#don’t talk to me about how Jason and Piper and Reyna deserved better

[screenshotsonpinterest]

Rick riordan just wanted to write a classic, straight, Superman hero character and put him through some one dimensional development

And the rest of us said no actually that’s a feral gay man and you know what fuck you he’s black now too

And that’s why he skewered him

[steadymongerbatscissors]

My Dream Team Seven

The seven from the heroes of Olympus are a group that in my opinion are very flawed mostly because it was filled with couples and they didn’t have good character chemistry. Hell it effects so bad that whenever people say they were friends I have a hard time believing they were more than acquaintances who were forced to work together.

It also didn’t help that they had Percy & Annabeth be a part of the group despite the fact that there character arcs were basically finished at the of the first series. Also I just didn’t like Piper all that much not that I hated her. She just wasn’t my cup of tea if I’m being honest.

So yeah I think the seven could have been a better group to be honest filled with some less prominent people from the first series. So I’m gonna outline my choices here.

So let’s get into it.

Leo Valdez

Come on you really thought I was about to leave my favorite character out of the mix. Well he is here because he builds the Argo 2, and is the one to kill Gaea. I don’t really think I need to reiterate why I want him here cause I already made two different long post about him.

Reyna Ramírez-Arellano

Ah Reyna you deserved so much more than to just be pining after some white boy and the guy who destroyed your home. I also didn’t really like her joining the Hunters of Artemis in TOA because we know when somebody joins the Hunters they just become a side character despite being able to tell some more story.

Anyway excuse my tangent but the reason Reyna is here is because the seven need a leader and who better than the leader of New Rome. She honestly deserved to be a part of the seven cause she actually has a superpower and is smart without needing to be the daughter of the goddess of wisdom.(Looking at you Annabeth)

Drew Tanaka

I’m just gonna come out and say it. I like her more than I like Piper. Yeah go ahead throw your tomatoes I’m still gonna be liking her. So yeah she’s here because she is taking Piper’s place in the seven. But also to expand on something from the book she debuted in.

What I’m talking about is her feeling towards Silena. Say what you want she was still a traitor at the end of the day. Just doing one thing at the end of their life was what Luke did and y’all trash him so why is it any different for her. Drew had every right to feel the way she did towards Silena cause Silena is the reason people are dead.

Her arc would probably be something about learning the power of love and forgiving Silena. Just overall becoming a better person.

Jason Grace

We now have another returning member of the seven . He is mostly here because I really couldn’t think of anyone else to take his place. Although it will be interesting to see how he reacts to the fact that is girlfriend is not on the quest with him.

It doesn’t help that he is stuck on a ship with a girl who is trying to steal him away,and a girl who he has complicated feelings for.

So yeah now Jason is actually kinda interesting cause now that Reyna is here he has to actually make a decision between his Greek and Roman side.

Hazel & Frank

I bundled these two together cause let’s be honest they did not do many things separately. That’s completely fine though cause characters can have their arcs conjoined and it still be good. Hazel and Frank are those type of characters. That mean they are my favorites. No not really but they are good enough to be a part of the seven.

The only change I can really think of is they would be way more comfortable cause in my version of the story,the Sammy thing never happened. They also have two praetors on the ship. Also maybe have some interaction with Jason other than Hazel getting mad at him for being cautious.

Thalia Grace

Let me be completely honest with you on Thalia. She was completely wasted in PJO and HOO. She only gets a handful of appearances throughout the series. Her story too was really deep but we only get to see things from Annabeth through Percy. Like how does Thalia feel about Luke becoming Kronos vessel. Like don’t lie to yourself she liked him it was obvious. But no we don’t get to see that she just gets shoved into the Hunters and forgotten until The Last Olympian.

So you can tell I’m pretty mad about the way Rick treated her. But she’s also my favorite character from the PJO era. I’m sorry her design,the electric powers,the sass,and story. I’m sorry I liked her more than I ever liked Percy.

But back to her placement on the seven. So yeah she is replacing Percy like how Reyna is replacing Annabeth,and Drew is replacing Piper. How does she get on the ship you ask? Simple she just follows because she actually cares about her brother more than she cares about a bunch teenage girls. So yeah immediately I’m getting her out of the Hunters.

The oath states this “I pledge myself to the Goddess Artemis. I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood, and join the Hunt.”So yeah following her brother (a man) over staying with the Hunters (women) is kinda breaking the oath. Beside I’m pretty sure the Hunter were hella sexist even though we were suppose to be like “yeah the hunters are so cool!!”. So yeah sexism isn’t cool no matter what gender does it.

So yeah we now have a Thalia that is on the Argo 2 and is no longer a Hunter so now we have to include her. So now she can interact with her brother. Maybe even have some interactions with Leo cause I honestly think they would be cute together. Sorta like Beast Boy and Raven from the comics.

Conclusion

So to recap we got

Reyna-Leader

Jason-2nd in Command

Leo Valdez-Mechanic

Frank-Scouter

Hazel & Thalia-Muscle

Drew-Negotiator

So yeah that’s my dream team seven mixed with some characters I like (Reyna,Thalia,Leo,and Drew) and some I don’t like (Jason) and some I don’t have an opinion on (Hazel,and Frank). In my opinion this group allows for some natural drama but also seems like they can be a weird but strong friendship if they all try to work with it. It also allows some characters that didn’t get to shine that much to really shows just how good they can be

[moccawithsugar]

Few random notes about The Tower of Nero

(Spoilers ahead)

Nico. My poor boy Nico. Getting therapy from Mr. D was something I did not expect, but I’m glad he’s doing it. My baby deserves happiness.

The brotherly relationship between Dionysus and Apollo was something I did not expect either. I think I can finally understand better the god of wine and I’m glad for that.

Rachel and her brush will always be iconic.

Will is adorable. And the way he shines and then Apollo’s like “I’m so proud” and Will is there too flushed like “it’s not that I graduated med school with honors” and Apollo being a good dad for him like “I’ll be proud when you do that too” and I’m here like aawwwwww. But really, the fact that Apollo is proud that his son can shine is everything.

Will and Nico. They are so different and get along so good like wow. It’s amazing how they’re so perfect for each other. They know each other so much and they love each other so much and I love them so much.

There were two battle at camp Jupiter? Well, Percy and Annabeth are gonna stay in NYC. The battle is in NYC this time? Then Percy and Annabeth are going to San Francisco 😅 My babies deserve a rest.

Stelle is going to rule the world some day.

The cows... That was... so weird...

Also they mentioned Venezuela and I’m so happy for it.

Nico can kill just by touching people... WOW.

Meg is a little queen.

Her encounter with Nero was so heartbreaking but she was so brave...

Poor Lu.

“Nobody hits my boyfriend and nobody kills my dad”. Again: I love you, Will.

Apollo being sweet with his children was adorable. The compliment to Kayla and the cute little talk with Austin made me cry.

Also the other three new kids in the Apollo cabin meeting their dad. And Austin introducing them to Apollo like “they are the children you sired years ago, you probably don’t remember but now you do, you’re welcome” 😅 Also how do they know they’re Apollo’s children? He couldn’t have claimed them. Another god did for him? They’re just too good with arrows or medicine and make it too easy to deduce?

The other gods can watch him in a proyector in the hearth’s fire... Like, since when have them been watching him and laughing and betting against him? Since his trials started? That is so cruel, they’ve known Apollo for thousands of years. Hermes disappointed me so much, I really liked him. I expected no less from Ares tho. Also Poseidon was just there bored to the core and yawning like... You had that punishment before once too! And with Apollo! You know how it feels, you should care. I want to think maybe he was just too tired (if gods can get tired) because of the rebuilding of his palace but honestly what are the odds? The decline in Poseidon’s character is very sad.

Apollo walking to Python almost unarmed and alone was so brave. He couldn’t have gone like that in the first book and I’m so proud of him, he has grown so much.

“I missed the shot. Don’t even pretend to be surprised” I was not, Lester. At least you tried.

RIP THE ARROW OF DODONA! IT WAS A FAITHFUL PROJECTILE TO THE END! APOLLO MUST FALL BUT HE WILL RISE AGAIN!!!! HAIL HIS LAST PROPHECY!

Ehh did I mention Artemis? No? Well... ARTEMIS ARTEMIS ARTEMIS ARTEMIS ARTEMIS!!! The best goddess!! She was so worried 🥺 begging Zeus to forgive Apollo 😭 and screaming to Aphrodite... She’s so awesome I just can’t.

The description of how Apollo and Python fall to chaos was amazing. I never thought Rick would touch the subject of Chaos but it was great. The perfect end for Python and (of course) the perfect timing for the goddess of Stix to appear. At least she saw that Apollo has really learned the lesson. He must be true to all his promises from now on, specially the most important ones. He will remember. And the fact that Zeus can’t see to the Chaos? Sweet.

The way Apollo wept in his sister’s shoulder broke me. Poor guy, he has been through too much. And Artemis was there just so happy that he’s back and well and alive :’) she’s the best. “Not a cuddler, my sister. But she allowed me to hold her hands” aaawwwwww. Also the way she dressed him up into a dress was the most sibling-relationship-thing I’ve ever seen in a god/goddess 😅

“The gods awaited” is such a good phrase. Almost as good as “Release the Kraken!”.

I can’t stop thinking about the image of the tiny gods with Mickey Mouse voice “Welcome to Olympus!” 😂😂😂

“Wisdom, comes in handy” omg Athena.

If I thought before that Zeus was bad well now he seems even worse.

Why was Hera crying over Jason? Was she really grieving? Why? Doesn’t she hate every one of Zeus’s children? What did I miss?

The fact that Zeus doesn’t care about his son’s death 😒

Apollo visiting every single one of his demigods friends :’)

Hazel and Frank are finally free of their curses and living life like never before :’) I’m so happy for them.

Reyna seems so happy now with her bff Thalia hunting that damn fox. Also “no puedes decirle mamacita a una mujer, ¿entendiste?” was perfect 😅 I need more of Reyna and Leo speaking in Spanish.

Calypso enjoying school? Adorable :3

How doesn’t Apollo know if Georgie is his daughter or not? He’s a god now, he should now. He knew Thalia’s age just by looking at her, just saying.

I need lots of stories about the Hunters of Artemis, specially about what happened at the end with that fox.

The fact that Apollo knew Artemis was the only one there actually happy to have him back... And the wink at the end... I’m just obsessed with these twins ok?

Apollo bringing blue cookies to Percy was adorable. And Percy doesn’t know what to study, he just knows it has to be something with the ocean. I’m glad to see he doesn’t think about his phobia anymore. And Apollo’s concern about if Percy and Annabeth were going to share a bedroom or no 😅 hilarious. But that’s none of your business, Apollo. Annabeth told you herself.

Piper is bi! 😱 She’s finally happy (even missing Jason tho, don’t misunderstand me) with her partner and Apollo is so happy for her and she’s so happy for him and wow :’) too much cuteness.

The part with Meg was the most emotional. He even appeared a unicorn for her. “Will you come back?” “Always. The sun always comes back” and that’s the last sentence he says and it’s so beautiful 😭

The last paragraph killed me. It does every time I re-read it. Apollo I want you to know that I’m smiling on you too. Specially on sunny days. I’m very proud of you. We’re friends now indeed, and I’m glad for it.

[winryofresembool]

Things We Lost in the Fire, ch 25

aka Caleo uni au

Fic summary: Calypso starts studying at a new university, but to her annoyance her new flatmate is a loud mouthed mechanic who also likes to sneak his dog in whenever. But as she learns to know him better, she realizes they might have more in common than what she first thought. Eventually, even the darkest secrets come out…

Chapter summary: Halloween aftermath

A/N: Sorry for the wait again! This chapter wanted to become long (for my chapter) so I just couldn't finish it in time. About the future schedule, there won't be another chapter this week but given it's only Tuesday now, I think I may be able to update again Friday next week. Fingers crossed!

Thanks for all the comments again, you guys make me so motivated to continue! ♥ But I won't rant more, now I'll let you know what happens after the cliffhanger of ch 24.

Words: 3,8k+

Genre: romance & hurt/comfort

Warnings: none

previous chapter / AO3

...

Calypso woke up with her head banging in pain and a sour taste in her mouth. She also felt like throwing up. What was even worse than that, though, was that she had no idea where she was. She was still wearing a flowy, white dress instead of her pajamas and she didn’t recognize the bed she had slept in. Perhaps the strangest part was that she could hear light snoring from the floor behind the foot of the bed. She sat up on the bed so she could see who caused the sound, panic starting to surge in her veins when she recognized the dark mop of hair under a blanket.

It was Leo, sleeping on a mattress that had been taken from the other side of the double bed she had been sleeping in. What on earth had possessed him to sleep there, Calypso wondered worriedly.

Pulling a cover over her (which, she knew, was silly because obviously Leo had already seen her in her dress earlier) she continued scanning her surroundings and slowly started making some conclusions. This had to be Jason and Piper’s house, where they had stayed the night after the Halloween party. A party. Right. Her last clear thoughts were from the moment when she had seen the two Hunter girls arrive at the party. After that, she remembered vaguely fleeing the room and finding something to drink, and that’s when her memory got really blurry. And that was the truly scary part. She hadn’t been truly drunk even once within the past five years but she did know way too well what had happened the previous time she had done that. The biggest mistake of her life.

Before she allowed her mind to draw any more conclusions, she decided to rise from her bed and check up on Leo. He was still sound asleep and since the blanket had partially fallen off of him, she could see that he was wearing a tank top and boxers, which she took as a good sign. Since they both were at least somewhat clothed, she thought it was quite unlikely that they had crossed the line that she was not ready to cross. But that didn’t mean that nothing had happened.

“Ahem,” she cleared her throat while wrapping the bed cover around her a bit better, trying to make Leo wake up. She needed to do that at least twice more before he finally stirred.

“Wha… Woah!” He yelped with surprise when he realized where he was and with whom, quickly pulling his blanket over his mostly bare legs. “Morning, Sunshine. How are you feeling today?”

The panic had momentarily made Calypso forget about her headache and dizziness but now that Leo reminded her of it, she realized they hadn’t disappeared anywhere. Sitting back on her bed, she sighed.

“I’ve been better, that’s for sure.” She rubbed her forehead for a moment. “The worst part is that I have no idea what happened last night.”

“You… don’t remember any of it?” Leo asked while sitting up, and Calypso thought she could hear a hint of disappointment in his voice.

“I do remember what happened before my first drink,” Calypso clarified. “But not much after that.”

“In that case, I think I can help you fill some gaps,” Leo replied. “If you want to.”

“That would be good.” Calypso tried to undo some knots in her hair with her fingers, sighing with frustration. “Maybe you can start with explaining why we are both here. I mean, in this room. I think Piper and Jason have several extra rooms in their house.”

Leo’s face turned bright red at the implications of Calypso’s question. He had to clear his throat before he managed to answer. “Um… You were really not feeling well last night… And to be honest, some moments you seemed pretty desperate to… I don’t know, it seemed like you were trying to escape from Thalia and Reyna every time they tried to talk to you. So, um, we, as in, me, Piper, Jason, Annabeth and Percy thought that someone should probably keep an eye on you. Just in case. So. I volunteered.”

Calypso wanted to keep Leo distracted so he wouldn’t ask more about Thalia and Reyna so she asked: “But why you, and not for example Piper? She lives here so it would have been easier for her. You could have just driven home and come to pick me up today or something.”

“That’s… that’s true but I felt it was my duty… as your flatmate, of course… to make sure you’re OK,” Leo stuttered. Calypso had a feeling it wasn’t the whole truth but she didn’t push it. “Alright,” Calypso said. “But why were you sleeping in this room? Like I said earlier, there are other places…”

“Ahem,” Leo made a coughing sound again. “That’s because you asked me to stay here. And I’m not lying about that. You can think anything you want about me but I would not do anything without your consent… um, not that any of that has even crossed my mind, gods.”

Even though Calypso was relieved to hear that because it proved that nothing had happened between them, she had to admit to herself that perhaps a tiny part of her was a bit disappointed. Leo’s reply made it sound like he did not have any romantic feelings towards her. Or then he was a liar. Either way, Calypso wasn’t sure what she should think.

“I… asked you to stay with me?” she repeated instead.

“Um, yeah,” Leo replied, his fingers tapping on his blanket absentmindedly. “You said something about nightmares… and I dunno, you just didn’t wanna be alone. Piper asked if you’d like her to stay but… you picked me? I don’t know why.”

There was a long pause before Calypso answered. Maybe it was her dizzy head making her make decisions she usually wouldn’t, but she thought there was no reason to deny it anymore. Feeling the warmth on her cheeks, she finally replied: “That’s because – I hate myself for this, but - you… you mean more to me than her.”

“I… what?” Leo frowned, looking like he was wondering if he had heard right.

Calypso sighed deeply and hid her face into her hands. She hated how fast her heart was racing in that moment. “I’ve been trying to deny that for several weeks now, but… I guess the drunk me was more honest than what I usually am.”

Leo crossed his arms, inching closer to Calypso on his mattress so he could look at her directly. “But… but… what does it mean? I mean, I do have an idea because I’m not an idiot even if I seem like one – but I need to hear it from you.”

“Leo Valdez, it means I like you! In a very non flatmate like way! There, are you happy now?” Calypso’s voice started cracking and she felt like she was on the verge of tears.

“Of course I am!” He exclaimed, almost jumping up from his mattress. “I think I’ve had a crush on you ever since you got mad at me for smashing your table!”

Calypso’s mouth opened in surprise. “You… have? But… how?”

“When you got mad at me that time, I saw some fire in your eyes. Like, OK, I’m gonna admit that you looked hot from moment one but I didn’t care about that. I didn’t,” he repeated when Calypso looked at him skeptically. “I know a lot of girls who kinda remind me of you with their shiny long hair, perfect eyelashes, et cetera, but many of them are the type of people who used to laugh at me at high school. And I mean, not in a good way. But when I saw that fire, somehow I was convinced that you were different. You have just the kind of spunk that I like and you’re not afraid to call me out when I deserve it – but you’re still fair and don’t judge the book by its cover. Fine, of course I was worried I was wrong and you wouldn’t forgive me for that mistake. But, somehow, this one time, I was right. And I only got more convinced as I learned to know you better.”

“Leo…” Calypso was starting to lose the fight against the tears.

Leo looked extremely worried when he realized she was crying. “What? I thought you’d be happy to hear that? I like you – you apparently like me for whatever crazy reason – what’s the problem?”

Calypso tried to brush off the tears from her face before answering, her eyes sparkling with frustration. “The problem is that you just made this – what I should do – a hundred times harder! If… if you hadn’t answered to my feelings, I could have just tried to accept that and eventually moved on. But… how are we going to live with this knowledge, live under the same roof… when nothing can happen?!”

Leo started to freak out. “What do you mean ‘nothing can happen’? Calypso, could you please finally be clear with me? Why did you just confess your feelings and then say… that?”

Calypso didn’t miss that Leo used her full first name, a thing he did quite rarely. Her voice was still a bit hoarse when she answered:

“Alright. I have plenty of reasons but here’s the first one: In the past… I’ve had nothing but unsuccessful relationships. I may have been really young back then, but it made me doubt myself, Leo. Several guys I really liked - and I imagined they liked me back - told me some big words… only to run to their ‘real’ girlfriends at the first possible opportunity. You’d probably say ‘but that was many years ago, screw those guys’!”

“Damn right, I would!” Leo exclaimed, slamming his fist on the floor next to him to emphasize his point.

“… And I wish it was that simple but it isn’t.” Calypso shook her head. “There’s more to that story than I care to explain right now. And then I met Percy a couple of years later and thought that maybe I’d be ready to try again. Well, you know what happened. It did not work out and I decided that when I’d finally have my freedom… I mean, when I’d move out and start my studies, I would make sure that I really am ready for a relationship before starting one. And I’m sorry, but… I don’t think I’m quite there yet. I want to learn to love myself before… you know.”

Leo finally stood up from his mattress and sat down next to her on the bed, not even caring about the fact that he was still wearing only a thin tank top and boxers anymore.

“I guess I can understand that,” he said, spontaneously taking her hand into his as a comforting gesture. “I’m no stranger to self doubt.”

“Then I guess we have that in common…” Calypso sighed, allowing Leo’s hands to remain on hers. “However… that’s not the only reason why I think it would not be a good idea.”

“What else is there?” Leo asked.

Calypso looked down at their intertwined hands sadly. “Well… I think I’ve told you my father is not the nicest of guys… But the truth is, I left home without his consent or knowledge. So, he’s probably looking for me right now. And if he does find me, I don’t know what will happen. I may have to go back. And I definitely don’t want him to find out about you. He has money and a lot of power and he’s capable of ruining anyone’s life if he wants to. He’d probably blame you for hiding me and have you arrested or something… It would break me if something happened to any of you, because of me.”

“Why… Why haven’t you told this to me before?” Leo’s grip on her hand tightened slightly and even though Calypso didn’t dare to look into his eyes, she imagined that they were burning in anger like she had seen a couple of times before.

Calypso rubbed her forehead tiredly with her free hand. “Because… what would you do in that situation?! I’d arrive at your home and introduce myself: ‘hey, I’m Calypso, your new flatmate, and by the way, I’m running away from my father who may or may not have kept me as a hostage for several years, but yeah, nice to meet you!’”

“A hostage?” Leo was practically growling now.

“Well… “ Calypso was suddenly hesitant, realizing she had revealed more than intended. “I was allowed to go to places… sometimes… but never alone… And I was homeschooled so… I did spend a lot of time at home… but we had a huge mansion… So it wasn’t like I was trapped in a basement or something…”

“But that doesn’t make it any more right!” Leo was almost yelling now. “I want to do something, I want to let people know what kind of person he is so he can’t keep doing that to you or anyone else anymore!”

“Leo, you can’t!” Calypso squeezed his hand, finally looking up at him. “Do you know how dangerous that would be?! And I swear, with his money he would only make the police go quiet about the whole situation… The main thing is that I’m here, right now, and relatively safe. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe he doesn’t care where I am. I don’t know what he’s thinking, to be honest.”

Leo was quiet for a while, breathing heavily and fiddling with the bed covers. “Well… Fine, I’ll let that be, for now. But I swear to gods, or the River Styx, or whatever the hell those ancient Greeks used to swear on, that if he does something to you, I will not let it be anymore. I… and I think I can speak for all of our friends, that we all… will make sure that he will go down with a bang.”

Leo’s comment about the ancient Greeks managed to cheer Calypso up a bit. “You sound like you would physically fight him. And how exactly would you do that?” she asked. “With your tools?”

“That’s not a bad idea!” Leo exclaimed, getting into his fantasies. “I would definitely bring my trusty hammer. Or, I could build a…”

“Hey, now, I was not being serious! But you sound like you are,” Calypso stopped him by putting a finger on his lips. “I absolutely don’t want you to do anything where you could get hurt.”

“Me? Getting hurt? That’s unheard of,” Leo attempted to joke once Calypso removed her finger from his lips.

“Alright, now you’re not being serious. Didn’t you once tell me that you joke especially when you’re nervous?” Calypso remembered one of their earlier conversations.

Leo’s smirk disappeared. “Want me to be honest? I’m not great at the feelings stuff. But I just heard you tell me that you like me. For a moment I was like: ‘hey, for once the chick you like likes you back, maybe this could work out’. And then you told me that apparently your father is some kind of psycho who is still controlling you, his adult daughter. I am glad that you told me about all this but you can’t expect me to stay calm when someone I care about is in danger. You wouldn’t stay calm either, would you?”

Calypso shook her head. “No. You’re right. I would also want to help you. And I really am sorry, I wish things were different and we could… Maybe one day. That’s all I can say.”

Leo sighed and ran his free hand through his hair. “OK. I get it.”,

A silence fell into the room as they both tried to take in what had just happened. Some automatic reaction made Calypso lean her head against Leo’s shoulder as if she was trying to tell him with the touch that she really was sorry. She was thankful he did not shift away. Eventually, she asked:

“So… tell me more about last night. Did I embarrass myself badly?”

“Naah…” Leo lied at first, a smile returning to his face as he remembered some of the things that had happened.

“You just flinched,” Calypso noted. “I felt it. You’re totally lying.”

“Fine. It was pretty funny when you had a karaoke duet with Piper and were too drunk to be able to read the lyrics from the screen so you came up with the words yourself. And at one point you just suddenly switched to Greek and none of us could understand what you were saying. But it wasn’t that bad. And even drunk your voice was kinda impressive. And your dance moves were definitely better than mine.”

“Wait, what? I danced too? Gods, please tell me no one filmed that,” Calypso asked, horrified.

“I can promise no such thing!” Leo grinned, and Calypso stopped leaning her head against him, instead elbowing him on the ribs. “Ow! I’m just joking! I don’t know if Piper got any photo material of that but I was busy dancing with you so I didn’t have time to film anything. Promise.”

“Alright. Sorry.” She lowered her head on his shoulder again.

“Guess we’ll have to hunt down Piper after this,” Leo said with amusement before recalling something. “Anyway, something kinda weird happened too. Like I said, it really seemed like you were trying to avoid Reyna and Thalia and I have no idea why. Every time they got close, you were like ‘gotta get a drink’ or ‘let’s go dance’ or ‘bathroom break’. I’m not even sure if you greeted them. Can you explain that?”

“I… uh,” Calypso tried to come up with something that she wouldn’t have to tell the whole story. “My half sister Zoë… She used to be a Hunter. But she died some years ago. An accident. I think those two probably knew her and… the wound is still too deep so I didn’t want to have to talk about her. It would have ruined everyone’s night.”

“I’m sorry,” Leo said, causing chills in Calypso’s back by running his thumb on the palm of her hand. “I had no idea... Feels like I’m learning a lot more about you now than I have the past few months…” “I probably should have told you about that earlier… So I’m sorry too.”

Leo bit his lip as if he was struggling to decide something. “If it makes you feel any better… I know how it feels to lose someone important. My mum. She died in a fire. Yeah, the fire that started my fear,” Leo confirmed Calypso’s suspicions. “She was the only family I had and after that I went from home to home and no one wanted to keep me… Sometimes I ran away too… That kept going until Emmie and Jo finally found me. It… doesn’t really get easier, but somehow… you still learn to live with it. Because you have to.”

“Yeah. I know the feeling. But if you have to find something positive out of this situation… at least we’re safe now. And we’re not alone, right? That’s what they’d want for us, right?” Calypso sounded a bit unsure, though.

“Yeah. You’re right.” They stayed quiet for a while, but this time the silence was comforting. Finally, Leo decided to break it, in his typical way.

“No offense, Cal, but you could use a shower. For all of our sake.”

Calypso quickly sat farther from him. “Oh my gods, Leo, that is so not appropriate, especially in a situation like this! What’s wrong with you?”

Leo put his hands up defensively. “Was just trying to be honest! The alcohol and the throwing up did not do good to you.” “Geez, I hate you,” Calypso mumbled.

“That’s fine because I hate you too,” Leo claimed.

“Not what you said a moment ago,” Calypso retorted.

“I could say the same back at you.”

Suddenly both Leo and Calypso burst out laughing, needing to release the tension the whole conversation had created. Calypso didn’t remember when she had last laughed that long or hard but she didn’t care, it simply felt right in that moment. When she and Leo finally calmed down, she said quietly:

“Maybe we are idiots, both of us.”

“Maybe. But normalcy is not for me. I learned that a while ago.”

“Same, to be honest.”

Calypso and Leo’s eyes met. Some barriers had been broken that day and even though there was still a lot of work to do, Calypso realized that it had felt good to talk to Leo. He hadn’t judged or questioned, at least not in the way she had expected. He had seemed to accept that she’d come out of her shell with her own terms. Something about it all just felt so right, and when she remembered that he had also admitted he liked her back… she decided it was time to get a bit crazy. Screw the consequences, if they couldn’t enjoy this moment, then what could they enjoy? That’s why she let her hand brush his cheek before resting it in his hair, gently lifting his chin with her other hand so he’d know her intentions…

“Do you think… we could forget about the stupid rules just for a moment?” She asked, resting her forehead on his.

“I think I’m down with that,” Leo smiled at her softly (Calypso didn’t like admitting it but that soft smile never failed to get to her).

They closed their eyes and started leaning even closer, but just when their lips were about to meet, the door opened. The couple quickly separated when Piper peeked in.

“I heard some laughter from here so I thought I’d come to check…” Then she noticed their expressions. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to interrupt!”

“Didn’t interrupt anything,” Leo mumbled, although it was quite clear from his voice he was disappointed.

“Yeah, no worries,” Calypso tried to reassure her as well, although her eyes seemed to be interested in a wrinkle on her dress.

“OK…” Piper wasn’t at all convinced but she didn’t comment on it more. “Well, I just wanted to tell you that we have breakfast downstairs. Whenever you’re up to it.”

“Yeah, we’ll be there in a minute! Just let me… clean up a bit.” Calypso exclaimed, getting up and starting to head to the closest bathroom. Leo also got up from the bed and started pulling on the clothes he had had under his costume the previous day.

“See you soon then,” Piper said, leaving the very flustered couple to get prepared for the day. Calypso could imagine that she and Jason would probably get good laughs from this once she and Leo would leave.

[squishy831]

Anything to see you smile

Ship: Pernico/Perico/Nicercy

Warnings: Angst, Major Character Death

Extra Information: Nico and Will are not dating... yet, Bianca didn’t choose rebirth, she was hidden by Hades because he knew that Hazel was supposed to be the one who was brought back to life, and Nico only tells Percy that he’s gay and doesn’t reveal his crush on him.

Percy was gay. Not a lot of people knew that. And he liked the one and only Nico di Angelo. He was so happy when he found that Nico was gay, he felt like he was flying, but then, of course, Zeus still did not like his presence in the air, so he fell and burned when Nico walked to Will Solace. Percy felt his heartbreak and shatter into pieces.

Nico still hated Percy. Or that's what Percy assumed.

He had to fix this! He didn't care what it took, he just wanted to make Nico happy.

Percy knew how to fix this. All he needed was Annabeth.

Percy walked to the dining pavilion where Annabeth was waiting for him.

'Hey Seaweed Brain!" she said when she saw him. He returned with a small smile.

"Annabeth, we need to talk" he started seriously.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Can we go somewhere else?" He asked noticing the people.

Annabeth looked confused and nodded.

They both walked to the beach and sat down on the warm sand.

The sea was calm and beautiful, Apollo was slowly riding his sun chariot back to his palace, and the moon was slowly making it's way up.

"What is it?" Annabeth asked again.

"I... I..." Percy took a deep breath "I am gay" he finally blurted.

Annabeth blinked at him. Once. Twice. Thrice. Then she smiled.

"Okay... next?" she asked.

"You're not mad?" I asked.

"Why would I be? I mean well, I am a lesbian, I realized it after I met Reyna" she replied, her cheeks tinted pink.

"Do you like someone?" She asked.

"I like Nico" I replied.

"Aww! I ship you two!" she replied.

I gave a small smile.

"Well, what's your plan to make him fall in love with you?" she asked.

"I don't want to make him fall in love with me" I replied.

"What? Then what do you want to do? Just stay in the sidelines and watch as Will start dating?" she asks confused.

"I want to make him happy"

"yeah... and how exactly do you plan on doing if you not going to ask him out?"

"I..." I mumbled the rest.

"If you want me to help you, then you better speak louder Seaweed Brain"

I took a deep breath and explained to her my plan.

"WHAT?! NO WAY I'M HELPING YOU DO THAT!"

"Annabeth the-" "NO! I WILL NOT LET YOU DO THAT!"

"Annabeth listen!"

"WHAT?!"

"I... it's the only thing that I can d-"

"No! You can do other things, like spend time with him! get to know him!"

"Annabeth..."

"No! Percy, you can't do this! To yourself! To me! To everyone at camp! To your MOM?!"

"Mom and Paul died, I got the news yesterday morning" I muttered.

"What?" Annabeth whispered.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked.

"I... I was having a hard time-" I chocked a sob "I was a hard time myself to accept it"

"Oh, Percy," Annabeth said hugging me.

"But you can't do this, right? Your mom wouldn't want you to do this, right?" She tried to explain.

But I already had made my mind.

"I am trying to make someone else happy, You find someone else, maybe Reyna and Camp has Jason, he is an amazing leader, and maybe, maybe Nico will finally forgive me," I said.

"Percy... please... don't do this"

"I'm sorry Wise Girl"

Tears rolled down Annabeth's cheeks, "When-" she let out a sob, "When do you leave?" she asked.

"Tomorrow" I muttered.

Annabeth looked away from me and cried. I didn't try and comfort her.

"Percy... Please... Think about it, one last time, if this is the right thing to do" She said.

"I'm sorry Annabeth, I already made up my mind," I said.

More tears rolled down her cheek.

She pulled me into a bone-crushing hug and sobbed into my shirt. I hugged her back, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry" I repeated to her.

And the night carried on.

The next morning, Annabeth woke up in her cabin, hoping yesterday night was a bad dream.

She ran to the Poseidon cabin and forced the door open.

She was greeted by an empty cabin.

She examined the empty cabin, trying to find one clue that Percy didn't do what he said he would do.

She stops looking around the cabin when she finds a letter on Percy's bed, holding it down was... Riptide?

'He vapor traveled' Annabeth noted.

Tears were streaming down her face as she slowly walked towards the letter, and picked it up.

She read through the letter, tears streamed down her face.

He was gone.

Her best friend was gone.

"Annabeth? You okay?" A voice asked from the door.

Annabeth looked to see who it was. Piper was standing there with a worried look on her face, "Why are crying?!" She asked.

"I... Percy..." Annabeth started crying and handed the letter to Piper

Before Piper can read the letter, the rest of the seven and Nico had gathered around them.

"What's going on?" Jason asked.

"Yeah, where's Percy?" Hazel asked.

Piper's gaze turned back to the letter,

“Dear Everyone," Piper read aloud for so the rest can hear.

"I don't know how to say this, so I'll just tell it straight to your face. I am gay, I found out a little later after I met Nico Di Angelo, yes, I am admitting that I have a tiny... okay huge crush on him" Jason's eyes widened, and Nico looked shocked.

"I couldn't bear to see him mad at me, always avoiding me. It broke my heart. But I deserved it, it should've been me, I'm sorry Nico. But it's fine, I am now on one last quest where I am going to make it right"

"What?!" Nico shouted.

"Nonononononono," he muttered and fell to the ground. He closed his ears with his hands and cried.

"What's going on?" Frank asked.

"Is Percy leaving camp?" Hazel asked, not being able to accept the other option.

Annabeth slowly shook her head and cried more.

"I have to... I have to save him" Nico muttered getting up.

"Where are you going?!" Jason shouted. Nico still wasn't strong enough for too much shadow traveling.

"I have to, please, I have to" Nico cried a little more before disappearing into shadows.

Part 2 coming soon

[depressedacadamia]

De Humani Corporis Fabrica

Chapter I: Le Studio Royal Jupiter

Word count: 3.4K

Summary: Pjo Dancer AU! When Le Studio Royal Jupiter starts competing, friendships and budding romances are ignited but enemies are also re-united.

Taglist (send me a message if you want to be added): @showtunesandsolangelo​

A competition. An actual competition. Nico and Percy couldn’t believe it! They had spent all their lives training and now, their studio was finally going to a dance competition! Nico wasn’t about to admit it, but he practically did a pirouette in joy when he found out. Him and Percy couldn’t be more excited- their studio was becoming competitive! 

But of course, they weren’t the only excited dancers. 

Annabeth, Nico's ballet partner, was over the moon when she heard the news from Nico himself when they were warming up at the bar. Jason, one of the few students who took a fusion of ballet and street dance, had done a flip that the ballet dancers could not describe with any word other than awesome. The tap kids had come in singing musical theatre songs like ‘the story on tonight’ from Hamilton in honour of the news and Will Solace, the captain of the Tap dance crew, had given a terrible haiku as a celebration- something that he got from his father. 

The salsa kids were literally tangoing their way into the studio and the best salsa duo -Hazel Levesque and Leo Valdez- had walked in with roses in their mouths as to also celebrate. However, Percy’s street dance partner, a talented breaker and popper- Frank Zhang, was more nervous and cautious towards this news. 

Normally, the dancer’s all danced in the section of the studio where their style was taught. Studio A had the Ballet dancers, Studio B had the Street dancers, Studio 1 had the tap dancers and Studio 2 had the Salsa dancers and so on. The spare studio spaces were just rehearsal spaces and normally classes weren’t taught there. However, today, all of the top dancers from each style were gathered in Studio A. 

Annabeth, Nico and Jason were all whispering as they sat down, doing butterflies. Behind them, they could hear Hazel and Leo- also known as fire and ice- because while Leo brought the fire (quite literally in that one routine they had performed involving the alcohol and matches), Hazel would always bring the coolest of moves that oftentimes, everybody had forgotten about. They were both talking about a funny incident with their lazy teacher, Dionysus, who spent his time drinking way too much.

Will and Piper, the musical theatre tap duo were probably considered the most talented duo. They could sing, dance and act- practically triple threats. With them on the dance team, there was no way they could lose. 

“Has anyone considered that because we are now a competitive studio, we will have to audition to get on the teams?” Frank's concerned voice rang out, making everyone fall silent. Everyone expected to just be on the team- no one had remembered that there was no way every single one of them would be able to compete. 

“Good morning dancers, thank you for being here early on a Saturday nonetheless- we know most classes do not start until 10, so we thank you for being so dedicated to this studio,” a firm voice rang out. Reyna, the ballet teacher, had walked in with her prize pupil- Calypso.

“I bet you Calypso will be competing- that's what happens when you practically live in this studio,” Annabeth whispered to Hazel, who was behind her. Despite being in different classes- they were good friends who hung out during their breaks.

“Doesn’t mean she deserves this any more than we do,” Leo, who despised Calypso, added. 

“As you know.” Reyna glared at the group of people talking before starting again. “We have recently decided to become a competitive studio again.” 

Reyna was suddenly cut off by a series of whoops, claps and whistles from throughout the crowd. 

“This means that we will need a team. Many of you seem to have forgotten that when we weren’t a competitive studio, we still held auditions for teams. The competitive team who will represent Le Studio Royal Jupiter will be determined through auditions.

“She can just say The Royal Jupiter Studio, it’s not like you get extra brownie points if you say it in french,” Leo snorted slightly, causing Calypso who also despised Leo, to glare at him. 

“It is tradition for our studio to make sure the best of the best is chosen to represent. Many of the students who have been with us for almost their entire lives,” Reyna turned her eyes to Nico, “Know of the times when this Studio was competitive. The trophies in the corridor show our successful history that was closed down to a tragic incident and it was decided for a period of time that LSRJ would stop being competitive.”

“But now, we’re going to regionals so let's talk business- or in dance, we like to say auditions,” The street dance teacher, Thalia Grace ,who was also the brother of the best fusion dancer - Jason Grace- walked in. Her abrupt statement caused the room to start buzzing with whispers and excitement. She had baggy tracksuits with a skull t-shirt as well as a black patterned bandana around her cropped black hair.

“For the auditions, there will be solos and duets. You can choose whether you want to do either however, doing a duet will be seen a better as in proves your ability to work with others. Solo auditions for regionals itself will be decided once the team is in,” Reyna added the last sentence when she saw Annabeth about to open her mouth. 

“For ya duets, we highly recommend you don’t partner with someone of the same style, So Annabeth and Nico- big no no, sorry guys. We want to see what you can do when you are put outside your comfort zone. Hazel and Leo, stop pouting unless you’re willing to pout at the floor while you do push ups,” Thalia grinned wickedly. 

“As for the 2 other sections of the auditions- there will be improv which you all are familiar with. There will also be a choreographed audition- you will be sectioned into groups and taught choreo in a sectioned amount of time. You will be given an hour to learn this choreo and perfect it before presenting it to the judges,” Calypso added, standing at the front. 

“We hope to see many faces at the auditions and good luck!” Reyna called out as she pinned the sign up sheet to the notice board. Dancers practically ran to the sheets, scribbling their names under the solo column, despite the warnings given. 

“So… you’re Annabeth, right? You do ballet with Nico- wanna team up?” Percy grinned all too knowingly making Annabeth sigh. 

“We’re dating, you dumbass.” She facepalmed before quickly answering. “ Yes, yes I will be your partner.” 

Unfortunately, the rest of the dancers who did not sign up for solo’s did not find their partners so easily. Hazel and Leo were so tempted to be partners- they were almost definite that they could choreograph a salsa routine that would be so good, the judges would forget the whole ‘different style’ partner.

Percy had already gotten his partner but he knew that Frank needed one. He had seen how Frank had always been shy to approach Hazel and he couldn’t blame him too much. Hazel was a super talented dancer and her smile was guaranteed to light up any room. However, Percy wasn’t definite that Hazel and Leo weren’t dating. They would always be seen together and while they were called fire and ice, they got along very well. 

“Hey Hazel!” Percy beckoned her over. “Since you can’t pair up with Leo, how about you try pairing up with a hip hop guy….Oh Frank, you’re free- surely you wouldn’t mind pairing up with Hazel?” 

Frank who was shoved into the spotlight could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks as he managed to successfully not stutter his words.

“Uh, well I’m down if you are,” he mumbled slightly, looking towards his feet. 

“Sure!” Hazel agreed happily which earned herself a light nudge from Leo.

“Who do I go with if you’re off with B-boy?” 

“Leo, stop being codependent on me. Ask Jason, he does fusion,” Hazel recommended. 

“I can’t lift Jason though!”  

“Jason just paired up with Piper,” Jason added as he walked over, throwing his arm over Percy’s shoulder.

“Jason, you did what?” Nico asked, horrified. “Jay, I wanted to pair with you!”

“There’s still Leo, Will and… Calypso,” Annabeth offered. Nico shot her a look saying Do I look like I’m about to deal with Calypso?  On cue, Will walked over, humming as he did so. 

“Any of you free? I need a partner, I really don’t have it in me to bother for a solo,” he confessed. Jason, who wore the smile of the devil's advocate at this very moment, decided to speak for Nico. 

“Hey Nico, weren’t you just complaining about not having a partner. Oh and would you look at that, your styles are completely different!” 

Nico whipped his head around and glared daggers at Jason who was smiling uncontrollably.

“Nico, is that good with you? I know how uptight Ballet dancers are.”

“We aren’t that uptight!” Nico snapped which earned him a look from Leo that read are you sure about that? 

“Is that a yes?” 

Nico sighed, knowing he had lost this battle. “Yeah, it’s fine.”

“No! No it’s not fine! I still don’t have a partner!” Leo cried. Calypso, with a plan forming in her head, literally walked up to Leo and attempted to drag him by the arm, only to be stopped by him pulling his hand away.

“¿Qué te pasa?” Leo immediately broke into Spanish.

“Us. Partners.”

“Partners? Are you out of your mind? Go do a duet with Castellan!”

“Our styles are too similar- we both do Ballet,” Calypso shot back. 

“You know Callie, considering you are one of the studio's best Ballet dancers, I would have thought you would be going with a solo... '' Will mused, teasing her over the crush he knew she used to have on Leo. Well that’s what Calypso would claim everytime it was brought up. Calypso could feel her cheeks heating up and curled her toes to stop it.

“But I guess you going with a duet would make you look more like a team player.” Will stopped for a second to place his fingers on his chin as if he were stroking a beard. “Although, I never thought you’d go for Valdez since Clarrise hasn’t got a partner yet.” 

“Clarrise and I had an argument, it would be unethical to work with her.”

“More unethical than it is to work with me? Also, I love the passive aggressive undertone- it doesn’t suit you though,” Leo gave a genuine smile. Calypso did not respond to the intense sarcasm and instead told Leo to make sure he checks his messages which resulted in Leo wondering how he ever got her number.

“Hey Nico, I've gotta skadoodle but text me a good rehearsal time, kay?” Will grabbed Nico’s wrist before he left. Nico responded with a gentle nod- slightly shocked that someone had just touched his wrist without his permission.

________________________________________________________________

“Wait, wait- how do you do that?” Hazel asked as Frank showed her a piece of choreography. 

“Okay, well you push your left foot out and then you bend both knees and your arms come down like you’re about to crouch. Then just kick out your left foot before pulling it back and set your right foot in front,” Frank instructed, holding Hazel's arm for her as she struggled to get the move down pat. 

“Wait, I think I’ve got it,” She performed the move perfectly. “ Ooh, hey we can add on a salsa part to this!”

Hazel shuffled her hips, rolling her body and hips forwards before bringing them back her arms both in the air elegantly. 

“Okay, put your right hand on my hip with my hand and then put your other hand in my free hand.” Hazel waved her free hand in the air which Frank then took. 

“Now, just move with me,” Hazel finished. Frank, who was terribly nervous and could feel his hands shaking, somehow managed to perform the move adequately- which even led him to another idea for their dance. 

“Hey, how do you feel about adding a lift?”

________________________________________________________________

“Percyy, put me down!” Annabeth shrieked as Percy held her on his back and refused to put her back to the safe ground.

“Not until you say that you secretly despise pointe shoes!”

“But I like performing on pointe! I was even hoping it would be part of our routine!”

This made Percy set her down. Annabeth’s cries of mercy died down as Percy let her feet touch the floor. They were occupying studio A which had the best mirrors- something that every dancer knew was necessary. 

“You did?” 

“What, did you think we were going to abandon Ballet entirely? We need to incorporate both styles, not just completely ignore the other,” Annabeth reminded him, her hands resting on her hips.

“I kinda thought we’d lean in the hip hop direction considering how technical the studio is.” Percy rubbed the back of his head.

“The studio isn’t that technical…. Okay maybe it is but we don’t need to abandon Ballet completely for this routine to stand out.”

“Do you have any ideas?” 

“Of course,” Annabeth scoffed slightly before looking back at Percy, who rolled his eyes at her brash statement.

________________________________________________________________

Leo and Calypso were working on opposite sides of the room. They were in Studio 2, the salsa room- which they had for the rest of the day. Most dancers avoided Studio 2 because Dionysus was one of the weirdest dance teachers there were. He’d sit in a chair and tell the students stories and somehow, their dances blew people out the water. Some students believe that Leo and Hazel actually taught the class but others thought that Dionysus would just copy dances from the internet.

The truth was, Dionysus was the kind of person who would get a bit tipsy at work every once in a while- normally it would just result in him mis- shuffling his steps when teaching but every so once in a while, he would create some extraordinary move from scratch. The rest was just his natural ability to dance- Dionysus told stories through his dance and he told the stories first. Always first.

Calypso was on the side of the room with the bar, stretching and warming up while Leo was on the other side with his headphones on and practising. 

“Hey! Hello Leo! Take your headphones off!” Calypso called from the other side of the room. Leo, oblivious as ever, continued marking moves, in a manner where he was basically just shuffling his hips. Calypso marched over towards him and snatched his headphones off his head.

“Oi! What was that for?”

“I’ve been trying to talk to you if you haven’t noticed,” she pointed out.  Leo rolled his eyes passive aggressively which only got onto Calypso’s nerves even more. 

“What do you want?” Leo asked bluntly, eager to finish the conversation. 

“I know what we should do for the routine, so come on.” She tried grabbing Leo’s wrist again. 

“Of course you do. There you go again. Always Calypso, the everlasting angel who bosses everyone about and sucks up to every teacher in sight,” Leo mumbled under his breath. Unfortunately for him, Calypso caught his words.

“Oh look, it’s Leo- the immature and idiotic salsa dancer who set his dance partner on fire and is only known because of his partner and his ridiculous crush he has on her!” Calypso threw her hands out. 

“First of all, setting her on fire was part of the routine and we planned and rehearsed it several times. Second of all, I do not have a crush on Hazel!”

“Do to!”

“How would you even know! You’re always in Studio A or one the rehearsal rooms. You never come down to Studio 2- not that we want you down here,” Leo retorted. 

“I have no desire to come down here with your loud and improper techniques and not to forget your funky, weird teacher. Everyone knows Hazel practically teaches the salsa classes.”

“Salsa isn't improper. It’s not our fault you’re the only ballet dancer with a stick so far up your ass, you’re practically a mannequin doll! And you’re just jealous that you have Reyna who is terrifying as a teacher- Dionysus is super chill and you know it!”

“Reyna is 10 times the teacher Dionysus will ever be. Besides, you aren’t even the best dancer in your class, you can’t be one to talk,” Calypso boasted. 

“You aren’t the best in your class either,” Leo pointed out, as if the fact was obvious. Calypso, who thought otherwise, stopped, dead still. 

He did not just go there.

She had always seen herself as a passionate, ambitious and successful dancer- a lot of the time, the best even.  When she spoke again, her voice seemed softer, vulnerable even.

“What do you mean I’m not the best? Who else is there?”

“Well there’s Castellan- everyone knows he’s being scouted. Besides, Nico and Annabeth blow you out of the water when it comes to technique, so you really can’t come and attack us salsa dancers.”

Calypso was at a loss for words. Did people actually see Luke as the better dancer? Was she just his backup all this time? Di Angelo and Chase blow her out of the water in technique? Since when? She had been at this studio her entire life and it seemed like since forever, she had always seen herself and assumed herself to be the best. Quickly, she packed her stuff away and scurried out of Studio 2- leaving Leo all by himself. 

________________________________________________________________

It was 8 at night. Almost every dancer had left the studio by now. By now, almost every light was turned off. Almost every part of studio A was covered in darkness. Except for the spot where Nico was dancing. His black pointe shoes were elegant, just like his turns, his leaps and his jumps. It was like watching a swan- graceful, smooth and completely unaware of its surroundings. Swans also gawked the second something unexpected happened- so when Will walked through the doors of Studio A and started clapping at the end of Nico’s routine, Nico freaked out, slipping his foot (which may I remind you was on pointe) and landing on his butt. 

“Ah shit! Are you okay?” Will asked, his tone worried as he rushed towards Nico who was clutching his ankle, with his eyes screwed up.

“Why the hell were you there? Why the hell are you still here?” 

“I could ask you the same question,” Will challenged. 

“I lock up the studio normally. Reyna gives me the keys before she leaves.” Nico flexed his ankle, making sure it was able to move in all directions. He started ripping his pointe shoes off, eager to get his feet out of the pretty torture devices. 

“Sorry about the ankle, I probably should have made it clear I was coming.” Will rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

“Yeah, normally I rely on your tap shoes. Those things click clack like a bloody cow bell,” Nico remarked as he walked over to his cubby to put on his trainers.

“Harty har, if it means you don’t go leaping into an injury then I will consider it.”

“Wow,” Nico drawled. “Good to see that you care so much about my health.”

“Well if you got injured, who would I audition with?” Will smirked cheekily, hiding his eyes under his voluminous amount of blond locks. 

“Now I feel even better,” Nico laughed slightly, pulling his sports bag over his shoulder. 

As they walked out of the building, Nico stopped to make sure everything was all locked up. They passed the silver plaque, which had the studio's motto on it. While the studio had a french name- Le Studio Royal Jupiter- it’s motto was Latin. Nico had always loved the studio’s motto, seeing as it was cryptic but meaningful. In fact, he had found out that the motto was actually named after the anatomical book of Andreas Vesalius who was a 16th century anatomist. 

De Humani Corporis Fabrica

On the fabric of the Human Body- Nico thought it was perfectly fitting for Le Studio Royal Jupiter.

[dilfbatman]

Hello there! I'm the anon with the Percy being Patrochilles' love child ask. Can I ask for some headcanons of modern!patrochilles adopting Percy?

OMG HELLO MODERN!PATROCHILLES PERCY LOVE CHILD ANON who simply put that thought into my brain and is also legendary....... lemme whip something up for you :’) so in this au i’ll do it as modern!patrochilles legit adopt percy as their lovechild bc this is an au and i can do what i want LMFAO (it feels so weird not having sally in here but i will add her somehow regardless bc she’s the QUEEN) hope you enjoy friend!!!

—

- patroclus & achilles see percy and see his wide bright sea-green eyes looking up at them and they mirror achilles’ spearmint green eyes and reminds achilles of patroclus’ skops nickname, and percy’s hair is dark like patroclus’ and is tan like him too and he has a giggle that is like a melody and both of them think. okay he is ours and then they get told that his name is “perseus” aka the only demigod that lived a long & safe life and they have a sense of relief and think. wow he really is ours

- on the ride home percy is a little quiet but he has a sense of happiness and can’t really put it into words, and patroclus holds percy’s tiny little hand and tells him that they’re all gonna be a family and tells him how lucky he & achilles feel that they have a beautiful joy in their life and perseus smiles and achilles is driving and trying not to cry bc he can see how beautiful a son perseus is going to be and how beautiful a dad patroclus already is

- now. patroclus would be the kind, soft, warm, empathetic, semi-strict parent who always gives the best advice, wants there to be a two way street of trust, honesty, and respect and he is such a soft dad and achilles would be the fun, wild card, dorky dad who protects his child with a fervor and relates to perseus & is very loving just like patroclus and is Iike the best friend dad, and the entire time they’re both so loving to percy & sometimes patroclus is rolling his eyes playfully and is like “i’m raising TWO kids” after perseus & achilles have blue paint on themselves after making an art project for patroclus that he looks at & admires and tears up at while putting it on the wall :’)

- percy calls them lily & pat sometimes and they call him perse, perseus, and cici <3

- they all like to celebrate the holidays and they give each other valentine’s day cards and patrochilles put a stuffed animal, his favorite candy, and some lil extra presents on percy’s bed after he comes from school. on halloween they dress percy up like a lil guppy and pat has his pumpkin costume and achilles w his greek god costume & they all go trick or treating and both percy & achilles ask for candy while pat is just chastising achilles and telling him “you better share w perseus” hehe and on christmas it’s filled w love, laughter, cheer, & tons of presents on all sides :’) percy gives them homemade drawings and the sweetest cards and patrochilles give him a photo framed of all three of them + their golden retriever puppy chiron, a polaroid, and a certificate saying that they adopted a baby seal in perseus’ name <3

- they keep every little card that they give each other and they have scrapbooks and albums and they want to carry these memories forever :’) and omg when it’s percy’s bday it is simply WILD! fast forward a couple years later it’s so much fun and they eat cake and have a great summer picnic outside w all of percy’s friends and yes everyone is checking achilles & patroclus out bc they’re valid and they all have such a grand ol’ time :’) annabeth, jason, frank, hazel, and will talk to patroclus a lot and piper, leo, nico, reyna, and thalia talk to achilles a lot and they all intermingle and percy is just so happy that everyone is getting along and they all tell him that his dads are the coolest and so kind and funny and he feels a rush of pride

- also patrochilles are DILFs. no i will not elaborate and i will not allow someone to disagree with me. they’re DILFs and it’s time to accept it and honor it (achilles a proud DILF, patroclus rolling his eyes while blushing when he gets called that)

- fast forward to many years later and perseus has went through his awkward pre-teen years in which he talked to patroclus all about it bc he could relate and achilles was there to provide moral support bc even if he didn’t go through it he wants his son to know that everything he felt was valid and completely normal! now that percy has grown into his own he still knows that he can talk to them about his feelings but he also has a feeling of confidence in him

- i also think that every demigod has adhd so achilles can relate to perseus on that and patroclus helps perseus w his dyslexia and will stay up into the late hours of the night helping him with homework while achilles cuts up some fruit & figs for them to eat and he gives them both kisses and moral support and many needed breaks & snacks

- also fun fact a book percy has to read is by the infamous sally jackson who is literally patroclus’ favorite writer of ALL time and he’s so hype and he has written sally multiple times and is in correspondence with her and one time he was like “you should come by” and sally says “ofc!” and she ends up doing just that, she comes by their apartment and pat is Shook and mixing up his words and all that can come out is “i Love book” and achilles has to translate everything he says and perseus tells her how much he admires her writing and how the hell did she come up w the idea of gods & demigods and how did she have prose so beautiful while speaking of them? and sally just winks and percy smiles and feels like he understands :’) towards the end sally leaves and made sure to sign all of pat’s books and gives them a bust of poseidon who is her favorite god & he nearly passes out and she gives perseus a trident necklace that he will wear forever bc he knows it means something to her and for some reason, it means something to him too

- and LISTEN! perseus has grown into his own and is absolutely beautiful! he has bright green eyes and a lil eyebrow slit that he accidentally got while playing in the park in which patrochilles were so afraid but kept it together after patroclus patched him up, he is tan & tall w jet black hair with a deep & melodic voice, and he has the empathy, kindness, leadership, strength, wisdom, and badassery that was innate/instilled in him by his wonderful parents. patroclus the entire time is like damn those demigod genes!!!! making my baby boy look like a model just like his father smh what about me!!!! and achilles is like babe you’re gorgeous and perseus is like yeah dad you’re great

- and achilles and patroclus do a double take bc the entire time leading up to this percy never really called them dad he just called them nicknames or petnames and all of sudden the dam breaks and everyone is crying and hugging and achilles and patroclus both give percy the biggest kiss on either side of his cheek and percy’s face is being Squished but he doesn’t mind bc he can feel their love :’)

- and lemme tell y’all something achilles had a feeling his baby boy was a demigod after seeing all those monsters and creatures and patroclus could always see through the mist and growing up they wanted him to have a normal life, but achilles wanted percy to be able to protect himself so he taught percy how to fight & patroclus taught him stuff that he learned from medical school and how to patch himself/others up & percy is very well versed in all aspects and is very grateful for this

- percy is a troublemaker and sarcastic little shit who loves to curse and he really gets that from achilles & he is also sensitive, warm, empathetic and in touch with his emotions and he gets that from patroclus and he is the true lovechild of both of those dorks

- basically listen i could talk about them for hours and i can make so many of these but i know how long imma end up making this so lemme just say this: i love modern!patrochilles they’d be the best dads and i love perseus and they’re just a big happy family bc they DESERVE it <3 and maybe YOU know something that they don’t about sally ;) i didn’t know how i’d go about writing this but i hope you liked it! lemme know! <3 and so sorry this is all over the place hehe i know it’s scattered and long but i hope you like it! :’)

[perseusjackson-jasongrace]

Empires on the Horizon V

Jason is a CEO: Part V

Here’s my masterlist for the next part and my other stuff

But the most beautiful things in life are just not things.

They’re people and places, memories and pictures.

They’re feeling and moments and smiles and laughter.

-unknown

“Charles Beckendorf,” Jason answered the phone with a smile, “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Hello Grace, how are you?”

“Absolutely wonderful,” And he was, he hadn’t felt so calm in a long time. “What can I do for you my friend?”

“I need your help with the wedding. I’m planning an outdoor structure with video screenings of all our favourite memories and you have two things that’ll make my dreams come true.”

“Anything for you Charlie.”

“The gorgeous meadow on the far side of town, you own that right?”

“Yep, you want to set up shop there?”

“Yes please,” His eagerness carried through the phone, “And can you send me any pictures or videos you have of us so I can add it to the slideshow.”

“Of course, is that all?”

He could hear the excitement in his friend’s voice, “That’s it, unless you know anyone who’s willing to look after the shop while we’re on honeymoon?”

“I can’t say I do but I can ask Hazel to hire a temp if you want?”

“I’ll suggest it to the ladies and tell them to get back to you.”

“Sounds great, and good-luck with the project. I’m excited for the wedding.”

“Me too man, me too. It’s still surreal to me that I’m getting married to my best friends.”

“You deserve the world Charlie.”

“No way, I am crazy emotional these days.” He sniffled.

Jason laughed, “You’re always emotional Beckendorf.”

“Screw you,” He snorted, “See you soon, and thank you again.”

“Bye man, have a good one.”

He ended the call with a smile. It was unbelievable to think he would be going to his friends’ wedding in a couple months. Just the other day he was sitting in a lecture hall laughing at Beckendorf’s impersonation of their business lecturer. Just the other day he was helping Silena and Drew paint the walls of their boutique. It was strange to face the reality that they were all grown up now– moving on with their lives, living them.

“Ready to go Boss?” Hazel’s head popped around the door.

“Yep, you have the files?”

“All in the room already, anything else we need?”

“Maybe some coffee and a miracle?”

“Unfortunately I can only provide one of those things, and it’s not the helpful one.” She gave him an apologetic look.

“Well I guess wish me luck then,”

“You don’t need it Boss, you’re gonna kill it today.”

“What would I do without you Miss Levesque?” He sighed gratefully, walking to the elevator.

“Forget which day of the week it is, and which shoe goes on which foot,” She grinned.

“Hey, the shoe thing was one time.”

“That only works if you’re a toddler, not a grown man.”

“No excuse for the elderly then?”

She shook her head solemnly, “None I’m afraid.”

The elevator doors slid open.

“Meeting Room A5.”

“Let’s do this.” He took a deep breath and pushed the glass door.

“Hello Jason Grace,”

“Hello Octavian.”

Jason always felt some level of life seep out the room when he me with the head of Titan Industries. The man felt…synthetic; chalk white hair gelled down flat and calculating pale blue eyes that missed nothing. Gods even his skin looked unnatural, pasty and veined.

He reached out a small, bony hand in greeting.

“You look as incredible as ever Miss Levesque,” He lifted her hand to his mouth.

She gave him a tight-lipped smile, “Octavian.”

He didn’t seem to notice, or care for her discomfort and simply turned to Jason.

“So,” They sat down, “Have we come to some agreement?”

“With all due respect Octavian I don’t feel this contract is justified.” He glanced between the man and the folder.

There was silence, as if he were waiting for Jason to continue but two could play at this game. He was not willing to be taken for a fool, fumbling over himself to bow to this man’s whims. So he met those cunning eyes, a smile playing at his lips. The only sound was the scratch of Hazel’s pencil as she set up her notes for the meeting.

Moments passed, frozen in time, and then a sigh, “What can I do to ease your concerns?”

He struggled to reel in a smug expression. “Let’s start with the supply times.”

And they went back and forth, pulling and pushing, cunning and stead-fast, a fox and a wolf. Two hours later the contract had been amended to both their liking and they were once again shaking hands.

“I will ask my assistant to send over the revised contract, once my lawyer has looked over it.”

“I will do the same. Thanks for the meeting.” He guided the door open and waited for his guest to move through it.

“Until then, Grace.”

Without waiting for a reply Octavian snapped at his bodyguard and they disappeared down the passage.

“How do you feel about this?”

“There’s something not quite right Hazel, I just can’t figure out his angle.”

“Fully agree,” She shuddered, “He gives me the creeps.”

“Have you managed to find anyone else that could potentially take over this project?”

“Not yet Boss but you will be the first to know when I do.”

“Thanks Levesque, you truly are my saviour.” He gave her a grateful smile.

“Better put that on my gravestone,” She raised a brow.

“Done,” He laughed, “Any other requests?”

“Let’s get subs for lunch. I could do with some bread.”

He shook his head in amusement, “You drive a hard bargain but I’m willing to sacrifice for you.”

“Oh what was your plan Mr big-shot?” She pushed open the door to their offices.

“Today is burrito-bowl day and you know it.”

“I did forget,” She scrunched her nose, “But I’m extra grateful now.”

He snorted at her, ready to give a snarky remark before he was cut off by the shrill ring of his cell phone.

“Talk to me.”

“What’s up Grace, how’s your lunch hour looking?” Leo Valdez greeted.

“Levesque and I are going to get subs at Garden Girl, want to join?”

“I’ll meet you there.” And then he was gone.

“Ever the efficient caller isn’t he,” Hazel chuckled.

“Most days, which is weird since he’s a rambler face-to-face.”

They got to the contemporary restaurant on eighty-fifth avenue, spotting Leo outside.

“Hello,” His smile was wide as he hugged them.

“Who decided to give you a break? Don’t you have lectures right now?”

“Nah,” He grinned, “Guest lecturer teaching my slot this week, so I got two hours free.”

“The beauty of teaching postgrad, I assume?” Hazel asked.

“You know it Levesque!”

“What are we getting?”

“Don’t know about you but I’m getting the ‘Jazz It Up’ sub, got to stick to my New Orleans heritage.”

“Good afternoon my favourite customers? Where’s the rest of the crew?”

Jason smiled brightly, “Hello Katie.”

“Annabeth is at work, she has some big contract finally closing up,” Leo said by way of greeting.

“Frank is doing the security rounds at the office,” Hazel offered.

“Thalia isn’t even in the country right now.” He shrugged

“There’s still someone missing,” She frowned, scanning their faces, “Piper! Where’s the pretty lady?”

“Oh,” Leo winced, “Yea that is a touchy subject.”

Katie gave them a sympathetic look, “Well what can I help you with today? The usual for you Haze?”

They all rattled off their orders and chatted with the owner of Garden Girl while they waited. Jason had met Katie when he was doing business courses for his urban and regional planning degree. Her forest green eyes and bright smile struck him stupid the first time he saw her in their Entrepreneurship and Business Management lecture. He never had the guts to make a move, but it didn’t matter because she had just entered a relationship with Travis Stoll. Now they’re married and expecting a child, as is the latest update.

“How’s Project Hestia going Grace?” Leo asked, pulling out a chair.

“Ugh I’m having a hard time with the outdoor center. I’m not gelling with the contractor, and I don’t know what to do,” He scrubbed a hand down his face.

“I know I can’t ask what exactly is wrong because of legal reasons but what do you need done?”

He motioned to Hazel to explain as he bit into his sub.

“Basically we want to create an outdoor recreation center for the community which includes a gym area, a kids’ area, movies, a park and picnic area, rock climbing, you know the usual.”

“Right that shouldn’t be too hard to draft up,” Dark eyebrows scrunched, “But this guy is what? Trying to fuck you over?”

“Essentially,” Jason nodded, “The problem is we don’t know how?”

“Okay give me the weekend and let me call up some people. I think I know someone who can help.”

His eyes widened, “You are literally the best friend in the entire world. We’ve been looking for weeks, and we haven’t found anyone else who specialises in this.” 

Leo squeezed his hand, “I’m not letting you get screwed over, and my buddy would be more than happy to do it.”

“What’s his name?” Hazel had her phone out, the notes app open.

“Harley, he’s was the youngest kid in our engineering course. I think he graduated with his masters when he was like twenty,”

Jason choked, “What?”

“The kid is incredible. He beat us regularly in our weekly electrotech competitions.”

“Well tell him to give us a call and I’ll set up a meeting with Jason next week. We have until next Friday before we sign contracts with Titan.���

“Sounds good,” Leo plucked a pen he kept behind his ear and scribbled something on his hand, “So Jase,” His grin was trouble.

The blonde narrowed his eyes, preparing himself for trouble.

“What happened with you and Percy? Last I heard you were going on a date on Tuesday and then getting married.”

It was Hazel’s turn to choke, and after she recovered smacked her boss on the shoulder, glaring as if to say what the hell did you not tell me?

He rolled his eyes at his best friend, “I didn’t even get his number because I left so abruptly. And anyway I hear he’s dating Reyna now.”

Leo’s hickory eyes widened, “He’s what?”

“Yea I went by the school about a month ago and Nico told me they were dating.”

“How do they even know each other?”

“They met at the school. She was visiting Nico and he was wanted to become a sponsor cause he used to go there.”

“Yea sounds about right, he’s crazy nice.” Leo nodded

“How have I never met him before the dinner?”

“He moves around a lot,” Leo shrugged, “I’ve only met him a handful of times because whenever he’s here he makes a point to visit Annabeth.”

“Well he sounds like an angel,” His assistant mused.

“Looks like one too,” He muttered, “It’s okay anyway cause I uh–“ He scratched the back of his neck.

“Oh my gods,” Hazel’s earthy eyes glittered, “You met someone!”

Leo clapped his hands, a smile as bright as the sun on his face, “Who are they?”

“We’ve been on one date so no making a big deal about it.” He gave them a pointed look, “But Thalia set us up and she’s… wow.”

“Oh you are real caught up, aren’t you?” They raised twin brows at him.

“She’s just indescribable. She’s gorgeous and that’s the least impressive thing about her.”

“Well tell us everything.” Hazel prodded.

“Okay she’s a vet. She has four sisters, but she doesn’t talk to them much. She believes in order, oh it’s glorious. Everything in its space and a plan for everything.” He looked at Leo then, to which his friend flipped him off and then motioned for him to continue.

“She eventually wants to open her own animal clinic. And most importantly she gets along with Thalia.”

“She sounds like a dream Jase,” Hazel squeezed his shoulder, “I’m really happy for you.”

Leo nodded, eyes bright with love, “You deserve some happiness bud.”

“Thank you guys,” He found it hard to breathe as the overwhelming gratitude he felt for his friends swept through his body.

“Valdez, you’re going to the lake cabins in a couple weeks, right?”

“Oh yep,” Leo wiggled his eyebrows, “And guess what?”

“You are not!” He yelled, and then lowered his voice, “You are lying to me right now.”

“Oh gods,” Hazel caught on, “Are you ready? No wait of course you’re ready! When, how, what?”

“I bought the ring a couple weeks ago. We’ve been talking about it for a few months and this just feels like the right time.”

Jason whistled, “My best friends are finally getting married.”

“Oh gods I hope she says yes,” Leo looked a little sick all of a sudden.

“Of course she’s going to say yes. You guys have been inseparable since that first maths lecture when we all went to the wrong class.”

“There’s no way she turns you down, I’ve seen the way you look at each other.” Hazel agreed.

“The way we look at each other?” Leo frowned at her, confusion evident in his face.

“Like you’re the only ones in the room. Like she is the match and you are the striker.”

Jason nodded, “The moment you two locked eyes at the bonfire it was like the universe threaded two strands through the same needle.”

“Well now I’m emotional and feeling much more confident about it.”

They laughed then, getting up to hug each other. Jason felt the world settle, still, slow. The wind whispered softly, and beams of sun caught between them. If nothing else he had this, and he would hold onto it until his bones were dust and his soul was a star once more.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

So many weddings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tags (if you want to be added to/ taken off the tag list just let me know, all my channels of communication are open): @lesbian-peanuts

@leydiangelo

@queen-of-demons-and-hell

@msdrpreist

@sparkythunderstorm​

@nishlicious-01

@lucyisblue

[gingerhulksmash]

The sketchbook.

Hazel has gotten used to throwing away little scrap bits of paper bearing any marks of her boredom during senate meetings, but she’s beginning to regret it now, as she’s bundling old meeting notes into a recycling bag. They never contained anything vital to the meetings, just stickmen blowing rude speech bubbles, games of hangman and tic-tac-toe, Jason’s chicken scratch scrawl asking did she want to get donuts after the meeting? She can’t remember if she’d said yes, or if she’d smiled, or if she’d told him she had drills to run.

She hopes she’d said yes. She hopes she’d scribbled yes, I would love to get donuts with you, so he had known for sure that there was nothing else she’d rather have done that day. If she’d known what was coming, she’d have asked him, after every meeting, and stretched out what should have been a longer friendship. What should have been more time with her first friend in Camp Jupiter. What should have been more time with someone she saw as a—

As a—

She’s getting distracted, and her eyes are starting to prickle. With a shuddering sigh, Hazel goes back to gutting Jason’s old desk. Purging it of all traces of it’s former occupant, though she’s fighting the urge to have it towed towards his funeral pyre. Whoever sat at it next wouldn’t be quite so deserving, not of the title, not of the office, not of the desk so covered with the imprint of his late night work and coffee spills, she begins to wonder if they couldn’t conjure Jason’s soul from out of the grainy wood itself.

But, she reminds herself, it’s just a desk. No more a part of Jason than the office, the chair, the pages and pages of work scattered around. As she plucks the sheets from the drawers, her fingers brush the soft leather spine of an old sketchbook. She gasps quietly, fingers jarring with uncertainty — as if she’d found a diary, some private relic that Jason would have forbidden her to touch if he’d been there.

He is not there, and Hazel pulls the book from it’s hidden corner of the desk drawer, glancing around to make sure she is completely alone. 

Inside is a comfortingly familiar mess of writing, and drawings. Almost every page is stained with coffee or ink — after the Giant War, Jason’s hands had developed a slight tremor, and she sees it in the unsteady lines in the details. The pages are dated, signed, almost pedantically. Habits of a boy whose life had been pulled out from under him, once, twice, thrice. An ache in her chest tells her that he was making sure he forgot nothing, that he had something to fall back on to remember himself, if no one else did. Then, as she turns the pages, loose pieces begin to fall out. The first one she picks up again knocks the wind out of her a little.

She’s looking at her own face, sketched clumsily in blue ink. He’s not the most articulate artist — the eyes are uneven, the light seems to be coming from all directions, and not a shadow or crease in the clothes visible — but the light strokes of the pen, the careful curve of her nose and every stray hair, speaks volumes. Signed, dated, and labelled with her name, he has captured a moment she can’t remember at all. More loose sheets contain faces of friends, Frank, Reyna, Gwen, Bobby, Dakota — it goes on, and on. The sketches get better the closer they get to his last visit. She makes more appearances, as do their new friends. She gets misty eyed over drawings of Leo and Piper, passages written about Festus and how to repair him, just the way Leo taught them in case he couldn’t do it himself. 

The margins are full of birthdays, important dates, minute sketches of New Rome and Camp Halfblood, flashes of scenes from quests. He has not travelled far, and the places he has been allowed were chained to danger. But to anyone who had not known Jason, it read like a How To Remember Your Friends guide. Like a memoir. He’d even kept all the little notes that they had traded in senate meetings, wedged in between loose sheets and sometimes glued to the pages. He’d kept the ridiculous drawings as if they were precious photos. It’s getting harder and harder to keep a straight face. 

The last piece she picks off the floor is an old drawing of Thalia. She’d recognise the face anywhere, even with Jason’s haphazard drawing; blue eyes overlined so vividly, the blue ink had seeped through to the other side of the page, the hair an inky splash, and freckles dotted across a rakish grin. It was not signed, or dated, but it had one sentence scratched across so messily, he must have written it in a fit of something.

She’s real, his writing reads. She’s real, her name is Thalia Grace. She’s not imaginary. I’m not the only one. My sister is real. 

Something wet splatters on the page, and the ink bleeds blue down Thalia’s face. Hazel forgets to clean the rest of the desk, forgets she is surrounded by scraps of paper, and dust, and cobwebs. She sits on Jason’s chair, rests her head on her arms, and bawls.

——————————

Waiting for Nico to appear sends her back to her first days at Camp Jupiter. Hazel doesn’t know if she’ll see him, if he’ll warn her of an absence or a visit. Today of all days, she does not blame him for hiding a little. They grieve the same loss in different ways, but she needs her brother here, too. She needs the reassurance, and the understanding, and the presence to prove to her she’s not on her own.

Just like in old times, when her stomach is in knots about Nico not showing up, it’s a Grace who approaches her with a kind hand on her shoulder. But when Hazel turns to face Thalia, her heart leaps to her throat.

Thalia looks like she’s been quietly rusting the past few days. Pale, shoulders slack, her hair dripping down her face. She is not wearing her circlet, her eyes look bloodshot and grey. If someone told her that grief could rob a soul of it’s immortality, Hazel would have believed it from just one look at Thalia.

But there she stood, with a strained smile tugging at the corner of her mouth, looking through Hazel.

‘You wanted to see me?’

Suddenly, Hazel feels like this is the worst idea she’s ever had. Jason’s sketchbook sits heavy in her bag, weighing her thoughts down until there is no room for words to form. All she can think to say is how are you, but it is the silliest question in the world right now. 

‘I did,’ she sits as she speaks, gently prompting Thalia to do the same. 

Thalia remains standing for an awkward minute, wondering perhaps if Hazel has worse news for her. She seems to decide it isn’t possible, and sits, avoiding eye contact all the while.

‘Will you be leaving soon?’  ‘Don’t know. We have some business to attend to while we’re here,’ Thalia’s voice is brittle, too. 

Hazel has seen every sign of crying except the tears, and she can’t help but wince internally at how similar that was to Jason. The closest she’d ever come to seeing Jason weep was the night he had told her about Mount Othrys, and even then, he had held his composure for her sake. He did not like to make others feel obligated to comfort him, and she understood. If Thalia was anything like that...

‘You can’t take a few days off?’  Thalia makes a noise that might have passed as a laugh. ‘Hunters don’t get sick days, Levesque.’

It’s eerie. He’d almost said the same. Praetors don’t take sick days. 

They fall into silence. Hazel wishes Nico would appear soon, so that someone who knew Thalia better could deliver the book. So someone who knew Thalia better could handle the fallout. So someone who knew Thalia better could talk about her brother, and not make Hazel feel stupid for ever thinking of Jason as her own family, when Thalia had more right to cry and scream and break down than she did.

But that didn’t feel right. It didn’t feel fair. And the anger hits Hazel as soon as she’s thought it. If rifling through that sketchbook had shown her anything, it was that Jason had been as desperate for family all his life, as she had been desperate to not feel alone when she reached camp, too. Nico and Thalia could come and go as they pleased, but Jason and Hazel — they had been the ones left behind, they had been the ones to pick each other up again. They had been the ones to reach their hands out, with every fear of rebuke and rejection, to any other lonely soul who might be in need. 

Just as she starts to think, I should keep the book myself, Thalia sighs. 

‘If I don’t do my job, someone else suffers,’ she says, after a long pause. ‘What would I do with my days off, anyway?’

To this, Hazel has no answer. 

‘Are you taking any days off?’ Thalia continues, finally turning to look at her. ‘No. I... I can’t,’ ‘Why not? He’s like a brother to you, too.’

Again, her eyes prickle. A lump in her throat makes it hard to speak for a few more seconds, and in lieu of an answer, Hazel reaches a shaking hand towards Thalia’s. Thalia squeezes her fingers back weakly, and sniffs.

Slowly, Hazel reaches into her bag, and draws the sketchbook out. It feels heavier than anything she’s ever held before, but she holds it tightly, for fear that a second of slack grip would send all the pages flying into the air, never to be seen again. Gingerly holding it in her lap, she pulls the hand holding Thalia’s to rest on the cover. 

‘What is that?’ ‘It’s Jason’s,’ immediately, as Hazel says it, Thalia stiffens. ‘We used to draw together, now and again, when he had time. He, um. He kept a lot of the things I drew for him, and — and drew some of his own,’

Thalia is looking at the book as if it’s going to bite her, but before she can pull her fingers loose, Hazel closes her hand over them, too soft to constrain, but quick enough that Thalia might understand it as a plea to hold on.

With a shaking voice, Hazel finishes. ‘I want you t — I think you should have it.’

‘What am I going to do with it?’ The rasp in her voice tells Hazel she might cry, or yell. Maybe both. Both might be good for her, for Hazel, too.  ‘Look at it. On your days off,’ Hazel offers. ‘Look at it now.’ ‘I can’t. I didn’t even know he liked to draw,’ ‘That doesn’t matter,’ 

She peels the cover open, blinking furiously to ward away any tears, and lets Thalia try. When she doesn’t move, when Hazel can hear her breathing become difficult and tight, she turns the pages for her, shows her the friends and adventures scribbled there, the notes, the reminders. Her hands shake as she shows Thalia all the drawings of her, her eyes begin to blur. 

‘He loved you so much. It doesn’t matter if you didn’t know this about him, he’d have wanted you to have it,’ her voice cracks, at long last. ‘He barely knew me at the start and he loved me, he wouldn’t have cared if — if you didn’t —’

Thalia’s hands on her face, wiping away her tears, are what alert her to the fact she’s crying. Through her hazy vision, she can make out Thalia’s stony expression, fighting valiantly to not break. How like Jason; these are the habits of someone unaccustomed to having the space and permission to feel. She was no older than Hazel, something she remembers with another swoop of pain — Thalia had died at thirteen, too. She understood the gravity of a second chance, and now the pain of having that blessing tainted by loss, by grief, by danger.

Before she knows it, Thalia has pulled her into a hug, one arm tight around her shoulders, the other hand at the back of her head. She lets Thalia hold onto her, until it feels like she is being leaned on in turn, until she hears the quiet shudder of a sob that gets louder and more heartbroken.

The book, still in Hazel’s clutches and pressed to her front, is forgotten and unimportant for the moment. But when this is over, she knows Thalia will take it. When this is over, Nico will come home to Hazel. Tyson will go home to Percy. The cohorts and cabins in both camps will close in on their loved ones, and Thalia will vanish into the wilderness with nothing but this book, and it will be all she has of him. Paper, ink, a leather back that will slowly but surely break apart over the years as it’s yanked open to bring Jason back to life, for a moment or two. 

Hazel holds Thalia until her sobs subside to a tremor, and thinks, maybe, she doesn’t have to be alone. Maybe after this, when this is all over, Thalia will visit, they’ll get donuts, and pore over the book together. Maybe she’ll teach Thalia to draw, and they’ll draw together. That would have to wait — for now, she will make do with the comfort she is being offered and has the chance to give back. She’ll hold onto Thalia, and Thalia will hold onto her, and as he should have been there in person, Jason was there between them, with his family.

[hellswolfie]

House of Hades review

From the Heroes of Olympus. 

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE : 

- Jiper. I never liked this relationship, I don’t even understand their dynamic or why they like eachother so much, sometimes it just feels like it’s because they find eachother pretty and that’s it. Also they tend to bring the worst out of eachother, which could actually be interesting if it was done on purpose but since it’s not it’s just bad. By that mean I mean Piper charming up Jason when he so much as thinks about another girl who happens to have a crush on him. Her tendency to use her charm speak is really worrying at times, how she uses it on her friends and even boyfriend so casually like that’s mind control !!! And he thinks it’s “fair game” which NO it’s not it’s extremely messed up to be that insecure that you feel that you have to brainwash your boyfriend to make sure he doesn’t leave you. Ask Voldemort. Also there is the fact that Jason actually KNEW about Reyna’s feelings for him. I don’t blame him for not outright rejecting her because come on that’s an extremely awkward conversation to have, especially with someone you’re supposed to work with everyday to lead people. But like, I already thought he was an asshole because the first thing he said to Reyna when he came back after months of dissapearing was that he wanted to make his girlfriend visit New Rome. Now it just makes it worse. 

Frank’s physical change. It was just so unnecessary and...kind of send bad messages. What was so interesting about Frank was that he was NOT a stereotypical Ares kid, he even hated the idea of being one at first. Him being all chubby added a lot to his character and it’s really disappointing that now he’s super athletic and I’m so tired of the “he has to physically change and become more of a stereotypical hot dude to complete his arc” . 

Hazel’s magical powers. Look i wouldn’t say I HATE it but I just don’t see the point of it? It doesn’t add anything to her character, only powering up more even tho she was already far enough powered up already imo. I think maybe it would have been more interesting to give this arc to Piper since it’s in line with her Charm Speak. 

The lack of Nico x Leo. Yeah yeah I know it will never happen but at least one conversation between them could have been so interesting? Like this two are so alike in so many ways! They both have extreme self worth issues and see themselves at the outcasts. They both have a tendency to run away (Leo mentionned that in his first chapter in the lost hero) and hiding their feelings. They both lost their only family and have a lot of trauma. Also they both are real sweet boys inside even though they don’t like to show it too much (let’s not forget Nico was the only one who was nice to Hestia and Bob, and Leo really did something so kind for Frank there). So they could understand eachother like no one else could, but also bring eachother something because they have both different ways of coping with that : Leo is desperate to belong, being the joker and doing everything he can to be useful to the point he doesn’t think anyone would like him for him if he wasn’t all that so he kind of has to play a role in his mind, while Nico just withdrawns himself and rejects everyone around him. They could really balance eachother out. Like imagine their relationship development, going from dislike, Leo being creeped out by Nico and Nico finding his jokes annoying, but then they get to talk and realize they’re not so different and...I’m so frustrated we didn’t get that!!! (PS : if you know a fic where that happens during HoH please give me the link!!)

- It was too short to have 7 POV. Well actually, this is more of a compliment because that means I love the characters so much and I wanted to see more of them. But that almost means that each character didn’t have that much screen time in they POV which made their developemnt in there pretty rush. 

Coach Hedge. Look, I really liked him getting more depth with his girlfriend being pregnant and his dead mother but all along the book i couldn’t help but wonder...What is he good for? Why is he even here? I mean he’s supposed to be the protector right? But like, it’s always the kids (the KIDS) who have to take care of him and handle him so he doesn’t do anything stupid. So he’s supposed to be the protector but he never does anything useful, in fact he always finds a way to make the situation worse like when he makes Jason lose his sword because he wanted to beat up a giant turtle so bad. He never helps when it comes to plan because the only thing he says is that he wants to fight even though honestly he’s the weakest of them all. I mean maybe he’ll finally do something useful in the final book, who knows? I still liked knowing he’s the one who brough Clarisse to camp, though, makes so muchs sense...

THINGS I LIKED : 

- The POV characters. I loved seeing more of Frank, finally, when he was in the background in the last book, and I loved seeing his development and him being more and more of a leader. Of course I loved Percy, Annabeth and Leo that’s a given. Even though her new powers annoyed me, I still enjoyed Hazel’s POV because she’s still very interesting to follow and I love the way she thinks, she’s very clever. I also liked Piper’s chapter yeeeeaaaaahh !!! And same for Jason, FINALLY AFTER FOUR BOOKS I ACTUALLY LIKE HIM (because he finally has a personality) !!! This two can become very interesting once they stop being so wrapped up around eachother. Like Jason’s struggle between his Roman side and Greek side was really cool to follow, and Piper showing how badass she can be but always wanting to be more? Yes I like that ^^

- Friendships !!! Friendships !!! Finally !! Yeah I was glad this book focused a bit more on friendships than the last one. I loved the Jason x leo stuff, how Jason really seems to admire Leo and how he was the only who realized how sad Leo were after Calypse. Leo x Hazel finally became a friendship instead of the weird thing they had going on thanks god. Leo confectioning something to protect Frank’s staff was so adorable and kind of him like that’s my sweet boi !! I LOVE the potential of Jason x Nico and also maybe Frank x Nico. Piper crying and hugging Annabeth when they are reunited awwww !! And Piper and Hazel bonding over Hazel learning Piper how to fight and Piper helping her with her magic I really liked that  (even though I would have like it better if Rick would have showed it instead of just telling us about it). Even Frank and Hedge were pretty heartwarming. 

- The Tartarus plot. WOW. It was just...WOW. It was so well written from start to finish, i could feel the horror of this place and how it changed Annabeth and Percy (especially Percy) which was so interesting. Of course the Percabeth moments gave me life. And like...the monsters that give them curses when they die, Nyx, The Nice Titan and The Nice Giant, Tartarus himself...It was just all so good and hurt in the best of way. The “Bob says hello” went straight to my heart. Favorite part of the book. 

Caleo : Do i think they should have had more time to develop if Leo is supposed to be THAT in love? Yes. Do i think Nico x Leo would have been so much better and interesting and had so much more potential especially at a slow burn romance where they both become best friends and fall in love in this book but are to afraid to admit yet (again, please give me a link if you know a fic that does that)? Also yes. But I have to admit, they were hella cute. I liked their dynamic (we’re all sluts for ennemies to lovers, no?), and i get how Calypso can be good for Leo : she also has abandonment issues and they work very well together, she’s not afraid to tell him off and he really seems to have grown up after meeting her (and getting his first kiss, which again : hella cute). And I also see how he can be good for her : he’s not like the other Stereotypical Hero she met on her Island, she actually had to get to know him instead of falling in love instantly, and got more in touch into her more mischevious side which I liked to see. Also if he does come back to her (and I better hope he does because he deserves it), that could be an adorable scene and they could have their shop they talked about and...Yeah I like them. 

NICCOOOOOO : my baby death boy finally got more screen time and damn it was so good. Of course there was the Cupid Scene. I didn’t like how he was basically forced to come out but I still loved the intensity of this scene, and the revelation that he was in love with Percy and he hated himself because of that? My baby needs a hug (and while it hurt, it was also pretty funny in the end how Percy was so confused about Nico’s aptitude towards him, always and forever oblivious to when someone has a crush on him). But also that makes so much sense. His relationship with Jason? Loved it, loved how Jason gave him advice about opening up more to people (and I totally relate to Nico, I’d much rather raise the dead and hide in hell than doing that) while still being kind of scared of him but wanting to be supportive and seeing how this child fucking needs therapy !! I can’t wait for Nico to finally feel like he belongs (which he would have with Leo!!!!). Nico x Hazel has my heart, their dynamic is just so fucking sweet, like even though she doesn’t totally understands him because he still keeps her at arm lenghts, you can see she loves her brother so much and it’s clear it is mutual. Like forehead kiss my heart (forehead kisses are a weakness of mine) !!!! The scene of him and Frank sharing their interest about Mythomagic was so pure and broke my heart at the same time, I mean like Percy said he’s not that little kid insouciant kid anymore :(  (also props to Percy for not being an ass to him which doesn’t really happen often). Anyway I LOVED seeing more of him. He’s such a great and interesting character and i love him so much. Also of course, like always, he was a total badass and I have to asmit, even though I want him to belong, it was kind of amusing how this scrowny, pale and needy of sleep 14 years old terrified the all powerful demi gods on the ship (well ok he is the most powerful of them all but still). His vibe is just that good. But I really want him to have this someone who manages to make him slow down his walls, you know? (even if it’s not Leo snif). 

So that was it. I don’t know it that’s ineresting for anyone but I like to vent so ^^

My reviews for : 

The Lost Hero; Son of Neptune; the Mark of Athena

[alextriestowritestuff]

Mark of Athena Re-read

Hey guys! If you’ve been keeping up with my last couple of posts, you’ll know I’ve been re-reading the Heroes of Olympus (HoO) series by Rick Riordan, starting with the Son of Neptune. If you want to my thoughts on it (spoilers included) and my background with the series, click here. I made a little bit of rant post about my feelings about the HoO series overall so far and you can find that here! This post will be about the Mark of Athena (MoA) and as always, spoilers abound.

Soooo y’all...I think this book is worse than the Lost Hero. I feel so bad for saying that bc I hated tLH (Like I’d give that book 2 stars) but god, this was so bad. No wonder I forgot what happened when I originally read it. Before I get into it, I will say I’m usually not negative in my ‘reviews’-I’ll give credit where it’s due (I did that in tSoN with Hazel and Frank who weren’t really my fav characters to start with) but this book has very little redeemable aspects imo. So I’ll start with the thing I was most irritated about: Piper.

Piper...Piper...Piper. Gods, none of her chapters ever passed the Bechdel test. I DESPISE her and I hated every single one of her chapters. With characters like Frank, I admitted that sometimes his chapters were a bit boring but I never hated the guy’s narration. Piper, however, is an insecure hypocrite. Let me show you.

So at one point, Annabeth, Piper, and Hazel meet up with Aphrodite. The POV is Annabeth’s and while Aphrodite is talking to them, it seems like Piper is just embarrassed to have her around. 

“Mother!” Piper said. “You’re embarrassing me.” “Well, I don’t see why,” the goddess said. “Just because you don’t appreciate my fashion tips, Piper, doesn’t mean the others won’t. I could do a quick makeover for Annabeth and Hazel, perhaps silk ball gowns like mine—” “Mother!” 

And a few lines later she says again “ ‘Mother, Piper said, “is there a reason you’re here?’” (30). 

Okay so someone tell me why this girl says 10 pages later “But also, Piper was secretly hurt not to have her mother to herself. Aphrodite had barely looked at her. She hadn’t said a word about Jason. She hadn’t bothered explaining her conversation with Reyna at all. It was almost as if Aphrodite no longer found Piper interesting. Piper had gotten her guy. Now it was up to her to make things work, and Aphrodite had moved on to newer gossip as easily as she might toss out an old copy of a tabloid magazine” (40). LIKE GIRL MAKE UP YOUR MIND. Do you want your mom’s attention or not? But I’m highkey interested in what Aphrodite said to Reyna tho.

Let’s talk about Reyna for a second. First off, I feel so bad for her?? Percy turned her down-fine, he has a gf. Then I thought Jason had feelings for her but he says this in MoA, page 19: “It’s just…I never felt that way toward Reyna,” Jason said, “so I didn’t think about its making you uncomfortable. You’ve got nothing to worry about, Pipes”. Like damn can Reyna get any love?? I get that he doesn’t like her anymore since he met Piper but to have never liked her? That’s rough. And notice how this quote is from page 19, but again on p. 40, Piper is still so insecure in their relationship. I don’t she’s listened to a word he said at all. Then towards the end of the book, she says oh I love you but she literally didn’t know the man’s age prior to that. Like what?? Did they even kiss this book? I think like once lmao. Also speaking of the birthday thing, Piper says this while she waits for Jason to blow out his birthday candles.

“Well?” she urged. “Blow out the candles.”

Jason did. Piper wondered if he’d made a wish—hopefully that he and Piper would survive this quest and stay together forever. She decided not to ask him. She didn’t want to jinx that wish, and she definitely didn’t want to find out that he’d wished for something different. 

Me @ Jason: This your girl? Come get her. Because Imma hurt her feelings. What do you mean you want him to wish to stay together forever? He should wish for Gaea to you know die so everyone can be safe. If I ever met Piper in person, I’d fight her. ON SIGHT. 

In a related note, I’ve got nothing to say about Jason. He was fine. He passed out alot during this book, didn’t do much for how hyped his powers are supposed to be. I will say when he and Percy were possessed and they fought each other, Percy totally won that fight. He knocked Jason the hell out and was about to end his whole career until Piper got Blackjack to knock him out. But overall, I think Jason’s rather bland and him and Piper have NO chemistry. But I don’t think he deserves insecure Piper as a girlfriend. She’s a whole ass child of Aphrodite and she’s worried about her relationship...let me move on.

My main issue with the book lies in the structure and plot. The previous two books had 3 narrators and each set of trio had a specific prophecy assigned to them-i.e: Percy, Hazel and Frank had to free death, retrieve the eagle. The prophecies are a catalyst to get them to go on the quest. And then obviously, we have the overarching prophecy of the seven that will come to fruition in small chunks until the last book of the series. That’s fine. So the issue with MoA is that now Rick is handling seven characters + Coach Hedge (like why was he necessary??). He has 4 POVs which threw me the hell off bc we had 3 in the previous two books and honestly, I think we could’ve gone without one of them (Percy’s actually). As a writer, it’s hard to balance multiple characters in the same setting constantly. If they have a conversation, one or two of them will have less lines because other characters have already said them. Therefore to give everyone adequate ‘screen time’, Rick had to separate them by keeping groups of three or two on their own side quest. As a result, however, reading the book felt like I was being brake checked constantly. Ex-We follow Percy, Frank, and Hedge to an Aquarium then we follow Annabeth, Hazel, and Piper to meet Aphrodite, then they encounter the Romans, then Piper and Jason meet Hercules and get the horn and so on. Like they’re constantly shifting and doing stuff but not going as a group so it feels like I’m constantly trying to catch up. There’s too many pit stops for my liking. And I deadass have no idea what most of it had to with the MoA prophecy. 

This disjointed-ness is what makes me rate it lower than tLH. Because while I didn’t like Piper or Jason in that book, it was still cohesive. There was a plot and it was followed. Another reason I might feel this way toward MoA is because Rick has a formula and it’s starting to be predictable. Think about the original Greek myths-there’s one main demigod like Hercules, there’s a quest, there’s godly interference so it makes sense the the PJO/HoO characters have the same thing. But all this talking to gods (esp gods we’ve already met like Aphrodite) is taking up so much space and slowing the plot. It also didn’t help that the minor villians in this book are all unlikeable?? All they did was talk. Otis and Ephialtes. Porchy and Keto. Arachane. All they did was talk. Here’s how to defeat a PJO/HoO villain: con them to help you/let you go or fight them. That’s it. 

This book is where I started to really regret reading the series. Like I was just over it. The plot was somehow slow and all over the place at the same time. The last couple of chapters were good because I was like finally, something relevant to the prophecy is happening. 

Let me leave you guys with some positives about this book though:

1. Annabeth’s POV. What a gal. When she faces Arachane, Annabeth mentions that she doesn’t have an active power like the other Seven but she has her intelligence. And I’m like yes girl, you are brave and everything I want to be. I would read the PJO series from her POV over this series.

2. Percabeth. They kept promising to come back to each other and my heart melted. Percy was so worried about letting her go follow the Mark but he knew it’s what she had to do and he let her go. And ugh, them falling got me all over again. And like just their chemistry is off the charts. Piper and Jason could never. 

3.  Percy’s comments about Luke. Percy realizes that he’s around Luke’s age when Luke went all ‘Gods are bad, their children are pawns’ and like I get chills from reading that passage because you can tell Percy’s tired. He can’t have a life because of these quests, he’s constantly moments away from dying. He never really got a chance to be a teenager. And I get he wants to help people and keep the world from being taken over by bad guys but he’s also human. He’s seen demigods die...he’s traumatized. Like Percy, I really understand Luke better now (right idea, wrong execution) and l see how tired Percy is. 

4. The Leo/Hazel/Frank disaster of a love triangle. Like I’ve mentioned before, I want Hazel, a THIRTEEN YEAR OLD child, to be left the hell alone when it comes to romance. But because Uncle Rick insists on pairing up everyone, I have to oblige. So here I am. The amount of times I cackled at Frank and Leo’s digs at each other is astronomical. Like shots were fired, no one held back. I was like is this even MG/lower end of YA anymore with all this salt?? Over the years I’ve been spoiled about the series so I know that Leo somehow ends up with Calypso so I know nothing will come out of the love triangle (and it seems to be wrapping up bc Leo and Frank complimented each other’s abilities toward the end there) but passive aggressive-ness was peak. 

5. Every single conversation between Reyna and Annabeth. Like two powerhouses talking about wanting to save their camps and the world. I loved it. Hands down. I hope they can be friends when this is all over. 

6. And lastly, the reunion of Percabeth. The Judo flip. The fact that Percy talked about having a future with her. 

Thanks for reading if you made it down here and I’ll see you guys in a couple of days with my House of Hades update. This book and the one after it I’m reading for the first time ever so I’m going in semi blind (like I said, I know some spoilers). I’m currently on chapter 2 or 3 of that and ermm, it was a weak intro but I’ll keep going :) rooting for Percabeth to make it through. 

[archangel1961]

Jercy Headcanon #08

It was pure coincidence that Percy arrived in Camp Jupiter to see a disguised Jason. The older teen was back to restock and to re-calibrate their strategy against the supposedly dead emperors. Despite the other’s cover, the son of Poseidon can recognize him anywhere. 

But Jason is dead. It can’t be him. 

And yet, the kid’s aura and power reminds him very much of the son of Jupiter. 

With a shaky hand, Percy grabbed the brunet’s shoulder. Said guy’s grey eyes widened, pausing his conversation with Reyna. 

Bellona’s daughter stared at Percy like he’s mad. She was about to reprimand him, Percy saw her moved. But his entire focus is on the man in front of him. Who smiled gently, a soft golden glow erasing the false colors. His blond hair and bright blue eyes that never fails to awe the older taking its rightful place. 

“Hey Percy”

The older teen couldn’t helped himself and hugged the other buy tightly. Hands roaming Jason’s face when they slightly parted, as if grounding himself in reality. That Jason is really here. 

Jason’s face held a sad smile that Percy often seen in his dreams. Where they argue whether he could offer the world in exchange for Jason. 

“W-What- How- “

With a crooked grin the other stepped away from the embrace.

“Doors of death. Things stirring in the underworld again. You know, usual stuff.”

Their moment was rudely ruined by a fuming Reyna who slapped Jason’s arm with such force that the other yelped in pain. 

The current praetor yelled at the other for the son of Jupiter’s ‘stupid exploits’ and ‘hero-complex’. All the while crying and trying not to hug or punch the other at the same time.

Percy watched all this in the sidelines, thinking of a way to convince Jason to stay back in the mortal world.

As if hearing his thoughts, Jason glanced at him and shook his head sadly. 

He watched his cousin look away after that response. Knowing he had the look of grief and brokenness etched upon his face. Like he always has whenever they have this topic in his dream. 

“It’s only for a while.”

It’s what Jason said after they asked him how long the entire going back to life thing is going to last.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Days passed and reunions happened. Thalia slapped and hugged her brother and gave him a 3-hour lecture about stupid stunts and heroic bullshits. Reyna joining her during the 2nd hour. Annabeth joining during the third. Jason and Leo finally met and cried like ugly babies. Nico punched the other with all his might. The rest of the seven all hugged and spent time with the blond. Apollo came with Meg, and the former god apologize profusely. For not being able to protect him properly and for being a horrible older brother. 

Jason smiled through everything and accepted it all. 

Percy was iffy with Piper’s presence at the start but one glare from Jason made him behave. He still hasn’t forgiven the other for breaking his cousin’s heart but he’ll try to get over the hate. 

“Hate doesn’t suit you so stop it.”

Was what his cousin told him so he’d give it a try. 

They talked again a few days later, when they both opted to relax by the Tiber river.

“Don’t you wanna live again?”

The blond was silent before facing him.

“Of course I do.”

“Then why won’t you let me?”

Smiling sadly (Jason’s been doing that a lot lately and each time it hurts Percy more than the last), he replied, “I technically don’t have a home to go back to.”

Perking up Percy was eager to reply.

“You can come home to us! To our apartment in Manhattan. And don’t you say it’s for family because you ARE my family. You can come to me.”

He added the last part when he saw the younger opened his mouth to protest.

The son of Poseidon can practically hear the gears working on his cousin’s mind. And knowing him, Percy already knows what he has to say. 

“I’ll have to bear with your hideous snoring though”

“HEY!”

They both laughed together with no care in the world. 

“So what do you say?”

And again, Jason would shake his head sadly. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

And then the day of Jason’s second departing came. They all knew because the children of Hades felt cogs of the underworld shifting.They felt the doors being back to its rightful place and souls coming back to where they came from.

That and Jason started glowing that soft golden light that probably signals for something important, judging their previous experience. 

After glowing, Jason stood wearing a white long-sleeve tunic with brown laces in the chest area, and white pants. 

The blond searched for Percy’s sea-green ones, a silent message that it’s time to go. 

The demigods of both camps gathered at the center of Camp Jupiter, ready to bid their last farewell. 

Percy made a brief prayer to Hecate and in a snap of a finger, he was wearing his orange camp shirt and armor, completed by a praetor’s purple cape. 

He can see the puzzled expression of the blond but he offered no explanation.

Instead, he walked towards him, the whole of the demigods making path for him. He stood right in front of Jason, head held high. 

He can feel the stares of their friends, watching his every move. 

Percy with every bit of confidence in his being, knelt right in front of Jason, like he’s a god to be worshiped, and looked directly to widened twin blue skies. 

“Pontifex maximus Grace, I, Perseus Jackson, former praetor of the 12th Legion, am here to express my eternal gratitude for your sacrifice and dedication for Rome, your friends and family. It is my greatest honor that I get to fight beside you in order to save the world and the people we held dear.”

Percy’s voice was clear and strong. Everyone heard and felt the emotion that he was conveying. Jason’s very eyes are watery but he held his ground. He cannot, doesn’t want, to ruin the other’s spiel.

“It is my deepest regret, that you die earlier than you should. You’re supposed to be just experiencing life. Free of responsibilities and free of war. In this I hope you forgive me, that I cannot have done more to extend your life.”

Percy knows his hands are shaking. But he kept his left fist on the ground, the other resting on his elevated knee. It’s the first time he was determined to be proper and formal. Jason deserves this much.

“I would like you to know, that I am grateful for you trust, for laughing at our enemy’s face knowing that despite your absence, your trusted friends are here to avenge not just you but the beaten, the tortured, and the misguided. I hereby promise, in the river Styx, that I will not rest until I have Caligula’s head as my trophy.”

It was eerily quiet. Every single demigod and former god waiting for the Jason’s response. 

Finally, in one swift movement, Jason wiped his tears and mirrored his cousin’s form.

“Former praetor Jackson, I, Pontifex maximus Jason Grace, am more than grateful for the family you had given me. For the lessons you had taught me. And for the love that you shared with me. It is my honor to fight alongside you, and to lay my life knowing that you would be here to fight our battles. My only regret, is that you aren’t able to rest after fighting one war too many. I hope for your happiness, for our friends’ and families’ happiness. It is a gift to have lived in the same generation as you.”

Percy saw tears from almost everyone. Even the tough-shells Reyna and Nico. 

Smiling, he offered his hand to Jason and stood up with him. He watched the son of Jupiter take a few steps back before resuming his final agenda.

Without facing the crowd, eyes locked onto blue ones, he boomed, “12th Legion Fulminata! Column formante!”

All of New Rome stood in formation, Jason watching everyone with awe as the crowd followed the Greek’s order.

“Ave Pontifex maximus Grace!”

“Ave! Ave! Ave!”

They repeated the cheer thrice, banging their weapons and shields together. Even the greek demigods are joining the cheer. 

And with the spur of everything Percy watched his cousin brighten and start a cheer.

“Ave Praetor Perseus Jackson!”

“Ave! Ave! Ave!”

They all clapped and hugged and cheered. Greeks and Romans celebrating the unity of their people. 

Percy stepped towards Jason and grabbed his cheeks.

“You’re a child of Rome and of Greece. Never forget that.”

Through tear-streaked face Jason nodded, grateful for his family, for his friends. But most of all, he’s eternally grateful for Perseus Jackson. 

Percy felt Jason disappear. The other forming into a scatter of bright golden lights floating towards the heavens. He watched him go, sea-green eyes never leaving the golden specks of light, knowing Jason would be back. He’s a got a strong feeling that he would be back. 

Caligula better watch out because whether Jason is gone or not, he’s gonna fight alongside Percy. Like they did before. 

[everykindofnerd13]

So basically, they’re not demigods, they’re just magical creatures, and they did go through the two wars, but this is EXTREMELY different from canon, so just, take what you will from it. Two camps, not different gods, shifters, vampires, demons, met people, all that Jazz. Luke isn’t evil! Yay! I just really wanted Annabeth to have a good role model camp buddy so yee.

Nico glared at all the happy couples surrounding him. Most of them he didn’t know, then the only two left were his best friend Jason, and his girlfriend Reyna and the other couple was the one Nico wanted to see the least.

Perseus Jackson. And his very long-time girlfriend Annabeth Chase. It wasn’t like Nico resented Annabeth for anything, how could he blame her for falling in love with him, if Nico couldn’t see anything wrong with him. That didn’t change the fact that Nico was in love with Percy Jackson, but there was no doubt that Percy was not at all interested in Nico. After all, He still saw Nico as the ten year old Italian kid he saved. Nico couldn’t blame him for it either. When they’d met Nico had been immature, nerdy, and very childish. But what do you expect from a ten year old?

He glared at the happy golden couple of the two camps. After Piper and Jason has worked things out after the war and figured out they weren’t right for eachother, Nico found himself hoping maybe Annabeth and Percy would come to the same conclusion. But alas, it had been three years since the Giant War’s end and still here Nico stood, alone and Percy-less.

He’d tried to date other people, tried to get over Percy with new relationships. But that felt too selfish for him. The first boyfriend he’d taken was Will Solace and that probably felt the worse. Because Will was an incredible person, and he deserved someone who loved him, not someone trying to get over someone else. It was cruel to stay with him. So Nico had explained to Will what was going on in his head and broken up with him, and to his surprise, Will had only pulled him into a hug and said that he understood, that it was okay to hurt for someone.

The next boyfriend Nico took was Ethan Nakamura. Nico had managed to convince himself he was over Percy at that point and he had grown far too close to Will to even think of asking him out again, it’d be too similar to asking out Hazel. So, Nico had pursued the attractive Asian from Camp Jupiter, but after about a month, Nico realised that just wasn’t right either, because he was comparing Ethan to Percy every chance he got. After also explains to Ethan what had happened, and getting a surprising similar response to Will’s Nico resigned to eternal loneliness. Loneliness and Pain. For all of Eternity, because he had made the awful mistake of accepting immortality, and not checked to see if any of the others offered had been as well.

Percy had accepted immortality, alongside Annabeth, Piper, Jason, Reyna, Clarisse, Chris, Will, Jake, Hazel, Frank, Leo, Luke, Octavian, Bianca, Thalia. Basically everyone who fought alongside Nico in their war had been gifted and accepted immortality. So now, Nico was stuck with Percy Jackson for eternity, having to watch him be hopelessly in love with Annabeth.

Which Nico couldn’t blame Percy for either. Sure Annabeth has a few flaws but she was beautiful. Sun-kissed skin, bright blonde hair and intense grey eyes. She was built like a goddess, and she was confident. They’d been through literal hell and back together, but Nico couldn’t help but be jealous. A tiny selfish part of him wished that they’d just fall apart unexpectedly. But that would be selfish, exactly what his mother had worked hard to teach him was wrong all those years ago.

“Nick, you good?” Jason asked from beside him, swishing around the alcoholic drink that Reyna kept preventing Nico from drinking, he was only 19.

“Yeah, yeah sorry, I-Uh...” Nico blanched, he didn’t have a reason for his abnormal activity, “I spaced out...” he mumbled and looked at the very non-alcoholic coke he was holding, and swished it around too. Jason furrowed his brows but didn’t question it and just went back to his conversation with Reyna.

For another 15 minutes Nico sat there next to his friends while they talked before Percy and Annabeth approached. And, despite not being dressed up at all, Nico thought Percy looked absolutely gorgeous. His hair was tousled, probably from sleep, considering the man never bothered to fix it, and he was wearing a pair of jeans that hugged Percy’s athletic thighs in just the right way, and his chest was adorned with a white button down shirt that has the top three buttons open to reveal his chest. Nico held his breath, he didn’t want to talk for fear of accidentally saying something he didn’t want to.

“Hey guys!” Percy greeted as they approached, one hand laid around Annabeth’s waist. Nico only waves silently while Jason immediately struck up a conversation with the water nymph. Nico kept his eyes on his cup. He only stayed a few minutes longer before pulling Reyna down to whisper in her ear.

“Hey, I’m not feeling good, I think I’m gonna head home.” He then let go and she looked at him with a knowing and sympathetic look. Currently, basically the only people who didn’t know that Nico was hopelessly in love with Percy and had been since he was ten were Percy himself and Annabeth, not that they should or would ever find out. He nodded at her before taking a step back, just out of the light and disappearing into the shadows. Just before he lost sigh of the group he saw Percy laugh then down to kiss Annabeth, Nico felt himself almost get sick. Not because those two kissing was gross, he wasn’t a child anymore, but because watching the person you’ve been in love with for as long as you’ve been aging kids another person can take a real toll on your heart, and in repspomse your stomach.

“Nico?” Will asked when he saw his best friend appear in the corner of the living room. Nico was dazed for only a moment before he took off and ran toward his bedroom. Will looked after him concerned before leaning up to peck Jake on the lips then running after his roommate.

Will had rejected the party invitation in favor of spending a date night with Jake, and while he didn’t regret it, maybe it would have been better to just bring Jake to the party judging by the sound of vomiting coming from Nico’s personal bathroom. Will burst through the door and started rubbing Nico’s back and humming, grabbing a few pins from the sink counter and holding back Nico’s hair with them. When Nico finally stopped throwing up what looked like only water and maybe a little soda, he rested his arms on the toilet and sat his face on rope before beginning to sob.

Will’s eyes widened comically in panic as he began to whisper encouragements to Nico. He didn’t think that Nico would have done anything too stupid and Reyna didn’t ever let him drink, so Will was just searching for a reason for Nico to be so upset. Jake came to the bathroom door after a while and stood in the doorway looking also worried. Will folded his three middle fingers into his palm and held his hand to his ear, silently asking for his phone. Jake nodded and left the doorway to retrieve it while Will turned to look at Nico.

“Neeks?” He asked pitifully. Nico took a deep breath and looked at Will with blood shot eyes and an obviously tear stricken face. His answer was accompanied by a hoarse rasp form the vocal stress of vomiting.

“Will...” he muttered before beginning to cry again. Will shook his head sadly and pulled Nico into his arms. Cooing softly to soothe his bestfriend. When Jake returned Will took his phone and opened Notes, quickly typing in the names of Nico’s closest friendship circle. Then he handed the phone back, pointed at it and did the phone gesture again. Name nodded and took off to go call everyone on the list.

“Nico, please tell me what’s wrong. I can’t help you if you don’t.” He tried. Nick cried and looked up at him, a completely heartbroken look that Will was far too familiar with playing on his features. And he immediately knew what it was. Will wrapped his arms around Nico again, rubbing his back and running his fingers through his hair.

“Why is it so unfair Will...” Nico cried into his bestfriend’s chest and Will only held him tighter.

“Why don’t I get a happy ending like all of you...” he was genuinely sobbing now, holding onto the sides of Will’s jacket in a death grip. It was something Will had associated with these kind of things by now. It was how Nico grounded himself so that he wouldn’t spiral in self doubt.

“Nico...” Will muttered and kisses the top of Nico’s head, “You will get your happy ending, you just have to be patient.” Nick shook his head rapidly and shoved Will away.

“No! No! You say that everytime and somehow, it only hurts more the more I see him! I can’t let go and I don’t know why but I don’t think I even want to! It’s impossible! The only way I’d ever get over Percy Jackson is if I forgot him all together!” During his little rampage, the people on Will’a list arrived. Bianca, Hazel, Frank, Ethan, Alabaster, Lou, Cecil, Jason, and Reyna.

“That could be arranged, Alabaster announced, and everyone turned to him.

“What? I’m a mage right? And Nico is a demon, we both have psychic powers meaning I can make him feel forget anything, even Percy’s whole existence.” Nico looked up hopefully but he was quickly shut down by Will’s voice.

“Absolutely not.” He exclaimed. He stood up, letting go of Nico and poked Alabaster in the chest.

“I know how all that stupid memory magic works and it’s not safe! He may not remember Percy but he’d see him again and that would hurt his head, he’d get a mind numbing headache every time he caught sight of the guy!” Will exclaimed, backing Alabaster into Nico’s bedroom.

“So I’ll move away.” Nico reasoned and everyone turned to look at him.

“What?” Will asked and Nico shrugged.

“I stay here because I love you guys, not... well, I don’t technically need you guys, even though you’re really helpful.” Nico explained then he looked up at the mixture of shocked and hurt faces on his friends and sister’s faces, “Will! You’d get to live alone with Jake! You wouldn’t have to deal with me anymore! And it’s not like I’d forget about you guys I could still come and visit you.” Ethan, Will, and Nico’s sisters all glared.

“If you make one more suggest like that Niccoló, I will not hesitate to lock you in this room surrounded by white leds and with no windows for the rest of your eternal life.

“That sounds better than having to hurt like this everytime I go out.” Nico explained and fell back on his bed.

“Don’t say stuff like that!” Hazel shouted and slapped Nico’s arm, “You act like you’re completely oblivious to everything everyone feels except for Percy! Don’t you see that we all love you! Why can’t you understand that you disappearing would hurt us a whole lot more than it would help you!?” Hazel was crying now and Nico frowned deeply before pulling her down into a hug on his bed, which everyone slowly joined.

“I’m sorry,” Nico apologized, “that I said those things. I know that you guys love me, and I love you too, but I’m just... I’m so tired of hurting...”he said and began to cry. Hazel hugged him tighter and so did Bianca.

“What do we do?” Jason asked and Will sighed in defeat, the first to speak up was Ethan.

“We could always try love-cursing Percy.” He suggested earning a glare from Nico.

“Absolutely not, those things are evil. I’m not gonna force myself on Percy if he’s not interested in me.” Which caused Ethan to sigh before Bianca spoke up.

“We plan better. We keep them away from eachother, if Percy is going somewhere, we plan something different, we work our schedules around it.”

“No, I will work my schedule around him, you guys will do whatever the hell you want.” Nico protested and glared at his friends. They all conceded then headed back out to the living room to watch movies all together. Lou invited Cecil over, and Hazel and Bianca also invited their significant others and they all fell asleep in cuddle piles about Nico, Will, and Jake’s living room.

——————————————————————————

It wasn’t for another four months that Nico saw Percy again. He had been sitting in his room drawing at his desk when there was a sudden knock at the door. Nico groaned and stood up to open it. He felt his heart practically drop into his stomach at the sight of the water nymph on his doorstep. He swallowed the lump welling in his throat.

“H-hey Percy...” he greeted him faintly and was met by a glare that Nico never wanted to catch again. He blinked back tears as he leaned against the door.

“Can I Uh, can I get you something? Will and Jake are out right now if you need me to take a message I will.” Nico said, still no response from Percy.

“I know that Will and Jake are our. I made sure of it before I came over. I can to talk to you.” Percy’s voice was sharp, cutting, painfully aimed at Nico.

“Uh, yeah, yeah sure.” Nico steppes out of the way, letting the older, attractive nymph into his home.

“So... um,” Nico didn’t know why to say he didn’t want to say anything. Percy had just shown up on his doorstep, looking angry after Nico had been avoiding him for two months so Nico didn’t see any reason he should be over here so angry. Until it hit him. Maybe Percy knew, maybe Percy knew that Nico was in love with him, and he was disgusted, and he was here to tell Nico to never come near him again. Nico swallowed and again and took a shaky breath.

“What’s wrong with you?” Percy asked vindictively and Nico looked up in shock, even though he’d been readying himself for the pain.

“What?” He asked meekly and Percy rolled his eyes.

“Don’t try to be cute here Di Angelo, I know you’ve been avoiding me and I wanna know why. Why are you avoiding me, refusing to go anywhere I go, rejecting my attempts to hang out with you as much possible, I’m not stupid Nico.” Percy explained and Nico glared at him.

“I’m perfectly aware that you aren’t stupid Perseus.” He argued and Percy glared angrily.

“Then what is it? What did I do to make you hate me?” He asked, words so sharp they felt genuinely painful to Nico.

“I don’t hate you Percy.” Nico whispered, standing behind the couch while Percy sat in the arm chair.

“Then...” Percy’svoice broke and Nico looked up to find tears in his eyes, “Why are you not talking to me?” He asked and Nico sighed. This was it. This was how he was gonna get left behind by Percy Jackson.

“Because I’m in love with you! It’s not good for you or for me for us to spend times together! You’re in a relationship Percy! And I’m just a kid! You’ve always thought of me as Bianca’s little brother and I know that! But I’ve always thought of you as the greatest thing in the world! Okay! So why would you want to be around a kid you’ve known for 9 years that has had a crush on you since then when you’re in a happy relationship! That’s uncomfortable Percy!” Nico shouted and Percy looked on in shock, suddenly Nico broke down sobbing, falling to the floor, nowhere near enough focus to try to shadow travel.

“Oh Nico...” Percy whispered as he approached and wrapped his arms around Nico who flinched before leaning into the nymph’s touch, “I don’t feel uncomfortable around you, I can’t imagine feeling like you’re a home wrecker. And I don’t think think of you as a little kid any more either. Nico, you fought in two wars, you were only ten during the first one. You were 14 by the end of it. You’re not a kid, you may have been a kid at one point, I can see that that you’ve grown up, okay?” Nico was still crying into Percy’s chest. So he felt it when Percy took a labored breath.

“I’m not in a happy relationship. I haven’t been in a relationship for about three months now and I haven’t been happy with Annabeth in almost a year. Though I think we both realised the pain when we left Tartarus. Annabeth and I love eachother, but there was never anything more than platonic love between us. I would walk to the ends of the earth for her, but I wouldn’t marry her. We weren’t a match, depite what everyone thought. I think they just wanted the fairytale ending. It always seemed like everyone was pushing us together. Our parents, the rest of the counsel, Gaea even seemed convinced that we were meant to be. Which wasn’t true... I was a kid Nico, I didn’t have the capacity to fight against it when everyone seemed to be pushing myself and someone I loved into a relationship. And I think I liked Annabeth for real at first. I think a lot of things I know. But it’s true, I think that when I was just twelve years old and there was this California girl Barbie taking care of me my first night of camp. She was strong and independent, and she just seemed so amazing to me, which she is. And I think I was definitely in love at first, but now, I’m 22 and even when we’re 16 and we crawled out of Tartarus together, I think I knew that we were drifting. Which is insane, because that means we were so pressured in our relationship that we stayed together for 6 years... she didn’t deserve that, and if I’m honest, neither did I, so we broke it off a few weeks ago. We still live together, in separate rooms. I don’t know if I’d function right without her. But I love Annabeth, and we jut weren’t meant to be.”

Nico was completely shocked by all of Percy’s ranting, forced to look on in awe as Percy talked about how he wasn’t in love Annabeth and he had been pressured into an unhappy relationship.

“Who have you told?” Nico asked and Percy flusher.

“Uh, only you, we decided we’d tell you all together, but since you were... avoiding me we never got the chance...” Percy explained and Nico huffed angrily.

“Really Perce? Six years of me being in pain while you and Annabeth weren’t actually happy? Really?” Percy chuckled weakly and rubbed Nico’s back.

“In my defense, you didn’t exactly act like you liked me.” Nico glared and Percy smiled sheepishly.

“Did we not already go over the fact that I didn’t want to be a home wrecker?” Percy laughed again and Nico’s heart swelled. He hadn’t heard that laugh caused by him in at least three years now.

“Well, then we better get up so you can tell the others huh?” Nico suggested while standing up. Percy however, stayed on the ground looking at Nico in pure disbelief.

“What?” He asked and Nico raised an eyebrow.

“We need to go back to your place so that you can invite everyone over and tell them that you and Annabeth broke up.” Nico said exasperatedly and held out his hand. Percy took it, but instead of pulling himself up, he pulled Nico down, into his lap.

“Dammit Di Angelo, what do I have to say for you to understand that I like you too!” Nico blinked dumbfoundedly for a moment before they widened and he pushed away from Percy landing on the floor.

“Perseus Jackson. Do not toy with my heart like that. Don’t. I can’t take it. I’ve been considering drastic things for weeks. You can’t say things like that.” Nico brought his arm up to his eyes and wiped away his tears. Percy looked just as surprised at Nico’s reaction as he stood up and backed Nico up against the couch so he could look into the Demon’s eyes.

“I mean it Nico. I like you too. I know it might be hard to believe, but I thought you weren’t into me, I thought you disliked me for a lot longer than I thought you hated me.” Nico blinked again and rubbed his eyes.

“Percy...” Nico muttered and tried to push Percy away, to no avail, the taller, larger male held his ground.

“Nico, I came out to you as Pansexual four years ago. Even before I told Annabeth. You know that I’m gay, why can’t you believe I like you?” Nico huffed and sighed and took a deep breath.

“Because I’m not worth it Percy. I could understand why you fell in love with her. Beautiful, intelligent, independent. She’s also your age, she helped you in our first quest. She was your first kiss. You went through Tartarus forever for gods’ sake!” Nico exclaimed while Percy stared at him, never breaking his gaze, “I’m not attractive, I’m short and pale and skinny, I’m not very independent, I’m honestly surprised everyone was willing to deal with me this long. I am three years younger than eachother and when we first met I got excited because yoh had the same name as a character on one of my mytho-magic cards. You were thrown into a situation where you had to deal with me because if you didn’t you would have looked like a monster for leaving these two vulnerable and confused children alone. Percy, I’m not... you’re wrong about your feelings. Why couldn’t you have fallen in love with Jason, or Luke! They’re both good, strong, tall, sensible, stable men! And I’m... me...” Percy rested his hands on Nico’s cheeks and rubbed his cheekbones with his thumbs.

“Nico, I love you because you are strong. You were only ten years old when your mother was killed in an act of jealousy and you were sent to live somewhere that would stop you’re aging almost all together. Then suddenly you’re brought out by people you don’t know, you nearly lose your sister, some of your greatest friends are potentially lost, and... apparently your crush, but then you find out you have another sister, you’re thrown into two wars before you were even in Highschool. Nico, you are so impressive, plus you’re cute. You’re hair is so long and shaggy and adorable and you’re small stature is super cute too.” Nick couldn’t help it, after Percy finished he leaned up and kissed Percy, after a moment of shock, Percy kissed back. After a few seconds, they both pulled away with dazed looks in their eyes.

“Oh my god! I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have done that!” Nico shouted as he covered his mouth.

“I kissed back didn’t I?” Percy protested and Nico nodded and Percy did as well.

“Exactly. I kissed you back because I like you.” Nico nodded and leaned up again, Percy quickly caught his lips in another kiss. When they pulled away Nico smiled then averted his eyes to the ground and frowned.

“So um, does this make us boyfriends or are you bullying me by admitting you like me and are now gonna say you can’t be in a relationship right now for the completely valid reason that you got out of a really long relationship just three months ago?” Percy laughed and pecked Nico’s nose.

“You’re cute when you ramble, and uh, if you want us to be boyfriends, we’re boyfriends, if you want to give me time and space then we’re friends who kiss, cause I’m not giving that up, damn, for a tiny gay Italian demon, you are soft all over.” Percy said as he pinched Nico’s cheek. Nico swatted the hand away before grabbing it and intertwining their fingers then kissing him again.

“Okay, but we can’t tell the others until at least three months from now so that they don’t think I’m a home wrecker...” Percy laughed and shook his head.

“How about, a month from now so that they don’t think you stopped avoiding me to date me? But they’ll know that Annie and I broke up three months ago. Hm?” Nico nodded and kissed Percy’s nose again. Percy laughed again pulled away from his smaller boyfriend.

“You’re so cute...” he muttered as he traced Nico’s cheek. One thing Percy may never understand is Nico’s facial structure. He’s truly beautiful. He still has the chubby cheeks of a child but his jawline and cheekbones could cut a steak. He’s just a beautiful sight. Probably due to his father’s incubus roots.

“Mmm, I could say the same about you.” Nico pointed out and poked Percy’s cheek. Percy smiled and turned toward the door as it opened.

Will’s eyes widened when he looked up and found a tear stricken but smiling Nico and an equally happy Nico. Will raised an eyebrow and stepped inside, setting down the groceries as he shut the door then approached his two friends, Nico was fidgeting sheepishly, but he looked considerably less gaunt than the last few months. Will was seriously considering forcing the two into a room to figure stuff out soon. But it seemed he didn’t need to.

“Hello boys...” He greeted them and approached with his arms crossed. He eyed Percy wearily and approached Nico, then grabbed his face and pulled it close to check for any marks or bruisers forming. He hummed and backed away once he knew Nico was fine then turned back to his grocery bags.

“Percy, you’re a big strong man and mine is gone, will you kindly go grab the ice bags for me?” Percy nodded dutifully and stepped outside while Nico approached to help Will start putting their groceries away.

“Nico.”he said pointedly and Nico sighed glaring at his friend.

“Really?” Nico asked and Will shrugged.

“In my defense you’ve been sulking around the house for four months now getting sadder by the day because you didn’t get to see Percy and also because you didn’t want to see Percy. Now he’s at our house, you’ve been crying and you’re both smiling.” Nico rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“He wanted to know why I’ve been avoiding him, I got too upset and it just kinda came out, he’s accepted it, and...” they turned to the door as Percy approached. He was huffing and the few blue scars on his cheek bones and forearms were glowing, meaning he was using his power. He wasn’t carrying a bag of ice and instead a block of ice that he’d apparently frozen in his hands. He stopped in his tracks as the house’s tenants looked at him confused.

“Uh, the bag broke... so I just kinda, willed only the water to lift, I promise nothing bad, it could be cleaner now than when you bought it honestly.” Will laughed opened the freezer. Slowly, cube by cube, Percy broke the large block apart and put it in the ice box.

“Thank you Percy, now, what were you two talking about before I came in. Nico Wilkes himself not to blush as he looked at Percy.

“Uh, wel, the reason Nico’s been avoiding me, which apparently only Annabeth and I were unaware of. And then we were talking about how I need you all to come to my house tonight for a special announcement. Will nodded and side-eyed Nico cautiously, checking for discomfort. Nick shook his head casually and waved a hand at him while Percy looked on in confusion.

“Can you two talk in motions?” He asked and Will turned back to Percy.

“It’s a skill obtained by most of our friend group. We generally use it around you or while someone is having a problem, anxiety attack, panic attack, PTSD episode, etc.” Will explained and Percy’s face screwed up.

“Good to know I’m on the same list as medical emergencies...” he muttered and Nico shook his head rapidly but before Nick could say anything Will was speaking up.

“Well, if Nico wasn’t a scaredy-cat who likes to convince himself that people will reject him for little things like,” Will was cut off by Nico.

“Like admitting to being in love with you for almost 10 years.” Nico scowled angrily at Will then pushed past his friend and grabbed Percy’s sleeve. He marched them both to his bedroom and collapsed on his bed rubbing angrily at his eyes. He was just so full of pent up aggravation that was suddenly running rampant.

“Woah! Neeks hey! Are you okay? I thought we already established, I don’t mind that you didn’t tell me, I know why you didn’t, it’s fine, I like you alright? I wanna try this.” Nico nodded and pulled Percy into a hug. The nymph landed on top of him with an “oof” then rolled them over so that Percy could tuck his head above Nico’s and entwine their legs.

“We have to tell Will, Percy...” Nico muttered and Percy nodded then kissed the top of Nico’s head.

“I understand. It’d be pretty hard to explain why you’re happy around me all of a sudden...” Percy trailer off and Nico wrapped his arms around his new lover.

“Percy... I’m sorry...” he muttered and buried his face in Percy’s chest, “I know that avoiding you was the last thing I should have done, but it was the last thing I did...” he muttered and Percy looked down at him pitifully.

“Nico... as much as I hated it, I can understand why you did it. Being around me while I was with Annabeth hurt after years of yearning. I can understand why, but can I ask you what you meant when you said you’d considered something drastic?” Nico groaned and hugged Percy tighter, like if he let go maybe Percy would disappear.

“I was so stupid Percy... I started to convince myself the only way to stop hurting was to forget. The night I decided that avoiding you was my best choice, I almost had Ethan make me forget you...” Nick explained and Percy’s eyes widened. He looked down at Nico, sadness in his eyes.

“I’m glad you didn’t...” Percy muttered.

“So am I...” Nico answered and slowly started to fall asleep in Percy’s arms.

[goggles-mcgee]

You Are Watching GHOST KING: 30

Nico gripped his hair as he watched helplessly as students continued to walk past him even as he tried to warn them. Why weren’t they listening!? All they did was give him strange looks. Some seemed to linger a bit, like they actually believed him, but they were quickly pulled away by their friends. Nico wanted to scream, actually he could feel it rising in his throat, but he swallowed it down enough to try and convince a concerned teacher that no he did not need to go to the nurse. Yes, he was sure. No they did not need to escort him to the nurse. Yes. He. Was. Sure. God why weren’t they getting it? Will tried to call him down but just as he was calming down he would remember how everyone was practically walking to their doom. Then he would work himself into a near panic attack again. He needed to stop them, but he didn’t know how.

“Fuck…” He whispered more to himself than anything. “Fuck, fuck, fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck!”

“Nico. Breathe with me okay? I need you to breathe with me. “Will said softly as he made his boyfriend look at him. Nico did the best he could to listen to Will, he did he really did. But every time he seemed to have calmed down he would start to panic again because now, almost everyone was in the gym and they thought he was a crazy person.

“I-I can’t! W-Will, I can’t!” Nico gasped out. His lungs burned, they felt tight, he needed air, god did he need it.

“Nico. Nico, yes you can. You can Angel,” Will insisted as he grabbed Nico’s hands and placed one on his neck and the other on his chest and breathed slowly so Nico could follow the movements and mimic them. “Copy me, okay? Come on Nico, I know you can.”

“What’s going on?” Percy asked as he came over to Nico and hovered over him along with Jason, one look at them and Will could see how worried they were for their friend.

By the time Nico got his breathing under control everyone was already in the gym and he had no idea what to do. He knew that Kronos wanted everyone in the gym, but he didn’t know why. He knew the teachers and staff were being held somewhere else, he just didn’t know where. There were just too much things he didn’t know at the moment, but what he did know was that he was going to have to tell all his friends the truth, they deserved it. He trusted them, and he needed their help.

“We can’t go to the gym, we just can’t.” Nico said as he clenched Will’s obnoxiously orange shirt in his hand that was placed on his chest. Will slowly pried his fingers off his shirt so he could hold Nico’s hand.

“Why not?” Annabeth asked.

“Please, just trust me.”

It was silent, and Nico feared that they would just write him off as overreacting, or having a meltdown, or just being crazy and he really couldn’t handle that today, of all days. He shut his eyes and tried to calm his speeding heart, but each heartbeat made him feel nauseous, as they might as well have been the “ticks” and “tocks” of a clock.

“Okay.” Annabeth said.

Nico let out a sigh of relief and opened his eyes to look at all his friends, he gave a small nod, more to himself but them, but they nodded back all the same. Even though he didn’t feel very confident, he raised his shoulders and clenched his jaw as he glared at the gym before he ushered everyone to follow him. They all snuck into the main building. It had never once seemed haunting to Nico, but in that moment, it was, the halls were empty except for some wrappers that missed the trash cans and pencils that were long forgotten. All of their footsteps echoed around them, further putting Nico on edge as they walked to the stairwell that nobody used except for the stoners, horny teens and socially awkward kids. He couldn’t sense any energies around them so that was good.

He held the door open to the stairwell and ushered everyone in, when they were all inside, Nico followed them in and carefully closed the door so that it wouldn’t make too much noise just in case someone was around. Once inside he was met with curious eyes, except for Will, Jason, Reyna and Hazel. He took in a deep breath and let it out rather inelegant like, before he made eyes contact with each of his friends.

“This is going to sound totally random and you’re probably not going to believe me, but I need to start off with this… I'm Ghost King.” Nico said in one breath and refused to look at anyone, he knew they would need time to take in what he just said. It was quiet accept for Will's footsteps as he made his way over to Nico, so he could hold his hand. He always seemed to know what he needed.

“I always suspected.” Nico finally heard. He raised his head to lock eyes with Annabeth who gave him a small reassuring smile.

“What?” Was Percy’s reply, his eyes were wide.

“Who knew you were so badass Spooks.” Connor said with a laugh as he patted Nico's shoulder.

“That still doesn’t explain why you wanted to stop everyone from going to the gym.” Grover pointed out.

“What?” Came Percy again.

“That’s…That’s the hard part.” Nico said with a sigh. “I’ll try to explain it simply, but we don’t have a lot of time, we need to get everyone out of the gym, but I don’t know how, and I need your guys help. I’ll explain everything better when we do that and stop Luke.”

“Luke? What about him?” Annabeth asked, her voice had gone defensive which caused Nico to shrink more into himself. Usually he could have stood his ground, but his mind was still reeling and besides, Annabeth was pretty scary when she wanted to be. Even when she didn’t want to be she could come off as intimidating.

“He…there’s no easy way to say this…he is currently being possessed by a pretty ancient demon named Kronos.” Nico just blurted out. He wasn’t really great at explaining things under pressure. As Ghost King he had a whole façade to keep up so he somewhat trained himself to talk more calmly as his alter-ego, which he desperately wished he could channel at the moment but it wasn’t happening.

“I just found out I could do something I didn’t think anyone could do, well I mean some people claim they have done it when they were in comas or during a pretty intense high or trip but still.” He continued to ramble his hands making large motions the more he spoke. “He agreed to letting the demon use his body and then he somehow got others to offer up their bodies to lower demons and there was a plan. Luke had a plan, I don’t know what the plan is, but it has something to do with the kids.”

Everyone just kind of stared at him and Nico’s heart was hammering against his chest and his ears were ringing, he needed them to believe him because he needed help, he didn’t know what to do. This was beyond anything he had ever dealt with and he wasn’t sure how to go about it. He was at a lose and he needed his friends more than ever. He bit his lip and stared back at them. Jason’s jaw was clenched, Piper was gripping Jason’s bicep a bit too tightly, Percy was frowning at the floor, Annabeth was just straight up glaring at Nico, Hazel was giving Nico a tight-lipped smile, Grover all in all looked uncomfortable, Juniper had a hand on Grover’s shoulder, most likely for comfort, Connor and Mitchell were holding hands while Travis has a hand on his brother’s shoulder.

“I…You have to believe me. I don’t know what to do.” Nico admitted quietly, his voice cracked as he choked back a sob. Everything was just falling on his shoulders, he was no Atlas and he knew the weight of it all would crush him.

“Spooks…” Travis muttered as he walked over to Nico and hugged the shorter boy to him. “I believe ya. Whatever you need, we’re here.” Nico didn’t know It but Travis was glaring at anyone, silently daring them to say differently.

Nico couldn’t hold in the tears after that and he just let go. He needed to let it all out because he was just so stressed and frustrated and in this constant state of not knowing what was up and what was down, or what was expected of him. He didn’t know how long he cried or when exactly everyone turned Travis’s hug into a group hug, or when they all decided standing wasn’t needed at the moment, but he did know that he felt better after having a good cry. Sometimes that’s all someone needs, and boy did it help clear his head. He sniffled softly, he could hear how fast Travis’s heart was beating because of how smushed against him he was, but he wasn’t complaining, he needed this. He allowed himself to simply enjoy his friends’ presences and calm down his breathing, he knew he should have been coming up with a plan, and that they had no time to just be sitting there, but dammit they were just kids. Kids thrown into a situation they had no idea how to handle, one that they shouldn’t have known how to handle. In short, this shouldn’t have been their responsibility, but no one else knew what was going on in the school, and when they got news of what was going on it was a trap for their parents. That’s what was really confusing Nico, why would Luke give up his body as a vessel for this ancient demon all to get payback at everyone’s parents? It really didn’t make sense.

Luke never seemed like the type to do something like this, and in all honesty, Nico can say he never thought any of his schoolmates would do anything like this. Sure, maybe some would mess around with an Ouija board, they were stupid teenagers after all, but he didn’t think any of them would actively track down an ancient demon to help with a plan they must have obviously been planning out for some time. But it could have very well been an accident that Luke happened upon Kronos, it has happened before with other cases of messing around with an Ouija board.

“This is nice and all, but we need to come up with a plan.” Reyna deadpanned somewhere from Nico’s right side.

“Reyna’s right.” He heard Annabeth agree before he felt all the warmth and comfort leave him and everyone stand up.

Nico wiped his eyes of any lingering tears before he stared at his friends and nodded, he was about to share what he was thinking when they heard the sound of something travelling through the halls. It sounded like wheels leisurely gliding across the school halls, there was also a faint whistling. The wheels kind of sounded like the cart when they would push a TV to a classroom, but not as heavy, what was that sound? It was getting closer, so was the whistling. Nico glanced at his friends and held a finger over his lips and side eyed the stairs leading to the lower part of the building, which happened to be the basement, which meant the door would be locked but at the very least they could hide behind the wall. The windows may have been partially hidden by papers, graffiti, and these weird stains that never came off no matter hat the janitors did. The sound of wheels got louder, and louder, and that’s when Nico realized what they actually were the sound of.

A skateboard.

[perseusjackson-jasongrace]

Empires on the Horizon IV

Jason is a CEO: Part IV

Here’s my masterlist for the next part and my other stuff 

new beginnings

look fragile

like glass

but when grabbed

sparkle

like diamonds

-badpoetry

“Good morning Mr Grace,” Grover Underwood smiled from his usual spot behind the coffee machine.

“Morning, how are you?”

“Much happier for seeing you less like someone kicked your puppy,” He gave Jason a knowing look.

“How?”

“There are some things the brain cannot hide, matters of the heart are often one of them.”

He didn’t really have any reply to that, so he gave the man an awkward smile and shrugged.

“Your usual then?”

“Yes please, and an iced coffee for Hazel.”

“Ah where is the darling this morning?”

“She’s coming into the office later, something about needing to go home first? She must have stayed at a friend’s place.”

Grover raised a dark brow, “Mhmm and where is your driver this morning? I noticed you drove yourself in today.”

“Uh I think Frank took the day off,” He frowned trying to piece the conversation he’d had with his friend in his sleep-deprived brain.

“Oh interesting,” Grover’s chocolate brown eyes twinkled in amusement, but before Jason could question him a warm cup was being shoved into his hand and he was being ushered away to wait for the iced coffee.

Collapsing into a chair, he pushed his glasses up his nose and wrapped his scarf tighter around his neck. Winter was beautiful but gods it was cold. He glanced around the café taking in the familiar forest green walls and dark wood floors. There was no sun streaming through the windows today so the gold accents on the tables were dulled and dark, like hidden bronze. He traced his fingers around the edge of his cup, losing himself in the motion, in the feeling of heat on his cold fingers, in the small gusts of wind against his cheeks as the door opened and closed, in the noise of a bustling store, in the–

“Hello Jason,”

“Luke,” He took a deep breath, “Fuck off.”

“Aw don’t be like that,” He sniggered.

“Please Luke, I don’t have the energy for this right now,” Exhaustion was a thousand-ton weight on his bones.

“That’s your problem Jason you never wanted to take things head on. It was always let’s wait for this, let’s get their opinion first, let’s just give it a couple weeks. You could have had the world begging at your fingertips if you just went for what you wanted.”

“Are you done?”

Luke’s responding laugh was malicious, “You are so-“

“Leave.” His voice was stone.

His ex-boyfriend scoffed, “Pathetic.”

Jason watched as the face he had been so in love with sneered at him, the scar running down a pale cheek twisting into malice. His soul ached for what could have been, it burned for what now was. It always surprised him how drained he felt after every interaction with Luke- like crashing down from a potent high. Being with Luke was a high, was euphoria and hope and sin. What the fuck went wrong? 

His phone buzzed in his pocket.

“Talk to me,”

“Why do you insist on answering the phone like you’re some sort of mafia boss?” His sister grumbled.

“Hello to you too Thalia,”

“I just wanted to let you know that I’ve set you up on a date tonight. Six-thirty at Sun and Songs.”

He groaned, “No. I am not in the mood.”

“Jason Grace,” She started; he could feel a rant coming on, “You cannot stop living your life because you have a wanker of an ex-boyfriend. You have been in a slump since Luke and it is affecting you in ways you’re too scared to admit.”

“It is not affecting me,” He was tired of having this fight, “I literally dated Piper for like three months.”

“Mhm and were you happy? Did you put all you could into the relationship?” She didn’t wait for his response, “No, you may have been a little happier, but you weren’t you. So you will go on this date tonight and in five years when we’re planning your wedding you better be thanking me in your speech.”

“Gods Thals,” He snorted, “We haven’t even gone on the date yet and you’re already planning a wedding?”

“Wait does that mean you agree to it?” She squealed through the phone.

“Yes loser,” He held in a laugh, “I’ll go on the date. But if it doesn’t work out you drop all of this. No more setting me up, no more interfering.”

“Yes sir. Now, how work’s going?”

“Besides the fact that Project Hestia is on hold because of this stupid contract everything is good.”

“Isn’t your fancy lawyer lady sorting it out?” She muttered.

“Reyna is a great lawyer and you know it.”

“Yea but she’s also my ex-girlfriend so I get to be a little resentful.”

He snorted at that, “Of course, and how are you?”

“I’m good. The Conservatory is still standing so I can’t be doing too many things wrong.”

“Didn’t you guys get cheetah cubs this weekend?”

“Oh Jase!” His sister cried, “They are just the absolute cutest things. Did you know cheetahs are so shy that some conservationists and wild-life biologists recommend giving them emotional support puppies?”

“So what you guys got puppies and cubs?”

“We haven’t got the puppies yet; they’re only arriving this week.”

“Well send me pictures when they’re together, maybe I’ll have them framed and hung around the office as a morale booster.”

She laughed, the sound crackly through the speaker, “Will do little bro. Listen I have to go but call me tomorrow to tell me about the date.”

“Wait!” He yelled, ignoring the weird looks from the café patrons as he walked out, “What’s her name?”

“Zoe.”

***

Jason was nervous. That was the only explanation for his shaky hands and the zoo of creatures in his stomach. He had gotten to Suns and Songs fifteen minutes early with a lavender and daisy bouquet in hand. The restaurant his sister had reserved was nothing short of incredible. Dark maroon draped over each table, and opulent candelabras sat in the center, lit only if the table was occupied. Glass and crystal chandeliers swung slowly from the high wooden beams, catching on the light and making a kaleidoscope of the room. Even the way the air smelt was decadent here. Like wood smoke and perfume, some hint of chocolate, maybe. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but he wanted to bottle the scent and bathe himself in it. Trying not to be suspicious he took another deep breath in; it calmed his nerves if nothing else.

“Mr Grace?” someone put a soft hand on his shoulder, “Your guest,”

He thanked the waitress, getting up to greet his date and pull out her chair. He tried to muffle his gasp when he finally turned to her. She was stunning. Midnight skin contrasting elegantly with the pastel yellow dress she wore. Braids intertwined with glittering strands; it cast a pale silver halo around her head. Small hoop earrings glinted as she moved, and the bracelets at her wrist clinked gently when they shook hands.

“Hi, Jason Grace,” He smiled.

“Zoe Nightshade.” She flashed beautiful white teeth.

He handed her the flowers, “You look unbelievable.” He truly was in awe of her.

“Thank you,” Her smile was soft, but her voice was crisp and direct, “And these are gorgeous.”

“Would you like to order drinks?”

They scanned the menu quickly; Zoe ordered a cocktail he hadn’t heard of and he ordered the first thing he saw that didn’t have tequila in it.

“So,” He asked, and then cringed at himself internally. Starting any conversation with so was bound to make it awkward.

He cleared his throat, “How do you know Thalia?”

“We work together at the Conservatory. I moved here a couple months ago because I got transferred from the wildlife center in Germany.”

Jason didn’t know what but something about her voice made his insides melt. She said everything so undiplomatically– like if it wasn’t a fact it wasn’t worth uttering.

“Oh that’s cool. What do you do?”

“I’m a veterinarian. You?”

“Well I was a structural engineer but somehow over the years I got roped into being a town and regional planner.”

She frowned, tilting her head assessingly, “You did not finish your engineering degree?”

“Oh no I finished and got my masters in structural but then I started my company and I realised I needed other qualifications to run it the way I wanted to so I had to go back and get a degree in urban and regional planning. By the end I felt like I had been studying since the dawn of time.”

She laughed at that, and a look of surprise crossed her face, as if it was as unexpected to her as it was to him. “I know how you feel. I love animals and I’m passionate about my work but when I was done studying, I vowed never to go back. Studying for seven years after school and then trying to do it all over again feels like a one-way ticket to the end of the road.”

He mirrored her smile, “How did you get into veterinary sciences anyway?”

“My father was always busy, and my sisters were… interested in anything that could make them more beautiful, or richer. So I was pretty alone for most of my childhood. At some stage I convinced my father to get me a dog, Ladon. We were inseparable. But he got hurt when this man,“ She said it with such disgust he almost flinched. “This man hurt him. Kicked Little Ladon out the way when he was just trying to say hello. We had to take him to the vet, and I remember them being so sweet and kind to my dog and I knew I wanted to be exactly like that when I grew up.”

“Any chance you know where this man is so we can kick his ass?”

She laughed, raspy and bursting, “Don’t worry little eleven-year-old me kicked Mr Alcides as hard as I could in the shins.”

“Good,” he nodded with conviction, “He deserved more but you found your passion so there is some balance.”

She hid her grin behind a sip from her drink.

“Sir, ma’am,” Their waitress stepped to their table, “Would you like to order?”

Hours later, cheeks flushed from the liquor, laughing over Thalia’s antics and their shared need for structure, they finally decided to call the dinner to an end.

“The focaccia was to die for,” Zoe groaned, patting her stomach.

“Honestly, I may have to marry the pasta.” He sighed contentedly.

She giggled, and he knew it was a rare thing for her because her face caught that surprised look again.

“Want to grab dessert?”

“Oh gods no,” She shook her head in alarm, and then frowned as the realisation of what that meant washed through her.

“I had a really great time tonight,” He started softly.

“Do you want to walk to the park? We can stop and have gelato?” Her dark eyes were full of nervous hope.

He blinked at her, a little shocked she wanted to continue the date, “I thought you didn’t want dessert?” He teased.

“Maybe the walk will burn off some of these calories and i’ll have space for a little ice-cream.” She scunched her nose.

He knew the gelato was just an excuse, so with a grin that lit up his whole face he grabbed her hand and nodded, “Let’s do it Miss Nightshade.”

Her face glowed with relief and enthusiasm as they tucked their chairs in and exited the restaurant.

“Tell me about your family. How come you weren’t interested in the rich side of life like your sisters?”

“I guess being the youngest kind of made it all seem pointless. I had seen what happened when their vanity became malicious and I didn’t ever want to turn into something I couldn’t recognise. I went to stay with my Aunt Diana through high school. She owned a bird sanctuary. That’s where I interned in my college years.”

“Wow,” He looked down to her, awe evident in his face, “And it didn’t bother you to be so far away from your father and sisters?”

“Honestly, I’m not even sure they noticed when I left.” She shrugged, “It was a long time ago. I really only see them for family functions now.”

“And your aunt?”

“She still has the bird sanctuary, but she mostly works in the background now. My cousins, Bianca and Phoebe, run it full time.”

“Do you miss it? Were you guys close?”

“Much closer than my sisters and I. I do miss them, but I definitely can’t say I miss the sanctuary. Some of those birds were evil.”

Just then a loud squawk came from above them. She scowled at the sky, “I’m talking about you Auretta.”

He tried to hold in a laugh but Zoe stuck out her tongue childishly and they both bent over in laughter.

“Maybe we shouldn’t hurl insults while we’re out in the open.” He managed to gasp.

“Good thing the gelato shop is right there.” She grinned, grabbing his hand and sprinting towards the small, illuminated store at the end of the cobbled street. Her dress shimmered, moved like rays of light. She looked like a star.

“Come on,” She yelled, tugging at his hand harder.

‘Alright, alright,” He snapped out of his admiration and let her lead him into the shop.

“Hi, what can I get you?”

“Want to share?”

“Sure, you choose,” He waved a hand towards the abundance of flavours behind the glass.

“Please can we have one scoop of chocolate, one scoop of vanilla and,” Her brow furrowed as she scanned the tags, “And one scoop of cookie crumble.”

“Why did I think you were a sorbet girl?”

“Sorbet in the summer, anything else for the rest of the year.” She said matter of factly.

He nodded solemnly, “Yes makes sense.”

She swatted his arm, grabbing the cone from the lady with a thank you, “Gods I feel like a teenager again,”

“I know what you mean,” Her excitement was infectious.

“I have to ask,” She swallowed a chunk of cookie crumble, “What on earth were you thinking when you decided to eat a stapler?”

Jason groaned, “Why did Thalia tell you that? She swore she wouldn’t tell anyone and if asked I would say I fell off my bike or something.”

Zoe giggled, “Come on, spill.”

“Okay, first of all I was two,” He sighed, embarrassment heating his cheeks, “And it was shiny, and it made a cool clicking noise, and I wanted to know what it tasted like.”

“I can just picture a little Jason crawling onto the kitchen counter and trying to bite down on a stapler.” She teased.

“Yes well now I have this scar,” He pointed to his upper lip, rolling his eyes.

“Battle scars. Very worthy.”

He shoved at her shoulder lightly and they dissolved into laughter once more.

It was almost midnight by the time he had dropped her off at home and stepped into his apartment. He looked at his phone to see a couple work messages, and something from Hazel– things he could reply to in the morning he decided, tugging off his tie and discarding his clothes as he walked to his room. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow, his phone still glaringly bright and open on the chat with his sister.

You were right. We’re going on a second date.

-----------------------------------------------------

Grover is like some other worldy deity that spews life lessons every time they meet and i am so here for it! Anyway what y’all saying??? How are we feeling?

Tags (if you want to be added to/ taken off the tag list just let me know, all my channels of communication are open):

@lesbian-peanuts

@leydiangelo

@queen-of-demons-and-hell

@msdrpreist

@sparkythunderstorm

@nishlicious-01

@lucyisblue​

[lapishasproblems]

I know, I know, I’m sorry [MAJOR TBM SPOILERS]

So I know Jason is gone, and Jason is my favorite character so it was sort of a big deal. The thing is, like I said here, Jason’s death is what makes a story a story. Imaging not killing the seven (and not bringing them back to life, mind you) until the whole series ends. That’s illogical.

I know what everyone’s thinking:

How will Reyna react to it?

How will Percy react to it?

No no scratch that, how will the rest of the seven react to it since the only ones who knew were Piper and Leo.

How will Nico react to it?

How will THALIA MF GRACE REACT TO IT YALL

But sometimes I just sit, stare off to space and think of scenes I want to happen in the next two books. Idk, things like:

Reyna hearing that Jason is gone is the next saddest scene in the whole riordanverse next to Percabeth falling to Tartarus. She literally has a mental breakdown on the spot, or quickly makes an exit to hide it because Jason wasn’t only Reyna’s love interest. He was literally there for so long, WITH REYNA and it was REAL, unlike how Piper fell in love with Jason because of Hera’s stupid illusion back in TLH

(Jasper is my OTP yall. I’m accepting defeat here. Jeyna deserves happiness)

But that wouldn’t be possible because we have already seen the cover for Tyrant’s Tomb, starring...you guessed it, Reyna Ramirez-Arellano. She was powerful in the cover with her cape and all. She was illustrated as a strong young woman, the way we always see her.

Okay, I totally accept it but what if Piper was the one to pick Reyna back up I mean I can totally see that. Instead of being jealous of Reyna, Piper can be compassionate instead, understanding that Reyna and Jason’s relationship is something she can never surpass.

Like, maybe during a gathering they were all talking and Reyna lowkey goes. “How’s Jason doing?”

And Lester becomes nervous and sweaty af. “Uh...about that. He’s gone.”

And Reyna immediately storms off, not wanting to show these people her weak side, but Piper came out to get her.

“REYNA! COME BACK YOU—YOU COWARD!”

And Reyna stops dead in her tracks, turning around slowly. “What did you just say?”

“I CALLED YOU A GODDAMN COWARD!”

“HOW DARE YOU! YOURE ON PROBATION STARTING TODAY.”

“BITCH I DONT EVEN GO TO CAMP HERE!”

“SHUT UP!”

Reyna started walking away again but Piper wasn’t giving up.

“JASON WOULDNT WANT THIS!”

(Classic *holds in laugh*)

Reyna stops walking but didn’t turn.

“He would’ve wanted you to avenge his death, not for you to mourn over him.”

And after that little event with Piper, Reyna swore that she’ll do everything in her power to make sure that Jason didn’t die for nothing. She goes on the Tyrant’s Tomb quest with Lester and continues fighting till the end because Jeyna is so underrated like what is wrong with you, fandom?

Okay but I also constantly think about Piper dying too.

It’s stupid, considering that when Beckendorf died in TLO, Silena did too. But when I realized that both Piper and Silena are Aphrodite’s children, I kind of want to make a little HC where when Aphrodite children’s soulmates die, they’re going to follow not long after.

Silena didn’t die because she wanted to be reuinited with Beckendorf, she died for Clarisse, so in this HC, the Aphrodite child shouldn’t always die because they want to be reunited, they just die. In any way. For anyone. For anything. They just get the same fate not long after.

I don’t want Piper to die because she wanted to be united with Jason, I want her to die for Reyna.

(If this happens there’s definitely going to be a brand new ship in the fandom)

Sometimes I just imagine that the prophecy from the final book mentions that a daughter of Aphrodite (though this is kind of impossible as the series is about Apollo) is the key to end Python, like the old “forge and dove shall break the cage” or “a child of the eldest gods shall reach sixteen against all odds” like she has to do something important for them to win.

And then they also need a sacrifice like how Leo was in TBoO, and Reyna straight up volunteers because she knows others still have lives.

Percy and Annabeth are going to college together.

Piper still has a life and a father to take care of.

Frank and Hazel has a long way to go

Leo and Calypso has that future they want to reach

And Nico and Will literally just got together recently.

So when the prophecy revealed that Piper is this certain daughter of Aphrodite nd she had to choose her sacrifice and mention the sacrifice’s name, she thought back and realized that Reyna DOES have a life.

Bruh you think being praetor of Camp Jupiter ain’t life? Fuck off man.

So instead of saying Reyna’s name, she just says hers.

Boom, Piper McLean is unable to battle.

I call the white flag out, Jeyna shippers. Y’all win. Jasper is cute and all but maybe I’ll tolerate this time.

Or maybe we can scratch the whole thing and you can read again from the top, just change Reyna’s name to Thalia.

I just LOVE plot twists don’t you?

Shut up you sound like an evil author.

I don’t recall when these ideas came. Sometimes it just does, like everytime I’m in the shower or walking down the street or even purchasing something. IT JUST DOES OKAY?

Jason dying is a big deal to me. In my head, I even liked him better than I liked Percy. I shipped Jasper to pieces and didn’t tolerate anything else. It was my OTP. Even Percabeth came in second. I constantly think about Jason’s death too, so whoever still does, then I’m with you man.

Well, this has been long and pretty pointless. I’m just getting this out of my head. Thanks for whoever read this blog post.