40Hey there guys.
So, obviously, this is a new story. I got the inspiration for it last night and quickly wrote the first two chapters. This chapter acts as a prologue; the arrival of the Next Generation (the Seven, Nico, and Thalia), and their introductions. Be aware, there will most likely be mistakes in their titles, such as missed slain Titans, slain Giants, that sort of stuff.
Be aware, this chapter jumps in between Hestia's POV and Percy's POV a couple times. Also, many will see Percy as slightly OOC- however, let it be known that this is how I feel that Percy really is. He, or 'she' in this story, is a very pessimistic and sarcastic individual. His natural look is one of a dark brooding one he inherits from Poseidon. He was bullied, raised with abandonment issues, as well as with a (presumably abusive) step-father, and all in all has a very low self-esteem. All of these facts hold true for Persephone in my story (except she definitely was abused by Gabe). This is also post Blood of Olympus, meaning post Tartarus, and it's not long after the end of the Second Gigantomachy, so the memories and presence of Tartarus are still very recent for her, Annabeth, and Nico.
This story is also not Percabeth. While I do adore the pairing, I simply decided to not go with it. Instead, I'm making it a pairing that I've recently fallen in love with- Perlico. It was a pairing I first saw in GaleSynch's wonderful AU of Titan's Curse (and hopefully later) "Just Be Friends". I simply adored the idea of the three Greek children of the Big Three being in a relationship with each other, especially seeing how they acted with each other in the Sword of Hades. You can also see it as a piece of symbolism, as the Fates, Mother Chaos, the Next Generation, and Hestia all desire for the Olympians to get over their feuds and differences and be a true family, if you want to take it that way. However, aside from Annabeth being single (unless I decide to pair her with Will, since Nico is with his cousins) and the threesome, the canon pairings are still present. Jason and Piper are still together, Hazel and Frank still together, and Leo brought Calypso out of Ogygia.
Percy also has some Roman ancestry in her, based off of (his) innate ability to speak Latin. I'm aware the Chiron taught Percy's Latin class, but the fact that he's able to speak Latin to the extent that he can in The Lightning Thief and the Son of Neptune doesn't feel right for a single year of Latin, no matter how hard you studied it. Her great-grandfather is actually a Roman deity, though who it is will be stated in the chapter during her introductions.
There are a couple more things that I've done with Percy's character that is not canon that could be seen as making her OP, if this were that sort of story. However, let's face it, Percy is the strongest demigod, having surpassed even that of Heracles in valour. And as such, my Persephone is not anymore Mary Sue than Percy is Gary Stu.
Now, with that all done with, let's get to the obligatory summary and disclaimer!
Summary: The world isn't in shambles, Kronos' rise and the Second Titanomachy failed due to Percy, Annabeth, and Luke. Gaea didn't rise and the Second Gigantomachy failed due to the Seven, Nico, and Reyna. Gaea returned to sleep thanks to Leo, Calypso was saved, the Roman and Greek Camps were united, and everyone was happy. Why would the past need to change? Simply, to stop any of those defeats from having to happen. Chaos, the Mother of Creation, has been whispering into the ears of her Fates. She established the Ancient Laws before she entered slumber after the First Titanomachy, and now, the laws need to change. "The Second Titanomachy was caused because of the Ancient Laws, keeping the Gods away from their children, causing hate and loathing." Gaea's rise was caused due to the separation of the Greeks and the Romans. "Family must be family, and as things are now, the Olympians will never be such. Kronos will influence another and rise again, along with his Titan brethren. The peace between the Romans and Greeks will end once this generation has ended. Gaea and her children will rise a third time, and the Olympians will eventually fall." Only the current rulers of the Earth can change the Ancient Laws. However, why would they? The Olympians are immortals, and immortality has a tendency to desensitise beings from their own existence. To make immortals arrogant.
The Mother of Creation's Solution? Take the epitome of her ideals, the Next Generation, and send them back to a point in time when the Olympians were the most malleable yet aware of the dangers that were quickly approaching them. The Next Generation, made up of the Heroes of Olympus and the Legendary Seven that stopped the rise of Kronos and Gaea, the symbols of family and togetherness. Three Romans, five Greeks, and one of both civilisations, a relationship between the Sky, the Earth, and the Sea, the greatest Heroes of their time, are sent back in time with books- books that contain all the information the Olympians should need to change their ways and the Ancient Laws. The Moirai pull in all the information of all nine different life strings, and embed them into books, contact their local Goddess of Time and Fate, and request the Next Generation to be sent to December 21st, 2000. The Goddess accepts, with one statement from the Fates. "The concepts taken from the books could either raise Olympus into a true Golden Age, or raze it and herald a new "Golden Age", worse than even that of Kronos and his Titans' rule."
Disclaimer: Percy Jackson and the Olympians and the Heroes of Olympus do not belong to me. The series' are property of Rick Riordan and Disney Hyperion. This work is not meant for profit, simply meant for the enjoyment of myself and others. If you enjoy this work, please support the official release.
—December 21st, 2000: Hall of the Gods, Mount Olympus—
I sighed softly, gazing at my family from my location within the hearth. This year's Winter Solstice meeting sadly turned out the same way every Solstice meeting ended up. My younger siblings, particularly my three brothers, and my youngest brother's children arguing about the same things that had been argued about for centuries now. Zeus and Poseidon about their place in Mother's heart, whether or not the ocean or the sky were better than the other, etc. I heard a bit here and there on how of course Zeus broke the oath. However, that seemed a little hypocritical to me, as I knew Poseidon had sired a daughter seven years ago. To Zeus' left, my younger sister Hera continued to scold her husband on his many affairs—his most recent one of Beryl Grace, which spawned his half-blooded daughter Thalia Grace.
To Hera's left, Demeter continued her eternity long rant against Hades for 'stealing her precious 'Kore' away from her, said God of the Underworld wisely choosing to ignore the goddess' rant. Wisely enough, Athena chose to stay quiet, though that might have been due to the fact that her usual suspect (my unfortunate second youngest brother, whom was unfortunate enough to get on goddess' bad side centuries ago, and that lady does not forgive) was in his spiel with her father. To Athena's left, Artemis continued shouting at her brother from across the room, occasionally reaching for her silver bow, while Apollo continued his tradition of doing anything to get on his sister's nerves (probably one of the few 'stable' familial traditions those two had after that whole Orion thing however long ago). Wisely, and rather oddly, Ares, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Hermes, Dionysus, and even Hades stayed silent amongst the arguing.
Though Hades would occasionally send a defensive glare against our youngest brother's angry and accusatory glare—probably for that Thalia girl's recent… 'death' and 'revival' into a luscious pine tree. I sighed and shook my head at my dysfunctional family. After centuries, I'd hoped that they'd have changed at least a slight bit—but apparently, immortality doesn't exactly allow for that.
Before I could open my mouth to cease the arguments, a blinding light filled the room. The light was accompanied by nine voices—five feminine voices, and four masculine voices, which were then followed by a loud thud as the first voice hit the ground, and the other eight followed.
The light faded almost as quickly as it appeared, and I looked at the centre of the Hall. Nine individuals lied in a pile around each other. The first individuals I noticed were two girls that looked like feminine clones of my two youngest brothers, and a young male that looked as my oldest younger brother did as a young teen. My eyes narrowed a smidge, more children of the Big Three?
The next was a blonde teen that made myself briefly flicker to Vesta, looking much like a younger clone of Jupiter, my youngest brother's Roman form. Did that boy have another affair behind Juno's back? My form stayed for a moment as I glanced at a young demigoddess I remembered Pluto having eighty or so years ago. I flickered back to myself and continued looking at the individuals as Zeus lost his temper—an unfortunately common occurrence with that boy.
—Persephone Jackson's First Person POV—
My eyes drifted open slowly, deciding to briefly ignore the simultaneous pain of landing on the solid ground front first (seriously, why is it always front first? Can't it be the side first for once?) and the pain of having something else land on your back with a lot of force. What in the name of Hades did the Fates have against me?
The first thing I noticed were the thirteen assembled giants—okay, not Giants as in the monster race, but giants as in… you get what I mean. Then I noticed the familiar layout of the Hall of the God's before Annie's reconstruction after Grandfather's assault on Olympus nearly a year ago.
Oh shit was the first thing I thought. We time travelled, didn't we.
I felt the thing on top of me squirm a little, and felt the definite presence of a pair of breasts pushing against my back. I was half tempted to launch the person off of me, but decided against it once she jumped off of me.
Thalia, I thought. She left a very familiar tingling sensation coursing through my body. I slowly stood up and glanced around the Hall. Annie—Erm, Annabeth landed not too far from me on my left, as well as Leo, Nico, and Piper. Thalia had also jumped off in that direction. A glance to my right proved that Jason, Hazel, and Frank had landed not too far from me on that side. Well, that was coincidental wasn't it?
My eyes snapped closed when my Uncle started to shout in anger and annoyance. Honestly, after hearing it the first time over four years ago, I sorta' started tuning him out. His angry rants were very similar in effect to Smelly Gabe's. And I had to put up with him for years at home.
A soft shushing sound came from behind Zeus—from Hestia in the hearth. Zeus' angry shouting died down within an instant—an ability that seemed to only exist for Thalia, Hera, and Hestia. Hestia smiled softly at us, though I could tell she was suspicious of us. She, if my theory was correct, didn't know who we were, and so she didn't know whether we were a threat to her family or not.
Sometimes that woman could be more tactical than the Goddess of War Strategy herself, which frankly was frightening.
"Before you start shouting accusations, little brother," Hestia said softly. "Why don't we ask whom they are, and why they're here?"
Zeus grumbled slightly under his breath, but relented. From what I'd seen, that was something every Olympian did when Hestia spoke—most prominently the children of Kronos and Rhea, as well as their own demigod children. Guess that came with being the first born daughter of Kronos and Rhea, as well as the Goddess of Family.
"Fine," ole arrogant and theatric boomed. "All of you state your names and intentions." Who did he think we are, criminals or terrorists?
Actually, knowing my father's youngest brother, probably.
We all stood up and glanced at each other, all deciding that the children of the Big Three would go last (granted, that didn't save us much time from having to deal with twelve differently pissed off gods and lots of explanations. I'd leave those to Annie).
Leo stepped forward first, and gave his elfish grin that to this day makes me insist he must be a legacy of Hermes or Mercury (probably Hermes, Mercury's children seem to encompass his lighter domains). Hey bowed mockingly and spoke in that joking voice of his. "Leo Valdez, one of the Seven, slayer of Gaea, son of Hephaestus, and God of Fire and Machines, at your service." Oh yes, after Leo's little stunt on landing in Ogygia and rescuing Calypso (a mistake I continue to kick myself for), Leo was made a minor god that took over for some of the duties his father simply didn't have time for, rendering Hephaestus as purely the God of Smithing (though he still had that volcanoes thing).
Hephaestus seemed shocked at first, but shrugged and returned to his generally uninterested façade. Hmm, seems like he's always been that way. Maybe that was just something immortality did? I shuddered a bit.
Piper stepped up next, her brown hair just as choppy as ever and her kaleidoscope eyes in full affect. She bowed softly and spoke in that ever alluring voice of her. "My name is Piper McLean, one of the Seven, slayer of Enceladus and Kihone, daughter of Aphrodite, and Goddess of Natural Beauty, Language, and the Voice." I grinned at the bored and almost disappointed look Ares had. But despite how 'lame' Piper's domains sounded, they could actually be used in a deadly way—just like her mother's domain over Beauty, and especially her domain over the Voice.
Aphrodite smiled proudly at her daughter, though oddly disappointed that she was 'Natural Beauty'. Wait… neither of the Olympians have questioned how their children aren't still, well… children. Did we not travel back in time? Did we travel to a new dimension? Or was I just dreaming.
Honestly, probably the last one. I tended to have some weird dreams.
Annie walked up and for the first time, one of the Olympians seemed shocked. Annie's blonde curls continued to fly behind her as she walked, and while I wasn't exactly a very girly, well… girl, Annie had curls and hair that I'd kill for. Her stormy grey eyes sparkled with amusement and understanding as she bowed before the Olympians, already skittering across the room as she pictured the renovations she made to the Hall. "My name is Annabeth Chase, one of the Seven, co-slayer of Kronos, Arachne, and the revived Enceladus, founder of the Athena Parthenos, trekker of Tartarus, daughter of Athena, and the Goddess of Architecture and co-Goddess of Battle Strategy." Having two goddesses with the same domain wasn't exactly a common thing, but Annie was just as good at strategizing as her mother, the Olympian Goddess of Battle Strategy, while she was still a mortal.
It seemed like the gods were beginning to wonder what the 'Seven' were, which was another thing that was bothering me. So… not a dream? Maybe?
I braced myself as Frank stepped up. We were about to be in for a series of awful headaches. I glanced around as Frank bowed, still looking as muscular and soldier like as he did after his father's blessing, though looking a little pudgier. Looks like Thalia and I were the only ones to brace for the pain and the flicker.
"My name is Frank Zhang, one of the Seven, slayer of Alcyoneus, son of Mars and legacy of Neptune, and God of Shapeshifting, Necromancy, and Tactics." And there was the head pain and flickering. The head pain from the gods trying to stay in their Greek persona, and the flickering from them failing and shifting into their Roman personas. My companions glared at me and Thalia when they noticed we were the only ones that hadn't, and I rolled my eyes. Though I felt like it was more for the fact that we were Greeks in a room filled with Romans. Hmm. Okay, guess bracing was not my best idea.
However, before any of the Olympians (besides Jupiter (guess he wouldn't attack his daughter? I mean, there's no we he'd know), Neptune (he's not my father, Poseidon is. But, I guess he still felt some familial connection), Minerva, and Diana) could attack, Hazel stepped up. Guess it was time for the Big Three.
Juno's eyes narrowed at Jason, possibly recognising him from baby Jason (if we did travel back, did we travel back to a point where we all had been born?), while Pluto's widened slightly at seeing Hazel. Hah! So we're at least after 1942, since Pluto recognised his formerly dead daughter! Score one for Percy!
Hazel's beautiful brown curls also flew behind her as she walked, stopping in the same line as the others and bowed respectfully. "I am Hazel Levesque, one of the Seven, slayer of Alcyoneus and Pasiphaë, daughter of Pluto, and the Goddess of Precious Metals and the Mist." Jupiter rounded on Pluto and began to open his mouth. Uh oh.
Pluto sighed and cut of his brother's accusation before he could start. "I sired her in 1928, brother. She died in '42," his eyes narrowed sharply at his daughter. "However, I would quite love to know how you're here and alive."
I sighed myself. "Doors of Death were open, Deathboy here—" I jabbed my thumb at Nico, "—brought her back from the Fields of Asphodel, and Thanatos—erm, Mors didn't feel like taking her back due to the Prophecy of Seven."
Pluto glared at me and I shrugged. He'd been doing that since I met him. Honestly, it got old. However, Annie also glared at me, probably because of how blunt I was and how I didn't let her explain. Eh.
I frowned suddenly. Did we want to finish off the Romans so that this situation didn't happen again? Or did we want to save the children of the Sky God (both personas) for second to last?
Jason stepped up next, his perfect body walking up with an air of confidence that that boy seemed to always carry. Guess it came from being both a Roman, and (formerly) the Praetor of Camp Jupiter. Superman (as we all came to call Jason for his cardboard cut-out looks, and tendency to only use the Aerokinesis he got from being a son of Jupiter) bowed and spoke loudly. "My name is Jason Grace, former Praetor of the Twelfth Legion, one of the Seven, co-slayer of Porphyrion, slayer of Krios, destroyer of Mount Othrys, son of Jupiter and Champion of Juno, and the God of the Air, and minor God of the Weather." The latter part was sort of a domain that was shared between a few gods, so he wasn't the God of Weather, luckily. That boy inherited the entirety of his father's pride.
It seemed like Neptune and Pluto wanted to say something to Jupiter, but a look from Vesta silenced them before they could speak.
Nico walked up next. Cue another set of headaches and more flickering. Unlike all of the previous ones, Nico didn't bow. He just stood there confidently, confidence that came from being a child of the Big Three. "My name is Nico DiAngelo, slayer of Clytius, trekker of Tartarus, saviour of the Athena Parthenos, son of Hades, and God of Darkness, Grudges, and Fear." I nodded absently at the 'grudges' part. That boy had held a very bad grudge toward me for years after his sister Bianca died.
The same thing that happened with Hazel happened with Nico, except Hades explained that Nico was supposed to be in the Lotus Hotel. Hmm, the Gods are taking this rather calmly.
Nico then shot a grin and spoke rather smugly, but also jokingly and tauntingly. "As well as boyfriend of two very lucky ladies." I rolled my eyes.
Thals walked up next. I was going last? I glared at the punk's back, why dontcha single me out even more, I thought briefly.
Thalia's leather outfit clung tightly to her body, and left very little about her figure to the imagination. Her electrifyingly blue eyes shone with pride and power, as well as the same confidence Nico held as the child of the Big Three, and as the child of the Lord of the Skies and of the Gods. And like Nico, she didn't bow. "I am Thalia Grace, co-slayer of Atlas, former Lieutenant of Artemis, daughter of Zeus, and Goddess of Justice, Maidens, and Childbirth." She also muttered something else underneath her breath that I'm pretty sure only I caught. Artemis looked a little surprised, guess it wasn't every day that some random girl comes in and states that she's now a Goddess of two of your domains.
However, no one's surprise was quite to the level of Zeus'. He gaped and looked at Thals as if his daughter and just escaped death. Wait…
"B-But, you're supposed to be a pine tree!" he shouted in shock and confusion. So, we're before Thals got revived, but after she was turned into a tree? I glanced at Annie and saw the gears turning in her head. Oh Chaos, thank you Wisegirl! This was starting to hurt.
Annie simply muttered "Golden Fleece" as an explanation. Oh no, she's entered her eternal thought mode again. When she enters her Thought Mode, it's almost as if she steps into her own little Mind Palace that she can't be bothered to exit until she's figured something out.
I sighed when everyone else's eyes turned to me in expectation. I stepped up keeping my head high, watching as my father's eyes widened in shock, as well as his siblings'. Well, I was always told that I looked nearly identical to my father one time when Artemis cursed him to take the form of a female for a couple decades (apparently Athena wanted more of a punishment for the Medusa incident). I confidently looked at all fourteen gods, Hestia included. And like Nico and Thals, I did not bow.
—Hestia's First Person POV—
My eyes widened a little when Poseidon's child walked up, my younger brother's only mortal daughter. Her hair was long, silky, black, and regal, though with a stripe of grey through it, much like Athena's girl. Her face an aristocratic narrow, more so the girl's cousins', despite Zeus and Hades both looking more regal than Poseidon. Her lithe form was that of a swimmer's, a form she carried with a pride and confidence I'd seen in Hades' and Zeus/Jupiter's own children—a confidence belonging only to that of a child of the Big Three, and a pride carried only by a leader. Her eyes were the sea-green I'd expected of all children of the Sea God, but they curiously flashed with specks of gold, silver, and grey.
Though her eyes were what shocked me. The eyes were the windows to the soul, though only windows that those closest to an individual can see into—and as the Goddess of Family and Domesticity, I am able to see into the 'windows' of anyone closely related to me, even the ones of Hades and his son, that Nico boy. And as a daughter as Poseidon, her eyes should have been the most open and expressive, much as the ocean.
But they were the opposite. Even to me, her eyes were closed off, only letting through a sense of sadness and pain every now and then. And only then, did I get an even closer look—a look I doubt the rest of my family cared to take. Her body, while lithe with the clothing she was wearing, was unnaturally thin. Her face was only regal at first glance, but with a closer look proved to be very gaunt. Despite the pride and confidence she displayed, she was shaking slightly, as if standing hurt, and standing with all the eyes of my family hurt and scared her. Her eyes were darting back and forth, as if expecting a fight. I saw the same sort of mannerisms on Nico and Athena's girl, Annabeth. What was it those two had in common? And it hit me, Tartarus. The girl had also been through Tartarus.
I noticed Thalia and Nico discretely comfort the girl, actions that seemed to have caught Aphrodite's attention as well. Were Thalia and Poseidon's daughter those two 'lucky ladies'?
The girl did not bow before she started to speak, similar to Nico and Thalia. "Hey there," she said informally, breaking the formality even more and I noticed her cousins and Athena's daughter roll their eyes, clearly having expecting this. The girl also grinned in a crooked, slightly sarcastic way, though it seemed forced onto her naturally pensive face (a look that's shared by my younger brother, unshockingly). "I'm Persephone Jackson, Saviour of Olympus and one of the Seven, former Praetor of the Twelfth Legion, defeater of the Furies and the Minotaur, slayer Medusa, founder of the Master Bolt and Helm of Darkness, defeater of Polyphemus and founder of the Golden Fleece, Carrier of the Sky, defeater of Antaeus, bearer of the Curse of Achilles, co-slayer of Kronos, slayer of Stheno and Eurayle, Salyer of Polybotes, co-slayer of Otis and Ephialtes, and trekker—" Here the girl, Persephone, paused and choked back a tiny sob. Poor girl. "—Trekker of Tartarus, daughter of Poseidon, legacy of Athena and Saturn, blessed of Artemis, and the Goddess of Time, Heroes, Loyalty, Fate, Tides, and Bodily Fluids." She stopped for a second, as if to let us take in that abundance of information. Poseidon looked ashen with worry, while the rest of my family was shocked. And rightfully so.
Athena—wait, no, Minerva—choked out the question the most of us had on our minds. "Legacy of Saturn?" she asked, almost fearfully.
Poseidon's girl nodded. "He uh… He was apparently able to create an Image of himself in the Mortal World, and, well… sired my grandfather, I think?"
Poseidon proceeded to collapse into a puddle of water.
—Persephone's First Person POV—
I giggled softly when my dad burst into a puddle of water, but eyed the rest of the Olympians with worry. They looked absolutely terrified of the thought that Saturn was able to bake a corporeal Image in the Mortal World while being in pieces in Tartarus.
I frowned slightly after that. Wait, Kronos was my grandfather and Saturn was my great-grandfather… I shook my head. Stop worrying about our family tree, I told myself, it'll just confuse you.
Once the gods started to calm down, many of them then looked to Artemis. The Goddess of the Hunt shrugged herself, and looked down at me with a critical eye. "If you are Persephone Jackson," she said. "How is it you now look to be seventeen? I believe the young maiden I saw just mere months ago was that of a seven year old."
Seven years old? Welp, there's our date. "December 21st, 2000?" Annabeth and I both asked.
Artemis nodded, though she looked confused. "Yes, that is the date, though I do not understand why you two would state it."
"Welp, there you go guys," I said, smirking crookedly and tossing my arms around Nico and Thals' shoulders. "Just under ten years, that's how far back we are."
And there you guys go. How many of the changes to Persephone that I made did you guys guess at the beginning or while reading? Probably all of them, considering they weren't extremely original.
Now, onward to explanations! First things first, the Roman and Greek personas in my stories are different personas, meaning they do not hold many memories of what their other persona's have done. And thus, have an innate hatred for anything Greek (at this point in time). Percy and Thalia, being new goddesses, were not aware of that, and only knew they didn't want to shift forms nor experience the headaches of such occurrence. That's why they braced themselves for Frank's introduction. The Roman forms of the Next Generation (whose names will be revealed as the story progresses) have very little memory of their Greek forms or the Greek forms of their friends, and thus, the glare at Percy and Thalia. Percy was able to piece it together, and Thalia most likely was as well. And while on the basis of Roman forms, the Romans, while in Roman forms, introduced themselves with their Greek forms' names, simply for how similar their forms are currently (having only been gods for a short amount of time, outside of Percy's case sorta').
And on Time and Percy; As the Goddess of Time, shouldn't Percy have been able to instantly where they were in time? And on that note, shouldn't they all have known because of knowing the Fates' plans? If it weren't for the fact that I feel like new gods don't have perfect control over their abilities, I'd say 'yes'. However, Percy is a new Goddess. And despite having the knowledge that her domains of Time and Fate should bring her, she doesn't have perfect control over them. In fact, she has little to no control over them, what with how large and powerful the domain of Time and Fate are. She has more control over her smaller and arguably less important domains, such as her domain over bodily fluids (an idea I got purely from House of Hades, where Percy comments on how he should be able to control Akhlys' bodily fluids down in Tartarus, despite Poseidon only having the Sea has his domain. For another example, Piper's domain over Language is extremely tiny and basic, so she is able to control it to almost perfection (shown in the next chapter).
Now, for the rest of the Next Generation's domains. I made them all things that they all have had experience with in canon, roles their parents had that Riordan didn't exactly show much. Thus the reason they're all 'Minor Gods', and not Olympians like most other stories generally make them. Of course, I arguably gave Thalia, Nico, and Percy all very powerful domains, befitting their canon and fanon roles of the strongest half-bloods of their time. And no, Percy doesn't have Swordsmanship as a domain by itself. Her domain over Heroes covers quite a lot, including the combat skills of Heroes.
Thalia took over the domain of Justice from her father, and both Childbirth and Maidens from Artemis. Zeus, as Riordan presents him, is simply too paranoid and not level headed enough to accurately encompass Justice. After the Titanomachy, sure it made sense for him. But not now, several centuries later. And taking over Childbirth and Maidens are simply to allow for Artemis to dedicate more time to her dominion over the Hunt. Artemis still dislikes men in her time, yet does not hate them. She is able to admit when they have skill, and as such, will invite them to join the Hunt. Under the pretense that they don't pursue her huntresses of course.
Nico took Darkness over from his father, so that Hades could focus more on the Dead and the Underworld (Hazel's taking of the precious metals also assisting). His dominion over fear is different from Phobos. As Phobos is simply the personification of War brought Fear, Nico's is more of Natural and True Fear. Remember Grover's little "all rational creatures fear the dark"? That's the sort of Fear Nico encompasses, all of humanity's natural fears. Humans fear being alone, they fear death, they fear what they do not understand- those are the fears belonging in Nico's domain. And his dominion over Grudges? A small dominion in practice, but one that is large in effect. The reason that holding grudges is identified as a fatal flaw is because of how similar it is to personal loyalty. Personal loyalty makes it so that one is a very forgiving individual, under the hopes that they can be saved and be made into 'good' people. Holding grudges makes it so that you are loyal to an individual so much that, once that trust is broken, you find it nigh impossible to trust them ever again. Even in canon, Nico was hesitant to trust Percy again. And remember, a grudge against the gods was enough for Luke to betray them and revive Kronos to bring about their downfall. Grudges are powerful and deadly things
I allude back a lot to how Perlico didn't bow for one reason; it symbolises their canon and fanon positions. After the Sword of Hades, the fanon began calling Percy, Thalia, and Nico the next Big Three. In fact, Google "Children of the Big Three". Almost all of the fan art is of that trio, because they are canonically the strongest Heroes of their generation, while fanonically being the "Next Big Three". Them having more and stronger domains is because of their statuses within the fanon. They wouldn't bow because their strength gives them great pride. Add that on to their being, again, children of the Big Three, and their pride essentially prevents them from bowing. Percy especially, what with her being both Greek and Roman, a former leader of both camps, and the strongest half-blood alive.
And no, there won't be any huge freak out to the three dating. They're far too reserved for that (even Poseidon). Zeus and Poseidon will glare a lot at Percy and Thalia respectively, and Hades I doubt would really care all that much. Zeus and Poseidon are both just super overprotective dads, though reserved ones. And unlike other stories where the gods explode and such about how they came from the future, or how the Big Three broke their pact, that's also not there. The gods have been alive for centuries, I think enough crazy shit has happened in their lifetime that nine children of theirs that came back in time and declared they were gods doesn't really shock them all that much. Like the summary says, immortality can desensitise you. And I feel Hestia would be rational enough to know when to keep her siblings controlled, and has enough authority as the eldest born child of Kronos and Rhea, and the Goddess of Domesticity.
The varying POVs between Percy and Hestia were also there as symbolism. They both symbolise the main themes of this work- Percy represents the loyalty the gods should have to each other, as well as the loyalty the half-bloods should have to their godly family and the loyalty that should exist between the Romans and the Greeks, all to fend off grudges like Luke's, or the rivalry between the entirety of the Greeks and the entirety of the Romans, Percy being both Greek and Roman herself, while also being in a romantic relationship with the God of Grudges. Hestia represents, obviously, the familial bonds that need to be present so as to prevent the Second Titanomachy and the Second Gigantomachy, as well as to prevent anymore great disasters that could befall Olympus and the gods, as well as the immortals. I always viewed Hestia as truly being the strongest goddess in the Greek Mythology, same with Vesta in the Roman, simply because of how powerful familial bonds are and how much of an effect simply having a home can have on a person's psyche. The demigods that joined Kronos wanted a home where they felt like they belonged, and they wanted a family that they felt loved them. And of course, the gods couldn't provide this because of the Ancient Laws. And that is the reason behind the themes of a home, a family, and loyalty will be making such a large presence in this story.
Anyway, the next chapter will be up right after this one, once I have the author's notes done with that one. The next chapter will have the Next Generation explaining their reasoning behind coming back in time, and the summary present on the back of the Lightning Thief. Chapter three will actually begin the book, and then onward from there.
Also, without ANs this thing was at just over 3,400 words. Now, with ANs, it's at nearly 6,400. That's about five pages of notes and explanations that I know at least one person would have asked about, if not a lot more.