#THE DIVINE VIOLENCE OF LIGHTNING STRUCK ( HEADCANON. )

[sonlightning]

in relation to THIS POST i made last week or so, the younger camper that santiago is responsible for the death of is named ricky gamble ! 

ricky was the son of a college music professor at the university of georgia and apollo. when ricky was 10 his mother died in a car accident so he was sent off to live with his mother’s sister and her husband on their cattle farm in madison, georgia, about half an hour outside of ricky’s hometown of athens. ricky absolutely despises living with his aunt and uncle and after six months he runs away to atlanta

though ricky doesn’t know his father is apollo he does know that he’s got a wicked way with music -- he can play basically any string instrument with just a little bit of practice but he’s best at the fiddle. for three months ricky lives on the streets of atlanta, busking on the sidewalk and playing the violin that used to belong to his mother

ricky’s godly talent at music slowly starts stirring up more monster activity in georgia, so santiago and a satyr are sent down from camp half-blood to see what’s going on. they find ricky rather quickly and are able to save him from being eaten and escort him back to chb in one piece where he’s almost immediately claimed by apollo.

almost instantly ricky and santiago become best buddies. santiago is about 15/16 at this point in time and still pulling stupid practical jokes around camp. ricky is basically like the little brother he never got to have, and they’re almost never apart when they’re both at camp. on ricky’s 12th birthday apollo gifts him a magical lyre which allows the musician to influence the mood of anyone hearing the music depending on what they’re playing ( i.e. a lullaby will put people to sleep, an up-tempo song will make them antsy, etc ).

i'm shit at making up reasons to go on quests, but santiago gets Another quest and ricky basically begs to go along with him on it. santiago agrees to let him go but neglects his duty as leader of the group. his inability to take control and responsibility leads to ricky’s ( probably graphic ) death at the hands of a monster. 

santiago carries ricky’s body the entire way back to camp half-blood and personally helps the apollo cabin create ricky’s burial shroud. less than two weeks later santiago is on his way to camp jupiter with the recommendation letter from felice.

[looptheloup]

More very late Whumptober!

Day 23: Self-Sacrifice

Link to AO3

Fandom: The Iliad (Homer), Ancient Greek and Roman religion

Characters: Hector (Hektor), Achilles (Achilleus)

Warnings: Violence, Blood, Trauma, Character Death (I headcanon Hektor survives but the ending can be seen as either way), Dead Patroklus

Other tags: Achilleus is angry and scary, Hektor is angry and scared

Summary: An AU/reimagining of Hektor and Achilleus’s fight where Hektor stands his ground (and gets really angry)

~

[A/N: oh man I have so many feels for these boys still, I could write a whole longfic on them, but here’s an angsty one-shot instead]

*

Hektor couldn’t breathe. Achilleus circled him, his helmet glaringly bright in the searing sun, and Hektor could do little more than try to focus. This wasn’t battle, with its frenzied clashing and screaming and blood slick beneath his sandals. The ground beneath them was just dry dust and Hektor swallowed around the lump in his throat as he tried to hold the frayed edges of himself together. He felt like the land was shimmering around the edges of his eyesight and he was afraid that any second he might just crumple under the weight of the thousands of eyes watching them, with the gaze of his family, his people, weighing the heaviest.

Achilleus feigned forwards, light on his feet and terrifyingly fast, and Hektor lurched backwards wildly, so that his foot skidded out from underneath him and he landed on his elbow in the dirt. He scrambled back to his feet, furious at himself and trembling. Achilleus laughed and Hektor, despite the heat, shivered. Achilleus had gods on his side, and divinity in his blood and Hektor heard the power of him in the mocking rumble of his laugh. Hektor was just a man, a man who’d faced battle enough to know what it was to take his life in his hands, but he’d never felt this afraid. There had never been so much to lose.

“Come, little lamb,” Achilleus said, low enough that the words seemed intended for Hektor’s ears alone. “Enough play.”

Hektor could do little more than react when Achilleus came at him, the first blow barely deflected by Hektor’s shield and holding enough power that it landed with a ringing clash and numbed his arm up to his shoulder. But Achilleus just hit again, battering him backwards with the force of a horse at gallop behind his sword arm.

Hektor deflected again and again, just barely keeping that flashing metal from opening him up as easily as gutting a fish. Another blow to Hektor’s shield shattered the wood entirely and spooked by the explosive crack, Hektor feared that the crack of the wood had been the breaking of his arm, or his ribs. He skittered backwards, dizzily shaking the shield’s remains from his barely-responding arm.

Achilleus didn’t grant him a second but brought his sword down from above so that Hektor barely managed to jerk himself sideways and stop his skull being cleaved into two. Achilleus hit again, at his side, his shoulder, his knees, and Hektor knew he needed to go on the offensive but he could do nothing but try to defend himself. Each blow was heavy enough that Hektor didn’t think it would be long before he couldn’t even deflect the hits and his arm just folded under the weight. There was nothing human in the power of Achilleus’s sword, nor in his black eyes.

Achilleus laughed, swinging a lethal blow towards him that, when Hektor tried to deflect it, shoved him violently backwards under the incredible force of it, stumbling sideways with panic quivering inside him. Achilleus had only been toying with him, hadn’t even shown his full strength yet, and Hektor could barely defend himself.

Hektor saw Achilleus’s shoulder twitch minutely and he moved before he consciously knew the reason for it. Metal clashed into the side of Hektor’s helmet and he realised, as a deafening ringing sung in his ears, that Achilleus had stabbed at his throat and Hektor’s reflex reaction to jerk sideways had saved his life. The ear-splitting ringing from Achilleus’s sword hitting Hektor’s helmet was horrific and he one-handedly wrenched off his dented helmet, casting it aside so that it landed with a dull thud on the dust.

Achilleus had paused for just a second, his sword still hanging in the air like he’d assumed that would be the killing blow and was taken aback that Hektor was still alive. Then he, too, removed his helmet. Hektor’s hair was sweat-saturated and clinging to his forehead, where Achilleus looked like a god, still, with his hyacinthian hair and cold eyes.

“You should run,” Achilleus told him, in that otherworldly voice that reverberated at the base of Hektor’s spine. Hektor stared at him and struggled not to do as Achilleus said; to run for his life.

“Too many people are relying on me,” he managed

Achilleus struck out with a furious but too-wide strike that Hektor managed to evade. Pure fury flickered over the Achaean’s cruelly beautiful face.

“Am I supposed to pity you?” Achilleus spat. “You who killed my lover, who wears the spoils of that ill-fated battle exactly like the arrogant,” he hit out at Hektor, their swords clashing like lightning in the glaring sun, “pathetic,” Achilleus’s sword bit into Hektor’s forearm and cut to the bone when his sword arm couldn’t find the strength to deflect it. Hektor screamed, blood streaming down his arm as Achilleus tugged his sword free of the ragged gash in Hektor’s arm, “unworthy wretch that you are.”

“I didn’t know!” Hektor yelled as he twisted away from another hit. He could barely hold his sword up, let alone hold up against Achilleus’s grief-stricken wrath.

“You killed him!” Achilleus’s wild, manic blow struck Hektor’s battered sword from his shaking hand and damn-near took Hektor’s head with it, except that he dropped sideways and ended up sprawled on his back, gasping, with Achilleus bearing down on him, the sun haloing his hair.

“You left him!” Hektor cried as he threw his arm over his head, braced for metal through his chest, or stomach if Achilleus wished to be cruel, and Hektor didn’t think he’d ever seen the face of someone crueller.

There was a sudden, crushing weight on his chest and Hektor tried to gulp at the dusty air but couldn’t. He’d heard that being stabbed could feel like a punch at first, but it wasn’t a sword, it was Achilleus’s foot on Hektor’s chest, his shadow hanging over Hektor and blocking out the sun. His sword was clenched in one, huge hand and Hektor, barely able to breathe or think, stared up at the son of a goddess and didn’t understand why he wasn’t dead.

“You slaughtered him,” Achilleus hissed foully, spit flying from his lips. “His death was your fault, not mine.”

Hektor couldn’t breathe but he’d be damned if he didn’t force Achilleus to face the truth, before the man-god severed his head from his shoulders.

“He fought,” Hektor rasped, “because you abandoned…your people.” He dragged in another breath through clenched teeth, glaring up at Achilleus, the bastard. “It’s simple for you to…be brave; you who always wins. But…Patroklus and-”

A sword point jabbed far too close to Hektor’s eye and he flinched. “You have no right to speak his name.”

Hektor screwed up his courage, because Achilleus was going to kill him regardless. “Patroklus,” he spat, “and I, we’re but mortals.” Achilleus’s foot was making it near impossible to breathe and Hektor thought another minute under that pressure and his ribs would cave like an apple under the wheels of a cart but he forced the words out. “And yet…we fought for our people. Where…were you?”

Achilleus stared down at him, terrible in the mad twist of his mouth and his feverish eyes, but something human flickered over his face and for just a second, Hektor saw a man who was in desperate pain.

Hektor’s vision was greying at the edges with lack of air and his head dropped back into the dust when he couldn’t hold it up anymore, his arm thrown out to the side, gushing blood onto the sand.

The weight disappeared from his chest all of a sudden and Hektor choked on an excruciating cough as he sucked air desperately into his lungs.

“Get up,” Achilleus ordered. Hektor couldn’t move, could only drag air in.

A second later, a solid kick to Hektor’s ribs knocked him sideways and Hektor reluctantly dragged his sword from the sand and forced himself to stagger to his feet, looking up at Achilleus from under sweat-wet hair. He couldn’t lift his sword to defend himself when Achilleus swung his blade in a terrible, glittering arc, and he flinched, only to be knocked sideways, landing several feet away, winded but without his side cut open.

“Get up!” Achilleus yelled furiously and so Hektor did so.

Achilleus hit him with the flat of his sword again, this time striking his legs out from beneath him, so that Hektor landed on his hands and knees before the great warrior.

“Get up,” Achilleus said, flat and uncaring, but Hektor had seen the emotion that painfully beautiful face hid.

“Stop toying with me,” Hektor snapped as he dragged himself up, his bloody forearm dripping at his side. He held his sword but it hung limply, useless. He felt a rush of violent disgust for the callous creature before him and snarled, “Is this the man Patroklus loved?” He gestured weakly. “What are you? Selfish. Heartless.” Achilleus’s gaze was icy and he twitched with anger. Hektor dragged a breath in. “You were unworthy of him.”

Achilleus screamed and this time when he swung his sword, pain exploded through Hektor’s head and his vision went black.

 *

Thanks for reading! All thoughts welcome! Find me at maqcyloup on AO3 :) The final whumptobers should come through eventually :) Tagging @veliseraptor (hope you don’t mind, I just think you like classics stuff and angst so?)

Links to:

Day 1 - Stabbed, Detroit Become Human

Day 2 - Bloody hands, Marvel Cinematic Universe

Day 3 - Insomnia, Harry Potter

Day 4 - “No, stop!”, Altered Carbon

Day 5 - Poisoned, Supernatural

Day 6 -  Betrayed, Detroit Become Human

Day 7 - Kidnapped, Supernatural

Day 8 - Fever, Yuuri!! on ice

Day 9 - Stranded, Detroit Become Human

Day 10 - Bruises, Marvel Cinematic Universe

Day 11 - Hypothermia, Supernatural

Day 12 - Electrocuted, Rise of the Guardians

Day 13 - “Stay.”, Marvel

Day 14 - Torture, Original Work

Day 15 - Manhandling, Teen Wolf

Day 16 - Bedridden, Harry Potter

Day 17 - Drugged, Teen Wolf

Day 18 - Hostage, Original Work

Day 19 - Exhaustion, Marvel

Day 20 - Concussion, Suits

Day 21 - Harsh Climate, Detroit Become Human

Day 22 - Friendly Fire, Umbrella Academy

Day 23 - Self-Sacrifice, the Iliad

[sonlightning]

after ricky’s death santiago always makes sure his companions on quests are completely aware of all the risks that they could face by tagging along, and while on the quest he goes out of his way to protect everyone, which can sometimes get a bit overbearing

[sonlightning]

after ricky’s death apollo lowkey highkey curses santiago. it’s nothing Major like he doesn’t get chased by rabid sacred cows or anything, but in the months following ricky’s death santiago is plagued with pseudo-prophetic dreams about the life ricky would have led had santiago done his part in protecting him, showing ricky growing up and becoming a successful demigod and musician. santi is never fully sure if these dreams actually show the future that ricky would have had or if apollo is manipulating them. 

santiago has only told a handful of people about these dreams, mostly because they make him absolutely sick with guilt, but he’s never prayed to apollo to take them away because he believes he deserves the punishment. 

the dreams come less frequently in the years following ricky’s death but every so often santiago will get one. sometimes the guilt affects him so severely he becomes sick in the middle of the night and is unable to return to sleep again.

also, directly following ricky’s death santiago makes offerings at dinner not only for his own father but for apollo as well, knowing he can never appease the god for the death of his son but hoping it shows his humility and acceptance of responsible for the tragedy

[sonlightning]

santi is KING at capture the flag if he’s team captain they’re basically guaranteed to win thanks for ur time

[sonlightning]

POWERS !

in terms of santiago’s powers his biggest one is lightning manipulation! santiago is able to conjure, control, redirect, and absorb lightning without being harmed

obviously it’s easier to control lightning when a storm is already present, however santiago can summon lightning seemingly from nowhere, though it does take more focus and energy on his part and tires him a lot more quickly

i haven’t decided on santiago’s specific weapon of choice but i know it’s a sword and i know when he’s fighting sometimes he can conduct lightning through it and have it arc from his sword to his enemies’ sword ( given they’re also holding a sword that conducts electricity ) 

[sonlightning]

santi, 13 and meeting campers the same age/younger than him: i’m going to teach all of you everything terrible that i’ve ever learned and we’re going to wreak havoc in a fun way and also go on some dope ass quests santi, 20 and back from camp jupiter meeting all the younger campers: i’m going to protect all of you and teach you how to protect yourselves if it’s the last thing i do on this cursed earth, and we can also cause a little havoc in a fun way as a treat

[sonlightning]

i really oughta go to bed but santi’s got a fear of failure, which sounds lame and run of the mill but it manifests in him putting himself out there in ways where he’s confident he won’t fail. 

insecure about getting bad test grades? challenge the teacher about other things so the focus is drawn to behavior vs academia. getting picked on for being too short, or not knowing who your father is, or being the new kid every 8 months or so? become the class clown so everyone will like you for that, even if only for a little while. find out your father is king of the gods and that knowledge comes with crushing expectations from everyone who will ever meet you even though you’re only 13/14? present yourself as the easy-going, little brother-esque jokester around camp that people know not to count on for anything serious.

and this works out pretty okay until his first big quest where the fates force santiago to reckon with this flaw via the death of one of his closest friends at camp who was under his responsibility and care

[sonlightning]

i’m gonna flesh this out more when it’s not 3 am but ! santiago’s first big quest happens after he’s been training at camp half-blood for a few years when he’s 17ish -- again, i don’t have all the details for the quest, but i know it involves santiago and two other campers, and one of the campers ( probably the youngest one ) dies along the way, in a manner where it seems that if santiago had been more vigilant / careful he could have prevented the loss. 

the fate’s purpose of the quest was to force santiago to mature from his flippant, easy-going nature and to experience first-hand the consequences of his actions, or more likely the consequences of his inactions, as i can see santi not wanting to take on a strict leadership role in demigod duties just because people expect it from him bc of his father, and thus him not acting led to tragedy.

after the quest santiago asks his step-mom ( idk santi’s mom and felice aren’t actually married but it’s boring just calling her by name all the time ) to write him a recommendation letter for camp jupiter, where he spends the next two years training and learning to take his responsibilities and powers more seriously. 

when he returns to chb he’s learned a lot, matured a lot, hardened a lot, but he knows this is the place where he belongs, teaching other half-bloods and helping them, doing his best to make sure what happened on his quest doesn’t have to happen to another camper again

[sonlightning]

i’m positive hera hates santi and i’m positive he doesn’t give a shit

[sonlightning]

i haven’t totally ironed out santi’s plot line but i think he first comes to chb when he’s 12 or 13 -- he already knows he’s a half-blood at this point, and has been trained in the basics of roman and greek combat, but doesn’t know he’s a son of zeus until he’s claimed the night he arrives.

i’d like to have some sort of quest lined up for santiago at some point, but i do think he stays the better part of a year at chb learning and training. he leaves after that but does return to camp regularly, bouncing between it and his home in miami. when he’s younger santiago is definitely a bit of a brat at chb, kind of like the little brother you never wanted to have. he and the stoll brothers would get along PERFECTLY and he probably spends a lot of time in the hermes cabin, especially since he prefers a full cabin to an empty one like zeus’. he can be very annoying and petulant but he does mature a lot in his time at chb.

when santiago is 17 years old he travels to camp jupiter with a letter from felice. since felice was a previous centurion of the second cohort and highly respected at camp jupiter, her recommendation lands him in the first cohort ( of course, santiago being a son of zeus/jupiter probably had something to do with his high placement as well ). santi trains at camp jupiter continuously for two years, sometimes with visits from his mother and felice, and definitely with lots of correspondence to chb. though he respects the romans immensely he knows there isn’t any extended future for him at camp jupiter and doesn’t plan to pursue any upper mobility of rank ( centurion, senator, praetor, etc ).

i don’t exactly know what santi’s doing from 18-20 but it’s probably a quest! or maybe just heading out into the world and exploring a bit, killing some monsters along the way. just vibing. enjoying being alive. maybe he’ll take a roadtrip or visit greece or the dominican republic where his mom’s family is from, idk! the world is his oyster.

by the time he’s 20 santiago returns to chb for a position as a general camp counselor and combat instructor. he doesn’t necessarily have any plans for going to college/university/trade school but he’s open to it if he ever decides there’s something he’d really like to study/pursue in the non-magic world! i can see santi taking weaker / more unsure campers under his wing and helping to train them specifically, he’s got a real soft spot for underdogs and people whose potential is harder to see than others. he doesn’t mind acting as a big brother, especially for campers he can tell really needs one at the moment!

[sonlightning]

santiago grew up as a very loved kid and he’s always felt comfortable to act out in small ways while he was growing up. he got very good at playing pranks, partially because he’s fairly light-footed and good at sneaking around, but also because whenever he’s caught pulling a prank he can always get off the hook and play it off thanks to his overabundance of charisma. 

he used to get in trouble a lot at public school for talking back to teachers or sassing them and being witty -- he struck a pretty good balance of being a smart ass and a class clown at the same time. during his school years he got a lot of practice on how far he can push people and get them frustrated before it actually gets him in deep water. reading people is generally easy for him.

when first meeting santiago it’s easy to think he might be a son of hermes, but whenever he’s in battle or invoking his powers there’s no mistaking santiago for anything other than a son of zeus.

[sonlightning]

at the exact moment santiago was born a sacred eagle ( one of zeus’ symbols of power ) was also born, and the two of their lives were entwined! the eagle made a few appearances whenever santiago was younger and looked after him when he and his mom ( and eventually felice ) were on the move, but he doesn’t really “meet” the eagle until he arrives at camp half-blood for the first time when he’s around 12 or 13. 

the eagle looks generally normal except that its eyes are a glowing gold and it has a row of gilded feathers around the cap of its head. santi names the eagle “aquila” after the constellation of the same name and eventually learns because their life forces are tied, he’s able to have limited communication with the eagle -- sometimes he knows generally what aquila is thinking, and if he concentrates santiago can even see what aquila is currently looking at.

however, because their life forces are entwined whenever santiago dies aquila will also die. while the inverse is not true, but santiago will be able to feel the aquila’s death if it were ever struck down or killed, and it would feel very much like losing a part of himself.

[sonlightning]

anyway i love santiago a whole lot so here's like a rough timeline / some important stuff ab him:

his full name is santiago luis cielo montilla but he only ever uses his mother’s last name, montilla! “cielo” is like the placeholder for santiago’s dad’s last name. it’s an inside joke with the family we love to see it

santiago’s mom is named raquel and she’s a descendant of nereids ! she doesn’t have any specific powers but she’s always been good with healing magic and finds comfort whenever she’s near the sea.

santi’s known he was a half-blood since he was fairly young, probably about 5 or 6. he and his mom moved around a lot right after he was born because it was hard to control his powers and stay under the radar. when he was old enough to understand his mom told him about the gods, though she left out the fact that his father was zeus, and it did help santiago with keeping his emotions in check and not making them such an obvious target for monsters

while on the road santi and his mom met a veteran from camp jupiter, a woman named felice rossi, former centurion of cohort two and the daughter of mars and said to be blessed by fortuna. felice recognized santiago’s power even without knowing his godly parent and offered to help protect and train him as he grew older

raquel and felice eventually fall in love! it’s very sweet and santiago loves both his moms very much

after santiago gets ahold of his power and the three of them settle down in miami, raquel starts her own business making natural soaps, balms, and bath products, and there’s a whole line of magic products for nymphs and demi-gods and gods with extra healing abilities

felice trains santiago in the roman fighting style but he also learns aspects of greek fighting from his mother, so his overall combat style is kind of all over the place and pretty hard to predict

[sonlightning]

i luv santiago bc he does not suffer from boring romantic protagonist disease he’ll never be that bitch that’s like “we can’t be together.... it’s too dangerous for you to love me..... save yourself......” or whatever he’s always like yeah shit’s fucked but we’re in it together now, baby!

[sonlightning]

santiago is fluent in spanish but he’s only likely to sprinkle spanish into a conversation / speak in spanish if the person he’s talking to is also fluent in spanish