#and baby hera will fight to go but older hera would stop her kids from trying to go

[twinsunstars]

part of the Series of TBB Memes!

A Series of TBB Memes

[olympusnerd]

Medea

I recently reread the story of Medea and I don’t know why but she really resonated with me. I know she doesn’t count as a Greek hero, what with all the murdering she does, but you have to admit, Medea has a way of captivating people as made evident by the fact that centuries after her death we still know her name. 

My husband bought me a new computer with Adobe Illustrator and while I haven’t used art software in over fifteen years, I gave it a go and I’m not too disappointed with my first try :D

So here is the unofficial cliffnote of Medea’s long and (in some instances savage) story: 

For back story, Medea is the daughter of King Aeëtes, the ruler of Colchis (an ancient city located around present day Georgia) who coveted the Golden Fleece (literally golden sheep wool). Jason and the Argonauts were tasked to find the fleece for King Pelias of Iolcus (Jason’s asshole uncle who made him go get it in order to inherit the throne that was rightfully his). 

So when Jason arrived to Colchis, he was given three tasks to conquer in order to win the golden fleece: tiling the land with two fire breathing bulls, plant seeds that would grow Spartanoids (inhumanly malicious soldiers spawned from Ares son who would fight to the death), and defeat the Spartanoids. He would then have to retrieve the fleece from a tree in the Grove of Ares that was guarded by a dragon. 

Distraught over these seemingly impossible tasks, Jason prayed to the goddess Hera for help. She in turn sent word to Aphrodite who used Eros to shoot Medea, the king’s beautiful daughter and devoted worshiper (and sometimes also the daughter) of Hekate (Titaness goddess of witchcraft), so that she would fall helplessly in love with Jason and help him with his tasks. 

You read that right, little cherub boy came and turned Medea into a lovesick puppy for the doofus Jason so that he could win the Golden Fleece because even the gods knew Medea was a badass. 

She helped him with every one of his tasks, but once her father realized it, they had to get out of dodge. Medea used her powers to make the dragon (yes a MOTHER FUCKING DRAGON) fall asleep so Jason could get the fleece from a tree it hung on. (Some depictions have Medea soothing the dragon while Jason gets the fleece, some have her soothing it then having to help Jason get the damn thing out of the tree cause women have to do everything themselves. Honestly how she didn’t see he was useless at this point is beyond me)

They go on their merry way when Medea sees her father Aeëtes’ ship sailing after them. Jason can tell the ship was going to catch the Argos and was preparing to battle when Medea said there was no way they could win hand to hand with her father, so she did what any good lover would do: she sacrificed her prepubescent brother, chopped him into tiny bits, and dropped him into the ocean at intervals for her father to stop and pick up ( :,) I did mention she’s not a hero, right?)

So she has Jason sail up a river away from Colchis, long story short, they get to  King Pelias of Iolcus with the Golden Fleece. He acts like he doesn’t even know they had a deal and, spoiler alert, apparently straight up murdered Jason’s parents and little brother (though some sources say he just told Jason’s father that he died and his father actually killed them all in grief but this makes for much better story telling, just assume Pelias is that big of a dick cause he is). So Medea, who has basically been brought to a whole new country just to chase dick, says don’t worry, I’ll get you some revenge and proceeded to go straight fucking Savage. 

Medea befriends Pelias’s daughters and one day mentions “Oh, it sucks your dad is so old, he’ll probably die soon. My father is older than yours but looks our age.” The girls beg to know how this could be, and Medea, sharp, lovely, conniving as she was, showed the girls a spell. She took an old ram, slit it’s throat, chopped it up, then threw it in a giant pot with herbs. She chanted, waived her arms and boom, baby goat popped out of the pot. 

The daughters excitedly go find Pelias, chop him into pieces and perform the ritual, only to find that their dad (surprise) was dead dead. 

I’m talking Dead AF. 

Pelias’s son tells his sisters they were fooled and Jason and Medea are chased out of Iolcus and landed in Corinth. They lived there for years, had three (sometimes two in different references) sons and lived happily ever after. 

Except they didn’t because remember, this is Greek Mythology and gods are involved so no one can be happy XD

Turns out Jason gets the hots for the daughter of the king of Corinth and they are set to get married. 

Yes, after all this shit Medea has done for Jason (cheated at her father’s orders, murdered her brother, abandoned her home, saved Jason and his Argonauts from certain death at least three times, reaped vengeance on his uncle, bared him children) and this mother fucker up and says, “Naw, you see, you’re just a tool by the gods for me to get what I needed to get in order to be a king. So I’m gonna merry ole faceless Corinth princess and now our sons will be kings, isn’t that rad?” 

“Super rad,” Medea would have hissed behind a fake smile. 

It was in fact not rad, as Medea then takes it upon herself to send poison laced garments to the happy bride-to-be and she died an especially excruciating death (as well as her dad cause he tried to save her, told y’all, my girl be ruthless). 

So in a final fuck you to Jason, Medea then murders their children (which I admit, puts a big pin in all the badassery she does, but in the play Medea by  Euripides she struggles with this because she says she loves her children and it will hurt her to kill them, but ultimately decides she is more angry at Jason and that she has to do it because if she doesn’t, someone down the line will. 

“I know indeed what evil I intend to do, but stronger than all my afterthoughts is my fury, fury that brings upon mortals the greatest evils.”

Like, shit, okay, I get it. You’re pissed. Do as you please. 

Again, Medea isn’t a hero, but I find it hard to completely condemn her actions. She gives her all to Jason, only to have him choose someone else who can give him the throne he always wanted while telling her that it was at a god’s behest that she help him. In some ways, I imagine that being used like that is what probably hurt the most. But it’s cool, she ends up ending the play by riding in a golden chariot pulled by MOTHER FUCKING DRAGONS that her grandfather Helios sent for her and her dead kids, so I mean? She also ends up becoming the queen of Athens, but shit goes wrong there, too, but that’s a whole other thing that makes her like the original shitty step mom (save for all of Zeus’s illegitimate kids Hera keeps trying to kill). 

And Jason is crushed to death when a piece of wood falls off his ship, so good riddance. 

It’s interesting that this story is originally Jason and the Argonauts, a tale that’s supposed to illustrate the bravery and resilience of our ‘hero’ Jason, but really as Euripedes makes evident, it is Medea who the most resilient and in the end, of all the characters, though she may not have an explicitly happy ending, she isn’t punished by the gods for any of her actions while Jason literally dies by the ship he sailed on these ‘heroic’ escapades. 

About the artwork: It took me three days and a lot of cussing, I mean YouTube videos, to get this where I liked it. I feel like it uploaded a little blurry but overall I’m content :)

[theravencawsatmidnight]

Full Nest

Part 5. Ending

The story so far. Hawks has found Reader with a quirk like his except she has pretty blue wings. He takes her in after saving her from a villain that is forcing quirks onto people and selling them. He helps her with the quirk while fighting his instincts at the same time only to realize how important Pretty Blue Bird is. / Now that Hawks has his family he has one more thing to fight before he can live a normal life and be happy

@marydragneell / @loxbbg / @toribug2020 / @scarlette-wolf918

The only sound was Hera fussing in your arms trying to get your attention. She was tugging on your gown whining and flapping her tiny wings everywhere. Hawks had moved his feathers away from her when you had tired yourself out from fighting him. Now you were just leaning into him crying quietly.

Khan had poisoned you and told Hawks he could either save you and give up his son , or let you die. He did not want to do either of these things , he did not want to let his family go, he was a Hero . But right now, he felt like a failure.

Hera was still fussing so you picked her up from between your legs to hug her till she calmed. Not once had you looked at Hawks after Khan had left with Hiro. You could feel him staring at you though, it burned.

“Blue bird..”

you just turned away weakly from him , clinging to your daughter .

“I'm going to make this right. “ he told you, placing his hand on yours just for you to move it away.

He was heartbroken. All he wanted to do was take his family home and be a father . Finally have a regular life; teach his kids to walk and fly, call out of his Agency to spend time with you, pawn the kids off on Tokoyami to babysit so he could be alone with you.

Slowly Hawks got off the bed pulling his phone from his pocket and walking towards the window opening it up. He had to be careful not to step on any of your feathers too.

“Tokoyami? Yes , she did but. Ill just tell you when i get there. Meet me on the roof, no i know you have to take the stairs ,” he stepped out the window. “Why would I need an elevator at the agency when I can fly? Oh you mean you.. welp” he looked back at you and flew off.

**

Hawks was perched on the roof looking at the city while he waited for Tokoyami . Everything looked so small from up here, it always did . It made him feel big , even if it was for a little while.

The door opened and Dark Shadow waved floating over to Hawks with Toko close by . Hawks pet the shadow with a fake smile .

“I need to explain something. Keep it between us…”

A few minutes later.

“DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA !!! WHAT!! YOU'VE DONE!!!” Tokoyami was going nuts. Usually Hawks could handle it or get him to stop but he deserved it this time, so he stayed quiet.

“I TOLD YOU, SOMETHING WOULD HAPPEN AND YOU REFUSED TO LISTEN”

Dark Shadow was behind his shoulder and was cery shaky and small, Tokoyami did not go off alot but when he did it was scary..

Hawks took off his glove to look at it, flipping it over in his hand a few times while he listened. It fell out of his grip falling into the city, he did the same with the other and stood up unzipping his coat.

“You wont agree with what i'm going to do to get my son back, Tokoyami. But please, keep it between us.” He coat fell to his feet.

“I have half a mind to break each and every one of your feathers.” He said , grabbing the coat and tossing a bag to Hawks feet.

Red feathers scattered along the roof and Hawks removed his shirt and pulled out a hoodie from the bag. “I wouldn't blame you, when i get my family back together Tokoyami, i'm not coming back. This Agency is yours.” He told him, slipping some sunglasses on.

“Just how do you plan to do this?”

“I looked over that file you gave me, on The Gift Giver, hes got a weak spot in the nape of his neck. I just have to cut it.”

“ and Khan?”

“I'm thinking Tartarus .” Hawks slid one feather sword in his hoodie pocket.

“Be safe, Keigo.”

“I will.” He was about to jump till he realized.”oh right. Guess I'm taking the stairs down.”

“First thing I'm doing is an elevator.” Toko told him, walking back with him .

**

Tokoyami had brought you home helping you get settled in with Hera, she was a cute baby with tiny purple wings . Dark Shadow loved her and was always asking if he could hold her. Once settled Toko asked if you needed him to stay and you said ‘no,’ he was skeptical but was not about to argue. So he hugged you and said ‘be well’ before taking his leave. You curled up on the couch with Hera trying to get some sleep.

Meanwhile Hawks was sneaking around an older building. His file told him The Gift Giver was here. And he could hear chattering and little child noises .

“Looks just like him.” Khan said, staring at the baby.

“He will do nicely.” The Gift Giver said while inspecting his wings . “We could sell him to the highest bidder, a quirk like this is valued pretty high”

“He has a daughter too”

“Oh my, well that could be even more interesting.”

Hawks had slipped in through a window and clung to the wall moving towards the noise with one hand in his pocket.

“ should i go get it?”

“No no, lets sell this one first.” He waved his hand at Hiro and strolled to the room where Hawks was. He slipped back into the shadows behind a chair and crouched down, watching him make his way through the room.

“Okay. I'm going to take a nap, will it be okay here?”

The Gift Giver looked back with confusion on his face. “Does it matter?” He left the room and Hawks followed him down the hall clutching his feather. Khan shrugged his shoulders going to his room to sleep.

As soon as The Gift Giver closed his door it was all over . He was coughing up blood trying to stand up, the nape of his neck had been cut and the feather sword was still in it .

“He.. ro..” were his last words .

Hawks pulled the feather out and let out a long sigh as the rest of his feathers made their way to him. “Not anymore.”

Hawks went to Hiro to check on him, he saw Keigo and got all excited to see him. He reached up and Hawks held out a bloody finger so him to grab. “Let's hope mommy still loves me after this , i'll be right back okay?” He pat his head flying down the hall.

Khan was asleep on his bed still and Hawks was watching , thinking. He nearly killed you and had made a game out of it. So why should he get to live ? Hawks flicked his hand and all his feathers went right to Khans throat, killing him instantly.

Hawks flew away from the building with Hiro in his arms , he rolled to his back setting his son on his chest laughing at how excited he was.

“Oh you are gonna like flyin i see” he held him close, flying home.

**

You were woken up by the door opening and closing . Hera was still awake chewing on one of your feathers, Keigo kneeled down by you offering you Hiro who was happy to see you. Instantly you got off the couch pulling the baby into your arms along with Hera. You cried hard squeezing them tight.

“Blue Bird im sure you know what i had to do. You cant stay here anymore, i can set up new-“

You pulled him in to cursing and hitting his chest. He only sighed happily and pulled you all between his legs to snuggle.

“When do we leave..”

“After i hold my family.”

“Keigo..”

He kissed your head. “You dont need to say it. Its fixed now. I love you, pretty blue bird”

“I love you too Keigo.”

Around 10 at night you all left the city, leaving some things behind in the apartment. You did not need most of the stuff. Just blankets and your family.

It was 5 years later and you were watching your children fly around the open field by your home. Hawks had bought some land in the country, away from everyone and everything . Hawks flew outta the house to scoop you up and fly with his children, he kissed you lovingly while spinning slowly.

***

Chapter One

Chapter Two

*****

Thank you for reading :)

[lilacmoon83]

Finding You Always

Also on Fanfiction.net and A03

Chapter 214: Worlds Collide, Pt 3

Summer was growing exhausted, as she kept nullifying Mephisto's fireballs by putting them in her bubbles and extinguishing them, while her siblings fought off his heavily armed gang.

"We have to make sure they don't destroy the museum. We can't let all this history be destroyed," Eva feared.

"Yeah...we need to draw them out of here for sure," Emma agreed, as she blasted more of them back.

"He's definitely given these guys an upgrade in fighting skills and power," Leo said, as he breathed heavily, following a fist fight with one of the thugs.

"All right kid, you're our resident powerhouse. What do you suggest?" Emma asked her baby brother.

"An earthquake is the last thing we want in the museum, Emmy," he argued, but then smirked.

"But I think I have a new trick up my sleeve that I've been working on with Mr. Gold," he said. Rumple nodded.

"Now would be the time, lad," Rumple said, as three more of the thugs dropped dead, thanks to the Dark One snapping their necks.

"So much for not killing," Eva said uncomfortably.

"They're thugs...he just saved a ton of lives by killing them. They would have gone on to kill innocent people," Leo reasoned.

"He's right," Regina agreed, as several more dropped, thanks to her. It was drastic, but the stakes were too high. They were already going to be blamed for all the property damage and being the cause of it. But if they had civilian casualties, it would be far worse.

"I won't be surprised if the Major loses the battle with her government and we have them threatening to have the National Guard invade the United Realms," Regina said.

"Mom and Dad will wall us off before they let that happen," Leo assured. She sighed, hoping he was right. Snow and Charming were notoriously forgiving, but after the experience with their darker halves, she hoped they had learned that there were times that the tough decisions had to be made.

"You really think you can take me on, brat?" Mephisto questioned, as the fire in his palms gave the entire room a glow and yet Bobby didn't back away from the intimidating display.

"Considering I can do that too...yeah I think I do," Bobby retorted, as fire came alive in his hands. By now, most of the innocent bystanders had been evacuated, but there were still a few reporters and camera people that were braving the spectacle in order to get in on video.

"And I can do way more than that...like this," Bobby said, as he grabbed Mephisto's wrists.

"I may be able to wield all the elements, but I still specialize in earth powers," he said, as they disappeared with a jade green puff of smoke.

"Look!" Leo called, as they saw something burrowing beneath them through the ground and followed it outside the museum. There was another puff of jade green smoke, as the two emerged from the ground and Bobby tossed Mephisto onto a parked car.

"Ooohhh…I hope they have insurance," Emma commented. Mephisto was seething, as he pulled himself off the wrecked car.

"If you think for a second that this is over, brat...you have another thing coming," Mephisto growled, as disappeared in a fiery display of flames. His four older siblings descended upon him at that point, patting him on the back and ruffling his hair.

"That was awesome!" Leo exclaimed.

"Yeah...he was pissed. Good work, kid," Emma congratulated him. Bobby looked down a bit shyly.

"Thanks," he said.

"Come on...we need to find Mom, Dad, and Grandpa Xander," Eva said. They all agreed and with the rest of their family, they ventured back inside the museum to try and discern where they could have gone.

~*~

Snow and David chased them through the Museum, but when they followed them into the Ancient Egypt exhibit, they found the room empty.

"We lost them," Xander hissed.

"No...there's no way out of this room other than the way we came in," Snow realized.

"She's right," he said, as they willed the chalice forth in its joined form and used it to scan the room for any residual magic or portals. There was an ethereal glow on the replica of the Giza pyramid and they exchanged a glance.

"That's why no one can ever find them. They're using this exhibit to portal somewhere else," David said.

"But this land has no magic without the two of you in the vicinity," Xander said.

"No...but would creating a portal with some of Clayton's technology be impossible?" Snow asked and he sighed.

"No...that's very possible," he agreed, as the chalice glowed and the magic opened up the portal from the residual trail left by whatever technology they had used to slip away.

"We have no idea what we're walking into," Xander warned.

"No...we don't. But we don't have a choice. We have to stop them and it looks like we're the only ones that can," David said, as he looked at Snow.

"The kids will find us too…" she assured them. They nodded and walked through the portal.

~*~

"Wow...this is a really old book," Tink mentioned.

"It is and it was really hard to find. That's why I think it might be important," Rose replied.

"But I thought you were able to catalog everything in the library?" Neal asked.

"I was...that's why this one is so unique. This book is not in my catalog," she replied.

"The plot thickens," Tink said, as she flipped through it.

"Because new books literally appear all the time, that's happened from time to time, but I just have a feeling that this one had help appearing," Rose replied.

"You think it was being hidden, my angel?" Fandral asked.

"It's possible. I don't know who is suddenly helping us or maybe it's because Blue has committed the ultimate crime," Tink replied.

"The murder of another fairy," she said.

"Not to mention a human, even a deplorable one," Fandral added.

"Who did Blue answer to as Head Fairy?" Neal asked.

"Zeus himself," Tink replied, as he took the book.

"And who do you answer to now that you're Head Fairy and Zeus is dead?" he asked.

"Well…I've had no formal meeting with any other Gods, except Aphrodite. I suppose it would be Athena, but she has yet to formally meet with me," Tink replied.

"And if Zeus, for some reason, forbade Athena from interfering, she might use other means to get the information to us," Rose deduced.

"It's entirely possible," Tink agreed.

"Did Blue ever answer to Hera?" Neal asked.

"No…Hera would have never had any authority over the fairies. She may have been Zeus' wife, but they hated each other. He didn't trust her," Tink replied.

"That was probably wise...look at this," he said, as he showed them an image on the page.

"That's Blue...and Hera," Tink said.

"Standing over the unconscious body of Aphrodite," Rose added in alarm.

"Can you translate this?" Fandral asked. Tink nodded and used her wand to translate the book from Greek to English.

"We best start at the beginning," Rose said, as she took the book and began to read.

~*~

Flashback

The young blonde girl cried, as she looked out over the ocean, tears glistening in her eyes, as the sea foam bubbled to the surface of the crystal blue water.

"It's time, my precious one," Zeus called, as he stood behind her.

"Why Daddy?" she asked.

"Mother has been gone but a few weeks and you are getting married again!" Aphrodite shouted.

"You know it's not my choice, young one," he admonished.

"I am the God of the skies. I must have a Queen...it is one rule I cannot break," he said, as she stood up.

"And it is time for you to learn of your duties. You are the Goddess of love and beauty, daughter of Dione and you will fulfill her vision of championing true love," he announced, as an item appeared in his hand.

"Mother's chalice," she said in awe.

"Your chalice now...its magnificence and power is now yours," he corrected.

"What do I know about true love?" she asked bitterly. He smirked.

"You will, my sweet girl," he assured, as he kissed her forehead.

"Hera will not like that she does not get mother's chalice," Aphrodite said wearily.

"She has no claim to it. You are our pride and joy and she wouldn't want anyone but you to have it," he replied.

"It's a big responsibility…" she said with trepidation.

"One that your mother knew you would excel at. After all, who better than to choose the truest loves each millennium among the mortals than a product of true love herself," he said. Aphrodite smiled and hugged him.

"I miss her, Daddy," she said.

"Me too, sweet girl," he replied. They were both unaware of Hera's blistering gaze upon them from the shadows.

~*~

"Are you sure they're okay?" George questioned, as he looked at the pair. The moment James had given Aphrodite true love's kiss, the curse on them shattered, but as a side effect of the complete unlocking on Aphrodite's memories, they collapsed into unconsciousness. Neither Zeus or Dione seemed alarmed though and Nyx had magicked a bed to lay them upon.

"They are fine...this is part of it. They will only awaken when they have relieved their entire past," Zeus assured.

"What kind of curse is this? And who cursed them?" George asked.

"You will know that soon...but not before them," Dione replied and they went back to waiting for them to awaken.

~*~

"These are exquisite," the man said, as he examined the artifacts.

"These are genuine Olmec Terracotta's...they're priceless," the woman next to him added, as she looked them over as well.

"Everything has a price...getting these wasn't easy," Natalie commented.

"Yes...they are nearly untouched, despite their age. How did you find these?" the woman asked.

"I'm not an archeologist that plays by the rules, so to speak. But I know what I'm doing and able to excavate certain sites that have forbidden said excavation," Natalie replied.

"Clayton always did hire the best. It seems you have surrounded yourself with the same skillful people that your father did," she commented, looking to Johnny. He smirked.

"I was groomed from birth to step into his shoes," he agreed.

"And I do manage to find the best, however, our previous translator passed and we need a new one for this," Johnny mentioned.

"Oh a quipu...is this the one you've been hoping for?" she asked.

"We'll see," Natalie replied vaguely.

"Well…I may know of someone that can translate this for you. But I expect you to give me a deal on these beauties," she said.

"Then I assume you and Dr. La Guerra are interested in the jade as well?" Johnny asked.

"Normally, I would pass on the jade, but the condition this is in is rare," the doctor replied.

"Then you had better be prepared to pay a pretty penny," a new voice said, as Natalie turned.

"Mother…" she said in a warning tone.

"You'll let these real treasures slip through your fingers on the off chance that another silly quipu will lead you to a grander one that might not even exist," Thalia argued.

"I can't believe you discount the existence of Cibola or El Dorado when I was born in freaking Atlantis," Natalie argued back.

"Clayton was hundreds of years old and knew some of the best explorers. He even knew her ancestor, one of the greatest and most ruthless conquistadors in history," Thalia argued, gesturing to the woman.

"And he still never found it," she finished.

"It's real mother...and I'm going to find it," Natalie snapped back. Thalia sighed.

"You and finding things," she muttered under her breath.

"What?" Natalie asked, but her question was interrupted when Snow, David, and Xander appeared in the secret meeting place.

"Well, well...you found your way here, after all," Johnny said, as he tapped his glass.

"Ladies and Gentlemen...the illustrious Snow White and Prince Charming themselves, in the flesh, along with the chalice of Aphrodite!" he announced, instantly drawing the entire room's attention to them.

"My father's murderers!" he continued, with a hiss.

"We didn't murder him. His own arrogance destroyed him," David snapped back.

"Your chalice...it was all I ever heard about growing up, you know. Father was always a bit miffed that he knew about such an object, but it was the one thing he couldn't collect. Thus why he decided to collect the pair of you," Johnny retorted, as he looked to Xander.

"You remember the stories. I still remember those nights here and there where father was too busy to deal with me and the nannies were at their wits end. But you would get me calmed down and put to bed," he recalled, with a bit of fondness.

"All while you knew you abandoned your own son and your granddaughter that was out there in some group home," he added with a vicious smile.

"Shut up, you little prick," Xander hissed, which only amused the sadistic son of the Collector.

"And you," he said, with reverence, as he looked at Snow.

"Father always was enamored with you the most, because of your resemblance to the Goddess. She was his original obsession," he revealed, surprising them both.

"Oh, didn't know that, did you?" he said.

"I suppose you wouldn't, since the Goddess has had her memories scrambled more times than even you two," he retorted.

"Yes...he almost had it all. He made you crush his heart to cast a curse and he would have had the chalice. And you...but then you know that part. It still haunts you," he leered.

"Shut the hell up," David growled, as he pulled Snow even closer to him.

"And you...the hero Prince Charming. He wanted to be you, in a way, just without all the selfless heroics. The people's Prince...the husband of the fairest of them all. The truest loves. I came to loathe your story," he said bitterly.

"It's not our problem that your narcissistic father didn't hug you enough. Trust us...we never wanted his kind of attention," David retorted.

"Oh, but you got it...every bit of it," Johnny replied.

"We're here to retrieve the stolen items that you took," Snow said, as she looked at Natalie.

"Including the quipu. It's not yours," she added.

"Oh and I suppose you're going to take it from me, Princess?" Natalie challenged.

"Don't tempt her. That's not a fight you'll win," David challenged, as blue eyes met blue eyes.

"I think I can handle more than you know," she challenged back.

"Thinking you have any advantage here would be unwise," the older blonde woman next to Natalie said.

"Who the hell are you?" David asked. She smirked and looked at Xander.

"He is definitely yours," she replied.

"Long time no see...Xander," she purred.

"Thalia," he said stiffly.

"You know her?" David asked.

"Oh he knows me...quite well, in fact," she replied. Snow's eyes narrowed and she looked at her father-in-law.

"How well?" she asked, watching him swallow nervously.

"It only happened a couple of times," he assured.

"Oh my God…" David exclaimed in outrage.

"David...your mother had been gone a long time and I was struggling," he tried to explain.

"Yes...he was. The alcohol...the guilt with you laying in a hospital bed and his granddaughter in an unhappy group home," Thalia revealed.

"Stop it," Xander growled.

"Yes...to be fair, you wanted to reunite your family then, but Clayton convinced you that it would be a mistake," Thalia said.

"I've made a lot of mistakes and I wasn't always a good man. My son knows my shortcomings," Xander insisted.

"Apparently not with the way he's looking at you right now," Thalia said.

"Oh and I suppose your daughter knows everything about you?" he challenged. She frowned.

"Not everything…" Snow interjected and the older blonde glared at her.

"Stay out of this, princess. It's none of your business," she retorted.

"David is my business and I have a feeling there's something that she doesn't know about you," Snow challenged.

"Snow?" David asked, as he watched her look at his father. He sighed. He had known Snow long enough to know that she wouldn't let this go until she had answers for her husband.

"Is she mine?" he asked and Natalie looked alarmed by that question.

"What? Mother?" she asked.

"We're not doing this…" Thalia hissed, as the three of them cried out and a shield appeared around them.

"Ray shields...I think you'll find them quite impervious to your magical chalice," Thalia said, as they tried to use it to nullify the shield, but it didn't work.

"The auction is over for tonight!" she called, as they could only watch, as most of the people dispersed through portals that seemed to be catacombed within the strange chamber.

"Where is this place?" Snow wondered.

"We're hundreds of feet underground. Trust me, no one is going to find you," Natalie refuted.

"Underground?" David asked, as he and Snow shared an amused glance.

"You're going to eat those words," Snow said.

"What about our deal?" doctor La Guerra interjected, as there was suddenly a rumble beneath them and a huge plume of jade green smoke, as Bobby burrowed to the surface with his siblings and Regina, while the others waited on standby on the surface.

"That was the weirdest thing ever, but really cool," Leo said.

"There is a ton of dirt in my hair," Regina complained, as she started trying to brush it out.

"At least your hair is dark enough not to show it," Emma grumbled.

"Mom! Dad!" Eva called, as she ran to them.

"Careful honey...we don't know what this shield is, but the chalice couldn't break through," Snow warned. Regina waved her hand over it.

"It's not any magic I know," she said.

"Maybe it's not magic at all," Leo said, as Eva spotted a control panel on the wall.

"Not one step, princess," Thalia warned, but was shocked when Leo used a lightning bolt to fry the control panel, destroying the shield.

"Let's go…" Johnny growled, as he grabbed Natalie's hand. She spared another glance at them, as Johnny escaped with her and Thalia. The doctor and his companion weren't so lucky.

"Freeze!" David warned, as he pulled his gun on the mysterious pair and they were forced to put their hands up. Emma waved her hand and cuffs appeared on their wrists. David holstered his gun and they used the chalice to create a portal back to the surface.

"No idea who you two are...but you're gonna tell us," he said, as they gathered the stolen artifacts, except the quipu, and filed through the portal.

~*~

Flashback

Hera stormed into her Temple and huffed, as she sat down in her Throne.

"For someone that just got married to the All Mighty Zeus...you don't seem very happy," Blue mentioned, as she emerged from the shadows.

Zeus had created the fairies to be messengers between the Gods and mortals. For some reason, the mortals saw fairies as a symbol of good and did not fear them like they did the Gods. Mortals had their reasons to fear the Gods though, since the past was filled with bloodshed between the monarchs of Mount Olympus and humans.

Reul Ghorm had been chosen by him as head of the fairies, but as it often did, power slowly began to corrupt Blue and just as bitterness had set in for Hera, it had for Blue as well.

Blue wanted more power and control over mortals, but Zeus had long forbade it. She had even tried to endear herself to Dione in hopes of having a hand in choosing the truest loves. It was a vision that Dione had and never realized. She planned to select two mortals, who represented the epitome of true love, to bestow the power of her magical chalice to.

The chalice was forged by Dione's mother, Gaia herself, from the essence of the earth she loved so much and all its elements. She gifted it to Dione and she wanted to do good for mortals with it. But the recent Titanomachy had given Hera the perfect opportunity to eliminate the woman that had the Throne she wanted. Dione had been mortally wounded, but it was not what it appeared to be. Hera had colluded with the Titans to topple Zeus and Dione, promising them positions of power if she was crowned Queen if they killed Dione and her precious daughter. Naturally, she betrayed them all and they were cast into Tartarus with her secret remaining unknown. The end result was that Dione was dead and she was Queen now. However, their offspring lived and the coveted chalice now belonged to Aphrodite.

"He gave the chalice to his daughter!" she hissed.

"Then perhaps we need to arrange an accident for the little blonde bimbo," Blue suggested.

"You know that's impossible. The war with the Titans distracted Athena enough that she could not see our deception, but now it will not be so easy," Hera reminded her.

"True and if Zeus loses the apple of his eye...well, there will be no Earth to rule. He would smite us all and the mortals just in sheer blind rage," Blue agreed.

"Yes...and even as Queen, I am still overshadowed by Dione's precious little flower," Hera complained. Blue smirked.

"If we can't kill her...then we can certainly manipulate her," she suggested. Hera's interest perked at that.

"What do you have in mind?" Hera asked.

"I will befriend the empty headed beauty and help her choose her champions," Blue replied. Hera smirked.

"Champions that we select...champions that ultimately could lead to our control of the chalice," she deduced. Blue nodded.

"Precisely," she said and Hera tilted her head.

"You already have a pair of mortals in mind, don't you?" she asked. Blue smirked.

"Yes...and they will serve us well. The man I have in mind will do anything for power. Faking true love with some woman will fool the little twit and when she gifts them her chalice...it's as good as ours," Blue replied.

"Then this is our plan. Proceed...and do not fail me, Blue," Hera said.

"Never, my Goddess. Zeus may think my loyalty is to him, but we know that you are my Queen," Blue said, as she became small in her fairy form with a Blue glow and descended back to earth.

~*~

"Wow…" Tink said, as Rose finished reading the beginning passages.

"So Blue has really been loyal to Hera all along and was working for her," Fandal said.

"That's heavy...but something tells me more happened later between them. I mean, this explains why Hera hates Aphrodite, but this implies that Blue was only doing Hera's bidding at first," Neal said.

"He's right...somewhere it became personal for Blue too," Rose said, as she closed the book.

"I'll read more when we get home and then we can discuss more tomorrow," she said. Tink smiled and used her magic on the book, duplicating it.

"Now we can both read...because I have to know more. Then I think we can finally bring her down," Tink said. Rose nodded and smiled at her.

"Guess we're doing more reading when we get home instead of other stuff," Neal muttered. The blonde smirked.

"Behave and you might get more than reading," she teased, as they joined hands and left the diner.

"I'll round up the children," Fandral said, as he kissed her cheek and went to get them from the table where they were playing a game.

"Mom...what if the Blue Fairy realizes you're reading her story and she tries to stop you?" Carina asked worriedly.

"I won't lie to you, sweetie...she very well may try. But your Papa will never let anything happen to me," Rose promised.

"Your mother is right," Fandral agreed, as he took her hand and pulled her to her feet.

"The Blue Fairy may have magic, but this Asgardian warrior will not let her silence more people," he promised, as they left the diner to head home for the evening.

~*~

"Dammit...you two were careless! And now we lost a fortune worth of jade and rare terracotta's!" Thalia roared.

"Relax...the quipu is what we really wanted, especially if it is the one my father sought. The key to Cibola or El Dorado. They have enough treasure to command power over the entire world," Johnny replied.

"Or it's just another ancient series of knots and strings full of riddles! Taunting the truest loves was a horrible misstep!" she cried.

"They already knew exactly who we were!" Johnny snapped.

"That woman...the Major has them chasing us like her own personal team of fairy tale agents," he added irritably.

"Pack up...we're leaving. Back to the Athens base," Thalia ordered.

"Oh no...we're not doing that. It's time for offensive measures," Johnny refuted.

"Johnny...that's not a good idea," Thalia argued.

"I'm in charge of this operation!" Johnny snapped.

"I am my father's heir!" he added.

"Besides...the cowardly doctor will talk. I have no illusions that Prince Charming and his brats will interrogate the truth right out of him," he said. Thalia sighed.

"Then you better work on getting that thing translated and hope that it's what we need," she said.

"Not until you tell me what you're hiding," Natalie interjected.

"Natalie…" she started to deflect, but her daughter cut her off.

"Were you and Xander...involved?" she asked.

"Of course they were," Johnny answered for her.

"Stay out of this, Junior," Thalia snapped.

"Mother…" Natalie pressed and she sighed.

"It only happened a couple of times," Thalia insisted, stunning her to silence. She was almost afraid to ask her next question, because somehow she knew the answer.

"Is…is Xander my father?" she asked. Thalia turned away in frustration.

"Mother...is he my father!?" she shouted and her silence spoke volumes.

"Wow...that I didn't know, but I guess it makes sense," he said.

"You knew they were together at one time?" Natalie asked in an accusatory tone, but he shrugged.

"We were never together…" Thalia refuted.

"I remember seeing them together here and there as a child. When my father wasn't pulling him out of the bottle...your mum was. Honestly, I never really put it together, but it makes sense," Johnny said, as he started to laugh then.

"Father must certainly be laughing now...you're a Charming!" he exclaimed to her.

"Well...half Charming," he teased.

"Shut up!" Natalie hissed.

"Mother…" she growled.

"It's true...Xander is your father," Thalia revealed.

"You said that my father died…" Natalie hissed.

"I lied...and it was for the best! Xander was gone most of the time, on missions for Clayton and when he was around, he was drinking and wallowing about the children he had already abandoned. He would have abandoned you too," Thalia said.

"That wasn't your choice!" Natalie hissed.

"Xander is a traitor...and our plan remains unchanged," Johnny said, as he loaded his gun with a clip.

"We cannot count on Malina's source to translate the quipu...but I've located a back up. Let's go…" he said, as Natalie glared at her mother and had a moment of pause.

"Natalie...are you coming?" he asked. She looked at him and then nodded.

"Yes," she replied. The revelation that Xander was her father and she had this huge family out there was jarring. But she didn't know them and they certainly wouldn't want someone like her. No...this didn't change anything.

~*~

After returning to the surface, they escorted the two mysterious captives back to the Boston FBI headquarters for interrogation. Agent Green and Agent Brooks insisted on taking the first crack at their interrogation. Some of the other agents began processing the recovered artifacts, while David observed the interrogation from the glass, along with the Major. It was late, so he insisted that everyone go back to the hotel to get some sleep, but he wasn't surprised when Snow came in and put her arms around him. She could see the questions in his mind and knew his father was probably waiting in the conference room for him. But he didn't want to think about any of it right now, because he knew he knew lashing out in anger wouldn't get them anywhere. He wanted answers, but knew he wouldn't like hearing any of them. So for now, he was focused on the two potential investors in the next room. Snow managed to get a bit of his frustration to ebb away, but it was growing since the two agents weren't getting anywhere.

"How much more time are we going to let these two waste?" he asked impatiently.

"The lab is running their prints. If we get a hit, then I'll let you go at them both. But I'd rather you go in there with something, because they're not giving an inch," the Major replied.

"It's going to be okay," Snow whispered to him, as she kissed him gently. He sighed and pressed his forehead against hers.

"You figured it out before me…" he said.

"The bitterness rolled off that woman in waves and when I saw that it was directed at your father...it wasn't much of a leap after that," she replied, as the Major came back into the room with a file and Xander followed her in.

"We got two hits…" Patricia said, as she put the file down on the table in front of them.

"Did we even need to?" David asked, as he looked at his father.

"Do you know them too?" he demanded to know.

"Yes...I know of them. I only met them a handful of times," Xander said. David gripped the metal table, his knuckles turning white and probably the only thing that kept him from raging at that moment was Snow's hand on his arm.

"The man is Dr. Hector La Guerra. He technically had his medical license revoked in 1945 and he fled his homeland of France for the United States," Patricia said.

"Funny...he doesn't look that old," David commented.

"None of these people are what they seem. He was born in 1918 and worked for the Nazis during World War II," she continued.

"Oh wonderful...a real life Nazi," Snow said.

"He lost his license for human experimentation and specializes in working with disease and poisons," Patricia continued.

"Clayton recruited him after the war and brought him to Atlantis. He introduced the doctor to all the magical plants, herbs and substances he had in his collection. It was Dr. La Guerra that created the youth potions. He was able to synthesize the water from the fountain of youth with his own mixture of magical herbs and created a way to utilize the water without tying the user to Atlantis," Xander explained.

"Boy, the good news just keeps coming," David deadpanned.

"We never saw him in Atlantis...but I spent a lot of time in the infirmary with Eva during that time. There were many rooms sealed off to us and I can still remember the screaming of people coming from some of those rooms," Snow recalled, as she got a haunted look on her face. Xander nodded.

"That would be him. There is other things I could tell you about what he does to people, but it's too horrific and I'm not going to do that," he added, as they looked at him.

"I'll tell you everything you need to know, but I will not tell you the specifics of what he does to people, even children, inside those rooms. You won't be able to handle it," Xander said firmly. Snow shuddered and David let that lay, as he turned his head back to the window.

"Enough about the sick bastard...what about her?" he asked.

"She is Malina Pizarro, born in Spain and if you know anything about the history of the Conquistadors, yes, she is of that Pizarro bloodline. The conqueror of the Incas was her ancestor and she has continued her quest to pillage and destroy indigenous cultures all over the globe," Patricia replied.

"Born in 1936 to her powerful and wealthy parents in Barcelona, she followed in her family's footsteps and led many expeditions that resulted in the destruction of ancient sites, their history, and complete pillaging of their cultures," Patricia added.

"How are evil pieces of crap like this not in prison already?" David hissed in frustration.

"You know why, David...that's the reason you and your family are here," Patricia reminded him. He turned back to the window in frustration and then stood up straight.

"They're not getting anywhere...I'm going in," he said, as he walked out of the room. He drew his sword and barged into the interrogation room.

"Excuse me...we're in the middle of an interrogation," Agent Green argued.

"And for normal perps, your methods might work...but not for this evil scum. Get out," he ordered. Agent Green huffed, but when Patricia entered the room and motioned them out, they reluctantly obeyed her order.

"Uh oh Malina...Prince Charming is here to intimidate us," the doctor goaded and she smirked back at him. David responded by kicking his chair out from beneath him. The man cried out, as he fell to the floor, but not before he hit his chin on the table on the way down, causing him excruciating pain. Blood leaked from his mouth from busted teeth and he glared up at the Prince.

"You ignorant brute…" the doctor hissed.

"You're going to tell me where Junior is off to or you're not going to live to see another day," David warned. The doctor chuckled.

"Right to the death threats…" he laughed.

"Believe it or not, your Highness, you don't scare me. I've done things that would make you double over and retch where you stand," he warned.

"So I've heard," David retorted.

"Oh no...you haven't heard the details, because you're still standing," as he turned his attention to the window. It was one way glass, but somehow he must have known she was there.

"I remember seeing your lovely, fair wife in Atlantis...your children too. None of you ever saw me, as Clayton forbade me contact with you, for he knew I wouldn't be able to help myself," he goaded.

"Specimens like them...now that would have been a glorious experiment. Magical blood...I begged him to let me at her, but alas, it didn't happen. I imagined her tortured screams though and watching her red blood slide down her white, delicate skin…" he said, as he licked his lips. David lost it at that moment and picked him up, before slamming him against the wall.

"Last chance to keep breathing. One more word about my wife or children and it's over for you," he warned.

"If you want information...then we want a deal," Malina said calmly.

"Not happening...the only deal you're getting is life in prison and not a needle in your arm. Your list of crimes is extensive," Patricia replied. She smirked.

"Then do your worst, Major Donovan. My family is powerful...I won't spend one day in your jail," she said confidently. But it was Patricia's turn to smirk.

"Oh, it won't be an American prison if you don't cooperate," she revealed.

"Your crimes in other countries have them clamoring to prosecute you. I just put out the word that I have you in custody, thanks to my newest and very special agent," she said, referring to David. She frowned.

"The American prison is at least humane. You'll get meals and a bed and even a few privileges. But the other countries prisons won't be so nice, but not even those are the ones you have to worry about, because if I turn you over to the people that your family has destroyed for centuries...your life is done and your death will not be swift," she threatened.

"You can't do that...your court system does not work that way," she countered.

"It does in this case...do you really want to test me or him?" Patricia said.

"Fine...those in the states that can still translate a quipu are all at Universities, which would be too risky now. So Junior is likely going to Peru. That's about the only place where you're going to anyone that can still read them and even then that's going to be difficult. It's a dead language, as are the Inca people. But I know of one family near Cusco...and so does he. That's where he'll go," Malina revealed.

"And this family? Will they tell him willingly?" David asked. She smirked.

"Definitely not...his father helped the Conquistadors destroy their ancestors, as well as countless other cultures. But like his father...Johnny will get what he wants, one way or another," she replied smugly.

"It's too bad...I'd love to participate in the coming torture," the doctor said.

"Reminding me that you're still breathing isn't wise," David snapped at him, as he walked out.

"We're leaving aboard the Jolly Roger in the morning and those two are going to lead us to them," he said to Patricia. She nodded.

"I'll have them put down in a holding cell until then. Agent Green and Agent Brooks, you and your team will be responsible for transporting these two to the Harbor and joining us. We're going to Peru, O six hundred," she ordered, as she saw David pull Snow into his arms and kiss her. Some of his stress melted away at her kiss and her touch, at least in those quiet seconds.

"David…" Xander interrupted.

"You tucked Clayton's son in at night while your granddaughter was alone in a group home!" he roared.

"It wasn't like that," Xander insisted.

"He was a neglected child that grew into the shadow his father left behind," he added.

"You worked with these people!" David shouted.

"You ate with them! Talked to them! Hell...you even slept with some of them!" he ranted.

"And I hated all of them! And mostly myself most of the time, but Clayton was very convincing! You have to believe me! I wanted nothing more than to get Emma from that group home and bring her to you! But he told me it would be a disaster!" Xander insisted.

"He lied," David growled.

"Yes...and I realized it far too late. I helped him destroy people, because he promised me that in the end, it would lead me back to you and my family," Xander replied. David snorted.

"Well...he was right. Too bad it took you almost thirty years to get to us when you knew exactly where we were," he said, as he took Snow's hand and started to walk away.

"David please...you have to forgive me," Xander pleaded. He stopped and turned to him partially.

"No…I don't and I'm not sure I can," he said.

"David…" he begged, with tears in his eyes.

"How many times?" David asked.

"What?" Xander asked.

"How many times did you stand over my comatose body in that hospital!?" he roared. Xander swallowed thickly.

"Too many," he answered and David shook his head.

"You could have brought Emma to me...hell, you could have brought Snow to me too and you didn't! You were too busy working for that psychopath and sleeping with his operatives," David hissed, as he turned away again and Snow cast a glance behind her, as they walked away from him. She was torn, for the last thing she wanted was for her husband's relationship with his father to implode. But her loyalty was to David first and he had every right to be angry.

~*~

Flashback

The village burned with roaring fire, making it certain that it would be wiped off the map when the flames died. A tall man of Greek descent emerged from the fire and approached his team.

"Did you get it?" he asked, as one of his excavators unwrapped the cloth and presented the jeweled necklace to him. He examined it, but his hope faded and he tossed it back at the worker.

"This is fake!" he cried.

"I'm...I'm sorry sir...the chief finally revealed its location after hours of interrogation. This is said to be the necklace of Harmonia," he replied.

"It's a fake replica! Costume jewelry!" he ranted, as he tossed it into the fire.

"I need that necklace! It can give me eternal youth and find the treasure I seek," he growled.

"The necklace of Harmonia is with Zeus...you'll never obtain it," a voice said, as there was a blue flash and a woman appeared before him.

"A fairy…" he said with intrigue.

"Yes...and you are the man known as the Collector," she replied.

"Sirius Clayton…" he introduced himself.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I must continue my quest for another source of eternal youth if I am to make sure I live long enough to find Atlantis," he said.

"I can help you do that...and more. I can make your entire bloodline for centuries to come...legendary," she offered. He stopped and turned back to her.

"I am not a good man and you are a fairy. Why would you do that?" he questioned.

"Because I want power...just like you and I need a mortal to get that power," she revealed.

"But don't worry...you'll have the ultimate power too," she said.

"Tell me more…" he inquired.

"There is a chalice, created by Gaia herself and gifted to her favorite daughter, Dione. In turn, Dione has gifted to her precious one, Aphrodite," Blue explained.

"Goddess of love, beauty, and desire," he recalled.

"That's the one...the apple of Zeus' eye and instead of giving the chalice to his new wife, Hera, he has given it to his naive, virginal daughter that still thinks that true love is real," Blue said.

"Fascinating...and where do I come in?" he asked.

"Before Dione died, she intended to gift the chalice to a true love pair that she deemed worthy of it to champions of love and heroes to mortals. But she never discovered a pair that she deemed worthy enough," Blue explained.

"Her daughter is determined to keep those standards, but she is wildly more naive than her wise mother," she continued. He smirked.

"You want me to find some woman and convince your naive Goddess that we are the pair she should gift her chalice too," he deduced.

"You are sharp...but it can't be just any woman. It has to be someone convincing and able to pull off the act," she replied. He smirked.

"I think I know of someone," he said.

"But what kind of power are we talking about?" he questioned.

"Unlimited power and eternal youth," she promised. He smirked.

"Where do we start?" he asked.

~*~

Xander sat at the hotel bar and hadn't even bothered to go to his room that night. It was almost two in the morning and they would be kicking him out soon. A glass of scotch sat before him and his stare burrowed into the amber glass of liquid, as a blonde climbed onto the seat next to him.

"Please tell me you haven't touched that, Gramps," Emma said.

"Don't worry...I'm just looking at the thing that kept me from my family for so long," Xander replied.

"You know, I don't blame you, right?" Emma asked. He snorted.

"Your father does...maybe you should. I could have spared you years of unhappiness, Emma. When the Swans sent you back...I should have told Clayton to go to hell and took you straight to your father," he replied.

"You know Clayton would have stopped you or tried to. He might have killed you," Emma surmised.

"And you know Dad...he'll come around. He's almost as forgiving as Mom," she reminded him.

"I don't know, Em...I've never seen him this angry," Xander replied.

"Mom will bring him around...she always does. Just give him time," Emma assured him.

"I hope you're right…" Xander replied.

"Go up to your room and get a little sleep. We're leaving early," she suggested.

"I'm not sure David wants me there," Xander said.

"Yes he does...and you know Clayton's operation better than anyone. Not to mention that you now have a daughter out there that's on the wrong side. You can either stay here and wallow in self pity," Emma said, as he looked at her.

"Or you can fight for your relationship with my Dad and maybe even one with your daughter," she said.

"Her mother has poisoned her against us," Xander replied.

"And we thought George and later Clayton did the same thing to James and now I call him Uncle James," Emma reminded him, as she pushed the glass toward the bartender.

"He won't be needing this," she said, as she threw some money down for it. Xander sighed and followed her to the elevator.

"We always tell you how much like your father you are, but you are every bit your mother's daughter too," he mentioned fondly. Emma smiled.

"I know...I've seen the hope thing work for her time and again, so I took a page from her book on this one. Dad will come around," she assured, as they got in the elevator.

~*~

Snow awoke in the middle of the night, noticing that the warmth of David's body was gone. She got up and padded out to the outside balcony of their hotel suite in her long, white silk nightgown. She found him there, staring off into space and slipped her arms around his waist, before resting her head against his naked back.

"Oh baby…" she murmured, as her heart ached for him.

"I just got used to having a brother...and now a sister…" he muttered.

"A sister that was raised in Clayton's world," he said.

"Not all the people in his network are killers," she offered, as he took her in his arms and kissed her hair.

"I hope...I mean, the stealing I can get passed," he said, looking at her fondly and she smiled back.

"You do have a thing for bandits," she teased.

"Except you were stealing to survive. She steals...for treasure," he said bitterly.

"Then it's your father that's mostly bothering you," she surmised.

"I knew he had killed people...I mean, I've killed people too. We're not so different...at least that's what I told myself," he said.

"But if I knew my grandchild was out there, somewhere alone, being abused...I would have moved heaven and earth to get to them!" he said fiercely.

"I know...I know, my love…" she soothed.

"What if Merlin hadn't nurtured her belief by giving her the book? It would have been ten times worse for her, Snow," he fretted.

"At least the book showed her how much we truly loved her and how we didn't choose to be separated from her. It gave her hope…" he continued.

"But my father could have walked into that adoption agency, submitted to a DNA test, and proved he was Emma's blood. But instead, he was sailing around other realms that weren't frozen by the curse, collection things for Clayton! Treasure and gold and inanimate objects over our daughter!" he stressed.

"Over you...you can say it, my love. He chose those things over you and it was wrong," she said.

"You are a much stronger, braver man than he is. You are your mother's son," she said fondly. He sighed.

"The killing...I can get past as surprising as that sounds. I got past it with James. He was raised by a tyrant. It would have been a miracle if he didn't become a killer," he said.

"But what else has he lied about? There could be so many things we don't know about him. I knew that...and I ignored it. I can't do that anymore. I need to know everything," he added.

"And you will," she assured him, as she led him back inside.

"Until then...we should go back to bed," she said, as he sighed.

"You know I can't sleep now…" he replied. She smirked and gently let the thin straps on her nightgown fall away and it became a puddle at her feet.

"Then let's do some...not sleeping," she replied. His eyes glazed, as he drank her in. His beautiful wife was a master at distracting him and though he knew they would have to deal with all of this in just a few short hours, he welcomed this distraction. He walked to her with purpose and kissed her passionately, while cupping her face in his hands. She mewled into his kiss and then yelped in excitement, as he lifted her up and she hooked her legs around his waist. He carried her to bed and for those few hours, they became lost in each other...

[atlas-of-a-human-soul]

Αιώνια αγάπη (DT AU), pt. 14

14: Made new

Summary: Y/N is given an offer she can’t refuse.

Warnings: angst, fluff, violence, death

Word count: 2.5k

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Αιώνια αγάπη (DT Modern Greek god/frat! AU) MASTERLIST    

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It happened fast.

It happened way too fast - too fast for human eye to follow as flashes of hundreds different shades of gold overcame her vision and her mind blanked as a response.

She couldn't do much, knowing this is a godly feat, one she must protect her children from. So she stood up, her vision blackening momentarily - something that came with changing positions way too fast with light-headed feeling following soon after.

She didn't have time to wait to feel steady, running toward Hera who kept the kids behind her and watched events unfold.

"What is happening?!" Y/N questioned, out of breath and wide eyed.

"Gods fighting gods. Blood against blood."

And before Y/N had time to delve deeper, ask for meaning, the fight was over, Apollo and Hermes each before their father and uncle, prepared to rule on their punishment for unspeakable, inconceivable crimes against humans and other gods.

"Do your worst boy!" Zeus shouted, spitting at Hermes' feet as a trapped beast.

"Yes, father." And with one swift, smooth move of a silver sword, Hermes took his father's head while Apollo claimed Poseidon's.

With a gasp, Y/N covered her children's eyes, turning around herself, unable to catch a proper breath while the aftershock plummeted through her veins. She couldn't stop herself from trembling, hugging her kids for comfort, her wide eyes running over the marble floor she was positioned at ever since Zeus found it appropriate to rip her away from her life and uprooted her in order for her to show up for this mockery of a trial.

A hand clasped on each of her shoulders, fingertips applying different amounts of pressure - the left one was a little more eager for her attention, enough to forget she's fragile and still human - Hermes, she guessed.

"Y/N, please look at us." Apollo pleads, her voice as soft as a cloud, dragging out her name so slowly, so carefully with so much love she felt her heart yearn for him.

Shaking, dragging in a few shuddered breaths, she looked her kids over first, noticing their little confused faces but neither of them made a sound. When their mother is scared, they trust her to protect them, keeping their usual mischief below zero. It was always a rule she taught them.

"It's okay, babies. It's all okay now." She whispered, quickly pressing a kiss to each of their foreheads, pushing Valerie's bangs to the side affectionately.

Hera stepped in, offering her help once more, but Y/N refused adamantly. She couldn't part from her kids, not even for a single moment.

"We have a lot to talk about." Apollo crouched down, plopping on the cold marble instantly, his body - although no longer human and much more durable - is exhausted with everything that's happened and not just now, but for the last year.

"Henry, Valerie, go and ask your grandma for something to eat. I'm sure she's got lots of tasty goodness!" The cheerful tone didn't distract the brothers from her underlying worry, still evident even after the danger passed.

Once the kids smashed a kiss on their mother, they ran off after Hera who was still in sight, bringing some joy to the saddened goddess, at least momentarily.

Turning around, she found Hermes sat behind her as well, each of them looking at her with a dire need of information, each of them wishing to touch her - feel her, just to know she's real. Not even thinking about it, Y/N lunged forth, throwing an arm around each brother, pulling them closer until she could finally breathe properly, in their presence and able to feel them and not only see them as she did in her dreams. She never had a moment of peace - without them, for she saw them in every first light of the breaking dawn or the last light of the sunset, in the way her kids laughed, talked, or even looked at her, and every damn night in her dreams. Sometimes even while she was awake, in the middle of the day, she'd just hear their voices inside her mind, offering her some sage advice if she heard Apollo, or something completely mental if she heard Hermes  - Or Grayson and Ethan as she still regarded them as.

Breaking away from the hug, noticing they're more than reluctant to let her go, Y/N perched herself up on the balls of her feet, placing her hands on her thighs, palms laid out.

"So...you, uh...have kids?" Apollo starts, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, watching as she pursed her lips once they twitched in their need of showing a small smile she intercepted.

"Yeah...did you know?" She asks, wondering if that would even matter. After all, she's spent years on her own - would them knowing really have any impact?

"When we returned here, three years passed on Earth. We managed to get a hold of a device to watch over you, but we could only watch, never intervene." Apollo explained, when Hermes cleared his voice.

"I'm really sorry about your dad. If it helps, I guided him to Elysium myself. I've been told he's on the Isle of the Blest. He's with your mother." Hermes took her hand upon seeing her bottom lip quiver, her eyes rimmed red as a lone tear spilled over and he could tell her chest quaked under the pressure of holding in a sob he'd rather have her release, hoping it would let out her pain and clear her heart for something good.

"Thank you, Ethan. It really means a lot to know they're both well and happy." She smiled, giving him a grateful squeeze of the hand before she sniffled and chuckled awkwardly.

"I'm sorry, but I have to ask about the kids. Henry and Valerie, is it?" Apollo interrupts, unable to hold back any longer. He felt as if his mind is on a roller-coaster, about to jump off the tracks right at the top.

"That's a little complicated." She dropped her gaze, licking her lips before nibbling on the bottom left corner.

"Henry is Ethan's and Valerie's yours." She responded, watching Ethan's eyes pop while Grayson waited impatiently for her to explain because he already knew that, he just didn't understand how.

"Two months after you disappeared, I was experiencing basic pregnancy symptoms and when I went for a check up I found out I'm not only pregnant, but with two kids...at the same time...and they aren't twins." Chuckling to herself, shaking her head as if she too can't believe her situation, Y/N took Grayson's hand in her free one now too, in need of support as if it's happening all over again.

"Apparently I was born with a uterine malformation called uterus didelphys. It basically means I have two uteruses and well...You can get pregnant with two kids at the same time. Henry was born a month before, they were pretty big and my body couldn't handle it and they had to do a C section to take him out. Valerie was born naturally a month later." Shrugging her shoulders, she felt her face burn, still remembering how hard it all was on her, especially when she had to do it all on her own. Well, her sorority sisters helped and her father had made sure she's financially taken care of even if she refused to tell him about who the father is, because he assumed there was only one! But she didn't have a partner, someone to truly rely on - to share the burden of two lives she carried on her chest this whole time. It's never easy and it never got easier.

"You had hairs on your brushes and there were also your toothbrushes...even some blood left from shaving on the razors, so I just took it all and through it all, they found enough DNA to tell me they're brother and sister, but from different fathers even though their DNA matched so well they were borderline twins. I guess it has something to do with your godly genes or whatever."

Neither Ethan nor Grayson could really speak, each of them lost in the fact they weren't there when their kids needed them and when they're finally with them, their kids saw them as bloodthirsty animals who beheaded their own family.

“Henry is usually the instigator of every trouble they get into. Valerie is incredibly bright and very soft of heart. They’re both really good kids...very hard to keep up with, exhaustively stubborn, but very well behaved when need be...as you could see today.” Y/N continued, wanting to give them some insight on the little beings that came to be because of the love they all shared years ago and although it’s been longer for Y/N, she couldn’t deny she still had incredibly strong feeling for both of them - they never really left.

"Stay." Ethan spoke up, shaking Y/N up into retracting her hands, leaving both of them with an empty feeling in their chest.

"I mean, the kids are more than just demigods with all their genetics, they aren't human. We can sense it. Once they're twenty two, they'll stop ageing. They would get a year older every thousand years until they look like they're about forty and they won't get older than that. Not ever. Their powers will manifest at eighteen. They can't go home. Ever." Apollo explained, knowing he's already playing with fire, but it's the truth. They can't let two teenager rave on Earth once their powers come in for the consequences could be catastrophic.

"You can't take my kids away." Y/N stood up, defensive and prepared to fight if necessary. She didn't understand why they're pushing this, barely any information getting through to her.

"We don't want to." Ethan stood, his hands open with palms turned to her, hoping to calm her down and stop her nostrils from flaring and transform her glare into something more gentle, more calm. She had a gaze that could kill a thousand men within a blink and he absolutely loved it.

"Then what the hell are you talking about?!" She shouted, stepping closer with her index finger pointed at Grayson's chest.

"You might be the father, but it doesn't mean you get to take them just because you're gods and I a human!" But her finger changed direction, poking Ethan in the chest.

"We want you to stay too! Just take a sip from the fountain of youth and you can be one of us!" Ethan defended, hoping she sees reason and does what he's asking for even immortality and the Underworld at his feet isn't enough without her...And that's when he finally understood Hades and his actions. Hell, he didn't even fight him when he wrapped the chain around his neck, as if he too never wanted to live without Persephone.

"Wha-", Y/N stumbled back, thinking about it. To be a goddess and stay at Mount Olympus with her children and the gods she fell in love with for an eternity? It sounded like a dream, but do all gods end up beheaded by their children? That horrified her.

"But gods die either killed by their descendants or their children...I don't know if I want that to happen to me." She frowned, running her hands through her hair as she gripped the roots.

"It won't." Apollo stepped closer, understanding flashing behind his hazel eyes as the armor he wears glistened in the sun that sparked through the open ceiling above.

"You can't promise me that! What if someone takes me like Hades took Persephone?!" Hermes could see she's panicking, spiraling in the hell her mind created, knowing that she was always her own worst enemy. Just as he wished to intervene and end her suffering with a few calming words and a tender caress, someone else did it for him; his dear sister, the very goddess Y/N spoke of.

"I made Hades run to me. He saw my bones beneath the skin, the soul within and offered me half his kingdom. Do you really think I ate the fruit unwittingly?" Such words spoken from a beauty as she bore, Persephone not only shocked the trio, but brought Hermes to his knees.

"I killed him for you and you're telling me you wanted to be his queen all along?!" He couldn't help his voice from raising at the younger goddess, realizing she played him all this time.

"I wanted the Underworld. I wanted to be Queen. I hoped once he was gone, I'd rule alone. But I made the mistake of actually caring for him after all this time - even loving him at times. I miss him and I can't say that I don't hold it against you brother. But I can't rule. Not after he left the Underworld to you in the contract." Persephone spat, bitter about how her plotting turned against her and she lost all she worked on. Centuries long scheme now nothing but dust in the wind.

"You will live there. You will take over for Hecate as she can't do her job from Tartarus. You will do that - alone." Hermes shimmered, vibrating in his rage as he cast his sister down, punishing her for her feat.

Hera ran fast, watching her daughter run the opposite direction in tears, bringing a golden chalet with her.

"Did you convince her?" She smiled softly, hoping this was actually Persephone learning Y/N will take the gift of immortality offered only a few times in history.

"No. Just found out my sister is a crazy, manipulative psychopath!" Hermes ran a hand down his face, still trying to hold himself together.

"She also told us Hermes is officially the new Hades." Apollo added, winking at his brother proudly for he knew Hermes was made for the job. He knew it would be a perfect fit.

"Did she tell you you're the new Poseidon?" Hera looked toward Apollo, giving him the same proud look he gave his brother, impossibly happy her son got the power over sea as he always loved the oceans and water, the way they could be so calm one moment and raging the next.

"I? Wha - really?" Apollo nearly choked on his spit, placing a hand on his chest-plate with an incredulous look on his face. He couldn't believe what he earned, so happy and still so conflicted over how he earned it.

"Yes. And", Hera turned to a very silent Y/N, "If you decide to join us, you'd be the new Zeus." She spoke plainly, offering Y/N not only the gift of immortality but the ultimate power of being the supreme goddess of Mount Olympus.

"Why? Why give me such honor when you can do the job just as well?" Y/N asked, genuinely confused over this turn of events, wanting a moment of peace but realizing she won't get any time to make her choice.

"Because I'd rather take care of my little grandchildren and we're short one supreme entity." Hera brought the chalice closer to her lips, enticing her to take the next step and for the first time in a long time, Y/N didn't think. Why would she? She just graduated and moved back home into an empty house filled with memories she couldn't run away from while all her friends scattered around the world and she'd barely see them as it is. She didn't think twice before she nodded, taking the chalice into her hands much to both brother’s surprise before chugging it all in one sip.

At first, nothing happens at all. But then she feels it.

Something in her stomach churns, despite the fact she didn't eat much in a while. Then she cramps, pain shooting through her entire abdomen. She lets out a gasp as the pain reached her throat, and it constricts tighter and tighter until she feels she can't breathe. She keeps gasping for air as the tightening and pain refuse to let up.

She hears Ethan and Grayson shout her name as her knees hit the marble floor.

The pain intensifies, ripping through her like blazing fire. The edges of her vision darken as she continues to struggle for air, the shouting around her crescendos. It's the worst pain she's ever felt in her entire life.

It's a relief when she blacks out.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~       ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~       ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~       ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Tags: @mutuallynotmutual @lanadeldolans @xalayx @accalialionheart @gia-kerks @historyheart  @heyits-claire @daddygraysonsbitch @fallinginlove-16  @lanadeldolans @beautifulfound @thearachna-kid  @dinnerwiththedolans  @graydolan12 @justanotherfangurl272 @dxlansfxck  @godlydolans @flowery-dolan @dominatedolans @buckysjuicyplums @ethanhes @dolandolll @dolanstwintuesday @peacedolantwins

[musicfeedsmysoul12]

Hey, I recently found your blog and I love your writing! Is it okay if I ask for some headcanons of Daughter of Hephaestus!MC from that one L&L/PJO crossover post? I know that it was it’s an older post.

OF COURSE, IT IS. Old posts or not, I definitely have ideas. I am super pumped people like my writing. Like… it super motivates me to keep going.

Alright, given that this is about a specific MC, I’m naming her… *looks up Greek Heroes* Atlanta. Atlanta Copperfield. As well, we’re going to have some general headcanons before going into the other ones.

LONG ASS POST

General

Atlanta fought in both wars. She’s not the best smith of the cabin or anything, but she was really good with armor and weapons. 

All Hephaestus kids have a Spark that lets them build amazing things. It’s part of their gift from their dad.

Has one of those enchanted belts you can put anything in

Is wicked strong. Like scary, scary strong.

Is semi-immune to fire- not like Leo but can withstand very high temps.

Has a lot of scars from the battles and has a hard time being anything but a fighter.

Left camp due to her PTSD and hatred of herself as she did have to kill siblings during the war. 

May or may not secretly hate the Gods.

Does love her dad but in a very distant way. 

Her mother died protecting her from a monster when she was six. She really hates Hyrdas. 

Witch Queen spell went wonky and the soul latched onto baby Atlanta. Her body changed to match the WQ appearance but no one really notices because God Genes are WEIRD. Seriously- her sister has purple hair. It’s weird.

Atlanta fully accepts she’s in a whole new world because she is used to weird shit.

Reiner

Reiner shows Atlanta around and she just freaks about the not so great armor some of the guards are wearing. Insists on making new ones for them. He shows her to the smithery.

Atlanta becomes a huge help in the castle. Reiner finds himself often sitting with her in the evenings as she designs things. The two build a strong friendship this way.

Thing is the generals don’t realize she looks like the WQ for a while. Mostly cause Atlanta isn’t thin and with long hair hanging down. She’s quite muscular and has her hair in a bun or a ponytail like 99% of the time.

They only figure it out when Atlanta lets her hair down while going for a walk with Reiner in the village, who all now know Atlanta isn’t the WQ cause she’s so nice and builds stuff for them.

Everyone ships her and Reiner. It’s adorable.

Demigods have super quick relationships because most die by like thirty so she is down for a wedding. Yep, oooh, can she make armor for them as their wedding outfits?

Atlanta being semiposessed by the WQ is really fucking scary cause of her demigod blood making her more sturdy and her Spark.

Now, it turns out the Gods are watching and when she gets possessed also get worried because even they feel the WQ is a big fucking deal. Soooooooo… they come to that world. 

Yep, Gods appear in Reiner’s castle and don’t care they see them. (Zeus may actually like the fact they believe)

Atlanta loses her Spark to protect it from the WQ until she is either free or dead. Atlanta as well goes into a heavy depression and is very much a zombie during this time because a Spark is part of her soul.

Reiner is literally the only thing keeping her from giving in.

(Wow this is getting long) Being free gives her Spark back and she throws herself into building weapons and armor. It actually takes Solaire yelling at her to have her realize that Oh shit, Reiner is not acting like himself because she was in a giant fog of working.

Big fight with her and Reiner. Both are really bad at acting like adults with their work because he was worrying over her thanks to Ryland and she was worrying over him…

Atlanta is fucking scary with a shield. She is very strong and can even knock down a wall thanks to a strange metal that appeared in her belt one day. She thinks it might be an apology from her dad…

She totally takes him to Camp while in her original world before they leave. Sophie comes to now that she remembers. Chiron likes him and with his help they create a stable portal.

Her siblings approve.They do make them recite a blessing for Hera and jump over a fire but that’s it. They’re married.

Atlanta makes him a crossbow that is enchanted to shoot fire or ice arrows. 

August

August totally thinks she’s the WQ for five minutes and then she starts ranting about his sword.

Nope, no longer WQ, now she is a sword buddy. They get along fantastic after that.

Atlanta doesn’t run off beginning season2, instead, she stays because running off would be stupid. 

Atlanta dislikes sword fighting. She’s good at it and likes swords but she’s wicked strong so she likes to try and have her fighting resemble that. 

She ends up making a wicked heavy sword that lets her smash all she wants. August is appauled.

“Look, I used to ride a pegasus. Horses do not have wings. That is why i suck at this.” “No, you are simply bad at it because you are to stiff-” “I RODE A FLYING HORSE. OF COURSE I AM STIFF.”

August’s mom loves her when she ends up like fixing everything in their inn because her hands just won’t stop. Asta is like “Marry that woman.” August blushes.

The Gods come to yell when they’re in council. Apparently this is her quest and she must defeat the WQ because *some reason*. Her Spark is removed for a year as punishment for letting her gain a body.

It’s awful. August is terrified for her, she’s a zombie. He prays to the Gods, begging. Eventually Hep is like: fuck this and gives her back her Spark early. Just in time for battle.

Atlanta brings Sophie to the Camp. They all pitch in but still Sophie has to stay for now. She hates it but now knows other magic people!!

Atlanta also brings back necter and stuff but still ends up cursed in the end. 

August Dad is eh about her. Heard rumors but didn’t believe until she lifted a tree off him and did some pretty cool stuff.

Also again, let her at the broken stuff. She’s good at it.

When August’s sword breaks she offers to make a new one but like… for some reason she can never make the right one. it’s super frustrating for the both of them and she is wicked upset about it. And then they meet Aisetha.

“I could make a better sword.” “No you cannot.” “I’m making one that talks to.”

Aisetha does let Atlanta make the armor to it’s wishes but it does look badass so fine.

These two fuckin hate each other, it’s the best.

The wedding has traditional vows and Chiron, as well as a bunch of siblings, come through a portal to party.

Saerys

Saerys does not think this girl is the WQ. It’s obvious she uses physical strength and the WQ is pure magic.

Atlanta does not go to his room in the beginning- she knows this shit is real. But she and Saerys bond over being really strong and soon they end up having contests with picking shit up.

Atlanta picked up Saerys who was picking up Reiner once. 

Atlanta fixes everything still. Also builds random shit everywhere. Eventually, she has to stay with Saerys in his room cause Ryland and Solaire get annoyed when she takes stuff apart.

She can’t help it. Literally. She actually confesses she’s a demigod to Saerys because she feels alone here without any siblings. She may have left camp but she had called them. 

Saerys gets being alone.

Atlanta ends up dropkicking Lennox out of town after she gives everyone a speech about his armor and how they’re all idiots for not realizing it was WQ general armor.

Atlanta isn’t affected by Saery’s heat or strength in Turbo Mode and can hold him down. 

Dying at the hand of the Witch Queen but being brought back removes half of her Spark. She has a harder time making things and thinking. Saerys is there to help though.

Saerys and Atlanta spar a lot.

Chicago also brings them to find the camp and Saerys realizes they will be in danger no matter where. 

The demon gods team up with the Greek Gods to bring Saerys back to life and restore the full of Atlanta’s soul. This also reveals that Atlanta is a demigod to everyone.

Atlanta’s Spark is twisted a little and talks now to her, urging her to create and build weapons. Like messed up weapons of mass destruction.

Saerys and Atlanta struggle a lot with the demon souls possessing Saerys- it’s hard to control them when you also have a nutjob Spark yelling to build things.

At least the stupid Souls like her now, thanks to the Spark giving them ideas.

They warn the Camps about the WQ maybe invading and they get ready.

Atlanta whispers a wedding blessing when they pass each other the rings because they’re already married demon style. Let’s do it demigod.

Altea

Okay, like Saerys she figures that Atlanta is not WQ quick thanks to Atlanta being shit with any magic that is not building things.

Atlanta is given scrap metal because of her need to build things. She doesn’t realize she’s making jewlery with one person in mind until she makes a pretty pair of pink earing and oh.

Atlanta’s crush on tiny Altea is hilarious. Everyone does given Atlanta is the type to give pretty things to her object of affection. Altea is very happy.

Only once did Altea ever agree to be picked up by Atlanta in battle. Never again. Very undignified!

“But fun.” “Stop it my raven.”

Altea meets her family in Chicago and they figure that Iris Messaging still works in the other world afterwards so they chat a lot.

Atlanta’s demigod status is revealed to Altea in Chicago and the two worship Hep and like Athena and stuff but it’s revealed to everyone when Hep comes to give her this special metal so she can make a sword for herself to fight the witch queen.

Atlea compares the Spark to Magic.

Meeting Mireille and finding out Altea’s a princess makes Atlanta feel scruffy. Sure, she’s a demigod but… princess. She’s just a smith.

Altea makes sure she doesn’t feel that way for long. 

Atlanta makes a ring for Altea as a proposal thing. She loves it.

seeing her go fully Magical Girl Mode makes Atlanta fall for her all over again.

Meeting her family is hard, given she is very much a smith, but they do warm up. They also Iris Message some friends so that the Queen and King realize they’re telling the truth about Atlanta being from another world and the demigod stuff.

Lional now wants to learn to smith. Atlanta just wants him to stop poking at the fire.

Iseul

Okay, Iseul does not think she’s the WQ because she doesn’t have the right feel.

Atlanta may have punched him once in annoyance.

they may end up in a fight a few times. They just irritate each other to much.

Their first kiss is during a fight. Everyone was betting on it.

Atlanta’s Spark goes into haywire at seeing the bow Iseul has because she has SO MANY IDEAS

Iseul loves it. Every bit. He is always bragging about this girl to everyone in the village when she goes to get fun stuff to play with.

Imohn ends up liking her when she comes up with an arrow that when fired goes into a dragon made out of fire.

atlanta and Iseul are the worst together. Seriously. No, do not… Atlanta, do not make that! Iseul says it’s okay! NO!

The whole demigod thing comes out when the Gods come during a council meeting to yell at Atlanta for letting the WQ out. She points out she did not know what would happen and no one said this was a quest.

Zeus is not pleased but she lives. Barely. Her Spark is taken from her and she falls into a deep depression.

Iseul is struggling to help her and get his mother to accept her. It all really goes to shit when Ishara ends up in a coma without accepting Atlanta.

Atlanta manages to fight through the depression and help Iseul. They wake up Ishara who accepts her. She also gets her Spark back because that was a lesson she had to learn.

 “It was a fucking shitty lesson.”

Chicago is nuts. “How on earth… you were supposed to be created only a few years ago!” “Go bug Chiron for that… or maybe like Hecate or something.” Camp is a nightmare.

Magnus is horrified the rumors of her being a demigod are true. Ha, fuck you buddy.

“I’m pregnant!!! OH! I HAVE IDEAS FOR THE NURSERY!!!” “NO ATLANTA!” “YES MY LOVE!”

Just these two idiots are awful.

[heartbreaker-johnny]

Jaehyun (TATBILB)

(credit to gif maker)

Summary-second installment of the To All The Boys I've Loved Before series.

Genre-fluff, angst

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

Jaehyun was my first love.

Although were never together, never went on a date and never kissed, Jaehyun was the first person to ever capture my heart.

We were both juniors and he was fairly popular, and as cliché as it was, I was not. He was gorgeous, smart, played football and basketball and was just an over all amazing guy. There weren’t many people who didn’t love him. I had never really given him much thought other than the fact that he was attractive. I never really planned on changing that until fate decided to do it for me.

Being adopted didn’t bother me at all. I was so young when I was adopted that I had never once ever doubted that my parents truly loved me and wanted me. They were my family, blood didn’t mean anything. But not everyone saw it that way. I was constantly bullied for being adopted. I fought back when I could but the older I got, the less I fought back. I just got tired of the fighting and had become defeated by the whole thing. I wasn’t ashamed that I was adopted, I was ashamed that I was being bullied and it didn’t seem like anything I could do would stop it. I was in my darkest days and Jaehyun met me on one of those days.

I was shoved up against a locker, as usual. It was the same group of girls who always seemed to get off of insulting things I couldn’t control about my life. SoDam, HeRa and YulHee, the three stooges. Most of the time I just kind of drowned them out, let them throw me around a bit and basically just wait for it to be over. This time, I just couldn’t seem to ignore them. It was like my body and mind were forcing me to listen to their words.

“You really think your parents love you? They pity you.” SoDam said, shoving my shoulder into the locker.

“I bet they couldn’t even get the kid they wanted so they chose you.” HeRa added.

“I feel bad for your brother. He must be so ashamed to have a thing like you as his sister.” SoDam cringed.

“How do you even look at yourself in the mirror? You can’t possibly think you look cute or anything.” YulHee jabbed.

“I do.” A sudden voice said.

We turned to look at the new voice who came from behind the stooges. There in all his glory, was Jung Jaehyun.

“I think she’s unbelievably cute.” He said approaching us.

“Come on Jaehyun, don’t give us that crap.” SoDam said, rolling her eyes.

“I never lie.” He said. “you know what’s not cute though? Giving someone shit for things that were out of their control. Y/N didn’t ask to be adopted but thank god she was, because she could be in actual hell right now, starving and alone. Her parents are saints for bringing him home. Your parents just got stuck with you. Maybe you’re the ones who should have been given up at birth.”

He grabbed my hand and pulled me down the hall and out of the school, leaving the stooges in shock of what had come out of his mouth.

He led me through the schools courtyard to a big oak tree on top of a hill. He let go of my hand and stepped a bit away from me, running his hands frantically through his hair.

“I just need a minute to cool down. They really got me worked up.” He said.

I wasn’t sure what to say but I assumed he wanted to be left alone, so I turned to leave.

“Wait,” He said, grabbing my wrist, turning me around. “Don’t go. Just give me a minute okay? Sit down with me.”

He pulled us to sit down against the trunk of the tree and he closed his eyes, taking some time to calm down. After a few minutes, the silence was killing me so I decided to break it.

“Why did you stand up for me? You didn’t have to do that.” I said, quietly.

“I can’t stand bullshit like that. I don’t tolerate bullying.” He said, opening his eyes finally.

“You don’t even know me.” I pointed out.

“Sure I do.” He said. “You’re Park Y/N. You were adopted when you were a baby, which is why you and your brother look nothing alike. We’ve had four classes together since freshmen year. You’re super smart and you stick by your friends and you aren’t afraid to speak your mind in class. You do this thing with your pencil when you’re totally zoned out. You doodle aliens while taking notes. They’re really cute and so are you.”

I stared at him, in complete disbelief of what he just said. How did he know all this?

“Have you been like stalking me or something?” I asked, confused.

He laughed at the accusation.

“No, nothing like that. I just notice things about people. I try to see them for more than what they appear. You stand out to me, it’s a good thing. “ He assured me.

He continued to explain himself and I just watched him, in awe of the person in front of me. I had never pegged Jung Jaehyun as this kind of person, yet here he was in front of me, telling me about how much he loved when people had little quirks.

That day changed everything for me.

Jaehyun and I became friends. We hung out more alone than in front of other people. It wasn’t super often and it wasn’t anything special. We usually just sat and talked about anything that came to mind. We said hi to each other in the halls and partnered up on projects if we were in the same class. However, the limited interaction didn’t stop me from developing feelings for him. Jaehyun was someone I trusted and he understood me, sometimes more than anyone else, and he actually paid attention to me and cared about me.  I didn’t know for sure, but sometimes it felt like he had feelings for me too.

I didn’t want to confess me feelings, afraid that if I did, he wouldn’t want to be friends with me anymore. I had really come to enjoy the time we spent together and I didn’t want anything to mess that up. So I suppressed all my feelings and kept them to myself until they were practically eating me alive.

It was the end of junior year when I realized I was in love with him. I just couldn’t help. He was so kind and smart and supportive and my god was he beautiful. I finally understood just why everyone treated him like royalty. I decided that I couldn’t keep it to myself anymore. If I didn’t tell him I was going to go crazy. Besides, I was pretty sure he felt the same way. He flirted and held my hand when we were alone. He had to feel the same way, didn’t he?

We were sat underneath the same tree we sat under the day we officially met. I was pulling and twisting around the grass as Jaehyun was telling me about some prank one of his teammate played on his parents. I was barely listening, too focused on my feelings that were boiling at the surface. I decided that as soon as he stopped talking, that was when I would do it. That moment came sooner than I thought.

He ended his story and I took a deep breath and tried to swallow the lump in my throat.

“Hey, Jae?” I said, almost in a whisper.

“Hmm?” He hummed, looking up at the sky.

“I…Can I tell you something? And you have to promise not to laugh.”

“You can tell me anything Y/N, you know that. “

I nodded my head slowly, trying to figure out how I wanted to word this.

“Y/N?”

“I um…I have feelings for you Jae. I think…I think I might be in love with you.”

I felt a weight lift off my shoulders, but at the same time, a pit was forming in my stomach. I felt like I just ruined everything.

He sighed, and ran his hand through his hair, something he did when he was stressed out.

“Y/N…I don’t know what to say.” He admitted.

“Just say what you feel. If you feel anything, I guess.” I shrugged.

“Of course I feel something. How could I not feel something for you, Y/N?”

I shrugged again, I could already feel the rejection hitting me like a ton of bricks. I was so stupid.

“It’s just…I don’t think a relationship is a good idea right now.” He said, taking my hand in his.

“It’s okay if you don’t like me Jae, I can take it. I just thought-“

“I know what you thought and you weren’t wrong. I do like you. A lot. Probably in the same way you like me. I just…I can’t Y/N.”

“Why? If you like me, then I don’t understand.”

He sighed again, gripping my hand tighter.

“I’m moving. I’m gonna finish high school in the US. I’ve always wanted to go back and I got into a good school that is gonna give me college credit. I leave this summer.”

My heart sunk to my feet and my mouth went dry. He was leaving. The one person I thought completely loved me for who I was, was leaving me. I could feel myself go pale and start to shake. Jae noticed too and he pulled me into him, my face buried in his chest.

"I’m so sorry. I just don’t want to make you go through all that comes with a long distance relationship. I’m gonna come back, I just don’t know when. It wouldn’t be fair to you.”

I nodded, agreeing with what he said, but it didn’t stop the tears from spilling from my eyes.

“I wish I had gotten to know you before I decided to leave. I just didn’t expect to get so attached to you.” He said, his hand in my hair.

“Me either.” I said truthfully.

We stayed like that for a long time, neither one of us letting go. He moved during the summer, the night before we had our own little going away party, just the two of us. He told me he loved me and it broke his heart to leave. He said he hoped one day he could come back a better man. I told him he already was.

We stayed in contact through social media, messaging each other every day, then once a week, then once a month. He moved back a two years ago, we have lunch every few months. He was still beautiful, still the same Jaehyun, but it was me who was different. My romantic feelings were gone, but I still had so much love for him. He was the first person who saw me for more than just the kid who was adopted, the girl who was always with Mark. He may have taught me what heartbreak felt like, but he also taught me how to overcome it and be better. Jaehyun taught me strength.

[gavetawrtes]

okay i am literally in the process of leaving my job rn, college only starts in February and i want some plots so pls check out the plots here under the read more and if anything sparks your interest pls like this so i can message you or just message me !

mumu

something based on friends ?? a tiny thing where we get 3 characters each and they can be heavily based on the friends character or just a little bit ? then we can have like relationships between them . friendships ? old flings ? siblings ? different dynamics for each of them and threads with more than one at the same time. they always go to the same coffee shop together or they are always in each others apartment. a has a thing for b but b is oblivious and b has always been bffs with c and so on. honestly it can be so much fun and so pure ? pls i deserve nice things

oKay but like wizards in a wizarding school ? ? i would say hogwarts but that world is a mess right now so we could make our own lil world? where like we decide the subjects and the kind of magic and all that. it could have aspects from any magical world we want like idk hogwarts house or like different types of magics ( physical, natural, Illusion, healing, psychic ) from the tv show the magicians. and honestly whatever else we want ? we can throw our lil characters into it and populate this little world with tiny plots like ‘our houses are eternal rivals and i intend to crush you at this quidditch game but also pls go to the winter formal with me bc you are the prettiest person in school ?’ & ‘my family has been historically amazing at physical magic but i’m really bad at this. you seem amazing pls teach me so people will stop making fun of me’ & ‘i didn’t know magic existed and now i do and this is all new to me how is the frog talking and why are you not scared at any of this ? ? ‘ && ‘whhy do you think it’s cute to be the skater punk version of magical world and fly standing up in your broom ? you could seriously get hurt ? and see there you got hurt. what do you mean ?  help you with healer magic ? no i don’t want you to get expelled but we should call a teacher !’ and honestly whatever else you can think of 

okay but like a group of high school friends and their older selves ?? ?  ?? ??  like we could set all the high school threads in the 80s ?? ? ? ?? ? and have different personalities ? and then we also have threads like in 2018 years later when they see each other again in the high school reunion ? just ? pls? the high school sweethearts who signed the divorce papers three years ago and we are doing both the thread in which they fell in love and the one where they see each other again for the first time after the divorce. the high school rebel who became the local sheriff and the girl he loved who used to be the biggest nerd who had a thing over their last summer. we are doing both their wild adventures and them seeing each other again for the first time bc she moved back with her parents. the two best friends who remained best friends for all those years and they are seeing all of those people again and it’s just like ‘oh man glad this didn’t Help to us’ and we can have them as teens bickering and making fun of their teacher and them years later at the bar like ‘i miss having adventures like we used to’ there are so many possibilities ? for like people who grew disillusioned with their lives ? or people who got really successful . ? people who stopped talking altogether ? people who remained friends forever ?? ? plspls it could be so nice

Okay but a group of old immortals/wizards/witches ? something a long the lines of the originals but they are not all siblings or the hogwarts funders but there is no school involved. like they have known each other for centuries and they have been friendly-ish. they probably got a hand in many important world changing events in history and like maybe they have to come together and stop the apocalypse every 500 years or one of them call them all up and it’s like ‘hey guys so skarsgård is going all ruler of the world again and i can’t stop him alone bc he is more powerful than me so could you pls? help me?‘ ? ? ? ? there are so many possibilities. we could play with different types of characters like ( one wizard who spent the last 100 years in a hole on the ground and he is just done with humanity while there is another one traveling around and trying to write a beautiful book about humans and life but it lowkey sounds like a fake deep tweet ) or like hundred years old relationships where they go ‘making me jealous in 1954 didn’t work why do you think it’s gonna work now?’ or smth like ‘baby we have been together for 3 centuries and you still make me blush’ OR OR  we could get more into plot like half of them go ‘i’m done with saving humans every hundred years. maybe skarsgård is right and we Should rule the world’ while the other half goes ‘what ? no humans are amazing? our job is to save them ’ and just those super mega powerful wizards fighting each other ? pls we could go in whatever direction you want just pls let me play incredibly powerful wizards

the PTA group ?? i love playing older characters but also like there are so many possibilities and it could be legit funny and full fluff and angst like ? we have those two married characters who are a perfect couple but maybe they are not that perfect ? the single parent who is just really Trying but is always late ? the divorced couple who is only participating bc the other is and they wanna show how much Better of a parent they are ? the teacher who loves to do all of this and is honestly worried about everyone drama ? the teacher who Had to sign up for this bc it was given to them as a punishment after they didn’t something and they are just standing there like ‘why are all of you so extra? just go home. you know this is optional now?’ everyone getting involved in each other’s business ?? ? everyone being lowkey friends ?? ? dR a Ma also all the supportive parents going to the kids games and the kids just being super happy

a greek god mumus ??  maybe we pick two ships and develop them like ( idk hera & zeus and hades & persophone ) or we just pick around the characters we wanna play. and we can have like all of them stuck in the real world, stuck in a human body. zeus wanting to fly to be an eagle to go somewhere but being stuck to earth. being the biggest asshole in the face of this earth but also not being able to let hera go? ? not knowing how to function properly when she is not around. and maybe idk maybe in this life hera doesn’t stick around. maybe in this life the only reason why they are still legally together is because he didn’t sign divorce papers, maybe she is done with him and done with trying when he clearly doesn’t give a fuck. maybe in this life she is a wedding planner and when people ask her to plan their marriages she gives them advice on knowing when to be forgiving and when to stick up for yourself. hades is the leader of a biker gang but he is mostly really quiet and chill and he has three pit bulls who just hang around him and do nothing of true harm ?? and the only person you can actually be terrified of is his wife ? ? bc even tho logic dictates otherwise it seems like she sets fire on the concrete she walks through and makes plants grow when she passes by and it baffles every existing human ?? and hades being ‘listen man i would forgive your betrayal but my wife i mean, she kinda asked me for your head and i can’t say no….’ chris evans a poseydon, poseydon as a surfer dude ??  as a guy who works/owns an aquarium and understands the animal there in a way that doesn’t make sense to anyone else ?? who has the biggest pools for the animals to swim around, even if it makes looking at them harder for whoever is vising, bc all those animals have been raised in captivate and they wouldn’t survive in the ocean but he doesn’t want them to feel stuck ? he wouldn’t know what he would if he couldn’t swim around  in the ocean and he just wants them to feel free even if he can’t free them. ?? there are so many ways in which things can go ? i mean honestly i’ll shower in headcanons pls gimme.

this is the last one i promise but a plot with a bunch of criminals maybe ex-navy/army who work together. maybe based on the losers ?? where you got like the leader of the group who makes dubious decisions when there are woman involved and the stoic explosions specialist who knows the leader so well that the moment the leader flinchs he goes like ‘imma take over now. okay? okay.’ maybe you got the gun slinging asshole who makes inappropriate jokes and the person who is just Too Qualified to be around this sea of idiots. maybe they were all framed for the same crime and they have to live in the shadows hiding in a city in the middle of nowhere pretending they are normal civilians. maybe they were all trying to save someone and it backfired and they wanna go back to their lives but how  ? ? idk there are so many possibilities just pls.

1x1

muse a is hopeless romantic that may or may not be more in love with the idea of love itself than he has ever be with anyone. he quits relationships as soon as they get a tiny bit complicated but he is always talking about ~~~~ soulmates ~~~~. muse b the girl who is way too generous and helps everyone out of the kindness of her heart but expects way too much from everyone. she is always falling in love with people and breaking her own heart by thinking they care more about her than they really do. — now close your eyes and imagine. .. . there is so much potential for angst and fluff ?? ? like he prepares overly dramatic moment in front of everyone and like serenades her ? paints her as his muse and puts it up in galareis ? but also one fight and he talks about breaking up bc that is not true love ? while she is there just interested in the tiny things ? in the days at home with him alone and the way they make each other laugh ? she is such a simple girl and they make each other so happy and he just Can’t see it ? ? ? pls 

muse a is the overly responsible single father/mother had to take care of themselves and his son/daughter ever since they can remember. they Cannot Relax because they must do 110% percent at all times for his kid. muse b is the mother/father of three who laughs way too easily and embarrasses his/her kids dancing in public and cracking bad jokes but they are so bad with time and like doing the Simplest things… — now just .. .. just picture. ..  the two of them meet at a school thing and become friends like maybe everyone talks about the two hottest dads in school getting together maybe they are talking shit about Sharon who doesn’t tell her son no and they bond bc ofc they do. .. and it’s totally like pfffftt pfffffffffff we are just friends .. . expect ‘i knew you would forget your kid’s lunch bc i know you so i packed one for your kid too’ and ‘yeah i know you have a kid but i have a babysitter and we are going out bc you are not Allowed to stay inside another Saturday’ and ‘ofc i’ll go with to the game’ and ‘yes we would love to spend the holidays with your family’ and ‘we are just two bros chilling on a hot tub 5 feet apart bc we are not together. the fact that i wanna kiss you doesn’t change anything.’

characters i would love to play in any plot

okay, so here is the thing, i have two characters. they are super wealthy brothers. one is your local asshole i’m too cool for feelings. he is in his 30s and he goes around partying and making bad decisions and he made himself a successful businessman on his own just to spite his family bc they said he couldn’t do it. 99,99% of his decisions are made either based on anger or just so to feel good. the other one is your local golden boy. he is everything his family ever wanted him to be, and he was a child prodigy type who graduated college super young and has never acted like a child. he is his early 20s. 99,99% of his decisions are made based on what he thinks people want him to do and he just wants to please everybody if you would let me play them in literally any plot  ( preferably like some tiny mumu, i have two characters, you have two characters type of thing ) i’ll literally give the sun !! or cookies !! or anything really omg !! they also have a younger sister so maybe you could play her? ? or you could play some character who is dating the younger brother is starts to fall in love with the older and drama~~ or it could be some two character that you would like to play? like any two characters you wanna develop and we figure out a plot? pls? thanks

[joemerl]

"The Legend of Hercules"

This movie has a 5% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and made $61.3 million on a $70 million budget. It came out the same year as the Dwayne Johnson Hercules movie and is considered its inferior. I'm going to watch it because I make poor life choices.

My thoughts under the cut.

We open to a battle in "Argos, ancient Greece, 1200 BC." This will not stop them from using Heracles' Roman name. The CGI is really fake, and the fighting throughout this movie does the whole 300 slo-mo/speed-up thing.

We meet Amphitryon, who in this version is an evil king. I guess. I dunno, he's the one attacking, but he suggests to Argos' king that they have a one-on-one fight so that no one else dies, which is pretty reasonable for an evil overlord. And the fight is cool, so I mostly come away thinking that he's a badass.

Amphitryon likes war, but his wife Alcmene thinks that war is bad. She's also really religious, but Amphitryon doesn't believe in the gods because...reasons. Is it just me, or do a lot of mythological movies go for a "theism vs. atheism" thing? I don't think that it works as well as Hollywood writers assume.

So Alcmene prays to Hera to stop her husband. Then Hera...possesses a priestess? who wasn't there before? and says that Alcmene's son will deliver the land from Amphitryon. If she doesn't want to sleep with Amphitryon to get this son, Hera will let her sleep with Zeus instead.

What.

I mean...she sounds sad about it, crying that Zeus has "betrayed me through his lust for you." But like...this is Hera. "Weepy" is not the reaction that I expect when confronted by Zeus' newest and oh-so-maimable love interest. Any other mythical inaccuracies pale compared to this.

In the myths, Heracles has a good stepdad and a bad stepmom. Why switch it around? I guess because this movie wants to be Gladiator, and we need an evil king for that.

This next scene is really weird. Alcmene is in bed. There's a flash of lightning and a bunch of wind, and Alcmene starts...having sex with it, apparently, even though she's still dressed. Then Amphitryon comes in, sees Alcmene and starts screaming "WHERE IS HE?!?! WHERE IS HE HIDING?!?!?!" Like, he saw Alcmene writhing on the bed, fully clothed and apparently alone, and somehow concluded that a.) an actual, two-person sex act was going on, but b.) her lover is a normal human who is just...invisible or something? I guess he knows the story of Gyges.

Seriously, it's a plot point that he thinks Hercules was fathered by somebody else but isn't sure. Which is weird, because we've established that he and Alcmene aren't having sex these days, and he seemed positive that he walked in on her cheating with seemingly no one, so...I don't know, man. This is a mess.

The baby is born! Because even though Amphitryon thinks Alcmene is unfaithful, he didn't kill or exile her. He's really bad at this "tyrant" thing. Anyway, he names the baby Alcides and says that he'll never be as good as his brother Iphicles, but Alcmene privately calls him "Hercules" because that's what Hera called him.

Side notes: "Hercules" is translated as "gift of Hera" when it's supposed to be "glory." Also, since Hera is basically a Fairy Godmother in this movie, it seems kind of stuck up of her to name the kid after herself. Why not have Alcmene choose the name?

As mentioned, Iphicles is in this movie, but he's a few years older than Hercules. Chiron is also there, as...Alcmene's tutor? Despite her being an adult woman? He's just a dude with a weird accent. Not a centaur. Lame.

The editing is really choppy, by the way. It's weird. I think a good bit of this movie was left on the cutting room floor, which may explain the confusing bits.

Time skip! It's twenty years later, and Hercules is frolicking with his love interest, Hebe, who is a Cretan princess and not the goddess of youth. I understand going for his endgame romance, but personally I would have picked one of his mortal wives. Anyway, she's slightly spunky and rebellious, but not so much that she won't spend most of the movie as a damsel in distress.

There's a scene where Hercules and Iphicles run into the Nemean Lion; Hercules kills it, but lets Iphicles take the credit. The fight is short and the effects aren't great, but it's pretty cool. Enjoy it, because it's the only actual Labor of Hercules that's in this movie.

At the big palace feast, it's announced that Hebe is betrothed to Iphicles. She was not consulted about this, makes a scene, and she and Hercules run off to elope. Nobody seems to react to this until the next day, when they're suddenly being chased on horseback by guards. Again, the editing.

Having captured Hercules, Amphitryon drafts him to go with his army to put down a rebellion in Egypt. Because by the way, Amphityron conquered Egypt even before conquering Argos. This is so ahistorical and downright implausible that it gives me a headache. Later he mentions having mercenaries from Germania and the Horn of Africa, so yeah, he's clearly being written as a Roman emperor, not the king of a Greek city-state.

Long story short, this is all a scheme to get Hercules killed. Some Egyptians mercenaries ambush them and kill everyone except Hercules and his captain/new friend Sotiris. They claim that one of the random dead soldiers was "Prince Alcides," while "Hercules" and Sotiris are sold as gladiators. Back home, everyone thinks that they're dead.

Iphicles is a villain, but there are scenes that show how he's desperate for his dad's approval and tortured by the fact that both his mom and Hebe love Hercules more than him. Actually, his one scene with Alcmene is kind of harsh, since she basically blames him for Hercules' death.

Speaking of Alcmene, with Hercules supposedly dead, she takes the initiative and tries to kill Amphitryon herself! That's kinda cool, even if he winds up killing her instead. She also reveals that Hercules' father is Zeus, whom she claims will kill Amphitryon for killing his son. I think she's putting too much faith in Zeus' parental instincts.

It occurs to me that Alcmene and Iphicles are the only two characters with any real depth, and that I'd much rather this movie expand on that than Hercules and Amphitryon's generic plot.

Hercules' second act is pretty meh. He and Sotiris fight some guys in a dinky, underground gladiator fight. Then they convince their boss to take them to the world's biggest gladiator fight, which happens to be in Amphitryon's kingdom. But to qualify, they have to win this other gladiator fight first.

In this middle fight, one of their opponents is named Humbaba, because this movie wasn't satisfied with only mucking up one mythology.

The third gladiator fight is actually less impressive, because while it's Hercules vs. six of the best gladiators in the world, the Law of Conservation of Ninjitsu is in effect and he beats each one easily.

Also, there's a woman gladiator, presumably to make up for the fact that our other female characters are a sexy lamp and a dead mom. I note that while Hercules kills or maims all of the men, he just traps her in her own net, at which point she can do nothing but yell indignantly.

Hercules wins his and Sotiris' freedom! Then they start leading a rebellion against Amphitryon. Hebe tries to kill herself, but then learns that Hercules is alive and reunites with him.

Hera's priestess shows up for cryptic advice, the gist of which is that he has to have faith in Zeus and accept his destiny. She also implies that doing so will deprive him of his chance to be with Hebe.

Also, according to Wikipedia, this character's name is Kakia, which means "evil." In a parable by Xenophon, Hercules encounters Kakia, who offers him an easy but meaningless life, while Arete, "virtue," advises the opposite. So this Kakia is doing the exact opposite of what the Kakia in the story does. It's like if a Christian-themed movie had a wise priest named Satan.

[shanastoryteller]

Hey so I've loved your Retold Fairytales for some time but I just binged your entire Gods and Monsters and I??? love Styx. A lot. And I'm curious about Hephaestus and Styx growing up as best friends in the Underworld. If you could work your magic when you have the time, I'd love to see a story about them!

Styx does not have a homein the underworld, not really. She has a room in Hades’s palace, of course, anda nook in Hecate’s house.  Charon has acottage by her river, a humble thing for a being of such great power, and she’sshoved her way onto his narrow bed and curled into the warmth of his chest morethan once. She darts through the horrors of Tartarus, and plays in the ElysiumFields.

All of the underworld is open to her, and she’s lived herethe entirety of her existence. But she’s yet to find a piece of it that feelsas if it belongs to her, that doesn’tfeel borrowed.

~

Hecate brings home a baby with no legs beneath the knee andwide, curious eyes.

Styx adores him instantly.

Hecate is a busy woman – her duties in the underworld keepher constantly moving, and she spends much of her time shrouded in her secrets.She is the goddess of magic, and there are things that only she can do, thingsthat other people can’t even know about. She is not a person with much time tospare, and babies take a lot of time.

Hades watches him often, directing the traffic of souls andoverseeing construction with the child held to his chest. Charon fashions asling, and the baby sleeps against his back while Charon ferries souls acrossher river.

Time passes. The baby is not like her.

The baby grows.

~

Hephaestus is a child, and he lives in a dangerous place.His aunt raises him, and she is a busy woman who does important things, and itseems to him like nothing in their home is safe to touch, that it is all cursedor corrosive or even, at time, sentient.

The palace is not much better. Hades always welcomes him,has a warm smile for him, but is too busy to linger. He walks on wobbly legs ofglass that Aunt Hecate fashioned for him, and they allow him to walk, but theypain him too. He cannot run or jump, he cannot explore the edges of the underworldlike he so desperately wants to because his legs are delicate, clumsy things.They are glass, and they shatter too easily.

“Don’t be sad,” a voice says in his ear, and he’s grinningbefore he even turns around. Lady Styx is there, smiling at him. She looks tobe his age, although she is much older, and she has black skin and grey hairand eyes. Her skin is the color of her river’s water, and her hair and eyes thecolor of the foam when it rushes too fast. For as long as he can remember, shehas always had kindness to spare.

“I’m not sad,” he says stubbornly. “Aren’t you busy?” She isa goddess, one as powerful and important as his aunt or Hades. He wants to growup to be just like her.

She shrugs, “My river knows what to do. Do you want to go onan adventure?”

“Yes,” he says instantly. The only time he’s allowed toexplore is when Styx is with him. If his glass legs break, she can carry him,and if anything tries to attack or hurt them, she can stop it.

She grabs his hand, smiling. It’s cold. She’s always cold,the same icy temperature as her river. “There are volcanos in Tartarus. Have Itaken you there before?”

He shakes his head, and in the next instant they’re gone.

~

Styx and Hephaestus manage to get in all manner of trouble,including, but not limited to: accidentally giving Cerberus two extra heads,devising and implementing a manner of torture for Tantalus that is so brilliantHades can’t even get mad at them for it, and figuring out it is possible to surf of Styx’s roughwaters with glass legs, but only if you’re very, very stupid and have thegoddess in question by your side and laughing so hard she forgets that herprimary job here is to prevent you from dying.

When he’d found them, Hades had given them the worstadmonishment he knew how to give: a disappointed frown. Hecate had laughed andtold them to be careful of his legs.

Hephaestus’s childhood had its bright spots. Almost all ofthose bright spots included Styx.

~

Hephaestus looks older than her now, a young man when sheis, as always, a child. He’s gotten quieter as he ages, his dark eyespermanently thoughtful.

“You shouldn’t come here without me,” she scolds, sittingdown beside him. He doesn’t respond, swinging his hammer down on glowing metalwith a boom loud enough that the volcano shakes with it. “You know Hecatedoesn’t like you going into Tartarus alone.”

“You were busy,” he says, not accusatory, just a statementof fact. “Here, cool this for me.”

She sighs, but cool water rushes from her hands and onto thesuperheated metal. It hisses and steams, but when the air clears Hephaestusholds it up and appears to be satisfied. “Must it be in a volcano? We can makeyou a forge in safer part of the underworld.”

“Volcanos are useful,” he says, the same answer he alwaysgives her. “I have more of these to do if you want to stick around.”

Helping him build whatever he’s currently working on ispretty boring. But he’s her friend, and it must be important if he’s riskinghis life by going into Tartarus on his glass legs to do it. “Sure,” she sighsslumping down to sit crosslegged next to him. He pats her on the head, whichshe’s all prepared to be insulted by - she’s a kid, but she’s not a kid – when she sees his lips curled up aroundthe corners of his mouth. He’s making fun of her on purpose, which is stillannoying, but is less hurtful than him treating her like a kid just because helooks older.

~

The first set of legs that Hephaestus makes for himself aremade of iron. They’re not as pretty as he’d like them to be, but that’s allright. He can run in these legs, jump in them, fight in them. He is no longer abeing made of glass, no longer someone who can be easily broken.

Styx is the first person he shows them to. He leaps andsomersaults in them, something he could never do before. She’s delighted atfirst, smiling and clapping, but by the time he finishes, arms out-thrown andbeaming, she’s wilted. She sits hunched and tries to keep her smile in place,but it’s trembling.  

“What’s wrong?” he asks, kneeling in front of her. “Ithought you would be happy for me.”

“I am!” she hiccups, and now she’s crying, big fat tearsthat he wants to wipe away but can’t. She cries the water of her river. If hetouches them, he’ll burn. “I am happy!’

He risks it, tugging the end of his sleeve down to quicklywipe her left cheek, then ripping it and throwing the cloth away as it burns.“You don’t look happy.”

“You’re going to leave,” she says, and he goes cold. “Youhave legs, and now you’re going to leave, and I’m not. I am the Goddess of theRiver Styx, I must stay with my river. But you’re going to leave.”

His heart breaks seeing Styx cry. He loves Hecate, lovesCharon, loves Hades. But if there is one person in this realm he can truly callfamily, it is her. They share no blood, but she’s the only sister he’s everknown. “I’ll visit! You can visit me too. I wasn’t born here, Styx. Hecateisn’t my mom. I was born on Olympus, and I can’t hide in the underworld fromHera forever. I don’t want toeither.”

“I know!” she says, her breath coming in stuttering gasps asshe tries and fails to stop crying. “You’re so smart, and all the things youmake are amazing. You need to go out there, so other gods can see you, so thatpeople can see you. I just – I’m going to miss you.”

He’s a god – a little river water won’t kill him. He pullsStyx into his arms, ignoring the pain in his shoulder as her tears burn throughhis skin. She resists for a moment, then goes slack, throwing her arms aroundhis neck. He says, “I’m going to miss you too.”

~

Hephaestus does not want to cause an uproar. He’s hadfantasies of storming Mount Olympus, of confronting Hera, of doing any numberof foolish, stupid things. But he is not a foolish, stupid man.

Hecate has picked out a volcano for him already, one shetells fits all his requirements and is not in the domain of any other god, eventhe lesser ones. He will go slow. He will build, and improve the lives of themortals. Temples will be erected in his honor, tributes placed at his feet, hisname on all their lips. He’ll build his power the hard way, until they canignore him no longer, until Hera and Zeus have no choice but to offer him aplace at their table on Olympus.

But not yet.

For now, he builds something else, something even moreimportant.

~

“Can I open my eyes yet?” Styx asks, pouting.

Hephaestus’s hands are on her shoulders, pushing herforward. “No.”

She scowls. She can tell they’re by her river, in a bendwhere no one travels through, but that’s it. Her knowledge of the geography ofthe underworld is always in relation to her river. “What about now?”

“Yes,” he says.

She wasn’t expecting it, so it takes her a moment to blinkher eyes open. “Did you make this?”

“Hecate helped,” he admits, “I wasn’t sure what to do forthings like curtains and windchimes. Do you like it?”

It’s a house. A small one, not much bigger than Charon’s.It’s made of obsidian, but not several pieces put together. It looks like thewhole things was carved out of one massive piece of obsidian. The walls are blackand smooth and shining. There’s a large, round bed in the center that’s a paleblue, the chairs in a deep purple, and her curtains are a soft yellow. Thehouse is black, but Hephaestus has filled it with color, given her a rainbowtucked in every space. Copper pots hang in the kitchen, and there are signs ofhis forging everywhere – in the cabinets, the door knobs in the shape of flowers,the singular windchime hanging in her open window, even though there is no windhere.

“Do you like it?” he repeats. “I know you tend to just – endup wherever, but I thought you should have a place that was just yours. If youwant something different I can change it–”

“No.” She swallows and touches her wall, the silver designin her walls that he must have inlaid himself. “It – it’s perfect.” Quieterthen, “You gave me a home.”

No place in the whole of the underworld has ever felt likeit belonged to her. This one does. It doesn’t feel borrowed.

Hephaestus ruffles her hair, “It seems only fair, since youdid the same for me. This realm wouldn’t have been my home without you.”

They’re smiling at each other, and the tension she’d beencarrying ever since she realized Hephaestus would be leaving drains out of her.

He’s older now, almost an adult, and he’s leaving theunderworld. But he’s not leaving her.

“You’re my best friend,” she tells him, in case he’sforgotten.

“Good,” he tells her, “because you’re my best friend too.”

gods and monsters series, part xxiii

read more of the gods and monsters series here

[rey-skywalkin-away]

Kanera Fix It Fic Chapter 4: It’s Baby Time!

Honestly, I might just name this “Kanera Fix It Fic” at this point because I’m never going to come up with a name. 

SO sorry for the delay in this chapter! Basically, I’ve been having trouble writing the Battle of Scarif and Battle of Yavin from the perspective of the Ghost crew, because I have little faith in my ability to write battle sequences, so I’ve been editing, writing, editing, deleting, writing…you get the picture. I was feeling overwhelmed, so I just decided: screw it! Y’all can have the fluffy, good, calm-before-the-storm that will now be Chapter 5, and I can feel less like I’m drowning in all of the space dogfights and angst. So here’s Chapter 4: It’s Baby time!

Length: 6742 words (not including editor’s notes)

4 months later

1900 hours

           Hera stirred her soup around and around the bowl, watching the drops of oil slowly condense and float to the surface of the liquid. It looked absolutely disgusting, but she knew she should finish it for the baby’s sake. Unfortunately, her appetite had disappeared over the past half hour. Not even jogan fruit tarts with boiled sugar glaze, the night’s dessert, sounded good to her at the moment. She rubbed her belly, feeling her lower torso surge and twitch with every powerful kick from the baby. Could you please calm down for fifteen minutes while I finish my dinner, sweetie? I can’t concentrate with you kicking my liver to pieces. The baby didn’t respond to her silent plea.

           Hera decided to forego the rest of her meal and leaned back in her chair, rubbing her belly and listening to Cham try to teach Kanan Ryl as best as he could. The Twi’leki language was one of blunt, honest words that were given layers of meaning with lekku gestures. Kanan was already at a disadvantage by not having lekku of his own, and his blindness meant he’d never truly be able to comprehend the subtleties of the conversations around him. At the beginning of his language lessons, he’d remarked that every sentence he heard in Ryl sounded stilted and formal, and Hera had quietly explained how much he was missing out because of his physical disadvantages. He’d been somewhat discouraged at first, but he’d decided to continue to try and learn her language, and she loved him for his effort, even if he was butchering everything he said.

           “If you’re going to be moving your hands around when you talk, Kanan, you must be mindful of how fluid your gestures are. In this context, they must be smooth, not short and sharp,” Cham explained, taking Kanan’s hands and demonstrating.

           In the beginning of the lessons, Kanan had started unconsciously moving his hands in an imitation of lekku, trying to make up for his lack of lekku and sight, and they’d given up on trying to stop him. Might as well make sure he does it right. “Okay, so if I said ‘Let’s meet up’ with short, punctuated hand movements added to it, what am I implying?”

           Hera chuckled. “You’re turning it into a threat, not an invitation. It would be like…hmm…if you were to say ‘Meet me here; we’re going to fight’ in Basic, instead of ‘Why don’t we meet up for a fun time?’ Or something like that.”

           Kanan frowned. “Oh. That’s a hell of a difference.”

           They were interrupted by Ezra whooping in triumph at the other end of the table. “I finally got it right!”

           Sabine checked over the flimsii scroll covered in Ezra’s scribbles. “Congratulations, Ezra: you finally figured out how to calculate the volume of a prism.” She shook her head. “How can you be so good at calculating hyperspace jumps but be so bad at everything else involving math?”

           “He’s doing just fine, Sabine,” Hera said, smiling at Ezra, who was still basking in the glow of his success. “The fact that he’s progressed to more complicated formulas after only a few months of serious study is really impressive.”

           “Well, we’re still not letting the kid help with planning out extra room,” Zeb said after swallowing a mouthful of soup. “He’ll probably end up making the roof lopsided or something if he helps with the math of the design.”

           Hera was planning on saying something else, but it felt like the baby suddenly tried to punch a hole through the wall of her uterus, and she winced in pain.        

           Everyone at the table suddenly stopped and looked at her. “Hera, is it time?” Cham said, worry plain in his voice.

           She shook her head. “No, just a bad kick.” She stood up and waved off the others’ attempts to help. “I’m just going to go lie down on the sofa. Carry on, everyone.”

           “Do you want me to bring you a tart?” Kanan asked, touching her hand.

           “No. That kick destroyed the last of my appetite. But I’ll be fine.” She went to the wraparound sofa in the middle of the living area and tucked a blanket around herself. Chopper wheeled over and patted her forehead with one of his metal arms. “I’m fine, Chop. Maybe you could get me some water, though?” He wheeled away to fulfill her request, and Hera closed her eyes.

           Three more days until I’m due. Three more days, and I can finally be done with this pregnancy. She normally didn’t mind being pregnant, and she was definitely looking forward to the end result, but the last two weeks had been absolutely hellish. EW-6 told her it was because her body was preparing for the labor, which apparently meant on-and-off stomachaches, cramps, back pain, and the baby dropping into her pelvis, which just put pressure on all her lower organs and made her need the ‘fresher every two hours. Not much longer now. It must be soon, since the stomach cramps and muscle aches had been growing in intensity the past half hour.

           There was a bark of laughter from her father, and Hera smiled again, despite the pain. At least I’m home now, and at least Father made it here in time so he wouldn’t miss the delivery. Even though the last stage of her pregnancy wasn’t doing wonders for her mood, home life here was shaping up to be pretty pleasant. Kanan was learning Ryl, Ezra was trying to study and achieve more of an education, since he hadn’t had any formal schooling since he was seven, and the house was looking clean and neat. Zeb knew something about building architecture, and with Sabine’s mathematical skills, they’d begun building a third room in the basement for extra space. This place was really starting to look like a home, and Hera knew it would be a wonderful place for the baby to grow up.  

           Hera’s eyes started to close as she let her gaze wander over the landscape painting of the snowy northern hemisphere of Lothal that Sabine was meticulously painting on the far-right wall of the living space. Beautiful, snow-capped spires. We’ll take the baby there when it’s older. When the Empire is gone. It was a beautiful dream, and she felt herself slowly start to drift off. But, after only a minute or two of light dozing, Hera was pulled out of her semi-wakeful state by a slow, agonizing wave of pain that built up in the lower half of her body, leaving her curled in on herself as she breathed through the dull, terrible feeling. Once it passed, she was aware of Kanan standing over her, the others anxiously waiting nearby. “Hera, are you all right?” He asked, passing a hand over her forehead to check her temperature.

           Hera was trembling from the pain she’d just experienced. Oh, kriff. Looks like the baby isn’t going to wait for its due date on the calendar. “I think…I think that was a contraction.”

           “Battle stations!” Cham roared. He vaulted over the couch with the agility of a man half his age, running to EW-6, who was in sleeper mode in a corner of the living room. Zeb ran to fetch a pitcher of water and several glasses, while Sabine and Ezra disappeared into the master bedroom, re-appearing with bedding in their arms.

           Kanan remained at her side, rubbing her stomach and holding her hand. “I don’t think it’s a false alarm, either,” he said.

           That sometimes happened. “How do you know?”

           “Well, the baby’s in a state of near-total panic right now.” Kanan stopped rubbing her belly and concentrated. “I hadn’t felt too many emotions from it before last month, and but I felt wasn’t too clear, but I definitely feel nothing but terror from it at the moment.”

           Hera cradled her stomach. “It’s all right, sweetie, there’s nothing to be afraid of!” Poor thing—it’s being taken out of the only world it’s ever known. No wonder it’s so scared.

           Kanan laid his head on her bump and kept rubbing. “I want to reach out to it with the Force and soothe it, but I don’t know if that’s advisable, given the circumstances. I don’t want to mess with the labor process and hurt you or the baby.”

           “We’ll be fine. I’m not the first woman to give birth in the galaxy, and it’s not the first baby to be born. We survived, didn’t we?”

           “Of course. And neither of us had EW-6. Speak of the droid…”

           EW-6 hovered over the couch and nudged Kanan out of the way. “Spectre-Two, I was informed that you experienced a contraction. Please describe your condition to me.” Hera did so, and EW-6 chirped. “Please retire to the designated birthing room so I may give you a full examination.”

           Kanan picked up Hera, and Cham kissed her forehead. “You will be fine, my daughter,” he said. “Be strong.”

           “Of course, Father. I’ll see you soon.” Kanan took Hera to their master bedroom, where Ezra and Sabine were making up the bed with disposable plastoid sheets. Zeb was arranging snacks, water, blankets, and towels on a small table near the door to the ‘fresher. “Thank you, everyone,” Hera said, as Kanan laid her on the bed.

           “Call us if you need anything,” Zeb said. “We’ll be waiting in the living room.”

           Hera hugged all of them before they left, and Kanan shut the door. He then helped her out of her clothes and into a nightgown, and she let EW-6 examine her. “You are in the early stages of labor,” the droid murmured. “I estimate it will be at least 4-6 hours before the most intense part of the labor begins. In the meantime, I recommend resting, having small snacks, and taking a bath to ease the labor cramps.” The droid paused as a second contraction hit Hera, and she grasped Kanan’s hand and waited for the pain to pass. “What was the time between this and your last contraction?”

           “Almost…fifteen minutes, I think,” Hera said, going through one of her breathing exercises she’d been practicing the past few weeks.

           “That is to be expected. They will become more frequent and painful as time passes.”

           “Thanks for the reminder,” Hera muttered, while Kanan nervously chuckled. “Let’s do that bath, Kanan.” She waved off his offer to carry her, standing up and shuffling slowly to the master ‘fresher while Kanan started running water.

           “How hot do you want it?”

           “Mmm…not scalding, but not lukewarm.” She paced back and forth as the tub filled up, holding her stomach and wincing through the cramps. 4-6 hours before the real pain begins. How do women manage this? One of her mother’s friends back on Ryloth had six children, and none of them were twins or triplets. She went through this six times. How did she manage it? I don’t know if I’m ever going to want to do this more than once.

           Kanan slid her nightgown over her head and helped her into the tub. “Is that warm enough?”

           She sank into the water and sighed in relief as the motion of the water calmed the pain just a little. “It’s perfect, dear.”

           Kanan got on his knees and started massaging her shoulders. “If you want me to get in there and rub your feet, let me know.”

           Hera closed her eyes and leaned back against his knees. “This is just fine.” Tears prickled under her eyelids.

           “Hera…?”

           She reached back and caught one of his hands in her own. “I just…I don’t know what I would’ve done without you here, right now.” How would she have managed this on her own if he’d died at the fuel depot? I don’t want to think about it. I never want to think about it. She clenched her teeth as the wave of pain from another contraction rose in her body, and she slumped against the back of the tub when it ended. “I love you, Kanan,” she whispered.

           “And I love you. I’m not leaving you. Not now. Not ever.” She stayed in the tub a few more minutes, then left before the water grew too cold. He helped her back to their bedroom, and the true labor process began.

——————————————–

0400 hours

           Kanan had never felt more helpless in his life. He wanted to aid Hera more than he currently was, but all he could do was keep a hand on her sweat-soaked back as she walked in circles around their room, ignoring his pain when she locked his hand in a vice grip as yet another contraction ripped through her body. His ears rang with her screams and swears, and he wanted nothing more than to try and soothe away her agony.

           “Are you sure you don’t want to do the epidural?” He’d asked, just after midnight. Hera had suffered through all kinds of pain and agony over the years, but he’d never known her to be in such distress as he did now, and it was terrifying him.

           “No! No needles from the damn droid unless it’s necessary to save my life or the baby’s.” Her voice was already hoarse from screaming, but it dropped to a lower volume as she spoke. “Never…needles from a damn….oooh, here comes another one…”

           He rubbed her back and gritted his teeth as she screamed in his ear again, cursing the Empire for what they’d done to her. If she hadn’t been put off because of the truth serum from the interrogator droid, she might’ve been lying comfortably in bed right now, far more calm and relaxed under the influence of safe, midwife droid-approved drugs. Kanan prayed she wouldn’t have to put aside her fear and take whatever EW-6 gave her, but he also hoped the droid would intervene and just give her something, anything…

           …And hours later, that still wasn’t happening. Kanan wasn’t exactly experiencing the same pain Hera was currently enduring, but he felt her reaction to her own agony in the Force, and it was tearing him apart. And the baby…

           The baby was in absolute terror at the moment. Every contraction sent a pulse of fear from it to Kanan as it inched closer and closer into the world. The first real emotions I’m getting from the baby are the worst ones. Do I dare to calm it? Will that panic it even more? My poor baby. My poor lover. Damn it…I’m useless.

           But Kanan was a Jedi, and knew how to let go of his feelings, as much as it pained him to do so. Hera doesn’t need you panicking right now. She needs you to be strong for her while she does all the work. Deal with it. EW-6 isn’t alarmed, and neither should you be. Be there for Hera, you idiot. So he rubbed her back, walked with her, put up with her swearing, and ignored his own exhaustion as the hours ticked by and the labor progressed.

           “Everything is going well, Spectre-Two,” EW-6 merrily chirped somewhere nearby. “There is no need for alarm.” Kanan’s hearing was slightly off-balance from all of Hera’s screaming, and he wasn’t quite sure exactly where the midwife droid was at any given time.

           Hera growled. “Shut up!”

           “But I would advise you to conserve your strength and only walk for a few minutes at a time—“

           “I said shut up!”

           If it was the motion of movement she was after, Kanan would’ve carried her until his legs gave out, but she seemed insistent on walking on her own, albeit with his help. “Do you want any more water, Hera?” She’d given up on food a few hours into the labor, but she’d willingly keep drinking, and Kanan was anxious to keep her hydrated.

           “Yes. Water. Hmm. Yes. Please.” Once she’d had her drink, she handed the cup back to him with trembling fingers. “Why are you so good to me, you lousy cantina scoundrel?”

           He might’ve chuckled, partly from adrenaline, partly from genuine amusement, but any laughter on his part might’ve resulted in a swift punch right about now. “Isn’t it obvious? The moment I met you, I wanted this. A loving partner, a baby on the way…”

           “Ha!” She poked his chest. “That’s as big a lie as you’ve ever told, Kanan Jarrus. You just wanted to get me into bed with you! You were all free drinks and honeyed words and offers to bunk down with you for the night while I was trying to fight against the Empire!”

           Kanan vaguely wondered if Cham and the others outside could hear the conversation they were having. He could feel their anxiety and dismay whenever they heard Hera’s cries, but thankfully, he didn’t sense any disgust at the moment. “Well, that may be true, but—“ He was cut off by another contraction, and he tried to think when the last one occurred. They seemed to be getting closer, but they weren’t quite frequent enough to make them think the baby was only a few minutes away.

           Hera finally consented to a short rest, and Kanan helped her to sit down on the edge of their bed. The flimsy plastoid sheeting crackled under their bodies, and he wished they’d found a way to make her more comfortable. Medcenters probably have beds with soft foam padding designed to cradle the body, and all we’ve got is an old mattress covered in plastoid. Hera deserves better. She leaned against him, going through her breathing exercises. He cradled her in his arms and kissed both her cheeks, which were slightly salty from her tears. Ten years ago, if someone had told him he’d be in his current situation, holding the woman he loved while she gave birth to their child, he would’ve laughed and cut off the drunk’s supply of alcohol for the night because they’d clearly reached their limit. Now, he couldn’t imagine any other life for himself. Not being a Jedi Knight in the Order, not a lout slinging punches in a bar fight, nothing.

           He kissed her cheek again, and found it was wet with new tears. “Do you want a tissue?”

           “No, I…” She swallowed. “I want my mother. Stars, Kanan, why did she have to die? She should be here, with you on one side of me, and her on the other.”

           Kanan desperately tried to think of something to say to comfort her. “Maybe she is here, with you. In spirit. She’ll always be with you in the Force.”

           “It’s not quite the same, but thank you.” She rested her head on his shoulder. He realized she was trembling, but he didn’t know if it was from pain or from her emotions. “Do you remember your…” She suffered through another contraction, then continued once it passed. “Do you remember your mother? I’m sorry, but I’ve never asked, I never thought I should bring it up. I’m just thinking out loud…”

           “It’s okay. And no, I don’t remember her. Or my father.” Who did get I get my eyes from? My hair? My smile? My nose? He tried to conjure up a memory of what his parents might look like, failed, gave up. What will the baby get from me? Or from Hera?

           “That’s not going to happen with us,” Hera whispered.

           “What? What’s not going to happen?”

           “We’ll be there for our child.” She gripped his hand so fiercely that he thought she was going through another contraction, but that wasn’t the case. “Even if I have to leave for the war, I’ll be damned if I go and die and leave the baby with nothing but a few foggy memories.”

           She sounded almost feverish in her intensity. Wild. “Hera, what’s going…?”

           “We’re. Not. Leaving. Do you hear me?”

           “I hear you, Hera. I hear you.”

           The plastoid sheeting crinkled under her body as she suddenly leaned forward, her whole body shuddering as she screamed, a sound pulled from somewhere deep and terrible within herself. Kanan held her tight as she screamed on and on and on, until she finally slumped against him, shaking from the pain. That was the worst contraction yet. Please tell me she’s hitting her second wind and will be okay…

           EW-6 was on them immediately. “Please lean back against the pillows, Spectre-Two. The labor is nearly at its end.”

           Kanan moved her into position, then sat behind her on the bed so she didn’t have to rest against the headboard or pillows. “Nearly done, Hera. You’re doing amazing.” Another contraction hit her right then, and Kanan threw his earlier convictions aside, immersing himself deep into the Force around himself and Hera, their bond together, and poured what strength of his he could muster into her own exhausted reserves. Her grip was a little tighter when the contraction was over, and she wasn’t shaking quite as forcefully as before. Her lekku were pressed against Kanan’s chest, pulsing and twitching, and Kanan wondered what it meant at that moment. Pain? Excitement? Fear? There was no time to ponder it…

           “One more,” EW-6 said from somewhere at the edge of the bed.

           Hera grasped his hands tight, so tight that Kanan felt some of his digits creaking as they were smashed together, and her scream was so loud that he nearly missed the first, weak cries of a newborn. Even though his ears were ringing and his hands felt bruised and broken, Kanan would never forget the feeling of the child entering the world in the Force.

           Brightness. There’s…brightness. He reeled back from shock at the sensation. Light. “It’s so bright,” he whispered. Too bright. “Hera, we need to dim the lights for her.” Her?

           …And Kanan was brought back to himself as suddenly as he’d been pulled away. Hera was slumped against his body, laughing and sobbing with joy while the cheers of their family outside mingled with the cries of the baby. “Give me my child,” Hera was saying to EW-6. “Let me have my baby.”

           EW-6 was cleaning it off somewhere nearby. “It is a girl,” the midwife droid announced. “A healthy human and Twi’lek hybrid.”

           “A girl,” Kanan breathed. We have a daughter. “Oh, Hera…”

           The cries of their daughter approached, and Hera reached past him. “Kanan, she’s beautiful,” Hera sobbed. “Oh, come to Mommy, come here, sweetie, it’s all right, Mommy and Daddy have you, it’s okay…” She rested against him once more, her arms wrapped around the squirming, whimpering baby. “Can you hear Mommy’s heartbeat? I’m nice and warm, aren’t I?” She suddenly winced.

           Kanan held her close. “What is it?”

           “You require a few stitches, Spectre-Two. Please remain still.”

           Kanan had nearly forgotten about EW-6. He could hear his daughter, her little self probably resting comfortably on Hera’s chest, getting the crucial skin-to-skin contact he’d learned about from the parenting books. The feel of her in the Force. New, raw, bewildered. Then…he was suddenly hit with the realization, something he’d put off thinking about ever since he’d learned of the pregnancy. I’ll never know what she looks like. I’ll sense her, and feel her with my hands, but I’ll never look at her with my own two eyes.

           “Kanan? You look so sad,” Hera whispered, her voice hoarse.

           “Tell me what she looks like. Describe her to me. Every little detail.”

           “Oh, luv…” He could feel Hera’s breath on his face, and knew she’d turned up to look at him. He leaned forward, and she rose up a little more to kiss him briefly. “Our baby is perfect. She’s green, like me, about my shade. Just a tiny bit yellower, I think. And there are a few lighter-colored speckles on her cheeks. What’s the Basic word for them? Freckles, I think…and she has earcones, like me, but I think they’ll be smaller than normal. She’ll have lekku; she has the growths forming on the back of her head. And…” Hera shifted her arms a little. “Oh!” She hiccupped, then began to softly weep.

           “What? What is it?”

           “Kanan, she has your eyes! They’re exactly the same color as before you…you…”

           He tried to recall the exact shade of his own eyes. He’d memorized Hera’s in the hours after he’d lost his sight, knowing that his mental images would eventually fade and he’d need to preserve it until the end of time, but he couldn’t exactly remember what his looked like. Funny how you never think about these things until it’s too late.

           Hera shifted and made herself a little more comfortable on the bed. “Go on, feel for her. She’s just laying here, against my heartbeat, blinking and looking like she might start crying again.” Hera chuckled. “She looks like she just smelled something rank. It’s adorable.”

           Kanan reached out slowly, hesitantly, and felt along Hera’s arms until he found where they crossed over her chest…and touched his daughter’s back. “She’s so small,” he whispered, and he couldn’t stop the tears from flowing down his cheeks. Tiny, and warm, and bit sticky and waxy, and squirming. Perfect in every way.

           And hungry, too. Their daughter wriggled and began to angrily cry out, an incessant tone that demanded immediate addressing. Hera moved her arms slowly and deliberately, and the unhappy noises quickly ceased. “There we are.”

           Kanan was endlessly fascinated by the little noises she was making. Unhappy and loud one moment, content and gurgling the next. He gently, oh-so-gently rubbed her back with one light finger. She didn’t even react. “Greedy little thing, aren’t you? Haven’t been in this world for half an hour, and you’re already hyper-focused on food. You’re definitely your mother’s daughter.”

           “If I wasn’t holding her right now, I’d smack you for that.”

           Kanan chuckled, then felt along the rest of their daughter’s body, running his fingers down her slim arm to where her tiny fist was reflexively opening and closing against Hera’s skin. He slid one finger against her hand, feeling each minute digit…

           And he felt her conscience flicker up and touch him through the Force.

                       Just a touch. A split second of connection before her barely-developed mind became exhausted and she went back to her instinct to nurse, but her tiny hand closed around his finger and held tight. Kanan let out his breath, which he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

           “Kanan? What is it?”

           “The baby. She’s…”

           “What’s wrong with her? She’s seems okay.”

           “She’s strong with the Force.”

           For a minute, the only sounds in the room were the gentle, white-noise hum of EW-6 as the droid bustled about, cleaning up after the birth, and the baby’s sighs and gasps for breath as she ate. “Well,” Hera finally said, “at least she’ll have you and Ezra to teach her how to properly use her gift.”

           “You’re not mad?”

           Hera’s tone was incredulous. “Kanan, why would I be mad that our daughter inherited your Force powers?”

           “Because…she’s at risk. We don’t know if the Inquisitors are still out there, or who else might want a Force-sensitive baby…”

           “If that’s what you’re worried about, then she was already doomed from the moment she was conceived. The daughter of one of the last Jedi in the galaxy and one of the highest-ranking generals in the Rebel Alliance, the granddaughter of Public Enemy Number One on Ryloth. She won’t be safe anywhere she goes.” Hera rubbed her head against his chest, and Kanan smiled. She’s like a loth-cat. “Her powers are a gift. You’ll have to be there to guide her, but she’s at least getting something useful out of her genes. What did she feel like? In the Force? How could you tell she’s strong?” There was a note of wonder in Hera’s voice. “Is she already trying to use her powers?”

           “Psh, barely. It was like twitching a finger versus throwing a punch. But you couldn’t even do that if you weren’t Force-sensitive.” Kanan struggled to recall what he’d felt of the baby during their second of connection. “She’s just…content to be eating right now, and she feels warm and safe. That’s it.” He moved her hand back-and-forth just a little, but the baby didn’t let go. “Nice and safe with Mommy and Daddy,” Kanan whispered.

           Hera cooed. “Of course she is! I’m glad she’s not scared anymore. You were really worrying me with your comments last night.”

           “What time is it now?”

           “About five in the morning. Just about dawn.” Hera paused. “I know we were thinking about ‘Depa’ if it was a girl…but don’t you think that ‘Dawn’ is a good name? It makes me think of hope, and the promise of a bright new day…”

           “Dawn.” Kanan wiped away more tears with his free hand. “I love it, Hera. A beautiful name for a beautiful girl.”

           There was a knock at the door. “Oh kriff, I forgot about the others outside,” Hera said. She shifted her arms, and Kanan suddenly felt a flare of annoyance from Dawn, before the suckling noises started up again. “Go tell them they can come in when she’s done nursing. She’s getting the hang of it now, but she kept stopping and starting earlier.”

           Kanan didn’t want to move away from Hera and Dawn, but it wasn’t fair to the rest of the family to keep them waiting for news. He gently pried himself out of Dawn’s grasp, who barely noticed, and went to the door. He tapped the door panel to open it just a little. “Hey. Everything’s just fine. It’s a girl—“ he paused and waited for everyone’s exclamations and congratulations to die down—“and you can come in once she’s finished eating.”

           He closed the door again and went back to Hera, who seemed to be rocking Dawn back and forth, judging by the movement of Hera’s arms. “They’re all still awake and waiting for us.”

           Dawn burped, and Hera chuckled. “She even makes burping sound cute. Dawn’s done eating for now, so we should clean up the bed. I need to get out of this bloody nightgown, too.” Hera winced. “I feel like the lower half of my body got tossed down a rocky mountainside, so you’ll probably have to help me with all that.”

           “And we’ll have to be careful of your stitches, too. How many did you get?”

           “Eurgh. I don’t know. I don’t want to think about it. Here, move off the bed, please.” Kanan obeyed. “EW-6, can you put Dawn in a diaper and get her wrapped up while I get changed?”

           “Of course, Spectre-Two.”

           “Here, let me.” Kanan tried to pick up Hera as delicately as possible, but she still gasped in pain as he sat her down on a chair next to the table. “It’s probably going to be too hard to get you out of the nightgown right now, so we should probably just rip it up.”

           Hera patted his arm. “It’s all sweaty and bloody, anyway. Go ahead.”

           Kanan found the hem of the fabric and easily tore the flimsy material apart. He fetched Hera a robe while she gathered up the scraps of ruined clothing and put them in one of the rubbish sacks they’d set aside earlier. One Hera was in her robe, she took Dawn while Kanan and EW-6 stripped the bed of the disposable plastoid sheeting and disposed of that as well. Kanan laid down a few towels and blankets, then handed Dawn off to EW-6 again and helped Hera back on the bed. “How do I look?”

           “Remarkably handsome for a man who’s just had to put up with me for the past ten hours. But you could probably re-make your ponytail; you’ve got some loose strands.” Kanan did so, combing out his hair and seeking out any flyaways. “If I said anything cruel or rude when I was in labor, I’m sorry. I’ve never been in pain like that before, and I just lost control sometimes…”

           “Hera, it’s okay. There’s nothing to forgive. I definitely didn’t expect you to bear all of that with a graceful smile. And I don’t need my eyes to know that you look like a goddess right now.”

           Hera snorted. “Thank you, but I definitely need to brush my teeth and take a bath. But that can wait. I’m exhausted and just want everyone to see Dawn so I can go to bed.”

           Kanan was feeling the lure of sleep as well, but he’d had years of experience getting pulled out of bed to fight at all hours, and he hadn’t gone and given birth an hour before, so he wasn’t as tired as Hera. “I’ll kick them all out if they stay too long.”

           “Good. Well, go on and let them in. We’ve kept them waiting long enough. But first…” Her hand slid up his face and pulled him close for a kiss.

           “I love you,” Kanan whispered. He pressed his forehead against hers, then found Dawn in Hera’s arms, ran a finger across her face until he found her forehead, and gave her a little peck between her eyes. “And I love you, you screechy little noise factory.” She yawned and hiccupped, and they both laughed. Kanan got up and opened the door…

           And was promptly shoved out of the way by a stampede of family members.

           “Oooh, look at her little nose! She’s so chubby and cute!” Sabine cooed. Sabine cooed? Holy Force…

           “Hello there, I’m your uncle Zeb! Coochie-coochie-coo!”

           “She looks just like you, Hera! What’s her name?” Ezra asked.

           “Dawn. We named her Dawn.”

           Kanan was surprised to hear someone softly weeping…and was even more surprised when he identified the person as Cham. “She is beautiful, Hera,” he murmured. “May I hold my granddaughter?”

           “Of course, Papa.”

           Kanan heard him whispering words in Ryl, and he couldn’t make out more than one in five words, since Cham’s full accent came out, but it sounded a bit like a blessing of some kind, or a prayer.

           Chopper came wheeling in next, and Kanan could actually hear the vicious little droid purring. Today was just full of surprises.

           Kanan could feel Hera’s exhaustion in the Force around her almost as tangibly as a living thing. “Maybe someone could get us something to eat? Then, we need to get some sleep.”

           “I’m on it!” Ezra said. “What do you both want?”

           Hera sighed. “The biggest, ripest meiloorun you can find, Ezra. Please.”

           “Just some toast with butter for me. And some milk.”

           “Here, I’ll help,” Zeb added, and the pair left.

           “Can I have her, Cham?”

           “Of course, Sabine.”

           Dawn snorted and yawned, and Sabine laughed. “You’re pretty tired, too, huh?”

           Kanan felt Cham’s hand clasp his shoulder. “Excellent job, you two. She’s a beautiful little baby.”

           Kanan tried not to yawn in Cham’s face. “Well, thank you. I did try my best.”

           Cham patted his arm again, a little more forcefully. “I will stay for as long as I can. We executed a very devastating attack on the Imperial compound before I came here, and they should be scrambling to recover for a long while yet.”

           “We’ll be glad to have you around for as much time as possible, Father.”

           “Here you are!” Ezra called. “Toast and milk for Kanan…” He handed Kanan a plate of toast balanced on a glance of milk. “And the best meiloorun in the house for Hera.”

           “Oh thank you!” There was a crisp crunch as Hera bit into the perfectly-ripe fruit.

           He sunk his teeth into his own breakfast, and savored the slightly-burnt edges of the toast, nicely washed down with the milk. “Where’s Zeb got off to?” He asked.

           “Don’t know. He went off to the basement. Sabine, let me have Dawn.”

           Kanan drained the last of the milk as he heard Ezra start to hum a tune. He knew Ezra liked to whistle and hum from time-to-time, but he’d never heard any kind of true melody before. Before long, he could hear a gentle, rhythmic wheezing sound. Is that Dawn snoring? She even makes snoring adorable.

           “How did you get her to sleep so fast?” Hera whispered. “You’ll have to teach us that.”

           Ezra’s voice was full of wonder. “Huh. I guess she really likes my humming.”

           Kanan heard Zeb’s heavy tread and grunts of effort approaching, but what made him turn were the gasps of surprise from the others. “Sorry I ran off, everyone,” Zeb said, and Kanan could hear the grin in his voice. “I had to get a little surprise…”

           “Zeb, is that a crib?” Hera asked, shocked.

           Kanan frowned. “We already have a crib. Does he have a second one?”

           “Yes, and it looks so much nicer than the one we bought! It’s carved out of wood…and are some of those Rylothian designs? Zeb, where did you learn to make those?”

           Zeb grunted, and there was a creaking sound as the crib came to rest on the ground. “Cham helped me out with some of the patterning. We’ve been keeping it hidden in the basement the past few weeks.”

           Kanan walked over to where he could hear Zeb standing. His fingers found the crib, and he let his hands wander over the bars and frame. He couldn’t tell which of the carvings were Rylothian and which were not, but he could tell the wood was of a high quality, and polished to silky smoothness so they’d never have to worry about Dawn being hurt by a splinter. “Zeb, this is amazing! And you made this in just a few weeks?”

           “I’d carve new furniture for the entire house if I had the time. I’ve missed working with my hands. But I hope this works for now.”

           “It absolutely does! Thank you so much.” Hera couldn’t hold back a yawn, and there was a clattering sound. She set aside her plate. “I’d love to keep talking and showing off Dawn, but we should all get some sleep, especially since she’s going to wake up in a few hours, wanting another feed.”

           “Oh, right!” Kanan heard Sabine walk out of the room, then quickly return. “Before we all sleep, we should take some holos. For memories. Kanan, get over on the bed with Hera. Ezra, give Dawn back to Hera.” Everyone obeyed Sabine. “Okay. Great. Kanan, turn your head a little to the left. A little more…good. And tilt your chin down just about…there. Good. Now smile!” Kanan heard the tell-tale clicking of holos being recorded. “Okay, now one of Kanan holding Dawn.”

           Hera slid Dawn into his arms, and Kanan quickly found the best position to hold her comfortably and safely. Suddenly, he realized he hadn’t held her before; he’d been too caught up earlier in the magnitude of her mere existence, let alone the feel of one little body part at a time, to even think about holding all of her in his arms. He smiled at where he thought her face would be and ignored the clicking of the holorecorder.

           Dawn was then passed around to each of the other family members for their recordings, and a series was taken as she snored in her crib. Finally, mercifully, the others left, and Kanan and Hera sunk down under the covers. Hera blew a kiss in Dawn’s direction and almost immediately drifted off to oblivion. Kanan waited until there wasn’t a chance she’d wake up by his movement, then crawled out of bed and went over to the crib three feet away.

           “Hey there,” he whispered, reaching down to stroke one limp hand. “I know you’re fast asleep, but I’m your Dad. My name’s Kanan Jarrus, but I was once known as Caleb Dume. You can call me whatever you like, once you can talk. I just wanted you to know that…I love you, and I know you’re going to grow up to be a wonderful person, and I can’t wait to be there for you every step of the way. By the stars…I want to reach out to you and show you how much I love you with the Force, but I might wake you up if I do that, and you and your mother need your rest. So…sweet dreams, Dawn. I’ll be right here when you wake up and need me.” He left her to her sleep, and crawled back into bed beside Hera, kissing her cheek and finally, finally, falling asleep.

——————————–

Editor’s notes:

I based the character design off of iceisland-art.tumblr.com’s design of her. I’m not going to tag her in in this (since I don’t want to spam her and make her wonder who the frick-frack I am) but here’s the link to her original post: https://iceisland-art.tumblr.com/post/159312634658/lil-sketch-of-meldy-arts-dawn

That’s what Dawn will look like as she gets older.

And Kanan seeing “brightness” as Dawn was born was a direct reference to the Thrawn Trilogy’s The Last Command, where Leia had the same reaction as Jacen and Jaina were being born (as Leia saw the brightness of new light from the childrens’ perspectives and grew concerned that it was too much for them to handle).

I don’t know how to create my own language, and I don’t want to just make up a couple words here and there for Ryl/Twi’leki. Anyone know of any good fan-made Twi’leki dictionaries on the Internet? I’d love to know if anyone has recommendations.

Thanks!

[alien-rainbow]

By Your Side Until My Death(2/?)

Chapter 2: When The Darkness Comes

Available on AO3

Princess Artemis, the eldest daughter of the kingdom of Olympus is to be married to her childhood nightmare. In a land where anything remotely magical is banned, Zoë fears for her and Ladon's life but knows that she could never leave the princess's side if she tried. Magical beings, a forbidden romance, family secrets, and safety for magic all wait beyond the kingdom's borders.

- 3rd person, will be completed eventually, teen, not completed, Zartemis

Artemis woke early to the sound of fighting outside of her door. Zoë could be heard on the other side of the door talking calmly with another woman who sounded exasperated. Artemis was just about to get out of bed to see what the commotion was when said commotion flung open the door.

Queen Hera, Artemis's stepmother hurried into the room though she calmed down slightly when she saw that the princess was already awake. Zoë followed behind the queen looking livid at the intrusion, even though Hera had the right to enter her "daughter's" room whenever she pleased.

"Good you're awake," Hera said as she walked over to the large heavy curtains and threw them open. "Get ready, you have a big day ahead of you."

"And why is that?" Artemis asked visibly confused, she was not aware that anything of significant importance was happing today. Hera just looked at her and pursed her lips at the young princess. Before she had the chance to say anything Thalia and Reyna entered the room.

Hera turned to the two and began to give them instructions on what Artemis would be wear for the day. Then swiftly left the room, Zoë shut the door behind her still looking angry.

"What is the special occasion?" Thalia asked looking to Artemis as the princess climbed from the bed.

"I do not know." With that, the two nodded their heads and began to dress her in silence. After they were done with the dress, they walked her over to the vanity and began to do her hair but left her face without makeup.

When they finished Artemis turned to the full-length mirror and grimaced. The dress was large, heavy, and hot. It was beautiful but impossible to move around in. The deep blue fabric was decorated with small golden thread designs that made the dress look even more ridiculous. She would have preferred something flowy and light that was plain then something like this that was beautiful.

"You look beautiful my Lady," Zoë spoke for the first time this morning. Artemis turned to look at the girl as she felt slightly light as heat crept its way up her neck. She despised the dress but her guard's complement made it a bit more bearable.  

"Thank you," Artemis said as she stood up and walked over to the door. Thalia and Reyna retreated to the drawing-room to "talk" while Zoë opened the door for her and followed her out into the hall. The four guards stationed outside of her door bowed low as she walked by then followed her down the long hall to the dining room where Hera, Zeus, Hephaestus, Athena, Hermes, and Dionysus were waiting for there oldest sister show up. Apollo and Kalliope were busy with wedding planning and Ares was most likely beating up some poor straw dummy.

Artemis entered the room and had to fight the surprise from her face as she saw Lady Aphrodite sitting at the table talking with Hera. Aphrodite was their unmarried aunt who everyone knew was sleeping with any attractive man she saw. But no one could find evidence for it so she remained part of the family.

Artemis stood over to her chair and sliding into the place between Athena and Dionysus. Every time she sat at the table she marveled at the fact that they were still in power with all the affairs their father had.

Ares was their oldest brother and was the biological son of Zeus and Hera. Next came Artemis and Apollo who were the result of Zeus's first affair who had died after giving birth to Apollo. Next came biological son number two, Hephaestus. He was kept out of the public scene because of the numerous complications that occurred during the birth that left him crippled and disformed. The next affair resalted in Athena whose mother was killed by Zeus because of charges of witchcraft. Affair number three, Hermes. And finally the baby of the family, and the final affair, Dionysus.

But as far as anyone outside of the family knew, they were all Heras children by birth. Although people questioned Artemis and her brother because of Artemis's looks. She was "too pretty" and the point of her ears resembled those of elves. But if her mother was an elf then she would have never been left the care of Zeus, any magical creatures would have been killed. But that didn't stop people from whispering.

"Good morning daughter!" Zeus boomed from his spot at the head of the table. Artemis sometimes wondered if he called her that because he forgot her name. With so many kids and his questionable intelligence, she would not have been surprised.

"Morning father," Artemis said calmly eyeing her father carefully trying to figure out what had in such a joyous mode. But the conversation that morning gave her no useful information. When she questioned her father he said it was a surprise and would be announced when the whole family was together.

After breakfast, Artemis drifted through the day, only coming to focus when she was in the library with Athena before dinner.

"Do you know what is happing tonight?" Artemis questioned her younger sister.

"Not any specific but probably something to do with the prince that arrived today," Athena said after a thoughtful pause.

"Whos the prince?" Artemis questioned.

"I do not know, he was quite tall with dark hair, I didn't see much else, I'm sorry," Athena said noticing the strained look on her sister's face. Athena knew that Artemis wanted more information but Athena had nothing else to tell her.

"Thank You," Artemis said quietly already lost in the possibility, but they either made no sense or hurt too much to consider. She turned to look at Zoë who stood motionless in the corner and saw her own destress mirrored in the one of the older guard.

About an hour later, after the two had placed their books back, they began to walk together to the dining hall. The two princesses walked over to their spots and lowered themselves into the wooden chairs. After the whole family was seated Zeus stood up a large smile spreading over his face.

"I have amazing news to share with you all!" He said his voice booming causing a few of the people in the room to flinch. "We already know of my son's engagement," he said gesturing to where Apollo and Kalliope sat. "And I am happy to announce that now my eldest daughter is engaged!" With that, he gestured to the large oak doors that opened to reveal... "Prince Orion of Tartarus!"

Artemis sucked in a breath as two large hands were placed on her shoulders, "It's wonderful to see you again princess," the prince whispered in her ear. His hot breath sent a shiver of disgust through her body. He then let go of her and walked to her father's side where a chair had been left empty. Artemis felt the meals from that day threatening to make an appearance.

Orion's skin is was the color of wheat toast with undercut dark hair undercut, swept into spikes on top. The man was not unattractive but the sight of his thick copper glasses that sat on his ever crocked nose and blind eye roused memories that Artemis had been trying desperately for years to suppress.

Artemis felt her breaths coming faster and a sick feeling swirled in her gut, "I am going to retire early father, forgive me. I do not feel well." With that, she escaped quickly from her chair and swiftly left the room. Her brother looked at her with sympathy and understanding. After she moved her gaze from him, the younger twin turned to stare with disgust at the prince. Athena looked slightly confused but quickly covered it with one of neutrality.  

Artemis could hear her father's stern voice calling her back but she could not bear to stay in the room with him. Zoë was the only guard that reacted fast enough to catch the princess as she hurried through the halls and into the cold outside. The wind nipped at her exposed skin causing her to shiver. The princess hurried into the garden finding a stone seat and sliding down onto it attempting to even out her breathing.

"My Lady," Zoë said softly bending down to look up into Artemis teary gray eyes. Artemis looked into her guard's face and felt her heart clench. Seeing her oldest friend made her even sicker when the idea of marrying Orion was still on her mind.

"I can't marry him, I won't," Artemis said, her composure breaking. Zoë opened her mouth to say something but shut it and stood back up in a flash when the two women heard someone walking through the garden.

"Artemis?" Athena called before walking into the clearing where Artemis sat. "Oh Artemis," she said walking to her sister's side, obviously shocked by the tears that were steaking down Artemis's face. "Shh, it will be okay," Athena said softly rubbing her sister's back.

"No, it won't," Artemis said quietly, Athena didn't ask her to elaborate. She just sat there until all the energy left Artemis leaving her unable to cry anymore.

"I will get everything smoothed over with father, you should get some sleep," Athena said pulling away then pushing Artemis's stray hairs behind her ears. With that, she got up and walked back through the garden and into the castle. Artemis waited a few minutes then walked back into the warm castle towards her room.

Artemis could remember the day she met Orion, she had followed her brothers out into the woods the septated Olympus from the rest of the world to go hunting. The prince had also been hunting in the woods when Artemis found him. She, impressed with his hunting skills had asked the man if he would hunt together with her, he had said yes. Though the two had agreed early on that there would be no romantics. Artemis had no need or want from them.

The only other person that knew of their meet-ups were Zoë who had been rightful suspicious of the man and Apollo who would sometimes join their hunts. Things were fine for a few years, Artemis grew closer to the prince and considered him one of her best friends. One day changed all of that though. She was remarkably lucky that Apollo had chosen to come with her that day.

Artemis had arrived after Orion and after tying her house up by a stream surrounded by smooth stones, she moved over to their meeting spot. They had not seen each other in months and Artemis remembered the joy she felt finally getting to see the man again. Orion seemed nervous when she arrived, and minutes later declared his love for her.

The princess felt her heart stop, she told Orion that she didn't feel that way about him. What came next always hurt to remember. He walked over to her starting to yell. Saying that he would be a good husband, that they would be happy together, that they loved each other, and that Artemis didn't know what she was talking about because she was only a little princess .

Artemis turned to leave and heard Orion following her still shouting at her. She reached the clearing and began to run for her horse when the beautiful mare let out a pained neigh as an arrow pierced her heart. Artemis remembered the horse blood covering the stones and tinting the running water pink. She turned to run but he was already up in her face screaming once again. He grabbed her roughly leaving bruises in his wake as he pulled her against his chest.

Artemis got in a punch that broke his nose beyond repair and began to run down the trail back towards the castle. She remembered running before she intercepted Apollo, she tried to explain what was going on but couldn't get the words out through her panic. The rest was a blur, she remembered Apollo yelling at Orion, a flash of bright light, and riding through the forest with Apollo and arriving back at the castle stales to a shocked and concerned Zoë.

No one but the twins and Zoë knew what happened that day. Orion was found in the forest unconscious claimed he didn't remember anything after seeing Apollo, meaning he didn't know how he fell unconscious. The twins didn't either. Orion had claimed that they were attacked by creatures and they were the reason for Artemis and Orion's injuries and Artemis's dead horse. Artemis was in too much shock from what had happened to give her side of the story.

Artemis was fourteen when that happened, after that she asked her father if she could learn with the royal guard, only for him to say no. She then had to beg Zoë to teach her along with Reyna and Thalia, after weeks of pestering, the older girl caved.

Artemis reached her bedroom and walked quickly in after Zoë had opened the door. Artemis began to tear the dress off her body before Reyna and Thalia entered the room. After the two handmaidens entered the room, they rushed quickly over to the princess's side to help her out of the dress. After she was out of the dress and her nightgown she released the two saying she just needed sleep, brushing off their concerns.

"My lady," Zoë said after taking her helmet off and placing it on one of the tables in the room. She slowly walked over to the bed where Artemis sat. "Would you like me to fetch a book for you?" Zoë asked, knowing that a distraction could be helpful right now.

"No... Don't leave me," Artemis said quietly wrapping her arms around the guard resting her head on the cool metal of her chest plate.

"I never will my Lady, I will stay your side till my death," Zoë said wrapping her arms around the princess and running her long fingers through Artemis's silver hair.

"Thank you," Artemis said before slipping into sleep. Zoë carful unwrapped the two of them and laid the younger woman in the bed then tucked the blankest around her. Zoë then leaned down and placed a soft kiss on the princess's forehead.

"You need not thank me, It is my pleasure to be with you Artemis."

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

Just so we are clear, Zeus and Hera rule the kingdom of Olympus, The crown city is Mytikas. Ares is the eldest kid of Zeus and hear. Apollo and Artemis and next and were an affair. Hephaestus is the next child of Hera and Zeus. Next is another affair which made Athena. Then Hermes is the next affair. Dionysus is the last affair and the baby of the family. Aphrodite is the cray aunt, but good with relationship advice.

[ecotone99]

[SF] Matilda and the Nemean Lion

[ XIX ]

Matilda was now mildly refreshed having achieved moderate success in her life following her life in the battlefields, of both dimensions. She had slept well and aspired to more than ever before as she knew she were running out of beast to slay and the questions began mounting as all the battles seemed intertwined. She had wondered if she: Matilda had done all of this before as she frantically continued to animate her hands and felt them shielded by the heavy winds. Matilda thought aboot this often, and figured it were implausible as she were an Indigenous Warrior, alive and breathing. Matilda knew it would take a substantial effort to create another battle angel, and honestly doubted the capabilities of all those who she had seen tenant on her land. She now had earned the elder sigh her papa had once been known for, as he were remembered for being around sixty two years in age: raising a spaz of a three year old, who obviously admired him too much. Matilda knew her sigh were organic as the surreal events in the real world continued to transpire in a way that warranted exhausted breathing. Sometimes it were out of boredom: a curse that had worsened as the daily news provided her with an interest in chaos. She had always had an interest in war, but her distaste for gore and funky smells made her a bit less intimidating in times of battle, and to this quirkiness she had been raised sheltered. Avoiding all topics that she had been raised and taught to believe that specific knowledge was forbidden.

As the Boar had continued to fuck up her day: Matilda now began to see a bigger picture as she now broke the habit of sharpening her weapons on the daily. As she prioritized how to allocate her time on both fields, one fighting a epic battle: the other, crowdfunding for support and relief for the previous mentioned battle. This left little time for restful sleep in between the two worlds. Matilda had once had a dream in which her best friend known as Ramona had found her in her sleep, only to take a nap on a couch she made appear in Matilda’s own dream. It wouldn’t have been so odd except that her friend known to her Roro: was currently still a baby. Which is why it had amazed her how she had somehow still managed to find Matilda despite being hundreds of miles away. She had been a feature in Matilda’s life in a way that many could never understand, and she knew Roro were the missing piece had anyone ever need to create another battle angel. The tall baby were often coupled as an effective team, as Roro too built skyboats. Well, mostly the baby just chomped on random tools and paper and provided her laboratories with inspiration. But the kid knew she were destined for to bear the blue crest of hope as she had already began yelling and charming all those she met, and Matilda prepared her fellow scientists and engineers that Roro were probably going to be all of their boss some day. They had traveled the land showing off the skyboats they created, and winning all the things until Matilda forgot what her life had been before the baby best friend had found her. Apart from the fact that they were each exceptional individual already, together the pair were unstoppable. She were the Morty to her Rick, her first in command and they both silently agreed over time: Matilda were Sir and she was Mister.

Without allies near Matilda often avoided searching for things on planes of simplicity or providing white noise on how to defeat monsters unknown. She were often left straining her neck looking as she pulled at the treads along her Golden Fleece, and it were becoming tedious to continue to do the work of ten men, and so Matilda packed her shit and headed North. Matilda had decided she now required an army, and figured it’d be easier to begin searching sooner rather than later. As she stared at the sky she noted a flock of silver birds, and saw they had formed an ominous swarm as they rushed by. There were no way that were good: and so Matilda followed the birds as wandered. As she reached the land named after fortune and gold, she noted there were someone being attacked by the birds as they were held crucified by their hands. The silver birds were ones that Matilda had once created herself in Hades, as she enjoyed all things that involved crafts. The birds threw silver pellets from their mouths as they bombarded whoever was unfortunate to be nailed to the cross. As she approached Matilda saw that the figure nailed to the cross had been a massive lion, and that it were strapped by both the nails in its golden paws and a large pipe that seemed to be protruding from its abdomen. The poor animal were being attacked endlessly by swarms of silver birds who never lethally injured the beast, just reopened wounds and causes permanent bruising. Matilda had a legit shot, and so she took up her bow once more and began to shot down the silver birds one by one. As she did this the lion began to breathe heavily and Matilda attempted to take the wounded animal from its post that held it prison. Matilda noted the lion couldn’t speak as he growled and avoided from looking at her, even though its eyes were blinded by static. Matilda began to talk aboot herself since the lion provided her no answers. As Matilda failed at assisting the animal: another swarm of silver birds arrived as ruthless as last batch. Damn it Matilda hated these things. She had once scolded a dead-eyed savage that had made lightly of the these birds and their capabilities, and told her she should consider her life directing the birds as a pilot. He said it were their country and that it were easy enough to learn, as the process would soon feel like a game. To this disgusting demeanor Matilda turned him down as an ally and stated she built silver birds and that they were highly inaccurate to fly: before you added weight of the weapons that the dead-eyed savages insisted they needed as modification to cheat in war. Matilda knew these attacks were unending in birds and pilots, and so now it were dire to construct a plan to defeat her own creations. Something she’d never thought she’d have to do, as she had remembered how revolted she felt by the engineer who had implied he knew her with his offer to train Matilda to kill innocent civilians and murderers alike. This weapon was now being used to terrorize its own citizens, as the Boar had thrown fit and havoc to distract so that he had implemented a kill list in secret for his silver birds to deliver to all those who dared challenge the boar who wore a crown. These were the weapon of cowards and one of the only qualities Matilda had disliked or found unnerving about the the predecessor of the Boar: as he had originally implemented the silver birds be designed to swarm and kill. These were the weapons of cowards, as they avoided accountability and control of the mass slaughter the badly designed birds brought as their curse of death. Matilda had since then avoided the craft as she told herself to minimize weaponizing herself and considered her engineering skills on the topic to be forbidden.

Matilda began timing the span between flocks and continued to stand near the lion who lay its head low as he hung from the cross. As she reached the life parts of her story that were more personal and reserved for her life outside of wearing her blue crest: the lion seemed to be interested in whatever she said and began to gasp at appropriate times of stories and perpetuate excitement with its company as it were dormant to cross. Matilda mentioned her two elder sisters Desmona a year her senior, and Athena the eldest of the trio, four years senior to Matilda. As she said their names the lion began to cry silver tears as continued to have things pumped in and out of its abdomen. Matilda took cue and wandered where it was going, and began to unload some of the few things that burdened her soul even when she barely slept. She told the lion how she and her two sisters were abandoned by their parents, the men all afraid of their mother, a prominent prostitute known for her work on the eighty-second blocks of where Matilda grew up. Matilda told the lion how she had met strangers who had told her embarrassing stories of her mother asking to perform felatio on them, as she were addicted to the poison of Hera and adrenaline. She told her how they looked at her with hungry eyes as though they had wished Matilda had offered and not her birth mother known as Missy. Matilda had often joked with her sisters that her name should have been “missing” as she were nowhere in sight. Matilda hated how angry the strange woman she never met made her feel. She harbored a strange hate for the woman despite having only heard her voice a few times as a child. Matilda told the lion how her mother had sought her out and decided she were the only one of the three who didn’t deserve love or consider to have a soul. Matilda felt self-disgust and unending guilt for having let the dead-eyed savage rape her as an infant, and her mother's ability to confirm eventually would make Matilda sick. She told the lion how it had been awful having her sisters call her other, and tricking her into believing that she were not their sister, as their mother only sent the other two Christmas presents and birthday presents year after year promising to come back for the older two. Matilda began crying endless tears as she realized she no right to mad, as she had always told herself that she and her culture were the equivalent of a science experiment sample to the dead-eyed savages. Luckily, Matilda had a good dad, and he would eventually ward of the drunken whore if only to spare his youngest a few tears. As Matilda saw the lion stop and think as a new flock of silver birds began pelting the poor beast she had now nicknamed lion mister.

Matilda continued to ward off the birds for what would seem like forever, but she were running out of things to discuss at the lion without getting into the deep stuffs that were only reserved for her friends Alan and Sarah. Matilda returned to expressing her woes, and began to cry in shame, as she felt there were no words that could ever express how sorry she were. Matilda knew she had a silver tongue, but few things ever bothered her deeply enough for her to weep so openly and tremble so angrily. She told the lion how she forced herself to defend herself from her birth mother, as she sought out Matilda when her body had began dying rapidly. Her kidney finally proving the true evils of the poison of Hera. Matilda told her how she had once lied and said she hated her name Tila, as nobody could pronounce it without aid of a picture of a battle angel, as it were pronounced the same but spelled backwards as to protect Matilda. She had said she hated her name, but what she meant was she hated that she’d never get to hear her papa, Buckles of AJ say her name ever again. She hated that she had wished death upon the woman in trade for those she loved, as she called the dying woman a piece of human trash. As Matilda cried and let her anger go she knew that there had to be more to the woman's story, but Matilda had been too selfish and rude to ask how she’d come to be. She just simply pretended the women never existed, as it didn’t fit Matilda and the agenda of her many ambitions. She had grown up in a world where such questions were suspicious, burdening or forbidden.

The lion now began thrashing its spine about as tried to get away from both the cross and Matilda as it growled and cried hanging on a cross. Matilda realized the lion was indicating a swarm was arriving, as the timing in its arrival were different from all the swarms before it. She ran around the cross shooting off the attackers who dared shot at her companion who were both a good listener and a king. Matilda picked up from her story as she told the lion how her sister had been cursed with anger and rage of a thousand suns, and that she were afraid of the woman still. She told the lion how Matilda had taken beating after beating from her elder sister with only the protection of their papa: who held issue with he girl he called a monster. Matilda told the lion how it wouldn’t be until ten years after Hades in which Matilda finally broke ties with Athena, as she refused to get help with the rage that destroyed all she touched. The Kindhearted Hunters had helped Matilda see that Athena could never offer her love: as she were still mad at Matilda for having been raped and getting them stolen from their mother in the first place. Athena had no empathy, as she had forgotten her name after she were gang raped on her birthday by the friends of a woman who had once been paid to foster the child. It would be years before Matilda learned this, as she knew the statistics, but wondered why her sister held such sickness in until it destroyed all she touched. The lion began to hyperventilate, as the story transgressed. Matilda told the lion how her sister often fought with fists and their skulls, as Athena had recently broken her nose in a drunken rage. Matilda were mad she couldn’t hold the woman to any form of accountability, as she later told her young sister of the second time she were gang raped by dead-eyed savages. She told the lion how her niece and nephew were to young to know their father had once tried to rear her, and that only Matilda was called a whore by Athena for it, despite Matilda being a young teen and the ugly man being over the age of fifty. It lead to fights unending as Matilda refused to leave her baby niece and nephew alone with the two monsters. It would take ten more years of arguments, avoiding, and fights until Matilda knew she could bring no aid or relief to the woman who refused to listen or even seek help elsewhere. Matilda missed her sister dearly but knew her weakening heart couldn’t take one more round, as her spine was now curved from fighting and being raped. The three sisters ununited forever feeling as though their own pains were forbidden.

At this saddened broken family the lion began to pull itself about, and Matilda became worried she had hurt the lions feelings with her morbid tale of the human experience. Matilda changed the subject, as she told the lion, she occasionally wished she knew her birthmother, as her papa had once told her they were very similar. He had been the only person to see them for who they were, and not for the title they’d each eventually carry in their own ways: whore. Matilda said she wished she could apologize for what she had said to the sick woman as she were dying, and it were unkind since she would have never said such things to any other stranger she’d never met. Matilda told the hanging lion she were scared to ever have children, as she hadn’t had a mother, and there wasn’t a guidebook. She told the lion of her worries that her children may realize she’s broken, or know that Matilda had a hard time considering herself a person. Matilda told her how she wasn’t sure if she understood what love was, as her papa had been gone so long and she were now a hunched back freak because she were left unprotected. Matilda began sobbing uncontrollably as she continued on with her conversation with the lion until she had only one thing left to address. She told the lion how she had been cursed with the darkness of Hades and how her heavy hands reminded her she were unloved. Matilda told the dying lion how she had once given up on purpose, as it were before she had met all three of her best friends, Krista, Jolene and now Roro. She told her how she were tired of feeling embarrassed about her existence and dead-eyed savages asking “what are you?” unaware she were a hunchback being told to go back to wherever she had came from with their actions and words. It wasn’t a big deal to all those who knew Matilda, as she were always called over-the top and extreme for her ability to jump to action. This is what burdened the girl, as many of her family and friends knew about the attempted suicide: but disbelieved her pain until it were present in the form of a wheelchair. Nobody had ever asked her what was wrong when cried, as her sisters made fun of her and called her pansy. Matilda told the lion how it only bothered her now having lost her favorite Robin who was famous for being an alien, and later for his ability be animated and blue. Matilda had told the lion how she had also endlessly dreamed of hanging herself like the robin, if only to spare herself from the embarrassment of being a burden to those she loved with her disability. She told the lion she had felt this way her whole life, and only her papa had seen that it were something more serious. As he would always go up and beyond to keep a smile on his youngest face, and not telling her he too suffered from the same curses that had followed him from his battle with Hydra. Matilda wished only to know why her parents had abandoned her...had they not loved her? What had she done in order to deserve this? Matilda finally kneeled and let herself feel the truths she kept inside all too often and watched as the lion began to breathe slower in calmness, a familiar sense of peace she never knew she needed, as though it were a gentle song. As she finally took back her position of battle angel she watched as new swarm of silver birds headed over the horizon from in far distance somewhere. She continued on her target practice as she warded off her confident known only to Matilda as mister.

As the metal rain fell from all around: Matilda saw the silver bird hit a sweet spot on the pipe that were suctioning and replacing mystery substances to and fro the lion. She watched as the pipe fell away and began spewing gold everywhere. This was surprising and confusing the woman, as she secretly knew that her blood ran gold, but she had often hid it in the fear of being labeled other. Matilda now hugged the tall cross that held the lion as she knew she needed to free the lion or at least stop it from bleeding to death. As a new swarm of silver birds headed their way Matilda began frantically began trying to free the poor majestic animal as fast as she could. She finally resorted in capturing a silver bird and using it a battering ram to push the backside of the giant nail that held the lion to the cross. It wasn’t a graceful use of the silver birds, and it felt wrong using it as a hammer, but whatever. As she finally freed the right paw of the beast she began to try and dislodge the left paw while the silver birds tested Matildas balance. Matilda reached for the paw and as she did she saw the lion take his write claw and within a split second the lion took its own life by slicing its own throat. The silver birds fell out of the sky, as their target was now eliminated. Matilda began to cry as she continued to lower the body of the lion who had once been her friend, and as she did it felt like the world had stopped spinning for only a moment. Matilda was left more questions as the lion had committed a sin of selfishness by taking its own life when the silver birds were programmed to attack her as long as the lion were alive, and its own death at the hand of the silver birds forbidden.

As Matilda shock handling her deceased ally, and wept at the hand of the innocent animal who had once listened to her stories. She cried for having burdened the beast on its last day with her ache and despair, and as she moved the beast with a golden mane: its mask fell away. Matilda now stared at herself laying heaped in a costume asking rhetorically “what the shit” as she kneeled next to the woman who had slit her throat. Matilda thought of it as she gained a flashback to her work at the Augean Stables, where she had once heard something that had equally confused her. She had met a small girl: familiar as Matilda had once met her in a dream in which Matilda taught the young girl how to fall from the sky and break her fall by calling forth the metals in her body as the sky dived. It seemed the girl remembered too, as she turned to her mother as Matilda cleaned the bathroom in their background: that she had once saw Matilda in a horse show at the stables. A weird and specific thing to tell an average looking woman with a crooked spine as she cleans toilets, thought Matilda almost bored. She couldn’t fathom the idea of herself being a main character to one of these shows, and so Matilda caught herself blushing assuming it were the young girl giving her a compliment. It would not be the young girl, but her mother who would act sketchy: trying to undo what her child had said, but avoided looking at Matilda enough to know she were lying. Children have no reason to lie, and so Matilda pocketed the odd comment and went about her day shoveling shit at the stables without really thinking about it. She then thought of all the years she had practice reading lips, and the annoyance she felt as the dead-eyed savages avoided looking at her. They would walk past her as they talked to one another narrating why Matilda had been naked, as they placed their bladed hand from right to left and from lower to higher as though she were too stupid to see them. The dead-eyed savages loved feeling part of something bigger, and so they would seek her out if only to capture portrait of themselves a few feet from her, excitingly announcing their location with golden tiaras that matched the flowers Matilda often wore as they treated the poor woman her whole life as zoo animal or whore to admire for free. To this she looked down at the heap of golden hair and as she moved the lion once more she saw it was not Matilda, but her own mother. She were the famed Nemean Lion men had chased for thousands of years and thousands of lifetimes, both women now at a loss. She closed the eyes of the poor woman she had burdened with her truths, and now knew that Matilda had been a part of a forbidden experiment.

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