#OH!! AND I DID BEAT THE SECOND APOLLO DUEL...

[hexacasts]

emilie beat me at the second half of fajro :( the timer must be shorter than i thought...jeez...and i was rushinf through there too!! Anyway its fun how much easier everything in there is this time around, compared to how much of an uphill battle it felt like the first time. like i rly struggled with the midboss for some reason the first time but obliterated it this time. and i remember being astounded by how complicated the final puzzle was the first time. which is veeery funny having now done all the other final puzzles.

[cafeseoulmate]

idk what this lol i wanted to write a proper full-length fic but finals is beating my ass like crazy :”) anyway this happens in the same pjo au as kang taehyun’s hot boy summer destiny and references it a bit

child of aphrodite!beomgyu who’s also been recently declared the new cabin counselor because he has the best leadership skills among his half-siblings and is arguably the best charmspeaker anyone’s seen in camp for decades (as in he can almost rival his own mother it’s insane and his older half-siblings who’ve left camp long ago are really impressed). he’s also the friendliest and bubbliest out of all of his half-siblings (if that were even possible), a true social butterfly like his mom.

but also beomgyu who likes going on quests with child of athena!taehyun and child of hermes!yeonjun until taehyun finally confessed to his childhood best friend recently, so now it’s mostly just beomgyu and yeonjun. occasionally, child of apollo!hueningkai would join them if he’s not on another quest with his other half-siblings along with child of poseidon!soobin who, contrary to popular belief, actually leaves his post at the infirmary every once in a while.

beomgyu who is exceptionally skilled in using a bow and arrow because he has beef with both eros and anteros on who is the best archer since he was a child (though the gods have already long discussed this among themselves before that it’s one of apollo’s children. no one has the heart to tell any of the three, though). his shots are always lethal and precise and he’s been invited numerous times by his own half-siblings and the entire apollo cabin to lead classes in the summer. he only assists here and there, though, since he doesn’t think he’s that good at explaining things, especially something that he’s been doing for most of his life and feels like second nature to him.

(beomgyu underestimates himself. he’s actually really good at teaching, especially the younger kids.)

but outside of duels and fights, beomgyu would rather spend most of his days making music and drawing at the arts and crafts pavilion, getting inspired by his last quest in the outside world or on a long walk in the woods after breakfast. though he is a skilled fighter (and definitely has a big advantage with his mastery of charmspeak), he thinks his strengths lie more in translating his love of people and his surroundings in art and music. he’s just a child of his mother who’s so full of love so of course he’ll channel it somewhere peacefully and creatively. in his free time, beomgyu’s usually playing guitar with taehyun and humming an original song or sketching trees and portraits in his sketchbook where all creative streams of thought go.

oh and, of course, as a child of aphrodite, he’s always receiving all sorts of love declarations regardless of what season it is. love letters, chocolates, sweets, trinkets, gifts, public declarations at every turn on the training grounds, and even a bold, “i love you,” carved to a tree one time (much to the demeter cabin’s horror). beomgyu’s seen it all, he thinks, and he’s very flattered. heck, at times, he even relishes in the admiration people have for him because what child of aphrodite wouldn’t? he’s still his mother’s son so of course it’s a bit of an ego boost.

but these days, he’s only looking forward to a gift (a letter, to be exact) from one person—you, a child of demeter and a long-time friend of his.

you, the kid who first came to camp on the same night as he did because you happened to be getting chased by the same army of harpies. you, the kid he stuck with even after you both got claimed by your respective godly parents because you were familiar faces to each other. you, one of his go-to friends who’d gladly eat some of his admirers’ sweets and keep the gifts he didn’t want when he asked. you, the friend who always gave him your best harvests come strawberry picking season and saved him some of the meals you’d cook in exchange for him letting you see his creative projects before anyone else.

but more importantly, you, the friend who drunkenly declared to all of your peers two years ago that you have a crush on beomgyu. you, the friend who started occasionally sending him your own short letters and simple gifts whenever you felt like it afterwards, much like the admirers you used to help him ward off. you, who kept being his friend first and foremost and never made things awkward even with your feelings always hanging in the air because you knew that beomgyu didn’t feel the same then and that was okay. you, who gladly let him tease you about it every now and then—until he suddenly couldn’t halfway through the summer when demeter called for you to help persephone with matters in the underworld. you who just disappeared the next day, having stolen persephone’s pearl that was previously retrieved by taehyun on a quest and left before sunrise.

you who told beomgyu the day demeter called for you via mr. d that maybe you need this trip to get over him and go back to the way things were between the two of you, before joking about getting him a souvenir from the river lethe.

it’s a bit stupid even for a child of aphrodite, beomgyu thinks, that he only ever started appreciating your presence (and maybe even reciprocrating your feelings) once you left. though to be fair, you’ve never left camp without notice or without telling at least one person a definitive date of when you’ll be back before. your presence in camp, for most of the demigods including beomgyu, is almost like chiron’s or mr. d’s in that you’re never away for too long.

though you can hold your own in battle, you never liked quests, preferring more to stay and maintain your strawberry fields and vegetable gardens. and that agitated all of your friends on the day you left, especially beomgyu.

even worse, suddenly it’s almost christmas now and from what yeonjun’s heard from his dad and what soobin’s heard from his own significant other (a child of hades), you’re still pretty much indefinitely stuck in the underworld—surviving off of food that demeter delivers and, apparently, warding off the advances of an undead suitor that’s been mentioned around your mutual circle of friends enough times to get beomgyu irritated and threaten sneaking off to get you himself.

(soobin has to hold him back and ask the other aphrodite kids to watch him like a hawk after every declaration.)

child of aphrodite beomgyu suddenly finds himself wandering camp borders and the strawberry fields on most nights these days, terrorizing yeonjun about the mail during breakfast, and reading and re-reading the letters you sent before, scolding himself for taking everything for granted. if not, he’s tending to the plants you’ve left behind along with your half-siblings and keeping a voice memo journal detailing everything that’s happening in camp for when you return (making sure to omit all the misshaps he’s gotten himself into in the meantime because he’s not really that proud of some of them—especially the time he drunkenly charmspoke to taehyun’s partner as a dare before they got together. beomgyu thinks—maybe hopes, too— that you’ll find out about it from taehyun’s partner and scold him for it when you come back. he’s this desperate, okay).

choi beomgyu, on top of being a child of aphrodite, the new counselor of his cabin, a skilled archer, a creative artist, and all-around popular camper at camp half-blood, may or may not also be experiencing love for the first time and it’s messing with his head big time. sometimes, he thinks he’ll go insane thinking about how his half-sibling, kazuha, keeps asking about the red string around his wrist and extending all the way to the camp gates. sometimes, especially on quests, he thinks about sneaking off and finding another one of persephone’s pearls to get to you. but sometimes, he also thinks that it’s just from not being used to your absence for a long time, from not having his child of demeter friend joke around with him and name him the flowers growing around camp.

but what beomgyu’s sure of is that he really can’t wait until spring arrives and persephone comes back to the land of the living with you. he needs to see you as soon as possible and if it takes having to sneak off camp the next time that he’s off on a quest and do some outrageous things to land his soul in the underworld, he’ll do it immediately.

[r8tykearrays]

R8 tyke’s Adventures: A Bored Racer's Gauntlet

Note: All content depicted belongs to their original owners. The MUS timeline is a collaboration between myself, TF2014, Fred-104-Centurion, and Azelfland, and it is not intended to alter the canon of the original sources. Some ideas are only intended for entertainment (and meme) purposes and are not intended to do harm to others.

Check them out here:

Azelfland

TF2014

Fred-104-Centurion

One day, in the basement of R8 tyke’s house…

Mario: Whatcha doing?

R8 tyke: *Groans* Ya see, I am trying to put together the W12 Mk.2 (yes, I christened my W12 as the W12 Mk.2 instead of W12 X). I tried 2023 rear wings, 2023 front wings, ZERO-PODS, a combination of the latter two, and none works! Other than adding W11-spec parts to it.

Luigi: But that means it is perfect! You gave it the best touch already. Don’t make it worse.

R8 tyke: I guess you’re right. And don’t get me started on the Solus GT that came in pieces –

Peach: But did you miss Azelfland’s duel date, like, he said he practised many times –

R8 tyke: OH NO I FORGOT ABOUT THAT!

Peach: Anyways, why though? Didn’t you beat him ages ago?

R8 tyke: Because he’s now making headlines everywhere, and I *WILL* need to remind him who’s boss! Also, no one will be happy if they see me out of shape, but that’s another story.

Daisy: That’s petty af. Just leave this man be.

R8 tyke: Don’t care. Let’s go! IT’S NEVER TOO LATE!

Later, at F1 Hungaroring…

The other guy: So you say there is a very fast guy you want to pit me against… to see how fast I am.

Azelfland: Yeah. There he is. (Points at R8 tyke)

The other guy: HIM? Looks like some fresh meat in an office.

(R8 tyke gave him the death glance)

Azelfland: Tio, don’t talk about him like that. He’s the guy who beat me 1-2 years ago.

Edgar "Tio" Marquez: What? I bet that was just YOU being slow that time.

Azelfland: *sigh* Take it away.

Azelfland: (As he lines up his 2016 Ford GT with standard tyres on the grid) Hopefully the track selections I made will make him see something else.

Rosalina: Hey! Check this Ferrari out.

R8 tyke’s 458 GT2: Augh, it’s been a LOONG while since someone drove me.

Azelfland: Geez. Not you again.

R8 tyke’s 458 GT2: Hey, don’t judge. First of all, I don’t hate you as much as before. And second, I’m the meta here, despite this set of hilarious-looking rollers.

Rosalina: Especially with *me*.

Azelfland: Wait. There is a ‘meta’ in this story?

(Azelfland looks back and saw the rest of the gang using mostly F1 W07s and 458 GT2s, all equipped with roller tyres, except Mario, who is driving an AMG One with standard tyres)

Azelfland: Are those the Yoshi Inkstriker counterparts? Also, where’s R8 tyke?

R8 tyke: (Off-camera) Over here!

(Azelfland turned back, and he saw R8 tyke in the seat of a carbon black Apollo IE, equipped with a set of slim tyres)

Azelfland: If this is real physics, you will burn these out already.

R8 tyke: Eh, it’s Mario Kart physics.

Azelfland: But the hitbox. Look at the F1 cars. Compare those to yours. Yours is as big as an iceberg!

Edgar "Tio" Marquez: Ooh, quite a nice collection here. I think my R35, despite not as flashy as these cars, will still hold a place.

Azelfland: I’m worried, Tio. At least this being Mario Kart physics will slow this guy a bit, if I’m not wrong…

(As the race starts, everyone pulled out, with Rosalina leading the pack, and the rest followed her into the first corner and the first item box set)

[BGM played: DS Shroom Ridge (MK8D remix)]

Azelfland: There is a corner coming up, Tio.

(Everyone pulled off the line)

R8 tyke: I should have gone for the slicks.

(Before Tio’s R35 can have a chance, the W12 immediately tucked itself into the apex of the corner with a smooth drift, before releasing a short mini-turbo and hopped a few times before drifting into the next corner.)

Azelfland: That is tough.

Edgar "Tio" Marquez: I got a can of NITROUS!

Azelfland: Be careful: If you popped it, there is no stopping it!

(Meanwhile, R8 tyke, after getting a red shell from the item box, smacked the hell outta Daisy with the red shell)

Daisy: R8 tyke, you sneaky jerk!

[Lap 2]

(As the Mercedes tries to catch the Ferrari, a VW Golf GTi suddenly appeared from the pit lane, forcing R8 tyke to take the corner slower and wider)

R8 tyke: I thought we –

Rosalina: Yes, before I ask, this is a public track day, and people will emerge from the pits. That’s the only way to create traffic on a racing circuit.

R8 tyke: Eh.

Half a lap later…

R8 tyke: (As he takes out Rosalina with a stolen star from a Boo) Finally, race leader!

Daisy: Er… Mexican-sounding-name guy? Do something. He’s gonna pull away.

Edgar "Tio" Marquez: Wait, you don’t have the blue shell thingy?

Daisy: Um… the further behind you get, the lesser chance you get a blue shell.

Edgar "Tio" Marquez: Ne’er mind. He couldn’t get far, right?

[Lap 3]

(The sky darkens as rain pours on the track as traffic retreated)

R8 tyke: Oh no, it’s a wet track. I hate this so much.

Azelfland: It’s raining! Hopefully we can catch up –

(Smash cut to the end of the race, where R8 tyke crossed the line after slightly extended his lead instead of falling backwards)

Mario: (After crossing the line at 5th) He is tough…

Edgar "Tio" Marquez: (Crosses the line dead last) This combo doesn’t fare well in such appalling weather! Worst of all, y’all keep backspamming your shells and bananas! I will get you next time!

Azelfland: And so, let’s vote on which race is next, shall we?

[F1 Yas Marina Circuit]

Azelfland: Ah, this circuit is the second one. How ironic that it is almost always the final race of a real F1 season.

R8 tyke: Hey, the anti-gravity is still present! (In this story, that is)

Azelfland: Hmm, I just wanted to see this reprofiled circuit with my own eyes.

Edgar "Tio" Marquez: Why is it another circuit track?

Luigi: What did you expect appearing in this man’s stories? He likes them. And if you don’t master them quickly, you’ll be toast.

[BGM: DS Wario Stadium/Waluigi Pinball (MK8 remix)]

Azelfland: This time, I can fight! (Throws a green shell at R8 tyke and lands a successful hit)

R8 tyke: *Sigh* Why run? I can catch you.

Azelfland: (Gets on the slanted back straight and activates anti-gravity) I would like to see you try!

(The duo entered lap 2 in a tie at the final glider section)

R8 tyke: Where’s that guy anyways?

Meanwhile…

Edgar "Tio" Marquez: I’m so slow at these corners!

Rosalina: (Hits Tio with a red shell and took third) Can’t help. Bye.

Edgar "Tio" Marquez: Curse you, blonde woman! (Gets hit by Mario with a star afterwards)

Later, the race ended with a close call between R8 tyke and Azelfland as they dueled the whole race, with Rosalina coming in a distant third.

Azelfland: (While viewing the replay) I’m nervous.

Rosalina: See, your GT got slightly behind of the front wing of the IE. So… victory is yours.

R8 tyke: *Smug face*

Azelfland: You may win by centimeters this time, but –

Edgar "Tio" Marquez: Can we just take a break from these circuit tracks? I hate those. My car is built for fast street racing, not these low-level racing circuits.

R8 tyke: Alright, the people will decide our fate next race.

[F1 Miami International Autodrome]

Inside Hard Rock Stadium…

R8 tyke: Ah, the people answered our call. Some street racing action.

Azelfland: It’s half a street circuit, half racing circuit. At least Tio won’t be fuming this race.

R8 tyke: But you’re all playing the road game and I’m at home field.

Peach: That American football pun is dirty, racing driver.

[BGM: GCN Waluigi Stadium (MK8 remix)]

Azelfland: Can anyone tell me why it is the stadium theme instead of a circuit theme?

R8 tyke: (Points to Hard Rock Stadium)

Azelfland: I see.

(Half a lap later, Tio catches up the IE and overtakes it with a mushroom)

R8 tyke: Interesting.

Edgar "Tio" Marquez: I’m faster in raw speed, hot shot!

R8 tyke: Don’t get too excited. (Takes out a super horn and uses it on Tio on the corners, which hits)

Edgar "Tio" Marquez: Darn, I’m careless!

Daisy: (As she navigates around the now-tamer chicane) Bye, illegal racer –

Edgar "Tio" Marquez: That is not correct!

(Right after the chicane comes a drop towards a storm drain with half-pipes mounted on the top of the slopes)

Mario: (Tricks off a half pipe) Hey, half-pipes!

Azelfland: If someone’s riding the half pipe here, I’ll be REAL mad –

(R8 tyke proceed to ride on the half-pipe)

Azelfland: (As he navigates the final turns that leads him back to the starting line) I SAID, NO HALF-PIPE RIDING!

R8 tyke: Sucks to be you, but no one cares.

(R8 tyke rides on the half-pipe for 2 more lap and won)

Daisy: Mad disrespect here.

Rosalina: The next voting session decides the final track. Cast your votes, people!

[F1 CoTA]

(The crew arrived at a Wild West-themed CoTA at night, illuminated by newly installed floodlights)

R8 tyke: Look at the very western styling, just like Texas 200 years ago!

Azelfland: Yeah, since T blew this place up some time ago, we kinda fixed that. Texas style.

Edgar "Tio" Marquez: It’s high noon, ladies and gents.

Azelfland: Not today.

Edgar "Tio" Marquez: What?

Azelfland: This place is that guy’s ‘home’ circuit.

Edgar "Tio" Marquez: I know, and he’s RUBBING THAT IN MA FACE! Look, he has plastered his face all on the ads on this circuit! (Points to a Western-styled wanted poster with ‘Wanted: R8 tyke (the 2020 champ)’ written on it, and then points to the dynamic 2D illustration on top of the pit building, depicting a smug R8 tyke in shades flashing a victory sign, and then points to the screens on the position tower, with a ticker reading ‘R8 tyke no.1’)

Rosalina: Augh, I bet he wasted a lot of time on advertising. So ‘in-your-face’, like a certain ex-meta character. Couldn’t blame him.

Meanwhile, at the grandstand, Waluigi, knowing that Rosalina just roasted him out of nowhere, leaves with a sad ‘Wah’.

Peach: Those wanted posters are the try-hard references we made to summon R8 tyke to the (Real Racing 3 version of) 2019 US Grand Prix. But you know how the story went. He didn’t race and hid in the pits like a weakling, just like a certain character cut from Mario Kart 7. Other than those, he set those up.

R8 tyke: Anyways, wanna hear how I pushed my McLaren P1 to top 20 in this circuit –

Everyone: STOP!

[BGM: DS Wario Stadium/Waluigi Pinball (MK8 remix)]

(As the race starts, everyone raced towards the first corner, except R8 tyke, who did a little donut at the grid)

Edgar "Tio" Marquez: Yo, what is he doin’?

Rosalina: Must be up to no good.

(Meanwhile, R8 tyke got a star and triple mushrooms from a double item box at the set of item box after the first turn)

R8 tyke: (As he chases the pack) Still got time.

(2 laps passed, and R8 tyke is now at 7th place, equipped with a Bullet Bill and a shock)

R8 tyke: Perfect.

Meanwhile…

Edgar "Tio" Marquez: Oh good lord, I’m winning!

Azelfland: I have a bad feeling about –

(Soon after, the shock was activated, shrinking the field. As Azelfland tries to put a bit more distance, he heard the droning jet noise of the Bullet Bill dying out, and the regular-sized Apollo IE soon smashed him flat, knocked Tio away, and sailed to victory)

R8 tyke: As I expected. Rather disappointing.

Azelfland: Then what did YOU expect?

R8 tyke: Next time, we’ll go on a tour, and I will bust out the toy box. Watch your back. (Drove away in his F1 W12 Mk.2)

Azelfland: …Geez. I’m looking for some help. (Leaves in his Ford GT)

Meanwhile, back at Miami International Autodrome…

R8 tyke: *Chuckles* The real show begins.

To be continued…

[sparklingchan]

Chapter 3|| Stormbringer- Stray Kids Demigod AU

Pairing : Reader(fem.) X Felix

Word count : 3.3k+

Warnings : A fight scene but it’s just practice XD

Genre : Romance, Demigod AU, fluff, angst.

Description: An unexpected incident brings you closer to Felix, but there’s one person who’s not very excited about this blossoming friendship. 

A/N : Things start getting interesting from here *insert the moon face emoji* Enjoy!

SERIES MASTERLIST ||  Click here for introduction to the story and glossary and here for the Stray Kids demigod diaries!

"A near miss, y/n."  Felix whispers in his deep, raspy voice sending shivers  through your entire body.

You blink awkwardly at him for a few seconds before he gets off of you and offers you his hand to help you stand up.

You hear the Aphrodite girls whispering behind you, giggling.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention." Your eyes are looking everywhere but at Felix, the heat from your cheeks making your whole face warm.

"It's alright, " he chuckles, "Are you hurt anywhere?" His freckles look even more gorgeous up close, his toothy smiles reminds you of bright skies and beaches and picnics and fresh fruits. And when the warm afternoon sunlight falls on his eyes, his brown orbs turn into a gentler shade of golden. Breathtaking.

"You're beautiful." You blurt out, involuntarily,  loud and clear so everyone hears you. A loud chorus of gasps run throughout the dining hall.

And you decide to run away back to your cabin with the little dignity you had left of yourself.

And there you are, once again thinking back to yesterday's events while polishing your precious arrow heads as you sit on the Zeus cabin's verandah.

You sigh, "It was the Aphrodite effect, right? It has to be!"

You've been pep talking to yourself all morning long, making up excuses for the way you behaved yesterday. You're too embarrassed to face your friends or the other people at camp.

"I mean he is good looking, but why did I say it out loud. Does he have powers? Like that of Hyunjin? Maybe he can charmspeak. Yes! That's probably it!" You mutter to yourself.

(a/n: Charmspeak is a rare type of hypnotic ability that Aphrodite kids possess)

Or perhaps he'd induced a new sense of adoration in you, like how Aphrodite kids usually can. But then again, they cannot actually induce these feelings. They can only manipulate them which means they'd have to exist in the first place.

You put the arrow back into it's case.

"Ugh!" You let out a loud groan, covering your face with your palms.

The image that you'd spent years to portray in front of everyone is all destroyed in the blink of an eye. Now no one's going to respect you as an only child of the Big Three, they're going to see you as a girl who gets smitten easily and not as the headstrong person you always acted like.

All because of that Lee Felix!

(a/n: big three refers to the three major Greek gods namely Poseidon, Zeus and Hades)

You stand up from the floor, not being able to handle the bombardment of thoughts in your mind, and decide that practicing sword fighting is the right thing to now.

So you find yourself making your way from behind the Athena cabin (where you can clearly hear Seungmin and another Athena kid debating over mortal politics) and then through the Jasmine fields that Apollo personally tends to and down the hill to the weapon practice arena.

"Hey, y/n."

Oh no, no no no.

Why is it that when you are trying to avoid a person that exact person is the one who keeps popping up everywhere? Why is it, you tell me, that Lee Felix happens to be in the practice arena just when you arrive there?

The Gods must be having a nice laughter up there, especially your father Zeus.

"H-hey!" You try to reply with fake enthusiasm.

He has his bronze sword in his right hand while he jogs up to you, his messy blonde hair shining like the sun.

"Did you sleep well?"

No, you hadn't.

"Yes, I did." You laugh awkwardly, "Slept wonderfully."

Felix laughs back, eyes hooded with a hint of shyness that hadn't existed till yesterday afternoon.

He tucks his bottom lip in between his teeth, "Hey, um about what you said yesterday-"

"Do you wanna duel with me?"

If you cannot escape him, you might as well divert his attention.

He looks at you like you'd just punched him in the face. His smile threatening to disappear any moment.

And that’s when you realise asking him to duel with you might not have been the brightest ideas, and not to mention how you'd called him beautiful in front a hundred other demigods last afternoon.

"I'd love to!" He replies, with an excited voice, "Swords?"

You open your mouth to reply, but only air slips out so you subtly nod. He doesn't have to know you're a nervous mess that's lowkey about to pass out.

You walk up to the armory and grab the first sword that you lay eyes on. Truth be told, a sword wasn't really the best choice of weapon for you. It's always been a bow and arrow for you. Bows make you feel at control, like you know what you're doing and you'd always been good at archery, without even trying to.

"Do you not have a sword of your own?" Felix asks almost as if reading your mind.

"No, I don't. Actually I'm more of an archer." You admit.

"Ah, of course. I remember how you killed that Cetus in a single shot. I must say, I was very impressed."

Your cheeks heat up at his compliment. It's not like people haven't complimented your archery skills before - they have, in fact they do it all the time yet you wonder why is it so much more meaningful to you when coming from Felix. Has your biggest fear finally come true?

You shake your head mentally, no, it cannot be.

"Thanks. You're not very bad with your sword either."

Felix acknowledges your compliment with a smile. He then stands up straight, the sword in his right and bows gently, a silly smile playing at his lips.

"Oh we're following the courtesies?" You whisper to yourself, copying his actions.

The both of you stand facing each other, a silent understanding flowing between the two of you while you take your dueling positions.

You expect him to attack first but he doesn't; instead he watches you with a smirk, as if trying to make you flustered.

(It was working but you'd rather never say that out loud)

So he attacks first. He aims his sword near your abdomen but you quickly jump to defend yourself, blocking his attack with your sword. The metallic clang of your swords ringing throughout the otherwise quiet arena. He stumbles back, a surprised gasp leaving his lips as your sword brushes swiftly past his neck while he's still catching his breath, barely touching him though. 

Of course, hurting the opponent isn’t the aim here. Disarming them is.

"She's not bad with the sword." He thinks to himself, a little proud.

He then retorts back, swinging his sword right in front of your face, missing by merely an inch.

Your heart does a backflip, both out of excitement and fear.

You don't waste a second, gaining back your balance, thrusting your sword in the space between his arm and abdomen. Your sword clash together as you try to push his sword back with yours, yet this time he resists, putting in all his energy to make you loose your grip on the sword.

And it seems to have worked because the next moment, he sees you losing your strength, your face scrunched in concentration as you let out a few grunts. He takes a single step towards you while applying more force on your sword with his, and there goes your sword, falling onto the ground gracefully, like a martyred soldier.

"Do you accept defeat, miss y/n?" Felix teases through laboured breaths and you only have enough energy to roll your eyes at him, hitting his arm in response.

Felix passes you back your sword, as he walks over to the bench and slumps down.

Your body is too tired to worry about Felix bringing up yesterday's incident, so you follow him and sit by his side. Neither of you say anything, your fanning breaths and thumping hearts and the buzzing of insects are the only sounds in the arena. You'd never experienced this kind of peacefulness in the camp before, at least not unless you were by yourself.

When you recover from your momentary exhaustion, you look over at Felix and softly begin, "I was wondering..."

He glances at you with a smile.

Does he ever stop smiling?

"I was wondering...since Hyunjin already told you about the game, would you like to be my partner for the capture the flag game next week? I usually go with Minho but he's a referee this time." You say.

He is taken aback for a second - mostly because he'd never thought someone as cool as you would ask him to be your partner. Team games are very important in camps and its important  to make sure that the teammates do not turn out to be poor players. It somehow makes Felix very happy that you'd have such faith in him despite having known him for only two days.

He nods, "I'd be honored to do that."

Your heart beats furiously as you suck in a deep breath, "It's a deal then."

Gosh y/n, what has gotten into you!

*

You decide to take the longer route back.

Felix left early after finishing the duel so you spent the next hour practicing Archery alone before deciding to head back to your cabin.

Your thoughts are all over the place as it is, but the quietness of the woods help you to sort things out with yourself. You feel rather uncomfortable, experiencing emotions that you'd not felt in a long time, past insecurities and memories fighting their way back from the dungeons you'd locked them up in. This was ridiculous, wasn't it? How Felix comes out of nowhere and just flips everything up?

The sun rays fall on you from the gaps between the tree branches and as you listen to the birds chirp around you, you start to slowly hum to their tune.

"Wow, who hurt you, y/n?" A male voice calls you from behind, the sound of leaves getting crushed under a pair of hooves indicate the approaching entity.

"No one hurt me, Eden."

Eden is still as handsome as ever, you wonder to yourself everytime you return to the camp, with a sturdy upper body and beautiful grey eyes and two strong goat limbs instead of normal human legs, yet he's so much more alluring than any satyr you'd ever seen. (Then again, maybe you're just biased because he’s also your childhood friend) He flashes you a handsome smile and you immediately pray to the gods that he doesn't see you blush.

(a/n: Satyrs, also known as Fauns by Romans, are creatures with the upper body of a man and the lower body of a goat as well as goat horns, and the pointed ears of a goat. )

"What's up." He stands in front of you and kisses you softly on the head, "I had gone out yesterday so I couldn't come see you. Hope you didn't miss me too much."

You hit his chest, "You're so full of yourself, goat-boy." You continue walking back towards your cabin, Eden following right behind.

"Woahh. Using Minho's nicknames now, are we?" He snickers, "One of the kids told me that you had a little hormonal outburst last afternoon?"

An embarrassed sigh leaves you lips. The camp kids really couldn't miss out on one day of gossip now could they?

"I don't wanna talk about it." You mutter as yesterday's events flash into your mind. Felix, his face, his voice and your words. Oh God.

"Hey, no judgment here, okay? If you like the new Aphrodite boy then I support you. Do you want me to play wingman?"

You turn around and smack his chest once again. "I do not like him." Yet.

"Okay, okay. I get it." His tone falls serious, "Anyway  I heard about Poseidon's trident. It scared me, I won't lie. Something as powerful as that trident has never been forged in a millennia. And I can only imagine how powerful one has to be steal it. Are you sure only nine demigods are enough to find it?"

"It has to be, Eden." You say, "We don't have too many options. It's either this or we all drown and die or get killed by a monster. I'd like to choose the former."

Eden nods at your words, patting your head encouragingly.

You are about to speak up again when your eyes fall on a woman sitting on a log of wood just a few meters ahead of you.

"Is that one of the Aphrodite girls?" You whisper to Eden, only for him to shake his head in response.

The woman sits with her back facing you, a beautiful white dress adorning her small skinny frame and her brown hair tied in a tidy floral braid. Either the woman is a daughter of Aphrodite's or a Nymph, you conclude.

Without thinking much, you approach her, "Um, hello? May I know who you are?"

A startled gasp escapes your mouth when the woman turns around and looks at you with a very familiar smile playing at her lips - you'd grown up seeing that smile on Hyunjin and very recently on Felix. It's the very same smile, a Xerox copy of it.

"Aphrodite?" You mutter and she nods in response.

"Hello, y/n. Mind if I have a word with you?"

*

"So you were out with y/n? Dueling?" Changbin asks for the umpteenth time this morning, his usually playful eyes now focused seriously on Felix's body language.

"Yes, Changbin," Felix groans, lying flat on his fluffy bed, "Can you stop making a big deal out of it?"

Chan chuckles at the conversation, his eyes though focused on the book in front of him but his ears are on his two best friends' conversation. Chan knew Changbin wasn't the kind to trust people easily, especially Zeus' children so it's not surprising of him to be suspicious about you but what does come as a surprise to Chan is how oddly giggly Felix has been since last afternoon. After that awkward encounter with you. Could it be that Felix..?

"Do you like Zeus' daughter?" Changbin asks even before Chan can finish his line of  thought.

Felix's eyes widen, but the tips of his ears are bright red, "Dude I just met her. Can you not act like a love guru out of the blue?"

"Hey, you're the love expert here. Literally. So, I should be expecting a better answer from you, no?"

"No, I do not like her. Okay?" Felix groans, "But she did ask me to be her partner for the game next week and I'm telling you beforehand Seo Changbin, do not say or assume anything that would make her uncomfortable. "

The warning comes off as rather cute to Chan since he’s always seen the Aphrodite kid as his little brother while Changbin finds his words a tad bit alarming. A Zeus kid is not to be trusted this easily.

"Fine." Changbin mutters, his lips pressing into a thoughtful line, "But just be careful because  I - "

"Don't trust the Children of Zeus easily, yeah we know. Come on, Bin. Let him have some fun and make new friends. You should do it, too. We're not on our own anymore." Chan pipes in to save Felix this time and Felix secretly sends a thankful wink to him in return.

"Okay, okay." Changbin gives in.

The door to Felix's room creaks ever so slightly and the three of them turn their heads in anticipation of who it might be.

"Hey. Sorry to disturb you guys but we're being called for dinner." Hyunjin says, still getting used to having three new demigods around in the camp.

Chan closes his book, "Oh, come on, Hyunjin. You're not disturbing us. Come on in."

Felix gets up to greet his half brother with a fist bump and when he stands beside Hyunjin, the two older guys find it hilarious how terribly small he looks. Almost like Hyunjin were his father.

Felix almost as if reads their minds and narrows their eyes at them, "Dinner is ready guys. Can we move?"

"Shortie." Hyunjn whispers incoherently and makes a run towards the door.

"Hey, come back here you piece of -" Felix dashes right after him.

Changbin and Chan chuckle at their tactics, a foreign feeling of calmness settling between them. "This feels like home, Chan. We're finally home." Changbin admits, almost emotionally.

"Yes, Bin." Chan adds, "And I hope we never have to leave again."

*

"Aphrodite said what now?"

You sigh, running your index finger mindlessly along the lines of the wooden dinner table.

"She wants us to take the new demigods with us to find Poseidon's trident. Especially Felix." You look at your friends, "And she asked me to specifically visit the island of Sicily when we go on the quest. I asked her why but she said she doesn't know it herself."

Hyunjin grunts, almost irritated, "Y/n, I don't know how much you can trust my mother. She's known to cause drama for her own entertainment. "

Well, you do agree with what Hyunjin says but you cannot deny that Aphrodite didn't seem like she was purposely creating drama this time.

"Listen, y/n, you have to go to The island of Sicily. It will lead you to the trident, trust me." She whispers as if she is afraid of someone overhearing your conversation, "Take Felix with you. You'll need him. He'll need you."

You shudder at the memory of her unusually spooky tone.

"What do you think, dad?" Jisung turns to Apollo who has ever so naturally claimed a spot at your usual dinner table tonight, "Do you think we should let new demigods on a quest?"

"I don't think Aphrodite is playing this time. We should listen to her." He taps his finger against his chin, deep in thought, "We need as many people as we can get."

"Well, yeah. That makes sense." Minho says and you nod, "Yeah, Eden can talk to the three boys. He's always been good at all that."

The lack of protests from your friends indicate their approval and after talking about the quest for a few more minutes, Apollo leaves your table.

"So," Jisung chimes in as soon as his father is out of sight, "Our Y/n has been dueling with Lee Felix?"

You let out an exasperated growl, "Oh God, Jisung! It was just today!"

Jisung snickers and sticks out his tongue, rendering your words useless. Minho raises an eyebrow at your banter while the other boys giggle, "Eden tells me you are already smitten."

Eden! God, that Eden, you mentally vow to punch that smirk off of Eden's face the next time you see him. Why does he keep pushing ridiculous ideas into other people's head!

"I'm not smitten -"

"Who are you talking about?"

Your blood runs dry.

Please tell me Felix didn't just overhear this one conversation which includes me having a crush on him.

"Hey, Lix." Hyunjin laughs, "Took you three long enough to get here  I went to your room like an hour ago."

Felix rubs the back of his neck, guilty, "Changbin spilled water on my favorite sweatshirt. "

A short guy - probably Changbin - slaps Felix's back. "Ouch!"

"Liar!" Felix rolls his eyes, turning to speak with you, "Anyway, y/n, I'm assuming you're the only to not have met my brothers yet."

"Yeah, i think so." You reply with a small smile.

Felix pats the back of the two boys on his right and left respectively. "Chan, Changbin, meet y/n, she's Zeus' daughter and y/n, meet Chan, he's Poseidon's son and Changbin - Ares' son."

Oh wow that is a new combination.

The guy introduced as Chan has a kind smile and messy brown hair while the Changbin dude has jet black hair and very intimidating eyes. He looks up and down your form, as if checking whether you were worth being Felix's friend - vibe checking, if you may.

"Hi, I'm y/n."

With the introductions done and dinner served, your group of old and new friends enjoy this peaceful evening together. The loud laughs and sassy remarks and friendly banters make you feel somewhat calm, but a part of you knows this isn't for long.

It’s like the calm before the storm.

"So, are we meeting for practice tomorrow too?" Felix whispers into your ears when he finds the others too indulged in conversation.

Your heart picks up its pace but you manage to nod with pink cheeks, "Yes. Same time as today."

A few seats away from you, Changbin overhears your conversation and decides that he doesn't really like you.

*

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[swordslinger95]

A examination of the Silver Eyes by Weiss Schnee.

An Examination of the “Silver Eyes,” written by Weiss Schnee, formerly of the Schnee Dust Company.

Regarding the appearance subject in question, is that of the Silver Eyes a few select people seem to possess, they appear to be fundamentally different from regular gray eyes, as one Silver Eye user in question, one Ruby Rose, appears to have ticks in the iris of her eyes. If a gray eyed person lacks these aforementioned ticks, then they are not, in fact, a Silver Eyed Warrior, according to Qrow Branwen, honorary uncle of the aforementioned Ruby Rose.

To my knowledge, there is only one Silver Eyed Warrior alive, and that is, again, the aforementioned Ruby Rose.

Ruby Rose, leader of team RWBY, pronounced Ruby, (Yes, it’s confusing, but moving on,) as stated before, she is a Silver Eyed Warrior. To see her full capabilities beyond the Silver Eyes, please see Team RWBY Report #001.

Anyway, Ruby’s Silver Eyes, apparently, give her the power to resist any ailments that a Grimm might be able to cast. See example, The Apathy According to Yang Xiao Long, Ruby’s older sister, it is more like she has high debuff resistance. I must confess, I don’t quite understand what she means by debuff, but I assume that it is a video game thing.

Correction, it is, in fact, a video game thing, I just asked and Yang confirmed it.

Furthermore, Silver Eyes, apparently, give Ruby near perfect vision. I think. Apparently she was once able to spot the thief, Emerald Sustrai, sitting on the other side of the Vytal Festival stadium, in the middle of a crowd. That is well over 300ft, and yet, Ruby was able to clearly discern Emerald’s whereabouts with a single glance.

(What kind of things did they feed this girl, and where can I get some?)

To factor into this, there are some legends about grey eyed people having both clear eyesight and unyielding will. Something about being as strong as steel, or some nonsense. I have read a few books in my family’s library regarding the topic, but I have never found anything concrete. Just passing mentions and the odd name dropping here and there.

Ruby Rose, at the very least, does have a strong willpower, so much so that, after many trials, she still stands tall, armed and ready to face whatever the Grimm have to throw at her, lending some credence to the “Strong as Steel” theory. Then again, it could just be her personality.

Speaking of myths, silver itself has a strong connection to many lunar based legends. See, the Huntsman and Huntress twins, Apollo and Artemis, who are recorded as having silver based arrows.

(Now that I think about it, I can’t help but notice that whenever the moon is full, Ruby always seems to stand a bit more alert. Is she part werewolf?)

On that note, I have pondered, many times, what would happen if Ruby were to truly become angry. Would she turn as cold as steel? Suffice to say, I honestly can’t imagine her ever become that furious with something. I’ve seen frustration, sure, but never outright anger.

….Anyway, back on topic. Using her Silver Eyes, Ruby can emit a bright light from her eyes which either completely vaporize Grimm or encase them in stone. It appears the larger and more powerful the Grimm is, it takes more “power” for the Silver Eyes to take effect. It’s possible that, with enough time, Ruby might be able to outright kill hordes of Grimm with just a glance.

I am never getting into a staring contest with that girl.

What powers the Silver Eyes themselves, I do not know. Ruby hasn’t been forthcoming with details, it is possible they are related to Aura in some way, but I do not know how. For now, I shall treat them as a second Semblance.

That is quite a strange thing to write, but, considering all I have seen in the past few weeks, a bit of skepticism is warranted. Or is it open-mindedness? Eh, details.

A thought occurs: it is possible that Silver Eyes are powered by emotion, much like Yang’s. Though, unlike Yang’s, I do not know what powers it. Sadness? Rage?

 Whatever the case is, it is clear in conclusion that….that…

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“That…That...I have no idea how they work.” Weiss held back a sigh as she looked over her notebook and what she had scribbled down. Most of it was junk, but it was all she could think to do on the flight back to Atlas. Admittedly, in the excitement of stealing a ship, Weiss had forgotten just how boring cross continental flight could be. Hence, the notebook she had (thankfully) remembered to pack. By doing this, she could help clear her head, or, at the very least, distract herself somewhat from the numbing of flight.

Looking up from her notebook, Weiss surveyed the other occupants of their small aircraft. Jaune and Ren were in a losing battle of arm wrestling against Nora, who was somehow beating them both at the same time. Well, she was mostly beating Jaune, Ren was busy reading a book. Yang and Blake were...well, resting up against each other like a couple. Or very close friends.

Either one really, and Weiss wasn’t about to ask for more details. Some things just needed to be talked about in private after all, nor did she want to assume until they made an announcement. And as for Ruby...well, she had fallen asleep. Weiss couldn’t blame her, she put in a full day after all. Qrow and Maria were in the pilot seats, making sure their course was safe.

Safe, what a funny concept that was. When was the last time she had been safe in any retrospect?

Weiss blinked once, then stiffed a yawn, maybe she was getting tired after all. She found herself looking back towards Ruby. It was...kinda amazing, to be honest. All her life, Weiss had known people of fame and power, the best of the best. But Ruby? Ruby was probably the rarest of the rare. A pure, innocent soul that could wipe out the enemies of humanity with nothing but a slightly stern look. It’d be hilarious if she hadn’t seen Ruby freeze a giant Grimm bigger than anything she had seen before. Actually, come to think of it, Ruby was practically a walking oxymoron. A red garbed scythe user with cold, Silver Eyes, that could disappear in the blink of an eye in a flurry of rose petals. And don’t get Weiss started on how many stories had rose imagery. Everything about Ruby’s appearance just screamed, “Reaper” and “Fierce.” The last thing men would see before they’d go to the hereafter.

Yet...well, if Weiss wanted Ruby to stop talking for a minute, all she had to do was bribe her with a plate of cookies with warm milk, and that was really all that had to be said huh?

“You okay?”

Broken out her thoughts, Weiss looked back to see Yang giving her a look of concern. Brow raised, and head tilted slightly, Weiss couldn’t help but find herself wondering what kind of mother Yang would make. A pretty good one, if she was any judge.

“Sorry.” Weiss placed her notebook in her lap, “Just...trying to organize my thoughts.”

“You were looking at Ruby pretty hard.” Yang noted, giving her a sly grin, “Not getting any ideas, are you Ice Queen?”

Weiss chuckled, “And if I was?”

“You’d be dead!” Yang replied cheerfully.

Weiss gave Yang a dirty look, but soon giggled, “Ha, no, I’m just wondering what else the Silver Eyes can do.”

Yang waved her still flesh hand, “Eh, don’t worry about it. Just think of them as our silver lining.”

Weiss blinked, realizing something, “...I don’t think I’ve heard you say a pun in forever.”

Yang froze for a second, “Really?”

Weiss smirked, “Well, I guess you could say that your puns have said xiao long.”

Yang stared at Weiss for a few good seconds, then chuckled, “You’ve been practicing.”

“I’ve had a lot of time in my studies.” Weiss grinned, “When we last met, I was but a learner, now I am the master.”

“Only a master of evil, Schnee.” Yang stuck her tongue out at Weiss, who scoffed.

“Need I remind you, Yang Xiao Long,” Weiss said in as haughty a tone she could muster, “you trained me, so doesn’t that make you the evil one?”

Yang laughed dramatically, “Oh-ho! The puns are strong with this one.”

Weiss smirked evilly, with full, maximum evilness, “Why Yang, didn’t you know? I am the puns.”  

“Dun dun duuun” Nora called over.

Weiss and Yang glared at each other in a duel of fates and eyes, then broke out into a fit of giggles.

“Hehehehe...” Weiss wiped a tear of mirth from her eye, “I needed this.”

“Me too.” Yang agreed.

“We’ve got a long way to go, huh?”

“We’ll make it.” Yang replied, shifting her attention to Ruby for a moment, then back to Weiss, “Together.”

Weiss nodded, smiling brightly, “Together.”