Chapter Text
Gods were incapable of children, it’s a fact as true as the very gods themselves.
Cronos cursed them long before, with his final breath, before he was plunged into Tartarus.
It is true, they are capable of godly children, occasionally, but it was a task of great suffering. Only the most powerful of the gods could create children, and it weakened them greatly.
That being said, such children were the most precious thing in the cosmos.
Nothing in Creation could keep a God from their children. Anything that tried to commit such a heinous crime wasn't worth the thread on the Fates loom regardless.
Only a few children of the Gods made it past birth, Apollo and Artemis, Hermes, Athena, Ares and Hephaestus, and Dionysus.
All children of Zeus.
The God King was the only one powerful enough that he alone could have children, let alone multiple.
The Fates watched the Gods mourn children they would never have.
And they changed the threads, pitying them.
They chose specific threads for this purpose.
A golden thread, one corrupted long ago by things it couldn’t control.
A thread as black as night, resilient as an army at the battlefield.
A red thread that seemed to change with every moment, from silk to satin, to wool and cotton.
A bright orange thread that flickered like flames, incapable of being truly snuffed out.
A lightning blue thread, crackling and popping with energy.
A pink thread, that shimmered like snake scales, beautiful and deadly.
Entangled together was a strong gray thread, and a glowing green thread, both shimmering like silver, both too tightly knotted together to ever be truly separated or erased from each other's mind..
These threads weren’t properly honored by their parents in their universe.They were harmed, forced to fight in their parents petty squabbles, and died before they fully matured.
It was time they were properly taken care of, by their true parents.
–
Luke awoke with a gasp.
He quickly scans his surroundings, and one thing was certainly clear.
This was not Elysium.
He was in a forest of some kind, filled Oak trees, Cyprus trees, and Laurel trees.
Okay… definitely not the US. Definitely somewhere in the Mediterranean
…Greece, maybe?
Oh joy…
Why can’t unknown magic send him to someplace less… Greek??
Like France, or Madagascar.
Luke sat up, trying to shake the dizzy feeling out of his head.
Something was wrong about this place.
Luke stands up on shaky legs.
Okay. water, food, shelter, survival.
Ugh… surviving… he had forgotten how much being a demigod sucked.
As Luke explored the strange forest, looking for a nymph or satyr to ask for help, but he couldn’t find any, not even at the river banks where he drank. He couldn’t find any in the trees, none in the flowers or the soft blades of grass beneath his feet.
It was silent, save for the small critters of the forest, which scattered before he could see them, no doubt assuming he was a mortal hunter.
Eventually he found a temple.
Not a ruined temple, but one that was old, but in good condition.
It was small, with nothing but a few rotted offerings and a scroll.
Luke picked up the scroll, reading the title with ease. Ancient Greek then.
‘The childless ones.’
“Ooh, how ominous…” Luke murmurs, opening the scroll.
He did not like the story inside.
—
“THIS SUCKS!!” Luke screams, thoroughly pissed off.
It was bad enough that he was alive again, now he has to deal with the Gods again too???
Well, The Gods here weren’t his gods, but that wasn’t the point! Gods were awful, no matter how many children they had.
“Okay… okay, let’s think. We are in a different dimension… we are in Ancient Greece, the gods are weird here… okay, okay, plan, I need a plan…” Luke mutters, pacing. He runs a hand through his blond hair as he bites his lip.
“I can’t be the only one here… Annie definitely will be… Percy too… and maybe some others…If fates are going to torture me, they are definitely going to torture others. Ooh maybe Selina will be here! On second thought, I don’t think that would end well for me… Hey, why am I 14?!?”
Luke looked tiny right now, and malnourished.
Gross.
Luke didn’t know many things about his situation, like how to get home.
But Luke knew one thing.
The gods could never know of his existence, if he ever wanted to return home.
—
Leo had no clue where he was.
Well, that’s not exactly true!
He was in fucking Ancient Greece!!
He knew this, because he was incredibly
“I wish I just died like a normal person…” he mutters as he hides, yet again, he might add, from mortals who were hunting… something.
This was Ancient Greece, so he can only assume that it was something terrible.
Like an evil pig.
Or an evil lion.
Or a bunch of giant evil ants.
Or a— okay look, there were a lot of terrible things in the myths, there were plenty of options!!
Maybe they were hunting him?
…Nah.
The men were getting a little too close for Leo’s liking…
He didn’t know them, and based on their conversation about which slave screamed the prettiest, he did not want to get to know them.
Their vibes were totes off.
Maybe he could pray to Hephaestus?
The likelihood of him answering was low, but maybe he would answer simply because a child that he didn’t previously know about was the one praying.
Annabeth taught him to never pray to the gods, or to only use it as a last resort.
But that was for monsters, and these were mortals…
Good enough for Leo!
Leo closed his eyes, and prayed.
–
Hephaestus was in his Forge when he heard it. A faint, tiny whisper, on a telepathic connection only family members could access, and yet, he didn’t recognize this small voice.
He focuses on the connection.
‘Papá, Porfa, ayúdenme, estos hombres me están asustando, porfa. Papá, porfa…’
Papá…?
Hephaestus couldn’t understand the odd language, but there was one word he could understand, despite it not making sense in his head.
Father, Dad, a million different meanings of the same joyous word, all swirling through his mind.
No, that couldn’t be so, it was impossible, unfathomable, and yet… how else would the voice have access to pray to him in such ways??
Hephaestus stood immediately.
He had to find it.
The voice calls to him, taking on a more urgent tone, directing to a forest.
Hephaestus appears and sees…
Him.
A small boy with brown skin was being attacked by a group of men, the men leering at the small precious thing. A small precious thing with scars marring his body. The boy hadn’t even started maturing yet,
Whoever hurt him, will pay dearly.
“What do you think you are doing?” The Fire God growls in anger.
“L-lord Hephaestus, we were just retrieving this runaway slave! He will be returned to the city of Corinth, and sold off!”
The boy's eyes grew angry, a sharpness that should never be etched on his child’s face, yet was there regardless, shining bright, like a spark.
“¡No soy un esclavo!” The boy shouts, outraged. "¡Papá, porfa, créeme!"
Now, neither the mortals nor the God of fire could understand what the boy was saying, but they could come to the same conclusion, based on the boy's behavior.
The men paled significantly, their faces as white as a ram.
“N-no, the gods, they cannot…” the leader stutters, already knowing their fates.
“But it has happened regardless. Rejoice, in your final moments.”
–
Leo has never felt more out of the loop in his life.
For one thing, Hephaestus didn’t look at all like he did in the future. He was large, hairy, and almost dog-like. Sharp teeth, dark fur in rough patches on his face, eyes decidedly not human, bright orange like flames, licking out of his sockets, not even trying to attempt to disguise himself.
For another thing, those men were dead. Not even given a chance to live.
Just gone.
Leo takes a step back, ready to run if his Father decides to take his ire out on Leo as well.
Leo did not get far.
“Precious, where are you going?” The God asks softly, blocking Leo’s only path to escape.
“U-uh… leaving? I mean, thank you, but I assumed you didn’t want me to stick around…” Leo mutters, avoiding his fathers eyes. The bright flames unnerved Leo, reminding him of the flames that killed his mother.
The God tilts his head, and only then does Leo realize that he’s been speaking entirely in Spanish.
Don’t judge him, he was used to the Gods understanding him no matter what language he spoke, though this was clearly not the case here.
He was really starting to wish that he paid attention to Annabeth’s lessons in Ancient Greek
“Uhmm… Hi… Dad…” He stutters out, trying to remember those hours upon hours of lessons that he used to daydream and tinker instead of focusing.
Hephaestus didn’t seem to mind all that much, cooing at his likely horrible pronunciation.
“Hello my child…”
Leo hesitantly steps toward the God, and watches as the God relaxes, opening his arms for Leo to go to.
Leo decides that instead, he could use a good workout.
He bolts.
—
Nico was not impressed with this quest.
“Good morning Nico!! You’re in Ancient Greece now! Start running, you’re being chased by monsters!!”
Terrible way to wake up.
“Fates kill me now…” he mutters.
He had found an abandoned village, one that looked as though it was torched by flames.
“I swear to the gods if there is a Chimera out here, I’m letting it eat me…” Nico grouches as he searches the ruins for a weapon, or food.
Food would be really good right now…
He would even take some, gods forbid, pomegranate seeds.
“Chimera… come out come out wherever you areeee… I’m very tasty…. I would rather be eaten than die of starvation… pleaseee…” Nico calls, hoping, if not a Chimera, then perhaps a human?
He finds neither.
It seems as if there was no bit of life left in the ruins, not even a single fly.
That was suspicious.
There were signs of human life, perfectly preserved, despite the flames.
That was worrying.
Nico wandered around, unaware of the eyes watching him from the forest.
He continued walking, wandering until he found an apple tree, at the very top of a hill.
Finally, food.
Nico climbed the hill, eyeing the perfect, shiny, red apple hanging on a low branch.
Nico was so hungry.
He plucked the apple from the branch and took a bite.
It was the best bite of food Nico had ever had.
It had almost distracted him from the shadows swallowing him up.
—
Frank was such an idiot.
The great thing about being a shapeshifter was that it was really easy to hide. No one would ever expect a small Mangshan viper to be a human boy in disguise. No one would look twice at him.
Or well, so he thought.
He thought his plan was perfect, except he forgot one tiny detail.
Mangshan vipers were native to China.
He didn’t think anything of it! Animals that were connected to his culture were just easier for him to do!
And he definitely didn’t expect for the nymphs to be so intrigued by him.
“I’ve never seen a snake like this before, have you, Calla?” The nymph holding him asked, showing him off to a young nymph with hair of lilies.
Calla shakes her head. “No, but it is a pretty thing, isn’t it?” she coos, rubbing Frank's head, very much ignoring Frank’s snapping fangs.
“Maybe one of the Teeth would recognize his kind?” another nymph suggests.
Frank stills.
Whoever the ‘Teeth’ were, they did not sound friendly.
Frank scanned his brain, trying to think of a myth about someone known as the Teeth, only to come up empty. But they had to be important, and magical in nature if nymphs were willing to bring him to them.
Frank attempts to writhe out of the nymph’s arms, but she holds on tight, cooing softly.
“Aw… don’t be scared, Lady Artemis will find out where you belong.”
Oh! He knew Artemis! Maybe this would be okay.
–
Artemis was a predator. She knew that she was the moment she entered the world and saw her mother fade to have her brother born.
She knew at that moment that she never wanted such a life.
She became the goddess of the hunt, and after a few centuries of being attached to her fathers hip, she descended onto the Earth to hunt.
It has been three centuries since that night, and she had garnered quite a reputation.
Nymphs adored her, monsters feared her, and mortals trembled with reverence and terror.
“My Lady, my Lady, look what we found, have you ever seen such an odd snake??”
Artemis looks over at the young nymphs running towards her, holding a truly odd snake. It was green, with spotted camouflage, and deep red eyes.
“Huh… I have never seen a serpent such as this one… aren’t you a strange one?”
The serpent bowed its head.
“Ooh, and polite as well, how delightful.” She croons, petting the serpent's unique scales.
What an interesting new specimen.
-
Frank was freaking out. Whoever this was, it was not the goddess of the hunt.
Where in the world was he?
If this wasn’t Artemis, this was a monster pretending to be a goddess, and Frank was in danger.
Why couldn’t he have just turned into a simple Meadow Viper??
–