#and not the trek through the depth of tartarus

[demigods-posts]

while the stables scene is a great example of percabeth's growth as a couple, particularly regarding their switch of roles in who plans for their future. an even better example is when they first told the other they loved them. annabeth, who is a well-respected strategist due to how well she can plan for the future, tells him as quickly as possible before something or someone could take him away from her again. she seized the first opportunity she had free of plan. percy, on the other hand, who is known for his impulsiveness and reckless planning, tells her two books later. not because he wasn't head over heels the entire hoo series. but because he was planning for the right moment. he wanted to wait until he could give her permanence and stability on a silver platter because he knows how much it means to her.

[coalswriting]

competition gone wrong - lottie matthews

summary – after lottie doesn’t return to the cabin from her competition with natalie, (y/n) looks for her. (approx 2.3k words)

a/n – hello i am probably Not back because uhh. i’m very busy, but i am rewatching yellowjackets with my friend whenever i get the chance :^) i just watched s2e4 so i wanted to write something based on that. did not proofread this so it’s probably a mess too!! sorry in advance. i desperately need to sleep LOL.

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the heat of the distant sunset beat down on your back as you struggled to walk through deep snow. though it was unbelievably cold, you didn’t stop your trek, looking around at your surroundings cautiously.

the others had gone with natalie to uncover a frozen moose that she had found while you? you were looking for lottie. you had a bad feeling since the moment their weird competition was established this morning; you were all sitting, still drowsy from the early hour mixed with the cold room, and nat had gotten into an argument with someone about food, mari perhaps? long story short, lottie was volunteered to challenge nat on who would find food faster. it had almost felt like lottie couldn’t fight for herself – everyone had so much hope in her, and she didn’t want to let that falter.

truth be told, you didn’t believe in hope. it was a dangerous thing; too much of it led to ignorance, and that only took people so far. humanity was greedy. they always pinned their deepest desires on anything but themselves, whether it be an omnipotent force, or even just a seventeen-year-old girl with a strange understanding of the wilderness. either way, you believed in lottie, not because you had ‘hope’, but because you knew that you would climb to the deepest depths of tartarus for her if it meant keeping her safe. and thus, here you were, walking around a deadly silent blanket of snow, weaving through trees, looking for lottie matthews. 

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when you first enrolled in wiskayok high school, you were a bit of an outsider. your family had moved from houston. they always told you that it was because your father had received an incredible job opportunity in wiskayok, but you knew it was secretly because you would return home from school, covered in bruises with tearstained cheeks. you were considered a loser in your old school and fell victim to all the bullying. girls constantly pretended to be kind to you, only to spread rumours behind your back, boys would ask you out, and then laugh in your face, and you constantly dealt with rubbish stuffed in your bag, or gum tangled in your hair. school faculty didn’t do much, probably because many of your bullies’ families funded the school. they claimed that the bullying would stop with time.

besides, it wasn’t too much of a loss on your family to move; wiskayok wasn’t anything special. housing prices were dirt cheap, and your parents were respectively an engineer and a hairdresser. they could find work anywhere.

your first day at whs was in the middle of the second semester of 8th grade. your brain managed to block out much of the anxiety, but as you stood in the middle of the cafeteria double doors during lunch, it all began to set in. you felt like a startled, hurt animal, mouth slightly agape, scanning the room for a free seat, anywhere. students peered up at you, studying you, like you were a strange specimen in a lab. suddenly, you felt a harsh shove on your shoulder as a deep masculine voice muttered “out of the way, loser!”

you inhaled sharply, regaining your balance, and shaking yourself off. you felt yourself shrink as some witnesses began to laugh. then, you felt a hand on your shoulder, and you turned around to look at the source. she was the most beautiful girl you had ever seen; she was a bit taller than you and had long flowy chestnut hair with curtain bangs and the deepest brown eyes. you felt like you were getting lost in them. her eyebrows furrowed, as she seemed to repeat herself.

“are you okay?”

“huh?” you spluttered, regaining your consciousness. you felt sick to the stomach, and your hands developed a newfound sweatiness. “yeah, sorry.. i’m okay.”

“those jocks are dickheads,” she dismissed, then she smiled at you, and holy shit. that weird sickness in your stomach became fifty times worse, and you had to forcefully rip your eyes away from her out of a genuine fear that you would die on the spot. “i’m charlotte, but everyone just calls me lottie. are you new here?”

“i’m (y/n),” you finally said, finding the confidence to make eye contact again, heat spreading up your spine. you hoped your cheeks weren’t going red. “i’m new, yeah. i moved from houston.”

“oh, wow!”, her eyes almost seemed to sparkle with admiration, “that’s a huge city! what are you doing down here in little old wiskayok?”

before you could reply, a ginger girl appeared behind lottie, looping an arm around her neck – you would later discover her to be vanessa palmer – “lot, stop torturing the newbie. cmon, i’m starving!”

lottie laughed, swinging the ginger’s arm off her, “okay, okay!”, she giggled, before turning to you. once again, she put her hand on your shoulder. “you want to come and sit with my friends? well, our table is the girls’ soccer team, but i’m sure they won’t mind you joining us. oooh, maybe you could try out! do you like soccer?”

she seemed to talk a lot, you noticed. you weren’t too sure if it was because she was as nervous as you, or if she was just a very chatty person, but you liked it. you liked her. she was nice.

eventually, you did try out for the girls’ soccer team, the yellowjackets. and surprisingly, you somehow got in. with that, you became closer to the team, especially lottie and van.

however, when the plane crashed on the way to nationals, four years later, everything changed. you were still enamoured by lottie, but she was different now – not smiling much and very quiet. van seemed like a stranger to you, and you had seen a side of taissa, natalie, and shauna that you never thought you’d see. they were imposters. and jackie and laura lee? you shuddered as you thought about them, alongside all the others that had passed away during the initial crash. they were once your friends, but you never had given yourself the chance to process their deaths. even as you sat upright in the middle of the night, crying tears of mourning over them, it never felt real. the concept of them dying was artificial in your head, and despite seeing their bodies, you concluded that you would probably never convince yourself that they were really dead.

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the snow had begun to pile on heavily and you could see your breath with every steep step you took. you were growing desperate now, the sun setting at a faster pace than you expected. you guessed that you only had about an hour of sunlight left before you would be plunged into darkness with only the merciful moon to guide you. it was probably wiser for you to turn back and continue your search tomorrow, but you knew you couldn’t stop yourself from looking for her if you tried.

suddenly, turning a corner, you saw a form a few metres from you. your breath caught in your throat, as you shuffled (as fast as possible) towards her – lottie.

“lottie?” you gasped, wiping snow off her face, confirming her suspicions. “lottie, do you hear me?!”

your voice was a little louder now, laboured with thick panic that stung in your throat like bile. her cheeks were rosy, contrasting her pale, greying face. you didn’t want to see her meet the same demise as jackie, so you whipped your thick jacket off, and after a struggle, you managed to get it on her. realistically, this was an incredibly stupid decision, but with adrenaline coursing through your veins, you felt unstoppable. and damn, did adrenaline take you far.

“hang in there, lottie, not yet, please…” you murmured, carrying her with all your might. about fifteen minutes had passed, and your thighs were burning. lottie’s starved form was heavier than you expected, and your energy was running out. you felt yourself collapse into the snow, the cold wetness seeping into your skin. then, you heard the urgent voices of mari and akailah as they called your names. 

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“don’t beat yourself up over it,” lottie smiled warmly, putting a cup of hot chocolate in front of you. you had fumbled an important game mid-season, and it seemed like mari and taissa were mad at you. playing with the strings of your hoodie, you met her eyes, your stomach doing backflips. in a way to cheer you up, lottie had taken you on a ‘date’ – her words, though you wish they were a reality – to a café, and then a walk through the park.

you leaned back against the worn fabric of the seat, groaning. “is it that obvious that i’m thinking obsessively about it?”

“yes, (y/n),” she laughed, poking you in the forehead. “you always beat yourself up after our games; it’s like you never let yourself be proud.”

you reached to slap at her hand, but she pulled way before you could make contact, “i just always like to know what i could’ve done better. i’m not that great at soccer, i don’t even know how i got on the team!” you groaned, “like you’re all so perfect, and then i’m constantly messing up somehow.”

lottie went quiet for a moment, studying you as if you were an ancient scripture, like everything you presented was important to her. “you are so much more than you think (y/n),” she said, admirably, “you are one of our most adaptable players, and you’re so, so, analytical. you bring so much to this team, and you don’t even know. why do you think i always pass the ball to you in a tight situation?”

before you could answer, she continued, “it’s because you’re so damn dependable!” then lottie laughed, and winked at you, “also, you’ve a super sexy bod, and i always catch myself admiring you in the changing room.”

you choked on your hot chocolate, feeling your heart suddenly beat much faster in your chest. a ghost of a blush lined lottie’s cheeks as she reached over the table to put a hand on yours. “look, (y/n),” she murmured, voice suddenly soft, “i uh…”

you awaited her answer, feeling a sudden tsunami of anxiety wash through your body. you wanted to hide, but you wanted to hear more of what she had to say. lottie’s cheeks grew even more pink, before she tore her eyes away from your (e/c) ones. after a few seconds of silence, she looked up at you again, much more composed than she was only half a minute prior, “want to ditch this joint?”

and that, is how the two of you ended up in some isolated part of the public park, laughing and huffing, out of breath. “fuck your long legs, lot,” you gasped, leaning against a tree. lottie’s laughter boomed through the flora, as she tackled you to the ground. the both of you wrestled a little, but after a few minutes, lottie reigned victorious. she brushed your hair out of your face, staring at you.

“wh-what’s up?”, you whispered, and you swore that she could definitely feel the thumping in your ribcage.

lottie smiled at you, gently. but this time, it wasn’t her normal smile – this smile was full of fondness. “just admiring,” she muttered, and before you could process anything, her lips were on yours.

you never talked about your feelings after that day.

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a loud ringing invaded your head as you slowly regained control of your senses. everything was so bright, and you felt uncomfortably warm, if not too hot. as you tested the movement of your limbs, you felt something wrapped around your stomach. your strength slowly came back, and your eyes fluttered open.

you were in the cabin.

“huh?”, you said to nobody in particular. you almost jumped out of your skin as a husky voice reverberated near your ear.

“thank fuck you’re awake, (y/n).”

you craned your neck slightly, meeting lottie’s captivating brown eyes. you moved to pull away, but felt, what you now figured out was her arm, wrap tighter around you. looking down, you noticed that you were in the tub, and you were naked.

“w-what happened?” you gasped, reaching to cover yourself. lottie half-sighed-half-chuckled as she sunk her nose into your hair.

“i almost died, and you saved me. akailah and mari found us together, and based on the footsteps, you carried me a long way. thank you.”

you went quiet as you recalled what happened; how you had hurried through the snowy landscape, taken your jacket off for lottie, and carried her before losing consciousness. there was no beating the in-love-with-lottie allegations that van had made against you before the day of the plane crash.

“why did you do it?”, lottie continued, “the wilderness wanted me to die, so why?”

you felt your throat stiffen as your brain whirred with various answers. after a moment of silence, you decided to listen to your beating heart and come clean. there wasn’t much reason not to since you would all probably die out here.

“because, lottie matthews, i’m in love with you.”

you began to regret everything when lottie didn’t reply. however, she didn’t disappoint you for long.

“i don’t regret kissing you in the park that one time.”

you broke into a laugh, “is that all you have to say?”, and you felt her squeeze you before planting a kiss on your shoulder.

“i think you know how i feel. you’re the only one who keeps me grounded, and you’re always there for me. i never feel lonely when i’m around you.”

that was enough confirmation for you. sometimes less was more, and you leaned into lottie’s touch in the tub, enjoying the feeling of her skin on yours.

well, until taissa told the both of you to stop hogging the hot water.

[thegraystreaks]

what she says: i’m fine

what she means: the parallels between annabeth’s two cliff falls haunt my every waking moment. in ttc when annabeth fell off a cliff on the manticore’s back, the hunters had to phsycially restrain percy from hurling himself off of the cliff after her. he follows a quest he wasnt allowed on all the way to washington dc and then joins them to trek across the country to find her (artemis who?? he only cares about annabeth!!). and then at then end of moa, percy REFUSED to let annabeth fall on her own again, REFUSED to let her go and face tartarus alone, instead opting to fall into the literal depths of hell with her, knowing with almost absolute certainty he wouldnt survive, but at least they’re together, at least this time he’s trekking through hell and fighting monsters with her by his side. percy truly is the most ride-or-die bitch for annabeth chase and love is ruined for me bc percy raised the bar all the way to the moon!! fuck!!!!

[dilfbatman]

can you write some hcs about nico and hades just having some casual father-son time 🥺👉🏻👈🏻

I ABSOLUTELY WILL 🥺 nico & dad!hades is my lifeline i will try & deliver my babes <3

—

- i think hades taught nico how to play the piano and anytime nico is stressed he likes to play hymns & greek laments on the piano mainly bc they’re simultaneously heartwrenching & beautiful and let’s him get out a few of his feelings with these chords

- on nico’s birthday hades went to chb and everyone was terrified except for a few people and will just went up to hades and introduced himself and hades was like so this is the boy? and nico went like YEAH he is - hades was just happy that nico was happy & that will kind of reminded him of persephone in the way they both had a light about them & he admired the way will was the resident healer who would always help demigods, hades told him that those he saved were thankful and those he couldn’t were in elysium and eternally grateful

- hades gave nico a necklace made of black stygian iron with a dark forest green jewel from the depths of the underworld - it was to provide protection & safety for him - and fun fact, along with that he brought nico a big kid’s meal bc now he’s grown up and nico is just so Done bc why dad? stupid dad jokes

- nico likes to sometimes just call on his father’s name when he’s busy just to mess w him and hades is like ??? PLEASE STOP NICO I HAVE SOULS TO CARRY THROUGH and nico has a smirk on his face bc it’s funny to see his dad stressed and to have a lil inside joke between them bc hades can absolutely not answer nico’s call, this is honestly a great way he can see his son and play into his game (hades really does secretly love it)

- y’all ever see that vine of the dad playing a trumpet or trombone or whatever the fuck it was listen i don’t know instruments and the kid is banging the oven door open & shut while they both wear dark glasses? yeah that’s hades & nico

- hades also gave nico a hellhound puppy bc there’s too many of them running around the underworld and hades is scared and asks charon where they all came from while charon just ignores him and rolls his eyes

- & pivoting a whole 180 hades also likes to talk to nico about his feelings bc yes they don’t really know how to open up but hades is pissed at the other gods and himself that his son went through so much trauma & hurt & tells him that he’s here for him esp after trekking through tartarus - it took a while but nico opens up to hades about it and hades holds him + he is maria di angelo’s son and he is hades’ son, and the only remaining child from his greek counterpart, so he & hazel have the softest part in his heart above anyone

- now a another 180, sometimes nico visits the roman camp and pluto will be there and him, nico, & hazel just sit in the courtyard soaking up some much needed sun even though it hurts their eyes and pluto just asks about how nico & hazel are doing while they all sip on caprisun & gossip about underworld/above world antics

- all the underworld kids have a connection to each other no matter who the kid is and who the parent is, they’re all dorks and friends and badasses and they’re considered outcasts but they have a weird, dysfunctional family together

- also hades is the awkward dad who tries to connect w his kids but doesn’t always know how to do it, and yes he has a temper sometimes and says the wrong things, but he really does genuinely love his kids & wants to see them become the exceptions to the hurt & pain his children caused/felt & he tries his hardest now to be as a present of a father he can be and let’s his kids know that he will always be there for him no matter what

hades is my favorite god! and i love nico & hazel w my whole heart! sorry if this sucks but i still hope you enjoy! :’)

[wanderingdungeoneer]

War & Peace

War & Peace

This came to me a little while back as I had been reading a few different headcanons and fics. I figured I’d put in my own 2 cents and get in on the magic. I hope you guys enjoy! Also, I welcome constructive criticism. I know the perspective jumps back and forth a bit, and I tried to make it as simple as possible, but my brain likes to jump around before I finish stuff. I tried to keep them as close to in character as possible, but I’m sure I’ll get some notes about that :P This is a repost from my previous blog under the same name.   He stood at the top of the hill, his best friend by his side. He looked to her, taking in the curls in her blonde princess hair, now pulled up into a ponytail. The smoothness of her lightly tanned skin underneath the dirt and grime. Her stormy grey eyes, how her brows knit when she was planning something. He couldn’t help but smile. He had cared for her since he was twelve. Now, at twenty-two, he had a decade with her as a friend, eight years as his best friend, and five years as the love of his life. For ten years, he had faced the worst the world could throw at him. He proved his innocence at twelve. He helped retrieve the Golden Fleece and save his Best Satyr friend, Grover at thirteen. At fourteen, he traveled across country to save his best friend from a Titan. At fifteen, he braved Daedalus’ Labyrinth to stop an invasion of Camp Half-Blood with nothing more than the people he needed most by his side. At sixteen, he was responsible for the choice that saved the western world and he fought Kronos just to get there. At seventeen, side by side with his best friend and love of his life, he stopped Gaea from rising. He fought for every inch he and Annabeth took in Tartarus. It had changed him. It changed her, and he knew it. For months, even years afterwards, they both would have nightmares about their trek through the deepest, darkest pit. It only brought them closer, as only they knew how to soothe each other’s nightmares. Now, today, he was standing in front of a new army. An army seeking revenge for stopping the rise of Gaea. It really put a damper in what he had planned for today.

              “I love you Wise Girl.” He said, lacing his fingers with hers. He squeezed her hand three times in rapid succession, a habit he had fallen into a year and a half ago. She returned the squeezes. He turned his head at the vast army of monsters ahead of them. His smile faded. He reached into his pocket, feeling his pen having reappeared there. He pulled it from his pocket, and he felt her eyes on him.

              “I love you too, Seaweed Brain.” He looked at her. She had that smile across her lips, which usually meant he had done something stupid, but she still loved him. He gazed into her eyes for what seemed an eternity and she returned his gaze. Those stormy grey eyes had always enveloped him. At first, they had intimidated him, but for the past five years they had given him strength and solace. His smile returned.

              “Marry me,” Percy felt himself say, without thinking. Annabeth’s smile grew.

              “Ask me again when this is over. Then we’ll see.” She said, kissing him. “Come back to me,” she said, releasing his grip, drawing her knife. The look in her eyes told him that she was scared, but she wouldn’t show it.

              “Always. I’m never leaving you again.” Percy promised. He uncapped his pen, and it elongated into his xiphos, Riptide. His attention turned to the monsters ahead of him. He felt a familiar tugging in his gut, and a roaring in his ears. He was the Son of Poseidon, and the rage of the Sea was begging to be unleashed. He had felt this multiple times before, but this time, restraint wasn’t an option.

              He charged.

              Annabeth watched him charge the army, just as he had done many times before, with her at his side. His green eyes had enveloped her, just as it had done before. Today was a special day, Percy had told her, and he had planned a few things. She didn’t know what he was talking about, because it had taken her by surprise. Marry me. Was that it? A proposal? Annabeth couldn’t think about that right now. She had a camp to lead. Marry me echoed in her head, and something in her chest fluttered, and melted. She raised her arm to signal preparation for the catapults behind her. The Son of Poseidon, her seaweed brain, was going to be overwhelmed. A tear tugged at the corner of her eye, and she heard him shout the signal, “FOR OLYMPUS!”

              Her arm dropped, as she screamed, “FIRE!” and the celestial bronze boulders flew from over the hill. The boulders rained like brimstone falling from the sky, smashing into the enemy line, causing many to panic, while others were vaporized from the impact and the heat. Her leg muscles tensed, ready to charge, but the phalanx wasn’t in place yet, and the Romans from Camp Jupiter wouldn’t make it in time. A voice from behind her shouted, “Go get him, Wise Girl. I got it!” It was Clarisse La Rue. Her legs had minds of their own and she tore after Percy. I’m coming, Seaweed Brain. Behind her, she could hear the daughter of Ares shouting orders to form lines, and to immediately charge when formed.

              He was a whirlwind. Parrying, slashing, stabbing, rolling, dodging. Every monster his sword connected with, they exploded into dust. They weren’t going to take his life, his family away from him. Even if he had to go down fighting, he would make sure they were safe. But he could feel his strength waning. He felt a sharp, white-hot pain spring from his left side, and he let out a horrible cry of pain. He slashed with Riptide, and the monster exploded into dust. He dropped to one knee; his sword pointed to the ground to give him support.

              “Percy!” Annabeth’s voice was too far to help him. He breathed heavily, and he could feel his life force draining. Fear welled up in his chest as he gripped the hilt of Riptide in both hands. He was becoming surrounded. The monsters around him were laughing in delight. They finally caught up to the Son of Poseidon. He looked behind him and saw the love of his life charging toward him. He held out an arm, a signal for her to stop. He had a plan. He looked up at the heavens, offering a silent prayer to Athena. Please, I know you hate me, but please, please, pleeeease help me this one time! He glanced at the monsters around him. This was a horrible idea. The King of bad ideas. What choice did he have? Oh, gods. He was terrified, and he knew he was unlikely to receive any help from the goddess, Athena. Annabeth was coming, but she was too slow. He was on his own.

              “Perseus Jackson, you are mine!” a monster sneered and prepared to pounce. Percy returned the monster’s gaze with his wolf’s stare. It recoiled for a moment, but regained its posture with a snarl.

“No,” Percy growled, “I will never be yours. I’m spoken for.” He gripped his sword and lifted it up, and with a roar like a wave crashing upon the shore, he drove his sword into the earth.

              Annabeth stopped dead in her tracks when she saw what Percy was doing. Think! Annabeth thought, but the earth began to quake underneath her feet, and fissures opened around her beloved. He turned to look at her, and he began to sink into the earth. She stared in horror, “Not again…” she muttered to herself, and sprinted for Percy.

              Percy pulled up his sword and leapt for his life. He wasn’t really the best at rock climbing, but when adrenaline filled his veins, he felt he could do anything. His sword fell into the pit he had just created, and for a moment he panicked, thinking it would be the last time he would ever see that sword. Still, he began to climb. Twice, he nearly lost his footing. Twice his hand holds slipped from his grasp. Above him, a figure appeared. “Percy! Take my hand!”

              Annabeth. He gazed up at her, and the ice-cold feeling that had gripped his heart began to melt. His arms ached. He was shaking. His arms finally came under his control, and he began to crawl back from the depths, each breath burning in his lungs. He was finally within arm’s length of the love of his life, and he used what left of his strength to reach for her. He missed. As he was starting to slip once again, but Annabeth didn’t miss the second time. Her hand grasped his forearm, and Percy found his purchase with hers.

              “You made a promise Seaweed Brain! Never again!” Percy couldn’t help but smile. He could see her face, hidden partially in shadow. Her eyebrows knit in concern. He thought he could almost see a tear in the corner of her eye.

“I’ll always come home to you, Wise Girl.” He grunted; Annabeth helped haul him up. A second face appeared next to Annabeth, then a third, then a fourth. Clarisse, Connor, and Travis Stoll. They each grabbed a part of Percy’s arms and helped pull him up. Behind them, a roar of victory from the campers erupted. Percy didn’t care. Annabeth was there, her hands cupped around his face.

“Hey, Wise Girl.” He whispered.

“Hey, Seaweed Brain.” She replied, pulling him into a kiss. He happily returned the kiss, but finally, the searing pain returned to him. His Orange Camp Half-Blood tee shirt was soaked on his left side with blood. His vision lost focus, darkness creeping up on the outskirts of his vision. He slipped from her grasp and rolled to his side, the blood pooling beside him. It was all he could do to reach up to caress Annabeth’s face when his vision finally fell dark. The last thing he could remember hearing was his name being called and pleading for a medic.

No. No. No. NO! Annabeth cradled Percy’s head in her lap. His pulse was getting weaker. She quickly tore his shirt off him. Percy was more toned than most people would have given him credit for, with a plethora of scars from various encounters with monsters. With his tanned skin, it provided a kind of network of stories most people wouldn’t have understood. She had compared his scars to that of a mature great white with various scars on its flesh the first time she had gotten a good look at a few of his scars. The thought had made Percy laugh, of course, but she knew he liked it. He had once described how some of the guys on the swim team had been put off by the scars when they had first seen them. Percy refused to tell the mortals about how he got them, because 1) they wouldn’t have believed him anyway, and 2) he liked that it gave him an air of mystery that the guys couldn’t figure out. It also freaked out the competitors when they saw him. But that was years ago.

Under different circumstances, she would have marveled at the sight of her… boyfriend? Fiancé? She had thought about this before. He wasn’t just her best friend or even boyfriend. He was far more than that, and for much longer than what the mortals in their school in New York had thought. Did she already think of him as her husband? Probably. With all that time with him, he might as well have been. He had inadvertently proposed to her when they were twelve, though it wasn’t strictly binding. But the more she thought about it, the more she preferred to think it was. Marry me. With all her attention on Percy, she didn’t notice that the army hadn’t advanced to go in for the final blow. When she took her eyes off Percy, she saw why. A large crevasse had been opened in front of Half-Blood Hill, fifteen feet wide and maybe thirty feet long. under normal circumstances, she would have marveled at the amount of power Percy possessed, but she was more concerned with how big of a chunk had been taken out of him.

Will Solace had appeared next to her, “Annabeth, I know you’re worried, but I need your help. I need you to hold down on his wound and keep his head elevated, okay?”

“He’s weak, Will.” Annabeth stated, doing as he asked. “I don’t know how much longer he’s got… Where’s Nico when you need him?”

“Oh, I’ve been asking myself that question for the past two days. He’s late.”

“Focus, Solace!” Annabeth urged. He immediately got back to work wrapping Percy’s wound. The dressing was finished within moments, in which Will Solace moved on to his next step: Pulse check. Weak and getting weaker. He muttered a curse in ancient Greek. He pulled out some ambrosia and nectar.

“Keep his head steady. I don’t want to choke him.” As Will began to drain his canteen of nectar, Annabeth felt a sense of dread come over her. Please… Don’t leave me, Annabeth thought. She planted a kiss Percy’s breath was shallow and labored but became deeper with every passing moment. It appeared that the ambrosia and nectar were doing their job. This was her chance.

“Solace, help me.” She said, slipping Percy’s right arm over her shoulders. Annabeth placed a hand over the small of his back out of pure instinct. It wasn’t his Achilles heel any longer, not since he had to cross the Little Tiber, but she couldn’t let go of the memory of when he had told her where he could be killed. Will made a look of protest but thought against voicing his concerns. He slipped Percy’s left arm over his shoulders and together, they lifted the fallen hero to his feet. He made a groan of pain, his eyes fluttered open for a moment.

“Annabeth–?” he croaked.

“I’m here Seaweed Brain. You bought us some time. Now come on! Put your legs to use!”

He groaned a reply but managed to gain a footing. He grasped the shoulders of Annabeth’s and Will’s shirts. The phalanx at the foot of the hill split open, allowing the trio to enter the camp. Percy started muttering curses in ancient Greek.

“Put me down, by the tree. Thalia’s tree.” Percy growled. Annabeth and Will looked at each other but complied. They sat him up against the Pine tree; he grimaced as he looked once again to the heavens. He looked past them, at the army past the fissure he had created. Will looked at the two of them.

“I’ll need to make sure the medical supplies are ready to go. Need me to grab anything while I’m at the big house? I can grab Chiron…”

“A bottle of water?” Annabeth replied, remembering a crucial piece of information, “And a cup of salt? And don’t get Chiron. He needs to make sure the party ponies won’t destroy anything.” Will arched his eyebrow, thought about it, and nodded. He sprinted down the hill towards the big house.

“Today did not go as I planned.” Percy winced, holding his side. Annabeth knitted her brow, a smile fighting to show.

“You were going to propose.” Annabeth said matter-of-factly. Percy looked at her, a glint in his sea green eyes. A smile crawled across his paled face, and he nodded silently.

“I wanted it to be perfect. I wanted it to be memorable for the best reasons,” the smile faded from his face into a frown. Percy broke eye contact briefly to look at the army he had fought single handedly. Annabeth sat down on his good side, as Percy wrestled a small, black velvet box from his pocket. Percy struggled to open the box, until Annabeth finally took it from his hands and opened it for him. She gasped, taking in the details of the ring.

The band was a polished silver, with the sides of the inset in the designs of Athena’s cabin symbol: The Owl. The rest of the band was simple bonded silver, with an inscription on the interior, reading as

Κάτι μόνιμο

“Something permanent,” Annabeth sighed. She continued studying the ring. There were two gems inset on the ring. The gems inset were a Ruby and a Peridot. Their birthstones. She looked at Percy, a glint in her eye that said You’re incredible. She slid the ring down her left finger, and it fit perfectly. Percy gleamed, the answer clear, even to him. She wrapped her arms around her fiancé’s shoulders and planted a kiss on his lips. She let her lips attack his, cupping his face in her hands. He returned the kisses, with just as much fervor. His lips were as salty as the sea.

“I love you, Perseus Jackson.” Annabeth breathed into his ear.

“I love you, too, soon-to-be Annabeth Jackson.” Percy replied huskily. A tingle went down his spine when she said his full name.

“Did I miss something?” Will said, panting as he charged back up the hill. He had the ingredients in hand. The couple looked up at Will, and Annabeth couldn’t keep her smile down.

“He’s going to be okay.” She said, reaching for the water bottle and cup of salt. Will handed over the ingredients, blinking in confusion. She poured some of the water into the cup of salt and handed the remaining bottle to Percy. He started swigging down the water. The color began to come back to him almost as fast as it had when the nectar and ambrosia were administered. Annabeth quickly mixed the salt with the water. It was counter intuitive, making salt water to drink. Any rational mortal or demigod would tell you that. Even Poseidon himself would tell you that. But this was Percy, the son of Poseidon. In between purified freshwater sips, he would take in a bit of the salt water. Annabeth’s brain was screaming at her to stop him from drinking, but before she could act, Percy made the one logical move she could think of: After only sipping twice from the salt water mixture, he dumped the rest over his head. This gave Percy just enough strength to stand. He took a deep breath and thrusted a hand in his pocket. He retrieved his magical sword, Riptide. His shoulders fell an inch, as if a weight had been lifted. It was then when Will took notice of what really had happened.

“Well, damn. Now I miss all the fun. Congratulations, you two.” Will smiled. Percy looked at Will, and then to Annabeth. He took her hand, lacing his fingers through hers.

“It wasn’t what I had planned, but what matters is her answer.” Percy had that trouble-maker’s side smile on his face. Annabeth looked up at him, a good couple inches shorter than Percy and gave her signature lip curl at him. Almost as soon as it was there, it was gone, as her brow knitted and looked at the hostile forces. The sun was beginning to set.

“Oh, gods.” Annabeth breathed. Where had the time gone? It was just the early afternoon.

“Damn.” Percy cursed. “Looks like we’re gonna be late for that reservation dinner.”

[tablestoastandtime]

A Forging

Annabeth and Percy fall into Tartarus, a place that burns away the touch of anything mortal. But demigods are not wholly mortal, and so Tartarus cannot take everything. 

It tries, though. 

AN: So this is what I have written as of right now, after months of occasional tinkering. If you like it, let me know? I’m super down to toss around ideas to try and really get going on this.

Tartarus was a place of depths. Black not so much from the dark, though it certainly was hard to see, but from a clawing hunger that churned with every breath. Nothing stayed hidden or buried, because just about everything was a death sentence. Including ignorance.

Knowledge has always been a source of power, and Annabeth had always known herself as a force to be reckoned with, but this was different. The longer they were down here, and gods with no way to tell time except their biological needs it could have been a day or month, the more the knowledge she needed seemed to be at her fingertips. As if waiting for her.

And something was off in battle. Years of survival had ingrained in her an instinctive understanding of where she needed to be to stay alive and to do the most damage possible, but now the in between was gone. Annabeth would be in one place, weaving away from an attack or mid-strike herself, and be struck with a humming thread of knowledge of where was the best place for her follow through, and then she would be there with no sense of movement or change. It was convenient, absolutely, but also deeply unsettling. This wasn’t normal, or natural, or even human, and while all demigods did things that were a little bit beyond mortals, for children of Athena their divinity shone through in their minds not- not whatever this was.

She knew Percy had noticed, could see it in the way he fought and took direction. His style had shifted from his time with the Romans, and was still evolving to suit their current circumstances, but he flowed smoothly with her in combat without hesitation even when she impossibly flickered across the battlefield (Annabeth didn’t have the energy to be ashamed of how comforting she found that little piece of familiarity in this choking hellscape).While he had always trusted her word, he no longer questioned her even when she made claims she had no way of knowing without the glowing surety that it was true. He would get a look in his eyes, when she did that, like he could see the shining web in her head and was deciding between trusting it with their weight and cutting the whole thing down. So far he seemed to be siding with trust, and really, Annabeth was doing the same thing.

Because amongst her own… issues, there was also something going on with Percy. He would go still sometimes, head tipped like he was listening to something, and turn in a seemingly random direction. Everytime, an attack followed. The Phlegethon’s current was hard to track, but it seemed to swell against its banks when he approached. At her eyebrow he shrugged, “A river’s a river, I guess. The important part is the flow.” The words skittered down Annabeth’s spine, a dozen things that flow coming to mind.

Maybe they would have talked about it, if it wasn’t for her conviction that the Pit was listening to them, searching for weaknesses. That she had said, when Percy looked like he might speak and her nerves had shook with the danger. Bob had agreed from ahead of them, his grip flexing around his spear. Tartarus was watching them, every step.

Percy had acquiesced at the time, but the assessing glances he shot her confirmed he was still thinking about it. Not that she wasn’t herself.  The answer was there, Annabeth was sure, but always in her peripheral vision and just as it slid into view, they’d be attacked again. It made the constant combat as frustrating as it was exhausting. She was sure that if it became useful she would know, but that didn’t make the wait any less distracting.

But no amount of distractions could really keep Annabeth’s attention off the trek. The burn of the air everywhere it touched, the ache in her muscles, the twinge in her ankle with every movement. This place was trying to kill them before they could reach the Doors.

That, in itself, was paradoxically encouraging. If Tartarus didn’t want them to make it that far, then maybe there was a chance they could succeed. Hope was hard to come by, and, with a belly full of fire licking at her throat, Annabeth would take whatever she could get.

[wandering-lumi-blog]

This is not a library (drabble)

After a long and slightly stressful trek through ponyville Lumi found herself before a grand crystal tree, she looked up ears folding back against her neck, surely this had to be the wrong building “What in Tartarus’s depths kind of library is this?” the mare mused to herself, this looked more like some kind of palace than a place to borrow books.

Tentatively she rose a hoof and knocked, the sound echoing within, not long after the small pitter patter of clawed feet ran to the door and pulled it open “Sorry Twilight isn’t here right now if you ca-Oh?” The kotem looked down at the puny dragon standing in the doorframe, a brow rising in further confusion. The library had a pet dragon? No, a dragon butler, probably not? Well either way there was a dragon here performing some kind of...duty? Or something, though she couldn’t fathom what. All she knew was a little dragon had answered her knock on the crystal tree library’s door.

“Uh...” She blanked for a second before straightening herself up “We-I am sad to hear Ms. Sparkle is not around, I hear she is quite skilled in magic” Lumi spoke up finally “Oh sure, she’s the best around here but uh, who are you? Haven’t seen you around town before.” The mare nodded “I have only just arrived, I’m looking to study magic and hoped to meet Ms. Twilight and perhaps borrow a book or two?”

Spike nods “Well she’ll be back in a day or two, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if I let you borrow some books, come on!” she stepped through the door, ducking her head a bit as she followed after him “No ill meaning but this has to be the oddest library I’ve ever seen” the dragon chuckled at that “Well it’s more of a castle that has a library in it now, ever since Twilight became the Princess of Friendship and all”

“The what now?” 

“Princess of Friendship, y’ know element of magic, hero of equestria and all that?”

Lumi shook her head, she’d never heard of any of this, though when you’re land is practically encased in ice and is locked in eternal winter where the sun never rose it would be easy to miss out on pretty much everything happening in the outside world. “Huh, you must be from pretty far away then, or live under a rock to not had heard about that, where are you from anyways? Don’t look like any pony from around here”

“Oh, um, I’m just from across the sea, nowhere special” she replied, looking around the crystal halls as they reached a door “Wow the sea, are you a sailor or something?” Lumi smiled “Kind of I suppose, had to sail here so I guess that kind of qualifies me a little bit” she shrugged and peeked a head in as he opened the door.

“Sweet Sol that is a lot of books...”

“Well yeah, it is a library, pick something out then I’ll help you out, easy to get lost in here.”

The mare nods and looks around, studying the titles, authors and locations of different types of books and scrolls. Eventually she finds a few on beginner magic, it’d be best to start from the basics, hopefully she could use unicorn guides to kickstart her own abilities. Kotem magic was different but basic spells, surely she could find a middle ground between the two and make it work, or something. She hadn’t thought this through entirely but she had to start somewhere.

“May I borrow these?”

“Of course, just make sure to return them in good condition or Twi would get really upset, she really loves her books”

“I will, I promise, thank you very much um...”

“Spike”

“Spike, you’ve been most helpful, I am Lumi by the way”

Resting the books on her back Lumi follows the tiny dragon through the halls and eventually they make is back to the front door “Thank you again, I’ll return these in pristine condition I promise” she said before turning and galloping off through town to head back to her little shack she’d set up in the Everfree. 

Time to practice some magic, and hopefully not set anything on fire, again.

[xeleneinspo]

Concept Two : Origins

Antapódosi and Xelene

Athena was looking down upon the humans, a great festival in preparation for a war. The sister-city of Athens, Athena decided she must help the efforts of the people, by gifting them a goddess. She called upon Aphrodite to help her in the making of this new deity, who was delighted by the prospect of creating an equally powerful daughter to compliment her son, Eros.

Athena asked the city’s ruler to hand over his crown. In awe of his patron goddess, he gave it up to her without a fight. Aphrodite asked the city’s most beautiful woman for a lock of her hair. The woman, thankful for her beauty gifted by Aphrodite, snipped it off and handed a large sum over.

They threw the two talismans into a golden bowl of riverwater, and from the dewdrops atop the careful weaving, emerged Philia. A goddess of both beauty and brains, daughter of Aphrodite and Athena. She became the city’s figurehead, the goddess of good fortune in war and comradeship. Renaming her Xelene after the distinct sound that rang through the city when she was created, she became essential to their wartime and general happiness. For a long time, the city prevailed in every war.

The city’s ruler died, and his only son took ownership. This son did not respect Xelene, for he felt that she took power from his father. He went to his oracle and asked how to kill Xelene. The oracle said there was no such way, for she is immortal, but he can make her afraid. She isn’t aware that she is immortal, the oracle spoke, and she will be fearful of threats.

He was pleased with this answer. He moved to his plan of action. He told his people that she can be killed, and put into a necklace. Whoever wears that necklace will own her powers. And the mad hunt for her began.

Xelene was summoned so frequently, the people she once blessed now drawing swords to her neck. The city fell into shambles, for their many war enemies now had the upper hand. Without Xelene’s blessings, they were nothing.

A common man by the name of Antapódosi had been angered by the acts of his friends. He had been in love with Xelene since he was a child, and now everyone was out for her blood. He did what he thought was right. He murdered his friends and called upon Athena with their bodies.

Athena was furious with the city, taking her gift to them for granted. Antapódosi made his plea, that he would watch over and protect dear Xelene as long as he could marry her. Athena, unsure of his intent, gave him a quest. He must kill the ruler who started the rumor.

He trekked to high ground, and looked to the sky, begging for help. He stayed there for hours, until midnight, when the constellations were in full view. And thus, Astraea and Dike appeared before him. Astraea asked why he was weeping, and he told her that his love was being hunted to death. Dike asked why they should help him, for he was just a man crying atop a hill. He first plead to Astraea, saying that he was virginal and pure, and he only wishes to protect his dearest. Astraea was pleased with both his words and his recognition of her. She created wings of bone for him, saying that they were so fragile that they would be broken if he was to become impure. He thanked her, and moved onto Dike. He told her how the ruler used his power to hunt his love, and how he must bring justice upon the disgusting man. Dike wasn’t convinced. She gave him a dagger’s handle, and told him to bleed upon it until it becomes a solid dagger. It would prove the ruler’s true evil intent. If Antapódosi used his own blood, he would be able to seal the ruler in the underworld’s unreachable depth, Tartarus. If he used blood of another being, the ruler would live and Antapódosi would be dragged down to the underworld. He thanked her, beginning to rip at his own skin to bleed for his love.

At night, Antapódosi flew to the ruler’s window and stabbed him in the heart with the dagger of blood. Melting into the man’s own blood, the dagger turned him rotten and decayed. He flew out, and was greeted by Athena. She had gave her blessing for marriage, she explained, but Aphrodite had not.

Antapódosi was heartbroken, but not done with his deeds and trickery. He snapped an olive branch off of a tree, and proclaimed how beautiful it was. He kept complimenting it, saying how it would replace Aphrodite when he brought it to the city. She heard these boastful claims and appeared before him, furiously searching for the source of such beauty. He then said that since he will never be able to marry his true love, he can’t see beauty anymore, which is why he mistook that branch as a goddess. Aphrodite immediately called upon her son Eros to make Antapódosi’s true love fall for him. When Eros asked for the name of her, he said Xelene, shocking both Eros and Aphrodite.

Aphrodite was not keen on giving her daughter to a man who couldn’t recognize beauty, but after Antapódosi’s continued proclamations of pure beauty in plants and rocks, she gave him a quest where if he succeeded, he would be able to marry Xelene.

Antapódosi must find the most beautiful plant in the city by nightfall, and sit with it for three days without touching or cutting it. He found a gorgeous Adonis flower with relative ease, but Aphrodite instructed Eros to form the flower into the essence of love and desire. Eros refused, calling to his wife Psyche as why he would never get between a mortal’s love for his sister.

Without Eros, Aphrodite charmed the flower to be the epitome of sexual beauty. For three days, the petals seemed to speak to him, talking him into cutting it and giving it to Xelene when he sees her. Instead, for those three days, he watered the plant and sung songs of happiness to it.

Aphrodite, still believing a mortal man was undeserving of her daughter, struck a deal.

Antapódosi shall always be awake, watching over a sleeping Xelene in the sky and waking her only to attend to combat and give blessings. If he falls asleep, or if she is awoken without someone summoning her, he will die and fabricated images of Xelene will haunt him for eternity.

He agreed to this, watching over the sleeping Xelene. For one year, he stayed awake by sheer force of will. His screams of pain from exhaustion were heard by Hestia, of whom asked him why he was making such a sound. He weakly said that he must stay awake to protect Xelene from harm. She granted him eternal flaming energy and life, as long as his love and dedication to Xelene remained.

[dilfbatman]

Angsty Leo or nico headcanons maybe,,,

BRUH... my boys i’m gonna Die if i think of angst but i will do it for you </3

—

- leo has been through so much such as losing his mother and he tried protecting her by using his pyrokinesis but gaea manipulated that and murdered his mom, overall in his very young years being targeted to be killed by gaea & hera, has been shunned by his family and called the devil, and has been through multiple foster homes and ran away + had his memory wiped

- people consider him annoying but he’s been through tons of trauma and is a young boy and doesn’t know how to deal w it since he has no parental figures/guardians to help him + he uses jokes as a coping mechanism and tries to hide his pain/be the jokester so people like him better - his thought process is different than everyone else’s and he feels alone in that sometimes

- he always hears about the great and kind charles beckendorf and feels a sense of longing inside him - he wishes that he had a big older brother to help him through tough times and who he could call his family (everyone speaks of how hardworking, empathetic, what a leader & amazing human being charlie was and leo just wishes he could have met him and found solace in their brotherhood together)

- nico is a son of hades (a recluse some may say), and he’s good at keeping himself in the shadows (not even hades could track him). he lost not only his mother, but also his big sister - and to add on to that he’s been ostracized by some people at camp and never felt at home there + nearly everyone who’s ever came near him would say how creepy he was when in reality he just minded his business and the line where he said people treated him like sewage and no one came near him? so upsetting

- and to add to that he had to trek through tartarus ALONE, a place not even the gods would venture to and the goddess of misery said he was perfect since he was so full of sadness & sorrow

- i wish that him & leo had some emotional scenes w depth not only for their respective characters but w each other too! both of them speaking about losing family members, never feeling included, talking about how they feel as if they never fit in + finding solace in friendship w each other! nico would take leo to the underworld and find his mother in elysium and he finds charlie there too and he’s just overwhelmed w emotions. nico for the first time in a while has a smile on his face bc he hasn’t seen genuine joy on leo’s face in a while

- lemme do a total 180 bc i need softness so i also think for fun that leo & nico would be kinda iconic friends - catch them both being their pyrokinetic selves and leo has flames coming out of his hands while nico summons black flames and they’re all v cool omfg and also !!!!!nico getting back into mythomagic & him and leo play it every friday night in the hades cabin

- leo and nico would help each other out - leo helps nico come out of his shell a little bit more and nico helps leo & himself by talking about each of their feelings and they ground each other and they’re just. i want them as friends!

- nico is a dork and will enlist the help of reyna to get leo & jason together and leo being the iconic lil shit he is gets the help of will & piper to get reyna & thalia together :-)

- they have a good friendship w one another and they’re all there if someone needs to rant/vent which is v much needed bc demigods need help navigating their feelings & thoughts. also let them get therapy they need it okay? i love them