Harry Potter and Percy Jackson: Dark Waters

"You're… welcome," Hades allowed, trying to wrap his head around the fact that he was

actually being thankedfor once. He had expected either fear or condemnation, not gratitude.

"Say, Mister Hades, when you say you punish bad spirits, what do you do? I mean, spirits are like ghosts, right? It's kinda hard to do anything to them. Unless you're the Ghostbusters." Hades blinked in surprise; mortals often had gods they especially aligned with, but this was the first time that a mortal had actually proclaimed him, Hades, Lord of the Underworld, as their 'favorite' god.

He glanced at Hephaestus. The God of the Forge was looking back at him. The two gods had never clashed or fought with each other, and shared a nod. They could live with sharing Harry's 'favorite god' title.

"Mister Hades?" Harry asked, focusing the god's attention back on him. "Do you know everyone who died? Like my mom and dad? They said my parents were drunks, so I was wondering… you know..."

Harry just kept nodding. "Hey, Mister Hades – Mister Hephaestus can't build terminators because he can't test them. How about he builds a terminator, sends it to you, and you can have your bad spirits fight them? That way, he can do testing, and you can punish bad spirits with something new."

Hades blinked, glanced to Hephaestus, who suddenly seemed interested in the conversation as well. "That could be interesting," the god of the underworld said. "It would take a few details to work out, but that could be an interesting punishment for some of my… guests."

"Can I watch?" Harry asked, causing laughter from some of the other gods. Ares especially seemed to approve.

"No!" Hestia interjected. Harry's shoulders slumped, and he turned to look at the Goddess of the Hearth, pouting. " You are too young to travel to the underworld, and I do not approve of that level of violence."

"But Hestia..." Harry wheedled.

"I really rather you didn't, Harry," Hestia said, standing firm.

Harry nodded, and turned to look at Hades. "Sorry, Mister Hades. I guess I'll have to wait and visit when I'm old."

Hades laughed. "Don't worry, Harry. The underworld will still be there. It's always good to listen to Hestia. We gods don't do that nearly enough."

Harry nodded in agreement, and gave his favorite goddess a hug. "Hestia's great," he said, before releasing her, making Hestia shake her head in amusement at him. Harry just went on. " You know, Mister Hades, I think you and Mister Hephaestus are both my favorite gods." "Oh," Harry replied, the emotional rollercoaster going down.

Hades snapped his fingers. "That is it, sister," he said to Hestia. He looked at the young boy. "Harry, Your godly parent, be they your father or your mother, aspectedthemselves. They created a mortal, stuffed some of their essence into it, and set it to live a mortal life. After that aspect died, it would have rejoined the original god or goddess. Some do it immortality can get boring and this is one way of gaining new perspective."

Harry looked confused. "What does that mean, Mister Hades?"

Hades seemed to soften, and stared intently at Harry. He then frowned when he seemed to realize something, and stared closer. "Harry, there are a few things I can tell you about your parents. They died as heroes. They went to Elysium. And then, something odd happened."

Harry blinked. "Odd how, Mister Hades?" he asked.

"One of them vanished," the god replied. "As if resurrected or stolen by another god. It is most peculiar. Unfortunately, my power is limited when it comes to the living, and so I can't determine more unless I were to know the spirits in question personally. I'll have to look into it."

"Oh," Harry said. Then he perked up. "They went to Elysium? That means they were good people, right?"

Hades gave a small smile. "They died a heroes' death, Harry. Take comfort from that."

The little boy just nodded, feeling his entire world turn upside down. Miss Hera had told him that his parents loved each other, and loved him, and now Mister Hades had told him they died a heroes' death and had gone to Elysium. Even if someone stole one of them later on.

Hestia smiled, and nudged him quietly. "Harry, you know you're a demigod. Gods don't die, so whoever your godly parent is, they would not have perished. The fact that they went to the underworld and went through judgement is very odd, however."

Harry blinked, not having made the connection until it was so blatantly spelled out for him. "So my godly parent, they're still alive?"

"And are ordered by the Ancient Laws not to raise you, or even interfere on a major level," Hestia admitted. "I'm sure you'll find out one day, Harry," Hestia said.

The boy just nodded, sadly. He wished he knew who his godly parent was, or even if it was his mother or father. He was able to pray to Hestia, so maybe he would be able to pray to them, too. Even if they couldn't talk back, it would be nice to talk to them.

Suddenly, he felt an urge. The same kind urge that had taken him to Olympus. It told him to scratch his scar. He hated when people stared at it, so he usually kept it hidden under his hair.

The urge had tried to protect him from the bad people that had wanted to do bad things to him; he hadn't listened to it then, and things had turned very bad for him. He had listened

Hades rubbed his chin, thinking how to best explain it. "You can think of it like a mortal clone of the god or goddess," Hestia explained instead. "After the clone dies, the memories it has gained will rejoin the god or goddess that created it. But, some of the essence of the original god or goddess is still in the clone, so any children they have will be demigods."

"Oh," Harry said. "So my mom and dad really were married, only mom or dad was a god?"

"Exactly," Hestia said, smiling, glad he understood.

"Then… why didn't… I mean… was there something wrong with me?"

Hestia felt like her heart was breaking. It was never easy when a neglected demigod found out they did, in fact, have a living parent. "No, Harry," she said, hugging him. "As Hades explained, there are laws. Ancient Laws that we are all bound to. Gods are forbidden from raising their children. A mortal aspect of a god is an exception. They are generally not aware they are, in fact, an aspect of a god, so they're not bound by those laws."

Harry just tried to wrap his head around everything that had been thrown at him. "So when mom… or dad… died..."

"They rejoined the original god or goddess, and were no longer mortal," Hestia explained gently.

"I wish I knew who it was," Harry said. "I don't even know if it's my mom or my dad."