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Chapter Text

"It's just you and me against the world...We attack at dawn."

Mandy, The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy

Harry was terrified.

He was only twelve, going on thirteen. And shouldn't Madame Pomfrey been able to detect this and stop it while he'd been in the hospital wing?

Because seriously? This? This thing right here? It had to have been something to do with the Basilisk having bitten him.

He hadn't meant to make eye contact with Mrs Figgs' cat, but it had just happened! Thank god he hadn't been looking at Aunt Petunia when it had spontaneously decided to manifest.

Aunt Petunia had freaked and immediately shoved a pair of sunglasses at him, shrieking at him to send a letter to Those People to make them come and fix it and to not come out of his room until they did.

Harry could still hear the appalled squawk Hedwig had made when she had seen him.

This was five days ago and not only had no one come to help him, Hedwig was still in the wind.

He attempted to run a hand tipped in bronze points through his 'hair', only to be hissed at by his newest full-time companions.

It had taken only perhaps half a second to fully shift in a surge of magic, which was probably why Aunt Petunia had been able to identify what he was and take measures to protect herself so quickly.

Each of his new companions were about the width of his index finger and maybe between 16 and 20 inches long, though it was difficult to tell with how much they moved. Each had a slightly iridescent baby-blue strip down its spine with a matching belly and dark blue-to-black sides with scarlet columns. Each of the little heads were scarlet with pale blue bottom jaws and large eyes made up primarily of large round pupils with thin green irises.

Not to mention that he seemed to have lost all body-hair, including his eyebrows, eyelashes, and pubic hair. His eyebrows were now two lines of rough and ridged scales over his eyes in a shade of dark blue tipped in red, and the eyelashes had somehow morphed into lines of odd, thin mostly-transparent scales that were still curved out and up like his hair-based eyelashes had been, though oddly heavier and of the consistency of fish-scales. He'd been mortified by what he'd found down there, and aside from a quick peek to ensure there weren't any scales or anything else down there, Harry generally avoided thinking about or touching down there.

On the second day, Aunt Petunia had shoved a book through the cat-flap with his meal as he only left his room these days when everyone was asleep, or Aunt Petunia let him know she was going to be downstairs for the next hour while Vernon and Dudley were out. He usually used this time to soak in a bath of near-scalding bathwater since it was pretty much the only thing that could warm him all the way to the bones these days.

Back to the book. It was about snakes and was about the size of an encyclopaedia, going into depth about snake physiology, venom, diet, behaviour and habitats, as well as colour pictures and information on snake families and genus'.

By the time the book was shoved through, Harry had, against everything he knew about them, had to conclude that he was a Gorgon and cold-blooded to boot. The only three known Gorgons were the sisters Medusa, Euryale and Stheno and were most definitely female.

According to the book, the snakes upon his head, his Gorgon-Snakes, were a sub-species of garter-snake known as Thamnophis sirtalis infernalis- California Red-sided Gartersnakes. They weren't considered dangerous to humans, though their venom was described as 'unpleasant', and lived in a wide variety of habitats - forests, mixed woodlands, grassland, chaparral, farmlands, often near ponds, marshes, or streams. They were known to escape into water more often than not and ate anything they could swallow, including adult Pacific newts which were known to be deadly poisonous to most predators. They could also grow up to 55in', though the average was around 36in'.

They were quite cute and constantly squabbled with one another and asked Harry ("Papaa? What'sss that, Papaa?", "Papaa! He nipped me!") about everything they could get their cute little blunt noses into. Aside from the constant babble, the heavy shifting weight that had to have been alleviated by internal magic, he could 'hear' the little snakes' emotions at the back of his mind. They were mostly happy, curious little things, and Harry found himself grudgingly fond of them. Even if he now had to sleep on his stomach, against all instincts, so as not to crush them.

By the third day, Harry had succumb to curiosity, and, with the possibility of being like this forever, investigated down there. His 'Little Harry' had somehow become twins. With spikes. Harry stopped looking in that direction for a very long time, which was made possible as he had also inherited the snake digestive track, where he no longer urinated, but rather defecated once every so often. So far, he'd only gone once. It was surprisingly difficult and could be smelt for several hours, to Harry's eternal embarrassment.

The next day and a half was spent sprawled out in the patch of sunlight in his room, huddled in a nest of blankets and drowsing.

Harry pulled himself out of his musings, absently separating the Gorgon-snakes next to his left ear that were always squabbling (thank god all his snakes were male), when the doorbell rang. A moment later, Hedwig lit upon his windowsill, tired and oddly ruffled, but with an air of satisfaction.

Vaguely, Harry could hear Aunt Petunia talking to woman with a soothing voice laced with an odd accent. A minute or so later, there was a knock on his door.

Having been raised with manners (as opposed to Dudley) Harry stood and hurriedly kicked his nest under the bed. "Come in."

And that was another thing. His voice was, to his ear, both deeper and softer, vibrating in his chest at a level he suspected Aunt Petunia, the only one who interacted with him these days, could not entirely hear, but was also rough and raspy over the low rumbling. Harry honestly was a little embarrassed that that voice that should belong to a big strong man came from his scrawny pre-teen throat.

Apparently the woman on the other side of the door thought so too, because there was a pause before the door opened slowly.

The woman (at least, that was what he thought they were) was dressed in a full-length type of robe he knew was middle-eastern, but did not know the name of, complete with a partially-sheer full-face veil held down by heavy beads and a length of cloth over her hair.

Harry imagined that he must have been a sight to see; a teenage boy with white skin riddled with the scars he had received from Dudley's 'games', injuries from chores, and the many injuries that had scarred from his time at Hogwarts, clad only in baggy jeans, the better wrap-around sunglasses Aunt Petunia had gotten him, and a head full of slender, brightly coloured, excitedly writhing garter-snakes.

The woman swayed and leant on the doorframe faintly, a hand tipped in bronze nails coming up to hover around where her mouth would be under the veil. "Oh, my." She murmured faintly. "I didn't think it was true. This has never happened before…"The woman was suddenly in Harry's face running the almost clawed fingers along his jawline.

The face he can barely see behind the veil and through his dark lenses was angular with a sharp profile and large eyes of a pale colour, though her skin was darker than his own.

"You have his jawline and cheekbones. Do you feel the pull of the sea?"

Harry blinked at her rather odd question, absently wondering who 'he' was. "I've never been to the seaside. There is a large lake beside my school that I like to be close to, but I don't know how to swim and it is often too cold."

She hummed, an oddly thrumming sound, as the hand continued to caress Harry's face. "Your name is Harry, yes?"

Harry hummed his agreement and was both surprised and suspicious that his own hum was a deeper version of hers. "Harry James Potter. And you are?"

The woman finally took back her hands and folded them before her. "My name is Medusa, but you may call me Aunty Em."

Harry swayed back, eyes widening in surprise as she continued.

"We shall need to attend to Gringotts and see if we are closely enough of relation to transfer your guardianship to me, as well as figure out how your shift was triggered." The woman who was, apparently, a millennia old Gorgon paused and gave the impression of frowning. "Usually, when a child is born to a monster parent and a human parent, the child will either be fully monster or fully human, with no chance of middle ground. For a shift to be triggered, there would have had to be extreme circumstances. Did anything occur that you know about?"

Harry shifted back and relaxed a bit when Hedwig fluttered onto his left shoulder and began attempting to preen his snakes, who thought it was some kind of new game. "I was bitten by an ancient basilisk and healed with phoenix tears a few weeks ago. And some of the blood might have gotten into the wounds, but I would have thought it would have occurred weeks ago if that triggered it."

Medusa hummed again. It was a pleasant sound that caused Harry to relax a little more each time. "It was probably the phoenix tears and blood, though your venom is likely vastly more potent than any mere garter-snake's. After all, the phoenix is all about rebirth and immortality. It would have laid dormant while gathering power to fuel the change so as the shift would occur all at once, rather than leaving you helpless for an indeterminable amount of time. The basilisk blood might have linked your genetics more closely to my own while the tears were looking for something to 'fix' you by making you immortal, or at least long lived."

She appeared to tilt her head. "Do you wish to take anything with you or shall we come back for your belongings later?"

Harry hummed. "It would be best to take my belongings now rather than risk coming back and hurting my relatives. I don't like them much, but they are family. And Aunt Petunia has been pretty good about all this, considering."

Medusa hummed again and glanced around the room in a way that made Harry glad he was mildly OCD about his belongings. She appeared to wriggle her nose at his clothes. "Leave the rags. We will get you better clothing along the way."

The former wizard quickly wriggled under his bed to get at his hidden treasures under the loose floorboard and grabbed the two books he had out to read on the way back up and placed them in his trunk, where he grabbed a button-up school shirt and grey school slacks. On second thought, he also snagged his nest-blankets and stuffed them in before closing the trunk.

Then he turned around to find that 'Aunt Em' had disappeared. There was a moment of panic where he instinctively stuck his tongue out to test the air before he registered the sound of the monster-woman speaking to Aunt Petunia downstairs. Glancing around one last time, Harry departed the smallest bedroom with his beloved Hedwig on his shoulder, never to return.

On the way out, Harry absently picked up the slightly glowing iron statue of Mr Tibbles the Kneazle.

(space)

According to the Goblins, Medusa was Harry's great-great-great-grandmother through Chrysaor, who married the rain-nymph Kallirrhoe and had two children, Geryon and the lesser known watermaid Lorelai who laid claim to the River Rhine. Lorelai inserted herself into Scandanavia myth and had three daughters, the Rhinemaidens, to Ægir, the jotunn sea god of the Asgardian Pantheon. Loralai later bore a fourth, mortal, daughter to a human sailor named Lynkin Holmes. The daughter, named Canna for the water flower, went on to marry Harold Evans, who had two daughters, Petunia and Lily.

Medusa admitted to being surprised that he hadn't gone completely aquatic, though it was likely due to both the fire-based phoenix tears (and isn't that an oxymoron) and the grounding basilisk blood. Still, the inclination was there and Harry was already showing signs of water-talents. And unlike 'true' Gorgons, his blood was so completely of powerful healing properties as to be so poisonous that it had to be diluted in milk to stop it burning through the ritual bowl.

Before they left England for the warmer America, Medusa and Harry discretely used a ritual to change Harry's given name enough that just using Harry James Potter was no longer a recognised name in spells.

And that is how Harrier Jameson Evans-Potter avoided the multitude of tracking spells and the Tri-Wizard Tourney Contract.

Chapter Text

"And as for Billy? No one ever saw him again. But we didn't look that hard."

Grim, The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy

Age twenty-three, Harry was sitting outside his comfortable beach-side house at Montauk, absently smoking one of the strong cigarettes he used to dull his senses of taste and smell, watching what he suspected was a young demigod splashing in the surf while his obviously human mother watched from a blanket on the sand.

The kid looked around seven or so with a head of dark brunette hair reminiscent of the hair Harry himself had once had.

The scent of the demigod, the first demigod Harry had yet seen, was like salt on the back of the tongue with an odd milk chocolate taste mixing in. Harry could see why so many monsters felt the desire to eat the poor kids. And that's not taking into account the revenge killings for sending them to Tartarus and petty spite against their godly parents.

Monsters didn't usually come out to Montauk despite its relatively pleasant location. They didn't like being on what was essentially a kill-box, in that it was surrounded on three sides by water.

Harry didn't mind. He liked the whispers of the air and water over the soft, high-pitched sighs of the lesser sea nymphs that haunted the water's edge on warm days and their loud, joyous singing during violent storms.

That was why Harry had claimed Montauk as his territory when he'd turned twenty and moved out of Aunt Em's place. He loved that woman deeply, but sometimes he could hear the echoes of souls trapped in the statues. Not to mention he was looking more and more like Poseidon (and everyone knows how Olympians feel about their relatives), so he had to be careful she didn't try to join him in the bath. Harry had had to put up a mild barrier and markers all around the peninsula to let other monsters know this area was taken and a general idea of who the 'owner' was.

A couple of Empusa and a small flock of Harpies had wandered in in the first year. The Empusa were curious and left after meeting him, but the trio of Harpies, nest-sisters apparently, with the eldest sister's half-human male Harpy-child had been looking for a place to nest since getting kicked out of their flock for not killing the male Harpy-child, whom they considered an aberration, and had set up in the rafters of Harry's boathouse. Having been up there before, Harry could honestly say it was quite comfortable considering it was essentially a large enclosed nest made of wood, straw, cast-off fabric and clothing. He'd even had a small bathroom with a bath installed for them.

There was also a nest of mostly benign sea serpents under one of the piers, a wild herd of eight Hippocampi in the rocky seabeds offshore and a set of sixteen Nereids renting two of his beachside tourist shacks where they kept their on-land belongings, but that was pretty much it.

Occasionally a nomadic monster would brush up against the outer barrier, but few really came in.

And, of course, there was that thing currently making his scales crawl.

Behind his shades, Harry's eyes slid further along the shore line to where a middle-aged man was fishing. He was wearing a loud Hawaiian shirt with a blue base and khaki green swim shorts. There also appeared to be a fishing cap beside him. A tackle box was mysteriously missing.

Harry hadn't met any gods personally so he couldn't know for sure, but he suspected that this was one of them, possibly the little demi-god's parent.

Snuffing the cigarette, the Gorgon entered the house and made his way into the basement workshop.

It had taken some experimentation and a lot of urging from Nana Em, but Harry now knew most of the limits of his eyes. So, while he could look into his own metallic green eyes (now zigzagged with thin lines of bronze, gold and grey around a slit pupil) without problems, if he met the eyes of something else in a reflection there was a reaction depending on how clear the reflection was and how powerful the other being was.

If the creature was mundane and sapient, like a human, and they met his gaze in something as reflective as a mirror, they would become completely paralysed to the point that they would stop breathing, their heart would stop beating, but if the reflection was a murky reflection in dim lighting, they would only feel a stiffening in the joints that would fade away after a time.

If a non-sapient animal with higher functioning like a pig or cat saw the murky reflection, the result would be closer to the response of the sapient being while a full mirror reflection would be like looking directly into his eyes. Insects got the full effect no matter what and most of the lower functioning non-sapients would have a response of anywhere between high-functioning non-sapients and insects.

The full gaze without a reflection invariably resulted in a statue of some kind of metal, type varying, or, on rare occasions, a gem-veined statue of minerals or coal depending on the gem. He's once had a very old and much loved and, ultimately, dying golden retriever turn to chalk on him, leaving behind in its remains a couple of dozen of some kind of beautiful gem reminiscent of a fire opal, but not, on average about the size of a large marble.

But the only creatures he could confidently predict what they would turn into were Immortals and magical creatures, and even then he had to hit them with the full weight of his gaze or they just stiffened up a bit. If the Immortal was Roman or the magical creature was air-borne, it would turn into a statue of solid Imperial Gold. If it was Greek or land-based, it would become Celestial Bronze. And if it was an Underworld creature or deemed Otherworldly by nature or superstition, it became Stygian Iron. Water-based and subterranean magical creatures could go either way.

Apparently, Mr Tibbles, being a kneazle, was descended from an Underworld cat-like Immortal named, literally, Big-Ears, hence the purple glow around his Stygian Iron self. It was probably where the cat superstition about having two paws in both Realms came from. It was also interesting to see how fine the work of a Dementor's Cloak was when the Dementor was turned to Stygian Iron. They didn't have legs, you know, and the Cloak was actually a part of them. Why they came after him, he had no idea, but, hey, free Stygian Iron.

Nana Em had dragged poor Harry back to the goblins after the first month and had them check his father's side of the family, where it came about that a member of his father's mother's family, the Blacks, had married a demi-god daughter of Pluto, and a demi-god son of Hades even further back. Apparently, Hades and Pluto had been the favoured blood to be bred into the family since back before the Blacks left Rome in the 200AD for Britain. There were eight in the last fifteen generations alone.

Medusa had made Harry swear on the River Styx to never, ever volunteer the full information about his eyes' power, and to avoid giving full details if asked. He would never be able to leave Olympus or the Underworld if it ever came out, made to make metal for the Gods for the rest of Ever.

He also found where his weird luck came from. Hello great grand-nana Eris from the Potter side!

With all his godly blood, he was practically a High Immortal like Medusa, the Minotaur, the Furies and Chiron to name a few. Nana Em was both amused and appalled that there could be more like him running around in the 'Magical World' and they didn't know it.

In the first few years, Harry had been strong-armed into metal-working and blacksmithing as an excuse as to why he had so much metal lying around. It took him a bit, but he eventually became very good at jewellery-making and animal-art statues.

Call it instinct or premonition, but there was always a tingle under his skin when he worked on his statues.

And he had decided that this time he would carry through with the instinct.

Standing in the centre of the magically enlarged hall he called a workroom was a statue of a fine hot-blood horse, mid-canter and tossing its head, mouth open mid-neigh.

It stood around sixteen hands at the shoulders with the long legs and slim build of the Akhal Teke he had based it off, a slim, intelligent head and a deep chest, tail raised like an Arabian, and elegant feathering from heel to hock. The feathering, short mane, long forelock and tail were bright Celestial Bronze from a particularly fluffy and foul-mouthed pair of Jarveys that had somehow gotten into his workshop despite being in the wrong part of the country for them, while the hooves, eyes, teeth, the tips of it ears and forehead blaze were a soft Imperial Gold from a particularly tenacious Roman Faun he'd met in Las Vegas last year who wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. All of this was against the dark grey hide of brushed Stygian Iron made from a trio of Hellhounds who had been annoying Nana Em a while back, while the not-fire-opal gems were studded onto its rump like glowing embers rather than the dapples they were modelled off. Two of the most similar in size and shape not-fire-opals made the pupils of the Imperial Gold eyes.

It was beautiful and understated and life-like and glowing.

And it was an anatomically correct mare on the outside, but his magic should make it biologically so on the inside when he did his thing. Harry just felt there were too many Stallion Immortals running around.

As he had found out at nearly the beginning, his blood was a powerful healing agent, so powerful it would kill without being diluted by at least one-hundred to one in a substance like milk or wine. So, if he put his mind and magic to it, his instincts said he could use his blood to make life out of something made from one of the so-called Divine Metals, especially Stygian Iron for its ability to absorb any power it came into contact with.

He'd been winding himself up to this since he finished it last month.

His hands tingling, Harry, damned his shortness, climbed the stepladder and opened a vein into its open, hollow mouth, willing his blood and magic and his basic power and personality blueprints into the statue.

And she glowed.

(space)

Harry woke up some hours later with a crick in his neck, dehydrated and a growing migraine from the ever-on-going, apparently vicious argument going on between the Gorgon-snakes Nunu and Baba, as per usual.

Groaning, Harry stretched on the floor like a cat, cracking all the kinks from his body, and dragged himself to his feet to get some water from the fountain, not bothering with a cup and just drinking from the bowl. With his head in the bowl. Submerged.

It was when something butted his butt that he resurfaced and turned around.

"Vashti." Harry smiled and reached out to scratch up under the metal-horse's chin and around the ears. "Means 'most beautiful'. A Persian name for a Persian lady."

Vashti let out a horsey moan of pleasure and leant into her father, glowing gold and fire eyes going half-lidded in pleasure. 'Thank you, father.'

Harry's smile went sappy at the soft psychic voice of his horse-daughter. "You're welcome, sweetheart. Everything alright? Any stiffness? Hungry?"

The softly glowing mare let out a contented sigh as her father began running his hands across the warm metal of her forequarters and through the weirdly soft metal-not-metal of her Celestial Bronze mane and forelock. 'No, father. I ate some of the food on the table. I do not need much.' A glance said she had gotten into the excess metals from her creation that had been piled on a nearby bench. 'I am able to move without issue and my internals appear to be fully formed.'

Running a hand across the smooth, glass-like gems in her hindquarters, he leant into her hip and lifted a hoof to make sure it was properly formed. "No tenderness in the hooves? The gems don't pull or cause discomfort?"

'No, father. My hooves are fine, though I would prefer to stand on something softer as I do not have shoes to ease the pressure. And the gems are fine. They are warm and appear to be absorbing and storing heat.'

"Hmm." Harry stood and regarded them for a moment. "If there are any problems, let me know, okay?" He ran a final hand along her spine. "I want you to hang around my territory for a few days in case something goes wrong, but you may come and go as you will if that is what you want. Stretch your legs and explore a bit."

Harry stretched himself, and began to lead his fully-formed, young adult horse-daughter up the basement stairs to the outside, confident that both the Mist and muggle-repelling wards would protect her from mundane humans, and that her speed and dangerous hooves and teeth would protect her from most other monsters.

"And remember, I don't mind if you choose to bare demi-gods or monsters or humans on your back, but never allow yourself to be willingly harnessed by a god." It was an eff-you to the gods who would no doubt covet his horse-daughter as their own mount. Like hell he'd let her be a slave.

Vashti nodded her gleaming head to show her acknowledgement of the only order written into her Heart, before racing into the now dark Montauk night, light flicking from her hooves and surrounded by a purple and golden haze.

(space)

It was about three months later that his beautiful horse-daughter came back.

It was said that Hephaestus himself was livid that someone had outdone him in creating a metal beast, and there were rumours that Hades had set a quest to catch her to the demi-gods before the other gods could. There were even murmurs that Poseidon himself had taken on the form of a handsome white stallion to run her down, though none could say if he caught her or not.

Given the storms this season, Harry was leaning towards 'not'.

And no one knew for sure where she came from, except maybe Medusa, but she wasn't telling.

They were calling her 'The Gem-Studded Mare'.

Harry was just so proud of his baby. And a little afraid for her.

Until she brought back her 'presents', then he just wanted to slam his head against a wall.

(space)

He'd been minding his own business, reading a book before the fire-pit on his beach-side patio, warded against the wind and rain that poured down outside, just before midnight, when he registered Vashti coming through the territory wards with guests.

She didn't bother waiting for the three forms on her back to dismount, just walked through the patio wards and sat down beside the fire.

Thankful that he was wearing his spelled one-way glasses because of Hedwig up in the rafters and Misting his sleeping Gorgon-snakes into black braids in case of passers-by, all Harry would do was blink blankly at the three young people awkwardly getting off Vashti's back.

With a sigh and a flick of the hand, the three children and horse were dry and wrapped in blankets.

The demi-gods, for that was what they were, were two young adolescents, a boy with blond hair and a girl with dark hair, and a little blond girl of around seven.

Harry closed his book and stood, ignoring the way the two adolescents nudged the little girl behind them and discreetly rested hands on what were probably weapons.

"So," he began as he moved towards the open patio doors towards the kitchen. "Sandwiches and then bed. You can tell me whatever you want about your circumstances in the morning."

In full view of the children, Harry made some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, got out a bottle of milk to heat up and brought the lot out.

Seeing them hesitate, the young Gorgon went back into the house for a bucket of metals and minerals for Vashti, as well as set up a queen-sized bed in one of the downstairs spare bedrooms. One they could lock from the inside and had windows big enough for a child to fit through, but would hamper anything bigger trying to get in.

Next on the list were some of his oversized soft-flannel bed-shirts and track pants which he left on the bed along with a pile of extra blankets.

When he wandered out a few minutes later with Vashti's dinner, the three were huddled against her flank and only the boy was still awake, though struggling. The milk and sandwiches were cleaned out.

Hedwig, getting old though she was, had sat herself upon Vashti's back over the little girl and appeared to be keeping watch.

Harry hummed and brought the bucket over to where the beautiful mare was drowsing, turning to the boy he spoke softly, "The bed's ready. I hope you don't mind sharing, but I figured you'd want to stay together."

The boy nodded and extracted himself from the blankets and the little girl's grip so he could wake the other teen and pick up the sleeping child.

Still on watch, Hedwig jumped onto the teenaged girl's shoulder as they warily followed him into his house to the bedroom down the hall, beside the stairs and across from the second bathroom.

Showing the two conscious teens the room, he left with the comment, "The door locks from the inside."

Harry was unsurprised to hear the click behind him.

(space)

Having spent the night awake and morosely braving the rain at intervals to patrol his territory for any hostiles, it was no real surprise to him when he was still awake and drinking nectar-laced coffee by morning.

Mostly ignoring the clatter of Vashti eating the metals in the bucket he brought out the night before, then the tin bucket itself, then the ashes in the fire-pit (to which Harry just rolled his eyes), the Gorgon began making a fruit and cereal breakfast for the little demi-gods the wards said were still sleeping like the dead under Hedwig's protective gaze.

Once done with the fruit smoothies and the machine that pulped them, Harry ventured out into the sunny dawn to plop back down in his wicker chair while Vashti chewed drowsily on a cud of ash and metal, his Gorgon-snakes lethargic and quiet from the cold.

Observing his daughter, Harry was a little surprised to find flashes of diamonds in her feathering and a mix of garnets and tiger's eyes in her mane and tail. It made him wonder if she would assimilate what she ate and her appearance would change as she evolved.

"So… Daughter-mine. What the hell?"

Vashti gave her father a sideways, hooded stare, still chewing. 'You said I could allow anyone I wanted upon my back."

The look he gave back was more than a little shirty. "That's not what I meant and you know it."

Vashti heaved a sigh and shook herself. 'After I shook off that weirdo water stallion, Posi-something, I wandered across the two older children as they escaped from a monster's den in the place called Virginia. They used some kind of fire to destroy the building and the monsters in it and I followed them to a small brick building with sinks and porcelain bowls where they cleaned themselves and tended their injuries. Not long after, they found the child in an alley close by and took her with them. They were going somewhere, but were attacked again.'

Vashti paused and gave her father another sideling look, though he remained silent. 'I could not just leave them there. They are just children and should not be alone in the first place. So I brought them here to you.'

The last bit was hopeful.

Harry light up a cigarette and rubbed his daughter's ears to show he wasn't that upset, thinking over the dilemma.

He'd thought about saving lost demi-god children before, back when he was younger and less jaded. Maybe two in five demi-gods ever made it to one of the Camps, and Lupa sometimes killed demi-gods she considered weak herself, so there were many children dying out there and he couldn't really do much.

Harry paused as his fingertips tingled. From experience, the tingling would get stronger if he followed through with one of these thoughts, though he couldn't yet tell if it were a good thing or a bad thing when the tingling got stronger.

Harry clicked his tongue thoughtfully, mind turning to the trio of statues that had been sitting in the workroom for a while. "It would appear you will be gaining some siblings soon." The young monster stood. "There is food for the children on the kitchen bench. Don't let them leave until I come back out to talk to them."

Trying to think of what he missed, Harry scratched his chin and smirked at Vashti. "Also, that water stallion was likely Poseidon, the Greek sea god and one of the Big Three. Some would expect you to be flattered by his attentions."

Vashti snorted and tossed her bejewelled head, burning eyes rolling in annoyance. 'Well, I am not 'some people'. And he smelt of salt. I don't want to rust!'

Harry laughed loudly at her and was still chortling as he made his way down into his workroom.

Chapter Text

Billy: You know Grim, if you didn't give me the scythe in the first place, this kind of thing would never happened!

Pause.

Grim: I hate you, Billy.

Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy.

Harrier called them the Bird, the Beast and the Wyrm.

The Bird was about the size of a man in body size alone with long peacock-green wings tipped in flight feathers every colour of the metallic spectrum, a slightly longer neck topped with a larger head with a large, densely-feathered crest and a hooked beak, and extravagant tail-feathers akin to the lovechild of a phoenix and a Bird of Paradise. The long legs were akin to a stork and tipped in some serious claws. Overall, it looked like the offspring of a peacock and a secretarybird.

Her name would be Aleta, meaning 'winged' in most languages, but the Greek translation would be 'truthful'. Her purpose was primarily intelligence and seeking, with a lesser specialization in extraction. If worse came to worst, her voice would be able to put anything to sleep. Hopefully.

She was made with what was originally a particularly pale Imperial Gold 'coloured' by finely ground gemstones mixed into the melted metal while it was in liquid form, though other, tiny, gemstones had been studded into her spread wings and tail feathers, with two deep red garnets making the eyes and a dusting of rare uvarovite, a bright green garnet, where the masking on her face would occur.

The Beast, Aniketos, whose name meant 'never conquered', was admittedly stolen shamelessly from a movie Harry had seen and then looked up. The progenitors of Aniketos were the Hell Hounds of 'Chronicles of Riddick', which were genetically engineered animals containing characteristics of ursine (bear), feline, canine and reptile groups and were, from there, bred for speed and strength.

He had the head and jaws of a bear, neck and torso of a mastiff, legs and tail of a large predatory cat and covered in large, sharp scales like scale-mail.

He was also both bigger and bulker than Vashti and made of a partially dark kind of Celestial Bronze that was almost black, with two big orbs of brightly burnished Stygian Iron for eyes, which would allow him to see colours and layers that mammals couldn't usually make sense of. Like invisibility. Each of his reptilian teeth were sharp obsidian and his retractable lightning-glass claws were backed by poisonous glands.

While difficult to notice, he was, in fact, decorated like his sister, only it was in terms of scrolling etched into his scales. Delicate little patterns that would be worn away quickly were he made of anything less durable than a Divine Metal.

He was, predictably, the frontal-assault and pursuit member of the set.

The last set member, the Wyrm, was Alasd, the avenger. He was more a bastardized snake than an actual wyrm, as he was heavier set, had a longer, sharper, more dragon-like head and lacked the front legs of traditional wyrms, but retained the stubby back legs for grasping and propelling and, while he did have wings, they were small and pulled tight to his back for subterranean travel as well as short distance gliding, but not prolonged flight.

Harry had nearly forgone the wings until he was watching 'Tremors' late one night while he was still in the sketching stage. No baby of his was gonna be tricked out of a cliff-face to his death!

Like Aleta was Imperial Gold and Aniketos was Celestial Bronze, Alsad was Stygian Iron. Also, he was between his showy sister and understated brother in terms of decoration. Emerald and amber were sparsely studded from his sharp head to his split prehensile tails, being, overall, around thirty feet long and about as round as a man. His large eyes were fist-sized chunks of bight, clear amber and his teeth were a comparatively bright white mother of pearl.

He was the defensive stealth specialist who hung back and attacked when the enemy least expected it, and covered his sibling's backs when they retreated. He was also blessed with the power to go insubstantial to aid in his tunnelling.

Harry was still throwing back blood-replenishing potions like they were shots an hour after they were all quickened, each having been 'born' a full half-hour after one another.

'And now?' Aleta's voice was the soft and soothing sound a mother's lullaby or the lowing of a bamboo flute. 'You brought us into being for a purpose, yes?' And Harry desperately hoped she would not run with that habit of ending her sentences with a question.

'The demi-gods.' Harry's beast son's voice was the roar of a furnace, the scratching of crushed gravel and the boom of thunder all in one. He could already tell that Aniketos' would be like a commander of old; no nonsense, strict and strategic-minded though hot-blooded, while still having a mind as predictable as a bag of startled and high alley cats. 'We find them, bring them here and go find more.'

Harry sighed and drank more of the mineral- and additive-heavy water, scratching his bronze-tipped fingers between his lethargic Gorgon-snakes, absently noticing that they were now wiggling around past his butt. "That's right. Roman or Greek, it doesn't matter, but only if they aren't already claimed by either a satyr of Camp Half-Blood or a wolf of Wolf House, and they have to agree to come. Promise them sanctuary, promise them weapons, promise them Home. Promise them anything within reason, but do not lie. Shit happens when highly-strung kids with powers get lied to." Thinking about what he, himself, had figured out as he grew up the rest of the way in a relatively stable home, monster-wise, he added, "Especially when they figure it out."

'And if they are too young to understand what is happening?' Alasd's voice was a deep gong or Buddhist prayer bell, no ifs, ands or buts about it.

Yes, Harry had considered that. "If they have family nearby, approach them about it. If they are alone, just bring them back here. I'll figure something out. But make sure the parent knows how dangerous it is for them to keep the kid outside a safe-zone. Tell them I'll even give them a job in the area and housing if they want it. I'll need caretakers for the kids anyway. Anything else, use your own judgement."

'And if we run across gods or demi-gods from the Camps?' Aniketos inquired gruffly, idly rattling his scales in a testing manner.

"Just pull back and leave them. Don't get aggressive and they'll probably leave you alone. If not, you'll be able to outrun them." Harry tilted his head in thought. "Probably."

The Beast chuffed in exasperated amusement.

'Nanu-nanu. You can't catch me.' Alasd mocked an invisible opponent, voice conveying a dry humour, causing Harry to snigger.

Harry stretched again and stood from his stool. "Anything else? Cause I got shit to do."

Anketos dragged his claws across the floor as he stretched and Alasd flexed his scaled muscles as he began to unwind. Aleta fidgeted on her large perch.

'We can still come back, yes? Even if we have not found a child, yes?' And there went his hope about the question-sentences.

"Of course you can. You're still my bouncing baby brats, after all. I'd be a bit upset if you didn't." Aleta trilled a few soft noted of relief, relaxing, as Alasd swatted his twin-tails at his father half-heartedly for the teasing.

(space)

With his new babies sent out into the wide blue yonder, each equipped with a mirror connected to one he kept in a locket around his neck, Harry meandered upstairs around noon.

He paused and blinked in the doorway, head tilting at the gathering in his lounge room, surrounding his 70'in plasma screen TV, lights off and several bowls of popcorn and M&M's being passed around.

The kids were indeed in the room, cuddling together on the large couch he liked to spread out on. What was unexpected was the fact that all sixteen of the Nereids had also squished in on the couch and lounge chairs and spilled onto the floor. The Harpy sisters, Arie, Acantha and Adara, as well as little Dominic, were also in attendance, perched on the kitchen stools with a big bowl of Doritos between them. Vashti lay against the wall, peacefully watching the movie with three of the Nereids lounging against her flank like it was a regular thing.

And they were watching bloody Disney's Hercules.

Nana Em had been very offended by how that movie and the subsequent series portrayed her.

Losing interest as the red-haired hero dropped a giant rock on the Hydra, Harry wandered into the kitchen and began to make a fruit and nut salad, as well as a double batch of brownies since the Nereids went all to pieces on him if he didn't make them for their esteemed chewing pleasure. He knew they were faking it to get their way, but he'd always been weak to pretty girls crying at him.

Though, give him a crying male and all they'd get was a weirded-out look.

Hearing the pitter-patter of bare feet as he was sectioning an orange, he glanced up to identify the short and curvy Hallie with her big brown eyes and glossy black curls beside the tall and slender Galatea with her milk-white skin, white-gold tresses and almond-shaped black seal's eyes.

Both were still wearing their white sea-foam dresses, inferring they'd just come out of the water.

Galatea picked up a green apple and began breaking the skin with her teeth and sucking out the juices while Hallie wiggled at him like an excited puppy.

"So what's the gos'?" Hallie demanded, leaning across the counter at him.

Harry just raised an eyebrow and continued cutting. "You're gonna have to specify which gos' you're referring to."

Galatea pulled the apple away from her mouth long enough to pitch in, "The Mare first. The Gods're in a tizzy trying to catch her, and she's just sitting in there like she lives here."

He felt his lip twitch. "Well, technically, this is her home, what with me being her father and all."

Galatea promptly choked on a piece of apple her teeth had broken off and Hallie slipped ungracefully from the stool to the floor.

"Since when?!" Hallie demanded, pulling herself up from the floor.

Harry was valiantly containing a smirk. "Since I made her and used my blood to give her life."

Galatea finally cleared her throat of apple. "That's High stuff, Harry. How in Tartarus did you get that kind of Power?"

Harry shrugged uncomfortably. "At a guess? I'm gonna take option three and blame an obscure prophecy no one remembers the wording to. And possibly just good breeding." He absently sipped a suspiciously chunky dull red smoothie he had to his left.

"Do tell." Melite purred, loosely wrapping her arms around his shoulders and leaning on him from her superior height, long straight tresses of midnight feathering around his torso.

Harry hoped she didn't notice the movements of the snakes. The Nereids knew he was a young Immortal, but they didn't know for sure if he was a monster (and if so, what kind) nor if he was someone a god or goddess had decided to 'keep'. Or if he had just somehow found a way to Immortality like Circe and Medea. Apparently, he was just so good at manipulating Mist and glamours that he could fool the senses of even minor goddesses.

Harry shrugged and moved onto another orange as the one dripping juice was snatched out of his hand by the bronze-skinned, red-haired Erato, who had obviously lost interest in the movie and followed her sisters into the kitchen out of boredom. "I have two gods and a goddess in my ancestry in the last seven generations that I know about, so it might just be a good match of powers interacting. I'm not really that talented in war magics, to be honest, as I lean more towards defensive and the other, more subtle, stuff."

"Really? Who?" Speio demanded, using her ridiculously tiny height of 4'6ft to wiggle under Harry's left arm and wrap her tiny arms around his waist, staring up at him with her big blue-green eyes and fluffy chocolate curls.

"Well, Poseidon, obviously. My three times great grandfather on my mother's, mother's side through Lorelai." Harry admitted, finally giving up on any more oranges and passed the skinned citrus to Erato, who proceeded to maul the fruit. He awkwardly shuffled around with the two Nereids wrapped around him and washed his hands before continuing. "My father's father, on the other hand, was a son of Eris, who married a Black from the British Wizard family, who were known to obsessively marry the children of Hades and Pluto since before they moved from Rome around the 200AD, with eight in the last fifteen generations alone." His lips quirked a bit as he grabbed the sweet citrus dressing and a packet of pine nuts for the salad from the upper cupboard above the microwave. "Really pissed them off when the Big Three made that Pact."

All five of the Nereids were now watching him with raised eyebrows, but it was Galatea who spoke. "That'd do it. Life came from the seething oceans, jewels and ore rose from the deep earth and a little chaos to create just the right circumstances to round it off."

Speio sucked on the edge of her lip in thought before offering, "Blood is the Memory's River. They would have picked up some of the subliminal thought and behavioural patterns, too. Maybe some powers?"

The ladies shared a look and appeared to drop the subject in favour of the next one.

"The Mare? Vashti, was it? Why her and that shape?" Halie inquired. Erato grabbed another orange from the bowl and began peeling it with the discarded paring knife, watching silently.

Having tossed in the nuts and added the dressing, the large salad bowl was covered and placed in the smaller under-counter fridge he used for what he needed while cooking. "I like pretty things and my mild precognitive powers said it would be a good idea." Harry smiled. "Besides, I've always wanted a sweet baby girl I could spoil rotten. And she's a horse because I'm honestly not very good at getting close to people."

The girls glanced at each other again, as if confirming they would discuss it amongst themselves later.

"And the little demi-gods?"

Having sat on a stool with Melite still leaning on him and Speio having crawled onto his lap, all Harry could do was shrug.

"Vashti brought them here. Haven't had a chance to speak with them though, so I'll have to do that later." His hands tingled briefly but strongly. "I've always felt the need to do something about the demi-god mortality rate, and this had just given me an excuse to do so. I've already given life to three more of my children and sent them out to find unclaimed demi-gods."

Melite hummed thoughtfully. "But aren't they the Camps' problems?"

Harry felt his lips curl and a 'teh' of disgust left his mouth. "The Camps only really bother with demi-gods once they reach adolescence, mostly. Most of the kids are dead or damaged by then. Did you know only maybe, at best, two out of five demi-gods reach a Camp?" The appalled looks on their faces was enough of an answer, so he continued on. "Those older kids in there have probably been runaways for years now, and the little girl is already showing signs of aggression and undirected rage against pretty much everyone." Harry 'teh'ed again. "Those kids at the Camps make a good showing of being normal, but they're very much unstable and reckless. Most don't even really associate normal humans with people, only nameless, faceless things to be protected to an extent, but gladly thrown under the bus to save themselves if necessary."

Attempting to restrain the helpless anger at the situation, he didn't notice Speio noticing the deep scratches he was putting into the marble bench with his 'human' nails.

"Those places aren't safe havens, they're indoctrination camps to make good little warriors and pawns for the gods. When they leave as adults, most of them are so unhappy with their mundane lives they end up homeless vagabonds who hunt monsters and are killed quicker since they no longer have even a hint of protection from their 'parents' anymore. And that's only if they don't kill themselves. The ones held up as shining icons to the campers are the vast minority."

Hissing softly, Harry shook himself. "It's pointlessly cruel to all involved but the gods who perpetuate the cycle."

None of the Nereids, nor Harry, noticed the pale and horrified boy slipping back down the hallway to the bedroom the kids slept in.

Feeling a zap zing up his spine, the hidden Gorgon gently pushed Speio of his lap, taking deep breaths to calm himself.

"Please excuse me. Aleta has returned with a guest."

As Harry slipped out onto the back porch to greet the large, brightly coloured metal bird, the Nereids looked at each other.

"Do you think we should look into it?" Halie asked her sisters uncertainly.

Erato grimaced slightly when she realised her sixth orange was a blood orange, oddly fitting given the conversation. "He doesn't really have a reason to lie. And that anger was genuine. It wouldn't surprise me if it were true, either, given how many women the gods' bed, and everyone knows Aphrodite, Demeter and Athena pop out brats like clockwork. Athena even does it quicker with how she makes her children from thoughts." She put down the red citrus and sighed. "The numbers don't really add up when you consider how few demi-gods there are."

Just then, Harry walked back in with a small, toddler-sized bundle as the bird once again took to the sky. "Do any of you know healing and or anything to reduce scarring? Cause he really needs it."

The little boy of about four looking around the room curiously had a bright blue eye and a great gaping hole where the other should have been. Scars mangled the left side of his face and he was missing his right arm from mid-wrist down. They were mostly healed into red welts and small sections of greenish pus.

Galatea gagged and bolted for the bathroom as the remaining sisters stared in something like horrified guilt.

Chapter Text

Grim: You and that wretched girlfriend of yours are bad enough separately, but together... you're insufferable.

Billy: Insufferable? I don't even know what that means. And hey, Mandy's not my girlfriend! She's just a FRIEND, who happens to be a GIRL, just like I happen to be a BOY, and you happen to be a SKELETON. It's the differences that make our planet so rich, diverse, and wonderful!

[ Rainbows in the background]

Grim: I still hate you, though.

From the Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy

His name was Danny, Aleta had told her father, and he had been with a group of demi-gods who were on their way there from further into New York.

They were being led by an adult demi-god who had never been to either of the Camps, though he knew of them and their general locations. There were twelve in that group with Danny having been both the youngest and newest member, rescued from a small pack of Immortal werewolves from Lycaon's Pack, where he lost his demi-god mother and was fortunate enough not to be infected.

The rest ranged from six to nineteen, with the leader being twenty-seven. While he, himself, chose to stay out of the Camps, the leader, Richard Ryder, did give the other demi-gods directions and sometimes an escort to the Camps, and was on his way to Camp Half-Blood when Aleta had found them. Richard was bringing his group to Harry to see if it would be viable to leave the younger and more delicate members with Harry, as well as speak to the demi-gods already in residence.

His second, Jackie, was the nineteen year old and had chosen to stay with Ryder since they met up when she was ten, and had already been on the street for two years, as well as in and out of the foster system since she was three and her father died in a 'gas explosion'.

They would be there at around midmorning the next day, but had sent Danny ahead in the hopes that he would get some better medical attention than what they could provide.

Actaea and Protomedea had had to be pulled out of movie time since they were the best at healing and mothering respectively, and had taken the kid into the bathroom while Halie and Speio went for Actaea's healer's box.

Galatea, Erato and Melite had disappeared back into the waves, saying they had something to do, but would be back soon.

The two demi-god girls were still curled up on the couch with the twins Doto and Proto with Asia perched on the end. Leaving the group to watch the opening scenes of Aladdin, Harry went to find the boy.

The boy was in the room they had slept in, reading what appeared to be a journal, an unhappy frown creasing his face.

"Hey, kid."

The boy's head snapped up and the book was slammed closed. "Yes? Can I help you?"

Harry regarded the kid for a moment. "I don't know if you've been told yet, but I'm Harrier, or Harry, Master of this Territory. Nothing more powerful than a normal human can enter without my knowing about it. And you are?"

"Luke." The boy responded warily. "Are you a demi-god?"

Harry tilted his head away and sighed. "Kinda. I'm an Immortal legacy of a few gods. The blood of my progenitors was powerful enough that I became Immortal when I was bitten by a basilisk and subsequently healed with phoenix tears." Harry's smile was a bit bitter. "Had there not been an overdose of the tears, I would have stayed human and unchanged." He tilted his head back to Luke. "Lunch will be served soon, so don't immerse yourself too deeply, or you'll miss out to the Nereids."

The blond kid looked surprised. "Those women are Nereids?"

Harry nodded agreeably and turned to go. "A group of older demi-gods will be arriving tomorrow morning if you want to stay. They sent an injured kid ahead for healing, so don't be surprised at how bad he looks."

And he wandered back down to his workshop, mind already designing two new, humanoid, children to protect the new Sanctum and those who took sanctuary there.

Also, it would probably be a good idea to have the goblins make, ward and ground a pocket dimension for the Sanctum. Land was expensive these days.

(space)

The two girls were Annabeth and Thalia, as Harry learnt over lunch, which included the salad he'd made earlier, some fish grilled in his fire-pit by the Nereids and bread-rolls.

He didn't know what god was Thalia's parent, but her scent was strong and heavy, like melted dark cooking chocolate and burnt ozone, and the charm bracelet she wore tasted vaguely like raw terror on the back of his tongue. He would honestly not be surprised if one of the Big Three had broken the vow for her to smell so strongly.

It was when he pulled out the brownies that he was forced to snatch Annabeth from her chair and out of the way of the lunging Nereids.

The Harpies left not long after and the girls followed the water nymphs back into the lounge room to watch Sleeping Beauty, Luke managed to find Harry's library/office and was reading up on the Monster Book of Monsters.

Actaea and Protomedea had re-emerged from upstairs with Danny all bandaged up around 2pm and he was now drowsing in Thalia's protective arms.

Seeing the demi-god girl and the toddler cuddling sent a throb through Harry's hands, and he made a mental note to ask her about her family once she was more settled.

Doing another circuit around the house, he noticed that Vashti was gone again and Hedwig was passed out on the back of the chair that Luke was settled in for company. Clicking his tongue, Harry popped his head back into the lounge room to let the nearest Nereid (Phyllodoce) know he was running into town and might be a few hours, then popped into the office to see if Luke needed anything.

Looking distinctly uncomfortable, he admitted that Thalia needed some more feminine hygiene products, as she was nearly out and it was getting towards that time of the month.

Harry could only imagine it was because the smell of demi-god blood attracting more monsters that the boy knew her 'timing'.

Collecting a few sketches from the workroom he'd made earlier, he left with a 'pop' to the local magical district.

(space)

Someone with a horrible sense of humour thought that naming a small island in the New York Bay 'World's End' was funny. It might have been because it was completely edged in cliffs, but then it might not have. Who knows how wizardly minds work.

The Gringotts there looked exactly the same as the one in Diagon Alley and the one he'd been to in New Jersey with Nana Em. Indeed, if rumour were to be believed, all the banks were the same above the surface.

Harry only came to World's End around once a month, but he always stopped in his favourite curios shop located at the crossroads of Frog Street and Torch Row.

It was run by a young woman with black hair and green eyes named Katie, though sometimes her blond and black-eyed sister, Via, would be in attendance. Very rarely, the cousin, Endia, would mind the shop with her violet eyes constantly watching those who passed before the shop, twirling her brunette hair around her finger.

It was an old, slightly cramped place with a dark wood front and small shop window that was beginning to wear away the varnish. The small swing-sign said 'Hecate's Attic'. Inside the floor was warn, warped and creaky floorboards and cramped with shelf after shelf of miscellaneous items, artefacts and the odd tome.

The black Labrador, Hekabe, as he had heard Katie call her, looked up and thumped her tail in greeting as he entered, tongue lolling happily.

He leant down and scratched her behind the ears before moving on, smiling slightly. Hekabe was the only dog he'd met since his change that hadn't been afraid of him. Or tried to attack him.

The she-ferret running around, Galinthias, was a bit more wary, but generally left him alone.

Turning left and going to the furthest of the four cramped isle to where he had seen some god-statues and some tomes about the gods written in Greek and Latin, Harry glanced over the shelves for new items.

Finding the little bronze and the odd stone statues, he looked over the little figures and carefully selected five goddesses which he felt would heed his call to protect the place he was going to make.

He was thinking about merely calling the place 'Home', because that was what it was going to be to many demi-gods who had lost or been forced to leave their own. And then there were the ones who had never really had one to begin with.

It took him a bit to figure out which ones two of them were, but he had the idols he had come looking for, as well as a book on the gods, including history, powers and how to appease or petition them.

Collecting the items, he wove his way to the counter manned by Endia, who quirked a smile at him as she began ringing up his purchases, eyes lingering on the book and the statues with a kind of sardonic curiosity and amusement.

"Interesting selection. What are you up to, Harry?" She inquired, voice smooth with an almost singsong quality tinged by an accent the Gorgon found oddly familiar.

Harry hummed, the sound throbbing deeply in his chest as he considered his words. "I am founding a place of safety for children with certain gifts and would like to petition certain goddesses for their patronage." Both vague and informative. Nice.

Endia smiled at him, purple eyes flashing in the light flooding in through the window. "Then I'm sure you'll get what you want, if your motives are true."

Harry smiled back awkwardly, unsure, as he paid for his purchases. "Then I've gotta hope my motives are true enough. Gods and goddesses are notoriously picky and fickle."

The brunette laughed at him, voice ringing like water over stone in the small shop as he waved goodbye and exited.

Shifting his purchases into a mokeskin pouch he had in one of the pockets of his jeans, Harry proceeded down Torch Row to Gringotts and asked for Grindellaquin, his contact in this branch.

Grindellaquin, the only gobliness he's ever seen, let alone met, glowered at him over the paperwork in front of her, crouched on her perch and surrounded by ledgers, before tossing a bundle of letters at him from the increasingly distressed magic folk in Britain with her tail.

Funny thing about female goblins was that they were actually very attractive to the human eye in a distinctively Unseelie Fey manner. They had smooth lavender-grey skin stretched over a sharp waifish face with large black eyes, sharp noses and wide, thin lips that hid rows of pearly white sharp teeth similar to a cat's. Only about the size of an eight-year-old, their limbs were long and graceful and tipped in sharp points like his own, more hard caps than nails, with lean, slender torsos, four to eight small breasts and, of course, the long slender, prehensile tails twice the length of their bodies. Generally, they were built to walk on the balls of their feet and moved in a creeping manner over short distances, but stood up to walk longer distances in a swaying manner, inferring that their hips and joints were slightly different to those of most bipedal creatures. Grindellaquin's hair was thigh-length, pin straight and a pale silvery-grey, but he was under the impression that the ladies' hair could come in the same range of shades as the males'.

Grindellaquin, unlike her female kin, was permitted to work in the bank after an accident rendered her sterile, which was a very bad thing as the males outnumbered the females 100 to 1. Honestly, the gobliness' were more like hive queens than the females of most mammalian species, barring the naked mole rats, who were just odd. Harry was under the impression that quite a number of goblins involved in the accident had been executed for the loss of a breeding female as young as Grindellaquin was.

Harry had been her first client and they got along well, considering that they would probably be paired together until she died of old age.

The Gorgon settled down to read the letters while Grindellaquin finished her survey of any changes his holdings had been through in the last month since he'd seen her.

The letters ranged from pleas to demands to orders to outright bribery from the ministry, and a sticky-note listed the number of spells and enchantments that had been on the letters, a few more from Sirius Black who had moved to Australia and whom he regularly corresponded with, several from Dumbledore, which were thrown into the fire, and a letter from Hermione Granger giving a mostly unbiased update on the 'war', having distanced herself from most everyone after he had left and Grindellaquin had sent back a list of spells and potions her first five letters had been drenched in by Dumbledore.

Hermione was someone he still felt bad about essentially abandoning. She had broken off her friendship with Ronald early in third year and gravitated back to Neville Longbottom, who later got her a job as assistant librarian to Madam Pince when even her highest NEWT scores in fifty years couldn't give her a job above 'secretary and bed-warmer' in one of the lesser departments at the ministry because of her blood. She was a bitter, brittle woman who seemed to cherish those letters he sent back maybe once every six months.

His attention was drawn back to the gobliness when she clicked her tongue at him, a common way of requesting attention between goblins that most other races didn't bother to pick up on.

Harry put the letters down and gave her his full attention.

Her voice, when she spoke, was a perfectly normal contralto voice that, at the same time, had a subsonic whine to it like a cross between a cat's plaintive meow for food and a mosquitos' buzzing. "Harvest has begun at the coffee plantation in Brazil and looks to be a good yield. Gold diving in Alaska is set to start as soon as the ice thaws enough. The Racing stables in Ireland will start foaling any day now and the latest yield for the vineyards in the Hunter Valley, Australia, was excellent this season."

She shifted papers to rental properties.

"The apartment building in Trenton, New Jersey, needs its plumbing updated sometime this year and one of the tenants moved out. The Venice chateau needs a kitchen update and some of the tiles in the bathroom were cracked, so they're not getting their deposit back. Potter Manor needs fumigating as there's been a sudden and overwhelming invasion of doxies that the House Elves are unable to deal with on their own. And that's pretty much it, unless you want me to bring out the stock folder."

The look she gave him and the tone she said it in gave the impression that he had better not. Grindellaquin hated stocks with a passion, though she was really quite good at them.

Harry gave a polite smile. "That's fine. I trust your ability to handle those." She relaxed a bit, pleased. "But I do have a request that you might hate me for." Her wide black eyes narrowed suspiciously, long fingers twitching towards the silver letter-opener to her left.

"Go on."

"I need a piece of land big enough for a small town, some paddocks and a water source to be warded to high heaven and preferably sealed in a Reality Marble with between four and eight mobile gates."

She stared at him, completely still and expression deadpanned for a few moments, before quickly reaching out and throwing a solid gold paper weight at him, which he barely dodged.

"Do you know how much that will cost?" She demanded, teeth bared. "We will likely have to sell property to afford it!"

Harry smoothed out his grimace as her voice began to resemble a cat's yowl. "Yes. I know. But I am willing to…" Here he winced and braced himself. "…sell some of my statues and raw materials."

Grindellaquin settled back, expression shrewd.

Ever since the goblins had found out that Harry had some means of acquiring or making Divine Metals, they had been trying to get their hands on a contract for Harry to supply them with the processed metals. There had been almost an uproar when he had started to move some of his statue artworks into a high security vault to clear space in his workshop, both for what they were made of and their quality craftsmanship. One piece of Celestial Bronze the size of a terrier would be worth one hundred thousand Galleons in private sale, and more on auction. Something the size of Vashti was enough to give a goblin consecutive heart attacks just thinking about it.

Harry really didn't want to know what they'd do if they found out he could do jewellery too.

The gobliness made a high, sharp sound with her lips and teeth, eyes calculative as she nodded slowly. "I shall take your proposal to the Board. Come back tomorrow and we will sort out details."

Taking the dismissal, Harry nodded and left her office, the small female stalking along behind him to exit the office herself, only going down the hall, deeper into Gringotts, while he re-entered the main gallery.

Strolling out of the building, the Gorgon made a bee-line for a restaurant that did takeaway, mind ticking over what he needed to get done while he was on World's End, when the mirror locket thrummed against his chest.

Taking out the palm-sized pendant, he flipped it open to show Aniketos' seated fore-paws and a small group of young teenagers.

"Hello?" He inquired.

The girl at the front, maybe fourteen and of strong Spanish descent, very beautiful with lustrous black hair, big dark eyes and coffee-coloured skin, edged forward. "Hello?" There was that soothing note to her voice that said she was a Charmspeaker, so she was probably a daughter or legacy of either Venus or Aphrodite. "Aniketos…?" She looked hesitantly up at the large Beast, who presumably nodded. "Aniketos says that you have a place where we will be safe from monsters. Is it true?"

Harry didn't let the pain he felt in his chest show at the pathetically pleading despair in her face and voice, and on the faces of the three younger demi-gods crowding around her back. "That is correct. I am currently in the process of finding a larger, more stable place but my home is warded strongly enough that it would take genuine effort from a High monster to get in, and even then it will have to face the demi-gods and other beings who have taken sanctuary there." Harry grabbed a menu and leant against the open entry wall of the restaurant. "There are currently four other demi-gods there and a larger group of older and adult demi-gods will be arriving around lunch tomorrow. If you want to leave with the roving leader of that group, or go to one of the Camps, I won't stop you, but you will be as safe as is possible while in my home."

The girl looked like she was about to cry with relief. "Please…"

Harry nodded his consent. "That's fine. Do you know where you are and how long it will take you to reach Long Island, New York? If you are close enough, I can come and get you."

She looked a bit worried and had a quick whispered conversation with one of the others, who pulled out a map and compass. "We're in the Catskills Mountains, in Ulster Country. We're in a place called Phoenicia Black Bear Campgrounds. Will it take you long?"

Harry checked his time-piece. "Give me half an hour and I'll be there. I'll be able to zone in on Aniketos when I get closer."

"Thank you!" The words were almost a moan of relief and the four teenagers appeared to collapse onto one another.

Harry gave them a warm smile. "See you soon."

Closing the locket, he allowed himself to be the slightest bit dismayed that it was really this easy to find demi-gods, and so close to Camp Half-Blood, too.

Honestly, it was more than a little ridiculous how difficult satyrs found it to find them. If it continued like this, he was going to beat the ever-loving shit out of every satyr he came across for being what had to be wilfully incompetent.

Clicking his tongue, he moved forward to order dinner, knowing he would still have to brave a chemist or shopping centre for Thalia's feminine products before picking up the kids.

(space)

Thirty-five minutes later saw Harry scrambling up a mountain-side scree to reach the plateau he could feel his oldest son on, as well as the wafts of chocolaty demi-god scent.

Hauling himself over an edge, he suddenly found hands helping him up.

Straightening and dusting his jeans and flannel shirt off, he looked around at the six demi-gods. He'd apparently missed two when looking through the mirror as one, a seemingly normal, mortal girl of around twenty, had a set of twins of around two or three. She looked a bit more highly strung than the others, though as a teenaged mother of twin demi-gods, and likely to be able to see through the Mist as she was leaning against Aniketos, that was completely understandable.

Two of the boys appeared to be half-brothers, tall and broad-shouldered with dark hair and strong jaws, were around twelve and thirteen, and were each armed with knives, one Celestial Bronze and the other Imperial Gold. They'd been the ones to help him up.

The tall, beautiful girl he'd spoken to, he upped her age to fifteen, was wringing her hands and pacing worriedly, her lower lip thoroughly chewed nearly open.

The other was a girl of around nine with the same wide grey eyes as Annabeth, only with short black hair and a truly magnificent bruise down the left side of her face. She also seemed to be favouring that side of her body.

Harry hummed speculatively, before turning to the girl in charge. "I'm Harrier, or Harry. I'm in charge of the house until Home is finished being built and a proper council can be set up. And you are?"

The girl fidgeted anxiously, obviously having been stressed out for way too long. "I'm Ishbel Vedette, daughter of Venus. Nice to meet you." She sketched a small bow. "This is Tori Alexander, daughter of Athena," She gestured to the little girl. "Nathan Wall, son of Aries," The older boy. "And Daniel Meyes, son of Mars." The younger. Then the woman with the twins. "And this is Callie Troy and her children, Julien and Adrian, sons of Triton."

Harry vaguely remembered that Callie Troy was known as a long-distance swimmer and a known aquatic conservationist. But that wasn't what made him frown.

"Well, it's little wonder you haven't been picked up by a Camp by now. Romans and Greeks aren't supposed to be able to mix; the Mist should have prevented you meeting."

They all appeared to be shocked by that, but it was Tori who demanded "Why?"

Harry plopped down and made himself comfortable. "Because the Greek and the Roman Camps were on opposite sides of the Civil War, and that bred bad blood between the two. To keep their children from fighting, the gods pulled the Mist close so that Greeks and Romans essentially forgot about each other, and would be unable to interact unless brought into contact with one another by the gods. Even unclaimed as you are, you shouldn't be able to identify one another, let alone co-operate."

Harry clicked his tongue to his teeth. "Something to discuss with Hecate, I suppose."

"Mr Harry?" He turned to Callie, making an encouraging noise. "Triton mentioned the Mist, but he didn't really explain it. What is it?"

Harry sighed and tilted his head in thought. "It's hard to explain. The Mist is what keeps most normal humans from noticing monsters and demi-gods, but it can also be used for other things." He clicked his tongue again. "As I said, it's hard to explain and vague as hell, but some normal humans can see through the Mist, while the children of Hecate, who also the Goddess of Mist, can manipulate it. When we return to the house, one of the Nereids can probably explain it better." He felt he should bring it up later that demi-gods as young as the twins should not be releasing the scent of a fully-awakened demi-god until they were teenagers.

He hummed again, head tilting as he caught the sounds of something large moving down below. "We should go. I've got a portkey that can take us back home." He pulled out a rope as the children became aware that something was coming closer. "Are you coming?" He inquired of his son.

Aniketos shook his large head and stood as Callie and Ishbel picked up the twins. 'I was following the older scent of demi-gods when I crossed the newer scent trail of this group. I felt I should find this group since the trail was only a few hour old, and go back to the other trail when you came for them.'

He nodded. "Alright. Be safe." Aniketos slunk over the edge of the plateau in the opposite direction to the one the intruder was coming from. "Everyone, grab hold of the rope and keep a strong grip of the toddlers. The ride will be bumpy and we may fall a short distance to the ground when we arrive."

Everyone nodded and the portkey activated.

Moments later, a pair of centaurs leapt up onto the place the demi-gods were camping on, having been tracking to group for a while to take them to Camp Half-Blood.

They never did find out what happened to the group, but assumed an aerial monster got them.

Chapter Text

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

Margret Mead

When Harry woke the next morning, he was left wondering why he was sleeping in the back patio hammock with a toddler sprawled on his chest.

A glance out at the grey beach said it was still pre-dawn, so he was curious as to what it was that had woken him since the toddler, Danny if he recalled correctly, was dead asleep as only small children could be, and the birds were only just beginning to chatter over the shh-shh of the waves.

His glasses were still on, and he was still wondering how long it would take someone to ask about that, as he looked around, having not moved at all upon waking.

Moving his head a little like a sleeper shifting, he cast his gaze around the patio and caught sight of a tall man with green skin emerging from the water near the jetty, the Mist curling around to shield him from the scrutiny of normal humans.

His hair was dark, probably black, and he had a small beard. He was attractive in an old-style, ship's captain kind of way, and Harry could see that they shared the same jaw and cheek bones, even from this distance.

The god, presumably Triton, stopped at the edge of the house wards, frowning at the second floor, but not appearing to be willing to back down as he began gathering power to open a hole in the wards.

Frowning, Harry opened a hole in front of the god before one could be forced.

Warily, the god entered and approached the patio, watching Harry, obviously uncertain as to whether he was awake or not.

Harry, for his part, continued playing sleeper while watching the god creep up the stairs and across the patio, past the hammock and into the kitchen. It was only as Triton was passing the counter that Harry spoke.

"Here to see Callie and the twins?" Triton froze. "Upstairs, third door on the right. Remember to knock as the demi-gods they're rooming with are a little highly strung at the moment."

When it became apparent Harry was saying no more, Triton moved just a tint faster than before down the hall.

And Harry just smirked to himself. He did so love trolling people, but the chances to do so were so rare these days.

(space)

Harry was baby-sitting, having migrated onto the patio once again after everyone had woken.

Triton and Callie were still fooling around upstairs in the spa bath (which he was NOT cleaning, thank you very much), Luke, Nathan and Daniel were firmly locked in the library with its game console and various shoot-'em-up games, while the girls were all firmly camped out in the lounge room with a few of the Nereids who'd popped in again, watching chick flicks and sharing girl-talk.

He also wouldn't be surprised if the demi-gods had gotten together at some point in the night and traded experiences.

Danny was playing quietly with some large leggo blocks on the rug beside Harry, while Julien and Adrian were swimming around in a big plastic wading pool that came up to Harry's waist and was about eight feet across. Apparently, when they came into contact with water, they turned into little green merboys with two tails and patches of fish scales around their joints and curves.

They were playing what Harry could only assume was a childish rendition of 'Jaws' with the boats and rubber ducks he'd transfigured from junk in his garage and claimed he'd had in boxes.

Some of the duckies already had puncture wounds.

Tilting his head as a tingle went down his spine, Harry stood and looked in the direction of the people passing through his wards, despite knowing that they wouldn't arrive for another half hour.

Then he picked up Danny and went to do what he'd been putting off for most of the morning: transfiguring beds and futons in the garage.

It's not like the twins needed much chaperoning since they couldn't drown.

(space)

Harry let out a pathetic warbling sound into his couch cushion a week later, at least two small children sprawled across his back and a few more curled around him.

He didn't know what it was, but pre-adolescent demi-gods adored him. They left their beds in the night and came to cuddle up with him where he was bedded down on the third night on the lounge-room floor. To the distress of the highly strung demi-gods and parents with whom they should have been sleeping.

And Harry had decided that he really, really hated satyrs and their rampant incompetence.

There were forty-two demi-gods, twelve mortal parents and seventy-six legacies somehow camped out in his house, backyard and boathouse, and there were more than a hundred on their way from out of state.

The good news was that a large piece of land had been purchased from Canada, complete with a ghost town that was currently being fixed up and technologically updated. The delicate and complicated process of creating a Reality Marble of the size Harry wanted had begun and was partway through.

The bad news was that it wouldn't be done for another week, even with every goblin with experience with Reality Marbles being pulled from what they were doing to work on the project. Apparently the goblins really wanted those materials and that statue he'd put on offer.

Harry groaned again as he felt the tingle of three demi-gods crossing the boundary.

At least he'd managed to keep everyone out of his work room. Maybe he should invest in some more cabins and see if the Nereids would let some of the newcomers use the cabin he rented out to them.

(space)

The day before the Marble Reality of the place called Home was finished, Harry got his act together and departed to a vacant property in Greece for his Petitioning of Goddesses.

The first he chose to call was his great grandmother, Eris, Primordial Goddess of Discord and Strife.

The circle had arrows extending from the outer edge and pointing outwards in various directions. In the centre was a golden apple, a slinky and the little bronze idol of Eris around a bronze bowl, which he proceeded to bleed into and set on fire. It went multi-coloured.

The air was suddenly filled with the feel of the sound of laughter that only occurs when someone gets hurt in a humorous manner. Or they think is a humorous manner (Harry knew it hadn't been that funny, but watching Jackass had him in stitches to the point he had passed out from lack of oxygen).

Then She was there.

His first thought was that he had inherited Her killer's grin-smile-smirk. It was a fierce, joyous expression that conveyed glee and passion and teeth and you-just-gave-me-a-reason-you-twit.

Then his gaze expanded to Her dark red-wine-garnet eyes, Her pale-stone-chalk skin and sharp face, Her long black hair that flowed like water-cloud-Mist and with the texture soft, soft fur.

Her nihility-black toga was broached at the shoulders with tarnished silver and jet broaches and a girdle of similar make and style wrapped around Her slim waist. The toga itself was ankle length and slit all the way up the left side to the hip. The bottom was edged in silver and jet beads and filigree. The small sandals were black leather.

He mirrored Her smile back and She let out a ringing laugh like a civil brawl and alarm bells, pleased.

"Well met, My Legacy!" She chortled with the glee of a child wrapping cling-film over a toilet bowl. "What can I do you for, little catalyst?"

Holding back a sympathetic snigger, he responded. "I'm making a safe place for the children and descendants of gods and goddesses, since most are just left out to die. There are currently more than a hundred camping out on one of my properties and I only started looking a little less than a fortnight ago."

Her lips curled in a moue of disgusted resignation, murmurs of unrest in the background. "Some people should never breed." She wiggled Her nose. "Not that I don't appreciate the chance to visit my cutest little great grandbaby, but why me?"

Harry did a small, half-shrug. "Aside from being my closest godly relative, who would honestly want to go against a deity who could cause a twenty-year-war just by tossing a fruit at just the right moment, or ruin a supply train by removing a pebble from a landslide, causing that side to lose the war? You could be a very dangerous enemy or a coveted ally."

Eris was suddenly right up beside him, pressed against his side and playing with one of his 'braids'. "And what is in it for me, my precocious little catalyst?"

Harry leant away from Her slightly chill, lighter than the usual woman, body. "Worship? Adoration? Respect? More babies to seduce out of your choice of demi-gods? And you can stay in close contact with them since it will be outside the Olympian's purview?"

She narrowed Her eyes and pursed Her lips while in the background, there was the scream/chant of 'Revolution! Revolution!'. "Agreed."

She slipped away from Her descendant like Mist. "My siblings have, on occasion, called me disgustingly maternal." She gave Her killer's smile. "Call me when your 'Home' is complete."

Eris was gone in a whiff of greyish smoke.

And Harry realised he hadn't told Her what he had named the sanctuary.

His smile was a little sappy when he realised that maybe Eris really had been keeping an eye on Her children and descendants.

(space)

Hestia was over fast and pleasantly.

She was there and seated beside him as soon as the bonfire took; a little girl with glossy brown curls, a sweet smile and glowing eyes that reminded him of Vashti.

"Hello, Harry."

The young immortal blushed slightly under her gaze, feeling just a little like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Lady Hestia."

Her smile was fond. "Of course I agree to patron this sanctuary, Harry-dear. You've put a lot of thought and effort into this when you could have ignored the plights of my nieces and nephews, but you took it upon yourself at great personal cost."

His smile was bashful and pleased under her regard. "It's nothing. It should have been done long ago."

Hestia nodded, still smiling at him but her gaze distant. "Yes." She agreed. "It will be a Home they will never have to abandon or be pushed from. As the Last Olympian, what better place for me to patron than a place called 'Home'."

Harry's smile widened. "It probably helps that there is going to be a permanent bonfire at the centre of town the size of a caravan."

Hestia's happy laugh warmed him like he'd soaked in a steaming hot bath on a cold day.

(space)

Looking into Katie's smiling face, Harry felt just a little bit slow.

Katie was short for Hecate. Via was short for Trivia. And Enodia was one of the triple-goddess' more obscure names. And as for Hecate's Attic? It sat on a crossroads, frogs were one of her sacred animals and she was often depicted as carrying a torch.

"You make me feel slow." Harry informed her, pouting.

She laughed so hard she fell over backward, but ended up agreeing readily enough, promising to send all her mortal children his way, regardless of age or if they were in a Camp.

All ninety-two of them. Of both Greek and Roman persuasion.

(space)

To tempt Persephone, Harry had made a living metal plant of shimmering leaves and gem-dappled flowers. The flowers and leaves and even the stems would change depending on what metals it had been given to 'eat'. And if a flower was picked and planted, it would become a new plant.

The plant had just enough sentience to be incredibly vain and want to be 'pretty'. Like a fairy. It was able to mimic the shapes of flowers it could 'see' and wouldn't tolerate looking the same as others of its kind.

It currently had the appearance of a Stygian Iron rose bush with bright sapphire and amethyst roses, Celestial Bronze thorns and Imperial Gold-shot leaves. It was about waist high and in a shallow, blue-glazed pot packed with metal and gems.

Already the roses were beginning to develop ruby dew-like beading on their petals from the fist-sized ruby-veined rock he'd put in twenty minutes ago.

Persephone, Goddess of Spring, appeared in a suddenly grown patch of gold-green grass and a multitude of small wild-flowers.

Her eyes were the colour of every flower that ever existed, constantly shifting as they bloomed over one another in her irises. Her hair was long and gold-sheened black, warm, and in a massive braid woven with flowers and sprigs to her feet. Her long sundress was a pale green backdrop done over with blooming flowers of all species and genus', and her jewellery were blooming vines that shifted and bloomed like anemones. A wrap of painted silk hung over her arms and behind her back.

She looked at him, then at the potted metal plant.

Then she was beside the bush, fluttering around it like a large colourful butterfly.

Harry opened his mouth but was cut off. "Yes. I know. Hecate mentioned you might call upon me for your little 'Home' project. Give me this plant and a pretty shrine for offerings and you've got yourself a deal."

Harry shut his mouth and thought for a moment. "Do you want the shrine in metal, organics or a mix?"

The Spring Goddess stood, mouth twisting in thought and plant resting on her hip. "I'd have to see more of your work, but at the moment I'm leaning towards a mix."

The gorgon nodded understandingly, mind already flicking through what he'd already made and new designs, "Do you need my address and a time or do you want to wait until we've begun moving into Home?"

"Home should be fine." She paused and looked at her new (fabulous!) plant as it bloomed a particularly large rose of marbled ruby, sapphire and amethyst edged in bright, silvery Stygian Iron just for Persephone.

She plucked it with no problem and arranged the bloom at place of pride at the top fold of her massive braid. "Do you mind if I tell my husband?"

"Go for it, but please reframe from mentioning anything to anyone outside the Underworld Pantheon. They can be over-the-top prima donnas and I don't particularly want either myself or those under my care to be smited."

Eyebrows went up and lips quirked. "True that. I've always liked how reasonable Hades can be compared to his siblings."

"Well, he is the eldest brother. I've found that Lady Hestia is similarly reasonable."

Persephone smiled. "She is my favourite aunt."

Harry and Persephone smiled at one another, in complete understanding.

It was the beginning of a reasonably pleasant friendship.

(Though it probably helped that Harry reminded her of her husband in both looks and smile.)

(space)

The gorgon tilted his head, trying to identify the face looking back at him, surrounded by blue-black curls. He failed.

Nemesis pulled a drag of smoke from her cigarette, unbothered as she leans against a motorbike in jeans and a bright red leather jacket, observing him with the face of an overweight man with sallow skin, large teeth and squinty, rat-like eyes.

It was a little odd on top of a curvaceous woman's body.

Her face shifted again to the eighth face in the last five minutes.

Harry tilted his head curiously. He didn't know this face either.

"So?"

The voice was low and a little rough, but still obviously a woman's.

"Hmmm. Sorry. It's just that I don't know who the faces you're showing me belong to. Are they people I want revenge upon, or do they want revenge upon me?"

Nemesis blinked and blew a stream of smoke out the side of her mouth in thought. "People upon whom you want vengeance. You may not know who they are, or even their names, but they have done you wrong, you know that they have done you wrong, and you want them to pay for the wrong they have done you."

She drew a puff again and gave him a lazy stink-eye. "I had such high hopes for you, too. All those people you could have destroyed in my name, and you ran off and abandoned them, instead." Puff, blow. "Though, I suppose that could be a kind of revenge."

Harry just shrugged non-committedly.

The Goddess of Revenge eyed him dispassionately for a few more moments, not appearing to be in much of a hurry. "So… What do you want?"

"Have you heard about this sanctuary I'm setting up, yet?"

She shrugged and puffed. "There are whispers amongst the Lesser Gods and Primordials. Something about a place for demi-gods outside the machinations of the Olympians."

Harry nodded agreeably. "You are one of five Goddesses outside of the Olympians I chose to ask for patronage. Someone to oversee the justice system would be nice. And you would have your own shrine or temple made to your specifications."

"And I wouldn't already rule revenge there, why?"

Harry quirked a half-smile. "Reality Marble."

Nemesis nodded. "That'd do it."

(space)

On the way home, the young gorgon swung by a shopping centre and did his best to ignore the stares he was getting for the two dozen loafs of bread, five kilos of shaved ham, five kilos of corned beef and fifteen packets of frozen chips. Two dozen bottle of various soft drinks and a 24-pack of assorted yogurts for the toddlers and babies were added just in case.

It was only as he was going through the check-out that he noticed the tall, dark man in the black suit waiting for him on a bench, people flowing around him without noticing.

The man appeared to have similar cheek bones, lips and eyebrows to Harry, so Harry had to wonder…

What exactly did Lord Hades want?

Or was it Pluto? He could never tell which aspect he was talking to until they introduced themselves.

Chapter Text

"If you talk to God you're religious. If God talks to you, you're psychotic." - House, House MD

Parking the trolley beside the bench, Harry flopped down beside the Ghost King, who, for his part, was watching him from the corner of his eye, head tilted slightly. This close, he could smell the slightest scent of myrrh and the ashy waft of funeral incense combined with cold stone.

Harry tilted his head back.

"So? What can I do you for?" And, no, that was not a slip of the tongue. It was just an older way of asking what someone wanted. He had both picked it up from Nana Em and continued to use it since it was a little thing that would identify him as not-quite as young as he was by forty to eighty years.

The God of the Underworld continued to watch him with black eyes for a moment before looking away to the flow of people around them. "Curiosity, mostly." Instantly, Harry identified the God's voice with chocolate, specifically Cadbury's. "Not many Immortals like demi-gods, and fewer would stick their necks out to help them."

Harry just hummed non-committedly, the sound vibrating in his chest.

"I doubt any of the Olympian Gods know what it's like to be raised for the sole purpose of dying for something they never really had a choice in believing in." Ignoring the curious and inquiring look from the God, Harry changed the subject. "Not to be rude, but which aspect are you? Some Immortals get touchy when I address the wrong person."

The God's lips quirked wryly. "I am Hades. Pluto is a bit more stiff and reserved." His eyes followed a happy family, smiling softly, which encouraged Harry to bring up something he'd learnt two days previously.

"You know," Hades tilted his head back towards the Immortal in acknowledgement. "Brona Holmes is still alive."

There was a stillness in the God before he began smiling painfully. "I was worried when she didn't enter the Underworld after she disappeared. I thought one of my brothers did something." Harry nodded in understanding. It was completely understandable. "She must be over ninety by now. How is she?"

A group of school kids ran past, laughing, as he answered. "She married a son of Hephaestus, Cor MacDougal, and they had three children, who each married demi-gods and their children married demi-gods. Her eldest great-grandchildren from her daughter's daughter are throwbacks to your legacy. Their names are Corvis and Elenora, and they are nineteen and eighteen respectively. The entire clan is preparing to move into Home with the additional hundred-odd demigods and assorted legacies they gave sanctuary to over the years. Mostly adults who've left the Camps."

The relieved and attentive expression on Hades' face morphed into a slight frown. "Camps?"

The gorgon nodded understandingly. "The Mist has been parting for the last thirty-odd years. Many demi-gods who disappear but don't die, disappear from Godly senses because they come into contact with members of the other Pantheon, so they no longer fall under either Pantheon's purview. Did you know there are already nearly three hundred people of godly descent waiting for Home to finish?"

Hades' eyebrows shot up and he actually turned to face Harry rather that tilt to glance at him. "Truly? I hope this 'Home' is large enough to house them then. Have you taken into consideration any further generations that will continue coming?"

The gorgon grimaced a little in memory. "So long as we have the power to feed the Barrier, we can make the Marble as large as we like, though we will have to move dirt and water in to fill the spaces. At the moment, there is enough room for at least two thousand people to live comfortably. It was very expensive." Harry confided.

Hades hummed, still watching the other male with a great deal of interest. "How, exactly, are you paying for the construction?"

Harry considered how to answer the question for a bit before answering, aware that the God's gaze grew more intense the longer he thought about it.

"I work metal." He eventually answered. "I'm informed my workmanship is exceptional and my materials are high quality. Especially the Divine Material works I've done. The Gem-Studded Mare is my eldest daughter."

Hades' eyebrows were hitched right up and looked to be staying there for the honeymoon. "Huh." He turned back to facing forward and churned the information around in his head for a long while, Harry absently cleaning grime from the tiny scratches in his Celestial Bronze finger points, but appearing to be picking at the fingernails he no longer had to the rest of the world.

Running his tongue over his still-human molars, hands quivering with premonition, Harry decided to bring up something that would really torque off the Big Three, and do something about the over-all demi-god mortality rate.

"On the subject of children," The God turned his attention back to the shorter Immortal he was beginning to suspect was his descendant, eyebrows raised in inquiry. "Can you see about putting a child-cap on the Goddess of Wisdom? She pops out demi-god babies like whoa, then abandons them to their mortal 'fathers'" Here, Harry made air-quotes. "Whether they want them or not. Then she makes no attempt to help the majority of them and they end up making up a significant percentage of the demi-god mortality rate." Harry wiggled back up straighter, hands flying as he spoke. "And I'm not talking 'birthing' one or two a year. It's more like twelve-to-sixteen a year on average."

Hades' head snapped around. "WHAT?!"

Harry flinched and the surrounding humans shrieked in terror as the earth abruptly heaved beneath them in response to the God's use of his Godly Voice. In the distance, part of a mountainside gave way onto a highway.

The burning black eyes and twisted snarl levelled at him reminded Harry that Gods were still very much not human, no matter how well they played the part.

"And How Do You Know This?"

The furious Voice gave the listener the impression of being buried alive, apt given who the God was and the likely fate of the poor souls caught under that landslide.

Knuckles and lips white, Harrier caller upon his monster heritage to remain in place and sane as he felt the glamours and Mist fall away, his snakes still and cowering tight against his nap.

His voice, when he managed to choke out a reply, was gravelly with a hiss like steam in the undertone. "I received the statistics from the Fates when I bought fruit from their stand two days ago. I go every week, so they don't mind answering questions as long as I don't ask about specific living people or the future."

Hades stood with a bestial snarl and vanished, the earth smoothing out with a tired shudder.

Heaving a fortifying breath, Harry reapplied his glamours and Mist, pried his grip from the bent bars in the trolley's side and apparated back to his house in Montauk.

He said nothing to the worried Nereid's and quickly abandoned the food to them to retreat to his workroom for the rest of the night.

(space)

The next morning was miserable as a terrible storm had taken over the sky and the oceans were throwing the mother of all hissy fits. Landslides around the world were abundant, as were tsunamis and hurricanes and tornados, despite the latter two being out of season.

Harry wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing that Eris had blown into his workroom and smothered him with affection and gifts, laughing about how very proud of him She was, before leaving as quickly as She came.

And, seriously? What was he supposed to do with a rainbow sparkle unicorn kitten with butterfly wings? The only thing giving away its origin were its bright red eyes. It was creepy.

It was genderless, so Harry just called it Sparkles and tossed it to the kids. The horrified look Sparkles gave him was hilarious.

(space)

Everyone was honestly glad to move into the Reality Marble with its fair weather.

Of course, Harry, some of the Nereids and a number of adult demi-gods had gone in first and scouted the edges and town itself before letting anyone move in.

It was a mix of prairie and forest, the air clear and slightly chill, with a three hills complete with steams. Apparently, the most fiddly part of making a functioning Reality Marble was getting the water system just right to cycle water up from the lake the town was built on to the tops of the streams and into the weather system.

This town was, apparently, built on the lake and river for the sake of trout and salmon fishing, and when the fishing began drying up, the townspeople left. And now the goblins had messed with the salmon and trout life-cycle to make them live and spawn within the Marble Reality.

Most of the housing had been knocked down to make way for three large, sprawling square dormitories, each with a recreational courtyards. One, dubbed the Aniketos Dorms, had a training grounds with a small pool on the side. The second dorms, the Aleta Dorms, had a large garden and greenhouse, and was where Persephone's new Shrine/Temple was set to be built. The third dorms, the Alasd Dorms, had smithies, potteries and other workshops put in.

All the dorms were made of good-quality white-washed sandstone in the 1850's style with many exquisite stone-masonry embellishments, and flat roof gardens for relaxation. Each were three stories tall and held sixty single rooms per floor, not including common rooms and kitchens.

Off to the side were cottages for family housing, also made with white-washed sandstone, but with thatching over tarred timber roofing.

A large cafeteria/marketplace was set up beside the lake in the middle of the dorms with a glass canopy for when it rained. And, as promised, there was a massive fire-pit, town fountain-sized, in the centre with elegant flame maidens of fire-proof bronze twinning themselves through the protective grating and around the modest Shrine to Hestia.

There were 'shops' around, and other things a burgeoning town need, so Harry was pretty happy.

His own house, an elegant, two story building, was off to the side of town right on the water. All he really cared about was the awesome workshop they'd put in for him, not to mention the modern indoor-outdoor pool taking up half the bottom floor.

Nemesis' Shrine/Temple was, predictably, in the courthouse/council chambers off the cafeteria.

Hecate's Shrine/Temple sat in the middle of a roundabout at the only crossroads in town, where the three dorms met and continued into the town centre.

Oddly enough, Eris had forgone the offered training grounds and chosen to have her Shrine/Temple dead-smack in the road between the half-circle of Doors and the town of Home as a kind of second defence against invasion. She was already getting offerings of thanks as a protective deity, despite her Shrine not being finished yet.

Each Goddess had been given one of the Doors to guard, and with which they could come and go as they pleased, each door designed to their liking by Harry before they were bound to the Marble Reality and, as requested, the Goddess could just pick up the mobile Doors and move them on a whim. The only request Harry made before giving them the Doors was that, if asked by Harry or more than three of the council, they would go and let in stranded demi-gods.

Of the Doors, there was the black and purple Anarchy Door of Eris, the Meadow Door wreathed in colourful metal flowers for Persephone, the bronze Flame Door in a bed of red-crystal flames for Hestia, the Witch's Arch for Hecate that kept changing shape aside from the dog's head doorknocker, and the Judgement Gate for Nemesis, which wouldn't let through any who held malicious intent in their hearts or minds.

The three Doors Harry kept under his own control were the Sea Gate, which was an actually iron-rout gate with stone pillars he kept in his backyard on Earth for the Nereids to come and go through, as well as the majority of the demi-gods still coming. The second was the Sun Gate, which he intended to pass off to one of his next children as soon as they were 'born', as well as the Moon Gate, which would go to the child after that. It would be the jobs of the Gate Guardians to wander America to seek out demi-gods and bring them to safety.

Harry, feeling particularly vindictive against the Sun and Moon deities, had their appearances and names all picked out.

He could admit to not being very happy when Vashti wandered in sheepishly while everyone was moving into the Marble, only to admit she'd met an interesting stallion down south, and might possibly be pregnant.

He could also have done without know the 'interesting' stallion was a carnivore.

Chapter Text

"I miss you...but my aim is improving." Mandy

Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy Wii Game

Apparently, the Big Three were very unhappy with Athena.

They seldom had children compared to most of the others, even before the Oath, so officially they were insulted that Athena was flaunting her ability to create children in their faces, then losing interest until they were of use to her.

Unofficially, Hades was a devoted, loving father, Poseidon was the father who loved his children but was never there and overcompensated with lavish gifts, while Zeus was the workaholic father who loved in a distant fashion because he didn't know how to interact well with children. But they still loved and could each remember the names, appearances and many personal details of their deceased children even after thousands of years.

Then it came out that, if Athena ever had her powers sealed or cut off from the outside world for even a fraction of an instant, every one of her children would die because they were 'incomplete' people kept in existence by her power, and if that power was taken away, only their father's half would remain and wouldn't be enough to keep them alive. The children's children would also have around a 98 percent mortality rate, with their children's children having less than a 20 percent chance of survival and so on down the line, with all the 'survivors' being mentally and internally crippled in various horrendous ways. And when they meant 'all the way down the line', they meant 'all the way down the line' as the Godly 'gene' never fully faded out even after twenty to thirty generations.

Harry supposed that's what came from making children from 'thoughts' and turning up one's nose at the Natural Order As Ordained By Chaos.

What it came down to, as told to Harry by a distressed Hestia, was that Athena and Minerva were forbidden from having any more children for another thousand years, and even then, she was only allowed to have three a year produced the natural way, which would remove her title of Virgin Goddess.

Apparently, even Hera was disgusted with Athena's excesses, and she threw her child off Olympus hoping he would die. Not even Hephaestus, the said child, was talking to her anymore.

Athena nearly lost her Throne in the upheaval and had run off to her Temple to sulk.

When all was said and done, the final number of children the so-called Goddess of Wisdom had had in the last one hundred years was a staggering one thousand, eight hundred and eighty-two children.

In the same time period, there were only records for one hundred and eighty-six having made it to Camp Half-Blood.

The news made Harry so sick to his stomach that he sacrificed a black snakeskin and Stygian Iron spiked whip to Nemesis with the request that she make Athena suffer as the children she abandoned suffer/ed.

He then curled up in his Home workshop and immersed himself in his work, pausing only when he heard the Goddess chuckled breathily in his ear and murmur, "If you keep this up, I may have to start making sacrifices to you to keep up with the balance of dept."

When he was sure she was gone, he continued with the statue he was working on.

(Space)

The Guardian of the Sun Gate was named Daphne.

Made from a single, faultless piece of solid white marble traded from Persephone for a metal songbird to follow her around and sing to her, Daphne was a young girl-woman with a curvy form, elegant hands and a smiling, heart-shaped face with tumbling Imperial Gold ringlets to below her hips.

Her skin was dusted with powdered diamond and mother-of-pearl to give her a luminescent shine, with wire-thin lines of Imperial Gold curling across her skin in a mix of vaguely Arabesque, Abstract and Alchemic stylizations of suns and laurel leaves. On her face, her lips were dusted with gold in the same shades as her long hair, thin eyebrows and thick eyelashes, as hair-thin lines gave her the appearance of a drawn-on mask of laurel leaves and meaningless tendrils or vines.

Her eyes were vivid black onyx without sclera, and quite large and almond-shaped.

Once finished, he covered her form in a tunic-length pure white toga with golden broaches and a girdle, all studded with pearls and sunstones. A white-gold laurel headband and knee-length sandals were set aside for her birth. He weapon was a long thin staff with a stylized sun/mace head on the end and etched with, again, laurels.

The Sun Gate was a golden laurel tree on a white marble backdrop with a sparkling crystal sun caught in the branches. Like the original Daphne, his daughter would live in the tree, sleeping until awakened, and only she could open the Door. It could not be forced.

Unlike her beast-shaped siblings, she was as sex-less as a Barbie doll. Harry didn't want her either being distracted from her duty or raped by an admirer, but he left her with the promise that if she ever truly fell in love, he would change her so she had the appropriate sexual organs.

And since her face and shape was identical in all but colour and patterns to the original Daphne, it was possible Apollo might try for her attentions.

On the other side of things, the Guardian of the Moon Gate was named Hippolytus, after Artemis' favoured disciple and the son of Theseus.

Whom she allowed Aphrodite to dishonour and kill.

While initially Harry was considering using obsidian, it was deemed too fragile and likely to shatter, while it would take too long to find a piece of black onyx large enough to shape, so he had to settle on black marble.

The marble was rubbed in ground black pearl of varying types and black diamond dust for a softer, slightly greyish sheen with pin-pricks of light. Stygian iron, polished to a silvery sheen, was, like his sister, used to draw shapes into his form, only of stylised moons, from crescent to full, across his skin, entwined by lengths of moonflowers and prancing deer.

The contrast of his long, straight, bright silver hair and full silvery lips on such dark skin was both striking and beautiful, his mask a pair of outward-facing crescents at the corners of his eyes, silvery feather-patterned eyeshadow and a large, stylized crescent above his eyes like a cradle, stylized vines swirling around and forming a moonflower in the cradle of the crescent.

He was tall and leggy, again made in the form of the original Hippolytus, with smooth muscles and elegant hands. Overall, he was of similar appearance to Harry had he been taller, only in black and silver, and slightly effeminate.

Like Daphne, his eyes were large and almond-shaped, only his eyes were smooth white pearls as bright as her own were black, each the size of bantam eggs.

He was just sexless as his sister was, for similar reasons, and he would similarly receive his male-parts if he ever fell in love.

His form, Harry dressed in a tunic-length inky-black toga with silver broaches and a silvery silk tasselled rope, all studded with black pearls and white diamonds. A silver and onyx hair clasp was made to hold his hair back and knee-length sandals were set aside for his birth.

He was also gifted with an oversized composite bow with arms that sharpened to bladed edges on the front for if he wanted to whack someone with it. Scrolling down the sides of the bow were moonflower vines, and the arrows were all alder wood fletched with harpy feathers (donated by the harpy sisters who had moved into Home with their male chick), and tipped with Divine Metal-studded diamond heads. The arrows were charmed to return to their quiver a minute after they stop moving.

The Moon Gate was black marble with the door arch overgrown with greened copper vines and bright silver moonflowers. The black doors were studded with diamond 'stars' and a crystal 'moon' over a hillside of elegant silver lines representing 'grass' ending in a cliff over a silver 'sea', 'waves' crashing upon 'rocks' at the bottom. Like Daphne, only Hippolytus could open the doors, and he slept in an entanglement of moonflower vines against one of the gate pillars.

Finally, once Harry was finished with his two new children, but before he 'awakened' them, he considered that they might get lonely, so he gave Daphne a golden songbird and a golden cat, while Hippolytus was given a silver fawn and a silver Lurcher hound. None of the four pets were truly 'alive' like Harry's children would be, but they were given a kind of 'intelligence', and his children would be able to see and hear through them.

Deciding to take a break before he began exsanguinating himself, Harry wandered into town, specifically the burgeoning marketplace around Hestia's Hearth.

(space)

Several hours later, Harry was still luxuriating in the heat of the massive fire, sometimes discussing things with the people who came over to him and often just listening to the hubbub around him, when Thalia Grace spotted him and came over, Danny, the little boy with the missing eye and hand resting on her hip. The grapevine said the daughter of Zeus had pretty much adopted him and he lived in her small cottage with Thalia, Annabeth and Luke by the Aleta Dorms.

Harry smiled as the now cheerful and healthily glowing girl dropped down on the bench across from him, bouncing cheerfully and grinning, obviously having just come from the vegetable gardens they'd set up from the look of her.

"Hey there, boss-man! How ya doin'?"

"I'm well, Thalia. Are you settling in alright?" Harry inquired as Danny wiggled free and crawled onto the gorgon's lap.

The girl nodded happily. "It's been great! We have our own permanent place and there are no monsters around. We even get to eat three times a day, which is awesome." Harry nodded along, letting the toddler play with his hands, as the girl happily rambled on about what she had been doing, occasionally breaking in with a query or comment.

It was after she petered out and happily stared over the demi-gods and legacies moving around Home that Harry carefully broached the subject that most demi-gods avoided.

"I know this is a sensitive subject, but do you have any family you would like to contact or bring to Home?"

Thalia's lips pressed together and she avoided looking at him. "My mum's a drunk. All she ever cared about was my father when I was growing up. She's probably happier without me."

Harry hummed. "I noticed you're good with small children and know how to care for them. Did you have any siblings?"

The girl flinched, lip trembling as she turned her gaze to her lap. "My little brother, Jason." She bit out bitterly. "We had both the same parents. Hera stole him and I never found out what she did to him."

"Alright." Harry pulled her into a side hug. "Do you want me to find out what she did?"

Thalia hesitated then nodded, taking a deep breath. The gorgon changed the subject.

"So, is there anything you want to do when you grow up? Some of the human parents are teachers and are setting up a school here. Officially you'll be home-schooled, but you can still do online courses for university or college when you get older."

Thalia gave him a shaky smile and rubbed her eyes. "Yeah. I wanted to be a police officer when I was little, but there's not much call for it here. Maybe a combat instructor?"

Harry smiled. "You can be a police officer if you want. We will eventually need to expand our network outside Home to find new demi-gods. A police officer who can see through the Mist would be able to help any demi-gods, or even normal humans, in the event of monster attacks, homicides, kidnappings or even just runaways."

The teenager looked at him askance. "Really?"

"Really really."

The smile she gave was bright. "Thanks."

After she bounced off with the now napping Danny, Harry tilted his head to look at Hestia, who had been tending the flames a few metres to the side.

"Could you…?"

The girl-woman nodded, a frown marring her face. "I will see what I can do."

(space)

About two weeks after everyone had settled into Home, Harry took a number of parents and older demi-gods born on farms or ranches to the stockyards for cattle (both dairy and meat), sheep, ducks and chickens, and some milking goats.

Twelve overall, they were split into pairs and sent off with a Goblin who would pay for the purchases and transport the livestock to Home.

Harry, himself, split off with an older legacy whose father had been a son of Poseidon back in the 20s to look at horses to be used for mustering the cattle from the hills around Home during the monthly health and stock checks, as well as some leisure or cavalry types. At the last minute, there was also some requests for cold-bloods to pull the ploughs and turn the mill from the Agriculture Committee since they were trying to limit machinery, and thus air pollution, within the Marble Reality.

He ended up buying several young former-mustang mares, two young Nokota fillies from excess stock, an older Australian Quarter Horse stallion for breeding, a few mixed-breed geldings of good conformation and what Xion, the demi-god, reported to having identified herself as a Florida Cracker Horse who had been inherited by a grandchild of her now deceased former owner and who didn't understand that the grullo mare's breed was rare and endangered, so was selling her as merely a stock horse. She was about middle aged, but still young enough to foal without issue, and she loved herding and didn't mind children. These ten would be the foundation stock for the working horses for the stockhands, and would be bred by both the stallion and outside breeders while the geldings worked.

A further ten mares, both horses and larger ponies, were chosen for the leisure riding, while ten Standardbred mares and two stallions, four Thoroughbred mares and a stallion, and a Frisian-cross-Thoroughbred colt (apparently a whoops foal and barely weaned) were picked out as cavalry stock. Four big draught horses, two geldings and two mares, and a set of four Fell Ponies (three sisters and a gelding brother) were picked for the Agriculture Committee.

At the end of the three days, about five hundred animals had been bought and then were ghosted into Home through the new Moon and Sun Gates under the curious and amused gazes of their new Guardians.

Hestia was delighted when Harry presented her with the two last minute, surprise pets he'd saved from the knackery.

Two grey donkeys named Big Hoss and Chumly were thereafter permanent fixtures around town.

Chapter Text

Being an adult is mostly being exhausted, wishing you hadn't made any plans and trying to figure out how the fuck you hurt your back. -Unknown

Richard Ryder was a big man who reminded Harry quite strongly of Riddick from the movie 'Pitch Black' and the following sequels.

He was heavily muscled, bald, darkly tanned and with intense violet eyes the colour of flowers of the same name.

Harry was under the impression that many people, humans and monsters both, mistook him for a bruiser or brawler. He probably could be those things, but he was by no means slow or stupid. He was actually very fast and intelligent, with a talent for stealth and evasion.

Another assumption was that he was a child of Aries or Mars, or possibly one of their godly progeny.

Richard was actually a son of Dionysus.

That startled the heck out of Harry when he heard from Eris, who appeared to be quite fond of the man. As a side note, Harry would be very unsurprised if Richard was seen wandering around with a baby-harness in a year or so, since he was sometimes seen chatting up the Primordial Goddess.

Aside from his obvious survival skills and combat capability, Richard had all the basic demi-god abilities like seeing through the Mist and being both stronger and faster than normal humans, as well as a strong inclination towards the 'Wilderness' aspect of Dionysus' powerbase and the ability to inflict temporary insanity on anything he could touch skin-to-skin with a disorder of his choice.

Asher, who stood beside him, was a complete opposite of the taller male, and not just because he was pale-haired and –eyed.

Asher was beautifully androgynous as opposed to Richard's strongly male attractiveness, with a tumble of almost cream-coloured blond hair in loosely curling waves to the small of his back as opposed to the other man's baldness.

He was smooth ivory-skin, long dark eyelashes, elegant eyebrows and kissable lips. He was elegant, long-fingered hands, legs that went for miles, a voice like sunlight and bedroom eyes of black-ringed gold. He was, to all appearances, the epitome of what it meant to be a child of Cupid.

On the inside, however, he took strongly after his demi-god mother, who happened to be a daughter of a Makhai and an assassin, and so he was more than a little morally ambiguous and knew who to kill or sabotage to get the maximum amount of chaos in exactly the right way to go along with his agenda. And he delighted in it.

He had been so bad as an adolescent that he was thrown out of Camp Jupiter and Cupid had been told that if he didn't control his spawn that Jupiter would personally smite the boy. The last thing Cupid had done before washing his hands of his son was point Discordia in Asher's direction.

And he had been Her devoted High Priest and Champion ever since.

Asher was also one of the rare demi-gods who, while still mortal, was just Immortal enough to cease aging at adulthood and not die of old age. Most with the potential never made it that far, so Asher, being nearly five hundred, was a testament to how powerful, intelligent and tenacious he was.

And his gold-tipped black wings were rather aesthetically pleasing to Harry's artistic eye.

"So…will you do it?" Harry inquired.

Asher's mouth curved into a vicious smile that was far too wide and showed far too many teeth. "And miss the chance to cause chaos for the orderly Romans and stick it to the Ju-jus? Of course I'll do it."

Richard chortled. "Ju-jus?"

Asher quirked a smile back. "Well, they are married and do have names starting with 'Ju'."

"Fair enough." The bigger man nodded agreeably. He flashed a grin that had Asher responding with a genuine, though mischievous, smile. "When do we start?"

Harry had the horrible feeling that an unholy alliance was in the works.

(space)

Hips, dubbed so by his sister Daphne, hovered in the shadows of an overhang in a hillside, his bright hair, eyes and markings shimmering much more dimly in the gloom than if he were out in the moonlight, which would have lit him up in a luminous white haze.

Distantly, he could hear the racket of the wolves of Lupa and the raucous laughter of Discordia's Priest.

Hips wasn't very old, but, like all his siblings, he had an inherited understanding of the world, so he knew why he was without genitalia and why he was created, and, though he was more that capable (even encouraged) to his own opinions, he was inclined to agree that stealing a child from their family as 'payment' was especially cruel, even more so in that the child was innocent of any wrongdoing.

Hips found the idea of any sentient being considered 'property' repugnant.

He hadn't had any problem with this rescue mission, seeing as he had met Thalia and her small group with whom she lived, and found her to be a truly motherly girl, despite her young age. He had already offered his assistance as a babysitter to Thalia for Jason and Danny, as well as for the twins of Triton and so many other young demi-gods and legacies in the crèche and while parents or siblings were working to better Home in the fields or trades or classes slowly taking form.

It gave Hips a warm feeling when Father smiled at him with affection and pride for how he applied the life Father had given him.

He knew Father had made him to be a Guardian and Protector of the Moon Gate, but he never made any attempt to deter his only humanoid son from his parental tendencies.

Feeling a nudge from his Fawn extension, Hips viewed through its eyes and found that the Fawn was in the presence of a golden doe, who was attempting to mother it.

Sighing, Hips called it back, and reached out to the silver Lurcher, who was sitting by the path that Richard and Jackie would be coming down with the six-to-seven year old stolen child.

He was not expecting seven children and four teenagers to be following the two older demi-gods.

Hips called his Gate, the waves crashing and the grass swaying in the mural as the moonflowers bloomed in glowing silvery light.

The Fawn tottered into the clearing with the golden doe behind it.

Clicking his tongue, Hips opened the gate and sent the Fawn and its mothering celestial doe through it. He just didn't have the time to chase off Artemis' deer at this point with the group of demi-gods less than a minute away.

The small group bound up the trail after the Lurcher and Richard shuffle the group through after Jackie, only to stay with Hips as they waited quietly for the mischievous demi-god to catch up.

Richard was moving before Hips even noticed the incoming body falling from above.

There was an 'oof!' and then Richard was dashing past through the Gate in a flurry of pale hair and feathers.

The Gate closed and began fading just in time to avoid the wolves slamming into the rock-face the door had melted into.

(space)

Discordia hovered over Her Champion as the children of Apollo moved around him as they healed the damage done by the wolves of Lupa.

To be honest, he looked more like he'd been mauled by werewolves than by the divine protectors of the Roman demi-gods. And She would be getting revenge on the mongrels for this. They knew Asher was Her Priest and that he was forbidden from doing anything more than harmless pranks on Wolf House and its inhabitants.

Seething, She sent one of her Makhai to enlist the assistance of Nemesis, and another to lodge a complaint with Pluto since Jupiter didn't care about the Darker Gods and Goddesses.

Perhaps Her cute little serpent would help Her since he had asked Her Asher to assist his operation. And dear Richard deserved a reward for acting so quickly to save her Priest. Had Asher hit the ground, his already devastating injuries would have been worsened by at least threefold.

(space)

"Because I'm weak! The wolves would have killed me within the week if Richard hadn't come when he did!"

Harry sighed and moved away from where Xion was questioning the eldest of the Roman demi-gods Richard had brought back.

The son of Venus was saying nothing that Harry hadn't heard from the other teenaged Romans, and all of the adult Romans had horror stories of their time at Wolf House and later at Camp Jupiter. Stories about callous loss of life during war games and 'euthanizing' demi-gods who were crippled during training. Many lost siblings, and one, an identical triplet, had lost his first brother to the wolves and the other to the first wargame they were commanded to take part in within the first week there with minimal training. Both were senseless deaths and he was punished for grieving for 'the weak'. He'd left after that, saying he'd rather take his chances with the monsters who looked like monsters than the ones who claimed a false safe haven.

That Roman demi-god was the eight-six year old Nova Jones, son of Jupiter, who was now teaching Thalia how to use her powers.

There was something really fucked up about the Romans, but just the Romans that made it to Wolf House and Camp Jupiter, the others were strongly inclined to orderly structure and patterns of behaviour bordering on obsessive compulsive disorder, but otherwise normal.

The Greek demi-gods, though infinitely more humane, were mostly blinded to normal humans and tended to obsess about status and popularity. They were more unstructured and preferred small groups and pairs as opposed to the larger groups of their counterparts.

Even now, groups who had travelled together for years tended to split off into Greek and Roman groups now they were in a bigger whole. They could work together in small groups with minimal problems, but drifted apart again when outside the groups.

Harry had a sinking feeling that he'd have to do something before the segregation became something to worry about.

(space)

It was five months after Home set up that the first satyr came sniffing around.

Five. Months.

Harry beat the adult satyr with a shovel and told him and his to keep out of his territory, that the demi-gods entering his territory were none of his business and if the satyrs really cared, then why were there adult demi-gods still running around, having never met a satyr in their lives.

According to Hestia, it was brought before the Olympians and, with a quick audit of births and deaths of demi-gods, a discrepancy of more than a thousand demi-gods popped up.

The number of incoming demi-gods had ebbed off in the last two months, but some were still wandering in, and his children had begun wandering into Canada and Middle America when they couldn't find any more in the USA.

Funnily enough, there were even a few Norse, Shinto, Indian and Celtic demi-gods wandering in. All of these demi-gods were knowledgeable of their powers and had good relationships with their godly parents.

Harry sighed and continued working on the obsidian stag with golden antlers, hooves and eyes. That golden doe was just so lonely, so he had made another two does to keep her company.

One was made from silver and sapphire, and another from gold and emerald. The doe was happier already and had resisted all attempts to be chased out a Gate.

Hips still didn't have his Fawn back, though.

Chapter Text

[Billy has just learned of Skarr's past]

Billy: That story was so beautiful, it gave me gas. [farts] But don't you ever miss your old job?

General Skarr: [fondly] Miss commanding regimented forces of destructive power? As we encircle the globe with our terrible iron fists of might? [raising his voice and slowly becoming more maniacal] Crushing down all the pathetic fools who dared stand before us? Gorging our bellies on their cries for mercy, until at last, I ALONE STAND AS THE GLORIOUS DARK LORD OF ALL THE KNOWN UNIVERSE?! [gasps for breath before suddenly calming down] Not at all. Don't miss it.

From The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy

Harry absently scritched and scratched around Hoss the Donkey's ears as the small equine closed his eyes and leant into the monster's left side, under his arm, lower lip quivering in ecstasy. On Harry's right side, he was once again babysitting Callie's twins while Triton visited, as well as a further eight children under five and so too young for schooling or work.

They were seated in the gardens in the Aleta Dorms courtyard, most of the children drowsing in the shade in a grassy clearing or playing quietly while the twins chased a school of large koi fish in a sun dappled pool nearby, requiring Harry to keep an eye of the other children so they didn't try to join the semiaquatic toddlers.

Somewhere deeper into the gardens, he could hear the sweet crystalline song of the songbird he'd made for Persephone, indicating she was about. Her Shrine had turning into a bower of flowers and vines of both organic and metal plants, seeing as how she had planted a few flowers from her Flowering Jewellery bush, as she had named it, around the trellis attached to the Shrine.

On the other side of the courtyard from Persephone's Shrine, her husband was lounging in the shade of an old fig tree the goblins had built around, chatting with his elderly daughter, Brona, and her family. There was something about his laugh that Harry found familiar.

Still, the garden was lovely and, he suspected, expanded by the goddess's power to a ridiculous size. Everything was always blooming or bearing fruit and nuts, the birds always singing and the bees humming and at night, the fireflies always put on a show. Essentially, the Spring Goddess always kept everything in season.

In the moment it took for Harry to glance over at Hades' laugh, then back again, a man in an expensive black suit with oddly coloured black hair and bright, nearly glowing, red orange eyes was seated on the other side of Hoss, absently leaning onto the donkey's stomach.

"You have his laugh." The man commented calmly, voice deep and soft.

Harry didn't startle, nor did the donkey or any of the children around them. After all, there was nothing to be alarmed about since the man was always there, so there was no point in making a fuss.

Harry hummed, thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement. "I thought it was familiar."

They regressed into a companionable silence again.

After a time, broken only by the occasional splash and squeal of the twins and the background murmur of a spring garden, the man spoke again.

"I don't usually get involved," He admitted softly. "But I am all about change, and I like how things have turned out so far, so I shall assist you to an extent. Had I thought you would be interested," He added. "I would have made you a god by now, but that would have just made you miserable."

Harry hummed his agreement, watching as Lumiere, a very young daughter of Greek Apollo, looked up from where she was drawing and her mouth dropped open in awe.

The man smiled at the little girl fondly and she blushed and looked down, smiling, only to peek up at him every so often.

"Humans have always had brilliant imaginations, and it seems a waste not to put some of their dreams to reality, so I shall expand on the Marble Reality and add things, but do not be alarmed. I will not yet create anything that will harm this budding society, merely make it a world worth abandoning the other for. Perhaps, in time, new gods shall arise, but that is rather far off yet."

Harry tilted his head at the man in question and was rewarded with a warm chuckle and a hot/cold/warm, soft/hard/rough hand sliding over his snakes.

"You shouldn't hide yourself. You are quite beautiful, you know? Both inside and out."

The Gorgon blushed and ducked his head, only looking up again when Lumiere got up and shuffled over hopefully, offering a picture to the man, who smiled and took it.

"I shall treasure it eternally, Little Sun." He said solumnly, a hand brushing over her forehead. "And may you always burn brightly, even in the dark."

She giggled and then the man was gone.

Lumiere threw herself into Harry's lap, still giggling.

"He was so big..." She confided in the Gorgon, who suddenly frowned and sat up straight.

He hadn't known that man, but he had been comfortable with him. Or rather, Him.

Harry had the sudden, worrying suspicion he'd just been visited by Chaos.

(space)

He had the sinking feeling he knew what Discordia wanted these statues made for, but he wanted to be clear.

"So you want them to hunt wolves?"

"Yes." She smiled widely, teeth shifting from human to cat to shark to something else.

"Any kind of wolves, or just supernatural wolves?" He tried to specify.

She raised a golden blond eyebrow, crossing Her arms under Her chest. "Are you going to be difficult about this?"

Harry sighed but shook his head. "No. I'm just trying for plausible deniability. I'm going to have enough enemies amongst the gods once they figure things out without adding a Blood Feud with Lupa's Wolves to things."

Discordia rolled Her abyssal black eyes in exasperation, blowing Her bangs out of Her face. "Very well. But I doubt you'll really be fooling anyone."

(space)

There were six wolfhounds made from formerly Hellhound Stygian Iron with some Celestial Bronze or Imperial Gold markings. They were big, solidly built sighthounds with goatlike horns and scales beneath their wiry fur.

Three males and three females, all capable of breeding and had the same slightly higher than animal mind as most Immortal animals and the deer he had previously made.

And, while they were allowed into Home, they were forbidden from harming anyone in Home so long as they weren't declared enemies or were breaking a law that would cause harm to the residents of Home.

Discordia ghosted them back to her Temple in the House of Nyx.

(space)

The children of Eros/Cupid were easy to spot due to being invariably beautiful and having gold-tipped wings that were hidden by the Mist.

And, without Asher to keep them in line as he had been for centuries, they were even more disruptive than Eris' teenage twins and the children of the War deities put together.

Of all of the demigods in the Greek/Roman Pantheons, they were amongst the most fucked up.

Eros/Cupid was all about Love and Sex of every kind, and his children had this horrible tendency to manifest the worst of those aspects while the children of Aphrodite/Venus often got the good parts. As such, these winged progeny tended to be completely amoral and, while their full demigod abilities usually manifested about puberty, there was also the odd unfortunate child who gained sexual cravings as a prepubescent or attracted paedophiles.

On a side note, a genuinely distressing number of demigods born to deities of love, sex and beauty ended up being sexually assaulted and/or used as sex slaves before adolescence, often by foster parents. Many resorted to prostitution after running away.

An entire wing of the Aleta Dorms was set aside for those recovering from abuse or sexual programming.

But the children of Eros/Cupid were different in that they were more distressed by physical abuse than sexual, and hit sexual activity, with a whole host of kinks (from the soft to the hard to the cringe-worthy), as young as eleven, so, as much as he hated to do so, Harry had to make exceptions to the Laws and put in sex ed classes for them every month.

Fortunately, there was only six of them. Which was kind of odd since their sire was the God of Love and Sex.

Unfortunately, he'd had to separated them into their own little dorm so they would stop trying to climb into bed with people and so the newcomers would stop freaking out about paedophiles.

Because, while little Nicole may have been only eight, her stepfather had been a paedophile and had awakened her sexual appetite early, so she was essentially a sexually mature female in an immature body, and she wanted her itch scratched now thankyouverymuch.

Even managing them for the week and a half Asher was out of commission was more than mentally taxing for Harry, and he didn't know how he did it.

Turned out that Asher was a bit of a prude where his siblings were concerned. In fact, most of his siblings were accidentally on purpose passed over for the Camps for exactly this reason.

Eros/Cupid, as a God of Love, cared enough to nudge Asher towards them whenever a sibling was born, so, despite being a cruel bastard, that particular god was head and shoulders above most of the Olympians as far as Harry was concerned.

Which didn't mean he ever wanted to see what would be spawned if Eros/Cupid knocked up Eris/Discordia.

Probably the Apocalypse.

(space)

The colt Vashti dropped near the One Year Anniversary raised a few eyebrows when it proved to be made of living lava, the molten slag cooling on its coat to a rough greyish black texture while the ember glow blazed out of every crack that appeared with the shift of muscle, his points still blazing orange fire and his mane and tail streaming soft black ash.

No one quite knew how Vashti was able to carry and nurse him until, a few days after his birth, the colt plonked down beside Harry for a nap and felt, to the gorgon, no hotter than a heated blanket, but was still clearly letting off heat haze and was burning the ground.

The people in research hypothesized that the colt could both consciously and subconsciously control his heat field so the people he liked and trusted wouldn't be burnt by him.

He was of a pretty stocky, sturdy build, almost pony shaped, but would probably reach about the size of a cold-blood, built more for strength than speed, but would be able to stream roll over anything in his path.

Vashti mentioned that her baby looked nothing like his sire, but that he was rather adorable, wasn't he?

Everyone thought he was cute. Which is to say, ugly in an adorable sort of way.

No one clarified to the proud new mother.

It took a bit of renewed questioning, but a description had the stallion sire pegged as one of Mar's Chariot Steeds.

Harry hoped the colt, his grandson, inherited his personality from his side of the family.

Chapter Text

Billy: [trying to find an evil empire to destroy with his superpowers] Hello? Evil empire? Legion of doom? Plague of society? Threat to mankind, where are you?

From The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy

He knew, on some level, that he should have been suspicious when Eris had given him the thing, then even more so when Hermoine's letters mentioned that Voldemort had disappeared, but this brought a whole new meaning to 'GOD DAMNED'.

Harry could only feel pity, empathy and grudging amusement as he watched Voldemort be stuffed into a dress and bonnet for a tea party with the toddlers and young demigods of the crèche.

Harry winced as the Dark Lord reached for him pleadingly, red eyes broken with the horror of his existence.

But the gorgon still turned away. Voldemort thoroughly deserved his punishment.

The rainbow sparkle unicorn kitten whimpered is distress as his useless butterfly wings were crammed into the dolls dress, watching as the Boy Who Lived walked away with utter despair.

(space)

It was rather quiet at the beach house since it was the off season, and the waves breaking was rather pleasant as white noise.

Harry and Hades were having a quiet night playing board games and drinking aged alcohol, occasional conversation starting up, then dying, but the long silences were comfortable.

He honestly didn't know why Hades had initiated these get togethers, but it was pleasant.

They were usually on Sunday nights. Sometimes Triton would join in, twice now Eros had popped in (and wasn't that a surprise), and last week Thanatos and Hypnos had followed Hades in for a few hours. The less said about when that Norse God, Loki, joined them last month the better.

But tonight it was just them, absently moving stone pieces over a chess board.

It said a lot about Harry's life that this was the only quiet time he got these days.

And perhaps, given the occasional slip of the tongue, he reminded Hades of Poseidon from before Zeus introduced them to ambition.

Not that Hades really had any real ambition.

Which, all things considered, was probably why Harry got along so well with him.

There was also a deep sadness there, a gaping hole where his family had once been but had torn their way out and abandoned him to the darkness of the underground.

Harry honestly didn't know why Hades wasn't regarded as the God Of Sorrow or Grief since he wore the emotions around him like a cloak.

The God was confusing at times, but Harry was able to tentatively call Hades friend.

'Tentatively' because, despite the mistake nearly everyone fell into, Gods are not people.

Gods are Gods.

(space)

None of them knew what to make of the little creature one of the children had presented their parent with that morning.

Superficially, it looked like a fluffy, cream coloured rabbit. If one didn't take into account the little antlers, the antenna and the large, black, almost insect like eyes. (1)

If Harry didn't know better, he'd call the little creature a jackalope. Or rather, a fantasy artist's impression of a jackalope since they actually did exist as a magical animal in the other world, only as jackrabbits with prong horns.

This little thing was about the size and temperament of a guinea pig, right down to the little squeals.

Harry turn slightly towards the daughter of Demeter beside him as she and her siblings goggled at the little critter.

"Do you suppose you could get together a group of people to go over everywhere and check for any other surprises? Like increasing boundaries, new animals and new plants?"

Lilac turned and gave him a manic grin.

"You bet your hot ass I will!"

Harry found that comment a little worrying and resolved to wear longer shirts and looser pants in future.

(space)

The first thing the new 'Environmental Research Group' found was about a half hour later.

Specifically, it was some kind of unicorn stallion with the pregnant mares.

Vashti quickly decided he was very pretty and was all over the newcomer.

As the protective father, Harry gave the new Erinoid the stink eye.

He was about the size of the Thoroughbreds with a traditional unicorn/lion tail, with a pale blue/grey base coat. His legs, face and rump were striped black like a zebra and his roached mane and feathering down the backs of his shanks had additional bright blue and pink stripes. The traditional spiral horn and normal horse hooves were of a material similar to gold, only harder.

Again, the unicorn was like an artist's impression of an 'exotic unicorn'.

Then a group of the Researchers ran up with a fat grey cat, noteworthy only because of the turquoise stripes, huge, disproportionate turquoise eyes...

...And a bloody Cheshire grin from ear to ear.

Then the bloody thing began to float while turning transparent.

That was the point Harry went 'Nope!' and retreated to his workshop, leaving a cackling Brona in charge of the Group.

(space)

Hips was honestly minding his own business when the God approached him.

He was just practicing his trick shot archery in an empty clearing in Florda while waiting to be called by Xion to shift the next shipment of livestock when someone applauded just outside his periphery.

Turning, there was what appeared to be a young man with bright golden blonde hair, bright sky blue eyes, golden skin and, to paraphrase that song by G.R.L, his face was a work of art with a smile that could light up New York City after dark.

The black and silver skinned Gate Guardian had the sinking suspicion he was dead in the sights of Apollo at this point.

"You're pretty good at that. It's not often that I come across someone with such pinpoint aim these days." Given the quirk of the lips and intonation, there was probably an innuendo in there Hips was missing due to inexperience. "May I have your name, Handsome Stranger?"

Yep. That was definitely a come-on.

He tried to be polite but distant, basing his manners after how he'd seen Father address the Gods and Goddesses who sometimes came to Home.

"My siblings call me 'Hips'."

And he was to never, ever give out his full name to an unknown or enemy being since names had power.

"And...you are?"

The look he got from the Being was probably supposed to be lascivious, but it just made Hips uncomfortable.

"I am Apollo, God of Archery and the Arts, specifically music and rhetoric." Presumably the lazy tone and droopy eyes were supposed to be attractive, but Hips just didn't see it. "I could give you some pointers if you want...Hips."

Hips briefly considered bolting, but he would probably insult the Olympian. He wasn't interested in getting smite so that was a no.

"Forcing unwanted attentions again, are you, Apollo?" The new voice brought to mind the phase 'Sex and Cyanide Candy'.

Eros was so beautiful it was difficult to look him in the face, but what Hips mid could regist was that his hair was the colour of old gold and tied back in a low tail, his eyes were constantly shifting pools of colour and his teeth were very white and sharp.

He was standing with legs planted, arms folded and shimmering white wings, while folded, held high, looking very unamused by what was going on in front of him.

"Eros." The God acknowledged the Primordial stiffly, almost hostile.

"You're presence here is unwanted. Bygone." When the Olympian looked like he was going to stand his ground, Eros gave a cruel smile. "Or would you prefer to go on another cross-country marathon chasing another pretty face? Perhaps they will be turned into an pine tree this time."

Apollo hissed, teeth bared in a distinctly nonhuman manner, and disappeared.

Eros stared into space for a moment before snorting disparagingly.

"Nosy little shit." Those eyes of shifting colours turned to Hips. "It would be best if I hung around for a while so he doesn't come back. Would you like some pointers with that." He nodded to the bow loosely clasped in Hips' hands.

Hips took a moment to look at the weapon blankly before looking up. "If you're offering, I see no reason not to take you up on it."

Eros did one of those chin jerks he'd seen other people, mostly me, do. "Show me your stance then."

There were small inconsistencies all through his stance, his aim, how he held the bow and when he released an arrow, but Hips was complimented on his free shooting, given how many small things were slightly off.

It was as Hips was beginning to move onto moving targets (a small, solid yellow light that would change colour when hit), that he inquired about something that was niggling at him.

"I know this might come off as rude or ungrateful," He released an arrow and it hit the darting light. "But why did you intervene?"

The Primordial hummed. "Your father watches over and protects my children because I cannot. It has become something of an unofficial law that when my mortal children are found, the Camps and their Seekers look the other way. Harrier didn't hesitate to take them in. The least I can do is do the same for his children."

Hips nodded in understanding and lapsed into companionable silence.

The first time he'd met Eros had been when the Being brought his three year old son to the Moon Gate to be passed on to Asher. The bruised little boy clearly adored his father and was adored in return.

Eros wasn't just the God of Romance and Sex, after all. Romantic love was just a very small part of what made up the vast concept of Love.

Chapter Text

Dumbledore.

All these years of careful planning RUINED because of one hiccup that he couldn't have foreseen.

Albus Dumbledore huffed under his breath as accusations flew around the room (including at him), Minerva and Severus were fairly screaming at one another across the room and Molly Weasley's most strident voice was at a particularly acute pitch.

But, really? How was anyone supposed to know that that would happen if the boy was exposed to too high a dose of phoenix tears? Or that Lily was related closely enough to Her for the phoenix tears to latch onto bloodline traits?

Honestly, he would have more expected those oddly necromantic or geomantic traits the Black family routinely bred into the family to rise foremost.

Then there was the matter of Tom's Horcruxes. Harry was now an Immortal. A monster, yes, but still an Immortal. Not only would the Horcrux have been expelled or subsumed, but he no longer fit the Prophecy since young Harry had by far outstripped anything Tom could have been and so was no longer his 'equal'.

Still, a lot of effort had been placed into the boy, and he was going to get his due, even if he had to enslave the monster and use it as a weapon.

(space)

Medusa

Medusa had only known the child for a month, but she already adored the boy.

He was rather laid back and docile for a monster, but she supposed it was only natural what with his close relation to Hades, who was, for a God, rather passive and unaggressive, if intense, despite his tendencies towards brooding and holding a grudge.

She supposed that the brightly coloured garter snakes suited him, being mostly harmless to humans in nature, so the strength of their, and so his, venom was really quite startling. Though not so much when one considered his besting of the King of Serpents in mortal combat, which was very impressive for even a powerful demi-god, not to mention an untrained mortal child.

And he was such a good boy. Already her garden and yards were tidy and idyllic, despite her rather startled looking statues (and Medusa really could have done without those sad looks when he found a particularly young one. He was making her feel guilty. She hadn't felt guilty for centuries!).

He was also had a right knack for working with anything metal or gemlike. Medusa made a note on the pad beside her hand to send him to classes to cultivate those talents as soon as she was able.

His desire to create was an interesting counter balance to Greek monsters' usual tendencies towards destruction, but it really just added to his charms.

Harry-dear also appeared to take quite strongly after Poseidon and Hades around the cheeks, jaw and nose, but he got the eye-shape, expressive eyebrows and neck from Eris.

As such, he was, without a doubt, going to be devastatingly handsome.

Medusa sipped her tea and continued with her untangling of her dear boy's finances.

(space)

Nereids

The Nereids knew about the monster that had moved into Montauk months before any of them knowingly saw him.

Well, they didn't know that he was a monster per se, but they knew that the Mist swirled around him and that he was a powerful Immortal.

It was only after they had known Harry for a few years and he had begun collecting demi-gods for his 'Home' project, after Apseudes and Callianassa had followed him when he went to assist a group of adolescent demi-gods running from a trio of Roman centaurs, that they got a hint of what he really was.

Harry baseball skidded between the two groups from a dead run and lifted his sunglasses to the centaurs.

Apseudes swore that his braids flared up in a momentary wreath around his head like they were alive and Callianassa noted he had used Celestial Bronze claws to arrest his momentum. Both agreed that his skin had gone from a nice tan to a solid stone-pale, that there was a sound like hot water being thrown on a hot pan, and that the charging centaurs literally froze mid-movement and the momentum threw them into a pile of snapped Imperial Gold limbs and body parts where Harry had been standing a moment before.

After that, the sisters all made sure that he always wore his sunglasses and hissed softly at anyone who started to question them.

Still, few of the Nereids were overly put off by the fact that he was, apparently, a High Monster/Immortal. Not even Amphitrite could find fault with him, and she was by far the pickiest of all of them.

He was powerful, attractive, kind…

And he made those Brownies.

(space)

Hestia

Hestia couldn't help herself.

She fell in love.

There was nothing sexual about her regard, and had everything to do with who he was as a person, but she still felt indescribable guilt for her love, now empathizing with how Apollo and Poseidon must have felt when she not only rejected their attentions, but also took a vow of chastity.

…It's just…she saw him every day, helping people no one else was willing to do more that throw a bone to. He was a near full-time father to more than a hundred children and was in a near constant state of movement to help anyone who asked or needed, either to help them himself or set something up for them.

He was selfless, responsible, kind if a little brisk, committed and downright ferocious in defence of his people.

He was a Home Protector; the perfect complement to her Home Keeper, so it was little wonder she fell for him so quickly.

She loved Harrier for everything he was, but she had her Oath.

The questions were, which did she cherish more, and would he want her if she offered?

(space)

Hades

Sometimes Hades forgot that Poseidon hadn't spoken to him, as a brother, in thousands of years.

Sometimes Hades forgot he only had two brothers.

The comfortable silent companionship he had found with this new person, this Harrier, was unfamiliar, but, at the same time, called up long-repressed memories of five young gods curled up together in their father's stomach in a tangle of limbs and skin-comfort.

Sometimes he was able to forget that the other Immortal was covered in glamours to hide his not-so-human aspects, that he wore glasses even in the dead of night to hide his eyes, that he wasn't Hades' brother for all that he looked more like Rhea's child than Zeus did…

He enjoyed the nights where it was just himself and Harrier (though he didn't mind when other Gods joined them. He hadn't realized he shared interests with Eros before, and Loki was more amusing than his nephews), but he truly loved the way the demi-gods easily interacted with him as he followed his many-greats grandson/nephew around Home, occasionally asking the God's opinion as they went from place to place or went over reports in his office in the Town Hall.

As he breathed in the crisp morning air, watching as his Chosen-Brother interacted with his Blood-and-Metal children while Vashti's lava-foal, Harkin, now nearly a yearling, curled trustingly beside him in sleep under the tree, Hades could already feel the bubbling personality taking form at the back of his mind as perceptions shifted towards him, birthing a new Aspect from his Core Self like Pluto had been when the Romans took over. Only it had only taken nearly two years for this God-Mask to form, while Pluto had taken nearly a century.

Perhaps, the King of the Underworld mused, it was because he didn't resent these people like he had those who attacked his parishioners so long ago.

Sliding his black eyes to the side, Hades could already see that Hestia, his beloved older sister, was already on the cusp of becoming a Mother Goddess. Could see that she hadn't noticed that she was taking on the form of a tall young woman with long, loose brown locks with flares of auburn in the light, wreathed in veils and long, loose dresses. She was even likely to take an interest in the very young demi-gods these days, picking them up and wandering around with a child on her hip, where before, as both Hestia and Vesta, she was inclined to act distantly to them, an awkwardness in how she interacted with them.

And she wasn't the only one.

Nemesis was now the go-to for arguments and disputes, Persephone's laughter as she played with the children frequently rang out from the gardens and playgrounds, and Hecate was in the schoolhouse every weekday afternoon to teach all-comers magic and Mist manipulation.

Even Eris was being rather motherly, her strife more mischief and teasing than outright trouble.

Peering through the Mist and glamours, Hades admired the glinting of sunlight off the blue and scarlet scales as the serpents swung docilely past his hips, a lovely contrast to the almost pearlescent white of his skin and his wide laughing smile.

Peripherally, Hades was aware that some of the demi-gods would take the presence of a monster near them badly, but, as a God, he found it a shame that the man hid the depth of his beauty from the world.

Sighing, he turned his attention back to the financial records, Harrier's one true weakness. Apparently, he never quite got the hang of money keeping since he had none as a child.

Hades, as the Wealthy God, was willing to lend him a hand every so often as thanks for making his world brighter.

(space)

Luke Castellan

He'd been prepared to be disappointed.

Every adult in his life had disappointed him at some point, so why would this man be any different, he asked himself.

But Thalia was injured and Annabeth exhausted, and the clearly Immortal mare swore by the Darkness That Consumes All Things that she would take them somewhere safe. It wasn't an oath he was familiar with, but there was a definite weight to the words, so he had agreed, clinging from the back and holding the girls on as they swayed and dipped with exhaustion, hands knotted in the small tuft of hair at the shoulder.

It wasn't long before he, too, fell into a daze only coming out of it when the mare's hooves clunked on wood and there was a blast of dry, warm air.

The careless display of power from the tanned man with long black braids and reflective glasses, even late at night, was worrying, but he gave them food and a room that was easily defensible.

Even after overhearing the man's conversation with the women he learnt were Nereids in the morning, he only began to relax when the man brought back Nathan and Daniel's group and the group of demi-gods plus Callie got together late that night and shared information and agreed to wait for the group of adult demi-gods on their way.

Richard Ryder was everything he wanted to be and feared becoming; strong, fast, cunning, intelligent, ruthlessly practical, bitter, stressed, kind, terrifying, a rock alone in a crowd, too scared of getting attached because he'd been burnt too often.

Still, the demi-gods who followed him were almost fanatically loyal and more than half feral, and he did promise to protect the younger demi-gods if it was a trap.

Things became even more stressful, while, at the same time, all of the demi-gods relaxed as more joined their ranks.

Then, Home opened up and suddenly there was a safe place to hide from the monsters, the humans and the Gods.

He had a little cottage he shared with Thalia, Annabeth and the toddler, Danny, whom Thalia had very aggressively claimed as hers. An older demi-god, Tania of unknown Godly parentage, checked on them every other day, but mostly left them to it.

And, by the end of the first month, they were all in school again with teachers who taught them in ways that kept the students' ADHD from distracting them, with books and a blackboard that were subtly spelled to help with their dyslexia. Danny spent the day in a preschool crèche with other children his age, many of whom also had scars, though few as bad as his.

Thalia volunteered in the afternoons at the vegetable greenhouses three times a week, taking Danny and Annabeth along.

He chose to part-time at the stables two of those days, learning to ride and muster, and attended lessons on fighting and survival once a week with Ryder's group.

And Harry still swung in to check on them every few days, even if he'd seen them earlier that day.

The man had said he would, but he hadn't actually expected him to follow through, what with how busy he was.

Then, one day, he had answered the door to find Harrier standing there with a blond boy Annabeth's age with Thalia's blue-blue eyes.

He'd never seen Thalia break down like that before, but she was so happy…

…she didn't even notice that she called Harrier 'Dad' when she trapped her brother, Jason, between them as she desperately wrapped her arms around them, the man not appearing overly bothered by two bawling children smearing tears and snot into his t-shirt and flannel over-shirt.

And there was something distinctly parental about the way he ran his hands over their hair and rocked them and crooned.

And that was the moment, standing awkwardly in that room, that Luke Castellan began trusting an adult for the first time since he knew what trust was.

(space)

Hermione Granger

Hermione Granger, aged twenty-five, walked away from England and, specifically, the European Wizarding World, with nary a backwards glance.

When Harry had asked, she hadn't hesitated to leave everything behind with only a word to Neville about where and why she was going, and a letter of resignation to Hogwarts.

The world was a cruel place and she had literally no one else left, her parents and sister having been killed in the crossfire between Death Eaters and Aurors when she was fifteen. It was never determined, to her knowledge, which side collapsed the building they were in with a dozen other non-magical people, but there was always a nagging suspicion Dumbledore had something to do with it, with how quick he was to try to throw her Guardianship to the Weasleys. Had Neville not demanded his Grandmother taken her on as a Ward, Hermione was very aware she would have been forced into a marriage contract to Ronald like so many other orphaned muggleborns and half-bloods had been sold to families with flagging bloodlines as 'new blood'. Even orphaned purebloods weren't spared.

Many of the 'Death Eater Murders' were actually suicides by those who found their lives unlivable as they were sacrificed for the 'Greater Good'. Others were done by the prospective spouses.

Neville had been making noises about leaving Britain for a while now, taking some of those who 'escaped' their marriages with him. He had wished her well before she left.

Dumbledore, however, had tried to stop her from leaving, presumably because he thought she knew where Harry was, regardless that Voldemort had disappeared more than a year ago.

She didn't.

Regardless, the last she saw the old man was when he burst into the travel chamber just as the Portkey whisked her away.

Harry had just sent her a Portkey number and time that would take her somewhere and she would be given an envelope with a number and destination by a woman waiting for her and sent off again.

Seven hours and twelve jumps later, Hermione staggered out of the New York Ministry and met a violet-eyed brunette woman who introduced herself as Endia, Hermione's new boss.

When she saw the little antique shop she would be living and working in, Hermione Granger fell in love.

Harry had come through for her, even if it had taken a few years.

(space)

Richard Ryder

Richard Ryder was born to a barmaid who worked at a seedy bar in Los Angeles.

Alexia Ryder had been a calm, motherly woman beloved by the regulars for her laid-back humour, trustworthy nature and her ability to keep her patrons' secrets.

She had been beautiful, once, before a jealous ex-fiancé had thrown burning oil on her face, blinding her in her left eye and leaving a trail of burns down her face, neck and chest.

Richard never found out how his mother met and caught the attention of Dionysus, but he grew up happy and protected in that little bar, taught things by the semi-retired bikers and rough-nuts who came by regularly and were willing to humour the barmaid's kid.

Until he was ten and his mother was caught in a gang shoot-out in the bar.

The turn-out to her funeral was surprising for the sheer number of people who turned up. It was a beautiful service paid for by donations from her patrons. The police and social workers were uncomfortable with the presence of so many criminals and lowlives. They ushered him away before he could even attend the wake and took him straight to his new foster family.

The foster parents were literal monsters; the authorities didn't really question it if a few low-class foster kids 'ran away'. They were in a prime position to catch any demi-gods thrown into the system because of their experience 'dealing' with children with 'learning disabilities'.

An older foster sister caught the signs of what he was within a few hours of his arrival, packed him food, bedding and money, broke into the 'father's' office for his paperwork, and shoved Richard out of the bathroom window, telling him to run and not look back.

That the 'parents' would kill and eat him like they had the others like him.

He had heard her screaming in pain and terror before he made it to the end of the long farmhouse driveway. He spent the night in a cramped, stinking storm drain while the 'mother' snorted around the area above him, the mud from the previous day's storm covering his scent.

He was picked up two days later by a roving pack of Maenads who, after an initial mistake in his identity, determined he was a demi-god son of their beloved patron and took him along.

For as long as he lived, Richard would be grateful to the Maenads who taught him how to fight and survive in a world that was against those like him.

It was when he was sixteen that he paused and looked around, recognizing the place as where he had first met the Maenads, that he decided to go back and kill the monsters posing as 'foster parent'. Sometimes he could still hear the older girl's screams in his nightmares.

He went to the little, quaint farmhouse and beheaded the two creatures, roux-ga-roux or rougarou, that is, dog-headed people who had a taste for human flesh, especially that of demi-gods. In doing so, he saved a little girl with grey eyes.

Her name was Jackie and she had been picked up from the streets after two years on her own. She had been in the process of trying to run away again when the monsters had shown their true selves and dragged her into the basement.

From there, Richard parted from the mad but kind Maenads to seek out other demi-gods.

He had no desire to enter the Camps, but he knew where they were and was willing to lead others to them.

It was a further decade before a giant metal songbird found his nomadic tribe and referred them to a safe haven.

Harrier was definitely a monster, Richard decided within a few minutes of interaction, but no more so than the Maenads had been. A Hearth-Keeper, he thought they were called. Like the Lotus Eaters, he ruled a set Territory and would allow no harm to come to those within it, but, unlike the Lotus Eaters, he was willing to allow those he had claimed as Territory to leave.

Richard had met a few gods and goddesses in his time. Lesser ones who could pass off as human or were incapable of it, but not both, not really.

Meeting the Nereids was an experience, but it was the Dark Primordial who doted upon the Ruling Monster that called his attention, called his Madness and Wild Nature.

Eris was dangerous and doting and fierce and possessive, but she was on their side, which was a relief.

Richard could admit to himself that he didn't really know how it happened, but he thought it might have been when her twins, Tynan and Talon, joined the daily combat lessons while their older sister watched on.

Only she wasn't their sister.

She had introduced herself as Eri, and things had progressed from short talks to sort-of dates until they were rolling around in a bed by the half-year celebrations.

Richard met Asher when Harrier called for them.

He was as light as Eri was dark, equally beautiful but in different ways, and Eri was fond of him, so it wasn't a hassle to go back for him when the wolves nearly killed the winged man.

When Eri revealed herself as Eris at the Gate in her rage at the damage the wolves had done to her Priest, Richard couldn't bring himself to be surprised; it was, after all, a good way to find lover who wouldn't want to bed the deities for bragging rights.

So, while Eris/Discordia plotted her horrible, horrible revenge, Richard, and so Jackie, spent a few weeks getting to know Asher better, with Harrier swinging in an hour or so a day to check on the man and update him on the functions of the Eros/Cupid children, as well as to bring in a newly-arrived younger brother by Eros named Darien to meet his new primary caretaker.

Things seemed to be going well, all things considered. Asher hung around Richard's pack and proved himself to be a swordsman of note in the arena, Jackie was feeling out a son of Mars and wrangling some of her more troublesome younger siblings, 'Eri' was coming around again, Harrier wandered around Home with a sense for when he was needed…

…And Richard was setting up a nursery room in the small, two-bedroom cabin he'd moved into from his little one-room.

He was pretty happy about having family again.

(space)

Chaos

The world was like a river, divergent points were forks in the banks, catalysts were boulders and everything was in a constant state of motion, even that which was 'stationary'.

Catalysts could be anything from a pebble that momentarily rippled, a fallen tree branch that snagged in the rocks to divert the flow, only to eventually give way to momentum as it rotted, or it could be a boulder that permanently diverted flow, though the introduction of a boulder big enough to affect the flow was rare.

Harrier was a landslide that dammed up the river and completely diverted the flow into a completely different direction.

Chaos was of the opinion that that was Eris' bloodline's fault.

Not that He minded.

It got a bit boring when you knew how the story was going to end, or not end as it so happened, since very little actually ended permanently.

And Eros, the only one of His kin to seek him out these millennia, had good things to say of both the Prophecy Childe-turned-Monster and his Metal Progeny.

So Chaos had watched for a time before interacting with the young being, becoming fond of this pretty breathing thing that was driven to Create. It had been a spur-of-the-moment thing to being turning the small parasite dimension into a fully-formed world of its own. Whimsy had Him reaching out into the thought and dreams of sentient imagination for new things to add.

Soon, Chaos was fully immersed in building this new world as He hadn't been in anything else for Ages, until Eros came to him with a lascivious smile, hand sliding over the skin of His starlight form as the other's body fitted itself between His dark wings, pressed against His back.

"Do You wonder what We could make for this world if We came together again? Do You remember what came about the last time?"

Chaos remembered.

Chaos laughed and turned to the embodiment of Desire.

Many were those who had forgotten that Eros was amongst the First of the Primordial Beings.