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cabinofimagines · 4 years

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Falling Face First

bro i’ve never written poly and there was a request for Lercy so yknow i have to at least try :( anyway here’s Leo being a simp and the reader also being a simp but hiding a little better than inferno boy. - day

pairing: Leo x gn!Reader x Percy

warnings: I mean it’s poly so??? Fluff omg so dangerous, swearing too but that's the norm for me

requests:

imagine being someone who roller skates and dating Percy so going to the skate park for dates + Could I request Leo with a reader who really wants to learn roller skating but is scared to try, since they know they’d be bad at it at first and they’re scared of people judging them for falling/being bad at it? I’m kind of in this situation at the moment 😅 + poly!Lercy aswell, ugh i can't <3 <3 <3 so cuteeee

You shivered and turned into the warm embrace behind you, feeling their chest rumble as they held you. You could hear Leo’s whining still, unfortunately. He was reluctant to come back to the very spot he made a fool of himself in front of his boyfriend. It seemed like he wasn’t aware that his poorly planned scheme actually pushed Percy into your lives, but you were too cold to explain that to him.

Instead, you reveled in the warmth that came from the tall man, his chin resting atop your head as he spoke, “Leo I don’t know why you’re so hung up on that one moment.” He laughed, “there’s plenty to get hung up on!”

Leo cracked a smile at Percy and waddled over in his skates, sandwiching you in a circle of warmth. Leo felt like a fireplace, warming you up after walking home in the snow, and Percy was comforting, like a couch after a long day of work. Oh my gods, did you just compare one of your boyfriends to a couch?

Percy pulled away first, grinning widely and stomping in place, “C’mon! Before the amateurs get here!”

You and Leo separated, Leo giving him a incredulous look, “I’m an amateur, babe. What are you talking about?”

Percy tugged Leo’s hand into his own, gripping it tight, “Sweet, now I have an excuse to hold your hand.”

You scoffed and held Leo’s free hand, bringing both of their attention to you, “You need an excuse to do that, Jackson?”

Leo chuckled, “You guys, there’s more than enough of me to go around”

You smirked when he lost his footing briefly, increasing his grip on your hand to avoid falling. He never got any better at skating.

- - -

The cold wind nipped at your nose causing you to bury your face in the scarf you had wrapped around your neck. You definitely were not built for this snowy weather, but you were excited to skate and show up Leo’s egotistic ass. Well not entirely egotistical, but he definitely thought he would be better at skating than you despite having never gone skating before.

When the idea was originally brought up to Leo as date night sort of thing, he was a bit too enthusiastic and said you should go to one rink in particular—even though that was much farther than the one you were thinking of going to. Although you were glad, he wanted to go, you were curious as to why he was set on the rink uptown near the Queensboro Bridge.

“I’ve just heard a lot of great things!” He stammered, fiddling with his camp beads, “Very big, very… icy.”

Turns out it wasn’t just because it was very big and very icy, but because Percy Jackson frequented the skate park not far from this rink. Leo had concocted this scheme of throwing himself in the path of Percy to grab his attention and in turn, you as well.

You hated how much you looked forward to how it would turn out. If it went badly, you could laugh at Leo’s hopeless attempts at flirting. If it did work, well…

So, you sat there, freezing your ass off and tying the shoelaces of your skates. You decided to keep your head down and let Leo do all of the pining, it was what he was good at. He was always the one to shoot his shot first and joke about it if he was rejected, he got too ahead of himself when you actually said yes and nearly rejected himself.

Leo hadn’t put his skates on yet and was looking around for his love interest rather obviously. You were just about to reprimand him for paying too much attention to someone who wasn’t his partner when he hurriedly rushed over to you.

“Shit shit shit he’s actually coming, oh my gods I don’t even have my skates on. He’s gonna think I’m stalking him!”

You laughed loudly and watched your boyfriend struggle to tie his shoelaces, “He’s not going to accuse you of stalking him when you’re just tying your skates, dummy.”

You laughed and glanced around the mostly empty rink, seeing couples skating hand in hand and siblings racing each other on the track. You wanted to skate a few laps before the kids got there and to get used to skating again before you had to help Leo. It wouldn’t do him any good if you were getting used to it while he was flailing about.

“I’m gonna make a few laps, okay?”

You didn’t wait for his reply and stepped onto the ice, pushing off and doing your best to remain upright. It would definitely take you a minute to get back into the rhythm of skating but teaching Leo wouldn’t be that difficult. If he’d let you help him, that is. Just as you were turning the corner at the very end of the rink you spotted a tall, dark-haired guy standing in front of Leo holding his hands as he led him forward on the ice.

You really couldn’t leave him for 5 minutes without him getting into trouble.

You hurried over and nearly knocked the pair over much to their surprise. Upon closer look you realized that Percy Jackson was here just as your boyfriend planned and he was more than happy to assist Leo in skating.

Percy looked up at you with a breathtaking smile, “I was wondering where you might’ve been!” His attention went back to Leo who was overplaying how bad he was at skating, “Leo basically fell flat on his face as soon as he stepped on the ice.”

“Did not!”

You hummed and took one of Percy’s hands away from Leo, seeing him flush at the contact, “How about we share Leo? You take one hand and I’ll take the other, so he doesn’t fall on his face again?”

Leo huffed, “I did not fall flat on my face!” He paused and watched as both you and Percy took his hands, interlacing fingers and feeling how cold both hands were against his own warm ones. He couldn’t lie and say that you weren’t smooth about including Percy in on your plans, but he would still take the credit that Percy came over to help him first. So, he saw it as a win on his part.

Percy’s mind was spinning at the interaction though. He was always attracted to both Y/n and Leo, but when they started dating each other, those thoughts never did stop. He wondered if it were possible to date both of them at the same time. Would they be open to that?

He almost missed the mischievous look Leo shot your way and the smile you sent back, the message behind it though clear to the couple were up for interpretation in Percy’s eyes. He made up his mind that today wouldn’t be the last time he went out with these two and he’ll be going out with them more frequently.

ii.

Much to your pleasure, Percy didn’t say his goodbyes after helping your overzealous boyfriend learn how to stay upright. He stayed and talked to you long after Leo mentioned that he needed to sit a down for a bit, accompanying you on your trips around the ice rink.

You could understand why Leo had a crush on him now, he was too perfect to be real. Of course, you’ve talked to him before, but then it was only in terms of the ongoing war and no real bond had come from that like it had with Leo, though you wish it had now.

He talked animatedly about his little sister, Estelle. He must’ve taken 15 minutes to tell one story completely, but it didn’t matter much to you. You were admiring the twinkle of affection in his sea green eyes and were ashamed to admit that you wondered what it would be like if he looked at you with the same twinkle.

You were so busy looking at him that you didn’t notice a rock on the ice in front of you, although he did. He reached out and grabbed your arm, pulling you to him gently and quickly so you wouldn’t fall over.

“You good?”

You could only nod and give a small smile, your eyes drifting to his lips breifly before coming to your senses. You didn’t want to scare him.

He seemed to notice though and was reluctant to let you go, feeling his face warm up; whether it was from the cold or the interaction he didn’t know for sure.

You cleared your throat and jabbed a thumb over your shoulder at Leo who was doing a horrible job at minding his business, “I’m gonna go check on Lee, he might want some hot chocolate or something to eat soon.”

Percy, finally coming back to his senses stammered out quickly, “I’ll go save us a seat at Astoria’s!” He wasn’t sure if you heard him, but he went anyway, hoping to collect his thoughts if he was away from you for a while.

You fumbled over to Leo who tried to meet you halfway, practically falling into you. His wide grin was infectious and you soon you were doing the same.

“Shit Percy is so cute, dude.”

“See? I told you!”

“My gods you didn’t tell me his eyes sparkled, this is important information Leo.”

“Must have slipped my mind when I was trying secure him as our boyfriend, my dear.”

You took a breath and helped Leo back to the bench so you could both take off your skates and return them. Leo was hungry for Percy content and kept pestering you on the way over, “Well?! What did he say? Was he talking about me? Did he talk about how bewitching my eyes are?”

You scoffed and moved to help him unlace the skates before moving to your own, “Of course he did, who wouldn’t talk about your eyes, babe? He said you had a cute butt too.”

Leo leaned back on the bench with a quiet gasp, “I knew it.” he mumbled before smiling widely, “But for real, tell me what he said!”

You both stood, intertwining your hands and moving toward Astoria’s. You filled Leo in on the things Percy said, well what you could remember anyway. You were too focused on his eyes to remember every detail.

You were only a few steps from Astoria’s when it finally clicked in Leo’s mind that you weren’t headed home, “Hey wait, why are we going in here--” He made eye contact with Percy who grinned and waved at the pair.

“Why didn’t you say we’re grabbing hot coco with him? I’m not mentally prepared for this.”

“Chill out! Aren’t you supposed to be cool boy supreme or something like that?”

“Right, right.”

The bell on the door chimed as you walked in and headed to the table in the back. Percy looked all too cute bundled up in his blue scarf and puffy jacket, he sat in the middle of the booth so that Leo and yourself would be on either side of him. Which you didn’t mind entirely.

Leo messed with his curls with a small smile, “Hey Perce, I didn’t know you liked hot chocolate.” He blinked at how dumb his own statement sounded but decided to stick with it.

Percy chuckled and leaned forward, resting his head in his palm, “Yeah, yeah I do.”

There was a weird pause and you let out a loud sigh, “Well, sit down already Leo!”

He slid in next to Percy, his eyes looking up at Percy like the tall male just gave him his favorite candy. It was obvious that Leo had already fallen hard for the son of Poseidon and you knew it wouldn’t be long before you followed suit.

After getting some of the best hot chocolate in New York, conversation flowed easily. Leo got to see the sparkle in Percy’s eyes that you were so infatuated with, and you got to see the lopsided smile Leo always seemed to put on his face. It’s a wonder that you all didn’t become close during the war, but with circumstances being what they were, you could understand why it wasn’t a priority to play icebreakers.

“So...” Percy spoke after a short pause.

Both Leo and you leaned in unconsciously to hear what he had to say next, eager to keep talking to this boy for the next 5 hours if he’d let you.

“We should meet again soon?”

You cocked your head in confusion, “Huh? What are you-- are you saying you wanna go out with us again?”

Leo looked toward the flustered boy with interest, “Did you have fun with us today? What was your favorite part-- ow!”

You gave him a look, bringing your foot back to it’s former place. You were pulling for a certain answer and Leo was diverting from him giving it. You’ll apologize for kicking him later; if you remember.

Percy glanced worriedly at Leo but answered you a little nervously, “Yeah like maybe, I don’t know... tomorrow?” After a shocked silence overtook the table he added quickly, “I mean you guys don’t have to and you might already have plans but I have to go soon because my mom made pasta and--”

Leo made a bold move, resting his hand on top of Percy’s and giving a reassuring laugh, “Percy, we’d love to go out with you again tomorrow.”

Percy’s eyes shifted to Leo’s hand and he tried hard to fight the ecstatic grin that wanted to crawl onto his face. He made a quick glance up at Leo’s pretty brown eyes before letting out a happy chuckle, “Cool! We can meet here tomorrow at noon?”

You nodded and shared a victorious look with Percy, “Yeah! Sounds great.”

Another pause, but this one was full of joy from each one of you. Although you could sit in his presence for a few more hours, you remembered that this boy had some pasta to inhale at home.

“Percy, do you need to go? You said your mom was making pasta tonight.”

His eyes widended at your words and looking towards Leo who had moved his hand and scooted out of the booth so he could get out, “Yeah uh, yeah uh I gotta go but--” He slid out and turned to face the table before leaving, “I had an amazing time guys and I can’t wait to see both of you tomorrow. See ya!”

And he was gone.

Leo went to say something but you beat him to it, wrapping him in a hug and kissing him firmly on the mouth, “I have never been more grateful for your dorky ass!”

He decided to ignore your remark and relish in this moment for now, both blissfully unaware of the sea green eyes that watched outside the shop.

Percy had turned back to glance at the couple one last time and saw a scene that made his heart swell up in affection. He grinned and looked away, a silent hope that tomorrow was the start of something new in the back of his mind.

(a/n: bro i’m deadass about to cry bc i wanna date both of them now)

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haileygarciasunshine · 4 years

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Contradiction

Percy Jackson x Avengers Cross Over

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Fem!Reader

Written: February 22nd, 2021

Posted: February 22nd, 2021

Warning: None

Word Count: 1,294

Enemies to Friends to Lovers Trope.

Author’s Note: Yes, I know the youngest age of the Camp Half-Blood campers, but for sake of my work I lowered it. I also know the restriction of crossing into camp. It’s all for the sake of piece.

Bucky Barnes Masterlist

Wiping the sweat from your brow, you had narrowly blocked another one of Percy’s blows. The thought of mistakenly asking him to train you flashed into your mind.

Wheezing, you placed your hands on your knees as you bent at the waist in an attempt to catch your breath.

“Having trouble keeping up, Y/L/N?” Percy teased flashing you his white teeth.

Snorting, you picked up your sword before swinging it in his direction. “Not a chance.”

The scorching summer sun, beat down on you the more you trained, while beads of sweat raced down your face soaking the neckline trickling down your back.

Once Percy had deemed you had enough training, you hurriedly made your way to the showers. The feeling of excitement washing over you as you thought about a cold shower.

---

After dinner, Grove found you and convinced you to sneak away with your group of friends to a local bookstore, in the city.

As soon as you entered the store, there was a small ring of a bell that echoed off the walls. Glancing up, you made a mental note of how long it had been since you had last been in a store that had a real bell above the door.

“Welcome.” One of the cashiers greeted barely glancing up from her register, locking eyes with your small group.

“Thanks,” Grover smirked, nodding his head at her. In a mere matter of seconds, the cashiers' giggles filled the shop, as Grover flirted with her.

Turning your attention back to your friends, you let out a sigh as they were nowhere to be seen. Knowing Annabeth, she had probably dragged Percy towards her favorite section of books, piling them in his arms.

Shaking your head, you glanced around before venturing up the spiral stairs to the second level of the book store. The second level was perfect for customers to gaze out of the second-story windows, as well as having a more peaceful reading experience in the store. Oversized chairs and coffee tables were littered around the level.

Letting out a comfortable sigh, you began venturing down the isles in search of some undiscovered treasures of yours. Finding an area, you began plucking books out one by one as you read their synopsis.

Once you had felt content with your book selection, you searched for the nearest chair before you burrowed yourself as best as you could into it. Picking up one of the books, you began reading it as you awaited one of your friends to come and alert you they were ready to get going.

“Figured I could find you here.” A familiar voice spoke wearily.

Not wanting to look up, you didn’t want your calming state to be interrupted.

“Can we sit?”

His question catching you off guard. Finally raising your eyes from the text, you gazed over the edge of the book, locking Y/E/C with Steve’s icy ones.

“This is Bucky.” He spoke motioning towards the lengthy built man. His hair loosely framing his face. “Buck this is Y/N,” Steve smirked as he gazed between his two friends.

Closing the book, you placed it on top of the pile of books you had placed on the table. Standing up, you extended your hand towards the brunette.

Bucky gazed at you, ignoring your hand with a scoff. “I’m going to go find a book.” He grumbled, removing himself from the small gathering.

Steve let out a frustrated sigh. “I’m sorry, he’s not normally like this.”

You let out an unconvinced hum. “Right...Well, what can I do ya for?”

Letting out a chuckle, he maneuvered to occupy one of the chairs in front of you. “I... We actually need your help.”

Furrowing your eyebrows together in confusion, you glanced in the direction Bucky had left. “We?”

“The Avengers.”

---

"Y/N, you made it!” Tony exclaimed rushing towards you as he pulled you in for a hug.

You quickly wrapped your arms around his shoulders as he lifted you off the ground. The sound of your giggles bouncing off the walls.

“I’ve missed you, kid,” Tony muttered into your hair.

“The feeling’s mutual.”

“What are you doing here?” Bucky sounded from behind you.

Rolling your eyes, you didn’t bother turning to face him.

“You know, if you keep rolling your eyes they’re going to get stuck.”

Scoffing you shook your head. “Whatever you say, gramps.”

“Guys, can you please behave for this meeting,” Steve asked his voice making it clear he was already feeling agitated.

Keeping your comments to yourself, you nodded your head before taking a spot between Tony and Bruce at the conference table. While Bucky sat directly across from you.

As Steve spoke, you felt your mind wandering to other places as well as feeling antsy. Every so often, you would adjust to a different position on your chair, while letting out a sigh.

Moving to adjust once more, you felt a sting in your leg as someone had kicked you. Frowning, you made the mistake of looking at Bucky. A devilish smirk was drawn on his lips. Narrowing your eyes, you sent him a glare. Silently encouraging him to keep up his actions.

“Now, for those of you who aren’t aware, I would like to introduce our friend, Y/N,” Steve spoke motioning towards you, as claps from the table sounded. “She is a Demi-God-”

“I’m sorry, Y/N’s a what?” Bucky screeched, holding a hand up stopping Steve in his tracks.

Whipping your head in his direction, your heart began pounding out of your chest, as you felt tears beginning to well in your eyes.

“Demi-God?” Bucky questioned his voice dripping like venom. Crossing his arms along his chest, he leaned back in his chair shooting daggers at you.

“As is Half-God and Half-Mortal..” Steve spoke hoping to calm Bucky. “Or in Y/N’s case. Half-Goddess.”

“Half?” Bucky snorted. “Why do we need a Half-Goddess when we have a full God.” He spat raising a challenging eyebrow in your direction. “What can a half anything offer us?”

Tears had snuck out the corners of your eyes as you let out a quiet sob. Bucky wasn’t the first to make you feel as if you weren’t good enough as a Demi-God, but his did hurt the most.

Standing up promptly from the table, you rushed out of the room not listening to the disembodied voices call out to you.

“Way to go, Manchurian Candidate.” Tony spat while glaring at Bucky.

---

Sometime the ill-fated meeting, Steve had unsuccessfully attempted to get into contact with you and apologize.

“What are we doing here?” Bucky questioned his voice naturally coming out hostile.

“We’re here so you,” Steve glared at him. “Can apologize to Y/N.”

Sam snorted. “Man, I still can’t believe you managed to offend a Goddess.”

“Half-Goddess.” Bucky sighed in correction.

“Half-Goddess, Full-Goddess, what’s the difference?” Sam questioned rolling his eyes.

“Well her abilities-”

Sam quickly cut off Bucky. “What does it matter to you anyways, Barnes? You’re Half-Cyborg.”

Tony let out a bellowing laugh, clapping Sam on the back in approval before Steve let out softer belts of laughter. While Bucky muttered under his breath about his hate for Sam.

“You’re just mean to her because you like her,” Sam spoke.

“I do not!” Bucky defended.

“Face it, Barnes, you can’t help but be attracted to powerful independent women.” Sam shrugged. “Let’s look at Natasha for instance. How long did it take for you to get over her?”

“We are not, talking about my love life.” Bucky snarled.

“Easy there Cyborg.” Sam held his hands up in defense. “I was just trying to help you out.”

The small group ventured through the forest. Seeing the arc the four men passed underneath making their way into Camp Half-Blood.

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musicallisto · 4 years

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Ψ — 𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐮𝐜𝐤; (percy jackson x reader)

~ 2021 start of the year event ~

@jorjawrites requested: Hi! Your 2021 event seems like a really interesting idea! Can i request number 13 with Percy Jackson? Im so excited to see what it is☺️

song: lilianna wilde - grind me down (jawster remix) | 𝄞

summary: A delicious smell of lotus flowers and unbridled debauchery came to your senses each time the bass pounded from the speakers... and your friends had manifestly noticed it too. “We’re never leaving this place, right?” “Never.”

author notes: I’m sorry this is really not as good as I wanted ughhh I hope you still like this!

word count: 1.5k words

warnings: we are collectively assuming Percy & everyone else are 18+ in this, despite it making no sense in the context of Camp Half-Blood, because the song is SAUCY and drugging kids is NOT my kink. pardon my approximative recollection of TLT’s events. + this is based on the lotus casino episode so gambling, and ... magical drugs?

“𝐒𝐎... 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐀𝐑𝐄 we doing tonight?”

“Is sleeping not enough for you? Why do we need a purpose?”

“Shut up, Seaweed Brain.”

“I don’t know. We could ask around, look for some clues? Maybe someone knows something.”

“Oh, great. Now, if I were a lightning thief on the run hiding Zeus’ magical lightning bolt after stealing it from the literal Olympus, where would I keep it? Yeah, this random Las Vegas casino full of mortals seems like a great place.”

“You don’t sound like someone who’ll get blasted by Zeus in a week if they don’t retrieve this ancient and untraceable artifact, Percy.”

“Thank you, it’s all in the confidence.”

“Stop bickering, you two,” you interrupted, standing between your two friends as you followed the bellboy deeper into the hotel lobby. “We’ll get a good night’s sleep, and...”

Your words halted, just like your steps on the rich, burgundy velvet floor, just as the young hotel employee pushed open the large, white mahogany doors before the four of you. Your eyes widened of their own accord. You were certain that you heard Grover gasp on your right. Even Percy and Annabeth’s heads snapped toward the immense, domed room in front of you. Game machines and roulette and poker tables stretched as far as you could see underneath purple-colored neons. On each side of the hall, dozens of guests gathered at the tables, abandoning years’ worth of savings to the hands of a blackjack game, gritting their teeth in unparalleled concentration at the arcades, all while sipping colorful cocktails given out by smiling waiters scattered among the crowd.

“I hope you find the diversions to your liking,” the bellboy simpered with a smile.

The grin that crept on your lips was unbeatable. A delicious smell of lotus flowers and unbridled debauchery came to your senses each time the bass pounded from the speakers... and your friends had manifestly noticed it too.

“We’re never leaving this place, right?”

“Never.”

And so you never left.

It was never about never to you, at least. Time simply ceased to matter, as though the vibrant colors and dulcet smells had annihilated all concept of hurry and dread. All that mattered then to you was to see if Grover could hit the jackpot.

“Come on, you stupid thing,” he hissed through gritted teeth, giving the slot machine a few irritated taps. “I just want three cherries. How hard can it be?”

Surely enough, the colored symbols turned and turned and turned... until they settled on two cherries and a palm tree.

“Of course.”

You had kept track of his number of attempts, initially... but couldn't remember when you had lost count. Nor how many lotus-shaped petit fours you'd eaten by that time, for that matter.

“It’s alright,” you reassured him with a pat on the shoulder. “It’s not like you’ll run out of money anytime soon.”

How nice of the Lotus Hotel and Casino to give you unlimited access to the vastest sums of money you’d ever seen to spend on their games... and what a revolutionary business tactic, you might have added had you been a little more alert.

But you weren’t, and merely walked away from Grover with a soft and somewhat shaky smile.

“Can I treat you to another flower?”

She had emerged from nowhere in an instant, carrying a tray of pink and white delicacies and a few of those bubbling cocktails you had been eyeing all night. What an exuberantly fast service, and how keen were they on making sure every guest was content and fed at all times, you would have thought had you been more attentive.

But you weren’t, so with a radiant grin, you grabbed one more flower and savored the sugar and its liquid aftertaste on your tongue. The corners of your vision blurred ever so slightly with each step you took, somehow getting more purple... but you paid them no mind when you saw Percy at a roulette table off to the side of the main hall.

“Any luck so far?” you asked as you walked up to him, steadying yourself on his chair, your hand a little too close to his shoulder. Clearly, the heat and moistness of the packed room were getting to your head...

“Luck? Y/N, this is sheer skill.”

“It’s roulette, Percy.”

He clicked his tongue, and a smile made its way onto your face as your heartbeat sped up. Of course, Percy and his infamous detachedness and snark, exactly the ones that attracted you so much despite your better judgment...

“Details, Y/N, details. What do you think? Red or black?”

He lifted expectant eyes at you. Inexorably, you leaned forward.

“All on fourteen.”

Percy raised an eyebrow and a corner of his mouth.

“Really?”

“Trust me.”

He did, without question. Appraising you lengthily for one more instant, he slid all his chips to the croupier, before resting his hand right next to yours on the table, almost to appease himself. Your breath hitched in your throat, head pounding from the music and the swirling spirals in the corners of your vision, as you eyed the wheel spin and spin and spin... until the ball landed on a red square. 14.

“There you go! That’s what I’m talking about!”

In a deafeningly triumphant motion, Percy grabbed his winnings from the table and leaped to his feet, right by your side. You could hardly contain your laughter then; but you fully burst when he shot you the most radiant smile you’d ever seen on his face, arms full of lotus-stamped chips and pure, unbridled adoration in his eyes. There was the childish enthusiasm you loved so much about him, and it was entirely thanks to you; your heart soared at the thought.

“Did you get a prophecy or something?”

“Just a hunch,” you mischievously retorted, your grin mirroring his.

You both had mindlessly stepped away from the rest of the hotel guests, who were all too absorbed to even notice the pair of teens and their outrageous amount of money. Beneath the secludedness of a marble arcade, cloaked in pink and purple lights, you both counted your blessings... each your own; Percy the chips between his fingers, and you the colorful hues in his sea-green eyes.

“So, what do you want?”

“What?”

“You technically won this money, so it’s technically yours. Or at least half of it. I’m not going to keep it all anyway. I want to give you a little gift.”

“It’s not a gift if it’s paid with my money.”

“Don’t start it! One Annabeth is more than enough!” he laughed, and your chest whirred to the same vibration.

“I don’t want anything, Percy. I’m happy with what I already have.”

Despite the dizziness that still shook your head, despite the bright, blazing gashes spanning your vision like pulsing veins, despite the sounds and music coming to your ears in stroboscopic and unequal waves, you felt more peaceful than you had for most of the quest. Percy’s gaze was surprisingly tender on yours, as though he discovered you for the first time right then and there, far from the hustle and bustle of monsters and Camp and cities... only his eyes on yours and your hands imperceptibly brushing together, closer and closer.

“It’ll be a surprise then.”

“I didn’t think you were the type to give surprises. I’m not even sure you can keep a secret.”

“Oh, excuse you, I’m an excellent secret-keeper.”

Closer and closer...

“I bet that I can make you spill all your secrets.”

“Bet all you want, I’ll be tight as a clam.”

“Really? Because I think I can guess one already.”

Closer and closer... his breath fanning over your mouth, your hand scraping the collar of his shirt...

“Percy! Y/N!”

A thundercloud passed between you two, killing the lights in a second. You jumped back as though struck by lightning, cheeks flaming hot and eyes elusive. Annabeth, striding towards you with purpose, alarm, and just as little disequilibrium as you would have expected from her, was enough distraction to ignore Percy’s erratic breathing by your ear.

“Percy, Y/N, gods above, why’d you run off like that? We need to leave. This is bad.”

The blond girl grabbed you both by the sleeves and dragged you into the light and agitation; and despite the newly growing nausea that rumbled in the pit of your stomach, some part of you was grateful for her decidedness, enough to hide your fuming cheeks.

Of course, you should have known better than to push your luck too far with the gods watching - and most probably laughing at your heartened hopes.

#mywriting #percy jackson #pjo #riordanverse #percy jackson x reader #percy jackson imagine #percy jackson one shot #jorjawrites

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ravenclaw-headcanons · 4 years

Text

moving forward and propositions

tldr; although this blog has been p much abandoned I still think we could have some fun here with a bit of reformatting and fresh ideas. any thoughts on things you’ve enjoyed from this blog or things you’d like to see in the future? or do you think there’s nothing wrong with the format and I should just go back to posting headcanons like normal?

hey

long time no see.

it's been, what 18 months since I was properly active on this blog? actually I just checked and the last headcanon was posted in Jan 2019. mad

when I sent out the word that I wouldn't be keeping up with this blog anymore I cited graduating and starting a full time job as the primary causes. essentially that I just didn't have the time to dedicate to this blog anymore. which was and still is true tbf

but I also (semi) abandoned this blog for the less admirable fact that my heart just wasn't in it. I guess you could probably tell that considering the headcanons kept getting scarcer and scarcer. I guess it's just, I've always loved having this community y'know. we've had great discussions on here and held events and forged friendships and that was really cool to have

but in terms of what this blog actually is

I don't know. I mean I can't say I have my finger on the pulse of fandom culture the way I did back in 2015, but when I started this blog it really felt like we'd found this untapped thing that people could be passionate about and engage with in a new way

I'm not going to sit here and pretend I'm some sort of innovator. in fact I stole the premise of this blog from mugglebornheadcanon. but there was still something new and exciting about it

I had loads of ideas and people had tons of their own headcanons they wanted to share and idk I guess it was just nice to have a creative space for people who were all passionate about the same thing

whereas now we're 1000 headcanons deep, I have nothing left to give, and there are tons of other blogs out there who can do this way better than I can. I'm not saying that in a self pitying way. it's just to have a blog like this that feeds off ideas and creativity you kind of need some passion, or at least inspiration

anyway this is all a very convoluted way of asking for a community brainstorm

because I still think this blog is great, and has the capacity to be the community driven creativity vortex that it was, I just don't think this is the way to go

hey, maybe you'll all reply and say 'no we've still got hundreds of headcanon ideas please let us post them!!' but my intuition is saying it might be time to move onto other content? it just feels a bit like the well has run dry on this kind of content, but wouldn’t it be awesome if we could find something new that relit that old spark?

so I guess this is a general call for ideas? a heads up to the muse of inspiration that now might be a good time to strike

if anyone has any thoughts or ideas on a way we could direct this blog to actually being, well something then please drop me a message!!

general musings so far on my part are that by far my favourite parts of running this blog were the various community events. ravenclaw pride day, the advent calendar, secret santa, harry potter playlists, and primarily the rereads we did

if you missed them, on this blog we hosted rereads for the 20th anniversaries of PS, CoS, and PoA where everyone would read one or two chapters a day. people would post their thoughts on the chapters, artwork, their progress on reading in another language, jokes, I posted discussion questions every day, it was pretty much a free for all

I don't know, maybe there's not a way of turning that into its own project. I mean theoretically I could set up a blog dedicated to hosting those kind of events. obviously having breaks in the middle, but it could be kind of fun. percy jackson would be a great one to do, or maybe the hunger games, narnia, asoue, his dark materials, twilight, spiderwick, inkheart etc

idk the issue is theoretically it could be great fun. we could have community votes on what people would like to reread, we could reread books slowly so it's not really a commitment, and revisit some books we've all loved or maybe even some newer books

but I guess it’s more of a question of whether that could ever work in practice. like again theoretically I’d love to tie each event in to raising money for a charity (again by public vote). I mean wouldn't it be great to have a reread of GoF where people were encouraged to donate £1 to a charity to support trans people? or maybe raising money to help kids with ADHD when reading PJO?

I think I’m getting too ambitious haha

tbh the real thing that was great about this blog is the community feel it had. a group of people who all love hp and learning and creativity and expressing themselves and so really what I’d like to do is find some way to recapture that, however you guys see fit

I am obviously have no illusions about the fact that this blog is not active, and its followers are (mostly) not active so I know any projects would likely be on a smaller scale. but hey, I started this blog with a following of about 1k on my multi fandom blog so anything can happen when you hit on a good idea

and I think there’s still a great idea lurking here somewhere, I just need a bit of help from you guys to find it

so let me know what you think and I guess I’ll see where the wind takes us

#spring is for new beginnings y’all

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a-hundred-jewels · 3 years

Text

cruel summer ch 12: i have these lucid dreams

Ao3 Wattpad

Summary: sabrina starr, pegasuses, and oh no! the fourth wall broke! do we have a carpenter in the audience?

Word Count: 9000 ish

Tags: Rachel Elizabeth Dare/Jane Penderwick, Rosalind Penderwick/Tommy Geiger, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace, Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Jane Penderwick, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Rosalind Penderwick, Skye Penderwick, Chiron (Percy Jackson), Martin Penderwick, Elizabeth "Batty" Penderwick, Elizabeth Penderwick (senior), Iantha Aaronson-Penderwick, Ben Aaronson-Penderwick, Nico di Angelo, Will Solace, Annabeth Chase, Jeffrey Tifton-McGrath, Percy Jackson, Demeter (Percy Jackson), Apollo (Percy Jackson), Camp Half-Blood (Percy Jackson), Camp Half-Blood AU, Demigods, demeter!elizabeth penderwick, demeter!rosalind (second generation), demeter!batty (second generation), apollo!alec mcgrath, apollo!jeffrey (second generation), demeter!jane (second generation), demeter!skye (second generation), all of that's in no particular order, main focus is on jane because i love her and she's so so fun to write, tomsalind is there (and stuff will happen - i can't really say what, it will really be eventful though), yes of course there's solangelo, takes place right before Penderwicks In Spring, After Trials of Apollo, more tags to come??, Minor Swearing

Notes and Full Chapter below cut:

Hello everyone and welcome back! I'll admit, this is a little later today than I'd been planning to post (was hoping to get an early start), but hey! If the Puppet History season 4 finale can be late, then so can I!

First off, a massive massive thank you to waterbottle_stickers for being the best beta reader ever. This chapter would be a mess without you. Also, if you haven't already, please check out their enola holmes fic wherever you stray, i follow it's truly wonderful.

If you've been following me on tumblr, then you'll know that, in addition to reblogging an alarming quantity of good omens fanart, I've been making some plans for fics this month. The original plan from back in august was to post every day of the month, but... ahhh.... I just don't work that fast lmao. I'll have to be content with just posting a fair amount this month. Happy october! Anyway, stay tuned.

On this fine day, we've got two lovely QUEER fanfic recommendations that I'm very excited to share. Up first is one from the tumblr blog izzielizzie (which you should all absolutely check out! especially if you're into the one of us is lying fandom!). it centers around the skye/melissa pairing and their senior prom, which Skye is said to have only gone to last minute, and also wearing a lab coat, in a passage of the penderwicks at last. featuring some oblivious lesbians and also jane. once again a massive thanks to izzielizzie, as this fic is one of my favourites!. click here to take a look! (also keep an eye on her blog in general bc her penderwicks fics are awesome!)

The second fanfic is also one I'm very fond of, as it focuses on the siblinghood of skye and jane, which is one of my favourite topics on earth. check out rolling down the ancient high street by hanchewie/ramblemadlyon (tumblr and ao3 respectively) for the sibling antics of aroace skye and bisexual jane when the latter visits the former at her college in california! and, if you like it, ramblemadlyon has two other penderwicks fics from the past couple days that look fantastic as well, and that I look forward to reading.

This chapter is dedicated to my therapist, since I've decided this will be the month of oddly specific dedications. thank you for telling me to stop referring to cruel summer as my "trash baby" and help me recognize the true worth that it holds in my life.

Disclaimer: not my characters, you know the drill. Jeanne Birdsall and Rick Riordan are lucky ducks indeed. chapter title is (obviously) from "lucid dreams" by Juice WRLD.

FROM THE POV OF JANE PENDERWICK

The woods loomed around me, seeming as tall as buildings as they invited me in further. I took another step, the sharp pain of a pinecone digging into my foot barely registered in my mind. I kept walking. A crack sounded throughout the air, and, behind me, a tree splintered round its base and fell down, only inches away from crushing me dead, and completely blocking the path out.

Frightened, I began to run, looking for a way out of the forest. But no matter which way I went, there were only trees in front of me. Where was the path? Where was the grassy hill I had walked down to get in here in the first place. Had I even walked down that hill to begin with? Now that I thought about it, I wasn’t sure I remembered coming here. I wasn’t sure I remembered waking up this morning, or going to bed last night, or anything besides existing in the forest. Who was I? What was I doing here? How could I get out?

Panicking, I stood in the middle of a clearing, looking frantically at the trees around me, trying to find something familiar. Nothing. I was exhausted. How long had I been here? An hour? A day? A lifetime? I collapsed at the base of a tree, sobbing as I tried to remember. Something. Anything.

Then, a voice echoed around me. “Welcome,” it said, and my mind went black.

I bolt upright in bed, a scream halfway out of my throat. I clamp it back, not wanting to wake my cabinmates. Thin light whimpers through the window--enough for me to see my white-knuckle grip on the sheets, but not enough to pass as daylight.

What time is it?

Our cell phones don’t really work here--that was one of the first things Miranda told us when we arrived, and Batty’s been gleefully lording it over us that her Mp3 player will still play music and, like, function, while our smart phones recline sadly in our duffel bags. That being said, I don’t feel quite brave enough to get out of my bed just yet and tiptoe over to the big analog clock that Rio bought at a pawn shop in Colorado. Maybe my phone will at least show the time.

I reach under my bed and fumble for my duffel, hooking my pinky through the zipper loop and yanking it out onto my floor. My phone’s in the front pocket, buried under two pairs of headphones, several gum wrappers, and some strawberry leaves (?????). A piece of gum peels off the screen as I disentangle my phone, and I mentally chide my past self for being so messy.

My phone does not turn on. Big clock it is.

I tiptoe across the cold tile and peer around the tree.

5:45 .

Jesus Pagan Christ.

It’s too early to wake anyone up (as I think this, Batty lets out a snore to rival any crabby Tyrannosaurus Rex), so I wrap a blanket around myself like a criminally attractive burrito, and creep out onto the porch, with my notebook and pen tucked into my shirt.

As long as I live, I will never get tired of summer mornings. There’s something deeply lovely about the soft light of the still-sleepy, pink lemonade sun, the quiet anticipation of the cool air, damp from dew and preparing for the upcoming heat. At home in Cameron, Skye’s woken me up many an early morning to go for a run or do soccer drills or for a grueling “Seven Minute Workout Except You Don’t Follow The Rules And Torture Your Sister by Making It Actually A Forty-Nine Minute Workout.” (But it’s okay, I’m not bitter). But, as delightful as those experiences have all been, I don’t think Skye really gets it. The beauty of the summer morning is not what it can do for your workout schedule, but rather in its gentle softening of an otherwise boiling day. It is to be appreciated in the way that I am now, sitting curled up on this frighteningly creaky porch (I mean, seriously, who built this?) and calling up the Sabrina Starr section of my brain to try and write away the residual panic from my nightmare.

Sabrina sighed as the plane took off. She wasn’t sure if she should have followed the voice in her head telling her to come here. Saying it out loud--even just thinking it--made it sound ridiculous. A dream, a voice in her mind. Barely more than a whim.

Worse than that, Sabrina wasn’t even sure where this whim was taking her. On a napkin in her pocket, she’d scrawled everything she remembered about the dream from the night before. The dark sky, lit only with spiderwebs of lightning, the shadowy figure huddled on a beach and soaked through with rain. The voice crying for help.

And a name. Aeaea.

After she’d woken up, Sabrina had looked up Aeaea, too tired to fully connect why the name felt familiar. Her heart had sunk further after reading the Wikipedia entry, and a breath of hopelessness had left her lips. According to the internet, Aeaea was not a real place. It had been the island prison of Circe. Fiction wasn’t new to Sabrina, and neither was mythology (she recalled an adventure spent with a ghost called Rainbow from a few years back).

Fictional places, though, were another matter. How could she get somewhere if she didn’t know where she was going? Was she trusting her gut with too much this time?

Sabrina folded up the napkin and put it back in her pocket. There was no point in worrying about that now. She’d looked at enough maps to make a guess at where Aeaea might be if it was real. When she got there, she could get more information. Sabrina Starr had survived this long in her career of rescues and whims. She could survive one more adventure. Worst case scenario, she said to herself, I spend a few days running around for nothing and have to brush up on my Greek.

She repeated it to herself like a promise. Worst case scenario, worst case scenario… Eventually, tired out from all her anxieties, and from trying desperately not to worry about what would come next, Sabrina fell asleep.

FROM THE POV OF RACHEL ELIZABETH DARE

“Okay, I give up. Tell me what’s wrong.” Annabeth’s voice startles me away from my plate of eggs, which I had been pushing around with a fork. Anxiety bubbles in my throat, just as it had been since I woke up, and food just doesn’t sound like a good idea.

“I--what?”

Annabeth waves her hand impatiently. “Don’t play dumb. I’ve been talking to you for five minutes and I don’t think you’ve looked up once. Also you’re always hungry in the mornings, so unless you, like, ate an entire cow before I got here, this ,” she gestures to my uneaten eggs, “is unusual behaviour.”

I give her a look. Sometimes, I get the feeling that Annabeth exists as a part of multiple different dimensions at once, like she’s having four other conversations that I can’t hear, and is still ten steps ahead of me in the one I’m actually a part of.

Or maybe I’m just easy to read.

“Nothing’s wrong.” I don’t want to talk about it. “I’m fine.” I’m terrified.

Annabeth sighs. “Is this about the prophecy?”

“No,” I spear another piece of egg, and don’t eat it. “Maybe. Yes.” I feel like going back to my cave and staying there for the rest of my life. Waiting with a book and some paints for the prophecy to get bored and go away. Maybe I’d take Jane with me, or Nico, for some company. That sounds nice.

My plate is pulled away from me as I aim my fork again. “I can’t pay attention when you do that,” Annabeth huffs. I think I wouldn’t invite her to stay in my cave. She’s too on the nose when I want to mope. Then again, she says the same about me.

“Fine,” I turn and face her. “Let’s talk feelings.” Connor Stoll, who had been making his way towards our table, abruptly turns around and walks the other way. I should get Chiron to hire a therapist. Gods know we need it.

Further proving my point, Annabeth’s eyes widen a little, before she remembers it is I who will be spilling. (I make a point to corner her later. It’s a routine we have). “Wow. You broke fast.”

I nod. “I’m tired and you’re annoying.” (False. We both know it. Another routine). “Like you said, I’m nervous about the prophecy.”

Annabeth nods. “And?”

I frown. “What do you mean, and ? There’s no and.”

Annabeth frowns back at me. A mirror, a mime, an annoyance. The nerve to look disappointed in me. “I thought you were spilling, Red.”

I roll my head back and study the roof of the pavilion, which Annabeth designed, and slowly lean my head down to stare at the table. I really don’t want to have this conversation. I go along anyways. “I’m worried about Jane.”

Annabeth leans back, triumphant. “Ah, yes. Your girlfriend.”

Maybe if I try reeeeeeeally hard, I can activate the Oracle of Delphi and freak Annabeth out enough to make her go away. “ Not my girlfriend. You know that.”

“You called Percy my boyfriend for weeks before we actually officially decided.”

I wave my hand dissmissively. “That’s different, you guys were dancing around each other for like three years. You needed a bit of a push. Jane and I kissed once! Over a week ago! And nothing came of it.” We actually haven’t really talked about it. We’re in this sort of in-between zone where we spend a ton of time together, but don’t have a label for it. Honestly, it’s been nice.

Annabeth grins, apparently reading my thoughts. “You’ve been eating lunch with the Demeter cabin, like, every other day. I saw you doing archery together yesterday. Both of you were awful at it, but you stayed there for hours. I’ve never seen you focus on something that long outside of your paintings.”

I stare at the ceiling again. Maybe Annabeth designed it so that a single square foot of rock might fall down onto my head and relieve me from this conversation. “Yes, fine, we spend a lot of time together. But that doesn’t make us a couple, and has nothing to do with what I’m actually worried about!” I can see in her face that Annabeth is more serious now, and is about to fully listen to me, when Percy and Malcolm show up, sliding into the seats across from us, and clanging several plates of pancakes down onto the table in front of them.

“Made them ourselves! Wanna share?” Percy gives Annabeth heart eyes and a kiss on the cheek when she folds a large blue pancake into thirds and bites it like a burrito. I roll my eyes at them because they are a horrifying and disgusting couple and also I kind of want to be them when I grow up. Malcolm ignores them, instead turning to me. “Were you talking about Jane?” he asks, pushing wire rimmed glasses up his nose.

I frown. “Sort of. Why?”

He shrugs, sheepish. “You know. Just, uh, just wondering.”

I narrow my eyes at him, then Percy, who tears himself away from looking at Annabeth to sigh dramatically. “Malcolm wants to ask out Jane’s sister. You know, the blond one.”

I snort. “ Skye? Seriously?”

Malcolm looks vaguely offended. “What’s so weird about that?”

“Sorry, it’s not weird.” I reach over the table to pat him on the shoulder with my fork. “Perfectly normal teenage hormones.” He glares at me and I smile sweetly back. “I just can’t imagine Skye going out with anyone, that’s all.”

Malcolm stares down at his pancake, disappointed. “Oh. You sure?”

I nod, feeling a little more normal with my friends and less doom-related breakfast conversation. My eggs are past the threshold of “warm and appetizing” but I take a bite anyway. “Pretty sure. Jane told me that she’s aroace and, based on past occurrences, there’s a seventy percent chance she’ll punch anyone who asks her out. Anyway, why the interest? I didn’t know you guys talked.”

Malcolm shrugs. “We don’t, really. She just seems cool.”

Percy pipes in, “He’s been practically obsessed with her since she won that soccer game against the Nike kids and made them cry.”

I nod approvingly. “Well, Malcolm, at least we know you have good taste.”

Annabeth pats him on the head, ignoring his complaints that her hand is covered in blue maple syrup. “Better luck next time, brother of mine.”

Piper and Leo join us next, contributing an alarming volume of grapes and a single hardboiled egg to the breakfast display. Leo grabs a pancake and wraps it around some grapes, before taking a big bite. “I hear you’re discussing Malcolm’s romantic failures,” he says around the world’s worst breakfast burrito. Piper gasps in mock offense, then swallows the unpeeled hardboiled egg whole, like a snake. (This is a regular morning routine. She’s trying to work up to being a sword swallower, since her dad did it in a movie once and she thought it looked like fun). “ Malcolm, why didn’t you come to me? I could have given you a verdict within five minutes!”

“I wanted advice on whether I should ask out that Heaphestus boy two weeks ago and you told me to fuck off.”

Piper pouts at him. “That’s on you, you caught me at a bad time.”

Annabeth holds up a pancake with the air of a respected royal and we turn to her. “As delightful as this is, Rachel and I were initially talking about her romantic prospects and also her worries and fears, and I feel that we should get back to that before she slinks off and avoids the rest of the conversation.”

I glare at her. “Why would you bring this away from the very nice conversation we were having about everyone else’s problems? Do you hate me?” Annabeth rolls her eyes. “No, dumbass, I’m just not letting you walk away from a potential breakthrough. Now, where were we? You were saying that you’re worried about Jane but it has nothing whatsoever to do with your relationship, or lack thereof.”

I give a long suffering sigh, and try to communicate telepathically with Piper that she needs to Save Me Now, but she’s looking at me in interest with her chin resting in her hands, her long fingers adorned with rings sent to her from her Mortal girlfriend, Shel, who bought them at a vintage punk store. The traitor. Defeated, I turn back to Annabeth.

“It’s just that, whatever ends up happening with this prophecy, I don’t want it to fuck her up, in the way the quests have sometimes done to us. Like, we’re used to this by now, but it hasn’t been a smooth road. I don’t exactly like going on quests, and at first I was really worried at the prospect of being included in a prophecy, since that’s fairly abnormal, but Jane was only made aware of her heritage a couple months ago! What if this turns out like Silena or Beckendorf or-or Jason, and the prophecy destroys her, and it’s all my fault because I’m the one who pulled her into all this?”

Everyone tenses up at the mention of Jason, but they continue to look at me with a mixture of concern and love that makes something soften inside of me. For the hundredth time, I think of how lucky I am to have these people who love me unconditionally. Even if they really, really need therapy.

“I know that I didn’t plan any of this, but we’re both tied in now, especially since both Chiron and I had the prophetic dream and I actually gave the prophecy that day in the woods, and, well, this isn’t her world yet. She’s only got a little bit of ichor in her, and she grew up knowing nothing of any of this. In a way, I did too, and I have no ichor, but I had clear sight. For me, it was ineffable, but she could technically leave any time, if it weren’t for the prophecy. She can leave, and I feel like it’s up to me to make sure that doesn’t change.”

“Oh, Rachel.” Annabeth reaches her arms out to me and I let myself be pulled into an embrace. “Jane’s going to be okay. We’ll make sure of it.”

Sabrina stood in line at the boat rental hut, her arms crossed and a frown plastered on her face. It had not been a successful afternoon. For hours, she’d been searching the coastal towns near where her plane landed, looking for some trace of Aeaea, or anything else she’d seen in her dream. She was used to working with dregs. It was normal for her to have to squint a little at the evidence, have to shuffle things together around big holes of “Maybe,” like she was working a jigsaw puzzle with half the pieces missing.

But this was something else.

Sabrina had read about places where mythology shaped the culture. Places where the tourist draws were events that had supposedly happened thousands of years ago, or creatures that only existed in grainy photographs and people’s imaginations. Hell, she’d met the Loch Ness monster. Was it insane for her to have assumed she’d be able to find the same kind of thing here? All her training and years of experience had told her that, if you sniff around long enough, you’ll find a conspiracy theorist or a slightly off-the-rails guidebook.

So far, though, Sabrina had found nothing. Absolutely nothing. She hunted around, searching up library catalogs, checking every store on the street. “Aeaea,” “Circe,” even “the Odyssey.”

Nothing.

The line edged along slowly, and Sabrina ran her hands up and down her arms. The air was chilly from its proximity to the cold sea water. There were three people in front of her now. She just had to wait a little longer, then she would have a boat and be able to explore these waters herself.

Something was wrong with this place. Something was wrong with all of these places. And Sabrina was going to figure out what.

Later, Jane and I are taking our time walking to the pegasus stables to watch the riding lesson that Rosalind has reluctantly agreed to let Batty take (provided that Percy, who’s teaching today, doesn’t let her fly high enough that she’ll die if she falls off, and that Batty wears all of the necessary protective gear). Jane looks lovely, wearing a sunshine-y yellow bandana that sets off her dark curls and warm sepia skin. She has on her Camp Half-Blood shirt again, and a short green skirt, and all of it should clash horribly, but it doesn’t.

We’ve decided to cut through the strawberry fields, and I swallow a sun-warmed strawberry while Jane tells me about the dream she had last night. I think back to my conversation with Annabeth this morning when she tells me of the dark woods and the feeling of drowning, the memory warping and the echoing voice. At some point we sit down in a patch of grass, a simple circle amidst strawberry plants with a couple logs where the campers and satyrs take their breaks when they work here. Jane finishes her story and we sit in comfortable silence for a few moments, only broken by the grunts of annoyance Jane makes while trying to get her plant powers to activate again. She’s been doing that a lot.

“Well that sucks,” I say finally. “Have you been having other dreams like it?”

Jane shrugs, the neon orange fabric of her shirt wrinkling on her shoulders. “One or two, I think. Last night’s was the first one I really remembered. ” She smiles out of the corner of her mouth. “I hardly ever remember my dreams. It used to upset me. I thought I was losing potential writing material.”

I laugh. It’s such a Jane thing to think, that I can’t help it. She goes quiet, like she’s reminiscing, and I picture a tiny version of Jane, sitting crossed-legged on her summer quilt, writing. I look at her now, scrunched up nose and big brown eyes. Oh gods, she must have been an adorable child.

“My mother used to say that my imagination was the eighth wonder of the world,” Jane says. She’s looking down the hill at the cabins, plant powers temporarily forgotten, and I remember her telling me about her mother, the first Elizabeth Penderwick, who came here and was a daughter of Demeter and loved opera. The Penderwick siblings’ beloved mother who died so young.

I move closer to Jane on the log. “I can understand why she’d say that.”

Jane smiles again, a little sad this time, a little absent, but full to the brim with love.

“Bet you she’s in Elysium,” I say softly. I explained the Underworld to Jane a couple weeks ago, and she’d gotten this same absent look on her face, that I now know means she’s thinking about her mother. Jane nods, now, then turns to me. “Could we talk about something else?” Her voice is quiet, her eyes a little shiny.

“Course,” I say. “Shall I regale you with tales of dimwittery at this camp in the years past?” I told her last week about the time some Hermes kids tried to order pizza to the camp, accidently causing Chiron to think we were under attack. Jane had nearly fallen off the bench laughing.

She grins now, but shakes her head. “Tell me what it’s like being an Oracle.” I give her a look. She’s asked me before and I never really know what to say. When I give prophecies, it’s like I black out. I’m taken over by another entity who shares my body. (“Like that lady in Suicide Squad ,” Leo had said when I tried to explain it to him once, but I’d refused to be compared to such a gods-fucking-awful movie). So, in a way, I don’t know what it’s like to be the Oracle.

As if reading my thoughts, Jane shakes her head. “Not that part. I’ve seen you all green and smokey, and I know you can’t feel it. I mean the other stuff. How did you know it was you? What did you have to do to become the Oracle? That kind of thing.” I relax a little. Jane’s asked me all sorts of weird questions about Greek mythology and the gods recently. She calls it “research for her book,” but sometimes I think she’s just nosy. It’s cute.

Jane shrugs and looks off into the distance. If you tilt your head a little you can kind of see the stables from here. We have fifteen more minutes to get there, according to my watch. I decide to take it easy. “Delphi is this weird ethereal spirit,” Jane continues, “but there’s also just everyday, Oracle you, who likes paint and denim and bagels.” At that, I laugh. “I actually don’t like bagels that much. I’m just late to breakfast so often that they’re usually the only things available.”

Jane pouts at me and plays with the bracelet tied around my wrist--the one she gave me. “You know what I mean! You know all this weird shit about me because my siblings don’t shut up at lunch, and I know stuff about you, like the denim thing, which I still think is funny by the way. But you’re also the freaking Oracle! Your dormant self lies waiting!” I laugh at her, and she rolls her eyes, but I see the corner of her mouth tilting up. “Rachel, that’s very cool!”

I give in. “Honestly, there’s not much to say, that’s why I don’t talk about it.” I pause. “Well no, it’s that a lot of the stuff beyond the obvious is actually sort of creepy and weird, and not in a good way. There’s stuff I try not to think about, is what I mean.”

The edge of her yellow bandana sticks up as Jane tilts her head at me. “That makes sense. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

I shake my head. “No, it feels okay right now.” I mean it. Now that I’ve gotten into the swing of it, I do want to talk about it. Still, a small sigh escapes me. “I like being the Oracle, because that’s what brought me to a place where I feel like I belong and I have people who love me. It’s nice to know that I’m fulfilling my purpose in life.”

Jane pulls her knees up to her chest. “But?”

“But I also get lonely.” It comes out in a rush. “There are other oracles, but I didn’t know about any of them until the Apollo thing happened, and even then, they’re all supernatural beings--I know, I know, but not in the way I am. It’s not the same. Also, there are all these weird rules. Like I have to stay an unmarried virgin my whole life.”

“That’s fucked,” Jane says softly.

“I know! Chiron won’t even tell me why, just that it’s ‘the rules’” I let out an annoyed huff. “And, like, it’s not even that the idea itself bothers me. That’s pretty much what I was planning to do with my life anyway.”

“Same.”

“But it’s the principle of the thing!” I flick a strand of hair out of my face, offhandedly noticing that the tip of my pinky finger is slightly green. I ignore it. It’s not important. “Just because I don’t want to have sex or get married doesn’t mean it’s a fair rule to impose on me! Besides, why is it always the women in these things whose identities are tied up in who they do or don’t fuck? Last I checked, Grover didn’t have to sign an ‘I shalt not fornicate’ contract when he became Lord of the Wild!”

“Exactly!” Jane raises her hands and shouts up to the sky. “Don’t you fuckers realize we’re more than that?”

“The Hunters of Artemis, too!” I’m a jack-in-the-box, and something’s winding me up. “Thalia and Reyna send me letters all the time, and they seem really happy! Which is great!” I pause to emphasize the greatness of their happiness. My pinky is completely green, now. “But, they also had to make a stupid ‘ode of chastity,’ like I did!”

“Are you kidding me?” Jane’s hair flips as she turns to me. “I thought Artemis was one of the good ones!”

My voice lowers to a husky rumble, and I stare into the distance towards you, the reader. “In a broken system, there are no good ones. Abolish the police.” I clear my throat and my voice turns back to normal. “Sorry, zoned out for a second.” My green pinky has begun to vibrate.

“Happens to the best of us,” Jane’s voice is light and nonchalant. “And yeah, I know. Pretty much all of the gods have skeletons sitting on their shoulders, but it just seems out of character for her. I thought all of Artemis’s groups were supposed to be safe havens, not oppressive structures in their own right.”

I frown. “Yeah you’re right, that is weird. I’d never thought of it much beyond the gods having weird rules, but I wonder if something bigger is at play. The gods might be fucked up in the way that regular people are, and are undoubtedly responsible for all sorts of crap. But then there's more personal things, like the ‘chastity vows’ the Hunters and I had to take, and the fact that Nico was initially outed by Eros, and the weird unexplained eye condition that Piper had during some of her quests that made her eyes a bunch of bright, Eurocentric colors, rather than their natural brown. All sorts of other stuff, too.”

“Wow!” Jane says, sitting up straight on the grass. Her hand moves from where it was resting in her lap to cover her heart. “It’s almost like a bunch of genuinely good and inspiring material, such as including prominent queer people and characters of color in fun children’s fantasy, as well as having an immortal group of warrior women who support each other and are free from the gaze of men, was taken into the hands of a cis white man armed with unchecked misogyny and a fair amount of white Twitter feminism, both of which really showed when he tried to create an inclusive and empowering book series for children! Like yeah, it had its moments, and definitely some good characters, but overall, a lack of meaningful research in certain areas really made it fall flat!” Once again, I stare through the bindings of URLs and internet coding, now joined by Jane as we lock eyes with you, the reader. This time, we hold eye contact for nearly a minute, giving you time to read and process the long tangent spat out by this fanfic’s author, who, if we’re being honest, has gone just a tad off the rails right now. Finally, Jane and I look away from you, and resume our roles as fictional characters, still shaking off that strange cloud that comes with staring into the soul of those who give you life.

“Ugh, what’s going on with me today?” Jane groans at the same time I mutter, “What’s Twitter?” We turn to each other, blinking in the sunlight, then grin. This is normal. We’re fine. Jane looks up at the sky again. “I wonder if the gods are watching us. Maybe we should make them think we suck so they’ll leave you alone.”

I laugh as she sticks her tongue out, grinning wickedly at a nearby cloud. “Better yet, make them think we’re too powerful to be messed with,” I say. Jane sees me watching her and opens her mouth, sucking the cloud in between her teeth. The sky seems bluer in the space where it had been, and Jane’s eyes glitter with mirth as she swallows. “Mmm, tastes like sugar.” I giggle, feeling a small shiver on the top of my head. When I peer up, I see another cloud has floated over to me. I open my own mouth, and take it in, just as Jane did hers. “Sugar, yes. But there’s a touch of blood, too,” I say. Jane nods sagely. “What were we talking about?”

“The inherent misogyny in much of Greek mythology and the world of Camp Half-Blood in general.”

Jane nods again. “Right. A very important topic. It makes it weird when I’m writing sometimes. You know, cause I want to bring in Circe and Zeus and Apollo and all these fascinating characters, but there’s just so much bad stuff tied up with them that comes up when I research.” She looks down at our feet, which are standing in the midst of a strawberry patch. We seem to have been walking, crushing sweet summer strawberries as we go, which is odd because I don’t remember getting up. “You know Rachel, I’m feeling a bit strange.”

I look at her, and see an odd blankness in her warm brown eyes. “Now that you mention it, Jane, so am I.”

“My thoughts and words are my own,” Jane says, “But there’s something up with my body. I can’t really feel it.”

“I agree, I’ve honestly gone a bit numb.” I try to glance down at my fingers, wondering idly if they’ve gotten any more green, but find that my neck won’t bend.

Jane’s eyebrows furrow. “Yet, at the same time, I feel as though I could do anything. Grow another grass blade. Grow a flower. Grow a tree. Bend the world to my will if I wanted to.”

“Or is it the world bending me to its will.” I grin at my own philosophical point, but find that the smile won’t go away. Pretty fucking inconvenient, since the next thing I was going to bring up was part of the whole serious misogyny conversation. I decide to go for it anyway. “And I’m not the only one with weird rules!” Jane nods, as if this is a perfectly normal segway, and the only extraneous thought that floats through my mind as we find ourselves walking down a hill is how unfair it is that she still has control over her neck and I don’t. “Remember when I told you about the Hunters of Artemis?”

“Oh yeah! Your friends Reyna and Thalia, right?”

“Yeah, them! They send me letters sometimes, and seem really happy, which is great.” I pause, meaning to add emphasis, when I’m hit with a great sensation of deja-vu. “Wait a second, we already talked about this, didn’t we?” I try to remember, but something in my mind is rapidly melting. I cannot find it. I cannot find anything.

“Jane?” My voice quivers, and I squeeze my eyes shut. Oh gods, please let this be a dream. For a moment, I try to convince myself that it’s the Oracle of Delphi taking over, just like she did the other day and generally does a couple times a year. But I know that I’m lying. This is not what that feels like. “Jane, where are you?” I can barely move my mouth to say the words. I can feel nothing but the frozen fear of paralysis, of lost control. When I open my eyes, this other thing in my body has brought me to the edge of the forest. “Jane? Jane?” She could be right beside me, unable to speak, and I wouldn’t know because I can’t turn my head, can’t move my eyes, can barely even hear right now.

It’s okay, something says.

“Jane?” It’s not her voice. It’s no one’s voice.

It’s okay. You’re home.

With every cut the wooden oars made through the choppy ocean water, Sabrina knew she was getting closer. She could feel it in her bones, in her brain, a little voice that whispered in her ear. It had been three hours. Her body was worn down, energy levels dipping dangerously low, when she felt something scrape the bottom of her boat.

A rock.

Frantically, she peered through the fog that had begun to surround her boat a mile ago. The island. Had she finally made it?

As if answering her call, a peel of thunder rang out, and Sabrina’s boat began to fill with rain that pounded down from the sky. The storm from her dream. She rowed even faster, then, fear sparking a renewed strength in her tired muscles.

Just as Sabrina was about to reach the shore, a massive wave crashed over her, and her boat capsized. She came back up, sputtering, holding her sopping wet bag above her head. Another wave swept against Sabrina’s face, and she found herself spitting out a mouthful of saltwater. Finally, she washed up on the shore, heaving breaths raking through her lungs.

Sabrina blinked, pushing herself up onto her elbows. It was real. She was here.

She had made it.

FROM THE POV OF ROSALIND PENDERWICK

It’s been a pleasant day so far. Breakfast with my siblings and some of the Demeter cabin (though Jane did seem a bit absent-minded). Miranda, Florien, and Rio convinced me to practice some plant magic with them for a couple hours and I built up to growing a small sunflower. Lunch (again with Jane seeming distracted, though Rachel ate with us this time, which appeared to help). Then, Skye and Jeffrey disappeared with some of the older campers (supposedly for a regular game of soccer, but the unsettling gleam in their eyes had me doubting that was all there was too it), Jane and Rachel went to take a walk in the strawberry fields, and Batty and I were left to prepare for a pegasus riding lesson. If it had been up to Batty, the latter could have easily taken up the entire afternoon, but changing into durable pants and finding a bandana can only take so long.

After a somewhat restless hour, during which I grew three peonies and Batty rhapsodized about the stable of unicorns that another demigod camp apparently has, Batty and I arrive at the stable. We’re ten minutes early, and she’s been talking a mile a minute the whole time, not stopping from before. I swear I now know as much about pegasuses as she does. According to Rachel, the teacher today is Percy, her friend, who’s very responsible “when he puts his mind to it.” I wasn’t sure how to tell her that’s actually not very comforting, but Batty looked so excited and I figured there will be plenty of other people there, so. Why not. She’s been spending so much time there anyway.

Needless to say, I very much regret my decision now.

The stables are modest, made of wood and painted green, and I’ve been there several times by now. There’s a long line of stalls visible when we first walk in, but Batty skips straight to the far end, where a massive pegasus the color of a carrot pokes its head over the door and nuzzles Batty’s hair. She looks up at me with a smile that could melt anyone’s heart, and pats the horse on the nose. “Rosy, this is Queen Lotus Flower. Percy said we have a impenetrable bond.”

I look at the two of them with a questioning gaze. How can they both have the exact same puppy-dog eyes? I swear to god. The gods. All of them. “Batty, sweetheart. That horse is like ten feet tall.”

She nods enthusiastically. “I know, she’s so much taller than any other horse I’ve seen. Percy says she has the biggest wingspan of any horse at camp.”

I nod, slowly, wondering why my sister picked the biggest pegasus to fall in love with. At that moment, Percy pushes the door open. “Hey Batty! Ready for your lesson?” Batty leaves her post by Queen Lotus Flower to wrap her arms around my waist and nod. I look Percy over. He’s a few inches taller than me, with brown skin and curly hair. A beaded camp necklace, orange tshirt, and jeans. Weird arm tattoo aside, he’s one of the most normal-looking people at camp. I’ve only met him a couple times before, but, my nerves over Batty flying around on massive horses aside, I do trust him. Rachel seems to have a good taste in friends. Also, Batty likes him, and she’s still shy around a good number of Skye and Jane’s friends back in Cameron.

For the next few minutes, I watch as Percy instructs Batty on buckling Queen Lotus Flower’s giant saddle and looping the bridle over her nose. Not wavering a bit from the “lesson” aspect of all this, he steps back to let her show what she’s already learned from hanging around the stables so often, only stooping in to guide her when she gets confused. As the minutes tick by, more people show up for the lesson: three other students, and a good sized crowd of people who just like watching the pegasuses. By then, I’m seated on the grass outside the stables, soaking in the blistering sun and watching as Percy (seated atop a wiry black pegasus who Batty pointed out as Blackjack) darts around the large dusty enclosure, making final preparations for the lesson.

Skye and Jeffrey show up then, and sit on either side of me. I want to ask them where Jane and Rachel are, but they’re talking non-stop about a game they just played in the woods with some of the other campers, only switching the subject when Percy and Blackjack return and they begin discussing whether or not it should be scientifically possible for a horse to fly.

Just as Batty and Queen Lotus Flower begin a gentle trot around the enclosure, I feel a tap on my shoulder, and hear the familiar sound of Tommy’s chuckle. “She’s got a weird knack for that,” he says. I nod, grinning.

It’s been good with us. We’ve had breakfast together a few times, even played a game of basketball one afternoon. Our conversations aren’t the same as they used to be, and there’s a sense of newness that feels cold and strange every so often. But it’s good. It feels right. At least for now, this feels like where we’re supposed to be.

As Percy starts demonstrating how to take flight, I look around again. Jane and Rachel still aren’t here. They promised to come. (“For moral support!” Jane had said. “Wouldn’t miss it,” Rachel had added with a smile). I try to push it out of my head. This lesson is a big deal. Batty’s going to be flying.

She leans forward on Queen Lotus Flower’s neck.

They begin to run, moving together like a single being.

Just as they burst into the air, Batty’s euphoric smile lighting up the sky, Katie grabs my shoulders from behind. I shush her so I can lean forward and watch Batty silhouetted against the pegasus’s wide orange wings.

“Rosalind. Rosalind, guys. ” Something about the panic in Katie’s voice makes me turn around. Her usually tied back hair is loose and her clothes rumpled, giving the impression that she was dragged out of bed for this. (Some part of my brain distantly remembers her saying she was going to take a nap). Skye and Jeffrey turn around, too.

“What, what’s happening?” I reach out my hands, trying to calm her as she collapses into a squat, breathing heavily.

“Billie… found me in the cabin… had been looking for you guys… been running all over the camp… lucky I remembered about the riding lesson…”

Jeffrey leans over and puts his hands on her shoulders. She stares down at the dirt while her breathing levels.

“Katie, what are you saying? Why were you and Billie looking for us?”

She looks up, and I see that her forehead is drawn into well-worn creases of worry. “Jane and Rachel have gone into the woods.”

Something was wrong. Sabrina crouched on the wet sand, straining to see through the heavy rain. In her dream there had definitely been someone else on the island. She remembered the hunched figure, the sound of sobs leaking through the rain.

But she’d circled the shore at least twice by now, and there was nobody to be found. “Am I late or something?” she wondered aloud. Somehow, she’d gotten that dream It felt like it had been sent to her. Why did it show a person when there was no one?

Sabrina sighed and began to traipse inland, tucking a knife in her pocket. It wasn’t a big island, and she might as well find some shelter aside from her boat, which was now overturned somewhere on the beach. Circe lived here, didn’t she? There must be some sort of roof, especially if this kind of weather was standard.

Or maybe this was just a random island and there was no Aeaea and Sabrina’s dream had just been the unhinged work of her unconscious mind.

There was a small grassy hill set aside from the sand, which Sabrina crawled up with the determination of a dying warrior. Something was pushing her back. An invisible force, a last crumb of survival instinct, plain old fatigue, she wasn’t sure. But something wanted her out of here, and it pushed back harder and harder as she climbed.

She let out a cry of frustration, clawing at the ground, at the air, at whatever this goddamn thing was, and found a renewed burst of strength that pulled her to the top of the hill. Once there, the force that pushed back ebbed a little, like it was giving up. Sabrina let herself relax, and simply took in the view for a moment.

The hill she lay on top of gave way to a deep valley, sprawling and green. In one corner, there was a cluster of trees that looked healthy and comfortable, despite being on a random Greek island in the middle of the ocean. A modest garden lay next to it, somehow appearing unaffected by the rain, and a narrow river wound around the whole scene.

There was also a house.

Sabrina wasn’t sure what she might have expected from the lair of an infamous Greek enchantress, but it wasn’t this.

She hauled herself up on the hill and started down, rushing through the rain onto a wide wooden porch. There was a large stone vat of something dark and crumbly, with a heavy looking staff of sorts leaning against it. The door to the house was short, and Sabrina heard it scrape on the floor when she pushed it open.

The scene awaiting her was surprisingly cozy when she stepped inside. There was a fire in the hearth and rows upon rows of little viles arranged on a set of shelves beside it. A broom leaned against the wall. Sabrina looked around, noting the way that the rain didn’t make any sound as it thrashed against the roof and window, and the almost drug-like stupor that threatened to take over her brain, whispering that everything was fine, she was safe, nothing bad could happen to her.

Sabrina had encountered hypnosis before, and it only ever made her more jittery.

There was an open hatch in the floor with stairs that lead into darkness. She followed them down, feeling the air grow cooler with every step. Sabrina was quiet, taking tiny steps on her toes, and wincing when one of the stairs creaked. She didn’t know what was down there, and she didn’t want to find out the hard way. But there were no arrows flying up from the space below, no sounds of footsteps or slashes of swords.

Sabrina stepped onto a dirt floor and let herself exhale, shuffling along until her toe hit something hard. Only seasoned reflexes made her reach for the knife in her pocket instead of crying out in fear. She knelt down and squinted in the darkness, trying to see what she’d hit.

A leg.

She frowned, shaking it until she heard a low growl. “Stop that.” She stopped.

“Who are you?” Sabrina leaned closer. If they hadn’t killed her yet she was probably safe.

Instead of answering, they reached out a hand. Sabrina could see a gold ring on the thumb that glinted in a little sliver of light that had crept down from the room above. “Pull me up,” the figure said. “I’ve been paralyzed by the witch.”

Helping the stranger sit turned out to be no simple feat. They were tall and muscular, wearing a cape and a heavy metal chest plate. “The witch?” she questioned, propping them up against one of the cellar’s dirt walls. Her eyes were beginning to adust to the dark, and she could just make out their sharp chin sticking out as their head lolled back.

The figure made a noise. “The witch, the sorceress, the woman. Whatever you want to call her. I figure she sent you down too?” They snorted. “Good luck. I told Zeus not to sent mortals, but does he ever listen? You’re gonna die.”

Sabrina tried to piece together what she could from all this. The witch must be Circe, unless she’d wound up on an entirely different island. And if Circe was going around paralyzing people, then something must be going on. She must be hiding something. As for the person in front of her, Sabrina wasn’t sure who they were. By the way they talked about Zeus, and casually said “mortals,” she’d guess some sort of god? As if that narrowed it down. She’d have to be careful.

“Why did she paralyze you?”

Another weird gutteral noise. “She didn’t like my offer. It’s not the first time this has happened.”

She was growing impatient. Why’d he have to be so vague? “What?”

“Yeah, I don’t know why he always sends me. I don’t think he trusts me. He’d rather me stay her paralysed in the basement of a witch than come back home.”

Sabrina let out an exasperated sigh. This wasn’t working and she needed answers. A whole coast of people with mythology-shaped holes in their memories awaited her. “You’re going to need to be a little more specific. I don’t think we’re on the same page.”

The figure sounded confused. “What do you mean? Don’t you know who I am?”

She leaned forward and inspected them in the darkness. “No. No I don’t.”

They slid their eyes down to her face. “I am the god Apollo. I came here for Circe and she did this to me.”

“What? Why?”

The stairs creaked behind Sabrina and she felt a long nail drag up her back. “I just want to be left alone,” said a voice as deep and powerful as the smell of red wine. “You don’t mind, do you?” Before Sabrina could grab her knife and turn around, before she could even scream, strong arms had surrounded her shoulders and a hand was clamping a damp cloth over her nose and mouth. Shock made her breath in, sharply, and she smelled the sweetness of sleeping drugs.

A heartbeat, a brief struggle, and Sabrina Starr was gone.

#cruel summer fic #cameron writes #the penderwicks #penderwicks #camp half blood #camp half-blood #rachel elizabeth dare #jane penderwick #rosalind penderwick

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perseusjackson-jasongrace · 4 years

Text

I Am Lost

Masterlist

do i still taste like war?

can you still feel the battles on my skin

stitched across my back

am i still rebuilding

bone by fragile bone?

-what does forgiveness taste like? (r.n.)

It has been three weeks since the end of the Giant war. Three weeks of trying to build some semblance of normal. Of burning flags and wiping tears. Of visiting the medical rooms and silently cursing the gods for their arrogance. Campers wandered around, lost dulled looks in their once bright eyes. The little ones, sheltered by wood nymphs and aging satyrs in that violent week, ran around tugging at each other, and causing small forms of chaos. It was a grace that they had been spared the horrors of war.

Percy Jackson was swinging from the hammock in his cabin, staring at the rolling waves that crashed to the beat of his heart. His mind was faraway, wandering through the clouds, looking for meaning amongst fallen leaves, trying to breathe life into fallen embers.

He thought about seeking out his girlfriend, but a knot formed tight and heavy in his chest. It was a new, unwelcome feeling. The first time he thought it was nerves— not surprising when it came to her. She had always made him a little gooey on the inside, like the thrill of a plunging drop, like something exciting, and unfamiliar. But then he had met her in front of the great hall and those nerves had grown into this unbearable weight, pressing down on his lungs.

She had looked at him and some fleeting shadow brushed past her eyes. It was less than a second, but he had caught it, felt it like ice in his veins. Fear.

He shrugged it off that first time but their interactions since had become choppy, robotic.

He spent more time between his cabin and the training room. Hours upon hours, twirling and stabbing Riptide into dummies. He had only been interrupted twice. Once when a gaggle of children came in to stare. He only noticed because they clapped after he sent a dummy flying across the room.

He had laughed at them and brought them closer so they could learn. Camp activities were not yet restored to the scheduled times so some of the children hadn't any training with the weapons. They gasped and giggled as he helped a little boy shoot a pretend arrow. As he helped little Alec with their wooden dagger.

The second time when a friend had leaned against the doorway, a corded arm held above their face to block the sun streaming in.

"Percy," The voice was low, raspy in it's softness.

He let it wash over him but didn't acknowledge it, instead rolling his shoulders and pounding at the punching bag once more. Sweat dripped down his forehead, catching on his cheekbones.

"Percy!"

He dropped his head back, letting the timbered roof see his smile.

"Need something Grace?"

"You need to take a break."

"I'm not tired. But thank you for the concern."

"Bullshit, you've been at it for two hours."

That startled him, eyes squinting as he checked the clock on the far side of the room. His gaze travelled across the beams and landed on concerned blue eyes.

"I didn't realize it had been that long."

The blonde moved into the room, "You are killing yourself."

He shrugged, pulling off the tape around his hands, "So what?"

Jason's eyes whipped to his, something like devastation on his princely face, "What do you mean?"

His smile was cruel, "Did you come here for any particular reason?"

The blonde made to step forward, but then thought better of it. "I've just come to tell you that we've been summoned to the dining hall and—" He paused, taking a deep breath as if to gather courage, "And to ask if I could join you tomorrow?"

"Here?" He frowned.

"Yes, I could do with some training. Ever since Hera wiped my memories, I've been struggling to refamiliarise myself with the strategies I learnt at SPQR. I was hoping you could teach me?"

He tilted his head, studying his friend, "Sure." He said after a moment, "But only if we can learn a little more about combining our power."

"Why would you want to do that?"

He shrugged, "Call it curiosity."

The Son of Jupiter seemed to think about it for a bit, weighing his options as if life were a sensitive scale. "Deal."

Now he swung from his hammock, striking match sticks against the wood posts, watching as they flared, burned, suffocated. The smoke, he thought, was pretty in its evanesce.

A knock at the door scraped his mind to the present. He debated not answering but where else would he be if not here. So he jumped down and strolled through the cabin.

"Annabeth, hey."

"Percy," She gave a tight-lipped smile, "Can we go for a walk?"

"Uh sure," He disappeared for a moment, grabbing a cap and Riptide from the table.

"So what's up?"

"Percy," She said his name like it exhausted her.

"Are you okay?" He frowned, lifting his hand to feel her forehead.

She sidestepped him, kicking at the ground in false distraction.

"I— we—" She took a deep breath, "Piper and I are going to New Rome for the rest of the summer. Reyna invited us and since we're the only two who haven't gotten the chance to explore, we figured now was a good time to start."

"Oh cool, when do we leave?"

She winced, looked up at him with those swirling grey eyes he had loved like adventure, like hope, like something new.

"No Percy not we. Me and, and Piper. Just us. I think we need some rest. Some time to just be safe and do what we want. We need a break."

"You want a break?" His lungs felt too small, heart stammering like a stick record, mind buried in quicksand.

"Yes," She said it with certainty. As if she had thought about it enough to remove even her own doubt.

"From Camp Half-Blood or from me?"

Her face looked stricken, like she hadn't considered it, like they were one and the same. Maybe they were.

"Both?" She was less certain now, fumbling on loose stones.

"Do you want to break up?" Words were cotton threads sown into his tongue.

"Yes, no, maybe, I don't know!" She cried.

"Annabeth," Anguish was a mercy.

"I think it's best if we go our separate ways, for now anyway."

"What do you mean separate ways?" His throat was adorned with a necklace of rope, "We have been on the same path since we were twelve. We have followed each other into and out of battle. Have taken daggers, swords, curses for each other. We have experienced firsts, seconds, life together."

Her tears were endless, but her expression was without doubt, "I love you. I think a part of me will always love you, but times are changing, and I have to learn who I am without worrying about how to keep myself safe. I have to live Percy. I have been surviving for too long."

He sunk to the grassy hill; his knees too weak to hold him.

"Maybe someday," She started softly, "Maybe someday we will find our way back."

He looked up at her, pain making her blurry, a silhouette, unrecognisable. "I am not lost."

She crouched down, until they were staring into each other. He knew she could see the words written in his eyes, as she always had. For all they struggled with their dyslexia she had always been able to read him like a cherished book.

"I will miss you Percy."

He didn't reply, didn't have the words even if he wanted to. She kissed his cheek, wiped a stray tear and left him on half-blood hill, her blonde curls ruffling in the lowly breeze.

***

A week later Percy was waking before the sun, nightmares and heartache refusing to evict from his body. He scrubbed a hand over his face and slid out of bed. If the day was to start now, without his choice he could at least decide what to do with it.

It was no surprise then that Jason Grace found him in his newfound second home, amongst the ratty dummies, slashing Riptide through their stuffed insides.

"Do you ever sleep?"

He snorted, not faltering as he pretended to dodge and then swiped his sword low.

"Who are you fighting for?"

The questions caught him off guard, stumbling to his knees. Jason was at his side in an instance, supple fingers wrapping under his arms to haul him up. They settled on the bench, backs against the wall, hands flexing and clenching. The quiet was so loud in his head, like a ringing that never stopped.

"I am fighting for myself." He finally exhaled.

"I am fighting because I have been doing it for so long, I do not know any other way."

The Son of Jupiter didn't say anything, didn't even look his way. Percy settled further into his position, content to lapse into silence. His turmoil had been his friend for these long years, and he has learnt its language.

"When I was with Lupa," Jason started, "She used to say a wolf who is separated from the pack is only alone if they do not howl. Mostly it was a lesson for the cubs, so they knew to call if they ever got lost. But I liked it because it reminded me that telling someone you are lost may not make you less lost but will make you less alone. Someone will find their way to you."

They did not speak again, happy to be silent companions.

The day passed by in a blur of preparation. It was already halfway through the summer and as they did each year the Half-Blood Feast would mark the occasion. Percy helped where he could, picking strawberries at the request of Juniper, and pulling his weight in the dining hall by scrubbing at the concrete slabs on which they ate.

By the time night fell his bones were creaking like hollowed stairs. But he was excited. If for nothing else but the sense of routine and joy this festival brought after such horrible events. He tugged on a plain blue t-shirt and a fresh pair of jeans. It did not count as dressing up, but it felt nice to put effort into something. Albeit his hair couldn't be tamed, wild curls sticking every which way.

"Percy," A knock sounded at his door.

With a final glance at his appearance he stepped out, taking a deep breath of ocean air.

His heart skipped a beat, skipped two. It wasn't beating at all. Beating too fast to feel. Jason Grace was leaning against a marbled column, a halo of sunshine around his head and a blue shirt making his eyes as bright as the cerulean skies.

"We're matching!"

"The camp store does not have much variety." He grinned, "Although I think I'm pulling it off much better than you Grace."

It was a lie of course, Jason looked ethereal.

"I have to agree," The blonde winked.

Percy laughed, rolling his eyes as they made their way to the dining hall.

"A pity we can't sit together," Jason frowned.

"Maybe Chiron will make an exception today, since it is a special occasion."

"We can ask, the worst he can do is say no."

Minutes later they were seated at the same table while everyone gathered together.

The feast was as glorious as it had always been. Food to feed nations, fill homes, warm bellies. The sounds of laughter were a balm to his soul. He turned to his dinner partner, to see him with a soft smile on his face, eyes bouncing from table to table.

"It's nice isn't it?" He muttered, "To see them happy."

"I don't have the words." Blonde hair fell into his eyes as he shook his head. "It has felt like an eternity since we were all together, under the same roof."

They looked at each other then, twin flames dancing in their eyes.

"What do you plan to do after the summer?"

"I want to finish school. Want to finish something that doesn't involve in my death, or that of my friends."

Jason nodded, "It would be nice wouldn't it, to feel not constantly in danger. Although around you that may be a little hard."

"What do you mean?" Percy narrowed his eyes.

"If you were a Disney prince, you'd be Prince Danger."

"You think I could be a Disney prince?" He scrunched his nose teasingly.

"I think you can be a lot of things." That smile was cheeky, wicked.

"Is this the part where you say, 'I can even be your boyfriend'?"

Jason's answering laugh was bright and beautiful.

When dinner was finished and campfire songs had been sung till their throats were raw, the crowd finally dispersed, heading back to cabins for the night. He lost his dinner mate at some point in the singing and his other friends had long since disappeared. He didn't quite feel like tucking himself into a cold bed only for sleep to abandon him. The Son of Poseidon shucked off his shoes, stepping onto the sun-warmed sand and let his feet sink into the world. He walked towards the ocean, along the shoreline; let the water wash over his bared skin.

"Jackson!" A call sounded from faraway.

He stopped, turning to see Jason running towards him and couldn't help the smile that pulled at his lips.

"Hey, I wondered where you ran off to?"

"Got pulled away by Nico. He wanted to talk."

"It's nice. That he has you." Percy had been relieved to learn Nico confided in someone. And a part of him had been shamefully grateful it wasn't him. He did not know, was almost one hundred percent certain he wasn't fit to be someone's confidant, or mentor, or whatever it was that he would have become to the younger demigod. He had proved that the big brother role was not for him and he would not disappoint Nico again, or Bianca.

"So," Jason knocked his shoulder lightly, "What's got you lost in thought?"

"Bold of you to assume I think."

The blonde shook his head in amusement, "Do you ever wonder what our lives would have been like if we weren't demigods?"

He snorted, "More often than is healthy. It's like an obnoxious alarm that goes off at the most inconvenient times. When I'm in battle, just before I fall asleep, when I see my mom after an age, when I saw New Rome, when i—" He glanced at his friend, wishing the moon was brighter so he could see those comforting blue eyes.

"When you what?"

He shook his head, "Doesn't matter."

The Son of Jupiter tugged at his arm, pulled them closer.

"Sometimes I wish I had met certain people in a coffee shop on a winter morning, or at school on the way to class, or just anywhere but in the middle of war and prophecies."

Their foreheads fell together, sharing icy air.

"Wouldn't that have been nice?" He breathed.

"Jason I can't do this right now. I—" He winced, "I loved her."

"But did you?" The blonde muttered, "Really?"

"Yes. I did." His voice was hard with the truth. "You do not get to discredit my love just because the relationship it bloomed in has ended." He pulled away, turning to face the sea.

"You're right." He stepped back, scratched at his neck, "You're right, and I'm sorry."

"Did you ever love Piper?"

"I thought I did. But I don't think I really know what love is."

"Maybe it changes," The Son of Poseidon whispered, "But with her it was adventure."

They sat down on the sand, uncaring of the waves that soaked through their clothes.

"What do you want it to be like next?"

"What do you mean?"

"If it changes, what do you want next?"

"It will feel like home."

69 notes · View notes

greekgeek21 · 3 years

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Percy Jackson & The Avengers: Convergence - hurricane percy hits vegas

EEE! I'm so excited for this chapter, and idk why. We get some Poseidon content tho, so yay for that! I'm pretty sure I'm just so excited cuz I just finished writing ch. 12 and IT. IS. AMAZING!!

Ok, so if you've noticed the change in my profile pic, you can figure out what I'm about to do. Well...surprise! Another pjo stan is coming out! I'm pan🏳️‍🌈✨

Anyway, remember to comment, like, follow me, and reblog! Stay safe and happy reading!

- your author

Ω ♆ Ω

Okay, so maybe jumping out of the window before Blackjack was within a hundred feet was a bad idea, but can you really blame him? If Percy had stayed, the others would have tried to convince him to wait and make a plan before leaving to save Annabeth, and it probably would've worked! But doing that gave her captors more time to hurt her. That was not okay with him.

Fortunately, his amazing pegasus could fly really fast when put in the right situation. Say, one like Percy freefalling from a skyscraper? He still cut it close, though. Percy got within six feet of the ground before Blackjack swooped up under him. It hurt like hades.

"What am I here for, boss? Not that I don't enjoy our hang-out sessions, but still, why am I here?" Percy heard Blackjack ask in his head.

"We're going to Vegas to save Annabeth. She's been taken by the people we've been hunting," he answered.

"Oh, no! I'll go into overdrive for this trip! Annabeth gives me donuts!"

If one looked closely, they would see that Percy cracked a small smile at that. Blackjack always knew how to lighten the mood.

"Just hurry, bud. They sent pictures of her tied up and beaten. I'm not sure what condition she'll be in when we get to her," Percy said.

"That's it! These guys are dead meat!" Blackjack sped up even more.

Percy was really afraid to look down because he was pretty sure that they had already passed four state lines, and his friend showed no signs of letting up. With all the complaining about being tired Blackjack did on their other quests, Percy would've never thought he could do this. Just goes to show what can happen when you hurt someone's friend.

Yeah, Percy had calmed down enough to rationalize that this was a stupid idea (maybe his worst one yet), but he was still going to do it! This was Annabeth we're talking about! There's nothing he wouldn't do for her, and that includes storming straight into that gods-forsaken casino and demanding to know where she was.

If you're wondering, yes, he did just that when they got there. Blackjack almost passed out as soon as they landed, but Percy was already hopping off and running in before the pegasus had even caught his breath.

"Get out of here, bud! This is gonna get messy!" he called over his shoulder before pushing the front doors of the Lotus Hotel and Casino open.

Ω ♆ Ω

It was very clear that something was wrong as soon as Percy stepped into the lobby. It was completely empty. The farther he went in, the less he found. There was nobody. The last time he had been there, it was packed with people from all different time periods and everyone was doing something, but now, nothing.

It was disconcerting, to say the least. It felt like the beginning to every horror movie out there.

What was worse, is that every activity was shut down but one: the ferris wheel. It was spinning with all of the lights on, a faint carnival music playing from hidden speakers. Once again, Percy's thoughts drifted to horror movies. He wouldn't be surprised if a ghost popped up in front of him.

Before he continued on, Percy stopped and took a breath, bouncing up and down to shake out the nerves, "Come on, Percy. You got this. Just go save Annabeth and get out. That's all there is to it."

He walked up to the ferris wheel and saw that there was a single occupant riding it: Annabeth. She was up on the top, but Percy would recognize those golden locks anywhere. Her form was slumped against the side of her car, so she was probably unconscious. As she got closer to the ground, Percy saw that she was even more beaten up than the picture had shown. Her hands and ankles were bound with celestial bronze chains and she had a gag in her mouth.

Percy's blood boiled.

"Annabeth!" He shouted, running towards her as soon as the cart got to the bottom.

It kept moving, but he quickly grabbed her and pulled her off and away from the ride.

"Annabeth, wake up. Come on, 'beth, you have to be okay," he muttered, pulling the gag out of her mouth and starting to work on the chains, though he wasn't sure where to start.

Her eyes were still closed, but he heard a faint whisper from her mouth say, "It's Annabeth."

He laughed in relief, pulling her to his chest in a tight hug.

"Don't ever do that to me again. I lost it," he said, kissing her on the forehead.

Her eyes slitted open, "No promises, Seaweed Brain."

Percy was about to bring her in for a kiss when a voice interrupted them, "I'm glad you got to save her, Perseus. Now it'll be that much worse for you when we take her away again."

Percy shot up from the ground, pulling out Riptide and going into a protective stance in front of a kneeling Annabeth, "You're not going anywhere near her!"

The voice belonged to a mortal man. He had a long cut along his face, which seemed to be made by a claw, and his hair was a dark brown with speckles of grey. He seemed pretty average besides the scar. He had three men behind him, along with a hellhound, two empousa, and a couple basilisks. All looked ready to strike at a moment's notice.

The man tutted, "Oh, but I think I am. You see, you're going to give her to us."

Percy glared, "And what makes you think that?"

The man smiled, "Because of your family, of course. The normal one. Your mom, Sally, and her husband, Paul, and what's the last one's name...? The baby... Estelle! Yes, Estelle. We know where they are right now, and with one order from me, they will be killed by the giants we have standing by."

Percy growled, lunging forward, but a growl from the hellhound stopped him, "You're not going to touch them or Annabeth! I'll kill you first!"

The mortal leader gave a fake frown, "Oh, Perseus, how naive you are. Don't you see what's happening? Your people are the monsters. You just threatened to kill a mortal, the very thing you are put on this Earth to protect! How would your father feel about that?"

Hundreds of pipes burst in the hotel. Percy was only holding himself back because of Annabeth. As soon as she was out of danger, he would let himself go. He didn't care that they were mortals. Those men weren't the type of people he wanted to protect.

But- his family were still in danger. Even if the guy was bluffing, Percy couldn't take that risk.

Annabeth pulled herself to her feet and put a hand on his shoulder, leaning in to whisper in his ear. "Let them take me. You know it's the right thing to do. I'll be okay. You just need to lead the Avengers to their base, okay, and then you can save me all over again."

She cracked a small smile, hoping to comfort him but ultimately just making Percy feel worse.

Percy pulled her in for a searing kiss, and when he pulled back, a defeated look in his eyes, Annabeth knew he was letting her go. She had to; it was the best solution. She could protect herself and the Blofis family couldn't.

"I love you," she whispered.

"I love you, too," Percy's eyes were misty and he was slipping on his control.

With one last, loving look at her boyfriend, Annabeth walked to the opposing group, allowing them to roughly grab onto her and pull her to the hellhound, who was ready to shadow travel her and the other mortals to wherever their base was.

Percy steeled himself for a fight because he knew there was no way it was that easy. He was not getting out of this unscathed. They had left the monsters there for a reason, and that reason was to probably kill him. That wasn't going to happen, though. They had chosen the wrong day to mess with Percy Jackson. He was going to let Hades rain down on them.

"Are we gonna stand here all day or are we gonna fight?" he asked, twirling his sword around, "You know what? Nevermind. I don't feel like fighting."

Then before the monsters could react, he released the storm within.

Ω ♆ Ω

"Come on people! Let's get a move on!" Steve shouted, already running to the quinjet.

He saw that everybody was still lagging, but wasn't sure what else to do. Fortunately, Piper had noticed his struggle and came to his rescue.

"Everybody hurry up! We don't know what stupid thing Percy is going to do, so we need to get there before he does it!" she yelled, lacing lots of charmspeak with her words.

Instantly, all of the demigods and Avengers sped up and were all on the jet within a minute. Steve gave Piper a grateful glance before climbing in himself, the daughter of Aphrodite following close behind.

Once everyone had taken their seats, Natasha and Clint up in the cockpit, they took off.

"So...does anyone even know what we're going to do when we get there? Or what Percy was planning on doing?" Leo asked, voicing everyone's thoughts.

Steve sighed, "We can only do damage control. If Percy hasn't done anything yet, we talk him down from it. If he has, we figure out a solution to getting it stopped, no matter what it takes. Now we don't know Percy as well as you five, so we need you to try and predict what he might do."

The rest of the Seven shared a look and Jason spoke up, "Percy and Annabeth are very...special to each other. If one of them is hurt, the other loses control very easily. So, basically, anything could have happened."

He glanced apologetically at the Captain, who just sighed in response. It was no doubt going to be a long day, and then an even longer one when Fury found out about this. Going down that train of thought made him more and more exhausted.

"Las Vegas, here we come," Tony muttered.

Ω ♆ Ω

As they started entering the Las Vegas area, it became abundantly clear that they were already too late to stop Percy. The sky was dark, thunder rolling through the clouds, rain pouring down on the streets around the casino. A whirlwind of water was circling the hotel and the ground was shaking. Geisurs were popping up just as fast as they were closing. It was a shitshow, basically.

"Percy did this? By himself?!" Tony exclaimed, staring in shock at the storm.

"Yep. He doesn't seem like much of a kid now, does he?" Jason said, strapping an arm guard on.

"Nope," Tony whispered.

Frank said, "How are we even going to get inside?"

"We're going to go from above, straight through the eye of the storm. It's the only opening, from what I can see," Natasha answered, already guiding the plane up and towards the center of the destruction, "Hold on. This is gonna get rough."

"Oh. That's comforting," Frank muttered, holding on to his seatbelt tight.

"Dude, if we crash, you can just turn into a fly or something and get out of here, but me, I'm going to die with the plane," Leo said, cracking a joking smile.

Hazel sighed, "Leo, your fireproof. If anyone would survive the crash, you would."

Leo chose not to point out that he was trying to lighten the mood with a self-deprecating joke. Hazel with confidence is scary.

Besides, that's when the shaking started. The wind and water was throwing the quinjet around, thrashing it from side-to-side, trying to throw it down but Natasha and Clint were keeping it up.

Slowly but surely, they got the plane lower and lower until it was hovering just above the courtyard of the hotel (if you can even call it that). It was an open area with rollercoasters and games all around. The Avengers couldn't believe they hadn't heard of this place before! It was amazing! The demigods, however, were shocked that the mortals could even see what was around them. The Mist was either weakening (unlikely) or the Avengers were starting to become clear sighted (could be bad).

"Ok, everyone, get out before this thing crashes!" Natasha yelled, gripping the steering gear like a lifeline.

It probably wasn't even her demanding voice that got everyone off the jet quickly, but they did anyway. The demigods and Avengers found themselves huddled behind a concession stand while they surveyed the area. It was easier for the demigods, who could naturally see through the veil of Mist surrounding it. The Avengers' eyes were refocusing every couple of seconds because something like a stuffed bear would turn into a stuffed Minotaur and then back into a bear again.

"Stay close, team. We're in unknown territory," Steve immediately slipped into his leadership role.

"Do you guys see Percy?" Hazel asked, looking around for her friend with a worried expression on her face.

"Um...yeah, I do. Over there," Frank's hand pointed towards the ferris wheel, and everyone's eyes followed it's path.

It led directly to the center of the storm, just as they all secretly knew it would. Everyone wanted to believe their friend or colleague couldn't be capable of creating a "natural" disaster until it happens. Now the team was left to clean up the mess.

"Oh, great. This should be fun," Tony sarcastically commented, seeing that Percy's eyes were closed and he was just sitting there on his knees.

He wasn't even wet, or affected by the storm at all. It seemed to be molding around the boy. The cracks on the ground had even left him alone. Percy was a force of nature.

"How are we going to get to him, let alone make him stop all of this?!" Jason asked, raising his voice to be heard over the screaming wind.

"I don't think he'll hurt us. He let us come down with the plane. If it was anyone else, he would've let it tear apart, but not us. He wants us to help him, and we're going to do just that, okay?" Piper answered, standing up.

She still had to stabilize herself on the cart, but she kept herself up. Everyone else in the group still looked skeptical of her plan, if you could even call it that, but they followed her lead and stood up as well.

With a calm determination only a demigod could possess in the face of battle, she started the trek over to their friend. Percy didn't make a move, either not seeing them or not caring.

"Percy. Percy. Listen to my voice, Percy. Everything is going to be alright. You need to focus on my voice, Percy," Piper started to say even though the wind was carrying it away a second later.

They had to try everything, and given the fact that the wind seemed to slow down just a tiny bit, Piper took it as a win.

The Avengers and the rest of the Seven were making slow movement, their feet feeling like lead as they forced themselves to keep going. They were grabbing onto whatever was nailed to the ground for support as small tremors rocked the building. It was obvious there had been a different, major earthquake that had caused most of the damage, so they weren't complaining about aftershocks.

"Keep going! We're almost there!" Steve yelled, digging his shield into the ground for something to hold onto.

It took a long time for a short distance, but they eventually made it to right in front of Percy. He had still shown no sign of knowing they were there.

"Percy! Can you hear us?!" Jason shouted, grabbing onto his gladius that he had previously stabbed into the ground.

Still no movement, though a tear did fall down his cheek. It was the only water that had actually touched him so far. Everyone but him was soaked to the bone, while he had stayed completely unaffected. Jason kneeled down and tried shaking his friend, only to be pushed back by a blast of water.

While he was sputtering out the liquid, Tony said, "We need a new plan! This isn't working!"

"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock! But do you see a plan laying around here somewhere, cuz' I don't!" Piper shouted.

That's when a sea breeze blew through the area and under their noses. Unlike the stormy sea smell that Percy was radiating right now, this one was calming and gave you the feeling of a relaxing day at the beach. Jason was the quickest one to realize what was happening, so he warned everyone else as quick as possible, "Close your eyes!"

The Seven followed his instructions without question, being used to this by now (plus Jason wasn't planning on nearly dying again). The Avengers, however, were a divided front. Natasha, Clint, and Steve all did as they were told, not willing to take a chance on Frank being wrong about whatever he was scared of. Tony and Bruce, did not. They looked around at Frank like he was crazy. Fortunately, they had turned enough so that when there was a blinding flash of light and a small pop, nobody had seen it full-on. What was left afterwards was a man in a hawaiian shirt and sandals. He had tan bermuda shorts and a beat-up old fishing hat with the words Neptune's Lucky Fishing Hat on it. But those weren't the most shocking features about the man. What was most shocking was his similarity to Percy. His skin tone, matching Percy's. His hair color, matching Percy's with only a few more grey spots. His eyes, matching Percy's without a doubt. Natasha was the first of the Avengers to come to the startling realization that this was Percy's supposedly missing-at-sea father.

He was completely unaffected by the storm swirling around them. Physically, at least. He seemed to be really worried about his son, and only spared a glance at the other befores crouching in front of Percy. He put his hands on his son's shoulders and gently shook him.

"Son, wake up," Poseidon said, "You have to stop this."

Percy made a groaning sound and slitted his eyes open. His arms were wrapped around his stomach in pain.

"Ow," he muttered.

Poseidon cracked a small smile, though his eyebrows were still furrowed in worry, "That's what happens when you create a tropical storm and earthquake in the middle of Nevada."

Percy's eyes shot open, "Dad?! What're you doing here?!"

Poseidon gave him a frown, "Making sure my son doesn't kill himself."

Percy grimaced, holding himself just a little bit tighter at the reminder of what was currently still going on around them.

"Percy, what were you thinking?!" the god of the sea exclaimed.

The boy knew he was in the wrong, so he just shrugged and gave his father a misty-eyed, helpless look, "I can't make it stop, Dad. What do I do?"

Poseidon sighed. Seeing how fragile his son was right now broke his heart.

"You can let me help. We'll stop it together."

Percy nodded, letting the deity help him to his feet and support him once he got there. Neither man spared a glance at the assembled group of heroes behind them, instead turning determined faces towards the storm.

"You focus on the earthquakes. I'll take care of the storm, Perseus," Poseidon said.

The son of the sea god nodded, kneeling down so he had his hands placed on the ground. He closed his eyes and focused; focused only on the shaking, and then imagined the shaking receding like the tide. Then, eventually, it stopped all together.

He felt a large weight be lifted off his shoulders at the feeling of his power pulling itself back inside of him. His father had made quick work of the storm, and now all that was left was a trashed mystical hotel and casino.

Percy turned back to father, and gave him a small, grateful, exhausted smile, "Thanks, Dad. And I'm sorry for letting it get so out of hand. I know better than that."

Poseidon grasped his son in a bone-crushing hug, "It's okay, son. I'm not one to talk. Remember San Francisco?" he turned to a whisper, "That was my own version of a temper-tantrum. Don't tell your Uncle Zeus, though. He'd skin me alive if he knew the real reason I did that."

Percy's smile widened just a bit, "Okay, dad. You can let me go now. This is getting weird. We don't do this. You're not even supposed to be here right now."

At first, that last thought was just a flippant comment, but now Percy realized just how much trouble he, or his father, could be in with Zeus because of this.

"Dad! You're not even supposed to be here right now! You have to go! Right now, before Uncle Z finds out!" he shouted, shoving himself out of the hug.

Poseidon laughed, "Persues, think about it. You just created a 7.1 earthquake in Nevada, while simultaneously making a category 5 hurricane pop up nowhere near the coast. I think he noticed. He was actually the one to send me. He thought I'd be the only way to calm you down."

He gave his son a meaningful glance, and he got a sheepish neck rub in return.

Poseidon sighed again, "It's okay. He's not too mad. He's actually pretty happy that it wasn't one of his kids this time."

The god finally turned and acknowledged the other people in the room, giving Jason a look. Jason didn't seem to know what to do with that. He just kinda stood there, in shock that he had been noticed by Neptu- Poseidon.

Frank and Hazel both kneeled, soon followed by the rest of the demigods. It seemed that everyone was still recovering from the storm, and wasn't sure what to do with the fact that Percy's dad (a literal god) just showed up and was speaking with their friend like they were best buds (or more accurately, father and son).

The Avengers were giving incredulous looks to everyone, even the superspies. Ok, so first, a random fisherman shows up, then they find out that the guy is actually Percy's father, and then dad helps stop a natural disaster. But that was all easier to process than the kids kneeling to Percy's dad. Like he was God or something!

"Um, is anyone going to explain what the hell is going on right now?" Tony asked, head whipping back and forth between the look-a-like father and son and the rest of the teens.

Poseidon turned to the billionaire with an amused smile on his face, "Anthony Stark. Nice to finally meet you. My nephew enjoyed your work."

Percy snorted, realizing just what nephew his dad was talking about. Of course Ares would like a weapons manufacturer.

Tony smirked, smug, "Well, thank you, random stranger. That means absolutely nothing coming from you because we have not yet been introduced. I'm Tony Stark."

Poseidon turned to his son, "I like this one. Very brave."

"Give it a minute," Percy said, "It'll pass."

Ignoring the billionaire's protests, Poseidon turned to the demigods assembled, "Rise, half-bloods. You have saved Olympus enough to not need to kneel to me."

They cautiously rose.

"Olympus? Half-bloods? What are you talking about? Who are you?" Natasha asked, narrowing her eyes at the stranger.

She didn't trust him. He radiated too much power, power that was too similar to Percy's for her liking.

"I am Poseidon, Percy's father and a couple other titles. You may call me Lord Poseidon," was the answer she got.

She raised her eyebrows. The guy had a strong god-complex. Though she had met Thor before, and he had one just the same. Maybe these were more Asgardians or something like that.

"What are you?" Clint asked, not realizing just how much he was pushing it.

Poseidon's gaze darkened, "Be careful how you speak to me, mortal. I am being very gracious right now."

"Are you implying that you aren't mortal? Like Thor?" Bruce spoke up, literally surprising everyone.

The fact that he had come along was a miracle in itself, and now he was speaking to this obviously-powerful man.

Poseidon's nose wrinkled in disgust, "Thor is nothing like me. He is no god."

Percy decided to break in before things could get out of hand again, "Ok! Dad, you should probably get going. You know, oceans to run and everything!"

Poseidon's shark-like glare softened for his son and he nodded. But before he could leave, he pulled Percy aside.

"Tell them. You have our permission," he said.

Percy smirked, "I think I got that from you throwing around words like 'Olympus' and 'half-blood,' Dad."

Poseidon turned serious, "Be careful in the near future, my son. You have a rough journey through the Sea of Monsters to rescue Ms. Chase. She is on Polyphemus' island. That is all I could gather for you. I hope it is enough to keep you alive. I know it would be a fool's errand to try and convince you to not go. Your fatal flaw prevents it."

"I'll be okay, Dad. I promise."

Poseidon noticed how he didn't swear it on the River Styx. So Perseus had just as many doubts about this quest as he did. He refused to lose another son, though.

Placing a hand on Percy's shoulder, he spoke one last time, "Just be careful, Percy. For me, if you must."

Percy nodded.

"Alright," Poseidon said, "Everyone close your eyes!"

This time, everyone, including the mortals, listened.

Once the light had died down, Percy turned back to the Avengers and his friends, a hugely-apologetic look on his face.

"I'm so sorry, guys. Did anyone get hurt?" he asked, walking up to them.

"Reports are showing that there were only mild injuries, no fatalities," JARVIS' voice spoke from Tony's suit.

Percy felt some worry leave him at that reassurance, but the peace only lasted so long. He saw that every one of the Avengers were looking to the teenagers for an explanation, and now they had permission to give it.

The son of Poseidon heaved a great sigh, rubbing his gut again, "I think it's time you knew the truth. The full truth this time."

Ω ♆ Ω

Let me know what you think! I'm sorry for my wonky updating schedule...

other chapters :)

#pjo #percy jackson and the olympians #the avengers #avenger #mcu #superheroes #heroes of olympus #fanfiction #ao3 #fanfic #wattpad #series

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spicycreativity · 3 years

Text

Fear in Friendship (is an ugly trait)

Heehoo, this oneshot is short enough to crosspost on Tumblr instead of just linking to my AO3

Length: ~5k Premise: Percy Jackson AU/Fusion Characters: Roman, Remus, Janus ships: N/A Content Warnings: PJO-typical violence & injury, potential very very light ableism vibes (more info in the beginning notes on AO3)

Read on AO3

"Janice?" Roman asked, tilting his head at the new student Remus had brought to meet him. He was about to be late for after-school rehearsal, but Remus had come trotting up dragging the newcomer by the hand, and he'd looked so excited that Roman just couldn't bring himself to blow his brother off.

The new student glared. "Jan-US," he said, with an incredulous look at Remus, as if to say 'this idiot is your brother?' "Like the Roman god." He said it like it was obvious, like Roman was some kind of moron for not knowing. The sneering tone made Roman's blood run hot with anger and shame.

"I don't know all about that nerdy shit," Roman said, waving a hand dismissively.

Janus rolled his eyes. "Really? I would never have guessed; you seem so smart."

He was almost handsome, Roman thought, trying to study Janus' face without giving away that he was staring. He really might have been good-looking if it wasn't for the look of irritation that had been glued to his face ever since he'd entered Roman's field of vision.

A field of scarring spanned the left side of his face and traveled down his neck until the painful-looking swirl of pink and white disappeared under his high-collared shirt. The scarring itself was not necessarily unusual, just standard burn scars. What caught Roman's attention was how they just stopped, all in a straight, uniform line directly down the center of Janus' face. Almost like… Roman tried not to shudder as the thought came to him. Almost like someone had done it on purpose.

He swallowed hard and tried to get himself back on track. "Least I don't share a name with our librarian, Miss Janice."

"God, you're such a dick." Remus ran a hand through his unruly hair, shooting Roman a dark look. Roman stuck out his tongue. "Forget it." He took Janus by the wrist again and turned away. "Come on, let's go see if we can hack the vending machine."

"Oh, no you don't." Roman lunged forward, irritation coursing through him, and grabbed the top of Remus' backpack. "You're coming with me so I can keep an eye on you."

"No way!" Remus squirmed, but Roman kept his grip tight. "I don't wanna go to your stupid rehearsal."

To Roman's surprise, Janus chimed in with a keen and interested, "Rehearsal?"

"He thinks he's hot shit because he's playing Danny Zuko." Remus rolled his eyes, still trying to wiggle free of Roman's grip. "News flash, anyone can memorize lines and prance around in a leather jacket."

"So why don't you try out?" Roman asked rhetorically, starting to pull Remus down the hall.

Remus went along with it, though Roman knew full-well that he could have slipped out of his backpack and made a run for it at any time. "'Cause I'm too busy bangin'! Ba dum ch!"

As they made their way down the hall, Janus walked beside them in silence. Roman watched him out of the corner of his eye, frowning at the way he continually glanced over his shoulder like he was expecting to get in some sort of trouble. It was a look Roman was well familiar with. He had seen it on Remus and he had worn it himself far more times than he was comfortable with. Roman and his brother seemed to attract danger wherever they went, from stalkers to muggers to one stranger's memorable attempt at running them over in the crosswalk. It was never the same person twice, and each isolated incident could be chalked up to an accident. Roman didn't like to think about it for too long and worked hard to keep Remus from talking about it. After the first mugging, Remus had sworn for weeks that their assailant had had a tail. Roman had denied it out loud, but he couldn't lie to himself. Something wasn't right.

If Janus was equally as twitchy… Was he part of it? Did he know something?

"I understand the compulsion, since I am quite good-looking," Janus said, in a tone so dry it could have drained an Olympic swimming pool, "but you'd better quit staring at me before you walk into a door."

"I spaced out," Roman said, unable to think of a snappier retort. He couldn't help but shoot Janus suspicious looks out of the corner of his eye as they continued toward the Main building. "Where'd you transfer from, anyway? How old are you?"

Janus put his hands up like a cornered criminal. "You caught me," he said, affecting regret. "I'm a 43 year-old police officer trying to track down a drug ring. Promise me you won't tell?"

"Little does he know, I'm the distributor," Remus said, finally yanking free from Roman's hold. Roman let him go, knowing that if he had stayed this long, he probably wasn't going to run off.

Roman rolled his eyes. "Very funny, J Jonah Hill. But seriously."

"I'm 16," Janus said. "I transferred from a school in New York."

"All the way from New York? How'd you end up in Florida?" Roman yanked open the door to Main and held it for Remus and Janus. He was tempted to let it drop on Remus just to watch him stumble, but found himself distracted by a gold keychain on Janus' backpack. It was nothing special, just a shiny metal Gemini symbol, but the way it caught the light made Roman pause.

"Teleported," Janus said.

"Are you allergic to straight answers, or what?" Roman asked, unamused. Janus' mocking demeanor didn't sit well with him, and something about Janus' face didn't make sense. The scars seemed almost superficial, and didn't always move in conjunction with his mouth. Roman felt stupid just thinking it, but it was almost like they were masking something.

"What crawled up your ass?" Remus demanded. He turned to Janus. "Sorry, he's not usually such an asshole. He's probably just nervous about hitting all those high notes. I heard him practicing in the shower last night and it was like someone was skinning a cat."

"I sounded awesome," Roman said, blushing furiously. He paused before the theater doors, turning his back to them so he could directly address Remus. "Go find a seat. And I swear to God, if you cause any disruptions, I'll shave your drumsticks down into toothpicks."

"Not the Vic Firths!" Remus said, gasping in faux-horror. He dismissed Roman with a wave of his hand and motioned for Janus to follow him. "C'mon, let's go see if we can catch a cockroach."

Roman just shook his head and hurried backstage.

He had a hard time focusing during rehearsal, missing cues and tripping over himself on lines he had memorized days ago. But he was too distracted to even be bothered, subtly trying to keep an eye on Remus-- okay, on Janus from his vantage point on the stage.

Roman couldn't help it. He didn't trust Janus. The haunted look in his eyes, the way he was always looking over his shoulder… Something was off.

No matter how hard he tried, Roman couldn't force himself to focus. His thoughts kept whirling until they transformed into an overwhelming sense of dread that demanded all his attention. He barely even noticed when rehearsal ended, hurrying into the seating area to try to find Remus.

He wasn't there. Of course he wasn't there. Roman shouldered his backpack and strode off toward the bathrooms, trying hard not to panic. What if Janus was bad news? What if he had hurt Remus? What if Remus was lying bloody in a back corner somewhere because Roman wasn't there to protect him?

"Remus?" Roman called, checking both bathrooms. Nothing. "Shit." Where else did Remus like to go? Maybe the band room? Roman set off for it at a jog, his backpack bouncing against his back.

Nothing in the band room. Roman tried the handle anyway, just to confirm that it was locked.

"I'm going to kill him," Roman muttered, stalking off toward the football field. He swung by the vending machines on the way just in case, and came up empty. It had to be the football field, then. Remus had been talking about playing with the tackle dummies for weeks. That had to be it.

Roman forced himself to slow down as he approached the football field, not wanting Remus to know how badly he'd been freaking out. Of course Remus was there, doing cartwheels on the turf while Janus sat and watched.

"I told you not to leave!" Roman said, marching up to the pair of them.

"You didn't," Janus said, smirking. Roman glared at him. In the sun, his scars seemed to fade for a moment, revealing only the slightest hint of… green? Roman shook his head. It must have been the light reflecting off the turf. Janus continued, "You only said to find a seat and not cause any disruptions."

"I was gonna release a cockroach onto the stage and see if I could get it to go up your pants leg," Remus said, falling out of a cartwheel and landing on his back. "But Janus convinced me not to."

"You're welcome," Janus said.

Roman couldn't help but stare at him. His scars flickered in and out in the sunlight, the dark brown of his left eye flashing yellow. "Remus, get behind me," Roman said, deadly serious.

"What?" Remus lifted his head. "Why?"

Roman didn't answer, stepping between his brother and Janus. "What are you?" he demanded.

Janus' eyes widened before a look of realization crossed his face. "I'm a friend," he said in a silky, almost crooning tone. "You can trust me."

"He's a friend," Remus repeated. "Why are you being so weird?"

A sense of calm slid over Roman for half a second before he snapped out of it. "What are you?" he repeated, stepping forward into Janus' personal space. Now that he was looking for it, he could see it clear as day: Janus was half-snake. His entire left half was covered in dull green scales, and a slit pupil neatly bisected the sickly yellow of his left eye.

Janus put up his hands. "You're stronger than Remus," he said, almost to himself.

Roman grabbed him by the collar. "You have 30 seconds to explain what's going on."

"Look," Janus said. "You know you're not normal, right?"

"Bad start," Roman said, making a show of cocking his fist back. He'd never hit anyone in his life, save the occasional thrown elbow in wrestling matches with Remus. Should he go for the jaw? The eye?

"You have an absent parent, you get in trouble a lot, you've been in a lot of one-off dangerous situations that you can't really explain," Janus rattled off like he was reciting from a memorized list. "You're dyslexic, you make things happen like magic. Stop me when this sounds familiar."

"Some of those things, maybe," Roman said. Remus was dyslexic and they'd both had their fair share of dangerous run-ins. Distantly, he thought he heard the overlapping thumps of several car doors shutting. "What does that have to do with you?"

"You aren't human," Janus said.

"You aren't human," Roman shot back.

Janus rubbed his forehead and sighed. "Okay, look. You're the only one who can see my real face, right? Why do you think that is?"

"I don't know!" Roman said. Distracted, he let go of Janus' shirt. "What are you saying?"

"I'm trying to say that-- Okay, you know what? Let's just rip the blindfold off like a Band-Aid, sure!" Janus gave a hysterical-sounding laugh. "You're a demigod. You're both demigods."

Roman scoffed, unsure of exactly what else to say. A million questions raced through his mind, punctuated by that slamming car door sound again. What was that, anyway? He backed away from Janus and nearly stepped on Remus, who grabbed him by the ankle and bit. "You can stop harassing my friend now, you neurotic weirdo."

"Look at him!" Roman said. He bent down and hauled Remus to his feet, and was immediately distracted by a mechanical-sounding hissing and creaking. "I'm sorry, does anyone else hear a broken washing machine?"

"Whoa!" said Remus. "You're a snake!”

"I am not," Janus said.

Roman spun around, still searching for the source of the noise. It came into view a moment later and he froze for half a second, eyes widening. "Uhh, guys?" he said, backing up despite himself. He kept his gaze locked onto the massive copper bull that was striding directly at the fencing surrounding the football field, radiating heat that warped the air around it.

"What the heck is that?" Remus asked in obvious fascination.

"Listen," Janus said, his voice strangely calm. In the corner of his eye, Roman could just make out Janus as he removed his backpack and yanked the gold Gemini keychain off the zipper. "You need to get to my car. It's the blue Kia Soul parked by the main entrance."

In the distance, the bull backed up and smashed its way through the fence with a horrible clanging sound.

"Is that thing gonna try to kill us?" Remus asked.

The bull meandered closer, looking as nonchalant as a massive metal bull could. Roman fought the urge to back up, to grab Remus by the hand and get the hell out of dodge. "Why isn't it attacking?"

"It probably hasn't seen us yet," Janus said. He sounded as calm as ever, but Roman didn't miss the frantic rise and fall of his chest. "Walk off," he said. "Slowly."

"What about you?" Roman demanded.

Janus spun the keychain around his finger. The metal gleamed in the sun and lengthened into something Roman didn't recognize: a long metal pole with a half-moon blade at the end. "I'll hold it off."

"You can't seriously think--" Roman started, but the bull looked up and started to charge and the words died on his lip as raw panic choked out his rational thought

"Run!" Janus ordered. "Blue Kia Soul. Meet me there!"

Roman shrugged out of his backpack, grabbed Remus by the wrist and sprinted.

"Are you crazy?" Remus shouted. "We can't just leave him!"

"No shit!" Roman shouted back, still dragging Remus along. "We need weapons or something!"

"Hurdles," Remus said, veering off to the side.

Roman nearly tripped and was forced to let go of Remus’ hand. He wanted to argue, but there was very little of potential use on the field. The tackle dummies and tires left out by the football team were far too heavy for them to move. The track hurdles were the only things even remotely useful. Remus grabbed one and started hauling it back toward the fray, and Roman was quick to follow suit. He didn't want Remus going in first if he could help it.

The hurdle was unwieldy and made his hands ache, but he barely noticed, too wrapped in not tripping while he watched Janus in a state of adrenaline-riddled horror.

By some miracle, Janus wasn't dead. In fact, to Roman's puzzlement, he sort of looked like he knew what he was doing. More or less. He held his weapon with confidence and kept his center of gravity low. The bull seemed to have no other strategy than to aim itself at a target and charge, allowing Janus to dodge every time. Unfortunately, it seemed he could only dodge, as the long handle of his weapon, whatever it was, didn't allow for quick maneuvers.

They were locked in a stalemate, and it was pretty much a guarantee that Janus was going to tire out. He was already breathing heavily, keeping his moments sparing and conservative.

Then Remus came flying in and Roman could only watch as his brother flung the track hurdle with wild abandon. "Die!"

"I told you to run!" Janus shouted, barely audible over the clanging of the bull kicking furiously to try to dislodge its back legs from the hurdle

"We'll run after we finish saving your ass," Roman said. The bull's head swiveled between the two of them, as Remus was still behind it, and Roman swore he saw a spark of intelligence in its molten-metal eyes. Without any sort of warning, it kicked Remus in the chest and took off at a dead sprint for Janus again.

For a split second, Roman was paralyzed. Remus hit the ground hard and rolled and lay still; Janus stood frozen with guilt written all over his face.

"Move!" Roman shouted, already formulating a plan. If he could get the hurdle underfoot while the bull was charging, it might trip, allowing Janus enough time to… stab it or slash it or whatever his weapon was supposed to be good for.

Janas sidestepped again and dashed forward. He glared at Roman, too winded to speak.

"I need you to draw its attention again," Roman said, glancing at the bull. It left deep gouges in the artificial grass where it stopped, and the rubber smoked from the sheer heat it put out. It turned and pawed the ground. "And I swear to God, if you let it get to Remus again, I will end you."

"Like it was my fault," Janus panted, already in motion. He backed up, careful to step away from Remus. Lacking any spare fabric to wave, he threw his free arm out and shouted, "It's me that you want."

He used the same silken, commanding tone he'd tried on Roman earlier. Roman made a mental note to ask him about that when they weren't in the middle of a death match.

The bull charged. Roman threw the hurdle. Then everything went to Hell.

The bull did trip as Roman had intended, but it had so much momentum that it kept thundering toward Janus as it stumbled and scrabbled for balance on the melting rubber chips. A wayward hoof caught Janus in the ankle and knocked him flat, practically right underneath its massive chest. He gave a shout and dropped his weapon, and Roman realized with a feeling of sinking dread that it must have been too hot to touch.

Well, there went that.

He needed a new plan and he needed it now. Already the bull was finding its footing and turning its fiery glare on Roman.

Roman charged it, feeling more like Remus' brother than he had ever had before. "Die!" He rolled forward and grabbed Janus' weapon, barely noticing the heat that seared into his palms-- He didn't have time for pain or panic. Spotting a crack in the metal plating on the bull's back, Roman aimed the blade and shoved. The bull shuddered and Janus shouted something, but Roman had no room for thoughts more complex than kill, protect, kill, protect. He shoved and shoved until the bull gave a final hiss and went still, until sweat poured into his eyes and he could no longer keep them open, until the metal shaft of Janus' weapon snapped under his hand.

"Remus!" Janus shouted.

That got Roman's attention. He left Janus half-pinned under the steaming body of the bull and dashed for Remus' prone form.

He was already starting to sit up and self-assess, touching the back of his head and studying his bloodied fingers with an unsettling blank expression.

"Are you okay?" Roman asked.

Remus blinked hard, stared at him. "Is it dead?"

"Yeah, it's dead."

"Where's Janus?"

Roman frowned and looked behind him. Janus had extracted himself from the wreckage of the bull and was kneeling and wiping the sweat off his face. "Remus is asking for you," Roman said, trying not to let his bitterness show in his voice.

"You broke my scythe," Janus said, not moving.

"You could thank me for saving your life," Roman shot back, half-forgetting Remus.

"That was my best weapon! Now all I have is this stupid knife."

"Are you coming over or not?"

"I can't." Janus glared at Roman. "Somebody dropped a two-ton Colchis bull on me and shattered my ankle in the process."

"But did you die?"

"Can you stop yelling?" Remus murmured, burying his face in his hands.

Roman stared at him, heart hammering with renewed fear. "Are you okay?"

"I just want to go home."

"You can't," Janus said. Roman glared at him, but he continued without acknowledging it, "It's not safe. The monsters know about you now. You have to come with me."

"And why the Hell would we do that?" Roman demanded. "You almost got us killed!"

Remus peeked over the tops of his fingers. "I don't think it was his fault, Roman."

"Thanks for the backup, bro." Roman rolled his eyes and turned to address Janus again. "Why should we trust you?"

The look Janus gave him could have burned a hole in titanium. "Hm, let's see. Who has all the answers? Who just tried to save your ungrateful ass? Think hard now, Roman, don't be afraid to phone a friend."

"I get it, I get it." Roman got to his feet, surprised at how stiff and sore he already felt. He extended a hand to Remus only to yelp in sudden agony when Remus tried to grab on. He turned his hands over and found both palms bright red and shiny with small blisters on the centers. He offered Renus his forearm instead, and steadied him as he swayed. "You okay?"

"Super," Remus wheezed. "Fucking peachy. I got kicked right in the tit by a steampunk rodeo bull and busted my head open on the single rock in this entire field of soft-ass rubber chips. Can't wait to tell Mom."

"Shit!" Roman said. "Mom!" Realization hit a moment later-- she was out of town for a few days at some big-shot surfing exposition, no kids allowed.

"She's in for a nasty surprise."

"Very nasty," Janus said, "unless your godly parent warned her ahead of time. Is anyone going to help me up?" Roman forced himself to compartmentalize. One thing at a time. Remus seemed steady enough on his feet, so Roman stepped over to help Janus up. He couldn't seem to put any weight on his right ankle and clamped onto Roman's shoulder when he tried to step away. "You have two options," Janus said, "help me walk, or grab my keys and bring the car around-- Oh." He looked away, horror dawning in his face, and Roman followed his gaze to see what he was staring at.

"Let me guess," he said, examining the still-smoking remains of Janus' backpack. "They keys were in there?"

"The keys, my wallet, miscellaneous demigod survival crap. You know, nothing too important."

"I'll go see what I can find." Roman let Janus drop, privately amused by the undignified cry he gave out upon hitting the ground.

Janus' black Nike backpack had melted and fused with the rubber chips on the turf. Roman poked the mess with the tip of his toe and found it cool enough to touch for short periods, so he knelt and did his best to sort through what was left.

The Kia keys had miraculously survived, although the remote was unusable and the lanyard was nothing more than a pile of ash and melted orange polyester fibers. It sent flames of agony all across his palms, but Roman managed to extricate the car key and a few strange golden coins. He ignored the remains of a few Ziploc bags, but examined the orange Hydroflask with a critical eye. It had a hole in it, but whatever it had once held had a peculiar smell that cut through the stench of burning rubber and made Roman feel strangely at ease. It smelled like fresh-squeezed orange juice, and he could have sworn he caught a hint of guava and vanilla, like the nonalcoholic punch his mom made for the kids when she was hosting parties.

"Take your time," Janus called, pulling Roman back to reality.

Roman flipped him off, and it hurt like his hand was on fire, but it was worth it. Now that the adrenaline was well and truly gone, he just felt sick and wrung-out, and not at all in the mood to deal with Janus' ill temper.

"Got the keys," Roman said, turning around. "And these weird arcade tokens."

"Those are drachma."

"That's funny," Remus said, in a voice that was still much too quiet and calm for Roman's liking, "I thought they were ligma."

"Oh my God," Roman muttered.

"What?" said Janus, eyeing Remus with concern.

"Ligma nuts!" Remus said.

After a long silence, that Roman supposed was meant to restore some sense of dignity, Janus said, "Good to know you're not dying."

"So are we leaving or what?" Roman asked, jangling the keys.

Janus nodded, and gestured for Roman to help him up.

Roman was sure they looked ridiculous as they hobbled across the football field. Roman, who was the least injured, had to support half of Janus' weight as he limped along, and Remus kept getting lightheaded and grabbing Roman's other shoulder for balance. At least Remus was able to carry his and Roman's backpacks, though it slowed him down considerably.

Roman was winded when they finally reached the parking lot, his shoulders and obliques screaming in protest at the awkward position he'd held for so long.

"Can you drive?" Janus asked when they'd reached the Kia and he could finally let go of Roman.

"Uh, I have my learner's permit."

Janus closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Let me rephrase that: You're going to have to drive."

"Where to?"

"New York."

"New York?" Roman repeated. "Are you crazy? Why New York?"

"I'll explain on the way," Janus said, "but we really need to get out of here."

"Fine." Roman helped Janus into the passenger seat and then lifted Remus into the back so he could sprawl across the seats. His head had stopped bleeding on its own, but since they hadn't paused to apply any pressure, blood had dripped down his neck and dried on the collar of his shirt. "I don't suppose you have any first aid stuff?"

Janus yanked open the glove compartment and rattled off the contents. "Manual, registration, Taco Bell napkins, tire pressure gauge, plastic baggie full of mystery pills, novelty Medusa PEZ dispenser, Mapquest directions to the Lotus Hotel, titanium spork."

"Those are Aleve," Remus said, poking his head between the seats. "Can I have about 20?"

"You can have two," Roman said, snatching the bag of Janus' hands. His own fingers were stiff and clumsy and flared up with pain every time he tried to use them, but he couldn't deny the increasing compulsion to be in charge. He had to fix it for Remus, he had to make it better, he had to keep them safe--

"Like, now, or…?" Remus said.

"Sorry." Roman distributed the pills, then passed around his water bottle. "Okay," he said, struggling with the cap while Janus watched with a cool eye. "So, uh. Now I just have to drive to New York. With messed up hands."

"It helps if you get in the car," Janus drawled.

Roman said nothing, but as he walked around to the driver's side, he made a silent vow to hit as many potholes as he could.

"Road trip!" Remus crowed once Roman was seated. "Hey, Roman, how much money do you have?"

"I dunno," Roman said, trying to focus on backing out while only holding the wheel with his fingertips. "Like 20 bucks. You're the one with the backpacks, why don't you count?"

"I get to go through your stuff?" Remus asked, clapping his hands in delight.

"Just don't steal my good pens or I'll kill you." Roman put the car in drive and lurched forward.

"Accelerate with your toes," Janus said.

"No backseat driving."

"I'm not in the backseat."

"Keep running your mouth and I'll strap you to the roof." Roman turned up the radio before Janus could reply. He'd had enough; his hands hurt, his body ached, he was terrified. He couldn't deal with any more snark and attitude.

He took the on-ramp for I-75 North and started to sing, first to himself and then louder as traffic increased and he got nervous. In the corner of his eye, he could see Janus double-checking all their blind spots, peering in the rear view mirror, fidgeting with his seat belt.

It didn't help Roman's nerves any. He kept singing with the radio, privately grateful that it was already set to a pop station. He noticed two things at once as he switched lanes to let a bright red Maserati blow past him: First, a bone-deep exhaustion that left him so dizzy he nearly swerved onto the shoulder. Second, his hands no longer hurt.

He took one off the wheel and glanced at it, shocked to find the skin as smooth as if it had never been damaged at all.

"Did you do that?" Roman demanded, sparing a glance at Janus.

"What, make you hit the rumble strip? No, that was all you."

"My hands," Roman said impatiently. "They're better. Look!" He showed his palm to Janus, then to Remus.

"Lucky," Remus said. "I feel like somebody pushed me off a 69-story building."

"Nice," said Roman, unable to help himself.

Janus just rolled his eyes and turned back to face the road.

"So how about those answers now?" Roman asked, stifling a yawn behind his hand.

Janus nodded. "But no interrupting. If you don't believe me after everything you've seen, that's on you for being an idiot."

"Who said I was going to interrupt?" Roman said.

Janus looked at him out of the corners of his eyes. "Oh, I just have a feeling."

"We can be quiet," Roman said. He turned the radio off and sat back as much as he could without losing his grip on the wheel.

"Super quiet," Remus agreed. "Silent but deadly."

"Alright," said Janus. "The Greek gods are real. You're the children of one of them."

Roman pressed his lips together, determined not to make a sound. He kept silent as they continued to crawl down I-75 in rush hour traffic and Janus elaborated about gods and monsters and mythology.

It wasn't until the sun was well and truly down, until Janus had gone silent, until it was too late for it to matter, that Roman even realized he had been the victim of reverse psychology.

He scowled and doubled down on his vow to hit as many potholes as possible. Whether Janus was telling the truth or not, Roman didn't like him.

#as i said: the devil works hard but hyperfixating adhders work harder #sanders sides fic #sanders sides fanfiction #sanders sides #tumblr fucked up my tags so sorry if there's an irrelevant tag on here lmao #spicypost #spicywrites

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justonemorechapternicercy · 4 years

Text

Day 6, Wearing each other's clothes

Oops, today the theme of the day only appears almost as an afterthought in this story. Oh, well… xD

Percy Jackson was fine.

Really, he was!

It’s just… His stomach has been hurting for some time and he felt more sensitive to smells, lights… to everything. He really didn’t like heats, especially when he didn’t have anybody to help him. Not with sex – just being there with him, offering protection, helping him eating and drinking.

During the last few heats, Nico was near to him, he did everything to make Percy’s five painful days more bearable. Now, that the other omega was away, he felt awful, even more terrible, than it was normal for him. He missed Nico. It was hard that he was nearing to his heat, but he had to survive it without surrounded by Nico. They weren’t together, or anything, but Percy always felt safer when the other omega was near to him, it made his heats, his bad days, even his happy days better. But now the son of Hades had to do something for his father and left the sore son of Poseidon all alone.

It was fine.

Nico didn’t want him that way: Percy was not his type, and anyway, both of them were omegas, of course, Nico would want a protective, strong alpha for himself. Besides, it was really unconventional. Loving another omega, wanting to mate with him. Omegas belonged with alphas, everybody knew it. While alpha-alpha and omega-omega pairings were allowed, they were really uncommon, so Percy often felt he was damaged to think he would be perfectly content with another omega. Well, if the other omega was Nico because both of them were stronger than most alphas, they lived through worse things than anybody else.

It’s just… everything was more bearable with Nico, surrounded by his smell, between his arms. His smell wasn’t like other omegas’. His was wilder and stronger, deadlier. Percy thought it was the best scent he’d ever smelled. Nothing felt, nothing smelled right without him. He placed Nico’s second favorite hoodie under his head, close to his nose, and he pulled on the other omega’s favorite black hoodie to snuggle into it and help him feel close to Nico.

Percy missed him.

It still hasn't felt right. He growled with frustration as tears swelled up in his eyes and let out a pitiful whine. Nothing felt right without Nico, without the other omega's soothing presence. While he was occupied being whiney, a soft whimper sounded from the other side of his cabin door. He was confused because everybody knew when he was like this, he hated strange, foreign scents, so usually nobody bothered him. But when the noise sounded again, he recognized it: Nico.

He gave out an excited mewl, giving the other permission – more like he ordered him – to enter. The door slowly opened and Nico’s black-haired head popped in to make sure he really was allowed to enter. Percy motioned him to move, so the other demigod crawled next to him, where he noticed two of is hoodies and his fluffy pillow. He made a curious sound, which made Percy blush.

“I needed to smell your scent and you weren’t here”, mumbled Percy into the neck of his nest-partner. He started rubbing his nose against Nico’s scent gland and let out a satisfied purr.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t with you. I thought it would be better to let you find an alpha”, said Nico while soothingly petted the green-eyed boy’s hair. Percy let out a hurt little sound and slid further away from Nico.

“What do you mean about that?! I don’t want an alpha, I only need you! I know you don’t like me like that, I’m not your type, but I’m satisfied with being near to you. I’d be delighted if you’d be my boyfriend, my omega, but I’m happy that at least you are my friend”, confessed Percy. When he said ‘my omega’, his voice was full of possessiveness, Nico couldn’t hold back an excited whine, especially when he managed to understand Percy’s words. Percy? The prettiest hero ever – loved him? The omega of his dreams, the only person who he ever loved, wanted him back? It was like a dream came true for the usually gloomy demigod.

Nico pulled Percy closer to him, gently holding Percy’s head with one hand, the other curled around Percy’s scent gland.

“I lied. I wanted to be able to forget you, but I’m in love with you. I have been always in love with you”, said Nico and slowly leaned down to kiss Percy, but giving him enough time to pull away if he wanted to.

He didn’t want to.

Percy gladly leaned up to meet Nico’s lips. They kissed, slowly, gently, lovingly. When they couldn’t breathe anymore, they pulled apart, but only for a few centimeters, foreheads touching, feeling the other’s breath. Percy smiled, purred contently, and dragged Nico closer to him to scent him more and more.

Finally, he was more than fine. He was absolutely satisfied.

#percy jackson #nico di angelo #nicercy #percico #percy jackson x nico di angelo #pjo #abo #omega!Nico #omega!Percy #30 day otp challenge #Gen's Nicercy Challenge #fanfiction

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cristinablackthornkingson · 5 years

Text

The birth of Heros. Part 1.

The birth of Hero's.

Part 1.

Perseus Jackson.

The 18th of August 1993 is a day that will change the world forever, the day a Hero is born.

It has been approximately 7 months since 23-year-old Sally Jackson found out she was pregnant, and since she found out that the man she was seeing, was actually the Greek God, Poseidon, God of the seas. Sally has been able to see through The Mist (as Poseidon told her it is called) all through her life, she has seen some very strange things, so it didn’t take her long to believe that Poseidon was who he claimed to be.

When Sally told Poseidon about the baby, he acted as though it were both the best thing in the world and the worst thing that could ever happen. He explained to Sally that after World War II, he and his brothers Zeus and Hades, the big 3 Gods, made a pact to not have any more children, as they were simply too powerful. If Zeus and Hades found out that Sally was pregnant with Poseidon's child, they would be furious beyond words, and both Sally and the baby would be in grave danger. For this reason, Poseidon left shortly after Sally told him about the baby, though he did promise to try and check in on her and the baby when he could.

Though Sally understood why Poseidon had to leave, she was still deeply hurt, and is terrified of being a single mother. She has very little to no experience with children, she has always been an only child and had no younger cousins or anything.

She did briefly consider placing the baby for adoption, after all she only has a small 2-bedroom house, with very little savings, no car and only a part-time job. However, after thinking about it for a while, Sally realized that her child’s best chance is with her, she knows the dangers he will face in life, and knows that she is the best person to protect him from them, so she decided to take on a second job and save every single penny she could. She had to quit her second job when she was 7 months pregnant and her doctor warned her that she was showing early warning signs of Pre-eclampsia, she needed to do what she could to lower her blood pressure, but she did manage to save quite a bit, and is now eagerly awaiting the arrival of her baby.

Currently she is only a week away from her due date, so when she is pulled from her sleep by a sharp pain in her lower abdomen, it doesn’t take her long to realize that the pain is a contraction. Once the pain passes, she gets out of bed and gathers her things for the hospital, before heading to the kitchen to make herself breakfast, the pains aren’t too bad yet and are quiet infrequent, and Sally figures once labor really gets going, eating will be the last thing on her mind, so it’s best she have something now.

20 minutes after feeling the first contraction, Sally carries her breakfast into the living room, where she can sit comfortably on the sofa. When she steps into the living room, she notices that the fire is still going, she must have forgot to put it out before she went to bed.

Sally steps up to the fire and scrapes a portion of her food into the flames, an offering to the Gods.

“Please.” Sally quietly says. “Eileithyia Goddess of birth, please watch over my baby and I, please make sure we’re okay and nothing happens to us.”

Two hours later, Sally makes her way to the hospital when the contractions start to become more intense and closer together. It is only when she is surrounded by other laboring people and sees all the support and love they have, that Sally realizes just how truly alone she feels. She desperately wishes Poseidon could be here, or her mother, anyone at all really, though really, she won’t be alone for much longer, in a few hours, she’ll have her baby.

4 hours later, after a long, painful labor, Sally is right on the verge of bringing her baby into the world.

“You’re doing absolutely wonderful Sally, just one more push now, okay?” The midwife calmly and gently says. Sally nods, takes a deep breath, grips onto the railing on the bed, and pushes. A few seconds later, just as the baby is born, the lights in the room flicker on and off for a brief second. In the moment Sally is too tired and concerned about her baby to think much of it, but later when she looks back on the moment, she will realize that it was a sure sign that a Hero had been born.

“I-is my baby okay?” Sally asks in a labored, breathy tone, trying to catch a glimpse of her baby at the end of the bed.

“Yes, absolutely perfect. You have a little boy, Sally. Congratulations.” The midwife softly says, passing the baby up to Sally, who immediately puts her arms around him and pulls him close.

“Oh, hello baby, hi Percy, I love you so much.” She coos, stroking his cheek and gazing at him in awe. He looks so much like his dad, with a mop of thick wavy black hair identical to Poseidon's, sea blue/green eyes just like his father, and Poseidon's nose and eye shape, while he has Sally’s mouth and bone structure.

“Percy, that’s a lovely name. Is it short for anything?” A nurse asks, standing at Sally’s side and gently cleaning little Percy down with a soft towel.

“Perseus, Perseus James Jackson.” Sally quietly says. When she was 6 months pregnant, Sally had chosen one boys name and one girls name. For a girl, she had chosen Estelle Rhea Jackson, Estelle after her late mother, and Rhea after Poseidon's mother. For a boy, she had chosen Perseus James Jackson. Perseus after one of the only hero's in Greek history, to have a happy ending, and James after her late father, Jim.

“Oh, that’s lovely, it suits him!” The nurse kindly says, smiling at the new mother and her baby. “I think so too.” Sally softly says, stroking Percy’s thick locks of hair, holding him close to her and basking in the amazing love she feels for this tiny little person, who she made. Without a doubt, Percy is the best thing she has ever accomplished in all her life.

Sally and Percy remain in hospital for two more days, and when Sally’s doctor tells her she and Percy can be discharged, she is simultaneously thrilled and terrified, she is excited to get back home and settle in with Percy, but she’s also afraid of being on her own with Percy for the first time, since he was born she’s had nurses and midwives to help her with feeding him, changing his diaper, bathing him, etc. Now she’ll have to do it alone.

Thankfully, Percy’s first few days at home pass by smoothly. He is mostly a very happy and content little baby, he hardly ever fusses and loves to be held and swaddled. Already, he seems drawn to the ocean. Sally has walked down to the beach with him a few times and stood watching the sea with Percy in her arms, thinking of Poseidon as the waves lapped at her feet and lulled Percy to sleep.

One day when Percy is two weeks old, as Sally lies in bed with Percy tucked up to her side, sleeping peacefully while she catches up on some reading, there is a knock on the door. Sally furrows her brow in confusion, as she sets her book down and gets up to answer the door, even though she is not expecting someone.

When Sally opens the door a few seconds later, she comes face to face with a ghost. Or so she thinks, for a minute anyway, because standing in front of her with his wild black hair windswept, dressed in shorts, sandals and a Hawaiian t-shirt, is Poseidon.

“P-P-Poseidon? I....” Sally trails off, at a complete loss for words. She never expected to see Percy’s father again, even though he promised he would try to check in on her and Percy whenever he could.

“Hello Sally, you’re looking beautiful as ever. How are you?” Poseidon calmly asks.

“I.... What are you doing here? I thought.... you left.” Sally asks in a breathy tone. Poseidon gives her a sympathetic smile.

“I’m afraid it’s just a visit, but I heard from Naiads that you had the baby and I... I was wondering if I could meet him, or her?” He asks in a sheepish tone. Only Sally Jackson could make a God sheepish.

“I.... yes of course you can, come in.” Sally says, opening the door wider for him. She then leads him back into her bedroom, where Percy is still sleeping soundly on the bed, exactly where she left him. Carefully Sally gathers the baby up into her arms and turns to face Poseidon.

“This is Percy, Perseus James Jackson.” She softly says, pulling the blankets down from around his face so Poseidon can see him.

“He.... Sally he’s absolutely perfect.” Poseidon quietly says, in a tone of awe. Carefully he reaches out to stroke the baby’s cheek. “Hello Percy, my boy. You’re going to be a strong little one, just like your name sake.”

“Do you want to hold him?” Sally asks. Poseidon nods wordlessly and Sally carefully passes their son to him. Poseidon's whole face lights up with a smile, when Percy blinks his eyes open and peers up at him curiously.

“It’s nice to meet you Percy, I’m afraid I won’t be able to around much, I wish I could, but it would just put you and your mother in danger. Don’t worry though, I know your mother is more than capable of caring for you and loving you, giving you a wonderful life, and I will look out for you in any way I can, you won’t suffer like your siblings before you, not if I have anything to do with it.” Poseidon has never been so in love with one of his children before, then again, he has never loved someone like he loves Sally.

“He looks just like you.” Sally softly says, resting her hand on Poseidon's arm and watching him watching Percy.

“I think he looks like you, poor little fellow wouldn’t want to be stuck with my looks when he could look like his beautiful mother, isn’t that right Percy?” Poseidon coos, running a hand over his son’s mop of thick black hair.

Poseidon stays for another hour, catching up with Sally and never once letting go of little Percy. Both and he Sally wish it could be like this all the time, Poseidon would happily give up his powers, his throne on Olympus and his immortality, just to be with Sally and raise Percy with her. Of course, it can never happen. He would have to tell Zeus and the other Olympians why he was giving up his Olympian throne, and if Zeus and Hades found out about Percy and Sally, they would stop at nothing to destroy them.

“I should be going soon.” Poseidon quietly says, an hour later. He is sitting on the sofa, with Percy lying in his lap watching in fascination as his father summons little orbs of water for Percy to play with. Sally is curled up beside Poseidon, her head resting on his shoulder.

“Five more minutes? Stay and help me put Percy down for his nap? Please?” Sally asks, wanting to have as much time with Poseidon as possible.

“Alright.”

Five minutes later, Poseidon carefully lowers his son into his crib, making sure the blue blanket with a pattern of seashells on it, is wrapped securely around him. Once he is sure Percy is settled and content, he turns to Sally.

“I’m afraid I really must be going now Sally, I will try and visit again soon, certainly before Percy’s first birthday, but I simply can’t make any promises.” He gently explains, his heart cracking in two at the look of hurt on Sally’s face. He would give anything to wipe that hurt away, and it kills him to know he is the cause of it.

“I understand, thank you for today.” Sally quietly says. Poseidon takes one last look at Percy, presses a kiss to Sally’s forehead and then disappears in a breeze of sea-scented air.

As if sensing his father has left for the second time, Percy starts to fuss and cry in his crib. Sally quickly gathers him up and settles onto the bed with him in her arms.

“It’s alright Percy, mama’s here, I’ve got you baby. No matter what, I’ll always be here.” Sally quietly says.

And for the next 14 years Sally stays true to her word, marrying an abusive man just so his mortal smell would mask Percy’s demi-god smell and protect him from the monsters, and endangering her life to make sure Percy safely gets to Camp Half-Blood when he is 12. Then, when Percy is 13, Sally meets a wonderful man named Paul Blofis, who makes her incredibly happy and is extremely good to Percy. Sally and Paul quickly fall in love and marry when Percy is 15 and two years later, after a lot more heartbreak and fear, they welcome a beautiful baby girl that they name Estelle. Percy is a wonderful big brother and extremely protective of Estelle, while Estelle herself is absolutely obsessed with her brother and always wants to be around him.

At present, Percy is 18 and Estelle is 1, and they are the sweetest brother-sister duo in practically everyone’s minds, though Nico di Angelo and Hazel Levesque don’t come too far behind the Jackson-Blowfis siblings.

Currently, Percy is out with Annabeth, celebrating their 2-year anniversary, while Paul and Sally have a quiet evening in with Estelle, who they have just put down to bed for the night. They stand in front of her crib, Paul with his arm around Sally’s waist, both just watching and admiring their sweet and beautiful daughter.

“You know.” Paul quietly says. “A lot of people think Percy gets his strength from his dad, and he does, his magical strength anyway, but his mental and emotional strength and his huge and open heart and mind, that’s all you Sally. I know Percy had rough childhood, but he’s a great kid, and that’s all thanks to you, I’ll probably get struck down for this, but I think you’re more of a Goddess than Hera or Athena or any of the other Olympian Goddesses.”

Sally turns and smiles softly at her husband, pulling him down for a brief kiss.

“He is pretty great, and Estelle is going to be just as wonderful, if she doesn’t blow the world up before her next birthday.” Sally laughs, knowing the kind of mischief her daughter can get up to, whenever Percy brings her to camp, she is very popular with the Hermes’ kids.

The next morning, Sally has a meeting with her book agent and Paul has a class to teach, so Percy happily agreed to watch Estelle for the day. Right now, they’re both sitting on the sofa in the living room, Percy bouncing Estelle on his lap, as fast as he can, making her giggle like crazy. It warms Sally’s heart to see her two children together, so happy despite everything.

“Alright, I better get going, I’ll be back before lunch.” Sally says, bending to kiss Percy on the cheek and managing to peck Estelle on the forehead, before she squirms away.

“Bye mom, see you soon.” Percy says, trying to hold Estelle steady.

“I love you babies.” Sally softly says, brushing Percy’s hair back and lightly tapping Estelle on the nose.

“Love you too mom.” Percy says.

“Daddy!” Estelle exclaims, even though Paul left half an hour ago. So far, she refuses to say mama, only daddy, and ‘ercy’ (her adorable way of pronouncing ‘Percy’).

Sally gives them both one more kiss, before heading out.

“Alright troublemaker let’s get you dressed and then we can go see everyone at camp! You wanna see Annabeth, and Grover? I bet you wanna see Nico too, and Rachel and Piper, and oh of course you’re gonna want to see Tyson, huh?” Percy lists off his friend's names, standing up with Estelle on his hip.

As Percy wrestles Estelle into her clothes, he thinks about how strong his mom was to do this for him, every single day all by herself, for years, while also knowing that someday, he would have to learn about his dad and go to camp, which must have been terrifying for her.

“You know Essie.” Percy quietly says, pulling a jumper over Estelle’s head. “Your dad’s right, our mom is ten times more of a Goddess than Athena or Hera or anyone else, and I don’t care if I get struck down for saying that because it’s true, now let’s go find what odd bits and pieces we can at camp and we can build our mom her own temple, just like a Goddess deserves.”

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