Fake Cryptids, Real Ghosts
Ok, so dp x dc/batfam because this AU has me by the throat but what if it's the fake cryptid batfamily AU who never joined the JL.
Just...imagine it. The Batfamily has been protecting Gotham quietly but fiercely by scaring the daylights out of criminals as creatures that go bump in the night. A bit of stage magic, frightening method acting, contortion, a whole language comprised of chirps, growls, and body language, and the best tech possible and you've got a recipe for striking fear into the hearts of everyone.
They've got shrines on the rooftops, vaguely on the JL radar (Cause really, who's gonna believe that Gotham, one of the worst cities has a demon problem? Constantine? Homeboy took one look at Gotham and went Nope.) and they're protected cause any self respecting Gothamite wouldn't go spilling the beans to Outsiders. The Bats keep them safe. Who would believe them anyways?
Enter half dead, half alive Danny Fenton.
Danny Fenton who has a best friend's named Tucker and Sam who find out about the Gotham Cryptids, and go absolutely ham on research because here lies something,a bunch of someone's who are Other. Maybe they're creepy but they're cool and they're Heroes and they help people.
Sure, at first it was an attempt from Sam and Tucker to help their best friend feel less alone in the face of other, more 'normal' heroes and people out there in the world. Maybe they try to further bury the Bats online cause if anyone understands keeping on the down low, it would be Amity Parker's. For awhile, Danny Fenton, sometimes Phantom is simply happy to know he's not alone.
Then he's outed and his sister who's long since been ecto-contaiminated is put at risk there's nowhere that seems safer. Gotham is a chaotic city, even without the Bats factoring in. After all Gotham has (Demons-Spirits-Creatures?) The Bats already. Who would care if a halfa and his sister hide out there? As long as they're respectful of their territory, it'll be fine right? Besides, they've got to warn the Bats anyways about the GIW and government. They're coming after ghosts, who knows if they'll be next? Spooky things have to look out for each other after all.
Cue shenanigans as Phantom who stops hiding all of his creepier traits as a ghost walks up to the Totally Human but Faking it Batman with really thoughtful gifts for all of their shrines (And one fruitcake), no heartbeat and an earnest plea for a safe haven in their Haunt because the Ancients taught him manners and the importance of respecting another entities territory.
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IV who always gets onto his partner when they skip meals, his heart aches at the thought of his love not taking proper care of themself. He's the kind to whip up a bowl of buttered noodles or a little quesadilla at a moment's notice when he hears their tummy grumble.
IV who comes home from a long time away, desperate to get his hands on his partner again, missing the feeling of their skin against his. He drops his bags at the door and is on them in seconds, his lips meeting theirs in the hungriest kiss, pulling them flush against his body, hands wandering to every inch of exposed skin he can reach. His tongue just barely slips through their lips when they pull back to whisper, a mischievous smile on their face.
"Have you eaten anything yet today?" they whispered, knowing he had a bad habit of not eating on travel days.
Furrowing his brow, he shakes his head. It had been a long day of driving and he'd been so excited to see them the thought hadn't even crossed his mind. When he shook his head, they slip from his grasp, causing him to whine at the loss of their familiar warmth in his arms.
"No play until you've eaten something," they tease with a wink, tapping their index finger against his nose gently. They disappear into the kitchen, leaving him alone in the entryway of their home. He groans loudly, knowing that they're making him pay for every well-meaning message about their eating habits.
He's grinding his teeth while he watches them whisk through the kitchen, his eyes raking over their figure as they're gathering the necessary ingredients for their signature meal. It wasn't anything complicated, but it tasted like them and it tasted like love, and despite the much less innocent thoughts racing through his mind, he couldn't help but feel a sense of peace he hadn't felt in weeks as the familiar smell wafted towards his nose as he sat at the kitchen table watching them work.
They've never seen him eat so fast, shoveling every last bite into his mouth before he practically throws his dishes into the sink, scooping them off their chair. A surprised squeal echoes through the kitchen as he planted them onto the table, standing between their legs with his hands on their face.
"Happy now?" to which they only nod. He wasted no time in crashing his lips back against theirs, his tongue slipping into their mouth to offer the faintest taste of the delicious meal they'd just made for him. A token of appreciation for the care they showed to him, a silent thank you for looking out for him.
But he was about to make and even more delicious meal out of them.
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So, after seeing @half-shadowgalra's post about what if Bianca stayed alive, I thought of analyzing the topic. So, my take on what might change, following the details of canon I can remember:
Firstly, let us assume that Bianca accidentally drove Talos into the Labyrinth, and just got severe head trauma and amnesia instead of dying. Zoe, Percy and co, however, still think she died and continue under this assumption. What happens next?
Well, as far as I know, only one god might actually know Bianca is still alive - her father, Hades. Who, I might say, is not present for the Winter Solstice council and doesn't seem like he'll inform anyone. He would want his daughter safe, probably, so there's a chance he'll send Alecto to find her and bring her somewhere safe - possibly the underworld. No guarantee that the Erinyes would succeed, though.
As to what we see in canon... In his angry burst, Nico mentions feeling Bianca being judged in the underworld, and having nightmares. I'm going to have to assume his nightmares will be altered. And, well... This certainty of her death, which was another sign of them being children of Hades, will likely not exist. How will it change things? Well, I think Nico will still be angry at Percy and consider him guilty of Bianca's death. Maybe. After all, the lack of certainty he had in another timeline can't actually help him realize Bianca is alive. He can't know he would've felt it if she died - even if he started feeling such things, he probably didn't understand that well enough yet. He might have some doubts, though. That's still a minor change, all things considered.
Next time Bianca's death affects the plot is the Iris-net messages. However, we might need to explore first what happened to Bianca. Especially since she not only fell into one of the most dangerous pieces of magical architecture, she did so in a time it was being explored by a whole bunch of people. At any given moment, she could encounter Luke's forces, Clarisse, Daedalus or one of the creatures looking for her. So, you're Bianca Di Angelo, daughter of Hades, who's trapped in a maze underground and have amnesia. What can you do?
Well, I think her bow and arrows are either right beside her or a summon away - the latter is going to be problematic, because she doesn't remember how to summon them. She'll probably have her hunting knife. Oh, and did I mention that she won't remember her training, whatever amount she had?
I don't think canon gives us much indication on what she might do in such a situation. Part of the question is how much she forgot. And since we're makeing this up anyway, we can go for the option we find the most fun! Oh, and I forgot Nico is joining everyone in the Labyrinth pretty quickly. Either way, I think I'll go (regarding her memories) with forgetting everything except for her brother. And English, though it will be fun to have her speak some Italian dialect for some time. Oh, and her name. Easier that way.
So, Bianca wakes up in a cave. She only remembers her name and that she has a brother called Nico. Who is, for some reason, not present. She hears weird sounds and runs away from them.
Now here's another bit: we don't know what Bianca's powers include beyond the ability to permanently kill skeletal warriors. Incidentally, we have another canonical Pluto kid who can control caves. Now sure, Hazel and Nico supposedly have between them Hades' two dominions: riches and death. No reason to keep them separate, however. Bianca can have some power over underground spaces. We have seen Hazel interact with the Labyrinth in the House of Hades, even manipulate it - though she was using magic instead of demigod powers, so we can't be sure if someone with similar powers but no magic could do it. I do think it's possible, though - especially without anyone directly resisting her. It'd be mostly instinctive and unintentional, though, so there's no telling where it would lead her.
Now, where would Bianca find herself? It's hard to tell. Everyone goes through the arena eventually, but it takes time. Bianca can get to many places, Camp Half-Blood included as well as Geryon's farm or the underworld. There really is no telling. Meanwhile, Nico is looking into ways to find his sister and bring her back. Does he realize she's alive? Or does he still try to learn from Minos? As far as I know, we were never told how he made his way to the underworld. Did Hades send Alecto to collect him? If so, does that mean we'll have a family reunion sooner rather than later? Or maybe does Bianca inadvertently run away from it in effort to stay alive and, ironically enough, find her brother?
One possible change would be that when Hades gets Nico, he tells him (at some point) that his sister is still alive. Not in an attempt to console him - Hades doesn't really know about that - but as a throwaway line when Nico mentions her death. I think I can picture that. Nico still runs away, but this time to find his living sister - all that assuming he somehow got to Hades' palace in the time between the Titan's Curse and the Battle of the Labyrinth. In such a case, he might not turn to Minos, which would significantly change BotL. So... Maybe the best option here is Nico not getting to Hades' palace/Hades being too secretive about it all.
Now, no Percy Jackson story is complete without old myths underlining events: Percy isn't compared to Heracles for naught, there are a couple of parallels between them - at least in monster slaying and such things. Sadly, I can't say I'm an expert in Greek mythology, and I'm not sure I know enough to create a story paralleling any myth. So, I kind of hope someone more experienced could come and give a fitting story - only thing I can think of right now is Atalanta, the huntress who took a vow of virginity, joined the Argonauts for a time and participated in the hunt for the Calydonian boar, drawing first blood and thus winning the boar's hide - which eventually lead to much strife. Now, one would think this boar was used in the past, like in tTC - but nope, it was a different boar, so I'm sure having some taste of the Atalanta myth could work. Kind of. Maybe, somehow, I don't know.
So, Bianca is dealing with her own stuff. Maybe, because I just thought of it, she can also have a taste of Cadmus' story - the guy looking for his disappearing sister who went on to found a city instead. I'll have to think about it for a bit, especially since I think both Atalanta and him had a weird "happily ever after in animal form" thing. Cadmus and his wife became snakes, while Atalanta and the husband she eventually did marry (thus breaking her vow of virginity, though the consequences were somehow unrelated) were turned into lions. Huh.
Anyway, she deals with that while running away from Alecto. Nico tries to find a way to reassure his sister while Minos hides the fact she's actually still alive from him. And maybe Bianca encounters Luke.
Now, the repercussions of Bianca being alive include Percy not getting the Iris-net calls about Nico. Which would mean that, if they meet in Geryon's farm, Percy has no way to convince Nico that Bianca doesn't want what he does. Which leaves us at an impasse, so Nico would head out with Minos straight away... Probably. Here's the thing: Bianca being down there means she can be found by someone. I think Clarisse isn't a good option for that, though. So, what if Luke found her? Would she join him? Or be killed? Well, obviously not the latter, we didn't save her so that someone else might kill her. But since we want her as a hero, we'd prefer her not to serve the titans, right?
So, after some thought: maybe she got to the arena and was forced to compete. Her fighting talent was promising, so Luke suggested she join them. And then... I think she run.
This is just a vague outline, and you may have noticed this is stream of thought writing. So, umm... well, I can only say that next she's probably told to give up the search for her brother and follow a cow, which probably should lead her to the huntresses, but instead of following it she'll keep looking and will find Nico, because I honestly don't like how easily Cadmus gave up on Europa just because the oracle told him. Curses be upon Zeus. Coming to think of it, the myth of Cadmus might fit well with the theme of BotL, because Cadmus is Minos' uncle. Yeah, it's all still stream of thought.
Bianca will probably meet Nico before the whole "king of ghosts" fiasco. I think this should affect the larger story, but I'm not sure how. So, umm... Let's leave it here for now?
So, a suggestion to a more organized outline: Bianca is in the Labyrinth. She runs away from some monster and accidentally finds herself in the company of some half-bloods loyal to Kronos. At first she journeys with them and they slay monsters together. However, after having drawn first blood from a very strong monster, some of the half-bloods became angry at her for hurting their egos or something? So she run away from them? Then she gets the magical cow, maybe Alecto finds her, and then she continues to search for her brother, who she maybe finds on the verge of killing someone to bring her back to life.
I might try to write it at some point, but I'm not very good at finishing stories. So, I guess we'll see.
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