#a bit better...but god Zeus is stuck in my head...and the way I just really want to tell the tale of Rose and Zeus (I’ll explain it when I’m

[jenchan-writingmultis]

Twisted Wonderland Boys x Fem Reader in their respective Fairytales (Series)

(Idia's Part)

Previous part (Kalim)

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A/n: Out of every housewarden, I felt like sobbing writing Idia's cause of how fluffy he is, I love him so much. Content Warning: This Fic will be tagged as 16+ since it is a bit suggestive along with mentions of Gorey themes (Azul), it’s very vague. I haven’t finished Book 6 and Book 7 because I’m stuck in Tartarus, but they’re not done here yet. Potential Inaccuracy in Indian Tradition, Indian and Greek clothing, if ever you see inaccuracy about it, please let me know, I only did a bit of research about it. The reason for potential OOC was cause I mixed both the classic Villains with the personalities of our beloved boys. You have a child with Kalim here!

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First Batch would be: Riddle, Leona, Azul

Second Batch would be: Kalim, Idia, Malleus

List of Villains interconnecting with each character:

Kalim = The sultan Idia = Hades ─────❅───── Idia: The underworld has always been Idia’s little comfort zone, although at first, he didn’t want to rule it, due to how depressing it gets sometimes, but along with his brother Ortho who takes care of “outside” activities, aka meetings with those overbearing gods and goddesses who think they’re better than anyone, he didn’t mind the work as long as it’s with him. So far, his duties were all just about guiding souls into whatever the fuck they want or are allowed to go, honestly if they all became lost souls, he wouldn’t give a flying damn.

One day, however, an odd discrepancy appeared in the calculations of souls being accepted—an unregistered soul had entered the narrative. Concerned, he strolled toward the portal of Tartarus to investigate. When he peered inside, a sudden flash of blinding light erupted, disorienting him. Before he could react, a heavy force slammed into his body, causing him to stumble.

“What the!” he grunted, feeling a heavy body on top of him, he rubbed his head, opening his eyes, adjusting to the sudden light-to-darkness transition.

You stirred, finding your hands pinning him down. His eyes widened in shock as he pushed you off, scrambling backward so quickly that he hit his back on the wall with a loud slam.

“What In the world?!” he screeched, his hair glowing brightly meaning he was incredibly nervous, while you seemed to be lost, standing up, you pat away the dust off your outfit, taking notice of Idia who still was pressed on the wall.

“Idia?” you went closer to him, he looked like an angry kitten, glaring at you at first but the moment you got closer he stiffens up, pushing his hands to protect himself from you.

“Stay back! You anomaly!” he shouted that it echoed around the empty room, you were taken aback, “Idia, it’s me.” you said, eyebrows knitting in frustration.

“H-how do you know my name?” he asked, looking at you confusedly, were you sent by his other brother who he doesn’t even think of one, Zeus? You look kind of angelic so there’s a suspicion.

“Idia, you’re my boyfriend” Wow point blank you decided to kill him with those words, boyfriend his ass, what boyfriend, all he knows is that he prefers to be single than have a lover, also he wants to add that you are way out of his league, there’s no way you like him that way, and this is the first time you met him, was there a camera around here? The edited laughter? Where is it? He’s waiting for that to come.

Realizing that he was overthinking again, you snapped your fingers catching his attention; stating your name you tried to see if you got any reaction, but nothing. He really didn’t remember you.

You were going to be saddened by this, if it weren’t for the fact that the tips of his hairs had a slight pink on it meaning was still a chance for you to get your boyfriend back.

Okay, you two might be misunderstanding things, while Idia was observant, he can’t think straight when he’s in front of someone, his black and blue robe being a perfect cover for himself, he even had a hoodie knitted for him to cover his hair with.

You noticed that he was taller than before, raising your eyebrow, you grabbed his arm, which made him freeze up, looking at you like you just harassed him, his sweat drops. “What?”

“Since when did you get taller?” you asked, he slides your hand off of his arm, rubbing it a bit, “I don’t know?” he answered confusedly, before waving his hand dismissively, “No more questions, I’m bringing you back to Zeus” he grumbled, his stupid brother playing pranks on him again.

“What? Zeus?” you walked faster to catch up on him when he started speedwalking away, “Y’know, God of Olympus?” he said, weirded out why you didn’t know Zeus, everyone knows him.

“Wait, Zeus as in the God from long ago?” you asked further, which made Idia stop his tracks, turning to look at you, his figure looming, he looked like a grim reaper when he stands with you before, but now it’s more evident.

“What do you mean long ago?” he asked as bewildered as you are, why are you acting this way anyways? Anomaly that popped out of nowhere and almost giving him a concussion and right now you’re giving him a migraine, what’s next huh? brain aneurysm?   

“Are you not my Idia?” you frowned, looking at him closer, he exhibited a different style, he was taller, slightly shorter hair, bluish skin instead of pale.

“Your” Idia? What does that mean?

The more you open your mouth the more questions pop out, sighing he decided to cover your mouth with his hand. “Please… just shut up for a minute”

Okay, first theory! You’re not from around here, I mean you just got spat out like trash by the Tartarus and suddenly proclaiming that he’s your boyfriend, he feels bad for you, your standard is in hell if you’re dating him, you’re pretty too, a disrespect to your face really.

Second theory, which he’s leaning on more, you’re a spy sent by his brother Zeus; to make him fall for you and you break his heart and upload it to magicam or something.

If you think he’s self-deprecating too much, please, he’s just being realistic with the situation.

“First off, I am not yours” he clarified, lifting his hands as if he’s surrendering to you. “I never met you in my whole life, you’re cute but no”

Rejected by your own boyfriend, you wanted to pinch his cheeks for it, you were going to be hurt by this, but the thing is, the way he acts reminded you of the first stages of your relationship with him, he wasn’t the best with it.

“Okay,” you said, being short with him, for some reason that made him feel bad, scratching the back of his neck, he wanted to hold your cheek or hand to comfort you, an odd feeling.

“Sorry- I mean if you want to, I can act like your boyfriend or something” he murmured, his voice gradually decreasing to the point you barely heard the last words.

“It’s fine Idia, no need” not wanting to force him into that kind of thing, however, you noticed that his little fire hair started to fizzle out, panicking a bit you touched his hand, holding it, “wait I mean, okay, sure we can act”

Phew, that got his fire back up, lucky you. “Okay…” he said awkwardly coughing as he uses his tech to call for Ortho. “Ortho, can you come here?”

Ortho was impressively fast with going back to the underworld, looking the same except his clothes or rather his cyborg parts looked Greek like, it explains why you were wearing a tunic.

“Scan her” Idia said, using his eyes to signal ortho who to scan, in which Ortho grins brightly. “Okay!”

You stayed still as Ortho used his eyes to scan you, it was something that came natural for you, especially since your Ortho does that often.

“So?” Idia asked, leaning on the wall, Ortho shook his head, looking conflicted. “Nope, she doesn’t have any data around Ancient Greece, or anywhere”

“Huh” he didn’t seem surprised. “Are you sure about this?” he asked, patting Ortho’s head. “Yeah! I did another scan but there’s no indication of her presence anywhere.

So, you really were just transported by Tartarus to Ancient Greece, connecting the dots, that means Idia here is…

Noticing you staring at him in deep thought He smiles a bit, you looked funny thinking like that, pouty and all. “Since you’re really not from here, my name is Idia, God of the Underworld, and this is Ortho, my brother.” Ortho waves at you enthusiastically and he was genuinely surprised that his brother introduced him instead of himself.

“I know” you hummed, crossing your arms. “I told you already, we’re dating- “

Idia tried to cover your mouth before you spout that out but failed as Ortho’s eyes widens. “You’re dating my brother in the other world?! You mean there’s another version of us in your world?”

Oh dear, you’re in it now.

Ortho basically asked you plenty of questions, already happy that his brother pulled someone like you, you were gorgeous!

Idia was a bit happy you got along with his brother, he sometimes feels bad that he keeps Ortho in such a depressing place instead of being a normal kid outside and playing.

Also he can’t help but get flustered whenever you randomly get physically affectionate with him, he’s been trying to find a way to get you back in your world, but it’s proving to be difficult since Tartarus maybe his domain, but it’s a system that’s entirely independent from him, think of it as the pity system in his gacha games, even if you hit enough 80 pulls, it doesn’t guarantee the limited character you want.

But, as long as he can, Idia tries to make sure every time he hangs out with you is worthwhile, it’s the first time he made effort to spend time with someone, when he’s off work, he finds himself going to the guest room, asking if you wanted to come eat with him and Ortho, or sometimes, you end up in his room, playing a two-player game with him.

Ever since you came into his life, he started going out of his room more, back then he usually just… does his work and go to his room. That’s all Now he’s trying to go outside more, especially when Ortho told him that to get you back faster was by “thinking outside the box” which just meant that he should go touch some grass and let the gears in his brain think of a solution.

He didn’t really know when he fell for you, but he noticed it when you were outside with him, in the largest field that had nothing but nature around. The outfit that Ortho lend you fits your palette so perfectly, it almost made him want to take a picture.

You were admiring the view while glancing around, picking up flowers.

Confused with what you were doing he walked to you. “Hey what-“ getting cut off as you shove a bouquet of flowers on his chest, a ribbon clumsily wrapped around the stems of the flowers.

“For you” you said, smiling, making his heart skip a bit, he accepted the gift as Ortho called out for you, giving him a glance before you grab his collar, pulling him down to kiss his cheek before walking away.

That got his hair to burn bright pink, shaking from the adrenaline, he coughed awkwardly, hopefully, Ortho didn’t see what you did.

Well, he’s having a hard time finding a way to send you back home, so… it might take a while.

─────❅───── A/n: ACCCCCCK IDIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA ILYSM ༼;´༎ຶ ۝ ༎ຶ༽ Malleus' Part

[sneakystorms]

I've been listening to the Iliad (emily wilson translation) and much like with the odyssey before it I'm not like WILD about it but i'm definitely finding some bits that are wildly interesting or compelling to me such as

The sheer unreliability of the gods as beings whose will can conceivably be swayed by mortals' actions... We do start with apollo reacting with lethal anger to being sighted, and seeming to be successfully appeased when the advice of a prophet is followed, but! The scene that really caught my attention was when the Greeks and trojans were swearing their oaths in preparation for the one on one duel and the text just straightforwardly stated that those oaths and those prayers fell on deaf ears! Zeus did not care! And speaking of that scene, it's wild that this duel was given war-ending importance, that both sides seemingly agreed to lay down their weapons should their representative lose and it all happened with such deference to the rules of honour and decorum... And then Aphrodite just shamelessly intervenes to save paris! It's wild!

Speaking of Paris, the sheer disdain his brother and, really, all of troy seems to have for him! Delicious! It's fascinating to me that helene is treated with much more kindness by the trojans than Paris, and that it's paris who's - correctly - blamed for the war! It also creates a pretty tragic dynamic between him and helen where he retreats to her company and exercises his power over her to make himself feel better

The line "achilles, your mother raised you to be angry" (or something to that effect)

The way the narrative doesn't demonise or dehumanise the trojans at ALL, that it's filled with this profound sadness and respect for the dead of both sides, that so many death scenes bring up the family that will never see this man return home. A passage that stuck with me is one where a dying soldier's head is compared to a swollen poppy and this is coupled with a few lines about his mother

Going back to the gods, their antics on the battlefield are definitely a highlight, and that chapter where they get heavily involved really made me feel like nothing that the human characters did really mattered because it was all up to the protection or vendetta of a god... But like in a good way, where this put me in the headspace of someone in that situation thinking those thoughts

And just as an aside, it's fun how different gods have very different presences in the text and in the context of war. Aphrodite is kind of comical even though she does hugely impact certain events. zeus rules unopposed but from afar, keeping his promise to thetis and his long term plan in mind all the while. Hera can only act indirectly, by creating opportunities for other gods. Poseidon is said to have a huge impact at one point, but only by infusing his favoured side's soldiers with adrenaline. But my favourite is Apollo because i always get this vibe of wildness and... Dispassion from him? Probably just my own bias but he and artemis often feel to me like those strange fey youths, a little disconnected from the people whose lives they wreck with unflinching cruelty. Maybe it's their connection to disease and sudden, "random" death

[crowcaws]

It's difficult to put into words exactly how I feel because there are some aspects I adore with my whole heart, and others that really don't sit well with me. Thoughts on PJO with spoilers are below the cut, with both positive and negative thoughts. Tl;dr I think the show is fine. Just fine.

The cast of this show is out of this world better than we could have ever hoped for, they really brought their A game and gave a phenomenal performance. I'm genuinely devastated we will never get to see more of Lance's Zeus because he felt born for that role. His quiet power, the danger in his stare that could turn in an INSTANT absolutely fucking ruled. Whoever takes over has big shoes to fill already and he was only in one scene!

The choice to really flesh out Sally as a more important part of the story and Percy's life was so, so special to me. I think this is the one aspect where the show shines above the book. Sally in the books makes a lot of tough choices for Percy's benefit, but we get to see that out of Percy's head and in Sally's for a bit.

Edit: I FORGOT POSEIDON!!! I liked the change with the deadline forcing Poseidon to take an active role and make a choice to protect Percy. I loved the Nereid sent to help Percy. Poseidon is far less passive in the series and I love that so, so much. In the same way we see why Sally would tempt a god, we also see why Percy is worthy of a God like Poseidon putting himself on the line.

But (and I know this will ruffle feathers because Uncle Rick was involved heavily so please understand I love him too, but our heroes are not infallible) think some of the writing choices were questionable. I understand they set out to tell a unique story from the books and I don't mind some of the changes. But my main issues were:

They really toned down Gabe. I don't know why or what the reasoning was, but it kind of feels like they thought "a strong woman like Sally wouldn't put up with abuse" was the way to go, which in itself doesn't sit well with me. But then you end up with her sticking with this kind of shitty husband, and I don't think they ever explained why! So if there is no emotional manipulation and there is no practical reason given, to someone who hasn't read the books it's like.... Sally Jackson went from Poseidon to THIS and stuck around? As far as I can tell Sally is the breadwinner too so what reason does she have, to someone who doesn't know about the smelly thing, for her to be here?????

Also I know that people will say "he figured out Kronos from clues, he figured out Luke from clues, and Hermes *probably* told him about Crusty" but I really think the show doesn't show its working enough. If enough people had the reaction that Percy was figuring out things a little too easily, EVEN IF it can be explained away, there's probably merit in the idea that they were kind of handing things to him to move the plot along. There was a lot of showing without telling happening.

It also felt a little like some of those reveals, particularly Kronos, could and should have gone to Annabeth instead. They sort of piled a lot of character strengths onto Percy and didn't give her as much of a chance to shine where it mattered, beyond a few shallow jokes about her being quicker than Percy. They also didn't really touch on the gravitasse of Luke's betrayal in regards to her feelings!? We got one line. The story is out of Percy's head now, we should have gotten that! It's so important to her character. I feel like the teeth of Annabeth's trauma have been blunted a little bit here in comparison to the books, where you get a better sense of why she acts the way she does. The rivalry with Athena and Poseidon is barely mentioned at all!

Basically, despite the show leaving Percy's inner monologue, I don't feel we gained enough perspective from other characters in return.

Finally, the set choices leave a lot to be desired where it counts. I hate volume stages PASSIONATELY, I always have, and did anyone else notice that it feels like no character in the entire show sees a ray of sunshine or hard light? It's all soft, evenly lit in a greyish scene that makes even Olympus feel really, really flat. The Mandalorian suffered the same volume stage look, I hated it then and I really wish they'd stop or learn to light them or saturate them better.

Basically I did enjoy watching but I also don't feel the thrill of a piece of art from it. Some scene have that magic, but others just feel like they're trying to get from point A to point B. I have said it before but Lockwood and Co isna much better example of how to adapt a middle grade book in a way that is both unique from the source material while keeping the spirit alive and delivering a perfectly fleshed out product. I hate to say it because again, I adore Rick, but I'm not sure that his talents as an author translate into the strongest screenplays.

And I would finally remind everyone that the show being made does not mean the books no longer exist, you can read them! Right now! Nothing is ruined by a less than 5 star venture into the screen! And these are just my personal thoughts, the impressions I got. If you don't agree that's fine, but I hope we can keep aggression out of the PJO tag because I've been seeing people come for anyone who dares say anything not positive about the show as if they're personally campaigning to get it cancelled. just take a step back and remember we're allowed to not think it was a perfect end result.

Edit again because I forgot another big issue: WHY WAS THE ARES FIGHT THE FIRST REALLY GOOD FIGHT WE GOT??? I really loved it, it played EXACTLY how I imagined it in my head (albeit both the guys were browner in my head akshdhshs) but it also dawned on me that it was so much better than everything else we were shown except maybe the Clarisse fight way back in ep 1. In particular the Medusa scene was over far too quickly without enough suspense (dare I say this, the movie actually did the Medusa hunt better for the most part) and the Minotaur was kind of... Idk. Something about it felt a little underwhelming. Th chimera was over in two seconds after a pretty cool shot of it prowling, and the Fury outside Medusa's was so anticlimactic -- why would I want to watch the action from a kitchen window with no music??? In comparison to all the other action, the Ares fight blew it all out of the water. So I both loved that, and didn't like the rest so much.

[aelloposchrysopterus]

The Void Wants Love

Your hands, playing with a string, cedar in color, a string that stretched and shrunk and vibrated and was still, all at once and none of these at all. It wrapped around your fingers, or you wrapped it around your fingers, or neither or both. "Look," you said, "look at what we can weave together."

The school bell rang, telling everyone to run along to class. You were standing against the lockers, scrolling through your phone. More importantly, you were standing up against my locker, and I needed my books.

"Hey," I said.

"Hey," you said, still not looking up.

"My locker's here?"

"Fine," you groaned, sliding out of the way.

I opened my locker, but I couldn't quite take my eyes off of you. There was something unique about you in a way I didn't know how to describe. I grabbed the wrong book, but wouldn't noticed until I was in class. "I haven't seen you around. New here?"

You put your phone in your pocket and rotated to face me. "One could say that." You blinked at me slowly, and I thought that for a moment, your pupils were oblong, but it was probably just a trick of the light.

"Uh..." My mouth - my brain - couldn't form a coherent sentence. I wasn't sure what to offer you. I began to close my locker, the syllable still hanging in my mouth, and as I did, my hand hit yours.

"Look at this," you said, and the string leapt from your hands, or you threw it. It spun itself into a ball and the ball unwound, every single possibility unfolding in exactly the same moment, and in none of them. The string flew towards me and I caught it, and the possibilities condensed into a smaller set. I looked at you, and you were flickering through so many different bodies. I tried to focus my eyes on you, but I couldn't know if you were real or imaginary. "Hey. Let it go."

"Fuck that," I said, and I fell flat on my back on the soccer field. It was late at night; the game had finished a few hours ago, but we'd stuck around just to have fun, just a couple of teens.

You loomed over me. "Doing ok down there?" When I was silent, you sat down next to me. "Yeah, that was a rough game. Could've done better."

"It wasn't rough until Twenty-Five got the ball." I twisted my head to face yours. "You were doing good, but between Twenty-Five and Seventeen, you didn't have a chance." You were quiet. "It's not your fault that the rest of the team didn't step up their game."

A car drove by and your eyes glowed in the headlights in a peculiar way that didn't feel quite human. You blinked and shrugged. "I wasn't focused enough. She shouldn't have gotten it on my watch."

"Awwwwww, was I too distracting? Does someone perhaps lose the ability to focus when her girlfriend's there?" I sat up, trying to look a bit more seductive than usual.

"It wasn't you," you said, looking at the dark forest beyond the field. You snapped back to look at me. "Sorry, I've got to go, there's something out there I should deal with.." You stood up.

"No, wait!" I reached for your leg and wrapped my hand around it.

I was falling and I was floating and the string wrapped me so tight I couldn't move and I could move every little part of me, and I turned to look at you, the actual you, the one pulling the string in or the one the string was drawn to. You looked much like I'd known you, but your eyes were those of a cat's, and you had cat ears and a long tail that swished back and forth with fur as black as your hair. Your teeth were pointed. No part of you was fully human, and no part of you was fully felid. You sat back on your throne. "It's your choice," you said.

"My writing professor told us to think about what the Greek gods would be like if they had fursonas," I said, sitting across from you in a cafe. "I'm not sure why, but it's at least a really funny conversation to have with your classmates. Like, oh, 'Zeus's fursona is an eagle because of Prometheus!' 'You're wrong, Zeus is clearly a wolf because he'd self-describe as an alpha!' It's a weird assignment, but like, the laughing about it makes it worth it."

You sipped your latte. "Chaos is a catgirl."

"Cat, I can see. Catgirl, I'm not sure of." I crossed my arms. "Chaos is a place, not a person, not really. And like, yeah, Hesiod does say Chaos gave birth to some of the other gods, or that those gods sprung from Chaos, but that doesn't mean that Chaos is feminine. And plus, catgirl has different connotations that just cat fursona, and I'm not sure that those connotations fit the Chaos of Greek myth."

"Chaos is a catgirl," you repeated. You looked at your nails, which suddenly looked rather sharp and curved. "And Chaos is feminine, or at least more feminine than masculine. Chaos is everything and nothing all at once. And anyhow, it's objectively funny to think of Chaos as like a little black cat. You know, 'the void wants tuna'?"

I smiled, and you smiled back, and I took your hand in mine.

"We're in Chaos," I said. "That's where you've taken me, that's why that string both exists and doesn't exist all at once. We're in Chaos - no, you're Chaos, and I'm in you, and you are actually a catgirl, and I swear I must be dreaming."

"You're not dreaming," you said, the string coalescing around you, finally rolling itself into a ball. You looked at the ball for a second. "The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle says you can know where an electron is or its velocity, but not both. With this string, you can know both, or neither, but not just one. This string could become the Moirai's thread, or it could be another."

"What the fuck does principles of quantum mechanics not working here have to do with any of this?"

"Everything comes out of me. I contain every possibility and every impossibility. I existed before you and I'll exist long after you are but dust. I can make a future for us, a future in which we are both ourselves, and I am not stuck in the form I use to deceive mortals."

"What's the downside? Is like, Zeus alive and going to be mad at you for choosing this?"

"Zeus doesn't matter, and he's not alive anyhow. I am the First; to me, everything returns. I suppose the only downside is that I'll have to rebuild the world from scratch. Everyone in your life will still exist, everyone who died will still be dead, but they won't be the same person that you knew. For all intents and purposes, they'd be the same, but in the same way that two gold atoms are identical and yet distinct. Imagine what we can weave together, you and I. A life in which you're Chaos's bride."

"Why are you giving me a chance to say no to this?"

"Mortals deserve autonomy too. It would be cruel of me - cruel, in the sad way that awful divine descendent of my progeny's progeny was cruel to mortal women - to deny you the chance to shape your fate. Tell me, what will it be?"

I wake up next to you. Your claws rest gently on my shoulder and your tail wraps around my torso. Your ears perk up slightly at my small movements, but you remain quiet. On the floor, there are shards of glass in a pool of water - you must've knocked a water glass off our bedside table while I slept.

I look at you laying there, and I remember my dream, in which you were human. It must have been a dream. You've always had those ears I like to scritch and that tail that knocks things over, those sharp teeth that tear things apart so easily and those claws that give you really good grip, those eyes that look like they could stare into your soul.

A vision of cedar string flashes before my eyes. I must be so tired, to be seeing things that aren't there.

"There we go," your voice says, but it's not coming from your body.

Suddenly, everything feels so normal. It was just a dream. You didn't say anything. It has always been this way; it never could've been any other way.

And next to me, you start to stir.

[seduceme-lovestruck-thearcana]

OH @megatraven BEFORE I FORGET. I’ve been thinking of Alex all day (it’s been so stressful and it’s finally night-) and like...from your Medusa’s post I remembered Alex sang at their wedding...I think?? If not, I was still imagining them doing it and I was listening to, “If You Love Her,” when I thought of this and...maybe you can see where this is going....

MC gives them the mic and they sing a few songs and the last one is this song...and they look at MC during it and everyone in the room...but mainly MC...and she gives them a smile filled with affection, even if it’s not the same kind that they wish they could give her, and the kind they could receive in turn. But they love her and they know that if you love someone, you want them happy, and if them being happy means being with someone else? Then they accept that. They’re lucky to be in her life and still be one of her best friends.

They’re lucky to not get a dirty look with this song (from either of them) AND I REMEMBER MEDUSA SAYING, “It’s unlike for a child of Aphrodite to fall out of love,” OR SOMETHING SIMILAR?!?! AND THEY SING THIS SONG!! AND!! SHE REALIZES THAT NO...THEY STILL LOVE HER WITH THEIR WHOLE SOUL...and she just smiles at them too, even if it is filled with sympathy...idk what Medusa is like bht I imagine her in this to feel sympathy towards Alex because she knows what it’s like to love someone with their whole being...and she’s marrying the woman she loves with her being...that woman is now her wife...and that amazing woman will only be Alex’s best friend...and to imagine her (as in Medusa not Alex. It seems like I’m referring them here but I’m not, I’m just bad at transitions lol) not being able to love MC?? It hurts, so she feels sympathy towards them..LIKE IK ITS PROBABLY REALLY WRONG MEG (I haven’t played Medusa so my bad if I got her character wrong :’() BUT UGHHH...Alex singing that song to them, telling Medusa what she likes (even if she knows it), reminds her of how to treat MC, and is just singing about their love for her, without actually saying it.

GOD I LOVE THEM MEG AND UGHHHHH....ALEX DESERVES PEACE AND I WILL NEVER GET OVER HOW ALEX LOVES MC AND WILL POSSIBLY NEVER MOVE ON AND LOVE HER FROM AFAR (sorta bc they’re always in her life, even in Astraeus...oh god my emotions are getting riled again) BECAUSE ITS A BLESSING ON ITS OWN AND THEIR HEART WILL NEVER CHANGE...but my heart also imagines Alex maybe falling for someone because they’re so close to being MC, their heart falling for them a little bit...but no matter what...when they look at MC, their best friend, the love they truly love, they will never be completely happy...abd they can’t be with that person because it will never be her...and I still can’t get over how much they love her and I will never get over it because living forever?? Being so full of love?!? BUT NEVER BEING ABLE TO SHOW THE LOVE IN THE WAY THEY WANT TO?!?! HUH??? THAT MAKES MY HEART ACHE WHENEVER I TRULY THINK ABOUT IT...

And....this post wasn’t just meant for angst. I read you aren’t feeling so good mentally and I wanted to maybe cheer you up somehow!! Maybe?!?! I just know Alex fluff makes everyone feel better (well mostly or at least a little bit better) and I really want to help and hope you’re okay🥺💙💗💖.

ANYWAYS, I have multiple fluff ideas >:)). Okay so the first one is related to my Death Bed song AU, remember it?? The one where MC had a YouTube channel where she wrote songs and sung covers?? NOW IMAGINE...Alex showing up in some of her songs. Maybe they sing a solo for her channel, or they appear with her and sing a duet...maybe they’re an important part in her own songs she writes and the covers...and their voices fit together so well and it’s SO beautiful...I love the idea and I hope you do too...and MAYBE ONE OF THE SONGS IS IF YOU LOVE HER!!! IMAGINE!! JUST ANOTHER SONG MEANT TO REPRESENT THEIR LOVE FOR HER AND HNNNG-

Okay another idea is before they dated or even felt feelings (or realized it) and like...imagine MC being in high school and I remember it being canon and at least stated somewhere about MC and Alex being in high school for at least ONE year together. They were the cool and popular one and charming one, and she was the shy and nervous one, who was close with them but only waved at them slightly and gave a small smile when she passed them...and imagine her needing help...and she feels anxious she’s going to fail something or disappoint her mother so...who does she go to??

Her best friend, Alex. She goes to them and they meet at a library and it’s a sweet moment because she’s confused and they understand the topic (...mostly, but they wouldn’t admit it. They’re tryna seem cool) and help her. They praise her when she gets it right and it builds up her confidence a bit and they help her a lot with her fear of failing and telling her that she could never disappoint anyone and how she’s so amazing...and maybe whispering under their breath about how she could never disappoint them-

Another fluff idea is remember how MC has shorts that literally has their aura on it?? LIKE THE STAG AND DOE SYMBOL YOU KNOW?? IN THE FLIPPING PANCAKE CG?? I THINK SHE HAD THEM AND IF NOT...imagine her making them. There’s a rare chance she found them at some store, so imagine her making them with them. Or!! Making them on her own!! And surprising them being like, “look what I made :)” AND THEY FALL DEEPER FOR HER BECAUSE SHES SO CREATIVE AND SPENT TIME TO MAKE SOMETHING RELATED TO THEM AND ANOTHER WAY OF SHOWING HOW SHE LOVES THEM...

And another fluff idea is her playing with their aura, even before she knew she had Heras potential!! There is no convincing me that she didn’t see the stag and doe appear from time to time and she would always play with them or pat their heads, give them head scratches, maybe even talk to them (even if Alex is literally right there sometimes) and LIKE!! IMAGINE IF THEY WENT AWAY AND LET HER KEEP THE NECKLACE BECAUSE, like, I think Alex still has a lot of power even without their artifact?? NOT SURE BUT LIKEEEE...THEY COME OUT AND JUST HANG OUT WITH HER AND GIVE HER AFFECTION AND LIKE...IK THIS WAS A POST ON YOUR BLOG AND STILL!! ITS SO SWEET!!! AND!!!

When she gives them affection it makes Alexs heart feel so happy and fluttery and makes their emotions feel happy because THE AURA IS PART OF THEIR BEING SO...IF THEYRE HAPPY THEN ALEX IS HAPPY AND IT HELPS THEM FALL ASLEEP FROM FAR AWAY....god I love Alex so much😭💙. Love youuu and goodnight💙💖💕💕💕 and I hope you’re okay and take a break if you need one (like I said in an ask-). AnyWAYS YH ᴸᴼᵛᴱ ᵞᴼᵁ!!! ᴴᴱᴴᴱ ᵂᴱᴵᴿᴰ ᶠᴼᴺᵀ ᴶᵁˢᵀ ᶠᴼᴿ ᵞᴼᵁ. It’s midnight and posting it now bc oof I’m tired and stressed and need to get it out before I forget. And!! I’ll probably post the next chapter of Rose and Apollo tomorrow because I finished it awhile ago, but didn’t want to tag you in too many things :’))). So yeah I’m excited about this chapter too >:))). More foreshadowing of lore and I love it-

[i-cant-sing]

Ooh, you write for Greek Mythology? Perhaps Zeus kidnapping a male reader, and basically not listening to them at all. Zeus getting more and more annoyed that the reader fails to care about all the opulence, grandeur, and power Zeus has. The reader just trying to escape and struggle. Zeus deciding to teach them a lesson to respect the king of the gods?

Yandere Zeus x male reader

I was so tempted to just write a scene where Zeus just goes boop! And turns the reader into a cow 😂😂😂😂😂 Anyways, thanks for requesting! Greek Mythology is also one of weaknesses, especially Hades, Persephone, Ares, and Hephaesteus💖💖💖

Enjoy!

Check out my MASTERLIST for more!

TW: gore

Yandere Zeus:

It didn't work.

Nothing works.

You laid in a fetal position on the wooden floor of your apartment; crying. Crying because of the pain.

The pain of emptying the bottle of acid into your eyes? Partly the reason.

The pain of realisation that you've lost? Mostly.

I should've just stayed there. You cried. Should've just stayed with him and let him have his way.

It would've been far less traumatising than this anyways. This, this curse that he had given you all because you didn't want to sleep with him.

Who would've thought that Zeus, the Greek God, would have become obsessed with a mere mortal like you? And then who would have even imagined that he would kidnap you and take you to Olympus; where he would confess his love for you?

You certainly didn't. You thought that maybe you were just off your meds or that this was just a really weird dream. But the reality of the situation dawned on you the longer you stayed there; the longer Zeus made his advances on you.

You didn't get why he was so infatuated with you. Or so tolerant either. You've heard all the stories about him kidnapping others and forcing himself on them, but he never once forced himself on you. He could have, but he didn't. Instead, he kept on trying to gain your affection like one would do in a normal relationship. 

His palace was the main attraction of Olympus. Golden gates and marble floors and huge pillars showed the grandeur of the palace. Wine so sweet that you couldnt get enough of, yet you didnt get drunk and food so delectable, you could devour the entire table. How you wished you could stay here forever and enjoy these treats, but you knew nothing comes for free. 

Zeus tried to impress you with his powers, his wealth, and everything he could give you if only you accept to be with him for eternity. He had even given you the gift of immortality, which you tried to return but couldn't.

He was being beyond generous and patient with you. But you couldn't help but feel he had a sinister ulterior motive behind those charming grey eyes.

When showing off wasn't working, he started getting physical. Brushing his hands on your body, hugging you a bit too long for it to be comfortable, even forcing you into his lap.

Of course, you struggled. Who wouldn't? A powerful god comes and whisks you away to another dimension, then proclaims his love for you and offers you all the luxurious amenities one could only dream of, only asking for your love in return? When he could easily overpower you? Yeah, something doesn't sit right.

And its not just that reason alone that you kept resisting him, you know. You've heard of his wife and sister, Hera. You've heard all the stories of how she would treat her husband's mistresses and men.

You feared her, because if anything, the Olympian Gods were famous for their cruel punishments.

You really should've remembered that when you finally flipped out on Zeus, screaming how you don't need him, don't care about him, don't and won't ever love him.

That was the first time you saw him get angry, but it was gone just as soon as it came.

He collected himself and sighed. You thought you had finally gotten through to him but instead of letting you go or even strike you with thunder for such disrespect, he did something else. “You really want to return so bad? Alright, who am I to deny my love?”

He made a bet with you. "If you can survive in your world without me for... 2 months? No, that'll be too harsh on you; 1 month, I'll let you go and never pursue you ever again. And if i win, you'll do everything I say." He smirked. "What do you say? Sounds fair?"he asked you, his eyes hinting nothing mischievous.

You knew better. You knew he was playing some really heinous game with you, where all the rules are in his favour and the odds were stacked against you. But you were desperate for escape. Plus, it was only a month right? You could do it.

But you couldn't.

Zeus had given you a parting "gift". Which you had to accept in order to leave. You didn't know what exactly it was until you returned home.

You were surprised to see everything was normal. You thought that maybe you would be kicked out of your apartment, bankrupted yourself or someone was going to kill you.

No. Nothing bad was happening to you. It was happening to everyone around you and they didn't even know it.

As it turns out, Zeus had cursed gifted you with the ability to see how someone was going to die when you looked at them. And you could warn them all about it, but no one would believe you. You couldn't prevent their deaths. And somehow, everyone around you had horrible, gruesome deaths.

You had those pictures forever embedded in your mind.

You'll never forget how your tailor friend had her hair loose and they got stuck in the sewing machine, and ripped her entire scalp off, tearing away all the nerves and blood vessels.

Or how a guy from work accidentally slipped on to the rail tracks, and was run over by the incoming train; his skin and guts stuck to the tracks. They had to pour chemicals to dissolve his remains.

Or how your pot dealer owed some people, and wasn't able to pay them so they put him through a mince machine, but the machine kept getting stuck so they chopped his already mutilated body and then threw him back into the machine, piece by piece.

It was too much.

You decided to not look at all. You wrapped your eyes in a tight bandage around your head, but all thanks to him, you could see right through them.

When that plan failed, you decided to stay at home and avoid contact with people completely. But then, you could see the deaths of people on your TV, on your phone, even of people in your dreams. And the deaths were getting more gorey and disturbing.

So, you decided to pour acid into your eyes. It was painful. And for a second, it was worth it because you couldn't see.

But they regenerated back. Because he had made you immortal. Your eyes healed back with the perfect 20/20 vision.

And thats how you were in this position right now. Crying to yourself as you finally admit to that you've lost.

"Zeus."you finally whispered, not even entirely sure you did. But that was confirmed when you felt a slight breeze behind you, causing you to cry harder.

"Shhh, darling. Its okay. I'm here now."Zeus said to you in a calming voice, as he pulled you to his chest.

"P-please make it stop. I- I'm sorry! Just make it stop please, I beg you."you cried into his chest.

He ran his fingers through your hair, pressing a soft kiss to your temple. "Did you learn lesson, love?"he asked in a quiet tone.

You pulled your head out of his chest and nodded vigorously. "yes! Yes. I've learned it. You were right. I was wrong. I- I lost the bet. Just please make it stop-"you sobbed.

Zeus caressed your cheek, looking deep into your eyes. "Alright. Let’s go back home, okay? I've missed you a lot. 2 weeks apart was far too long for me, love."

When you both returned to Olympus, you were met with a woman. As you looked at her in the arms of Zeus, you didn’t have to ask to know the Queen of Olympus was waiting for her husband and you. 

She smiled at you.

“Welcome back, darling.”

Hope you guys liked this! Thanks for being so patient!💞💞

[theladybarnes]

AVENGERS, ASSEMBLE - CH7: SENTIMENT

Time is waiting. We only got four minutes to save the world! No hesitating Grab a boy, Grab a girl!

FEATURING:Loki Laufeyson, Thor Odinson, & The Avengers WORD COUNT: 1,746 SERIES MASTERLIST: ★

Sounds of sirens and screaming in the distance can be heard out the open window. The Chitauri were here and the city of New York would be the first of their destruction. And YOU were stuck in Stark tower, currently being held down but the God who had brought them here.

He had your body strapped down to the chair with a cool hand that forced your gaze to look out the window with him. Currently his attempts to harm you were on pause as he scanned over the city. The look on his face was questionable to you. The smile would make him look pleased, but the anxiousness in his eyes said otherwise.

“You seem so pleased to watch the place you wish to rule, burn.”

He didn’t bother to turn to look at you. “You will learn to keep your mouth shut around me, Little Stark.” You hated the way he said your name. “I might just use you as an example instead of my little toy.”

An exhale fell past your lips. “You might as well kill me now, Pigeon. Otherwise you’ll really start to get annoyed by me.” You let the glass shard slip out from your sleeve into the palm of your hand. The jagged edge stung into your skin but you bit your cheek to keep from crying out.

“I can assure you it’d be quite the painful death so you wish for it.”

His attention was completely pulled away from you and he made the mistake of not checking your person once more before he stepped out onto the balcony. Probably for a better view of his chaos.

The whole thing was short-lived as Thor landed on the balcony beside him. The two of you shared eye contact briefly and you mouthed that you were okay and took the chance of Thor confronting Loki to cut at your rope finally.

“Loki! Turn off the Tesseract, or I’ll destroy it.”

You bit back a laugh and focused on the work instead of how Thor sounded like an angry father.

“You can’t! There is no stopping it. There is only.. the war.”

“So be it.”

The rope finally snaps and you use your good hand to undo the rope that was around your legs. The relief of being free felt good and you scrambled up from the floor. The room was a bit dizzy from all the hits your head kept getting today.

Sounds of grunts and yelling pull your attention and you glanced back out the window to see the intense battle between the two brothers. You pressed the comm in your ear, “JARVIS,” you ran over towards the room and looked for any kind of weapon you can arm yourself with. “Link me in.”

“Miss Stark, it’s good to hear from you. Patching you in.”

The static clicked instantly. “Tony?!”

“Thank God! It’s really good to hear from you, Sprout.”

“Scout?!” The panicked voice of Steve tugged at your heart and you couldn’t help but feel bad that you had last left off in a bit of a fight. “I’m so glad to hear your voice.” he continued and if you weren’t too busy trying to find a weapon around the luxurious loft, you’d probably try and listen to him repeat that again.

“Flirt later, Rogers. We’re coming in hot, Scout. Try and get to the roof.” Clint interrupted.

“Glad to see we got you back, Barton.”

“Me too kid, Shit is getting real messy out here.”

You glanced over to the balcony. The battle between Thor and Loki was still just as intense. “Same thing from my end, I think I gotta help out Zeus over here.” you muttered, reaching out into the fireplace, you pulled on a poker and settled for that as you snuck back towards the balcony.

“Scout, please tell me you’re not about to attempt to take on a God.” Natasha’s smooth voice was laced with concern but you knew better than to dwell on it.

“You’re killing me, Sprout. Can you please go to the roof? Let the team get you. In fact, I can drop back to you right now. Right after I- Shit! These guys are damn annoying.”  Tony seemed to be at a struggle.

The humming of the quin jet approaching the tower caused all eyes to focus up in the sky. In a moment of distraction, Loki was able to hit Thor away and aim his sceptre at the jet. The hit is dead on and you panicked, watching it descend down into the ground.

“Steve?!...Guys? I’ve lost sight of you.”

It’s a few good seconds of panic before you get a reply. “I’m okay, we’ve managed to land.” Steve said with a pant. Your heart jumps and you try your best to remain calm.

“Yeah, we’re okay too, Scout. In case you were wondering.”

“Sorry Clint, I’m glad you guys are alright. I’m gonna help out here and then try to do an evac down outside the tower. Let’s meet out in the middle, okay?”

You didn’t bother listening to any of their rebuttals and slowly made your way towards the landing down that Tony had made. With the way that Thor and Loki fought, the only way to gain any sort of upper hand on him would be from above. A large shadow flies over the tower and you feel your knees weaken at the sight of the large beast. “Right...an army.” you muttered, recalling the conversation between Tony and Loki.

“Look at this! Look around you!” The two struggled against each other but the younger brother listened. You can’t see his face but it’s enough that he’s not fighting back at the moment. A part of you felt like praying, anything to have Thor come through. Loki had been devolving since you were taken. Surely someone that knew him could convince him otherwise.

“You think this madness will end with your rule?”

“It’s too late– It’s too late to stop it.”

“No. We can, together.”

There it was. The peace offering. Even if he took you hostage and basically threw Tony off the building. There was always a chance to fix things. Loki didn’t do anything. Thor looked almost like he was relieved. That is until Loki reached back and plunged a small dagger into his stomach.

“Sentiment.” You saw red.

Taking a quick step back, you ran off the balcony and launched yourself onto Loki’s back. It was almost like you weighed nothing as he quickly reached behind him and pulled at your body. You landed one good kick to his chin before he threw you onto the ground. “YOU FOOLISH MORTAL!” he boomed.

Instinctively, you kicked at his shins and caused him to fumble forward. He swiped at you and you would have been hit by his punch had it not been for Thor that dragged you back. He ran to tackle Loki down and you used the chance to climb over Thor’s shoulder to land a punch against his cheek.

Loki pushed the two of you off and you stumbled back and watched as Thor lifted Loki in the air and slammed him to the ground with a yell. He stayed still for a moment and you made the mistake of stepping an inch beside him, giving him the chance to jump up and grasp a hold on your body.

Thor stayed still, waiting for Loki to make a movement. “Let her go, brother.” he looked so worried. It ached in your chest as Loki drew up another small dagger and grazed it at the base of your neck. “She’s just trying to stop this. Please. ”

“I think our time is up, little dove. ” His face pressed against yours, the dry skin of his lips were against your cheek as he spoke. You shuddered when he almost nuzzled against you. “You did say you wished for death, it’s time I give it to you.” He stepped back again and you glanced at your side to see the edge of the balcony. Your heart was beating faster. This is not how you would go down. He was not allowed to win.

Without another thought, you reached down and gripped at his hip. “What if I take your previous offer?” you said slowly. The hot breath against your cheek gave you enough courage to turn your body to face him. He still held you close but looked down at you curiously. Before he could reply you reached up, placed your hands at the sides of his face and pressed your lips together.

As you expected, he had the same reaction a shark would if you touched the tip of their noses. He stilled, eyes wide and body frozen in place. You pulled back in time for Thor to come through and land a good punch to his face, causing the other man to fall to the ground.

Loki came to his senses after that and used the time to roll off the edge. You gasped running forward to see him land on one of the flying chitauri. Once he’s off in the distance you finally looked over at Thor. He pulled the dagger out from his side and chucked it over to the side.

“That was a bold move from you, Little Lady.”

You shrugged. “Yeah, I wasn’t too sure that it’d work out. But I’m glad you were quick to jump in with that punch” He ducked his head a little shyly at the comment. “Didn’t exactly have a plan other than maybe push him off.”

The two of you share a laugh at that. “What about the way you flew on top of him? That was a very skilled move you showed there. To take on an Asgardian without any knowledge of how to fight them shows a great warrior is within you.”

“Thor stop.” you waved your hands at him. “You’re being too nice.”

“Scout? Are you two okay up there? I just saw Loki fly overhead.” Steve’s panicked voice perked up in your ear. You almost had forgotten about the plans since the fight right now.

“We’re good, had a small hick up but we’re fine. Heading down now.”

Thor reached down for his hammer and approached the edge of the tower. You quickly jumped to his side. “Uh, do you mind if I catch a ride?” He looked back at you with a smile.

“It’d be my pleasure.”

[teddy06writes]

Greek Myth AU: Eros and Psyche Part Two

Eret x afab!reader

trigger warnings: general death/death mentions, Aphrodite being a bit of a bitch, reader is pregnant for the sake of the original myth, but its not mentioned that much

premise: again, this explains the original myth, this part is the second half/the challenge thingys.

Part one

list of Greek Gods/characters for this work

Eros- Eret

Aphrodite- Puffy

Zephyrus- Philza

Zeus- Dream

Pan- Tubbo

Demeter- Ranboo

Hera- George

Hades- Wilbur (only mentioned)

Persephone- Niki

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

"No love can exist without trust."

The words echoed through (y/n)s head as they wandered through the still dark field. It seemed no use to them to even try to go back to the villa.

Slowly, they came to a stop next to the brook, laying down amongst the bank, one hand on their stomach as they watched the water pass, wondering what they would do.

How could they go on if Eret had left?

"Are you alright?"

(y/n) jumped at the sudden noise, sitting up and turning to see a saytr- no not just any Satyr, they found themself face to face with Tubbo, god of the wild.

"Uhhh...."

He let his head half fall sideways to look at them closer, "You don't look alright. Have you been crying?"

They sniffed, nodding, "I suppose so, yes. I've just had... a rough day."

He nodded, "Does this have anything to do with what I heard Eret shouting earlier, cause that sounded pretty bad."

"It- was actually."

Tubbo winced, "Yikes. You know, though from what I heard, from what I can see now, you really do look like someone who is very much in love. Don't leave yourself to rot here, you must continue on, and win his affections back."

"But how can I? I've lost all of his trust." They sighed.

"You must try, you must." Tubbo insisted, he offered them a hand and helped them to stand, "There is a way, and you will be able to find it. That I am sure of."

So, (y/n) traveled on, through the lands until they at last reached their home nation. Soon, they sought out their sisters, telling them that their deception had caused them to be cast out, not by a beast, but by the god Eret, himself.

When their sisters claimed excuses, and hurried off (perhaps to try and be taken by the god), (y/n) could only sigh and move on.

As they continued the travel, searching for any signs of their husband, he was stuck in Puffy's castle, the splash of oil having done much more damage than she'd originally thought.

All too soon, Puffy had found out where Eret was, and what had happened. Furiously, she rushed into their chambers, utterly pissed that she had gone so far against her instructions as to fall in love with (y/n).

The goddess was in such a rage, that she hardly noticed the state he was in, instead yelling on about how 'that wretched mortal would need to be punished'.

"No!" Eret cried through gritted teeth, "They may have betrayed me, but this is not their fault!"

"She shall be punished!"

It was only the announcement that Ranboo and George had arrived that pulled Puffy out of her yelling.

"Puffy, what's happened?" George asked once she had returned to the main room.

"Do remember that mortal? The one everyone was infatuated with?" Puffy asked, annoyed.

Ranboo nodded, "I thought you had sent Eret to get rid of them."

"The foolish boy went against me, brought her to some place, kept her safe, and now he's been burned because of it." She sighed, "The mortal will have to be dealt with. No simply plots of a forced love. I shall send them straight down to Wilbur's domain."

George bit his lip, "Well, are you sure that he didn't hide them away for good reason?"

"He fell in love with them." Puffy scoffed.

"Oh come on Puffy, don't punish them just because she fell in love. Doesn't he deserve ore than that? They must have fallen in love for a reason? You are the goddess of love, surely you should understand." Ranboo attempted to defend Eret, only to be cut off.

"I do not care what I should or should not understand! I want this mortal punished, and punished they shall be!" Puffy roared.

Meanwhile, (y/n) still wandered the land, looking for their lover, even as their health seemed to decline.

It had been a rather nice day when they stumbled upon the abandoned temple, covered in debris, and tools left behind. Some how, despite everything, it only made sense to clean the temple. To restore, to the best of their ability, to its former glory, or at least till it didn't look a mess.

It was slow work, but soon they had cleared the weeds, moved the old offerings back to their place, and found a place for the abandoned tools.

"You, poor (y/n)!"

They looked up to find Ranboo, towering over them, "M'lord?"

"I have come with a warning. Since your betrayal of Eret, Puffy has been after you, and you have been in great danger. Still despite this, you've come to clear the temple that my followers have abandoned. Why is this?"

"No place should be abandoned as I have been." (y/n) answered softly.

He frowned, sighing, "Well, I value my alliances with Puffy to much to harbor you. But, I will not turn you in, nor alert her in anyway you were every here. Consider yourself blessed."

As he disappeared, (y/n) couldn't help but breath a sigh of relief. They hadn't been met with Puffy's wrath yet. But that did not stop their sorrow.

Wandering farther and farther away from both the valley, and their home, (y/n) came across another temple, taking a rest from the road to step inside.

At the alter, they prayed, "George, queen of Olympus, I beg of you to help me. I am but a mortal, plagued by sorrow, driven out of every place Aphrodite seeks me. I do not wish for my child to be born to this life. Oh, dear George I beg for your help!"

George, hearing these prayers, quietly appeared to them, "Poor dear. I cannot help you, no matter how much I wish too. Puffy's anger stretches far, and even I cannot shield you from it."

When he had disappeared, (y/n) was forced back out the wandering, wondering, if maybe they revealed themself to the goddess, they might receive some mercy.

After a long pondering they set out, and after journey, the found themself at the palace of Puffy. Upon turning themself into the servants, (y/n) found themself dragged before Puffy, who demanded to know what they were doing.

"So you have finally decided to pay me a visit? Or is this just a trick to see your husband, who sufferers from a wound given by your hand!"

It had been a long afternoon for (y/n), until at last the servants, and even Puffy herself, let off, and gave time for the bruises to fully form, as Puffy taunted them, "Such a plain and boring mortal, how could he have fallen for you? And even given you a child? What a pathetic thing it will be."

It didn't take much longer after that for Puffy to decide, "A challenge then, you look to be a maid, lets see how well of one you are. Then you might gain enough favor to see your husband." She called for bags of wheat, barley, beans, lentils and chickpeas to be spread and mixed on the floor, "Have all of this sorted, before the night, and you may win some favor."

And as she disappeared, (y/n) wept, it would be impossible for them to sort the pile, let alone by the time she returned. It had seemed so hopeless, until, droves of Ants, driven by pity made there way into the room.

"Fear not, we shall help you with this task."

Soon the grain was sorted, and the ants disappeared as Puffy returned, looking around incredulously, "This work mustn't be yours! Surely it isn't! You foul thing! This work is far from over!"

The next day, a new challenge was assigned.

"There is a field, a few miles from here, where golden sheep graze all day. Travel there and bring me back a tuft of wool from one by the time the sun sets, or give up on all hope of seeing your husband again." Puffy commanded.

Obediently, (y/n) set out, and as they crossed the river, a soft nymph whispered the secrets to gathering the wool from the dangeours animals.

Carefully, (y/n) waited until noon had passed, until the sheep had settled to one ide of the field, and crept out, gathering the soft tufts from the briars of the bushes.

Yet again, Puffy was surprised by their ability to comply and finish these challenges.

"Surely your husband had some hand in helping you finish this. Quickly mortal, while there is still light, take this, and fetch me the water from the upper most point of that mountain stream."

(y/n) took the pitcher, and slowly began to hike toward the mountain, dreading the dangerous climb ahead. The mountains slowly grew nearer, until (y/n) was forced to fully climb up and over rocks, and the potential fall could prove fatal.

They had paused for a rest, breathing heavy and staring up at the setting sun, there was no way they could make the trip to the top of the mountain and back before night fell.

Yet again, it all seemed helpless, until a kind eagle, indebted to Eret, swooped down, "Give me your jug child, and allow me to help."

When they returned to Puffy's castle, again they were met with surprise. No one had expected their return.

"You have done what I asked, and that makes me suspect you to be a witch. It will take a greater test to determine if you should see your husband again."

(y/n), barley held in a sigh, bowing their head.

"You will journey to the underworld, and meet Niki. She makes a beauty cream, I need you to get some for me. I've exhausted my supply."

(Y/n) began to shake, tears beginning to spill from their eyes, surely this task was impossible. No one could journey to the Underworld and make it back alive.

"Better get going." She scoffed, "And remember, not a single drop

They had no choice but to go.

It was a slow, painful journey, and it took much help, much advice to reach the underworld.

They called upon Niki, who greeted them kindly, and listened to their plight.

"I just wish to see my husband again, so I can explain myself, so I can apologize." (y/n) finished with a sigh.

Niki frowned, "That I cannot help with. But I can supply you with the beauty cream, to bring back to Puffy."

A box was filled and closed out of their view, before Niki presented it to them, with a warning, "The contents of this box, are not meant for mere mortals. It is highly dangerous for you to even look at it. You mustn't open this box, not for anything."

"I understand." They said, taking the box.

The journey back to the overworld seemed to pass quickly, but soon (y/n)s thoughts began to betray her.

Why would they carry this beauty cream if they were not able to take a drop for themself?

How were they suppose to confront their husband if they looked as ragged and hungry as they did now?

Slowly, the temptation took over, surely they would need this beauty cream more than the goddess of beauty.

As soon as the box was opened, they fell to the ground, nearly dead.

While they slept off their injuries, a great fight took place between the gods.

When they had at last awoken, they were greeted with the sight of their lovers face.

"Eret!" They gasped, "I'm sorry! I truly am! I don't know what I was thinking! Please forgive me! I love you!"

She smiled softly, "There is much we have to talk about my sweet."

It had been decided, that (y/n) would join the gods on Olympus, and remarry the god Eret.

Puffy would hurt them no more, and Eret, having heard what lengths they had gone too to get back to them, he couldn't keep them away.

[talas-starlight]

Lover - Percy Jackson x Fem!reader

SUMMARY: You’ve crushed on Percy for years, him on the other hand? It’s more of a recent development. That doesn’t mean he likes you any less.

(Older Percy & reader - they're like 21) ALSO idk perfectly what happens in trials of apollo so let’s just ✨ignore that ✨ & this isn’t sexual despite what the title may suggest

WORD COUNT: 2.7k

A/N: hi friends this is for @fromthewatertribe​ ‘s 1k follower event!! Im sure most of you have but if not definitely check out their work!! Its soooo good I promises and ugh their Leo fic?! *chefs kiss* anyway idk if this is any good oop I tried

PROMPTS USED: 9 & 11. (they’re bolded)

WARNINGS: swearing, mentions of ptsd & anxiety, kissing stuff lol ish eh idk, mentions of percabeth breakup?? Does that count?

MASTERLIST: here!

An obnoxiously red and orange light filters into the motel room, even with the old and tattered curtains closed, the motels’ sign conquers its way through the fabric. Sighing you flop yourself on the faded, probably twenty-year-old bed. Nose scrunching as some dust raises into the air, consequently letting out a sneeze.

“Bless you.”

“Did you just bless yourself?”

You winced at the reminder someone else was in the room, exhausted after the two-day travel to a motel room in the middle of whoop. “Yeah…”

“You really are something, aren’t you?” At the calm amusement evident in his tone, your heart rate began to slow down. He didn’t think you were crazy.

You let out a breathy laugh. Wow, I wonder how those stains got on the ceiling? Lava monster perhaps? Are those even a thing? Probably.

“Yeah… well, someone has to Jackson.” You glance towards him, he’s sitting at the small, poor excuse of a dining table. Heart rate picking up again as he gives you a small smile, already having his eyes on you this entire time.

“If I don’t, who will?” you continue.

“Touché. In that case, I’ll do the blessing from now on; you deserve a break.” Shooting you a wink. Instantly feeling flustered at his action, you fight the urge to cover your face with your hands.

Oh, Percy, if only you knew you’ve already been blessing me for the past six years.

“Even say…. If we’re in a battle?” you muse.

He gets up from the table and walks towards you. Once he reaches your side of the queen bed, he kneels, grabbing the hand closest to him, while putting his other on top of his heart. “Oh, y/n l/n, even with my dying breath.”

With that, you burst into a fit of laughter. This boy and his sarcasm.

You play along. “Hmmm what a great tale that will be. The one and only, Perseus Jackson, spending his final breath on sweet old y/n l/n. How dare you burden me with such a legacy to live up to! They’ll think I’m your lover, you know. Demigods all around the world will come searching for me, just to gawk at the beauty that stole your heart.”

At this point, Percy has fallen from his kneeling position, completely lying on the ground, overcome with laughter.

“This isn’t funny, Percy! How am I supposed to live with the guilt of knowing I don’t live up to their expectations?! I’m hardly a warrior either, oh the disappointment.”

Gasping for breath, he manages to find his words, “Don’t stress it y/n, you’re plenty beautiful. I just know they’ll all be stunned by your beauty. Don’t sell yourself short… trust me, once they see you, they’ll be envious that my lover was so enraptured by me that you’ll never be able to love again.”

Now it was your turn to laugh. Would that be so bad?

Gasping for breath, eventually, both of your laughs die down, leaving you both breathing heavily. “C’mon Percy, let’s get some sleep. Its going to be a long week of scouting for demigods if we’re tired.”

As Percy nods, silently getting up to go to the bathroom to change, but he can’t help but think to himself that he wouldn’t mind if he was stuck in the middle of nowhere with you. No matter how long.

It had been three days since you and Percy arrived in the town you continuously fail to remember the name of. It wasn’t the only thing you were failing at doing either, because it seemed that for some unknown reason, the school that was supposed to arrive here for their camping trip still hadn’t shown up.

“We should send an Iris message to camp. It doesn’t look like they’re showing up any time soon, and by the looks of things, we’re going to need to have them send someone for more supplies.”

Percy sighed, looking out the window. Was this the opportunity he was looking for? Maybe… he knew he’d be a stupid fool to pass it up. Swept up in his new thoughts, he never replied. “Percy?”

Without even looking at you, he nodded, turning to go to the bathroom, “Yeah sure, I’ll go into the bathroom and make the call.”

Humming in acknowledgement as he left the room, you couldn’t help but stare at the spot he was previously standing in from your position on the edge of the bed. He doesn’t look too good.

For such a great hero, you wondered if this quest was doing him any good. After the first day of scouting the campsite, it was obvious he was already antsy to get home. It seemed no matter how light you tried to keep the atmosphere; it was like something was weighing on his mind. Mostly when you were both in the motel room together, you supposed it was because he barely went on quests nowadays. Understandably so, after all, who could blame him for wanting a break and spend time with his family? This made you feel immensely guilty since you could never give him words of truly understanding what he’s gone through. You’d arrived at camp a few days before him, yet over the years you were never sent onto a major quest. It upset you greatly at first, but you grew to appreciate your time at camp.

Before your mind could delve further into its guilt and self-pity, Percy re-entered the room, sitting next to you with a huff. “It’s all good. They’re going to send Leo with some extra supplies, and he’ll help us for the rest of this quest.”

Accidentally getting swept up in how pretty his eyes were, you tensed up, realising he was staring at you expectantly. Quickly nodding and clearing your throat you looked down to your lap, “ahh, okay that sounds good. I guess we’ll have time to sightsee or something…”

Sightsee? Really y/n? There’s nothing in this stupid town!

An awkward silence filled the room. Due to your previous thoughts, you were unsure how to proceed. This was the first time you were alone with him and had nothing else better to do.

Percy on the other hand, found that the obvious swooning look in your eyes was his green light. “Uhhh actually y/n?”

Oh, please don’t ask me why I basically just drooled all over you for NO FUCKING REASON. Snapping your head back up to look at him, you desperately tried to ignore the pounding in your chest that managed to find its way into your ears, “yeah?”

“There’s something I want to ask you.”

Holy shit he knows, doesn’t he? He knows I’ve liked him this entire time, and he’s going to reject me even though I never even said anything!

“I uhm… look I know we’re kind of on a small quest and all but technically we ARE waiting for Leo and the school to arrive before we continue… and you know we kind of have like at least a day or two until then so I was just wondering…”

“Yeah, Percy? You can just say it, you know; I really don’t mind.” I do mind, but please get this over with before I cry. With your heart rate increasing at an alarming rate and face heating up so much, you wanted Zeus to blast you right then and there.

Percy felt like he was about to puke, he’d never felt this nervous before. Yeah, he had his moments growing up with Annabeth, after all, she was his first girlfriend, but this was different. He wanted this to be different. Sure, he never regretted their relationship, and yes, he knew he’d always remember everything they went through- what he went through but… he wanted a clean slate. He desperately just wanted nothing more than to know that there was at least one person in his life that wasn’t constantly fighting for their lives—someone who didn’t have to live with as much trauma as him.

“W- would you maybe... Gods, do you want to have dinner tomorrow night? Maybe at the diner further into the town?”

HOLY FUCK.

He was interested and honestly, you were over the moon. Breathing out the breath you were holding in, you fail to hide the smile on your face, “yeah, I’d like that.”

His face instantly broke out into a wide smile matching yours. “Wait really?”

Unable to hold back a small giggle, you nodded, “yeah, Percy.”

Staring at yourself in the mirror, you admire the blue dress you found in a charity shop this morning while Percy was sleeping. I can’t believe this is happening.

If you had old even more awkward 15-year-old y/n that you were about to go on a date with the boy you admired from your table during meals (when he was there), you would’ve laughed. Mainly because at that point, he didn’t even know you existed, only having your first conversation during the battle of Manhattan when you were helping Will.

Okay… lets do this.

Walking out of the bathroom, Percy is already sitting on the bed in his usual t-shirt, jeans and converse waiting for you.

“Woah… You look uh-” Never finishing his statement, worry bubbled in your chest.

“Oh, uhm… I- I can change if you’d like?

Jumping up from his place on the bed, his head shook quickly. “NO! N-no don’t do that.”

“Ah uhm… okay? Sorry, it’s just I saw it in a store earlier and uhm… it looked nice, and I just thought that maybe it’d be cool to maybe put in a bit more effort? I mean… not that you don’t look good or anything! I love what you wear, you always look nice! but I don’t know… I don’t get to look nice much and… I just wanted it to be kinda special since we don’t get to… well our lives don’t really grant us these opportunities very often. Or at least for me anyway…”

“Hey, no, it’s okay! I totally get it… you look beautiful.” After hearing your small confession and thought to prepare for your date, his heart felt like it was melting. How could someone be so thoughtful when all he was doing was taking you to a rundown diner who probably only served mediocre burgers?

A small wave of guilt washed through him. Feeling like he would never be able to truly sweep you off your feet or give you that sweet, tooth-rotting love and affection, every day, just like you deserved. After everything, he knew he could try his best but even then, he’d never be able to hide the anxiety or PTSD he had acquired over the years.

You looked up to him with a smirk. “Glad to hear it, lover.”

Cheeks heating up at your comment, he laughed trying to play it off as cool as possible. Taking a step closer to you and flattening his shirt as if it would wipe away its wrinkles, he held out his arm. “Shall we, lover?”

Matching his level of fake sophistication, you linked your arm with his, “with pleasure.”

And with that, you both walked out of the motel, with hopeful spirits. To any onlooker, you both looked like normal young adults.  

“Where the fuck are you?!” Percy’s voice boomed from his end of the phone, supposedly made without any monster risks.  

You winced, slowly and cautiously walking your way out of the forest. The once clean dress was now covered in dirt and had few tears. It went perfectly with your dishevelled, twig and leaf infested hair.

“Space doesn’t really exist, so I’m nowhere. Life is built on social constructs and, since there’s no way to know if we’re really alive or if it’s just an illusion, I can’t be anywhere.”

“Y/n.”

Okay, he was concerned, and you couldn’t blame him. After all, how did you expect him to react after getting separated from you as you were chased into the woods by an Empousai after dinner?

Romance at its finest.  

“Yeah, sorry, I got caught up, but I’ll be there soon.”

Ending the call, you couldn’t help but feel guilty as you replayed the events that just occurred in your head. The date was amazing. It wasn’t perfect by any means, but it was still sweet. Which led you both to go on one of those cliché night walks. That was nice too, until two Empousai came out of the forest and decided to attack you both.

Percy being…. Well Percy, he swiftly got out riptide and didn’t hesitate to defend the two of you. You, on the other hand, were completely caught off guard only just noticing as one of them turned their focus on you while Percy was distracted.

And what did you do like the perfectly trained demigod you were?

You ran like a headless chicken into the forest.

After a few minutes of running, they tackled you into the ground. Trying and failing failed to shove them off, you suddenly remembered the dagger you strapped to your thigh under your dress and stabbed them.

Clearly not your proudest moments.

Finally making it back to the room, you unlocked the door and let out a huff of relief. “Well… that date didn’t go as expected.”

Percy, took in your current state staring at you with wide eyes… but he didn’t say anything. Is he angry at me? Fuck now he’s going to call off whatever this is, all because I’m an incompetent idiot! I knew I should have tried harder in the sparring activities at camp.

Feeling highly intimidated under his intense stare, you began to play with the hem of your dress, voice going quiet. “Look I uh- I know it probably wasn’t the date you were hoping for but I uhm-“

Before you could even finish your poor excuses, your words are soon lost entirely. Percy stalked towards you with a determined look on his face. Reaching you, he firmly placed his hands on either side of your face, smashing his lips onto yours.

You let out a small, muffled squeak of surprise as your eyebrows shot up into Olympus. Yet unlike your fighting skills, this was something you managed to adapt to at a faster pace.

Eyes fluttering closed, you fisted his shirt, pulling him closer.

Please don’t let this be a dream.

Because Gods forbid if this your one chance, you weren’t letting this moment end that easily.  

Moving your lips against his, the urgency he came onto you with slowly began to dissipate, feeling his soft, but slightly chapped lips move against yours. Deepening the kiss, you let go of his shirt, gliding your hands up his tense torso and along his strong arms, eventually placing your hands on his wrists that were on either side of your face. Applying a small amount of pressure to the inside of his wrists with your thumbs, his mind began to drift into a calming haze as you softly stroked them. It was almost as if you were able to brush away the worry that bubbled in him when he got back to the room, only to find you weren’t there. Yet here you were… safe.

It was intoxicating and calming having him so close to you, his entire being overcoming your senses to a point where you fought the urge to let out a small whimper when he pulled away.

Resting his forehead against yours, chest rising and falling heavily flushed against you; he continued to hold you in his warm embrace. “I wouldn’t have had it any other way.” He whispers, breath fanning against your face.

Because as much as Percy was afraid he’d let you down, he knew no matter what you were worth every single risk.

“…but I’m going to have to teach you a few things when we get back to camp. We can’t have my lover running away in battle all the time, how will I know if you sneeze?”

Letting out a snort, you playfully hit his chest. “Anything for you, lover.”

A soft smile graces his face as he looks at you adoringly as the word takes on a whole new meaning… because you were right. He’d do anything.

A/N: whelp! i hope you all liked it :)) its not perfect but oh well? 

also i dont have a percy jackson taglist but i gotta tag the holy grail of fic writers for this fandon eep @cabinofimagines​   🙈 🙈

Divider credit: @biskit-rising​

[firerose]

The sea

Feedback is apprechiated ;)

Percy was happy. The giant war was over, he was studying with Annabeth so

they could move to new Rome soon. He was happy….. until it happened. 

The thunderstorm should have been a warning, a sign that the lord of the sky was angry but unfortunately Percy was tired of having to deal with the gods so he chooses not to notice it. He cursed himself for that later. 

He had stood up early that morning, awoken by another dream about the hell he and Annabeth had gone through. His mom had already been in the kitchen and he was greeted by her with a warm smile.“ Bad dreams?“, She had asked softly. Percy had only needed to nod and she pulled him into a warm hug. He loved her hugs, he loved that she had forgiven him for being away for so long, he loved his mother for everything. She was the reason the sea inside him was calm.

“Thanks, mom I just wanted to get some fresh air.“, He had told while departing carefully. Percy was grateful for her but he still did not want her to worry too much. If he had only known that this was the last time his mom would hug him, he would have stayed in her arms forever. 

Percy had taken his jacket and walked outside and then���……

Thunder, a white light crashing down behind him throwing him forward with the price.

He lay still on the street while people around him ran out of their houses screaming in panic. 

Percy‘s body was burning, he felt blood running down his forehead but all he could think about was his mom who had been exactly where the explosion went off.

The police later assumed that a lightning strike had hit the apartment by accident but Percy knew better. He was brought to a hospital even though his burns were only small. 

He had insisted that he wanted to stay.“Please I have to see if my mom and my stepdad are okay!“, He had begged the paramedics but they did not stop their attempts to get him on the stretcher.“The fire brigade will find them kid. Everything is gonna be okay“, One of them promised but Percy saw in her eyes that it was a hollow promise. His heart ached in despair and when the doors of the ambulance closed tears fell down his cheeks. 

The proof came when the police visited him after the doctors had checked him. They looked devastated, of course, no one wants to tell a son the message that his pregnant mother was dead. Percy took the news with a small nod. He could not do more not even cry. He had been through so much that maybe this last thing had broken something inside him. He could not believe that they would do this, that they would kill his mother after he saved them. His thoughts wander to Paul and his unborn baby sister that he has lost as well and the sea in him slowly starts rising. 

Annabeth soon heard about his suspicion  She stormed into the small hospital room, her face tear-stained. He immediately wrapped her in a hug like it is her that is going through this tragedy.“Percy…...I…..I‘m so sorry.“, She sobbed.“It is not you fault wise girl….he did this.“, Percy claimed and he is surprised by the deadly calmness in his voice.

Annabeth looked at him in confusion but then she understood. Her eyes widened in shock.“No…... Percy……..he wouldn‘t……..��� She tried to say but her unbelieving in her own words stopped her. They both know Nico Di Angelo and they both know his mother died. Percy felt the waves crashing again his chest, he felt them threatening to burst out and so did his rage.“ Come on Annabeth you know Zeus. He is an arrogant asshole who just cares about himself! I fought years for the gods, I went through hell for the gods and now they… they.“, he wasn‘t able to speak anymore, there was too much rage boiling up inside him. He finally processed what happened and the sea in him roared with a desire. A desire for revenge. Annabeth pressed herself closer to him in comfort. She is scared, Percy‘swords scare her and yet she knows that there is nothing she can say to help him. She just hoped that she wasn‘t about to lose him. 

Percy was grateful for his girlfriend but he knew that he couldn‘t stay. The longer he stayed, the more his body was trembling and the sea roared louder.“ I want to talk to Zeus. Now.“, He told Annabeth could. She let him go her eyes full of something he never saw in them before.

Panic.

“ No Percy that is not a good idea! If he is targeting you then yelling at him would be a great excuse for him to…….. hurt you.“, She answers logically as always but her tone fearful. Percy can‘t help but feel angry at her words.

“I‘m not scared of Zeus and if he wants to kill me he is welcome to try! My mom did not deserve this you know that as well as I so don‘t try to stop me!“, He nearly yells and he departs from her quickly. The storm in him screams in agreement and he looks forward to setting it free, Annabeth hated herself for making him angrier. She loved Sally too so why doesn‘t she support Percy? What did Zeus or any other god ever do for her? A small voice whispers that she just wants to keep him safe but she can also do that against the gods. She gently grabbed his hand and gave him a weak smile.“Okay just let me come with you.“, She pleads and Percy feeling a warm thankfulness for her calming his waves a bit, smiled back. 

The man behind the desk looks at them in shock when they enter the building..“You shouldn‘t be here.“, he claims, his voice sounding a bit concerned. Percy felt cold amusement washing over him.

He killed scarier monsters than this old man. He takes out his sword without a second thought.“ We are exactly where we need to be now let us talk to Zeus or I will try my sword out on you.“, He threatened and did not notice Annabeth‘s worried glance.“You should listen to him! He once took down giant you are no match for him!“, Annabeth‘s voice sounded just as dark as his but she just wanted to keep Percy from doing something he would regret later. The man‘s eyes were stuck on the blade then wandered to Percy‘s eyes as if those could burn him.

He moved back a bit uncomfortable.“ Alright I‘ll let you up.“

Percy felt a sense of victory letting the water rise again. It pushed through his veins and when they entered the small elevator his body tensed from the power it made him feel. The gods would pay for taking his family. They would see what happened if someone pushed him too far. Maybe some days ago he wouldn‘t have felt this darkness but a few days ago he also had a mother. He was overtaken by memories, of her soft voice, her laugh and her hugs. He wondered if it would make her sad to see how angry he was but she certainly was also sad to be killed there was no difference anyway. The memories hurt but they also foiled his anger. 

Percy and Annabeth walked down the way to the god's council in silence. The minor gods and nymphs whispered and pointed at them, their eyes worried some even pitiful. They all knew Percy‘s story and they all feared him.

Only Zeus and Hera were in the throne room  When Percy walked in his eyes immediately landed on Zeus who glared at him in outrage.“HOW DARE YOU COM HERE?!“, The Lord of the skies shouted in fury but Percy did not even wince.  Instead, he glared back.

"How dare you kill my mom?!." Percy spat back. Zeus only looked annoyed but the others gods looked at each other uneasily. Zeus shook his head like he wanted to get rid of a nasty fly.

" My boy, there are things that you don't understand. I'm sorry about your mother but sometimes cruelty is necessary to prevent worse.", Zeus explained and Percy felt as if he had been punched in the gut. How could this all immortal god talk about an innocent woman death like that? He felt disgusted at Zeus rising and Annabeth spoke it out.

"Sally Jackson was a mortal woman! How could she have been any danger to you?", Annabeth asked her voice full of angry disbelief."Well it was more about her child than her, "Hera responded and maybe there was a hint of regret in her voice.

" Silence wife!", Zeus told her harshly but Percy's blood already froze."You.....you killed her because of me?", He asked fear numbing his fury. He hoped that he had just heard wrong but he was the only child of Poseidon so they could only mean him. Zeus sighed as if this whole situation bored him."Apollo gave me a prophecy that said that she would have a child with Poseidon that could end my sign that is all you need to know." Zeus said defensively and a dam in Percy that held back the growing stormy sea finally broke. Zeus had killed his mother because of a prophecy? 

Of course, gods always sed prophecies to harm others,

Percy balled his hands into fists his ears ringing." That is your excuse? you were scared so you just killed my pregnant mother in front of me? She was going to have a baby. She was happy and you killed just because of your god complex!" Percy accused Zeus, his voice trembling with anger. The waves were rushing through his veins and he can feel it in the veins of Zeus and Hera as well  Not as much but it was there flowing through their veins like calm waves. "I told you you would not understand now leave before I make you Perseus.", Zeus commands but that only makes Percy turn to him. 

Persues...

His mother called him that because she wanted him to have a happy life...

Percy slowly opens his hand his senses searching for a certain source of water. When they find it Percy feels a tug in his fingers. He smiles darkly at Zeus."I think you underestimate what I'm capable of my lord. you really should have killed me instead of my loved ones.", Percy muses and he follows the tug by moving his hand forward, pushing back the waves in Zeus body. The god looked stunned for a moment even confused but then his body god thrown back so that his head smashed against his thrown. The stone cracked and Annabeth gasped in shock together with the other gods." Percy!" Annabeth yelled terrified at her boyfriend's power. Percy couldn't hear her. He could only focus on Zeus and how he was held in place by an invisible force his force. He wondered how much he could hurt a god.

He moved his hand to the side and Zeus growled in anger as he tried to resist the painful control he was under. Percy took a deep breath he was not sure what too now should he let Zeus go? Should he show the gods mercy? Then he remembered his mother and how she had died in a fiery explosion. He looked into Zeus blue angry eyes and he calls for the water in the god's throat, His hand makes a gesture like he was strangling someone and immediately Zeus grasps his own his gasps for breath was music in Percy's ears. He feels Annabeth shaking him begging him to stop with sobs in her voice. Hera watches the situation as if it was a very interesting movie. She was not at Percy's side but seeing the man who cheated on her so often be choked to please her too much to interfere.

Percy loved seeing Zeus so helpless, he loved when his other hand made the gods nose bleed with golden blood. Zeus looked in much pain and Percy loved every second of it." Now you know what it feels like to be a demigod. It's painful and you wish that the suffering would end but it never does. How do you like that?", Percy jokes and closes his hand a bit more. Zeus face turned red his eyes nearly popping out of his skull."Percy stop....please stop." Annabeth pleads and there is something in her voice that makes him hesitate." Sally would not want you to do this!", Annabeth said her voice shaking in horror. The words echo in Percy's mind and painful guilt helps to dim his inner flame. What would his mother say if she could see him right now? He was harming others with his powers just like Zeus had. 

His rage dies down like the sea after a long storm. He opens his hand and lets go of Zeus blood. The god nearly fell off his throne as he gasps for air. Percy still felt satisfaction at that sight. He turned to Annabeth who held onto his arm, her face pale from what she had seen." I'm sorry Annabeth.", He said and he really meant it. He shouldn't have scared her like this, he should have just told her not to come with him. Annabeth gently squeezes his hand. She understood Percy#s anger and she even shares it but she still prays that he will never lose himself to his power ever again. Zeus had regained his strength and his eyes blazed with electricity." YOU WILL DIE FOR THIS!", Zeus yells but Percy only felt a surge of frustration at those threats. After all that had happened to Zeus, he was still a god that was full of himself and would not learn anything from this. Percy looked at him coldly." No, I will not. Haven't you learned what happens when you make me angry?" Percy asked dangerously calm. He felt tired of all this talking and especially Zeus. He took Annabeth's hand and left as he suspected no one tries to stop them. The sea in his body has calmed down again but Zeus who is watching him from his throne can tell that he has changed. The sea can start raging again any moment and maybe it was Percy that the prophecy referred to. Maybe he  will be the end of the gods after all.

@emilydaughterofapollo @perseusjackson-jasongrace @incorrectinfinity, @reading0mens @fictionalnormalcy

[casuallyimagining]

Just Us

Percy Jackson x Reader Percy Jackson & the Olympians

Anonymous asked: I love your blog! If you are doing requests right now, are you able to do something with Percy and his S/O arguing and making up. Or some angst with a happy ending?

This got a little long. Hope y’all don’t mind :) Enjoy!

Requests are open for headcanons and fics!

The lonely apartment felt weird. It was happening more and more frequently as of late, but that didn’t mean it was any less wrong.

When you and Percy had first moved in together, the apartment on 76th Street had felt so alive. It was perfect, and he was perfect, and nothing could possibly have taken that feeling away. And it had lasted, not forever, of course, but long enough that you were confident that letting yourself fall so hard for the scruffy-haired skater boy from the Upper East Side was the right choice.

Sure, living with the son of Poseidon had its interesting moments, like the pegasi that tended to show up on your fire escape every so often, or the monsters that would sometimes follow you home after date nights. But overall, it was good and it felt right.

Until recently, that is. When the apartment started getting lonelier and lonelier, and you couldn’t shake the feeling that your world was somehow irreparably different. Like how your mouth feels after you get a tooth pulled. Something was missing, even when the apartment wasn’t empty.

Sometimes, it was his mom needing someone to watch Estelle. She was always so happy that Percy wanted to be a part of his little sister’s life. And who were you to deny him that? So off he would dutifully go, often not getting back until after you were asleep, sometimes just staying the night and not getting back until after you had gone to work the next morning.

Other times, it was Jason requesting help making sure both demigod camps had appropriate tributes to every minor god or goddess. You knew the work was tedious, and you knew how much Percy valued his friendship with Jason. So when the son of Jupiter called, you waved dutifully as Percy climbed on Blackjack’s back, not coming back for days, or sometimes even a week or more.

Most times, though, it was Annabeth or Grover just wanting to hang out. And you understood, really, you did. His two best and longest friends didn’t really have time to consistently spend with him anymore. Annabeth had gotten into Harvard’s graduate architecture program, so she only had precious little time to spend with Percy, and she could never leave Cambridge. Grover, of course, was still off spreading Pan’s message, and rarely did he have time to spare for his best friend. So, of course, you dutifully watched him race to gather his things, often enough forgetting to even say goodbye, before he was out the door for who knows how long.

Sadly, you sank into the couch—a plush leather hand-me-down from Sally and Paul when they redecorated their own apartment a couple years back—and turned on the TV. When he was gone for long periods of time, the news was often the only way to see what he was up to, even though he had a cellphone and a way to Iris message you on his literal wrist.

It was almost time for the 11 o’clock news, and, in theory, Percy should be home soon. You hadn’t heard anything from him all day, which wasn’t surprising, despite the fact that he was literally just on the other side of Manhattan babysitting.

But you weren’t so sure that he’d be home that night. Not only because Sally didn’t like when Percy walked home late at night. Of course she didn’t, and you didn’t either. The walk was quick during the day because he could just cut through Central Park, but late at night, the park was closed to pedestrian traffic. That, plus the fact that you and Percy had gotten into a bit of an argument before he went left you uncertain that he would return that night.

Or ever, for that matter, although your brain told you that was ridiculous.

All you had done was ask him to spend a little more time with you. You didn’t want to take him away from his friends and family, but you rarely got to spend time with your boyfriend anymore. Between work, helping out at camp, and him spending what seemed like every spare moment with his friends and family, you missed him. And you told him that.

Maybe you communicated it wrong, or maybe he misheard you, but whatever the reason, he left the apartment in a huff at noon.

Shortly before the news ended, you heard a roll of thunder and rain pattering gently on the window. There was no way Sally would let him leave in a storm. You stood and stretched, feeling your back pop, and made your way into your bedroom.

You had only been in bed for what felt like a few minutes when you heard the clattering on the fire escape. Annoyed, you got up and went to the window. You were getting ready to yell at Blackjack for making so much noise when you saw Percy half-slumped over on his back, clutching at his side. His shirt was torn and ruddy, and he was soaked from the rain that had progressively gotten worse.

Silently, you scrambled out the window, patting the pegasus’ nose as he shuffled to give you better access to his injured rider. You helped Percy dismount, pressing your hand to his wound so that he could use both of his arms. He mumbled a quiet ‘thanks, buddy’ and leaned his head against Blackjack’s snout for a brief moment before pushing away and letting you help him gingerly climb through the window. Your brain barely registered the flap of wings outside as you led Percy to sitting on the bed.

“What happened?” you asked softly, replacing your hand with his own before going to the bedside table to grab the container of ambrosia you had stashed in every room of the apartment.

“Empousai in the park.” His voice was hoarse, and he sounded tired. You doubted his six-year-old sister had tuckered him out that much. “Didn’t see them until it was too late. They chased me halfway through the Ramble before I was able to get some ground on them.”

You frowned, cupping a hand to his cheek briefly. “You’re home now,” you whispered. “That’s what matters.”

He paused for a moment, and you could see an emotion flash across his face too quickly to identify. Then, he nodded.

Silently, you went to the wardrobe and pulled out dry clothes for him to change into. Percy took the pajamas gratefully, and for a moment, his sea green eyes met yours. You were glad in that moment that he wasn’t the son of Zeus—the electricity in the air was palpable.

“How was Estelle?” you asked quietly, breaking his gaze. You sat on the edge of the bed while he changed.

He chuckled, wincing slightly. The ambrosia must not have fully finished healing him yet. “Good. She’s good. She asked about you.” You raised your eyebrows in shock and he continued. “She wants you to come over to play school sometime.”

You laughed. The last time you had played school with the five-year-old, she had been the teacher and you and Percy had pretended to be her bad students. She loved it. “Well, I suppose we’ll have to make that happen, then.”

He nodded and went silent as he pulled the ratty Red Hot Chili Peppers shirt over his head. It used to be a hoodie—you had gotten it for him shortly after you met him—and he wore it so much it was practically threadbare. He had cut the hood off at some point, and the front pocket had ripped off in a monster fight two years ago, so now it was just a thin sweatshirt that had been mended and sewn back together so many times, most of the stitching wasn’t original. But still he refused to throw it out.

After a moment, he sat down beside you, and for a second, you thought he wasn’t going to say anything. Then, he grabbed your hand. “Mom asked about you, too.”

“Oh?”

Percy sighed. His hair was soaked, and it stuck to his face at odd angles. He looked a mess, although if you were honest with yourself, he had certainly looked much worse. “I’m sorry I’m a shit boyfriend,” he mumbled. His grasp on your hand loosened. “I didn’t realize…”

You squeezed his hand.

“Everyone always told me that my fatal flaw was being too loyal to my friends. I never knew what that meant. ‘Til now.” His sea green eyes were sad when he finally let himself meet your eyes. “Turns out you can be too loyal.”

“I love how much you love your friends,” you reassured him. “I just want a bit more balance. I was starting to get the impression you didn’t want to spend time with me anymore.”

His brows knit together in frustration. “Of course I want to spend time with you. I love you.” The way Percy said it, so finitely and sure of himself, caused your heart to do backflips in your chest.

You leaned over and kissed him chastely, your lips barely brushing his. Before you had a chance to pull away, he was pulling you closer and kissing you again, one arm around your waist, the other cupping your cheek tenderly. It was brief, but kissing Percy always tied your stomach into knots like it was the first time.

He leaned his forehead against yours, and in the close proximity, you could feel him smile without even looking at him. “Mom invited us both for dinner tomorrow,” he mumbled, his sea green eyes meeting yours once again. “Maybe after, we can start that thing on HBO. The one with the monsters. Just us.”

You smiled. “Just us.”

[crushing-on-nico-di-angelo]

Okay, here's the actual chapter 3

7 Nights in Cabin 13

Nico took a small step backwards. “I’m sorry,” Will hesitated. “I shouldn’t have asked you, I know you probably don’t want to and--”

“Hey, woah, I never said I didn’t want to. I was just shocked. Not everyday I get asked to sleep with someone-- I- I mean… you know what I mean.”

Will giggled. “So does this mean you do want to?”

“...Yeah. I guess it does.”

Read (and maybe give kudos?) on ao3

~~~~

Lying in Nico’s bed, side by side, wasn’t as awkward as Will thought it would be. The comforter was very comforting and warm. The warmth of Nico made his heart beat faster, he hadn’t slept next to anyone since he was about seven years old having a nightmare about goats and crawled into his mami’s bed.

Nico turned to him, so Will made the necessary adjustments.

“I hope you don’t mind that I kept the window open. The light… helps.”

“I’m the son of Apollo, Neeks. I don’t mind at all.” Nico’s face softened. Will stared at his eyes, and he swore there was a universe of activity and stars in a dark brown expanse. He was lost in trying to pinpoint every constellation that he didn’t notice Nico’s hand reaching for his hair until he felt the tentative ruffle.

“Ah, sorry. I can stop if you’d like. Bianca…” Nico cleared his throat. “Bianca used to do this to me when I was having trouble sleeping.”

“Don’t stop,” Will murmured, once again feeling the effects of sleepiness. “Please.”

Nico closed his eyes and continued softly playing with Will’s hair. Will was simultaneously hyper-aware of how nice it felt to have someone play with his hair and extremely at peace, letting sleep overtake him.

<i> A wedding. Drinking gasoline. Pain in his right leg. Silence; eternal, deafening silence. </i>

When Will opened his eyes, he was acutely aware of the hand resting on his head. A bit of drool was pooled underneath his chin, but how could he move when Nico was still asleep holding his head? Nothing to do now but stay still and think.

<i> Alright Solace… I’ve been putting it off too long. How did I get here? …Nathan is how. But I don’t want to think about him. Which is fine, because I haven’t seen him in years, so I can’t exactly pin this on him. How did I get here <b> now? </b> ...I got into my head again is how.</i>

He remembers it, his relapse, but not exactly.

He was showing Clarisse how to complete an advanced archery move. He may not have been the best in comparison to his siblings, but he and Clarisse had been best friends after the Battle of Manhattan. They had gotten clean together. He had to help her with the archery.

But then. The way he positioned Clarisse’s arm. He remembered that was exactly how Fletcher positioned his. He remembered Michael doing the same for other campers. He finished teaching Clarisse the move and left to go to the showers.

He pushed the thought out of his mind-- or, he tried to. He couldn’t think of anything at all, and his breathing was getting so, so heavy. He turned on the water to hide the noises he was making, hyperventilating. They were dead, they were dead, and he <i> knew</i> they were dead. Why couldn’t he get it through that thick skull of his? He knew they were dead he saw it happen, saw the bridge collapse. But it was all he could think of, all just looping through his mind, over and over and over. No release. No end in sight to the looping thoughts. Breathing breathing breathing only not in the way he was supposed to. Suffocating on too much air and not enough oxygen.

And then the dysphoria kicked in.

His chest hurt. His chest hurt so fucking much. In addition to the binding he was doing, he was breathing so, so hard. He wanted to take the binder off, but his clothes were too wet and it was stuck. Thoughts looping, never stopping. Dead, dead, dead. Never going to be a real man. The sound of the explosion being nothing and everything to him all at once. Losing the first person to help him. Wanting so badly to hurt himself but having nothing to do so with. And then remembering what he did in the following months.

He let the water of the shower run over his soaked clothes while he focused on what he did after they died. The Hypnos cabin, they helped him forget it, but in the wake of his panic attack he remembered where he put them.

The last of his stash.

The next thing he knew, he was frantically searching for pennies with a flashlight in a camp that didn’t even use American currency-- his mind finally off his dead siblings-- at midnight outside of the Hades cabin. And thank Zeus for that.

...He was a weak person. As soon as things got tough, he went with the convenient solution. He’d always been a bad friend and a bad son because of it, and he likely always would be. Things got better for a bit, but looking at himself now? How could he ever think of himself as a good person after this, when it’s clear that he’ll always be fucking… <i>weak</i> like this….

This wasn’t something he was going to forgive himself for anytime soon. Not at all. Especially not for concerning Nico like this. He could have handled himself.

<i> Could I have handled myself?</i> he wondered. Nico shifted in his sleep, his arm now draping over Will’s shoulder. <i>Does it even matter right now? It’s too late to change it.</i>

He tried to settle into sleep again, but he found that he couldn’t. He also didn’t want to think anymore about what happened to get him here in the first place, when he could be messing around with his friends and cabin-mates while canoeing. He could be trying for the camp record on the lava wall. He could be doing a million things… but he fucked it up. Gods, he already said he didn’t want to think about it. So why was he?

He sighed softly, not wanting to disturb Nico. He snuggled into Nico’s embrace, not realizing how close they had gotten when they were asleep. His nose was nearly touching Nico’s and he noticed the faint freckles splashed over his nose and under his eyes. They were so light that you had to be inches away to notice them, but Will suspected that he would <i>only</i> notice them from now on. Just like his eyes, Will felt compelled to trace out constellations.

Will had posters and posters back in his home in Austin about stars and space exploration. He memorized constellations and had a hyperfixation on planets from ages seven to eleven. He still had all of that knowledge in his head, and it was remarkable to him how many constellations he found on Nico’s face. He pulled one of his hands from under the covers and started going over them, trying not to touch Nico’s face. He did lightly trace Nico’s nose, and was surprised when Nico didn’t even stir. He started feeling more and more relaxed, tracing what was almost the big dipper; he eventually fell asleep again with his hand cupping Neek’s cheeks.

He dreamt rough dreams, but was fortunate enough to wake up not remembering any of them.

~~~~~~

Will woke up and felt an absence of warmth. He saw Nico leaning against the doorframe, his silhouette framed by the hall light. He stood there, unmoving. Will would have wondered if he had fallen asleep again if not for the fact that he was standing fully upright. Nico knocked gently on the wood of the frame before walking away. Will wondered what that was all about but didn’t want to ask. He stood from the bed and walked to Nico’s bathroom to splash his face. He stood up and was hit with dizziness. There was a clock by Nico’s bed which read ‘8 P.M.’

“Ah,” he murmured himself. “That’s it.”

He fell asleep with Nico at around noon, which meant he hadn’t eaten in nearly 8 hours. He shivered from the cold. He grabbed a jacket hanging from the bed and walked out.

“Hey, Neeks,” Will felt a bit odd. They had been so intimate with each other earlier, he wondered if that would make things awkward between them.

“Hello, William. How’d you sleep?” Nico seemed to not mind, so Will decided to play it cool.

“Alright. I dreamt, so…”

Nico chuckled. “So not the best it could have been. I made us pot pie, it’s in the oven right now.”

“Holy shit, deathboy. You always cook so much?” Nico smiled and shook his head.

“Just felt like it lately, I suppose. It’s almost ready, grab a seat.”

~~~~~

After about an hour of eating and delirious laughter, it suddenly came to light that Nico had never played 20 questions.

“What the hell do you mean you’ve never played?” Will was incredulous. “Didn’t you used to go to boarding school?” Nico was still grinning from the laughter.

“Well, yes but I was around 10 years old! I didn’t play games like that.” Will shook his head in disbelief.

“We’re remedying that today, di Angelo.”

“How do you play?”

“I ask you a question, you answer it, and then you ask me and I answer. The cycle continues until we each ask 20 questions.”

Nico hummed to himself. “Is anything off-limits?”

Will knew what he didn’t want him to ask, but instead said, “On my end? No. Is there anything you don’t want me to ask you?”

“...I suppose not.”

“Alright. Feel free to say ‘skip’ for any question. No big deal, I’ll just ask a new one.”

“Alright. Do you go first or me?”

Will always liked to ask the same question during 20 questions. “If you had the chance to have dinner with anyone, living or dead, who would it be?”

“Hm…” Nico took a deep breath. “Does my mother count?”

Will’s breath hitched. “She-- she does,” <i> Treat it normal, Solace.</i> “She seems like she’d be a good choice. She died in the 50’s?”

“30’s, actually. Right before I was moved to the Lotus Hotel.”

“...Oh. I’m sorry, Nico.” Nico waved him off.

“It’s fine, I was little. There’s just… so much I wish I knew, you know?”

“For sure…” <i> Gods, this poor kid. </i> “Still, I’m sorry. You were just a kid.”

“Yeah, well. Anyway. My turn, right?”

Will could tell that conversation was over, so he nodded.

“What’s your tattoo?” Nico asked, to which Will smiled.

“It’s… here.” He pulled down his shirt enough for the sun to show. Nico leaned forward to get a closer look.

“It’s really pretty. I saw it on that first night after you showered. Why did you get it?”

“Lee Fletcher.”

“Lee Fletcher? Who’s that?”

And who was Lee Fletcher? Lee Fletcher was the man who meant everything to Will. He had a mom and two sisters, and no father. Lee Fletcher was the first guy in his life to act as a guardian to him. He was four years older and always acted as an older brother even before Will knew that Lee was a guy. Lee taught Will archery and how to talk to girls. Later, Lee would teach him to talk to boys. Lee was powerful and smart. He was so, so brave. He would heal people just by <i>singing</i> to them. He was everything that Will wanted to be.

After he died, Will was inconsolable. Of course, during the war he was fine. He was cool and collected: a healer, the child of Apollo. But after? He started sneaking out more, trying to escape everything and everyone. Started drinking more… that’s when he met Nathan. He knew that wasn’t the question, though. Lee Fletcher, the memory of Lee Fletcher, is what kept him going through the darkest time in his life. He owed the world to him.

“Lee Fletcher… well…”

[kookie-doughs]

Y/N L/N AND THE HALFBLOODS

Percy Jackson X Reader

-Y/N L/N met Percy Jackson and everything was now ruined.

CHAPTER 15: Spiders Aren't Water Proof

The next afternoon, June 14, seven days before the solstice, our train rolled into Denver. We hadn't eaten since the night before in the dining car, somewhere in Kansas. We hadn't taken a shower since Half-Blood Hill, and I was sure that was obvious. "Let's try to contact Chiron," Annabeth said. "I want to tell him about your talk with the river spirit." "We can't use phones, right?" "I'm not talking about phones." We wandered through downtown for about half an hour, though I wasn't sure what Annabeth was looking for. The air was dry and hot, which felt weird after the humidity of St. Louis. Everywhere we turned, the Rocky Mountains seemed to be staring at me, like a tidal wave about to crash into the city. Finally we found an empty do-it-yourself car wash. We veered toward the stall farthest from the street, keeping our eyes open for patrol cars. We were four adolescents hanging out at a car wash without a car; any cop worth his doughnuts would figure we were up to no good. "What exactly are we doing?" Percy asked, as Grover took out the spray gun. "It's seventy-five cents," he grumbled. "I've only got two quarters left. Annabeth?" "Don't look at me," she said. "The dining car wiped me out." I fished out my last bit of change and passed Grover a quarter, which left me two nickels and one drachma from Medusa's place. "Excellent," Grover said. "We could do it with a spray bottle, of course, but the connection isn't as good, and my arm gets tired of pumping." "What are you talking about?" He fed in the quarters and set the knob to FINE MIST. "I-M'ing." "Instant messaging?" "Iris-messaging," Annabeth corrected. "The rainbow goddess Iris carries messages for the gods. If you know how to ask, and she's not too busy, she'll do the same for half-bloods." "You summon the goddess with a spray gun?" Grover pointed the nozzle in the air and water hissed out in a thick white mist. "Unless you know an easier way to make a rainbow."

Sure enough, late afternoon light filtered through the vapor and broke into colors. Annabeth held her palm out to me. "Drachma, please." I handed it over. She raised the coin over her head. "O goddess, accept our offering." She threw the drachma into the rainbow. It disappeared in a golden shimmer. "Half-Blood Hill," Annabeth requested. For a moment, nothing happened. Then I was looking through the mist at strawberry fields, and the Long Island Sound in the distance. We seemed to be on the porch of the Big House. Standing with his back to us at the railing was a sandy-haired guy in shorts and an orange tank top. He was holding a bronze sword and seemed to be staring intently at something down in the meadow. "Luke!" I called. He turned, eyes wide. I could swear he was standing three feet in front of me through a screen of mist, except I could only see the part of him that appeared in the rainbow. "Y/N!" His scarred face broke into a grin. "Is that Annabeth and Percy, too? Thank the gods! Are you guys okay?" "We're... uh... fine," Annabeth stammered. She was madly straightening her dirty T-shirt, trying to comb the loose hair out of her face. "We thought—Chiron—I mean—" "He's down at the cabins." Luke's smile faded. "We're having some issues with the campers. Listen, is everything cool with you? Is Grover all right?" "I'm right here," Grover called. He held the nozzle out to one side and stepped into Luke's line of vision. "What kind of issues?" Just then a big Lincoln Continental pulled into the car wash with its stereo turned to maximum hip-hop. As the car slid into the next stall, the bass from the subwoofers vibrated so much, it shook the pavement. "Chiron had to—what's that noise?" Luke yelled. "I'll take care of it.'" Annabeth yelled back, looking very relieved to have an excuse to get out of sight. "Grover, come on! "What?" Grover said. "But—" "Give Percy the nozzle and come on!" she ordered. Grover muttered something about girls being harder to understand than the Oracle at Delphi, then he handed me the spray gun and followed Annabeth. Percy readjusted the hose so we could keep the rainbow going and still see Luke. "Chiron had to break up a fight," Luke shouted to me over the music. "Things are pretty tense here, guys. Word leaked out about the Zeus—Poseidon standoff. We're still not sure how—probably the same scumbag who summoned the hellhound. Now the campers are starting to take sides. It's shaping up like the Trojan War all over again. Aphrodite, Ares, and Apollo are backing Poseidon, more or less. Athena is backing Zeus." In the next stall, I heard Annabeth and some guy arguing with each other, then the music's volume decreased drastically. "So what's your status?" Luke asked us. "Chiron will be sorry he missed you." We told him pretty much everything, including Percy's dreams. It felt so good to see him, to feel like I was back at camp even for a few minutes, that I didn't realize how long I had talked until the beeper went off on the spray machine, and I realized I only had one more minute before the water shut off. "I wish I could be there," Luke told me. "We can't help much from here, I'm afraid, but listen... it had to be Hades who took the master bolt. He was there at Olympus at the winter solstice. I was chaperoning a field trip and we saw him." "But Chiron said the gods can't take each other's magic items directly." "That's true," Luke said, looking troubled. "Still... Hades has the helm of darkness. How could anybody else sneak into the throne room and steal the master bolt? You'd have to be invisible." We were both silent, until Luke seemed to realize what he'd said. "Oh, hey," he protested. "I didn't mean Annabeth. She and I have known each other forever. She would never... I mean, she's like a little sister to me." I wondered if Annabeth would like that description. In the stall next to us, the music stopped completely. A man screamed in terror, car doors slammed, and the Lincoln peeled out of the car wash. "You'd better go see what that was," Luke said. "Listen, has the knife come in handy?" "Very..." I smiled. "The knife is really perfect." "And Percy, are you wearing the flying shoes? I'll feel better if I know they've done you some good." "Oh... uh, yeah!" Percy tried not to sound like a guilty liar. "Yeah, they've come in handy." "Really?" He grinned. "They fit and everything?" The water shut off. The mist started to evaporate. "Well, take care of yourself out there in Denver," Luke called, his voice getting fainter. "And tell Grover it'll be better this time! Nobody will get turned into a pine tree if he just—" But the mist was gone, and Luke's image faded to nothing. We were alone in a wet, empty car wash stall. Annabeth and Grover came around the corner, laughing, but stopped when they saw our face. Annabeth's smile faded. "What happened, Percy? What did Luke say?" "Not much," Percy lied. "Come on, let's find some dinner." A few minutes later, we were sitting at a booth in a gleaming chrome diner. All around us, families were eating burgers and drinking malts and sodas. Finally the waitress came over. She raised her eyebrow skeptically. "Well?" I said, "We, um, want to order dinner." "You kids have money to pay for it?" Grover's lower lip quivered. I was afraid he would start bleating, or worse, start eating the linoleum. Annabeth looked ready to pass out from hunger. I was trying to think up a sob story for the waitress when a rumble shook the whole building; a motorcycle the size of a baby elephant had pulled up to the curb. All conversation in the diner stopped. The motorcycle's headlight glared red. Its gas tank had flames painted on it, and a shotgun holster riveted to either side, complete with shotguns. The seat was leather—but leather that looked like... well, Caucasian human skin. The guy on the bike would've made pro wrestlers run for Mama. He was dressed in a red muscle shirt and black jeans and a black leather duster, with a hunting knife strapped to his thigh. He wore red wraparound shades, and he had the cruelest, most brutal face I'd ever seen— handsome, I guess, but wicked—with an oily black crew cut and cheeks that were scarred from many, many fights. The weird thing was, I felt like I'd seen his face somewhere before. As he walked into the diner, a hot, dry wind blew through the place. All the people rose, as if they were hypnotized, but the biker waved his hand dismissively and they all sat down again. Everybody went back to their conversations. The waitress blinked, as if somebody had just pressed the rewind button on her brain. She asked us again, "You kids have money to pay for it?" The biker said, "It's on me." He slid into our booth, which was way too small for him, and crowded Annabeth against the window. He looked up at the waitress, who was gaping at him, and said, "Are you still here?" He pointed at her, and she stiffened. She turned as if she'd been spun around, then marched back toward the kitchen. The biker looked at me. I couldn't see his eyes behind the red shades. Who did this guy think he was? He gave me a wicked grin. "So you're the unclaimed kid, huh? No wonder they're arguing over who your parent is." I squinted at him, "The hell does my parents have to do with this?" "Well, which ever stuck up your parent is, the big guys upstairs are angry for interfering with your life." He said and placed his dirty boots on the table. "Your parent raised you with your mortal idiots, that's why no one can smell you." I could tell Annabeth wanted to say something but she probably was processing what this guy said. "Don't call my parents idiot. And I only have two parents, it's M/N and D/N L/N." I glared. I was confused as to why an Olympian would raise me and it'd hide my scent. Shouldn't it make worse? "Sure thing." He then turned to Percy who was beside me. "And old seaweed's kid." "What's it to you?" Percy spat. Annabeth's eyes flashed him a warning. "Percy, this is—" The biker raised his hand. "S'okay," he said. "I don't mind a little attitude. Long as you remember who's the boss. You know who I am, little cousin?" Then it struck me why this guy looked familiar. He had the same vicious sneer as some of the kids at Camp Half-Blood, the ones from cabin five. "You're Clarisse's dad," Percy said. "Ares, god of war." Ares grinned and took off his shades. Where his eyes should've been, there was only fire, empty sockets glowing with miniature nuclear explosions. "That's right, punk. I heard you broke Clarisse's spear." "She was asking for it." "Probably. That's cool. I don't fight my kids' fights, you know? What I'm here for—I heard you were in town. I got a little proposition for you." The waitress came back with heaping trays of food—cheeseburgers, fries, onion rings, and chocolate shakes. Ares handed her a few gold drachmas. She looked nervously at the coins. "But, these aren't..." Ares pulled out his huge knife and started cleaning his fingernails. "Problem, sweetheart?" The waitress swallowed, then left with the gold. "You can't do that," I told Ares. "You can't just threaten people with a knife." Ares laughed. "Are you kidding? I love this country. Best place since Sparta. Don't you carry a weapon, punk? You should. Dangerous world out there. Which brings me to my proposition." He turned to Percy, "I need you to do me a favor." "What favor could I do for a god?" "Something a god doesn't have time to do himself. It's nothing much. I left my shield at an abandoned water park here in town. I was going on a little... date with my girlfriend. We were interrupted. I left my shield behind. I want you to fetch it for me." "Why don't you go back and get it yourself?" The fire in his eye sockets glowed a little hotter. "Why don't I turn you into a prairie dog and run you over with my Harley? Because I don't feel like it. A god is giving you an opportunity to prove yourself, Percy Jackson. Will you prove yourself a coward?" He leaned forward. "Or maybe you only fight when there's a river to dive into, so your daddy can protect you." I wanted to punch this guy, but I knew he was waiting for that. He'd love it if I attacked. I didn't want to give him the satisfaction. But by the gods I want to smack him. Maybe some other time. "We're not interested," I said. "We've already got a quest." Ares's fiery eyes made me see things I didn't want to see—blood and smoke and corpses on the battlefield. "I know all about your quest, punk. When that item was first stolen, Zeus sent his best out looking for it: Apollo, Athena, Artemis, and me, naturally. If I couldn't sniff out a weapon that powerful..." He licked his lips, as if the very thought of the master bolt made him hungry. "Well... if I couldn't find it, you got no hope. Nevertheless, I'm trying to give you the benefit of the doubt. Your dad and I go way back. After all, I'm the one who told him my suspicions about old Corpse Breath." "You told him Hades stole the bolt?" "Sure. Framing somebody to start a war. Oldest trick in the book. I recognized it immediately. In a way, you got me to thank for your little quest." "Thanks," Percy grumbled. "Hey, I'm a generous guy. Just do my little job, and I'll help you on your way. I'll arrange a ride west for you and your friends." "We're doing fine on our own." "Yeah, right. No money. No wheels. No clue what you're up against. Help me out, and maybe I'll tell you something you need to know. Something about your mom and Y/N's parents." "Our parents?" He grinned. "That got your attention. The water park is a mile west on Delancy. You can't miss it. Look for the Tunnel of Love ride." "What interrupted your date?" I asked. "Something scare you off?" Ares bared his teeth, but I'd seen his threatening look before on Clarisse. There was something false about it, almost like he was nervous. "You're lucky you met me, punk, and not one of the other Olympians. They're not as forgiving of rudeness as I am. I'll meet you back here when you're done. Don't disappoint me." After that I must have fainted, or fallen into a trance, because when I opened my eyes again, Ares was gone. I might've thought the conversation had been a dream, but Annabeth and Grover's expressions told me otherwise. "Not good," Grover said. "Ares sought you out, Percy. This is not good." I stared out the window. The motorcycle had disappeared. Did Ares really know something about our parents, or was he just playing with me? Now that he was gone, all the anger had drained out of me. I realized Ares must love to mess with people's emotions. That was his power—cranking up the passions so badly, they clouded your ability to think. He does not lie. He knows about your parents. "It's probably some kind of trick, Y/N," Percy said. "Forget Ares. Let's just go." "We can't," Annabeth said. "Look, I hate Ares as much as anybody, but you don't ignore the gods unless you want serious bad fortune. He wasn't kidding about turning you into a rodent." "Why does he need us?" "Maybe it's a problem that requires brains," Annabeth said. "Ares has strength. That's all he has. Even strength has to bow to wisdom sometimes." "But this water park... he acted almost scared. What would make a war god run away like that?" Annabeth and Grover glanced nervously at each other. Annabeth said, "I'm afraid we'll have to find out." The sun was sinking behind the mountains by the time we found the water park. Judging from the sign, it once had been called WATERLAND, but now some of the letters were smashed out, so it read WAT R A D. The main gate was padlocked and topped with barbed wire. Inside, huge dry waterslides and tubes and pipes curled everywhere, leading to empty pools. Old tickets and advertisements fluttered around the asphalt. With night coming on, the place looked sad and creepy. "If Ares brings his girlfriend here for a date," I said, staring up at the barbed wire, "I'd hate to see what she looks like." "Y/N," Annabeth warned. "Be more respectful." "Why? I thought you hated Ares." "He's still a god. And his girlfriend is very temperamental." "You don't want to insult her looks," Grover added. "Who is she? Echidna?" "No, Aphrodite," Grover said, a little dreamily. "Goddess of love." "I thought she was married to somebody," Percy said. "Hephaestus." "What's your point?" he asked. I suddenly felt the need to change the subject. "So how do we get in?" "Maia!" Grover's shoes sprouted wings. He flew over the fence, did an unintended somersault in midair, then stumbled to a landing on the opposite side. He dusted off his jeans, as if he'd planned the whole thing. "You guys coming?" Annabeth, Percy and I had to climb the old-fashioned way, holding down the barbed wire for each other as we crawled over the top. The shadows grew long as we walked through the park, checking out the attractions. There was Ankle Biter Island, Head Over Wedgie, and Dude, Where's My Swimsuit? No monsters came to get us. Nothing made the slightest noise. We found a souvenir shop that had been left open. Merchandise still lined the shelves: snow globes, pencils, postcards, and racks of— "Clothes," Annabeth said. "Fresh clothes." "Oh my gods yes." "Yeah," Percy said. "But you can't just—" "Watch us." She snatched an entire row of stuff of the racks and offered me a hand which I graciously took, together we disappeared into the changing room. "I need a shower." I groaned, while I changed. "We all do." She pointed out. A few minutes later we came out in Waterland flower-print shorts, a big red Waterland T-shirt, and commemorative Waterland surf shoes. A Waterland backpack was slung over our shoulders, obviously stuffed with more goodies. "What the heck." Grover shrugged. Soon, all three of us were decked out like walking advertisements for the defunct theme park. We continued searching for the Tunnel of Love. I got the feeling that the whole park was holding its breath. "So Ares and Aphrodite," Percy said, to keep my mind off the growing dark, "they have a thing going?" "That's old gossip, Percy," Annabeth told us. "Three-thousand-year-old gossip." "What about Aphrodite's husband?" "Well, you know," she said. "Hephaestus. The blacksmith. He was crippled when he was a baby, thrown off Mount Olympus by Zeus. So he isn't exactly handsome. Clever with his hands, and all, but Aphrodite isn't into brains and talent, you know?" "She likes bikers." "Whatever." "Hephaestus knows?" "Oh sure," Annabeth said. "He caught them together once. I mean, literally caught them, in a golden net, and invited all the gods to come and laugh at them. Hephaestus is always trying to embarrass them. That's why they meet in out-of-the-way places, like..." She stopped, looking straight ahead. "Like that." In front of us was an empty pool that would've been awesome for skateboarding. It was at least fifty yards across and shaped like a bowl. Around the rim, a dozen bronze statues of Cupid stood guard with wings spread and bows ready to fire. On the opposite side from us, a tunnel opened up, probably where the water flowed into when the pool was full. The sign above it read, THRILL RIDE O' LOVE: THIS IS NOT YOUR PARENTS' TUNNEL OF LOVE! Grover crept toward the edge. "Guys, look." Marooned at the bottom of the pool was a pink-and-white two-seater boat with a canopy over the top and little hearts painted all over it. In the left seat, glinting in the fading light, was Ares's shield, a polished circle of bronze. "This is too easy," I said. "So we just walk down there and get it?" Annabeth ran her fingers along the base of the nearest Cupid statue. "There's a Greek letter carved here," she said. "Eta. I wonder..." "Grover," Percy said, "you smell any monsters?" He sniffed the wind. "Nothing." "Nothing—like, in-the-Arch-and-you-didn't-smell-Echidna nothing, or really nothing?" Grover looked hurt. "I told you, that was underground." "Hey Percy, that wasn't nice." I glared. "Okay, I'm sorry." Percy took a deep breath. "I'm going down there." Pulling out my knife, "There isn't any monsters." "I'll go with Percy." Grover didn't sound too enthusiastic, but I got the feeling he was trying to make up for what had happened in St. Louis. "No," Percy told him. "I want you to stay up top with the flying shoes. You're the Red Baron, a flying ace, remember? I'll be counting on you for backup, in case something goes wrong." Grover puffed up his chest a little. "Sure. But what could go wrong?" "I don't know. Just a feeling. Y/N, will go with me—" "Yeah, I can go with." "Didn't take you as a romantic Seaweed Brain." Annabeth smirked. "What?" Percy's face was burning now, too. It made me laugh at how adorable he was. He turned to me and blushed even more. "Fine," he told us. "I'll do it myself." "Percy, I didn't say i don't want to come with!" I giggled. He started down the side of the pool, I followed, I hear him muttering about how this wasn't how its supposed go. Then I realized how we would've been surrounded by water. "Arthur Curry, if I drown I will beg Hades to have you." He paused and turned to take my hand and we continued walking. We reached the boat. The shield was propped on one seat, and next to it was a lady's silk scarf. I tried to imagine Ares and Aphrodite here, a couple of gods meeting in a junked-out amusement-park ride. Why? Then I noticed something I hadn't seen from up top: mirrors all the way around the rim of the pool, facing this spot. We could see ourselves no matter which direction we looked. That must be it. While Ares and Aphrodite were smooching with each other they could look at their favorite people: themselves. Percy picked up the scarf. It shimmered pink, and the perfume was indescribable—rose, or mountain laurel. He smiled, a little dreamy, and was about to rub the scarf against his cheek I frowned ripped it out of his hand and stuffed it in me pocket. "No." "What?" "Just get the shield, Arthur Curry, and let's get out of here." The moment he touched the shield, I knew we were in trouble. My hand broke through something that had been connecting it to the dashboard. A cobweb, I thought, but then I looked at a strand of it on my palm and saw it was some kind of metal filament, so fine it was almost invisible. A trip wire. "Wait," I said. "Too late." "There's another Greek letter on the side of the boat, another Eta. This is a trap." Noise erupted all around us, of a million gears grinding, as if the whole pool were turning into one giant machine. Grover yelled, "Guys!" Up on the rim, the Cupid statues were drawing their bows into firing position. Before I could suggest taking cover, they shot, but not at us. They fired at each other, across the rim of the pool. Silky cables trailed from the arrows, arcing over the pool and anchoring where they landed to form a huge golden asterisk. Then smaller metallic threads started weaving together magically between the main strands, making a net. "We have to get out," Percy said. "Woah I didn't know!" I said. Percy grabbed the shield and holding my hand we ran, but going up the slope of the pool was not as easy as going down. "I'm going to drown again aren't I? "Come on!" Grover shouted. He was trying to hold open a section of the net for us, but wherever he touched it, the golden threads started to wrap around his hands. The Cupids' heads popped open. Out came video cameras. Spotlights rose up all around the pool, blinding us with illumination, and a loudspeaker voice boomed: "Live to Olympus in one minute ... Fifty-nine seconds, fifty-eight ..." "Hephaestus!" Annabeth screamed. "I'm so stupid.' Eta is H.' He made this trap to catch his wife with Ares. Now we're going to be broadcast live to Olympus and look like absolute fools!" We'd almost made it to the rim when the row of mirrors opened like hatches and thousands of tiny metallic... things poured out. It was an army of wind-up creepy-crawlies: bronze-gear bodies, spindly legs, little pincer mouths, all scuttling toward us in a wave of clacking, whirring metal. "Spiders!" I said. I kicked these pests. Percy pulled me up and dragged my back toward the boat. "I am not staying here! I am so going to drown again!" The things were coming out from all around the rim now, millions of them, flooding toward the center of the pool, completely surrounding us. I told myself they probably weren't programmed to kill, just corral us and bite us and make us look stupid. Then again, this was a trap meant for gods. And we weren't gods. Percy and I climbed into the boat. Percy started kicking away the spiders as they swarmed aboard. I was swatting away some that I could. "Thirty, twenty-nine," called the loudspeaker. The spiders started spitting out strands of metal thread, trying to tie us down. The strands were easy enough to break at first, but there were so many of them, and the spiders just kept coming. I kicked one away from Percy's leg and its pincers took a chunk out of my new surf shoe. Annabeth was frozen from where she stood trying to keep away from us as much as possible. Grover hovered above the pool in his flying sneakers, trying to pull the net loose, but it wouldn't budge. Think, I told myself. Think. The Tunnel of Love entrance was under the net. We could use it as an exit, except that it was blocked by a million robot spiders. "Fifteen, fourteen," the loudspeaker called. Then I saw them: huge water pipes behind the mirrors, where the spiders had come from. And up above the net, next to one of the Cupids, a glass-windowed booth that must be the controller's station. "Annabeth!" Percy yelled. "Get into that booth! Find the 'on' switch!" Snapping out of her trance she turned. "But—" "Do it!" Annabeth was in the controller's booth now, staring at the buttons. "Five, four—" Annabeth sighed and started pushing every button, then looked up at us hopelessly, raising her hands. She was letting us know that she'd pushed every button, but still nothing was happening. "Y/N, I won't let you drown, just hold on!" I didn't think twice on nodding. Percy closed his eyes. "Two, one, zero!" Water exploded out of the pipes. It roared into the pool, sweeping away the spiders. He pulled me into the seat next to us and fastened me seat belt just as the tidal wave slammed into our boat, over the top, whisking the spiders away and dousing us completely, but not capsizing us. The boat turned, lifted in the flood, and spun in circles around the whirlpool. He held my hand tight afraid I'll drown the moment he lets go. The water was full of short-circuiting spiders, some of them smashing against the pool's concrete wall with such force they burst. Spotlights glared down at us. The Cupid-cams were rolling, live to Olympus. Percy and I held tight, both of us screaming as the boat shot curls and hugged corners and took forty-five-degree plunges past pictures of Romeo and Juliet and a bunch of other Valentine's Day stuff. Then we were out of the tunnel, the night air whistling through our hair as the boat barreled straight toward the exit. If the ride had been in working order, we would've sailed off a ramp between the golden Gates of Love and splashed down safely in the exit pool. But there was a problem. The Gates of Love were chained. Two boats that had been washed out of the tunnel before us were now piled against the barricade—one submerged, the other cracked in half. Jump. We have to jump. "Unfasten your seat belt," I yelled to Percy. Who already had his belt unfastened. "Jumping?" "We're going to have to jump for it." My idea was simple and insane. As the boat struck, we would use its force like a springboard to jump the gate. I'd heard of people surviving car crashes that way, getting thrown thirty or forty feet away from an accident. With luck, we would land in the pool. Hopefully not drown. Percy nodded. He gripped my hand as the gates got closer. "On my mark," I said. On mine. Jump when 'I' say so Perseus Jackson. He looked at me reluctantly. "How?" "What?" You'll know when I say so. "Fine." He shouted. "Jump when I jump!" "How would I know?!" "You'll say it!" "What?!" "Just tell me when to jump!!" "Now!" I yelled. I was about to jump when Percy pulled me closer. "Not yet! You didn't say it yet." Jump Hero. Percy jumped. I followed him. Crack! He was right. If we'd jumped when I thought we should've, we would've crashed into the gates. He got us maximum lift. Our boat smashed into the pileup and we were thrown into the air, straight over the gates, the pool was getting closer. I was going to drown again. Something grabbed me from behind. I yelled, "Ouch!" Grover! In midair, he had grabbed Percy by the shirt, and me by the arm, and was trying to pull us out of a crash landing, but we had all the momentum. "You're too heavy!" Grover said. "We're going down!" We spiraled toward the ground, Grover doing his best to slow the fall. We smashed into a photo-board, Grover's head going straight into the hole where tourists would put their faces, pretending to be Noo-Noo the Friendly Whale. Percy and I tumbled to the ground, banged up but alive. Ares's shield was still on Percy's arm. "Are you okay?" Percy panted. "Yeah... I didn't drown." Once we caught our breath, Percy and I went over to help Annabeth who was getting Grover out of the photo-board and thanked him for saving our lives. I looked back at the Thrill Ride of Love. The water was subsiding. Our boat had been smashed to pieces against the gates. A hundred yards away, at the entrance pool, the Cupids were still filming. The statues had swiveled so that their cameras were trained straight on us, the spotlights in our faces. I walked closer, "You guys suck." I blew blasphemy at the camera. Percy pulled me away. "Show's over!" Percy yelled. "Thank you! Good night!" The Cupids turned back to their original positions. The lights shut off. The park went quiet and dark again, except for the gentle trickle of water into the Thrill Ride of Love's exit pool. I wondered if Olympus had gone to a commercial break, or if our ratings had been any good. I hated being teased. I hated being tricked. And I had plenty of experience handling bullies who liked to do that stuff to me. Percy hefted the shield on his arm and turned to us friends. "We need to have a little talk with Ares."

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[flightfoot]

Abuse and how it plays into Identity in Tower of Nero

While abuse has played a role in previous Trials of Apollo books, and in the Greco-Roman main series as a whole, Tower of Nero digs into it most deeply.

Identity and recovery from abuse are deeply linked here, with much of the abuse recovery coming from forging an identity separate from the abuser.

Previously it mostly came up in The Hidden Oracle and The Burning Maze, with Meg’s relationship with Nero prompting Apollo to examine his own relationship with Zeus. 

Apollo knew in the back of his head that Zeus was abusing him, that his rage against the Cyclopes for creating the lightning bolt Zeus used to murder Asclepius, for instance, was him redirecting his anger onto a safer target because raging against Zeus directly was so unsafe, but he tried not to let himself think about it too much, and he tried to fool himself into thinking that Zeus DID care about him, that he loved him, at least enough that he’d help him if he saw him in trouble. 

Seeing Meg with Nero, how he manipulated her, how he subtly blamed her for anything bad that happened around her, for anything HE did, while trying to seem gentle and kind; seeing the abuse he went through reflected in this young girl led him to cope with his own abuse better. 

His experiences with abuse, with Zeus treating him as a scapegoat and ‘forcing’ him to punish Apollo if he stepped out of line, with his own feelings about the abuse and his own coping mechanisms and behavior as a result, are a useful reference for understanding and helping Meg through her experiences with Nero.

And helping her cope, separate, and try to grow after being manipulated by Nero for so long? Helps him come to terms with his own experiences.

He’s pretty explicit about the comparisons too. Like when Meg talks about how Lu used to help her pretend to kill people for Nero, helped her how she could, but Apollo’s mostly just horrified that Lu stuck around and didn’t take Meg and run... and yet part of him understood.

And are you any better? taunted a small voice in my brain. How many times have you stood up to Zeus?

Okay, small voice. Fair point. Tyrants are not easy to oppose or walk away from, especially when you depend on them for everything. (TON 57)

Lu may not have been quite as dependent on Nero as say, Meg - at least psychologically. Lu’s not a child by any means. 

But Lu’s only immortal because Nero is, and he can, presumably, revoke that. Nero provides her employment, a home, probably her entire social circle, AND he has the power and the will to go after her and anyone she cares about if she strays, if she tries to defy him. 

In those ways, her situation mirrors Apollo’s even better than Meg’s does - and while he’s angry at her for not defying Nero, he also understands. 

I suspect part of his anger and suspicion at her is also anger and suspicion of himself, for falling into a similar trap.

Still, though Lu has her own baggage with Nero, Meg’s is focused on a lot more, with how she’s grown and changed, and her desire to hang onto who she’s become while separated from Nero, to hang onto her own identity and personality and not what Nero attempted to shape her into. 

It’s to the point that she can barely comprehend who she was under him, how she used to think, what she did.

“I betrayed you once,” she said. “Right here in these woods.”

She didn’t sound sad or ashamed about it, the way she once might have. She spoke with a sort of dreamy disbelief, as if trying to recall the person she’d been six months ago. That was a problem I could relate to. (TON 114)

Meg hasn’t really changed at her core as much as Apollo has - as much as she’s gone through, she at least wasn’t much of a jerk in the first place. Well, relatively speaking, when compared to Apollo. She’s abrasive, but not much beyond that.

But she HAS changed, in large part BECAUSE she’s more able and willing to stand up for herself in ways that she couldn’t do remotely safely while with Nero. She’s broken free of his psychological hold. 

During The Hidden Oracle she was ALREADY rebelling against him, she refused to burn the woods, but... well, she DID go with him, DID believe she could change him for awhile. 

But she broke free after realizing he wouldn’t, escaped and returned to Apollo, freeing herself from Nero’s grasp once more. 

For her, I think the difference between who she was six months ago and who she is now has less to do with her actual personality and worldview - those haven’t actually changed all that much throughout the books - but just in being free, somewhat safe (well, safer emotionally at least), and genuinely cared for. To not be under Nero’s influence to the same extent.

With Apollo... well, it’s a bit different with him. Zeus wasn’t as controlling as Nero, Apollo COULD have kept his space from him before; his sister has been doing that for millennia. But he has still changed a lot, moreso than Meg did, to the point that he’s almost unrecognizeable from who he was when he first fell to earth in THO.

Newly experiencing kindness, regular affection, and just having other people care about him though? He shares that with Meg.

Not that people have never been nice to him before, that’s not the case. But to have people be nice to him who he wouldn’t think would need to be, when he’s vulnerable... there’s a reason he’s been extremely touched when that’s happened even back from THO, and in this book he breaks down pretty much every time.

Meg struggles with needing to retain her independence, the new sense of herself she’s acquired during her journey with Apollo.

“I have to go back,” Meg insisted. “I have to see if I’m strong enough.”

Peaches cuddled up next to her as if he had no such concerns.

Meg patted his leafy wings. “Maybe I’ve gotten stronger. But when I go back to the palace, will it be enough? Can I remember to be who I am now and not… who I was then?”

I didn’t think she expected an answer. But it occurred to me that perhaps I should be asking myself that same question.

Since Jason Grace’s death, I’d spent sleepless nights wondering if I could keep my promise to him. Assuming I made it back to Mount Olympus, could I remember what it was like to be human, or would I slip back into being the self-centered god I used to be?

Change is a fragile thing. It requires time and distance. Survivors of abuse, like Meg, have to get away from their abusers. Going back to that toxic environment was the worst thing she could do. And former arrogant gods like me couldn’t hang around other arrogant gods and expect to stay unsullied.

But I supposed Meg was right. Going back was the only way to see how strong we’d gotten, even if it meant risking everything. (TON 114-115)

Meg needs to keep her identity she’s created for herself away from Nero. But her question about remembering to be who she is now versus who she was back then fits Apollo’s conundrum better, something that is clearly not lost on Apollo.

I knew my anxiety about my own weakness was getting mixed up with my anxiety about Meg. Even if I somehow made my way back to Mount Olympus, I didn’t trust myself to hold onto the important things I’d learned as a mortal. That made me doubt Meg’s ability to stay strong in her old toxic home.

The similarities between Nero’s household and my family on Mount Olympus made me increasingly uneasy. The idea that we gods were just as manipulative, just as abusive as the worst Roman emperor… Surely that couldn’t be true.

Oh, wait. Yes, it could. Ugh. I hated clarity. (TON 225-226)

Meg’s captured, being fully under Nero’s influence once more, with him trying to twist everything to be Apollo’s or Meg’s faults, trying to twist it so that every bit of distress that he puts Meg through is somehow the fault of her or her allies.

She picked up the chair and threw it across the room - but not at Nero. It whanged off the window, leaving a smudge but no cracks. I caught the flicker of a smile on Nero’s face - a smile of satisfaction - before his expression fixed back into a mask of sympathy. “Yes, dear. This anger comes from guilt. You led Apollo here. You understood what that meant, what would happen. But you did it anyway. That must be so painful... knowing you brought him to his end (TON 235)

This kind of manipulation is Nero’s trademark, he uses it for most of the book. Telling Meg what she’s feeling, telling her that she’s feeling this way because of something wrong SHE did, not because of the horrible things NERO did. Trying to rewrite her reality to fall in line with what HE wants her to believe, to think.

Nero makes her change clothes, has her scrub up, even has her get a pedicure. 

Normally this would sound like a good thing. But it’s just one of the ways he tries to rewrite who she is, to break her sense of identity and replace it with one more to his liking. By taking away things that showed her own personal style, he took away reminders of who she is, as well as showing his ability to exert control over her, make her believe she has no choices.

My heart broke. Meg looked elegant, older, and quite beautiful. She also looked utterly, completely no longer herself. Nero had tried to strip away everything she had been, every choice she’d made, and replace her with someone else - a proper young lady of the Imperial Household. (TON 285-286) 

Nero continues to try to twist the circumstances, to brainwash Meg into believing that he’s her savior and Apollo and the others may harm her. But Apollo keeps protesting, leading to this scene:

I tried to contain my horror. “Meg,” I said. “There’s only one person you need to listen to here: yourself. Trust yourself.”

I meant it, despite all my doubts and fears, despite all my complaints over the months about Meg being my master. She had chosen me, but I had also chosen her. I did trust her - not in spite of her past with Nero, but because of it. I had seen her struggle. I’d admired her hard-won progress. I had to believe in her for my own sake. She was - gods help me - my role model. (TON 293)

Ultimately, MEG’S the one who decides. Who fights back. Because she was able to listen to herself, to not be twisted by Nero’s lies and deceptions.

“I didn’t kill my father,” she said, her voice small and hard. “I didn’t cut off Lu’s hands or enslave those dryads or twist us all up inside.” She swept a hand towards the other demigods of the household. “You did that, Nero. I hate you.” (TON 295)

This was the tipping point. When she announced, to herself and everyone else, the truth. The reality. Rejecting Nero’s attempts to rewrite it.

Nero hissed. “Ungrateful child. The Beast-”

“The Beast is dead.” Meg tapped the side of her head. “I killed it.” (TON 311)

I notice here she tapped the side of her head. Of course, she didn’t literally kill The Beast; Nero’s still alive after all.

But The Beast was a psychological trick Nero used on Meg, to make her separate him into two people; the ‘nice’ stepfather, and The Beast that takes over and punishes if she misbehaves. 

She ‘killed’ it, because she killed the concept.

There was never a Beast.

There was only ever Nero.

And now that she’s gotten out from under his thumb? She reasserts her own identity.

Meg had thrown away her sandals, braving bare feet despite the arrows, rubble, bones, and discarded blades that littered the floor. Someone had given her an orange Camp Half-Blood shirt, which she’d put on over her dress, making her allegiance clear. She still looked older and more sophisticated, but she also looked like my Meg. (TON 323)

I like the emphasis on how she looks older, but also like herself. She looks like what Nero made her into still, in a way - she’s still wearing that dress after all - but she’s made it her own, integrated herself into it.

It nicely parallels Apollo’s own situation, with needing to integrate who he’s become as Lester, who he’s grown to be, with his godly identity. Because things WILL be different once he’s a god again; he’ll have power he doesn’t have now, will have exposure to other gods that he doesn’t currently have. So he needs to figure out how to handle that, how to be a god, how to be Apollo while not losing what he’s gained as Lester.

Even if I survived, I would not be the same. The best I could hope for was to emerge from Delphi with my godhood restored, which was what I had wanted and dreamed about for the past half a year. So why did I feel so reluctant about leaving behind the broken, battered form of Lester Papadopolous? (TON 327)

Like Meg was, Apollo’s struggling to get ahold of his own identity before he has to face his abuser again, has to re-enter that old toxic environment. He fears that if the trappings of “Lester” are destroyed, then like with Nero changing Meg’s clothes, that he’ll lose part of his connection to who he’s become.

As Apollo fights Python, his mortal body becomes less and less mortal, bringing him into an in-between, in-flux state that mirrors his internal identity crisis.

“YOU CAN’T HIDE!” Python bellowed. “YOU ARE NO GOD!”

This pronouncement hit me like a bucket of ice water. It didn’t carry the weight of prophecy, but it was true nonetheless. At the moment, I wasn’t sure what I was. I certainly wasn’t my old godly self. I wasn’t exactly Lester Papadopolous either. My flesh steamed. Pulses of light flickered under my skin, like the sun trying to break through storm clouds. When had that started?

I was between states, morphing as rapidly as Python himself. I was no god. I would never be the same old Apollo again. But in this moment, I had the chance to decide what I would become, even if that new existence only lasted a few seconds.

The realization burned away my delirium.

“I won’t hide,” I muttered. “I won’t cower. That’s not who I will be.” (TON 339-340)

Like with Meg before, he’s deciding, affirming for himself what kind of person he is now, who he wants to be, different from who he was before.

Even during the fight with Python, some small part of him hopes Zeus will intervene, will see he’s done enough and help him, save him. But here, that instinct is quashed for the final time.

I had done my best. Surely, Zeus would see that and be proud. Maybe he would send down a lightning bolt, blast Python into tiny pieces, and save me!

As soon as I thought this, I realized how foolish it was. Zeus didn’t work that way. He would not save me anymore than Nero had saved Meg. I had to let go of that fantasy. I had to save myself. (TON 341)

Much like with how Meg hoped back near the beginning of the series that Nero really would change, really was a good person deep down, Apollo kept up the hope in early entries that Zeus DID care about him and would come to save him at any moment. And even in later books, heck, even in THIS book, with Meg still calling Nero her stepfather a few times and the part of Apollo hoping that Zeus will intervene now, it’s hard to break the desire, the belief that that person who SHOULD care about you, surely will now.

But both of them break past that. Meg calls Nero out, rejects his attempts to rewrite reality, and Apollo kills the idea that Zeus might intervene on his behalf.

By the time Apollo’s a god again, he has a firm bead on the kind of person Zeus is, as well as the type of environment Mt. Olympus is, with most of his family just watching his trials and tribulations, everything he and his friends went through, and betting on the outcome. Only Artemis and Hera seemed to take things seriously, seemed to deeply care whether he lived or died.

Not that the others could have interfered against Zeus’s wishes.

As much as we pretended to be a council of twelve, in truth we were a tyranny. Zeus was less a benevolent father and more an iron-fisted leader with the biggest weapons and the ability to strip us of our immortality if we offended him. (TON 366)

Apollo just kind of hangs back for the council session, having little to say to anyone except Artemis, not caring much about what the other Olympians thought, and not really feeling like one of them as a whole. Though that was true even before he actually walked into the room.

I remembered my dream of the throne room - the other Olympians gambling on my success or failure. I wondered how much money they’d lost.

What could I possibly say to them? I no longer felt like one of them. I wasn’t one of them. (TON 358)

And finally, the long-awaited confrontation scene with Zeus. It wasn’t long. It wasn’t flashy. Unlike Meg, he couldn’t attack and get rid of his abuser, couldn’t get out from under his influence entirely. Zeus is King of the Gods; realizing that he’s an abusive asshole doesn’t change that.

But he COULD change his own response to the situation.

My father coughed into his fist. “ I know you think your punishment was harsh, Apollo.”

I did not answer. I tried my best to keep my expression polite and neutral.

“But you must understand,” Zeus continued, “only you could have overthrown Python. Only you could have freed the Oracles. And you did it, as I expected. The suffering, the pain along the way… regrettable, but necessary. You have done me proud.”

Interesting how he put that: I had done him proud. I had been useful in making him look good. My heart did not melt. I did not feel that this was a warm-and-fuzzy reconciliation with my father. Let’s be honest: some fathers don’t deserve that. Some fathers aren’t capable of it.

I suppose I could have raged at him and called him bad names. We were alone. He probably expected it. Given his awkward self-consciousness at the moment, he might even have let me get away with it unpunished.

But it would not have changed him. It would not have made anything different between us.

You cannot change a tyrant by trying to out-ugly him. Meg could never have changed Nero, any more than I could change Zeus. I could only try to be different than him. Better. More… human. And to limit the time I spent around him to as little as possible. (TON 367-368)

Apollo just... let go of any attachment to Zeus. It reminded me of the Cumaen SIbyl, with how she forgave Apollo for her own sake, how Apollo felt that he himself was being erased by that. 

This isn’t a reconciliation; this is simply Apollo putting Zeus as far behind him as possible and trying to let him take up as little space in his life as he can. He may not be able to cut all ties to him, but he can at least minimize his connection to him, his influence over him.

In the end, Apollo doesn’t even really consider what he went through to be a punishment; not really.

To be honest, though, I could no longer consider my time on Earth a punishment. Terrible, tragic, nearly impossible… yes. But calling it a punishment gave Zeus too much credit. It had been a journey - an important one I made for myself, with the help of my friends. I hoped… I believed that the grief and pain had shaped me into a better person. I had forged a more perfect Lester from the dregs of Apollo. I would not trade those experiences for anything. And if I had been told I had to be Lester for another hundred years… Well, I could think of worse things. At least I wouldn’t be expected to show up at the Olympian solstice meetings. (TON 373)

Like with his conversation with Zeus, he’s minimizing Zeus’s control, his influence over himself and his life. 

And in the end, Apollo leaves Mt. Olympus as soon as he can to spend time with all the new friends he’s made, away from the toxic influences of Olympus and of Zeus especially. Reaffirming his new identity, his new self by appearing in his Lester form, the form he’d grown in, that he’d forged for himself.

I just really love how in-depth Tower of Nero went, especially with the way it emphasized the identity manipulation and erasure involved with some kinds of abuse.

[btsslowburnfic]

Chthonic Love-Chapter 1

Ancient Greece inspired AU featuring Yoongi/Suga as Hades and you as Persephone.

Lord Min Yoongi enjoys his job as the Lord of the Underworld. It's quiet. Predictable. Peaceful. Until one day his brother Namjoon, the Lord of Olympus, brings him a gift: you. The Goddess the mortals call “Persephone.”

Lord Min Yoongi walked across the black sand. It was the start of a new day and time to usher in the newest batch of souls. Not that you could tell it was morning; the underworld had a constant eerie gray hue in the sky with no clear demarcation between day and night. The Sun God, Jungkook, did not dare to tread upon the realm of Yoongi, God of Death.

He let out a sigh as he looked over the Stygian Sea. He didn't mind this job. Not really. The dead didn't frighten him. The quiet didn't bother him. But it was boring. Every day was the same. Occasionally a stray soul would wander off and he'd have to wrangle it, but for the most part they simply accepted their fate. That’s why he had chosen this realm originally after the Titan Wars; peace and quiet. After a few centuries though, it was getting a bit dull.

He puffed out his cheeks and headed over towards the gates to the Underworld. Holly, the giant three-headed guard dog, wagged its massive tail.

"Good boy," he said quietly, patting its side. "Open the gate."

Holly took the enormous chain and began to pull it, winching open the iron gates and allowing the boats of undead to sail in.

Yoongi observed, making sure none of the souls escaped. He had no ill feelings towards the mortals who entered his realm. They all ended up here eventually.

Nothing unusual happened today, much to his chagrin. He commanded Holly to close the gate and rewarded him with a large manticore bone.

Yoongi began the ascent back to his palace. The onyx fortress offered a view of the Stygian Sea as well as the various tributaries surrounding the Underworld. In the distance, the faint glow of Elysium, and to the West the icy black of Tartarus. The palace was mostly empty except for the few servants who had been assigned here, There were a few, of course, who worked in the Underworld by choice, but the vast majority were paying penance until they could cross through to another realm. None of that had anything to do with Yoongi; it wasn’t his job to pass judgment. His job was to enforce order.

There wasn’t any reason for him to return to the palace this morning. He would return to the beach again midday, and then again at night. Of course as the ruler he had no reason to follow the schedule, but it was one he had set up for himself and he also took it as an excuse to feed Holly.

Something caught his eye as he walked up the path to his home, a flash in the otherwise monochrome sky.

"What the fuck?" He wondered out loud. This could only mean that Namjoon himself had deigned to enter the underworld. His younger brother, the leader of Olympus, rarely entered the Underworld and when he did he usually fucked something, or someone, up. Yoongi picked up the pace to see what this meant.

By the time Yoongi entered the throne room Namjoon had already made himself at home, lazily draped across Yoongi’s throne.

“Good morning big brother,” Namjoon greeted him, moving into a seated position.

“Namjoon,” Yoongi willed himself to remain calm. “What’s the occasion for this visit?”

“Can’t I just come down and check on the Underworld? Make sure it’s all running smoothly.” Namjoon flashed his dimples at Yoongi. Those dimples made mortals and nymphs swoon but had no impact on Yoongi.

“Considering there aren’t corpses wandering the mortal realm, I don’t think there’s any reason to check on the Underworld. And, you’re not my boss, in case you have forgotten. Just because your realm gets more fanfare doesn’t mean anything.” Yoongi felt his patience wearing thin. Yoongi had CHOSEN this realm. The solitude and predictability and lack of meddling Gods appealed to him and yet here he was, with the most meddlesome of his brothers sitting on his throne.

“Calm yourself brother. I come bearing a gift.” Namjoon stood up.

The little color there was in Yoongi’s pale complexion began to drain away. This was not good.

“You shouldn’t have.”

“Oh I know, I know but I found myself thinking of how lonely it must be for you down here every day by yourself.”

“I’m not by myself. I have Holly. There are people in the palace.”

Namjoon waved his hand up and down dismissing his brother. “Of course of course but pets and servants don’t count. No, what you need is a companion and that is just what I have acquired for you.”

“A What??” Yoongi began to panic knowing the sort of shit his brother gets himself into.

“A companion,” Namjoon stated again. He gestured toward the throne room doors, causing them to open. A large orb floated into the room. It was solid with a shimmery white exterior.

“What the hell is this?” Yoongi growls.

“Now of course the Harvest God will be angry when he realizes what exactly his deal entailed. But we both know, you shouldn’t enter into deals with me unless you know what you’re getting into.” Namjoon laughed darkly. He snapped his fingers, causing the exterior of the orb to become clear like glass. Inside is a woman with long flowing hair who is sitting on a bed of moss, slumped over a tree trunk. She looks as though she is sleeping.

“What the fuck did you do to Hoseok?” Yoongi asked. He had never been close to the other Gods, leaving “home” the first moment he was able to. But, from what little he knew, Hoseok was a kind God who kept to himself.

Namjoon rolled his eyes, “I don’t know why you care but he lost a bet to me and now I own his younger sister. Now I am gifting her to you because as I said, you must be lonely here and I think you could use the company. You’re welcome.” Namjoon gestured to the orb, quite pleased with himself.

Yoongi barely managed to hide the contempt in his voice. “You can’t just take people’s sisters. Take this poor girl back to the mortal realm. What the hell would I want with her?”

“Wife her, sleep with her, make her a servant. I don’t care. She’s a minor Goddess so she’ll be fine here.”

“That’s not the point. I don’t need company and I certainly don’t want someone who has been kidnapped.” he gritted through his teeth.

Namjoon dropped his smile. “She belongs to me now. A contract was signed. If you don’t take her, rest assured that I will be taking her back with me and I will find a use for her. Likely several,” his gaze turned lustful as he looked at the woman in the orb

Yoongi stood there wishing he could tell his brother to fuck off but he can’t. And he has no interest in challenging him. He wants nothing to do with Olympus or the mortal realm. He likes it here. He let out a deep breath knowing that she will be better off here with him than with his brother. He knows he won’t force himself on her or force her into a life of servitude. And maybe he can work out a way to return her to where she belongs.

“Very well,” Yoongi stuck out his hand, “I accept this gift from you.”

Namjoon took his older brother’s hand, shook it, and then snapped his fingers causing the orb to drop to the ground. It shattered, causing glass to fly everywhere. The woman woke up and began to scream.

Namjoon smiled slyly, “Good luck with that,” he said as he vanished.

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

“Stop moving.” Yoongi calmly said as he walked towards the middle of the throne where moss and glass were strewn about. You were curled in on yourself sobbing in the middle of the wreckage. “Excuse me.” This was quite awkward for him. He rarely had any visitors and he certainly had never had anyone kidnapped and left here before. You continued to scream. He sighed and snapped his fingers, an almost imperceptive gesture but one that managed to quickly summon two servants into the throne room. They looked absolutely terrified.

“Yes m’lord?” the male servant Penthos, asked while attempting to not notice the screaming girl in the middle of the room.

“Clean up the glass.” he gestured to the mess in the room.

“Of course sir.” He walked closer to the epicenter and raised his hands, the glass following suit as the shards began to levitate as well. He drew his hands to his chest, causing the glass to assemble into an orb.. The servant formed the ball tightly, compacting the shards back into solid glass. He handed it to his master.

“Very good. Thank you. You may leave.”

Penthos looked wearily at his coworker, Lethe. She gave him a small nod as he exited the room.

Yoongi handed Lethe the orb. “Stay here for a moment,” he said quietly to her. You had stopped screaming, your throat had become raw and instead you quietly sobbed, still in the middle of the moss bed.

“Excuse me,” Yoongi tried again. He quietly walked over and crouched down next to you. “I’m sorry this is happening to you.” he said so quietly the servant can’t hear him and you barely can either. But you do. And his quiet voice almost makes you forget what happened to you today. Almost. You slowly raised your head and pulled your hair to one side, willing yourself to turn and look to the source of the voice.

“Where am I? Why the hell did you bring me here?” you asked as you turned and took in the most beautiful face you had ever seen. Did you die? Is this Elysium? You had heard that minor Gods and Goddesses could die but you didn’t feel dead. You were so confused. You had been frolicking in a field with some nymphs and deer. You remembered seeing Zeus and him saying that you belonged to him now and then...

The man sighs. “You’re in the Underworld. Specifically, my throne room. And I did not bring you here. My brother did.”

“The Underworld? Your throne room?” you repeated like an idiot. Oh shit. You turned towards him and bowed, “Forgive me Lord Hades, I did not know to whom I was speaking.”

Yoongi scrunched up his nose, “Please don’t call me that. And get up. Only mortals call me that or have to do that,” he gestured to the ground. “I can’t remember the last time someone called me that actually.” This amused him far more than it should, he smiled and turned towards the other side of the room, “Lethe, do you remember the last time someone called me Hades?” You saw a woman standing over to the side of the doors.

“No M’Lord,” she responded, surprised that he was speaking in such a human manner. This was honestly the most she had heard him speak in her 50 years working in the castle.

You slowly got up from the floor, still quite disoriented. Yoongi grabbed you by the elbow to steady you. “No. Please. Don’t touch me.” you said reflexively. He carefully removed his hand from your arm and stepped back.

“Lord Min Yoongi, I wish to know why I have been brought here against my will. I am a goddess of Spring, there is no reason for me to be in the Underworld.”

“Indeed, there’s not.” he responded briskly, the warmth gone from his voice. “And yet here you are. Lethe,” he gestured to the servant by the door. “Please make sure...I didn’t get your name.” he said, cocking his head to the side as he looked you over.

“The mortals call me Persephone. My name is my own.”

Yoongi gives a dry laugh, “Very well. You’re a fast learner “Persephone.” Lethe please escort Persephone to the guest quarters.”

Lethe fidgeted uncomfortably, not wanting to ask the question. But she had to. “Sir. We’ve never had a guest before. Which quarters are the guest quarters?”

Yoongi rolled his eyes, he just wanted to get out of there and away from you. “Just pick the room the furthest away from mine.” he snapped and exited the throne room. NEXT CHAPTER

[buoyantsaturn]

Bring On The Monsters (8/8)

chapter title: The Prophecy Comes True

word count: 4,520

read on ao3

The Doors of Orpheus let them out into the middle of Central Park, and from there, Will did his best to lead the di Angelos to the Empire State Building. In his defense, he’d only ever been in the city once, and Argus had driven him and the rest of camp there in a camp van. 

When they got to the door, Bianca set a hand on Will’s shoulder to stop him from walking inside. She held the Lotus card out to him.

“You should go back to camp,” Bianca said. “We don’t know how Zeus is going to react, and we don’t need him getting angry at you and your dad when he’s only mad at ours right now. Trust me, Will, it’ll be safer for you this way.” 

Will took the card, looking dejected, though he nodded in acceptance. He kept his gaze on the ground as he said, “You’ll wanna go to the 600th floor. Ask the doorman for the key. He’s gonna be a real jerk, but don’t let that stop you. And…” He lifted his eyes and met Nico’s. “Find me when you get back to camp, okay? I’ll be...in the infirmary, probably, but maybe the pavilion, depending on what time it is, and if it’s after dark then I’ll be in my cabin, but--” 

Nico jumped forward and pulled Will into a hug. “Be careful.” 

Will hugged him back. “You too.” 

Will pulled away and glanced at Bianca, holding his arms out awkwardly. She punched him in the arm. “If you manage to get yourself killed between here and camp after the week we just had, I’ll find you in the Underworld and kill you again myself.”

Will nodded. “Noted.” He pushed forward for a hug that lasted no more than a second, and then he ran toward the street to hail a cab. 

With one hand, Bianca tightly gripped the strap of her backpack, and reached down to grasp Nico’s hand in the other. “C’mon, Nico, let’s pay our uncle a visit.”

Will had been right about the doorman giving them a hard time, but after Bianca threatened him with her knife, he handed over the keys and pointed them toward the elevator. After what seemed like half an hour, the doors finally opened, not into a building, but out onto a stone path that wove between lush green hills. 

Every building on Olympus was white. White and bright with little bits of silver decorating everything that reflected the sun straight into Nico’s eyes. He wished he was back in the Underworld, and he’d barely even stepped foot in Olympus at that point. 

They followed the path to the palace, which was almost an exact replica of the one in the Underworld, only - of course - white and silver instead of black and gold. Nico hated it already. At least they had a good idea of where the throne room would be once they got inside. 

Zeus was much more unnerving than their father, having chosen to appear as a larger being while Hades had opted for a regular human height. Zeus towered over them and glared with so much force that Nico thought would kill them in an instant if he had his bolt. And Hera’s presence at his side was nowhere near as comforting as Persephone’s had been. 

“Hello, um,” Bianca started awkwardly, and then fell to her knees and bowed her head. She tugged Nico down beside her. “Uncle Zeus. We came to deliver your Master Bolt.” 

“Admitting guilt?” Zeus asked with a raised brow. 

“No, sir,” Bianca answered swiftly, and started removing her backpack. “We were set up. Ares gave us this bag during our quest, and it must have been...enchanted, somehow, so that the Bolt appeared after a certain amount of time.”

Zeus watched them for a second before replying, “Are you telling me that my own son stole my symbol of power? You do realize that it’s impossible for another god to do so.” 

“No, sir,” Bianca said again. “He was working with someone else.” 

“Who?”

Bianca hesitated, so Nico answered, “We don’t know.”

“Our dad had a guess,” Bianca told him, “but he wouldn’t tell us what it was. He said it was impossible, and that he couldn’t believe it was true.” 

“And something about things stirring,” Nico said, though he wasn’t sure why he chose to bring that up specifically. 

Something about it must have struck Zeus, though, because his eyes widened and he leaned back on his throne. He whispered something to his wife, whose expression turned to one of shock and fear, which definitely wasn’t making Nico feel any better. 

“Give me the Bolt,” Zeus said, holding out a hand. Bianca took the cylinder out of her bag and approached the throne, setting the Bolt in Zeus’s hand. “I shall let you both live, for now. Return to camp, mention nothing of this stirring to anyone.”

Was that supposed to be their dismissal? 

Bianca seemed to think so, because she returned to Nico’s side, barely stopping to grab her back with one hand and Nico’s arm with the other as she left the throne room. “Not even a thank you,” she muttered as soon as they were out of the palace. 

They marched back in the direction of the elevator, though this time Nico caught himself watching the scenery as they went. There were nymphs and minor gods wandering about, and someone that looked an awful lot like… “Will?” Nico said before tripping over his next step. 

“What?” Bianca asked. “Did you say you saw Will? He followed us up here after I told him not to?” She sounded angry, and was scanning the horizon in the same direction Nico was looking. 

The Will look-alike appeared to notice them, and said goodbye to whoever he had been talking to. He jogged toward the demigods with a sunshiney grin, and it didn’t take Nico long to realize that this definitely wasn’t Will. For one, his hair wasn’t quite as golden, and he lacked Will’s freckles. And he was a good foot and a half taller than Will. 

“Hey, di Angelos, right?” the man - probably a god, Nico’s brain supplied - greeted. “My son’s been praying non-stop for the last hour that I stop Dad from smiting you two, though I don’t know how he expected me to do that. But anyway, you made it out alive! That’s great!”

“Your...son?” Nico asked, feeling his face heating up at the attention the god was showing to him. That, and the fact that his chiton showed much more skin than it was probably supposed to. 

“Will!” he said, his face somehow lighting up even more at the name. “I’m Apollo, you know, god of the sun? And poetry, and healing, and blah blah, all that. Hey, thanks for keeping my baby safe out there on his first quest. Well, he’s not my baby, but you know what I mean. My youngest. Well, my youngest at camp. Anyway, he’s going to be really happy to see that you both made it back to camp safely. And trust me, I’m also the god of prophecy. I know.” 

“I don’t suppose you know how we’re getting back to camp,” Bianca said. “I gave Will the rest of our money, because I didn’t know for sure that we would be leaving. So now we’re sort of stuck here.” 

Apollo thought about it for a second, tapping his chin with one index finger. Then, he reached behind himself and brought out a single gold coin. “This should be enough for a cab.” 

“Cabs take mortal money,” Nico pointed out. “Not drachmas.” 

Apollo grinned. “So don’t take a mortal cab!”

Nico was not a fan of the Gray Sisters. He almost puked in the back of their cab more than once in the ten minute drive - which was supposed to be closer to an hour. Nico and Bianca stumbled over Half Blood Hill, still struggling to regain their bearings. Once he could finally see camp, Nico’s eyes started scanning for Will. 

He ran at full speed toward the infirmary. 

Nico burst through the door, his eyes wild and searching. There were blond sons of Apollo inside, all looking at him with startled expressions, but none of them were Will. Finally, Lee grinned and said, “Hey, Nico, he’s--” 

“Nico?” Will’s voice came from across the infirmary, and he practically flew out of the storage room. In a second, Nico was nearly knocked off his feet with the force of Will’s hug. “You’re okay! I was so worried, I kept praying, and you’re okay!” 

“I’m okay,” Nico said with a giddy laugh, closing his arms around Will and tucking his face into his friend’s shoulder. 

Suddenly, Will pulled back, just a few inches. “Wait, and Bianca?” 

Nico nodded. “She’s okay.” 

Will hugged him again. 

After a few moments, Lee approached them and ruffled Will’s curls. “Alright, Will, let the boy breathe.” Will released Nico reluctantly and took a step back, but he took Nico’s hand instead. Lee turned to Nico and set a hand on his shoulder. “Glad to see you again, Nico! Any injuries I should know about before we go talk to Chiron?”

Nico squeezed Will’s hand, then shook his head. 

“Alright, then let’s go get Bianca, and we’ll have Chiron call a head counselor meeting,” Lee said, then turned to Will and winked. “You’re in charge until I get back.” 

The counselor meeting was just as uncomfortable as the first, if not more. It was clear that the other counselors still weren’t very fond of the di Angelos, but they were interested to hear about the quest - especially when Nico slipped up and mentioned the stirring again. There was a short debate over who Ares might have been working with, though Chiron had seemed thoroughly uneased, and ended the meeting early, insisting that Nico and Bianca needed rest. They were shuffled into their room in the Big House and left alone.

It made Nico feel trapped. 

When they got to their room, though, Nico spotted gifts on each of their beds - wrapped, but in a way that showed exactly what was underneath. He figured it was probably difficult to wrap a sword without making it look like a sword. 

There was a note left beside the sword that Nico couldn’t decipher, so he handed it off to Bianca to read for him. 

Dear Nico,

I understand that your visit has left you unarmed, so I had your sword fished out of the Styx. The river has wiped away the curse placed upon it, and has transformed the blade from Celestial Bronze to Stygian Iron. This new blade is equally effective against monsters, though it has other properties that I would be happy to teach you of in person. The offer to visit again still stands, and I can ensure that you will receive the best training Elysium has to offer.

I hope to see you again soon.

Your Father

Bianca received a similar note, alongside a new knife and a bow. The blade of her knife, the heads of her new set of arrows, and the blade of Nico’s sword were all made from the same black material. Almost like obsidian, though it didn’t reflect light, and it was freezing cold to the touch. 

Nico couldn’t wait to try it out. 

He and Bianca had sword practice in the arena with the Hephaestus cabin about a week later. Just about everyone from cabin nine wanted to get a closer look at Nico’s sword, though he didn’t want to let anyone touch it until he learned about those other properties that Hades had mentioned. He wasn’t going to be responsible for… For sucking out somebody’s soul, or something. 

When Beckendorf asked, though, Nico found he couldn’t outright deny him. He had made the sword, after all, even if it had been changed since then. Beside, Beckendorf was actually Nico’s friend, unlike most of the Hephaestus cabin. Sure, everyone had started warming up to Nico and Bianca by then, but Beckendorf had been there from the beginning. Sort of. 

He was no Will, is what Nico was trying to say. 

So, when Beckendorf asked to try out Nico’s sword, Nico had refused. And when Beckendorf came back with, “How about later, during free time? We can go out into the woods, so no one has to know.” And Nico figured, as long as nobody could see that he was playing favorites, then it was probably okay. 

Which was how Nico found himself sneaking off with his sword just after dinner, making his way into the woods in the direction of Zeus’s fist. Beckendorf was already in the woods waiting for him, a few cans of Coke on the ground next to the rock he was sitting on. He smiled when he saw Nico. 

“Hey, man, I was starting to think you’d ditched me,” Beckendorf joked. He reached down for one of the cans. “You want a Coke?” 

“Bianca says I shouldn’t have sugar,” Nico told him. 

Beckendorf tossed him the can. “She doesn’t have to know.” He cracked open his own can, and nodded to the scabbard at Nico’s hip. “So, you gonna let me see that thing, or what?” 

Nico pulled the sword out of its sheath and stepped closer to Beckendorf to hand it over. The son of Hephaestus stood, then nodded toward the rock he’d been sitting on for Nico to use as he started to move away. 

“It’s really well-made,” Beckendorf said, testing the weight in his hand and eyeing the blade to make sure the lines were all straight.

“You made it,” Nico reminded him, and Beckendorf shot him a confused look. “It’s the same sword I left camp with. My dad, uh-- Apparently, if you dip a sword in the Styx, it comes out like...that.” 

Beckendorf took a few practice swings into open air, then came back to Nico. He handed the sword back, and reached around Nico for his own scabbard, on the ground behind the rock. “Why would he dip it in the Styx?” he asked, moving away again. “Did he say?” 

Nico hesitated. The sword had been cursed, but Nico didn’t know when that could’ve happened, since it never left his side after he left camp. Which meant it must have been cursed before he left… Surely not all curses were bad, if it had been cursed at camp. “He said it was...cursed.” 

Beckendorf nodded, like he wasn’t surprised, then gripped the hilt of his own sword. “Well, not all curses are bad, you know. I just made a new sword for myself, complete with a few curses of its own. Wanna see?” He didn’t even give Nico a chance to nod before he pulled it from the sheath. 

The sword was easily a foot longer than Nico’s, and it reflected the sun almost blindingly compared to Nico’s. The blade was split down the middle, one half Celestial Bronze, and the other half something closer to silver.

“It’s really difficult to forge these two metals together,” Beckendorf was saying. “It took quite a few curses just to keep this thing from busting apart with a single hit, but it’s definitely worth it.”

“What is it?” Nico asked.

Beckendorf grinned. “I call it Backbiter. Half Celestial Bronze, half steel.”

Nico flinched. “Steel? But we’re not supposed to--” 

“And whose rule is that?” Beckendorf cut in. “Chiron’s? Do you really think he knows what’s best for us?”

Nico ducked his head and shrugged, flicking at the pop top on the can without opening it. 

Beckendorf kneeled down in front of Nico, setting a hand on his shoulder. “Nico, the gods make all sorts of rules for us to pretend that they care, when really, they’re just trying to keep us in line. They don’t realize that, together, we’re way more powerful than them. You’re going to be the most powerful demigod in the world someday, kid, and the gods are just going to keep piling on more rules to keep you from taking them down. Why should you have to reign it in when they never do?” 

Nico frowned, and said the first words that came to mind. “My dad cares about me.” 

Beckendorf gave him a sympathetic smile. “He doesn’t.” 

“He does,” Nico shouted, shoving Beckendorf’s hand away. “He told me himself, and he wants me to come back to the Underworld!” 

“So he can trap you there,” Beckendorf said, rising to his feet to tower over the younger demigod. “He knows how powerful you could become.” He held out a hand to Nico, though his other hand tightened around the hilt of his sword. “Look, Nico. I’m leaving camp, and I want you to come with me. I can help you train. We can find every other demigod before they make it to camp, and we can build up an army against the gods.” 

“Why would I want to fight against the gods?” Nico asked, eyes flickering between Beckendorf’s face and his sword. “The gods help. It’s the monsters that we have to fight!” 

Beckendorf raised his sword to Nico’s chin. “I thought you trusted me, Nico. I came to you because I thought we were friends! Are you really going to make me kill you? What do you think will happen to Bianca? Will she join me when I tell her that your dad sent another hellhound to take you out? Or will I have to kill her, too?” 

Nico’s sword was in his hand without him realizing that he’d even picked it up. “Don’t touch my sister!” he screamed, and lunged blindly. Beckendorf parried his strike easily, and Backbiter sliced through Nico’s skin, just beneath his ribs. Beckendorf yanked the sword back, tugging Nico forward with it and knocking him off balance. Nico dropped to his knees.

“It didn’t have to come to this, Nico,” Beckendorf said as Nico clutched at the wound in his stomach. “Hopefully Bianca won’t choose to fight.” 

Then he was gone.

Nico didn’t hear him walk away (probably due to the pounding of blood in his ears) and he couldn’t see any sign of Beckendorf around him (though there were black stops in the corners of his eyes that were moving inward). The only thing that Nico found around him was his sword. With one hand still holding pressure on his stomach, Nico reached for his sword, then used it somewhat like a crutch as he pulled himself toward the nearest shadow. He would never make it back into central camp on his own two feet, and he still didn’t know how the whole teleportation thing worked, but he had to try. 

Hades had said something about shadows, so that’s where Nico went. And instead of crawling onto solid ground, he slipped through the earth, reappearing in the shadow of the Apollo cabin. 

And he passed out.

Nico’s stomach hurt. Not like he’d eaten something he shouldn’t have, but like he’d pulled a muscle. Or a lot of muscles. Or like someone else had tried to pull his muscles out of his body.

He opened his eyes. He was in the infirmary, and there was a familiar head of blond hair resting on the cot at Nico’s side. Will’s hand was gripping Nico’s hand tightly in his own, despite how heavily he was sleeping. 

“Charlie…” Nico whispered, suddenly remembering what had happened. He tugged on Will’s hand, but the other boy didn’t move. “Will-- Bianca!” 

The curtain around his bed shifted, and one of Will’s brother’s poked his head in. Michael, Nico thought after a second. He was one of the only children of Apollo that didn’t have their father’s golden hair. He didn’t smile much, either, and those two facts had always caused Nico to have a hard time believing that he and Will could be related, let alone brothers. 

Michael crossed to Nico, setting a hand on his shoulder with a stern, “Don’t move. Will put a lot of work into keeping you alive, and he won’t be happy if you mess that up.” He glanced down at his younger brother with the beginnings of a fond smile. “He healed you all by himself. And knocked himself right out.” 

“Where’s Bianca?” Nico demanded. “Beckendorf, he--”

“She’s okay,” Michael cut in. “She wouldn’t leave your side when you suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and Chiron just took her to grab some lunch. They’ll be right back.” 

“And Beckendorf?” Nico asked.

Michael frowned. “What about him? I haven’t seen him since dinner last night.” 

“He stabbed me,” Nico said, feeling his body starting to shake at the memory. “He said he was going to kill me, and that he was gonna kill Bia next. He’s-- He’s running away to build an army!” 

Michael’s eyes widened. “Woah, dude, uh. Maybe you should wait for Chiron to come back before you start talking about stuff like that.” 

“Betrayed by a friend,” Nico mumbled to himself. “The prophecy...it wasn’t over yet.” 

Nico and Bianca were kept under close surveillance for the rest of the summer, and Beckendorf never showed his face again. Nico wasn’t sure how many people had heard the truth, but it seemed like there was something of a divide at camp. There were the people who were on Nico’s side - the Apollo cabin, a bunch of Will’s friends, and a few who had befriended Bianca at some point or another - and the people who were in some way loyal to Beckendorf. Nico wondered how many of those people were going to disappear, and end up as part of Beckendorf’s “army.” 

By the end of the summer, Nico felt more welcomed at camp than he ever had before. He had friends, more than just Will, and he didn’t feel like so much of an outsider. He was happy, and he was excited to stay at camp, until one day in August when Will sat him down by the lake and announced that he was going home to Texas for the school year. 

“I’ve been at camp year-round for the last two years,” Will told him. “I miss my mama, and my grandparents. We all agreed that I would be safer here, but after going on that quest… I think I’ll be able to keep myself safe out in the real world, too.” 

Nico felt ice in the scar on his stomach. “But… Charlie.” 

Will’s expression dropped. “I know. But Nico, you have to know that I would never go with him after what he did to you.” 

“But he could hurt you.”

Will shook his head. “I won’t let him get close enough. I’m fast, I can outrun him no problem. Besides, once you figure out your teleporting thing, you can come check up on me.” Will bumped Nico with his shoulder. “I know you’ll keep me safe.” 

“I don’t...know how it works,” Nico told him.

“You’ll figure it out! While I’m with my mama, you can go visit your dad, and he can teach you all sorts of stuff,” Will said. “And when you come back to camp, you can sneak onto the computer in the Big House and email me about all the cool stuff you’ve done!” 

Nico pouted down at the grass. “I don’t know what that means.” 

“I’ll show you,” Will promised.

“And…” Nico hesitated. “Beckendorf, he said… He said that my dad doesn’t really want me to visit. He said that Hades is just going to lock me up so I can never get powerful enough to fight back against him.” 

Will’s expression darkened at the mention of Beckendorf, and he sighed in frustration. “Well, he wasn’t there, and I was. I saw how much your dad wants you to visit him, and how much he wanted to help you learn stuff. I wish my dad would tell me stuff like that, but I’ve never even met him.” 

“I have,” Nico said.

“What?” Will asked. “When?” 

“On Olympus. He said you were praying that Zeus wouldn’t kill us,” Nico told him. “He thanked us for keeping you safe on the quest, and he gave us money to get back to camp. He… You look a lot like him. He called you his baby.” 

Will’s nose scrunched up. “That’s...embarrassing. He really said that?”

Nico nodded. “You know, if you go away for school, then you might not be the youngest when you come back.” 

Will’s eyes widened. “What? Did he tell you that? Do I have more siblings?” 

“He said you were his youngest at camp,” Nico replied. “He… He didn’t say anything, but he implied it.” 

“Woah,” Will said, glancing out toward the lake. Then, he shoved at Nico’s arm. “You’re just saying that because you don’t want me to leave! You think I’ll stick around just for the chance that I get a new sibling.”

“Well...won’t you?” 

Will laughed. “And then what am I supposed to do all winter when you’re in the Underworld with your dad?”

“Who says I’m gonna do that?” 

“You’d be stupid not to.” 

Nico shoved him. “Maybe you’re stupid for going to school.” 

“I’m definitely gonna be if I don’t.” He grinned at Nico, poking him in the stomach near the place where he’d been stabbed. “Now that I know I’m such an awesome healer, I’ve decided that I’m gonna be a doctor someday, so I have to go to school.”

Nico grabbed Will’s hand to stop the poking. “Promise me you’ll be careful? And Iris Message me if Beckendorf shows up. I don’t care if I don’t know how the shadow travel stuff works yet. I’ll figure it out, and I’ll come get you.” 

Will squeezed his hand. “Maybe you can come visit for Christmas. Don’t let me leave camp without giving you my email address, okay? And my home address. And my mama’s phone number!” 

The end of summer came a week later. Some of the campers wouldn’t be leaving for a few more days, but Will was set to leave right after breakfast. He’d given Nico about six different ways to contact him during the school year, and he’d sneaked Nico into the Apollo cabin to help him pack the day before. 

At breakfast, Chiron enlisted the dryads to hand out clay beads to every one of the campers. The beads were small, but Nico could make out the design of a white angel on the black surface. The di Angelos, Chiron had announced, the angels. 

Nico and Bianca helped each other with their necklaces, and after breakfast, Nico gave Will one last hug before he was shuffled off toward the van that would take him and a few other campers to the airport. 

Nico sat on the top of Half Blood Hill in the shade of Percy’s willow tree and watched the van drive away. Then he stayed a little while longer, until finally pulling himself to his feet and heading back to the Big House to pack a bag. 

He was going to see his dad.

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