Disclaimer: chapter one

Reviews:

To the guest reviewer about Freud: Yes, the fact that he is just so recognizable made me want to choose him. No other reason.

Sir Gewen Baudelaire: Because then, its a very thin line between an OC named Harry and an actual OC. I know it might be hypocritical given that you can very well claim that this Harry is also an OC named Harry, especially regarding certain aspects, but at the same time a lot of Harry Potter (the franchise, not the character) elements can be explored and played with. (and yes, I know that this reasoning is very shallow, but I wanted to give you something better than 'my story so I do what I want' which comes across as rude and arrogant)

Elle Ryder: I hope that I am able to portray it as naturally as possible, but given that I rushed into it on the original, I am also afraid that I will take too long for them to come together as a couple. I suppose it's all about finding that balance. And Harry is three years older than Annabeth. He was born in 1990, and Annabeth in 1993 which iirc, is her canonical birth year.

Archdruid89: Dude. My username is 'Shinigami2530'. If that doesn't scream to you that this author is a weeb, then I don't know what will. My point is that I know what a 'senpai' is. And not a bad idea with Annabeth asking Harry for advice from time to time during her quest with Percy.

Chapter Five

Harry gave a tired sigh as he looked at the board in front of him. He had taken multiple news articles and pinned them up, and was trying to piece together where he was supposed to be going.

He was in the basement of the Athena Cabin, where Athena's library was located. The news sources were from the magical side of the world, with a few tabloids from the mundane counterpart thrown in.

Unexplained disappearances.

Unsolved murders.

Deaths due to animals where the forensics didn't match the animal that was supposed to be responsible.

Other supernatural phenomenon such as a whole village being unable to sleep for a few days before the problem was resolved, though no one knew why.

Harry had discarded the last one from the list. The village was in Maryland, and when he had looked in on it further by adding in godly factors, it had become quite clear that someone in the village had angered Hypnos and the god had cursed them with no sleep for a time.

One such entry had caught his eye.

"Missing women from Boston, Peabody and ▅▅ found, in a..."

Harry looked at the article in surprise. The third town, well presumably a town, name was faded. It was done a long time ago by the look of it. That was suspicious. The article was from last week. The blocked name, or rather by the way it looked — almost as if it was faded off entirely, was suspicious.

None of the other words were faded or rubbed off. Just the one name and, all of the times it was mentioned in the same article.

No, the fade wasn't natural. It was done artificially.

Harry had a hunch as to why this had happened. He quickly rummaged around in the basement, till he found a detailed map of the Massachusetts state.

Sure enough, an entire area had been faded off.

There was a blank white space where the town was presumably supposed to be.

Harry breathed heavily as a pang of equal parts fear and awe set in. His hunch was proving to be correct.

Someone had cast a Fidelius over an entire town.

Harry tried to remember anything about it. He must have read the name a thousand times before. But now, the information was wiped from his mind. The work of the Fidelius.

Harry tried to make heads or tails of the decision to do so. There was no logical explanation. To hide an entire town, or even a city, using the Fidelius was a bad idea. The very act would be discovered, and then, it was just travelling to that area.

Even if the maps didn't say anything about its name, it wasn't as if the town or city itself wasn't present in reality. It was a simple thing to do. In his case, Harry could just take the road straight to the blank space, and he would be inside the area of the Fidelius.

However, one possibility remained. The purpose of the Fidelius wasn't to hide the town.

No, Harry felt. The Fidelius wasn't cast to hide the town. It was cast to call all mages to that location. Well, not just mages. Every mundane and supernatural forces as well.

No doubt that the mundane government had noticed that an entire town was suddenly gone from all of their memories and maps. The magical government would have noticed the second the Fidelius went up. The fact that it was still active meant that no one had broken it down yet.

As for gods, that was… unknown. Olympus was busy in the current situation. Harry still didn't know what it was, but then again, Chiron had not informed anyone about it yet.

The question still remained: Why.

Harry sighed. He would have to approach Chiron in the morning to ask permission for his quest. For now, though, he should get some sleep.

Harry walked in stunned silence. He was in a battlefield, and the battle was long since over. Dead bodies were everywhere, and he could smell the corpses that were starting to rot. It was something out of a nightmare.

He didn't recognize any of the surroundings. Buildings were on fire. He could hear screams from afar, and he knew what was happening. The people were being slaughtered. He gasped as he heard moans and groans. It sickened him to the core when he immediately found out what that was. Soldiers that didn't care about the fact that this city was lost. They just wanted to have their own sick, twisted fun with the civilians.

Harry looked around, trying to find… something. Anything. It was then he saw it. A giant horse, made of wood.

"Troy," He whispered. "The Sacking of Troy."

"You are right."

Harry turned around to see the same old man from his dreams. He walked towards Harry, uncaring of the scenery around them. He waved his hand, holding a walking stick in the other.

"Achilles was killed just a few hours ago. Odysseus brought in his army through deception, the one your own mother thinks was so clever, and you see the results. Greek soldiers slaughtered and killed, even those who surrendered. You especially don't want to be a woman here. At least the men got a quick death."

"Why are you showing me this?" Harry asked, his voice a horrified whisper.

The old man gave him a smile. "But did this really happen? Or is it just a myth? After all, that Horse would have to be a much, much, much larger than that to house a small enough platoon to effectively breach the Wall. And the Trojans completely stupid to not notice an horse filled with soldiers."

Harry looked around. "This is a what-if?" He sounded a bit more hopeful, wondering if the scenes around him were just false.

"Yes. But also no. Let's change the scenery, shall we? To something a lot more… recent." The old man tapped his walking stick on the ground.

With that, the scene changed. Harry was on a small hill, covered in grass. There was another field of battle below him, this time he could make out the armor that was typically worn by knights. They all were locked in combat, and Harry could hear the noises of swords clashing.

"Can you guess where we are?"

Harry shook his head. "This place… doesn't have any landmarks that I can identify."

The old man chuckled good naturedly. "Indeed, for it was only spoken for in myths and legends. Behold, the Battle of Camlann. Of course, this place will always be remembered sadly by me. I would lose my foster son, my very first student on that day."

Harry turned to the old man. His eyes were wide, and his mouth open with surprise. "You're Merlin." He slapped his forehead in annoyance. "I can't believe that I didn't figure it out!"

Merlin smiled. "Don't blame yourself. But back to the topic at hand. Is this reality? Or just plain fiction?"

"This must be real." Harry said with certainty. "It may have been spoken of in legends only, but that's no reason that it doesn't exist."

"Ah, but that in turn makes no sense, doesn't it? Camlann, as far your history is concerned, was purely fictional, as is Camelot. If this was real, then mundane historians would have irrefutable proof that King Arthur was real." Merlin said. "And that in turn, would have proved my existence in the world. However, I only exist as fiction, therefore, I am a myth. At the same time, Rowena, Chiron, and even the gods themselves would readily swear on the Styx that I am quite real."

"But aren't all gods similar? Every one of them only exist within stories and myths as far as mundane history is concerned," Harry argued.

"True, and that is my point. How do you differentiate the real events from what is passed down as legend? Which version of the story is true? Which is overtly exaggerated to the point where it no longer resembles the original?" Merlin questioned. "And, even more importantly, what part of the whole story is simply forgotten by the world?"

"That is why you showed me the Sacking of Troy. We praise Achilles, Odysseus, Ajax and the like. But we conveniently forget about the utter death and destruction they brought." Harry said.

"Quite right. But, no matter how you look at it, they simply weren't important enough for the world. They were forgotten, written off as but a number. This battle is no different. Only Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table would make it through history as worth remembering," Merlin replied. "Their pain, suffering, happiness, joy, and everything that they stood for, all forever wiped off from the legends and written off as 'hundreds of thousands killed.'"

"I don't suppose that it can be changed?" Harry asked.

"Why? Why would you change it?" Merlin questioned.

"Because they deserve to be remembered." Harry answered.

"Do they now? All they did was pick a side and pick up a blade," Merlin countered. "What worth would you give a man who only knows how to swing a sword?"

"I… want to think that there was more to the man than his ability to swing a sword." Harry replied after a while.

"True. All these knights, well, there was more to them than the armor they wore, the kind of weapons they held, and whether they stuck by Arthur or joined Mordred in his rebellion. However, it was something that they were well aware of. They knew, from the moment they donned their armor and picked up their weapons, that they would only go down in history as 'just a number'. They did not care about history remembering them, but rather they cared about fighting for what they believed was right," Merlin said. "And, that, in their own sense, makes them a hero. Something that most Greek heroes lacked. They failed to see past their own hubris, and as a result, were extremely selfish. A trait shared by the gods."

"Because the knights saw the bigger picture?" Harry questioned. He chose to ignore the jab at the gods for now. "Or because they were willing to sacrifice their very lives and ideals for their chosen leaders?"

"Yes, and also yes," Merlin replied. "In a sense, that also made King Arthur and Mordred heroes in their own rights. Being able to command the loyalty of the people, ensuring that they would place their ever lasting trust in the two, even if it meant that it would end in their deaths. But that is not the essence of a hero."

Harry was surprised by that. "Then what is?"

"That's the million dollar question, is it not? What do you think? Is it honor? Being the paragon of virtue? Helping the little people? Trying to better the world, one act of kindness at a time? Or is it just as simple as it sounds and being born to a god?"

Harry was silent for a long time. Throughout history, there wasn't a single person who fit every single thing Merlin questioned. Most, if not all of the Greek heroes were right out.

"It's fine if you don't answer. Just remember this, Harry. A hero isn't someone who is always a good person. To most, it is their one, single defining moment that outshines everything that they ever did, no matter how good or evil they may have been. To others, it is their way of life, a manner of their existence." Merlin said softly.

Merlin smiled and waved his hand. The world began to turn white, and Harry felt more and more light headed. He was going to be woken up from this dream.

"More importantly, a hero is someone who is not afraid to do what they believe is to be the right thing to do, even if the world hates them for it. Or perhaps, it is in these moments that a real hero shines the brightest."

"…Percy, you can't just sum up the entire story into 'Zeus couldn't keep it in his toga,'" Chiron said exasperatedly.

"That's how Harry begins every Ancient Greek lesson," Percy replied.

To the side, Mr. D barked out a laugh. "It's true, though! Peter is correct for once in his pitiful life! This whole Master Bolt business started probably because Father left the damned thing in some harlot's bed! Bet the vibrations were perfect after that!"

"Mr. D! Please! Not in front of the children!" Chiron chided as the sky rumbled. "Back to the point, Percy, the king believes that you stole the Master Bolt."

Mr. D guffawed in humor, before he left to go take a nap.

Percy frowned in anger. "But how! I didn't even know that Mount Olympus was a thing a week ago!"

"There are multiple methods that a god can, let's say, take control of mortals. The Lord most likely believes that your father did the same thing to you," Chiron replied. "Now, granted that this cannot be done without the mortal's consent, but the entire memory can be taken away from your mind."

"You also think that it's my fault somehow?!" Percy growled.

"Your anger is understandable, but no. Stealing anything isn't Lord Poseidon's style. He usually goes for a much more direct, unsubtle approach," Chiron said, unperturbed by Percy's anger. "I personally think that you, and your father, are both innocent, and are being framed."

"By who?!"

"If I knew that, we would not be having this conversation," Chiron said. "However, it still falls upto you to find and deliver the Master Bolt. Think about it. If you, a son of Poseidon, who is being framed, finds and returns his most treasured item, then Lord Zeus will possibly forgive you. The perfect peace offering, if you will."

"So I have to be the one who clears my father's name? Despite having never met him?" Percy was still angry.

"Think this another way," Chiron said. "You return the Master Bolt, and your name is cleared, and a major war that threatens to break will be averted."

Percy was silent for a minute. Chiron had explained to him that if such a war broke out then it would make the World War II look like a playground fight between two bullies. "What do I need to do?"

"First step is to consult the Oracle," Chiron replied. "Then we'll see from there."

"You mean the Mummy in the Attic?"

Chiron sighed in exasperation, but nodded.

Percy shrugged, before he decided to go to the Attic.

Just as he left, Harry approached Chiron.

"Harry, good morning!" Chiron said in greeting.

"Good morning, Chiron," Harry replied. After a short silence between the two, Harry decided to speak up again. "Chiron, what does it mean to be a hero?"

Chiron looked at Harry in surprise. That was a very unexpected question. "That…was an unexpected question."

"Let's just say that I had a very thought provoking dream."

"That isn't something that can just be answered just like that," Chiron replied. "However, the answer lies in something else. What sort of hero do you want to be?"

"I… I don't know, yet," Harry replied.

"Perfectly understandable," Chiron stated. "Perhaps it is something that you should think about on your own. Maybe look a the way those before who came before you were?"

"Like the ones in Ancient Greece? No, I don't want to become like them." Harry muttered.

"You saw something in this dream about the Ancient days?" Chiron asked.

Harry wasn't surprised at the question. Chiron was a lot more intuitive than most gave him credit for. "The Sacking of Troy. I saw the destruction Odysseus and his plan brought. Then the Battle of Camlann. I saw the supposedly fictitious battle that was fought between Arthur and Mordred. I…don't want to see anything like that ever again."

Chiron's expression softened. "War is never a sight to see, Harry. Indeed, Troy was a very bitter moment in our times. There was no innocent side, and the only honorable heroes present died before the actual Sacking."

"From what I saw… were there any honorable heroes?" Harry asked.

"Despite the fact that they fought on opposite sides, both Achilles and Hektor were known to have never lifted their weapons against any civilians or anyone not involved in the war," Chiron said. "Achilles in particular was even against the war to begin with and was going to sail back to his home, but then Hektor killed Patroclus."

Harry decided to change the subject, mainly because the topic was depressing him. "Okay... But more importantly, I wanted to ask for a quest."

Chiron stopped. "You have figured out where you want to go in the North."

Harry nodded. "There's a town, or a small city, I suppose, given the size of the map ot covers, which is being hidden under the Fidelius. I can't tell you the name, but if you see the map, then you should see an empty, blank space in Massachusetts."

"Hiding a town under the Fidelius? That's not very smart," Chiron said. Fidelius was a very powerful charm, powerful enough that it could affect even weaker immortals. That meant that only gods were exempt from its effects.

"That's what I thought. But then I realized that the only reason someone would do so would be to invite everyone else to that place." Harry said.

"So, it's a trap," Chiron said. "And you intend to investigate."

Harry nodded. "I know that Merlin was the one who put this Mark on me. I still don't know what it is as it has never been noted down in his legends. But he gave me this Mark and quest for a reason, right? He must have seen something. Either in my future or in me."

Chiron nodded at that. It was a little known fact, but Merlin possessed a rather unique clairvoyance. Unlike Apollo who could see the future, Merlin could see everything in the present. Chiron was unaware of the limits and the strengths of Merlin's eyes, but the god must have seen something, as Harry had said.

"But how does this mean about the Land that rejects you?" Chiron asked. He did have an idea, but wanted to hear Harry's opinion.

"I wondered about that too. We discarded me being a mage, male, demigod and the like," Harry answered. "We didn't discard one possibility. I'm not American, technically. I may have been born on Olympus, but my true nationality would be British. Its completely possible that this land that is under the Fidelius was owned by the Natives that were victims of the British or other European settlers. In that regard, there could also be a ward or a curse that rejects me from it, or the Fidelius itself could be a factor."

"What do you plan to do if there is a curse or a ward?" Chiron asked. Demigods being resistant to magic wasn't unheard of, but depending on the power behind such a spell, Harry may not be able to enter the area under the Fidelius.

"Simple. If such a spell exists, then it would have an anchor, a point that holds the spell. Either confound it to believe that I am not whatever it thinks I am, or just destroy it. A simple sensory charm should reveal its location," Harry answered.

"I see," Chiron replied. "You have it all planned it out. As expected."

"You still haven't given me permission." Harry noted.

Chiron sighed. Normally, he wouldn't have agreed. But a god had, quite literally, given Harry this quest. Even though the god in question was a minor one, and not as powerful as the Olympians, Chiron knew fully well that Merlin was easily the craftiest of all minor gods, and even among the Twelve Olympians, only Athena and maybe Hermes would be able to outsmart him.

There was no question about denying Harry his quest. The problem was the whole Master Bolt going missing. Should the worst come to pass, Chiron needed as many campers to hold peace as possible. Unless this was somehow tied into that as well, which was also a possibility that Chiron didn't ignore. Perhaps Merlin had seen the Master Bolt's location and coincided with what Harry was meant to do.

"Fine, Harry, you can go on this quest. However, due to recent events, I won't allow you to take any senior Counsellors with you," Chiron said.

Harry cursed under his breath. That meant no Luke or Clarisse. At least he could still ask Silena if she was interested. Then he perked up. "What recent events?"

Chiron didn't hide it from him, especially if his quest was tied into the Master Bolt's disappearance.

Harry was stunned as he heard how the Bolt was missing, and Percy was a suspect.

It was then said demigod joined the two, his face extremely pale and drenched in sweat.

"Ah, Percy, I assume you met the Oracle?" Chiron asked. "What did she say?"

Percy sat down with them, and decided to speak after gathering himself.

It was a bit unnerving, hearing Percy repeat the prophecy. At least it seemed to (probably) confirm that Percy would most likely return the Master Bolt, but he would fail to save what mattered most to him. Harry could not help but wonder if that was something physical or something that was more metaphysical like his ideals, or emotions.

"I'll take my leave, then," Harry said. "I will have to go and prepare for my own quest. And gather my quest mates, I suppose."

Chiron nodded, but Percy cut in. "You have your own quest? What is your prophecy?"

"Percy, you can't just ask someone their future," Chiron admonished.

Percy apologized, and Harry waved it off.

"Still, would have been cool if you joined," Percy muttered.

Harry smiled as he left.

About two hours later, Harry found Silena near the Stables. She was with the rest of her cabin members, who had obviously come off from a Pegasus riding session.

Harry felt a bit of nervousness creep in as he approached them. He could always ask her to come aside, which would then fuel the ever increasing rumors about them. Then there was the whole issue where she might get the wrong idea and think that he wanted to ask her out or something. Which would no doubt lead to a lot of awkwardness between them, something that he wanted to avoid.

On the other hand, if he just waited off to the side, he would come across like one of those creeps who hung around the Aphrodite girls in hopes that they would see some skin. Or the other creeps who thought they were being 'sauve' or 'cool' but just ruined all their chance within a single sentence.

Harry's mind scanned through all the possible outcomes, as it did usually. The problem was that unlike the time when it came to predicting his opponent's attacks, or the other team's movements in Capture the Flag, or even how to go about learning whatever spells Rowena was teaching him, Harry had very little social instincts.

In these situations, more often than not, his mind also ran scenarios wherein he would try and guess what would someone else, who was a lot more wiser in these situations, would do. The only problem was that the person who was most familiar with the fairer sex that Harry knew was Salazar 'I want to beat Zeus' record' Slytherin.

Of course, there was the third option of coming back to ask her later, but by then there was a very good chance that she would be hanging out with Clarisse. Then he'd have to explain to Clarisse why she couldn't join them. And that could lead to Silena declining his offer, out of her sense of loyalty or something.

That was horrifying.

The third option had the worst possible outcome. He would take endless rumors over not going questing with Silena.

With that in mind, he decided to approach the Aphrodite campers, who were leading the Pegasii back to the stables.

"Heya Harry! Did you book the stables for after us?" asked the Counsellor, Louis Laurent. Born to a French-American millionaire, he had long blond hair that he usually tied up in a neat ponytail. His eyes were a light brown, set upon a face that could only be described as beautiful. Not handsome, but beautiful. He was one of the most androgynous men that Harry had ever seen.

"Hi, Louis," Harry greeted back. "And no, I just wanted to speak with Silena."

Louis grinned as murmurs broke out between his siblings. Silena looked at Harry with interest, a slight blush on her cheeks. "Ohh. Sure! Let's give them some privacy, shall we?"

Harry looked at him, confused. Well, true, asking someone to join them on a quest was usually done in private, but it wasn't as if it was a requirement. Of course, Louis would not have any idea that Harry was going on one, but—

Harry was brought out of his thoughts as Louis clapped him on the back, "Good luck on your quest!"

"Uhh.…thanks?" Huh. Seems Louis knew about the quest. Word did travel fast through the Camp's rumor mill, it seemed. The fact that Louis meant that as a figure of speech was lost on Harry.

Harry and Silena waited awkwardly as her siblings hurriedly left the two, whispering, murmuring and giggling amongst themselves.

"So…" Silena said after a while. She was still blushing slightly. She could feel her heart pump ever faster, in anticipation and hope that Harry was going to ask what she thought and hoped he was going to.

"So… yeah, umm," Harry stammered a bit. That whole whispering and giggling amongst Silena's siblings had thrown him off, he wasn't going to lie.

"Take your time," Silena said, in a soft tone.

Harry was silent again for a couple of seconds. "Do… do you want to—"

Happiness burst inside of Silena even before Harry could complete his question. She was elated! He had finally decided to confe—

"—go on a quest?"

In that moment, as all of her happiness and elation, and all of her past excitement along with her hopes came crashing down in just four words. And, in that moment, all she could say was, "What?!"

Poor Harry had no idea what he did to anger her so.

A/N: I hope I didn't dumb down Harry during the Harry and Merlin moment. The problem was that I wanted to show that Merlin is just that much more wiser, and I had made similar mistakes before. (you can claim that my mistakes in the original traumatized me a bit but I would deny it).

Also, not gonna lie, Merlin's eyesight is something that I took from the Fate franchise. I don't know if it exists in his original legends or not.

I ended it here because I have yet to decide on the third member. I am confused between Beckendorf (who is yet to be introduced) and Malcolm (because he would otherwise be alone at Camp and I already made a big deal about Harry not wanting to leave Annabeth all by herself).

I think I said this before, but the Lightning Thief quest will take place as canon, so I don't think I will be including what happened during events of said quest (unless I am following Archdruid89's suggestion of Annabeth asking Harry for advice) because you all already know what is going to happen.

Also, a few of you guessed the land in the North correctly, which is in Salem. No point hiding it now. Makes me wonder how predictable I am, so I have to ask: what do you think the Seal of Avalon is going to do?

Hope you all enjoyed! And stay safe!