บท 44: 43
Chapter 43
Harry made some early breakfast, something light to tide him over, and shared it with Helios before grabbing a bedsheet and exiting the temple through the back.
In the backyard, he wet down the sheet with ice-cold water from the 'cold' pool, stripped to his underwear, and sat down on the floor with legs crossed. It was early still, and the sun had just started rising above the horizon.
With a grin, he gave the star a wave and once more had the curious sensation that it winked back at him, again not sure if was his imagination or not.
Drawing a breath, he covered himself in the cold sheet. His body shivered at the cold, and he drew a deep breath to combat the instinctive physical response. He waited a bit, until he felt his body shiver and his teeth start to chatter.
Now that he was cold through and through, he closed his eyes and forced his consciousness through the discomfort and into deep meditation. His body's energy structure was lit up, showing the emotional-energy equivalent of the physical discomfort his body was experiencing.
Focusing, Harry started drawing energy from his body's reserves, and started generating Chi with it, before releasing it through his body's energy network. The discomfort seemed to vanish, to be replaced with a gentle and comfortable warmth that spread from the tips of his toes and fingers to the depths of his chest.
To anyone watching outside, they would witness the strange visual of Harry, sitting cross-legged on the ground, covered in a cold and wet sheet… and releasing steam as his body's heat turned the water into vapor.
The way he did it now was more of a circus act, but he reasoned that one day he would be out in the cold and knowing instinctively how to increase the body's ability to generate heat would come in handy.
It didn't take him long to dry out the sheet, and he neatly folded it before starting his morning exercises. For the next hour, he flowed through various martial arts sets, as well as shadow-fighting against imaginary opponents, despite the fact that he was already ravenously hungry.
Raising the body's temperature took energy, and the reason he did the exercise was because forcing the whole thing was rather inefficient and burnt up a lot of calories.
By the time the sun was high in the sky, he was nice and sweaty and panting deeply from the exercise. With a big grin, he returned inside, took a long shower, and cooked a hearty breakfast – and lots of it.
With Nemmy going after a small mountain of meat, Harry shared his Full English Breakfast with Helios before attacking the food just as vigorously as Nemmy.
It wasn't exactly polite, but Harry reasoned he was by himself. Plus, he was very hungry. So for once, it wouldn't matter, right?
"Good morning Harry. I see you have a healthy appetite," Hestia said as she entered the kitchen.
"Hi Hestia!" Harry said after quickly swallowing the food in his mouth. "Good morning," he added. "Would you like some?"
Hestia joined him at the table, and conjured herself a cup. "I will just have some tea, please," she said, politely. He reached over and filled her cup with the tea he'd made. "I wouldn't want to deprive a growing young boy of his breakfast." She eyed his plate again. "Even if there seems to be enough to feed a small family."
Harry pouted at her. "I shared it with Helios," he defended himself.
"Of course you did," Hestia blithely replied, sipping her tea.
He pouted deeper, and decided to ignore his all-time favorite goddess trying to poke fun at him. He went back to eating instead.
Hestia smiled faintly. "I felt you pulling on my domain when conjuring food for Nemmy and realized you were up so I decided to join you," she told him. "Thanks to you letting me know you would be unavailable, I knew to come around and feed the little monster."
Despite it being technically true, Harry gave her a small look; it wasn't nice to call Nemmy a monster. Hestia was unmoved. He grinned at her. "Thanks, Hestia."
"You're quite welcome," the Goddess of the Home answered. "After all, we wouldn't want Nemmy going hungry and start hunting nymphs on Olympus. Zeus would be most upset."
"Nemmy knows not to eat anybody," Harry defended his unusual pet. "And Mister Zeus is always upset, so there wouldn't be a change there anyway."
Hestia gave him a mild Look of Disappointment. It was barely a 2 out of 10, so Harry didn't feel too bad. "Now Harry, that isn't a nice thing to say," she admonished gently. That admonishment rated maybe a two-point-five out of ten, and had barely more results.
Harry kept quiet and kept eating. Hestia spared him an amused look and sipped more tea. It felt good to be together like this, she decided. Like a good home should. It went right to her domain.
0000
Harry knocked on the door to Hermes' temple, feeling a bit – more than just a bit – nervous. It had been a month and a half since the whole incident with Thor, and since then he'd heard nothing from his Pok… Maths Party buddies.
Therefore, the relief he felt when Hermes' traditional gold-plated invitation arrived can't be overstated.
He may have gone a bit overboard, he decided as he looked at the four covered plates, stacked on top of each other, floating obediently next to him.
Each plate was filled with food – tapas style. He'd done his best to account for all tastes of his multi-national friends, there were Greek items, Norse items, Chinese items, and some random stuff he'd made up on the spot for those that felt like trying something new.
The doors to the temple swung open by themselves, and Harry swallowed. He had been invited back, that was good. He just hoped that his friends wouldn't be too upset over his problem last time.
He definitely didn't want to be branded a cheat, even if it was by accident.
"Harry!" Hermes said jovially when he saw his guest. "And food," he added, seeing the stack of covered plates.
Harry smiled at his grandfather, relieved that that God of Travelers seemed happy enough to see him. "Hi Hermes! I brought some snacks," the young demigod said superfluously.
"I noticed," Hermes replied with a grin. "You can set up over there."
"Thanks," Harry said with a grin as he motioned the containers to the bar and started removing the lids. At once, the smell filled the gaming room.
"That smells delicious," Hermes said, suddenly standing right behind Harry and looking over the boy's shoulder. "And varied." He chuckled and ruffled Harry's hair. "You made enough for a family of mortals, thankfully us gods can eat that much," he teased.
Harry looked over his shoulder at his grandfather. "And if you don't, it'll be good tomor-" he stopped when he noticed Hermes held a tomato wedge drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with oregano and sea salt. "Does it taste good?" he asked, halfway sarcastically.
"Yup," the God of Thieves said, throwing the morsel into his mouth and chewing happily.
"Evening all," Triton said, not even bothering with a pretense and going after the food. Harry grinned; he so loved it when people enjoyed the things he made.
"Hi Mister Triton," he said, politely, even as the Messenger of the Seas went after some octopus marinated in olive oil, vinegar, and oregano.
"I see our young guest is plying us with food again," Bai said as he materialized.
"Yup," Harry said with a grin. "Hello, Bai."
"You're not taking our lunch money that easily," the Eastern god commented casually while giving an appreciative hum around a piece of rice-cake.
A multi-colored rainbow beam deposited Thor.
"Bifrost again?" Hermes teased.
Thor shot him a grin, then turned to Harry. "Harry! My young friend!" he cheered, clapping the young demigod on his shoulders. The God of Thunder had clapped hard enough Harry felt his knees protest, but managed to stay on his feet regardless. "You should visit, Roshilde is moping!"
Harry grinned in return. "She's cool, but intense," he answered. "It's good to see you, too, Thor."
"I sense a story behind all that," Hermes interjected, trying to pass himself off as the dispenser of wisdom.
"And what a story it is!" Thor replied with booming voice.
"But before we get to the story," Harry interjected, crossing his arms and staring angrily at Hermes, Triton, and Bai. "Thor failed to appear at the last party," he said. "And we all knew something was wrong, as he didn't give us a message."
Triton looked amused at the demigod, the same way someone would look at a young kitten bearing its teeth. Cute, yes. Threatening, no.
Bai chuckled and threw some more food in his mouth, chewing slowly.
Hermes, on the other hand, raised an eyebrow.
Harry, seeing that angry look wasn't sufficient, placed his hands on his hips in the hope of adding to the effect. "So why did neither of you lift a finger?" he asked. "You're supposed to be friends. And friends are supposed to help each other!"
Bai chuckled again. "Ancient Laws, kid," he answered truthfully. "Can't interfere with other pantheons and all that. Besides, it's not the first time the big lug got himself in trouble, so it wasn't like it was anything new."
That took the wind out of Harry's sails, and suddenly his look of righteous indignation changed to one of contrite apology. "Oh."
Hermes laughed. "Yes. 'Oh'," the God of Travelers said. "Now, why don't you tell us a story?"
Harry grabbed himself some food. "Come on, Harry," Thor encouraged. "I so love hearing you tell this adventure, especially as I am in it!"
The young demigod grinned and sat himself down at the poker table, having a snack. "Well, it began after I returned home early…"
As he told the story, the action-packed first part drew appreciative sounds from the listeners. Things took a turn for the worse when Thor interjected during the second part, where Harry was being introduced to Asgard and its people. The Norse God of Thunder took great delight in, straight-faced, telling everyone of Harry's hero-worship of Odin.
Harry pouted heavily, while pleading with his eyes for the god to stop embarrassing him. Thor didn't seem to notice.
Finally, he was encouraged to finish his part of the tale, and did so quickly in an effort to make them all forget about his embarrassing episode regarding the Norse King of the Gods.
After the story concluded, there were three very amused gods listening to them.
"Only you, Harry," Hermes said, still chuckling. "Only you can end up in so much trouble and make out like a bandit despite of it."
Harry pouted at his grandfather. "But I didn't mean to!" he protested. "I just wanted to help Thor, that's all!"
"That's what makes it even more funny," the God of Thieves concluded. "The only thing better than making out like a bandit is accidentally making out like a bandit."
Harry gave his grandfather a firmer pout. The four gods just laughed at him, which failed to make him feel any better.
0000
Harry emerged from the fire at Camp Half-Blood, and grinned at Hestia who was tending to it. He paused to talk to her, but she waved him on instead.
"Go and spend some time with your friends," she said gently, smiling at him.
He grinned back at her. "Thanks, Hestia!" he said cheerfully, before turning to leg it deeper into the camp.
Of course, if he wanted to keep his arrival a surprise, he shouldn't have traveled by fire. The flames of the fire turning green was always a good indication of his presence, and it wasn't long before his friends tracked him down.
He was happy to see them all, wishing he had more time to spend at camp. Unfortunately, his various teachers kept him very busy.
"What's this rumor I hear about you and Norse gods?" Annabeth asked, after she, Silena, and Jack and Jim, he exhausted their various greetings and hugs.
"Someone needed help, that's all," Harry deferred.
"Hey, it's the Newbie!" someone shouted from behind Harry, right before said someone tackled him.
He fell over, managed to catch himself on his hands, shifted his body-weight, and managed to roll out of a hold that would have kept him pinned if he hadn't.
Clarisse laughed and tried adjusting her grip. Slippery like a snake, Harry managed to worm his way out of grappling range and rolled to his feet. "Good morning, Clarisse," he said politely as the Daughter of Ares climbed to her own feet.
"Always a pleasure jumping you, Newbie. You don't go down easily!" she said, cheerfully. "Wanna spar?"
"Wasn't that what they just did?" Silena asked Annabeth quietly – but not quietly enough.
"That was just a friendly greeting," Clarisse said, still grinned, before turning back to Harry. "So, Newbie? Spar?"
"Are you still calling me that?" Harry asked, curiously. "There must have been many arrivals since you met me. Like that guy, for instance," he said, pointing to a blonde boy who was walking by. With the kind of danger senses that only demigods possessed, he looked over and noticed the group staring at him. His eyes grew wide.
"That's our newest brother!" one of Apollo's twins said, jumping forward and grabbing the boy before physically manhandling him towards the group. "Will Solace, meet Harry Potter. Harry, our little brother Will. Will's great with healing, which could come in handy considering your idea of 'fun'. Will, stick close to Harry. He'll either lead you to great fortune or great ruin, but you'll have a blast getting there regardless."
Harry and Will both pouted at the twin in question.
"You make me sound like a sociopath or something," Harry protested.
"You're really not selling me on the whole 'stick close to him' deal," Will added.
Silena and Annabeth giggled, while Clarisse just laughed in that maniacal way of hers. "Harry isn't that bad," Silena said. "But he does tend to get into quite a few adventures."
"I still want to hear about that rumor regarding Asgard," Annabeth added;
"Asgard?" Will asked. "You've been to Asgard? As in, the Norse Gods, Asgard?"
Harry shrugged self-consciously. "Let me give you a bit of background first," he said, resigning himself to telling the story again, before thinking of something. "But before I do that, is there a particular reason why you're telling your younger brother to stick close to me?" he asked the twins.
The two Guys shrugged, not repentant at all. "At the end of the year, it's off to college for these two Sons of Apollo," either Jack or Jim said. "Unlike that berk, Louis, we'll keep in touch, but like that berk, Louis, we'll also be really busy with classes and won't be at camp to help you out if you get in trouble, so we thought we'd assign a replacement."
His brother took over. "And like we said earlier, Will's great with the healing, although his bow-skills could use a bit more training. Then again, considering your teacher, you're no slouch in the bow department yourself."
Will gave the twins a filthy look. "My bow-skills are just fine!" he protested.
"And I don't…" Harry started to protest, but stopped when everyone just stared flatly at him. "Yeah, I don't even believe that myself," he admitted.
"I've known you for all of five minutes, and I didn't believe that," Will confirmed. "Now, you were about to tell us about Norse gods?"
Harry sighed. "Well, alright," he said, then launched into the tale, yet again. He was getting tired of telling it, to be honest. People always reacted strangely when he told it. He just wanted to help Thor, that's all!
He was interrupted part-way through, by Annabeth. "A dozen Frost Giants?" she asked. "Is this story like those fishing stories, where the fish gets bigger every time you tell it?" she asked, teasingly.
Knowing how it sounded, Harry grinned at her. "I wish! It was scary enough having lived through it!"" he replied. "But I can get Thor to confirm it, every word is true."
Nobody took him up on his offer, and he told the rest of the story in relative silence.
"And you are the one who tried to claim you didn't get in trouble?" Will asked, after he was done.
Harry shrugged. "I don't go looking for it, you know," he answered.
Silena hugged him gently, then broke the hug and held him by the shoulders so she could look him straight in the eyes. Surprised at her actions, Harry looked back.
"Harry, you play poker with gods from other pantheons. And when one of them doesn't show up, you go looking for him because you think he's in trouble. I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but hell yes you go looking for it!"
Harry pouted deeply at her while everyone else burst out laughing.
Desperate to shift the subject away from his inner drive to help people, Harry hurriedly looked for anything else to talk about. "Hey, what happened to Luke?" he asked, relieved to find said change of subject.
The Son of Hermes now sported a wicked scar, running from his forehead down to his cheek, across his right eye. Somehow Luke had been lucky enough that the wound had spared his eye.
The group turned uncomfortable. "I wouldn't bring it up with him, he's a bit touchy about it," Annabeth said, never the one good with emotions or social contracts and therefore quite comfortable sharing someone's painful secrets. "He went on a quest, and returned injured like that."
"It's a pity, he came very close," Silena offered.
"Close to what?" Harry asked, looking from one to another.
"Lord Hermes sent him on a quest to steal a golden apple from the garden of the Hesperides," Annabeth explained. "He got hurt by Ladon, the dragon protecting the apples, but Luke did manage to hurt it and cut off a claw. Like Silena said, it's a pity he failed, he came close."
"He's also a tad upset that it's been done before," one of the guys said. The others all stared at him. "He got into his cups one evening, and lamented how his dad ignored him, only to send him on a quest that's been done before, and he was quite upset about it, too."
"Oh, yeah, by Hercules, wasn't it?" Annabeth asked.
"And it's quite silly," Harry said, thinking about it.
"Silly? You wouldn't want a golden apple?" Silena wondered when everyone waited on Harry to say something else. They'd seen that 'I-am-thinking-outside-the-box' look on his face before.
"And be immortal when all my friends wither and die from old age?" he asked. "No, thank you. Besides, if you wanted one, you should just ask for one. Although, now that I think about it, Hermes is the God of Thieves, and Luke is his son, so I guess it makes sense now."
"Harry, you can't just ask for a golden apple!" Annabeth protested.
"Miss Hera isn't that bad. In fact, she's quite nice," Harry said, defensively. "She even gave me a picture of my parents for my birthday. It's the only one I have of them, and I'll always be grateful to her for it."
Three sons of Apollo, and one daughter of Aphrodite groaned at his reply. Clarisse just laughed loudly, enjoying the sheer ballsiness of walking up to the Queen of the Gods and outright asking for a golden apple. And Annabeth? Annabeth pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Just because Lady Hera showed you kindness once doesn't mean that she'll continue to do so," the Daughter of Athena explained slowly. "Besides, those apples are her personal property, she won't just give them out if you asked her!"
"If you haven't asked, you can't be sure," Harry said, stubbornly. "You'll never know unless you try."
Annabeth made a strangled sort of noise.
"He's got you there," Silena said, teasingly. Annabeth made that strangled-cat noise again and motioned as if she were going to throttle the Daughter of Aphrodite.
"I'm sure Lady Hera is quite protective of her apples, so she likely won't share them if you ask, though," one of the twins said.
Harry nodded. "Probably. But at least that way, you'll have asked."
The campers gave various looks of discomfort, only to be interrupted by the arrival of another.
"Heya Squirt. Other Squirts. Guys," Thalia greeted. She didn't look as comfortable as she normally did, and Harry thought she looked quite tired.
"Hey Thalia," he greeted back, mirrored by the others. Other than Clarisse, who didn't seem to like being labeled as a 'Squirt'. "Everything alright?" he asked after the others finished their greetings.
"Yeah, I'll live," she replied. "Can I borrow you for a bit?"
The young Son of Tyche blinked, then shrugged and nodded. "Sure," he said. "I'll be back shortly, everyone," he told his friends.
A few minutes later, they were seated in a quiet corner of the amphitheater.
"What's up, Thalia?" Harry asked after they had sat in silence for a bit.
"This ain't easy, Squirt," she replied with a deep breath. "Listen, you've seen Luke recently?"
Harry nodded. "He has a wicked scar now, and the others told me about his quest."
"Yeah," Thalia confirmed. "That quest seriously screwed him over, and the pity he gets from the other campers isn't helping." She looked away, and seemed to think for a moment. "On top of that, there's this prophecy that's hanging over my head."
"A prophecy?" Harry asked, not really liking the idea of a person's fate being set in stone.
"Yeah. Something will happen when I turn 16, and it sounds bad. And on top of the thing with Luke, I don't think I want to be around when it happens," she said.
Harry nodded. "I can understand that. But you'll turn 16 anyway, right? Even if you're not around?"
Thalia grinned, and he saw the old Thalia emerge. "Not always, Squirt. I was wondering if you could do me a favor?"
He blinked. "Sure," he said. "Although I don't know how I can help."
Thalia gave him a crooked smile. "You could put in a good word with Lady Artemis. If I joined her Hunters, I'd never age and basically never reach age 16."
Harry whistled. "Nice idea," he complimented her. "That's definitely a way to get around a prophecy. Give me a second." Thalia looked surprised, but remained quiet as he folded his hands and bowed his head.
Hi Artie. I'm at camp, and I have Thalia with me – you know, the Daughter of Zeus I escorted to camp some time back? She would maybe like to join the Hunters, so when you have some time, could you have a bit of a chat with her?
He didn't receive a direct response, nor did he expect one, but he did get the curious sensation that Artie was a tad busy right now but would be around in a day or two.
"I think she'll be around in a day or two," he reported honestly.
"Already? Just like that?" Thalia asked, surprised.
Harry shrugged once more. "Artie's great, so I prayed to her to let her know you may want to join up and to ask if she had time to have a bit of a chat with you about it."
"Huh," Thalia said, grin widening. "Well, that's one problem solved, I guess," she added. "Let someone else deal with the prophecy."
"So it can apply to other people?" Harry asked.
The Daughter of Zeus nodded. "It's about a child of the Big Three. I'm the only one of those around at the moment, so if I never turn 16, there's bound to be some other poor schmuck who will get to deal with it. It may take a while, though. My dad, Lord Hades, and Lord Poseidon made a deal after the Second World War to not have any more children." She snorted. "Shows how little my dad keeps his promises, eh?"
Harry grinned. "I really wish Mister Zeus would listen to Hestia more. He'd be nicer, and he'd keep his promises. Maybe more people would like him that way."
Thalia laughed and ruffled his hair, causing him to pout. Always with the hair! Why did people always go for his hair?
"Yeah, I remember your issues with my dear old dad." She got up. "Anyway, thanks for the help, Harry. I guess, if-or-when I join the Hunters, I'll see you around more often considering you spend more time with them then at camp."
He nodded smilingly in answer. "Miss Zoë's an awesome teacher, and I'll keep showing up as long as she wants to teach me."
Thalia laughed again as she walked away. "That crush of yours is so cute," she teased right before turning a corner and vanishing.
Harry pouted. "I don't have a crush," he protested to the empty air.
0000
Harry looked up from where he was sitting. The cheetah lounging on one of the tree's branches looked back at him, then decided he wasn't a threat and ignored him completely.
Marduk grinned. "You are starting to get the hang of aura manipulation," he told his student. "Nicely done."
"Thanks, Marduk," Harry replied. "Although I have no idea how I'm doing it."
The ancient magic-user laughed. "Instincts are useful, Harry. Never forget that. You want to appear harmless to animals, and on an instinctive level, your magic makes it so. Basically, you've manipulated your aura into broadcasting 'I am harmless' to creatures such as that cheetah. You'll gain conscious control over it at some point, when you get better at reading magic."
Harry nodded, he still practiced with the enhanced senses he gained from connecting to magic, but he still struggled to keep them under control.
"So," Marduk said, bringing them back on subject. "Have you figured out how to get your key to follow you?"
Harry took out the key to the Simulator. Marduk's enchantment on it was about to expire, and as the ancient mage had promised, it would now be up to Harry to re-enchant it.
"I really don't want to mess it up," he admitted to his teacher.
"That is why I am here," Marduk said reassuringly. "I will make sure that your key will remain intact, and that nothing untoward will happen should you fail."
Harry gave a half-smile at the reassurance, then focused on the key. Slowly, he sat down, and put the key down on the dirt in front of him. He threw another look at the big cat lounging in the tree. It was firmly asleep now.
He sighed. Time to do this.
Harry opened himself up to magic, and he felt the world snap into hyper-focus. The amount of detail and energy that came off the key was staggering, but he shunted it all aside. It wasn't what he needed to focus on.
Instead, he focused on what he had been preparing these last few weeks. He had started working on this ever since he talked with Frigga, and started reading the books she had suggested on the varied runic systems and how they related to magic. Now it was time to bring into practice what he had been theorizing.
A circle of runes encompassed the key. It didn't have to be a circle, but Harry somehow liked the symmetry of circles. Strictly speaking, he didn't need to encompass the key at all – he could have just written the runes like a text on the dirt if he had wanted to.
Still, he remembered Marduk's first lesson. Belief shapes reality. And, since he preferred to have a circle that encompassed the key, then he would use a circle of runes to encompass the key.
The runes themselves basically spelled out what he wanted Magic to do; he wanted to identify his soul, he wanted to identify the key, and he wanted the physical-location property of the key to never be further than 3 meters away from his soul.
With a simple if-then-else determinative statement, he wanted the key to teleport back to him should key and soul be separated more than the pre-determined distance of 3 meters.
It reminded him strongly of those 'initiation in basic programming skills' that Athena wanted to him to learn. He'd even gotten the spell to identify the key and his soul and assign those to what were, in essence, variables.
Harry brought his hands down on the circle of runes and pumped magic into them.
The circle glowed brightly, and then vanished; at the same time the key flashed in a similar color before settling down.
Harry grinned; at least the spell hadn't blown up in his face. He stood up, and carefully took a step back. Nothing happened. He took another step back. Still, nothing happened. He took a third step back and made sure to make it a large one.
The key, still on the ground, flashed, and vanished. Harry grinned, digging the key out of his pocket. "It worked!" he shouted excitedly, looking at Marduk for the first time since the spell's completion. "Marduk, it worked!"
The ancient spellcaster nodded. "It did," he admitted. "Although I am rather disappointed in how you chose to go about it, I cannot deny the results."
Harry looked surprised. "How so, Marduk?" he asked.
"I am teaching you magic, my young student. Real magic. The ability to impose your very thought and imagination on the reality of the world. Everything you imagine, made real. Instead, you limit yourself by using the written word," Marduk said, sounding disappointed. "Yes, in this case, it worked. Better than you may imagine, even."
Harry felt bad now, but found himself surprised at the last statement. "What do you mean?"
Marduk gave a chuckle. "You tied the key to your soul, Harry. Your very existence. Even if you die, it will still follow your soul to your afterlife. It will take the destruction of the key, or the destruction of your soul, to separate the two."
"Oh," Harry said, suddenly feeling a lot better.
"I am still disappointed that you chose to use this method, however," Marduk reminded him. "The limits of the written and spoken word will limit you if you keep following this path. After all, try and write down what the color yellow looks like."
Harry was reminded of that particular conversation he had with Marduk. "I just," Harry said, stopping himself. And gathering his thoughts. Marduk remained silent and waited. "I just feel like I'm bad at this," he admitted. "And using runes made it easier."
Marduk gave another humorless chuckle. "Harry, I keep reminding you. You are by no means bad at magic. Impatient, definitely, but not bad. You have opened yourself to magic at an impressive rate, you have learned to hide yourself from the world, and have made rapid progress." He motioned to the cheetah above them, who had stirred and moved, but was still not seeing them as a threat of any kind.
"I can excuse your use of training wheels," Marduk continued, as he placed his hands on Harry's shoulders, "as long as you promise me to keep working on using magic the proper way. You have the skill to go far, as long as you do not fall into the trap of relying on your crutches."
Harry grinned. "I promise, Marduk," he said.
"See that you do," the ancient mage replied with a grin, before becoming serious. "I have had many students," he added, looking away, staring at something only he could see. "Out of all my students, quite a few had skill and talent, but very few had the instinctive grasp that you display. If you keep working diligently, in a few thousand years, I can see you rise to become my equal."
Harry gaped at the timeframe, before beaming at the encouragement.
0000
The Nemean Lion had reverted to its normal form and was sprawled lazily on the floor in front of the fire, digesting a meal of various meats Harry had conjured for him.
The demigod in question was leaning back against his monstrous pet, snuggled deeply into the soft impervious fur of the Lion, reading a book on Stalinist History that Athena had told him to read before their next lesson.
He, too, was digesting his meal.
He wished he wasn't, as the details described in the book were more than a bit gruesome. Stalin was awful.
Someone pounded on the front door, and Harry looked up, dragged from the depths of the book. He carefully marked his page – with a bookmark, not by folding a page or Athena would be mad at him again – and put it aside before getting up.
The pounding came back; someone was obviously impatient and wanted him to get there faster.
He set a trot and came to the front door in short order, and pulled it open.
Someone, obviously a god, fully cloaked and hooded, was standing in front of Helios' temple.
"Hi," Harry said politely.
The figure casually nodded and pushed passed him and into the front room of the temple. Harry closed the door, frowning slightly in confusion. "Please, come in," he said, not sure whether to be sarcastic or not and settling on 'confused' by default.
The figure chuckled and pulled back his hood.
"Mister Ha-" Harry started to greet excitedly, only to stop when the God of the Underworld held up a hand.
"I am not here," he said.
Harry nodded; it wasn't the first time he played this game. He fondly remembered helping Hermes. "Right, mister H," he said.
Hades looked faintly amused. "I am not normally allowed on Olympus, so my presence here must remain a secret," he stated.
The young demigod nodded again, then thought of what the god had said. "You're not allowed on Olympus?" he asked. When the God of the Underworld nodded, Harry's face turned angry.
"But you're Mi-" he stopped himself, not wanting to take the chance of drawing the attention of a certain someone. "You're you-know-who's brother," he re-stated. "That's just not right!"
Hades nodded again, but looked faintly amused nonetheless. "Other than the moniker for my youngest brother, you sound a lot like Hestia," he said.
Harry smiled widely. "Thanks, mister H!" he said, gratefully accepting the compliment. By now, the God of the Underworld had let his cloak fall open. The large god was dressed in flowing black robes of the deepest color.
The color suited the god, Harry thought. His thoughts interrupted when suddenly, it seemed the weave came alive and a ghostly face appeared, as if made from mist and smoke, hovering in the mid-air, silently screaming.
"Whoa," Harry said. "Is that a ghost? That's awesome!"
Hades seemed amused. "That, young demigod, is one of the souls of the damned that has been woven into my clothes. Soul-woven clothes are very comfortable, but have some downsides."
"Oh," Harry said, reaching his finger for the silently screaming hazy face. It popped like a soap bubble. "He must've been really bad, then," he added, looking up at Hades.
The god nodded, his lips twisting into a smile – as if he were unused to the action and was trying to remember how. "It is refreshing to have someone give me the benefit of the doubt, instead of simply assuming the worst." The strange smile widened. "Yes, young demigod, only the worst of the worst get recruited for this… honor."
Harry chuckled at the thought of calling 'have your soul woven into clothes' an honor. Suddenly remembering the book he was reading, he asked, "Was he like Stalin?"
"Worse," Hades answered casually. "Now, as to my purpose here."
"Right, sorry, Mister H," Harry said. "Would you like to sit? Something to eat or drink?"
"And now hospitality," Hades remarked, as if to himself. "No, I shall not be staying long. Regrettably, considering some of the rumors I've heard about your confections."
Harry grinned, and then thought of something. "Oh! Hang on a sec!" he informally and cheerfully told one of the scariest gods a mortal could encounter, before turning and racing off.
"What an unusual demigod," Hades mused to himself, taking a bare fifteen seconds before Harry was back.
"I baked a cake earlier, and there was still some left," Harry said, handing over a Tupperware container.
Hades looked extremely surprised, yet took the brightly colored box regardless, making it vanish into one of the inner pockets of his soul-woven robes.
"Thank you," he said, confused, before returning to his original purpose. "I have heard that you sometimes assist gods in an unofficial capacity."
Harry blinked, deconstructed the ten-drachma words the God of the Underworld used, then re-constructed them into something he could understand more easily.
He brightened when he realized Hades was alluding to the 'under the radar' help he'd given Hermes. Then, he realized that was supposed to be a secret and tried to throw his face into a neutral setting, as if he were playing poker.
"I think that those things would, hypothetically, not be something I could talk about," Harry said. "If I had hypothetically done them, I mean."
Hades' amusement grew. "For future reference, you may want to work on your poker-face, and squirming your way out of a straight answer basically confirms the statement," he told Harry.
The young demigod pouted slightly, then nodded. "Thanks. And sorry."
"You are young yet," Hades replied magnanimously. "I am here for a similar service."
"Sure!" Harry answered. "Who do I need to pick up, and where?"
The stern god eyed Harry. "As another piece of advice, you may want to wait for the full story before accepting."
He nodded in answer. "Hestia told me to help people, though, so I'll likely say yes anyway."
Hades snorted in amusement. "That attitude will get you in trouble one day, but far be it for me to ruin your rather impressive dedication to Hestia's teachings. Regardless, I am here on a personal errant that will require your discretion."
Harry nodded and kept his mouth shut, not wanting to repeat the mistake of giving things away.
Hades gave a short and decisive nod at the silence, and started speaking. "It has come to my attention that a certain daughter of a certain King of the Gods, who shall remain nameless, has recently joined up with the Hunters of Artemis."
Harry opened his mouth when he realized Hades referred to Thalia, but then shut it again when he realized he shouldn't be speaking right now.
"This was because of a prophecy," the Lord of the Underworld continued as if Harry hadn't been about to interrupt him. "The silly girl decided that she would rather remain ageless than face her fate."
Harry wondered if there was a point to this, or if Hades just wanted to slander Thalia.
"Regardless," Hades said, coming back to the subject, apparently. "Since the silly girl doesn't want to bring glory to her sire, this leaves me with an opportunity. I have two demigod children, and with the silly little girl out of the way, there is an opportunity for me – my children can bring glory to my name. Perhaps even, ease my exile a bit."
Harry did his best to ignore the continued derogatory way Hades spoke about Thalia. While they weren't friends exactly, they were on friendly terms and hearing the god slur Thalia's name was rather awkward. He did, however, manage a rather disappointed look.
"Perhaps a bit more background," Hades said, looking away as if he decided to have a look around Helios' temple. "After the second world war, I was strong-armed into an agreement, an oath made on the river Styx, by my two younger brothers. In essence, an oath to have no more demigod children."
Harry opened his mouth, but shut it when Hades sent him a look. "Yes, the certain King of the Gods that shall remain nameless has broken this oath. Likely, this is what triggered the Great Prophecy to be made. Unfortunately for the girl, this also means that the consequences of the oath being broken will fall to her."
Harry once again made to ask a question, but was silenced with a look before he could utter a single sound. "The certain King is too powerful for the broken oath's consequences to affect, so they fall to the girl."
Harry nodded. Then he frowned, and gave Hades a questioning look now that he knew better than to try and speak.
"I hid my children, a long time ago for you mortals," Hades said. "Back in the 30's, my youngest brother and I had a bit of a… disagreement. People died on both sides, including the woman who bore me two children. She was killed by… you know who. Rather than risk my children, I hid them away. Tell me, Harry, are you aware of the Lair of the Lotus-eaters?"
Harry nodded. "It was one of the stops by Odysseus, right? Worst sailor in history?"
Hades snorted a laugh, then recovered. "Yes," he said, as if he hadn't broken character. "Those that fall under the spell of the Lotus-eaters never age and time passes as if it were a blur. My children were safe there, never aging, never experiencing the flow of time. Now, with the king's daughter out of the prophecy, I believe it is time for me to bring them away."
Harry nodded. "What would you like me to do, Mister H?" he asked.
"I will send one of my own, disguised as a lawyer," Hades said. "They will bring my children out of the lair of the Lotus-eaters. However, them being one of mine will mean they have very little authority to intervene in the mortal realm. Should they, and my children, be attacked, there is little they could do to defend them. What I want, demigod, is for you to be present, and to protect my children should they indeed be attacked."
Hades hesitated for a moment. "I do not foresee any trouble, but I am a firm believer in planning for the worst."
The young demigod nodded in understanding. "Of course I'll do it, Mister H!" he said. "Where and when do you need me?"
Hades smirked. "The Lotus Hotel and Casino is in Las Vegas, I will send you a date and time. The question now remains – what do you charge for this service?"
Harry blinked. "Ehm," he managed eloquently, before rallying. "I just want to help people, so I don't ask for things," he finally answered. "People still give me things, and I'm grateful, but they don't have to, you know?"
Hades stared at him for several long moments, making him fidget nervously. Why was it that gods had such trouble understanding that he really just wanted to help?
"That attitude, while commendable, will result in you being taken advantage of," Hades replied. "I can see Hestia's teachings in it, but I doubt that she would want you working for no reward."
Harry wasn't sure how to reply to that. It made sense, definitely, but he definitely wanted to talk to Hestia about it first.
"Now," Hades said once more, "ask, young demigod. What would you want as a reward for this service?"
Hades' phrasing was strange, as if he were posing it as a challenge. Or maybe a test? Harry wasn't sure of either, but it definitely sounded like something he didn't want to mess up if he wanted to keep Hades' respect.
He was pretty sure, after Hades' earlier response, that he shouldn't just say 'nothing' again. The God of the Underworld definitely wanted him to ask for a reward. Just… what kind of reward could he ask for?
He felt extremely uncomfortable, being put on the spot like this. There wasn't anything he needed, after all. So material things were out – so maybe he could ask for something else?
Suddenly, Harry had it. "I think I thought of something," he told the imposing god, who had been calmly staring at him while he thought. "But I think I will need to talk to Hestia first."
Hades lifted an eyebrow. "Oh? And why is that?" he asked. "Keep in mind that I am here in disguise, and that my presence here must remain a secret."
"Hestia will keep your secret!" Harry said, sounding offended on Hestia's behalf. Hades just looked amused, and Harry realized that he had been played. Ignoring that, the young demigod went on, "I wanted to ask for a tour of the Underworld. I mean, I still want to see that zombies-versus-Terminator fight, but Hestia said I was too young some time back. So I wanted to ask her if I'm old enough now."
Hades rubbed his chin. "I see. A small favor to grant, to be sure. Yet, a strange favor as well. You really wish to visit the Underworld?"
Harry nodded excitedly. "It sounds awesome!"
The God of the Underworld developed a smile. "So rare for mortals to feel that way," he said. "Very well, call Hestia. Let us see what she has to say."
Harry simply folded his hands and bowed his head, sending a small prayer Hestia's way.
Said Goddess of Home and Hearth appeared out of the living area's fireplace within moments and, with her usual gentle smile, walked out to them.
"This is a pleasant surprise," Hestia said in greeting. "Hello Hades, Harry."
Harry gave her a big hug. "Mister H is undercover," he informed her. "So you may not want to use his name too much or you-know-who might find out."
"Hestia," Hades greeted back with a nod of his head. "Good to see you again."
"And you, Hades," Hestia replied as she broke the hug from Harry. "Fortunately, as this is a home, and I am goddess of it, there is no problem. These walls will hide the secret as any good home should."
As Harry smiled at her, thinking 'that's so awesome', she pressed on. "Now, what seems to the problem?"
"Mister H wants my help with something, and he wants me to ask for something in return," Harry explained, still using the moniker despite Hestia's reassurance. "And I wanted to ask for something, but I'd like to know if you'd agree to it first."
Hestia looked highly amused. "That is both highly informative and completely devoid of any sort of information. Why don't you tell me the full story?"
In short order, Hades explained the situation to his oldest sister, after which Harry added the request he would like to make.
"I see," Hestia said, before giving Harry a large smile. "I'm pleased that you didn't just go ahead with this, and considered asking me first," she added. It did leave her with a problem, however. If she denied it, she was sure that Harry would simply revert to seeing her as an obstacle, and start working around her once more. On the other hand, the Underworld could be a dark and dangerous place and she wanted to keep Harry safe. What to do?
Finally, she looked away from Harry's hopeful face and focused on Hades. She would never dare to describe his look as 'hopeful', but it did heavily hint at it. She smiled at him; it was so rare for anyone, especially mortals, to accept him that easily. "I am sure that Hades will ensure your safety and keep you away from any situations that are not age appropriate?" she asked, looking from mortal to deity and phrasing her request as a question.
Both Harry and Hades knew it wasn't a question. Or even a request.
"Of course, Hestia," Hades said, as if he were merely answering a question.
"Thanks, Hestia!" Harry said, giving his all-time favorite goddess another hug. He looked at Hades. "In that case, I would like to ask for a tour of the Underworld, Mister H!" he told the god excitedly, as if that hadn't been the entire topic of conversation for the last few minutes.
Hades definitely looked amused, despite him visibly trying to hide it. "Very well, then we have a deal," he said.
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