Chapter Text
THE TWELVE MAJOR GODS (as well as Hades, though the others did not like to admit how important he was) sat together in Olympus at a grand table. The plates were shimmering gold, as well as the goblets. The food was immaculate, as was the wine (though Dionysus, bless his soul, couldn't have any). Despite the shimmers and shines of Olympus, the gods found themselves in a rather unhappy predicament.
"Zeus," Athena began, her face stony, tone sharp, as per usual, "we must do something. The fate of humanity itself is at stake."
"You think I don't know this?" Zeus boomed in response, pinching the bridge of his nose. "We have tried everything: we guided the most worthy warriors, prepared them for the worst, and nothing, nothing has worked. This war has raged for the past ten years, Athena. We have tried everything."
Hades put a finger to his temple, deep in thought. "Not everything."
The other gods looked among one another, the same expressions of confusion lacing their features.
"Whatever do you mean, Hades?" Demeter pressed, her fingers laced delicately in front of her.
"Well... we could send someone... a savior," he said slowly. The gods gasped.
"But we would be sending a child! A baby!" Aphrodite cried, covering her mouth in fear.
"A baby who would be born to die!" Apollo added. "Like raising a pig for slaughter!"
"Desperate times call for desperate measures," Hades replied calmly. "We must do what is right for humanity, even if that means sacrificing one to save many."
The gods looked nervously over to Zeus, who had fallen quiet.
"Brother, do not tell me that you are considering this wretched idea of his?" said Poseidon, looking at Zeus with a look of bewilderment.
After a beat of silence, Zeus answered, "I do believe Hades is correct." The gods gasped again, but Zeus held up his hand. "However, the child would have to bear a great duty. She would need guidance, and we can only give her so much of it."
"So we send two? Two children who will inevitably die?" Artemis challenged. "This is low, even for you, Zeus."
"People die everyday. Everyone dies at some point. And who said both have to die? We could give one a chance."
"And how would we do that?" Hera spoke calmly from beside her husband.
"We contact Delphi's descendant, the Trelawney woman, through a vision," Athena answered for Zeus. "We will create the fate of these two children and have her relay this fate to whoever decides to listen. Both children will be mortal, but one will be rewarded with immortality when she returns to us after her duty has been fulfilled. She will truly be ours."
"She's got a point." Ares shrugged his shoulders.
"I always have a point. It's kind of my thing."
"Enough with the bickering!" Zeus boomed. "If we are going to save humanity, we must work, and work quickly at that."
And so the gods did work. They worked restlessly day and night, mapping out the fate of these poor, cursed children. They decided that their child, a Princess, would protect the other, a Knight. They would guide her through the troubles she would face, and bring her back when the time was right. The other child would suffer a great loss, yes, but he would understand. He would act as a strong, brave knight and save humanity, all thanks to the sacrifice of the Princess.
The gods were nearly finished with their task. The boy's fate was decided, as well as the girl's, but something was missing.
Hermes interrupted their day's work with a query. "Zeus, you said that we would give our child guidance. Of course, we are sending her an equal, but how would we guide her?"
This stumped the god. "I assume we would have to give her... gifts. Special gifts, from each of us. And those who do not have a gift to offer, well they would be responsible for controlling certain aspects of her life, steering her in the right direction. Protecting her, since she would be too busy protecting the boy."
"But how would we give her these gifts?" Hephaestus questioned.
"Well, we would have to knit her together by strands of ichor itself," Athena replied simply. The other gods stared at her blankly. "We would take some of our own ichor, announce what ability of ours we are sharing with her, then place it in the vial of life. When all is complete, we send the vial down. Simple, really."
And that is exactly what the gods did. One by one, they stepped forward with gifts in mind and celestial bronze knives in hand. Demeter went first.
"I, Demeter, goddess of the harvest, grain, and fertility, bestow the gift of balance. The child, no matter how many troubles intrude her path, will always be able to find balance in her life, and will know what is right and what is wrong. What is good, and what is bad."
Demeter dragged the knife across her arm and allowed her golden ichor to drip slowly into the vial.
Aphrodite went next.
"I, Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty, bestow the gift of foreign tongues. The child will speak the language of love fluently, and will not only follow her head, but her heart."
Aphrodite dragged the knife across her arm and allowed her golden ichor to drip slowly into the vial.
Apollo followed after.
"I, Apollo, god of archery, music and dance, truth and prophecy, healing and diseases, the Sun and light, poetry, and more," he added with a cocky grin, "bestow the gift of empathy, and the sacred gift of sight. The child will understand the emotions of others to great lengths, and will learn to manipulate those emotions to her aid. The child will see things no other but Delphi herself has seen, and will be blessed, or cursed, with the visions of the Oracle."
Apollo dragged the knife across his arm and allowed his golden ichor to drip slowly into the vial.
Artemis walked up after her brother.
"I, Artemis, goddess of wild animals, the hunt, and vegetation and of chastity and childbirth, bestow the gift of healing. The child will be able to heal the worst of wounds, and inflict ailments and dangerous wounds upon others."
Artemis dragged the knife across her arm and allowed her golden ichor to drip slowly into the vial.
Hermes strode forward.
"I, Hermes, god of boundaries, roads and travelers, and thieves, bestow the gift of flight. The child, when experiencing the strongest of emotions, will be able to rise into the air like the strong raven she is."
Hermes dragged the knife across his arm and allowed his golden ichor to drip slowly into the vial.
Poseidon followed.
"I, Poseidon, god of the sea, earthquakes, and horses bestow the gift of terrain and aquatic control. The child, when experiencing the strongest of emotions, will be able to cause disasters like no other, whether on land, or in the sea."
Using his very own sword, Poseidon dragged Anaklusmos across his arm and allowed his golden ichor to drip slowly into the vial.
Zeus took the place of his brother in front of the nearly full vial of gold liquid.
"I, Zeus, god of the sky, the ruler, protector, and father of all gods and humans, bestow the gift of electrical energy. The child, when experiencing the strongest of emotions, will be able to summon my very own lightning bolt.
"However, she will be able to do this once, and once only. She will know when the time is right."
Zeus dragged the knife across his arm and allowed his golden ichor to drip slowly into the vial.
Hades was the last to give the child a gift.
"I, Hades, god of the Underworld, bestow the gift of martyrdom. The child, when the time is right and all duties have been fulfilled, will die a hero and return to Olympus. She will be welcomed as an equal."
Hades dragged the knife across his arm and allowed his golden ichor to drip slowly into the vial.
Athena stepped forward and capped the vial, muttering ancient words under her breath. Together with the remaining gods, she chorused, "We, Ares, Athena, Dionysus, and Hephaestus vow to watch over the child and guide her where we deem fit."
Now, all of the gods spoke together. "We, the thirteen gods of Olympus, send a Princess, a Savior knitted together by the golden strands of ichor itself down to the mighty Earth to save humanity and protect many from harm. We, the thirteen gods of Olympus, send a Knight, a Chosen One created by his mother's love down to the mighty Earth to save humanity and defeat the Dark Lord."
The vial disappeared in thin air, a burst of golden light flooding the room before fading away.
"Oh, sweet goddess," Athena murmured under her breath. "Good luck."
And so, on the 5th of May, 1980, Callisto Jane Black was born to Sirius Black and Marlene McKinnon in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.
Seemingly the product of a one-night fling, Black knew from the start that his little girl, his little princess, would amount to great things. He vowed that he would never leave her life unless the hands of Hades himself pried him away from it.
One day in early August of 1980, Albus Dumbledore sat Sirius Black, Marlene McKinnon, James Potter, Lily Potter, Frank Longbottom, and Alice Longbottom down in his office.
"I am afraid," Dumbledore began, appearing weary as ever, "that I have some rather unpleasant news to deliver to the four of you. It has to do with your children, Callisto, Harry, and Neville."
The calming aura of Dumbledore's office changed quickly to that of alarm and worry.
"What about our children?" James inquired, placing his hand atop of his wife's, Frank doing the same.
Dumbledore sighed deeply. "Five months ago, almost to the day, a prophecy was made. A prophecy that is most certainly about Callisto, and is most certainly about Harry or Neville."
"Well, how do you know for sure it's about our children?" Marlene leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees.
"The prophecy speaks of a child, a girl, born at the beginning of May," Dumbledore began.
"That could be about anyone's child!" Sirius threw his hands up into the air. "Many children are born in May, Professor Dumbledore."
"Sirius, I ask that you keep your temper low. I also ask that you call me Albus, for I'm not your professor and haven't been for the past three years.
"And I know it is your child because... Well, not to come off as arrogant," Dumbledore stole a glance at James, "but I know many things that others do not. I would like you to trust me when I say that Callisto is this "Princess" the prophecy speaks of."
"What about Neville and Harry?" Alice asked. "How come you don't know which boy is spoken of in the prophecy?"
"It speaks of a child born as the seventh month dies to parents who have thrice defied Lord Voldemort." The room fell silent. Not even Fawkes' chirps sounded, as if he was listening in, as well. "Now, you understand my predicament."
"What does the rest of the prophecy say, Albus?" Frank questioned.
"The two children have these... powers that Voldemort simply cannot understand, cannot fathom. They will use these powers to defeat Lord Voldemort and bring peace to humanity at last."
No one dared to speak. The three sets of parents in the room let the information sink in. Their children may be the ones to save the world. Their children. They were only children.
However, there were many parts of the prophecy that Dumbledore chose to leave out. This was his first mistake.
Of course, the Longbottoms, Potters, and Sirius, Marlene, and Callisto went into hiding. Peter Pettigrew was made the secret keeper of the Potters, where Mary Macdonald was made the secret keeper of Sirius and Marlene.
Everything was fine. Everyone believed they were safe. How foolish of them to ever believe such a thing during a war.
Dumbledore's second mistake was allowing Marlene McKinnon to visit her parents in early 1981. She convinced him that she would be quick, just drop in and show them a few baby pictures of Callisto and spend a small bit of quality time with her family before returning to hiding for Merlin knows how long.
On the 16th of January, 1981, Marlene McKinnon and her parents were murdered by Voldemort and his followers at the McKinnon residence. Sirius was left to care for Callisto alone, devastated to lose such a close friend, and even more devastated at the thought that his daughter wouldn't have a mother in her life.
Dumbledore's third mistake (thought it really was his second mistake, the consequences played out much later) was allowing the Potters to choose Peter Pettigrew as their secret keeper. Sirius, their initial choice, thought that it was unwise to be their secret keeper, for he was the most obvious choice, and he was hiding himself. Thus, James and Lily Potter were murdered on the 31st of October, 1981, all because of Dumbledore's mistake. Much was lost because of the mistakes of Albus Dumbledore, the gods realized.
Much was lost, but there was light at the end of the tunnel. Harry Potter defeated Lord Voldemort as a baby, all because of a certain power spoken of in a prophecy. Humanity was safe from the dark, if only for a little while.
This light, however, did not spread very far, in the case of Harry Potter and Callisto Black. Young Harry was sent to live with his horrid aunt and uncle, where young Callisto was sent to a run down orphanage in a small village on the North Sea coast of England by the name of Jaywick. Most of her extended family were imprisoned in Azkaban, and the members that were not in Azkaban either denied care for the child or were deemed unstable.
The gods watched as the two children battled the rough obstacles they faced at such a young age, and looked upon them with pity and shame. "It had to be done," they would tell themselves. "There was no other way."
They looked below at the Princess they created with tears shining in her eyes as she fought with haunting nightmares and bad tempers. They soothed her when she was struggling to find peace in her life, balance. They taught her how to find balance on her own, all while whispering the same bittersweet nothings over and over.
"Oh, sweet goddess of ours, you are both a blessing and a curse. Good luck."
The gods knew what they were doing, guiding a child in such a way, addressing a child in such a way. The gods learned from observing mortals that the more you told a child something, the more they believed it, the more passionate they became about it. Callisto was, in short, a blessing and a curse.
And the gods made sure that no one would get in her way.