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pjo-whore · 3 years ago

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Percy Jackson At Hogwarts

Chapter 1: Wizards Are What Now?

Look, Percy never wanted to be half-blood.

Being a half-blood – the child of a mortal human and a god – was dangerous. It was scary. Most of the time, on top of having neglectful parents and a dysfunctional and incestuous family that wanted you dead for petty reasons, it got you killed in other painful, nasty ways.

There wasn’t a day that went by where Percy didn’t feel envious of the kids who didn’t have to deal with the mythological world.

Percy Jackson was seventeen years old. Until a month ago, he was fighting a war against a Greek primoradial, the Earth Mother incarnate, Gaea – also known as his great grandmother. Before that, he fought in a war against his grandfather, Kronos, Greek Titan of Time, who wanted to overthrow the Olympian gods and take over the world and the Empire State Building. Somewhere in between he also found time to spend a month in literal Greek hell, Tartarus, who also happened to be his great grandfather, and who also tried to murder him on sight.

Was Percy a troubled kid?

Yeah. You could say that.

And right now, he was still trying to clean up the mess from the Second Giant War.

Now that there wasn’t a war looming overhead, the gods’ recent exploits were coming to light, and new demigods were popping up everywhere, everyday. The number of demigods skyrocketed now that they were actively searching and not waiting for them to stumble into Camp on their own.

But that also meant there were new kids to train, more demigods for the gods to claim, and less time to recoup from the recent war.

Less than a month had passed since Gaea’s defeat.

The days were filled with helping each other get back on their feet, rebuilding the camps, and trying to keep the fragile peace in order.

There was still a lot to sort out, and the gods weren’t as hands-on as most would like. There was conflict building up. News spread about how the gods helped the seven demigods of the prophecy fight the giants, because a giant couldn’t be killed by a mortal alone, and this made many jealous and angry. The gods could pop in for a single battle when it was their own ass on the line, but not when a group of their own literal kids needed to rebuild their home that was dedicated to the gods?

Besides Chiron and Dionysus, the only god to physically stay at Camp Half-Blood following the battle against Gaea due to his punishment from Zeus, there were no other adults. The oldest demigods were barely twenty. Despite age, most, if not all, the demigods looked to the prophecy demigods for guidance and leadership.

Annabeth, Jason, Percy, Piper, and Nico.

The brunt of the responsibility fell on the daughter of Athena, and the son of Poseidon. They led their Camp through the Second Titan War, and now they were survivors of another war.

Things weren’t easy for a long time.

The Camp was completely ravaged.

During Gaea’s seize of the Greek demigod Camp, the cabins were burned by the monsters and toppled by Gaea’s massive earthquakes. Not even the Big House – the staple of Camp Half-Blood, the oldest building on the lot – survived the attack.

Camp Jupiter didn’t fare any better, but their buildings had been more structurally sound, thicker and built of material that didn’t burn and crumble. Enough buildings were still standing well enough to inhabit.

Everything had to be rebuilt for Camp Half-Blood.

Nobody could be sent home – to their mortal homes, with mortal parents, and a mortal life, mortal being the slang for “normal” among the mythological world – despite the new lack of residency at Camp Half-Blood. Kids needed to heal. There were nightmares and PTSD. Trauma and concussions. People to be counted, bodies missing, some so mauled they were impossible to identify. Several bodies were unearthed from the ground, sucked in by Gaea’s attack and suffocated beneath the dirt.

Shrouds were made for those who could be identified, the unknown buried in unmarked graves to be remembered. Those who were missing were given honorary shrouds, unknowing if they were in one of the unmarked graves. The Romans were unable to do their traditional funeral rituals, transporting the bodies all the way to Camp Jupiter, and were burned in shrouds alongside the Greeks.

Mortal parents simply couldn’t help.

They couldn’t fathom their children being in a war.

There were fears that demigods would be taken away from Camp Half-Blood by their mortal parents, horrified at what their kids were put through. Chiron especially worried about demigods who would be kept from Camp by parents, forcing them to live alone without any mythological world support, to defend against monsters on their own, without any magic or special weapons.

So, among the remaining able-bodied demigods, Greeks alongside Romans worked together to erect the new Big House. Tents from the Romans’ siege on Camp Half-Blood were gifted to the Greeks to provide residency until the new cabins were built, while the Romans started to march back home.

During all the chaos, Percy didn’t have any time to sit down and process all that happened.

The whole Camp looked up to him as a leader, but Percy didn’t feel very strong or wise.

He only felt bitter.

There were some who walked by and whispered “lucky” and “prophecy.”

Some who stopped talking as soon as he walked into the room.

Those who acted like he wasn’t even human, just some untouchable hero; but they ostracized him.

Percy was aware that he was one of the so-called “lucky” campers; lucky being compared, because at least he walked away with all his limbs intact.

It didn’t feel like he was lucky.

He wasn’t unscathed. He bore many scars, visible and not. His time in Tartarus was an impossible nightmare on bad nights, and a shadow on good days.

Percy was learning that he had triggers.

He was learning Annabeth did, too.

Neither liked using elevators.

Annabeth’s expression went tight when Percy used his powers around her. She turned away, sometimes completely leaving the area.

She got antsy in the dark, a childhood fear resurfaced.

There were other little things; at night when she had nightmares she would toss and turn in bed, sweating through her clothes and sheets, despite the breeze being cold. Sometimes Annabeth would completely avoid Percy, acting snappish, always coming back and apologizing in the end, and they would hold each other like they were hanging over the chasm again.

Annabeth refused to talk about what she saw in her nightmares, and Percy never pushed. He was one of the only people who could understand what she was going through.

Sometimes all they could do was sit and try to drown out the memories of The Pit.

Percy’s triggers were different.

He developed a deep-seated hatred for empousai. The moment he saw one, his body started to shake with adrenaline and nerves, fire flashing before his eyes.

Percy could no longer look at the stars without feeling a deep loss, tears pricking at his eyes.

He prayed to his father, Poseidon, more often, as if trying to re-establish his connection to the sea, to re-establish his connection to the Overworld, as if that could cleanse him of what happened in The Pit. As if he could wash away the touch of The Pit.

Percy’s nightmares were always blurry and violent. He wouldn’t snap awake like others. He didn’t startle or jerk upright. He didn’t make a single noise. He would wake silently, and lay there in bed, eyes open and unseeing, that shattered glass feeling he always dreaded at the bottom of his stomach. After he could never go back to sleep, and he would get up and sit on the tile in his cabin for hours and look in the mirror and wait for the image to change. He would wait for it to reflect what he feared, though it never did.

“Okay, so, how big is the situation? Is it like, ‘Aphrodite lost her hairbrush again’ big? Or is it ‘Gaea has risen again’ big?”

Annabeth frowned. “I don’t know. All Chiron said was that a god needed our help – and I don’t know about you, but I don’t like the sound of that.” She chewed her bottom lip in thought as they headed toward the Big House. They had been asked to attend a private meeting with Chiron, outside of the camp counselor meeting. “He sounded serious, too. Whichever god it is must be an asshole to seek help so soon after the war.”

She wasn’t wrong, Percy thought.

Jason was appointed Pontifex Maximus in Camp Jupiter, and as such he was responsible of advising the praetors, ruling over the Camp Jupiter counsel, and overseeing the work and prayers to the minor gods. His promise to Kymopoleia to bring worship and awareness for all minor gods became his fulltime job, and it was ruled that most gods must go through Jason to request help from either demigod camp.

A god asking for help directly after a full-scale war? Using Chiron as their connection? It was a hit below the belt, and it made Percy frustrated.

A few demigods raised their heads in greeting as Percy and Annabeth passed by the arts and crafts center. Conner and Travis Stoll, who were trying to build bombs with bits and pieces from the forge, took one look at Percy, then at Annabeth, and wiggled their brows suggestively. Percy unsubtly stuck them the bird, and they started to laugh their assess off.

The Big House was smaller now, after being rebuilt.

What could be scavenged from the attic was saved, but most of it was lost. Magical artifacts and ancient texts were burned and crushed. Now the Big House served mostly as the infirmary, aside from the drop-by medicinal tent near the Apollo cabin, where more medical supplies were. The Apollo and Hephaestus cabins had been the first to be rebuilt because they gave needed services.

Aside from the infirmary, the Big House had a commons area for meetings, and housed a kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom.

Checking in the commons area, Chiron was in his wheelchair. Nico was sitting at the beloved ping pong table, which had somehow survived the siege on Camp, and Thalia was sitting backwards on a chair by the new counselor table, which no one ever used.

Percy sat next to Nico and twirled the ping pong paddle between his hands, Annabeth taking her usual seat during counsel meetings.

Chiron looked tense.

“Now, I know that only a month has passed since the end of the Second Giant War, but –”

The air practically sparked with the collective tension that built.

“– a new quest has been issued.”

Annabeth leaned forward in her seat, interested. “Chiron, you can’t have an official quest without a prophecy. And the last time I checked; the Oracle of Delphi wasn’t working right now.”

“Well, it’s a good thing this isn’t a quest from the Greek pantheon, then.”

Percy cocked a brow and shared a look with Annabeth.

“The Roman pantheon doesn’t have an oracle, and their last augur exploded himself, so –”

“It’s a friend of Lady Hecate, the Triple Goddess.”

Dead silence.

“The Triple Goddess?” Percy parroted. “I don’t follow.”

“The Triple Goddess is of the Old Religion, once practiced in Europe hundreds of years ago by the druids and magic users in general. It belonged to Albion, a land of five kingdoms, before it split into the United Kingdom and Ireland.”

“What does that have to do with us?” Nico said.

“All those years ago, in the middle ages, after the golden age of the Greek pantheon, the Old Religion became very popular in Albion. Magic was something that anyone could practice even if they weren’t born with the innate talent, with the proper training. Through the ages, though, the religion declined, and the New Religion rose and became the staple. While the Old Religion relied on the magic of the land, sea, and sky; the New Religion relied on your inner magical core, and so not everyone could do this new magic.”

Chiron shifted in his wheelchair and pulled out a small stack of photos, but when he tossed them onto the ping pong table, the demigods saw that they held moving pictures.

In one photo, it showed a person standing over a boiling cauldron, on the wooden table beside them, old parchment with a quill that moved by itself, writing on the paper. The picture moved slightly, the character stirring the cauldron. Then the animated picture reset and repeated.

In another photo, two persons stood facing each other, holding purposefully shaped wooden sticks, pointing them at each other. Bright lights exploded from the tips of the sticks, and their robes and hair swayed with strong winds.

In the last photo, a person was wearing a uniform of sorts, with a helmet and pads on their knees and elbows. They held an old broomstick between their knees, and metal hinges held on the back close to the bristles, like a hitch for the feet. In the picture, the person grabbed onto the end of the broomstick and shot into the air, like magic. It gave image to the stereotype of witches flying on brooms in the night.

“The Old Religion died out because the land lost its magic. Only select spots held magical creatures and natural magic. Magic was only preserved through the New Religion, and those who practiced the New Religion became witches and wizards. The lot of them went into hiding and created their own society – the wizarding world.”

“In today’s day and age, magic is passed down through genetics. And sometimes, those with magic cores can be born to those with no magic at all. The population of magic users stays stable, and there is balance in the world of magic …” Chiron winced. “Mostly.”

“But these people have lost contact with the Triple Goddess. They no longer worship or prayer to her. They rely solely on their own magic, not what comes naturally from the land, like in the Old Religion. And recently, war has passed for them. The Second Wizarding War ended four months ago. And this has severely depleted their resources and magic. There is a school for the magic users, used as the stronghold during the war, and now the wizarding world’s hero is returning to finish his studies.”

“His moniker is ‘The Boy Who Lived,’ and he’s called Harry Potter. But he was only a child – is only a child. He and his peers are children who have been used to fight a war that they shouldn’t have had to fight.” Chiron looked very grim.

Percy bitterly sank back in his seat.

“We were kids, too.”

Chiron sighed. “This war has thrown the balance of magic out of whack. The natural magic has been depleted for too long, and there are those who are actively tipping the balance to sabotage the magic for their own gain. It’s suspected that the dark forces from the war – Death Eaters – are still operating in the shadows. It is because of this that the Triple Goddess has called upon you as heroes to help restore the wizarding world and save magic.”

“You would only be obligated to attend the school of Hogwarts until you uncovered the source of oppression over magic, so the Death Eaters can be caught and restrained. If you choose to accept, of course.”

Percy eyed him sharply. “You say that as if we have a choice.”

Chiron pursed his lips. “Despite what you think, yes, you do.”

“But this is from a whole other pantheon,” Nico said. “A group of magical people who don’t even believe in the goddess who brought about their magic. Why do we have to fix this?”

More silence.

Chiron looked down on them unapologetically.

Percy shifted uncomfortably, looking over at Annabeth. Chiron seriously expected them to just up and leave Camp for this quest. Barely a month had passed since their own war, and they were getting by as they were. Percy didn’t believe Camp Half-Blood could afford to lose any support or cabin counselors, even for a short period of time.

“So, let me get this straight,” Percy said. “Basically – if I just ignore the little prologue, you gave there – you want us to go to this magical school, on orders of a goddess that’s almost faded, stalk a kid, and watch out for people who like to try to rob the world of magic – magic, which they use themselves.”

Chiron looked pained. “No, I don’t believe they’re purposefully robbing the world of magic.”

“Oh, well that clears everything up.” Percy threw his hands in the air.

“Regardless, you understand what’s being asked. This is a quest, technically coming from Hecate, as a favour for the Triple Goddess. It’s valid as a hero’s quest. It was decided it would be best that you go undercover as transfer students and secretly watch over Harry Potter, the target for most Death Eaters. Your goal is to prevent trouble before it gets serious, though I doubt that will be hard, as trouble always manages to find you –”

“Wait, hold on,” Percy said, still hung-up on the quest. “How are we supposed to fit in at a school for the magically gifted? None of us are wizards.”

“Oh, that is something that can easily be fixed,” Chiron said, dismissing the problem.

“Excuse me?!” Thalia said.

“Hecate considered this quest from the Triple Goddess for a long time before coming to me.”

Percy rolled his eyes. Out of everyone in the room, he had the least faith in the gods. They never gave him anything to have faith in.

Annabeth narrowed her eyes at the camp director. “And how exactly does Hecate plan on ‘fixing’ the problem? I don’t see any obvious solutions. We’re demigods, not wizards.”

Chiron shifted awkwardly. “She has not shared that with me. I have only gotten the request that you undertake this quest for the Old Religion, and that she will visit to prepare you.”

Percy felt like grinding his teeth. “Oh, so she just expected us to accept the quest. She never considered us refusing? Why can’t the wizards fix their own problem?” Chiron said nothing. “Camp is still in shambles – we don’t even have all the cabins rebuilt yet! We can’t leave, not now. There’s still too much work to do here, and too many new demigods to watch over and protect. And have you even considered that maybe we don’t want to go on this quest? That maybe we want a break? My entire childhood was prophecy after prophecy, quest after quest, serving the gods. We’re under no obligation to do this. You can tell Hecate that she can stick her magic wands up –”

He didn’t get the chance to finish because Annabeth had already taken a ping pong paddle and smashed a ping pong ball in his direction, the mutual action used to keep order in camp counselor meetings.

“BALL!” Annabeth yelled, slamming her paddle across the table.

Percy scowled and took his seat again.

“Now, Percy,” she said sweetly, leaning over the table. “Where did you say Hecate could put those wands?”

“Nowhere,” he muttered.

Annabeth acquiesced and put the paddle down.

“Where is this school anyway?” Nico asked. He frowned. “And Hogwarts? What kind of name is that?”

“It resides in Scotland, its exact location unknown and hidden by powerful magic. Outside of the school, which is an ancient and famous monument for the wizarding world, there are other magical establishments. One place you will be required to visit is Diagon Alley, a wizarding market. That’s where you’ll collect your resources for going undercover at school.”

“Again, you’re saying all this like we’ve agreed to go,” Percy mumbled.

He was ignored. Thalia raised her hand, her features etched with confusion. “Okay, I hate to be the one to say it – but how are we supposed to blend in with wizards and witches? We can’t use magic, and we know nothing about their world.”

Chiron admitted he didn’t know how Hecate would find ways around the problems. “She has informed me that, only once the quest is accepted, will she come and discuss the details. In fact, she should be arriving any moment –”

What happened next could not have been anymore dramatic.

There was a blinding flash of light – the glow filling the entire room – and it forced the demigods to cover their eyes lest they go blind from laying eyes upon a god’s true form.

All eyes landed on the goddess, technically titaness.

Hecate appeared as a tall, thin woman. Her dark brown hair was tied up in a kekryphalos, the shining coil twisting and adorned with intricate gems and metals. Loose strands of hair framed her sickly pale face, which held sharp chartreuse yellow eyes. She wore a dark chiton robe that draped over her thin figure, and it seemed to ripple like a heat hallucination, like ink spilling off to the ground.

At her feet, she was accompanied by a black Labrador retriever and a polecat.

The demigods all stood as one and politely bowed, as was common for all gods. Percy glared up through his bow as he followed reluctantly.

“Rise, my young heroes.” The goddess’ voice was smooth and rich. She sounded monotone. “You have done more than enough to prove your worth to me, and for that, I know that I can trust you. I have called you four here on special request from the Triple Goddess, who has observed your acts of heroics. She believes you can save the wizarding world, her beloved kin, and magics.”

“You will use the ways of the Old Religion to learn magics and go undercover. As demigods, you already have magical cores. They just need to be trained; refined.”

Percy scowled.

“And will the oh-so-gracious Triple Goddess be visiting us herself?”

Annabeth shot him a scathing look.

“Percy!” She hissed.

Hecate eyed Percy again, as if reappraising him. “No,” she said, after a tense silence. “You will be sent to get your wands from one who still practices the Old Religion and can pair you with an appropriate wand. Your cover stories are fabricated and with the wandmaker. The Triple Goddess does not appear without dire need.”

“Her entire world being in trouble seems pretty dire to me,” Percy muttered under his breath.

Annabeth elbowed him harshly.

Hecate narrowed her eyes.

“This,” she said, pulling a laminated piece of paper out of thin air, “is called a portkey. It is an enchanted item; when touched by the intended people, or random persons, it can magically teleport you to a predetermined location.”

She held it out to demigods.

On it, in fancy letters, it read: Littletree Farms, Dorchester, Boston, Massachusetts.

“Touch this, all at once, and you will have accepted the quest.”

Chiron gave them an encouraging nod. The demigods all shared exchanged looks.

“Our responsibilities …” Thalia started, subconsciously reaching up to grab at her lieutenant circlet, from the Hunters of Artemis.

“Will be forgiven for the time while on quest,” Hecate assured. “The Triple Goddess does not ask favours lightly. This has the potential to spill into the real world; to affect our pantheon. The Old Religion is younger than the Greek pantheon, but its reach goes far and wide. The Triple Goddess is powerful; no harm will befall your precious little Camp while you are away.”

Nico hesitated, but was the first to reach for the paper. “If this is really that important … why ask for us specifically? A larger group, organized and planned, could do better.”

“The Triple Goddess has observed you, and believes you are the right heroes to help save magic.”

“But right now? This instant? Can’t we have time?”

“You will come back to your little Camp before you leave for Europe.”

Annabeth pursed her lips, then also reached for it. “Okay.”

Percy looked at her, askance. “Okay? Just like that?”

Annabeth shrugged. “A quest is a quest, and someone needs help. We are in peace right now and have no threats. I don’t see why not.”

“Fine,” Percy said, tone short. He looked over at the laminated paper. “So, this will take us where? What’s in Boston that could be so magical?”

“A wand wood farm,” Hecate said, smiling thinly. “And your quest starts now.”

Percy’s eyes snapped to the paper, where Hecate had pushed it into their collective hands unwillingly. Then the world began to spin, and there was a sharp tug in his gut, yanking him out of time and space.

#pjo #hp #percy jackson #harry potter #pjo x hp #crossover #percy #annabeth #nico #thalia #part 1 #magic percy

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thegrandromantic · 3 years ago

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I’ve been re-reading Percy Jackson and I’ve just gotten to one of my favorite characters’ introductions. Thalia makes the rest of the series so much better, I adore how perfectly she rounds out Percy’s little adventuring parties. From the start she’s so much more cool and capable than Percy and Riordan even set Percy up to have to deal with jealousy over Thalia in more ways than one. In The Sea of Monsters when Annabeth, Tyson, and Percy are camping out before the Hydra fight, Annabeth reminisces about her journey to Camp Half-Blood with Thalia and Luke and Percy admits then and there he already feels jealous of Thalia and Annabeth’s relationship. This jealousy feels so human and good, I feel like a lot of people have been in Percy’s position. You’ve made a new fast friend who already means the world to you and they tell you all about another friend who they’ve known even longer and have an even deeper bond with? Pretty much everyone would feel that same level of jealousy. I love that it doesn’t stop there either, in the very first chapter of The Titan’s Curse Thalia already seems to have taken over the leadership of their team, a role Percy once filled. Percy immediately notices everyone turns to Thalia to find out what to do next, Thalia flexes that she already knows how to manipulate the Mist and even teases Percy for having not learned how to do it himself yet. I also adore that this rivalry/jealousy is ultimately the foundation for their friendship, Thalia is a huge part of what pushes Percy to be a better hero, to train harder and realize his full potential. Not to mention I feel like Percy realizes his jealousy is maybe more about losing Annabeth to Thalia than it is directed at Thalia herself which is both very good character development and also Such Good Percabeth Fuel which is my lifeblood.

#percy jackson #ramblings #percy jackson and the olympians #pjo #annabeth chase #thalia grace #percabeth #grover #the sea of monsters #the titan’s curse

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shrinkthisviolet · 3 years ago

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What do you think would happen if the Cobra Kai kids met the Percy Jackson kids? Like who would bond with whom & who wouldn’t be able to stand each other?

Ooh interesting! I think Percy would totally vibe with Robby, since they both have that element of having rotten luck but trying their best anyway. They’d vibe with Miguel too, and honestly, I think being friends with him would eventually get Robby and Miguel to be friends with each other! Nico and Hazel would especially vibe with Robby because all three of their mistakes explode into chaos, and they blame themselves for it. They could help each other through that!

Annabeth would vibe with Tory. They’re both girls who were given almost nothing and had to make something of themselves. Annabeth had Luke and Thalia, but Luke betrayed her, and Thalia “died” and later became a Hunter. Even trusting Percy took a long time for Annabeth, even when she knew what kind of person he was, simply because she’d been let down and abandoned multiple times. Even when they’re friends, that’s where they stay for a while, because of that fear of abandonment. And she has that hubris fatal flaw. Tory is very much the same way, being kind but easily slighted, prideful, trying to make the best of a bad situation.

Jason and Sam would get along well tbh. They both have strict moral codes and clash with anyone who disagrees. They might have a hard time GRASPING those rules, but once they do, they LIVE by them. For a similar reason, Sam would also vibe with Reyna, who doesn’t take criticism and does what she wants, when she wants. And when times get tough, both Reyna and Sam step up to take charge (I wanna see Sam leading Miyagi-Fang more, she’s really good at it! It was her idea, even more than Miguel’s, to even merge the dojos to begin with!).

Reyna would also vibe with Tory because of both of them being tough as nails and taking no crap from anyone 😌 and also getting their trust betrayed and going on with life regardless, even when it hurts (Reyna with Jason, Tory with Miguel).

Hmm...Leo would vibe with Miguel and Anthony! For Miguel...obviously they have that Hispanic/Latino heritage in common (there are differences of course, the nuances of which I obviously don’t understand as someone who is neither, but it’s somewhat similar). They’re also both jokesters by nature, and generally optimistic, but they’re also generally the “fixers,” if that makes sense? Like they try to mediate and make everyone happy. For Anthony, I think Leo and he would vibe about feeling like outsiders in the group. Anthony feels like his sister is the only kid in the family, Leo feels like a “thirteenth wheel.” They could help each other, and make sure their respective groups know to include them!

Piper and Sam would vibe, mainly having to do with their parallel responses to femininity. Piper rejects it vehemently when Aphrodite forces it on her, and she sees her cabinmates as immature (who are all painted as catty and vindictive, especially one of the only POCs there, Drew. But I digress). Sam takes it on as a way to fit in, to make friends, because notably, she’s not very good at it. She pushes aside karate and Aisha (her only true friend) for the sake of being popular and liked–and later, she swings the exact OPPOSITE way when she resumes karate. They have different but similar responses to femininity, and I think their friendship could help them strike a balance that gives them both a more healthy view of femininity, without any internalized misogyny getting in the way. Piper would also really love Aisha for being unapologetically herself always!

[EDIT: FRANK WOULD VIBE WITH HAWK I REPEAT FRANK WOULD VIBE WITH HAWK

They were both bullied shy kids who took on more leadership roles as the series went on, became incredibly reckless even to the point of forgetting their initial limitations...and come on, SHAPESHIFTING??]

#percy jackson and the olympians #pjo #heroes of olympus #hoo #cobra kai

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somuchfuckingsalt · 5 years ago

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Percy Earned his leadership

Okay, the thing is I get almost personally offended when the fandom tries to write off Percy’s leadership because that boy earned the right to be CHB’s leader.

First off, the way that RR wrote the first five books was in a way where when you combine them together, you can track one cohesive story the same way you’d do with a single story.

TLT is Act 1. It establishes the setting, the characters, and the story. While there aren’t a lot of leadership moments for Percy, because it’s the first act Percy has a lot of moments where you can see his various skills that will lead him to becoming a good leader coming through. This includes his ability to think on his feet (how he dealt with the love ride), manipulate (Crusty), and make the necessary calls needed for the good of the world (sacrificing Sally to return to the surface and stop the war).

There isn’t a lot that happens in this book that happens that changes Percy’s internally and turns him into more of a leader. Aside from the decision to leave his mom behind, every moment of ‘leadership’ that he has are small, baby step versions of leadership. This book is mainly just getting Percy accustomed to being in the situations where a leader is needed while not necessarily pushing him into a leadership position (while Percy was technically the leader of the quest he relied heavily on Grover, Annabeth, and Chiron since he was so new to the world).

SoM is Act 2. Since we know who Percy is and we don’t need to be coaxed into loving him like the first book, this book is the one where Percy probably receives the most help. This is also the ‘training montage’ portion of the story and likely the reason that the Sea of Monsters was chosen as the setting.

There are a few moments in the book where Percy takes the necessary steps to become a leader but most notably are.

Making the decision to send Clarisse on ahead.

Stepping up and confronting Luke on behalf of all four of them.

The beginning of the book where the campers poorly treat him and Tyson is also important for two reasons. The first being that Percy sticking by Tyson despite the poor treatment shows what a good person he is, even though we know he’s resentful of the situation and Tyson. The second is that part of the reason Percy is so resentful is because the last time he was at camp he was Hot Shit. Everyone thought he was the bees knees because he had completed a quest and prevented a war. By having Percy be ostracized for his association with a “monster” Rick not only prevented Percy from developing an ego but it also teaches him something all leaders need to know - which is that public opinion is extremely fickle.

This is also the book where we first hear that Percy is an ‘unreliable weapon’. Kronos specifically does not want Percy to be the prophecy child because he knows that Percy is difficult to predict, manipulate, and control. The gods themselves would be way less scared about how powerful Percy is if he was easier to control. By Percy being difficult to manipulate, that means he’s not going to wind up pulling all the people he’s leading in the wrong direction because someone else is pulling his strings.

TTC is Act 3 and the mid-story low-point. This is the book where Percy fucks up the most.

He lets his jealousy of Thalia cloud his judgement, which directly leads to Annabeth getting captured.

He again lets his jealousy and pride cloud his judgement which causes the campers to lose to the Hunters.

A tiny moment but he’s so upset over Annabeth possibly becoming a hunter that he nearly kills an Ares camper with a javelin.

He’s so pissed at Mr. D he almost lets his anger prevent them from getting help, which would have led to all of them dying.

All of Percy’s fuck ups teach him that he needs to not let his emotions cloud his judgement and clearly see in BotL and TLO that Percy has learned his lesson. Even when his parents are in danger or he has his own personal drama with Annabeth and Rachel, he’s able to focus on the task at hand.

(The one time that Percy lets his emotions take control is when he takes off in the Labyrinth alone because he thinks Nico is nearby and he’s extremely worried about Nico because he cares a lot about him despite what Rick and his ghost writers say).

They also serve as a humbling experience to keep his ego in check, because at the beginning of the book we’re told that Percy had become accustomed to campers looking to him and up to him after having completed two dangerous quests. His issue with Thalia is that he feels she gets all the attention because Zeus is her father (whether that’s a justified feeling or not). This shows us that not only does Percy have some sort of expectation of leadership but also that as someone who spent his whole life either in the corner or in bad light, he has enjoyed being in the spotlight even if only a little bit, and now he’s missing it.

This is also the book where Percy accepts the prophecy and basically puts himself in a leadership position for the sake of protecting Nico. However, for me, this isn’t the most meaningful leadership moment.

Percy’s big leadership moment in this book for me is when he takes the sky from Artemis and this is the big moment for many reasons.

For one, it shows that he has learned from his past mistakes of wanting to be the one to turn to. He acknowledges he’s not going to defeat Atlas and takes himself out of the fight so Artemis can fight instead. This is a great juxtaposition to the beginning of the story when he wanted to be on the front lines during capture the flag and have Thalia instead guard the flag (even though Thalia was right about the river).

For two, it shows his ability to make sacrifices because he knows very well that he can die.

And for three, it is his idea, his decision, and he has to convince Artemis it’s also a good idea.

BotL is Act IV, the rising action. The stakes are higher, the situation is more dangerous than ever, and our protagonist is digging himself out from under his mistakes of the previous act.

This is the book that while Percy has learned most of what he needs to in order to become a leader and has even chosen a leadership role, he’s not the one in charge. Annabeth is.

This book is literally Percy being Annabeth’s second-in-command because before you can lead, you need to learn how to follow. This is important to happen here because in the previous three books Percy either didn’t want to be a leader and/or he was fucking it up and had a lot to learn.

This is the book that shows us two things: 1) Percy's ability to sacrifice his personal wants and desires for the greater good and 2) why he is the best option to lead.

He does #1 first at Mt. St. Helens when he sends Annabeth away, because in the situation she’s the one that needs to get back for the greater good. Then the second time was when he sacrificed a peaceful eternity with Calypso for the greater good (not Annabeth, which the fandom, Rick, and his ghost writers seem to have forgotten).

Everyone is going to hate me for what I’m about to say next but bear with me. The BotL is showing us why Annabeth, the daughter of war and battle strategy, is not going to be the leader of their army in the series climax. To be clear, Annabeth is not a bad leader, in fact she is a good one, my point for the next bit here is why she’s not the best option. Throughout the book we see Annabeth repeatedly making the same mistakes that Percy made in the previous book; she lets her emotions get the better of her and cloud her judgement.

The Sphynx moment is her letting her pride overtake her better judgement and she puts everyone at risk by refusing to answer the questions over an insult to her intelligence.

Absolutely everything with Rachel is an issue. From the first moment Annabeth sees Rachel and Percy together she is jealous and she treats Rachel terribly. First off, this is poor behaviour in general (and it should have been addressed in series and apologized for) but as a leader it’s poor for a few reasons.

Firstly, that as a leader she needs to know how to put her emotions aside in order to work with everyone, regardless of her personal feelings towards them. By not being able to be at least polite to Rachel, she risked Rachel saying fuck this, I’m out (probably the only reason Rachel didn’t is because she’s chill and she knew it was a world ending problem they were dealing with).

Secondly, it shows a certain amount of immaturity. The thing with jealousy is that although it’s not a reasonable emotion, how you handle it shows how mature you are. The fact that when Annabeth becomes petty and vindictive when she’s jealous shows a lot of emotional immaturity.

Thirdly, she doesn’t fucking learn anything as we see her behaving the same way towards Rachel in TLO, made worse by the fact that she’s also attacking Percy. This isn’t entirely her fault because these actions don’t have any consequences that make her want to change her behaviour. Leaders need to be able to learn and adapt and check their own behaviour.

(honestly, the fact that Annabeth ended the series without at least trying to get over her pride and abandonment issues makes me feel like her character arc is incomplete).

TLO is Act V and the grand finale. It’s the book where Percy is 100% the Boss. It is the culmination of everything that he’s learned and shows off all the things he has that makes him a good leader.

Leaders need to know when to make sacrifices, evident by when he leaves Beckendorf and when he takes a million-to-one chance by dipping in the Styx in order to gain a chance at winning this war.

He’s cunning and manipulative, shown when he bribes the river gods into playing for his team.

He’s incredibly good at battle strategy, shown when he manages to make a plan that allows 70ish campers/hunters to defend the entire island of Manhattan from hundreds, if not thousands of soldiers from Kronos’s army.

He’s well spoken, shown when he’s able to get the campers pumped before the first battle.

He cares about the people that he’s leading. In the previous book he didn’t know Castor’s name before he died and he felt bad about that, so in this book every time he mentions a demigod it’s by name.

He’s clever, shown when he’s able to figure out literally on the fly how to kill the pig and that the hero that dies in the prophecy is Luke. He also figures out that Typhon won’t be defeated without Poseidon and knows what to say in order to get Poseidon to abandon the ocean battle and help the rest of the gods.

(Lowkey-highkey Percy is the reason that Typhon was defeated at all, because without him Poseidon would have never joined the fight and the gods would have failed, which would have meant that regardless of Kronos dying they would have been fucked)

He’s able to focus on the task at hand despite his emotional problems. This includes the times that his parents are put in the line of fire, both when they’re asleep and awake and when the Annabeth/Rachel drama is making him all kinds of angry and upset. In all those situations he’s able to carry on and largely ignore them in order to focus on the war.

To me, his deference to Chiron before the war officially begins is Percy a) being so used to following Chiron in everything and respecting the centaur as a leader and b) not entirely confident in himself and needing that confirmation that he’s in charge. While it’s never stated in the books that Percy enjoys being a leader, we never really see Percy lamenting that he wishes someone else was in charge even when he was neck deep in danger and death and stress.

No one ever questions the fact that Percy’s in charge. There isn’t ever a power struggle. Even with Thalia and Annabeth - both of whom have their own merits to make them leaders and the ambition/pride to make them chafe under the leadership of someone else. Everyone easily accepts and looks to Percy to be their leader.

I’m sorry if this comes off as rant-y and I’m likely going to piss a bunch of people off with my opinion on Annabeth’s faults, but Percy literally went through so much shit and learned and changed in order to be a good leader that it honestly makes me angry when people write him off for the sake of uplifting someone else.

#percy jackson is a leader #percy jackson #pjo #if you've noticed i have entirely ignored everything that happens in hoo

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melancholyicedtea · 5 years ago

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Rick Riordan could totally make Percy the villain in a future book series

Think about it, if he spent more time acknowledging that Percy is really big on revenge and likes to inflict inhumane amounts of pain to anyone who slightly threatens the people he loves, and in some instance LAUGHS as he watches them suffer.

It was first mentioned in SoM that his fatal flaw is fatal loyalty and that’s what lands him in Tartarus.It gets to points when he goes overboard and genuinely scares the people he is fighting for (annabeth taking a step back from him when Percy chokes a monstress with her own poison in HoH). Or how when him and his mom literally KILL his abusive step dad in TLT, he is really happy about it but he regrets not being the one to have given the final blow to finish Gabe off for good.

Or how during SoN when he’s traveling with Frank and Hazel through the north west to get to Canada, Rick made the point that they weren’t bothered by gangs while going through those rough neighborhoods because Percy was just THAT threatening.

The reason why Percy fights for camp half blood is because it’s his found family there. He could care less about saving the world if it didn’t really affect him, even though he would most likely not admit it. He could care less about quarrels between the Gods, but him and his friends keep on getting wrapped up in it.

With the people he trusts it's easy to see him in his happier, goofier, joker side. But with strangers and people he doesn’t know, he has this blank almost angry expression. You know how cold and intimidating Percy was to like Leo, Piper, and Jason until he understood that Annabeth trusted them and he decided their his friends in MoA?

He’s a little overpowered being the son of The Big 3 as well and keeps on pushing himself to unlock new abilities that get more frightening as he grows into his powers. When he says “why” when Apollo shows up at his door isn’t really meant to be played for laughs, it's just that he’s so DONE and so ANGRY at the gods.

As he grows up, he starts to align more and more with the radical ideologies that Luke had. Luke and Percy aren’t that different after all with what they think about the Gods. Luke was just willing to betray everyone who trusted him and kill his own found-family to achieve his revenge. If Percy wasn’t doing all he could to protect what he loved, nothing would stop him from being able to rip apart Olympus with his bare hands.

I’m just saying all it really would take for Percy to completely snap is to go overboard and accidentally scare away/hurt someone he loves, or have one of them die and have him be unable to save him, the most impactful examples being; annabeth, sally, his little sister, and possibly Grover (a lot of people overlook their friendship :c ) So yes, Percy just needs a little push to send him over to him embracing his dark side.

I predict that when he finds about Jason’s death he’ll be really upset and blame Apollo, one of the Gods who keep on ruining their chances of a normal life (remember Jason was just trying to pass his classes and stuff until Apollo came and asked for his help.) Jason is similar to Percy in power and leadership, but Jason agreed to help because he believed it was the right thing to do and he was raised at camp Jupiter with the values of honor, duty, and serving the Gods. Percy would have said no, and he DID say no in TOA book one.

Because he doesn’t do what he does because it’s the right thing to, but because in saving everyone he gets to save the ones he loves as well. He made the decision he would rather to let the world be taken over by the giants instead of letting annabeth fall to Tartarus on her own. He didn’t think they would survive. He just wouldn’t leave her. This has been my dark!percy analysis, thank you for coming to my ted talk

#percyjackson #rickriordan #pjo #hoo #heroes of olympus #percy jackson and the olympians #percabeth #trials of apollo #magnus chase #magnus chase and the gods of asgard #kane chronicles #dark!percy #house of hades #melancholyicedtea

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hooliganpearl · 5 years ago

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Trans! Lesbian! Percy! And! Lesbian! Annabeth!

I know no one asked for this but here you go:

Percy knowing from really young that she was different but not knowing why

Gabe relentlessly insulted her and bullied her because she was too feminine and not "manly" enough even though she was just a kid

And she just has such a hard time coming to terms with herself because of Gabe and because of, you know, society

And Sally, the most amazing and wonderful mother in the world always telling her "it's okay to be whoever you are" and always accepting her

Percy continually dealing with the bullies at her school and just trying to keep her head down and out of trouble

And then she meets Grover and finally makes a real friend and he's the first person she comes out to and she's not even sure she just knows she feels like not a boy and Grover just goes "okay" and that's that he's always open to what she asks of him

She's not even thinking about sexuality because she's finally like "oh this is why I'm different I'm. Not a boy"

Right before she gets expelled from school she breaks down to Sally one night when Gabe is gone and just tearfully comes out and tells her "mom, I'm. I'm a girl"

And Sally just holds her and strokes her head as she cries and she tells her once again that "it's okay to be who you are and I'll always love you"

Which makes Percy cry even more but in a good way

Then she gets expelled and the whole Minotaur thing happens and she's absolutely wrecked. Her mom is gone and she doesn't know what to do she's just. So heartbroken and distraught

She gets into camp and meets Annabeth and Chiron introduces her to everyone

And right before she got expelled from Yancy she started presenting more feminine and being herself

So she's kind of uncomfortable because she doesn't know how the campers are going to react if they'll accept her and she's so scared and sad without her mom

She's just she's twelve for God's sake

And she's just beginning her transition and coming out

And then she's told she's the daughter of a Greek god and she's thrown into this quest with a stranger and his best friend that's half goat

And they're all children

And her mom just died but didn't at the same time

She's trying so hard to stay strong and stay brave but she's never been put in a leadership role

On the other hand Annabeth has been working her whole life towards this moment, at a chance to be in charge, at a chance to be noticed

She's doing everything she can to make sure everything is going right and they're making progress

She doesn't have time to be questioning herself or think about anything other than finishing the quest and succeeding

When Percy got to camp she decided to just... Not come out yet and to continue to wear the clothes she wants and just mind her own business as she's got.. bigger things to deal with at the moment

On the quest Annabeth and Percy get much closer and Percy begins to trust her and vice versa and she decides to come out to her in the back of the truck when they're sharing the Oreos

Annabeth is just quiet for a minute and Percy gets all nervous and panics and thinks it's a mistake but then Annabeth just says "okay" and they're just. Cool.

Annabeth starts doing everything she can to make Percy feel better, she teaches her how to braid her hair, they paint their nails together and Percy decides she doesn't really like painting her nails but she's so glad that Annabeth is trying and making her feel so much better

Percy finds herself as less traditionally feminine and more "tomboyish" and it takes her a while to feel okay with that because she just felt like she needed to be super feminine to be "acceptable" as a girl

Anyway Percy comes out to basically everyone right before they bring the fleece back and Thalia comes back

And when they run into the Hunters Artemis offers her and Annabeth a place with the Hunters which obviously interests Annabeth but Percy is so surprised and overwhelmed

Percy doesn't want to be a Hunter but she thanks Artemis anyway

Anyway, obviously Percy and Annabeth's relationship has been changing and Percy is trying to keep how she feels at bay and ignore it because internalised homophobia and transphobia

Annabeth is aware of how her feelings are changing and just.. also pushes them aside because of internalised homophobia and she doesn't want to make her best friend uncomfortable

After they save Annabeth from Atlas' punishment Percy and her are even closer than before and Annabeth will sleep in Percy's cabin with her like before and they're just.. inseparable

But it feels different for both of them they both feel. Different.

They don't want to acknowledge their feelings for each other so they both keep pretending that it's normal for their touches to linger on their hands, shoulders, cheeks, knees...

They pretend it's normal that they only feel comfortable sleeping with one another and that it's normal to fall asleep holding your friend's hand... They're just friends, it's just things that friends do...

Until they're in the labyrinth and they're saying goodbye and Annabeth kisses Percy and Percy had just never realised how much she had wanted this, how much she had wanted to kiss her

And then Annabeth is gone and Percy "dies" and wakes up

Calypso calms her and let's her stay for a while and Percy feels good and at peace but. She longs to go back to her friends. She knows she can't stay because she has so much to go back to, so much to live for.

So she crashes her funeral in her very Percy style and Annabeth angrily scolds her for leaving her alone

And Annabeth just knows she was on Ogygia and just. Doesn't want to hear about it because she knows it will only hurt because she finally accepted how she felt about Percy and she finally let herself feel and then Percy.. Becomes estranged on an island with a beautiful immortal goddess/nymph

Which she knows want Percy's fault but she's just hurt

Percy just wants her friend at least back but she doesn't know what she did wrong and she doesn't want to force anything or make Annabeth uncomfortable so she gives her space even though they don't quite have time for space because of the oncoming war

And Percy becomes closer to Rachel because Rachel is mortal and also LGBT and Percy hasn't had a friend she can talk to about, well literally everything because Annabeth and Percy were both figuring themselves out and scared and Grover was always busy

Rachel comforts her and helps her through her internalised homophobia

When Annabeth meets Rachel she misinterprets their friendship and feels like Percy just. Moved on. Which is why she becomes somewhat hostile towards her and resents Percy to a degree. She's just hurt because she thinks Percy is abandoning her after she finally showed how she felt

But Percy is just giving her space because that's what she thought she needed and it's just. A lot of miscommunication.

Then the war starts and Percy knows she has to bathe in the River Styx and Nico takes her and she sees Annabeth pulling her back up and she knows she needs to find her and make things right

But they have to fight so much and they don't have time and they're on the bridge and Percy hears a cry behind her as Annabeth goes down and she turns and catches her

And she's so distraught and angry and unleashes her rage to protect her and take her back to get help

And she gives her ambrosia and nectar and sits with her until she wakes up and they have this tender moment with Percy's hand in Annabeth's hair and she kisses her forehead and tells her that she's what kept her tethered to the real world when she bathed in the river

And after everything is done, after they've defeated Kronos and spoken to the gods and are back at camp they just. Hold each other. For so long.

They know that they're okay and that this is what they want

And of course they talk for a long time at the picnic table until they kiss again and finally everyone (because they were all watching like real friends do) crowds them and throws them in the lake for their classic kiss :)

#i know the ending is bad but¯\_(ツ)_/¯#percabeth #lesbian!percabeth #transgirl!percy #translesbian!percy #lesbian!annabeth #lesbian!percy #how else should i tag this #lesbian!percabeth au

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fireandseaweed · 7 years ago

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Queue The Rescue Music || Annabeth, Jason, Lina and Percy

Percy, Lina and Jason go after Annabeth in an attempt to bring her home.

As they stole out of the city and into the waiting embrace of the shadows, Percy could only hope that they would be able to find Annabeth. Swallowing nervously he gripped Riptide as they skirted around the Camp and into the forests that stood along the edge of the valley that they were located within. Glancing at Lina and Jason, Percy paused by the edge of the tree line before they made their final approach. “Let’s go over the plan one more time,” he said nervously, there was no margin for error here, “we get past the walls with the help of Jason and his wind powers.” He checked his watch, two minutes to go, “the patrol changes in two minutes so we have to do it then to make it through the blindspot,” the three of them had spent hours and hours locked in a small room planning their entry. Lina had provided a lot of useful information, Percy just hoped that they hadn’t changed anything. “Once we’re inside the camp we make straight for the HQ and go to the prison cells.” There wasn’t really a plan beyond that. They kind of had to hope for the best and try not to wake up the entire Roman force.

It was high time they mounted a rescue mission for Annabeth, and Jason was thrilled to be a part of it. He nodded as Percy went over the plan one more time, looking at the watch on his wrist as he stretched and limbered up his powers. They’d gone over this no fewer than a hundred times until they were sure that they were ready for whatever got thrown at them but Jason had been on enough missions to know that whatever could go wrong, usually did. “I’m ready.” He started to form a small ball of air between his hands, letting it grow incrementally. When called upon he’d be able to expand it rapidly and sweep them all into the air in the tiny blindspot during patrol shift change, “if anyone tries to get between us and my sister-in-law they are going to be fiercely sorry.” Annabeth was coming home with them; even if Jason had to burn New Rome to the ground to ensure it.

Lina had to prove to herself that she was helping the Greeks and not just wasting their space by being there. Being included in the plan to rescue Annabeth gave her the opportunity to be helpful, they needed Annabeth back. It was too dangerous to have her in the jails any longer as well. Lina nodded, swallowing back any nerves she had,”I’m ready too.” She hoped, prayed, that no one stopped them. She didn’t want to see anyone she knew, she didn’t want to have to fight anyone she knew. “Let’s hope that no one even sees us for long enough that they have the chance to get in between her and us.” She had a fierce look of determination on her face,”We’re getting her back tonight.”

Nodding at the pair of them, Percy set off running towards the wall. He let Jason lead the way as he stirred up air and condensed it into a tight ball that he would use in an ingenious way, of that Percy was certain. Swallowing nervously, Percy felt his heart flutter nervously. He didn’t want to think about what could happen if this went wrong. Jason and he were the leadership of the Greek’s right now. But they couldn’t trust anyone else to do this. This was something that they were going to have to do themselves. As they reached the wall, their two minutes ended and Jason propelled them all through the air over the spikes of the palisade and gently landing on top of the wall. There shouldn’t be another guard patrol for two minutes. They had to move.

Keeping pace with Percy, Jason streamlined his thoughts to focus on making them fly and nothing else, “Stay close please. The smaller I have to make this the easier it is.” He judged their approach to the wall and twisted his hands, letting the orb he’d been carefully controlling spread and encompass them, lifting them into the air and setting them down on top of the wall. The minute he knew their feet were safely on the ground he let the orb go, steadying himself with a few deep breaths. “Alright. I didn’t smash us into a wall. Good start. 120 seconds on the clock we gotta move.” He focused his thoughts again, causing a small patch of air to coalesce under everyone’s feet, “i can keep this up while we’re running, but I gotta drop it if we get into combat. But this should help with the stealth aspect. It’ll keep us pretty close to silent as long as we don’t run into anything. Lead on, friends. I”m just here to fly us in and out and set people on fire with electricity!” he tried to keep his voice light but he knew exactly how much rested on this mission. If it failed, the Senate’s forces would have captured the entirety of the Greek leadership and would have the means for complete control. They could not afford to fail.

Flying through the air to get on top was a wall was something Lina had never done before. She could say, confidently, she did not like it. She let out a little puff of breath when they safely landed, her teeth gritting a little bit. She started to count down in her head, making sure she knew how much time they had left. She nodded, with a small smile,“We’re going to need to be very stealthy, so this helps a lot. It’s a great idea.” She wondered if she was ever going to get out of her habit of positive reinforcement. She took a deep breath before beginning to head towards HQ, attempting to watch out for any legionnaires that could see them. They couldn’t get spotted. “Let’s get there as quickly as we can.”

As they snuck through the night, Percy weaved through legion buildings; barracks, the stables and storage rooms whizzing by as they made their way towards the central building. The plan had been to go in through the back, and so Percy went for the delivery entrance, knowing that it would be lightly guarded at this time. Though it was difficult to be sure about this with everything that was going on. The Romans could’ve completely changed their system. They all knew it. Sneaking through he slipped behind the Camp HQ and moved towards the fire door at the back. Taking out a tool that a son of Hephaestus had given him, he watched the door pop out of the hinges of the frame and slipped silently into the Camp HQ. “Jason, you or Lina should lead the way, I don’t know where I’m going like you guys do. I didn’t spend as much time here.”

Jason managed to keep his laughter under control when Percy talked about how much time he’d spent in the Headquarters. Jason had practically lived in here before the Exile and even that seemed a lifetime ago as they snuck through the darkened hallways, “For how many nights I spent sleeping on the couch in my office I should know my way around here.” He breathed out, a hair below a whisper, praying they wouldn’t have to fight anyone in the building. There was no way they could have a quiet conflict without bringing everyone inside down on them and that would make it profoundly more difficult to get to Annabeth and back out again, “You know, back in my day, we would have just bribed Nico with McDonald’s to do this for us. That man’ll do anything for a large french fry.”

Lina let Jason led them through HQ, she was familiar with it, of course, but she had always spent more time with her cohort than in her office. She trusted that he knew exactly where to go, which was reassuring to her. “To be fair, I think anyone would do anything for those fries.” She didn’t even eat fast food, but she knew that those fries were tempting. She kept in pace with the other two, though it was a bit of adventure for her, considering she quite short compared to them. “What are we going to do about the guards around her?”

Pausing for a moment, Percy and the group crept through the silent halls of the HQ. Swallowing nervously, Percy watched as they made their way into a small control hub. They’d made their way down several flights of stairs and into the basement of their building and as he spotted two guards he realised that he would have to answer Lina’s question. “I’m sorry, but we really don’t have all that much of a choice, we’re going to have to kill them.” Turning to Jason, he pulled a sliver of water from the water stored in his backpack and hardened it into a long dart. “You take the one on the right and I will deal with the one on the left?” He didn’t even wait, knowing that his friend would do exactly what was needed.

Nodding tersely Jason readied himself, answering Lina’s question as he took a fighting stance. “We’re only here to rescue one person. Anyone who comes between her and us dies. Hopefully quickly, but the longer this war rages the more comfortable I find myself with the idea of torturing someone.” He saw Percy ready a lethal spike of ice and gathered some lightning around his fist, “You got it.” Staying low to the ground he dashed towards his assigned guard before punching him in the chest, and letting the electricity stored in and around his fist travel to the man’s heart; first stopping it, and then burning it to ash inside the man’s chest. As he pulled away there was a fist sized charred mark in the man’s armor. “Done.”

Lina stared mutely at the two of them for a few seconds, before opening her mouth to speak. “You know I know how to blind or bind people with spells? Send people into madness so they can’t even function for while.” A crease made its way between her eyebrows, as she pointedly ignoring the bodies that had fallen at the hands of her allies. She knew that death came with war, she had killed people herself, but they could have asked. “Or even made an illusion so no one would see us walk by them?” That one was pushing what she could do; three people was a lot, moving made it even more difficult, and illusions weren’t her best subject, but they had had more options than killing. “We always have a choice,” She said a bit tensely as she started to walk in further, leaving the two others behind her. This wasn’t easy for her. She didn’t want to kill people who didn’t have to die.

Stepping into the control room, Percy headed over to the desk in search of a manifest of some kind so that they could begin to search for Lina. “A blinded or bound prisoner isn’t something that we can afford on top of this,” he replied with a shake of his head, “believe me I wish that there was another way,” he looked at the small hole in the back of the head of the body of the man he’d killed. It wasn’t something that he was really happy with doing, but it was necessary. He’d been separated from his wife for far too long. Pausing for a moment he begun rummaging through the desk in search of any clue for Annabeth’s whereabouts. “We have lots of belief in you, we know what you’re capable of, but we’re not acting rashly, if there were a better way then we would’ve gone with it, I promise.”

Stepping over the corpse he’d left on the floor Jason wiped human detritus from his fist. “Believe me we do know you can do that. And in times of espionage your skills will become incalculably important. But while this is a time for stealth, it isn’t one for overt kindness.” He stood watch by the door while Percy scoured the control room “This is a moment for a message. Any attempt to capture or imprison the Greek leadership will be met with a proportional amount of violence. This is war, and I’d really like this to be the last one I ever fight in so I am going to make it count.” He cocked an ear as he listened for anything that might interrupt them, “I hear someone upstairs but you’re good for the moment, P.” While he didn’t necessarily share his adopted brother’s belief that he wished there was another way, this wasn’t the time for his bloody rampage. They needed to get in and out swiftly.

Watching them with a grim expression, Lina couldn’t help but think that they were excusing their behavior. They wanted them to pay, she thought, make them suffer. It made sense to take out as many people as they could, they needed to weaken the Roman side of things. There should be other ways to doing it. She kept her thoughts to herself. War made people different. She had a feeling if one of her loved ones was in this prison she wouldn’t be thinking this way. That thought didn’t make her feel better. She cleared her throat,“If I were to be dealing with Annabeth, I would put her as deep and far in as I could. Solitary confinement… And I wouldn’t keep record of where she is. It would be too easy that way, since they know you’d be coming sooner or later.”

Nodding gently, Percy smiled at Lina. “That is some good thinking there,” he said, “lead the way, I’m assuming you’ll be more familiar than me.” He raised Riptide and pulled the doors closed. Locking them as best he could with funiture just in case. “I don’t know how long we’ve got,” he said with a stroke of his beard. In the months of the war he’d allowed it to grow in thick and bushy. “I can’t imagine that this will go undiscovered for too much longer, but we’ll have to risk it.” They had come this far. There was no turning back. It was now or never and he had to find Annabeth. His conscience couldn’t take another night without her by his side. “Let’s go,” he said, setting off towards a door.

Though it wasn’t strictly a moment for smiling, Jason couldn’t help but crack one, “If they’re smart it’s not us they should be worried about, but her uncovering all of their plans while they think she’s sitting good and captured.” He helped Percy barricade the door and nodded towards Lina, indicating that she should be the one to take the lead, “It won’t. We’ll be in the thick of it soon enough. I’d just like to have Annabeth broken out before the shit hits the fan too strongly.” He ran a hand over the blonde stubble on his jaw, unconsciously mimicking his best friend, “Let’s go indeed. Time to bring Annabeth home.”

“Was that a joke about me being in prison?” Lina asked Percy with a quirk of her lip, her expression amused. He was correct however, she knew more about the prison than most did. She had gotten familiar with it by the time she had been arrested, she had figured shed end up there sooner or later. She watched them with a little smile. “You’re at the wrong door. It’s this one,” She pointed with an amused look. She walked towards the door, pulling it open as quietly as she could,“I imagine the guards get more dense as we go in. She’s a rather… High profile prisoner.”

“It could’ve been an orange is the new black joke, so count yourself lucky.” Sighing, Percy took his hand from the door handle and turned to head back towards Lina and Jason. Rubbing his eyes tiredly, he shook his head and forced himself to focus. He couldn’t mess this up. “The number of guards they have aren’t going to give them any help,” he said confidently as they made their way deeper into the heart of the prison. He wondered how deeply this went. He’d never really given any thought to the New Roman prison system, after all there was virtually no visible crime, or there hadn’t been until recently. Was this their prison? He wasn’t sure but as they trekked further in it became clear that there were signs that directed them deeper.

The deeper they went into the tunnels the less Jason felt the need to contribute anything to the conversation. He’d known, in some small way, that there’d been a place for people to be kept under lock and key but he hadn’t expected it to be this vast. He tapped his fingers quietly against the warm gold of his spear, flipping it into its sword form as the tunnels got a little tighter. He followed Lina and Percy and looked around; when they won this war this would be something they’d change. There wouldn’t be any need for dark secret prisons. As he watched Percy rub his eyes he quickened his pace slightly to bring him level with his friend, squeezing his shoulder tightly and shooting him a commiserating and loving look. As hard as all of this had been on Jason, it must have been a hundred times harder on Percy. At least Jason was alone in all this, P had his wife to worry about.

There was a growing sense of despair growing in Lina’s chest. The last time she was here, she had witnessed Callum dying. She took a breath to steady herself, she had to focus on what she was here for. There was no room for her to think about this. Not when Annabeth was in this prison. She couldn’t think about it. “I feel like we’re coming close to the section she could be in.” She whispered as they walked. Finally, they come to a corner and Lina rounded it.

The moment Annabeth had been taken had been the moment she’d begun to plan her escape. Snatched from her wedding and her new husband, she’d been furious as she’d been thrown into a cell, kicking and yelling all the way until her imprisoners had simply opted to hit her over the head to knock her out, finally silencing her. Now...these few weeks later— her plan to escape had finally come to fruition, though after she’d managed to break out of her cell, and had her constant guard lured away she was left to trying to find the way out of the prison. After watching the guards she was certain she was heading the right direction, but as footsteps could be heard nearby, she tensed and readied herself for a confrontation. The skirmish would have to be quick and quiet should she want to avoid detection, so as the first footsteps began to round the corner— Annabeth was aiming to sweep the feet of whoever was coming out from underneath them from an iron bar she’d extricated from her cell.

Sensing the impending strike, Percy stepped around the corner ahead of Lina and as the iron bar lashed out he feel it scrape out one of his legs, sending him stumbling over into a wall. As his shoulder made a semi painful impact with the wall he couldn’t help yelping from the surprise of it all. What was even more surprising was to see a blonde girl on the other end of it. She looked thinner than he remembered. Her cheekbones sticking through her skin with high ridges, not to mention that there was a determined look in those all to familiar storm grey eyes. Dropping Riptide, he had barely suppressed his yelp when he pulled her into a tight bear hug, furiously holding his wife as close to him as he possibly could. “I’m so glad I finally found you,” he whispered quietly, “I’ve been so worried.”

A couple of things happened in quick succession, and unintentional spousal abuse aside, Annabeth’s return was the most important of them. “What did I fucking say?” Jason couldn’t help the broad smile that crept across his face, “I fucking told you she’d break out on her own when she was good and ready because she’s smarter than the rest of us rolled together.” He waited until Percy’s hug had finished before taking Annabeth’s Hand and squeezing it, brushing a kiss across her knuckles “welcome back, princess. We’ve missed you.” A quick examination of the situation brought more to his mind though, “if you’ve escaped that means they know you’re gone and probably looking for you. So we should probably get a move on and get the fuck out of here. I can probably take us airborne as soon as we get outside. As long as we stay real close to each other. I think a quick getaway should be the name of the game.”

Lina watched the reunion quietly, not knowing Annabeth well enough to really celebrate as the other two did. “I’m glad to see you out,” She told her quietly, keeping her watch on their surroundings. They didn’t need to get a surprise attack while they were hugging. “Let’s hope they haven’t found the bodies yet either, they’ll just add more fuel to this fire.�� She glanced around, distaste for the prison coloring her features just the slightest bit,“And I doubt any of us want to be in here any longer, so we should try to get out of here as soon as we can.”

At first, Annabeth didn’t register who it was she’d hit with the bar until she heard a familiar voice crying out. She knew that yelp. Though she didn’t drop the bar from her hand, as instinct told her to never let go of a weapon, she did give a gasp of surprise as the revelation overcame her, and raw emotion swept through her as she threw her arms around her husband, planting a fierce kiss on him. She had little more to say than his name, as the shock of seeing him was too overwhelming. “Thank the gods you’re alright.” Perhaps it was strange coming from the one who had been locked up, but they were in a war. Then she was giving a laugh at Jason’s words, sending him a broad smile and realizing she wasn’t certain of the last true laugh she’d had. “And I’ve missed you, obviously. But you’re right, we need to get out of here. They didn’t see me escape and I haven’t heard any alarms yet but—” Just then a loud blaring filled the structure, as if the Fates couldn’t resist teasing Annabeth.

As she kissed him, Percy felt his heart flutter like it had the first time she had kissed him in the heart of Mt Etna. Lifting her into the air, he held her light frame (which seemed to have gotten lighter after her time in captivity) and basked in her golden presence for a second. “Of course I’m alright,” he replied, “you got yourself captured and someone had to be the responsible adult and keep the rest of alive. Fortunately Jason did that and I’ve been trying to help however I could.” Reaching over his back, he pulled his rucksack off and drew the drakon sword from the jagged sheath they’d strapped to the side, handing it to Annabeth he began to make his way back the way they’d came as the alarms blared. “It might not be us,” he said hopefully as they made their way up a flight of metal stairs, “maybe something else has happened and we can use this to escape?” However as he said that he knew it couldn’t be true, they weren’t that lucky.

“He’s been doing such a good job, too!” Jason chirped as he kept an eye peeled for guards, “He earned a bunch of good boy points while you were away.” When the alarms started to blare he couldn’t help but heave a sigh, “I just want one excursion with you two that doesn’t end with us running from people trying to imprison us. I know I’m the third wheel in this marriage but you don’t have to try to get me thrown in jail for it.” He rolled his eyes at Percy as they ran up the stairs, “alright. So. These, if I remember correctly, lead to the roof. I can try to fly us to freedom when we get there, if we wanna try that way. Percy, you’ll have to carry Annabeth, and Lina you’ll have to climb on my back so we occupy as little airspace as possible. But that’s certainly an option. Thoughts? Questions? Concerns?” He felt like he was going to need a ten hour nap after this.

Already, the presence of Annabeth’s two favorite people in the entire world were doing wonders for her, though she couldn’t banish these difficult times in the prison from her mind entirely, even with the two sun spots of Percy and Jason. Another laugh of joy fell from her as Percy spinned her, as she felt as if she’d gained back a part of herself and she returned his kiss eagerly before the alarm had gone off. Unfortunately, it meant that their reunion was short lived, all feelings of coming to life once more having to be put on hold in favor of escaping. But the feel of her sword in her hand was more than welcome, and just another thing that made her feel as if she were coming back to the world. If she had more energy and hadn’t been locked up for weeks, she might have made a joke about why Jason hadn’t offered Annabeth to carry Percy, but this wasn’t the time. “But then we wouldn’t be us,” she settled for saying with a small grin. “It sounds good enough to me, but if Percy and Lina could provide us with air cover from any archers as we fly away that’d be ideal.”

There was a bitter taste in Lina’s mouth watching the sweet reunion between Annabeth and the two men with them. She was with people who loved her. She didn’t want to be bitter, didn’t want to think of what she gave up for this war, but she couldn’t help but wonder, how would those she had to leave react to seeing her again. “I’m fine with being on your back. It shouldn’t be an issue.” Her jaw set as she thought of potential spells she could use for that. “I’m okay at manipulating the Mist, so I could potentially keep us from view, or at least make us less noticeable. Elemental spells are harder for me than other spells, I usually deal in emotional, but I could attempt to use some air manipulation to make it harder to hit us, if it came to that,”She bit the side of her cheek thinking,“Most spells require view of the person you’re using them against, so blinding isn’t really something I can do in the dark.”

Annabeth was back by his side and for Percy that is all that mattered. As he took the stairs three at a time, they eventually broke out onto a flat roof. Stepping through the door he held it open and ushered them all through after him. “Jason are you sure about this?” he asked his friend nervously, biting his lip slightly as he worried that their combined weight might well be too much for their friend to cope with. Swallowing nervously, he looked over the edge and saw a flurry of activity below them as lights flickered on and the Romans rushed towards the HQ. “Four people is a lot for you up carry and they’ll have the giant eagles out sooner rather than later. Are we sure there isn’t a better way?”

As they burst out onto the roof Jason started breathing heavily. He always found saturating his body with oxygen was conducive to controlling the air around him… at least until he hyperventilated so much he passed out, “I’m like… a solid 85% sure of it.” he muttered, judging the distance he’d have to fly them before they could land safely, “I’ve definitely flown further, but with fewer people, so I sort of feel like it all comes out in the wash? But you definitely can’t let them land a shot on me or we’re all going to fucking have a bunch of broken bones and probably some closed head injuries. But hey… I”m game.”

Perhaps Annabeth should have offered kinder words to Jason that those she was going to speak, but in their current situation, she knew he would still recognize the well-meaning tease behind them. “If you came to break me out only to drop me out of the sky, you’ll have another thing coming, Jason Grace,” she said before looping her arms around Percy’s neck, waiting for their lift off. The feel of Percy under her touch was something she wanted to revel in, having been denied of it for so long after near constant companionship, but there was no time for such luxuries still. She’d just had to make do with the knowledge that there would be time for it later. “I haven’t even had my honeymoon yet so you better not disappoint,” she said towards those that were responsible for shielding them from archers and the like. She’d do her best to block any that came within her reach

Rupturing a pipe that ran along the roof of the headquarters, Percy dragged the water towards them. He visualised exactly what he wanted to happen and wrapped the water around them in a tight shield that would protect them from any aggressive volleys and as Annabeth stepped into his arms once more he was forced to hoist the water into mid air with his mind, large blobs of water momentarily hovering in front of him as he held the water aloft. “Well, if we’re going to do it now then we’d better get started, the sooner we go the better,” already he could see people scrambling up the outside walls of the fortress, presumably to take positions of an offensive nature.

Lina took a deep breath, before climbing onto Jason’s back. This seemed so dangerous. She should have offered to figure out a way out on her own. This was risky. She could try to manipulate the mist around the water to make it darker, but they already knew they were there. It was better to take a more offensive measure and get ready to use some spells. “Just so you know I have to use my hands for spells, so if I let go of you with my hands, don’t get worried that I’m about to jump off or anything.”

Nodding tersely, Jason took several more deep breaths before turning and nodding at Percy, “Jump off a cliff with me?” Already knowing the answer he made sure Lina was sitting comfortably on his back before charging towards the edge of the roof. The more velocity he could gain on the ground the easier it would be to propel them through the air. Looking to make sure Percy was next to him he leaped off the edge, simultaneously expanding a bubble of low pressure air around the four of them. The exertion was unlike anything he’d had to do before and he could feel the strain in the back of his brain, slowly bleeding him dry. “Oh shit.” He muttered, guiding them as swiftly as he could towards the wall they’d be safe behind, “Definitely not opening an airline.”

“Only because you asked so nicely,” Percy plucked Annabeth off the roof and held her in his arms, smiling reassuringly at her he hurtled towards the edge and hurled himself off into the air. For a moment they tumbled and then Jason caught him, Percy saw the Romans take aim and threw his wall of water beneath them. Arrows rippled into the liquid, hanging there before tumbling back towards the ground but he knew they weren’t out of the woods yet. “Lina!” he shouted looking at Jason with concern, he could only imagine the strain placed on his shoulders, “see if you can do anything to keep them busy.” Willing the clouds around him to drop, Percy grasped the water in them and dropped it below them to give them a bit of cloud cover. Looking at Annabeth only steeled his resolve to get them out of this safe.

The effort he was having to exert into making sure they didn’t crash into a building or the ground was unlike anything Jason had ever experienced before. He could feel the oxygen being drawn from his body, his lungs, his blood as he kept them aloft and he knew they wouldn’t make it over the wall. “Have to land on top.” He gasped out, blackness closing in around his eyes. “Can’t keep afloat.” He landed on the rough stone, gasping for air as spots floated in front of his eyes, feeling the stone ground him in reality. “I’m sorry. I really tried. I just couldn’t keep going.” Several things then happened in quick succession. There was the twang of an arrow, he noticed the small explosive attached to the arrowhead that landed next to him, and then there was sound and fire and pain. He pushed Lina fully behind him before he felt the shrapnel impact his body, and in the next moment felt the most uncomfortable sensation of something entering his eye socket “oh fuck” was the only set of words he could manage before he was blinded by both blood and whatever had entered his left eye socket. “I can feel it grating against my fucking skull!!!” This was rapidly turning from bad to even worse. “Get down get down the wall I can hold them I think” he brought up a wall of wind and shoved it towards the Romans, trying to wipe the blood from his eye. “Percy” he whispered, knowing Percy would be the last to escape, “Percy I can’t see.”

Gods what the fuck was happening. Lina hadn’t imagined things would go this poorly this quickly. She started to breath quickly trying to figure out exactly what to do. Fire… Fire would be good, people would panic because of what happened to the Senate. The city was basically off limits for people, so she imagined that with the amount of people in the area, a fire would be a huge concern. A magical fire even more so. Jason, Annabeth, and Percy were not people who could die or get captured again. They were the biggest part of this whole thing for the Greeks. Their people needed their leaders. Taking a deep breath, she whipped around to them. “I can probably light some of the buildings on fire. I have to be here to do it though. You all can’t be here. Your people need you to get back to the camp, okay? I can figure out my own way back, if I have to. It’ll hopefully be enough to distract them for a while, so you can get out of here.” She could figure a way out and if she couldn’t at least she’d be doing something for them.

The Romans were swarming out of Camp after them, Percy could see torches both electrical and flame flickering to life in the darkness as they made their way towards them. Pulling nectar out of one of the rucksacks that they’d brought he unscrewed the cap from the flask and pinned Jason down. “I’m sorry hermano but this is going to hurt,” he clenched his teeth and poured the nectar over the wound which steamed gently as the flesh reacted to the godly liquid. “Lina, I appreciate the suggestion, but I’d rather not set anything on fire if we can help it. Here is the plan. Annabeth, you take Jason and you go ahead of us, Lina and I will follow along and delay them as much as we can. But we’re not going to take any stupid risks if we can help it. We’re just doing enough to get us to the Lake District.” Standing, he pulled Jason to his feet and passed him his spear. “Use this as a walking stick, we need to go. Straight away. Now.”

Annabeth had cried out when Jason was hit, her stomach plummeting some degrees as she instantly scrambled to try and get to him. Thankfully, Doctor Percy was on the scene— but she could tell that the wound wasn’t one that would be easy to rectify. If they wanted a better chance of saving Jason’s eyesight, they had to get him to a child of Apollo or doctor fast. She was also thankful that her husband had shot down Lina’s idea, as she’d been just about to do that same thing. Perhaps it wasn’t the best that Annabeth should lead Jason to safety, as she wasn’t all too familiar with the current theaters of war and whose territory was who after being imprisoned, but his words of the Lake District made it easy enough to guess that they had taken refuge in the underwater training facility. A moment later, Annabeth was looping Jason’s arm around her shoulders, and hefting some of his weight onto herself as she began the process of helping him to safety. “Of course you had to go and get shot in the eye,” she tried to joke, though there was an obvious strain of worry in her voice. “You just couldn’t resist stealing my thunder.” The pun was intended, trying to distract whatever pain Jason might be feeling as she pushed onwards.

The flame of the nectar on his skin was very nearly enough to knock Jason out of any semblance of consciousness “son of a bitch.” He grit out between his teeth as the bleeding slowed somewhat. Leaning on the spear that Percy handed him he attempted to wipe blood away from his one good eye “if you aren’t five minutes behind us, eye or no eye I’m coming back for you. I’m not leaving anymore people behind.” Jason slung his arm over her shoulder and they started moving as quickly as they could in the direction of safety. “Annabeth.” He managed to grit out, every movement stretching at the myriad cuts on his face and chest, “I have what feels like roughly a five inch shard of stone in my fucking eye socket… and your shitty thunder pun was more painful than that.” He squeezed her shoulder, “Thank the Gods you’re back. We couldn’t live without you any longer.”

Lina almost rolled her eyes, because really she should have seen everyone telling her no to that plan. She resisted the urge to grumble about it, because even if it was half baked, at least it would have helped everyone else get out. “I could make an illusion, doesn’t hurt anyone, but it’ll distract a few?” Then she paused,“Can you make fog, Percy? Like heavy can’t see ten feet in front of you fog. If you can do that, I can make it seem like we’re going in a different direction. Or at least they’ll lose us in the fog.” It was the only thing she could really come up with at this point, her brain working slower than she really wanted it to. It was a bit frustrating to Lina, her powers were better at one to one, and she hadn’t really discovered that at this scale until now.

Frowning gently, Percy ran his hand over his facial hair for a moment before shrugging. “There is a lot of water in the air all the time and I can at least try,” he had to admit that he wasn’t really sure what he was doing but right now he was desperate. They had to get out of here so that Jason could see a doctor, he’d seen the wound to the eye and he knew that it wasn’t good. The longer that they were out here the more dangerous it would be for all of them, and he too didn’t want to have to leave anyone behind. “You’re being paranoid,” he replied with a false laugh, it felt hollow but he had to keep morale up or at least try to. “I don’t know how well this is working,” Percy said as the air in front of them misted up slightly, a gentle fog beginning to grow, but it was hardly anything thick. “I don’t know if this is working,” he grunted as he spotted the first Romans in the distance, “whatever you’re planning on doing I’d do it now.” He strained with all his will, doing everything he could to blanket them in a thick mist.

Lina was being paranoid, but she was was fine being called out for it. She would rather not take any chances on them being followed. “This will help at least make it more realistic,” She said, knowing that illusions at this level tended to not match up as well to the real versions as less grand attempts did. Her hands began moving in a rapid movement, while she whispered under her breath. Suddenly there was two slightly see through mirror images of their group. “They’ll follow what we do, just in opposite directions. They won’t know exactly where we go, unless they all split up to do it.” She shrugged at Percy,“It’s better than nothing.” She already looked more tired, but she wasn’t slowing her pace. “Let’s go, we don’t need them to worry about us.” She said nodding in the direction of Jason and Annabeth, her mirror images doing the same. As they moved, the images branched away from them going out diagonally.

As they returned to the Greek sanctuary Jason sloughed his arm off from around Annabeth’s shoulder and leaned against a doorway, looking out into the he was sure magically growing fog. “Come on, P.” He whispered, wiping blood from his good eye. He could hear the sound of boots behind him, undoubtedly coming to whisk him into surgery, “Not until everyone’s back.” He snapped, holding up a bloody hand. He saw shapes in the fog, identifiable vaguely as his friends, and raised both his arms. Summoning any kind of wind was agony, but he made sure the gale came down behind them; blowing dust and debris in the eyes of anyone who was attempting pursuit “THIS REALLY FEELS LIKE MORE THAN FIVE MINUTES, PERCY.” He shouted above the howling winds, “I’M GONNA BLEED OUT IF YOU DON’T PUT SOME PEP IN THAT STEP”

Annabeth’s own lips were pursed as she waited for her husband to appear, and it had taken all her will power to insist that he retreat with her and Jason rather than trail behind. They’d be seperated for weeks, and immediately after finally reuniting they’d simply separated again. But she’d known it was their best bet of all getting out alive,especially after Jason had been so severely injured. After she barked at one of the scouts who’d come to see what commotion was approaching the Greek safehold to grab a medic for Jason’s eye, she turned her voice to join the son of Zeus’ calls into the wind. “If you don’t get back here this instant whole and alive, I’m divorcing you!”

Sprinting through the streets of New Rome, Percy could see Lina alongside him. He could feel sweat trickling down his cheek as he took a corner. Jason and Annabeth’s voices rung out across the cobbled streets. He could hear the Romans in the distance and as they made it across Greek lines he leaned against a wall and gasped for breath. “Not…” he gasped, “if ….” he took in another breath, “I divorce you first.” He wiped sweat from his brow and looked at Lina, before smiling and pulling Annabeth into a tight hug. “Gods, I’ve missed you so much, but someone needs to get Jace to a doctor.” Moving to his taller friend, he wrapped a strong arm around him and took Jason’s weight from his wife. “C’mon J,” he grunted.

#f&gwar #f&gwriting #chatzy para #para #p: lina #p: annabeth #p: jason #gore tw #blood tw #death tw #serious injury tw

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couldnt-think-of-a-funny-name · 7 years ago

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can you sort the percy Jackson characters into Hogwarts houses?

YES.

okay so let’s all remember: Gryffindor- ‘courage, bravery, nerve and chivalry’, Hufflepuff -‘hard work, patience, justice and loyalty’, Ravenclaw- ‘intelligence, creativity, learning and wit’, and Slytherin- ‘ambition, cunning, leadership and resourcefulness’.

Annabeth Chase- Ravenclaw, she’s definitely one of the easier ones when it comes to this. While she would fit nicely into other houses, her intelligence and wit are almost always what saves her ass. She’s a great fighter but she prefers talking her way out of situations, disarming her enemies with words. Not to mention she had Arachne weave her own trap on the spot, like, come on.

Thalia Grace- Slytherin. She could definitely fit into Gryffindor, but Thalia’s very ambitious, resourceful as hell, and her fatal flaw is literally being power hungry. She slides into leadership roles automatically and gets enraged when someone tries to question her authority or ability (see: all her fights with Percy, ever). She’s definitely most at home in this house.

Luke Castellan- Hufflepuff. He’s literally a poster boy for the puffs before he joins Kronos. ‘But wait,’ you say, ‘he should be Slytherin, he was cunning and resourceful and leading Kronos’ army!’ NO HE WASN’T. He was following Kronos’ orders and acting like a mouthpiece 90% of the time! Luke had a strong sense of loyalty- and it was used against him. He had a strong sense of justice- and he felt everyone the gods wronged deserved that. He was a hard worker and crazy patient as a camp counselor and those traits came into play when he was working for Kronos. This boy is a Hufflepuff. He also personally recovered Kronos’ remains, so, like, he’s even a particularly good finder.

Grover Underwood- Hufflepuff. Honestly I shouldn’t even really have to explain this one, but: there’s a reason Pan chose him as a replacement. Grover puts his literal everything into whatever task he’s given, whether that be searching for pan, restoring the wild, or protecting demigods. Unfailingly loyal, extremely patient with all the ridiculous demigods around him, and always willing to fight for what’s right even if he’s scared. I love my hufflepuff goat boy!!!

Rachel Elizabeth Dare- Gryffindor. She’d fit in so well in Ravenclaw, to the point where I wanna say ‘fuck it’ and put her there, but like…this girl found out the boy she had almost died around twice was half god and immediately believed him and went Ride Or Die for him. She lead a bunch of potentially crazy strangers through the freaking death trap maze on a hunch that she could. She highjacked a helicopter and flew it into a warzone to help her friend. She let an ancient prophetic spirit posses her body even though she knew the last person who tried lost their mind. She hit the titan lord Kronos in the eye with a plastic hairbrush, and then immediately decided that hairbrush was the only weapon she would ever need to defend herself with, even though everyone else around her has swords or fangs. This girl is batshit crazy impulsive and filled to the brim with nerve, Gryffindor is where she belongs. I love her bye.

Bianca di Angelo- Gryffindor. She was always a little more hesitant than the others, but when push came to shove she always took risks to do what she thought was right. My baby was brave as hell okay.

Zoe Nightshade- Slytherin. She was a great leader for centuries, and dreamed big for the future of the hunters even when she knew she was going to die. Was literally one of the most pulled together people in this entire series. Resourceful as shit. She was also very set in the ways of her past, a common trait among slytherins- she just couldn’t bring herself to care about the mortal world outside of when it directly effected her, and often put up a fight when she had to conform to it. Slytherins are also often very loyal to their own, and, well, we all remember how her story ended. She would do anything for Artemis. I’m literally still crying over her okay bye.

Nico di Angelo- Hufflepuff. I will not stand for all these slytherin Nico posts any longer, guys!!! This boy is a hufflepuff!!!!! Holy shit!! Okay, like, the slytherin traits? He hates leadership, his only ambition is to not have severe depression, and??? cunning??? This fucking loser cunning???? Like, sure, he hid the camps from each other but like…not well. Everyone knew he was hiding something, just no one bothered to press him on it that hard lmao. And he doesn’t do ANYTHING for his own personal gain. He belongs in hufflepuff- Nico is loyal to a fault. He’s been double crossed so many times because it just didn’t occur to him that people would take advantage of him, because he personally would never do that to someone. Nico di Angelo has every reason under the sun to want to betray the gods and he just…doesn’t. He never even considers it for a second, because he has a strong sense of right and wrong, and even if he feels like an outsider at camp that’s still the place where his loyalties lie. Percy, as a narrator, has had moments where he’s been suspicious of Nico’s motives, but he’s never once doubted Nico’s intent. He doesn’t always know if he can trust Nico as a friend but he’s absolutely sure Nico will always be an ally. Nico’s an incredibly hard worker even if he doesn’t let it show to the others, but he’s always pushing himself to his absolute limits to help. And like, again, half the time he doesn’t actually have to work so hard to help, some people never really even expect him to help at all- but he goes out of his way because he knows it the right thing to do. He holds grudges and lashes out in anger because his sense of justice is almost overpowering. This kid is a hufflepuff and I’ll actually fight you on it.

Ethan Nakamura- Gryffindor. He’s…really hard to place, honestly, but I think this spot fits him better than slytherin. Even if he was misguided, he was very brave and had a lot of nerve.

Charles Beckendorf- Gryffindor. This boy was literally everything Godric Gryffindor had in mind when he created the house. He’s a Gryffindor wet dream. Had a lot of nerve, was a big brother to basically everyone in camp, and readily sacrificed himself for the greater cause. My brave boy I miss him.

Silena Beauregard- Hufflepuff. She was extremely loyal, even if she put her faith in the wrong people at points. Sacrificed herself trying to do what she knew was right. Very hardworking and always willing to help anybody. I love her sm.

Clarisse LaRue- Slytherin. Literally who’s more ambitious and resourceful than Clarisse. Who loves taking charge more than Clarisse. No one. No one at all. This girl is 100% Slytherin and she kicks ass doing it.

Will Solace- Hufflepuff. He tries so hard to help people!!! Patient enough to help Nico work through his shit!! Unfailingly loyal to his ridiculous father!!! Never shown to be anything other than a sweet guy who just wants to do good in the world. This goofball sunshine is precious.

Jason Grace- Hufflepuff. Jason often finds himself in positions of power, even though he hates being in power, just because he’s the only one people know they can trust 100%. And he does it without complaining, and does everything he can to make sure everyone he’s working with is doing okay. He acts all stoic to try to make people feel more protected but this fucking dork is always stressed, Ride Or Dies for everyone he knows and if you ask him to describe any of his friends he’ll probably tear up while singing their praises to you. He works SO HARD to make sure everything is going okay, and strongly believes in teamwork. He’s patient enough to deal with, like, everyone he’s ever encountered, and always does what’s in the best interest for others. Speaks up to his father about honoring the forgotten gods because he knows it’s what’s right. A total screaming dork and I love my boy.

Piper McLean- Gryffindor. Like…half of her character arc is dedicated to her learning to be brave and fighting for what’s right. You need a lot of nerve and power to work charmspeak as well as she does, and she’s always ready to pull some ridiculous stunts. She starts out somewhat panicked and timid, but once she starts to grow she realizes that if anything’s gonna get done, it’s because she has to have the balls to do it herself. Will throw herself into dangerous situations, and is fiercely protective of her loved ones. Literally ran into a temple of fear and terror and??? Completely conquered it and took over and used it to wreck a giant???? This girl is a brave badass and nobody should ever mess with her MY GIRL.

Leo Valdez- Ravenclaw. He??? Is literally a prodigy child??? Like I’m sorry I’m just so sick of people downplaying Leo’s intelligence. He understood complicated mathematics and basic engineering before he hit double digits. He captured and fixed Festus all by himself, in one night, when his entire cabin had been trying to do that for months. He found out he was a demigod and threw himself into studying ancient greek history. He designed the entire Argo, is the only person who can fly it and fully understands how it works, and is also the sole person who keeps it up and running with repairs. He figured out how the spheres work in record time, he’s always able to work out complicated riddles or problems. Remember that time he was about to crash into the ocean and he??? Taped the sphere to his chest and built a functioning personal helicopter to steer and soften his crash in like…under three minutes? That time he casually strolled into a grocery store and got all the stuff he needed to make a bomb in half an hour? He’s always making really little inventions that seem silly but are actually incredibly helpful? He’s hyper and goofy, sure, but Leo’s literally a genius. He’s incrediblely creative and fast thinking, loves learning and is always excited by new things. Please give my boy the credit he deserves.

Hazel Levesque- Hufflepuff. Hazel is honestly SO HARD to sort because she’d be a model Gryffindor honestly but like…She didn’t have to sacrifice herself to stop Gaea, but she did anyway because she knew it was the right thing to do. She sacrificed eternal happiness because she knew it wasn’t fair for her mother to suffer. She has a very strong sense of justice and is always willing to fight for it. She’s always giving her 110% when she’s working at anything, be it practicing magic or sword fighting, and it really pays off. She deals with her failures with grace and is unwavering when it comes to the people she loves. Queen.

Frank Zhang- Gryffindor. Literally his Whole Thing is that he has to be brave because he never knows when he’s gonna die. He’s always going to make sacrifices and fight for the people he cares because he’s set on burning bright. He’s got a lot of nerve, he just needs to be pushed to remember its there. A good leader whether he believes he is or not. Even when he’s not feeling confident, courage and bravery are the traits he admires and values most, and that’s what he wants to shoot for. I miss this teddy bear so much.

Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano - Gryffindor. Like…come on. This is one of the easier ones. She’s one of the most courageous people in the series. She has enough inner strength that she can lend it all to an entire army. She found the bravery to stand up to her father in defense of her sister. She survived being captured by pirates. She threw herself on top of a bomb to protect the Athena Parthenos. My girl is a custom made Gryffindor.

Calypso- Ravenclaw. She loves learning more than anything else, she’s super creative and ingenuitive, and is taking steps to learn magic again. High hopes for this girl I love her.

Octavian- Slytherin. Doesn’t need much explanation tbh. Very cunning, very ambitious, very power hungry. Willing to do anything to get his way. Remember that time he like, scammed Apollo and then further scammed his camp into basically making him pope??? Wild. I don’t miss him.

Meg McCaffrey- Gryffindor. She’s pretty hard to place but she’s arguably one of the braver characters, even if she doesn’t believe she is. She gets nervous and scared a lot but she’s often able to push past that and stay strong. Back talks everyone under the sun because she barely gives a fuck. At the end of the day she knows what’s right and wrong, and she wants to help.

Percy Jackson- Ravenclaw. Listen. Let me explain. First of all, Percy is SO HARD to place and I completely understand all the ridiculous discourse over whether he’s Gryffindor/Hufflepuff/Slytherin, but I NEVER see cases made for Ravenclaw Percy and I think it’s a travesty, because he’d fit in there quite nicely. So, listen, I know the boy has a bit of a bad rep for being slow, but like…most of the time he really isn’t? It’s just one of those things that got exaggerated. Percy’s a very observant person, he just doesn’t exactly always let the other characters know that. He’s not a straight A student, but we do know he’s not awful- a lot of times there will be moments where he directly goes “hey, I remember learning something like this in school!” and applies whatever it is to the situation. Some of his plans have been crazy or ridiculous, but they are creative, usually have some kind of logic behind them, and do often work out for him- when they had to get off the Thrill Ride O’ Love, when he used Thalia’s shield as a sled for them down a hill, when he pulled a stunt similar to that trying to get to camp Jupiter, when he somehow made a pulley system out of chains and pulled his giant half brother off the ground, stuff like that. Like Annabeth, he’s also very good at talking his way out of situations- he doesn’t always like to, but he can absolutely pull it off when he needs to. He’s a very smart talker, honestly, there are multiple instances of him managing to manipulate others into doing what he wants them to (not just the scene with Bob, which gets the most attention bc it was outside of his pov). He’s incredibly witty, in both definitions of the word, and often times it works to his advantage because other characters downplay his intelligence. He has a good sense for battle strategy, and he’s incredibly perceptive about his surroundings, often times picking up on things the others (even Annabeth!) miss. He has a strong intuition and things usually work out when he follows it. There’s more I can use to back this up but this is already long enough, point is- I think Percy is just an unconventional Ravenclaw. Like, upon meeting him you don’t immediately understand why he’s in that house, but it becomes clearer the more he opens up, like Luna, I guess? Anyway, I love my boy and he’s very smart please give him some credit.

Feel free to send me your guys’ opinions!!! :)

#pjo #hoo #toa #percy jackson #rick riordan #asks #molly mumbles

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rinfangs · 7 years ago

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reynabeth debate rivals au

annabeth takes debate super seriously

she started freshman year and was that novice that everyone was terrified of

she picks congress because it gives her a power trip but she grows to love it more than anything: the analyzing and strategy and real world translation fits in really well with her personality and her cross xs are brutal

reyna doesn’t start until senior year and she’s super lost: she loves being in leadership positions and being able to speak her mind but.. all the research and complicated lingo doesn’t really bode well for her rankings

even though she’s a pretty competitive person, she didn’t go into it with the intention of winning state or qualifying for nationals, she’s just satisfied with the experience

the first time annabeth sees reyna, she’s at the front of the room, halfway through her sponsorship speech and she almost loses her place?? because she’s been doing this for almost three years and she keeps track of her competitors and who the fuck is that cute girl in the back?

one bill later, reyna is speaking for the very first time about providing political aid to nigeria, and she’s so confident and her braid keeps swishing and she walks, so obviously annabeth is the first one up for cross x and she hits her with the hardest question in high school congressional debate history, and the way reyna’s expression falls she hates her impulsiveness

after the morning three hour session is done, annabeth walks up to reyna with the intention of apologizing for being so harsh, because she understands how nerve wracking first rounds are, but reyna just shoots her a Look and says “representative chase,” before walking away and who does she think she is??

she spends the lunch break ranting to percy and grover who are the most kickass PF duo, and the knowing look in their eyes manages to piss her off even more

annabeth goes back into the afternoon session with renewed determination, because what’s a better way to put some annoying novice in her place than ranking first? (which she does)

they continue that pattern throughout the season, and the people around them are obviously confused that they don’t even bother to pretend with the subtle politicking that makes congress unique. they manage to keep the animosity out of the judges eyes, but it just keeps building

reyna goes to a really small private school, so they send her to districts despite her inexperience and of course she and annabeth are in the same chamber, and annabeth is up front arguing negation for their final resolution and she’s been assertive and basically flawless all day and all the tension that’s been building just overflows. the look annabeth gives her when the presiding officer motions for her to ask a question only adds to her passive aggressive “senator chase…” she doesn’t really remember what she said after that, but it clearly was enough for annabeth to push aside her briefs and retort and the entire chamber stares at them as they snap at each other

the look on annabeth’s face is heartbreaking as she walks back to her seat, and reyna immediately feels horrible. she’s heard people talk about how dedicated annabeth is to debate, and she would’ve qualified for nationals this year if reyna hadn’t opened her mouth, and she couldn’t put into words how much she preferred annabeth’s fierce glares to her humiliated flush

awards only makes everything worse, when the both of them are ranked last and reyna could see the disappointed look that annabeth’s wheelchair clad coach shot her

she doesn’t need hylla’s prompting or gwen’s teasing to know what she has to do next: she catches annabeth as she’s shouldering her backpacks for the bus ride and is trying to blurt out an apology but the butterflies in her stomach won’t stop having strokes, and even though they’ve gone back and forth for the last couple months, she hasn’t said a single word to annabeth outside of rounds.

she barely stumbles through two words before annabeth turns the corners of her lips up and says that it’s okay, “it was my fault anyways i was a bitch first” to which reyna is deeply offended and this girl is so cute and why was she mad in the first place?

annabeth inhales and exhales and confesses that she always went at reyna during rounds because she liked talking to her and she was super out of her league and just lemme know when to stop please. reyna barely stutters through her confession because of the shock and annabeth kisses her as soon as she gets the idea across

“we really should work on your public speaking skills, though”

“shut the fuck up, representative chase.”

#reynabeth #Percy Jackon and the Olympians #Heroes of Olympus #reyna avila ramirez arellano #annabeth chase #ahhh they do congress because they have good judgement #anyways my novice season hasn't even started yet but if i dont get a cute debate gf by graduation im suing #and the whole snapping during cross x thing happens to my varsities all the time #alternatively: piper and rachel meet at speech tournaments #ch; annabeth #ch; reyna #headcanon #head canon #i forgot my tagging system #femslash #pjofemslashnet

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silvermlst · 8 years ago

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pjo/pacific rim

hi everyone ur friendly neighborhood nobody here about to post some IDEAS so here we go with some pjo pacific rim au! alright so i don't have much but here's the basics for like pilots and the likes Annabeth/Luke: Grey Lightning -they've been in the program since the beginning bc sadly a Kaiju killed their friend Thalia rip -they are like at the Top of Their Game like they have the action figures and the clothing lines designed after them they are the It Jaeger -one battle with a Kaiju is pretty rough and bangs them up a lot, Luke gets injured and it really shakes him up -once he recovers he bails on Annabeth and leaves the program without telling anyone -Annabeth is obviously Shook so she develops major trust issues bc even while in the drift Luke had kept that fear and wanting to leave from her -she becomes more like Mako/Pentecost in like a military leadership/strategist type position Percy/Grover: Rogue Tsunami -they literally are Drift Compatible in the books how could they not be co-pilots -this is a year or so after Luke leaves so they're the new #1 jaeger and they LOVE it -try not to let it go to their heads but they both own the Rogue Tsunami sneakers and action figures (with additional Kaiju) -the bro talk is never ending with them like Leo in the control room gets so tired of it sometimes -they're in the middle of taking down a Kaiju when BAM it goes for the left side (Grovers side) and Rogue Tsunami is down -Percy has to pilot alone and almost loses it 3 times but he makes it to shore somehow without dying while Grover is unconscious the whole time -Grover makes it out alive but can no longer walk normally so he gets crushes and officially retires from being a Jaeger pilot, much to the dismay of both of them :-( -Grover becomes the new Press Rep for all Jaeger pilots and still works closely with Percy cos that's his Best Bud how could he not?? -Percy is restless and trains and trains thinking he should've done better and blames himself entirely (although Grover disagrees 100%) -also Rogue Tsunami is totaled and has to be scrapped for parts instead of put in a museum (both percy and grover are very upset and hold a memorial service with Grover in a wheelchair singing "In the Arms of an Angel" and lots of blue food) Percy/Annabeth: Greek destruction?? Athena's storm? ??? idk yet -they become co-pilots p much how Mako and Raleigh do in the movie -but Annabeth's the one who is pestering Percy bc it's been so long since she's been out there but Percy still thinks it's been too soon (even though he's p restless himself) -Grover is the one who pushes Percy to agree to it (cue Emotional Speech with Tears about getting back out there and how Grover just can't be a pilot anymore :c ) -percy was going to give in anyways tho bc Annabeth is a higher rank than he is -they both chase the rabbit but not like in the movie, there is no threat of damage bc they both help each other immediately -they are (guess what) the NEW #1 -they steal the slot from Clarisse/Silena bc they have a newer Jaeger than them ha >:-) -honestly they are always just so happy that they are co-pilots and always so protective of each other on and off the battlefield -new toys new clothes new shoes new shows based off their Jaeger are made and it's amazing they make fun of everything -of course it turns romantic but not for a while and not until some serious injuries!! :} okay sorry this is so long lol let me know if u want more :-)

#pjo #percy jackson and the olympians #percy jackson #annabeth chase #grover underwood #luke castellan #pacific rim #pjo fic #pjo pacific rim #pjo au #percabeth #my posts

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1800-lemon-boy · 2 months ago

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Adding to this bc why not 🤷🏻

We see how having powers that can cause harm can affect you psychologically (mainly with Percy and Nico).

Imagine Will growing scared of his own powers, not knowing weither he’s healing someone or making them worse.

Imagine him looking at the blood on his hands and thinking about how maybe he killed them. Maybe he lost control of his abilities.

Imagine the fear of helping anyone, using ambrosia or nectar if mortal medicine isn’t good enough.

Imagine him being too scared to touch anyone because he doesn’t know what will happen.

Imagine him hiding his struggles behind a fake smile because he’s meant to be the happy, sunshine, healer boy.

Imagine him wishing he could talk to Micheal or Lee about this and remembering he can’t.

Imagine him looking at his blonde hair with hate.

He looks like a much younger version of his father.

The father who curse him with hands that can heal and hurt.

The father whose traits he inherited.

“No bad, all good”

Are plague powers good?

Is hurting people good?

Soon he can no longer even look at himself in the mirror without feeling disgust at what he can do.

Even if he eventually learns to live with the knowledge that he can hurt almost as good as he can heal, there will always be a small voice in the back of his mind telling him that maybe someone he loves is next.

Demigods never live that long anyway-

<33

I’ve seen a few headcanons (especially in fics) that Will solace actually is naturally brunette but when he was claimed by Apollo his hair turned blonde (weither it’s over time due to sun bleaching or straight away).

And I just wanted to say I love this so much purely because of how heartbreaking some of the implications can be. 🤗

It’s never happened to any Apollo campers before, Will doesn’t know why it had to happen to him, his one sense of normalcy taken away so quickly, his one connection to his previous life- gone.

Will starts to pick up quite quickly he’s not like his other siblings, he’s can’t write and is average at archery. But he can heal, better than anyone else can.

He was different from the start, he was claimed differently, and his gift was different too.

And while still struggling with what to do, at the ripe age of 12 he’s now in charge of a cabin full of kids younger than him, because he was the oldest to survive.

Just imagine how the plague powers would also affect him. Apollo himself said that it seemed Will had gained all of his good qualities and none of his bad.

How would this 15 year old feel that the same hands that can heal can cause harm?

<33

#will solace angst #will solace #william andrew solace #i’m not sorry #hurt no comfort #lmao #we here for a good time not a long time #will solace they could never make me hate you #autistic will solace #tbh i will never stop with the autism headcanons #i hate how people push him to just being nicos boyfriend #i do feel like this is stuff he would talk to annabeth percy and nico about tho-#annabeth and percy know what it’s like to be pushed into leadership at such a young age #percy knows how it feels to have powers that can be good and bad #nico (and the other two tbh) know how it feels to be different #he’s not a golden retriever #also with the shit he (and many other demigods) have been though it’s obvious that they would develop mental health issues #pjo will #pjo headcanon #percy jackon and the olympians #pjo hoo toa tsats #tsats #tsats spoilers #imagine doesn’t look like a real word for me rn #but imagine him starting to find comfort in his own mental illness #Imagine even Dionysus picking up on it #but will just denies bc he thinks other people need more help than him #he needs to help others to make up for the fact that he can’t help himself #pjo fandom #pjo angst

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fireandseaweed · 7 years ago

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Let’s Get Down To Business || Lina and Percy

To defeat, the huns.

Percy was almost excited, there was something about training people that brought back an almost nostalgic reaction for him. It was like all of those times that he had trained kids back at Camp Half Blood. He’d worked with the Ares, Hermes and Apollo cabins mostly, but sometimes he’d helped Annabeth with the Athenians. But now, now he was going to be training with the fourth. Which wasn’t going to be easy considering the fact that he was always going to be loyal to fifth. But for the moment he wasn’t going to let that stop him from helping. He hadn’t known what to bring with him, so he’d loaded himself up with Riptide and grabbed a shield which he’d slung across his back, he’d whistled for Mrs O’Leary and made the walk into Camp from the city. They’d agreed to meet on the Field of Mars to run drills, so as he waited for Lina and her cohort he threw the shield for Mrs O’Leary a few times, watching her bound over the hills and fields like a giant black dump truck of fun. Spotting Lina from a distance, he waved her over and smiled. “Hello Centurion Kolina,” he said doing his best to be serious, “I’m present and ready for action!”

If there was one thing Lina loved to do, as person and a centurion, was to surprise people. She didn’t stick to the most traditional methods, they were too expected at this point. While she sure other people thought that her methods were strange, she had made them for her cohort specifically. The fourth over the last few years had become a place for many demigods from minor gods and goddesses. She felt that this made people underestimate them, which in turn, caused her to push them harder than ever and train in ways that other people wouldn’t expect. Hence why she asked Percy to help train her legionaries. She waved back at him with a smile,“Hello, Percy.” Jogging over to him, she started to speak,“Alright, so I figure I can send them to do their warm ups and we can quickly go over what we’re gonna do, what you need me to do and help with, and I’m going to point a few kids who I think might need a little extra help.” She clapped her hands together and looked up at him,“Sounds good?” In this setting, Lina was certainly in a different mood, she was more energetic, but there was a certain confidence about her. She ready to take lead, but willing to hand over some to her guest instructor.

As Lina made her way over to him, Percy hurled his shield one last time for Mrs O’Leary, watching her bound off into the distance like a tank, each one of her bounds thundering a little bit. “Hey Lina,” he said smiling gently, “sure, warm ups and stretches are definitely a good call,” he smiled at Blossom as she began running laps with the other members of her cohort. Percy remembered those laps and knew that they weren’t fun, but they were necessary. Fitness was one of the key things that won you a battle. “Sure, so I’m going to run them through a few basic moves, sword stances, phalanx formations, that sort of stuff, then I was thinking we can break them off into groups of two, they can spar with one another and we can work with them to make sure that they’re training well.” He smiled gently at the Legionnaires, it had been awhile since he’d trained anyone but he was always happy to help with this sort of thing, he remembered how scary it was being out there without this training and he’d hate for anyone to have to go through the same thing that he had. “Let’s quickly talk about who you’re concerned about, then I can keep an eye on them and give you my analysis at the end of it?”

Lina watched Mrs O’Leary run off with curiosity, she hadn’t ever actually been near a nice hellhound. “I’m assuming your pet doesn’t live in your apartment with you?” She waved at a teenaged boy, who seemed to be leading the legionaries in their warm ups. “That’s Xavier, he helps lead the others when we need help. He’ll be able to help if we need a third person.” She was very proud of how Xavier had been able to step up the last few months. While Adriana had been in Europe, Xavier had helped run the Fourth with Lina. Now with both centurions busy with investigations and injuries, Xavier was helping once again. “Klara,” She pointed to a small, teen girl who was at the head of the group with Xavier,“She’s talented, but she relies on being fast more than she does technique. She ends up being sloppy with some of her moves. Mason and Julie both don’t use swords very often, Mason enjoys spears more and Julie is more interested in hand to hand.” Lina continues telling him about those who she’s worried about.

Laughing gently, Percy shook his head. “Mrs O’Leary is probably the size of the room that me and Annabeth share, so no, she definitely doesn’t live in our apartment. Me and Nico fixed up a nice den for her, she shadow travels there whenever she isn’t busy with her own thing.” Percy watched Xavier and nodded, “well if you’re confident with his level of training then you are of course the one who would know. He can help with the drills and check their sparring, the more eyes the better really…” he trailed off and looked at the three she had pointed out. “Cool, I’ll see what I can do, swords are my speciality, much better with a sword than with anything else really.” He watched them do their warm up before Mrs O’Leary bounded back to his side. “Thanks girl, it is time for you to go,” he explained as she nodded appreciatively before disappearing into the shadow of a hill, “she is more of a distraction than a help, believe me.” His explanation was based on experience. “I’m going to take the three that you pointed out to me, they can help me with demonstrations and you can help out too if you want, they’re probably going to want a reassuring face throughout this.” He knew that some Romans didn’t trust him, being a son of Neptune wasn’t going to help with that.

Thinking of the giant hellhound being stuck in a tiny apartment was rather amusing to Lina. However, she knew it would quite unfair to ask the creature to actually cram into a room that size. Still, it would be a thought she would save just for when she needed something funny to think about. “That’s quite nice of you, thoughtful to set something up for her. I am curious to what she’s doing on her own. Running errands, perhaps?” She was confident with Xavier, the son of Juventas was truly one of the most talented legionnaires she had in her cohort. “He’ll be a great help. He has a knack for helping with training, he enjoys helping the younger kids understand things.” She didn’t often have the opportunity to tell others about how good her kids were, which made her talk a bit more about them when she did. “Maybe you’ll teach me something as well. I’m primarily a magic user or I wield a whip. I don’t train with swords that often.” She didn’t question why the giant dog could be a distraction, it would distract her if a huge hellhound was playing in the field next to her while she trained. “If you’d like, for the first few you can use me. Then based on the reactions they give, we can move on to using those three. I do warn you, Mason likes to try to show off at times. He might try something to make himself seem cooler.”

Percy had seen Mrs O’Leary in his mom’s apartment, and he was sure that no one had enjoyed that experience, least of all Mrs O’Leary. “I hope that she is living a life that is well stocked and well cared for, maybe she is looking for Mr O’Leary, hopefully we can finally meet.” He smiled gently, he didn’t think much about what she was doing, despite the fact that she was technically a monster she was still smart enough to look after herself. “Is he thinking about a career in leadership?” he asked curiously, he seemed to have the characteristics for it to say the least. “Well, it is probably best for you to look good in front of your cohort, we can practice with swords later, I want your kids to know that you’re tough enough to handle whatever comes your way.” Magic was something that he envied of her and of Wally. They were abilities that he’d love to try, but then again, he wasn’t exactly under blessed with his abilities. “Perfect, we can run through a few basic techniques and then when everyone is a bit more comfortable we can move on, and don’t worry about Mason, I’m the worst show off ever, just ask Annabeth why I’m not allowed to help with sword training when we are with the Athenian cabin, she’ll tell you it was because I was a distraction, but the truth is that she just isn’t the swordswoman that I am.”

“Husbands are overrated,” Lina said lightly. She didn’t often speak about marriage or husbands, perhaps because she felt as though she had to hide what had happened in her own life. She nodded,“He’s looking to be a centurion one day. He’s a bit stubborn though, he’s not sure he wants to be centurion for any cohort other than the fourth.” Lina couldn’t blame him for that, considering it was exactly what she had done. The job could have been her’s before last year, however, Lina wanted to stay with her cohort. “They know I’m plenty tough, it might be good for them to see that I struggle with skills too. Normalize their own struggles.” She smiled softly at him, finding it amusing that he wasn’t allowed to help Annabeth. She often told the ones who would show off that they were going to be in the back of the group, where no one else could see them. “Well, I won’t try to say who’s correct in that situation, but I do think it will be good for all of us to see what you may or may not be showing off.”

“Speaking from experience?” Percy asked with a gentle laugh, a smirk dancing across his face as he teased her. Percy could understand wanting to remain with your cohort. If that were where all of his friends were, people that he had fought shoulder to shoulder with, well he wasn’t sure that he would want to lead other people after forging that sort of bond with his current cohort. “Understandable, if he really wants to be a centurion I expect that that is something that he will have to get over.” He shrugged gently and adjusted his grip on Riptide so that the soft leather handle sat in his palm more comfortably. “That makes sense and as long as you’re happy to follow that path then that is what we will stick to, as long as it is what you’re comfortable with. They’re your cohort after all.” He laughed and shrugged. “I think she is probably correct, she is the sort of person who is annoyingly right all of the time and there is nothing that you can do to avoid that. It is actually sad.” He smiled as the cohort finished their warm ups and began to congregate a few meters away from them. “Well, they look ready, so whenever you want to start you can address them.” He was a guest, he didn’t want to overstep his bounds.

Lina blanched slightly, realizing no one in camp ever knew about her marriage, and that her comment was pretty obvious. “Not really. Just from what I’ve seen,” She lied. It was personal experience, she truly did feel that marriage wasn’t worth it for her in the long run. It had been a bland marriage and a half baked idea when she had said yes. “I did that. It’s the reason why it took me so long to become a centurion. He’s following my footsteps, I suppose. The fourth holds a lot of pride, though I’m sure people would question why we do.” She was relatively sure other people saw the fourth as where some of the left of kids ended up. Anyone who spent time with the fourth would realize how many hard working legionaries they had. “I’m fine with it. It’s always healthy to experience other people’s talents and learn from the mistakes you make going against them.” She smiled,“She’s probably a very good person to have on your team.” She looked toward the group and motioned for them to line up. “Today, we have a special guest who will be helping us learn a bit more about how to wield a sword. As if I were leading, you will listen to him and treat him with the respect I know each of you have. No goofing off just because this isn’t the normal lesson.”

Nodding, Percy didn’t think twice about her reply. Marriage was a concept that he still had yet to experience, at least properly. He had seen his mother marry Paul but she wasn’t exactly his age and it was different when it was your mother. Percy smiled gently and nodded. “Don’t worry,” he replied, “I was part of the fifth cohort so I understand exactly what you mean when you talk about pride, I even fought alongside your cohort in a war game once or twice.” Nodding gently Percy smiled as he watched the cohort take perfect form and rank in front of him, his students in Camp Half Blood wouldn’t have ever managed something like that, combined with Lina’s speech and Percy found himself almost excited to get to teaching. “Hey everyone, my name is Percy Jackson and Lina has asked me to help today” he said smiling at them and waving, “if you can’t hear me just say and I’ll find a cone to speak through or something….” he trailed off for a second before drawing Riptide out of his pocket and extending the sword to its full length. “Swordsmanship is pretty common and you’re almost always going to be in a comfortable area to fight with it, whether you’re inside or outside. So I’m going to run you through some demonstrations with your centurion Kolina, then you’ll break off and practice what I’ve showed you.” Taking a step backwards he faced Lina and smiled. “We are going to demonstrate three moves, a parry, a counter and a disarm. Whenever you’re ready centurion.”

Lina’s marriage wasn’t something she necessarily regretted, however, she certainly wasn’t proud of it. There were moments she wished she could go back and change, the way she handled her divorce one of the main ones. Changing her address and phone number was a bit much, she admits now. “I remember and I’m sure some of them do as well. We didn’t think we could ever win against them. You showed up and suddenly we did. I think you helped bring a lot of pride back to my cohort.” Lina remembered the day that the fifth had bested the first and second vividly. She watched her legionnaires closely, happy to see them listening to him already. Lina took her own sword out, a pretty, but relatively unused thing. It was obviously functional, but the centurion was more comfortable with long range weapons. She readied herself and nodded at Percy to go ahead.

“I don’t know if that is true, Frank and Hazel had a lot to do with it too, it was hardly just me…” Percy trailed off somewhat sheepishly and shrugged, the limelight was a position that he enjoyed on his own terms. When it was forced upon him by people remembering things like that it just made him feel uncomfortable. The training that followed was effective at several things and by the end of it Percy felt confident that the fourth had come away with a lot more than they had come in with.

#f&gwriting #para #chatzy para #lets get down to business #p: link #// me and finn forgot about this #so its old and poorly finished but yolo

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