "Expect her to ask for at least your autograph before you leave," she explains before crossing her arms over her chest. "So, what brought two hunters of Artemis to our little corner of the world?"

Harry opens his mouth to speak, but Zoë quickly cuts him off. "We've come seeking a favor from the Mistress of the House of Night," she tells Nemesis as she puts away the Moontide, causing Nemesis to raise a brow at Zoë and from the look on her face. Harry couldn't help but to feel that this wasn't the first time Zoë had done this.

Nemesis narrows her eyes at Zoë before they flicker over to Harry and back again. "Then you arrive at an auspicious time, Zoë Nightshade and Harry Potter, one of the Keres, just got married," she says before throwing Zoë a knowing smile.

Zoë mutters a curse word in ancient greek. "You've got to be kidding me," she says with a sigh before rubbing her eyes with her hand.

"The Keres?" Harry says confused while looking between Nemesis and Zoë. "What the hell are those?"

"The Keres are spirits of painful death, they are sisters to the Oneiros, the spirits of peaceful dreams. They are the sons and daughters of my mother and they tend to go hand in hand, as you know all too well, Harry Potter," Nemesis tells him as she uncrosses her arms and one hand comes to rest on her blade's handle.

"If any of them see your face, Harry, they'll haunt you till the end of your days," Zoë continues to explain as she scowls. "We'll have to come back another day to ask, the House of Night isn't safe for you right now," she says as she turns to look at him with a frown.

"The House of Night isn't safe for almost any mortal, but you are in a bit of luck Zoë," Nemesis says, drawing Harry and Zoë's attention back to her as she holds out her hand. Shadows begin to fold and twist like smoke in her hand, forming something. "There are a few who reside in the House of Night that give favor to the boy and have called to have the boy walk our halls without risk," she informs them as the smoke settles into a mask. Harry frowns as he recognizes the mask, it was in the same shape as he normally conjured his helm in, the visage of a snarling wolf with far too many eyes looking back at him as a mask of pure darkness.

Nemesis offers the mask to Harry with a smirk. "So long as you wear this and speak not your name to either the Keres or the Oneiros, none of them will be able to haunt you," she tells Harry, as Zoë's eyes narrow as Nemesis and the mask she was offering.

"Nothing is offered in the House of Night without a price attached to it, what do you want for this?" Zoë asks, her voice flat and cold as her head tilts backwards to glare slightly at Nemesis. But the Goddess of Vengeance merely chuckles at Zoë's words and actions.

"Oh, I'm sure Mister Potter here knows what I want," Nemesis says before turning to Harry, her blood red eyes glinting in the dark as she looks into his Emerald ones. And Harry did know, in the eyes of the Goddess of Vengeance he could see it, Harry raises his head and reaches out and takes the mask.

"He'll die, one way or another, the Hunt only ends one way after all," Harry says, causing his older sister to look at him with concern as he puts on the mask.

Nemesis gives him a bloodthirsty smile before stepping to the side. "Then welcome, Harry Potter, to the House of Night," she tells him before gesturing to the darkness of the doorway with a smile. Harry turns to look at Zoë, her eyes filled with concern for him, Harry nods to her. Zoë sighs through her nose and her lips thinning before nodding her head back to him. They both turn to the entrance to the House of Night before stepping through the darkness together.

---

Galloway Forest, August 2nd, 1:34 Am.

A man stands in the shadows of the forest, his long blond hair held in stark contrast to the black robes he wore. He twitches and shuffles as he stands, as if he was uncomfortable in some way, he lets out a sigh before reaching into his pocket to pull out a silver pocket watch. He clicks his tongue against his teeth in aggravation at the late hour before snapping the watch shut with more force than necessary before a snap of a branch catches his attention.

"You're late Greyback," the man says as he turns to the shadows and watches as two men emerge from the forest. "And you do know my feelings on tardiness, yes?" The man says with a sneer.

"Oh don't get your silky underthings in a bunch, you pompous cunt," the growling voice of the man who called himself Fenrir Greyback growls out as he steps into the same clearing as the other man. Dressed in ragged clothing and a pair of old boots, his bear chest showing under the long brown leather duster he wore. His face was wolfish with thinning gray hair, he snarls and shows pointed fangs as he drags along his captive. "You're lucky I came at all, Lucius, thinking you can call me like a dog to heel," he spits at Lucius Malfoy.

"Think?" Lucius says, a smirk appearing on his lips. "No, I would never think of a proud son of Lycan as a dog to call upon. I know, you are a dog to call upon Greyback," he says with a sneer as Greyback once more snarls at him. "Yes, yes. Very scary Greyback, now hand over the prisoner if you please, our Lord has been patient enough with you about delivering the old man," he says flippantly while rolling his eyes. Fenrir bares his teeth at Lucius for the disrespect before grabbing the burlap sack tied around his prisoner's head and yanks it back. Exposing the throat of the prisoner as he brings up his claws to the old man's throat.

"Your lord, wizard! Not mine!" Fenrir yells at Lucius as his claws dig into the sagging throat of the old man and draw blood. "Let's see how happy your lord is with the old man dead and without my children to help him, huh?" he says with a cruel grin. "I wonder how he'll punish you for not treating your betters with some respect, wizard,"

Lucius sighs and closes his eyes as if he was trying to gather what little patience he had left. "You greek monsters are all the same," he says with a scoof before opening his eyes to glare at Fenrir. "Thinking you're somehow special because a god was involved with your creation or curse that befell you. The arrogance of your kind far outstrips any other monsters in this world, and I am so very glad to be able to witness what's about to happen," he says with his own sneer twisting his face into something truly ugly and monstrous.

Fenrir freezes. He had told no one about his father, of how his true origin of being an original son of Lycan from the footsteps of Arcadia. But as he opens his mouth to demand answers, Lucius cuts him off with a single word.

"Cathlenn," Lucius says, not even trying to hide his disgust at the name as the Ceaseless Watcher steps out from behind him. Fanrir eyes the woman as something deep within him flinches at the woman's appearance, an instinct in him whispering of how dangerous she was.

As Fenrir redoubles his grip on his prisoner, the woman tilts her head as if she was inspecting him with a bored look on her face, utterly unbothered by the werewolf.

She steps forward, just past Lucius. "Do we need this one alive?" She simply asks, as if she was discussing the weather.

"Sadly, yes. We just need to remind him of the…pecking order," Lucius says with a cruel smirk at Fenrir before leaning on his cane.

"I've no idea what you are, bitch but back up before- Ahhhhhh!?" Fenrir begins to threaten before suddenly his elbow explodes in a shower of blood and bone as he feels something rip through it. The arm that he dug his claws in the old man's throat fell to the ground right before the prisoner was ripped from his grasp and landing in a heap at Lucius' feet. "What the hell was that!?" Fenrir thinks in a panic as he grasps his bleeding stump. The werewolf looks back at the woman, Cathlenn, in pain and fear as she gives him a knowing smirk.

"It's time for you, son of Lycan, to learn what true terror is," Cathlenn tells him, the smirk never leaving her face as she begins to sing.

"Hush now, hide, all you little ones,

Rush now, into the darkness,

Where your singing and laughter will die,"

Her voice was like a charm, enchanting all things that listened to it, even drawing Fenrir into the lullaby that sprung from her lips.

"Sleepless nights follow the Nowhere King,

When the Hunt is high, the greatest lark is nigh,"

Fenrir shakes his head, trying to throw off whatever magic was in the creature's words. It was like a siren singing softly on the rocks, calling to him as the forest fell silent to all but the woman's singing.

"Quite now, crawl through the in-between,

Silent now, your screams are like songs that calls to, his fearsome Hatred that swallows the sky,"

Fenrir takes a step back from the woman as his hair stands on end, a cold sweat breaking out across his skin as his feet sinks into…mud? Fenrir looks down to see his boot swallowed up to his ankle in a thick viscous mud that smelled of rotting bodies. Much to the werewolfs growing horror, he watches as the mud begins to move. Spreading out like a sickness in the forest, swelling across the forest floor and crawling up trees, at the edge of the sickness bloomed plants he had never seen before. Stems of purple and blue teardrop leaves with black thorns sprouting from the stocks before withering and dying before they could spread in the forest.

"You will bring joy to the Nowhere King,

When the light of the Hunt leaves his eyes,"

As the woman falls quiet, the smirk spreads into a wide smile, horns burst from the black mud as something begins to crawl from it. Attached to the massive rack of horns was the skull of an elk, bone white without a single stain of the black muck that it crawled from. The next was the body, massive and starved, its ribs and other bones poked out of its shaggy hide and scaled flesh. The massive arms of the beast grasps at the trees, shattering them with barely contained power as it turns its head to look down at Fenrir Greyback as its eyes light the darkness as a glowing amber.

"I really must thank you for bringing the old wand maker to us, but your attitude needs a little adjusting," Lucius calls out as he reaches down and pulls the prisoner to his shaking feet before looking back at Fenrir. "So, I'd like to introduce you to your attitude adjuster, this is Goll-" gesturing to the massive frame of the monster looming over the werewolf. "-The Nowhere King and the Fear of the Hunt,"

Cathlenn smiles as the maw of Goll splits open to reveal rows upon rows of sharp teeth. Watching as Fenrir takes a step back, pale face and shaking in the wake of the Nowhere King.

"Run," the Ceaseless Watcher whispers to Fenrir just before Goll's roar shakes the forest and the chase is on as the laughter of Cathlenn and Lucius follows the fleeing Greyback.

---

Harry Potter, the House of Night.

After a seemingly long life of weird stuff happening around him that he didn't understand, Harry was rather used to things taking an abrupt twist. From a deep, dank, and dark cave on the side of a mountain to a rustic Italian Villa set in a dark forest at night wasn't something Harry was expecting when he stepped through the doorway and darkness; but it didn't exactly surprise him.

The two story villa was in the shape of an upside down U and made from dark marble and blood red tiles as the roof. Ivy and other plants grow up over the walls from the garden that ran along the side of the walls of the villa. Harry could see treetops poking over the roof of the Villa just beyond the backside of the curve. As he looked up, the moonless night sky in all its glory looked back at him, tickling stars and twisting galaxies of the heavens were as awe inspiring as they were at Dún Scaith.

As the Villa welcomed him and Zoë with open arms, he could see the countless figures in the gardens. Blurring forms of Technicolor dreams, and scarred visages of painful deaths danced and spoke with one another as music played from somewhere deeper in the Villa. Harry was forced to walk arm in arm with Eris after apologizing for being "Too Rash" with him in her excitement before wrapping her arms around him. She happily and excitedly chatted away about the architecture and layout of the garden that Harry mostly ignored as Nemesis and Eris led him and Zoë through the gardens.

They were stopped twice on the way to the Villa, once by one of the Keres. She had stepped from the crowd and onto the path they were walking on to look at Harry with a smile. She was in a white dress that was cut low on her shoulders to show off a large scar in between her breast, right over where her heart would sit. A splash of red ran from the middle of her dress, right under her scar, to her feet that resembled blood.

Her form shifted like sand in a dream as she sauntered near them. "My oh my, don't I know you, younger hunter?" She asks Harry in a smoky voice.

As Eris tries to drag Harry past the Keres, Harry opens his mouth to tell the spirit of violent death that she didn't, but he looked in her eyes and- "I'll take your heart too!" "Your heart is mine!" "I've come to take your heart,"- turns away from her, keeping his mouth wisely shut. Harry turns around once to look back at the Keres who was still smiling at him, blood trailing down the corners of her lips as she did before winking at him and walking back into the crowd of her brothers and sisters.

Harry swallows the lump in his throat, not paying attention as he is suddenly jerked back by Eris turning his attention to the front. A tall slender looking woman was now standing in the doorway of the Villa, her eyes serpentine as she looked at Harry hungerly. Her black hair was done up in an elaborate bon with a crown of gold sitting in it, her dress looked to be made out of snake hide that hugged her body perfectly as a wolf skin scarf hung off her shoulders.

"Step aside, Scylla," Nemesis orders as she comes to stand in front of the group and crosses her arms over her chest.

Scylla turns to look at Nemesis confused for a moment before turning back to Harry. "But he's a Half-Blood? And worse than that, he's a son of Artemis," Scylla hisses, literally, at Nemesis in anger.

"And he is also a guest of not only Eris and myself, but also four others that call the House of Night home, one of them being my mother," Nemesis snaps back as Scylla turns back to Harry with narrowed eyes. Something wraiths under her skin, long and narrow, wanting to do nothing but burst out and attack him. But as Harry's hand reaches for Serpent-Hunter in his pocket, Zoë's hand reaches out and stops him. He looks over at his older sister to see her shake her head slowly with wide eyes.

It was then that something in the very air shifted, as if the night sky above them turned and looked down at the group gathered at one of the doors to the Villa. It froze and rooted Harry and Zoë to the spot, and from the looks of it Scylla as well, but Eris and Nemesis seemed unaffected by the sudden pressure; Eris going so far to giggle at Scylla who looked murderous at the moment.

"Fine," Scylla says sharply before her form stops shifting and she relaxes. "I'll leave the little hunter alone," she says and leaves the "for now" hanging in the air unsaid before making her way past Harry's group. Her eyes never leave Harry's as she steps past him, his own eyes shifting to amber under his mask as they walk past each other.

Harry is quickly pulled into the Villa and away from the gardens, Zoë following behind them to make sure Harry keeps himself from hunting the woman down. They pass through sitting rooms and a kitchen, curious eyes of all kinds turning to watch them pass as they make their way through the halls of the Villa. They take a turn and start heading towards a flight of stairs, leaning against the banister were two people. A girl that looked around Harry's age chatting with a taller man of Asian descent. The girl was almost a carbon copy of Eris but with paler skin and shorter blonde hair, the man was tall and broad with bands of thick muscle showing through his business suit. Harry could see colorful tattoos just under the suit that looked to cover his whole body.

"Ate!" Eris calls out excitedly to the young girl, who turns to look at the sound of her name. "Look who it is!" Eris says as she squeezes Harry's arm and points at him. Ate's jaw drops as her eyes nearly pop out of her skull as she looks at Harry.

"By Slaanesh six tits," Ate says breathlessly as she turns away from the large Asian man and leaps off the stairs to meet Eris and Harry in the hall. "It's actually you, Harry-fucking-Potter! It's- it's- it's an honor to meet you!" She says quickly before taking his hand forcefully and shakes it.

Harry scowls as he tries to lean away from the two crazy blondes, having uncomfortable flash backs to the Leaky Cauldron during his first year. He looks over at Zoë for help, but finds none as Zoë just smirks darkly at how uncomfortable he must have looked.

"-is he single?" Harry hears Ate ask with a grin, causing Harry to start to pry his arm out of Eris' grip.

"Nope! Drawing the line here! Let me go!" Harry says as politely as he could as he pulls his arm free from a devastated Eris.

"It was just-" Ate begins to say with a pout before Nemesis cuts her off.

"Ate! Eris! That's enough, stop messing with the boy. He didn't come here to be sexually assaulted by the two of you, he came to see the Lady Nyx," Nemesis growls out as she turns on the two blonde girls with a glare. "Now leave him be until he's talked to her, then you two can try to talk him into a threesome!" She snaps at them.

Ate pauses before turning to Eris. "Do you think he'd be down for that?" She asks.

"I don't see why not? Who wouldn't want to have some fun with two hot blondes?" Eris answers back with a confident smirk on her lips.

"Zoë, for the love of the Hunt, Help!" Harry hisses at his sister as he rushes past her and up the flight of stairs, causing his sister, and the two blondes to laugh as he runs to get away from two crazy fans. Wanting to get away from the two blondes at the bottom of the stairs, he rushed past the tall Asian man rudely, the man laughing at him all the while, before almost crashing into someone at the top of the stairs.

"Whoa there! Where's the fire?" A snarky voice asks as Harry nearly falls down the stairs only to catch himself on the banister. He looks up to the scarred face of another dark haired woman dressed in a suit, her piercing blue eye looking at him confused before recognition fills it and Harry grones. The woman's hair was short and brought up in a lazy ponytail, her bangs falling over her face where an eye patch covered her left eye. "Well, fuck me up, aren't you that Potter kid? The son of Artemis, right?" She says with a bright smile.

"Nope! Never heard of him," Harry mutters while stepping around the woman before Nemesis calls out from the bottom stair.

"Yeah, that's him Oizys," she says, looking up the stairs with a grin as Zoë rolls her eyes and makes her way up the stairs.

Oizys grabs Harry's arm to stop him from escaping before spinning him around to face her. "Well, fuck yeah. Never thought you would have ended up here with our little family, welcome to the House of Night," she says before clapping him on the back and turning to face down the stairs. "Hey, Mom sent me to collect everyone for the lieutenant meeting, Nemmy, Eris, get your asses moving. Ate, go fuck off somewhere and Dōji-dono, My mother was asking for you to come as well," she notes to each of the people in the stairway.

Zoë reaches Harry before Eris is able to latch onto him and begins to lead him through the hall. "Come on, we don't want to be late," she whispers to him.

"Late? To what, their meeting?" Harry asks back as he quickly follows his sister through the dark halls of the House of Night.

"Yes, don't worry, if we weren't allowed to sit in on it we would have been asked to wait somewhere else," Zoë quickly informs him before taking the upcoming right in the halls. "Listen Harry, no matter who's in that room I need you to keep the Hunt in check, understand?" She asks him and Harry frowns.

"Yeah, sure, but why?" Harry inquires.

"Because fighting in the House of Night is forbidden by Lady Nyx herself, doing so will invite her wrath and trust me when I say we do not want that," Zoë tells him flatly before stopping in front of a pair of doors and turning to look at Harry. "You ready?" She asks, ignoring the voices and footsteps of the people coming up from behind them. All Harry could do was nod his head, watching as Zoë took a deep breath before nodding as well before turning to the door and opening them.

The room was unsurprisingly filled with all sorts of people, no more than fourteen in total, they were huddled in groups around a large table with many high back and comfortable chairs pushed into it. The room itself was brightly colored like the rising dawn or the twilight of the day with sky blues, soothing reds and oranges, and deep purples against stained wood. A large fireplace sat on one side of the room, the fire inside it burning low, the walls were decorated with fine artworks of different myths across age, time, and place with quite a few Harry couldn't place. The room somehow felt…ancient in a way Harry couldn't put his finger on, but heedless of the feeling or the people inside the room, he enters.

"Come on, it looks like the lady isn't here yet," Zoë says as she leads Harry over to an unoccupied corner of the room. "We don't sit until we are told too, and do not turn down any food or drink. Even if you only take a few sips or bites, that's fine, it's rude to just turn it down. Do not speak out of turn, unless the lady asks you a direct question, even then think before you speak, understand?" she whispers sharply to Harry, to which he nods his head to, but before he could open his mouth to ask a question; a new voice cuts him off.

"Well, well, isn't this a treat, two lonely little hunters in the House of Night," a snide and mocking voice says, causing both Zoë and Harry to look over to their left to see a man walking towards them. Unlike most of the other people in the room, he was dressed casually in a pair of blue jeans and a white and red jersey with the words Red Socks on the front. His wild blond hair did nothing to cover the horrible scar on his face, starting in the middle of his forehead and flowing down his nose and over his cheeks like tear marks. His smirk made him look equally handsome and cruel as his sharp blue eyes flick back and forth between Harry and Zoë. "I almost didn't expect you, Zoë Nightshade, but I am honestly not at all surprised you're here. Tell me, are you still missing that lost sword of yours?" He asks with a wide smile.

Zoë takes a deep breath to keep her calm before answering the man. "It isn't lost, Loki. I know where it is, I just have no interest in acquiring it again," she tells the man as Zoë crosses her arms over her chest.

"Sure, whatever you say little Hunter," Loki mocks Zoë with a grin as he slides his hands into his pocket before turning his attention to Harry, and slowly his smile falls from his face. "So, you're Harry Potter, huh? Fafnir's bane, what a joke," he says banefully.

Harry frowns as he racks his brain for who the man was, till it hits him. "Didn't you fuck a horse?" he blurts out, causing Zoë to snort in amusement.

"No, Harry. He's the one who got fucked by the horse," Zoë says with a grin as Loki glares at her for a moment before turning back to Harry with the same look.

"Out of all the stories involving me, that's the one you immediately recall?!" The God of Tricksters asks in an angry tone of voice.

"Well, if I let a horse fuck me, I'm pretty sure everyone would forget about the dark lord shite and start calling me Horse-fucker Harry or something like that. It's a pretty big important detail, don't you think?" Harry points out as Zoë lets out a barking laugh and causes Loki's face to twist in fury.

"Why you little-" Loki begins to say, reaching out to grab Harry before he flinches and jerks his head back before letting out a scream. "Stupid woman! Hold the bowl still and stop laughing!" He roars while turning to his left with rage filled eyes. Harry steps back from the god, giving him an odd look as Zoë just smiles smugly at him.

"Don't mind him, he suffers from tourette syndrome, the poor dumb bastard," another voice says with an amused voice, causing all three to turn and look at the new arrival. He was tall with a bald head, his eyes glowing an ominous red behind thick eyeliner and his skin was the color of shifting sand. His smile was mocking and aimed right at Loki, the man wore, much to Harry's surprise, wizard's robes of black and red that were lined with gold with hieroglyphics sewn into the hem of his robe. "How's the cave and serpent treating you, Loki?" The man asks as his grin sharpens.

Loki lets out a deep sigh before his blue eyes cut to the man. "Fuck off, Set. Don't you have a desert to die in or something?" Loki snaps back at the man.

Set just chuckles at Loki's words. "Don't be so sensitive, Loki. It's not the boys fault you got fucked by a horse," he says with a grin before turning his red eyes toward Harry. "Harry Potter, Magician of Artemis, quite the title you have, boy. One stolen from my own people at that," he says, but there was accusation in his voice, merely stating a fact.

"What do you mean by that?" Harry asks, his face scrunching in confusion.

"Ha! The boy doesn't even know," Loki says with a laugh before slipping his hands into his pockets. "The term "Magician" is from Egypt, the first gods to have children with mortals who could use magic coined the term themselves," the trickster informs Harry with a smirk. Harry blinks before looking back at Set who had brought his hand to his chin and slowly begins to stroke his chin in thought.

"Not that it matters, I always hated you stupid hunters anyway, and while I can't hurt the lieutenant; you are free game, child," Loki says ominously as he takes a step toward Harry with a smile on his face. Harry unlocks his knees and bends them in anticipation, Zoë's hand immediately reaches for her hunting knife as Set takes a step back from the group. But before any of the three could do anything, a hand is placed gently down on Loki's shoulder, sending him to one knee as only four fingers rest on him. The God of Lies eyes widen as the floor beneath him cracks from the sheer weight behind the hand, and sweat begins to pour from his forehead as his face begins to twist in unspoken pain.

"Now, now, Mister Laufeyjarson, is that anyway to speak to a fellow guest in my house?" A voice says as all chatter in the room dies away and every soul in the room turns to the Mistress of the House that was now in the room. "Even if the guest is diametrically opposed to you and your kind, I do expect all my guests to be respectful of my rules; no matter what," the voice was a high soprano and deadly serious as it spoke with a flux kindness to the kneeling Jötunn in front of her. Loki was shaking with eyes wide with fear, unable to speak as he choked on whatever lie wanted to sing from his lips as the woman behind him held him still with just four fingers.

Harry looks to the woman standing behind Loki as his jaw drops open at the sight of her before his head quickly snaps to Zoë then looking back at the woman then back to Zoë in open shock and confusion.

For the woman was a nearly identical copy of Zoë.

The woman was taller, older, and didn't have her hair in a high ponytail that emulated Artemis's own hair style. But her long, ink-like hair flowed down one shoulder like a river of pitch blackness and curled in just the right way to make her look elegant in ways Zoë couldn't hope to achieve. As the woman finally looks up at Zoë and Harry, the Heir to the Hunt notices another difference.

The woman had no eyes.

In place of them, spinning and spanning galaxies twisted in a spiral her sockets. With one hand still gently holding down the God of Storytellers, she smiles at both Zoë and Harry.

"Zoë," the woman says softly as she looks at Harry's eldest sister as she drops her head in reverence and respect Harry had only seen Zoë give to Artemis.

"Hello…mother," Zoë says softly as Harry slowly turns his head to look back at Zoë's mother, to the Mistress of the House of Night. The woman doesn't move, nor does she raise her hand from Loki's shoulder as she looks at her daughter with a loving smile on her face. "Are you going to let him up?" Zoë asks softly to her mother as she eyes the kneeling Loki.

"Hmm? Oh! Yes, in due time. I just wish to…press upon him this lesson of respect for a few moments longer," the woman tells Zoë, her galaxy-like eyes turning to look down at the struggling god. "But how have you been, my dear? It's been so long since you last visited and that was mostly business," she says looking up at Zoë with a fond smile.

"I've been well, Mother. Had a few bumps in the road, lost a few sisters, but otherwise well," Zoë tells her mother as she raises her head to look the other woman in the eyes.

"I am elated to hear that, my dear. Now hold that thought for just a moment," the woman says, pausing politely to watch Zoë nod her head, before turning back to Loki kneeling beside her. "Now, Loki Laufeyjarson, have we learned a heavy lesson about respecting my rules?" She whispers as she leans down to Loki's ear.

"Yes…My…Lady…" Loki is able to say through the strain of holding up the woman's hand on his shoulder, the pain in his voice was unmistakable to Harry.

"Very good," the woman says before lifting her hand off of Loki, the god of lies let out a gasp before collapsing onto the ground, his form flickering in and out of existence as he takes deep breaths as if he had run for a thousand miles. "Next time the notion of acting like a fool starts kicking around in that empty head of yours, Trickster, remember whose house you are in," the woman says dismissively, as if she was talking to a child and not a millennia's old god Loki was.

She turns back to Zoë before slowly turning her head to look at Harry, a new smile growing on her face as she steps forward to Harry; but this time Zoë does nothing to stop someone approaching him. The woman reaches out to Harry's face, gently grabbing the mask on Harry's face and with a slight twist of her wrist, the mask vanishes back into shadow.

"Harry Potter," the woman says with an ever growing smile. "I must say I am rather surprised-" her empty eyes seem to flicker up and down his form taking him in and lingering, just for a moment, on his left pocket. "-to see one such as yourself here in my home,"

Harry's eyes shoot back and forth between Zoë and her mother for a moment before remembering she had just spoken to him.

"Er- Y-Yeah, um…why is it…surprising? Ah, Ma'am?" Harry asks quickly, trying to sound polite as possible, his eyes drifting back to Loki, who was just barely picking himself up off the floor.

"Because normally Heroes and Demigods do not wander into the House of Night for any reason; even if they were looking for death. Ah! But I have been rude, have I not?" The woman suddenly says, pressing her fingers to her red painted lips as she smiles coyly at him. "I haven't even introduced myself, please, forgive me. I am Nyx, Primordial of the Night Sky, the Mother of Fear, and the first child of Chaos. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, young son of Artemis," Nyx, who Harry had come to suspect the woman to be a while ago, introduces herself, holding out her hand with her palm down and fingers curled so Harry could take it.

"Er- I don't know how to- ah, to do that properly?" Harry tells her with a grimace as Nyx raises a brow at him. "I'm afraid that I'll somehow mess it up, do you mind if we just- you know, shake…hands? Ma'am!" He asks sticking out his own before tacking his final word. Nyx smiles before taking Harry's hand in a firm grip, and the sheer weight of the power behind the thing in front of him. Harry felt as if he could roll on the Dé Danann up in one and tossed it into the unfathomable vastness of the being before him, all it would do was splash and not even the ripples would reach the edge of it.

"Do we have an understanding, Mister Potter?" Nyx asks, a smile growing on her face at Harry's palling face. All Harry could do was nod his head in understanding at the unspoken threat, protected by prophecy he may be, but he was sure the Primordial had ways to make him suffer without killing.

"Excellent," Nyx replies politely as she lets go of Harry's hand. "Now, why don't we all take a seat and put this little event behind us," she tells everyone as she turns away from Harry and Zoë, waving her hand causing the chairs around the table to slide out for her guests. As Harry and Zoë take their seats near the end of the table, Nyx walks to the head and sits down in a larger chair than any other in the room.

"Now, before we start the meeting, let's eat shall we?" Nyx informs everyone with a smile before, with another wave of her hand, a feast appears before them all.

---

Artemis, The temple of Athena, Olympus.

She and her half sister rarely interacted with one another for the simple fact that they were far too different from one another. While Athena represented learning, politics, civilization, and war; Artemis represented the opposite. She was the wilds, the untamed, the forests and mountains, survival and hunting. Other than their Aunt Demeter, it was Athena that sat in opposition of everything Artemis stood for and embodied. Both knew this and thus avoided one another out of respect for the peace that Aunt Hestia fostered between them all and rarely stepped on each other's toes.

"But she has gone too far with what she tried to do," Artemis thinks to herself as she opens the door to the Parthenon on Olympus. She pays no heed to the inside, nor the sprawling library that contained all the knowledge of the gods, mortals, and magical alike. Artemis knew what she was doing was foolish and dangerous, to challenge a god in the heart of their temple was a defeat before the fight even began; but she was fine with that. She was not there for victory anyway.

"Oh! Lady Artemis!" A voice to her left says, as a tall willowy man walks out from between the rows and rows of books, a look of surprise on his face. "How may I help you this evening?" He asks politely.

"Ethan Shawll," Artemis says as she turns to look at the dark haired man. "Where is your mother?" She asks plainly to the half-blood.

"Oh, she's in her private study at the moment. We've been told not to let anyone disturb her for now, if you wish for any assistance; I will happily help," Ethan informs her with a slight bow of his head.

"I see," Artemis says as her eyes roam over the many floors of the library, a frown on her face as she counts the number of Athena's children that called the temple their home. "I need you to gather your siblings and evacuate the temple,"

"I- Excuse me?" Ethan says, sounding lost for a moment.

"I did not stutter, Ethan Shawll. But I understand if it bears repeating," Artemis tells the man before turning to face him, her eyes alight with the Hunt. "You are to collect and warn your siblings to evacuate from the temple with haste, or else you will be caught in the crossfire between two battling gods. You have-" Artemis reaches out and senses the location of Athena hiding deep within her temple. "-roughly ten minutes to do so. I do not wish for any unnecessary bloodshed this day," she tells him in a hard voice as her eyes narrow at the half-blood. The man freezes before swallowing the lump in his throat, his eyes wide with fear. He opens his mouth to say something or ask for something but decides against it before closing it, after a moment more he finally decides that Artemis wasn't joking.

"ALERT! ALERT! ALL LIBRARIANS AND HELPERS ARE TO EVACUATED IMMEDIATELY! THIS IS NOT A DRILL, I REPEAT, THIS IS NOT A DRILL!" Ethan screams as he turns on his heel and begins to race through the library repeating himself as he runs. Artemis merely shakes her head and begins to move at a slow pace through the temple, hoping to give the mortals enough time to flee.

By the time Artemis makes it to Athena's study, ten minutes have come and gone and so did caring if anyone else was in the library for Artemis. Her foot meets the solid oak door to Athena's study, kicking it off the hinges before she walks in. Athena stood in the middle of the oval study, glaring at her with her arms crossed over her chest; she stood in full war gear beside her spear and shield.

"Do you not have an ounce of decorum in you, Artemis?" Athena asks with a huff as she frowns at her half-sister.

"No," Artemis answers flatly, her eyes glued to the gray eyes of wisdom. "And you have some nerve to ask me that question, Athena. We may never have seen eye to eye on most things, but we have never antagonized each other to the level you've done this past week. We have always respected each other, I have even welcomed your children into my Hunt only on your blessing. And this is how you repay that respect, you try to get my son to kill himself!?" Artemis roars, her rage shaking the temple but Athena looks unmoved, unimpressed, and uncaring at her half sister's outrage.

"What do you think this will accomplish, Artemis?" Athena asks coldly to the smaller goddess. "You think you would walk into my temple and rattle your bow, raise your voice, and scare my children to do…what, exactly?" She asks with a bit of heat to her voice near the end. "We both are well aware of the laws that protect Olympus, neither of us can draw our weapons for battle. If you are here to rant, rage, and scream; then by all means do so, but do so to someone who cares," the goddess of wisdom says with a dismissive scoff and a roll of her eyes.

"Why did you even do it?" Artemis asks, almost spitting the question at Athena with her hands clenched and shaking in her anger. "Father had already stepped in, punished me, and gave me his ruling. You had no right- no need to push this that far," she tells Athena, trying to understand the "why" of her half-sister.

"The love you have for the boy has blinded you, Artemis. He is a magician, at best he is a weapon for us to level against our enemies and at worst he is a threat! Not just to the Olympians but to the whole world, if he continues to do as he pleases untethered then what is stopping him from-" Athena tells Artemis, her voice hard and cold as glacial ice with the frost of logic freezing her words with an angry chill. But Artemis had had enough of others who did not know her son as she did level baseless acquisitions at him.

"HOLD YOUR TONGUE, ATHENA!" Artemis snaps, cutting her half-sister off at the library shakes once more with the rage of Artemis. "You do not know him, you have no right to judge him as you do. You paint him with the same brush as the Magicians of the past without pausing to consider that Harry is nothing like them," she rages at Athena as the Goddess of Wisdom narrows her eyes at Artemis. "He does not seek power, he does not seek to overturn death; all he truly wants is To. Be. Happy!" She yells and as she does her skin begins to split at the seams, burning away like paper in a blaze as her eyes go from a burning amber to a cold silver. "And I am sick and tired of everything getting in the way of that! If any Half-Blood deserves a happy ending to their story; it is Harry!"

Artemis, in her true godly glory, stands straight to look her half-sister in the eyes as the silver light of the moon casts light in the sanctuary of wisdom.

"And if I must remove the obstacles that stand in his way myself, then so be it. You will leave my son alone, even if I must beat that message into your thick skull," Artemis says, her silver bow and arrow in hand as she challenges a goddess of war inside her temple.

"The law says we-" Athena begins as her teeth grind at Artemis' foolish actions while her own form begins to crack like clay.

"-that we can not use our weapons against one another on Olympus," Artemis finishes for Athena before her angry face twists itself into a bloodthirsty grin. "But I never said I was going to shoot you, did I?" she tells Athena before she tosses her bow and arrow to the ground. And as Athena's face catches up with the implication her mind saw in Artemis' words, the Goddess of the Hunt pounces at the Goddess of Wisdom in the form of a lioness and knocks Athena over her desk.

---

Harry Potter, The House of Night, Nyx's office.

Dinner was a…conflicting affair for Harry. Half of him wanted to jump from his seat and start stabbing everyone he could reach over a few of the topics of conversation spoken of during the dinner. The other half- the more rational and freshly reminded part of him, knew that would be a very, very, bad idea to do in the House of Night.

The dinner was dominated by the topic of Las Vegas and what their plans were for it. Harry only half paid attention to it, but the things he heard- he didn't like. Manipulating mortals, Half-Bloods, and magicals alike to rake in money of all kinds while also funneling money from other "businesses" into the casinos to "clean it". Capturing monsters of all kinds from all over the world to pin them against Half-Bloods in underground fights and selling seats for a profit. Drugs, prostitutes, gambling, and every other vice under the sun was included in their conversation all because of one goddess that Harry missed the name of wanted to split off from the flame of the West and offered some deal to Nyx to make it happen.

Occasionally the topic would turn from Las Vegas to things across the seas. With the east gearing up for what looked to be a second world wide wizarding war, they spoke about pulling investments out of Greece, Italy, France, and Germany because of the danger and putting them in the West. China, India, the Korea's, Eurasia, the middle east, and Japan were all thrown about as options to invest in.

The tall Asian man spoke in favor of his home country of Japan. The Shinto gods were busy panicking over something called Yomi-no-kuni opening and some goddess by the name of Izanami waking up. So now was the perfect time to move things to Japan unnoticed if they wished to do anything.

The final topic was who was going to oversee the operations in Las Vegas, it was Eris who volunteered Ate's name and thought she would be perfect for it. A suggestion that had Nyx leaning back in her seat to think about, apparently Ate wasn't known for doing the best of jobs as everything failed around her on the account of pure bad luck that Ate embodied. The eyepatch wearing Oizys offered to go along with Ate just so when things were going tits up and Ate had to pull out Oizys could easily step in to make sure everything goes back to running smoothly before calling back Ate. Nyx approved the idea and told both Eris and Oizys that she would have a final plan by the end of the month.

Before long, the dinner- and the meeting, was called to an end as Nyx dismissed everyone but Harry and Zoë. Most of the residents of the House of Night passed them with a smile, a nod, or a wave goodbye; but Loki glares at them and Set smirks knowingly at them. The tall and broad Asian man stopped for a moment to look at Harry- his red eyes burning into his for a moment and for a second Harry thought he smelt something like plums and alcohol until Nyx coughs once drawing the Asian man back to the room. He bows his head once in silent apology before- like the others, he matched out of the room. Harry watches the man leave, silently wondering where he knew his scent from.

Nyx stood after the room was vacated and gestures to both Harry and Zoë to follow her, they were led to the back of the room to a large standing portrait of the Villa. Nyx presses on the frame and pulls it open to reveal a hidden door that she leads them through. Behind the door was a small parlor or perhaps an office, it was circular with no windows but the ceiling- much like Hogwarts- was enchanted to look like the night sky. Dark silk drapes of purples, blues, and blacks hung around the walls with stuffed and mounted trophies of The Minotaur, A Hydra, Chimera, and a bloody dragon. A beautiful rug depicting the earth sat on the dark stained wooden floor with a comfortable looking set of high armchairs and chaise longue of a deep blue sat in the middle of it all. Along with what looked to be a standing wet bar on the far side of the room; the whole thing felt strangely…intimate to Harry, like he shouldn't be here without the permission of the mistress of the House of Night.

The secret door closes behind Harry, causing him to turn to see Nyx walking over to both him and Zoë at a surprising speed. At first Harry thought she was going to attack, but Nyx completely ignores him to throw her arms around Zoë.

"Oh, my beautiful girl," Nyx says with elation as she hugs Zoë, the huntress herself wraps her arms around Nyx as well as they embrace. "It's so good to see you again, Zoë. I'm so happy to see you here with your family once more," Nyx whispers to her daughter.

"Mother," Zoë moans out, embarrassed at Nyx's antics. "You're embarrassing me," she tells her mother as she tries to pull away, but Nyx keeps her arms firmly wrapped around her daughter.

"I haven't seen you in nearly three hundred years, Zoë Nightshade- I will embarrass you as much as I want!" Nyx tells Zoë, causing the hunter to let out a chuckle before burying her face in the crook of Nyx's neck as they both embrace. Harry stands off to the side, awkwardly as he tilts back and forth on the balls of his feet looking everywhere but at the mother and daughter.

The two finally break apart as Nyx caresses Zoë cheek with her thumb. "It seems I'm forgetting my manners more and more in my old age," Nyx says as she withdraws her hand from Zoë's cheek and tucking a strand of her dark locks behind her ear. "Come on, the both of you- please, have a seat. Can I get either of you a drink?" She says with a gesture toward the chairs as she walks toward the standing wet bar.

"Yes, thank you mother," Zoë says politely as Harry mumbles a thank you as well. "Nothing alcoholic for Harry however- I don't think his tolerance can stand up to whatever you have in stock," she supplies to Nyx, who nods her head and opens the wet bar. Harry sits next to Zoë silently mouthing a thank you to her.

"So, what brings two plucky hunters to the House of Night- don't get me wrong Zoë, I do so love seeing you; but you were never one to come home just for a visit," Nyx asks of them, pulling down glasses and bottles as she spoke.

"You are correct, Mother," Zoë says as she crosses her ankles and folding her hands on her lap in a way Harry had never seen her sit before. "We come on…personal business, if you'll permit,"

Nyx makes a soft humming sound as she places ice into different cups. "It isn't about the favor you asked for last time you were here, is it? Because I assure you, we've been keeping Or-" she says as she fills a mixer with splashes and jiggers of different alcohols and syrups.

"NO!" Zoë shouts, causing Harry to jump out of his skin in surprise and Nyx to turn to her with a raised brow. Zoë looks between her little brother and her mother before coughing awkwardly into her hand. "Pardon me- but, no. It's not about that, mother," she says, giving Nyx a look that causes Harry to narrow his eyes at the two of them.

Nyx blinks before turning back and finishing up the drinks. "Well, on the subject of that- I feel you should know that it has been quite insistent in getting into the states. I've had Oizys running interference when she can and I've dealt with it personally twice now," she informs Zoë cryptically as she walks over with the drinks and handing them over. "Some advice, dear. It is after something, something that had recently arrived in the states and the sooner that something leaves- the better. Understand?" She asks Zoë, looking in the eyes with an earnest look.

Zoë lips thins at Nyx's words before she nods her head. "I understand, mother. We already have plans in the works for something like you have advised," she tells Nyx, her eyes drifting down to her feet.

Nyx nods once before turning to the chaise longue and laying down on it. She cut an imposing and tempting figure on the longue, the curves of her body, the only darkness of her hair and the copper of her skin was that of some foreign queen all but begging from you to come to her. Harry suddenly understood why so many people wanted to be an astronaut or loved space exploration shows on the telly as he averted his eyes from Nyx; blushing when Nyx chuckles.

"Well, if it isn't old business, it must be new business," Nyx says with amusement in her tone as she looks at Zoë and Harry. "Now- when is the wedding?" She asks suddenly as both Zoë and Harry look confused. "That is why you're both here, yes? For Harry to ask for my blessing?" She says with a wide smile before bringing her chocolatey looking drink a sip.

"WHAT!?"

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!"

"Mother!" Zoë nearly screams as her face twists in disgust at Nyx's words. "You know I keep true to my oaths to my Lady and that I would never betray her like that. Harry is her son and is like a younger brother to me, an ugly, dirty, moronic, baboon of a uncompliant little brother," she says with a huff.

"Yeah," Harry says before pointing at Zoë. "And she's a bitch," and no sooner do the words leave his mouth does Zoë strike, moving faster than a cobra she spins in her seat and punches Harry in the arm. "Oww! Fuck! Stop hitting me, Zoë!" He cries.

"Stop being a disrespectful little brat and I will!" Zoë challenges before drawing her arm back to punch Harry in the arm once more. Harry leaps from the seat, one hand still rubbing the spot Zoë had hit him in. Nyx was laughing at the display between the two hunters, one hand covering her mouth as pearls of laughter fell from her lips.

"Oh, you two must drive Artemis up the wall with your antics," Nyx says, shaking her head with a small smile on her lips before taking a sip of her drink. "But all jokes aside- I'm guessing you're here about the Formorians, aren't you, Mister Potter?" She says as she turns to look at Harry. Harry's forehead wrinkles as he looks at Nyx confused, his eyes narrowing a bit.

"The Formorians?" Harry asks, his eyes shooting back to Zoë who seems just as confused as he was. "Why would I come to you about anything to do with them?" He asks Nyx, curiosity ringing in his voice.

"Well, my oh my, isn't that an interesting turn of events," Nyx hums before taking another sip of her drink. "When I felt them being freed from their time out corner, I had thought The Morrígan sent you to the states to ask me on how to kill them- something she couldn't do last time the Formorians walked the earth," she tells Harry as she sits up on the longue, leaning against the back of it as she crosses her legs. "If that isn't the case, then what, pray tell, brings the Heir to the Hunt to the House of Night. On this day- the day of my daughters wedding," she says with a smile.

"It's for a personal favor to me, mother, we just need some information about a divine who goes by the name Didi," Zoë says before Harry is able to open his mouth to say the same. But to both of the Hunters' surprise, the smile falls from Nyx's face. The Primordial looks between Harry and Zoë, her eyes searching them for something before she abruptly stands.

"No," Nyx refuses flatly, a small glare leveled at Zoë. "You came to me in tears, all those years ago asking for a personal favor that- to be honest- has taken up a lot of time and resources for the House of Night to do. But you are my daughter, and I did that for you out of love for I knew how happy you were with Artemis and to be quite frank- I owed her for taking you in after you were severed from the flame of the west and refused to be bound to me for survival," she says as she stands and the light in the room begins to dim under her power.

"Now you return, three hundred years later asking for something for someone else!" Nyx snaps at Zoë causing the girl to flinch before she rounds on Harry who was slowly backing away from Nyx. "I doubt that Zoë had a run in with Didi- but you, child? You running into Didi is something I can believe. If you wish to know who she is, then you won't hide behind my daughter and deal with me directly, am I understood?" She says to Harry.

"Mother," Zoë says softly, directing the ire of the night sky back to her. "Do not be upset with Harry, he was…ignorant of our relation before even stepping foot into the House of Night. It is not like I walk around broadcasting about who you and father are," she says pointingly.

Nyx scoffs. "Do not remind me of him, the only good that came from that fling was you and your sisters and if I go for the rest of forever without hearing the name Atlas- it will be far too soon," she says with a role of her eyes and throwing one hand in the air before bringing her glass to her lips and downing the rest.

"Wait," Harry says suddenly before turning to Zoë. "Your dad is the map guy?" He asks, ridiculously and causing Nyx to burst out laughing. Zoë just leans down to place her face in her hands, trying very hard not to join her mother in her cackling.

"Yes, Harry. My father is the-" she sighs loudly "-the map guy," she says fighting her own smile.

"Oh, I'm going to need something harder than this," Nyx says as she pulls down another glass and begins to fill it with an amber liquid from a crystal decanter. She swirls it for a moment before downing it all in one go before pouring herself a second one. "All of that aside- my point still stands, Zoë. Do not come into my home with this paper thin and frankly disrespectful little attempt to weasel information out of me," Nyx tells her daughter as she turns around shaking her head at the mere thought of it all.

Nyx turns back to Harry, her face far softer this time. "If you wish to know who Didi is, Mister Potter, you'll have to do business with me just like everyone else," she tells him before taking a sip of her drink and points at the chair in a silent command. Harry obeys quickly, sitting back down next to Zoë before taking a sip from his amazingly fruity drink.

"Normally, Mister Potter, when someone comes to me in need of something I tend to exchange favors. They want something from me now, I get something from them later on down the line- I scratch their back, they scratch mine," Nyx explains as she sits back down as well and brings her drink to her lips. "But there are circumstances that I am willing to do a trade, something fair and equitable for both of us. You want Didi's real name- well, not only can I tell you it, I can also put you into contact with her," she says with a charming smile, watching as the glass that Harry was drinking from cracks in the boy's grip.

"I honestly don't think I'd have anything you'd want, Ma'am," Harry says honestly, unless she wanted something from his collection of trophies over the years like Gram; but Nyx smiles at his words.

"On the contraire, Mister Potter. You do have something I've been just dying to add to my collection for many, many, years now," Nyx tells him, her smiling never failing even when she takes a sip from her drink. "You see, I heard of a rumor coming out of the isles hundreds of years ago about three little objects that were created by mortal hands with the help of the divine. A wand, a stone, and a cloak," she says with a grin as she leans forward a bit, watching as Harry's hand flies to his pocket that held the Invisibility Cloak. "While I do want all three to complete the collection of them, I could never find them. Stories have it that each item has a will of its own or even controlled by the divine that helped forge them and after all these years, the Clóca scáth an Bháis, came walking into my home in the hands of the bloodline that can give it away," she tells Harry, supernovas exploding in her eyes as her excitement grew.

Harry was frozen in his seat, he could feel Zoë looking at him worried, Harry swallowed the lump in his throat before he spoke.

"You want my cloak?" Harry asks slowly, watching as Nyx nods her head. "But- why? You have to be one of the most powerful beings in Greek myth, why do you need my cloak?" He asks with a frown.

Nyx stares at him for a long moment before softly chuckling. "You have no idea what you have, do you?" She asks.

"The Invisibility Cloak, the one all others are based off of," Harry says with a frown.

"And you think it's just a cloak?" Nyx asks, her brow raised in amusement. Harry opens his mouth to answer back, but it was the tone that Nyx had said it in that made him pause.

"Was it just a cloak?" Harry thinks to himself before Nyx spoke up again.

"We digress however. Didi's name and a meeting with her for the Cloak, that is my deal Mister Potter," Nyx informs him, her face relaxing into more of a blank business look. "Take it or-"

"No," Harry says, cutting off Nyx. "I'm sorry but I-I can't. This is one of the only things I have left of my family, I'm not about to give it up for anything- just…just no," he informs Nyx with a shake of his head.

Nyx frowns at his words, the stars in her eyes growing dim but she leans back on the lounge. "As you wish, Mister Potter. It's not an item that I can force from you or steal away, but if you run across the other two I'd happily accept them as well," she says with a pleasant smile as she takes a sip of her drink. The room falls into silence as Nyx sips her drink, Zoë looks at Harry sadly, and Harry glares at the floor.

"Well, that is all we came to ask about," Zoë says before standing up from her seat. "Thank you again for seeing us, Mother. I will endeavor to try and visit more often if that is what you wish," she offers and Nyx perks up at her words.

"Please do try Zoë dear, even Thanatos and Mors make time in their busy schedule to at least come have tea with me once a year," Nyx says as she stands and places her drink on a small table set between the chairs and lounge. "I'm sure Artemis wouldn't mind losing her lieutenant for a day or two for her to visit her mother," she says before swiping Zoë up into another hug.

"I will try, mother. I promise nothing more," Zoë tells Nyx as she returns the embrace. They break apart a moment later but not before Nyx leans forward and gives Zoë two quick kisses to her cheeks. "Come on, Harry. We've intruded on her generosity for long enough," She says turning to Harry, but he makes no moves to stand up. "Harry?"

"You said you knew how to kill the Formorians," Harry says slowly, looking up from his chair to Nyx. "How? You're a Greek myth not a Celtic one," he points out.

Nyx suppresses the wicked grin that threatens to consume her face. "I know because any Mother knows how to destroy their own children if push comes to shove," she tells Harry and watches as his eyes widen.

"But- you're not- what?!" Harry says, shocked.

"Harry," Zoë says, her tone full of warning.

"What? Did you think the Greeks were the first to step outside their caves and mud huts to look up to see the sky at night? To see me looking back at them?" Nyx tisks at Harry with a small grin as she turns fully to him with eyes twinkling. "I am old, Harry, very, very, old. I was old when the Olympians overthrow Kronos, I was old when Gaia and Uranus had their first children, and I was older still when Gaia first came into being," she informs Harry as she folds her hands behind her back, and forming from smoke and shadows, two enormous black wings unfold from behind her with the night sky reflecting in each feather.

"I have had many names in that time. Nyx, Nox, Nut, Nótt, Yohaulticetl, Ratrai, and many more, as many as there are stars in the sky. With those names come my many children in all their forms- both great and terrible, but my oldest name is The first great terror. For when your ancestors first climbed down from their trees to huddle around the burning bush, they did so to ward me off and from me, The mother of fear, all terror sprung forth," Nyx continues, her form shifting like fickling pages in a book, different looks, hair, cloths, armor and weapons. She encompassed the world and all the myths within it because she herself encompassed the world in her unending embrace. Nyx finally returns to the form Harry had first met her in, her wings melting away like smoke in the wind.

Harry swallows and blinks before shaking the awe from his mind. "If you're their mom, then why are you willing to tell me how to kill them?" He asks.

"Harry," Zoë's warning becomes harsher as he continues to sit.

"Don't get me wrong, Harry. I love all my children equally and unconditionally, but there is always one child in any family that grows up to be a disappointment- and in the worst case, a danger," Nyx says with a sigh before sitting back down, a sadness etched on her face as she frowns. "And the Formorians are that for my family, if they were just unruly children then I would leave them be but Indech and the rest are an active danger to the world. Their stomachs exceed the extent they can see, they view the world as nothing more than a buffet to eat endlessly at- ignorant of the fact that the kitchen will run out of food eventually," she sighs in disappointment of her unruly children.

"Would you still want my-" Harry begins to say before Zoë's hand clamps onto his shoulder, silencing him as he turns to look at her.

"Harry," Zoë all but hisses through her teeth. "I know it is a difficult task for you, but for once in your life- think before you speak!" She almost yells at her little brother. "Nothing in the House of Night is free and owing the Mistress of the House has been the ruination of Empires and Nations," she warns Harry.

"You should listen to Zoë, Harry," Nyx supplies as she once more leans back in her lounge. "She has seen first hand what my favors can cost, but I assure you- the benefits always outweigh the danger," she says with a smile.

Harry looks away from Zoë and back to Nyx with narrowed eyes. "What exactly are you offering?" He asks the smiling Primordial.

"Very good," Nyx compliments him. "I'm offering you everything I know about the Formorians and how best to fight them- I however must add a bit of a caveat to that statement, there are two among them that are not my children. Nemed and Goll, Nemed was a mortal before being transformed into the fear he is now and Goll…well, to be frank I have no idea where he came from," she mutters the last part to herself as her eyes narrow at the puzzle before she shrugs, unbothered by it.

"And what do you want in return?" Harry asks, wanting to know the price before agreeing to any terms.

"A favor in return, of course," Nyx says with a smile. "I tell you this, and sometime in the future- a time that may never come, mind you. You'll repay this favor by doing something for me in return," she offers with a smile.

"That's it?" Harry asks, noting how Zoë squeezes his shoulder a bit harder.

"That's it," Nyx says as if it was the simplest thing in the world. "Well, what do you say, Harry Potter? Do we have an agreement?" She asks as she extends her hand to him, a sharp smile on her face as black holes collide with one another in her eyes.

---

Harry Potter, Willamette National Forest, August 3rd, 7:30 PM.

"Are you sure about this?" Artemis asks for the third time that evening, while her face was set in its normal bored expression; her worry reflected in her tone.

Harry sighs for a third time. "Yeah, mum, I'm sure," he tells her while adjusting the strap of his bag. They were standing in the middle of a clearing, he was packed and Hedwig sitting on his shoulder. Harry had gone around saying goodbye to all his sisters, there were plenty of tearful goodbyes and promises of keeping them informed with what was happening. The only other person in the clearing was Johnathan Doe, one of the two people he had written a few days ago. Apparently the agent was more than happy to set up a portkey for him to leave the states as fast as possible thanks to the "unneeded complication" Harry's brought by staying in the states. Agent Doe had even rushed to see his second letter delivered personally and brought him back an answer just as quickly.

"I still don't like this," Artemis says with a huff, crossing her arms over her chest. "You should be staying here, with the Hunt- where you belong," she says, voicing her anger with his choice.

"You know I can't do that, and you also know why," Harry says with a small smile, amused by Artemis' childish antics. "I can't let that monster continue to breathe longer than necessary- I refuse to," he says, his eyes looking like the precious stones that they were so often compared to. "Besides, if I stay any longer I'm pretty sure Agent Doe will suffer a stroke from the stress," he says, joking.

"And I for one, thank you for that Mister Potter," said Agent says from ten feet away as he was puffing on a fag. Artemis turns to glare at the man, but apparently the Agent was made of sterner stuff and doesn't even blink.

"I wanted to stay, mum. I do but- I can't leave them to that monster, and I can't go back yet. I'm not ready, but with some help I will be," Harry tells her with a soft smile, drawing Artemis' attention back to him.

"I'm sure Chiron could-" Artemis tries once more to convince him to stay.

"Could being the operative word there, mum," Harry says, cutting her off. "While Chiron could help me, I know she can," he argues back while rolling his eyes earning him a swat at his shoulder from Artemis. She opens her mouth once more but it was Agent Doe who spoke up first.

"Mister Potter, it's time," he says blandly, causing Harry to turn to him and nod his head before looking back to Artemis.

"I have to go," he says, looking toward his shuffling feet.

"I know," Artemis says back, the sadness In her voice wrenching Harry's heart. She leans forward wrapping her arms around Harry, being careful of Hedwig on his shoulder. "I love you, Harry. I don't know what I would do if I lost you," she whispers to him.

"I love you too, mum. I don't plan on dying yet, so don't go doing anything reckless, okay?" Harry says as he hugs his mother back, the corners of his eyes burning. "It will be okay, you'll see,"

"I hope so," she says as they step away from each other and Harry walks over to Agent Doe. He simply reaches into his pocket and pulls out a long silver chain and hands it to Harry with a nod of his head.

"Come on, girl. We need to get you tucked in for the jump," Harry says to Hedwig as he reaches up and gently grabs her before with a bit of an indignant hoot from the owl, he tucks her into his jacket and hugs it to his chest. Harry lets out a sigh before turning to look at Artemis with a soft smile, one she returns, but as peace and quiet settles over the clearing- it was apparently shattered by someone screaming.

"OI, HARRY!?" the unmistakable voice of Sophie calls out from across the clearing. Harry turns and a smile grows on his face as he sees Sophie, Brittany, Daisy, Cecilia, and Zoë all standing on the opposite side smiling at him. "YOU BETTER KICK THAT FUCKHEADS TEETH DOWN HIS THROAT! FOR ATALANTA AND FOR US! AND YOU BETTER NOT DIE! GIVE HIM HELL, YOU HEAR ME!?" she roars as loud as a lion, for a fallen sister, and for him.

Harry laughs before yelling back. "DON'T I ALWAYS!" and watches as his closest sisters smile at his words waving at him before he turns back to Artemis with a much wider smile.

"Good hunting, Harry," Artemis says, returning his smile.

"You too, mum," Harry tells her back right before he feels something hook his sternum and yank him away. The world spun and twisted around him as he wrapped himself into a protective ball around Hedwig, it felt like the world kept spinning for hours before, with a soft pop, Harry stopped spinning. He feels himself falling and quick spins in midair to land on his back- hard.

Hedwig barks as the air is forced from his lungs. "I fucking hate magical travel," he groans as he refills his lungs and pulling his arms away to let Hedwig out of his protective grasp. "You okay, girl?" He asks his oldest friend, to which she replies with a soft hoot.

"My oh my, you do make quite the entrance don't you," an annoyingly, frustratingly familiar voice says from behind him. Harry tilts his head back with a grimace on his face and glares at the woman. Gone were the elaborate robes and dress, in exchange were simple clothes of blue jeans and a white blouse that hung off her shoulder, along with a golden sash carefully tied around her waist. Her hair and makeup were in the same vein as her clothes, her dark hair was down and flowing over one shoulder and the thick makeup was wiped away for her natural beauty.

"Hello again, Potter-San," she says as her lips begin to turn upwards in a smile right before a Snap of a golden fan opens that she hides behind.

"Makoshi," Harry says, already annoyed by her, to the woman who was hiding her vicious victorious smirk from him.

---

Chapter done!

Sorry for the week late chapter y'all, but when I got about halfway through this beast I realized just how long it was gonna be so I decided to take a bit longer than normal to knock it down.

But oh boy! Was this one hell of a chapter. From Eris and Nemesis to Greyback and Goll(yes I've been misspelling as Gnoll this whole time shut up) to meeting the big bitch herself, Nyx!

Where should we start? How about the fact that Harry literally has half the House of Night favoring/backing him and just who they are.

First off: Eris!

The goddess/embodiment of discord, strife, and sometimes chaos. She was the one who threw the golden apple into the Olympian family reunion that kicked off the Trojan War. She favors Harry because the pure chaos and strife he spreads around just by breathing and was 100% willing to risk the wrath of Artemis to have his babies.

Nemesis:

The goddess/embodiment of revenge, retribution, and balance. The one who tears down the prideful and powerful and reminds them of what they are truly worth. Do I really need to explain why Harry has her favor? Because if anyone wants Voldemort to fall, it's Nemesis and she has Harry's back in it.

Next on the list is the one and only: Ate.
Ate is the goddess/embodiment of mischief, delusion, ruin, and reckless actions. Needless to say this girl has a flirty relationship with our best boy on the simple fact that no matter how reckless his actions he keeps beating the odds and she simply loves it. She is commonly called the Daughter of Zues…and Eris.

Do as what you will with that…

Number four is: Oizys

She is the Goddess/embodiment of Pain and Misery. She favors the best boy simply for how much the kid can take, she is honestly impressed by him.

Number five! Is: Thanatos/Mors.
There is a good reason for this that is explained near the end of the book, but if Mors was at that party, she would have immediately jumped Harry's bones in the middle of the garden. No fucks given.

And last, but never least! Elpis!
We all know that if The Morrigan didn't claim Harry as her champion, Elpis fucking would have.

But as some of you might have noticed, The House of Night aren't the good guys- Hades, they're not even the anti-heroes. They are straight up a Mob Family.

Consider them the opposite of Olympus, if Olympus and the Gods stand for Justice, Law, and Rule; the House of Night stands as their opposition in this.

Nyx is the head of the family, leading them with her children as her lieutenant's that take care of their various investments across the world. The only two of her children that do not participate are Elpis and Thanatos. Elpis because she refuses to go against her very nature and rob hope from people and Thanatos because he is way too fucking busy to help.

Before anyone says anything about Nyx not being Zoë's mother, I suggest you look up who gave life to the Hesperides. You know the group of Nymphs that Zoë used to belong to?

Fun fact about the House of Night in this AU:

Neither Nyx nor any of her children(with the exception of the Hesperides) are bound to the Flame of the West. Nyx is faaaaaaaar to vast and powerful to be bound to one tiny flame for power and can happily take care of all her children as she is.

Now for the big bitch herself: Nyx.

Out of all the gods/Divines that Uncle Rick did dirty, Nyx got the absolutely shat on by him. Nyx was one of the first born in the fucking universe after Chaos exploded and separated (Spoiler!) and (Spoiler!). She is literally the embodiment of the fucking night sky and an entity so powerful the not even the thunderfucker himself will mess with her.

So my question is:

WHY IN THE FUCK IS SHE IN TARTARUS!?

Someone who is older than the pit, someone who has a representation in almost every single mythology across the world! Is stuck! Underground!? How!? And to top it off, she is a dumb as a sack of bricks.

She was done dirty, y'all. I, for one, refuse this and put respect on the Lady of the Night Sky's name.

Kingsaxcul, out!