#And then I went back and realized it was based around Riptide

[valeovalairs]

Scars

bonus:

[zenith-impact]

Riptide - Part Thirteen

[1] - [2] - [3] - [4] - [5] - [6] - [7] - [8] - [9] - [10] - [11] - [12]

Read on AO3 here!

You weren’t surprised when Akira led you to the docks. You’d heard from Childe that he’d come here more than once to spy on some delusion holders even before you’d moved into his home. You were, however, surprised at how empty it was. You expected at least a dozen delusion holders, or maybe Shing himself, waiting for you. Instead, it was like a ghost town, with empty boats floating just off the dock casting creepy shadows in the moonlight. To your right were empty warehouses that were slowly falling apart. And to your left, well past the boats and floating out in the sea was a much larger ship that you had never seen before. “This way,” Akira said, though he looked like he was inches from jumping into the water and swimming to safety. Wherever that was. 

You clutched the broken Hydro vision in your hand with a sinking feeling. If he did have Childe, then where was he? How could he let himself be captured? Surely he had some kind of plan, even if you didn’t know what it was. You, on the other hand, had no plan. Zhongli and Hu Tao were right beside you and you weren't even sure how you were going to keep them safe. But both had been determined to come, and you had a deep feeling that they were capable of taking care of themselves. But your own delusion was heavy on your waist. A constant reminder of Shing's ultimate goal. 

He needed you, but only as long as you kept this delusion by your side. Would he kill you to get it? You weren't certain. He hadn't tried, but that didn't mean he wasn't capable. Just that he wasn't willing. Not yet. 

"Spooky," Hu Tao said. "Perfect spot for some ghosts." She giggled when you glared at her. "Only joking." 

"The less we have to deal with the better," You said sourly. 

“Everything will be alright,” Zhongli said. 

“Assuming Childe’s even here.”

“He will be.”

“How can you be so certain?”

Hu Tao snorted. “Don’t get him started. He's always certain of everything.”

"I am simply coming to a logical conclusion based on-” Zhongli said. 

“Your long-winded explanations are boring.”

“Just because you do not want to listen…”

Akira cleared his throat, cutting them both off. He pointed to a large boat floating at the very end of the dock. “He’s here,” He said. “Shing.”

“And Childe?” You said. 

Akira shrugged. “Maybe. The boss will only want to see you.”

“And we told you that’s not going to happen,” Hu Tao said, crossing her arms with an indignant huff. 

“Suit yourself,” Akira said with a shrug. “I’ve done my job. All that matters is…” He trailed off as groans echoed from a nearby warehouse. The rest of you stopped in your tracks, and you noticed how Zhongli and Hu Tao both moved in front of you, polearms appearing on their backs in a flash of light. You summoned your sword, but took a small step back as Zhongli moved closer to you. 

Suddenly, the door of the nearest warehouse shot off. A pillar rose, blocking it before it crashed into the three of you. Behind it was a deformed delusion holder, with one shoulder much larger than the other. The man - at least, you thought it was once a man - was hunched over, his eyes glossy as he shambled out of the building with legs that were nothing but bulging muscles. Yet, despite all of that, he looked impossibly frail. Below his shoulders were a pair of boney arms that dangled uselessly. You could see his ribcage through his torn clothing, and weren’t sure how he was even staying upright.

You heard cries of pain further down the dock behind you, followed by quick flashes of light. “What is this?” Akira yelled. “This wasn’t supposed to…” Another door burst open, slamming into him and knocking him off the dock. You rushed over to the edge to help him back up, but he was nowhere to be found. Behind you, a second shambling corpse emerged with flames radiating off of his arms. Your heart sank as two more stumbled toward you from further down the dock. Four more dead. Four more you’d have to fend off. But could the three of you do it? Childe had used his delusion on the first three you’d met, but maybe he’d just been showing off. You wouldn’t put it past him. “Zhongli…”

“Stay behind me,” He said without looking back. 

“But…”

“We’ve got this,” Hu Tao said with a wink. You weren’t necessarily surprised by her confidence, but you couldn’t escape the unsettling feeling that washed over you as the shambling horrors approached from all directions. Hu Tao snapped her weapon down, engulfing it in flames. Zhongli’s appeared in his hand, spinning in mid-air before he grabbed it. “Remember,” Hu Tao said. “They’re already our clients.”

You thought Zhongli looked sad. “I know.”

The first body picked up speed, barrelling toward the three of you. Hu Tao moved first, striking the creature in the chest before spinning around and slashing its legs. It went down hard, shaking the dock. Zhongli swiped down toward the second one, kicking his polearm with astounding grace, its blade spinning into the creature’s chest. It stumbled backward before screeching with rage and charged again. A pillar of rock appeared between them, followed by a second one jutting out from the first and knocking the creature square in the jaw. It went down as hard as the first, and you stumbled. A pillar appeared behind you, stopping you from tumbling face first into the water. You shot Zhongli a grateful look, but he and Hu Tao had already moved onto the third. 

A fourth came at you, but you were ready, throwing up a wall of ice to knock it down. You threw your hand toward it and blades of ice erupted from the structure, stabbing the creature through. It howled, bucking from side to side before going still. You let the wall melt, watching as the body crashed to the dock. Beside you, the third was dispelled by multiple strikes to the chest and a blaze of fire to the face. Hu Tao vanished, reappearing by your side in a burst of yellow butterflies. Zhongli stood still, eyes scanning the dock as his polearm returned to his back. “Are you alright?” He said. 

“Yes.”

“There are more watching,” he said, crossing his arms. “But none have transformed just yet.” He looked toward the end of the dock, a frown clear on his face. “But he… he is close.” You followed his gaze and your breath caught when your eyes landed on Shing, perched on top of the boat like a king looking over his subjects. But he looked different than the last time you saw him. His muscles were larger and more toned. His stomach was flatter. His eyes were a sharp blue and you swore you saw a dark purple hue around his form. On his hip over a pair of black pants were multiple delusions all clanging together, the largest of which was Electro. In his hand was a purple polearm and your heart sank. It was identical to Childe’s transformation. 

“Welcome to my dock,” He said. “It’s unfortunate you weren’t here sooner. Your Harbinger is long gone.”

“What do you mean?”

“He left, child,” Shing said with a shrug. “The loss of his delusion was too much to bear.”

“What did you do to him?”

Shing shrugged. “It’s better for Liyue that he’s gone anyway. I was merely doing you and the rest of this city a favor.” 

You didn’t believe him. Not for a second. Childe would never leave something like this unsolved. He would never back down without some kind of fight. Whatever plan he had going on in his head didn’t involve leaving you to the wolves. Could Shing hurt him? You didn’t see any obvious scars or signs of a battle. Childe must have given himself up willingly. But why? And where was he now? “Shing…”

“It’s a beautiful collection, isn’t it?” Shing said, directing your attention to his belt. “I’m only missing one.”

“You are trifling with forces that you do not understand,” Zhongli said. 

“Oh?” Shing said. “I understand them just fine.”

“Look around you!” You yelled. “These people…”

“The weak are consumed,” Shing said. “But the strong… they survive.”

“And how many have survived?”

“I have,” Shing said. “And that is more than enough.”

You heard murmurs from the warehouses, but no one dared to speak up. You wondered how many of them had lost friends to a delusion. How many were tempted to transform themselves just to see if they were strong enough, and how many dead had been forced to do so, terrified and alone? You didn’t want to think of the others. People Shing must have put down in his experiments. 

“Now,” Shing said, holding his hand out. “Your delusion.”

You took a step back. “What good will it do? You have plenty of your own.”

Shing snorted. “All of the elements… working together in harmony.” He raised his hands to the sky, as if motioning to Celestia itself. “For people like me… People that are not blessed with visions, this is our only chance. Become one with the elements, and ascend to the world above.”

“You are a fool,” Zhongli said. 

“Her own mother taught me this,” Shing said, his eyes narrowing as they met Zhongli’s. “But that woman’s sights were set too low. Healing mortal wounds… bah. That’s not enough. Becoming a being on par with the Archons. Ascending into immortality, stronger than even Morax himself… that is a worthy goal.”

“More like a stupid one,” Hu Tao said with an eye roll. “One delusion alone will kill you.”

“You have no idea what I can do,” Shing said. “No idea the power that I hold. And with the Harbinger’s delusion by my side, I am invincible.” 

“You are nothing of the sort,” Zhongli said. “Just a twisted man who chases a power he cannot obtain.” 

“It doesn’t matter what you think,” Shing said. “Now give me the delusion and nobody else will get hurt.”

Despite the pinch of fear in your chest, you raised your head high. “No.”

His eyes narrowed. “Then we’ll just have to take it from you.” He whistled - a high and screechy sound. Dozens of delusion holders poured onto the docks from all directions. They moved much faster than the previous beasts, and you realized quickly that this was a much more dangerous battle. These men and women threw themselves at the three of you with reckless abandon, tossing magic of all kinds and hoping they interacted. Zhongli pulled you out of the way of a particularly nasty mix of Pyro and Hydro before it blew up in your face. Hu Tao vanished for a moment before charging into a group, spear blazing. Zhongli stayed by your side, batting away anyone that came close. You realized very quickly that both of them were avoiding any dangerous strikes, focusing on knocking down whoever they could. You threw a line of ice on the ground, sending a large group sliding down the dock and into the water. The few that climbed up were boxed in by stone. Others swam away. Zhongli knocked away a man coming toward you, and you threw ice at a woman who struck at him. Hu Tao bowled over a group nearby, burning clothing and tossing more into the wall. 

A cry from the end of the dock drew your attention. Stumbling from the furthest warehouse was a man you recognized. 

“Father!”

Everything slowed down as you ran. The fight went on, but all you could see was your father staggering toward you. A transformed beast tried to step in your way, but you knocked it over with a blast of ice to the face. Hu Tao appeared, saying something to you, but you couldn’t hear her as you pushed yourself forward and reached for your father. You saw a flash of purple in the corner of your eye. Shing’s laughter echoed in your head. 

Then, a polearm plunged through your father’s chest. 

For a moment, the world went silent. Everything froze as his figure crumbled to the ground. Then, your heartbeat began to drum in your ears. A low, dangerous thump that might have driven you insane if it went on for too long. You could feel your blood pumping through your veins. You could feel the ice spreading from your fingertips and up your arms. Rage pulled at you and muddled together with sadness and a hint of fear. But you were too far gone now. Too far in the transformation to second guess yourself. All you could do was reach your hand out and let it come to you. So you did, delusion shimmering in your palm. As Shing leapt forward, ice surrounded you, and your consciousness was no more.

[votederpycausemufins]

more hermit!tommy because @petrichormeraki ‘s au is just wonderful

part two of that war i started, why am I focusing on the dsmp characters, i barely know them aaaaaaaaa

had one friend who likes dsmp a lot to help me a little but they were really busy so it was only a little.

When the members from the smp looked up, distracted by the numerous flying hermits, Grian gave a flap of his wings, escaping from Techno’s hold. With another flap he was in the air, giving the hermits an opening to throw down a barrage of potions. 

As they were moving, not all the potions hit their target, but even then, the harming potions did a fair amount of damage. In retaliation a few smp members used riptide tridents to get into the air and attack the hermits. They did enough damage to make the hermits retreat higher into the skies. They couldn’t be hit there, but it would be harder for them to send as many attacks.

Dream stared up at the figures obscured by the sun behind them. Maybe they would send some arrows down, but they were being too cautious. He smiled and called for the rest of those from the smp to advance. Any time the hermits tried to come closer to the ground, the smp members would start attacking. Even on unfamiliar ground they were winning, so Dream was sure they would get Tommy back.

Suddenly, two of the hermits swooped down from the skies, one of them crashing into about two buildings as they descended. Dream immediately ran towards them, knowing that after crashing like that, it would be an easy kill.

He ran into what seemed to be a main street, Techno close behind with Philza bringing up the rear. Seeing movement, Techno managed to grab one of the Hermits, they too wore a mask of Tommy, though it was cracked and dented. Dream joined Techno and was more focused on the person. “Ah, Scar was it? Masks don’t seem to be the best protection against crashing into everything you see, now is it?” Dream then yanked the mask off and crushed in under his foot. “We can kill you again, but it would be so much easier if you just hand Tommy over.”

“Well, uh, sorry to disappoint but he doesn’t really want to leave. Again, if you want to do the paperwork.” Scar tried speaking, but Techno stabbed him. Since he was wearing some armor this time, it wasn’t enough to kill him, but it of course still hurt.

“Nothing good comes out of government people like you.” Techno said gruffly. He nearly attacked again but Philza stopped him.

“Please. Tommy’s my son. You can’t keep him from me, from us. At least let us see him.”

Scar actually looked surprised by the words. “Wait, family? Does that mean-? No he would have- I mean I guess it would make sense. But your sons?” Philza paused, he was about to ask about the mention of sons, plural, but then Scar shook his head. “Well, again, paperwork and all that. I’d love to let you visit, but certain contracts have already been signed.

Philza’s blood went cold as the comment was followed by some mischievous giggles. He drew his sword and started looking everywhere he could. Dream and Techno were confused for a moment, likely not having heard what Phil had. “Vex.” was all he said and suddenly the other two were ready with their own weapons.

Behind them stood a hermit, also with a mask of Tommy, and he had wings on as well, but they didn’t look like elytra. Those were vex wings. Before any of the trio could react to this new foe, he simply gave a snap of his fingers and suddenly they were surrounded by vex.

While most of the chaos of the battle took place, Tubbo was pulled away by Fundy, both of them swimming deep underwater to escape the eyes in the sky. It only took a few doors to help them breathe before the two of them were sufficiently away from the battle. “Fundy, this is perfect! While everyone is fighting, we can go looking for Tommy.”

The fox looked unsure of himself. Of course he was going to be here when Dream asked, but this seemed like too much. Still, it’s not like he could easily back down right now. “Uh, yeah. In fact, I’ve got some inside info and I think I know where they’re hiding him. We just need to get to a nether portal.”

“Well there’s probably one in the middle of that island, right? So we should go back there?” Tubbo suggested, though Fundy shook his head.

“Everyone’s going to be there, so sneaking to Tommy and back would be hard. Besides, we’re right near some mesa and I’ll bet there’s a portal in there since it’s so close.”

Tubbo looked over at where they were swimming. “That doesn’t really look like a mesa.”

Fundy followed where Tubbo was looking and found he was right, the small islands next to them were obviously based in a mesa biome, but ahead of them there was a large landmass. It was half grass, and was that mycelium? Further on was a large first wall topped with green and purple blocks and words reading ‘turf war’. “Well, either way, I’m sure there will be a portal somewhere over there.

After a bit of searching, the pair did indeed find a nether portal, though it was on the other side of the dirt wall in what seemed to be a small town. Fundy was glad to see some signs with a familiar name on them nearby. He tried to pull Tubbo along, but it was a little hard with him being distracted by the area they have come through to. It was well decorated with Nether brick and warped wood, and hardly a block was out of place. “Oh god are they keeping him in here? Something this fancy must be a prison or something!”

“Calm down Tubbo, we’re right near the spawn nether. You saw their main island. Maybe it was really bad and they ended up deciding they had to make this.”

Tubbo didn’t look convinced, though Fundy’s excuse was weak in the first place, but instead of trying to argue, he just dragged Tubbo along a path.

By the time all the vex were fought off, the two Hermits that seemed to control them were gone. At the same time most of the smp group had caught up. While they were no longer in the water, they were now surrounded by buildings. And buildings meant cover from people with elytra.

They ducked into a large building surrounded by water, perfect for cover and for their riptide tridents. While most people focused on watching the skies and the exterior of the building, a few noticed the place was filled with chests. “Hey, check out the chests!” someone said and then more people noticed. 

While most of it seemed to be junk, there were also chest labeled with golden carrots and netherite tools. Excitedly the chests were opened only to find them completely empty. Well, the golden carrots had a stack left and ten diamonds, but with most of the people here in netherite, it wasn’t much of a help.

Suddenly, hermits were showing up, coming from the ceiling. Only now did they realize that the roof of this place had a giant hole in the middle. And while before they were weakened without a chestplate, the hermits took their elytra off now that the battle was close quarters. While it was disappointing in some aspects, it was good in others as now it was more of a level playing field. 

Dream stood back as he let the others fight for him. Someone placed a bed and they were mostly all able to set spawn points, though a few people like Ranboo and Quackity weren’t fast enough. 

With Technoblade on their side, the smp was making quick work of the hermits, but it seemed like there was an endless supply. Each of them wore a mask of Tommy which frustrated Dream and the rest of his army, but it also disguised their opponents, making it hard to distinguish them from one another. 

Eventually a hermit got to the middle and stole the bed the smp members were using. As soon as another bed was placed, it was broken. When they tried to kill the hermit, two more showed up to help with the chaos. It wasn’t long before there were no more beds to use and the hermits started whittling down the health of the smp army. 

In a panic to heal, Sapnap dug down, then there was the familiar crunch of him finding a cave. While he died, there was a bit of yells and screaming from below. From that, it didn’t take a genius to figure out where all the hermits were coming from. “They’re under us!” Dream shouted and then everyone was headed down. 

After the digging commenced, one hermit yelled out. “We’ve been rumbled! Call Zedaph!” Dream wondered just how one more hermit would be able to help. 

As the army started to surround the hermits, he noticed none of them were fighting, they were just picking up all their supplies. “Don’t bother! There’s nowhere for you to run! Try to dig out and we’ll just catch up!” He cornered one of the hermits and pulled their mask off as he swung his sword down. But when the mask was removed, a nearly identical face was beneath it.

Dream hesitated just for a moment, surprised to see Tommy there. “Hey green boy. Miss me?” Tommy smirked up at Dream and then suddenly he was gone. Turning around, Dream found all the hermits were gone.

[tfw-no-tennis]

mtmte liveblog issue 36

time travel arccccccccccccc yessssssssss

I have been waiting SO LONG to reread this arc hhhhh yessss

starting off strong with the sexy roller cover. nice

I love the disconnect of ‘orion pax: outlaw’ compared to the last time we saw him in shadowplay where he was orion pax: supercop

he’s still punching people for JUSTICE or whatever so I guess not much has changed

oh my god this is the issue with the many many two-page spreads...the first time I read this issue I didn't realize that was a thing and GOD I was SO fucking confused. there's already a lot going on in this issue/arc but this made things so much worse hvbhjkdfbsk. I powered thru and still managed to understand most of the arc despite reading half this issue out of order (essentially) bc the website I read it on split the pages up and I couldn't tell they were supposed to be doubled (and also I'm dumb so I didn't figure it out)

anyways, the actual issue...windcharger is out here using his powers to rip a dudes arms clean off. wow!

and there's skids getting punched in the face. Ls

and glitch! a totally minor character of course...

MANNNNN I SO adore the panel of all the lost lighters appearing in a cloud of purple smoke, all posing epically....SO fucking good, peak sci-fi coolness vibes, A++

as usual jro killing it w/the titles, ‘elegant chaos’ is such a great name for a time travel arc

also reading the tfwiki has shown me that many of jros titles are song or album titles, to which I say - that's epic and I love it. with jro doing it, I feel like it straddles the line between referencing music and the very fanfic-esque ‘title things after music’ vibe. I love it

oh god I forgot they use bs cybertronian time units in this sometimes lmao...I mean of course they do but still like, what the fuck is a cycle. is that a day. I feel like these words all have no meaning/the meanings change drastically depending on continuity. I cant keep up and also I'm lazy and don't care enough to try

I love rodimus did u know

poor riptide looks so confused lmao

IS....IS REWIND PIGGYBACKING TAILGATE...THATS SO FUCKING CUTE....I cant fully tell bc of the page layout but ooomg so precious. minibot buddies

whirl saying ‘chuff’ just reminded me how british jro is hvbhakjhdsfbs sometimes it just Jumps Out in mtmte and I'm like Oh God Britain Is Real

I really like the mtmte approach to time travel and paradoxes and whatnot. its just complex enough to be interesting but not too convoluted that it bogs down the story. perfect sci-fi fun!

mannnn chromedome talking abt brainstorm :( I'm sad abt those two hhhhh

and I love how at this point, nobody in the cast ACTUALLY knows brainstorm well enough to know what he’s really doing - including chromedome, who’s ostensibly his closest friend, somebody he’s known for a while - and even the readers don't really know what he’s up to...I like the mystery tbh

cant believe rewind wrote orion pax’s biography, omg. completely forgot abt that detail

cd saying ‘I love it when he talks history’ about rewind....hhhh I love cdrw so muuuuch

godddd the line rodimus says abt whirl - how they need people like whirl around who are ‘happy to get in the way’ of danger and death - that shit haunts me man like...rodimus is basically saying that he’s bringing whirl along to potentially die in place of someone like orion pax (nevermind the fact that whirl dying would ALSO fuck up the timeline)...like, how deep does it go?? is he saying that bc he knows whirl has been trying to get himself killed for a while now, or just bc whirl likes violence? mannn I cant...the character intricacies...man

anyways...I love rodimus he’s such an interesting character. you have that fucked up moment and then in the next panel he’s saying ‘if you want to call it a time phone, I wont stop you’ about the quantum walkie-talkie. he has the RANGE

oh and then rodimus casually volunteering chromedome to do mnemosurgery on anyone who might accidentally find out about them time traveling, which is again fucked up on multiple levels. the raaaaange

vjaksbhdhfusajbfdjk that panel of the lost light squad just standing there like idiots reminds me of that post where someone said abt that panel ‘these characters have a collective 3 brain cells’ or something hvbjadkfnksfdl

rodimus IMMEDIATELY breaking his own rules by trying to reassure pax that they're good guys by pointing at his autobot badge, even tho the autobots DONT EVEN EXIST YET at this point...my boy PLEASE go purchase some brain cells from the store 

and the fact that rodimus introduced himself to pax w/his real name...shouldn't he go by an alias or st??? that seems like a good time travel rule since optimus and rodimus definitely know each other later 

and like, did they not anticipate that some of the people in the past would recognize some of the lost lighters hgbajkhdjfnjksf like cd and whirl get Instantly recognized...great job guys

they are all SO bad at this hvbahskjdhfbasjkf I cantttt luckily for them the orion crew is handing them easy alibis 

‘the dugout’ is that a baseball reference????

also I love the scenery here, the bg looks like rock but there's metal piping and stuff running thru it, its so cool...really adds to the whole ‘cybertron biomes are made of metal’ thing

‘ancient history’ rodimus are you KIDDING ME-

cyclonus time travels to the past and IMMEDIATELY finds a window to stare broodingly out of. icon

tailgate thinking orion pax is SUPER COOL continues here from shadowplay and I love it...tailgate is so cute

and the tg saying ‘don't you think that's awesome, cyclonus?’ hhhhh so cute

one reason I love this arc so much is that this is the arc where the gay Really amps up 

TRAILBREAKER.... oh man ;_;

are you telling me that this outlaw base they're in has ONE bed for all of these people. what the hell vhbaksjhfnsal

cant believe rung sampled roller’s steroid juice box

also cant believe robot steroids exist. except yes I can and I love it

oooh roller’s a 0/1%er? I forgot abt that 

cant believe orion pax just grabs some random phone that belongs to these weird new people and answers it. WHO does that

goddddd megatron and orion’s conversation....destroy me

HHHHHH like...the HISTORY....the regret...the missed opportunities...its all so palpable....goddddddd

and of COURSE, the whole thing is steeped in tragedy...the ideological differences that will become the foundation for a 4 million year long war...megatron, who believes that you need to burn things down and start again to really make change stick, and then orion, who says ‘reform is the answer, not revolution’....AUGHHH the intricacies. mannnn

‘you sound lost’ 😭😭😭

‘its tragic.’ yeah, that about sums up their relationship, especially at this stage and in this continuity 

anyways. [cries about old man megatron talking to young naïve orion pax] goodbye

AUGHHH and then we jump to rodimus ONCE AGAIN breaking his own rules and trying to save trailbreaker...IT HURTS MAN...god I love rodimus, I feel like him being broken up about crewmembers like trailbreaker dying is one part regular sadness over people he knows dying for tragic reasons, and one part personal guilt at someone under his command dying, even if he’s not involved/at fault. I love the dichotomy of this emotional reaction that comes only partially from empathy/emotion, but also comes from a kinda self-centered need for success as measured by people under your command staying alive. and taking into account rodimus’s life it totally makes sense that he’d act like that...GAH I love it. the complexity of it all!

orion pax saying ‘you should read [megatron]. it’s powerful stuff’ I'm screaming, so many LAYERSSSSS

I fucking love time travel AHHHHHHHHH like the opportunity for interactions like these....chefs kiss

‘hey, best friend! miss you!’ rodimus is such a shit hvbdajkfksjhfd 

‘very sus’ rodimus ahead of his time w/the among us lingo

oooh and then they realize that the senate is trying to kill the sparks...gotta save the babies!

tailgate scolding cyclonus for bluntly stating that you'd wanna be subtle when killing newborns...hhhvbhsdfhhhhhh I love them sm

ooooh and rewind has an interesting suggestion - that the senate is actually trying to irradiate the sparks into being outliers...rewind is so smart I love him

and the fact that he’s using history from his database...love it

rodimus sending cyclonus and whirl out like pokemon

ROLLER NOOOO DONT GO OUT THERE

also wow this is literally the 5th (I think) double page spread in this issue...the confusion I felt the first time I read this...lmao 

and now this is literally one of my favorite issues so I'm glad I know what's going on lmao

oh man rodimus telling cd not to erase trailbreakers memory even tho that could jeopardize the entire timeline... :( 

oh man I didn't even notice but roller getting debris blasted into his face like that makes the whole ‘roller is tarn’ theory even more legit considering tarn’s face scars....

‘tighter the better’ hhh don't say that orion. but also, that’s the companion phrase to megatron saying ‘the deeper the better’ hvbhasjkhdfbaksjlf

I do love the semi-campy action hero antics that orion pax gets up to. its just so fun, even when the stakes are high and things are serious

‘this is the greatest thing I have ever seen’ tg ily

THE REVEAL THAT THE SPARKS WENT TO NYON...so rodimus just saved himself, basically...time travel is so trippy

GODDDD ND THEN TRAILBREAKER...HVHHHHHh 😭😭😭 THATS SO CRUEL MAN

oh man that last panel of trailbreaker holding up roller’s juice box...iirc the first time I read this I thought that was roller (cause of the juice box I guess? idk I'm an idiot) so I was like oh ok he must've come back or something. very much related but I didn't really think about tarn being a particular pre-established character and totally didn't read the whole ‘roller is tarn’ thing that was going on 

which in my defense ruth also didn't pick up on any of that while reading this and eventually like 2 issues before the reveal I had to prompt her like ‘you should maybe be wondering WHO tarn is’ vhbahjksdfbaksjdf

so! issue 37! this issue is a solid favorite of mine, id say definitely top 5 or even 3. I'm super biased bc I fucking LOVE time travel, it’s seriously one of my favorite tropes ever, and this issue hits all the time travel beats I love. characters traveling to the past and interacting with people they know! conversations that have multiple meanings bc of TIME TRAVEL! trying to save someone who meets a terrible fate in your future! fun time travel action! the time traveling characters being generally terrible at hiding the fact that they're time travelers! ITS SO GOOD. 

and I love the clever way everything is tied together here - where we get a nice continuation of shadowplay, with this taking place shortly after that with a lot of the same cast, and time travel classics like the good ole ‘if we hadn't travelled back in time and done what we did, the future we came from wouldn't have existed at all,’ in the flavor of ‘rodimus saving his baby self’ and ‘rodimus NOT saving trailbreaker’ and ‘everyone forgot about roller :(’ 

ok but like, did the lost lighters just go ‘oh well, guess rollers gone now.’ like they DID realize that the outlaw crew would have no idea what happened to him if they got their memories erased, right?? did the lost lighters figure that since roller never reappeared after this time period, that was how history was ‘supposed’ to go and they shouldn't mess with it? am I overthinking it? as usual: yes, probably. I love overthinking about comics, in case that wasn't obvious

basically...I love this issue soooo much. so so good and a bunch of fun tropes that I love. I mean the whole arc is like that for me since I love time travel so much. so I cant wait to (re)read more!!

[dyde21]

Tricked

This is a mild vent piece, based off the Bronze Dragon short story from The Demi God Files, and a lot of thinking I’ve done about Annabeth and Percy and some tropes that really bug me about them. Anyway, I hope you can enjoy this kinda cute short story!

XxXxXxXxX

“Are you sure you want to do this, Seaweed Brain?”

Annabeth asked, leaning against the pillar as she looked at her boyfriend practicing with his sword. He was in the training arena, and had discarded his shirt so Annabeth was certainly enjoying the view.

He went through with a few more slashes, before capping his sword and putting it back in his pocket. He turned around, out of breath as he looked at her with a grin that usually crept on his face when he saw her.

She watched some sweat drip down the side of his face, dropping onto his shoulder. Her eyes trailed a little more downwards. Geez, her boyfriend was getting hotter with age and it wasn’t fair but entirely welcome. Feeling her cheeks start to flush, she quickly threw his shirt at him as she looked away, biting her lip.

“He pulled the shirt off his face and pulled it on quickly. “It’s just one match. It’s been a while.”

Annabeth nodded, now that he was a little more modest and less distracting.

“I know. But…” She trailed off, reaching an arm over to grab her other arm. She hated saying it, it made her feel weak.

However he seemed to pick up on her. He crossed over and pulled her into a tight hug. 

“I know. I don’t like being against you either. If you don’t want to we can drop out. I just owed the stolls.”

Annabeth shook her head. “It’s fine.” She took a deep breath before looking up at him. “I just feel bad crushing you after so long.”

Percy laughed, tickling her side slightly making her squirm. “I wouldn’t count me out, Wise Girl. I’ve been planning.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Feeling confident are we?”

He shrugged. “I’ve had the best teacher after all.”

Annabeth just laughed. “Bring it.”

Percy smirked, before bending down quickly and scooping her legs up and out front under her, carrying her bridal style.

She laughed and swatted at his chest, before holding her arms around her neck.

“Percy! Put me down!”

He just continued to laugh at her as he carried her towards the dining hall. “I’m hungry.”

She tried to scold him between her fits of laughter. “But I can walk!”

He shrugged with her. Annabeth had to admit she was a little impressed with how well he could carry her. Reaching up, she tilted his chin to give him a proper kiss.

That seemed to be enough of a distraction, and she managed to free herself to stand on her own. 

“Brat.” She muttered, before stepping forward and resuming their kiss. Eventually she took his hand and started leading him back to the hall. “Let’s get lunch now.”

XxXxXxXxX

Crouching behind a bush, Annabeth made sure her hat was on securely as she moved silently through the forest. 

The game had started as usual, her plan being put into action. Their quests had only made Percy a better fighter over time. Usually she could count on him as a force of nature to distract  people, but now that he was a problem instead, that meant she had to take care of him. That also meant that she had to ensure she didn’t get too distracted by him and leave holes in her plan. 

Clarisse was leading the charge for the flag, which meant she would handle defense. She knew her boyfriend well enough to know that he wouldn’t be content sitting around guarding a flag. He would be on the offense.

She just needed a plan, and to keep him away from water. Then they could stand a chance.

Sure enough, before long she saw him. He breezed past some poor first year who encountered him, overwhelming him, disarming him and rushing past. Right where she needed him to go.

Letting out a loud sharp three whistles, she heard her teammates move according to their earlier plans. 

They would be ready. 

Moving off to the side, she continued to follow Percy without engaging him. She had to be patient. His combat senses had gotten even better since he had first arrived.

He burst past some trees, only to see nine campers lined up in a half arc in front of him. 

Will had approached with his bow drawn. “Ready, Jackson?”

She took a step towards him from behind, but saw him crouch down slightly, spinning his word in his hand. The campers faltered for a moment. Was he really going to try and take them on?

Annabeth tensed as she saw Percy take a step forward, before he turned and sprinted back into the woods.

Smirking, Annabeth was glad. He was falling right into her trap.

She continued to follow, speeding up now. He was heading straight towards the river. If he reached it, she wouldn’t be able to touch him.

On cue, two more of her allies darted out from the tears to his side, cutting him off and forcing him to run alongside the river, rather than reaching it. Smirking, she continued to run along with him from a distance. She just needed to tire him out in order to make an opportunity. All it would take would be a moment of hesitation and she could slip in. 

Her boyfriend was much smarter than many believed based off how he acted, she knew in battle he was dangerous to underestimate. So she just had to keep stacking the odds against him until he slipped.

He started to try and cut over to the river, but a few arrows from the Apollo cabin convinced him to keep running instead.

Eventually she saw him stumble a bit, leaning to put his hands on his knees and catch his breath. She almost felt bad for running him around so much. 

Her senses were on overdrive as she crept forward, not making a sound as she approached him from behind, slowly drawing her dagger. 

Striking forward like a snake, she was behind him in an instant, dagger against his throat. 

“Gotcha, honey.” She said, feeling him tense up before she kissed the back of his neck. “Now give me riptide and I’ll escort you back, if you would be so kind.” She said, seeing him slowly extend his hand with riptide out to the side. 

“What, no come back?” She teased, until she saw him dive to the side suddenly. 

Her eyes widened, but before she could react, the sound of a rope being pulled taut made her realize her mistake. 

Before she could move the rope closed around her ankle and shot backwards, throwing her off balance and dragging her a few feet, the fall knocking her hat off her head as she shimmered back into existence. 

“When did you-” She was cut off as Percy was suddenly kneeling on her back, Riptide stuck into the ground inches from her neck.

He quickly took her dagger from her, and she saw her hat sticking out of his back pocket. 

He was grinning at her as he took a step back now that she was disarmed. For safety reasons you couldn’t bind and gag prisoners, but the rules of the game she was caught.

“How did you plant that trap?”

He shrugged. “I’m not too good with ropes. But the stolls are pretty handy with them.”

Glaring at him, she let out a sharp piercing whistle. 

She saw a few more athena kids step out of the bushes as she felt her hopes rise. Her backup had been nearby. 

At least until she saw her hands up, a few hermes kids with their swords at their back.

Annabeth just stared at Percy as he high fived one of them. 

“But there shouldn’t be that many left back in this area…”

He looked at her, his lopsided smile still on her face that was both cute and infuriating at the moment. 

“I made sure we held back on attack until we captured you this time. Come on.” He said, escorting her back towards the prisons for his side. 

Percy escorted her personally, and she was glad to see that he took care of her hat himself rather than letting some other camper handle her treasure. 

“How did you know I’d catch you there?” She asked after a little walking in silence. Her mind was still reeling as she tried to figure out how her plan had gone wrong. 

“Because I lead you there.” He countered. 

Her brow furrowed. “But you were going for the flag.”

Shaking his head, he glanced back at her before walking forward. It was clear he was trying not to gloat or sound smug, probably since he knew her pride wasn’t too happy right now. 

“I wasn’t. I know you, Wise Girl. I knew the second we were enemies, you would find a way to make sure I couldn’t do anything. I knew you would also know whatever I tried to do. You’re too smart for me.” He offered. 

“Says the one escorting a prisoner right now.” She offered, still not fond of hearing him insult his own intelligence. 

“That’s because I had faith in you. I knew whatever I tried to do would probably work into your plans. So I knew I had to be careful and let others take care of things if I was going to beat you. I also knew that you wouldn’t leave stopping me to someone else.”

Annabeth faltered, feeling completely caught. He was right. She knew how strong she was, so she didn’t want to trust anyone else to take care of him. Her pride told her that she needed to do it to do it right. Especially since the other person she would usually count on was him. 

“So I just waited until I inevitably fell into your trap, ran towards where I needed to go, since there was no way you would let me get to the river, and waited. Since you prefer sneaking up with your cap, I stood in place and waited.”

He finished explaining, looking a little proud of himself. 

Annabeth was speechless as they finally reached the prisons as he lead her into it. 

She paused, looking at him. 

“That was brilliant. You completely got me.” She muttered. 

He looked sheepish as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Not really. A lot of it was luck. And I could only do it because I know you so well Wise Girl.” Annabeth shook her head, pulling on the front of his shirt to kiss him.

She felt him tense up, his hands moving to his sword and her cap as she smiled into the kiss slightly. He really wasn’t letting his guard down, not that she would use a kiss to trick him. Her affection was something she never wanted him to doubt or be wary of. Eventually, he seemed to get the hint and kissed her back before she stepped back. 

“You’re kind hot when you act all smart.” She confessed to him, laughing at the blush that crept on his cheeks. 

The other guards coughed once awkwardly, making Annabeth curse herself as she realised she was still in public surrounded by other campers as she stepped back and let the prison be closed. 

“I still have more plans out there, be careful, babe.” She warned as she took a seat.

Percy just flashed her a smile, before pulling out her cap and pulling it over his own head and vanishing. “With you? Always.”

Annabeth leaned back, smiling as she heard him run off into the forest. The game was over, Percy was on the top of his game and had outsmarted her today. Their team didn’t stand a chance. Just today, she’d let him have the win. Her pride would be fine with that.

XxXxXxXxX

Thank you for reading! I hope it was okay. I just wanted to try writing the opposite of how I usually see it going. Also because probably one of my biggest pet peeves with writing is people casually using affection with underhanded tactics, and acting like it’s cute. I will always hate Annabeth tricking Percy by kissing him etc. Fooling people you love with affection isn’t cute. Punishing someone you care for trusting you completely isn’t a clever thing, it’s really toxic. Thank you for reading my Ted Talk.

[moth-fuzz]

20 Questions for 2020

I got tagged by @bumblequinn and tumblr hasn’t been my #main #platform for a while so I miss these things and I never pass up the opportunity to read about people and share about myself x3

1. Do you make your bed?

no lol

in all honesty, sometimes. it makes me feel better when I do. But I like to just jump out of bed and get working when I can

2. Favorite number?

love 6... love 16 as well. 6 is a nice number. divisible by 2 AND 3. Honorary odd number. 16 is a nice 2^2^2 or 4^2 or 2^4.. nice round number.

3. What’s your job?

I’m not working currently but I’m due to start working at a software consulting company a month from now... I don’t wanna be rude but I’m looking for other opportunities in the meantime x3

4. If you could, would you go back to school?

definitely not for computer science. They don’t teach you anything a programming job expects of you. IF I went back to school it would be for philosophy. Philosophy’s the only thing that makes me feel like I’m doing something real (ironic when you consider philosophy’s public image). I took a few philosophy classes, 2 entry level and 1 upper level. They were the most impactful and the most far reaching classes who had a real and legitimate connection with me as a person I ever took. I’d pay just to have those experiences again. Everyone deserves those kinds of experiences.

5. Can you parallel park?

Kinda? I mean I did it when I took my first driving test, but I haven’t tried in a few years and I don’t have a license so I don’t really have the opportunity to tell.

6. A job you had which would surprise people?

I’m sure they’d be surprised that in my 4.5 years of college I never pursued work til my last semester hahaha

7. Do you think aliens are real?

I’m sure by all statistical likelihood they’d have to be... but the universe is a huge place. And human’s lives are short, compared to our modes of travel. We haven’t seen any simply because we can’t, in our lifetimes, drive out far enough to see them. And they probably haven’t visited us because... I mean we’re a tiny dot in the middle of a trillion stars. It’s like finding a single grain of sand on the beach. It’s just hard. I gotta give em a break for that...

8. Can you drive a manual car?

no...

9. Tattoos?

okay this one’s a toughie for me! I want, at some point in my life, to be covered in tatoos. I think it’s just a beautiful look. But also! I can’t think of anything meaningful enough to me to put on my skin. Let alone a dozen or a hundred of meaningful images to put all over my body. So I’m stuck on that...

10. Favorite color?

I love purple. I love honest, muted, natural colors. My favorite pallet is purples and grays. Maybe black too. I love cloudy skies, smoky rooms, and furniture faded with use. I like pastels that just seem to add to the scene, to paint the scene with a subtle hue, soft colors that diffuse outward and bring a certain quality to the entire area instead of bold colors that just draw the eye to the single colored object... je ne sais quoi.

11. What’s your guilty pleasure?

I love comfort food. I feel like a child whenever I eat anything that isn’t like ... complex. Granted I love complex foods too (indian cuisine particularly is my favorite) but there’s a special place in my heart (and my stomach!) for like. Candy and mcdonald’s and sodas and stuff.

12. Things people do that drive you crazy?

blatant contrarianism. People who just pick the worst hills to die on, all the time, forever. Their entire public image is hatefulness. It’s so so tiring I don’t know how they do it. Are you happy? Do you enjoy this?

Another thing I can‘t stand is people who think they’ve got everything figured out. Not so much people who claim to know things, but people who claim to have some mental framework that covers ... everything. And often they’re wrong!! But, of course, according to their own mental framework, they’re right and everyone else just hasn’t figured it out yet. Insufferable.

13. First thing you remember you wanted to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a theoretical physicist pretty much up until I got to middle school and discovered programming. I like math and science, I still do. Computer science at its highest level is basically just applied math with a bit of imagination. Theoretical physics is... kinda the same thing too. Except instead of computers you have stars and atoms. Just subject material. Same mental space. Same abstraction of nature that becomes a sort of nature in itself.

14. Favorite childhood sport?

Okay I loved the variation of soccer I used to play in elementary school where the athletic kids would play actual soccer and me and the other unathletic kids would just slowly walk around the field and give a kick here and a kick there...

15. Do you talk to yourself?

Yes! All the time. Mostly when other people aren’t around. It helps me realize and catalogue my thoughts because otherwise my brain moves too fast to keep up :3

16. What movie do you adore?

I think my favorite movie ever was kimi no na wa or Your Name. It had AMAZING pacing, AMAZING visuals, AMAZING characters and the plot was just so incredibly written and everything was so well tied together and everything came at just the right time and the conclusion was so so so fucking satisfying I dsajkfghdf UGH

and the SOUNDTRACK!!! FUCK!!!!

17. Do you like doing puzzles?

Big ADHD feel. I love puzzles. I love puzzle based games. I love the elation of figuring something out. I love puzzles so much, in fact, that I kinda think of everything I do as a puzzle in some way... Programming is definitely a puzzle. Finding all the pieces that fit together - except, you get to design the pieces!! But now >:3 the burden is on you to make it elegant and adaptable. Anyone can hack something together but the REAL puzzle is designing a system that both solves a problem and does it in a way that’s efficient and Also elegant and easy to use. Puzzles within puzzles.... ohhhhhhhfh I love thissssss

18. Tea or coffee?

100% coffee. I drink tea but I’m not a ‘tea person’. I love coffee so much. Black coffee. Lattes. Starbucks sweet coffee concoctions. Espresso. Coffee from all around the world. God Do I Love Coffee.

My favorite coffees tend to be from asia, currently I’m really liking sumatra mandheling. I love coffees that taste like dirt. Rich, earthy, complex. Real dark and real bold. Usually those are from asia. I’m okay with african coffees but they tend to be really deep and fruity, sometimes even chocolatey, which, is real hit or miss for me. If you’re from america usually you’ll have south american coffees which tend to be light, woody, nutty sometimes. They’re usually too light for my taste but sometimes they really really hit. Gross generalizations aside, I love trying out every coffee and there’s more exceptions that blow my mind than anything else. I don’t think I’ve ever had a coffee I actually didn’t like, just many I like better. In any case I just love coffee!!!

19. Phobias?

Ocean. Don’t like big bodies of water that I can’t see down. Also there’s weird stuff in there. I don’t know how people just hang out at the beach with crabs and urchins and crawdads and jellyfish and sharks and riptides I’m just scared out of my mind!!! This is their land!! Not mine!!

20. Favorite kind of music?

Alternative rock of all sorts. Shoegaze, grunge, post-rock, math rock, electronic rock, emo... I also love hardcore and post-hardcore as well. A lot of metal does it for me but also a lot doesn’t so it comes and goes. I love music with a strong groove and complex textures. Me big ADHD so I like to tap along in weird and complex ways so it really helps if the meter is weird and complex already x3

Big runner up is hip hop and pre-2000s edm. Big groove, heavy on the swing, lots of samples, really rich. Future funk also falls under this category even though it’s modern.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Inevitable Part Where It Asks You To Tag 5 People

Feel free to pass up on this but here we go!

@mothman @bobbybobertson @exowave1 @reydiantskyes @sylvium-z and p much everyone else who follows me! I’d love to hear more from everyone else :3

[itsshortfurball20]

Percy Jackson, The Avenger

Summary: Percy has an encounter with Nick Fury. A year later, he’s being called on to help protect the world… again. He’s not alone in this Avengers Initiative. A genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist; a super soldier; a green scientist; a Norse god; and two secret agents. What could go wrong?

1 2 3

This chapter has 3,409 words

4 – Jason but with More Hair and Norse

Percy refused to step foot on another plane. It was bad enough that he was already on the Helicarrier, but getting on another, and faster plane made him put his foot down. He really didn’t need to push his bad luck any further.

Agent Romanoff and Steve, now dressed in the red, white, and blue spandex outfit that Percy had seen in the packet with his shield, stood at the foot of a plane ramp. Percy stood twenty feet away, arguing with Fury.

“Listen,” Fury said. “We need you in Germany. Apprehending Loki is a top priority.”

“Sure thing. But I’m not getting on that plane. Or any other flying vehicle for that matter.”

“The quinjet is the fastest way to get to Stuttgart.”

Percy paused, thinking about something. “What if I could find another way to get there?”

“What do you have in mind?”

The demigod looked up at the sky. He wondered if he was making a good call before ultimately deciding that any decision was better than choosing a plane.

Percy gave his best whistle. The sound rang loud and clear. He gave four more whistles, causing several people to stop what they were doing to look at the demigod who was now patiently waiting, gazing towards the direction New York was in. Natasha and Steve watched curiously. About two minutes passed before a little spot appeared on the horizon. As it grew larger, Natasha and Steve thought it looked like a bird. A large bird.

It wasn’t until it was about a hundred yards away before they realized that it wasn’t a bird. Steve’s jaw went slack, watching the pegasus land on the deck next to Percy. Natasha, whose face was usually unreadable, had wide eye’s, watching the creature.

“Hey, Blackjack,” Percy said to his pegasus. “How’s it going?”

Yo boss! Who are all these freaky people with the guns?

“They’re allies.”

Fury recognized the pegasus from last year. “How fast will he be able to get you to Germany?”

Percy smiled. “Blackjack could probably keep up with your jet over there.”

Are we going to Germany boss? I heard the mares over there are fine.

“At least it's not donuts,” Percy muttered as he mounted Blackjack. “Alright buddy, just follow that jet right over there.” He pointed to where the ship Steve and Natasha had been on earlier was now powering up.

You got it boss. Mares, here I come.

\~*~/

Loki watched as the mortals scrambled around him. He dropped the spell that showed him in the mortal suit, letting it melt away to reveal his green and gold armor. The god felt a rush as the mortals ran from him, falling and screaming in their haste.

A siren sound grew loud, and a mortal contraption (car, Loki remembered) came speeding around the corner. Without breaking his stride, he shot his scepter at the car and continued on, not watching as the car flipped and exploded behind him.

A clone of him appeared in front of the crowd of people trying to escape. They scurried back away from him. “Kneel before me,” he ordered. More clones appeared, pushing the people into one area.

“I said, KNEEL!”

Everyone grew silent. As the people slowly started getting down on their knees, Loki grinned. “Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state?” The god spoke, slowly moving through the crowd. “It’s the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life’s joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel.”

“Not to men like you.”

Loki looked up. He found an elder man standing above the rest, refusing to kneel to him. “There are no men like me.” He told the man.

The elder man didn’t move. “There are always men like you.”

“Look to your elder, people.” He raised his scepter, charging it up. “Let him be an example.” The scepter glowed. Loki took his shot, an energy beam shooting out. Just before it hit the man, someone jumped in front of it.

The energy blast reflected back, hitting Loki and knocking his feet out from under him. He fell forward. Loki whipped his head up. Standing in front of the old man was a man he recognized.

“You know, the last time I was in Germany, and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing.” Captain America told Loki, walking towards him. As he talked, people in the crowd started standing up to catch a glimpse of the old hero.

Loki pushed himself up. “The soldier. A man out of time.”

There was a clattering sound behind him that reminded Loki of horses. Loki turned around. There indeed was a horse, wait—pegasus. And on top of the pegasus was a man in what Loki recognized as Greek armor. “Guess again, Maleficent.”

“Loki, drop the weapon and stand down.”

A large plane appeared out of the sky. A gun was pointed down at them, specifically at Loki. Quick as lightning, he shot a blast of energy at the jet. It swerved just in time, the blast just missing it.

Cap took the opportunity to throw his shield at Loki. People started scrambling out of the way as a fight erupted around them. Cap started throwing out punches while Percy slid off Blackjack and took out Riptide. Loki used the scepter as a staff. Cap went on the defense, using his shield to block his attacks. Percy jumped in, intercepting Loki’s hit.

The god looked up at him. Percy didn’t register the god’s look of contempt. He pushed with Riptide, knocking Loki back. With renewed vigor, the two clashed. Loki sent another blast at Percy, who jumped out of the way. Cap leaped back in. He threw his shield at Loki, who swatted it away. The god got a good hit in, bringing Captain America to his knees.

Loki put the tip of his scepter over the Captain’s helmet. “Kneel.”

“Not today!”

Captain America jumped back up, kicking Loki in the face. Loki staggered back. The Captain went back in for another kick. This time Loki grabbed his leg and flipped him over.

He landed on the ground in front of Percy, who was draining water from the nearby fountain. The demigod quickly thrust the water at the god. Percy tried to encase the god by freezing the water, but Loki was using his scepter to dislodge most of the water. The water was vaporizing as he tried to whack it away.

Loud rock music started blasting from the quinjet. Percy looked up in confusion, wondering what was going on. His eyes caught the human-shaped-missile-like object hurtling straight towards them. It landed near Percy. He realized that it was the same suit of armor that he’d seen from the packet.

The armor sent a blast from its palms, sending Loki flying back. Several smaller missiles popped from the shoulder. “Make your move, Reindeer Games.” The man in the suit of armor spoke. Loki slowly put his hands up in surrender, materializing his armor away. “Good move.”

“Mr. Stark.” Captain addressed the armored man.

“Captain.”

“Guy in armor.”

Stark turned to look at him. “Perseus, right?

“Just Percy.”

The Captain stepped forward, slapping a pair of SHIELD issued handcuffs on Loki. Not too far, Natasha was landing the plane for them to bring Loki on. Percy whistled once more. Blackjack came swooping out of the sky a minute later.

Are we leaving already boss? We just got here. I haven’t even gotten to meet anyone of the mares here yet.

“Sorry, buddy. We got to get Rudolph here back to the base. Maybe we can come back another time?”

It’s fine, boss. Let’s just get out of here. The pigeons here are super rude anyway. It’s like they’ve never seen a pegasus before.

The plane was loaded up. Percy mounted Blackjack, giving him a pat. “Alright buddy. You know what to do.”

\~*~/

They were only fifteen minutes into the trip back when things went wrong.

Blackjack was following the quinjet over a mountainside forest. The sky was already dark, but the black clouds closing in made it darker. Percy could hardly see anything around him. Even Blackjack, who he was on, blended into the sky in front of him.

When the lighting started, Percy jumped. He leaned in closer to Blackjack. “Fly lower,” he ordered. Looking up at the sky, the demigod wondered what he had done this time to deserve his uncle’s wrath.

Through the light provided from the rapid lighting, Percy saw something land on the quinjet. The plane rattled and a couple of seconds later, the ramp door was opening. Percy watched as the figure on top the quinjet quickly jumped onto the ramp. He disappeared inside. Percy leaned over, trying to figure out what was happening. The figure reappeared in a few seconds. They had Loki with them. Just as quickly as the strange figure had appeared, he had disappeared into the dark sky, taking their prisoner with them.

Whoa, boss. Who was that?

“Whoever it was, we need to follow them. They took Loki and we need him.” Blackjack turned around, heading in the direction the two had vanished.

Percy heard the sound of repulsors behind him. Stark flew out of the quinjet, also flying after Loki. The man sped up to reach Percy. He caught up fast, flying right along with Blackjack.

“Do you have any idea who that was?” Percy shouted, trying to be heard over the loud sounds of the repulsors.

“Loki seems to know him. Guy has a heavy hammer.”

Percy frowned. He didn’t know if the guy was kidding or not. But heavy hammers wouldn’t be the weirdest thing he's ever heard (or seen) of. “Hey, if you can fly ahead, go. I’ll catch up.”

“Gotcha, Lancelot.”

Stark pulled ahead. Percy and Blackjack were still going, but Percy could hear Blackjack’s exhaustion. The poor pegasus was breathing heavy. Percy immediately felt guilty for pushing his pegasus this far. As soon as they re-grouped, he would risk the quinjet so that Blackjack could rest for a while before flying back to New York.

With all the lightning, Percy was able to spot a figure on the side of one of the mountains. He saw the dark green leather that helped the tall man blend into the scenery around them, but not enough to hide him from the son of Poseidon.

Percy pointed at Loki. “Dive.”

Hold on.

Percy held onto Blackjack as the pegasus dove down. The wind whipped Percy’s hair back. When Blackjack got low enough, Percy jumped off the pegasus. He rolled on his landing, years of landing kicking in.

Loki looked at Percy disinterested. Percy recognized the look, having seen in on many gods and goddess’s faces, even on some of his old teacher’s faces. He recognized it as a look of I’m-more-superior-than-you-are. Percy had never liked seeing that condescending look, making him feel as if he wasn’t good enough.

He rose up. The demigod took out Riptide and pointed it at Loki’s throat. “Out for a night stroll?”

Loki rolled his eyes. He eyed the sword at his throat, before gently raising his hands. “This isn’t much of a stroll.”

Percy was about to retort when he heard what sounded like Stark’s cries and a tree crashing. He looked over at the forest in alarm, dropping Riptide.

“Oh, yes.” Loki pipped up. “My brother and your friend seem to be getting along quite nicely.”

Percy could see Stark firing up his suit and flying at the mysterious man who Percy could now see was wearing a red cape and had long blond hair. Out of the corner of his eye, Loki settled down on the rocks to watch the fight between the two. Percy debated staying or breaking up the fight, ultimately deciding that stopping the fight was more important.

“Stay here.”

“Wouldn’t dream of missing this,” Loki called.

Percy ignored him and jumped over the ledge. Unlike the time in California, Percy had no sled, just his feet to quickly push him down the steep mountainside. Bushes and small branches grabbed at his legs and arms, giving him tiny cuts that stung a little. He pushed aside a large tree branch before stumbling into the clearing that the two were using as their battle arena.

The demigod raised Riptide, ready to fight the strange man who reminded Percy of a big, muscly Goldilocks. “Hey,” Percy called out. “What is this?” He gestured to the area around them.

“He started it,” Stark said like a kindergartner.

Goldilocks glanced him over, taking note of his armor and sword. “You’re one of the Greek’s? This isn’t something you need worry about. I will take care of my brother.”

“Actually Goldilocks, he is.” Percy corrected. “So, if you don’t mind…” Percy lowered Riptide in a show of good faith. Stark hesitated, glancing between the two before lowering his arm. Goldilocks gripped his hammer tighter, but begrudgingly lowered his hand to his side.

It was only after Percy breathed a small sigh of relief that the man threw his hammer at the son of Poseidon.

The demigod jumped out of the way, while Stark raised his hand to blast Goldilocks. Percy pushed himself off the ground. Goldilocks was trying to block Stark’s energy blast with one huge hand. His other hand was out, like he was trying to grab an invisible weapon.

Behind Percy, the leaves rustled. Goldilocks’ hammer came flying out of the bushes. In a quick moment of impulse, Percy grabbed the flying hammer, thinking that he could stop Jason’s rip-off from getting it back.

The hammer didn’t even slow as it dragged the demigod behind it, trying not to scream at the suddenness of being weightless. Goldilocks had to move or otherwise he would have been rammed into by Percy who zoomed by him, ending up being dragged through the high bushes.

The hammer, and subsequently Percy, smashed into a large tree, ripping it straight out of the ground. Percy lost his grip on the strangely impossibly heavy hammer.

The son of Poseidon could only watch as the hammer flew back into Goldie’s waiting hand. Dark clouds gathered heavy above them, and a huge burst of lighting hit the hammer, similar to what Percy had seen Thalia and Jason do before. Goldie aimed the lightening at Stark. The man struggled against the lighting. Fear struck Percy’s heart, knowing exactly what electricity and a metal suit could do to someone. Percy watched as the lightning attack stopped and Stark seemed to stand still for a second.

If suits could grin, Percy thought that Tony’s suit would have at that moment. Three bright blue beams of energy shot from the suit all at once, hitting Goldie with enough force to send him back into the nearest tree. The two surged forward, forgetting about Percy. That was their mistake.

As hammer and suit clashed, Percy stood up, Riptide in hand. He watched as Stark carried Thor up into the sky, past the demigod’s reach. Percy, praying that his pegasus hadn’t gone far, gave a whistle.

Blackjack flew down, a couple of seconds later.

You called?

“Yeah. Follow those two.”

Percy swung his leg over Blackjack, and they were off.

The two of them caught up to the fighting duo just as Tony slammed Goldie into the mountainside, dragging him through the hard rock. Blackjack whinnied loudly as he was splattered with mud and splinters of wood.

Percy held on to Blackjack as the pegasus soared higher and higher to keep up with the two. The demigod could see Goldie putting up a fight. With a strong push, he shoved himself and Tony away from the mountainside. Percy had to grip Blackjack tighter as the pegasus made a sharp turn to avoid the two spiraling back to Earth.

Blackjack turned in time to avoid getting hit by the two men, but Percy’s sword was far out enough to cut Goldie’s arm as he flew by. The blond-haired man dropped Tony in surprise. He made a wild grab for Percy.

Goldie only managed to grab Blackjack’s leg, dragging the other two down with him. Percy fell off of Blackjack’s back and rammed into Goldie. The other man let go of Blackjack’s leg.

Once again, Percy struggled to cope with sudden weightlessness. He was too far up to make a safe landing, and Goldie was charging after him, catching up to his freefall speed rapidly.

Think, Percy, think!

As the ground grew ever closer, Percy could feel the familiar sensation of another pulse under his skin, beating rapidly.

Water.

Percy could sense the underground springs, ready for him to use. He turned away from Goldie, diving headfirst, arms arched above his head, into the ground, which erupted with a jet of water just in time to catch him.

Percy stood up, the water shooting past him and above him, slamming itself into Goldie as he continued his flight path. To his relief, Goldie was knocked off path, but his hammer wasn’t. The heavy item slammed into his chest, pinning him against the ground. He tried to roll, attempting to break free, but it was like having the weight of the sky pressing down on his chest. Percy was effectively immobilized. Thankfully, the feeling didn’t last long as Tony grabbed Goldie by the cape and chucked him clear across the forest.

Percy wasn’t entirely sure what happened next, as the hammer flew off his chest, and he was on his feet in an instant, following the sound of snapping trees.

Water followed him up the side of the mountain as he sprinted at full speed, ready to attack as soon as he was in sight.

This plan was foiled when Tony decided it was a good idea to go jetting across the ground. Percy was swept off his feet, but so was Goldie. Goldie summoned his hammer back, recovering first, just in time to be slammed into by a truly absurd amount of water. Percy didn’t know that mountains could hide so much water.

Tony slammed into Goldie as the water abated, pinning him to the ground. Percy stood, Riptide once again at his side, and pointed it at Goldie, keeping his distance. Goldie roared something imperceptible and threw Ironman off. He turned to Percy.

Sword met hammer, leaving Percy’s arms shaking as the reverberations ran through his body. Percy was strong, but he had nothing on this guy. Percy braced for another blow, ready to duck low and swing high when a familiar blue and red shield smashed into Goldie from the side.

“Hey!” Captain America stood tall across the clearing, perched in a tree. “Now, I don’t know what you plan on doing here.”

“I’ve come to put an end to Loki’s schemes!”

“Then prove it. Put the hammer down.” Steve sounded a little too fatherly there, and Percy saw something in Goldie’s jaw twitch. He dove forward, sword impacting Goldie’s armor, causing him to stumble.

“One minute, Greek.” And then he was off, flying towards Steve. Percy shouted a warning, and with a loud clang, the world exploded around him. Debris flew around his body, and he could feel the familiar trickle of blood running down his face from minor scratches. He knew he was bruised in other places, but his armor had taken the worst of it. When he could open his eyes again, Tony and Steve were staring at Goldie, who in turn was looking between the three of them.

“We done here?” Steve asked, shield still braced defensively.

Goldilocks, awestruck, nods. Percy let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Slowly, the group, though tension still high, managed to lower their weapons. Steve called for Loki, who had remained on his little perch through the entire fight, to be brought back. Above them, Percy could see the quinjet circling, waiting to land.

As Romanoff landed the plane and the group loaded up, Percy couldn’t help but glance at Loki. The son of Poseidon had lots of experience with bad guys, and almost all of them put up a fight or tried to escape.

So the fact that the green-clothed man didn’t made Percy’s stomach twist with anticipation. He wondered what he could possibly have planned for them.

5

[courtorderedcake]

Riptide 7/13 CSBB

@captainswanbigbang & @captxinswans present:

RIPTIDE by @courtorderedcake Beta’d by the wonderful @ultraluckycatnd

An Enchanted Forest AU where the dark one was never released into the world in a vessel, thus causing a massive shift in timelines. The ogre wars have ravaged kingdoms, untold destruction spanning continents, rulers displaced. Even as the wars sputter to ash, the safest place to be is at sea, and that’s not very safe at all - as Emma and Killian find out, fates intertwined against all odds.

Rated: E/X - heavy content : warnings of assault, rape, noncon, just everything, I feel like the rating says enough. It’s something.

WARNING: READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

Read on Ao3 HERE .

Chapter IX : Shell & Bone

I can be quick and then I'm deadly,

I am a rock, shell and bone medley.

If I was made into a man, I'd make people dream,

I gather in my millions by ocean, sea and stream. 

What am I? Sand of course, dear one

- Unknown

 Emma woke next to a sudden jostle, Killian tensing above her and words, laughing words that weren’t his. The fuzzy bits of sleep fading, she could hear Killian’s voice now loud above her. “Don’t you dare touch her. I’ll kill every one of you if you touch her -”

Emma’s eyes shot open as Killian’s body was pulled away from her and the warmth of his embrace was gone. Two men were pulling him away, his hand reaching for hers across the floor.

“No!” Emma reached for him, pulling his hand into hers, fighting and kicking the other man who stepped into the space to grab her. “Killian, Killian! Let me go, let me go!” Wailing and reaching for him, his body was pulled behind hers to keep him moving.

“Ain’t it sweet? Keep struggling and I’ll give you a chance to hold your baby.” The man holding her pulled her hair, and she yelped, his other hand squeezing her windpipe.

“Emma, you have to stop struggling love, you’re going to hurt yourself. It’s going to be alright.”

They were both pulled on the wet deck with rain still falling heavily, chilling her again. James stood looking over the docks in front of them as Emma was thrown down, Killian over her protectively a moment later.

“I’ve made two decisions, for the sake of my dear little sister and her unborn.” James smirked down at them as Killian gathered her shaking body close to his. “The first is that you get to say goodbye to your beloved before he hangs. I do follow Navy protocol, after all, so you can say goodbye here and as he hangs.” Emma sobbed into Killian’s chest, both of them holding each other tightly. “And I’ve arranged for you to be delivered to a beautiful holding cell to wait for your bastard to be born. Then off you go to whatever fate I decide, and your bastard goes to a nice home.”

“You will not take my child -”

“See, the thing is dear sister, you’re not exactly in the position to make demands. Or to be a mother,” James sneered. “Now say your goodbyes.”

“Emma, I love you. Look at me love,” Killian kissed her, wiping tears away from her face in earnest. “You have to keep our child, beg them, do whatever you can. Do you understand? Don’t you dare give up, Emma -”

“I won’t but you have to fight them too, please, I know you can figure a way out of this. We have survived everything, everything, Killian. You have to see your child. He can’t grow up without you.”

Killian opened his mouth to say something more, but was stopped by James waving a hand to pull Emma from him, his fingers holding hers until the last second. “I love you, Emma.” She continued reaching for him, and he pulled against the two men holding him, continuing to try and touch her fingers.

James laughed, his continued laughter eventually drowning out Emma’s pleading.

The day he was led out to be hung was exactly ten days after his capture. He’d counted, scratching long groves into the wall of his cell with a spoon, sharpening it to carve Emma’s name and his into the wooden door frame along with a small picture of a swan. Tracing it kept him sane when he imagined he heard her cries or a phantom squall of a baby somewhere in the evenings, his body unwilling to rest.

Off of the coast of King George’s miserable land, Korumpiran, lay the island he sat in now. It was unnamed, just referred to by people who knew what lay on its rocky face as ‘Prisoner’s Keep’. Emma was somewhere in the compound, it was where people the Navy wanted to parade out with pomp to a gaggle of noble watchers were held.

Hanging was a sport, and it needed spectators.

James was in high spirits when they came to fetch him, dressed in his full regalia and grinning. As they climbed the stairs to the deck of the gallows, he whispered gleefully, “Today’s the day!”

Killian grunted.

James’s boots were a shining dark black in the noon sun, in stark contrast with the washed-out boards. As his death necklace was hung around his neck, Killian whispered goodbyes to those who would never hear them. His crew, his few friends, his child, saving the last for Emma.

James stood next to him, no executioner’s cowl to mask his glee. “Do you know what the best part of this is going to be?” James’s eyes glittered with excitement as he whispered, “My deal with you ends when you expire. You’ll have your whore and child with you in hell soon enough!” James laughed, pointing out into the crowd where several naval officers flanked Emma’s body. 

Killian struggled in his bonds, trying to get off the stage to her in blind panic. Their audience whispered in confusion as she cried hysterically. James tried to redraw the crowd’s attention, not to be outdone. “I hereby judge the pirate known as Captain Hook as guilty of crimes against the crown...” A wail went up in the crowd, pained as a naval officer started yelling, “...desertion of the Navy, Piracy...” A low moan soon followed, and one of the naval officers ran back into the base, eyes wide. The crowd began to turn and soon, the original crowd was turning towards low keening cries. 

The hair on Killian’s neck stood. 

Navy officers yelled, and James became angry. “...and stealing a ship from HIs Majesty’s fleet. The punishment shall be death, by hanging. Any last words?” James removed the rag he had stuffed in Killian’s mouth. 

“Emma, my wife, please tell me she’s alright. She’s pregnant and I can’t see -” Shouting at the crowd, he struggled, and several women covered their mouths in horror. 

It was taboo for any wife to be present for a hanging, as the gentry were prone to swooning. A pregnant woman being forced to stand privy to an act of such violence was beyond cruel, practically sacrilege, and put both her and child at risk. A scream tore through the crowd, and he could see Emma on her back, naval officers holding her as one came back with a cloth. Her mouth was a tight lined grimace. The crowd was booing the hanging now in favor of the poor woman who seemed to be having stress complications. Killian was barely aware of anything else except trying to see what was happening. Officers ran on the platform to help James hold Killian as he fought to get to Emma with every fiber of his being.

Fists landed blows on his face and a boot connected with his ribs until he knelt, bleeding on the platform’s drop door, the first real prayers to any God who’d listen running through his mind. He heard James pull the lever, and closed his eyes, unable to stand the nightmare any longer. The door below him gave way and he fell, time slowing as he heard James yell in fury. Killian’s knees connected with packed ground. The rope had snapped, cut through almost completely.

Killian’s body registered its living state before his brain, scrambling to move as James shouted orders. His blood beat in his ears to the sound of her name, every part of him trying to protect both his child and his wife. A guard caught his arm half way and shoved him, a strange movement that was neither defensive or offensive. Sprawling forward, he noticed a heavy weight in his coat pocket. Reaching in and touching cold metal, he looked up to watch the guards surround Emma and understood.

James shouted more commands as Killian pulled his hook out of his pocket, taking it in his good hand awkwardly without his brace. A few paces ahead of him, he saw Ruby adjust her stolen Naval uniform, sending a signal to however many others had infiltrated, and he realized that the ever clever crew of The Gilded Wing had each put a swan patch under their shoulder stripe.

Killian slashed through an officer with slight difficulty, continuing towards Emma as he watched the infiltrators from The Gilded Wing shed their disguises. Two guards with a swan patch held Emma's hands, kneeling as the crowd surrounding them began to realize that they were caught in the beginning of a blood bath. Men started to scream as Merida, Ruby, Rory, Phillip, Graham, Fa, Regina, Robin, Z, and others he didn’t know began to carve through them.

Finally reaching Emma, he felt life return in full color. Wearing a ridiculous full satin gown, even in labor on dusty cobblestone she took his breath away. He rubbed blood from his face and ignored what was most likely a broken rib. Snow looked at his dumbstruck face with a small knowing smile, as Emma and Belle beamed up at him. He knelt by her side, or more truthfully, dropped to his knees.

“Emma are you? Please tell me you're alright. Seven Hells and the damned -” His wheezing questions were answered with a soft kiss as her hand threaded through the hair at the nape of his neck. She pulled away, motioning a hand to the bodice of her dress and bringing him back to the peril of their situation.

“We're fine. Help me get out of this damned thing before we all wind up dead, because that would be depriving a nice end to my dashing rescue of you. Oh, and take off your shirt.” Emma reached below her skirts and pulled out his extra brace, a cutlass, and her preferred scimitar. He pulled off his coat and shirt as she and Snow struggled to get her out of the gown. Belle stood guard, easily dropping men with a crossbow.

“You know, there's a thousand other ways to get us both naked love,” he grinned. He put on his brace with ease, relishing in the feel of the soft leather and the plush embrace of the fitting for his hook. Snapping buckles tight, he clicked in his hook. With a flourish he ripped the gown, revealing her breeches and tunic below. ��When we get back, I'll show you a few of the ways I thought of on the gallows.”

“Gallows humor. That's appropriate,” Snow smirked, as he shrugged his shirt and coat back on. Helping Emma stand, he embraced her tightly.

“I love you, Emma. We'll talk about how mad I am that you are here later,” he whispered into her hair. “If I told you to stay out of trouble you'd never listen, but please be careful.”

Emma smirked, looking up at him. “I'll do my best, Killian.”

Another round of shouts began as another James appeared from the nearby doorway, screaming that the man on the gallows stand was an imposter, a wizard from the Far East.

Anyone from The Gilded Wing would recognize the slightly darker tanned skin, or the top of his ring finger missing on his right hand. But dressed in a captain’s uniform, the Navy became more confused. James sputtered on the gallows stand about his twin brother, while David shouted back towards the crowd. The Gilded Wing members took advantage of the chaos, attacking without mercy.

“Welcome to the party, Hook,” Belle said as she stood, joining the fray with Snow just behind, pulling a bow with quiver from her pant legs.

Killian kissed Emma one more time as they began making their way towards James.

Emma slashed through men easily, avoiding attacks as Killian moved faster, slicing with both hook and sword. Gunpowder filled the air as blood spilt; dying shouts heard over the smell of fire shot from Regina's hands. Robin, Belle, and Snow had taken high perches, shooting targets with keen accuracy. Men ran to get to safety.

Killian reached the platform first, and James backed away as he approached. Parrying back and forth, Killian was surprised that such a coward was actually an adept swordsman. A well aimed kick from James landed squarely in his broken ribs, the crunch and pain throwing him back on his elbows letting out a strangled cry. James raised his weapon high, the sword shining in its cruel metallic glory. Killian turned to Emma and watched her, unwilling to spend his last moments watching James’s sadistic snarl.

A shot rang out, James stepping back and looking at his stomach in surprise. Killian took no chances, digging his hook deep into James’s neck, ripping his face apart in a clean motion. Killian heard the bastard gurgle but threw him down, unwilling to give him any more attention. Looking up, Charming nodded to him over the smoking barrel of a pistol, a calm ripple of understanding coming between the two.

It was done. Men ran in all directions, fires started in several places along the keep, and cannons sounding from what sounded like several ships. Glancing at the smoke drifting off of the towers, he would swear he was hallucinating. Two dragons circled, one dark, massive, and sleek, the other a soft pearl color with somehow more delicate features. They were stunning in their fierceness.

The island was in ruins as nobles cowered, fleeing to ships that sped away from the rubble.

“Killian?” Emma called through the smoke, and he stumbled off of the deck into her embrace. She smiled and let him lean into her body, face pressed against her neck as he took a breath. “You’re heavy. As much as I -”

Rough hands pulled him aside, helping him stand fully. Charming stood next to him, propping him up. He grunted, growling out lowly, “You have legs, lean on someone who isn’t pregnant.”

Killian could feel his ribs throb as they walked along the cobbled path, Charming under his arm letting him lean and Emma by his side trying to keep him talking. His lungs burned, and he was painfully aware that breathing was becoming harder. “How did you manage this?” he coughed, and Emma looked at her brother, then away quickly.

“Will is alive. Belle took him back to The Gilded Wing, and they caught the Jolly on its way here to save us. Regina popped into my cell, letting me know the plan and helped me smuggle the things we needed. Hey, hey. I need you to stay awake.”

“And you tamed dragons in your cell?” Blinking groggily, he shook himself further awake, not realizing his drooping eyelids as his lungs tightened.

“That’s… That’s actually Z, and his, um… Friend? or Lover, I guess?” Emma said unsurely, glancing at David. 

“Mal, the blonde woman, new to The Gilded Wing’s crew. Old friend of Regina’s, and a powerful sorceress. Transformed Zorro, your Z, into a dragon for revenge and the spell accidentally hit them both. They can change forms when they’re around each other,” David grumbled.

“You know I think you’re magnificent, Emma. Did you manage a Kraken too?” Emma laughed, moving closer into his side. “Don’t laugh, love. I’m trying to share a moment with you while staving off choking. And you, my dear brother-in-law racing to save me. Now that I wouldn’t have bet on.”

“Never call me that again. Could you focus?” Charming gritted out. “If you died, I’d never hear the end of it from Emma or Snow. And,” he mumbled under his breath, “I cannot be left alone with Scarlet or Robin, who would join you in hell. I can’t be killing crew. That’s, what do you say? Ah, yes. Bad form.”

“Dave, you truly do care,” Killian groaned when Emma gently prodded him gently in the ribs, shooting him a look, but Charming actually gave a forced smile.

“Don’t make me stab you when you have cheated death thrice today, to my sister’s delight.” As they approached the Jolly in full glory next to The Gilded Wing, they were met by a crowd of crew members, Graham taking over for Charming. Before he was completely pulled away, Charming slid an elbow right into where he ached, hard enough to bruise but not to cause any more actual damage. Killian sucked in as much air as he could get through his teeth, trying not to vomit. “And never call me Dave ever again either.”

Emma helped him settle into their bed, helping to ease him down and help make something comfortable for both of them. She’d washed his face, and taken off his bloody clothing, soft touches that reminded him her finger was painfully bare of his ring. Before he could say anything, Regina had come by for more healing and a round of her truly noxious potions made to induce bones to knit together with the added bonus of making a grown man fall back into the mindset of a whiny child.

His lucidity began to fray, and Emma lay next to him quietly, looking over their handiwork on his battered body. “You’re starting to get a little bit magic sloshed. I can see it in your eyes,” Emma giggled. “You always look so intense before you let go and get lost in things.” She reached for his hand, surprised when he moved to kiss her, searching her eyes as they broke away,

“You shouldn’t have been there. If you had been hurt, Emma, I can’t... I couldn’t even watch you pretend to suffer because I thought...” His voice caught, and she held his hand tighter. “No more. Stay off your feet. I know you’ve been hiding how exhausted you are, and I’m worried for you love. I’m worried for our child.”

 “I’m ok, I promise,” she lied, and adjusted herself. Wincing, she did not sell her lie. 

“No. You’re not.” 

“Killian, I -” 

“When was the last time you ate and really rested? You were in a cell, probably not much nicer than my own. And your wound? See to it you actually get it cleaned, love,” he sighed, gathering her into his arms. “Of course.” He nuzzled into her neck, his words slurring softly as the potion helped mend his broken bones. “You could just rest with me. Help me get better. Stop me from worrying about the dragon we unintentionally signed on as crew.”

“Of course,” she whispered against his chest, as close as she dared with his broken ribs snug under bandages. “Captain's orders, hm?”

“Quite right.” he sighed.

The sky was a sickly green as rain drizzled over the Jolly, the clouds casting strange shadows through the windows in the Captain’s quarters. Emma still felt uncomfortable on her ship, rather spending her time watching Killian heal and helping out on the Jolly. Her main tasks were easy to fall into, and she enjoyed laying in his arms as his wife.

Married life suited her, although Killian’s boredom did not. He entertained himself by wrapping yarn around his hook as Maggie had taught him as lumpy blankets as soft as clouds littered their bed. He also read, and occasionally sketched her changing form with rapt fascination. She'd begun to truly show, her body suddenly ballooning everywhere as her sickness was replaced by unending hunger.

Killian still not only assured her that she was beautiful, but made it very clear that he enjoyed every bit of what he saw. Every time she left him in the mornings he’d groan, sleepily begging her to stay; either trying to ply her with his words… or other things. “You could lie here with me all day,” his voice said with a low, husky rumble. He stretched his arms around her as she sat on the edge of their bed, and she heard the hiss of pain, even as he tried to hide it. “I’d show you how well I’m healing by licking every inch of you -”

“Killian!” she laughed, as he kissed her neck. “While that’s tempting, and it is oh so very tempting, the ledgers need to be balanced to account for repairs, stock needs to be counted, and you need to rest -” “Do the ledgers here, and I promise I’ll rest,” he nibbled her earlobe and she let out a gasp. “After I taste you. You don’t understand how beautiful you look, Emma.” She pulled away from him, and his face fell.

“Mmmhm, well, we can discuss this more when I bring you lunch.” His face brightened and he licked his lips. “With Mal, for another bout of healing.” He flopped back, with a wheeze, groaning. Emma stood, bending to kiss him, and made her way to the door. “I will do the ledgers here though, to ease your suffering.” 

She heard his hum of approval as she walked to the deck. He was healing nicely luckily, and would be better in a matter of days. Emma was grateful to have Regina and this newcomer, Mal, around to work healing magic, even if it wasn’t as powerful as her own. His ribs had set which was a great comfort to Emma. She had been worried with them sleeping together that she’d hurt him somehow. Regina had even suggested he could be on deck but not working as early as the next day, but Emma hadn’t told him in case they were wrong.

It was cool, the rain picking up as Emma stepped on the deck and took in a deep breath. Walking to the railing, she looked over the waves, peering behind them where the Gilded Wing followed. A hand automatically rested on top of her stomach. The child was quiet today to boot, and would be until after breakfast. Although her sickness was blessedly gone, she’d noticed how easily she got winded or tired while working. She’d learned some ways around it; eating a good breakfast, snacking, breaks to sit down, drinking water, and other small tricks. The fresh air was another trick, the sea breeze felt good in her lungs.

Will stepped over to her, handing her a bowl of sweet rice and dried fruit. “Good morning. How’s Jones?”

“A few more days. Unless he does something stupid.” Tipping her bowl, she swallowed greedily. Every meal felt like she hadn’t eaten in days. “What still needs to be done this morning?”

“Jefferson says there’s a storm about to roll in, so we need to tie off some barrels, and move some crates.” He ticked off his fingers, while she continued eating. “There’s some damage to the sails that need to be tied off, and a little damage to the rigging. I think we should be storm ready after that.”

Emma nodded, finishing her meal. “Let’s start.”

They worked tirelessly as a unit as lightning crackled close by and a boom of thunder echoed only slightly to the west. The rain began to pummel them, and Emma started to shiver; her fingers going numb as she tied things off. A tickle ran across her back, and she looked up to see a loose rope dangling. She pulled gently to tie it off on a stable weight. It wouldn’t give so she pulled harder, letting her muscles strain as the wind whipped. She let go, dizzy and winded, her body protesting even standing.

Internally, she began to panic. She hadn’t been working that long, but she was exhausted already? This couldn’t be, and she wouldn’t accept it. She’d push through.

Smee looked at her in concern. “Miss Emma, are you alright?” She nodded and reached for the rope again, numb fingers gripping to pull even harder. This time it gave and she tied it off triumphantly, panting to catch her breath.

She realized something was wrong before she saw black creeping towards the edge of her vision. Turning to stumble towards Smee, she heard his surprised question before darkness took her.

When she blinked her eyes open again, she was laying bundled under far too many blankets by candle light, a cloudless night sky laid outside the open windows wherever they were harbored. Killian sat beside her, gently stroking her hair as he read. She went to ask him what happened, but could only rasp out a questioning noise before coughing.

“Well, my darling, you’ve gotten yourself sick and pushed yourself to fainting, per Regina. She sends her regards, with strict instructions for both of us,” he whispered. Killian smiled at her, but it didn’t reach his eyes. Emma groaned. “If that’s your apology for scaring us all half to death, it needs some work.”

She coughed, trying to clear her voice. “Sorry.”

“Emma…” A look of concern and tired frustration crossed over his face. “Regina and I talked, and you shouldn’t be doing anything but light labor, if that. We’re concerned for you.”

Emma scoffed, her eyes narrowing. “No, I need to work. I’m not weak -” “No one thinks you’re weak. You’re building life, the farthest thing from it - but this was a close call.”

“I just fainted. It’s not -” Killian’s hand balled into a fist, and he interrupted her, his voice quiet, but filled with worry and anger.

“You were bleeding.” His jaw ticked, and Emma immediately felt her heart sink as she rubbed where she could feel the baby resting, stretched along her entire frame. 

“I was…?” Emma saw him soften, and he took her hand. “The baby is alright though, right? Killian, I didn’t mean to -” 

“Z carried you in, and somehow got Mal and Regina over here almost immediately. He’d noticed you were bleeding after he picked you up.” He sighed. “Regina said you just strained yourself, and you needed to rest. You need to rest. She thinks… She thinks something might be wrong, and we should get a midwife.”

Emma’s heart froze, panic rising in her tone. “Why would she think that? There’s nothing wrong with him, the baby. You’ve read everything, we’re fine. We’d know if something wasn’t right, wouldn’t we?” 

He rubbed her hand, kissing the knuckles he'd just traced. “It’s alright. She just said she was worried. The baby is rather big and your symptoms and swelling have been really severe, that’s all. A midwife is not a bad idea. We should find one just to be safe. There’s one she recommends that is available a few months from now, and another available in a month or so. How about we try the one available sooner and see what she thinks?” 

Emma nodded, tracing where she could feel the slightest movements. “Better safe than sorry. I’ll stay on light duty.”

“Good. Never a dull moment around here.” He smiled at her adoringly. “One of us is always down, it seems.”

“Oh, how are you? Did they -”

“I have been told I’m fine besides light bruising.” He laid next to her, putting his book aside. “Which is truly too bad, I had planned to keep you totally and completely enthralled during our bed stay together.”

She laughed, which turned into coughing. “Ugh. I really did get sick.”

“Aye. You were ice cold. I wrapped you in every blanket in here. I thought…” She stopped him with a kiss, pulling him close.

“I’m not going to leave you, I promise. I learned my lesson this time, and I’ll take it slow.” Burying herself in his chest, she could hear his heart race. Emma closed her eyes, letting her entire body relax into his, feeling his warmth through her blankets.

“I love you, even when you’re a stubborn woman intent on shortening my life with fear.”

She yawned, feeling another round of exhaustion settle over her. “You love it.”

“Indeed, Emma, I do.”

[dumbledearme]

chapter fourteen—not just anybody

read Child of Land and Sea here

Act II — Heart Of The Ocean

Part VI — Help! I need somebody! Not just anybody! You know I need someone!

In the meadow, at the base of the ravine, several dozen huge sheep were milling around. Just past them was a path that led up into the hills. At the top of the path, near the edge of the canyon, was a massive oak tree with something gold glittering in its branches.

A deer emerged and trotted into the meadow. It happened so fast Andy thought she had imagined. The deer was lost in a sea of sheep. A second later, the sheep moved away and where the deer had been was a pile of clean white bones.

Andy and Anthony exchanged a glance. With no way to pass the sheep, they went to the edge of the rocks and made their way up the cliff. Climbing seemed possible and they decided it was the best idea. They started off slowly. Anthony went first because he was better at it. When they reached the top, their muscles were shaking from exhaustion and they collapsed on the floor.

“You’re a feisty one,” a deep voice bellowed from bellow them.

“Challenge me!” Clarisse’s voice was clear. “Give me back my sword and I’ll fight you!”

The monsters roared with laughter. Anthony and Andy exchanged another look and crept to the edge of the cliff. They were right above the entrance of the Cyclops cave. Below them stood Polyphemus and Grover wearing a wedding dress, gods knew why. Clarisse was tied up, hanging upside down over a pot of boiling water.

Polyphemus pondered, “Eat loudmouth girl now or wait for wedding feast? What does my bride think?” He turned to Grover.

Andy almost choked at that.

“I’m not hungry right now, dear,” Grover told him.

“Oh, please!” mocked Clarisse. “He’s a satyr!”

Grover yelped. “The poor thing’s brain is boiling from that hot water. Pull her down, dear.”

“What satyr?” Polyphemus narrowed his eye. “Satyrs are good eating. You bring me a satyr?”

“You already have one, you idiot!” Clarisse said. “The one in the wedding dress.”

Anthony cursed and put his Yankees cap on, disappearing. Polyphemus turned and inspected Grover. “I don’t see very well,” he said. “Not since many years ago when the other hero stabbed me in the eye. But YOU’RE NO LADY CYCLOPS!” Grover yelped and ducked as the monster swiped over his head.

“Stop!” he pleaded. “Don’t eat me raw. I-I have a good recipe!”

Polyphemus hesitated. “Recipe?”

“Oh, y-yes! You don’t want to eat me raw. You’ll get botulism and all sorts of horrible diseases. I’ll taste much better grilled over a slow fire. With mango chutney! You can go get mangoes, I’ll wait right here.”

The monster pondered, “Grilled satyr with mango chutney.” He looked back at Clarisse. “You a satyr, too?”

“No, you overgrown pile of shit!” she yelled. “I’m the daughter of Ares! Now untie me so I can rip your arms off!”

“Rip my arms off,” he repeated.

“And stuff them down your throat!”

“You got spunk.”

“LET ME DOWN!”

Polyphemus snatched up Grover as if he were a wayward puppy. “Have to graze sheep now. Wedding postponed until tonight. Then we’ll eat satyr for the main course.”

“You’re still getting married?” asked Grover, a little offended. “To whom?”

Polyphemus looked toward the boiling pot. Clarisse made a strangled sound. “Oh, no! No, no, no! Don’t even think about it, nerd!”

Polyphemus plucked her off the rope and tossed her and Grover inside the cave. “Make yourself comfortable! I come back at sundown for big event.”

“Better not come back at all,” Clarisse’s voice came from within the cave. “Or I’ll rip your-” The Cyclops whistled and a flock of goats and sheep flooded out of the cave. He was about to roll a boulder to seal the cave when Anthony yelled from somewhere, “Hey, ugly.”

Polyphemus stiffened. “Who said that?”

“Nobody,” Anthony answered. Polyphemus’s reaction was priceless. His face turned red with rage.

“Nobody!” The Cyclops yelled. “I remember you!”

“You’re too stupid to remember anybody,” Anthony taunted, “much less Nobody.”

Polyphemus roared and started throwing rocks at where he thought Anthony was. Andy held her breath hoping he was very wrong.

Anthony laughed, “You haven’t learned to thrown any better, either!”

Polyphemus howled. “Come here, let me kill you, Nobody!”

“You can’t kill Nobody, you stupid oaf!”

Polyphemus barreled down the hill toward his voice. Andy hoped he’d be okay. She went down the hill as fast as she could without dying and pushed through the crowd of sheep toward the back of the cave. Grover was huddled in the corner, trying to cut Clarisse’s bonds with a pair of safety scissors.

“It’s no good,” she said. “This rope is like iron.” Then she saw Andy. “YOU! YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE BLOWN UP!”

“Good to see you, too.”

“Andy!” Grover bleated her name and tackled her with a goat-hug. “You heard me! You came!”

“Of course I came!”

“Where’s Anthony?”

“Outside,” Andy said. “No time. Clarisse, hold still.” Andy uncapped Riptide and sliced off the ropes. Clarisse stood stiffly, rubbing her wrists. She glared at Andy and mumbled, “Thanks, Jackson.”

“You’re welcome, La Rue. Did anyone else survived the Birmingham?”

Clarisse shook her head. “Just me. I didn’t even know you guys had made it out.”

Then an explosion echoed through the cave, followed by a Anthony’s shout – “ANDY!”

“I got Nobody!” Polyphemus gloated. He shook his first and a baseball cap fluttered to the ground revealing Anthony hanging upside down by her leg. Anthony struggled, but he looked dazed. There was a nasty cut on his forehead that was dripping blood on the ground.

Clarisse armed herself with a ram’s horn spear from the Cyclops’ cave. Grover had a sheep’s thigh bone. “Let’s get him together,” Clarisse said. “Attack plan Macedonia.” Andy had had the same training as Clarisse and immediately understood what she meant. She hefted Riptide and shouted, “Yo, ugly!”

The giant whirled toward her. “Another one? Who are you?”

“Put Wonder Boy down,” said Andy. “I’m the one who insulted you, really.”

“You are Nobody?”

“That’s right, you smelly ugly monster! I’m Nobody and I’m proud of it! Now, put him down and get over here. I’ll stab your eye again. Only this time, I’ll make sure you’ll never see the sky again.”

“RAAAR!” He bellowed. Polyphemus dropped Anthony and Andy realized the mistake she had made. Anthony felt head first onto the rocks and didn’t move again. Then Polyphemus barreled toward Andy.

Clarisse ran in from the left and set her spear against the ground just in time for the Cyclops to step on it. He wailed in pain, and Clarisse dove out of the way to avoid getting trampled. But the Cyclops kept advancing. He made a grab for Andy who rolled aside and stabbed him in the thigh.

Grover rushed to Anthony’s side. Clarisse charged the Cyclops again and again. He pounded the ground, stomped at her, grabbed at her, but she was too quick. Andy followed her attacks, stabbing the monsters wherever she could. Grover was dragging Anthony across a rope bridge to the man-eating sheep side of the island. Clarisse and Andy followed, Polyphemus right behind them.

“A thousand curses on Nobody!” The Cyclops promised.

They tore down the hill. Grover made it to the other side. “Cut it down!” Andy shouted at Grover. He took Anthony’s knife and started cutting. Polyphemus bounded after them, making the bridge sway wildly. Clarisse and Andy dove for solid ground. Then Andy stood and with a wild slash with her sword she cut the remaining ropes.

The bridge fell into the chasm and the Cyclops howled with delight because he was standing right beside them. “Failed!” He yelled. “Nobody failed!” Clarisse and Grover tried to charge him, but he swatted them aside like flies.

That’s when Andy snapped. Her friends were hurt. Tyson was dead. Chiron had been banished. Thalia’s pine tree had been poisoned. It just wasn’t fair. They had come this far and, gods be her witness, she was going to beat this beast. Strength coursed through her body. She raised her sword and attacked. She smashed and kicked and bashed until Polyphemus was sprawled on his back, dazed and groaning. Andy stood above him, her sword hovering over his eye.

“Uhhhhhh,” the Cyclops moaned.

“Andy!” Grover gasped. “How did you-”

“Please, no!” Polyphemus cried. His nose was bleeding. He started to sob. “M-m-my sheep need me!”

“Kill him!” Clarisse urged. “What are you waiting for, Jackson?”

But the Cyclops sounded so heartbroken. He sounded like… Tyson.

“He’s a Cyclops!” Grover warned. “Do not trust him, Andy!”

Andy knew Grover was right. She knew Anthony would’ve said the same. But Tyson had been a Cyclops too and he’d died trying to save them. She’d have trusted him with her life. And Polyphemus was, after all, a son of Poseidon too. Like Tyson. Like Andy. How could she kill him? She felt her own eyes filling with tears for the brother she’d lost. There hadn’t been time to miss him just yet. But here it was, taking her breath away, making her sword hand tremble.

“We just want the Fleece,” she told him. “Let us take it. And I’ll let you live.”

“No!” shouted Clarisse. “Kill him right now, Andy Jackson!”

The monster sniffed. “My beautiful Fleece. Prize of my collection. Take it, cruel human. Take it and go in peace.” With her hands shaking, Andy stepped back and as fast as a snake, Polyphemus smacked her down to the edge of the cliff. “Foolish mortal! Take my Fleece? I eat you first!”

He opened his enormous mouth but something went whoosh over Andy’s head and sailed into Polyphemus’s throat. The Cyclops choked, trying to swallow. He staggered backward, but there was no place to stagger. His heel slipped and the great Polyphemus tumbled into the chasm.

Andy turned. Halfway down the path to the beach, standing completely unharmed in the midst of a flock of killer sheep was Tyson.

He gave them the short version of the whole thing: a hippocampus, who had been following them, found Tyson sinking beneath the wreckage of the CSS Birmingham and pulled him to safety. He and Tyson had been searching the Sea of Monsters ever since, trying to find Andy and Anthony.

Andy hugged him tightly. “Oh, Tyson, thank the gods!” Then she remembered. “Anthony is hurt.”

“You thank the gods he is hurt?”

“No, you silly Cyclops!” Andy rushed to where Anthony was lying. The gash on his forehead was really bad and was bleeding a lot. His skin was pale and clammy. Andy fought back the tears. “Tyson, go get the Fleece,” she asked.

“Which one?” Tyson asked watching the sheep.

“The golden one. In the tree. Bring it to me!” Tyson did as he was told. The thing weighted a ton, but Andy had no choice. She spread it over Anthony, covering everything but his handsome face. Then she closed her sea-green eyes and prayed to whoever was listening. When Andy opened her eyes the color had returned to his face. His cut began to close. Andy gasped and let the tears stream. Anthony’s eyelids fluttered open.

“Grover’s not m-married?” he asked.

Grover grinned. “My friends talked me out of it.”

Anthony tried to sit up and Andy, unable to contain herself, crushed him in a embrace that made him moan, “Ouch!”

“Oh. I’m sorry!”

Clarisse approached and dropped next to Anthony and felt his chest. “Rips broken, but healing,” she declared. “Come on. I’ll help you, you geek, or Jackson might brake something else.” And she helped Anthony to his feet.

The five of them headed to the beach to where the Queen Anne’s Revengewas. And they almost made it too. But then Polyphemus was roaring, splashing toward them with a giant boulder in his hand.

They entered the water and swam. Anthony was in pain and the Fleece was weighting him down. But Polyphemus’s attention was on Tyson.

“You,” he called. “Traitor to our kind!”

Tyson froze.

“Don’t listen to him,” Andy said. “Just keep swimming!”

But Tyson turned around. “I am no traitor.”

“You serve mortals!” Polyphemus mocked. “Thieving humans!”

“You are not my kind,” Tyson told him.

“Jackson!” Clarisse called. Andy looked; they had reached the ship.

“Go,” Tyson told her. “I’ll distract the monster.”

“No,” Andy refused. “We’ll do it together.”

Tyson hesitated for a moment. “Together,” he then agreed.

Polyphemus threw some boulders that Tyson deflected. Andy willed the sea to rise. She rode a wave toward the Cyclops and kicked him in the eye. “Die!” Polyphemus shouted. “Fleece stealer!”

“You’re the one who stole it! The Fleece should be used to heal! It belongs to the children of the gods!”

“I am a child of the gods!” Polyphemus said, as if just remembering that fact. “Father Poseidon, curse this thief!” He was blinking hard now, like he could barely see.

“Poseidon won’t curse me,” Andy told him. “I am his child, too.”

Polyphemus roared. “Young one! Where are you? Help me! You weren’t raised right. Poor orphaned brother! Help me!”

No one moved. Then Tyson stepped forward, raising his hands defensively. “Don’t fight, Cyclops brother. Put down the-”

Polyphemus spun toward his voice and threw the rock that hit Tyson with such force he flew backward. Polyphemus charged after him, but Andy lunged between them and stabbed the monster on the leg. Polyphemus bleated and hit Andy with his giant hand.

She was bleeding and bruised and exhausted. And now she was also mad as hell. Polyphemus grabbed a tree and swung at her. She grabbed a branch as it passed, ignoring the pain in her hands as she jerked skyward, and let the Cyclops lift her into the air. At the top of the arc, she let go and fell straight against the giant’s face – landing with her sword right into his eye.

The monster yowled in pain. Tyson tackled him, pulling him down. Andy landed next to them. They glanced at each other, realizing they couldn’t do it. It just wasn’t right. “Let him go,” she told Tyson over the Cyclops screams. Tyson agreed and, together, they headed to the ship. Polyphemus got up and trashed everything around him, stumbling blindly, yelling curses.

Andy and Tyson were very close to the ship when Clarisse decided to shout, “In your face, Cyclops.” That was all he needed. Polyphemus grabbed another boulder and threw it at them. He missed. “You throw like a wimp!” Clarisse taunted. “Teach you to try marrying me, you idiot!”

Polyphemus tried again and this time he hit the spot. The boulder crashed through the hull of the Queen Anne’s Revenge and the ship sank faster than you could say ‘shut the hell up, Clarisse.’

Everyone was having trouble swimming. The ship was pulling them down like a sinkhole. Andy swam toward them, and made a grab for Anthony who was sinking faster than the others because of the weight of the Fleece.

Tyson started calling for help. A bunch of dolphins appeared to save them. They broke the surface of the water and raced away from that horrible place. Behind them, they could hear the Cyclops go, “I did it! I finally sank Nobody!”

Andy asked the gods that he never find out he was wrong.

[strangeduckpaper]

RWBY & Percy Jackson Fusion

I’ve seen a lot of PJO/RWBY crossovers with Rwby characters transplanted into the PJO world, and that’s great, but what if I went the other way...

I came up with team AQUA, Consisting of versions of Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and drumroll please...Bianca di Angelo!(Yeah, this is gonna get angsty)

The idea is they’re a graduated Huntsman team(Academy or timeframe not yet decided) who lost their fourth member...probably post graduation, but her sword might be taken up by her brother...

The membership: (I’m not sure whether Conway or Fiona lead), I am open to ideas for changing this!

Conway Auckland

Inspiration: Percy Jackson

Weapon: Riptide-Large pen that transforms into Xíphos. Time Saver-Wristwatch that expands into a shield.

Semblance: Waterskin-Can manipulate & solidify water he comes into contact with, and can use it to create weapons, extend Riptide’s range, or create a nigh indestructible covering (but this renders him vulnerable to low temperatures & electricity)

Symbol: Trident

Partner: Kamala Quirós

Sexuality: Demiromantic Pansexual

Notes: Bluefin Tuna Faunus(Gills), born to a tryst between an Oceanographer & a Huntsman, & raised in Vale, where he proved to be a hellraiser in his school days. Became Grover’s best friend when he moved from Mistral. Aspires to teach more than fight, but realizes that he wants to save people and has that ability. Plus the company’s nice. Nicknamed Connie

Kamala Quirós

Inspiration: Bianca di Angelo

Weapon: Angelbreaker-electrified Bident that folds out into bow

Semblance: Living Reminder-Kamala is capable of detecting life signals, with Aura being very noticeable. Capable of detecting Grimm, as they register as black voids.

Symbol: Arrow with a Bident head surrounded by a jagged edged portal.

Partner: Conway Auckland

Sexuality: Aromantic Asexual

Notes: Eldest of daughter of a Mistrali crime boss, and lost her father in a drive by shooting by another gang her mother had crossed. Raised in very tight security alongside her younger brother, Rajshan, she was taught to fight by her Mother’s bodyguards, and eventually broke out & fled, swearing to come back for him.

Roy Undergrove

Inspiration: Grover Underwood

Weapon: Song of Madness-Pan Pipes that spray aerosolized Dust. Nature’s Wrath-Handcannon loaded with Plant Dust, can shift into a club

Semblance: Natural Charisma-Can forge emotional mindlinks with those close to him. Can actually apply this into flora & fauna, and he is actually capable of manipulating plant matter.

Symbol: Pan Pipes with flowers sprouting from it

Partner: Fiona Ardit

Sexuality: Panromantic Asexual

Notes: Goat Faunus(Legs). His family moved to Vale around the same time he was entering Combat School, where he met Conway. Due to his semblance hates hurting people & seeing people hurt, but this doesn’t apply to Grimm. Has a long distance partner (Juniper) in Mistral.

Fiona Ardit

Inspiration: Annabeth Chase

Weapon: Promise-A regular ole’ knife. The Armoury-an arsenal of throwing knives, included dust embedded variations, regular knives, a kukri, even knives with cameras worked into them, connected to her Scroll

Semblance: Arsenal-control over weaponry, including forcing weapon transformations, summoning weapons to her hands, or altering the trajectory of her throwing knives. Can be negated by alert opponents or a firm grip.

Symbol: Several knives arranged in a circle

Partner: Roy Undergrove

Sexuality: Biromantic Demisexual

Notes: Raised by her father, a researcher from Vacuo, as her mother was never part of her life. Enjoyed life in her father’s convoy until it was attacked by a Grimm horde. She would be the only survivor, saved only by the intervention of a Shade Academy team, led by Lux Saturnalia. More or less raised in varying Huntsman bars, bases & academies. Didn’t attend a formal primary Academy.

And as a fifth Ranger...

Rajshan Quirós (Note: This is gonna be edited when I hash out the details of his own team)

Inspiration: Nico di Angelo

Weapon: Ghost King-Black sword that splits into Pistol Daggers

Semblance: Dark Doorway-Just his Shadow Travel from the books.

Symbol: Split Sword crossed over a jagged edged portal with a skull pattern within.

Partner: Conway Auckland (AQUA), TBA(Will Solace Equivalent of his own team)

Sexuality: Gay

Notes: Kamala’s younger brother, who unlocked his own Semblance after she left, eventually joining her after using it to escape. Made friends with the rest of team AQUA, and actually entered the academy with his own team. Kamala’s death would send him into a dark spiral, abandoning his team, and only eventually being brought back into the fold by her sister’s partner. Has some burnt bridges he needs to repair with his old team.

For now, at least, i’m folding this into my Collective Remnants AU

As always, feel free to ask questions or make suggestions!

[greekmythologyslut]

Riptide (Cas x reader)

A tune that Cas had never heard before drifted through the walls of the bunker. His eyes wandered away from the book he wasn’t really reading, toward the dusty clock that hung against the wall. 3:38, it read. Cas couldn’t help but think of how odd an hour it was to be awake. With a quiet sigh, Cas closed his book and pushed his chair away from the rickety table.

The singing increased in volume as Cas walked further down the hall, the song remaining unknown to him.

He continued his trek down the hall, before walking into the bunker kitchen. Y/N’s back was to him, and her voice never faltered as she made what he assumed to be pie.

He didn’t say anything for a while, just stood in the doorway and listened to her as she sang. It confused him; he knew that, unlike angels, humans needed their sleep to be able to function. So why she was up at nearly 4:00 in the morning, he didn’t know.

He stared at Y/N as she turned and, in shock, dropped the bowl of flour she was holding with a surprised shout. Her heart beat returned to normal when she realized it was Cas, only to skip a beat as he tilted his head in the adorable way that she loved. She held her hand over her heart as she let out a breathy laugh.

“Jesus, Cas. You scared the hell out of me.” Cas’ eyebrows scrunched together as he took in her words.

“Jesus isn’t…” He trailed off as her smile grew, understanding that that was just some people say, and it was not literally referring to the Messiah.

She did things like that on purpose, although she would never tell him. Whenever she said things like, “Oh my God,” his head would tilt and he would attempt to make sense of how his family had anything to do with what she said. Butterflies would always erupt in her stomach, and nothing she did could make her feelings for the angelic being go away. So she put up with it.

After turning away from Cas and reaching for the broom, she accidentally came face to face with the angel. Or more accurately, face to chest, due to his height.

In an attempt to still her beating heart, Y/N took a step back and let out a low chuckle, ducking her head to hide her flaming face.

“What are you doing up-” Her words trailed off as she remembered.

“You don’t need sleep. Right. Ok, so…” She stood for a moment, her face growing a darker shade of red, if it was possible.

She shook her head and rubbed her eyes, letting out an uncomfortable chuckle, taking the broom once again. Cas, the gentleman he is, grabbed a dustpan, helped her clean the mess up quickly.

It was over too quick, and they fell into silence. Cas took a seat at the table, and she went back to baking the pie.

“Can I ask you a question, Y/N?” Cas’ voice sliced through the silence, and her head shot up at the noise.

“You just did.” The corners of her mouth lifted slightly as his eyebrows scrunched. He caught on quickly this time, and let a small smile slip.

“Why are you awake at this time? Every human needs sleep, unless something is wrong.” He leapt out of his chair and was across from her in an instant.

“Are you alright? Is something wrong? If you’re sick tell me, and I will heal you-”

“Cas, I’m fine!” Y/N ran a hand through her messy hair, a wide smile evident on her face as he showed his concern for her.

“It’s called insomnia; it means that I have trouble falling asleep. But it’s not as bad as you might think.” Y/N quickly tried to reassure him as she saw the worried look pasted on his face. “I can read more lore when I’m not asleep, so that helps me. I would leave the bunker, but there’s not really anywhere to go.” Y/N explained her situation to him, doing her best to make it seem better than it really was. Still, Cas could see the weary look in her eyes, and he couldn’t help the pang of sadness he felt. 

“The song.” Cas announced after a few moments of silence. 

“Huh?” Now it was her turn to be confused.

“The song. The one that you were singing earlier. What was it?” He explained further.

“Oh, um. It’s-uh- it’s called Riptide. I heard it on the radio once, and it’s been stuck in my head ever since.” Y/N started working on the pie halfway through her sentence, needing something to do with her hands.

“Would you sing it for me?” She swore her heart stopped entirely then, his request catching her completely by surprise. Her head snapped up to look at him and the small, curious smile that rested on his face.

“Um, well, you see, I don’t really-”

“I heard you earlier. You had a lovely voice.” She swallowed at his words, and her heart hammered at the thought of singing for him.

“F-fine.” She turned her back to him, humming quietly as she resumed her work, hands shaking as she sang the song.

I was scared of dentists and the dark.

I was scared of pretty girls and starting conversations,

All my friends are turning green.

You’re the magician’s assistant in their dreams.

Y/N still faced away from him as she sang, not wanting to look him in the face. The quiver in her voice faded slightly as she got more accustomed to the feeling of him watching her, although her anxiety didn’t disappear completely.

Lady, running down to the riptide

Taken away to the dark side, I wanna be your left hand man.

I love you when you’re singing-

There was a hand on her shoulder, and in a second, she was no longer in the kitchen bunker.

Y/N closed her eyes and clutched onto her stomach as nausea washed over her from the intense movement.

The crashing of waves against the sand stilled her, and she slowly rose her head to look at the scene in front of her.

She wasn’t in Kansas anymore. It was warm. Too warm for Kansas at this time of the year. And there was the obvious fact that there were no oceans in Kansas.

Her breath escaped her as she stared at the glow of the moon reflected off the moving water.

“Cas…” She turned to look at him, only to find that his gaze was already set upon her in a look of amusement and awe.

“Florida,” He said. “that’s where we are. I’ve heard that it’s nice, and you were singing about the riptide, so.” He was wringing his hands together, a gesture that didn’t go unnoticed by her.

“I am sorry, though. About the sickness that flying could have caused you. It’s harder for people the first time, but it will get better the more you do it. If you want to, that is. I will not force you to fly like I did this time. I am sorry, I should have asked you before-” She pulled him into a tight embrace, knowing that his rambling could have gone on forever.

He stopped talking instantly, glad that she had put an end to his words. He wrapped his arms around her without hesitation, relieved that she liked his surprise.

The hug went on for some time, both the angel and human wanting this moment to last for as long as possible. Y/N breathed in his scent, memorized the feel of his body pressed against her own.

In the moment that followed, she realized the position they were in and, not wanting to seem clingy, she let go. For Cas, it was all too soon.

The two were there for a while, staring out at the water as the sun climbed higher. Y/N couldn’t fight the grin on her face. It had been a long time since she had seen a sunrise as beautiful as this one. The colors lit up the sky, and reflected back on to them.

Y/N let out a content smile, and rested her head against Cas’ shoulder as she fought to keep her eyes open. The angel tensed, and she worried that she had made him uncomfortable. But he relaxed a second later, and wrapped his arms around her as he watched the sun.

Time passed as the two sat there in the sand, held together in a tight embrace. Cas wished they could stay in this moment A slight sigh came from the woman beside him, and Cas looked down to a surprise.

Y/N was asleep. Her eyes were closed tightly, and she let out small huffs of air as she slept with one of the most peaceful expressions Cas had ever seen on someone.

The longer he stared, the more his heart soared. Based on what she had told him about this insomnia thing, it was not easy to overcome. Yet, here she was. Sound asleep in his arms.

Cas was taken aback, and he couldn’t describe how it felt for him to be the one she trusted. In that moment, he felt something that he had only read about in old books.

“I love you.” Try as he might, he could not understand nor relate to it at the time. If he was being honest with himself, he thought he never would, and as an angel of the

Lord, it didn’t really matter to him.

Until now. Everything had changed when he met Y/N. Those three words had been just that- words. Before, there was no special meaning behind it to.

“I love you.” Cas said it again, but this time, they made sense. It was to Y/N; it was meant to be said to her. And it was true. Y/N mumbled something under her breath, still in a deep, peaceful sleep.

With profound joy in his heart, Cas turned back to the sunrise. Only now was he able to take in the complete beauty of the world around him. Still, to him, nothing could compare to the grace and loveliness of the woman beside him

[votederpycausemufins]

no, you know what, next chapter now! remember this is chapter 3 of this war arc thing so if you didn’t read chapter 2 since i posted it like 5ish hours ago, go read that first. look! here’s some links!

Chap 1   Chap 2

Hey, can you tell I like grian? cause today i’m using Avian!Grian, Watcher!Grian and Triplet!Grian all together. 

Next chapter is gonna be a flashback based loosely on the fic @strawberrylemonz wrote of the triplets in the Antarctic empire.

but for now, have a sprinkling of angst. or maybe more than just a sprinkling.

When Tommy opened his eyes again, he found himself with all the Hermits in the town hall. A few Hermits that were already there like Zedaph brought out potions and food and other items for everyone to recover. Nearby Grian was shaking out the water that got on his wings from the emergency button being used.

“How’re ya doing Big G?” Tommy asked as he walked over, grabbing another mask of his own face from the table.

“Fine, what about you Tommy?”

“Dream kinda saw me right before the button got pressed. But he didn’t get a chance to hit me.” Immediately Grian was acting like a mother hen towards him and Tommy had to push the avian away. “Grian! I’m fine!”

“Are you sure? Because Techno and d- Philza were also there.”

“Yeah, I heard you confronted them.” Tommy softened his voice, noticing the look of pain on Grian’s face.

“Neither of them recognized me. I mean, it makes sense since it’s been so long for me and I look so… different.”

Tommy hugged Grian. He didn’t believe it when he learned that this was his missing older brother, but when Grian used his real name, something he shouldn’t have known, Tommy changed his mind. “Hey, c’mon, once this is all over you can brag about being the oldest now.”

Grian laughed and ruffled Tommy’s hair. “Yeah, and you look as old as Techno did out there.”

“No I don’t, he’s an old fart!” Tommy complained. “I’m still a teen!”

“You’re twenty-one!”

“I’m a child!”

Grian laughed. When Tommy had first shown up, he did everything to seem older than he was, now he refused to admit he’d grown up. “C’mon, let’s just-” He was cut off by a buzzing from their communicators. The two of them looked around and noticed the other hermits were doing the same. Everyone was here, so it couldn’t be a death message.

Xisuma tapped his helmet and everyone saw the glow of him looking at the communications chat. “Iskall, someone named Fundy is saying they’re at your tree.”

The redstoner immediately messed with his robotic eye to look at his own chat. His other eye widened and he equipped his elytra. “I’m going to go after him. I doubt it would be an ambush, there’s no way they could have gotten a whole group there while we were fighting.”

Rendog also put his elytra on. He said he would go with Iskall as some extra muscle just to be safe. The two of them flew off, careful to stay out of range of anyone in Dream’s army before heading toward the Omega Tree.

“Hey, now that they know I’m here, should we use me more as bait?” Tommy spoke up, causing Grian to pull him closer.

“Absolutely not. Any mistake and you could be captured!”

Before Tommy could complain, False spoke up. “Actually, it’s a good plan. You helped him learn to fly so he’s great at it. He’ll have no trouble escaping into the air. And he can also set up another pearl if they do capture him. Someone can watch in the sky and send word if he needs rescue.”

“But what if he-” Grian tried to speak up, but Tommy stopped him.

“Grian, I know these people. It would work. And I know how to get out of tough situations. And I’m not going to be the only one down there. Doesn’t make sense to send me there alone.

Reluctantly, Grian let Tommy go. The blond smiled and then gave his brother one last hug before pulling his mask on and leaving with a group of Hermits. All of them placed ender pearls in the emergency button and then left the town hall through bubble columns. Grian watched them go before following behind to be their eyes in the sky. Cub came with him, his vex wings still there from his earlier confrontation with Dream.

When the Hermits suddenly reappeared, Dream was ready for them. Instead of an axe, he held a sword. Whenever a Hermit got close, he would injure them and then use the long blade to pull off or break their mask. Tommy was going to be there, under one of those masks. And when Dream saw his sorry face next, he would drag the teen back home.

Dream heard a grunt from behind him and glanced back to see Philza with his weapon clashing with a hermit’s sword. Even with the mask, Dream could see the silver hair of said hermit. Dream may not have been familiar with their enemy as much as he wished, but there was one well known name he recognized. Etho. While Philza was a man who had lived years on hardcore, Etho had been living on a single world for longer. Both were very experienced men. 

In his distraction, a hermit attacked Dream. He deflected their attack but in the process managed to hinder his teammate and suddenly Philza was killed. Dream attacked back, and while the Hermit who attacked him got away, Etho did not, having been left on a single heart when Phil died, only being alive from Dream’s mistake.

But he didn’t have time to dwell as more attacks came from the hermits. Once they had defeated these people, he could take over as admin and bring them back.

Philza gasped as he woke up on the bed, energy flowing through him from respawning. It wasn’t something he was used to, and before he almost didn’t link with the bed. When he started to get up, he heard rustling and immediately turned to fight. But no one was there, which was fine as his death had left him with no gear. Phil could hear fighting from outside the building and he quickly looked in the various chests for anything.

Philza ended up breaking part of the building for sticks and made himself a sword with the diamonds they found earlier, even finding more of the gem in chests they hadn’t bothered to check before. It wasn’t enough for a full set of gear, but it was enough. The only problem was trying to put on his chestplate, Phil finally noticed what happened. 

It was impossible. They had been too damaged and the last time he had to respawn, nothing had happened. But there, right on his back were his wings, undamaged. Not a single feather was harmed or scorched or missing. 

A shout from outside drew Philza’s attention back to the battle. He nearly put his wings away to put on his chest plate when he remembered how their enemy had elytra. He was the only one on their side who could fly. Phil stored the chest plate in a nearby barrel for later and left the building through the open roof. None of the hermits seemed to notice him until it was too late and his weapon cut into them. There were one or two of those from the smp who attacked him before realizing who exactly they were seeing, but otherwise, the reappearance of his wings was appreciated.

When Tommy saw his dad in the air, he couldn’t help but stare for a moment. He had told Xisuma about the situation of his dad. At first he thought that Philza had completely lost his wings, which would make sense why a respawn couldn’t help. But since he still had them, the admin was able to set a trigger for the avian’s wings to heal when he respawned. It was a risk that could help Dream, but Tommy hoped that the return of Phil’s wings would help him switch sides.

The sight invigorated Tommy and he was slashing at his old friends left and right. He managed to catch sight of False nearby and Techno fighting so he moved over to assist her. It was perfect timing as False managed to be cornered and Techno proclaimed the kill for the blood god just before Tommy could manage to remove the weapon from his brother’s hand.

“Leave her alone.” Tommy said as Techno glared up at him. He had hit a growth spurt while in hermitcraft and his voice deepened, so Tommy wasn’t surprised that his brother didn’t recognise him. Behind him False got up and ate a gold apple as well as splashing a potion over her own head, a bit of the liquid managing to splash onto Tommy, giving him a few seconds of healing.

But as Tommy stood to cover his head, Dream joined next to Techo and sliced the mask off Tommy’s face. When it fell, Tommy could clearly see the slight surprise on Techno’s face. While the warrior wasn’t that expressive, growing up with him made it easier for Tommy to read his face. Dream on the other hand grinned so large his smile could be seen out the sides of his mask.

Before Tommy could react, his arm was grabbed in a crushing grip from Dream. False in a panic simply yelled Tommy’s name, which ended up bringing the attention of the rest of the SMP members.

False swung her sword at Dream, giving Tommy just enough of a gap to use a firework and launch himself into the air. Dream called for the smp members to focus on Tommy and suddenly arrows were flying at him. With another rocket he flew further into the air. Looking down, Tommy saw an arrow coming towards him. He attempted to dodge, but it clipped his elytra, leaving a small tear in one wing. 

A few more arrows also managed to reach him. When he wasn’t sure he could dodge them, the blond tried to make sure they directly hit him. Tommy had plenty of healing items and had nice armor, but if his elytra were too damaged, no amount of armor would help a fall like that.

Then, the thing he feared most happened. As he flew, rain started to fall. A few moments later there was the sound of a riptide trident being used. He turned to see Punz, having used his trident to get just close enough then he pulled out a crossbow and shot it. There was no time for Tommy to react and it went through one wing of his elytra. As Punz descended, Tommy tried to use fireworks to push him towards the ocean, but in his panic, all he did was push himself further up into the air. And then the elytra gave up on him and Tommy started to fall. 

Philza heard the noise of a trident as the rain started to fall. He looked around in the air just in time to see Punz’s arrow destroy Tommy’s elytra followed by what sounded like Tommy calling for help. While he had trouble getting used to flying again after months of being grounded, Phil immediately flapped his wings as hard and as fast as he could. He refused to lose another child. So he pushed himself to get to Tommy before the worst could happen.

Grian wasn’t sure how he missed Tommy flying into the air, but he didn’t miss his brother screaming his name. He looked down to see Tommy falling, his elytra in shreds. He saw another avian flying towards his fallen brother. Grian knew that he was the only avian of the hermits so this other person had to be working with Dream. 

As Grian pulled his wings in to dive towards Tommy, he realized he wouldn’t be able to make it. Sure there was enough time to reach Tommy before he hit the ground, but not enough before Tommy was grabbed by the other avian. As he continued to fall, Grian closed his eyes. He searched for something he buried deep inside himself. The red, yellow and blue feathers on his wings changed to purple, black and salt & pepper. When he next opened his eyes, there were 6 of them, all glowing a purple color. He opened his wings once more and gave a mighty flap, sending magical energy out through them and creating what sounded like thunder as the expelled energy propelled him faster towards Tommy. 

Just before the other avian could reach his brother, Grian’s arms wrapped around Tommy and the wings wrapped around both of them. He didn’t have enough time to use more energy and teleport them away or slow them down, so he just braced himself. Then they hit the ground, all the force going into Grian’s wings. It was painful, but right now he didn’t care. The adrenalin from nearly losing Tommy was kicking in and the pain made his mind hazy. 

The powers he had gained from being a watcher were dangerous and something he usually kept blocked off so he wouldn’t lose himself in it, but right now, with his current state, he wasn’t thinking of that, and slowly the previously locked away powers grew more dangerous and tempting.

Dream held his breath as Tommy fell. He didn’t want them to have come all this way for Tommy to lose his last life here. Luckily Phil was in the air, racing towards his son. He was sure that the Avian would reach Tommy until there was the sound of thunder and the sky lit up with a purple light. The figure that was lit up made his blood run cold. No. It wasn’t possible. A watcher. And not just any watcher. The Dreamslayer himself was a watcher. In a way it made sense how this would be the one person who seemed to be able to kill him, but knowing the full power he held was not a happy thought.

Dream managed to get his army to retreat just far enough in time that no one ended up in the destruction of Grian crash landing. Everyone stared, no one moved. Even the Hermits looked terrified of their own ally. Phil landed safely and tried to move to the crater, but Dream grabbed him. Techno was the next to move as The wings parted revealing Tommy hidden beneath them. Again, Dream tried to stop him, but Techno was further than Phil had been. While Techno had recently been staying out of things, Dream didn’t want to lose someone who was so good at making his stories perfect.

Techno held out his axe, ready to strike Grian, but the avian watcher just grabbed the blade of the axe. His head looked up and all six eyes focused on the weapon, each of them blinking out of sync. He only stopped looking when Tommy groaned, while he was physically uninjured, the rush of falling and the rapid pressure changes as well as the energy from Grian had caused him to pass out.

Techno pulled his weapon back, unsure if he should strike again. Half of the voices were telling him to attack and kill this person who took his brother, but the other half seemed to actually want him to stop. But the first half was louder and he swung the axe down again. Time seemed to slow down as he saw the supposed avian look back up and smile hauntingly. He resolved himself and cried out, “Blood for the Blood God!” as he put more force into the swing.

The moment the axe blade hit Grian’s skull, it shattered. Around them people started moving. A quick glance let Techno see the Hermits moving the smp army away, trying to protect their enemies. Looking back at his own enemy, Techno was met with Grian standing up. He spoke, but instead of his own voice, Grian spoke in Techno’s voice. He parroted the line the pvper had just spoken, only saying it louder and louder.

“Blood for the Blood God! Blood for the Blood God!!! Blood for the Blood God!!!” And then, in his normal voice, he shouted once more. “BLOOD FOR ME!!!”

[percyjacksonfan3]

Finding Home

Part 1

Written for the pjohoobigbang2017, this baby really took a lot out of me guys. Coming to a grand total of 64 446 words I am super exhausted but also super proud to be in this and included amongst all of the other wonderful writers and am so, so grateful for having the chance to meet so many great people. 

Which leads me to thanking my lovely beta, @lemonlestered. You put up with my constant changes in the story and fixed everything I was too blind to see and I can’t thank you enough!

Finally thank you to the amazing @dianas-steve, her artwork is just incredible guys, please go and check it out! 

Read on AO3: http://archiveofourown.org/works/11833296

Alright! On to business! 

Pairing: Percabeth, obviously it’s me, but the other couples of the Seven are included as well.

Rating: M, cause there’s violence and sexual themes, language, that kind of thing

Summary:  The second time Percy’s kidnapped, it isn’t by Hera. No, this time, it’s a giant who wants revenge- and he’s smart enough to get it. Of course Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter aren’t going to take the abduction of Percy lying down. Especially with Annabeth there to kick their ass.

The first thing Percy is aware of is the sound. 

He hears dripping. It's coming from feet away and he listens to the constant sound of liquid splashing into what sounds like a puddle or a quickly-filling bowl on the ground.

The first thing Percy feels is the cold, and he automatically shivers, letting out a raspy groan at the pain from the movement. He's in nothing but his Camp Half-Blood t-shirt and jeans, and the cold air bites against his bare skin.

The first thing he sees, when he finally manages to open his eyes, is a fire. The light from it is so bright, casting hulking shadows on the surrounding walls in the surrounding darkness, that Percy has to squint until his eyes adjust. It's too far away for any heat to reach him but the light seems unnaturally bright in the enclosed space.

His shoulders are throbbing in agony. His knees are frozen, water having seeped through his jeans; it feels like it's seeped through his very skin to his bones. The joints are smarting from being pressed against the floor for so long, having grown stiff. More than anything though, he feels sharp shooting pain coming from his wrists.

He blinks his eyes once, twice, three times more, before everything comes into focus.

Dread is an icy pool in his stomach and his heart speeds up from fear.

A cave.

He's in a cave.

Memories of Tartarus, of Grover trapped in a wedding dress and of the Labyrinth come back to him in a sudden rush. Percy hates being enclosed. Absolutely hates it. His breath picks up. The cold air scrapes his throat and he wonders if there's something more to the weather in here. It shouldn't be this cold in the cave, especially with the fire right there in front of him.

His head lolls, he lets his eyelids flutter closed, and his thoughts leave him.When he comes to again his thoughts are clearer.

He's in a cave and his wrists are chained to the wall above his head. His body hurts where it’s kneeling on the cave floor, in as comfortable a position as he can get, his wrists raw and shoulders aching, drives agony through his veins with each shift of muscle. His knees feel like they're bruising by the second and freezing just as fast. When he tries to stand, his legs shake and his shoulders scream in protest, so he stops moving and slumps down once more.

Percy can't remember how he got there.

He only panics for a few seconds before he shakes his head and tries to think; tries to look around and get some idea of what the Hades is going on. He remembers waking up from his Hera coma, Lupa standing over him and growling. He remembers how off guard he'd been and the fact that it had almost gotten him killed.Never again, he'd promised himself. He's been through worse than this. He's sure of it.

He can see the cave opening faintly in the distance, there's moonlight shining, illuminating the opening, so the cave must be pretty deep. He must be a fair bit in. Everything except the fire and a couple of logs beside it are shadowed and too dark to make out. No sound except the  dripping water. There's something, something that makes his senses prick, and when he takes a deep breath he smells something that is strangely like...

...french toast?

He panics again, mind jumping. Before you have a stroke you always smell something, right? What was that again? Was it french toast?

Burnt toast, Seaweed Brain. Annabeth's voice, calm and teasing, breaks through his thoughts and he relaxes as much as he can in his current position. Burnt toast is before a stroke. French toast is... odd.

Annabeth.

He looks around again but he can't see anybody else. No other sign of life. The only thing he notices is the sound of water dripping closer to the entrance- and the feeling of blood on his face. When he scrunches his nose some dried red flakes fall.

Once again he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. Nobody else is here, which means if there had been people captured with him they'd either escaped or...

He shakes his head. Without knowing anything for sure, he shouldn't freak out, shouldn't jump to conclusions. Annabeth and his mom both tell him he's bad for that. Anything could have happened. This could be anything. Just think, he tells himself. There must be something to tell you what happened. Something you can do.

Use your surroundings, what do you have? Annabeth’s voice rings out in his mind again and he calms down a bit.

There's a weight in his pocket that could be Riptide, but with his hands chained he can't make sure. He tries to think back, but he has a headache and his memory is foggy at best. How did he get here? And, more importantly:

How was he going to get out?

oooOOOooo

Grover really loves his girlfriend.

Like really, really loves her.

Juniper is such a constant in his life now that he can't picture a world without her. Thank the Gods her tree is only about 50 years old. It would be such a bummer if she were too young for him.

Grover comes back to Camp from searching for more demigods exhausted, every time. Sometimes he finds half-bloods, sometimes he doesn't, but Juniper is always there to greet him at the hill and it makes up for whatever the journey had taken from him.

Then there's the nights after Council of Cloven Elder meetings when Grover is frustrated and bleating angrily about Silenus and Maron. For example, when they wouldn't agree to send more satyrs out searching for demigods when Olympus closed, instead keeping more satyrs than ever back at Camp. Grover had fought hoof and nail for them to widen their search for any unclaimed demigods, but no, it was too risky until they knew what was happening. Even though the solution seems obvious to Grover- don't leave the kids stranded, obviously- Silenus and Maron are older and have a different perspective.

This is what Juniper tells him. Grover bleats that they're old and outdated.

(He doesn't actually think so. To a certain degree, he actually respects his companions more than most satyrs. It's just frustrating when they don't agree with him based on the experiences he and his friends have had.)

It will be ages before he calms down enough to even think about anything else, and Juniper will listen and nod, occasionally butting in to disagree with him.

She puts up with him disappearing and going through the Labyrinth on quests with Apollo to take down the Triumvirate, she defends Camp while everyone leaves to go help the Romans defend their home and she always, always threatens to kill him if he dies while away on a quest.

She's a gift from Zeus himself, and Grover is so, so in love with his girlfriend.

Of course, there were also the months when Percy was missing. First the empathy link dulled until it was barely there at all, which caused him to panic. Then it came back full force and he was helping Annabeth as much as he could, both of them staying in Bunker Nine all night, not sleeping, and not eating enough either. Satyr searches for their friend came back empty handed, and Grover didn't get a good night’s sleep again until he'd helped Annabeth and Jason pinpoint Percy's exact location at Camp Jupiter on a map.

Juniper went through all of that with him. Some nights she would stay with them, just to be there. Others she would drop of plates of food before she went to her tree for the night. Everyday she would remind them to eat, to sleep, to shower and get out to speak to people.

"Let the Hephaestus kids build the Argo II." She asked him, eyes wide and soft, caring and full. "Come have lunch with me."

Annabeth was harder to persuade, but occasionally Grover took Juniper up on it. He realized he'd been neglecting her and took her on picnics by the streams, and they watched the Camp fireworks together.

Of course, then Leo said the Argo was finally ready and the five travelers (including Hedge) set sail, leaving Grover behind to wave at them from the ground.

That's when things got scary.

It was alright for a few days. When Percy and Annabeth reunited Grover actively had to dull their empathy link because the emotions were so strong. But at least it was a good day, at least they were happy emotions.

A few days later Grover was picking up so much distress, fear, helplessness and anger that he was crying from the feeling without realizing it.

Piper Iris-messaged Chiron later that night. Percy and Annabeth had fallen into Tartarus.

Juniper was one of the only things that got Grover through that week, and then the next. In Tartarus it wasn't easy to feel anything concrete because Percy's emotions changed so rapidly, and some were too terrifying for Grover to comprehend. At one point Percy seemed to have the mind of a murderer, and Grover was hyperventilating as the feeling rose and then subsided all at once.

Juniper held him close and whispered soothing words in his ear. She clutched his hand and woke him up from the nightmares. She grounded him by making Grover remember that he wasn’t Percy, he wasn’t in those situations, the fear and anger weren’t his own. She was there for him to talk to about everything. About how he was worried for his friends. This was the first quest, the first real quest, that Annabeth and Percy had gone on without him involved. Sure Percy had recovered Hades' Sword with Nico and Thalia, and yes Annabeth and him had found Festus in the woods with Beckendorf and Silena without Grover being there, but this was a a real, true quest with Chiron’s permission and warnings from Rachel and they were out there without Grover.

He hated it. He knew why he'd had to stay behind, but he hated it.

In Tartarus it wasn't like he couldn't read Percy's emotions or occasional thought, it was more that it changed so rapidly it was impossible to keep up and get a concrete idea. He got occasional glimpses and feelings, but it was overwhelming and Grover more often than not tried to focus on other things.

It never shut off completely though. It was always there in the back of his mind, constantly pulling at him to look deeper. Even when Percy was asleep for all those months, the buzz was there. Faint and too hidden to trace, but the feeling was always there. Grover knew he was alive and, for that time, calm.

So that was why today Grover shot up from sleeping at the base of Juniper's tree with a start.

It took him a few minutes to figure out what had woken him. Juniper appeared from the trunk of her tree almost immediately to crouch before him.

"What is it, Grover?" She asked urgently. "A nightmare? Are you alright?"

He met her eyes and breathed in deeply. After calming down a bit he'd finally searched his head and realized what had woken him- or, more accurately, what's absence had woken him.

"It's the empathy link." His lip trembled but he quickly got it under control. Juniper's eyes never wavered from his. "It's gone."

Juniper gasped and her hands flew to her mouth as her eyes went wide.

He nodded and went into her embrace immediately, clutching back at her desperately. She smelled like she always did, and his breathing calmed down a little bit as she held him close.

His head was just... empty. Where before there was that gentle tug, now there was nothing. He hadn't had his head all to himself for about five years.

The fact that he wasn't reincarnated as a fish or something didn't help ease his worries. Neither Percy nor Grover knew what would happen if one of them died. Percy could become a shrub, Grover could become a sea creature to join Poseidon, or they could be completely fine, just with no more empathy link. It was all uncharted territory for them.

Which really didn't help Grover. If their empathy link was gone- well. There was only one explanation he could think of for that. Percy didn’t know how to dissolve it.

Juniper held him and Grover let his shoulder rest on her shoulder. "Something's happened on the quest," Grover muttered, eyes squeezed shut and trying, as hard as he could, to reach out and find his friend. "I can't feel Percy anymore."

Juniper stays with him until he finally calms down. "We should go see Chiron, Grover. You should tell him. Maybe he'll know what's happened."

Together they go to the Big House and Grover knocks timidly on the door.

He stumbles backwards when Mr. D answers them, his face looking very uninviting.

Mr. D did not readjust to Camp nicely. Being able to live on Olympus for months with Ariadne during the lockdown was what he'd waited for since being sentenced here. Having to go from Camp, back home and then sent back to Camp to finish his sentence was not agreeing with him.

So could you really blame him for his attire?

A fuzzy purple bathrobe that was really not as long as it should have been caught Grover's attention first. (Also shouldn't a god's knees be more... godlier? Less knobbly? Not that Grover would ever day say that out loud to Mr. D's face. Ever.) Secondly, he noticed bright tiger striped boxers peeking out from underneath, and purple slippers on the god's feet topped off the whole ensemble. Mr. D's curly hair was sticking up on one half of his face, and the other was all pressed in to form a crater-like shape. His eyes were narrowed even more than usual.

"What?" He barked. "Do you know what time it is, Mr. Underwood? When the stars are out that means I should be in my bed, not woken up at 2 in the morning and standing on this Zeus-forsaken porch with a satyr and his girlfriend."

Grover cowered in fear.

Juniper giggled.

"I- Mr. D, I'm so sorry, I was actually looking for Chiron-"

"Oh, were you?" Mr. D drawled. "Oh Fates, my mistake, I do apologize. Why, I get up to answer the creature banging on my door before dawn and lookee here, it's not even me he needs. How perfect." He stomps past them to go stand on the lawn in front of the Big House and looks up at the sky. "Is this you testing me again, Father? Sending these two to punish me for stealing that wine from Olympus and bringing it back here? Was me waking up to find it gone not enough amusement for you?" He's yelling and Grover looks at Juniper, shuffling his hooves. She looks back and shrugs at him, but there's still a faint smile still tugging at her mouth.

The clip-clop of hooves makes them both turn around. "Mr. D I thought Zeus had taken all of the wine back to Olympus-"

Chiron's voice cuts off abruptly at the sight of Juniper and Grover. "Oh, my apologies. I thought Mr. D had managed to get drunk after all."

Mr. D's humph of disgust is loud behind Grover, but the satyr doesn't turn from Chiron. "Chiron, I need to tell you-"

"Make these two clean the toilets tomorrow, my dear centaur." Mr. D proclaims, climbing up the steps and making his way back to the door.

"They come here and wake me up, just for fun it seems-"

"We told you, we were looking for Chiron-" Juniper tries but Mr. D holds up a hand and she quiets immediately. A god in a ridiculous bathrobe and slippers is still a god; something both of them know well.

"Looking for me?" Chiron intervenes before Mr. D can speak further, making the god cross his arms and humph at them all again. "At this hour?"

Grover nods. "I need to-"

"Well come in then." Mr. D snaps and Juniper frowns in irritation before Grover gulps and nods. "No need to stand outside for anyone to see."

They follow Mr. D, Chiron bringing up the rear and end up in Chiron's office. Mr. D takes the liberty of sitting in the only chair available in the room, so Grover and Juniper are left to stand. Chiron moves to stop behind his desk.

"Well," Mr. D snaps his fingers and rests one leg across the other, causing both Grover and Juniper to flush an alarming shade of crimson at the reappearance of the tiger boxers. "Get on with it, Mr. Underwood."

Grover peeks nervously at Chiron. "My empathy link with Percy is gone."

Chiron shifts so that it appears he's leaning away from his desk. His face remains impassive. "I see."

There's a beat of silence.

"Is that it?" Dionysus interrupts the silence. "That was the urgent news that couldn't wait 'till dawn?"

"Mr. D, that means something's happened." Grover says politely, trying not to bleat in frustration instead. "That Percy could be-"

Mr. D lets out a sigh. "You're all so young." He scoffs. "Empathy links end, my dear satyr. Sometimes it's because one of the participants has died, other times because they've been gravely hurt. It can also be because one of them has decided to cut off the connection- oh yes, it is possible- or that the magic has simply exhausted itself. From my understanding, you created the link in a time you needed it, as a last hope for your survival. You had no former training in empathy links and were entirely unsure of both it and your powers, making it shaky at best. Since then it has undergone a tremendous amount of use and strain considering the lives both you and Porticus lead. The magic may have simply ceased, Grover, it does happen."

Grover glanced towards Chiron who nodded. "It is probable that Mr. D is right, Grover," the centaur says gently. His eyes were soft but Grover thought he saw worry in them. "Empathy links, especially one cast by a satyr who has no experience with them, can simply end. However." Grover and Juniper both look at Chiron sharply. "Knowing Percy, and seeing as he was sent out on a scouting mission meant to return today I believe there is cause for concern. You were not rash to bring this to us."

Grover didn’t relax at the words. "Thank Gods," he muttered and Mr. D raised an eyebrow at him. "If something's happened-"

"I can Iris-message the group right now," Chiron says smiling gently. "No doubt Percy will have been woken just as you were. I believe he will most likely still be awake."

Grover nodded. "Thank you, Chiron, Mr. D."

Chiron smiles once more and turns towards the fountain in the corner of his office. He grabs a drachma from his desk and tosses it in the constant rainbow. "Iris my dear, would be you be so kind as to show me Perseus Jackson?"

The image flickers. For a moment the mist turns pitch black, impossible to make anything out of, and then a face appears.

The goddess smiles but her eyes look troubled and her voice is frenzied. "Hello Chiron! Why is it always this demigod I have trouble with? Perfect service for the last thousand years… well forgetting that nasty Nero business of shutting me down, and then last year Percy Jackson has to come along and ruin my stellar performance rate. Soon, I'll have to start giving out discounts and getting Fleecy to send out apology baskets of all-organic baked goods. Do you know what this will do to my reputation, Chiron? Hermes will have me fired!"

Chiron blinked at the sudden onslaught and Grover could see him mentally sifting through the wave of information. He settled on the question Grover himself wanted to ask. "Is it not connecting?"

She throws her hands up in the air. "Tell your demigod to stop finding people who can block my magic! First Hera, now this new guy, who really doesn't look so friendly. Percy’s making friends with a whole new sort." She frowns. "I told him to stay at my shop with us. Spare him everything."

She meets Chiron's eyes. "Obviously he didn't take me up on the offer."

"Speak plainly, Iris." Mr. D snaps. "Can you get us to the demigod or not?"

"Oh," she pouts but it's not happily. "Hello, Dionysus. How's sobriety? You're really helping your liver you know, I'm so proud of you! Perhaps you'd like to reinvent your diet altogether and start a completely organic lifestyle. Really flush out your system."

Dionysus grins wickedly. "Not likely."

She shrugs. "I almost convinced Ariadne once. She declined, saying she needed the wine while you were away." Iris cocks her head. "Truly, all those parties you two have must hurt your health."

"Iris, please," Chiron injects quickly before the fire in Mr. D's eyes becomes harmful to those in the room with him. "Do you have any idea of where Percy could be?"

"Oh, no, Chiron, I'm sorry. The one with him is quite powerful in cloaking magic. If my Iris-message can't get through not much will. However, I can connect you to Percy's friends. They're just waking up now to look for him actually. And don't worry, take as long as you need, Chiron, for the inconvenience."

"Wait, who is Percy with-" Grover tries to interrupt but Iris is already gone and Piper takes her place.

"Chiron! Oh thank the gods!" Piper's voice is panicked. "Something's happened, Chiron, Percy's gone!"

Piper's hair is out of it's usual braids, and she's wearing the Camp store's p.j. set, complete with tank top and shorts. Sold at the first Camp Half-Blood store near you!

"McLaren, slow down." Dionysus interrupts. "Explain."

"Well we were scouting out the area, like you guys asked us to, but there was no sign of anything suspicious," she says, ignoring Mr. D getting her name wrong. They’re all well used to it by now. "Nothing that hinted at what could be attacking and kidnapping the people around here. Jason hasn't seen anything resembling the monster from his dream."

Chiron nodded, urging her to continue.

"Well we were going to come home tomorrow after deciding there was nothing here, so we just settled down, made camp around a fire like usual. Percy was with us all night, and then he went to sleep along with everybody else. Leo left Festus on watch even though the rest of us were doing it in shifts. It was a completely normal night."

"What woke you up?" Grover asked them.

"Oh, hey Grover, Juniper.” Her voice brightens before the frown comes back. “Erm, well it was Festus. One moment we were all sleeping, the next he was roaring and making this awful sound. He was looking and running around, sometimes he even lifted off to fly. Annabeth was the first person to notice Percy wasn't with us when we woke up, and after that Leo realized that Festus was looking for him. And then, well, you called."

"Where are the rest?" Chiron asked. “I don’t see them with you.”

"Leo's up with Festus, they're flying and trying to see if Percy sleepwalked away or something like that. Annabeth's checking back the way they searched today, seeing if Percy went to get something he'd lost, that kind of thing. And Jason was checking our campsite some more but he's back now."

"Hey guys," Jason's head pops into view. "I checked all around, Chiron, there's no sign of him. His bedroll and pack are still here, it's like he just up and left. Annabeth said he was wearing a Camp shirt and jeans so we're checking for any sign, but so far..." He trails off and the look in his eyes is calculating. "So far there's nothing."

"Grover," Piper said. "Could you do your thing- you know, use that link you guys have-"

"That was what made us message you, Piper." Chiron interrupted, voice sounding grave. "Grover came and told us that his link with Percy has..."

"It's gone." Grover said, speaking past the worry lodged in his throat. "I can't sense anything."

They both blinked. "What?" Piper whispered. Her face had gone pale. "Like... when he was under Hera's sleep gone? Or gone-gone."

Juniper placed a hand on Grover's arm. He leaned into the touch. "Gone."

The two of them paled further and glanced at each other. Jason and Piper seemed to share the way Percy and Annabeth had of having silent conversations. Finally Jason turns back to them and says, "But that means-"

"It could be an unfortunate coincidence," Mr. D. said carelessly, though Grover notes that his eyes are following everything carefully. "Empathy links are never reliable. Perhaps Peeta's dangerous situation has been the catalyst for the link's termination. It does not mean he is dead."

"Thank you, Mr. D, for those comforting words." Chiron looked back at Piper and Jason who were watching them all with scared looks. "When Annabeth returns-"

"Who's that?" Annabeth's distant voice is audible to them all in the room. "Percy?"

"No, Annabeth, it's-"

"Chiron." Annabeth appears and cuts off Jason's answer. "Chiron, it's happening again. Something's going on."

"My dear-"

"He wouldn't just leave! Not without telling me." She says, hair flying around her face from her quick movements and eyes sparking dangerously. "You know he wouldn't. Especially not after last time."

Chiron is quiet for too long. Grover looks from him to the Iris-message. "Annabeth." He hopes he doesn't sound as scared as he feels, but the way Annabeth looks at him makes him know she understands. "Our empathy link is gone."

"Gone." She repeats flatly. "Gone like Hera's coma gone or gone-gone?"

"Gone-gone," Piper says softly. "Annabeth I-"

"Is that true?" Annabeth asks Grover. "It's completely gone?"

He nods.

Chiron finally speaks again. "I want you all to come back."

Grover actually takes a step back. "What?"

"Yes," Mr. D says, finally sitting up to lean towards the centaur. "I must repeat my satyr's sentiment, Chiron. What?"

Chiron turns to Dionysus. "There's something out there kidnapping people. I suspect it's been doing that to lure us out there. So, we bring them back home. And we regroup. Then we send people out again to find Percy."

"You're not doing that," Annabeth says disbelieving, not even a question, like an unsure command. "You're not just leaving him out here alone. Not you."

"Annabeth-"

"I'm staying." She crosses her arms. "They can come back and tell you what's happened. I'm not leaving until I find him."

"You will not." Chiron says, and his voice is stern, with no room for argument. "Annabeth, I will not leave you out there alone when there is something killing people. Something we have no defense against."

"But you'll do that to Percy?" She asks. "Chiron, this isn't you. It's Percy, you wouldn't just leave him-"

"Come back." Chiron interrupts, and his front left hoof is pawing at the ground nervously. "All of you. If Percy isn't found by dawn then you leave to come home. We'll decide what to do from there."

Jason nods behind Annabeth's shoulder.

"No!" Juniper says just as Grover cries, "Chiron, what are you doing?"

"Hush, satyr." Mr. D is watching Chiron with a curious look on his face. "You heard him. The rest of you, come back in the morning. That is all."

He waves a hand and the Iris-message disappears. "As for you two." He turns to Grover and Juniper but he's distracted. "If you wake me at this time again it won't only be one of you that is a piece of nature, I assure you. Now get. Return in the morning and we will discuss a course of action. Chiron and I must talk."

And with that he kicks them out of the Big House.

oooOOOooo

After getting back from Boston and meeting Magnus with Annabeth, Percy had thought they deserved a couple of months of respite. He hadn’t been naive enough to expect things staying peaceful forever, there always seemed to be a new set of gods waiting to screw things up for him, but so far they'd been averaging three, maybe four months between potential apocalypses. He's kind of been counting on having those few months.

Of course, that was forgetting Apollo was still at Camp Half-Blood. The god practically invited danger their way with his presence alone.

And, obviously, Apollo expected Percy and his friends to help him out of these horrible situations and save the world, etc., etc. Because they were such good buddies and all. Now that he’d become a god again, he was about to leave for Olympus, but not before giving one more quest.

"With Meg gone there's no one else around I really trust to get the job done, if you know what I mean," Apollo had muttered after pulling Percy away to talk in private. They were at the entrance of the dining pavilion, and seeing the other demigods eating breakfast had been making Percy's stomach growl. "Plus, you've got years of experience under your belt. It'll be fine."

Percy had raised his eyebrow. "What about your cabin? You know, your kids? People who would love to go on a quest with you?"

"Oh, I'm not going." Apollo had shaken his head and laughed as if the idea was completely outrageous. "I have things to sort out on Olympus, talks to have with my Father, that sort of thing. And a certain Jaime I must find… an accountant student you know.” He said to Percy, as if expecting him to have any idea what Apollo was talking about. “And I’d rather my children stayed here, where it’s safe. But I've known something wasn't quite right since we defeated the Giants, and Nero hinted at something… one last trick up his sleeve. If I had still had my gifts of prophecy and foresight before..." He trailed off, looking out into the distance and leaving Percy standing in front of him, his foot tapping impatiently at the god's dramatics. "Well, now even though I have them back,  I’m coming up blank. And since your friend Jason's had his dream, it puts things into perspective. I need a group of you to go and check things out. After consulting Rachel, of course."

"You realize Annabeth and I just got back from saving the world, right?" Percy asked, looking at the Athena table to find Annabeth watching them curiously. She raised an eyebrow and he made a face in return, causing her to purse her lips. "The Norse gods are almost as bad as you-"

"No, no, no!" Apollo covered his ears and shook his head vehemently, squeezing his eyes shut. "Can't hear you, blah, blah, blah." He stopped imitating a dancing squawking chicken after peaking to find Percy not saying anything, just watching him unimpressed. He cleared his throat and straightened up, blushing slightly. When he glanced towards the suddenly silent eating demigods they all looked away quickly before he could see they'd been watching. "There's a reason we don't run in the same social circles as the other mythologies, Percy." Apollo said, regaining his composure. "Bad, bad things, the unraveling of the world being the least of them, would happen. It's testy to even let you run around with the other demigods. Best not to mention or even think of them in our presence. It's bad enough I can detect their stench on you." Percy opened his mouth to protest because he was getting really tired of immortal beings telling him he stank, but Apollo just clapped his hands over Percy's mouth to stop him.

"This has nothing to do with them, this is strictly Greek with maybe a hint of Roman. You and your friends need to take care of it for me."

Percy had wrinkled his nose at Apollo’s hand covering his mouth, letting out a sigh when the sun god removed it. "Someday, I don't know when, but someday I'll be able to say no when you guys ask me for something. And it's going to be really satisfying."

"Please," Apollo had replied, becoming serious. "You're a Hero of Olympus, Percy. Whenever any Olympian needs something it's going to be you we turn to. It's the fate of our heroes."

The familiar feeling of unfairness had swept through Percy, but with a deep breath it was replaced with grim acceptance. "Sure. Where are we going?"

Apollo had smiled victoriously. "Perfect. Let's gather the others and go see Chiron, shall we?"

From there it had all been normal- or something that was quickly becoming normal for Percy. They'd decided on a group of 5 to go and scout out an area in Iowa. There'd been increased reporting of kidnappings there, but Apollo had said it wasn't a human doing the kidnapping. Jason had agreed, saying in his dream he'd seen a huge four legged creature, oddly shaped and prowling outside some sort of cave. Chiron had told them to take Festus and scout the area so they could figure out what kind of threat they were facing. Annabeth had gone to see Rachel and that was that.

So they’d went, none of them expecting it to be a dead end mission.

It had taken just half of the day to fly with Festus to Iowa. There had been no monster attacks, something they all agreed was odd, and even with five passengers Festus flew fast. When Leo finally directed him to land it made Percy’s stomach swoop at their quick dive from the sky. He may have trusted pegasi in the air since he’d convinced himself they were some middle ground between Zeus and Poseidon (the horses and the sky) and even the Argo II had seemed to be a compromise, what with being a flying boat and having the purpose of helping save the gods and the world.

This mode of transportation however was not on Percy’s Top 10 Ways to Travel list.

He liked Festus, really he did, and on the Argo II he liked to think that the two of them had reached a new understanding, what with their history. Percy had been there when the Camp had rediscovered Festus close to a year ago; Hades, he’d been one of the four of them to do the rediscovering. Silena, Annabeth, Beckendorf and him had battled giant Myrmekes for Festus and while Percy definitely hadn’t been too fond of the automaton, watching Beckendorf and the rest of the Hephaestus cabin reprogram, upgrade and take care of him had been heartwarming.

Of course, that also meant that he’d had a front row seat to watching as the Gold Dragon (he hadn’t had a name back then) had slowly gone haywire after Beckendorf’s death. Percy had tried more than a few times to help the camp capture the giant machine once they’d realized it was dangerous, hoping that his powers with water would help counteract the flames from the old thing.

Nearly being burned to death and seeing what had happened to Jake quickly put a stop to those missions.

It was okay now though, because here they were, with a tame, lovable and caring dragon taking care of them. Leo had obviously given Festus some major T.L.C., because before the Argo II, last time Percy had seen the dragon there had been scorch marks on the metal plates and the distinct aroma of ash following the automaton like cologne. He’d heard the dragon had been torn apart in the battle against Commodus before Leo and Calypso had begun staying at the Waystation. Now the scorch marks were gone, the metal polished until it gleamed and the ash smell had been replaced with Tabasco sauce. The fully recovered dragon was like it just came out of Hephaestus’ shop.

If it made Percy sad to see Festus so cooperative with Leo, to see how far the dragon had come since losing Beckendorf, well, that was his problem. He didn’t need to say anything about it. He knew that sometimes when he met Annabeth’s eyes and saw the sadness from his own reflected there that she felt the same way.

So they’d landed in Iowa, just outside of Missouri Valley. They’d touched down on a patch of grass surrounded by trees, near the Missouri River and as soon as Festus had landed Percy had slid down and walked out the nerves in his legs. Annabeth had followed, slinging her pack from her shoulders and taking out a granola bar before sitting down and watching him pace. She’d raised an eyebrow, he’d stuck out his tongue and she’d smiled before taking another bite after realizing he would be fine.

It was their special way of telling each other they were alright. Very romantic. Born from years of being around one another and a deep pool of affection. That’s what Grover liked to say.

The others jumped down after them and Leo went around to Festus’ head, speaking in gentle tones. Festus’ mouth opened, teeth whirling in something Percy guessed was a smile before walking a few feet away to curl up and rest.

“Not a fan of air travel, Percy?” Piper had asked kindly, unpacking a Ziploc baggie of nuts from the pack she’d brought before handing Jason a PB and J sandwich. She sat down beside Annabeth and got out another sandwich for herself.

Percy grimaced. “Try being a child of Poseidon who’s been personally threatened by Zeus multiple times about going in his domain and see how you feel.”

Jason shuddered. “So that’s why I hate boats.”

“Hey!” Leo chimed in. “You loved the Argo II.”

Jason sat down between Piper and Leo before smiling at him. “That’s why I hate boats, with one major exception.”

Leo took a bite of his chicken sandwich before saying, “I wish you’d told me you didn’t like flying before we left, Percy. Maybe I could have made something to help.”

“He’s fine,” Annabeth answered knowingly. “Honestly. It’s more the fear of Jason’s dad than anything that makes him nervous.” She looks back at him when he moves to stand behind her. “And we all know the King of the Gods wouldn’t smite his own child out of the sky, so we’re all safe, right Seaweed Brain?”

Percy had nodded, not feeling reassured. “Yeah, uh huh.”

Jason raised an eye. “You seriously think he hates you enough to throw a lightning bolt at you when I’m here?”

Percy opened his own pack and pulled out a couple of blue cookies, taking a bite and ignoring the now familiar exchange of looks at his coloured food that came from the trio. “Zeus really hates me. Besides, a lightning bolt probably wouldn’t hurt you, Jason.” He told Leo, Piper and Jason while Annabeth just gave a nod beside him when he sat down. A small rumble from the sky had the four of them looking up while Percy rolled his eyes. “I’m sorry, I mean the All Mighty Immortal Ruler of the Skies really hates me.”

The thunder rolled once more but quieted quickly, making Percy think Zeus may have picked up on his sarcasm. Just a little. And then the rest of the gods had been so busy laughing the King’s anger had quickly switched to them.

Piper bit her lip. “You really shouldn’t taunt them that way. The god’s I mean. Don’t they punish people for that?”

“Not that I’ve seen,” Percy replies, taking another bite of cookie.

“Seaweed Brain,” Annabeth mutters, sounding half annoyed and half amused. “Yes, they do, as you know. Chiron keeps telling you names have power, sooner or later you’re going to be sent up there to be someone’s personal slave for the day.”

Percy almost choked on his cookie and set it on his knee. “No.”

Leo looked up. “Would you mind? I mean, just a day can’t be that bad and at least you’d get to spend it in Olympus.”

“Knowing my luck it would be Ares, and I’d get to switch between being his personal punching bag and cleaning toilets all day. And believe me, by now I know every inch of Olympus by heart from Annabeth’s blueprints. I swear they’re tattooed behind my eyelids from all the times she’s shown them to me.”

Annabeth turned a glare on him. “Oh really?”

It’s not exactly fear that fills Percy at the look in her eyes, but it’s a near thing. “Not that I don’t love seeing your plans. Any time! They’re all so perfect, and exactly what the gods want! In fact I love your architecture so much, I want you to design our future house! How does that sound?”

“Oh, Hephaestus,” Leo mutters to Jason quietly, watching Percy practically grovel. “Do we all do that with our girlfriends?”

“You definitely do, Valdez,” Piper replies, taking another bite of sandwich and watching amusedly as Percy pleads with Annabeth. “You’re the most whipped out of you all. Calypso has you wrapped around her finger.”

Jason watches the humor in Annabeth’s eyes grow as Percy leans forward to kiss her and she dodges out of the way. “Really?”

Piper looks over and hums. “If either of you were dating Annabeth do you think you’d be acting any better?”

Jason and Leo exchanged looks and winced. “Well…” Leo trailed off.

“I mean…” Jason started.

“Don’t even try it, Sparky.” Piper pecked him on the cheek before standing up and dusting off the crumbs from her lap. “Anyway, if you feel Percy’s earned your forgiveness, Annabeth, should we start looking around?”

Annabeth’s sitting and watching Percy with crossed arms, but a smile keeps threatening to break out over her face. He’s currently trying to sing You Are My Sunshine with very little success.

“-My only sunshine! You make me happyyyy, when skies are grey!” He frowns. “Umm, there’s something… you’ll never know… there’s something you’ll never know… which obviously isn’t true, because you know everything.” Annabeth’s eyebrow climbs even higher and Percy hastens to rectify his mistake. “I mean not everything, obviously one person can’t know everything and you’re not as smart as your mom of course-”

Percy gives up with a groan and flops down to lay on the grass, throwing an arm over his eyes. “How does this happen every time I say something stupid?” He peeks out from under his arm. “Have I mentioned I love you?”

Annabeth’s mouth twitches again. “Next time I think you should just lead with that.”

Percy groans again and his arm comes back down over his eyes. “If I’m missing tomorrow, it’s Annabeth. She looks all forgiving and loving right now in front of you three, but when my body turns up somewhere you’ll know who did it.”

Jason rises to join Piper, mouth twitching. “The question is, will any of us turn her in? What if we think you deserved it?”

Leo jumps up excitedly. “Sorry man, Annabeth’s too scary to double cross. I guess you’re kidnapping will remain a mystery forever.”

Percy sighs. “I knew it. Abandoned by my friends, left to suffer at the hands of this-”

Annabeth interrupts him. “If you finish that sentence I can tell you that the kidnapping and torture will start right now, even in front of the witnesses.”

She’s smiling though, just resting her arms on her knees and watching her boyfriend with a happy, relaxed look in her eyes. He removes his arm from his eyes and moves to kneel beside her, closing the distance.

“You wouldn’t.” He dares, meeting her eyes, seeing the happiness there.

“Care to test that?”

“Not a chance.” He grins and stands, holding out a hand to pull up his girlfriend. “We both know you’d win. Again.”

“I keep telling you, even strength bows to wisdom.” She shoots him a knowing smile and he returns it.

“I thought that was only sometimes?”

“Is this foreplay? Is that what I’m seeing right now?” Leo interrupted, turning to speak again to Jason and Piper. “Are they going to sneak away again together and ‘just fall asleep’?”

The last three words are accompanied by air quotes, and both Annabeth and Percy turn to look at them and flush.

“We did fall asleep!” Percy protests. “I told Frank that so many times.”

Annabeth’s face is so pink it makes Piper giggle. “Get it girl!”

“I didn’t! I mean I don’t! I mean-” Annabeth’s blush turns from pink to red in seconds and Percy’s follows. “We only fell asleep.”

Jason claps hands over his ears. “I don’t need to hear this.”

“Weren’t we going to start searching?” Percy breaks in, almost desperately. “You know, looking for the big scary monster so we can start saving innocent citizens, that kind of thing.”

“I don’t know guys, if you think you can be alone together and keep it PG.” Leo says, holding his hands up in a wardIng off gesture. “None of us needs to witness anything personal, you know?”

“Oh my gods,” Annabeth mutters, grabbing Percy’s hands and stepping back. “Okay, Percy and I will look around here for anywhere the monster could be living. Apparently the people’s bodies always show up here, Leo?”

The son of Hephaestus loses his grin and a serious look overcomes his face, making him nod. “Yeah, this is near the place Jason saw. And where Apollo said to land.”

“Good. We’ll go that way. You three?”

“I’ll search from the air with Festus,” Leo says after shooting a quick look between Jason and Piper.

Jason and Piper look at him in surprise before meeting each other’s eyes. “Okay, we’ll…?”

“Search this half of the clearing and a little in the trees?” Piper finishes, waiting until Jason nods. “Meet back here when?”

“For dinner.” Percy says immediately, rummaging through the pack for another sandwich. “Whenever you get hungry.”

Annabeth rolls her eyes and checks her watch. “Let’s say six then. That gives us roughly five hours to look around and find anything suspicious.”

So they’d split up, Annabeth and Percy still holding hands, but not speaking until they’d reached the edge of the trees, because by then Percy had finished his sandwich and worked past his embarrassment enough to start.

Percy had cleared his throat. “So, Piper doesn’t know that we-”

“Yeah.” Annabeth cuts in, her grip on his hand tightening slightly as she studiously looked at their surroundings and not at him. He followed her example.

“Oh.” Percy replied. “So she thinks that night  on the Argo II we really did-”

“Wait, what?” Annabeth glances at him. “No. She knows we didn’t on the Argo II.”

“Then why’d you say yes before?”

“What were you going to ask before?”

“Whether she knew we didn’t do anything on the Argo II.” They stop, hands falling to their sides, looking at each other. “Why, what did you think I was going to ask?”

Annabeth flushes once more. “Nothing.”

Percy grins and looks at her until she meets his eyes. “Come on, what?”

She opens her mouth and closes it again before speaking. “I thought you were going to ask whether or not I told her about the other night.”

“Oh.” Percy closes his mouth, not expecting that, and he feels his face flame.

Last week they’d been at his apartment and Annabeth had slept over. Mom and Paul had been out, wanting one last date night before the baby came.

They’d been alone. In his apartment. No one had been trying to kill them and yeah, maybe they’d gotten a little carried away once they’d started kissing.

So they’d taken a step. A big one. A good one.

“Oh.” He repeats dumbly before his mind starts to work again. “So, wait- you told her? Piper knows?”

Annabeth bites her lip. “I mean, when you ask whether I told her-”

“You did tell her!” Percy asks, not sure whether to be indignant or proud. “What did you say?”

“You know, the same stuff you told the guys!” She hesitates. “Just that it was- it was good, and you were good, and… stuff.”

“What do you mean, same stuff I told them? I didn’t tell the guys.” Percy told her. “I didn’t tell anyone.”

Annabeth looks up at him. “You didn’t tell anyone anything?”

He shakes his head. “You told Piper everything?”

“I- no, not everything! Of course not! But… a lot, I guess.” Annabeth replies. “Don’t you guys talk about stuff like that?”

“No way.” Percy says. “Everyone at Camp is like family, we’re all like brothers and sisters. That would be weird.”

“Huh.” Annabeth says, turning to keep walking. “Yeah, well, Piper knows.”

Percy cocks his head. “What kind of things did you say?”

Annabeth shakes her head. “I’m not going to tell you!”

“Why not? You told Piper! Plus, I was already there! Technically,” he holds a triumphant finger in the air, in an Aha! gesture, “I already know.”

“Yeah but I told her things like, what you did, and how.” Annabeth blushes harder now, if that’s possible. “And how- how much you have to work with.”

Percy stops abruptly. “You did not.”

Annabeth’s face is permanently stained red now and she looks down. “Of course I did. Girls tell each other those things.”

“You told Piper- Piper knows how big- oh my gods.” Percy stumbles back to lean against a tree. He’s not proud anymore, but he’s not angry either. He’s more... stunned. “I can’t believe you told her that!”

“She asked!”

“Why would she ask that?”

“It’s just a curiosity thing!” Annabeth replied. “Believe me, she’s definitely not looking at you any worse for it.”

“Annabeth, oh my gods!” Percy covers his face with his hands. “Don’t tell me that!”

“It’s true! She said Jason’s-”

“No! Nope, we’re not doing that.” Percy shakes his head. “I don’t need to hear anything about that. Gods, I can’t believe you know about- about Jason, and what they’ve done.”

“They haven’t done what we did, so calm down.” Annabeth assures him. “And fine. I’m just saying, you definitely have nothing to be insecure about. She was very impressed.”

“Just leave me here.” Percy tells her, hiding his face in his hands once more. “Here, on this patch of Earth, Percy Jackson made his last stand but was eventually overpowered by the embarrassment of his girlfriend telling all of his secrets to her best friend. May he rest in peace.”

“Don’t be such a drama queen,” Annabeth said, but she’s watching him closely. “I- I didn’t say anything bad, Percy.” She moves to take his hand and stand closer to him. “You know it wasn’t bad for me.”

“It wasn’t great for you either.” He mumbles, thinking back.

“First times usually aren’t for girls.” She reminds him. “Honestly, I’ve heard stories from a lot of different people. I think ours was perfect. Just because I didn’t, you know.” She bites her lower lip again. “It was good. I liked it. Please don’t think I didn’t.”

He sighs. “I don’t want Piper- or anyone else- thinking I’m that kind of guy. Who just- you know, does what he wants and doesn’t care about you.”

“I know you’re not that kind of guy.” Annabeth says. “And believe me, nobody I’ll speak to about this, ever, will think any different. Anyway, next time-”

“Next time?” Percy asks incredulously.

She draws back, cocks a hip, crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow. “I’m sorry, were you planning on remaining celibate for the rest of your life?”

“Well, no.” He blushes. “But shouldn’t we… wait, or something? Do we need to talk about it? We just did it for the first time.”

She laughs. “We don’t have to wait unless you want to,” she reassures him. “And all I was going to say was that next time we’ll be able to help each other out. Improve. Tell each other what we like. Then we’ll both… you know. It all comes from experience, Percy.”

He nods. “Right, yeah. Okay.”

She squeezes his hand. “I’m not trying to pressure you. I just want you to know that all of this… I’m okay with it.”

He meets her eyes, seeing her searching his own for something. So instead of replying he leans forward to kiss her.

It makes his gut tighten from anticipation and a low simmer start in his blood when her tongue slips in his mouth to meet his. When he reaches forward to hold her waist she moves forward, pressing against him, walking him back to lean against the tree and his arms wrap around her and pull her closer once he has that support behind him. Her hands have moved from his to slide up his arms and rest at the base of his neck, one of them playing with the hairs there.

“Maybe Leo was right and we can’t be left alone,” he gasps against her mouth when she pulls away to catch a breath and her grin is as good a reply as any. Now that he knows what she feels like, what all of her feels like, he can’t seem to get enough.

“Soon we’ll have time.” She answers. “When we get back to Camp?”

“With the gods watching who comes into their cabins at night? No thanks, I don’t think your mom would let me live if that happened.”

She sends him a knowing look as they continue to scout the trees after fixing themselves. “Your cabin, obviously. I have siblings that sleep in the same room at night. And be honest, would your dad really turn me into a dolphin?”

“Maybe not him, but your mom would definitely not hesitate to make me an owl. Not to mention if Chiron found out.”

“Chiron pulled you into the Big House and gave you condoms months ago, he told me already.” Annabeth replies, looking down at a pawprint in the ground before moving on. “He’s already given me the safe-sex talk too, if it makes you feel any better.”

“Did everyone thinks we were already doing it?” Percy asks, feeling slightly offended.

“I think the Argo II story got around.” She says back thoughtfully. “Clarisse was sending me some weird looks after we got home.”

“Gods, even Clarisse?” Percy asked. “Hey, do you think she and Chris-”

“Oh yeah,” Annabeth answered right away. “A lot. The long-distance thing does not stop those two.”

“Ew. That was not the answer I expected.” Percy said, wrinkling his nose.

From there the talk devolved into who was crushing on who (Travis on Katie, like always, Reyna on the new arrival, Stacy, at Camp Jupiter), who were the cuter couples around Camp (Juniper and Grover, of course, and Will and Nico), and how Frank and Hazel might come out to visit soon; either that or how soon the two of them would go to Camp Jupiter and visit before college. The summer air was warm and the weather was so beautiful it was like taking a walk in Central Park.

“Can you imagine us in New Rome?” Percy swings their hands back and forth perhaps a bit dramatically but Annabeth doesn’t seem to mind. “Going to school together, safe from monsters… listening to professors drone on and on about normal people stuff, like statistics.”

She hums and he sees a soft smile grace her lips. “Is it awful of me to say I can’t wait? I know someone has to keep saving the world, but I’m going to be happy when it’s not us anymore.”

He squeezes her hand. “Me too.”

They share a quick smile before turning back to scouting the area. It takes them a few hours but finally they each admit that there’s nothing there to find and head back to meet with the others.

Leo is already there and they find him sitting against Festus, head back and soft snores coming from his mouth. Annabeth’s mouth twitches and Percy holds back a laugh with nothing less than sheer willpower.

“He’s exhausted after his mission with Apollo,” Annabeth says softly. “He didn’t get many days to rest at the Waystation with Calypso. We should let him sleep while the food cooks.”

Percy had agreed, and he and Annabeth had set about making a fire and cooking dinner until Piper and Jason showed up a short time later. Piper woke up Leo by knocking his foot softly with her own. “Who’s the princess now, Sleeping Beauty?” She teased him.

Leo started and a jet of flame burst from his left hand. Luckily it landed on the already burning fire, causing Annabeth to fall backwards on her butt in surprise. Percy laughed at her and Jason couldn’t hold back a snort, making her eyes narrow as Leo rubbed at his eyes. “Ah, Pipes what the Hades?”

“Dinner time.” Piper announced happily in answer, handing Leo a cheeseburger and munching happily on her own tofu burger. She sunk down to sit beside him, crossing her legs. Festus shifted but allowed both of them to rest their backs against him.

“So,” Jason sat beside Piper. “Did we find anything?”

Percy and Annabeth both shook their heads while Leo frowned. “No. I mean, I don’t think so. But there was one spot Festus and I flew over and it felt… weird.”

“Weird how?” Annabeth leaned forward to question. “You didn’t see anything there?”

“That’s the thing, it looked exactly the same as the area around it. Nothing strange at all. I don’t know, it just had a weird energy or something.”

Piper frowned. “Weird energy? Like evil spirits energy or something creeping up behind you energy?”

Leo waved a hand in the air, as if batting away pesky questions. “Just weird.” He looked down for a few seconds before shaking his head suddenly. “Look, it’s probably nothing. I’m just stressed from everything going on. There’s probably nothing here for us to find, we should just go back to Camp.”

Percy frowned now and looked at Leo closely, just as Jason said, “But what about the missing people? Apollo’s feeling? My dream?”

“Mortals go missing all of the time.” Leo snapped. “Life sucks, okay, there are kidnappers and murderers. Monsters exist in the mortal world too, not just ours.”

All of them looked at him in surprise at his outburst and his eyes flickered from one pair of eyes to another before he looked down again. “Look, all I’m saying is I don’t think it’s something to worry about. I didn’t find anything. What about you guys?”

Piper watched Leo for a few more seconds. “Well if you’re sure,” she said, moving to place her hand over his. She squeezed and Annabeth saw Leo squeeze back.

“I’m sure.”

Piper nodded and then turned to Jason, taking her hand back to continue eating. “Well we didn’t see anything either. Everything looked normal. What about you two?”

She turned to Percy and Annabeth and Percy immediately flushed when she met his eyes, remembering his conversation with Annabeth earlier. His skin prickled uncomfortably and he looked at Annabeth, silently urging her to speak.

Annabeth, noticing his blush, bit her lip  to stop her laughter before replying. “Nothing with us either. As far as I can tell it’s just trees and this clearing. We saw a few animal pawprints but apart from that…” She shrugged. “Seems ordinary.”

Jason poked at the fire with a stick. “That doesn’t make sense. I saw something. And Apollo did too. He said it wasn’t a human doing this. We can’t both be wrong.”

“I think we should go home.” Leo said watching the flames. “Regroup, tell Chiron what we found before coming up with another plan. Maybe they’ll just forget it.”

Annabeth frowned. “I’m with Jason. Something doesn’t feel right. Maybe we’re just looking in the wrong place.”

“But if Leo’s right and there’s nothing to find?” Piper said. “Then we’re just wasting time when we should be focusing on other things. Like recovering from Nero’s attack, for example.”

Leo shuddered. “Don’t like him. Or his toilet seat friend.”

“I think we should go back to Camp too.” Percy agreed. “Talk to Chiron.”

Annabeth looked at him in surprise. “Why?”

Percy glanced at the other three before meeting her eyes. He was trying to tell her something, she could see it, but he never said it out loud. Instead he said, “Piper’s right. We shouldn’t spend time on a problem we don’t know we have and ignore a bigger one. If something else happens we can come back.”

“But people are dying out here!” Jason said. “We can’t just leave them-”

“We also have no idea what we’re up against or how to stop it.” Percy interrupted. “We don’t even know if this is a monster. Leo could be right, there are monstrous people in the world too.”

“And my dream?” Jason challenged. “The creature?”

Percy hesitated, meeting Jason’s eyes, and something in the sea green ones looked pained. “Jason, you don’t even know what you saw. You said it looked like it had four legs and was furry. That could be anything. A wolf, even a bear. Sometimes dreams are just dreams.”

Jason searched his gaze before crossing his arms. “No. You don’t believe that. You think there’s something here.”

“I think we should talk to Chiron.” Percy said firmly. “Do we need to vote on it?”

He turned to face Annabeth and she saw something grim in his expression. She cleared her throat. “No, I don’t think so. Jason, Piper?”

Piper shook her head but Jason kept watching them both carefully. “What is it? What do you two know?”

“Nothing,” Percy insisted. “We scouted the area, that’s all we were meant to do. Chiron will want us back.”

Jason narrowed his eyes. “Fine.”

“Good!” Leo clapped his hands and his voice was bright but he was watching Percy, head cocked. “We’ll leave tomorrow morning.” He looked away from Percy to turn to Festus. “Get ready for another trip, Big Guy.”

It was getting dark by that point and Annabeth managed to grab Percy’s hands when they were packing up the food. “Hey. What was that, back there? You know Jason saw something, and if Leo thought he felt something weird-”

Percy glanced at the others who were sitting by the fire, laughing. “Did you see him?” He asked her in a whisper. “He was talking about feeling something weird and then a second later, bam, he says he made it up? Do you know what that reminds me of?”

Annabeth’s mouth thinned, immediately knowing where his thoughts were at. “The Eidolon’s.”

“Or something like them. The way he snapped at Jason? That wasn’t Leo.”

“You think something’s controlling him.” Annabeth said, and it wasn’t a question. She had a light in her eyes, the same one she got when she had figured out a difficult problem. “You’re right, getting him back to Camp and telling Chiron is the best thing to do. Making him think it’s his own plan is smarter.” She looked at Percy with appreciation. “Have I told you how much I love you?”

He grinned. “I have my moments.”

She glanced at Piper and Jason. “We should tell them.”

Percy frowned. “Can’t we wait until we get back? We know, isn’t that enough?”

“Seaweed Brain,” Annabeth said. “You can’t keep putting this distance between you guys. Especially you and Jason.”

Percy rubbed at his shoulder and looked away. “I don’t know them like you do,” he muttered. “I like them, you know I do, but-”

“I know.” She said gently. “But they’re my friends, Percy, and I think if you tried they would become really good friends of yours too.”

Percy swallowed. “Every time I look at Leo I remember him blowing up New Rome, or making you, Piper and Jason grieve for him for weeks when he let us all think he was dead. Not to mention the way he used to treat Frank-” He faltered. “I remember Jason trying to kill me, and Piper...”

“What about Piper?” Annabeth asked, a bit defensively.

“She knows how big my-” Percy broke off his harsh whisper and looked at her helplessly. “That’s weird.”

Annabeth laughed. “Percy. Leo was under the Eidolon’s control when he blew up New Rome. Same with Jason when he tried to kill you. And yes, Piper knows things about you and me. Do you think that’s what she remembers every time she sees you?”

“Yes!”

“No,” Annabeth giggled. “Not at all. She has more important things to worry about, believe me.”

Percy pouted, slightly hurt at that, but Annabeth just rolled her eyes before getting serious. “As for Leo not letting us know he was alive, believe me, he’s paid for that.”

Nico had told them of his little lineup idea when Leo had arrived back on Festus, Calypso behind her. Piper and Annabeth had joined, a little late, but carried out the punishment like all the rest. Jason had just taken one look at Leo and wrapped him up in a hug, the girls soon to join.

“And Frank’s a big boy, Percy. He and Leo worked it out, didn’t they?” Annabeth looked at him softly. “You don’t always have to protect everybody you know.”

He looked at the fire and Annabeth sighed. “Look, tomorrow we’ll be back at Camp. Maybe you could, I don’t know, try talking to them? This distance isn’t helping anybody, especially on quests like this.”

Percy nodded. “But do we have to tell them? I could be wrong.”

Annabeth shook her head. “No, I don’t think you are. You’re right, Leo’s attitude was weird. And the fact that he was the one to sense the ‘weird feeling’ and then started acting odd? Too much of a coincidence.”

“Hey, lovebirds!” Piper called, winking at Percy once the couple turned towards her. “Care to join us? We’re betting on whether it will be Katie to ask Travis out or the other way around.”

Percy and Annabeth looked at one another, both of them smiling, and Annabeth raised an eyebrow. Percy sighed, shrugged one shoulder and nodded slightly, giving in and admitting that once again she was probably right.

“Oh, no.” Percy answered Piper, taking Annabeth’s hand and dragging her over to sit with them. “You three are late to this game, the Camp has a betting pool about that already. It’s been going on for years.”

“Really?” Jason asked.

Percy glanced at Annabeth and she smiled, warmth in her eyes. Maybe she was right. These three weren’t that bad, and Percy did like them a lot. Maybe he should let his guard down.

“Oh yeah,” Percy nodded, turning back towards them. “There were a lot of betting pools going on. Katie and Travis became the couple to bet on after Annabeth and I, though neither of us knew it at the time…”

oooOOOooo

It’s slowly coming back to him.

His memory. What led him here. He doesn’t recognize where he is, but outside it looks like the same forest they’d been sent to scout. Of course Percy’s not Grover, and trees have never been his strong suit, but he’s pretty sure it’s the same ones.

Like a good 65% sure. Which is enough for him. He’s gone off worse odds before.

Reckless, Annabeth’s voice sing-songs, and Percy almost wants to grin.

As far as Percy can tell, he’s been here for a day, maybe two. Most of the time he’s been unconscious or sleeping, he’s not sure which probably a bit of both, and right now he’s starting to get really, really hungry. And thirsty. The constant drip of water is driving him crazy.

He wants his mom’s homemade lasagna. Annabeth’s PB and J sandwiches. Even one of Piper’s tofu burgers or Grover’s vegetarian enchiladas sounds pretty good-

Grover!

Percy’s thoughts are still slow, and sluggish and he blames that in the fact that he’s never thought of using the empathy link before now.

The only problem is this; he can’t feel Grover.

Percy closes his eyes and concentrates. He’s never really used the empathy link to communicate with Grover it’s usually the other way around with Grover connecting with him in his sleep. Still, there was always this feeling, this tenuous thread in his brain that he could tug or nudge that would make him feel something.

Percy searches his mind, searches every corner he can and feels deep into his very core, but he can’t feel anything. He’s empty.

Which brings another fact to his attention.

Water is surrounding him. It’s dripping from the roof, it’s soaking into his jeans and freezing his skin and bones. Yet there’s no connection, there’s no feeling in his gut or prickling of his senses. He can’t feel the water, apart from how cold and wet it is.

He feels how cold it is because it’s getting him wet. His clothes, his skin… it’s seeping through to his bones.

No matter how hard he tries to dry himself, or move the water away, stop it from dripping, anything, he can’t. There’s just the constant drip, drip, drip and the ice moving through his bones, making him cold and his teeth chatter.

Again he thinks that there’s magic in this cave, because it’s summer in America and he’s absolutely freezing. Sure he’s wet, but he shouldn’t be this cold, should he?

Panic fills him. Blind panic that absolutely consumes every nerve and cell in his body. His powers are gone. His memory is gone. His wrists are rubbed raw and he’s stopped struggling because he feels blood dripping down his arms whenever he moves. His legs are like ice, he has no connection to Grover and no idea where he is or who has him here.

Percy’s control is gone. He’s helpless.

He wants to cry, he wants to scream and yell. He wishes he’d inherited his father’s power over earthquakes, but then again he supposes that he wouldn’t be able to use them.

He misses Annabeth.

Percy misses Annabeth and his mom, Grover, Tyson and Paul. He misses them in that moment so badly it hurts and, not for the first time but definitely stronger than he’s ever felt before, Percy realizes there’s a high possibility that he’ll never see them again. That he’ll never go to college, marry Annabeth and grow old with her.

Gods, he might not even meet his baby sister.

He can’t remember being so powerless.

Somehow he doesn’t cry. Maybe he’s so dehydrated (his throat is like sandpaper, he has a huge headache and his muscles are killing him) that he has no tears.

Instead he breathes deeply. He tries to think of something, anything that could help him. Again, he remembers Riptide and he’s pretty sure the weight in his pocket is the sword. However, without a free hand, Riptide is useless.

He looks up, craning his neck to see what’s holding him up. Chains attached to manacles that are firm and cold metal around his wrists.

Percy cringes. He knows how to escape from manacles, they learn how to escape common bonds at Camp. Of course, all it takes is breaking your thumb. Or is dislocation enough? Percy can’t remember.

He grits his teeth. This memory thing is becoming a real pain.

He looks up again, neck starting to hurt at the bad angle, and wriggles his hands. One of his arm shoots with pain and Percy cries out.

Nerve damage, Seaweed Brain! Annabeth’s voice rings in his ears and Percy breathes deeply, slumping down. Be careful, dummy!

“Ah, finally! You’re awake!”

The deep voice makes Percy yell and scramble backwards as fast and as far as he can, gritting his teeth against the wave of fresh agony, eyes flying open.

Fear, as terrible and creeping as a drug in Percy’s veins, sweeps through him.

Standing in front of him was a giant.

He wasn’t as large as some others Percy had seen, like Polybotes or Porphyrion, and he didn’t look as strong as them either (though Percy knew looks could be deceiving), but there was a look in his eyes that made the fear take root and grow in Percy.

“I thought you would never wake up, just keep moaning and tossing your head around like an animal! It was amusing at first, but lost it’s charm fairly quickly, please don’t do it again.”

Percy opened his mouth, closed it. Opened it again and tried to speak, but a cough and rattle of breath was all that escaped.

“Oh, how rude of me!” The giant clapped his hands and Percy saw something yellow fly from the huge palms at the action. Something that looked almost like… was that egg yolk? “You must be thirsty, I’m so sorry, I’ll grab you some water.”

Percy would have laughed if he could at how distressed the giant seemed to be over his thirst yet completely oblivious to the fact that his entire body was in pain from being hung up and chained.

“And food too!” The giant had a lumbering waddle as he moved past the fire, throwing his features into sharper relief. His hair was pitch black, though it might have been the darkness in the cave, and his scales were a deep, emerald green. He had a large, round forehead with a smooth hairline, but his chin came to a soft point. The cheekbones were angled and sharp, leading Percy’s eyes to his lips, which were puffy and a paler green. His teeth were jagged and yellow, but all there. The giant’s eyes were deep grey and full of intellect, a sharp glint in them making Percy suspect this giant knew exactly the persona he was giving off and the impression he was making. It was a look letting Percy know that this giant was in charge and he knew it.

You know. In case the fact that he was chained to a cave wall wasn’t a big enough clue of who the real boss around here was.

“I will give you my favourite, I just made it fresh!” The giant returned, moving to go next to Percy. His skirt of leather (dark, black leather which hangs in strips from a metal chain at his waist) reaches his mid-calf and flies out slightly behind the monster when he slumped to sit down. “First though, you drink.”

A rather large bowl was placed in front of Percy and he looked at the giant warily.

“No poison, this I promise.” The giant said, eyes solemn, and Percy hesitated. “I do not break promises, Perseus. This you will see.”

The use of his full name made Percy’s gut clench in fear even more. It seemed to be a common trait of his enemies to call him Perseus, one he was quickly tiring of. Percy turned his attention back to the bowl. It was possible this had been the bowl collecting water dripping from the roof and Percy decided if he was going to die here he might as well have a drink first.

He slowly placed his lips to the bowl’s rim and the giant tilted it upwards. Percy could smell the monster’s stench, and again the overwhelming scent of French Toast came over him, surrounded by maple syrup.

Maybe he’s Canadian, Percy thinks stupidly. Then he thinks of Frank and is reminded that he needs to get back home as soon as possible. That means keeping his strength up.

So he drank, slowly at first, and then longer, steadier gulps. Water sloshed over the bowl and landed on his shirt, making him colder than before, but Percy didn’t stop, just kept gulping.

“No.” The giant pulled the bowl away suddenly. “Drink too much and get sick, this I will not let happen. You will drink again after food.”

Percy cleared his throat and finally manages to speak. “Who are you? What am I doing here?”

The giant looked at him as if he was in pain. “Questions and answers after, I have many for you as well. First you will eat. I do not know much of mortals but I think you must be hungry by now.”

He brought forward a plate and the smell strengthened. When Percy looked he saw French Toast and he wanted to laugh.

“French Toast?” He asked instead.

The giant sighed. “One question before we start, then.” He looked back at the plate and brightened. “Yes, French Toast! I love it very much, so sweet. I’m quite taken with it, I’d never encountered it before. Sadly there are no restaurants that sell it for breakfast in Tartarus. Do you not care for it?”

Percy felt like this was all a dream or nightmare. Likely the latter. Or reality, because that’s just how his life seemed to be now.

“Of course.” He said distantly. “I like it too.”

“Perfect!” The giant clapped his hands again, making more egg yolk fly. “Obviously I will feed you as you are a bit, how do you say, tied up at the moment.” He giggled and Percy realized that the monster in front of him might not only be a giant escaped from Tartarus, but an insane giant from Tartarus.

He didn’t say anything. He only bit from the (rather large) pieces of French Toast that the giant held up on a fork for him to eat.

It could be poisoned, Annabeth’s voice goes through his head again but Percy can’t do anything about it. He’s hungry and there’s no way to check and see if the food is going to kill him.

Percy grudgingly admitted that it tasted amazing.

“There, now I hope you are feeling better! Not so sore of a stomach now, yes?”

Percy refused to thank the giant, but he did nod.

“Wonderful. Now, Perseus Jackson,” the giant turned very grave very suddenly. “I would like to introduce myself. I am Aristaeus and we must talk. I have many things to say to you before I ruin you for killing my family.”

[itsworn]

Stephanie Strack’s 2017 S550 Mustang GT

It’s hard to know when any of us are influencing a child or adolescent, but rest assured that it happens with regular frequency. Young people are always watching and learning, which is just one of the reasons to always put your best foot forward. We doubt that Stephanie Strack’s older cousin even realized the influence she was having on 10 year old Stephanie when she began driving a bright yellow SN95 era Mustang around Y2K, but influencing she certainly was. Stephanie explains that it was this car that hooked her on Mustang mania; she even knew it at the time. Some day… she thought.

By driving age, Stephanie’s desire for a Mustang of her own was burning strong, but a car certainly wasn’t going to be handed to her. “When I was 17, I got a job at a local fast food restaurant, and took the bus there every day after school for work.” She even recounts working the drive-through window and noticing a guy in a modified SN95. “Right there I told him I wanted a car like his some day, and remarkably, we’ve become good friends in the years since. Jereme Sawyer is an Afghanistan war veteran, and is still an inspiration to me.” After saving her pennies, Stephanie’s first Mustang would come a short time later when she bought an 2001 V6 with a 5-speed in 2007. While it wasn’t her ultimate dream car, it was certainly a good start. Stephanie was becoming immersed by now, rowing her own gears, installing a Flowmaster exhaust, and getting to know other members of the Mustang community at a weekly Friday night car show near her home in Puyallup, Washington.

Stephanie took another step up in 2010 when she bought an 2002 GT, but her life went on hold a couple years later when she joined the Army; eventually working as a military police officer. Once in the groove as an MP, Stephanie again returned to her Mustang interests and traded the GT in on her first real dream ride, a 2007 Roush Stage II. It was a genuine creampuff with just 3,200 miles, and Stephanie wasted little time making it her own. She turned to Brad’s Custom Auto in Seattle for a litany of modifications, to include cams and long tube headers, and for awhile it was Mustang bliss. “I loved that car,” says Stephanie, “but to be honest, I ended up having a lot of unfortunate experiences in it.” The troubles were two-fold, with annoying gremlins that may have come from mostly sitting for 7 years, such as the leaky heater core and intermittent dash light failures. The real kicker for the car that Stephanie later nicknamed “chaos,” was a series of accidents caused by distracted drivers. After several repairs, the Roush was no longer the creampuff that Stephanie desired, which brings us to the car spread across the pages here.

Fresh out of the Army in late 2016, and with a good job in hand, Stephanie decided it was time for a fresh start. She traded her Roush in on a brand new 2017 GT, and now had a clean slate to work with. Stephanie has always worked hard for what she has, and knows the value of a buck. The new car was an admitted stretch for the then 27 year old, and so she carefully prioritized what she was willing to pay for. “I decided against the upscale trim packages, because frankly I think the base interior is pretty nice. Instead I spent my money on things that really mattered.” Read between the lines, and that means Stephanie eschewed the frills in favor of high performance. Of course the main players are the GT’s Coyote V8, a six-speed manual trans, and the Performance Pack which comes with 6-piston Brembo front brakes, 3.73 gears, and a host of other suspension and cooling upgrades. Stephanie’s color choice was Magnetic Metal, thought the current deviation is clearly visible – more on that in a moment.

Fresh from delivery, Stephanie wasted little time putting her own stamp on her new car. First up was a set of Steeda lowering springs, and not far behind was a Steeda rear wing and MMD grills. Stephanie explains that she chose the wing in part, in homage to her first Mustang, a New Edge with a factory rear spoiler. “The Steeda piece reminds me of the original wing on my 2001, although the Steeda one looks much better, and on a S550, I think really sets it apart.” Clearly, Stephanie was charting a course that would make her Mustang uniquely hers, though the real showstopper was still to come.

When Stephanie purchased her new GT, she truly loved the dark metallic factory hue, and still does, but she soon realized she wanted something that would really separate her Mustang from the crowd. To that end, she decided on a full vinyl wrap supplied by Fellers, the actual vinyl being an Avery Colorflow satin product in a color known as Rushing Riptide Cyan Purple. The chameleon like nature of the wrap ranges from deep blue to purple, and while it’s not going to be what everyone wants on their own ride, it’s unquestionably stunning. It’s frankly what drew us to the car when Stephanie had it on display at the Mustangs Northwest Bellevue Roundup, but we were drawn further in by Stephanie’s story and her passion for Mustangs.

Just as Stephanie did with her 2007 Roush, she enjoys occasional track forays in her 2017 on the road course at Portland International Raceway. The site of numerous professional race series events over the years, Portland is a great place to exercise the performance offered in today’s high powered ponies. And yet the factory 435 horsepower and 400 lb-ft of torque offered by the Coyote 5.0 wasn’t enough for Stephanie. She recently upped the ante with Ford Performance’s M-6066-M8627 supercharger kit for the S550, featuring a 2.3-liter TVS blower that makes up to 9-pounds of boost. This gave Stephanie’s S550 a healthy bump in power to 670 horsepower and 545 lb-ft of torque.

With engine output that is undoubtedly dragstrip worthy, we asked Stephanie if she’d ever run the quarter-mile. “I’m planning to this coming year,” she said with a grin, adding that she has a one-piece driveshaft and a couple other upgrades to do before she gives it a shot. Rather than just an optimistic comment, we’re confident Stephanie will make that 2019 date at the drags because she’s got a can-do attitude, and a track record of accomplishing what she sets out to do. And if we had to guess, we’ll bet her trip to the dragtrip will be the first of many!

You can’t blame Stephanie for not wrapping her carbon fiber hood from Anderson Composites. The functional and lightweight bonnet was installed when the car was still showing its Magnetic Metal paint, but it’s a whole lot more evident with the contrasting vinyl wrap.

The healthy factory 5.0 is all the more so what with a Ford and Roush developed TVS supercharger kit. Not only is the setup 50 state legal, Stephanie says she preserved her warranty by having the 675 horsepower kit installed by her local Ford dealer.

Gloss black 20-inch wheels complement the other visual upgrades on Stephanie’s GT. These particular shoes from Wheel Replicas measure 8.5-inches wide in front, 10-inches out back, and are shod in 255/35ZR20 and 275/35ZR20 Ohtsu rubber.

The base interior of Stephanie’s GT is luxurious by standards of the past, yet almost pedestrian today. Rather than spend on leather or other luxury items, Stephanie’s hard earned dollars went to the Performance Package. A good choice!

Steeda’s Functional Race Wing vaguely reminded Stephanie of the factory wing on her first Mustang, so it got the nod as one of her first upgrades.

  The post Stephanie Strack’s 2017 S550 Mustang GT appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

from Hot Rod Network https://www.hotrod.com/articles/stephanie-stracks-2017-s550-mustang-gt/ via IFTTT

[ohhimatt]

Reasons Why #251-300

251. You say nice things more often when I’m visibly upset, which is really sweet

252. You keep apologizing to me for the whole housing thing, which is super not your fault at all (definitely only a problem in my mind), but it’s still sweet of you to apologize for it

253. You don’t get annoyed with me even though I keep getting drunk and forcing a conversation about the exact same problem that shouldn’t even be a problem

254. You don’t just let me win arguments just by confidently saying something completely false. I don’t deserve to win most arguments that I get myself into, but this trick works really often. You don’t let me get away with it though. Rude, but also probably a good thing

255. Jealousy is weakness, okay? I still super agree with that statement, but I guess I’m weak now because for the first time in my life I felt it. What’s worse is that I felt it from an imaginary scenario I created in my head. I don’t know if this is a good or bad thing, but you’re the first person that has made me feel this way, and I feel like that should count for something

256. You’ve seen Riptide. You’ve seen Ben’s rendition of Africa. And you (as far as I can tell) don’t think I’m lame as hell because that’s what I choose to do with my Tuesdays

257. I complained about you never holding my hand, and now you do it more. Amazing

258. I somehow (okay I mean I know how but whatever) never have any money, and you’re always offering to pay for things and help me out, and I def owe you a lot of money right now, but you’re just really cool about everything, and I appreciate that

259. Even though I talk about how much I hate your house all the time, it’s a really nice house. You guys chose really well, but like I still hate it

260. You’ve had to put up with me crying about the house a lot recently, but you haven’t actually gotten mad at me for it, and that’s pretty rad of you

261. You let me have a little birthday party at your house even though I keep saying that I hate your house, and you bought hella alcohol for it too

262. You take literally hundreds of pictures of me whenever I ask you to, and you don’t get hella annoyed with me, and there are always good pictures somewhere in there, even though I mostly just look derpy. Best Instagram boyfriend ever

263. You’re so concerned about your bed being on the ground, and it’s adorable

264. I talk about Karen all the time, and you’re never like wtf you’re crazy, even though I am

265. I keep making plans for us to do things whenever you have a day off, and you don’t complain or tell me that you’re too tired. You just go on the random adventure with me

266. I might have a slight concert addiction now, and that’s def partially due to you, but you might have it worse than me tbh. This is nice because I don’t have to feel bad about my concert addiction, and also 

267. You’re always hyping me up. I literally never have a reason to feel bad about the way I look around you

268. You made me realize that I don’t actually hate traveling. I actually like it. It’s actually really cool. The only downside of this is that it’s expensive

269. Blowjob in a bathroom in Thailand. Haha now you’re trashy too! It’s not just be anymore. I mean it’s def still mainly me, but thank you for stooping to my level for that one night

270. Even though I got really drunk and decided that that was the time to have a really important and annoying conversation in Thailand, you put up with me, and you talked to me, and you didn’t make me feel like my feelings were invalid, even though everything really was just in my head

271.  You were with me when I put my face in the water, and you were super supportive, and you didn’t make fun of me for having such a stupid fear, and that’s all really amazing

272. You’re supportive of my weird snake obsession. It’s probably just a phase, but I like that you’re not freaked out by snakes

273. You don’t seem to mind that the playlist I always have on in the car is only sixty songs long and always on repeat. Like you don’t try to take the aux from me in my own car, which would be totally okay, but it’s cool that you don’t do that

274. You’ll go with me to visit my dad at work. I know that’s small, but it’s nice, and it makes you look good

275. When you get drunk you start biting, which is kinda funny and cute. I mean, ouch, but also lol

276. My room and my life are both always a mess, but that doesn’t seem to bother you. In fact, you keep telling me that it’s fine. It’s not fine, but I appreciate the support

277. On top of that, you literally come over and clean my house. It kinda makes me feel like my life is falling apart so much that I need outside help, but it’s also really sweet, and I really appreciate it

278. I kinda abandoned this list for the past three months because there was so much going on, but now I’m back! And it’s nice that you didn’t complain that I wasn’t posting anything

279. Wow we went to my favorite restaurant for our anniversary, and there was so much cheese, and so much food in general, and it was expensive, but we did it anyway, and wow wow wow that was so cool. Thank you so much

280. We’re actually going to get to spend New Year’s together this year, and I’m really excited, and I’m glad you’re doing a lot more planning for this than I am. I’m kinda just always along for the ride, but I still always feel like I’m not helping enough

281. You put up with me being obnoxious and wanting to throw corn and take hella pictures at the pumpkin patch, and that was a really fun day overall, and I’m literally always gonna remember it. Especially because I really wanted to go last year with you, but I was too chicken to ask because I didn’t know if it would be weird lmao

282. You participate in the Obama shenanigans at my house, which is a lot of fun even though I’m usually the only one that gets got

283. You let me post a shorter version of the video for our anniversary, which I thought was absolutely adorable, and so did everyone else, but I know you think it’s kinda embarrassing

284. Even though I complained about your house for months, you’re still letting me stay there, which is nice

285. You let me play fantasy with your friends, which is terrible for me because I suck, but it’s also fun. I still don’t really care about football, but I care more than I did before

286. You weren’t put off by the fact that I chose my team members based on how attractive they are

287. You let me edit pictures of myself before I post them, which is super cool because then I don’t have to feel like I look terrible in them

288. You’re willing to come out to Livermore with me to see my family kinda often, which is really sweet. They really, really love you

289. You’re going to allow me to be obnoxious on your birthday! I know it hasn’t happened yet, but I just want to thank you in advance for putting up with my extra ass

290. You’ll watch scary movies with me even though I don’t watch half of the movie so that I don’t scare myself too much. This is v appreciated

291. You keep getting me into new movie series and universes, and I feel like I’m finally able to enjoy the movies that regular people enjoy now

292. You don’t get annoyed with me for crying all the way through a sad movie. The amount of tears I shed during A Star Is Born was kinda absurd, and I sort of deserved to get made fun of for that, but you were nice about it

293. You support the fact that I’m way too invested in a sorority that I don’t even really like, and you listen to me complain about it all the time, and you listen to me talk about my littles all the time, and it’s all really great

294. You let me pick you up from your closing shift because I was being needy and really wanted to hang out that night even though it made way more sense to hang out the next day

295. You’re going to go to Illenium with me even though you don’t actually care about him that much

296. You let me be upset about things that are only big deals in my mind and not in real life, and you don’t make me feel like I’m being super dumb about things even when I am

297. You’ll still go to Justin’s house with me even though there’s always a slight chance that we’ll see Irlanda there

298. You went to Ireland’s (well really just the bar next door) with me even though you knew that we were going to see Irlanda there, and that was kinda wack, but you and Luc became friends, so I guess it wasn’t a total shit show. I mean, she was a shit show, but you and Luc both kept your cool, which was amazing

299. You were okay with not doing an anniversary present which is great because I know that I’m hard to shop for, and I’m really bad at shopping for other people in general but especially people that I care a lot about

300. You really wanted to date me for a year. A whole ass year. And you still love me, and you didn’t get tired of me, and wow I never thought I could be in a stable relationship, but you have proved me wrong, and I am so thankful for that

[veryrealimagination]

Two Alphas Make an Omega Weapon

Sadly, this one isn’t the Following. It keeps wanting to make Sebastian Shaw and Bobby Drake father and son. The mother is Emma Frost. I have a complete logical argument based on the combination of their powers and how Sebastian would have found out and what he plans to do now that he knows about Bobby.

The full idea is, just after X2, Bobby gets kidnapped and wakes up with Sebastian Shaw talking about how he wants to get to know his son. Emma, who gave him up to protect him, reluctantly goes and finds Magneto, who then alerts Charles because there’s no way he wouldn’t tell him about Shaw. They then have to work together (again and in such a short amount of time) to find Bobby and stop Shaw’s true intention. Turning Bobby into a living weapon, one that he can control and use for mutant supremacy.

And the title on the post was what I was considering for the story title. In comic canon, Frost and Shaw are both Alpha level mutants, but Bobby Drake is a Marvel Confirmed Omega Level Mutant.

At the beginning of her powers, Emma, while being her parents' good little girl, would end up touching her Mother's friends. Hands on her shoulder or light hugs that were common with their position. First, she would hear their thoughts, about her perfect behavior and quiet temperament. Then, at certain times, she's heard something else. It wasn't a full thought, like someone putting together a picture and words. Sometimes it was sounds, low thumps or muffled voices. Repeats of conversations. It was later on that she would see the women with enlarged abdomens. She recently learned about pregnancy, how women carried children until it was able to live without instantly dying. Those echoes, shadows of thoughts, those must have been the child's first attempt at thinking.

When she kept practicing and expanding her telepathy, the baby's first attempts were still hard to pick up. Later ones were easier. Fuller. They still couldn't see or form pictures, but they were forming their own thoughts instead of repeating what they've heard. She listened to children learn that they were already with their Mother, start calling out to her. Sometimes, they got responses, the mothers subconsciously reacting.

The next time she heard echoes, she was hunched over a toilet in the latest place they were using. It was a month after Cuba and they had moved between three places before settling her. Even this was temporary, according to Lensherr. They couldn't stay and allow Charles to find them, or anyone else. She wanted to fall asleep and stay that way for a month. There had to be defensible places that they could bunker down for a month. Scout for new recruits and grow.

It took a few minutes to realize that she was hearing the conversation with Mystique from yesterday all over again. Muffled, partial words and several things muddled. She picked up the complaints well enough, and her side was much clearer than Mystique's.

For a brief second, she thought her powers had expanded. She thought about the young women that had joined in, wondered if they had gone and gotten knocked up while they were trying to fight for superiority. Then she had a brief thought about Magneto and Mystique before dismissing it. Another echo came up, repeating a thought that she had earlier, about Magneto and her thought that the man was queer for the other telepath. It was clear, repeated from her own head, and that made her realize something grave.

She was pregnant.

Her first, and pressing, reaction was to find someone that could perform the procedure. There was no way that she could carry, and then care for a child period. Her own family had provided a wonderful education on how not to raise children: being extremely strict, controlling, and hateful without coping mechanisms. She still didn't have a template on how to do the opposite. Few around her had a better idea on how. Raven was raised around Charles. Angel ran from her father. Azazel was condemned a demon from birth. Riptide when he first demonstrated his powers in his home. Erik, well, she didn't think about that one for long. The little time he did have with his family was painted in agony and sadness. There was no way that they could 'deal' with handling a baby while attacking government agents and moving quickly.

Emma had also never even contemplated pregnancy. When someone had told her about birth control, she immediately contacted a doctor to be in the first testing phase. She had seen her Mother's friends, complaining about kicking and swollen feet, eating strange things. Biology and anatomy explained, in detail, what happened to a woman's body when she went through pregnancy. The implantation, cell division, morning sickness, the womb growing to accommodate, the changes in diet to keep one from dying. Everything that could go wrong during the nine month gestation and then the labor to get the child out. No telling the complications that would come from her telepathy or her secondary mutation. How would one push out a child while in diamond form? What could happen if the child connected with her telepathy? What happened if the child showed telepathy while in the womb? No, the thought of going through that had firmly set in her mind that she would not allow herself to become pregnant.

And yet, here she was.

Was it even possible for her to get the procedure? Would her body try to protect her and stop it? Would it try to protect the child? With the bout of sickness passed, she forced herself up and rinsed out her mouth before exiting to the room that she had claimed. Azazel and Riptide had a room two doors down. The girls had the one right next to her. Their leader insisted on a room farther away.

Finding a doctor would be first priority. Finding a doctor that could work with her mutation limitation would be complicated. She could think about the complications after she took a nap.

-

Figuring out that she had roughly conceived about two months before their current situation, she started planning trips to a 'clinic'. Her first thought was to still try and go through with a procedure. Even the complications with her mutation didn't deter her. She could not come up with the ability to care for a child. There would be no sudden realizations that she would become a Mother. She would not back out of the newly born Brotherhood, nor leave the others helpless. No, not for her.

Unfortunately, there were not mutant doctors. <i>Yet,</i> she noted. There would be soon. Hopefully. The child started parroting 'yet' back to her. It had taken on a voice from the television, something that provided background noise while she was reading around the others. In fact, it had taken to repeating things. Sometimes with glee, others with sadness. It seemed to pick up on the speakers underlying emotions when spoken. Or thoughts, as hers was turning out to be. Either she was subconsciously transmitting thoughts or the child already had the ability to read thoughts. Both had negativity attached to them.

The midwife at the 'clinic' gave her a few pills, telling her the ingredients. Emma hoped that it would be the better choice, her body wouldn't fight as much. She took them with the full glass of water and waited for the process to be started. After a half hour, she was bored. Then, she felt the start of nausea. It wasn't enough to force her to the toilet. She hoped it was a normal part of the process. It gradually got worse that when she hit the ninety minute mark, she was puking her stomach out into the nearby restroom. Once done, she peered down, to see food and the partially digested pill she had just taken. Brilliant. An echo of a whimper came through the connection. Either her anger was getting through and scaring the child or the child was reacting to almost being destroyed.

The midwife came back and she told her the grim news. “I'll get a doctor,” she said. Good, the faster this was taken care of, the better. The man came in. He had already been told about the reaction to the pill. Explaining the process and signing paperwork, she was switched into a gown and settled on the table. The doctor, and one nurse joining in, scrubbed up. She declined their offer of medicines, just wanting this done.

Staring up at the ceiling, she felt the instruments enter and wondered when the next step would be. Instead, the doctor and nurse both stared in shock at something that was going on in her pelvic region. “What? What's going on?” she demanded.

The nurse mumbled, “Your, your skin.”

“What my colleague is trying to say is that your skin has transformed into a much harder state,” he explained, nervously, “And it's preventing us from performing the procedure.”

Damn. Her mutation was protecting the child. Her body was against her in getting rid of it. The doctor and nurse, obviously realizing that she wasn't a normal human, started gently pushing her out the door. At least they haven't run screaming. It was lucky that they were going to another area soon after this.

-

Three more months, just at the edge of the sixth month, and it starting to be noticeable. Emma had been switching her clothes, slightly and calmly to make a transition to a covering dress less abnormal. They hadn't really been blinking eyes at it. Gradual so no one noticed. Or, maybe they had. Angel tended to let her gaze linger on her abdomen, as if she knew something. Mystique was 'kind' enough not to notice. Azazel protected her during their last attack, and Riptide had dropped off crackers and ginger ale during one of her bad times. Of course, it was Erik that was going to bring it up.

“You're pregnant,” he stated bluntly. Second place in a month, Angel and Mystique out for food while the boys secured and fortified the new place. The man was planning on adding his own modifications once they were done. Now, he was going to discuss the current problem.

“Yes, that's what typically happens when two people of the opposite sex have intercourse, neither wear protection and there's nothing useable as birth control for the side that needs it,” she sniped. Her thoughts had constantly gone on the subjects of what she could have done. Not a lot, considering she couldn't just sign up for a birth control trial and Sebastian was adverse to using protection. He simply raised an eyebrow at her outburst. Emma wasn't thrilled at the current situation. Erik went to ask, and she anticipated his next thoughts. “I've already tried. My body prevented it. Puked up the pills and blocked the procedure.”

“Your body's protecting the child as an extension of yourself.”

“Yes,” she said.

Mama?

She turned down to her chest, confused. Was the child at the point where it was starting to form thoughts? Erik noted, “What is happening?”

Mama, wrong? She was also presented with an old memory, when Christian hugged her when she had a fight with her father. When was she thinking about that? Was her child trying to comfort her? I must be broadcasting some of my old memories to him. Pregnancy hormones are making me sentimental. She sat down on the edge of her bed, confused and worried by no small amount. “He's talking to me.”

“He? You already know the sex?”

“I think he does.” Now would be the time to start rubbing the area that was swollen. People that cared about the child, or were even fascinated with the new being growing within them, do that. She was still uncomfortable with this being growing inside her. This, this wasn't what she ever wanted.  Her child was showing signs that he was already trying to connect to her. She just couldn't.

“Will you give him up?” he inquired, moving to one of his more pressing concerns.

“Yes,” she answered, “There is no way I can care for a child. There is no way this group can care for one. Not when we're fighting off agents and hiding from the government and Xavier's little group.” There is little chance that I'll suddenly turn into a maternal figure able to care for him.

He nodded his agreement, coming to the same conclusion. “We'll be separating within the next two months. I have rumors that I want to substantiate. Mystique and Angel are going on their own recruitment campaign. Azazel and Riptide are going back underground, getting as much information as we can gather on what the governments are doing. Do what you must.”