#curse you and your gift of prophecy apollo

[on-my-vigilante-sht]

The Final Quest

Luke Castellan x Apollo!Reader

Requested by: @reader-bookling123: hiii I had a request for Luke where it kinda takes place in the past but he was dating reader and they were deeply in love but on their quest somehow reader sadly dies and Luke is just heartbroken and angry and he’s mad that everyone just moved on from her and maybe some cute reuniting moment

Summary: How a quest with the love of Luke's life turned him away from the gods

Warnings: Angst, major spoilers for series, graphic description of death, suicide (technically), anger, resentment, pain, fluffy ending, Dionysus and Apollo slander

Word count: 5.5K

Masterlist

Later A/N So I'm just now rereading Titan's Curse for the first time in like four years so I forgot that the Garden of Hesperides is west in the books. However, when I was researching the myth it was said to be some place north so I chose Canada. So that's why it doesn't reflect the book.

“Happy birthday, Luke,” my girlfriend smiled. Our lips were so close our noses were already touching. But just as I could feel the fleeting touch of her lips on mine, there was a flash of light, making her jump away from me in surprise. Looking over to the source of the light, I found my father standing three feet from us on the dock.

Neither of us had time to react before Hermes was speaking. “Hi Luke! Happy birthday. I have a gift for you.”

“Uh… th-thank you,” I tried to sound grateful but I was a little caught off guard and annoyed he ruined the moment.

“Oh, sorry!” he laughed, noticing my girlfriend who was still half in my lap. “How are you Y/N?”

“I- I’m well, Lord Hermes. How are you?” she asked nervously, awkwardly scooting away from me, moving her legs so their weight no longer rested on mine.

“Oh, no need with the Lord stuff. I may not be the god of prophecy but I am the god of gambling and I’m betting you two will get married. We’ll be family!”

“Father,” I tried to interrupt him as the embarrassment coursed through my veins, bringing heat up to my face. I didn’t even want to see Y/N’s reaction I was so nervous and embarrassed.

“Oh, right. Sorry kid. I forgot how much you teenagers hate sharing your feelings. But uh I’ve heard your prayers and offerings Luke and I have a quest for you.” My eyes widened. Finally. All my training would pay off. I could prove myself and go down in history as a hero. “I need you to get me the golden apples in Hesperides’ garden. Hera is getting a little too insufferable these days y’know?”

Y/N and I sent each other looks, our mouths open in hesitation. Our next words had to be careful. If we agreed to the wrong thing we’d be insulting Hera and I was sure she’d strike us down right here. She didn’t like demigods, to her we were an offense to marriage. Especially the ones that were a product of offense to her own marriage. “Thank you for the quest,” I carefully dodged his last comment.

“Of course, kid. Here, you’ll need this.” He snapped his fingers and in another blaze of heavenly light, a duffle bag appeared in his hands. “Well, good luck. I’ll see you back here when you bring me my apples,” he smiled, handing me the bag. “Uh, avert your eyes,” he warned. Waiting for us to cover our eyes, he disappeared in a golden spray of light.

When the world dimmed again I turned to Y/N. “Oh my god!” she yelled excitedly. She stood up, throwing her arms around me, almost knocking us both into the water. I laughed, hugging her tightly in return. “Luke, you’re gonna be a hero!” she gushed, pulling away so she could look at me.

“We’re gonna be heroes,” I assured her, placing a hand on her face. “Come with me,” I requested. My heart was thumping quickly in my chest out of excitement and nervousness. “We can be the Greek Bonnie and Clyde. Hundreds of years from now demigods will read our myths and say, ‘We can be like Y/N and Luke.’”

She looked at me, confused. “Luke, they were criminals and died tragically,” she laughed a little at the ridiculousness of it all.

“Okay wrong analogy but you get the idea. Please, I can’t do this without you.” As much as I wanted my glory, I knew the Daughter of Apollo wanted it too. And I’d be damned if I couldn’t give it to her.

“Okay, okay,” she laughed. “I’ll go with you.”

“Yes!” I cheered, hugging her so tightly I ended up lifting her off the wooden docks. She laughed as I began to spin, even almost spinning us into the cold water.

~

After talking to Chiron and getting my prophecy, Y/N and I were off in a car that Mr. D had somehow acquired. The only reason we were allowed to take it was because I was 17 and had a little driving experience from when I would take my mom’s car when she was too out of it to even get groceries. I shook off the thoughts as Y/N once again went through our supplies and plan. She seemed nervous even though I assured her numerous times we’d be fine.

“Drachma, cash, ambrosia, passports, drivers license, an enchanted map, and a bow and arrow,” she repeated the contents of the duffle bag. “The Garden of Hesperides is in northern Canada,” she mused, looking at the map. “Heracles defeated Ladon with a bow and arrow by piercing each head through the eye.”

“Yeah, we’ll be fine,” I assured, reaching across the center console to place a reassuring hand on her thigh. I left it there, rubbing calming circles on the skin of her leg with my thumb. “Heracles did it before…” I said, the words slowly dying as they came out. Heracles already did it. I tried to shake off the thought that I was just redoing a quest. They were so uncommon nowadays it was an honor to be chosen for one. At least, that’s what I kept telling myself to chase the doubt away. Besides, Heracles technically failed his quest, he didn’t bring them to Eurystheus. I would succeed in bringing them to the person who had requested them.

“What was the prophecy again?” she asked, still looking at the map.

I swallowed nervously. The prophecy was not optimistic for us. I couldn’t possibly imagine what we’d find out about each other on this trip that would cause us to lose our love for one another. “You shall go north to fruits, rare / Liar to liar, a father’s heir, / Loves will be lost in Ladon’s lair,” I repeated.

“‘You shall go north to fruits, rare,’” she repeated. “Obviously that means we’re going north to find the golden apples. “‘Liar to Liar, a father’s heir.’ Hermes is the god of lies. And I guess stealing makes you deceitful. Ergo, a liar… ‘Loves will be lost in Ladon’s lair,’” she repeated. I could hear the dread infiltrating her voice.

“Hey,” I interrupted her thinking with a squeeze to her thigh, “that could mean anything. Prophecies are just a guide. A starting point. It was so short and vague that we don’t even know if it’s talking about us. We’ll be fine,” I promised again.

“Yeah, of course,” came her voice. I glanced away from the road, finding a weak smile on her face.

“What kind of music does Dionysus have?” I asked, trying to change the subject. She opened the glove compartment, several things falling out of it.

She began to go through them. “Um, a concerning amount of Weird Al Yankovic.” I laughed as she continued to look through. She then gasped. “Oh my gods.” She held up something next to me that I took. I nearly slammed on the brakes as I glanced down at it.

I couldn’t stare at the CD in my hand too long so we wouldn’t crash but every time I glanced down at it I found a new horrifyingly wonderful detail on the album cover. It was Mr. D with the weirdest haircut I had ever seen. He was lying down on a cheetah print rug, his shirt was a zebra print and had the first several buttons undone so the viewer could see all of his glorious chest hair. That wasn’t even the most outrageous part. Mr. D was lying down next to a tiger with a gold chain around its neck. Hanging from the chain was presumably Mr. D’s stage name, “Dionomite” written in gold cursive and studded with diamonds. “We have to listen to this!”

“Already ahead of you,” she said, punching buttons on the dash. She took the CD from me and put it in. Once it was ready, our ears were immediately assaulted with the sound of various horn instruments being poorly played. “Did he play all the instruments himself?”

“Probably,” I answered as Mr. D’s voice came on. “Oh…” was all I could say as the squeaky singing made my eardrums bleed.

It was funny for a couple songs but then it just got annoying so we switched over to a single Beatles album.

~

We reached the Canadian border in only a couple hours. Thanks to the Mist we could drive as fast as we wanted without fear of mortal cops.

As we pulled up to the gate, the guard switched. Must have been a shift change. I thought nothing of it as I rolled down the window. “Passports?” the guard tiredly asked. His eyes were shielded by sunglasses despite the fact that he was under shade. I became wary but handed him the documents anyway. “Any plants, animals, dairy products, or drugs in the car?” he asked.

“No,” I answered.

“What’s the nature of your quest, demigods?” The customs officer removed his sunglasses, revealing a single eye. He then grew about three feet, revealing a cyclops.

“Hit the gas!” Y/N yelled beside me. I did, taking off. Now we had both a cyclops and the Canadian border police after us as I crashed through the plastic gate that went up and down. I swerved around guards and other cars, getting up on sidewalks and surely ruining the paint job.

But up ahead I could see them closing a heavy looking gate. Gods on our side or not we weren’t getting through that gate. So I swerved into the trees. “Hold on!” they were sparse enough that the car could fit in between the trees. Glancing in the mirror, I could no longer see border guards. But there was a 9 foot tall cyclops following us in the distance. Which would be fine, he’d never catch up to the car but the woods were getting thicker and now I didn’t know which way was the road.

Nature made its decision for me as I heard Y/N’s scream. “Luke look out!” But it was too late. A violent force stopped us and the car was suddenly still. There was so much force I was half afraid the cyclops had a friend but I just found a tree in the middle of the hood where the engine used to be. “Run!” I told my girlfriend, frantically unbuckling my seatbelt.

I ran to the other side, finding her struggling with the seatbelt. She threw the duffle bag at me before pulling out her knife and cutting the seatbelt away. When she hopped out, I took her hand. We ran further into the trees, the cyclops’ thunderous footsteps right behind us.

“Luke, we can’t run forever,” she breathed. She was right. We’d run out of energy before that thing did.

I thought for a moment, thinking of how we’d kill this thing. “At that big tree,” I pointed to a huge pine tree right in our path, “split up. Then we’ll circle back around and hit him from the side.” She nodded in understanding. We ran full speed at the tree until we each turned on the balls of our feet, dashing out of the cyclops’ path. The plan worked better than expected because he ran face first into the solid pine tree.

He crumpled to the ground, giving me time to retrieve my sword from the duffle bag. By the time I looked up, Y/N was already dancing around the beast, cutting him up with her knife. I jumped in, giving him the same treatment. We worked as a flawless team, striking and giving the other space as needed. Until finally, she cut the thing’s heels, forcing him to the ground. I took the opportunity to stab him in the eye, leaving behind only a pile of shimmery ichor.

When he was gone, I immediately pulled Y/N in my arms. Even at the relative safety of camp, I always needed her in my arms to calm down after battle. To assure myself that she was still there and I was still alive. The sound of her breath in my ear helped ground me. “Are you okay?” I asked.

“Yeah, you?” Her face was still buried in my shoulder.

“Yeah. Sorry I crashed the car.” She chuckled, pulling away from me.

“You’re forgiven. C’mon, let’s go see what supplies we can save and start walking.”

While the car was unsalvageable, all of our stuff was fine. So we grabbed out backpacks full of winter clothes and started following the map. It wasn’t that bad now but it’d be cold by the time night fell so I forced Y/N to put on sweatpants over her shorts.

I was kind of hoping the map would take us to civilization where we could rest for the night but it just seemed to bring us deeper into the forest and we had no flashlight. As it got darker and colder I got more nervous. “We have to find some sort of shelter for tonight.”

“I know it’s dark but it’s not that-” A pack of wolves howling cut her off. “Okay, yeah,” she agreed. She began looking around. “Any chance you could climb one of these trees? I don’t really want to be on the ground.”

I shook my head. “Even if I could get up high enough I don’t think any of the branches would support us.”

She huffed. “Shelter it is, I guess.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you from the wolves,” I teased. She had just killed a literal cyclops but she was afraid of some dogs.

“Hey, I don’t mess with wolves,” she said sternly. “After I saw that one movie about the kids stuck on the ski lift. You wouldn’t catch me in the woods at night yet here we are.”

“What about Capture the Flag?” I asked as we started collecting stuff to make a shelter.

“Well that’s different. There’s like 30 of us out there.”

“Do you want me to start sticking with you during the games? You know, if a wolf wanders in?” I teased.

“I’ll make my own shelter for tonight, thank you very much,” she said matter o’ factly.

“No, no, no. I’m sorry,” I apologized, tugging her back to me as she tried to storm off to get supplies. “Besides, we need each other’s body heat to keep us warm,” I whispered teasingly.

“Not a chance out here,” she scolded me.

“Worth a try,” I shrugged. “Everyone knows you can better preserve body heat if you’re not wearing clothes.” She just gave me an exasperated look before walking off again. “I’m joking!” I yelled after her.

By the time we had the shelter built up only about an hour had passed. We used pine needles to try to protect out bodies from the cold ground. And we used our winter coats as a blanket since we zipped them together. We laid down in the shelter, still shivering despite our best efforts. I held her close as she curled up against my chest, her head tucked under my chin. “Get some sleep,” I told her. “I’ll keep watch.”

“Okay,” she agreed. “Wake me in a few hours and I’ll take over.” I agreed with absolutely no intentions of waking her up. Judging by how fast her breathing evened out despite her constant shivers, she needed the sleep more than me. In the morning she’d yell at me for not waking her but it was worth it.

~

We had only been walking for a few minutes when we came across sled dogs. Ten siberian huskies all laying around patiently, harnessed to a sled. “Maybe these were the wolv-”

“Shut up,” she warned, giving me a light smack against the shoulder. I laughed as she hesitantly approached the dogs. “Hey guys, you waiting for someone?” She slowly reached her hand out to one of the dogs who calmly sniffed it before licking it eagerly. She gave him some scratches behind the ear in return. “Awe you’re such a good boy.” The dogs were now all up, wagging their tails and whining for pets.

I went up to the sled, finding a satchel tied to it. Opening it I found dog treats and a note. “All good huntresses need a pack of wolves.” Underneath it was a crescent moon. I clenched my jaw, recognizing the sender of the gift. Her aunt, Artemis. Last year, during the winter solstice, Artemis and her hunters had visited briefly. One of the hunters, Zoe, befriended Y/N. And even after she had told them she had a boyfriend, they still tried to recruit her. It never sat right with me, the way Artemis seemed so okay with breaking up a relationship.

“It’s for you,” I told Y/N, handing her the note. I handed her the note and she took it. She just sighed before stuffing it back into the satchel. “I don’t know why she’s so determined to recruit you.”

“I don’t know either,” she said, already tying our stuff to the sled. “But she’s gonna be disappointed because I’m kind of really into this one guy. I don’t know if you know him but he’s the son of Hermes. He’s gonna be a great Greek hero.” Her praise was enough for me to let go of my anger. Stooping down, I pressed a kiss to her lips.

The pack of sled dogs was perfect for the Canadian wilderness except for one problem. There was no snow. Still, they managed to pull us so smoothly it was like snow.

Soon enough, we pulled up to a garden. If it weren’t for the fact that they were literally in the middle of nowhere, this garden would be unassuming. It had a white picket fence and looked to be about an acre. Thousands of different types of plants grew, enchanting us with its smell. Off in the distance, in the middle of the garden, I could faintly see the golden fruits, the sun glinting off of them.

“The nymphs never gave Heracles a problem,” Y/N shrugged. I nodded, cautiously opening the gate, sword in hand. She held the bow up, an arrow already knocked. A quiver of them were slung over her back.

We crept in quietly, watching for signs of danger. She would watch our surroundings and made sure no nymphs attacked us while I kept an eye on the multi-headed dragon, making sure he didn’t stir.

Once we were about 20 feet away, he still wasn’t stirring. Y/N kneeled down behind some greenery, lining up her arrow. She took aim and fired. The arrow bounced harmlessly off one of the many scale covered head. The beast didn’t so much as stir. She looked back at me, as if seeking assurance. I nodded, telling her to try again. But rather than just take aim again, she crept a little closer. I almost told her to get back but I was afraid the dragon would wake up at my yelling. I held my breath, heart pounding as she tried again. This time she sunk it right through the eyelid but before either of us could react, another head moved. It snapped at her, jaws clenching around her waist. My blood turned to ice as I heard her pained scream. It was so horrifying to hear my body seemed to turn to lead.

I needed to save her. I forced my body into a run. I slashed at the neck that was currently holding my girlfriend in the air. Ladon dropped her, not without a claw slashing at me in turn. I managed to dodge it, scrambling over to Y/N. I wasn’t even comprehending whether or not she was conscious or if she was alive. I was too busy trying to tug her away. Golden fucking apples be damned.

I reached her, grabbing her by her shoulders and trying to tug her to safety. But before I could make much progress, the beast’s claw was in my face again. But I noticed it too late this time, too focused on my girlfriend’s very pale face. The claw hit me in the face, sweeping me to the side. I couldn’t feel the pain but I could see the blood seeping into my vision. I tried to wipe it away but it just kept coming. With my non-blinded eye I could see Ladon going back to his prior position as if we were nothing. Like he wasted no energy maiming us. Nonetheless, it allowed me to grab her by the shoulders, shaking her awake.

“Y/N, we need to go!” I said frantically, worried he’d come back for round two if we didn’t get out soon. “Can you walk?” I looked down at her body and knew the answer. Her shirt was covering the extent of her wounds but teeth marks, each a few inches across, tore through her shirt and there was blood. So much blood.

“With help,” she said in a strangled voice.

“Okay, good,” I nodded. Her assurance eased me slightly. I slung her arm across my shoulder before pulling her up. She screamed as I raised her off the ground but nevertheless gritted her teeth and bore it.

“No!” she cried as I tried to wrap my arm around her to support her weight. I realized that in doing so I’d be pressing into her wounds. She sobbed in pain the entire time we slowly stumbled out of the garden. It pained me to hear her cries but I had to get her out of here. If I could just get her to the sled I could give her some ambrosia and she’d be fine.

When I finally got her outside the gate, I laid her down. I’d get her onto our transportation once she wasn’t in such a critical condition. “Hold on, I’ll get you some ambrosia,” I told her, moving toward the sled. But the weakest tug held me back.

I looked down at her, finding blood, sweat, and tears covering her face. “No,” she cried. Tears were pouring down her face as sobs wracked her body. “Ambrosia won’t help.”

“Hey, hey, hey,” I held her face. Oh, her beautiful face. My heart clenched seeing it twisted in agony. “You’re gonna be fine. I promised you. I’m not a liar…” Tears were falling down my face now. She’s not fine. I realized that I’d become an unknowing liar.

Her hand reached up to my face, her thumb swiping over my blood covered cheek. “You’re not a liar. We were doomed from the start.” She took a labored breath and deep inside, I knew it was the end for her.

“Come on, no. Don’t leave. Please don’t leave,” I cried. I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her into my lap. As if physically holding on to her would keep her from slipping through my fingers like the wind. “Just hold on until I can get you to a hospital.”

“We don’t have time.” A small smile tugged at her face and I knew she was smiling through the pain for my sake. “I love you, Luke. Promise me you’ll move on?”

“What? No. You know I won’t. You’re the love of my life,” I insisted.

“Please, at least try?” she asked. “I don’t want you following me too soon,” she tried to joke. But her laugh turned into pained sobs as the movement hurt her body.

I cried harder seeing her in so much pain. Her breathing was getting shallower and more labored. “Fine, I’ll try,” I swore. Lie. “I love you. So much.”

“I’ll see you in Elysium,” she said through a peaceful smile. It would be a welcome sight if it weren’t for the blood bubbling up out of her mouth. I turned her to the side slightly so she wouldn’t choke on it but it wasn’t enough. The blood was coming faster and her body was shutting down. “I love you,” she whispered before her eyes fluttered shut.

“No, wake up!” I cried, shaking her slightly. “Wake up!” Her breaths were getting shorter and I was getting more desperate. “Do something!” I yelled up at the sky. Her father. My father. Anyone! But no one came. Her wounds didn’t stitch themselves together and her eyes didn’t open. I held her tightly, sobbing into her shoulder long after she stopped breathing. Even the dogs started howling at the gods when her heart stopped beating.

~~~

“That’s why I hate the gods,” I murmured to Percy, watching the scorpion slowly creep up his leg. “They finally granted me a quest. It was all I ever wanted. But it was a joke. All my father wanted to do was piss off Hera and he was okay with using me and my girlfriend as collateral damage. And her father, Apollo,” the name came out of his mouth like venom, “the god of prophecy and healing let his daughter die. He knew she was going to die, even before the quest. And when he had the opportunity to save her, he ignored her.”

“I’m sorry she died but-”

“No!” I cut Percy off. “It would be one thing if she just died but she died over a fucking prank war. She died an agonizing death. Her aunt, Artemis, intervened in our quest but she still let her niece die a slow, painful death. They didn’t even help me bring her back to camp so she could be buried properly. I had to bury her in the woods like I had killed her and was covering up a crime.” I swiped away a tear as I noticed it slip down my face. I still couldn’t decide what was worse. Feeling her die in my arms or leaving her out there in the woods to rot. “And to make matters worse, no one seemed to care that she died. When I finally got back to camp a month later, they just pitied me. I begged Chiron to let me and some others go get her so we could give her a proper funeral but he refused. And when I tried to get others to join me to convince him, no one would go. After a couple days no one seemed to care that Y/N L/N was dead. A week later, another Apollo camper was claimed and they just gave her bunk away to him. Like she meant nothing.”

“But why Kronos? I’ve never heard of a demigod turning away from the gods. Even when horrible things happened.”

I sighed in contentment, remembering the projection he showed me. “Because he can bring her back. We’ll be immortal and without pain forever. He showed her to me. He said she’s happy in Elysium but she misses me,” I smiled softly. “But she misses camp too,” I laughed bitterly. “Annabeth, Grover, she probably would’ve missed you had you two met. But she never got the opportunity. But now, with Kronos, I’ll get to give her everything she wants.” I looked over at the kid. He seemed so deep in thought I wasn’t sure he’d heard me. “Goodbye Percy,” I said as I stood.

“I’ll tell everyone at camp about you!” he called after me.

“If you make it. Pit scorpion venom will kill you in 60 seconds. Even if you do make it, I’ll still be long gone.”

~~~

I sunk the blade into my Achilles heel, destroying Kronos’ life source inside me. I laughed as I could feel him leaving me. And continued to laugh as I fell to the ground and felt my own life draining out of me. Looking up, I found Annabeth above me, her curls hanging in my face. “I’m gonna see Y/N,” was all I said.

Tears welled in her eyes as I felt her comforting hand stroke my hair. “Yeah you are. I know how much you missed her.”

“I’ll see you there too,” I promised her, just like Y/N promised me.

~

I stood in front of the Judges of the Underworld. I knew I messed up in my life but my sacrifice had to amount to something. And I had to get to Elysium. “Luke Castellan,” Minos read my name. “You are charged with… starting a war against the gods?” he read in disbelief. “Why were you not immediately sentenced to the Fields of Punishment?” If I still had a heart it’d be in my feet right now. I couldn’t go to the Fields of Punishment. “You should have cut your losses and taken the express line to the Fields of Asphodel.”

“Keep reading,” Rhadamanthus said, not even looking up from the papers.

Minos rolled his eyes but kept going. “Oh, you sacrificed yourself, killing Kronos and saving Olympus and all of humanity. Hmm. Well, you did still start a war with the gods.”

Aeacus leaned over. “Minos, this really is more of a formality than anything. All the gods have already given him a pass.”

Minos huffed. “Fine,” he picked up a gold gavel, “Elysium!” he declared.

Before I could even thank him I was transported into what looked like the Apollo cabin. It was strange, I knew this was supposed to be the Apollo cabin but it didn’t have all the bunks. It looked like a normal house but something about it felt so familiar. I looked around, realizing I was standing in the living room. This must be Y/N’s house, it even smelled like her. Decorating the walls were pictures of her and her friends and siblings. But on the mantle and side tables were pictures of us. I picked one up, noticing the fingerprint markings all over it. She must pick it up a lot.

Looking around, I found glass French doors in the kitchen that led outside. The view was breathtaking. Mountains rose up on either side of the bluest lake I had ever seen. I went outside, intending to enjoy the view. As I stepped outside I could smell fresh air and feel a perfect breeze. “Hey stranger,” a voice came from beside me. I turned, immediately letting out a choked sob as I saw her sitting there. She stood, coming to me and I immediately snatched her into my arms. She shushed me, stroking my back as I sobbed in her shoulder. “You came way earlier than I wanted but I’m glad to see you.”

I pulled away so I could see her face. The blood, sweat, and tears were gone. It was just her beautiful, perfect face. “You’re actually here,” I said, reaching a hand up to her face. I was terrified she’d disappear again just like she did when Kronos showed her to me in my dreams.

“I’m here. And so are you,” she smiled. “We’ll be immortal and without pain forever,” she swore.

“I love you so much.”

“I love you too, Luke.”

~

Decades later we were opening our door to see Percy and Annabeth standing there. “Y/N!” Annabeth cried, jumping into my wife’s arms.

“Hey Annabeth!” she laughed, clutching the woman in a hug.

I looked over to Percy, finding him with smile lines and salt and pepper hair. “Hey cuz,” I smiled, extending my hand. Percy shook it and pulled me into a hug which I returned. I patted him on the back as I pulled away. “You know you can look any age you want here? You don’t have to be an old man.”

“I’m not an old man,” he insisted. “I was 80. Just anything older than 16 year old me looks old to you.”

I shrugged, he wasn’t wrong. I turned to Annabeth, giving her a hug too.

Y/N took Percy’s hand. “Percy, it’s so nice to finally meet you. Everyone from camp whose already here has said great things.”

He smiled at her. “I’ve heard the same about you,” he returned, glancing at me. “Well we brought blue cake for dessert.”

Masterlist

A/N Omg this is quite possibly the angstiest thing I've ever written. But it also has one of my favorite endings. Thanks for requesting this, I really enjoyed writing it

[gigglesandfreckles-hp]

@jilymicrofics july 28: stargaze

“And that one?”

“Cassiopeia,” James answers immediately.

Lily steals another secret glance at him, absolutely captivated by how the nearly full moon, still two nights away, reflects off his glasses, giving his hazel eyes a soft, glowing warmth. The interplay of light and shadow on his face reveals the gentle lines of his features and that ridiculous mop of hair that falls carelessly across his forehead. He looks particularly beautiful like this and she’s just on the verge of telling him.

“That’s Greek as well, yeah?” she asks.

He nods, the movement causing his hair to brush against the grass of the Quidditch pitch. “Cursed by Apollo,” he says, and Lily almost, almost, almost laughs, but she manages to keep it together, instead murmuring a vague, “Oh wow.”

James takes it as encouragement to continue. “She rejected him, so he gave her the gift of prophecy, with the cursed exception that no one would ever believe her.”

“He sounds like the compassionate sort of god I’d like to worship,” she snorts.

James laughs, and the movement causes the back of his hand to graze hers in the space on the grass between them. Lily's breath catches, wondering if this fleeting touch will be the one that finally makes him reach out and intertwine their fingers.

His hand retreats again, and Lily has to physically stop herself from groaning.

“Why are all of the Blacks named after stars?” she asks, trying to divert her impatience.

“Masochism, probably,” James says casually, even as he grins up at the stars. “Follow-up question.” He turns toward her, his glasses slipping slightly down his nose as his cheek presses into the grass. She swallows and makes herself hold his gaze. “Why are all the Evans girls named after flowers?”

Lily laughs, their faces close enough that her breath ruffles a stray curl of his hair across his forehead. “Definitely masochism.” She shifts her hand so that it intentionally brushes against his again. “I’ve never really felt like a Lily.”

This time, he doesn't move his hand away. Instead, he presses back with the back of his hand. “I think it suits you. I think it’s lovely.”

She feels herself flush, even as she chuckles. “Lovely Lily,” she drawls, sarcastically.

“Hey,” he says softly, and finally—finally—his fingers catch hers. “Hey.”

She squeezes his hand. I’m right here, the motion says.

“Can I tell you something?”

She hums in affirmation.

“I made all that shit up from before,” he whispers. “I don’t know anything about astronomy.”

She giggles, absolutely delighted, turning to bury her face in his shoulder. “Can I tell you something?” She waits, for dramatic effect, and then grins up at him, her face flushed. “I know.”

He pulls back, their hands straining between them. “What?” he demands.

She’s practically hysterical now, snorting into his shirt. “Cassandra,” she says, using her free hand to swipe under her eyes. “The story you told. That’s Cassandra! And besides, it's Delphinus up there anyway.”

James yelps. “Why the hell did you let me witter on like a prat?”

“I quite like your wittering,” she replies cheekily, using their joined hands to pull herself a little closer.

[fountainpenguin]

Secret Life finale highlights for me:

- "My strategy: Kill Skizz and Tango. Will happen at some point... Or, just maim them and watch them die in a corner." - Scar

- Scott on Grian's loyalty: "I have never seen a man drop a pair of sunglasses faster in my life [than last season after Joel died]."

- I think I reblogged someone's speculation weeks ago that at the dawn of final session, everyone's task book would just say "Win Secret Life." Congrats to them for Apollo's gift of prophecy.

- Martyn's beat of pause before saying to Joel "Welcome to the Out of Context video."

- At the start of the season, Etho said Joel was the first one he wanted to kill because "He's cheeky." When Joel is asked who he wants to kill, he says "Etho." Glad you're enjoying your rivalry, boys, smh...

- Joel, once again giving into his Shrek origins, watching Bdubs' wool globe go up in flames and chirping "My world's on fire; how 'bout yours?"

- Tango does not break his "pathetic death" curse. Just blipped out of existence. Love that for him.

- Spitting, crying... BigB panics and flees into his creepy backrooms for safety. Immediately vanishes into the tunnel maze. Scar pursues and skids to a halt because he hasn't seen it yet and is thoroughly creeped out.

- Scar coming up to surface and trying to describe how BigB disappeared. Martyn looks down at where they're standing and is just like "Oh, that's the backrooms." Mental image of Scar as that meme that goes "The. what."

- Scar describing BigB as a sneaky squirrel. "Squirrel" was the name of BigB's horse in Double Life.

- Joel's anxiety about entering a Nether portal on the final episode, specifically because of how he and Etho perma-died in Double Life

- Whatever was going on with Martyn flinging ender pearls up the ladder seconds before he died

- Additionally, people in the background commenting that they think Martyn's teamed up with Cleo and the only reason he was near them was an attempt to bear down and kill them

- Scar to Bdubs, watching Cleo and Etho from a distance: "Look at this- Mom and Dad are bringing their new ugly stepson to meet us, Bdubs." /camera pans to the warden chasing them

- Bdubs tells Scar that Cleo said he was her favorite son and Scar IMMEDIATELY, without responding or even waiting for Bdubs to finish his sentence, jumps a wall and books it to Cleo to confirm... Mental image of him swinging dramatically over it with one hand, his shawl billowing behind him

- Scar chases Cleo while they're both being pursued by a warden, asking her if he's her favorite son. Doesn't let up until she assures him she "just said it to keep Bdubs happy." what is wrong with the Clocker family.

- Joel somehow pulled off a beautiful PVP kill on Skizz despite having only 2.5 hearts

- In earlier episodes, Joel had people say "The florist sends his regards" on his behalf before striking. Before killing Skizz, he says "Scar sends his regards" since Scar really wanted to kill Skizz but bequeathed the fight to Joel instead.

- Scar trotting up to Etho and Cleo, who are watching him from a cliff, and announcing "I am not up to anything nefarious!"

- Scar's weird spiky wall design is really pretty

- slkdjfskldjfsklj?!?!?!? I had a bullet point on this list that said "Honorable non-finale mention to Scar getting both the Green and Yellow kill on Etho this season" but now I see I need to correct that:

- Shout-out to Scar killing Etho - in Etho's front yard - THREE TIMES this season. Etho rushing back to his base, tripping over his feet and saying "I'm going home, everybody- I'm dying at my home-"

- Scott to Scar: "I went down to BigB - to get him - and I see what you mean; he does just talk his way out of things so you feel bad; you just leave him." / Scar: "That's why you don't let him speak. You just inner monologue. You start talking about Star Wars so you can't hear his charms."

- As Scar drives his sword into Cleo, he says "Good-bye, Mom- This is for you telling Bdubs [he's your] favorite." Geez, dude. Scar killed both his parents; this family is a mess. Bonus points for Joel fumbling in the background like "Oh my gosh- Scar, you savage-"

- I watched multiple POVs until I was caught up to the standoff between Gem & The Scotts vs. The Mounders... So picking up from there with Scar's POV b/c his is the one I randomly started with today: I love how Joel basically went "I am once again throwing caution to the wind and charging into battle with a murderous Red rage in my eyes and no one behind me" like he ALWAYS does.

- Bdubs and Scar decide to back him up... Amazing.

- Scar has gotten 4 kills (Tango, Etho, Cleo, Impulse) and he was super close to getting BigB as well before Scott sniped the kill. Geez... The man is vicious today. During Limited Life, Grian made a comment that went something like "Of course Scar is only destructive / successful when I'm not on his team" and honestly? Yeah...

- Pearl begging Scar to kill her- Pearl warning Scar that if she perma-kills Gem, she'll go up 10 hearts- Scar refusing, insisting that he doesn't want to turn on her because it feels lame...

- Scar got Gem, he got Gem... GeminiSlay is DOWN!

- SCAR SWEEP WITH THE BOW!!

Oh my goodness, I saw his episode title ("Can Villain Scar Win?") and the words that went through my head were "Welp, that's a spoiler that he's dead." I see I was wrong.

GG, SCAR WIN!!! Man who wanted so desperately to have friends, only to trip and fail time and time again... GoodTimesWithVictor!!

My heart, Scar letting that zombie knock him down to half a heart... playing up like he didn't just watch the lightning bolt mark Pearl's demise. He wanders, calling out to Pearl, asking where she went... quietly giggling and muttering to himself as that zombie pushes at him... GG, Scar. GG.

My goodness, is this the only time we haven't seen the winner die in their perspective? Scar slams that success button for winning the game, gets 5 hearts, turns back, and that's it... That's the game. End scene.

What a LAD!!

[gingermintpepper]

I saw it in your tag game post that you're also fond of the Apollo-Heracles conflict 👀 for a myth that appears in only a couple of sources, it sure has a lot of presence in the vase paintings (no seriously, everytime I think I've seen the last of it, I find ten more)

SO do you have any favorites among the paintings that represent this story??

OMG OMG THIS ASK IS A GIFT. IT IS A GIFT THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR LETTING ME TALK ABOUT THIS

I also think it's extremely interesting that it's a story so popularly portrayed by vase paintings and in such a variety of ways!! It's certainly one of the stories that gets left out of written compilation of Heracles' legend a bit (which is a shame, I think it's a fantastic story) but Apollo had a very peculiar relationship with Heracles in general that I just kind of find amazing (and very, very funny).

Apollo is not a god with any legitimate grudge against Heracles, but he does argue with the mortal a bit like he argues with his favourite brothers 😂Part of why I love the story of Apollo and Heracles fighting over the tripod so much is that it is such a little brother thing for Heracles to be upset with the proclamation his elder brother has given him and so, he throws a great fit, taking up the chair and declaring that he'll just give himself a better prophecy! And Apollo, instead of being a marginally professional big brother, decides to fight him for it until their father has to break up their cat-fight. Like was that not just the plot of the Homeric Hymn to Hermes? Is this not exactly how Apollo treated Hermes when he was a child and now those two are inseparable? 💀

Because of this, my favourite vase paintings tend to be the ones that highlight the personal squabbling between Apollo and Heracles the most. There are some very elaborate ones that have the full host of them - Athena, Heracles, Apollo, Artemis, usually a dog and a doe, I've even seen a couple that had birds and plants etched on them, but the simplest ones that show Heracles about to bonk Apollo with his club out of frustration or depict Heracles nyooming away from Apollo while Apollo (presumably) yells curses about how he's going to fling Heracles head first into Tartarus for daring to take his things? Yeah, those are the premium big brother/little brother things I'm looking for.

(Photo. Marie-Lan Ngyuen)

(Photo. Museo Claudio Faina)

Also the one in the Theoi.com archives is a real classic - perfect energy.

[sophiamcdougall]

A TUMBLR CITIZENSHIP GUIDE FOR TWITTER REFUGEES

Welcome, stranger. Fear not, we were just kidding around. You're mostly safe here. We know you've been through it, and though our teeth are sharp and our unblinking eyes are unnaturally shiny, we're not really going to eat you.

Still, our ways must seem strange to you. Doubtless you feel bewildered by the hoots and growls we've developed over the years we roamed the twilit wastes of Tumblr, alone and gibbering, forgotten by God and Man.

While you basked in the daylight of Twitter.

Don't worry! It's fine. And these sounds actually mean something! It's really quite simple! And I'm here to explain.

A BLORBO

Your blorbo is, very loosely, your favourite character. But not in a casual way. You must be at least a little weird about them. Songs remind you of them. You picture them in scenarios. Maybe you don't write fanfic, but if you did, it would be all about this guy. They are in your thoughts more than you would care to admit anywhere else -- but here on Tumblr you can be free! Infodump about your blorbo without shame!

You may deeply admire your blorbo, or regard them with fond contempt. Some will say that the latter type of blorbo becomes a scrunglo but we regard this as a fussy and unnecessary distinction. A POOR LITTLE MEOW MEOW

Like a blorbo, but canonically evil. They have committed crimes against humanity. You either make passionate excuses for these or you revel in their excesses.

The point at which a shady blorbo becomes a poor little meow meow is necessarily subjective.

THE COLOUR RED

When you see an image prominently featuring red, especially a design resembling blood splatters, especially when this appears to be unintentional, it is correct and polite to respond either "a children's hospital!" or "colour theory!"

Why? Others will explain why. For now, just do it.

THE IDES OF MARCH

March 15th, the date of the assassination of Julius Caesar. A high holiday here on Tumblr, celebrated with a festival of memes and shitposts. Put on your best outfit and post a picture of bloodstained senators to mark the occasion.

Hey, maybe they work at the children's hospital! Haha. Now you're getting it!

HORSE PLINKO

This gif is highly regarded here.

That's it, really.

THE GOD OF AREPO

The key figure of the most prominent Tumblr religion. His scripture was begun by @sadoeuphemist in 2018, with @ciiriianan and @stu-pot contributing further to the canon.

(A collaborative modern folktale). EEBY DEEBY

While not mentioned in the scripture of the God of Arepo, Eeby Deeby is an additional name of the underworld region also known as Erebus, Tarturus, Hell, etc.

THE GOD APOLLO

"But I thought you said you worship the god of Arepo?"

We are polytheists. In Tumblr tradition, Apollo's aspect as the god who conveyed the gift of prophecy on mortals is most significant. Alongside the ancient bow, laurel wreath and lyre, Tumblr Apollo has gained a new attribute: the red dodgeball. This image alone is sufficient to mark a post as sacred to, or cursed by, Apollo.

Be careful about prophesying things on Tumblr! Apollo can be spiteful!

We'll leave it there, traveller. Of course there's more. But learn these basics and you'll be well on your way. Soon you will be truly one of us.

one of us.

one of us.

one of us.

[my-name-is-apollo]

'Ello :D

I saw a few days ago that you mentioned something about complicated Cassandra & Apollo? I was wondering if you could expand on it 👀 Complicated CassandraApollo sounds interesting

I would like to direct you to this post because it summarises a lot of my feelings on them!

Besides that, I'd like to talk about the way one of my favorite scenes, Cassandra ripping apart her prophetic insignia during her final moments, is written in two different plays:

Farewell, ye garlands of that god most dear to me! farewell, ye mystic symbols! I here resign your feasts, my joy in days gone by. Go, I tear ye from my body, that, while yet mine honour is intact, I may give them to the rushing winds to waft to thee, my prince of prophecy

- Euripides', Trojan Women (trans. Edward Philip Coleridge)

and

Why then do I bear these mockeries of myself, this wand, these prophetic chaplets on my neck?

(Breaking her wand, she throws it and the other insignia of her prophetic office upon the ground, and tramples them underfoot)

You at least I will destroy before I die myself. To destruction with you! And fallen there, thus do I repay you. Enrich with doom some other in my place. Look, Apollo himself is stripping me of my prophetic garb — he that saw me mocked to bitter scorn, even in this bravery, by friends turned foes, with one accord, in vain — but, like some vagrant mountebank, called "beggar," "wretch," "starveling," I bore it all. And now the prophet, having undone me, his prophetess, has brought me to this lethal pass.

- Aeschylus, Agamemnon (trans. by Herbert Weir Smyth)

You can see the difference in how Cassandra feels towards Apollo. In the Trojan woman, there's still some fondness she directs towards her god. She calls him the god who is the dearest to her. She wants to take off the symbols of Apollo she dons on her body and give it back to Apollo while her honor is yet intact. It's a way for her to not let her god get dishonored in that helpless situation.

Where as in the Agamemnon, Cassandra sounds more bitter, there's no hint of fondness here. She tears away her prophetic symbols and tramples them because she wants to destroy them. She also blames her act of destroying them on Apollo. Apollo is the ultimate destroyer for her and his symbols are bringers of doom, as she says elsewhere in the play:

CASSANDRA: Apollo, Apollo! God of the Ways, my destroyer! For you have destroyed me — and utterly — this second time.

- Aeschylus, Agamemnon (trans. by Herbert Weir Smyth)

While the two plays portray Cassandra with feelings that are to some extent contrasting (but both founded on desperation), when I think about Cassandra I think like she can feel all those emotions - fondness, bitterness, scorn - almost simultaneously. Because this is her god whom she worships and has dedicated her life for. She has felt his wrath and she has also felt his divine inspiration. She scorned his advances in the past but she still gives him her body to possess his spirit. She couldn't save Troy, she couldn't save herself. But the very last vision Apollo shows her is that of her death being avenged, and that seemed like a miniscule relief for her in the last moments of her life.

Apollo also seems to takes it upon himself to orchestrate that revenge. He could have had other reasons to do that - but to avenge Cassandra's death could also very well have been one of them. We don't really get to see what Apollo thinks of Cassandra. In versions where Cassandra breaks her promise (Aeschylus' Agamemnon and Scholiast on Lycophron's Alexandra) we can definitely assume that he is betrayed by her and is angry with her, understandably so. The scholiast on Lycophron's Alexandra says that Apollo first tried to take back the gift, but when he couldn't he placed a curse to make his gift useless. So it does show that he intended to go easy on her, but it simply wasn't an option. Things are relatively simple here. But there are versions where Cassandra gets her prophetic powers without any direct deal with Apollo, yet the outcome is the same. She rejects him and gets cursed.

Now here the question arises - if satisfying his lust was truly his only objective, why did Apollo curse her instead of just, you know, having his way with her - which wouldn't be unusual for a god? It could be that he simply didn't want (which we see in the case of Sibyl of Cumae). But sometimes I like to think it's more than just that:

Maybe he did it because he knew it would be dangerous to let Cassandra have this power. He was worried that he had blessed her too much, that she had learnt so much that she could intervene with the destiny in her attempts to save Troy. And look at how that turned out for another seer Laocoon - not cursed by Apollo but killed by Athena for warning the Trojans about the Trojan horse. Maybe Apollo didn't want any other god to punish Cassandra like that. She is his beloved priestess, and if at all she has to be punished and damned, he wants to do it himself.

Or maybe (and this is my favourite thought to entertain about them) this was a way for Apollo to deal with his own helplessness about Troy. Because when you think about it, Apollo is not very different than Cassandra in the sense that he is also able to foresee the destruction of Troy, his beloved city with his beloved people, but he won't be able to save them. He is not cursed, he doesn't let out frenzied cries like Cassandra, but he is obliged to abide by the Fates, and has learnt to suffer with his emotions silently. Maybe he desired for someone to join him in this madness. It would torment them but at least he wouldn't feel alone. And he chose Cassandra because she was probably the most beloved to him, and familiar with her virtue, he probably knew she would give him a reason to curse her by rejecting him. He also probably knew that in spite of how unfair he would be towards her, she would still love him and stay devoted to him.

I know my thoughts are probably very unpopular, but I like to think that the bond between them was unbreakable, but definitely very strained. I don't know if co-dependent would be the right word to use for a deity and his doomed priestess (probably not), but I hope you get the idea.

[heyo-428]

ACFTL Sneak Peak (Well, now I guess it’s a leak) Chapter Thoughts:

Spoilers below!!

This isn’t proofread if something is confusing please ask me in the replies for clarification

- The dedication to “anyone who ever wanted a second chance” is… almost ominous. On one hand it seems it’s like just a normal dedication but on the other it’s almost as if it’s a warning. Like Stephanie’s trying to warn a person who wants a second that it’s not always gonna end well.

- The story from the beginning about doorknobs was told before I believe and I think emphasizing this again is to allude to her ability to open doors with her blood. Will she figure this out again on her own? The doorknobs to what is rumored (The rumor’s probably true) to be the Valor children’s rooms in Wolf Hall spoke to her.

- Evangeline being absolutely lost is actually so sad to me. While I was reading the second page and it said she was feeling as if she couldn’t breathe I actually started to cry a bit. She’s in an unfamiliar location with no clue how she got there, when she got there, why she’s there.

- Her last memory is her father dying. 😭

- She doesn’t remember anything about Apollo but does remember there was something important she needed to say to someone. She doesn’t remember but it’s that she needs to tell Jacks she loves him. She slightly remembers Jacks even though she’s not able to attach a name to it. (I’m latching onto any hope I can)

- “Your memories were stolen by someone who’s been trying to tear us apart” Apollo if you don’t shut your ass up.

- “…and over his heart was a vibrant tattoo of two swords in the shape of a heart with a name in the center: Evangeline.” I CACKLED. THATS SO BAD 😭 IM DYING FROM SECOND HAND EMBARRASSMENT. She doesn’t really want you Apollo please give up.

- Apollo says that the marks on his back was the price he paid to return from Hell. Also the price Evangeline payed for your stupidity when you decided to get tortured😐 Who even tortured him? Or was it like done on purpose to have a story for why he came back. Doubt it’s the ladder because the curse wasn’t having him thinking right.

- Okay so Apollo’s not lying when he says Jacks put him in a suspended state but, Apollo, PLEASE calm down it’s not that deep. AND STOP LYING JACKS WOULD NEVER INTENTIONALLY HURT EVANGELINE

- Out poor boy Jacks is gonna have a difficult time in acftl 😭

- “You’re looking at me differently” he’s acting like she shouldn’t be…

- No Eva :((((( you didn’t trade your memories to be with him :(((( HE STOLE THEMMMM

- He makes her go back with him and then almost instantly leaves her. She is left as a shadow of herself because of him and he leaves her in her room to go handle matters. Like PLEASE how does Evangeline think this is okay.

- I- Stephanie please stop with mentions of arrows it reminds me of the fact Jacks is the Archer and what he’s been through (this is obviously why she’s doing this and i love and hate her for it)

- Wonder which door handles belong to which of the Valor children’s rooms. If what the rumors say is true. Feel like the one shaped like a dragon is Dane because he was a shifter and the one story LaLa told about him picking her up as a dragon or something. I’m not sure about the fairy wing one or wolf head with crown (maybe Aurora??) because we don’t know a lot about the Valor’s besides the basics. I am very excited to learn more though, they have a very interesting story.

- The fact Evangeline’s having to relive the grief she felt over the death of her parent’s because she doesn’t know it wasn’t very recent (thanks to her memories being stolen) is so tragic. I feel terrible for her :( It’s terrible having both your parents die but to have to deal with the grief twice?

- The door handles speaking to her is crazy because if I remember right known of the others ever did. I wonder why they do that. Probably because they’re old and from a family of people with magical gifts lmao. Plus Eva is literally a part of a prophecy connected to them. It’s gonna have some importance (hopefully)

- Really looking forward to learning again (or hopefully remembering) that she can open doors with her blood.

- Wait crazy theory, what if Stephanie’s making references to things from ouabh and tbona throughout the whole book? Like important things Evangeline forgot? That’s a bit of a stretch but I am writing this at 1 am so

- A few things have happened that are almost like deja vu/repeating history moments. If you think about it, it’s happened a lot throughout the books too. I’ll make a more in depth post on this at a later point.

- The maid Martine seems important. I don’t know what yet but there’s something. How could he just have moved so quickly from the Meridian Empire?? Something isn’t adding up especially her pause in speaking.

- “Her heart still hurt as if it had been broken” This is so sad Stephanie will be expecting many therapy bills after this book.

- It’s so upsetting that Evangeline can’t remember anything like our poor girl :(

- I don’t like this doctor but the helpers are odd

- Wait Evangeline is 17. I guess it makes some sense but like wow that’s crazy.

- I still really hate that reporter guy he’s annoying.

- Who is Yrell really because like why did they shut Telma up? There’s gotta be some reason.

- Okay okay the reporter guy just… disappeared? Like it was super quick too. wtf? How? Probably reading too much into this but how does he just disappear. It’s not like it would take a while to read that card there was nothing on it practically and then he just is gone.

- “He would carry her through more than freezing water” Eva darling that’s not Apollo that’s Jacks please remember 😭😭

- Apollo you are a monster not Jacks so stop lying. You removed Evangeline’s memories, you literally hunted her down and I do not care if you were cursed Jacks got over it before.

- He makes me SO mad. How can he so easily lie??

- APOLLO HAVING DADDY ISSUES

- He’s selfish to think a ton of people would make him monuments and stuff. Apollo you haven’t even done anything grand to help the people (that we know of) why would they do that?

- Who else knows Apollo took her memories? He says that someone does but that he won’t have to worry about them soon. No one else was right there and able to know? Right? I thought they were all in the Valory. It can’t be Jacks because it goes on to talk about Jacks directly after and it’s in a different manner.

- Crazy idea, what if because Apollo knows the Valor’s are out he thinks the one who’s able to see the future (Think his name is Vesper I don’t feel like looking right now) knows what he did 👀 I doubt it but.

- Apollo’s really upset over Jacks being better that he’s making reporter guy make his crimes uglier until he’s caught. He wants his name synonymous with vile, Apollo, you are synonymous with vile please shut the fck up <3

- Was it previously mentioned that the Great Houses have a council? I don’t think so but that makes sense I guess.

- Them talking about Luc attempting to steal the throne and calling him a whelp 💀 Where’d he run to? Back to Chaos’s? Kinda doubt that they have issues because Luc won’t listen to him or something. Wonder where he’s at and if he’s gonna be important this book.

- So funny to me that Wolfric Valor just shows up and is under the house of “Vale” like whose idea was that? It’s like the worst disguise ever Vale and Valor sound the exact same.

- How does Apollo know the Valor’s aren’t really dead? Unless it’s a secret that everyone in the Arcadian family line kept because Wolf Hall used to be the Valor’s.

- Am I the only one who doesn’t like Wolfric that much? I get bad vibes.

- Plus the whole betrothing his daughter to a dude named VENGEANCE

- I know he didn’t exactly know his name before betrothing her but you think he would’ve been like “uhm maybe not” HIS NAMES VENGEANCE I MEAN HE CAN’T BE GOOD

(Sorry had to rant about that because that whole story is absolutely wild to me)

- Who tf is Byron Belleflower. Like I know who he is he’s some lord but like who tf is that??

This whole thing probably doesn’t make sense I’m sleep deprived

[thecomicallytragicgangle]

[hello everyone! mod here! merry christmas ! eve! depends on where you are tbh and what u celebrate.,happy holiday!]

[anywho] [christmas. decemeber. what ever holiday u celebrate. such a peaceful time right ?]

[NOT FOR LONG]

[lets spread a bit of chaos everyone. cursemas! its here everyone! go put curses on your favorite characters/people] [lets spread some evil shall we? i already cursed @theoneandonlysun with the gift of prophecy from apollo . you're all doomed /silly]

[spread the word if you wish via reblogs.,Cursemas! its here!] [heres to hoping the word cursemas doesnt,already mean something]

[raaorqtpbpdy]

Why Are Seers Always Cursed? (2)

Wesley Weston is a son of Apollo with the rare gift of prophecy.

Written for @crossoverdanuary Week 2024, Day 3: Percy Jackson | Lake

This takes place shortly before Annabeth, Luke, and Thalia arrive at Camp Half-Blood, and while Wes is still in middle school, meaning it's set before the primary canon events of both series. You can also read it on AO3.

Chapter 2: Camp Orientation

Previous | Next

[No Warnings Apply]

New York City was nothing like Amity Park. If Wes thought the buildings back home were pretty tall, the skyscrapers here were gargantuan. He was half worried they'd fall over at that height, like a Jenga tower. It smelled worse than Amity Park too. Maybe it was just because of the steadily increasing heat, but the place smelled like sweat and garbage.

"Come on Wesley, no time to waste," Melvin said, ushering him onto the shuttle out of the airport.

"I told you, it's just Wes," he repeated for probably the sixth time. "So how far is this Camp Half-Blood place, anyway?"

The two of them had had the chance to talk on their flight, and Melvin had explained everything. Wes hadn't wanted to believe it at first, but after listening for a while, it started to make sense.

"You mean Apollo wasn't a stage name?" Wes had asked. "That was the real, actual Apollo? No way, that's ridiculous."

"When he sent a message to camp asking for a searcher to go get you, he said that you had inherited the gift of prophecy," Melvin had said. "Haven't you ever felt or seen things before they happened? Had dreams or visions that ended up being true?"

Wes' mind had instantly gone to how he'd known that his mother was going to meet Apollo again. But then he'd started to remember other things. That time his dad had gotten fired, and he'd used his saved-up allowance to buy a consolation cake on the way home from school, even though he couldn't have known until he got home and his dad told them about it. Somehow, he'd just known that something bad had happened and his dad would need a pick-me-up.

He'd thought about how he always somehow knew when there would be a pop-quiz at school. Even about how, when he was little, he never lost a game of Guess Who. How he hadn't been surprised when he'd learned his dad wasn't really his dad, how he'd almost been expecting the news. He'd known when Easton's college acceptance letter came in the mail, and when Kyle was going to eat it and break his arm during a skateboarding competition.

All this time, Wes had attributed it to coincidence, or lucky guesses, but... could it really be prophetic knowledge?

"I can see by your expression you know exactly what I'm talking about," Melvin had said. "But prophecy is a rare and highly coveted ability. Honestly, Apollo should have called us to pick you up years ago. You're just lucky you never made the connection before, because if you knew, they'd be able to smell it on you."

"They?"

"Monsters," Melvin had clarified. "The ones from the Greek myths, harpies, cyclopes, basilisks, all them. They're all real. A demigod with the gift of prophecy like you is in even more danger than most. I mean, any demigod is in danger of being attacked and killed by monsters, but you? You they might keep alive as a prisoner, using you for your ability, and that's arguably worse."

Wes had swallowed, suddenly a bundle of nerves.

"Don't worry, though, once we get to camp, you'll be fine," Melvin had said. "There, you'll learn how to fight and protect yourself, and you'll be protected, too."

"Right...."

Wes was jumpy as they took the shuttle to the city and then the bus to Long Island. After Melvin had explained the mist to him, he looked at everything and everyone like they might be out to get him. He'd never been so paranoid in his life. But him being a demigod explained more than just his apparent precognition. 

Back when he was in grade school, he could have sworn on his life that their neighbor's huge quote-unquote "dog" was not a normal dog. It's eyes glowed sometimes, and out of the corner of his eye it always looked to have horns, but they would disappear when he looked directly at it. It always growled at him when he passed, and one day, he took the long way home and snuck in through the back door because he somehow knew that if he took his usual route that dog was going to attack him.

The day after that, the neighbor took her dog and moved out suddenly. He never saw either of them again.

How many other monster-dogs and monster-people had he missed because he didn't know he should look for them? How many times had he narrowly avoided death because he had a gut feeling that made him take a different route home or fake sick to get out of school?

"Stop that," Melvin whispered.

"Huh?"

"It's good to be vigilant, but if you assume everyone is a monster, you'll drive yourself crazy," he clarified. "Our stop's coming up, and from there is a bit of a walk, but it's usually pretty quiet. Just try to stay calm. We're in the home stretch."

Right.

Trying to stay calm failed spectacularly. Wes spent the whole walk from the bus stop to the camp more anxious than he'd ever been. He felt like every shadow, and even the wind blowing through the trees was going to come after him. Melvin was right. It was driving him crazy.

"You know, this is going really smoothly," Melvin said after a while. "I mean, I said the walk would be quiet, but usually we searchers find demigods because they're being attacked or something. It's not often that a god actually comes by camp to tell us to pick up his kid and gives us an exact address. 

"Of course, it's not often a demigod inherits the gift of prophecy either. In fact, I think the last one was born in the 1890s, if I remember right. It's almost as rare as a child of Hephaestus being able to control fire. I guess I should have expected your case to be different—it was certainly better planned and scheduled. I would have expected more danger though."

Suddenly, Wes felt a hot feeling shoot through him. "Wait," he said stopping in his tracks. He looked around, scanning what he could see of the horizon. "We should go a different way."

"Why? Did you see something?"

"No I felt..." Wes suddenly felt silly again. There was no reason to change course because of a feeling. Then again... he did supposedly have the gift of prophecy. Maybe it wasn't just a feeling after all. "I felt like I was standing next to a bonfire for a second. I think if we keep going this way, we'll get burned."

"It could be more dangerous if we stray from the path but... who am I to argue with a seer," Melvin said. "We'll go this way."

With that, Melvin led him just past the trees that lined the road. After about thirty minutes, they heard a distant roar in the direction the road would have been, and Melvin stopped to smell the air.

"Definitely a monster," he said.

A plume of fire shot into the sky.

"A drakon, I think. It would have been bad if we'd run into it." He looked down at Wes, a little incredulously. "I'll be damned. Did you know?"

"Not exactly," Wes said. "Like I told you, I felt fire, and a strong sense that it was related to the direction we were headed. That's all."

"I guess that's all we needed," Melvin said. "Huh...." The look he fixed Wes with next was curious, almost hungry. It made the redhead squirm. "Anyway, camp's not much farther now. If the drakon's heading that way, we should warn them."

A few minutes more, and they reached the crest of a hill.

In the valley on the other side was a summer camp. Wes could see an amphitheater, a large blue farmhouse with a wraparound porch, a cluster of maybe a dozen cabins, give or take, and a little ways away a place with about a dozen long, white picnic tables. Campers ranging from about seven-or-eight to their late teens were scattered about doing an odd mix of normal camp activities and intense-looking combat training.

"Welcome to Camp Half-Blood," Melvin said brightly. "Come on, we should warn Chiron about the drakon."

Melvin led Wes down to the blue farmhouse, where he met the camp director, Mr. D, and a centaur named Chiron, who apparently was the actual camp director. Melvin quickly introduced Wes to both of them as the child of Apollo who could see the future, and then told them about the drakon they'd avoided on their way there.

"Thank you, Mr. Barkley, I'll take him from here," Chiron said, and he led Wes toward the cabins.

"Another one for cabin eleven?" A wiry-looking girl of about sixteen asked.

"Sorry, Robin, this one's been claimed by Apollo already," Chiron told her. Then he looked back at Wes. "Robin is the head counselor of the Hermes Cabin. Since Hermes is the god of travelers, that's where campers who haven't been claimed, or who were claimed by a god other than the twelve Olympians stay. We know who your godly parent is, so you'll be staying in cabin seven, the Apollo Cabin, along with the other children of Apollo.

"Apollo's head counselor, Archer, will show you around camp," he finished as he stopped in front of a cabin with the number seven hanging over the door. "Now, please excuse me, I must inform the Ares Cabin of the potential threat."

Wes waited for him to leave before knocking on the cabin door.

"If that's you, Robin, fuck off!" a voice called from inside.

"It's not!" Wes called back awkwardly.

A few seconds later, a boy about the same age as Kyle answered the door. He was about average height and build with brown skin and dark brown hair tied back into a short ponytail.

"Who're you?" he asked.

"Uh... I'm Wes Weston," Wes answered. "Chiron told me to come here."

"You're a son of Apollo?"

"I guess."

"Archer Gutierrez," he introduced. "I'm head of the Apollo Cabin, nice to meet you. Sorry about the language. Come on in."

Inside, there were bunk beds on either side with a cot in the middle of the cabin for some reason. It smelled of clean linen and dried sage. Rough wooden beams ribbed the ceiling and the white plaster walls were mostly bare, except for a few hooks, even though there were paintings and wall hangings all over the floor.

"Sorry, Robin keeps breaking in and taking everything off the walls for literally no reason," Archer explained. "We have set so many traps and stuff to stop her, but she keeps getting past them somehow. Either we're gonna have to escalate to putting in landmines like the Ares Cabin, or just stop hanging stuff on the walls altogether, because this is ridiculous. I mean it's basically harmless, but it's super annoying. Can you put that bow back up over there?"

"Are the Apollo and Hermes cabins, like, rivals or something?" Wes asked, lifting an intricately carved bow off the floor and resting it on a set of hooks Archer had pointed to.

"No, not really," he replied. "It's just Robin. I think she's still pissed that I broke up with her a couple months ago. She said she was cool with it, but she still keeps breaking into cabin seven to make a mess, so I don't know."

"Weren't you in school a couple months ago?" Wes asked. "I thought this was just a summer camp?"

"Some of us stay here year round, if we don't have anywhere else to go, or if we don't want to go," Archer answered with a shrug.

The two of them finished hanging everything back up in relative silence, broken up only by Archer's humming and Wes occasionally asking where something was supposed to go. Once they were done, Archer took him out for the grand tour. The cabins, the dining pavilion, the camp store, the forge, the amphitheater, the arts and crafts room, the archery range, the music classroom, the infirmary, the arena. 

He mostly focused on the places where Apollo campers tended to hang out, unsurprisingly. Apparently Wes would be expected to help out in the infirmary sometimes, since Apollo was the god of medicine, even though the most Wes knew about medicine came from Kyle bribing him to help patch up skateboarding injuries before their dad found out.

It seemed the camp and camp activities were pretty much completely divided based on godly parent. In the dining pavilion, they had to sit at their godly parent's table, and weren't allowed to sit at someone else's. They did camp activities in groups with other people who shared their godly parent. They weren't allowed to enter cabins that weren't their own—though obviously that didn't stop Robin. The way Archer explained it made it sound like these rules were pretty strict though.

Then Wes saw something out of the corner of his eye. "Huh?"

"What? You have a question?" Archer asked.

"No, I just thought I saw... nevermind. Must've been a trick of the light." For a moment, Wes thought he saw a large pine tree at the top of the hill. But there was obviously no pine tree there.

"Come on, I'll show you the volleyball court."

"I prefer basketball."

"I'll bet you do," Archer snorted. "Apollo cabin has pick-up games from time to time. It gets pretty intense. The record for farthest score is 165 feet from the hoop."

"Really?" Wes said. "That's amazing. That's more than a full court shot. That's almost two courts."

"Everyone knows Apollo kids have the best aim. That was two year ago, though, and no one's been able to match it yet, not even the guy who did it."

Wes stopped in his tracks. The hot feeling had returned, this time on the back of his neck. He turned around and saw the camp border directly behind him. 

"It's coming here," he said.

"Huh?"

"What do you guys do when a monster attacks?" he asked instead of clarifying.

"Ares cabin usually takes the front lines with the other cabins providing backup," Archer explained. "Apollo cabin grabs our bows and arrows and retreats to high ground to lay down cover fire."

"You should get ready to do that, then."

"Huh? Why?" he asked, cocking his head in confusion. "We can't know when a monster will attack until it does, so there's no point freaking out about it, ri..." he trailed off when he caught sight of the entire Ares cabin fully armed and armored and heading up the hill. "That's strange, usually they only send a few guards at a time to act as lookouts, but I haven't heard the lookouts say anything." 

Just as the rest of Ares Cabin reached the top of the hill, the lookouts started to shout.

"Drakon approaching!" They screamed as loud as they could.

"How did you know?" Archer asked Wes, not moving.

"Shouldn't you get your bow?"

"Right, but this is not the end of this conversation!" He started running to tell the other Apollo campers to get ready.

As Wes looked back up to the hilltop, to the Ares campers charging down at the monster, for a moment, he saw that pine tree again, stretching up toward the heavens. Then he blinked, and it was gone. It hadn't been there in the first place.

[babyrdie]

This is actually part of my text on Peleus (basically collecting sources for his myths), but here is a separate post because the text focused on Peleus is too long. In this post there are no details of this relationship because I'll leave that for this text about Peleus, I'm just organizing excerpts here.

According to The Iliad, by Homer (8th century BC):

[It's Achilles' line im Book 18] "[...] Radiant gifts the gods presented Peleus that day they drove you into a mortal's marriage bed … I wish you'd lingered deep with the deathless sea-nymphs, lived at ease, and Peleus carried home a mortal bride. [...]"

[Book 24] But white-armed Hera flared at him in anger: "Yes, there'd be some merit even in what you say, lord of the silver bow-if all you gods, in fact, would set Achilles and Hector high in equal honor. But Hector is mortal. He sucked a woman's breast. Achilles sprang from a goddess-one I reared myself: I brought her up and gave her in marriage to a man, to Peleus, dearest to all your hearts, you gods. All you gods, you shared in the wedding rites, and so did you, Apollo-there you sat at the feast and struck your lyre. What company you keep now, these wretched Trojans. You-forever faithless!"

According to Cypria and Catalogue of Women frag, by Stasinus of Cyprus and Hesiod (7th and 8th century BC):

Voll. Herculan. (Papyri from Herculaneum), 2nd Collection, viii.105: The author of the Cypria says that Thetis avoided wedlock with Zeus to please Hera; but that Zeus was angry and swore that she should mate with a mortal. Hesiod also has the like account.

According to Prometheus Bound, by Aeschylus (6th century BC):

Prometheus Yes, truly, the day will come when Zeus, although stubborn of soul, shall be humbled, seeing that he plans a marriage that shall hurl him into oblivion from his sovereignty and throne; and then immediately the curse his father Cronus invoked as he fell from his ancient throne, shall be fulfilled to the uttermost. Deliverance from such ruin no one of the gods can show him clearly except me. I know the fact and the means. So let him sit there in his assurance, putting his trust in the crash reverberating on high and brandishing his fire-breathing bolt in his hands. For these shall not protect him from falling in ignominious and unendurable ruin. Such an adversary is he now preparing despite himself, a prodigy irresistible, even one who shall discover a flame mightier than the lightning and a deafening crash to outroar the thunder; a prodigy who shall shiver the trident, Poseidon's spear, that scourge of the sea and shaker of the land. Then, wrecked upon this evil, Zeus shall learn how different it is to be a sovereign and a slave.

According to Isthmian Ode 8, by Pindar (6th century BC):

All this was remembered even by the assembly of the blessed gods, when Zeus and splendid Poseidon contended for marriage with Thetis, each of them wanting her to be his lovely bride; for desire possessed them. But the immortal minds of the gods did not accomplish that marriage for them, when they heard the divine prophecies. Wise Themis spoke in their midst and said that it was fated that the sea-goddess should bear a princely son, stronger than his father, who would wield another weapon in his hand more powerful than the thunderbolt or the irresistible trident, if she lay with Zeus or one of his brothers. "No, cease from this. Let her accept a mortal's bed, and see her son die in battle, a son who is like Ares in the strength of his hands and like lightning in the swift prime of his feet. My counsel is to bestow this god-granted honor of marriage on Peleus son of Aeacus, who is said to be the most pious man living on the plain of Iolcus. Let the message be sent at once to Cheiron's immortal cave, right away, and let the daughter of Nereus never again place the leaves of strife in our hands. On the evening of the full moon let her loosen the lovely bridle of her virginity for that hero." So the goddess spoke, addressing the sons of Cronus, and they nodded assent with their immortal brows. The fruit of her words did not perish, for they say that Zeus shared the common concern even for the marriage of Thetis.

According to Nemean Ode 3, by Pindar (6th century BC):

Among old examples of excellence is king Peleus, who rejoiced when he cut a matchless spear, and who alone, without an army, captured Iolcus, and caught the sea-nymph Thetis after many struggles.

Accordint to Nemean Ode 5, by Pindar (6th century BC):

[...] Without hesitating he refused Acastus' bride, fearing the anger of father Zeus, the god of hospitality. And from the sky Zeus who rouses the clouds noticed, Zeus the king of the immortals, and he promised that soon he would make one of the Nereids of the golden distaff the sea-dwelling wife of Peleus, after gaining the consent of their brother-in-law Poseidon, who often comes from Aegae to the famous Dorian Isthmus.

According to Argonautica, by Apollonius Rhodius (3rd century BC):

[It's Hera's line] "[...] But thee indeed from thy infancy did I tend with my own hands and love beyond all others that dwell in the salt sea because thou didst refuse to share the couch of Zeus, for all his desire. For to him such deeds are ever dear, to embrace either goddesses or mortal women. But in reverence for me and with fear in thy heart thou didst shrink from his love; and he then swore a mighty oath that thou shouldst never be called the bride of an immortal god. Yet he ceased not from spying thee against thy will, until reverend Themis declared to him the whole truth, how that it was thy fate to bear a son mightier than his sire; wherefore he gave thee up, for all his desire, fearing lest another should be his match and rule the immortals, and in order that he might ever hold his own dominion. But I gave thee the best of the sons of earth to be thy husband, that thou mightest find a marriage dear to thy heart and bear children; and I summoned to the feast the gods, one and all. And with my own hand I raised the bridal torch, in return for the kindly honour thou didst pay me. [...]"

According to Fabulae, by Hyginus (Roman author, but Greek myths. 1st century BC-1st century AD):

A prediction about Thetis, the Nereid, was that her son would be greater than his father. Since no one but Prometheus knew this, and Jove wished to lie with her, Prometheus promised Jove that he would give him timely warning if he would free him from his chains. And so when the promise was given he advised Jove not to lie with Thetis, for if one greater than he were born he might drive Jove from his kingdom, as he himself had done to Saturn. And so Thetis was given in marriage to Peleus, son of Aeacus, and Hercules was sent to kill the eagle which was eating out Prometheus' heart. When it was killed, Prometheus after thirty thousand years was freed from Mount Caucasus.

Accordint to Library, by Pseudo-Apollodorus (1st or 2nd century AD):

Afterwards he married Thetis, daughter of Nereus, for whose hand Zeus and Poseidon had been rivals; but when Themis prophesied that the son born of Thetis would be mightier than his father, they withdrew. But some say that when Zeus was bent on gratifying his passion for her, Prometheus declared that the son borne to him by her would be lord of heaven; and others affirm that Thetis would not consort with Zeus because she had been brought up by Hera, and that Zeus in anger would marry her to a mortal. Chiron, therefore, having advised Peleus to seize her and hold her fast in spite of her shape-shifting, he watched his chance and carried her off, and though she turned, now into fire, now into water, and now into a beast, he did not let her go till he saw that she had resumed her former shape.

Accordint to Description of Greece, by Pausanias: (2nd century AD):

There is also a figure of Thetis as a maid; Peleus is taking hold of her, and from the hand of Thetis a snake is darting at Peleus.

According to Heroica (this version is purposely different), by Philostratus the Athenian (2nd-3rd century AD):

So shall it be, and you will say that you know everything about Achilles. I have heard the following about him. An apparition of a daimon of the sea used to visit Peleus. Because she loved him, the daimon had intercourse with Peleus, although out of shame for the crowd she did not yet speak about herself, not even from where she came. When the sea was calm, she happened to be frolicking seated upon dolphins and sea horses, while he, looking at these things from the summit of Mount Pelion, became aware of the goddess and feared her approach. But she made Peleus courageous by reminding him how Eos loved Tithonos, how Aphrodite was in love with Anchises, and how Selene habitually visited the sleeping Endymion. "Peleus," she said, "I shall even give to you a child mightier than a mortal." When Achilles was born, they made Kheiron his foster-father.

According to Posthomerica, by Quintus Smyrnaeus (4th century AD):

[It's Thetis' line] "[...] Let Priam's seed be glad but I unto Olympus will ascend, and at the feet of everlasting Zeus will cast me, bitterly planning that he gave me, an unwilling bride, unto a man -- a man whom joyless eld soon overtook, to whom the Fates are near, with death for gift. Yet not so much for his lot do I grieve as for Achilles; for Zeus promised me to make him glorious in the Aeacid halls, in recompense for the bridal I so loathed that into wild wind now I changed me, now to water, now in fashion as a bird I was, now as the blast of flame; nor might a mortal win me for his bride, who seemed all shapes in turn that earth and heaven contain, until the Olympian pledged him to bestow a godlike son on me, a lord of war. Yea, in a manner this did he fulfil faithfully; for my son was mightiest of men. [...]"

According to Ad Lycophronem (scholia in Lycophron's Alexandra), by Ioannis Tzetzes (12th century AD):

According to Euripides, Thetis, pursued by Peleus, transformed herself, like Proteus, into various forms. There, he caught her in the form of a cuttlefish and mated with her, hence the place in Magnesia of Thessaly is called Sepias.

[sweetingseva]

Hi Hi!

I finished Tbona yesterday, and I have more questions than answers, help 😅 I'll probably flood your askbox a bit, sorry in advance!

***TBONA SPOILERS BELOW***

I really like the theory of Apollo being Lysander Valor, and that Dane Valor is LaLa's first love (the dragon).

„Dane was some sort of shifter, and Lysander had a gift that involved memories. ” (Tbona, ch.16)

Also, Chaos (aka Castor Valor) and Apollo seem to have similar looks (olive skin, strong facial features, dark hair, brown eyes), while Tiberius Acadian looks very different (soft face, freckles, copper hair).

„So this was the mysterious Tiberius. They didn’t look like brothers.” (Ouabh, ch.33)

If that is the case, what I don't understand is how Apollo didn't notice he is being manipulated into marrying Eva by Jacks? He surely knows about the key prophecy? And I would think he wouldn't want the Valory Arch opened and the other Valors to return to rule. I wonder what his motives are? What's the history between him and Jacks?

Why did Jacks not want the Valory Arch to open? Why would he not want the Valors to return if they were such wonderful leaders? Is it because of Aurora?

Now that we know Apollo can take away memories, what else could he have modified in history?

I also keep wondering if there is still more to Jacks's background. We know now that he is the Archer, but when he and Eva first meet he says: „People who don’t like me call me Jacks.” (Ouabh, ch.2)

I kept thinking about this because literally everyone calls him Jacks. 🤭 But could he have another name/identity then as well? Maybe he is someone from one of the great houses.

I'd love to hear your thoughts, thanks in advance! ☺️

Hello! Thank you for your question! And don't worry about it, I'm happy to answer any question of yours 😊

Thanks to the first four chapters of ACFTL being released, I have a much better understanding on Apollo and his reasons. Unfortunately, it really seems like Apollo might have made a deal to get the memory erasing power. He goes to say that he did it to protect Evangeline. Throughout his chapter, the less and less I believed he was Lysander.

Lysander is one of the many children of Wolfric Valor, and it appeared that Apollo was just a distant relative. If you can call him that.

Since you bring up the physical differences between Apollo and Tiberius, I definitely agree that they may not be blood related at all! Perhaps that is why Apollo's father was hard on him.

Now Dane, I really want to believe that he's LaLa's lover. I think that would be so cute and incredible! 💕🥺

According to Apollo (in ACFTL), I don't think he entirely believed the Valory Arch tale and its corresponding prophecy was real. Therefore he didn't really care for it.

Apollo was cursed the moment he met Evangeline. At this point, nothing would stop Apollo from being overly infatuated with Evangeline thus ignoring Tiberius's warning about her. He had no choice but to be manipulated into marrying her.

Onto Jacks, I never got the sense that he didn't want to open the Valory Arch. I know he said he didn't want to open it but not because he doesn't want the Valors to come back but because there's nothing inside that he wants. What he wants are the stones.

Funny thing since you mentioned it, but Stephanie did almost give him more names.

Stephanie: Jacks! For the first few drafts of this book, I couldn't find the right name for Jacks. I kept giving him different names. He was Jack, Sebastian, Gavriel, Judas, and once he had five names: Jesper Alexander Castor Kronos Spencer.

In my opinion, Jacks is his name and he doesn't have another. He might have said that as a joke 😅

[xanadaus]

hey. asking about your cassandra!sophie au. elaborate. i’m curious

omg hold on i sent swan this monster of an ask lemme see if i saved it.

but a very very very abridge version is:

-Fitz stumbles across Fintan (who is effectively Apollo) and helps him insight a war by egging on Alvar to attack Greece.

-He's given the gift of prophecy from Fintan as a thank you and realizes what he's done. He's horrified, and accidentally runs into a girl on the beach. She's Athenian, and he mumbles that she has to warn them what's to come--that the sun god himself said so. Fintan is betrayed and curses him so that no one will believe him. But it's too late, the girl scrambles back to warn her king.

-He tries to talk his brother down but Alden exiles him bc he thinks he's jealous of the glory Alvar will have, defeating the Greeks and all that. So Fitz wanders around trying get anyone to stop the violence that will come and they all laugh at him.

-He returns to the beachy cove he found Fintan and is plagued by violence that he has caused. Except an injured soldier stumbles onto the shore and begs for his help. A Greek Soldier--the girl he'd warned. She remembers him, and tells him her name is Sophie.

-She says she's the greatest swordsman the Greeks have ever seen, and she will kill the Prince of Troy (Alvar.) Fitz knows this of course, and also sees that she will die soon after. He doesn't tell her though, even though he knows she'll believe him. He wants her not to have to know her fate.

So yeah pretty much Fitz has Cassandra's curse but Sophie's the only one who will believe him. Also Biana kills Sophie in revenge. If you even care.

[flaggermuser]

Tagged by @alastair-fics mwah mwah mwah <3

do this pic crew > post your creation

take this quiz > post the photo of your godly parent n copy/paste the description

Child of Apollo

Congratulations and welcome to cabin 7! You are a demigod child of Apollo, god of healing, medicine, archery, music, dance, poetry, prophecy, knowledge, light, and the sun. As such you are gifted in archery and the arts, but might also possess abilities such as healing, light channeling or exuding light rays, cursing others to speak in rhymes, or releasing a supersonic whistle. Some can even inherit Apollo's powers over plague and disease and cause sickness. Something you can look forward to is your cabin's weekly Glee rendition at the campfire!

Well fuck.

Tagging with no stress: @venus-haze, @ventiswampwater, @possumteeths, @dravenxivuk, @chromeedwardian, @butterbabyflapjack

[a-d-nox]

Hi! Could you speak of Cassandra? Thank you very much 🥺

cassandra, the prophetess (asteroid 114)

Cassandra (also known as Alexandra) appears as the daughter of the Trojan rulers Priam and Hecuba in The Iliad. Priam had Cassandra and her twin, Helenus, given (because he had so many children) to Apollo's temple to serve as devotees. Cassandra allegedly was a favorite of Apollo, who promised her the gift of prophecy if she did not reject his romantic advances. Cassandra agreed to this but when she got her gift, she rejected Apollo. Apollo then cursed her so that no one would ever believe her prophecies even though she accurately prophesied Paris destroying Troy, Agamemnon's (who brought Cassandra home as a "trophy of war") death, and so much more. Agamemnon and Cassandra are allegedly killed together by Clytemnestra after Cassandra has twins - who Clytemnestra also kills... IN MY OPINION Kassandra in your chart can represent a) where you don't follow quid pro quo, b) where your rejection of someone ruins your life, c) where you have both a gift and a curse, d) what your gift and curse are, e) where no one believes what you say, and/or f) where you fall from grace after not keeping your word.

i encourage you to look into the aspects of kassandra along with the sign, degree, and house placement. for the more advanced astrologers, take a look at the persona chart of kassandra AND/OR add the other characters involved to see how they support or impede kassandra!

OTHER RELATED ASTEROIDS: apollo (1862), agamemnon (911), paris (3317), priamus (884), hecuba (108), and helenos (1872)!

like what you read? leave a tip and state what post it is for! please use my “suggest a post topic” button if you want to see a specific post or mythical asteroid next!

click here for the masterlist

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[slaasherslut]

Thank you for the tag @plentscorner, @rottent33th, @goldrose-star!! Thank you guys for making me feel included even though I haven't been around much. Its greatly appreciated <3

picrew x uquiz x

Child of Apollo

Congratulations and welcome to cabin 7! You are a demigod child of Apollo, god of healing, medicine, archery, music, dance, poetry, prophecy, knowledge, light, and the sun. As such you are gifted in archery and the arts, but might also possess abilities such as healing, light channeling or exuding light rays, cursing others to speak in rhymes, or releasing a supersonic whistle. Some can even inherit Apollo's powers over plague and disease and cause sickness. Something you can look forward to is your cabin's weekly Glee rendition at the campfire!