#'where apollo and i don't appear at all!' <- said by athena. they're still calling this the apollo justice trilogy
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hychlorions · 1 year ago
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less than a month before the switch port releases i'm still so baffled by their decision to call it the apollo justice trilogy. like it's probably been said before that it's already bad enough they're calling it a trilogy. but it's especially not APOLLO's trilogy get the fuck outta here with that lie you keep trying to sell us on
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your-local-bookworm · 1 year ago
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Forgotten Faults.
PERCY JACKSON × DAUGHTER OF ARES!READER.
Summary: Things get confusing when the son of Poseidon grows an unexplainable liking for a daughter of Ares who seems to be adamant on ignoring him.
Part 2
Warnings: Battle in Camp ?? Reader is hurt. Kampé. I don't know, honestly. Percy is a very confused teenager.
Note: This part is more focused on the battle than Percy and Reader's relationship, because it will only seem realistic as they're not yet very close.
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Fourteen year old still, but Percy is preparing for his first real battle. He wonders if it'll be like the ones he watched in movies as a kid or that gory movie he watched with Paul when his mom wasn't home. He hopes it's not the latter.
It was the biggest military operation he'd ever seen at camp. Everyone was at the clearing, dressed in full battle armour, but this time it wasn't for capture the flag. The Hephaestus cabin had set up traps around the entrance to the Labyrinth razor wire, pits filled with pots of Greek fire, rows of sharpened sticks to deflect a charge. Beckendorf was manning two catapults the size of pickup trucks, already primed and aimed at Zeus's Fist. Apollo's and Hermes's cabins were scattered in the woods with bows ready. Many had taken up positions in the trees. Even the dryads were armed with bows, and the satyrs trotted around with wooden cudgels and shields made of rough tree bark. Annabeth went to join her brethren from the Athena cabin, who had set up a command tent and were directing operations. A grey banner with an owl fluttered outside the tent. The security chief, Argus, stood guard at the door. Aphrodite's children were running around, straightening everybody's armour and offering to comb the tangles out of the horsehair plumes. Even Dionysus's kids had found something to do. The god himself was still nowhere to be seen. The Ares cabin was on the front line, drilling in phalanx formation with Clarisse calling orders. He failed to track Y/N, though. Also Grover and ... where's Nico??
It appears all of Percy's friends chosen to disguise themselves. Or not, he spotted Nico exiting the Apollo cabin, followed closely by Y/N. Nico took positioned himself beside the Dionysus kids while she came running up to where Chiron was next to him.
"We're all ready, Chiron." she said, boldness radiating off her like moonlight. It set her aglow. It was a nice thing to remember if he died in this battle. He thought of his mom and Paul, Annabeth and Grover, Tyson, Luke, Clarisse and her. So many lives at risks just because some lousy gods got into a fight with their father... grandfather... whatever.
Y/N took a place beside him. "You alright Jackson?"
"Couldn't be any more prepared for this"
When it began it was unlike anything he'd been in before. But much more like the kid's movies, must be because of the monsters. Paul's movie was only humans and horses. When Kampé attacked the Athena tent, Percy and Annabeth stroke back, but the poison was clouding them both.
"Come on" he shouted "We need help!"
But no help came. Everyone was either down or scared or fighting. And when Kampé took a go at Annabeth, Percy was convinced he'll have to witness his friend die, because Chiron's arrows were too late and so was Percy.
Then a sword sprouted through Kampé and Percy saw your figure emerge from behind. Kampé fell and last of Chiron's arrows hit Y/N instead.
Y/N let out a scream as the arrow bit into her flesh and blood streamed down her arm. Her knees hit the ground splattered with her own blood. Percy's heart plummeted.
"Now" Annabeth shouted, eyes trailing the fallen figure beside her. She rose and almost hit Kampé. Almost. But Kampé was fast and in the next five seconds, Annbeth too rolled onto the ground, crying in pain, with blood pouring from the side of her head
To Percy's great, no, huge .. wait. Provoking every bit of satisfaction in Percy's heart, the next cry he heard was from Kampé as Mrs. O'Leary threw her away like a discarded can of soft drink.
His eyes followed upon Daedalus and Briars the hundred handed one charging into battle
When the chaos deceded and night sky ruled over them, Percy retured to his friends. He was more glad than he can express when he found them all on one piece.
Dinner had no order and class, every demigod sat with their friends and Percy found Annabeth, Grover, Nico, Y/N and a Apollo guy, Will Solace? Will Slice? Will Whatever. Sitting on the Poseidon table. His pride soared but that was before his brain clicked and concluded that the Apollo cabin were treating to everyone and had set up their agenda in the dining space.
He took his short stroll up to Cabin 3's table.
Y/N, Will and Annabeth were indulged in conversation Nico tried to fight of his fatigue while Will bandaged around Y/N's shoulder, the gaping black hole now under protective layers of gauge.
"Not a summer goes by that I don't have to treat your bloody wounds." Will scolded her
"You humour me, Solace. This is only my second summer in camp half-blood."
"And you've got yourself in trouble at least a dozen times. Your arms are all scarred"
"It's because I am a dutiful camper. A born warrior. I wear my scars like badges of honour and braver--."
"You are born clumsy."
"I can still punch you."
"Not with a shoulder like that."
"Hey there everyone?" Percy announced his presence
'He-Hey seaweed brain." Annabeth smiled
"Hello Jackson."
"Hi Percy, now before everything else. You got any injuries I should know about."
"Oh, no i don't " Percy replied, "Could've just taken a shower if I did anyway."
"You know what Will?" Y/N turned to the said boy, "Never thought of it this way, but what if I throw myself in a fire pit and see if it heals my injuries?"
Percy wasn't sure if he's ever seen her joke.
"And what if you don't?" Will replied, tugging the last of gauge around her shoulders. He sat beside Nico.
"You shouldn't, really" Annabeth added, looking genuinely concerned.
"Alright." Y/N shrugged.
"I'll head to my cabin. See you lot later" Annabeth stood up. "Thank you once again Y/N, goodnight. You too Percy."
"Goodnight, Wise girl."
"Goodnight Anne, don't worry about it too much."
Percy turned to Y/N when Annabeth departed, "What were you talking about?"
"Luke."
"Oh" Percy didn't want to think of him now. " Can I ask you something?"
Percy knew he shouldn't. Speaking facts, every bit of conscience that remained inside his head bargained not to. But he did anyway.
"Why do you hate me?" No no no. That came out wrong. He resisted from face palming into the table.
"What?" Y/N stared at him. Similar expressions were to be casted upon the two boys sitting with them.
"You.. you always seem to uh, ignore me." He stumbled upon his words. Not as bad as his heartbeat though.
"The Ares and Poseidon children don't have the best relationship now, do they?"
"It feels more than that."
Y/N remained silent. Engulfed in her thoughts.
"When I first came to camp, last summer. A few week after that, you dropped a wave on me. By the lake."
Memories flooded his brain, that was her?!
"Never apologised." Y/N added.
"I didn't know it was you!!"
"You completely ruined my sketchbook!"
"Unintentionally! I am sorry." Percy was redeemed speechless.
"As you should be."
"I am. Really. I'm sorry."
"I forgive you. But if you're looking for a way to pay me back, could you please bring me a glass of water?"
"Sure"
Moments later when Percy came back with a bottle full of water. Y/N was once again engaged in talking with Will Solace. He handed it to her.
"Thank you."
"Thank you too. For saving our heads back there."
"We're all in this together, Jackson."
"So, peace?" Percy suggested, thrusting his hand forward. Excitement erupted in his chest when she took it.
"For now, Goodnight boys." And she walked of i to the night.
"Goodnight!" Will called back.
'Now that is a win." Percy thought to himself on his way back to Cabin 3.
Well, percy and reader are friends now, i do have plans for a few mort parts to this.
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blackquillchillin · 10 months ago
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Okay for Simon romancing people in Stardew Valley, we gotta evaluate the potential relationship with each of the characters, so, starting with the Bachelors!!
Alex: gives young person vibes, similar to how Sam does, but more then that i just don't think he's Simon's type. Cocky Jock with Gridball on the brain, eh. I don't know they'd have anything to talk about, really.
Elliott: Aesthetically quite nice, though I don't know if I picture Simon as being very appearance focused in partnerships. Very Artsy. Could work, though I think Simon would be pretty neutral towards him initially.
Harvey: Huge Bonus is that he does not appear as young as some of the other Bachelors. I'm also biased, as He and Sam are the only two I've gotten to marriage to personally. (and quite liked both of them) That said...I don't think he has enough Confidence for Simon. He's dedicated to being a doctor, sure, but he's also nervous, with huge amounts of anxiety at times. He talks constantly about the health and safety of the town, but when other topics do come up, particularly in dating, he's easily flustered. As cute as i find him (and his mustache) I don't think Simon would be interested.
Sam: Reads as too young. everything's still about skateboards and music. Not too young for romance, mind, I romanced him, but too young for Simon. does have golden retriever energy though, which is nice, and really loves his younger brother, also a plus. and he does grow a little once married, But I think it would feel weird. Better match for someone Athena or Apollo's age.
Sebastian: Now here's where we get into the fun stuff!! I think Sebastian would NOT like Simon, who in turn would be....very neutral towards the young man, and completely unaware of the one sided rivalry brewing. See, a lot of the problems Sebastian faces are concerns about not being able to establish himself. He's living in his Mom's basement, with his Step Father he dosn't get along well with, and half-sister who he sees as being favored over him. He also feels no one takes his job seriously, (example, in his two heart event we learn Abigail plans to come visit regardless of him working) but one thing he IS is the town's resident Goth, even more so then Abby. So, imagine, just imagine, how frustrating it would be for him when Simon rolls up, Grumpy and Standoffish, Shock of black hair, dressed all in black, hawk perched on his shoulder, already having his own space with a job everyone recognizes and not having to answer to anyone. If we wanted to count who's edgier, Simon's even been to prison. Heck, in this world he might even have prison tats, anything could happen. And Simon? not the least bit concerned about this, or even aware.
Shane: On the one hand, no one should romance Shane. Shane needs a friend, absolutely, but he also needs therapy, and is not ready to commit to marriage. I might feel differently about this if he wasn't returning to drinking after tying the knot, or reacted to you giving him Beer after quitting. On the other hand, they're both deeply troubled, and I absolutely pair deeply troubled fictional characters, both romantically and platonically. (Bobby Lives! Blackbright whomst, on both counts) They could be deeply troubled.....together..........
And that's the Bachelors! Next up, Bachelorettes..... Abigail: One of her Big character conflicts is growing pains and tension with her Dad. Too young for Simon.
Emily: Too new age-y. I do think they could be friends, though. She'd gift him crystals to "help him absorb negative energy" and he'd get caught in anything she's hung from the ceiling, like dream catchers or beaded curtains. She would be brightly optimistic even as he grouses about life, though wouldn't always appreciate his sarcastic ways.
Haley: Okay hear me out, same energy as Blackmahdi, or NyQuill as I prefer to call it. Sure, it's missing the Ying-Yang color scheme, but consistently arguing? taking pot-shots at each other? both being complex characters with real human motivations underneath their cruel exterior? yeah. It could work. Emily wouldn't be thrilled that that's how they talk to each other though.
Leah: Don't have a reason for it other then I just don't see it. Like, sure, it could happen, but I just don't think it would, you know?
Maru: Simon would be immediately put off by her dad, like that's a big no. Also, she reads fairly young, being at least younger then Seb. also, while he may be reasonably fond of her as a person, (or maybe not, i dunno) I think growing up with Aura may have killed any interest in inventors in general.
Penny: Okay, I know I said Harvey was too timid for Simon, and Penny doesn't exactly exude confidence, but it's not the same. She's a lover of children, who's actively trying to teach the only two children in town. She's aggressively helpful, and trapped in rough circumstances. Also, he could sweep her up in his arms and hold her close and she could gently help him through his anxiety attacks and no I'm not projecting-
Lastly, It's not Romance, but Platonic,
Krobus: No notes. Sweet little guy. Perfection. Simon would share his house with him, as would anyone.
And that's the list!! let me know if you want to hear potential dynamics with the other townsfolk, I may have more thoughts about some of them then others, of course.
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celestialices · 4 years ago
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QUEST!
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Greek Mythology x Haikyuu
Haikyuu!Ensemble x Reader
OVERVIEW. You were just a perfectly normal student at The University of Tokyo, when suddenly a bunch of “normal boys”, as they call themselves, appeared life and started to squeeze themselves into your life. Always saying something like “You’re a goddess, we must take you back to Olumpus.” (you brushed it off, convincing yourself it was a silly little compliment) and even absurd sentences such as “You got Medusa’s eyes” and “You’re really Medusa’s daughter!”
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001: WELCOME TO OLYMPUS
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masterlist
previous | next
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Mount Olympus, the home of the infamous deities who dwelt fabulous palaces of marble and gold. All well-known gods, along with the demi-gods, continue to exist, and spoil themselves with everything they could ask for, especially the twelve powerful Olympians who are superior among the gods who succeeded to the Titans.
Despite the enormous addition to the deities, Zeus still remains as the powerful ruler of the gods, Poseidon still reigns over the the sea, and Hades still resides in the underworld. Their habits didn’t change either; playing with the lives of humans is still their favorite to do to pass time.
Furthermore, every superior deity were given a place to rule their descendants. There are currently 14 domains placed in Mt. Olympus, Zeus' Palace being the biggest of them all. Every territory has their own unique designs, from gardens to forests, from underwater to a floating palace. Mount Olympus is mesmerizing.
As the world continues to emerge decade by decade, more powerful deities were born. It’s what the Olympians agreed on, to prevent their extinction. Even if it’s his decision, Zeus was anxious about his throne and well-being. He was scared of being succeeded, scared that the new generation of deities will overthrow him.
All the fear he felt resulted to placing a rule where no more deities were allowed to give birth. But with the strong disagreement of goddess Hestia, saying that it wasn’t their place to decide, , plus they'll probably cease to exist when that happened. “Your immaturity will cause our biggest fear to happen, Zeus. Vanishing from the world.”
The other deities backed her up, making Zeus frustrated more than ever. Well, he could eat the deities before they grow up, right? It's like the Athena situation all over again. It's not like it'll be the first time he swallowed a deity alive.
Unable to stay quiet anymore, Hera proposed another rule to ease the worries of her husband, the next-born deities weren't allowed to have their share of powers until they manage to behave and trustworthy after 18 years.
Immortality is a given, of course, it will be given to the deity as soon as they were born. And in the eighteenth year, a day for the blessing of powers will commence, the young deity's parents will take the lead and grant them their earned powers.
The ceremony was termed by the goddess Artemis, Ritual of Initiation. It is the action of admitting someone into a secret or obscure society or group, typically with a ritual. It will take place on the courtyard on Zeus’ palace, and every deity is expected to attend, unless they have duties in the human world.
With a little push, everyone eventually agreed, which brings us to today's events.
Listening quietly as the god Apollo plays his lyre, the daughter of almighty Poseidon and late Medusa, Asami sat there with the perfect poise ever seen. She is described as intelligent, kind, respecting, and gorgeous. Her beauty is the epitome of a goddess, really. Well, Aphrodite still insists she was still the definition of beauty.
Apollo's garden, Polyphonia, is just next to Poseidon's sea. The sea salt that remains with the breeze lingers on Polyphonia. Gracefully dancing nymphs are scattered, perfectly fitting with the relaxing ambiance of Apollo's music.
The young deity smiled sweetly as Apollo was finishing up his music and clapped afterwards. "Your wonderful playing never fails to ease me. Thank you, Apollo." And curtsied.
Apollo grins, absolutely enjoying sight before him. It bursts his self-esteem. "It's no big deal, Asami." And sets his lyre down. "You can come by anytime when you want to hear me play. I'll be glad to play for a goddess like you." Having the nymphs as his companions every day is cool, but having other deities to watch him play boosts the god's ego.
She chuckles. "Oh, geez. Again with the compliments," Asami flashed him her famous serotonin smile. "Really, thank you, Apollo. I'll come back tomorrow when Father lets me. It'd be wonderful to hang out with you again." She stood up and with a final wave to the nymphs, she exited Apollo's garden.
Enjoying a peaceful walk, Asami took time to enjoy the scenery in front of her. Even if she lived in Olympus all her life, the place never fails to stun her. Young deities excitedly walking by, nymphs playing and dancing around, everything in Olympus is just bewildering. Yet she still dreams of seeing what's down there, where the humankind lives. Poseidon never lets her, at least not until she gets her deity powers. She sighed, all she can really do is listen to the other's adventures down there and wait. Tomorrow's the big day, anyways. The Rite of Intuition. It's time for her and her best friend, Yamaguchi Tadashi, son of Zephyrus and Iris. And other deities she couldn't make the time to list down. "What's on your mind?" Asami flinched when she heard another voice speak. She looked around but saw no one which made her frown. And then sighed, for like, the nth time of the day. And mind you, it's not even noon yet! "Rintarou," Suna Rintarou, son of Hades and Persephone, got his powers last year. And he's been tricking her every time with his ability to be invisible, courtesy by his father. "I swear to Zeus, stop playing tricks with me and show yourself already." With that, Suna appeared with his usual stoic face. "You're fun to trick, Asami." He nonchalantly said which made Asami roll her eyes. "What are you doing here? Listening to Apollo's music again?" He quietly asked. "Mhm," She nodded. "What about you? What are YOU doing here?" Emphasizing the 'you', Hades never leaves the underworld unless it's really important, that includes his son and his wife, Persephone. Heck, he only attended the annual gathering last year, to be precise, Suna's year.  They only get to see him when they're allowed to visit the underworld, which is like, rarely. "Don't give me that look." Suna huffed. If a deity is asked to describe the young god with one word, it'll be 'rebellious.' Always leaving the underworld without his parents' consent, that's Suna Rintarou for you. It’s a surprise Hades hasn’t caught up yet. "Father gave me permission. I'm visiting Demeter today, Mother wants to know how she's doing so I insisted. Anything to leave, playing with Cerberus gets boring now." He explained. She was about to ask about the other deities residing in the underworld, but decided against it. "I get it. You've been playing with the three-headed dog for years now," Asami continued walking, Suna trailing behind her. "Do you want me to accompany you in visiting Demeter? I like her garden very much." She honestly said. Asami was rather an adventurous girl, wanting to explore every bit of Olympus as much as she can.
Enjoying a peaceful walk, Asami took time to enjoy the scenery in front of her. Even if she lived in Olympus all her life, the place never fails to stun her. Young deities excitedly walking by, nymphs playing and dancing around, everything in Olympus is just bewildering. Yet she still dreams of seeing what's down there, where the humankind lives. Poseidon never lets her, at least not until she gets her deity powers. She sighed, all she can really do is listen to the other's adventures down there and wait. Tomorrow's the big day, anyways. The Rite of Intuition. It's time for her and her best friend, Yamaguchi Tadashi, son of Zephyrus and Iris. And other deities she couldn't make the time to list down. "What's on your mind?" Asami flinched when she heard another voice speak. She looked around but saw no one which made her frown. And then sighed, for like, the nth time of the day. And mind you, it's not even noon yet! "Rintarou," Suna Rintarou, son of Hades and Persephone, got his powers last year. And he's been tricking her every time with his ability to be invisible, courtesy by his father. "I swear to Zeus, stop playing tricks with me and show yourself already." With that, Suna appeared with his usual stoic face. "You're fun to trick, Asami." He nonchalantly said which made Asami roll her eyes. "What are you doing here? Listening to Apollo's music again?" He quietly asked. "Mhm," She nodded. "What about you? What are YOU doing here?" Emphasizing the 'you', Hades never leaves the underworld unless it's really important, that includes his son and his wife, Persephone. Heck, he only attended the annual gathering last year, to be precise, Suna's year.  They only get to see him when they're allowed to visit the underworld, which is like, rarely. "Don't give me that look." Suna huffed. If a deity is asked to describe the young god with one word, it'll be 'rebellious.' Always leaving the underworld without his parents' consent, that's Suna Rintarou for you. It’s a surprise Hades hasn’t caught up yet. "Father gave me permission. I'm visiting Demeter today, Mother wants to know how she's doing so I insisted. Anything to leave, playing with Cerberus gets boring now." He explained. She was about to ask about the other deities residing in the underworld, but decided against it. "I get it. You've been playing with the three-headed dog for years now," Asami continued walking, Suna trailing behind her. "Do you want me to accompany you in visiting Demeter? I like her garden very much." She honestly said. Asami was rather an adventurous girl, wanting to explore every bit of Olympus as much as she can.
Enjoying a peaceful walk, Asami took time to enjoy the scenery in front of her. Even if she lived in Olympus all her life, the place never fails to stun her. Young deities excitedly walking by, nymphs playing and dancing around, everything in Olympus is just bewildering. Yet she still dreams of seeing what's down there, where the humankind lives. Poseidon never lets her, at least not until she gets her deity powers. She sighed, all she can really do is listen to the other's adventures down there and wait. Tomorrow's the big day, anyways. The Rite of Intuition. It's time for her and her best friend, Yamaguchi Tadashi, son of Zephyrus and Iris. And other deities she couldn't make the time to list down. "What's on your mind?" Asami flinched when she heard another voice speak. She looked around but saw no one which made her frown. And then sighed, for like, the nth time of the day. And mind you, it's not even noon yet! "Rintarou," Suna Rintarou, son of Hades and Persephone, got his powers last year. And he's been tricking her every time with his ability to be invisible, courtesy by his father. "I swear to Zeus, stop playing tricks with me and show yourself already." With that, Suna appeared with his usual stoic face. "You're fun to trick, Asami." He nonchalantly said which made Asami roll her eyes. "What are you doing here? Listening to Apollo's music again?" He quietly asked. "Mhm," She nodded. "What about you? What are YOU doing here?" Emphasizing the 'you', Hades never leaves the underworld unless it's really important, that includes his son and his wife, Persephone. Heck, he only attended the annual gathering last year, to be precise, Suna's year.  They only get to see him when they're allowed to visit the underworld, which is like, rarely. "Don't give me that look." Suna huffed. If a deity is asked to describe the young god with one word, it'll be 'rebellious.' Always leaving the underworld without his parents' consent, that's Suna Rintarou for you. It’s a surprise Hades hasn’t caught up yet. "Father gave me permission. I'm visiting Demeter today, Mother wants to know how she's doing so I insisted. Anything to leave, playing with Cerberus gets boring now." He explained. She was about to ask about the other deities residing in the underworld, but decided against it. "I get it. You've been playing with the three-headed dog for years now," Asami continued walking, Suna trailing behind her. "Do you want me to accompany you in visiting Demeter? I like her garden very much." She honestly said. Asami was rather an adventurous girl, wanting to explore every bit of Olympus as much as she can.
"That'd be nice," Suna answered with a small smile. "I'll invite the twins too, I guess." He added. Miya Osamu and Miya Atsumu, sons of Eros and Psyche, also known as the troublemakers of Olympus. Suna hated them to be honest, but he can't lie about enjoying their company.
"That's awesome! I miss hanging out with Atsumu and Osamu so much!" Asami exclaimed. "But I need to ask permission first." Being powerless was sure hard work. Poseidon never lets her do almost anything, he always had her guarded or accompanied, mostly by her step-siblings who've already got used to their powers, namely Hajime, Yukie and Kaori. Fun fact, she's Poseidon's favorite child.
Suna only nodded. They started walking towards the twins' place, Asami greeting a few deities they meet on the way. Suna can never understand how one can have so many friends, it's too tiring to talk to people. After a few minutes of silently walking, they finally reached their destination. "I'll go ahead now! I'll see you at the fountain." She uttered.
"Sure. We'll wait for you there." were the last words Asami heard from Suna before she sprinted away, too excited for her own good. It took a matter of minutes before she arrived at the gate of Zeus' palace, since Cupid's home wasn't that far from the Palace. She greeted the guards before walking towards her temporary home (since she'll surely spend all her time in Atlantis once she gets her powers tomorrow), in attempt to catch her breath from running.
Passing by the fountain with Zeus' statue, she ran up the stairs (hoping not to trip) and entered inside the palace. It has a simple layout, in fact, it is surprisingly a typical ancient Greek palace. There are many hallways, leading to a central hall, private bedchambers and storage rooms, all covered in gold. Zeus' palace also includes a golden-floored hall used for feasts built especially for the Olympian gods. Golden tables and benches were placed everywhere in this hall, it also provided the gods an enormous view of the world below, letting them observe the humankind from above. Then Asami passed by the large courtyard, where all the deities and nymphs assemble, for feasts, assembles and for Ritual of Initiation.
Asami knocked at the door of Pantheon (where Zeus and Poseidon hang out often), not entering before hearing the permission to do so. She opened the door after hearing Zeus' deep voice and shyly peeked her head before fully entering. She waved at the two before bowing. "Sorry for bothering the two of you. But I have to ask Father something." Said she while smiling.
"It's no bother, Asami." Zeus uttered. "Go on, we don't mind."
Asami locked eyes with her father. "Can I visit Demeter's garden with Suna and the twins today?" She asked, in the most kindest way possible.
This made Zeus chuckle. "Goodness, Poseidon. Demeter's garden is just next to my palace. She really needs to ask permission for that?" Poseidon frowned, not minding what his brother said.
"It's okay, Asami. Just make sure to be safe." Poseidon replied. Asami can't really blame her father, the amount of protectiveness he has for her was overwhelming for others, but she understands him. Many deities aren't in good terms with her since she is Medusa's daughter, they were too scared that she'll turn them into stone and take over Olympus once she got her powers, so they kept good distance from her. While some aren't in favor of her staying in Olympus, with rumors floating around saying she's not worthy to be a deity.
"Thank you, Father!" Asami gave the two a farewell hug before exiting the pantheon. Humming quietly while she makes her way to Demeter's garden, a smile formed in her lips after seeing familiar faces bickering. "'Tsumu! 'Samu! Rin!" The three whipped their heads, stopping at what they're discussing and smiled at their deity friend.
Atsumu hugged her as soon as she reached them, his smile wider than ever. "How can we live in the same place but I never see 'ya in like, forever!" He exaggerated.  
"What can 'ya do? She's always in Apollo's garden!" Osamu chimmed in.
"Shut 'yer trap! I'm not talking to 'ya!" Atsumu argued after breaking his hug with the poor deity. "Asami, do me a favor and turn 'Samu into a stone tomorrow!" He pleaded, with those cunning eyes of his.
Asami awkwardly scratched her nape, unable to answer Atsumu's request. "Watch her turn you into a stone instead." Osamu disputed, making the both of them quarrel. (Well, what's new?)
"Shut up or we're leaving you two here." Suna groaned. The twins' continuous bickering worns him out without fail. When will they stop?
"Let's just go!" Asami interrupted before any more chaos ensue. "I can't wait to see Kita," Kita Shinsuke, son of Zeus and Demeter. The blunt yet caring deity that everyone looks up to. "And Aran too!" Ojiro Aran, son of Zeus and Mnemosyne. He's the matured deity who takes care of everyone's antics. Aran often hangs out with Kita, whom he shares a very close relationship with.
Without further ado, the quadruple started marched their way in Dervine, Demeter's garden, the safe haven for all deities. It didn't took forever when they set foot in the awaited garden, with Kita greeting them from the entrance. "Hello, what brings you four here?" He asked, relaxed as ever. "Oh, are you here to visit Mother, Suna?" Kita asked after making eye contact with the latter.
Suna merely nodded. "Yeah. My mother wants to know how she's doing. These three just tagged along like the nuisance they are." Atsumu was about to protest when Asami held his hand to calm him down. He'll do whatever it takes to answer back to Suna, but with Kita present, it'll be better to just stay quiet.
"She's currently in her folly with Aran. Follow me." Walking gracefully with the four waddling him, Kita couldn't help but sigh. He loves vistors, he really does. But this combination isn't really it.
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Visits in Dervine will never bore you. They basically did a lot in the short amount of time they’re in there. Probably everything the garden has to offer. Even if it wasn’t the first time they went to Dervine, it never seems to run out of things to provide. New discoveries are always made.  The talking trees and plants, caring fairies, and the sparkling lake. Dervine is beautiful. Probably the most enchanting out of all domains. And trips to Demeter’s garden itself is a great source of relaxing and every deity is welcomed, all are given an equal treatment from Demeter. But every good thing ends, no matter how you try to prevent it. "That was fun! I hope we can do this again." Asami giggled. "Have a good night!" She waved her hand as the three disappear from her eyesight. Asami turned her heel and treaded towards her chambers. Without fail, a day spent with her friends never tires her. She can do it all over again and again.
After cleaning herself up, Asami hurled herself into her bed. Gods don't really need sleep, but it feels nice to drift away from reality sometimes. Squishing her pillows, Asami reminisced what happened the whole day. a habit of her before going to bed. As her consciousness recede, her mind went into free fall, surging with the chaos of a new dream.
Her life isn't perfect, but she wouldn't trade it with anyone else's.
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Polyphonia - Apollo's Garden, found at the surface of Poseidon's sea. It ishere Apollo often plays his lyre, and deities are always welcome to watch. The 9 Muses are always seen to be dancing; and merpeople stop by to watch. Dervine - Demeter's garden. Demeter and his son, Kita Shinsuke are the only deities that lives here, served by fairies and talking plants and flowers. Its atmosphere is filled with healing and relaxation, a safe haven for the deities.
A/N: Hello! That was it for the first chapter. the reader-insert will appear after a few more chapters !! Thank you for reading <3
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voidstilesplease · 4 years ago
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a steo demigod (Christmas?) au ficlet :)
~.~
In the middle of Christmas dinner, Liam appears in the Stilinski household. Stiles jumps off his chair, reaching in his pocket for his dagger, and his dad almost drops the tray he's carrying on his way back from the kitchen.
"Jesus-" his father pauses, wide-eyed at the newcomer. Recognition crosses his features; having met and known of Liam's abilities, his stance relaxes. "Liam."
Liam smiles sheepishly up at Stiles's dad, rubbing the back of his neck. "Hello, Mr. Stilinski. Merry Christmas," he greets before he turns to Stiles, who's still startled by his sudden appearance in the middle of their dining room. "Hi, Stiles."
Stiles recovers, closing his mouth. "Liam, what-" he points in the boy's direction, other hand settling on his sweater-clothed hip. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm on a paid excursion," he announces, bringing up a small box with irregular wrappings.
From the kitchen, Heather, Stiles's childhood friend who came to visit for Christmas, calls out, "Noah, do I bring out the entire basket of pies?"
Liam's eyes widen a fraction, as does Stiles's. Stiles meets his dad's eyes, gesturing wildly for the two demigods to go upstairs for their business.
Stiles grabs Liam's hand as Heather's footsteps get closer. They trudge the stairs in less than ten seconds and reach his room in time when Heather's voice asks, "Where's Stiles?" His dad makes up an excuse about Stiles retrieving something in his room and that he will be back shortly as Stiles closes his bedroom door.
Liam looks apologetic when he states, "Sorry, I didn't know you had a visitor."
Stiles purses his lips and reprimands without heat, "That's what Iris-messages are for, you know?" Liam ducks his head, and Stiles drops the topic with a shake of his head. He arches his eyebrows, "So, what brings you here?"
Liam hands Stiles the small box, "I'm only here to give you this."
Stiles studies the box. It's poorly-wrapped with a nondescript little red bow on top. His eyes squint at Liam, questioning. "You're a delivery express now? Last I knew, you were Hades' spawn, not Hermes'."
Liam shrugs, "Yeah, well, the entire Hermes, Apollo, and Ares year-rounders are grounded at camp for the Holidays, so."
Stiles's eyebrows shot up high this time, "What did they do this time?"
"Something about Apollo's sun chariot," Liam's eyes glaze over a bit, and he has a grimace on his face. "Apollo lost a bet against Ares to drive the sun chariot. Theo was about to take it for a ride -possibly to deliver this gift to you himself. But then Hermes stole the chariot -you know, for fun- Ares went ballistic thinking Apollo cheated, Apollo was offended and knew it had to be Hermes' doing. And all Hades broke loose basically," he smirks, "and I wasn't even behind it."
Stiles heaves a resigned sigh, slanting his head. "Sounds like Hermes, Apollo, and Ares."
Liam laughs, "It's relieving to know some things don't change,"
It is. After the summer they had, with the camp almost going against each other, chaos like this brings lightness to Stiles's chest. They are standing up again, rebuilding the rift between them, establishing normalcy.
"So," Liam nods to the box. "If I wasn't clear, the gift is from your boyfriend."
Stiles stammers, feeling his cheeks heating up. "Theo's not my boyfriend,"
Liam smirks, waving his hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah. You'll probably be the last to know that you're dating," Stiles opens his mouth to deny some more, but Liam beats him to it. "Anyway, that's why I'm here. I should get my ass back to camp before some monster detects the presence of more than one demigod, or worse, Mr. D finds out I'm shadow-traveling for illicit affairs." He opens the door behind him. "Also, tell your dad I'm sorry for popping up out of nowhere." And in a minute, Liam's gone through the shadows back to Camp Half-Blood.
Stiles looks at Liam's empty space before transferring his gaze down to the present in his hand. He wonders if he's been gone too long and Heather is starting to get suspicious of his absence, but he starts opening the gift anyway, curiosity winning.
When he sees what's inside, his mouth drops. It's a necklace. Not only that, the pendant is the shape of the letter 'S' made of gold and emblazoned with three small blue crystals. Stiles recognizes them as the gemstone Theo found in his pockets when he arrived back to the camp after being marooned for over a month in Ogygia. Theo suspected it was Calypso's doing as a reminder that he had once been to the mystical island.
He is almost afraid to touch it, but Stiles brings it close to admire the handiwork. Theo must have asked someone from Hephaestus to help with it because the intricacies can only be carved by their skillful hands.
His heart races all of a sudden, registering the fact that this beautiful jewelry is for him. He blows a big puff of air, in utter disbelief. Why would Theo give him such a gift? 
Stiles remembers Haley asking Theo for one of the crystals for scholarly purposes since it's a very rare azurite stone coming straight from a legendary unplottable island. The power even one of these must contain would be mind-blowing. But he had refused.
Now, Stiles has all three. Theo gives up his powerful stones as a Christmas present to Stiles. Different feelings are clashing together: confusion, astonishment, excitement, skepticism, deep flattery. He even thinks of how he and the Athena cabin can spend next summer poring over the gemstone that, up until this point, remained elusive to their academic pursuits.
When Stiles turns the pendant, he finds engravings on the other side, and his breath stutters.
"The gods send Calypso heroes to tend that she can't help falling in love within a brief time. But the same ones that cannot accept her offer of companionship because their hearts are bound to others - always the heroes that are already deep in love."
"So these heroes can only leave if they're in love?"
"Yes, Theo, that's what I just said."
The carvings spell out: for bringing me back from Ogygia
~•~
Happy Holidays!
(this probably sucks lol but anyway..)
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notfeelingthyaster · 4 years ago
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Imagine (Son of Hades! Percy; Godswapped! Big Three's kids) Mark of Athena AU Pt. 1 (3/7) or (8/12)
Hello!! MoA is freaking extensive, so you're getting it in two parts. What are y'all thinking about this AU? Do you like it? Do you have suggestions? Anyway before reading this, check on the masterpost - all parts are essencial for the understanding of this - PJO or HoO - and check on the warnings before proceeding :))
Before everything, everyone's ages. Malcolm is 20, Reyna and Octavian are 19; Percy and Annabeth are 18; Frank and Jason are 17; Piper, Leo and Nico are newly 16; Will and Hazel are 15 - everyone is older, because I can.
Perseus is on a very uncomfortable toga praetexta, and he is late to the committee he has been organizing for at least two weeks now.
Planning for the greek commission - that he really hopes has planned a decent diplomatic mission, come on, Annie - is a very difficult job.
Mainly because Octavian is being a pain - and his direct superior, the Pontifex Maximus, is his grand-uncle, so nepotism is, of course, making Perseus life very hard.
They don't have any real say about the subject - the Vestal Virgins outrank them, and they're all for it because their Lady said so - but they still can protest every single one of the Alliance Committee decisions. Every single one.
They don't know how the greeks are getting here - it seems to be by ship, so they are keeping people at the closest bay, but no one is sure, so they are preparing for everything.
Hera gave him a date - July 8th, a Sunday - and they're working with that. Saturday is a day of rest, to the Roman people, so they organize everything on Friday - food, beverage, accommodations. Will they need garments? Perseus is not letting them walk around in those orange monstrosities.
Well. Hazel and Frank organize those - mainly helped by Questors and Magistrates - while Reyna and Perseus lock themselves up and review all the paperwork.
Because if they're not coming with their own mountain of paperwork, Perseus is kicking their asses, from Jason Grace - the previous Praetor - to Annabeth - she is supposed to be smart.
He also works on the mess that is the patrol rotation, the defense plans for the city, in the reconstruction efforts and in rising the wall at least 10 feet - getting it thirty feet tall, an impenetrable fortress for the upcoming war against the Giants.
Perseus has also made time for Iris Messaging his mother, - who is always overjoyed to hear from him - Persephone, - who he was only able to talk to once - Rachel, - who was not surprised to hear from him, and keep suggesting that he goes to the college closest to Parsons instead of staying in Nova Roma - and Calypso - who no Iris Messaging has been able to connect, nor can he find her location, so he guesses she is also in Olympus.
So back to the present - Perseus is late. It's 9h22 - he doesn't think that the greeks are getting here in the afternoon. He passes by Reyna's villa - with a cup of coffee and half their paperwork - and she is also late - a first when it comes to Praetor Arellano. Because they aren't Perseus and Reyna from now - they're Praetor Jackson of Styx and Praetor Arellano.
So they go to the courtyard - where the whole army is waiting, swords and shields gleaming with Frank in the head, plus the Consul, his two assistants, the Pontifex Maximus, Augur Primus Octavian, the six Questors and Perseus, and Reyna's assistants.
Perseus was never so grateful for someone as he was for Commander Sabina Artorius - the legacy of Pomona had been injured in the battle against Polybotes and lost her right leg and an eye - didn't make her any less valuable for him - but in the eyes of the prejudiced Roman people, she was a burden - so Reyna appointed her for the job.
She did everything Perseus wasn't able to - including proof-reading everything he wrote, teaching him the intricacies of Roman Politics, and giving him paperwork to sign.
Everyone who called her a useless servant was lying - Sabina was an amazingly competent P.A. and diplomat, and Perseus was very grateful for her, and her salary reflected that. Even if the Romans found weird a Praetor was paying for work - weird slaver fascist culture.
Reyna also has an assistant - a boy called Aeneas Nerius - a son of Virtus - who was born blind, so was relegated to poor-paying (or not paid at all, because housing and food aren't payment) jobs. Because Nova Roma is not only queerphobic and racist, no. It's also ableist.
The Pontifex - his name is Septimus Gavius, and he's a direct son of Phebus Apollo - looks at them angrily when they arrive late - but the Consul doesn't even notice the time - the man is too afraid of their conjoined power over the masses.
The Consul plays for the people as if Perseus would be a good successor - calls him Augustus and Imperator - even when everyone knows Reyna is the obvious choice - the man is as misogynist as all the older Senators are.
While Reyna tries her best to make her purple stola less constricting and Aeneas corrects Perseus toga with the practiced movements of someone who has been trained to do it - and that's when Perseus remembers that Aeneas was a servant to Octavian's family.
He pointedly avoids looking at the boy's hands - the demigod is no older than Percy, and his hands are burned and scarred. Perseus doesn't pity him - he rages internally against Octavian and his bigoted, slaver, prejudiced family.
They are talking - he is still seething from his realization - when the Greeks appear. And Perseus wants so much to kick their butts.
He has no words. He wants to scream. Reyna massages her temples with the face of a resigned person, and Sabina - the bloodthirsty woman that she is - snorts in amusement.
"Praetor Jackson. I fought beside you! I didn't expect your people to be... well... barbarians!" Whispers Reyna in his ear, in utter exasperation.
"I wasn't expecting this either! They have Grace, who is a roman! Why are they doing this?" He whispers back, as lost as she appears.
It doesn't matter - he tells Frank - Legatus Legionis Zhang - to make the troops stand down. This is not a fight - not yet, Lady Lupa whispers in his mind.
Hazel - Centurion Levesque - looks at him worried. She has been frenzied since her brother's disappearance the day after her birthday, but this is just the cherry on top. Are they fools?
The ship crosses their wall - and hovers in the air as, one by one, six people climb down. Perseus recognize almost all of them - there's Annabeth, Malcolm, Will, Jason Grace, and two other demigods, who he doesn't know.
At least Grace is wearing a toga. A makeshift, purple toga picta - as if he was a Triumvir or an Imperator - but a toga nonetheless, even if pretentious.
The Consul is the first to talk - the Greeks approach slowly, wary of the army behind them. The man welcomes them to Nova Roma - looking at Grace's toga with something akin to disdain - and then promptly passes the torch to the Praetors - the organization of this whole thing has been in their hands from the start.
"I am Praetor Urbanus Arellano" Reyna starts, in an official tone that no one questions "And this is Praetor Peregrinus Jackson of Styx. These are Pontifex Maximus Septimus and Augur Primus Octavian, Legatus Legionis Zhang, and the Twelfth Legion of Nova Roma. Please, follow me - let's continue our talking in a more private setting, I'm sure you're must be exhausted."
It's just an excuse to avoid the mocking looks the bigots are throwing them - Perseus can hear their voices in his head, calling him an ape, a savage bringing barbarians into their home.
The greeks - with their orange T-shirts and faded jeans and mocking purple toga - look as out of place in Nova Roma as Perseus feared they would. Reyna and he take them to the Praetor Villa - is as much as they can restrain themselves.
Annabeth - who knows him longer than anyone here - doesn't jump him - she just looks a little overwhelmed - Nova Roma is probably a bit much for her Athenian brain, which is now possibly being overridden with possibilities. It's Jason who makes the first move - and what a weird move at that.
"Reyna" He greets, and they hug briefly - and as manly as possible, for some weird roman reason about feminization - before the blonde turns to him "Perseus Jackson"
"Jason Grace" He answers back, and they exchange a handshake, but there's something weird in the inflection of his voice that Perseus doesn't necessarily care for "Annabeth"
Her greeting - when she gets off the subspace she dropped to - is much nicer - and warmer - he even gets a hug out of it.
They introduce him to Leo Valdez - who Perseus looks at once, remembers Charles Beckendorf, and swears to never let any harm come upon his baby brother - and Piper McLean.
"I know you!" They say at the same time - because that's where English gets you.
They explain that they went to Yancy together - two years, doing the same English tutoring. They give each other a high five for surviving the highs and lows of high school as monster bait. Malcolm and Will both hug Percy and greet Reyna with the same respect they give Annabeth - Praetor Arellano is terrifying.
The conversation eventually goes to how - how did they find Nova Roma, why they aren't surprised to see him here - and the answers are kind of obvious.
"I dreamed of you," Says Grace, still with a strange tilt to his voice. Perseus guesses he probably isn't okay with losing his place as Praetor - but he was kind of lost for eight/seven months. It's the gods' fault, really.
"Me too. Kind of - Lady Juno... I mean, Hera, she sent me dreams for about a month or so? It was all very weird - like basically the training I was doing at the day, you were doing at night. I think she was trying to tell me to follow in your footsteps. Helped me a lot - thank you, man."
Jason - and all of the greek entourage - seems a bit downtrodden - like he just gave a big miss. But Perseus has more important things to care about.
"Who had the brilliant idea to come for an alliance in a military flying ship?!"
Jason Grace wants to punch Hera, or Juno, or whatever is her name in the face. He wants to punch himself either - the gods never did anything good for him, why would they now?
He talked - like a creep - about the dreams. And turns out? He is the only one having deep, emotional dreams about Perseus' past for months. He got a crush on someone he knows, like the palm of his hand - but that doesn't know him back, because really, why make this easy? Why give him those dreams at all - if they were doing this one-sided?
So he stays quiet, as Leo apologizes for the worst idea ever - coming with a warship to a military city - and, while Perseus and Piper trade stories, Reyna beacons him for a quick walk - to show him the development of plans they did together - their own way of catching up.
"You're infatuated with him," Jason says but is not an accusation, is just the truth, in the worst time possible.
"Can you blame me? You were gone." She retorts "Wait... It's not me you're jealous of. But how do you? You never met before."
He explains the dreams - the seven months of dreams, the only link to his past, the way Camp Half-Blood worships Percy - the way that they don't have rules about who you lay with. Jason feels Nova Roma around him - the decadence of water everywhere that CHB simply lacked.
"Well, we should open a club. Me, you, that blonde girl, Di Angelo, half of Nova Roma..." And they laugh, for it seems impossible to not fall for Percy's charm, just as impossible as making him notice any of them. "Now can you explain to me why are you wearing purple of all things?"
He is apologetic - it was the only toga they could find in short notice without leaving Camp. Then, she shows him the plans - Reyna can do multiple things at once, and her best friend's love life is merely a blip in her radar.
Reyna loves differently - she has known that, all her life. It doesn't make a difference where it comes to Perseus - she loves him, even if she can't imagine ever laying with him. Maybe that's why she hasn't made any moves under the course of three months. She should let him go - he has so many options, anyway.
When they go back, is to see Perseus and Annabeth in a heated debate about she wearing a chiton or a stola - anyway, no greek can go to Senatus in jeans and a T-shirt.
Eventually, they manage to get them all in togas - the girls refuse the stolas, but they are convinced to put on the chitons for diplomacy.
They didn't come with mountains of paperwork. But between Malcolm, Will, and Annabeth, by lunch they have outlined most of their possible contributions and what do they need - and what they're unable to give up.
Perseus and Jason - and possibly Nico di Angelo, who's missing - are the only ones who know the full information - how many battle-ready people both sides have, how many disabled people, how many children, healers, resources.
Nova Roma is winning - in everything. Except for power - because Camp Half-Blood only has, maybe, five legacies out of more than 150 campers, while Nova Roma is mainly composed of legacies, second-generation demigods, or minor gods' demigods.
The Greeks are composed of 63% Olympian's children, 36% minor gods' children, and 2% legacies - all children of two demigods, so second-generation demigods. They don't have Nova Roma's training - but they have powers the Romans could only dream of.
The Romans are composed of 12% Olympian's children, 39,5% minor gods' children, and 48,5% legacies - most who are at least a few generations diluted. They don't have Camp's power - but they have techniques and numbers the Greeks couldn't even hope to have - if you counted the able non-fighters - the ones who would fight either way for the sake of Rome - it was a number bordering on 700 hundred strong.
It is a gamble that could only bring destruction - for both sides. So Perseus and Jason exchange looks - and decide not to divulge all information. Egos are so fragile - especially between the older generations - so it's best they don't have material to plan in accord.
The Greeks and Roman heed together to the Forum Romanum. Is still weird to see the Romans - especially for Leo.
You see, Leo has been surrounded by a cult of Perseus Jackson over the last few months. Half the people he knows are infatuated with the guy - including the meticulous Annabeth Chase, his best friend, and even scary as hell, Nico "I'm bringing the thunder" di Angelo.
He is expecting a Batman-esque character. He is expecting the heroes from legends - the ones destined to fall. Leo is half-waiting from an automaton - or perhaps Lucifer himself. He isn't sure.
But the guy is... easy-going. He bears a striking similarity to Charles Beckendorf - with surprisingly green eyes. Perseus is wearing sheets - why, Leo can't phantom - and making jokes with Malcolm Cage like the guy wasn't perpetually boomed by something.
It isn't the only thing that surprises him: All his ships (the romantic ones, not the literal one) crashed and burned worse than Helen of Troy and Paris. Perseus is seemingly oblivious to romance - he is all about the job, making friends, rebelling against the traditions and their superpowerful angsty parents.
Well, Leo can get behind this. He can't stop looking at Nova Roma - a whole city, directly taken off a good Gladiator reboot. Leo is not an architecture crazy like Annabeth - but oh, the aqueducts!
Leo wants to take a peak at the place the chimneys are poking of - maybe a two or three hour walk from where he is - but Piper keeps a hand in his wrist, leashing him like a unruly puppy.
Annabeth is in a similar state of amazement - she came here for her best friend and crush - and is surprised.
Not by Perseus becoming some kind of military political person - he always had the potential - and the way he grew, somewhat, harder and prettier at the same time. Annabeth is only eighteen and still on sophomore year - blame the hormones.
But she is amazed by Nova Roma. They have such an intricate society, with traditions the greeks have long forgotten - who still uses clothes like that - and a military formation worthy of Julius Caesar.
Her best friend turned out to kind of be the Julius Caesar to Reyna's - Praetor Arellano - Augustus. Perseus - Praetor Jackson of Styx - is militar and rigid, a political conqueror - while Reyna is infinitely more dangerous - she is a king, a leader to be worshipped as a goddess for centuries to come.
Annabeth came in this mission for three reasons: Her best friend, the war, and the mission her mother gave her. But now, she looks at the politics, at the city - and wants to stay.
They enter the Senatus - Perseus and Reyna upfront, followed by Jason and the greeks - and take their places. Jason - for the anger of most romans - stay with the greeks.
The session starts as normal - titles, names, rankings, people bringing their issues, strifes, budgets, ideas of infrastructure that were authorized by the Censors, marriage licenses and research projects.
Jason thinks they are scarily good together. Reyna works most of the civil front - she is a master at law - but it's Perseus who separates most strifes and solves the money problems - he is the son of a fair judge himself.
He can see the looks - he is Propraetor now. Why doesn't he sit in his side of the Senatus, between his pairs? Does he think himself above them now - even between barbarians?
But Jason can't let his friends to the mercy of the romans - not alone. After all people come - some redirected to the Consul, some with their issues solved for better or for worse - it's their time, to state the case.
The Alliance of Ephesus - for a city that was both greek and roman in nature - is still in it's initial states. But they make their cases - the way Camp Half-Blood could help in the upcoming war against the giants, their own roles in the previous war against the titans.
It is a convincing argument - both Perseus and him are unmovable objects, and Reyna is an unstoppable force - but they do hit a rock in the way.
"If the best your camp has to offer is a healer of Phebus Apollo, a bulla-wearer of Flamen Vulcan, a daughter of Venus Verticordia and two children of Minerva - a virgin goddess - this Alliance is highly unfair for the people of Rome!"
It had to be Octavian, Jason thinks. It is good, then, that Perseus has the tongue made of steel and looks like a Basileus - sat on a throne, overlooking them, with a bored look upon his face, he could demand a crown and they would give him.
"You overestimate yourself, Augur Primus Octavian. You see yourself so mighty that you have no need for allies?"
It is mocking and there's a message behind it - "This is where I come from and I am your Praetor - do you challenge my power?" - it makes Jason shiver.
Perseus - Praetor Jackson of Styx - is his father through and through. Jason only met the god once - in the post-war council in Olympus - but he had the same imposing voice, the same luxury that seduced Proserpina to the Underworld.
Just like he looked leading the greek forces against Kronos, wielding his weapons of choice with a roar that made Manhattan tremble.
It seemed to work - for Octavian shut up pretty quickly. Jason is no longer in a position to do it - he is respected, technically, as a Propraetor, but he barely reached half of his term - after spending a year as Legatus Legionis - a position which Frank Zhang more than deserved.
Everything is going well - too well, for Piper's liking. Perseus is cool, Reyna is cooler, they have a whole government (!), Jason is making heart-eyes at dream dude and even prejudiced guy recognized her as a girl.
They have a feast - where they are introduced to Frank Zhang and Hazel Levesque - and Piper sure isn't keeping all those titles straight in her head, this is Annabeth's job.
Centurion Levesque - Hazel, a girl a little younger than them, but apparently already a general - keeps looking at Leo as if he is about to implode - a normal reaction to him. She stops once they are introduced - there's a forlorn air about her.
She catches up a little with Perseus - who is the most oblivious person to ever grace this earth, for so many look at him and he barely looks at anything but his paperwork - who finds it mightly funny to slowly eat a pomegranate while everyone freaks out at the implications.
Well - he thinks they are scared. But Piper knows they're just horny and waiting to pass winter cozying up in hell.
Perseus explains to her (finally) why they give the gods different names - Venus Verticordia, Genetrix, and Victrix; Juno Moneta, Regina, Lucina, and Populona; Mars Ultor, Pater, Quirinus, and Gradivus, etc. He explains they are epithets - different forms of each god.
Different from the greek to roman transition, these are the same gods - in very different facades. Like, for example, her mother could either be Venus Genetrix - the maternal one - Victrix - the war one - or Verticordia - the romantic love one.
Greeks used to have this - but some of their aspects got too jumbled, so they started rebirthing - evolution. Zagreus became Dionysus. Hermes split from Pan. Helius merged with Apollo, Selene merged with Artemis. As their cult changed - so did they.
Children of Venus Genetrix and Verticordia are different from Children of Venus Victrix - still brothers and sisters, but their powers are different - where the first lean towards priesthood and the second towards charm speak and magic - almost all the third's are warriors of the same caliber of Mars Ultor's children.
Everyone here is so different though- Perseus' P.A., Sabina, is a total badass and Piper would be all for her... but wouldn't that invalidate her? She spent her whole life trying to prove she is a girl - to now go pursue sex with other girls? Piper is confused - she should IM Ariel before sleeping
It is all going very well - minor accident when someone mentioned Perseus' decision to send the harpy Ella away days ago - probably to Rachel - until Octavian decides to see the ship. And, of course, Leo just has to go.
Jason is proving to be very smart - for while Leo is occupied above with Octavian, he insists to also be on the ship, with Will and Malcolm as his backup - no one here trusts the drowned rat.
They take with them Frank and Hazel Levesque - two possible candidates for the mission on the Roman side - evening the sides - three Romans, three greeks, and Jason - a medium.
Perseus stays on ground - he is the host and can't leave the party - with Reyna - who is talking to Annabeth in hushed whispers - and her - who is starting to get a little tipsy.
Well. She should've known better.
Leo attacks the camp - it's not him, but it's enough. Perseus - at the first cannon bomb - whispers something in Reyna's ear, and escort her and Annabeth to the ship before Roma can react.
He jumps on board, pops an unconscious Octavian out of the ship, and tells Annabeth to get out of there in the next ten minutes or he won't have an alibi. They do - but look at him like he is either crazy or drunk, still in laurels and a toga, a goblet of wine precariously between his fingers.
"I'm Praetor Peregrinus Jackson of Styx - and this is an espionage mission with the objective of rescuing Legatus Legionis Zhang and Centurion Levesque while finding who is the greek traitor. At least, officially - I'm here because I am not a big fan of the woman encroaching in my territory, trying to kill my friends."
Leo - who is still disoriented of what Frank explain is an eidolon, they had a run with those when the attacks on Nova Roma started - starts laughing and takes Annabeth's place steering the Argo II. After a minute of silence, everyone starts laughing - the man is a genius.
So they go after decent clothing - because just Hazel and Frank are in battle appropriate clothing, and Perseus just noticed that they're floating and he can almost see the equations around his head - he wants so bad to talk to him because he has the same numbers around him all the time.
After everyone is in pants and shirts - Perseus, Frank, and Hazel take the loose shirts - Annabeth brought a stash of clothes in more or less their size, in Jason's word - but, while Frank tugs on a pair of sweatpants, the other two look at each other.
Leo is not really surprised when Hazel is in a skirt - but he gasps when Perseus walks in Frank's roman military skirt. He looks uncomfortable at the mere idea of pants.
No one says anything - not only they lived in CHB, but he has the Minotaur dagger that pair perfectly with Rachel's strapped to his tight, while his ax and Warhammer are crossed in his back.
Leo can see Jason drooling - he isn't the only one. Leo is newly sixteen - the youngest bar Will, and, perhaps, Hazel - and generally more interested in machines but he is not blind - the guy is hot.
Perseus gets hotter when he comes to Leo - still with a resting bitch face that would give Chiron a run for his money - and starts asking questions with the excitement of a puppy - about the ship, about the plans, how the aerodynamics work.
Hazel is roped into the conversation when they try and test if she has any control over the wind - almost nothing, but Perseus thinks he can hone her eventually - while Will and Malcolm start grilling Frank and Jason over Nova Roma.
Perseus mentions Nico - which Hazel supports. He hasn't be seen in either Camp since Perseus recovered his memories - said he was going to make up for it, but Percy knows the guy is a little self-destructive - he is too prideful to know when to just stop.
Piper and Annabeth are on patrol - no one is really sure the Romans aren't going after them. It doesn't serve for much: they are attacked.
Not by Romans, but by griffins. Between Jason, Piper, and Annabeth, Perseus and Leo don't even move. The ship does suffer some damage - which prompts Leo to give the Romans a tour of the Argo II.
Perseus is fascinated by Festus - while Hazel is fascinated by Leo - And Frank is seriously just marveling at the greeks by now - Nova Roma is pleasing to the eye, but they don't have automaton dragon ships.
They go to Salt Lake. Jason, Frank, and Piper go get tar, while Leo, Hazel, and Perseus go to the Celestial Bronze. Annabeth, Malcolm, and Will stay, to protect the ship.
It's the first time Perseus has touched land outside of Roma with his memories back - and he can feel a pressure in his chest: His link of empathy to Grover, never completely off.
They encounter Nemesis - who talks to Perseus about Ethan and Domitia, for which he retorts she has no rights. She took Ethan's eye, and his choice was not worth it - she asked for too high a payment.
Nemesis, or Invidia, laughs. Says the world isn't fair - look at Perseus and Jason, Leo and Sammy, Hazel and Nico, the marks in Roman's backs. She doesn't explain anything - but they understand.
Perseus understands Hazel and Nico - it's not fair, that her brother is missing, probably captured if his dreams have an ounce of truth. Leo understands Perseus and Jason - for Jason confided in him for months. It's unfair that Perseus doesn't know as much about Jason - and that Jason knows way too much about him.
Both Hazel and Perseus muse about Sammy - the one from Hazel's flashbacks. They hold hands and keep silent - this is not the moment. Leo doesn't ask about the marks - he saw Jason bare-chested once. He doesn't need to know more.
Invidia gives the fortune cookie to Leo, and promptly disappears - Percy wants to punch her. For Alabaster, for Ethan, for Domitia and the punishments that she has to dole out.
They meet Echo - who Perseus pity and rages, for it's the gods's fault. She couldn't refuse to help Zeus - neither could she flee from Hera's punishment, or Eros' arrows. It's their fault, that she stands now, alive again, but incapable of happiness.
Narcissus is a dick. And Hazel thinks that both Sammy - Leo - and Percy - who looks just like Pluto, and not in a bad way - could surpass him in both looks and personality.
Percy and Leo distract the nymphs - in different ways. Perseus plays his father well, and the dryads flee to Leo, in search of protection from a hero. A black makeshift toga Echo gives them, and that's it: The god of the Underworld coming to kidnap someone else.
Hazel retrieves the Celestial Bronze - the energy in it is strong enough, with Perseus opening the earth sideways for it to pass. They don't need to run back to the ship: Percy keeps evoking skeletons, which scares the nymphs, and in a fit of fury for Echo, Leo breaks Narcissus' nose - which sends him into a panic.
While getting tar, Piper feels her dagger heating up - Katoptris shows her a man Jason recognizes as Dionysus, in Topeka.
When everyone is back to the ship, they relay their stories. Perseus briefly asks Annabeth about Grover - who she tells him is occupied in Maine this year, but never gave up on looking for Perseus. Then, they leave for Topeka - they have a god to meet.
"I know a friend who could help us get down" Starts Perseus, looking at the emptiness under them with worry. The daughter of Aphrodite sympathizes.
"I thought you couldn't shadow travel more than one person at a time" States Jason, with all the creepiness of the dream stalker that he is. Piper is laughing - while Jason flushes and tries to explain.
Perseus ignores it, for the sake of his sanity, and asks if Jason has a Pegasus: Thalia has Porkpie, and he is right, Perseus couldn't possibly get three of them down and up without draining himself.
Jason doesn't have a pegasus - he does have Arion, the son of his matron, Ceres, and Neptune, his father. It doesn't fly - but Hazel has a venti that does.
So it goes Hazel and Jason on Tempest, Piper, and Perseus on Blackjack. Bacchus is waiting for them, a two-liter bottle of Pepsi in one hand.
While many of the roman aspects of greek gods are mainly more rigid, Bacchus is the complete opposite. Dionysus is a god of madness and, in his older iterations, Zagreus, a god of the Underworld.
Bacchus is a god of drunkness, sex, excess, and parties. He has none of the darker sides of his counterpart - nor the austerity of his aspect as Bacchus Liber, a god of freedom, fertility, and protector of people.
No, this was Bacchus in his most simple form: a deadbeat drunk. Piper is so tired - why couldn't she be born in a serious pantheon? Egyptians seem pretty focused.
Bacchus wishes for Ceres' presence - says it's not his responsibility to deal with plants - this is the dominion of Liber, and he can't be Liber without Ceres here. He asks Jason or Perseus to call for the matron - she should listen to them - but Ceres doesn't answer their prayers.
Perseus is as done as Piper and just rolls his eyes. At the presence of a fertility god, even if he only has a bare connection to it, vines start growing around the son of Hades' ankles, like if they're coming to play. Perseus is not only a son of Hades', Piper remembers, but he is also a champion of Persephone.
And while Jason's only blessing is his magical horse, Perseus was trained and has some mild control over plants - Piper thinks he got the better goddess in the deal.
Bacchus - drunk in Pepsi, if that's even possible - don't answer much. He tells them about Phorcys, and paying tribute - Liber would probably answer to it. He then flees.
Jason and Perseus hold a brief conversation about holding evening prayers - Piper doesn't understand much, but Hazel is nodding along, so it can't be bad: The girl is pretty level-headed.
Perseus is a son of the Underworld, he cannot be possessed by spirits, and fight them off easily, and Jason does too - mainly because he knows Perseus way too much to attack him.
But then the spirits turn to the girls. Jason has to throw a wave over Perseus to wake him from Piper's charmspeak so that he can exorcise them. It works, but Perseus has a small panic attack over drowning, is immediately drained and faints on his arms.
So Jason hauls Piper and Hazel over Tempest, so the venti takes them up first, before he bride-carries Perseus into a hurricane and over to Argo II, and promptly passing out from exhaustion and scaring the hell out of everyone on board.
Jason thinks it's worth it - Perseus asks him to start calling him Percy, and, in the Mess Hall, each takes one head of the table. He feels like he should be bothered - he isn't one to share leadership, but they all know the true head of operations here is Annabeth, so.
Percy tells them what he told Reyna - to stop any from following them, for this was a special ops mission. It's his role, and, later, Jason and he can strategize what Perseus will say in the Iris Messages to the Senatus.
And how they're going to spin crossing the Mediterranean Sea without using Julius Caesar's journey as a comparative too much, least they think Jason and Perseus are planning a coup.
They totally are. The two of them and Reyna would be the first triumvirate to work.
That evening, they sit together on the deck and talk. Not about Jason's dreams, not about Perseus's fear of drowning. But the joke about the Forum, and trade anecdotes of campers both know - and it feels like something.
Perseus dreams of drowning on earth and trashes around in his sleep - just until he starts dreaming of Nico again.
Nico is locked up in a cage - like a bird trying to reach flight. Ephialtes and Otis taunt him - two eagles come and try to attack him. He fends them off - feeding off electricity in the sky - but Perseus knows he won't be able to keep this for a long time.
Perseus goes to the deeps of the ship, just close to the motors, and cuddles up to Blackjack - the Nico situation will have to wait until morning.
In the same night, Leo catches Frank sleeping as a dog - and his crush on the guy threatens to swallow him whole.
It's Will who finds him, twelve hours later. Everyone is pissed that Perseus disappeared - so they don't let him go search for Phorcys with Jason, sending the blonde boy with Frank and Will, claiming the son of Hades is still exhausted from the past day.
Perseus stays on board. He tries to decypher his vision with Piper and Hazel, while Malcolm and Annabeth trace the route to their own mission. Leo is steering the ship and finishing the repairs.
Hazel is worried about what Percy saw. The two eagles match a dream she had, a little over a week ago: Prometheus. If those eagles reach Nico, when Nico gets too weak, he will have his liver ripped off, and no magical powers to regrow it.
Jason's mission is also giving bad results. They meet Keto - who Jason is pretty sure he already killed once - and is uncooperative as she takes Will in a tour. Phorcys is much more open - after a little flattery, he tells them all about the twin Giants, the prisoner in a cage - bait for Perseus Jackson and Hazel Levesque - and a map that would possibly lead to the Athenas Parthenos.
They escape when Will kills Keto with a well-positioned arrow, before breaking the tank together and fleeing to Argus II.
In the way to Charleston, they discuss where could the map be. Perseus trade his first Iris Message with the Senatus - in his room, faking that both Frank and Hazel are helping him, and that the greeks have no idea what happened - that there is a traitor in their midst, but the Alliance continues.
Perseus hopes they can win this war with minimum bloodshed, and then he can claim the traitor was controlled by Gaia or something because that's not his main preoccupation. He trades information with Reyna - she tells him to go to Battery.
Annabeth remembers her meeting with her mother - for this time, she was accompanied by Malcolm. Athena told them they were failures - wasting their time searching for a son of Hades. But that they should have a chance at proving themselves - and gave them the small silver coin. To "avenge" her.
Athena raged and bristled about Annabeth and Malcolm helping the Romans, but that's where Annabeth would not relent. Would her mother prefer destruction over her pride? Oh, how wise.
Annabeth feels ashamed she still craves her mother's approval, while the goddess simply saw them as pawns, even after the war raged by the rejected children - she was one of the Olympians with most children on the opposite side.
This time, they play with the finger trap all together - in the mess hall - and Annabeth looks at them and decides this is her family, not a bitter goddess that never bothered with her. She wasn't doing this for Athena - she was doing this for Camp, and her friends.
Annabeth, Hazel, and Perseus go to the Battery, while Leo, Frank, and Malcolm go to the museum after the map. Jason goes to the bay with Will, to try and free the animals at Phorcys aquarium, and Piper stays on board to patrol the ship.
Aphrodite is flickering between her greek form and her Venus Genetrix aspect, but ends up settling as Venus Verticordia - the closest she can get to greek between a roman, a greek, and Perseus, who, according to her, is both.
"You shall tread carefully with love, Annabeth Chase, for your heart lays elsewhere; You are locked up between two ways of the heart, Hazel Levesque, and shall thread both; And you, Perseus Jackson of Styx, when it comes to the heart, you are my crown jewel."
Perseus would punch her, but he knows better: Verticordia means "the changer of hearts", she is a manipulator, a player. It's this aspect who caused the Trojan War, who tossed Aeneas right and left for Lavinia.
He much prefers Venus Victrix, who appears when they're about to leave, to warn then about the importance of the statue and the location of the map, in Fort Sumter.
Octavian - who was conspicuously missing from the Senatus meeting - is here - against the orders of both Praetors. He tries to attack them - but Perseus makes the earth tremble and they run away. Jason and Will join the fray, and they send a message to Leo's group for them to regroup.
Annabeth gets the map - again fighting against spiders and the voice of Lady Earth - but this time there's no Reyna to confront her - this time, Roma is on their side.
Perseus asks if killing Octavian would be so bad, after all, but Hazel stops him from making the earth swallow the Augur - he is still a person, after all.
They change their minds pretty quickly once Reyna IM's Perseus, saying that Octavian poisoned the minds of the Senatus against the greeks and that she was unable to do much. She says the Augur is claiming that Perseus, Jason, Frank, and Hazel are mind-controlled by Piper - and that he tried valiantly to rescue them, but failed.
Perseus is pretty sure that he should've made the earth swallow him, send him directly to the Punishment Fields so he wouldn't be able to leave the Underworld never again, the lying rat.
It takes three days for them to reach the Mediterranean Sea. These three days are spent most with training and planning - while the children of Athena plan for their mission, Hazel and Frank train their powers, Perseus and Piper spar, Annabeth and Leo steer the ship, Perseus and Jason spar and patrol, Jason and Annabeth trade ideas about the two sides, Will mends a lot of people up.
Leo, especially, admires both Hazel and Frank from afar - since the Narcissus situation, he can't keep his eyes off the girl, and Frank is just adorable - he feels like he just watched Pirates of the Caribbean all over again.
The group becomes pretty tight - especially after Will walks in Percy without a shirt on, and immediately manhandles him into the infirmary. He does the same with all Romans - trying to figure an answer to those scars.
Will has a boyfriend - Jake Mason, seventeen - who has the same bad habit of hiding scars from him. But since he lost his foot - Will has discovered a thousand ways to find someone's health problems.
Piper and Leo are not surprised - they are the closest to Jason after all. Malcolm and Annabeth are up in arms - and they call the greeks barbarians?
Jason blames himself - for he has a guilty streak a mile wide, and apologizes to them - as if is his fault Juno had this godawful idea. Perseus punches him in the shoulder and tells him to stop with the bullshit - they have bigger problems than that.
They meet Heracles - and their best speakers are Piper, Perseus, and Will - the charmspeaker, the Praetor who actually finished high school, and the son of the god of poetry - maybe some flattery would help.
Heracles is a complete ass - no, he is a creep. He leers on Will - who is fifteen and he calls eromenos, yes, like a pedophile - then on Piper - who is utterly unimpressed - but don't try on Perseus - his eyes are as dark as the Pit, and he looks ready to punch Heracles.
They don't mention Hera - because the three are smarter than to mention the woman who turned the god's life miserable - but, after Piper refuses to kiss him, he gives him the mission to get the horn of Achelous anyway.
The Achelous is suitably afraid of Perseus - and it's easier to break his horn. They fight against the god - Will punches the guy in the face, while Perseus has no qualms about swarming him with skeletons and melting his armor.
Jason - who is keeping a keen eye on them from the deck - raises a wave for them to go onboard. Will - dripping and utterly mad - starts throwing curses at Heracles - he shines with the power of his father.
Percy is trembling - he hates water, he hates the feeling of drowning, he hates water in his face. He feels weak.
Hercules throws stones at the ship - but fail to hit anything, even if he almost gets Jason - who is pushed to the ground by Perseus, who grounded himself on the blonde.
For now, they have a cornucopia and managed to pass Heracles - so they just hug and laugh breathlessly at Will's increasingly ridiculous curses.
In the midnight patrol, while keeping watch for Stymphalian birds (Perseus hates those), they talk. Perseus tells him about drowning in his own element, about his distaste for both air and water - explains why he never gets close to the margins of the ship.
"Y'know, I dreamed of you" Percy nods, but Jason shakes his head "Not for a week or two, but for seven months. I thought it was Juno..."
Percy seems tense as if he is about to flee at any moment. High-strung. He looks anywhere but at Jason, and finally, he murmurs, almost too low for the silence that expands between them.
"How much?" "Everything."
He tells Percy about his dreams: Luke, Ethan, Alabaster, Persephone, Hades, Sally, Annabeth, Clarisse&Connor, the Labyrinth, the Sea of Monsters, Bianca, Nico, Zoe, Thalia, the weight of the sky, the Styx, the last defense of Olympus.
There are a lot of pieces missing - Percy Jackson is not a puzzle, but a giant Rubik Cube with ten sides - but Jason saw the worst parts of Perseus, his friends, the betrayals, the deaths, the bitterness that threatened to swallow him whole.
Percy doesn't answer - he flees. Back to his room, to conciliate that someone has dreamed about him, for months. That someone he is barely friends with knows so many deep details about him, things he never told anyone, and didn't plan to, ever.
It's not the only difficult conversation that night by far - Hazel and Leo are having a similar one.
You see, Leo is, by all means, closer to Jason out of all romans, and the least close to Frank - who is Hazel's best friend. Leo is pretty friendly flirty with Hazel since the Narcissus situation - because she is cute and just a year below him - but he also has been nursing this massive crush on Frank - who is a hunk of a man with the attitude of a puppy.
But seeing that Frank is straight as a board and Hazel only sees him as his grandfather, apparently, he is out of luck in this department - nothing new. At least he has a bunch of friends.
"Are you my friend only because of my grandfather?" "Of course not." Leo doesn't believe her, but he lets it go - it's the fatal flaw of Hephaestus' children: Lack of self-worth.
Perseus sleeps fitfully - and wakes Hazel to tell her about his vision of Otis and Ephialtes, for she is Nico's sister. They go to the deck, and he plays with her hair as they watch the sunrise.
Jason - looking at them from the other side of the ship - suddenly has a bad feeling - there's something coming in their direction. He makes Leo - who is steering this night - stop, but they are rammed and overrun by dolphin warriors.
Chrysaor disarms Jason - and his crew manages to tie everybody up - except for Perseus, who managed to flee into the shadows, and Frank, who hid away.
It's pretty simple from there - Hazel and Piper trash around when Chrysaor says he is taking them to Circe, Jason says their Captain is Dionysus, and Chrysaor says he is a roman, and Bacchus is weak in comparison to his greek form.
To prove Jason's point, Frank turns into a dolphin while Perseus makes vines appear and hold Chrysaor into place. Their enemies throw themselves overboard, including Chrysaor himself - and Jason sinks their ship by filling it with Diet Coke and Pepsi and burning it to Dionysus and Bacchus Liber - both of the serious sides of the god.
Perseus sleeps on the deck under the fickle rays of the midday sun and dreams of Gaea. Jason wakes him. They spend an awkward moment looking at each other before Jason hugs him.
"I'm sorry" "It's not your fault, stop blaming yourself for everything, Water Boy" "Sure, Death Boy"
They laugh - and for a second, they feel their own ages - eighteen and seventeen - without a care in the world. They mock-wrestle before giving up and just laying in the sun.
Perseus looks at Jason and thinks his beauty under the light of the day might be a good reason to tolerate the brightness.
It's Leo - with a knowing smirk - that tells them to come to mess hall - they need to plan.
Annabeth and Malcolm are going together to the Tiber River - but the children of Athena aren't leaving without a proper send-off - so they're having lunch together first, all together.
They pile around two tables in a little restaurant. This time is not Percy that asks for pizza - it's Leo and Will.
They eat and joke - and forget they are demigods in a mission that might bring the end of the world. No, for a second they're just teenagers - Malcolm is the oldest at twenty, and Hazel and Will are the youngest, both fifteen.
The group jokes and fools around, spending more or less an hour at the little restaurant. The old man who manages the place has a warm smile upon his face.
They go to the park close to the river to walk around - they are stalling the time they'll have to go back to their hardships. Annabeth and Perseus walk together, apart from the others - she says she wants to catch up.
Annabeth has a crush on Perseus since they were both fourteen. She studied with him for a year - he as a senior, she as a freshman - and this crush only grew. She looked for him for months, he is her best friend and she loves him.
Annabeth still remembers after the war - when she thought they would get together. They were both too caught up in mourning - Perseus even more than her - even if she always knew he corresponded. But this... this might be her last chance to tell him.
So, she kisses him.
Perseus is shocked. He is shocked, and speechless.
"Annabeth..." He says, but she takes this as iniciative and goes back to kissing him "Annabeth!"
Kisses have to mean something to him. And Percy only feels friendship with Annabeth.
She stops, and there are tears in the corners of her eyes. But Perseus just hugs her and says, slowly and as kindly as possible.
"Annabeth... We can't do this. It's been... it's been months. I-... I love you. But we-... I-... Not that way, Annie, not anymore. We spent months apart, and before that, I was too busy with school, and before that..." He takes a deep breath, and clear her tears with his thumbs "I'm sorry. I don't think I can do this."
Annabeth doesn't cry. She doesn't scream and rage with jealously and ask "Who else? Who else if not me?". She wants to because she knows, she knows he loves her, and Annabeth has never been wrong before.
Because she remembers Aphrodite. Her heart doesn't lay with Percy - her heart lays elsewhere. It still hurts - but she just nods and asks him if they can still be friends, for which he answers an enthusiastic yes.
There's a little voice in her head, that keeps comparing her to Reyna Arellano, Jason Grace, and Nico di Angelo, their powerful heritages and legacies. A sliver of poison in her heart, that shows her Rachel, Calypso, and Piper - their beauties far beyond hers.
Then she takes a deep breath, finds her brother, says goodbye to everyone, and leaves with Rhea Silvia and Tiberinus. Annabeth has a mission.
Annabeth and Malcolm pass by the same challenges - she with a broken ankle and him with a twisted wrist - and both fall again in the hands of Arachne.
While the children of Athena fight their way through the underground, Perseus, Hazel, Frank, and Leo embark on a mission after Nico di Angelo, and the rest of the demigods go back to the ship.
Hazel - who is almost sentient to Perseus moods at this point - takes one look at Annabeth's rushed departure and Percy's wistful face, and, when their group takes off, takes the demigod aside, leaving Leo and Frank to walk side by side.
"I'm telling you, Hazel, because you won't tell anyone else - and I don't have anyone else as close as you on board. I would've said yes, perhaps, had she asked this question before... before everything. Had she told me this when I was fourteen or fifteen, I would be overjoyed. But it has been two and a half harrowing years since... since Luke. And I cannot love her - there's too much history."
He tells Hazel what she cannot remember from what Perseus told her in the Fields of Asphodel, and she nods and calms him - she became a kind of his little sister in the short four months that they have known each other alive - and the year and a half they knew each other dead. Closer than most, aside, perhaps, from Rachel (who he still managed to talk to once after this mission started), his mom, Calypso (who he still hasn't be able to contact) and Persephone.
Leo and Frank are behind them - far behind them, so to not accidentally eavesdrop in their conversation. They talk - a little stilted - but it quickly picks rhythm, as Leo is such a charming person - and Frank is a weak, weak man.
You see, while Leo pines from afar for both Hazel and Frank, Frank himself is dealing with the fact that, since leaving Nova Roma, those improper feelings towards inappropriate people resurfaced - now, together with something even worse.
Frank doesn't want just men anymore, like the clear aberration that he is. He wants a boy and a girl - and at the same time, at that! Not only improper - for he is two years older than Hazel and Leo is a boy - but they are clearly infatuated with each other.
And Frank doesn't really think he could be happy with one of them - he wants both, together. Selfish, something in the back of his mind says, so selfish. Let them be happy, they don't need you.
So he hoards this little conversation with Leo in his chest, like a precious treasure he won't ever get the chance to hold again.
Perseus and Hazel eventually go to the underground - while Frank and Leo still talk - about life, about their mothers, even about Frank's stick. Leo wants to hold the boy and never let go.
The Eidolons appear, forcing Leo and Frank down the hole, where they meet back up with Hazel and Perseus. They find a workshop - full of stuff that makes Leo salivate.
While exploring the workshop, the Eidolons take control of the automatons, quickly knocking out Hazel and Frank. Perseus is able to banish them - but by now, the automatons are out of control - it's the Bianca situation all over again.
He and Leo escape into a control room and lock it. Leo finds a control sphere for everything in the shop but they're unable to find the right password. Leo uses the fortune cookie Nemesis gave him to ask for the password, allowing him to take control of the machines and deactivate them forever. Perseus seethes inside - the little manipulative bitch.
When Perseus questions why his efforts with Hazel lead them to this workshop, they find Nico's Celestial Bronze and realize it was a trap. 
Gaea appears in a mirror and taunts them, but Leo burns the mirror - "I thought Mother Nature was supposed to be cool but this is what we got? Sheesh, this is almost Aztec-levels of crazy man" - and they leave to go search for Nico.
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