#in the end i still think percy would win but jason definitely gets a few good gashes in before inevitably suffering another concussion

[pthalomars]

I wholeheartedly believe that Percy can and will mop the floor with Jason in a fight. However, if Jason were to just drop the sword, get on all fours, and lunge for the jugular with his teeth bared, I think that would give Percy a run for his money.

[knuffled]

Just Practice - Chapter 17

here’s the ao3 link

The hospital garden was nestled along the northern side of the building and overlooked a small pond. Perhaps it was too generous to call it a garden. In reality, it was only a few flower beds of orchids and lilacs stowed carefully in terracotta pots. When the weather was nice, the patients would often spend some time there on the benches to get some fresh air. It wasn’t much but it definitely beat being cooped up in a hospital room with that stale, sterilized air that always made her feel more like a laboratory specimen than a human being.

After her surgery, Annabeth was allowed to visit the garden provided she went in a wheelchair to avoid agitating her knee. The doctor’s initial diagnosis had proven to be accurate once they ran some imaging tests on her: it was, in fact, a torn ACL. Annabeth had suspected as much, and she opted to get it operated on sooner than later. The surgery had gone quite well, actually. She had been lucky enough to only suffer a partial tear, according to her doctor. If she had suffered a complete tear, it could have possibly made both surgery and her subsequent recovery much more difficult.

Nonetheless, Annabeth didn’t feel particularly lucky. Honestly, in the week that she spent at the hospital, she hardly felt anything at all. Just numb. Her physical therapy sessions were the only things she had to look forward to in order to get her mind off of things. Otherwise, she was mainly stuck confined to her bed with her leg suspended in that god awful brace. Piper had brought her some novels to occupy her time, but Annabeth couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to anything she read.

Today was the first day the weather had been clear enough to head outside, and Annabeth had jumped at the chance to get out of her stuffy hospital room as soon as she could. She sat outside staring at the pond with her brain turned off, watching ducks glide across the water’s surface and preen their feathers.

Within another day or two she would be discharged from the hospital and would have to head back home, but she really didn’t want to. Her father had dropped by the day after her injury, but his visit was practically a formality. He had stayed for all of five minutes, only making sure she wasn’t dead really, before he left. On top of every other shitty thing that had happened to her recently, his visit only served to rub salt in the wound.

Sometime mid-afternoon, one of the orderlies told her that she had a visitor. Annabeth had been expecting Piper or Jason, but she was surprised to see Reyna approach her instead.

Reyna gave her a small wave, her hand hidden in the sleeve of her purple sweatshirt. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Annabeth said, blinking. “Fancy seeing you here.”

Reyna shifted on her heels. “I’m not intruding am I?”

“Funnily enough, my schedule is quite free these days,” Annabeth said lightly.

That managed to get the corner of Reyna’s lips to tug upwards. “Glad to see your injury hasn’t done anything to change your god-awful sense of humor.”

“It’s quite bad mannered to bully the infirm, you know,” Annabeth sniffed.

Reyna rolled her eyes and sat down at the bench beside Annabeth. “How’s your leg doing?”

Annabeth sighed and said, “It’s recovering. Just got surgery done a few days ago.”

“Surgery?” Reyna frowned.

Annabeth nodded. “Turns out I tore my ACL.”

Reyna grimaced and said, “Jeez, I’m sorry to hear that.”

“The doctors said that I’m lucky it was only a partial tear,” Annabeth said, smiling weakly. “But I don’t feel particularly lucky.”

“D-Did they say anything about how long it’ll take for you to make a full recovery?” Reyna asked hesitantly.

“They were pretty wishy-washy about it,” Annabeth said, shrugging. “Guessing they don’t want to be liable for being wrong. Only estimate they gave me was that I could walk normally in about two weeks or so. After that, depends on how well I respond to physical therapy.”

Reyna was silent for a while before she said, “Meet me at the college circuit someday. I’ll be waiting there for you. And then we can finally settle things.”

Annabeth picked at the hem of her shirt with a wan smile. “What’s there to settle? I haven’t beat you a single time. There’s a clear winner here, and it sure isn’t me.”

“You of all people should know you’re only as good as your last race,” Reyna said. “People in our sport can never afford to rest on their laurels.”

When Annabeth was silent, Reyna quietly said, “You look like you’ve already given up.”

Reyna’s words stung and made Annabeth recoil. “I’m sick of giving myself false hope.”

“The way I see it, hope has nothing to do with it. The only question is if you still want to try. If you still want to compete, then you’ll keep pushing until you find a way through,” Reyna said, shrugging.

“Now, I’m not here to tell you whether you should keep going or not. That’s up to you. But don’t hide behind hope as an excuse. If you want to stop, then own it.”

Annabeth stared at her lap for a while and said, “I- I don’t know. I need more time to think about it.”

Reyna nodded and said, “I don’t blame you. It’s a big decision.”

There was another pause before Annabeth cleared her throat and said, “I never got a chance to apologize. For what happened at the meet, I mean.”

Reyna furrowed her brow. “What is there to apologize for?”

Annabeth dug her fingernails into her palms. “I cost you the race. If it weren’t for me, you would have won state and placed nationally.”

“From what I recall, a certain someone was screaming at me to let her go because I was, and I quote, ‘throwing the fucking race’,” Reyna said dryly.

“Sorry about that,” Annabeth mumbled.

Reyna gave her a smile and said, “You have nothing to blame yourself for, Annabeth. It was my choice to stay and help you.”

A lump formed in Annabeth’s throat. “But why though? Why did you help me?”

“I already told you,” Reyna said, mock-exasperatedly. “Because we’re friends.”

“And that was enough of a reason?”

“There are more important things than high school cross country races, Annabeth,” Reyna said simply.

Annabeth bit her lower lip and struggled to wrap her head around Reyna’s answer. They were friends, but not so close that it made sense for her to abandon the championship for her sake. Maybe Reyna was just like that with people she deemed friends or perhaps it was just a decision made in the heat of the moment.

“And you don’t resent me or anything for it?” Annabeth asked.

“Not one bit,” Reyna said firmly. “I would do it again if I had to. I’m sure you would have done the same for me.”

“You think too highly of me,” Annabeth said quietly. “But thank you.”

Reyna raised an eyebrow and said, “So you would have left me lying in the mud with a fucked up leg just to a win a race then?”

Annabeth paused and said, “Well, when you put it that way, I suppose not.”

“See? Told you: there are more important things,” Reyna said, smiling. “Besides, I don’t want you using your injury as an excuse for when I inevitably kick your ass.”

That got a watery laugh out of Annabeth. “I’m just glad you don’t hate me.”

Reyna rolled her eyes fondly. “Of course not.”

Annabeth hid a smile and stared up at the clear, blue sky for a while before something occurred to her. “How did you know where to find me?”

“Percy told me,” Reyna said, shrugging.

Annabeth furrowed her brow and said, “You have his number?”

“No, we just happened to run into each other somewhere, and I got a chance to ask him.”

Annabeth’s heart beat faster in her chest. “D-Did he say anything else to you?”

Reyna shook her head. “No, but he looked like a mess though. Did something happen?”

Annabeth nodded and felt a lump form in her throat. Slowly, she told Reyna about everything that had unfolded after she had left her with Percy. Reyna listened quietly and intently the entire time that Annabeth spoke, but Annabeth couldn’t tell what she was thinking.

Annabeth finished by saying, “I know I shouldn’t have cornered him like that just because I was so angry about my knee, especially the whole confession thing, but at the same time, I can’t help being frustrated that he still refused to open up, right to the very end.”

When Reyna was silent, Annabeth looked at her and said, “You once said that you thought he lied all the time about how he felt and what he wanted. Is this what you meant?”

“Not exactly,” Reyna admitted. “I thought it was something more malicious, but after seeing how he is around you, it’s obvious how much he cares for you.”

“If he does,” Annabeth said softly, “it’s not in a way that I understand.”

“You’re not alone in feeling that way, I would imagine,” Reyna said. “We all have different ideas of what it means to love and be loved, and sometimes those ideas don’t match up.”

“And there’s nothing we can do about that then?” Annabeth asked.

Reyna shook her head. “No, it just means you both need to talk to about your needs. It’s not wrong to teach someone how to love you the way you need them to.”

“I would if he bothered to listen,” Annabeth said tersely.

“Really? From what you’ve told me about him, he seems to listen to you a great deal,” Reyna said, sounding surprised.

Annabeth worried her lower lip and hesitantly said, “I mean, yeah, I guess that’s accurate. But there’s still something that gets in the way, and I don’t know what it is.”

“I said this before, but it seems like he’s holding something back,” Reyna said. “Not in the way one hides secrets, but in the way you shoulder a burden, quietly and without complaint. Maybe it’s just that over time that weight has become too much to bear.”

Reyna’s words instantly struck a chord in her, even though she hadn’t fully processed them yet.

A wry smile danced on Reyna’s lips. “Reminds me a lot of my sister. Something about how sad their eyes look.”

Annabeth blinked in surprise - she had always pegged Reyna as an only child. “Wait, you have a sister?”

Reyna nodded and said, “Yeah, seven years older than me. Her name’s Hylla.”

She looked like she had more to say, so Annabeth remained silent and watched her. Reyna buried her hands in the pockets of her sweatshirt and stared up at the sky with a sigh.

“My dad was a physically abusive piece of shit growing up, so much so that my mother left him. Unfortunately, she didn’t bother to take us with her, for whatever reason, so we had to fend for ourselves. As the older sibling, Hylla took it upon herself to protect me until she was old enough to move out and take me with her,” Reyna said.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry to hear that,” Annabeth said quietly.

“It’s whatever. We’re fine now, for the most part,” Reyna said, shrugging. “But sometimes I can tell that it still eats at Hylla. It wouldn’t be that big a deal, but she has a hard time opening up or putting herself first. Over the years, I’ve tried my best to help her through it, but it’s something she still struggles with.”

“Eventually, I realized that there was really nothing I could do,” Reyna said, pursing her lips. “So instead I swore to myself that I would be open and straight-forward about everything, in the hopes that maybe if I could show her there was another way, it might change something. And who knows, maybe it’s all for nothing, but at least I am being true to myself and honest about what I want.”

Reyna traced the lines on her palm and swallowed thickly. “But it’s really tough. People think it’s easy and assume nothing scares me but they’re wrong. I’m terrified, like all the time, but seeing how much it tears away at my sister, keeping everything locked up inside, I— I don’t ever want to live that way.”

“I think you’re amazing,” Annabeth said softly. “I can’t begin to imagine how much courage that takes.”

Reyna gave her a smile and said, “Thanks. That means a lot.”

Annabeth shook her head. “I should be the one thanking you, for sharing all of this.”

“It’s no problem. I only brought it up because your situation reminded me of my sister and I. Maybe I’m totally off base about that, I don’t know,” Reyna said.

“No, um, it was definitely helpful,” Annabeth said.

Reyna took Annabeth’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “You still look conflicted.”

Annabeth laughed breathlessly and shrugged. “I-I don’t know. I guess I’m still having a hard time accepting that we’re even in this situation. It just hurts to find out that I didn’t know him anywhere near as well as I thought I did.”

“Why does that have to hurt?” Reyna asked. “What is it that troubles you so much?”

Annabeth had to pause and really think about Reyna’s question because nothing immediately came to mind. It was only now that she realized that it was actually kind of strange that she was so distraught about this to begin with. It wasn’t like there was anything particularly awful about the situation. After all, this sort of thing was totally common, but it still seemed to profoundly unsettle her all the same. She was just having a hard time understanding why that was the case.

“It’s hard to say,” Annabeth admitted. “I think it’s because Percy’s the only person in my life that I have ever truly been able to rely on, and finding out that I don’t fully know him scares me. If I don’t know him, utterly and completely, then how can I count on him? It just makes me feel really insecure, like this is all a house of cards that could come tumbling down at any moment.”

Reyna sighed and said, “I don’t know. I just think knowing someone is a pretty impossible standard to set for yourself.”

Annabeth furrowed her brow. “What do you mean?”

“Well, in my experience, a person isn’t something to be known like a fact in a book,” Reyna said. “The human heart isn’t something quite so definitive. A person is always ever in the process of unraveling, constantly revealing themselves moment by moment, piece by piece. None of us ever really knows one another, but that doesn’t really matter. What matters is the effort we make to know one another, not whether we succeed. That’s all that love is: finding someone that you make the effort to know, to discover and rediscover, over and over again. And they do the same for you.”

“But then how can we ever trust anyone?” Annabeth asked desperately.

“You take a leap of faith,” Reyna said simply. “I wish I could say there was some trick to never having your trust broken but that’s not possible. Trust, by its very nature, is a brittle thing, but that’s also what makes it worth anything. The only reason trust holds any value at all is because it is something that needs to be earned.”

Reyna’s words made Annabeth recall what Percy had told her atop Aspen Peak. She hadn’t fully understood what he had meant at the time, but now she realized that there was a power to vulnerability that she didn’t know existed. It was a paradox but only by opening herself to heartbreak could she ever find what she was looking for: something permanent.

Annabeth managed a half-smile and said, “Percy told me it was like letting someone touch your heart with their hands and praying they didn’t crush it between their fingers, but that it was something we needed to do anyways.”

“That’s a pretty good way to put it,” Reyna laughed.

Annabeth sighed and said, “Would be nice if relationships weren’t so fucking complicated.”

“Agreed,” Reyna said, yawning. “I should probably get going. It’s getting late.”

Annabeth nodded. “Thanks again for visiting me and for the advice. It was really helpful.”

“And thank you for listening,” Reyna said, smiling.

“I hope someday I’ll be able to live as strongly as you do,” Annabeth said.

“You already live that way,” Reyna said, shrugging. “You just doubt yourself too much.”

Annabeth worried her lower lip and nodded. “Yeah, maybe you’re right.”

Reyna offered one final smile and said, “Guess I’ll head out then. Keep me posted about your leg and everything. When you can walk, we should hit up the batting cages again. Take your mind off things.”

“I’d like that,” Annabeth smiled.

“See you later, Annabeth.”

“You too, Reyna.”

Annabeth watched and waited for Reyna to leave before she sighed and headed back inside the hospital herself. She felt lighter for the first time in weeks. Reyna’s advice stuck in the back of her mind, and Annabeth took some time to digest it. She had a feeling it would help her figure out her path going forward.

:::

Piper came to pick her up on the day she was discharged from the hospital. By then, Annabeth could walk with the help of a brace that helped keep most of her weight off her knee, but she could only walk for a few minutes or so at most before the strain piled up and became too much. Piper leaned against the side of her car and watched Annabeth hobble over before she rushed in and gave Annabeth a hug.

“Didn’t realize you were so happy to see me,” Annabeth joked.

“Shut up,” Piper mumbled against her skin. “I’ve been worried sick about you.”

Annabeth swallowed thickly and whispered, “Thanks, Pipes.”

Piper pulled away and offered a gentle smile. “Ready to go then?”

“Yep.”

Piper opened the passenger’s side door for Annabeth and waited for Annabeth to take a seat before she did so as well. Annabeth rolled down the windows and relished in the late April breeze when it flowed across her face. Piper started the car and turned the radio on before she pulled out of the hospital parking lot and onto the interstate.

Once they were on their way, Annabeth turned to Piper and said, “You’re still okay with me staying with you right? I complete get if that’s not an option anymore.”

“No, you’re totally fine,” Piper assured her. “It’ll be nice to have some company. Besides, my place is too fucking big for only one person.”

“Your dad’s still away on a shoot then?” Annabeth asked.

Piper shrugged. “Probably. Didn’t bother asking.”

Annabeth nodded slowly and turned back to the window, but Piper looked at her and said, “Your parents aren’t going to flip out about this right?”

“Oh, I’m sure Helen will kick up a fuss, but that’s kind of par for the course,” Annabeth said.

“I’m all for it and everything, but have you really thought this through? I mean, leaving your family is a huge decision,” Piper said.

Annabeth gave her a significant look and said, “In all the time you’ve known me, when have I ever not thought things through?”

“Alright, fair point,” Piper admitted. “I’m still worried though.”

“I was going to have to leave for college anyways. This is basically only moving up the schedule. Besides, I’m pretty sure they’ll be glad to finally see me gone,” Annabeth said.

Piper grimaced and nodded. “I wish you didn’t have to go through all this. Especially now, with your leg and all.”

“It is what it is,” Annabeth said, shrugging.

They drove along in silence for a while before Piper glanced at her again and said, “I, uh, wanted to ask you about something unrelated.”

“Fire away.”

“I’m not sure if you know anything, but Percy has been acting really strange lately,” Piper said. “I’ve tried asking him about it, but he just smiles and says that it’s nothing.”

Annabeth sighed. She had been expecting this, but it was still rough now that it was finally here. Slowly, Annabeth began to explain the whole fake dating arrangement from the start of the school year and everything that had happened since then, culminating in their confrontation after her injury. Piper didn’t say so much as word, but Annabeth noticed the way her fingers tightened around the steering wheel so hard they drained of blood.

When she was done, Annabeth watched Piper with bated breath, waiting for the worst. Piper just exhaled forcefully and said, “Christ, what a mess.”

“I know,” Annabeth said mildly.

“So this whole time, you guys weren’t actually dating then? You were just lying about it?”

Annabeth hung her head and said, “Yeah, pretty much.”

Piper was quiet for a moment before she shook her head incredulously. “I mean, I knew something was up with how jittery you were about the whole dating thing, but I never expected this.”

“I’m sorry for not telling you sooner,” Annabeth said. “I was afraid you’d be mad at me.”

“Oh, I am mad at you. Furious, actually. But I’m equally as frustrated with Percy. As bad an idea as it was on your part, he should never have accepted. He knows better,” Piper said, fuming. “A pair of idiots, the both of you. What were you both thinking?”

“I’m sorry,” Annabeth said.

“Well, what’s done is done, I guess,” Piper sighed. “Honestly, maybe this what the both of you needed. Maybe now you’ll finally sort out your relationship.”

“Or maybe this is the end of it for good,” Annabeth said wryly.

“Love the optimism, babe.”

Annabeth huffed a laugh and said, “I’ll try my best to fix this, but I don’t know if I can.”

Piper was quiet for a while before she said, “Give it another shot. Maybe things will be different now that he’s had time to think about all this on his own too.”

“Yeah, you might be right,” Annabeth said.

There was another pause before Annabeth said, “You’re not gonna rescind your offer to let me crash with you, right?”

Piper snorted and said, “I have half a mind to, but I won’t. As stupid as you are, you’re still my best friend, and I’m not going to turn my back on you.”

“I don’t appreciate the insult, but thank you,” Annabeth said, smiling.

Piper glanced at her and jabbed her with her elbow. “Don’t look so happy with yourself or I might change my mind.”

“What, I’m not allowed to be happy that you called me your best friend?” Annabeth asked innocently.

Piper rolled her eyes and said, “Don’t try and schmooze your way out of this, you know what you’ve done. Especially, after that whole spiel about how you always think things through too.”

They pulled up in front of Annabeth’s house, and the brief levity in the air dissipated immediately. Annabeth set her jaw and took a deep breath, but her heart still beat faster in her chest anyways. Piper gave her a look of concern and squeezed her forearm.

“You sure you don’t want me to come with?” Piper whispered.

Annabeth shook her head. “No, this is something I need to do alone.”

Piper nodded but she still looked worried as Annabeth steadied herself and stepped out of the car. She hobbled to the front door and stepped inside with the spare key hidden beneath the flower pot. It was quiet inside the house, but the cars were still in the driveway so her father and step-mother had to be home. Annabeth pursed her lips and made her way upstairs to her room.

There was a suitcase hidden in her closet, and she pulled it out and opened it on the floor of her bedroom. She packed as many clothes as she could inside and stuffed her laptop, charger, phone charger, and water bottle inside her backpack. Once she was satisfied that she had everything prepared, she sat on her bed with a sigh.

Annabeth took a look around the room and felt a sudden rush of nostalgia wash over her. This was probably the last time she would ever come here, she mused. It was littered with all sorts of knick knacks and photos, posters and sketches. As much as she hated living in this house, this was the only place she could call her own. Leaving it almost felt like killing a part of herself off. Her step-mother would turn it into a storage room or something once she was gone, and soon there would be no trace that she had ever lived here. Something about that hurt, even though Annabeth knew it was for the best.

She stood up, feeling more than a little melancholy, and steeled her heart. There was still one last thing she needed to do. Annabeth put her luggage in the hallway and tentatively stepped into her father’s study. Thankfully, he wasn’t there. She riffled through the drawers of his desk in search of the old brown briefcase he stashed old letters in. It was always weird to her that he just kept letters, but he said he liked to have records in case companies tried to swindle him out of money. It was hidden away in some dark corner, and she dumped the contents onto the carpet.

There were hundreds of envelopes so it took her some time to sift through them all, but a few minutes later Annabeth’s worst fears were confirmed. There was an unopened letter addressed to her from Berkeley, dated October 4th.

That wasn’t the worst of it however.

There was another letter from Stanford. Northwestern. Duke. Cornell. Dartmouth. All dated from late September to early October. All unopened.

Annabeth had always felt something off about the fact that her Berkeley letter never reached her. She had dismissed it as a fluke but during her stay at the hospital it occurred to her that there could have been a more malevolent explanation. Seeing the letters now only confirmed her worst suspicions, but the sense of betrayal still hit her harder than she had anticipated.

She snatched the letters and stormed downstairs, as quickly as she could with her brace. Her father and step-mother were in the living room watching the news.

Helen blinked in surprise and said, “Annabeth? I didn’t know you were home from the hospital.”

Annabeth ignored her and held up the envelopes, her hands trembling. “What’s the meaning of this?”

“You’re going to have to be a little more specific, dear,” Helen said mildly.

“These are college letters. Addressed to me. Why did no one tell me?” Annabeth asked.

Helen shrugged and said, “I didn’t think they were important.”

Her excuse was so bad, it actually made Annabeth’s head hurt. “How could you not think that those might be important to your step-daughter, a senior in high school?”

A gleam of irritation flashed in Helen’s eyes. “You have been getting letters since junior year, and they always just asked you to apply, so I thought these were more of the same.”

“Let’s pretend for a moment that your terrible excuse is valid - you still should have shown me these,” Annabeth said.

“You’re still a child. Talk to your parents with respect,” Helen snapped.

Annabeth crossed her arms over her chest. “You literally lost me the chance to go to fucking Stanford, so you’ll have to forgive me for not having much respect for you.”

“Annabeth,” her father warned.

The smart thing to do would have been to drop it then and there. Nothing good could have come of this. The damage was already done. Continuing this would only make things worse.

Annabeth knew all this, but at that moment, she was filled with such uncontrolled rage, rage that had been built upon years upon years of horrid treatment from Helen and her father who couldn’t be bothered to care about the fact that his new wife routinely emotionally abused his first-born daughter, that she couldn’t bring herself to stop.

“She fucking knew this was important and she hid these from me anyways,” Annabeth snapped. “She’s so insecure about that fact that I’m more intelligent than her kids that she has to sabotage me.”

“Annabeth, that’s enough,” her father said sharply.

Annabeth turned to him and balled her hands in fists. “And you! You never say anything. You just let her treat me like absolute dogshit, and you don’t even care.”

“Young lady, you are so disrespectful that it honestly blows my mind,” Helen said coldly. “How you can accuse me of treating you poorly when you never bother to interact with the family and treat us like strangers is beyond me.”

“That’s rich coming from the person who couldn’t be bothered to visit her step-daughter once in the hospital,” Annabeth snorted.

A vein bulged on Helen’s forehead, and Annabeth knew she had her. “The reason I do my best to stay out of the house isn’t rocket science. From day one, you have done absolutely everything you can to make me feel unwelcome in this family-”

“Let me tell you something that you don’t seem to understand: no one is ruining your life, dear,” Helen interrupted. “You ruin things yourself and blame everyone else for it instead. You are just an ungrateful, spiteful little girl that does nothing but cause people pain.”

Annabeth stiffened like she’d been hit in the face with a shovel. Her thoughts turned to radio static and her chest squeezed so painfully that it was hard for her to breathe.

No words came to her.

Without meaning to, she turned to her father.

“D-Dad?” Annabeth asked, her voice cracking.

Annabeth wasn’t even sure what she was asking for, just that at that moment, she felt very much like she was seven years old again, asking him to check for monsters hiding in the closet. Back then she had taken it for granted that he would help her, that he would keep her safe. Suddenly, it made sense why she kept looking to him whenever Helen tormented her, even though she knew he would never come to her aid. She thought she had abandoned that hope a long time ago, but now Annabeth realized some small part of her had still held on to it, like someone tending to a dying flame.

Still, there was nothing that could prepare her for the silence in the living room at that moment as her father simply sat there, his lips pressed in a hard line, still not looking at her.

Annabeth forced herself to take a deep breath. She wasn’t going to cry. She wasn’t going to let Helen win this.

No, instead, Annabeth turned to her father and offered him a strained smile. “Since it is apparent that you aren’t going to say anything on my behalf, like always, I just wanted to tell you a few things before I left. And yes, I am leaving. I’m done living in this house, which should delight the both of you. I don’t know that would even worry you, but rest assured: I’ll figure things out on my own, like I always have.”

When Helen bristled at the accusation, Annabeth offered her a smile like poisoned honey and said, “Before you open your mouth, feel free to shut the fuck up. I’m talking to my father right now.”

Helen went red, but Annabeth stared her down, begging her to say something. Helen glanced at her father, but for whatever reason, he didn’t come to her aid this time. She shook her head incredulously and left the living room, leaving Annabeth alone with her father.

When she was gone, he looked at Annabeth for the first time and said, “You went too far.”

“I honestly don’t give a shit,” Annabeth said simply.

Her father opened his mouth to chastise her, undoubtedly, but Annabeth bulldozed on through.

“Don’t bother to defend her. I’ll be gone in a few minutes anyways, and then it won’t matter since you’ll never have to see me again. But until then, you are going to shut up and listen to me,” Annabeth said.

Her father pressed his mouth in a thin line, which Annabeth took as permission to keep going.

“I don’t know when or how things went so wrong between us. I still remember how it used to be, back when mom was still around,” Annabeth started.

“She’s gone, Annabeth,” he interrupted.

“Yeah, I fucking know, but you don’t seem to realize you weren’t the only one she left behind,” Annabeth yelled.

“She left me, too, you know? And you have punished me for that, every day since she left,” Annabeth said, her voice cracking.

Annabeth steadied herself before she got too emotional and shook her head. “But I want you to know something - I am proud to be my mother’s daughter. Despite your best efforts to make me feel otherwise, I will not apologize for that, for being here, for existing. And I’m done looking to you for help or safety or even acknowledgement given you’ve long since proven to be utterly incapable of that. And I want you to know that someday I’ll find people who love and accept me, and I won’t ever have to spare a second of my life thinking about you and how you made me feel. Someday, I’ll heal and you’ll be nothing more than a bad memory.”

With that, Annabeth left to retrieve her luggage from the hallway before he could respond and left the house for good. Piper was pacing around her car and rushed over to her once she heard the door open and threw her arms around her.

“Are you okay?” Piper asked. “It sounded pretty bad in there.”

“Yeah,” Annabeth said, nodding. “I finally let go of something I should have a long time ago.”

Piper studied her for a moment before nodding to herself. “Alright, looks like that’s settled then. Let’s go get something to eat!”

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. “You’re dropping it, just like that?”

“You look like you’ve got it figured out on your own,” Piper said, shrugging. “Besides, I can tell this is something I can’t really help you with anyways.”

Annabeth smiled despite herself and shook her head. “I never thought the day would come when Piper McLean would know when to let sleeping dogs lie.”

Piper rolled her eyes and stashed her luggage in her car trunk. “Don’t make me change my mind about letting you stay.”

“That’s an empty threat if I’ve ever heard one,” Annabeth said, sliding into the passenger seat.

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right,” Piper muttered.

“But seriously though,” Annabeth said, clearing her throat. “Thank you. For everything. It means more to me than I can say.”

“You’re welcome,” Piper said softly. “I’m happy for you. Leaving that hellhole was a long time coming. You definitely made the right call.”

“What happened to all the asking me if I was sure about it and stuff?” Annabeth asked.

“I’ve always wanted you to leave. I just didn’t want to influence your decision,” Piper said.

Annabeth was quiet for a moment and said, “You’re actually a really good friend, huh?”

Piper gave her a cheeky grin and started the car. “I’m offended that it took you so long to notice.”

[percabeth4life]

like i get that percy was mad but also nico is 12 year old child and percy was 16 at the time and he literally choked him. also hades was tricking nico. i think percy would probably be a good brother to estelle but he really wasn’t a good person to nico. also when he spread rumors about nico on the argo 2 and just further served to isolate him?? i like percy but he did fuck up there

Okay lets go over this shit.

First off, that was during a war. Nico was supposed to be leading Percy to something that would improve their chances in the war. Instead he lied to Percy, brought him to Hades (who he knew hated Percy) and then got himself grounded so he couldn’t even help Percy when Hades (unsurprisingly) went against his promise.

He did all of this for selfish reasons and chose then to do so.

He didn’t mention to Percy what was going on (outright lied to him about it even) and then woke Percy up.

Percy woke up from uncertain dreams and immediately lashed out at the one disturbing him before he 1. was awake and 2. knew who it was.

He pinned Nico and held a sword to him.

He did not act unreasonably there. Yes he then kept holding Nico down, which was entirely fair.

Guys, Nico lied to Percy at an extremely vital time. He was selfish and picked his own wishes over something that could help them win the war. The only reason I give him leeway for it is because he is a 12 year old kid.

Percy is also a kid in case you forgot, he’s a kid that’s been betrayed before, definitely has PTSD, and has gone through all kinds of shit for the kid that just betrayed him.

I do not blame Percy for his actions. He released Nico once it was clear that Nico was going to help, not hurt, and that he really did need to trust Nico there.

But it is clear that Nico broke his trust then. Percy has a fatal flaw of loyalty and this is one of the few times that Rick portrayed a part of it I wish we saw more often.

When you break someone’s loyalty it’s broken. You must earn it back. Nico did not earn it back for quite some time. And frankly, he deserved that lack of trust from Percy for his actions.

Percy did all kinds of shit for Nico and him lashing out after that betrayal does not make Percy “a bad person to Nico”, not at all. It means that Percy has done everything he could for Nico and was still betrayed by Nico and his trust and loyalty was at the very least fractured, his trust clearly broke after that and his loyalty holding on by a thread.

Rick screwed up everyone in HOO so lets be clear on this. Everyone acted out of character there and I’ve previously stated I don’t like what was done with Percy and Annabeth. On top of that, the things Percy said? You mean like

“Oh, gods,” Hazel muttered. “Nico…”

Percy stared at his jelly donut. He had a rocky history with Nico di Angelo. The guy had once tricked him into visiting Hades’s palace, and Percy had ended up in a cell. But most of the time, Nico sided with the good guys. He certainly didn’t deserve slow suffocation in a bronze jar, and Percy couldn’t stand seeing Hazel in pain.

“We’ll rescue him,” he promised her. “We have to. The prophecy says he holds the key to endless death.”

Or did you mean how Leo and Jason talked about him?

“He’s been going back and forth,” Leo said, “and he didn’t tell either side.”

Jason sat forward, his expression grim. “You’re wondering if we can trust the guy. So am I.”

...

“Hazel,” Jason said. “Leo is raising a fair point. I remember Nico from Camp Jupiter. Now I find out he also visited Camp Half-Blood. That does strike me as… well, a little shady. Do we really know where his loyalties lie? We just have to be careful.”

Hmm? Spreading rumors? Sorry, please give me exact quotes because Percy stayed silent for the most part there. And he was not the one saying the worst stuff.

So let me be clear, I do not believe Percy “fucked up” with Nico. He did everything he could to protect him including lying to the Gods. His later feelings on Nico were earned through Nico’s betrayal and the only reason I don’t hold his betrayal against him is because he is a child.

[kinda-just-chillin-here]

Greek Mythology and Julie & the Phantoms

My first watch through of Julie and the Phantoms (JATP), I noticed a few similarities and parallels to certain myths within Greek mythology. On my million rewatches, I paid more attention to see if there were others. This post is all my observations of the parallels, as well as a few possible theories for season 2 the writers could follow for certain storylines. This is a ridiculously long read, I apologize.

**Disclaimers: 

There are spoilers, so if you haven’t finished watching for the first time yet, don’t read this. 

The content in Greek myths can vary depending on the source. This is largely due to the fact they are just super old. So some of the myths might be slightly different. I did my best just to compare to the gist of the myth. 

I’m going to refer to Luke, Reggie, and Alex together as either Sunset Curve or the boys to save space. 

I apologize for any typos and mistakes; midterm season has left me with an empty head.

1. Orpheus

Obviously a major motif in the first season is the Orpheum. Orpheum literally means House of Orpheus. 

Background information of Orpheus:

His mother is Calliope (muse of epic poetry), and depending on the version of the story, his father is either Apollo (god of the sun, healing, music, medicine, archery, and poetry) or King Oeagrus of Thrace. 

Orpheus was considered to be one of the greatest musicians. He had a “divinely gifted voice that could charm anyone who heard it,” no god or mortal could resist his music. 

Let’s look at some of his myths.

Orpheus and Eurydice:

The basic summary of this myth is that Eurydice, Orpheus’ wife, died after being bitten by snakes while running away from a man, Aristaeus, or a satyr (depends on source) who wanted her for himself. Devastated, Orpheus began singing sad songs until he was advised by nymphs to go to the Underworld and bring her back. After singing to Hades and Persephone, they agreed to let Eurydice return to the main world. However, they warned him not to look back before they both entered the light of the surface. He happily began his trek back to the surface. When Orpheus reached the exit, Eurydice in toe, he turned around to see her, anxious to make sure it wasn’t a trick, that she was really there. Only, Eurydice was still in the Underworld, she hadn’t crossed over yet. Orpheus turning around when he did, caused Eurydice to remain in the underworld. 

So who’s who?

Julie = Orpheus (talented musician and desperate to save their love from the Underworld)

Sunset Curve = Eurydice (dead and trapped)

Caleb = Aristaeus and Hades (wants Eurydice/Sunset Curve for himself; controls the place the dead are) 

Hollywood Ghost Club (HGC) = The Underworld

How do they relate? Stand Tall (s1e09) is where it all goes down.

Like Aristaeus, Caleb is pursing Sunset Curve because he wants them for himself (and Caleb is also threaten by the power they have).

Caleb has the boys trapped in the HGC, just like Eurydice in the Underworld. 

Julie had to deal with the idea the boys died (again) when they didn’t show up before the performance. At first she couldn’t, she ran out until she had a sign from her mom, telling her to go on stage. You could argue this sort of parallels the nymphs telling Orpheus to plea to Hades, or that it parallels Orpheus on his journey back to the surface after Hades agreed.

This is where Julie and Orpheus differ. Julie goes onstage, fully believing in the sign from her mother; that even if the boys don’t come, she can do it. The lyrics of Stand Tall are pure genius. “Keep moving on, never look back.” That’s exactly what Julie does. Unlike Orpheus, Julie doesn’t look back. And the boys appear, no longer trapped by Caleb at the HGC. Julie breaks away from the Orpheus formula and wins. 

@multifandomterrors wrote an essay on how it relates too! She has three theories of how it fits and I definitely recommend you check it out!

Bonus reasons Julie is Orpheus:

Orpheus joined Jason and the Argonauts. When the ship was approaching the Sirens, Orpheus saves the crew from death by playing his own music, drowning out the Sirens’ Song. Likewise, Julie is able to save the boys from Caleb. You can argue that her singing Stand Tall acted as a beacon, beckoning the boys away from Caleb and back to her, saving them in the process.

This one is more of a long shot but oh well. Orpheus is said to have a “divinely gifted voice that could charm anyone who heard it,” that no god or mortal could resist his music. The boys say that Julie has “the voice of an angel.” Throughout the season, as soon as Julie starts to sing, people are generally drawn in, even Carrie by the end. 

Onto the next parallel...

2. Lotus Eaters

As soon as the slightest idea of the boys missing the dance was hinted at I knew it was going to happen because ~formulas~, but once they got to the HGC, I had a strong feeling it was going to be a Lotus Eaters situation. 

Summary of the Lotus Eaters:

In The Odyssey, Odysseus and his crew encounter the Lotus Eaters. They do as their name suggests, they eat the peculiar Lotus flower. When the lotus flower is eaten, those who eat it are “overcome with a blissful forgetfulness,” and want to do nothing more than stay where they are. The crew mates had to be dragged back to the ship, otherwise they never would have returned to their duties. The most well known adaptation of this is probably the Lotus Casino in Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, where the characters spend days/years there, only thinking it was a few hours/days. It’s a time warp per se. 

So what’s what?

Hollywood Ghost Club =  Lair/island of the lotus eaters (everyone there appears to have no other worries in life)

The music & dancing = Lotus flower (sucks everyone in)

How do they relate?

Once Caleb starts performing, Sunset Curve are sucked in. Eventually, they are overcome with a “blissful forgetfulness” and forget about Julie and the dance. They only get sucked back out once Caleb mentions it’s the witching hour.

Alex literally says “This place is some sort of time warp.”

When the boys try to leave, the dancers and then Caleb try to reel them back in. 

The next is not directly Greek mythology, but distantly related:

3. Disney’s Hercules 

The story in Disney’s Hercules isn’t exactly what the myths of Heracles are. It’s Disney, so of course the stories are romanticized and changed significantly. First of all, in the original myths, Hercules is really named Heracles, and Megara is nothing more than Heracles’ wife that ends with a tragic story.

In the movie, Hades wants Hercules dead since he is the only one that can ruin his plan to take over the world. He enlists Megara (or Meg, whose soul he owns) to get to know him and find his weakness. As Meg gets to know Hercules, they fall in love. Hades uses this as Hercules’ weakness, and once he outs Meg for working for him, Hercules is emotionally defeated. However, he still gives up his power for 24 hours, as long as Meg remains untouched by harm. Of course that doesn’t happen, and Meg dies while saving Hercules. Her soul is returned to the Underworld, and Hercules journeys down there to save her, even though he might die doing so. Except he doesn’t; he saves Meg, and it’s happily ever after. 

So who’s who?

Alex = Hercules

Willie = Meg

Caleb = Hades

How does it relate?

Like Hades wants Hercules dead, Caleb wants Alex (and the boys) under his control because they are too powerful. He’s threatened by them.

Even though Willie didn’t mean to bring the boys into the mess with Caleb, he still did (no hate, I love my son). Willie acts as Meg in this situation because Caleb still uses him to get to the boys. Caleb gets to put his stamp on them.

Willie, just like Meg, decides to not help Caleb anymore, though he’s still stuck. He cares about Alex, he doesn’t want him to be stuck at the HGC like him forever; he doesn’t want Caleb to own Alex’s soul. So, Willie helps Alex and the boys with their plan to crossover. 

In Stand Tall, right before You’ve Got Nothing to Lose, Caleb appeals to each of the boys’ weakness. Caleb says “Everything you want, including Willie, is right here.” Just like Hades uses Meg against Hercules, Caleb uses Willie against Alex.

Potential Season 2 Willex Storyline

The parallel to Hercules and Meg isn’t finished. Alex hasn’t saved Willie from Caleb yet, and Caleb hasn’t been defeated yet. We don’t see Willie after the Willex hug in Stand Tall. I think it’s safe to assume that Willie is not safe from Caleb, especially since he helped Sunset Curve escape Caleb’s curse. There’s a lot of things that could happen. One of my assumptions is that Caleb is going to use Willie as bait to lure Alex back in. Another is that, like how Hercules goes to the Underworld to save Meg’s soul,  Alex is going to actively choose to return to the HGC to try to save Willie from Caleb. 

And the last parallel to Greek mythology in season 1...

4. Cheyenne Jackson

He plays Hades in Descendants 3, a Disney movie, meaning he’s the same Hades as in Hercules. 

Caleb Covington, you could argue is the “king of the dead” in JATP

That’s it, that’s the parallel.

Possible Season 2 Storylines

Cephalus and Procris (I’m not as familiar with this myth, but it basically goes like this)

Cephalus and Procris are happily married and very in love with each other. One day, the goddess of dawn, Eos, kidnaps Cephalus because she wants him to herself. Depending on the version you read, Cephalus either sleeps with Eos, or he doesn’t, but regardless, his only concern is how much he loves his wife, Procris. Eos finds that annoying, and plants the idea in his head that Procris is cheating on him when she releases him eight years later. Cephalus returns to Procris, disguised as another man, to see if she would remain faithful. A disguised Cephalus continuously brings Procris presents, and slowly, Procris is swayed by the mysterious man. When Cephalus reveals himself, Procris runs away, ashamed, and joins Artemis’ hunt. Eos wins essentially. She get’s Cephalus... until Procris returns, trying to make amends with her husband. He takes her back, but not long after Procris hears rumors that Cephalus has been unfaithful. She follows him on a hunt, hiding behind a bush. Cephalus hears a bush move, and thinking it’s an animal, he shoots, killing Procris. In the end, Eos still wins as Procris is no longer in the picture, and she could theoretically be with him. Expect Cephalus exiles himself and Eos is never seen again.

How could this apply to JATP season 2?

Julie = Procris

Luke = Cephalus

Caleb = Eos

Caleb-Possessed-Nick = Disguised man

Since Caleb possessed Nick at the end, I assume his plan is to get Julie to pick Nick, thus pushing Luke away from her. Caleb wants Luke and the boys to himself, and as long as Julie is in the picture, that won’t happen. As Caleb-Possessed-Nick tries to flirt and get closer to Julie, Luke will see this and get jealous. His jealousness could lead to tensions between Julie and Luke, making the band a bit awkward, maybe even a big fight that pushes Luke to think about joining Caleb, or at least isolating himself where Caleb would have easy access. I think it would be a very loosely applied parallel, but the idea of Caleb working to cause a rift between Luke and Julie to get Luke by himself is a major possibility. Regardless, Caleb-Possessed-Nick is going to get in the way of Luke and Julie’s slow burn pining for each other. 

A General Thought Not Related to Greek Mythology 

Regardless of what the writers end up doing, I think Caleb’s best plan would be to target the boys individually; like the continuance of the Hercules parallel with Willex and potential Cephalus & Procris parallel with Juke. I don’t know how he would isolate Reggie, maybe something with his family, but targeting the boys one-on-one would be the most strategic move for Caleb. He could even get super manipulative with it. He could say something like “Alex already agreed” or something along those lines to try to persuade the boy he is talking to. 

Additionally, I don’t have any theories on where Carrie and Julie’s relationship may go, but i’m looking forward to a Carrie redemption arc. As far as where Bobby fits in, I read someone’s theory that Caleb may approach him, offering to help keep his reputation as Trevor Wilson, if he helps deal with the boys somehow. I’m sure there’s a potential greek myth that fits a potential Bobby and the boys storyline, but out of the ones I can think of right now, there aren’t. Betrayal is a huge theme in greek mythology though.

Anyway...

While the original target audience was kids and the show probably wasn’t meant to be this deep, as a screenwriter myself, I find it super useful (and fun) to parallel classic stories and myths when I write. It can add a sense of nuance to the story, especially when done right. I hope the writers (assuming at least the Orpheus and Lotus Eaters parallels were intentional) continue to parallel the season with some form of myth or classic story, only to then completely flip the ending. 

If you actually took the time to read ALL of this, my god, I applaud you, you amazing human. Thank you so much for reading it. I’d love to hear what y’all think or what theories y’all have as well!

[rosyredlipstick]

guess who watched high school musical 2 and got caught up in the ryan/chad of it all: a conchell AU

this is pure 100% cheese. thats ur warning. also unbeta-ed.

Spending the entire summer at their mother’s golf resort had sounded like a dream for exactly 3 seconds, until Mitchell remembered the…. Everything about his siblings. 

When he wasn’t pulling Sebastian away from flirting with all their guests and the entire staff, he was lecturing Scarlett and Drew about taking advantage of the concierge service, making sure Stefan and Valentina weren’t spending too much time in the sun and were definitely drinking virgin cocktails, reigning in Lacey and Sophia’s pranks, and making sure Sabrina was happy in her first summer enrolled in the youth program. Oh, and he was choreographing a major number for the end of summer talent show. So. Full plate. 

Still, it was nice he had convinced Will to come along for the summer. While he was one of Mitchell’s official guests, he had quickly befriended the entire young staff in the kitchens and by the poolside. More than often, when they were on their walks around the resort, Will would no doubt be called out to or greeted by grinning teens in red and white polos. 

Mitchell, used to his friend’s sunflower attraction toward attention, smiled knowingly and let it happen without a complaint. At least Will was enjoying himself--he’d been way too stressed about his pre-med program the last few months and, with Mitchell spending most of his time at the resort trying to rein in his power-drunk sibling, he was glad his friend wasn’t spending the summer alone at the poolside. 

Of course, with all his new acquaintances, that also meant that Will’s tendency to interfere with Mitchell’s personal relationships appeared. 

“I’m telling you, you need to hang out with friends more, you’ve been busy all summer!” Will was smiling brightly. “This is the perfect opportunity!” 

“Yes, the perfect opportunity to intrude on a social gathering!” Mitchell protested, “It’ll be weird if I go. You should just go and have fun, don’t worry about me.” Mitchell sighed, “I don’t want them to be uncomfortable! This is their down time, I don’t want to ruin it by being the boss’s kid.” 

Will rolled his eyes, “It’s a baseball game, Mitchell.” 

Mitchell shook his head, final. “Sorry. But I don’t think so. Text me afterward, okay? We can grab ice cream.” Will said nothing. He peeked a look back to the other boy, “Unless there’s something else?” 

Will sighed and looked off to the side as his cheeks colored. “Okay, listen, of course I really want you there because you’re my best friend and everything but also -” 

“There’s a guy.” Mitchell guessed, bored. Will found the love of his life at least once a week. “Who is he?”

Will didn’t even put up a fight. “I’m not sure if you know him. He works in the coffee shop? Pale, dark hair, sharpest cheekbones I’ve ever seen?”

Mitchell thought for a second, “Nico?” He guessed. Nico, for the past few months, has consistently served him the best caramel macchiato he’d ever had every morning. Mitchell dreamt about that drink, on especially good nights.  

Will melted into a dreamy mess. “Yeah. Nico.” 

Mitchell blew a puff of hair up into the hair around his face, “I mean…” He grimaced, “If you need a wingman or something -”

“Yes!” Will was already celebrating, “Thank the gods, thank you! I mean, I think you’ll enjoy yourself at the game and everyone’s really cool, but yes! Okay, if you could just like, set up a really good opportunity for me and Nico to be together like, alone, I’d so appreciate it -” 

Will continued to ramble about the perfect situation Mitchell could set up, including the ideal mood lighting, when Mitchell interrupted him.

"Is Percy okay?" Percy had just rushed by, looking upset, and hopped in his mother’s car without a word to either of them--odd, as he usually offered at least a hey guys! If not a full on conversation that left Mitchell feeling like a better person for having it. It was kind of his thing. 

"Oh, he's in turmoil because he feels like he has to choose between swimming or singing with Annabeth at the talent show and he doesn’t know which to choose." 

“Oh.” 

Will wrinkled his nose, “Yeah, he’s kinda got his own thing going on right now. I saw him dancing by himself in the golf course earlier, but I thought I’d just give him some space.”

“Smart,” Mitchell commented, growing a bit uneasy as they approached the field. There was a crowd already assembled there with a smaller circle throwing a baseball back and forth. As they approached, a few people called out to Will in excitement but it wasn’t until they were faced with a smaller inner group of people that Mitchell was addressed. 

A tall, smirking guy with wild curls was the first to greet him, lightly tossing a baseball into his own mit as he spoke. “Brought a friend, Will?” 

Will smiled brightly. “Yeah! This is Mitchell.”

“Trust me, I know who Mitchell is.” His humor-filled gaze flickered to Mitchell himself. “Nice to finally meet you.” 

Mitchell’s cheeks heated. “You know me?” 

Travis let out a small disbelieving laugh. “Yeah. Yeah, I do.” Travis elbowed the guy at his side, who shared similar curls and features. “And this is my brother, Connor.” 

“Hello, I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced.” Mitchell held out his hand with a smile. “I’m Mitchell. You’re on the staff, here?” 

Despite the incredibly stupid question Mitchell just asked considering Connor’s bright red LIFEGUARD tank top he still wore, Connor was kind enough to nod along with Mitchell’s obvious question, his eyes wide. Mitchell’s hand, still extended out to him, wobbled in the air. 

He was a second away from dropping his arm and shaking it off completely when Connor seemed to realize that he was waiting for a handshake in the first place and nearly dived for it. In his haste, he almost completely tripped over himself and onto Mitchell. 

“Oh, well,” Mitchell caught him before he could take them both down on the dirt field. “Are you okay? Is it too hot or something?” Connor’s face was strangely pale compared to his brother’s, despite the mid-afternoon summer sun. Mitchell resisted the urge to reach out and touch his skin for sun stroke. 

“So hot,” Connor whispered, in his arms. Mitchell stared down at him in concern.

A girl--Katie, maybe--came up beside him and physically took Connor out of his arms, a tight smile on her lips. “This is nothing, he’s just dehydrated.”

“More like thirsty.” A girl across from them muttered.

Katie continued on like no one said anything. “Let’s get some water in you, dude.” 

Will was smiling on like this interaction was completely normal. “So anyway I was wondering if Mitchell could join our game?” 

“Hmm, well this is an employee-only game.” Despite his words, the light tease in Travis’s voice kept Mitchell from getting nervous about the whole situation. “But it does raise the stakes.” 

That Mitchell could work with. His lips stretched out into a wide grin. “Yeah? What were you thinking?” 

Travis clicked his tongue, “How do you feel about being Captain? I take one team, you take the other.”

He thought it over then nodded. “That sounds fair. What’s the prize?” 

Travis shrugged, messing with the baseball in his mit as he spoke. “Any ideas?” 

Mitchell pretended to think, already knowing what he wanted. With a group this size, his choreo could really expand into something great. “If you lose, you guys have to join my dance group for the talent show.” 

“Hmm,” Travis looked to the girl at his side--Phoebe, he thought, another lifeguard. She once helped him with Sabrina’s floaties. “We’ll consider that. Guys?” The circle of employees gathered a bit closer to talk it over. Will shot him an excited look. 

Suddenly, in the midst of their talking it over, Connor burst from the huddle and pushed his way over to Mitchell. “I’ll give you fifty dollars if you let me on your dance team.” 

“Wait, no -” Travis grabbed his shoulders from behind to push him back, “Connor, we’re trying to negotiate with him!” 

“Oh,” Connor nodded seriously and turned back to where Mitchell was waiting, amused. “I’ll pay two hundred -” 

Katie slapped a hand over his mouth and dragged him back to the crowd, him protesting all the way. Travis looked back to Mitchell, tired. “Just ignore him, please.”

Mitchell watched him sink back into the crowd, something small curled at his lips. “I don’t think I can.”

“Anyway,” Katie was the one to speak now. “We talked it over, that sounds fine. If we lose, we’ll be in your show.” 

Mitchell had to resist punching the air in excitement. “Great.” 

Travis leaned back with his arms crossed, looking him over. “And what do we get if we win?” 

“Well, what do you want?” 

“Dinner and a movie,” Connor choked out, almost like he didn’t mean to.

Mitchell raised an eyebrow, “An catered employee afternoon in the movie theatre?” He thought it over, then shrugged. “I could probably arrange that.” 

Travis rubbed at his forehead, “I - sure. Yeah, that sounds fun.” 

“Alright,” Mitchell smiled with a small shrug of his shoulders. “I guess it’s game on, then.” 

...

Of course, against a batch of peers who had been playing baseball all summer, Mitchell was bound to lose. However, they didn’t lose as hard as he expected. 

After the match, when Mitchell was left aching from the game and loss but proud despite it, Will sunk down next to him at the picnic table. “Good game. I didn’t think you’d get so into it.” 

At the last moment, Mitchell had ended up diving for a ball, completely dirting up his outfit. He had caught it, and it had counted, but two players had already made it home in the meantime. Still, it was a close loss. 

Mitchell smiled slightly. “Me neither. But it was worth a shot at a full dance group.”

Will laughed softly, “Still. Great catch.” 

“It really was.” They both looked up at the new voice--Katie, from before. She’d been on Travis’s team with Connor, Jason, Leo, Annabeth and a few others. The rest of the group was mostly dispersed by now, most of them arranging rides home or plans to grab food. “We haven’t had a game that fun in a while.” 

At her arrival, Will stood and offered her his seat. Which was kind, but also definitely just a ploy to escape and run off wherever Nico was lurking. Mitchell waved him off with a roll of his eyes before returning back to the conversation. Katie took his place without a word. 

“Well, I’m happy to help. It was a good time, you guys work well together.” Mitchell shot her a knowing grin. “I’ll start working out the theatre rental. Any movie requests?” 

She shrugged, “We can take a vote on it. But we’ve also been talking.” Katie had an amused twinkle in her eye. “We’re in. We’ll still do your show, it sounds fun.” 

Mitchell sat up completely, a bolt of excitement hitting him. “Wait, really?” At her nod, he absolutely lit up. “Oh my god, it’s gonna be such a fun show, I promise!” He got to his feet in excitement and threw his arms around her shoulders in a hug, pulling away promptly. “Oh my god, wait, I’m covered in dirt I’m so sorry -” 

She waved it off but stood herself. She, too, was covered in dirt from the game so didn’t seem to care much at any additional. 

He couldn’t help but babble on. “It’s going to be so much fun. You won’t regret it.”

She smiled at him, looking like she was indulging him. “I know. Anyway, just a moment,” She disappeared for a few moments only to return, dragging Connor by the wrist. She pushed him toward Mitchell, almost bumping them into each other. “Connor will be your contact point for organizing this. Trade numbers, will you? For planning.”

“Oh, sure!” Mitchell fumbled to get his phone out and hand it over. Connor’s phone appeared under his hand faster than he thought possible. 

Katie left them alone as he punched in his own phone and name, drifting back to where Travis and a few others were waiting. He handed back Connor’s phone, suddenly closer to the other boy than he had realized. He paused. 

“You have grass in your hair.” Connor breathed out. 

“Oh,” Mitchell dipped his head in embarrassment and rubbed at his head. “Oops.” 

“I -” Connor gestured to his own temple. “Other side?” 

He tried but Connor only stepped forward slightly into his space, reaching out slowly. “Let me -” Mitchell felt a slight pull on his hair, not painful. Connor pulled away with a blade of grass in between two fingers. 

“Got it,” Connor said weakly, staring down at him. 

“My hero,” Mitchell teased. Connor nodded gravely at that, like he was accepting a mission.

Connor licked his lips before he spoke. “That was a really good catch. You’re a good player.” 

“Baseball’s just a dance of its own.” Mitchell shrugged, joking. “What can I say? I’m just that much of a star athlete.” Connor nodded, looking like he completely agreed. 

Before either of them could say anything further, Will called out to him and ran their way, grinning, with another guy at his side. “I heard the news! They’re still doing the show, that’s great!” Will was glowing, “See, coming to this was a great idea!” 

Mitchell stuck out his tongue, “You just wanted to brag that you were right.” 

“No!” Will looked behind where he had ran from and lit up, “Actually, I wanted to introduce you to Nico!” 

Nico, who trailed after him a few steps, walked up beside Will with a sarcastic roll of his eyes. Mitchell liked him already. “Next time you’re going to run off mid-conversation, can you at least give me a warning first? I’ll die before I jog after you in jeans.” 

“You’re the one who wore jeans to a baseball game!” 

“And why not? You think I’m gonna participate in this?” 

“Well, you’re an employee at an employee baseball game. Perhaps I thought you were going to play.” 

“Where would you get that idea? Have you not seen the everything about me?” 

“Hi, I’m Mitchell.” He stuck out his hand with a grin. He could sit here all day, truly, but he did have things to do. “You’re Nico?” 

“That’s me.” He raised an eyebrow. “You look familiar.

“Mitchell is one of Aphrodite’s kids. He’s a good one, don’t worry.” Will explained, shooting Mitchell a wince like he didn’t know exactly how his siblings were. 

Mitchell snorted, “On behalf of Drew and Scarlett, I can’t apologize enough.” 

“That… helps.” Nico winced. “I messed up Drew’s chai latte my first day on the job.” 

Mitchell groaned, “Again, I’m so sorry. I’ve been trying to get them to act like, you know, normal people -” 

Nico cut him off. “We work at a golf club. I get more cranky boomers in an hour than an AARP meeting.” Nico shook his head, “They’re a lot, but definitely not the worst customers to have. At least they tip well.” 

He could have wilted in relief. Across from him, Will’s eyes were nearly hearts. God, he was already lovesick. 

Which reminded him --

“Actually, Connor and I were just leaving. We’ll leave you two be.” Mitchell lightly grabbed Connor’s elbow to start steering him away. “Will, can you get a ride home? I’m probably going to be staying late.” 

Next to him, Nico perked up. “Oh, I can give you a ride? If you want? I’ll have to pick up my older sister but, um, it’s not that out of the way -” 

“I would love to.” Will looked perfectly composed, despite the screaming excitement that must be running through his head. He even managed to grab onto Nico’s hand as he led them away toward the parking lot. 

“Young love,” Mitchell commented, shaking his head fondly as the other couple walked off. “Must be nice.” He stepped back and dropped his hand from Connor’s elbow. “Oh, sorry!” He laughed lightly. “Sorry, I was recruited as Will’s wingman and I wanted to give them some time alone. Cute, right?”

Connor’s throat bobbled. “So cute. Um,” Connor made a jerky movement, like he was gonna run his hand through his hair but decided not to. “So you’re, uh, staying late?” 

“Yeah,” He blew some air up into the hair hanging over his face. “If you guys are gonna join the number, I want to have the choreo adjusted for a group before we start rehearsals.” 

“Cool, cool.” Connor nodded slowly, “Cool.” 

Now that he was closer, Mitchell could almost recognize Connor from his many shifts poolside. His lifeguard chair was almost right across from where Valentina would occasionally drag him to tan in the afternoon sun. Didn’t he once help Mitchell apply sunscreen, when Valentina ran to get slushies right when he was reapplying? 

His hands were cold, Mitchell remembered, or maybe his own skin was just that hot. He shivered when Connor applied the first handful of cream on his back. Mitchell had to advise Connor to take some of the sunscreen himself, after his own skin started to stain red. 

He was kind, was the point. Or at least, that’s what Mitchell remembered. 

Mitchell gestured at his parked golf cart as they approached it. “You want a ride anywhere? I’m heading toward the main pavilion.” 

Something wobbled in Connor’s expression before he spoke. “I could, um, go with you?” He said it as a question, looking slightly nervous as he spoke. 

“Yeah, sure! The employee entrance? Did you forget something?” 

“No, no, like -” Connor made another awkward gesture toward nothing. “Like, if you need help with the number? I could come? I mean, it’s never too early to get started on learning the dance, right?” 

Mitchell smiled, “Oh, sure! Do you have experience with dance routines?” 

Connor nodded confidently. “Yes.” 

“Really?” Mitchell turned to him in excitement. “Have you been in any dance groups before?” 

“Um. No.” 

“Oh, so like private lessons or something? A club?”

“Uh. No again.” His confidence was fully wavering now. 

Mitchell raised his eyebrows, “So what experience do you have?” 

“I sometimes dance in my room?” Connor scratched at the back of his head. “I, um. I didn’t think you’d ask many questions, actually.” 

Despite his awkwardness, Mitchell was… charmed by Connor’s fumbling. 

“Um,” Mitchell bit his smiling lip, looking away then back. “Actually, I was supposed to get ice cream with Will after the game.”

Connor deflated before he could finish. “Oh. Okay, yeah.” 

“No!” Mitchell was quick to correct. “I meant like, with Will going off with Nico, I still want to get it. With you. If that’s okay?” 

Connor’s expression bloomed into something so joyful, Mitchell was almost taken back. “I would… adore that.” 

“Adore?” Mitchell couldn’t help but tease. “Why’s that?” 

“I just,” He turned to Mitchell, his eyes wide. “I just really, really like ice cream.”

Mitchell bit his lip, “Me too. I mean, I really like ice cream. Ice cream is… sweet.”

Connor huffed out a small laugh, “Yeah. I, uh, agree.” He made an awkward little motion with his arm at the golf cart. “Um, shall we go?” 

Mitchell stepped forward and looped his arm with Connor’s. “Actually, I thought we could walk?” 

“I will do literally anything you want.” 

Mitchell laughed, “I’ll hold you to that.” 

To Mitchell’s amusement, Connor’s face turned a dark, dark red. He looked away, his lips pressed together in a small excited smile. Perhaps the baseball game hasn’t been such a bad idea.

[samatheia229]

PJO Mortal AU (Solangelo-centric)

 The Olympia Family

(AKA the family with so much chaos and drama, they would have made an even more popular reality TV show than Keeping Up with the Kardashians)

Thalia Grace - 24

An ambassador of the Artemis Foundation

Badass

Won't hesitate to throw hands at anyone who messes with her family.

Very protective of her little brother and cousins.

Not afraid to speak her mind and fight for what she thinks is right.

Has a kind of love-hate relationship with her stepmother Hera. While Thalia respects and acknowledges Hera as her stepmother, she is a free spirit, and hates being chained down by the old-fashioned rules Hera imposes.

Briefly dated Luke Castellan for 2 years, but broke up due to reasons. The break up was mutual and Luke still remains as one of Thalia's closest friends.

Deadly with a bow and arrow (she'd be hunting down hunters like they hunt animals for living if it weren't for the fact that murder is unfortunately illegal).

Jason Grace - 19

Sophomore at Uni (double majors in Management and Aerodynamic Engineering)

Flight school graduate

Heir to Jupiter Airlines (given that his father doesn't plan to retire anytime soon, Jason is considering becoming a pilot in the meantime)

Hera's favourite child since he actually follows her rules (He bends them slightly every now and then, but she doesn't need to know that).

Regular at the Manhattan Chess Club

Has an intense rivalry with his older cousin Percy that's been going on for like 10 years now... (his life goal is to beat Percy. They're currently at a stalemate of 3795 wins each.)

Very protective of Nico. He almost had an aneurysm when he heard that grumpy, little stay-away-or-I’ll-death-glare-you Nico had a boyfriend. A boyfriend.

Has a best friend Leo Valdez who is an engineer student with an eccentric personality and is a mischievous menace. His childhood friend, Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano, is an athlete in javelin-throwing and currently resides in her hometown in San Juan, Puerto Rico, but they still keep in touch. 

Dating Piper McLean, the 19-year-old founder of the Beautifully Imperfect Foundation

Zeus Olympia

CEO of Jupiter Airlines

Drama Queen TM

Favours Thalia more despite Jason being his heir and enables most of her rebellious antics, much to Hera's chagrin.

Can be rather childish and petty ("It's been 43 years, and I've long since given up on expecting him to change," Hades deadpanned.)

As the youngest child of the Olympia family and with his father on Death's doorstep, Zeus was given a lot of free reign, hence his playboy tendencies. He eventually did settle down with Hera Junos, the single daughter of one of the oldest families in Greece. Hera was fond of children but was unable to sire her own due to medical issues, which led to Zeus getting a mistress (with Hera's begrudged consent), Beryl Grace, the daughter of Hera's family chef. Beryl has always had a rather strange personality and an unhealthy obsession with alcohol. A few years after giving birth to Thalia and Jason Grace respectively, her liver gave way and she died before they could find a solution.

Hera Olympia (formerly Junos)

Zeus' wife

The kids call her ‘Aunt Ra’

Jason is her favourite child because he actually listens to her

Coming from both a high-class and old family, Hera was raised to be a perfect lady (a lady should not wear pants or speak out of turn etc. etc.) and has a rather old-fashioned way of thinking, enforcing strict rules in her household.

She still loves Thalia, but because the way Thalia acts goes against everything Hera was taught, her relationship with her stepdaughter is a bit strained. Hera now mostly lets Thalia do her own thing, but every now and then might still be a bit controlling. She's trying, okay?

Bianca di Angelo - 19

Sophomore at Uni (majors in Journalism and English Literature)

Works part-time at the Artemis Foundation

Generally quiet and shy, but has a tendency to fuss over small details.

Very responsible and possibly the only one with a brain cell among the cousins. (Proteus and Triton don’t even live in the same continent half of the time; Kym doesn't give a damn; Thesi is too nice to reprimand them; Ro‘s too busy fawning over her fiancé; Hero is more likely to fan the flames than quell them; Thalia, Jason, Percy and Nico are always either competing against each other or breaking the Internet with their antics again; Hazel is pretty innocent but has a slight vindictive streak so caution must be exercised; and Tyson and Estelle are innocent beans of sunshine that must be protected).

She can be bold when she wants to be, as well as reckless. 

Has her father's habit of gesturing with her hands while talking and when she is on edge.

Ace

Nico di Angelo - 17

High school Senior

Heir to Pluto Corp.

Resident Emo in the family (“I'm not emo!” “Your only-dark-clothing phase says otherwise.” “It's not a phase, Persephone!” “Like father, like son.”)

Stubborn AF

Can't deal with all his overprotective sisters and cousins

Currently pining over William Solace ("Shut up!")

Avid gamer, plays digital games, card games (his childhood and to-this-day favourite is Myth-o-magic, which is one of the reasons he approves of Hazel's boyfriend, Frank) and all games in general (he visits the arcade monthly to make sure he's still 1st place in every game there)

Has a tendency to hold grudges and gestures with his hands while talking or when on edge, a habit he shares with his father and older sister.

Plays the violin (Persephone had introduced him to it, and he'd taken a liking to it)

Hazel Olympia (formerly Levesque) - 14

High school Freshman

Aspiring artist (she’s won thirty different art competitions locally in the span of three years and placed silver last year in the Chelsea International Fine Art Competition under an anonymous name because she wanted to win by her own merit rather than rely on the Olympia name. Hades plans to surprise her by giving her own exhibition hall for her next birthday.)

Regular at the Manhattan Riding Club

Has a bit of a vindictive streak in her that was probably born out of spite due to her upbringing

Exudes a powerful aura of passive aggressiveness, but is also incredibly kind and magnanimous

Has the ability is summon, manipulate and detect precious minerals, as well as the ability to place curses on them. (This knowledge is confidential and hidden from the public)

Loves her family with all her heart, and literally no one is more protective of Nico than she is

She was the first but also last person to know about Nico's boyfriend (First because she goes to the same school and is not dense, thank you very much, but technically last because she was the last person that Nico officially told since Will is terrified of her for some reason, something about her being 'the FINAL BOSS'; this amuses Hazel to no end).

Has a very cute crush on Frank Zhang, a HS Junior who’s an archer and animal lover (it’s mutual, by the way).

Hades Olympia 

CEO of Pluto Corp., one of the largest companies in the mining industry.

#DONE with life and all the people in it, particularly his crazy family

Functions solely on his children, Persephone and caffeine, usually caffeine because the other two are often the cause of his high blood pressure

Broods a lot (”I don’t brood.” “Yes, you do.”)

Deadpan 200% of the time and takes no shit

Loves all his children equally and definitely does not have a favourite (it’s Hazel, in case you’re wondering) 

As the eldest son of the three brothers, Hades was betrothed and wed to his childhood best friend Persephone Terrafield by their fathers in an attempt at a business partnership (Spoiler Alert: It didn’t work out in end). Admittedly, Hades and Persephone did have a small infatuation with each other when they were younger, but it never grew into anything serious, and as they grew older he saw her as more of a sibling than a lover and vice versa. After the inevitable death of his father, Hades and Persephone divorced but literally nothing in their relationship changed since they’d never loved each other romantically in the first place. When Hades decided to court their mutual friend, Italian diplomat Maria di Angelo, Persephone supported both of them wholeheartedly. In the span of the seventeen years they were together, Maria gave Hades two beautiful children, Bianca and Nico. Unfortunately, Maria passed away after being on life support for two years in result of a plane crash when Nico was 6. 

In the two years when Maria was hospitalized, Hades was so desperate to find his beloved a cure that he sought out a witch doctor that was rumoured to be in New Orleans. Marie Levesque, the aforementioned witch, was a greedy, manipulative person with a deluded and unstable mind, who drugged Hades and essentially raped him because she thought his spawn would have the perfect blood for experimenting magic on. She used magic to wipe his memory of the previous night’s events and handed him an ‘antidote’ that was actually just water dyed a milky white. After ten years, Marie finally revealed to Hades a 12-year-old Hazel, who looked miserable, was suffering from malnutrition, wounds, burns etc. and had a supernatural ability which Marie proudly said she had bestowed to her via dark magic. Hades was absolutely mortified, revolted and a bunch of other things. He filed a lawsuit against Marie, charging her for rape, child neglect, child abuse and human experimentation, as well as taking permanent custody over Hazel Levesque (now Hazel Olympia). 

Persephone Terrafield

CEO of jewelry enterprise The Red Pomegranate which was a sub-branch of Pluto Corps. The enterprise has the highest production rate in the US. 

Self-designated matchmaker for Hades (Hades always tells her she should focus on her own love life first, but he’s just an ungrateful brat)

Current life goal is to fulfill Maria di Angelo’s dying wish: help Hades find love again. (Mission status: still at Square 1 because Hades has some trust issues after the Levesque Incident)

The kids all call her ��Aunt Seph’, but she loves the children as though they were her own

She and Hades often joke that they would totally still be married if they didn’t see each other as siblings and platonic soulmates and she hadn’t had her sexual awakening of being lesbian.

She lives with Hades and the children as she finds it too much of a hassle to move into her own place, not to mention lonely (with the kids at school and doing club activities, someone needs to make sure Hades gets exposure to the sun anyway).

Persephone is the daughter of an unnamed businessman and Demeter Terrafield, an agricultural revolutionist and healthy-cereal-obssessed woman.

Her mother and Hades have this sort of weird rivalry going on whenever Demeter visits; Demeter hates Hades because he hates healthy cereal, and apparently anyone who hates healthy cereal isn’t good enough to be hanging around her daughter, so she always replaces all his coffee with decaf and puts the healthiest cereal she can find on his bedside table every morning; in retaliation, Hades will deliberately eat the most sugary sweets he can find in front of her and locks her out of their personal greenhouse. (The glass walls are made of the strongest glass he could find and the door is locked by multiple manual and digital locks.)

Hestia Olympia

CEO of WarmHearth Interior Design Agency (WHIDA)

Everyone's favourite person, indefinitely

Has the infinite patience of a goddess

Gentle, kind, very wise, gives great advice

The kids call her ‘Aunt Tia’ 

Often fondly exasperated by her younger brothers' antics (because no, just because they’re grown men now does not mean they are going to stop their childhood feuds since despite their protests, they are all petty AF), but once she snaps, they all line up like toy soldiers and behave nicely.

Knits a lot. Most of her carpets, quilts, bags, scarves etc. are handmade.

She looks relatively innocent, but don't be fooled. There's a hidden arsonist in her that is always ready to come out when she's angry.

Hestia has a 'I'm not mad, just extremely disappointed and upset' Mom Look that has sent people bawling their eyes out and begging for her forgiveness with just one glance

She is the oldest of the Olympia siblings, but as a child had a frail and weak body. Kronos wanted to get rid of her since she was 'useless and couldn't be wed off', but Rhea, their mother, begged and pleaded Kronos to let her live. For some unknown reason, Kronos complied.

Her brothers are all very protective of her

YOU DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, MAKE HER ANGRY

[pjoandaftg]

Chapter 4

It was two days before Halloween and Annabeth was one more jump scare away from punching someone. Honestly, who thought that it was a good idea to make a holiday of scaring the shit out of people. April fool's day was bad enough. Don't get her wrong though, she didn't hate the holiday itself, just the idiots who took it upon themselves to run around campus, dressed as the walking dead or killer clowns, jumping out at everyone who walks around a corner. She might actually enjoy it if she wasn't running on 3 hours of sleep and six cups of coffee. And what made it infinitely worse Piper and Percy have made a bet on how much times they can scare Annabeth and get it on camera. Percy was currently winning at 6-7. To say Piper was bitter was an understatement. She regretted ever introducing them to each other.

Speaking of the devil, Piper ran up to Annabeth. "Hey," she said falling into step beside her.

"Given up already or just not in the mood?" Annabeth asked in lieu of hello.

Piper laughed. "Oh, please. I'm no where near giving up. Still got two more days until its over babe, be prepared."

Annabeth groaned. They walked along and chatted about everything and anything back to Annabeth's apartment. Half way there they stopped in the coffee shop that Piper's blue eyed boy-crush worked. They got in line but before they could order Annabeth heard a voice shout.

"No, fucking way. I don't believe my eyes. Is that Piper Motherfucking McLean." Annabeth immediately went into defensive mode. She knew who Piper's father was and Piper was recognised quiet a lot, but she knew how much Piper hated it and how it sometimes got out of control. She looked over at Piper but instead of the usual annoyed/frustrated look she got when recognized she had a shit eating grin on her face.

She finally found the face that belonged to the voice. It was a small elfish looking boy, with a brown, mop of hair on his head. His skin was a dark colour and his mouth was quirked in a grin that meant trouble. Looking closely she realised that it was the smile Piper had when she first met her.

Piper squealed beside her and Annabeth was thankful for the basically empty café because they would most definitely be causing a scene right about now. Piper ran up to the boy and wrapped him in a bone crushing hug. When they separated, Piper gave a light punch on his arm that he overexaggerated about, a lot.

"Valdez? What are you doing here?" Piper asked.

"Getting coffee, obviously." He answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Not in the café, here, on campus, in New York?"

"Didn't you hear, Leo Valdez is a college student baby," he winked at Piper seductively, and at that she just rolled her eyes and snorted.

Annabeth was now next in line so she ordered her coffee from Piper's blue eyed boy.

"Do they know each other?" he asked nodding towards Piper and Leo.

"Clearly," Annabeth said. "Why do you know him?"

"He's my roommate, moved in about three weeks ago."

Before Annabeth could comment any further, Piper and Leo joined her at the counter.

"Annabeth meet my good old friend Leo Valdez."

Annabeth shook his calloused hand, "Annabeth Chase."

"Nice to meet ya," he said and then turned to blue eyes. "Jason, buddy, did you know Piper went to school here?"

Jason put his hands up mock salute. "I didn't know her name, just her face." He said and if Annabeth saw correctly, she thought she saw the tip of his ears turn a dark red. Interesting. Leo must have seen it because his smile turned into a teasing grin. 

"Well, she does have a pretty face, its easy to get distracted." and this time Jason was definitely blushing.

Annabeth laughed and checked her watch. "Shit," she muttered under her breath. She hadn't meant to stay here so long. "I have to go," she told Piper apologetically.

Piper waved her off, "No problem, I'll catch up with you later right?"

Annabeth nodded, said her goodbyes and then walked out the door. When she reached the apartment she just got there in time to run straight into Grover who was half way out the door, Juniper and Percy behind him. 

"Good I'm not too late," she said. Grover smiled at her and out down the bag in his hand and pulled Annabeth into an embrace. When they pulled apart Annabeth said, "be safe ok? And come back because I might kill Percy if you're not there to play referee." Grover snorted at that and Percy let out an amused huff that he tried to pass as annoyance.

"I need to go now, but try not to kill each other while I'm gone. Its only two weeks." Grover said picking back up his bag.

"No promises," Percy said which earned him a light slap on his arm from Annabeth.

They all hugged one more time and said their goodbyes until it was just Annabeth and Percy left. Percy looked at Annabeth, "Pizza?" he asked. Annabeth let out a sigh and a smile. Its like he read her mind. "Only if theirs pineapple," she said because she knew it would annoy him. As expected he made a gagging motion. "Gross," he said. "Absolutely not." But when he put in the order, Annabeth heard the half pineapple half pepperoni pizza he ordered.

 The next morning Annabeth was eating a bowl of cereal on the couch while watching the episode of 'Grey's Anatomy' she missed the night before when a loud banging came from the door. Annabeth sighed and put down her bowl to open the door and almost get knocked down by Piper trying to barge into her apartment.

"Tell me you have a Halloween costume," she said.

Annabeth just rolled her eyes and went back to her breakfast, "Why hello to you, please come in."

Now it was Piper who rolled her eyes. She plopped down onto the couch beside Annabeth, making some milk slosh out of the bowl. Annabeth sent a glare her way.

"So do you?" she asked.

"Do I what?" Annabeth asked.

"Have a Halloween costume?"

Annabeth snorted. "No why would I?"

"Because Leo told me about this party he's going to tonight and you get free drinks for the night if you have the best costume."

"You only want to go because Jason will be there," Annabeth deadpanned. Piper's cheeks flushed.

"That's not the only reason, just one of them," she mumbled.

"Fine, I'll go with you, but you owe me." Annabeth said pointing a strict finger at Piper. Piper just grinned, "Yes ma'am."

They sat and watched the rest of the episode before going to the store to buy Annabeth her costume. When they got to the store, Piper went browsing through costumes occasionally throwing one back at Annabeth, while Annabeth followed behind her uninterested, or so she pretended to be. As much as Annabeth hated the scary and spooky part of Halloween, she adored the dressing up, not that she'd ever tell Piper. She's never hear the end of it otherwise. But Annabeth had always loved the idea of being someone else for the night. Anybody she wanted.

She remembered when she was in 2nd grade and every girl dressed up as a Disney princess and every boy was either Spider-Man or batman. But not Annabeth, she had come dressed up as Amelia Earhart. She had loved it. All the others made fun of her and at the time she hated that costume and she had come home after school crying, giving out to her dad for not getting her a princess dress. But now, Annabeth realised that that was her favourite costume ever, simply because her dad helped her make it. That is only one of the few happy memories she has of her parents. 

Piper threw another costume at Annabeth, snapping her out of her daze. She shoved her towards the dressing room and after Annabeth tried on multiple outfits [a cowboy, a mummy and a carton of milk among her favourites] and modeled them for Piper who sat down and rated the costumes. They finally agreed on a Greek goddess costume that included a flowy, white dress with a slit going down the whole left leg. 

On the way out Piper picked up some golden glitter, essential for the costume she said, and a golden headpiece. They payed and went back to the apartment.

 Percy wasn't at the apartment as he had swim practise so the girls had the place to themselves. They connected music to the speaker, got out the costumes and their make up and got to setting up. Annabeth took a quick shower beforehand, Piper had one before coming over. When she came out she was only wearing her underwear which included a matching knickers and strapless bra, Piper was talking to someone and thinking she was on the phone, Annabeth walked to where she left Piper. Only Piper wasn't on the phone, she was talking to Percy. 

She stopped for a minute, frozen in place and that's when Percy saw her. He looked away almost immediately, but not before, Annabeth noticed, he quickly looked her from head to toe. Annabeth rushed back to her room to throw on her robe to the sound of Piper's amused cackle. When Annabeth returned she gave Percy a sheepish smile, in which he returned. There was an awkward silence but thank god for Piper, Annabeth thought, as Piper broke the tension with,

"You have any plans tonight?" she asked Percy.

He just shook his head, "nope," he said emphasizing the 'p ' sound.

It was then Annabeth noticed the mischievous glint in Piper's eyes. "Do you have a Halloween costume?" she asked.

Annabeth took it back take her back, she thought, she prayed, but she knew t was too late because Piper didn't miss a beat when Percy shook his head.

"Well then, I guess we have some shopping to so." 

[miraclesnail]

Writer’s Month Day 22: Summer

Fandom: percy jackson and the olympians.

Cont of day 20 prompt.

Connor climbs onto the ship not so gracefully and rolls over the rail onto the deck. He surveys his surroundings. Percy and a blonde are standing over an unconscious body. Hazel, Frank, and Jason are nowhere to be seen. Nobody knows he is here yet despite the loud thumps he made when landing. Maybe if he hurries, he won’t have to hurt —

“Go! Get us out of here!” Percy yells and the blonde nods, standing and turning around.

Their eyes meet.

The girl’s eyes widen.

Connor took this opportunity to throw a smoke bomb.

“Wait, Connor!”

The helm is 15 feet northwest and most navigating gears are at the helm. He hopes whoever created this boat kept to the tradition. He runs towards it, groaning when he hears footsteps running in the same direction. He hates hand to hand combat. It sucks. Everybody is bigger than he is. If it’s Percy, he can’t win. If it’s the girl, he definitely can’t win. He got a glimpse of those biceps. She got to have trained as much as Jason does.

(You can still back out)

There’s no backing out.

He reaches the helm the same time — aw fuck — the girl did. The girl isn’t doing anything yet and he takes this time to look over the navigation. The controls are… unorthodox. No traditional steering wheel, but there’s a variety of game controllers are linked to several big screens. His guts are telling him to get the Wii remote.

“Hey.”

His fingers twitches.

“Are you—”

“Sorry! No time to talk.”

He dives for the remote and just like he suspected, the girl is fast and tackles him to the ground just as his fingers grazes the remote. The ship lurches a bit. The Wii remote is the wheel. Unfortunately, he hits the back of his head on the floor from the tackle and oh boy. That didn’t help the pounding headache from his passing out event earlier.

Those few seconds cost him. The girl has the wii remote in her hands and the ship is tilting upwards.

Connor kicks the girl’s feet out under her, wincing as her head hit the dashboard.

He stands the same time the girl is reaching for the controls again and he grabs her from behind in a chokehold. But the girl seems experienced in these types of situations, because she ducks down, step back from the side and out of his hold, and locks his arm behind his back. A kick to the back of his knees and he’s down. She rests her knees over his throat and presses in, the threat clear. Move and I’ll crush your windpipe. In three seconds she turn this whole situation around. Oh boy. His gut was right. There’s no way he can win against her.

“Annabeth! We need to go!” Percy yells, running into view. “Terminus is firing up an attack and I don’t think this ship can withstand it.”

Sure enough when he glances over, Terminus is gathering up magic. If he can keep the ship still, they can take it down.

“Kinda busy, Percy,” the girl — Annabeth — hisses, unrelenting her hold. “You go move the ship. The Wii Remote is the control. Shake it up and down to go up.”

Percy runs towards the control and all Connor can do is watch him.

Come on.

He’s almost there.

Move.

They’re going to escape.

Move!

Nobody is ever going to trust him again.

Move! (Please don’t.)

“Move!” and the knee retracts following his command. He rolls out from under Annabeth and shoves Percy aside. Standing back up to be between them and the controls.

Come on, come on, Terminus. How long does it take to charge up a beam?

Annabeth stares at him with her shrewd eyes, eyes roving over him up and down. “Are you a son of Aphrodite? You can charmspeak.” Her brows creases. “No, that wasn’t charmspeak.”

“I’m a son of H— Mercury.”

He didn’t like the way Annabeth is frowning, like she doesn’t believe him.

“Hey, can we save this for after we get the hell out of here?” Percy says, “I know he looks remarkable like Tra—”

Again. A punch to the gut. A stab to the head. Except it’s so, so, so much worse then the second time and he thinks he’s actually screaming. He could feel it at the edge of his consciousness, the promise of no pain, beckoning him, tugging him insistently to paradise.

No.

He can’t.

He’s going to prove himself. He’s going to show them. Forget it. Forget the someone. There’s no one. No one at all.

The pain dulls only for a moment, but enough for him to open his eyes — when did they close? — and pick up his head — when did it fall? — and pull out his dagger.

“I—” Oh god. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. Gods, it hurts. “I can’t let you leave. I’m sorry.”

His whole body burns. His knees feel like jelly. Everything is twirling. And he can barely feel the dagger in his hand. Is his hand even there?

“Connor.”

He blinks. Jason is standing beside Percy and Annabeth. He blinks again and Jason is right in front of him. Jason’s wearing an orange shirt. He’s not friend. But Connor can’t make himself raise his dagger.

“You’re hurt,” he mutters, watching blood trickle down Jason’s temple.

“Yeah, a brick got me just like it did two years ago. Funny, I know. Connor, I need you to listen to me.”

He bites his cheek. “I can’t let you leave.”

“I know you’re angry. I know a lot of people down there is angry. I know you think if you stop us from leaving, they’ll accept you. But, the truth is—”

“Shut up.” (Say it)

“Octavian and his lackeys were never going to accept you. You fought in the titan war. You defended it the same as any of us. That should have been enough. Doing this won’t change their opinion.”

His vision swarms and he closes his eyes for a bit, willing it to stop spinning. A hand grasps his shoulder and he knocks it aside. He forces his eyes back open and hates the concern he sees on Jason’s face. He hates the concern on all of their faces.

“I don’t care about being accepted. You attacked us. You need to face justice.” His voice breaks towards the end. Thankfully, Jason didn’t acknowledge it.

“It’s too save the world.”

(Leave)

“The… world? Come on. You’re exaggerating.”

Jason shakes his head. “No, I’m not. This is to save the world.”

(Go East)

The pounding in his head isn’t making understanding any of this easier. He blinks hard again, rubbing a heel over his eyes.

(Listen to him.)

“The titans are rising.” (Leave)

Ah.

“Me and Piper and Leo, all of us, are going to stop it.” (Go east)

It’s happening again.

“So please move aside.” (Someone is waiting for you)

The dream.

A woman with her two kids. He can’t see their faces. He could never see their faces. But they’re important. He needs to see them again. He needs to find them. East.

“Connor? Hey? Are you okay?”

When Jason places a hand on his shoulder again, he didn’t bother knocking it aside. He looks away and down, not believing what he’s going to say next.

“It’s… really to save the world?” (Someone is in this world.)

Jason nods and Connor’s chest tightens like a hand is squeezing over it.

The three fates appear behind Jason.

He didn’t flinch when he step aside and run full speed towards the rail. He sees Frank as a dragon distracting Terminus. He sees Hazel putting out the fires on the sails. He sees the ship is rising. He sees he’s 1000 feet above the ground. Everybody is just a dot. The giant eagles are finally here and racing towards the ship, but they’re not gonna make it.

“Connor, what are you doing?!”

He steps atop the rail.

“Connor!?”

He can’t believe he did this.

“Connor, get dow—”

And he spins around on one foot, falling backwards down to the ground. He sees Annabeth shaking the remote vigorously. He sees Percy shouting for Frank. He sees Jason’s horrified face.

And oh man.

Octavian and co are going to kill him for this.

Connor really loves summer. It’s warm. It’s bright. It’s full of life. Even if his friends are busy, he can hang with the birds and deer. He’s never alone.

(And summer feels like someone. He likes summer too.)

As he free falls head first, he catches the Redwood trees outside of San Francisco. Man, what he would do to climb a tree and sleep his pain away.

Someone catches him, cheering loudly when they did so. Connor opens his eyes just a tad before closing them and letting his head rests on uncomfy armor.

“Thanks, Gwen,” he mumbles.

“You’re welcome, you idiot.”

He listens to the eagles flap their wings, but they’re not going to reach the ship. Gwen cussing confirms Jason and the others are gone.

“Gwen,” he starts, “I’m sorry. I let them go. He said it was to save the world.”

But she justs laughs and says it's okay. “I kinda figured you will. Jason can make you do anything he wants. Don’t worry. I’ll protect you from Octavian.”

He nestles his head on the metal and finally succumbs to the voice begging him since waking up, falling asleep in milliseconds.

[buoyantsaturn]

To Go Home (1/?)

summary: “Let me guess what your lion needs: someone temperamental and difficult. Unstable. Relies solely on bad instincts. A real pain in the ass.” He glanced toward the Alteans with a raised eyebrow, waiting for one of them to correct him.

Piper cleared her throat, a sign of discomfort in the situation, and said, “Well, you’re not wrong.”

“Sure, so I guess the Blue Lion will just accept anybody as its pilot, right?” Nico growled, hands closing into fists at his sides. “It’s obviously not very picky about who it lets in the pilot’s seat.”

“Still chose me over you!” Percy reminded him, stepping forward to get in Nico’s face.

word count: 14,441

read it on ao3

“Altea may not survive this war,” the King told Will in private as the medic attempted to get the King into a healing pod. “And neither will my daughter if she continues to act the way she has been these past months.”

“Your Majesty, please,” Will begged, not for the first time, though definitely for the last - not that he was aware of that quite yet. “You need to heal as quickly as possible and return to the battle, the Alteans need you!”

“Listen to me, my boy,” the King said, resting against the side of the pod but keeping a strong hand on Will’s shoulder. “I will do all that I can to win this war, but you must do your own part, do you understand? Take my daughter, keep her in the castleship. If you must, you take her to the far side of the universe, keep her safe in any way you can. Can you do that for me, Willow?”

Will hesitated for only a second. “Yes, Your Majesty. Of course.”

“Good,” the King said finally, letting his grip relax. “Altea’s forces have weakened, and the paladins of Voltron have already hidden their Lions on planets the Galra may never find. The fate of Altea’s legacy rests on your shoulders, Willow. Do whatever you believe is necessary to save the universe from the Galran Empire. I hope that you do not let me down.” The King released Will’s shoulder, falling back into the pod completely, and Will sealed it shut.

Will ran from the chamber, out into the burning fields of Altea. Almost immediately, he spotted the Princess, hacking away at Galra soldiers with a knife that didn’t seem to be causing much damage. Will, already hurrying forward, picked up speed when he saw the Princess take a significant hit. He took the knife from her hand, easily taking down the three soldiers now surrounding them.

He turned back to the Princess, pulling her to her feet and returning her knife. “Are you alright to walk? We need to get out of here.”

“I’m fine,” she told him, staggering away a few steps. “I’m not going anywhere, we have to fight.”

“You’re going to die if you keep fighting, Piper!” Will shouted in her face. “If you don’t come with me now I will have no choice but to force you.”

“I’m the Princess, Will, you can’t tell me what to do!” She took another step toward her next fight, but Will grabbed her around the waist, lifting her off the ground and starting toward the castleship at the edge of the field. “Put me down, you can’t do this!”

“I don’t have a choice, Piper,” Will yelled as he lifted Piper over his shoulder. “We have to leave Altea, there’s no other choice.”

Piper began struggling harder against Will’s grip, kicking her legs furiously and punching at his lower back. “No! No, I won’t leave, you can’t make me! I have to keep fighting, for my people, for my father! Take me to see my father!”

“I can’t do that, he’s in a pod,” Will told her. “We don’t have the time to waste. We’re taking the castleship and we’re going to find a safe planet to dock at, and-- We may never see Altea again. But this is our only option, so stop struggling.”

By now, Piper was screaming and crying, fighting against Will harder than ever, but he could feel her strength diminishing as they entered the castleship. He went straight for the healing pods, throwing the still screaming Piper inside one and apologizing as he sealed the pod. He ran to the control room, setting the ship’s course for a distant planet across the universe, and finally let himself relax when he felt the ship lift off the ground.

However, relaxing allowed Will to finally notice a sharp pain in his abdomen, and when he looked down, he saw blood soaking through the front of his shirt. He rushed back to the healing pods, vision blurring as he set up another pod, unable to see that he had set the pods at their slowest setting before he climbed in, and the pod sealed around him.

Leo Valdez hadn’t moved from his computer in almost forty-eight full hours, too worried over the threat of being kicked out of the Garrison at the end of the school year to do much other than panic. While his mother had been employed by the Garrison, Leo’s housing and tuition had been covered fully by the school, but only a week after his mother’s disappearance, Leo received a letter that his enrollment would be terminated without proper funding. He could only hope that a change in his grades and behavior would convince the Garrison to offer him a new scholarship. Otherwise, he might end up living on the streets.

His friends could hardly handle it anymore, seeing him in this constant anxious state - it was making them just as anxious about their own status at the Garrison, even though Frank’s tuition had been covered by his mother’s life insurance and Percy had started working as a teacher’s assistant at the beginning of the last school year.

Frank and Percy had insisted that Leo deserved a break, so one night Percy decided to borrow his boss’s keys, swinging them around his finger as he entered Frank and Leo’s shared dorm room. “Who wants to party it up on the roof? I hear there’s a meteor shower tonight!”

“Studying,” Leo said simply, hunching over closer to his laptop.

“You’re allowed to take a break, Leo,” Frank reminded him, but regretted it as soon as Leo’s gaze snapped up to him.

“What part of if I don’t get a scholarship, they’ll kick me out, do you not understand?” he shouted across the room. “I’m sorry I don’t have a guaranteed spot in this place like you guys do, I’m sorry I have to work to stay here, but I need to do this. I’m not going to be second person in our class to get kicked out, so just let me study, okay?” Leo paused, glancing between Percy and Frank, angry expression melting away when he saw the shock on his friends’ faces. “Shit, guys, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that. I’m just stressed, you know? Please, just-- You gotta let me work.”

“We will let you work, dude,” Percy told him. “Come up to the roof with us, you can even bring your laptop. Some fresh air will do you good, I promise.”

“You won’t bother me while we’re up there?” Leo asked skeptically.

“Not as long as you stay up there with us,” Frank assured him. “We’ll be up there for an hour, tops. I’m sure your computer has a good enough charge to handle that.”

“So are we good?” Percy asked. “Let’s go, before we get caught!”

“If you get me in trouble when I’m in the middle of a huge good behavior streak,” Leo started, “I’ll kill you.”

“Relax, we’ll be fine!”

They stopped by Percy’s room so that he could pick up his telescope before they went up to the roof. Leo, of course, had his computer with him and refused to so much as glance up at the sky when he still had so much work to finish.

Percy set up his telescope closer to the edge of the roof, grumbling to himself every so often as he twisted the knobs along the side of the scope to adjust the focus. “You know something that I’m still a little pissed about?” Percy asked, loud enough that his friends could hear him.

“Jason went to Kerberos and you didn’t,” Leo and Frank said simultaneously, Frank with a roll of his eyes as he laid back to stare up at the sky.

“Alright, I get it, I complain about it a lot,” Percy muttered. “It’s still not fair, though! They offered me that position first, and gave it away to Jason all because I said I needed a day to think about it! Like, sorry I wanted to ask Annabeth for her thoughts before I launch into space.”

“It’s been a year, Percy,” Frank complained. “Let it go and be happy you’re still alive.” He winced when he heard Leo suddenly cease typing. “Sorry, Leo, you know I didn’t mean--”

“Save it, it’s fine,” Leo said quickly. “I’m over it, okay?”

“Dude, you can’t just be over it,” Percy told him, attention still focused mostly on his telescope.

“Yeah, if Percy can’t get over the Kerberos mission, then I’d be amazed if anyone could get over anything,” Frank joked.

“Trust me, guys, I’m pretty over it,” Leo assured them.

“It’s okay if you’re not,” Frank continued. “When my mom died--”

“Woah, guys!” Percy cried, keeping himself close to the eyepiece. “Something just entered the atmosphere and I don’t think that’s a space rock.” He hurried to shift the telescope to follow the movements of the foreign object as it fell closer to the Earth’s surface. “That’s definitely not a space rock, it’s… It looks like some sort of ship!”

“Seriously?” Leo exclaimed, setting his laptop aside and jumping to his feet. “Dude, move over, let me see!” He tried to shove Percy out of the way, but the older boy wouldn’t budge. “Dude, c’mon! What if that’s my mom in there?”

Percy pulled back from the scope for just long enough to meet Leo’s eyes before turning back to the ship - something small enough to be an escape pod, most likely. “It doesn’t look like a Garrison-issued ship, Leo, I’m sorry.”

Frank leaned over the edge of the building, eyes traveling away from the plummeting spacecraft and heading toward a fast-moving speck on the ground - a motorbike of some kind speeding in the direction of the spacecraft. “Hey, do you guys see that?” he asked, pointing down, and Percy finally moved away from the telescope; Leo was quick to take his place.

“We gotta go check that thing out,” Leo cried, scrambling away to collect his laptop and the rest of the work he’d brought to the roof with him.

“Wait, Leo, hang on,” Frank started, still leaning over the edge of the roof in hopes to identify the biker below them.

Percy jumped back to the telescope, frantically adjusting the focus and finding the motorbike before shouting, “Holy shit!”

Nico had disappeared from the Garrison in the middle of the night, the same day that each member of the Kerberos mission had been declared dead. He had received a phone call from his family’s lawyer that day as well, informing him that his older sister had died in an accident and that his father was too busy to call Nico himself. Nico could barely hold himself back from a panic attack - not only had he just lost the closest thing to family he had at the Garrison with the announcement of Jason’s death, but now Bianca?

Nico would admit, he hadn’t thought through any of the things he did next. He’d packed a bag and snuck out of his dorm after lights-out. He’d ran to the garage underneath the Garrison dorms, hotwiring one of the hoverbikes that Garrison engineers had designed, and got the hell out of there.

At first, the rushing wind and feeling of freedom after suffocating in that school for so long was the most calming, liberating thing Nico had experienced in years. However, just as the Garrison disappeared from the horizon, Nico had felt his chest tightening, throat closing, and suddenly he couldn’t get enough air - hardly any at all. He got dizzy, lost his balance, and tumbled off the side of the hoverbike, skidding across the sand until he rolled to a stop near the edge of a cliff.

He had managed to calm himself down before he hyperventilated. He picked himself up off the ground, scrambling back from the cliff’s edge, and had spotted a tiny wooden shack less than fifty feet from where he stood. He gathered up the hoverbike and pushed it toward the shack - a better place to hide for the night than the open desert, and, unknown to him at the time, the place he would hide for the next year.

Nico had never intended to stay for very long - no longer than that first night, and he would be gone by sunrise to some other place where no one could ever find him - but he couldn’t make himself leave. He’d woken up on an old, dusty mattress in that abandoned shack with a ringing in his ears that he couldn’t get rid of and a strange feeling that he couldn’t shake.

He got comfortable in that shack, finding the nearest source of water in a day and teaching himself how to hunt and cook desert animals within the first week. He used the last of his phone’s battery to text Hazel, telling her not to worry about him because he was fine, he just couldn’t stay at the Garrison any longer. Don’t let anyone know that you heard from me, okay? I’m sorry.

He ignored every response he received, refused to even consider opening the messages he’d gotten from Frank and Leo and Percy, and soon enough his phone’s battery had died; he didn’t have to think about those messages anymore. He had better things to do, a desert to explore, and an unsettling feeling that he needed to investigate.

“Holy shit, that’s Nico!” Percy cried.

“Are you sure?” Frank asked. “How can you be sure?”

“Because that’s him!” Percy exclaimed. “I’d recognize that little emo guy anywhere, okay? Just trust me, we gotta go after him!”

“Then what are you waiting for?” Leo ran for the fire escape across the roof, hopping down a few steps before calling out, “Let’s go!”

Frank and Percy ran after him, abandoning Percy’s telescope near the edge of the roof. “What’s with the sudden change of attitude?” Frank called after him.

“Yeah, what happened to--” Percy pitched his voice higher, speaking in a nasally voice when he said, “Don’t get me in trouble or I’ll kill you, huh?”

“Who needs good behaviour when that could be my mom in that pod,” Leo told them jumping onto the ground from the last step of the fire escape. “Hurry up, guys!”

“Not our fault you got a head start,” Frank complained, struggling to catch his breath as he hit the ground, but Leo was still running at top speed toward the crash site of the pod. Already, he could see Garrison rovers speeding out there, setting up a perimeter around the pod.

“Hey, Leo,” Percy shouted, catching up to Frank easily, “not to burst your bubble, but how do you plan to get past all of them without getting caught?”

Leo slid to a stop at the top of a hill, staring down at the line of Garrison rovers surrounding the crashed pod, visibly deflating. “I didn’t think of that,” he said quietly when Percy and Frank ran to his side.

“We’ll need some kind of distraction,” Percy suggestion, setting a hand on Leo’s shoulder. “See anything around here we can use?”

“I could remotely disable any security tech they might be using,” Leo thought aloud, already reaching for his laptop in his backpack.

“I don’t think that’ll be necessary,” Frank said, pointing out past the pod, just as a series of minor explosions went off, and Garrison rovers started to reroute in that direction. “I’d have to guess that now is our best chance to get down there.”

“Hell yeah, let’s go!” Leo exclaimed, and slid down the slope of the hill.

The ringing in Nico’s ears had stopped suddenly two days ago. He’d gotten so used to it that the silence around him was deafening, so he’d started making more noise than usual just to feel like he wouldn’t go insane from the quiet.

Over the last year, he’d filled an entire wall of his shack with research and maps, strings that connected information and possible conclusions scribbled into margins that were usually crossed out. He was starting to feel like he’d reached a dead end one night when the ringing in his ears returned with a vengeance, so piercing that Nico was knocked off his feet. He pressed his palms to his ears, hoping to stifle the sound but to no avail.

Then, just as suddenly as it had started, the ringing stopped again. Nico pulled his hands from his head hesitantly, expecting lines of blood to have dripped onto his palms, but his skin was clean. He paused, waiting for the ringing to return, but stood when it didn’t. He went toward the window, trying to make out any sound to prove that his hearing hadn’t gone away completely, and he heard a soft whistle from above him.

Nico looked up. It appeared as though a ball of fire was soaring across the sky, but when Nico grabbed a pair of binoculars, he quickly realized that it was a crashing ship - not Garrison issued, and not anything he’d seen from other space programs on Earth. He knew aliens were real!

He tossed the binoculars aside and ran out the door, hopping on his hoverbike and speeding off in the direction of the falling ship.

The crash was deafening, the sound like a building collapsing in an earthquake, and Nico was nearly knocked off his bike at the sudden gust of hot air it caused.

Jason Grace had no recollection of...anything, really. He didn’t recognize the building he was in or the gurney he was currently strapped to. None of the people running around him seemed familiar, though they all seemed to know him.

A light was shined into his eyes. A needle pressed under his skin. He screamed for release but the sounds around him became muffled and garbled as his vision started to blur and blacken around the edges. His screams ceased abruptly as his body was forced to relax.

Nico was amazed at how quickly the Garrison could pitch a tent, especially one with such high security and stocked so full with medical equipment. The explosions he’d set off had only distracted a little more than half of the Garrison officers working around the tent, though most of the rest were pretty easy to sneak past. A few had needed to be knocked out a dragged to the side so that Nico could continue on without getting caught.

Once he found the central room in the elaborate tent-maze, he was able to incapacitate the few workers inside with ease as none of them made much of an effort to fight back. It was when he turned toward Jason, unconscious and strapped to a table in the middle of the room, that he ran across a significant, very unexpected problem. He froze at the sight of Percy Jackson.

Percy hadn’t seemed to notice him, focusing more on trying to wake Jason from his drug-induced sleep, so Nico gave himself half a second to relax.

He moved forward, pushing Percy out of the way and immediately starting to untie the straps at Jason’s wrists. He sat Jason up when he noticed the older man starting to wake, and saw that Percy had undone the straps around Jason’s ankles.

Nico grabbed Jason by the shoulders, shaking him to get his attention. “Jason, look at me. Can you hear me? Jason!”

Percy came up behind him, hitting Jason lightly on the cheek a few times. “Jason, man, are you okay?”

“I can handle this,” Nico snapped, and turned his attention back toward Jason. “Jason, you gotta trust me, we have to get out of here, okay? Can you stand?”

Jason groaned, obviously struggling to stay upright. “Who are you?” he asked groggily. “Where am I?”

Percy jumped back into Jason’s line of sight. “Dude! You remember me, right? I’m Percy, you’re at the Garrison, you--”

“Would you get out of here?” Nico shouted, shoving Percy away. “Jason, come on, you have to trust me, we have to go. I can explain everything I can later but we need to leave now.”

“Why should he leave?” Percy asked, shoving Nico back. “The Garrison can help, Nico, or did you forget that when you ran away?”

“I don’t have time for this,” Nico hissed, and pulled at Jason’s arm until he was swaying on his feet. “Come on, Jason, it’s not too far. We just have to be quick.”

They managed two steps before Jason slumped over, nearly knocking Nico off his feet, until Percy swept in and slung one of Jason’s arms over his shoulder. The three of them shuffled to the door just as it was opened from the other side, Frank poking his head into the room.

“Uh, the coast is no longer clear,” he told them. “We need to get out of here right now.”

For the first time that Nico could recall, he noticed Leo last. He may not have even noticed him if not for the fact that he stopped directly in front of Jason and started spitting out questions about where he’d been and how he’d survived and where Leo’s mom was. Nico shoved him out of the way before continuing back the way he’d come.

“We don’t have time for any of this,” he told them. “We’re leaving, follow me.”

Jason had slept on the mattress in Nico’s shack until morning, while Nico spent the entire night dodging questions from Percy, Frank, and Leo. Percy had just uncovered the bulletin boards on Nico’s wall and started pestering him about them just as Jason had started to show signs of waking.

Nico was happy to avoid every question the other three sent his way in favor of explaining things to Jason - things like how long he’d been gone, a brief explanation of the mission he’d been on and of the Garrison in general. He mentioned who he was, how they’d met, how they’d been very close friends while they were both at the Garrison.

Percy had tried cutting in to remind Jason of some rivalry that Percy claimed they had, though even Leo had rolled his eyes when the topic was brought up. Frank had tried to help Nico in explaining a few of the details that Nico hadn’t been getting quite right, but Nico simply talked over him. Leo had tried asking Jason about his mom, though that only seemed to confuse Jason more, and after Nico had snapped at Leo a few times, he finally relented and sat quietly.

“You really remember none of this?” Nico asked quietly, looking as though he might be starting to give up.

Jason shook his head, bringing his hands up to scrub at his face. “I’m sorry, I don’t. Maybe we should just take a break for a few minutes. I think I could use some fresh air.”

He rose from his seat on the edge of the mattress and made his way out the door. Nico didn’t move, feeling something like panic starting to well up inside him. He thought he’d finally gotten Jason back, the man who had been like a brother to him during his time at the Garrison, but he’d been wrong. Jason was back in person, sure, but the man Nico had known had been left somewhere deep in space.

Nico had almost let himself forget that there were other people in his home, but then Frank said, “Nico, do you think you could explain this to me?” He was pointing at something on one of the bulletin boards.

Nico curled in on himself, uncomfortable with having so many people in his personal space. He couldn’t help but think of how crazy he must look to these people he used to know, living in a toolshed in the middle of the desert, conspiracy theories pinned to every available space on the walls. He knew those boards like the back of his hand by now, and didn’t even have to move from where he sat across the room to know what Frank was pointing at.

“When I left the Garrison,” he started off slowly, “I took some of their equipment with me. I was hoping it might help me find Jason, but I think I might’ve found something else instead.”

“Something like what?” Percy asked, but Nico ignored him. Instead, he watched as Frank examined some of his work, afraid of what might come out of his mouth next.

“Where did you get these numbers?” Frank asked, pointing at one of the oldest sheets of paper on the board.

“I don’t remember,” Nico told him honestly. “That was one of the first things I found when I got out here.”

“They look a little bit like coordinates, almost,” Frank said, hesitating for a moment and seeming like he might be doing calculations of some kind in his head. “It’s not too far from here, actually. We could go check it out, if you want. We can see what it is you might’ve found.”

“It’s probably nothing,” Nico said. “Those numbers are from a year ago, they probably don’t mean anything anymore. It’s stupid, so just leave it alone.”

“Looks like a whole bunch of stupid nothing to me,” Percy commented, and Nico made sure to point his glare at the wall where no one could see.

Frank, however, knew Nico too well, even after a year apart.

“Percy, Leo, why don’t you guys step outside for a minute?” Frank suggested. “Make sure Jason’s okay, take him some water or something. Just don’t bother him too much.”

“Yes, mom,” Percy said with a roll of his eyes, wincing after a second and apologizing when he remembered that moms were a very sensitive subject for every other person in that room. He walked out of the shack without another word while Leo grabbed a cup to fill with the water from the outside well before he followed Percy out the door.

Frank waited until the door was shut behind them before dropping onto the mattress next to Nico. “We didn’t mean to invade your space,” Frank said, “so I’m sorry for that, but you know that the Garrison probably wouldn’t let us back in after, you know, last night.”

“Yeah, and I of all people should know that,” Nico muttered bitterly, turning away and crossing his arms.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Frank told him. “I don’t blame you for running away. After Bianca - uh, Hazel told me - and then Jason disappearing, I get why you didn’t want to stay. I don’t think I would have wanted to, either. It’s just-- You could’ve told us. We could’ve tried to help you, somehow. You kind of freaked us all out when you just disappeared in the middle of the night, and we were all so worried. Hazel, especially. I don’t mean to guilt trip you here, but do you know how hard that was on her? To lose a sister and a brother in twenty-four hours?”

“I told her I was okay,” Nico said quietly. “I made sure she didn’t tell anyone that she’d heard from me because I didn’t want anyone to come looking. I’m sorry, I guess I just didn’t know who I could trust at the time.”

“I get it,” Frank said, dropping a comforting hand on Nico’s shoulder. “You don’t have to apologize, but I want you to know that you can trust me, okay? Maybe not Leo and Percy, none of us really expect you to get along with Percy, but you can trustme.”

“Alright,” Nico responded with a sigh. “Thanks, Frank. I-- Yeah, I know I can trust you.”

“Great, I’m glad you think so,” Frank said with a smile, shaking Nico’s shoulder a little bit before he stood up and stepped toward Nico’s bulletin boards. “Now, about those numbers on your board. Actually, you know what? Can you explain as much of this to me as you can? I think I might be able to help you figure this out.”

It only took about half an hour before Frank decided that their best course of action would be to see where Nico’s coordinates would lead them. Luckily, they would only have to go a few miles away from Nico’s shack. Unluckily, Frank had told the others that they were about to head out for a few hours - Nico had been planning on running off without saying anything - and the others decided to tag along with them.

The five of them traveled across the desert until the flat, sandy ground turned to rocks and hills, and they found themselves at the mouth of a cave. They wandered around inside, Nico and Jason lingering closer to the entrance and the sunlight while the others turned on the flashlights on their phones to investigate.

“I told you there wouldn’t be anything here, okay?” Nico said, tugging on the straps of his backpack - the always-packed bag of clothes and other essentials he carried with him whenever he left the shack. “This is stupid, we should just leave.”

“After walking all that way?” Leo questioned. “Hell, no! We just got here!”

“There has to be something for us to find here, Nico,” Frank reminded him. “We’ll look around for a little while longer, but if we don’t find anything, then we can leave.”

“Hey, do you think this is anything?” Percy asked, staring at the cave wall, his nose practically pressed to the stone. “There’s engravings in the wall, or something. Must be really old, they’re super hard to see.” He reached up, attempting to brush the layers of dust from over the carvings in the stone.

Suddenly, the walls began to glow a faint blue light. Nico’s ears began to ring as he watched the lights take the shapes of the carvings - something like lions mid-leap and tiny figures bowing before them.

Leo and Frank rushed over to Percy to get a closer look at the carvings, though Nico and Jason hung back. “What does it say?” Leo asked.

“How should I know?” Percy asked. “I can’t read wall carvings.”

Jason’s hand landed on Nico’s shoulder. “Come on, let’s go check it out.”

The two stepped closer until all five of them were crowded around the glowing carvings, practically shoving at each other to try to get a better look, until they heard a cracking sound, like rocks shifting.

“Uh, what was that?” Frank asked, glancing toward the cave’s entrance to make sure they weren’t about to be trapped inside.

“Sounds like something’s shifting,” Jason said, taking a step backward. “We should--”

Nico spun around just in time to watch Jason fall through the floor of the cave. “Jason!” he called out, stepping toward the edge of the hole his friend had fallen through, only to fall through himself when the rocks crumbled out from under his feet.

Nico barely noticed the other three landing near him, too distracted by the the nearly blinding blue light radiating from a giant orb across the large cavern and the increased ringing in his ears. “What the hell is that?” Nico breathed. “Is that what brought me here?” He scrambled to his feet, ignoring the questioning voices around him as he approached the orb, the light becoming more tolerable the closer he got. He stopped only feet away from the orb, now almost completely transparent, revealing a blue lion towering over him, frozen like a statue, but something inside of Nico had him thinking that this lion was much more than a statue - something more alive.

He raised his hand, resting his palm flat against the glowing barrier, though nothing seemed to change. “Why would you bring me here?” he asked quietly. “What do you want from me?”

Nico let his hand slip away just as Percy stepped up beside him. “Dude, this thing looks sick!” He reached up and pressed a hand against the barrier, and they all watched it dissolve at his touch, the light fading from the cavern, leaving only a faint yellow glow from the lion’s eyes.

“Guess it likes me better,” Percy said to Nico with a smirk.

“Whatever,” Nico huffed, crossing his arms.

Leo shoved past Nico on his way toward the lion, calling out for Percy to follow him. As Percy moved closer, the lion crouched down with its mouth open, allowing them to climb inside.

“Holy shit,” Frank muttered, pausing beside Nico.

Jason came up to Nico’s other side, dropping his hand onto Nico’s shoulder again. “Come on, we should supervise before they break something.”

They made their way inside, finding Percy and Leo inside some kind of control room, Leo examining the dashboard and its hundreds of controls, and Percy sitting in the pilot’s seat. When he saw Jason step into the room, Percy called out, “Suck it, Jason! I got a way cooler ship that you did!”

Jason glanced down at Nico. “I don’t understand what he’s talking about.”

“Ignore him,” Nico told him. “Nothing that comes out of his mouth is ever important.”

“You’re both just jealous of my super cool new ship,” Percy shot back, leaning forward and starting to press buttons and flip switches on the dashboard.

“Quit touching things before you break something,” Nico snapped at him. “We shouldn’t even be in here.”

Percy made a pfft noise. “C’mon, man, I’m not hurting anything! This thing probably doesn’t even work anymore.” He continued flipping a few switches until the ship roared to life - in more ways than one. The ship’s engine powered up, causing the ship to shift, and they realized that the lion must’ve returned to its standing position. As soon as every light on the dashboard was glowing, the lion roared, the sound reverberating throughout the cockpit.

“Percy, what the hell did you do?” Nico shouted, peering over the other’s shoulder to stare out of the windshield. The lion’s head appeared to be glancing back and forth, examining the cave, before tilting up to stare at the ceiling.

“Whatever you’re doing,” Frank started, holding tightly to the arm of Percy’s chair, “make it stop!”

“I’m not doing anything, dude!” Percy exclaimed excitedly. “This thing’s moving all on its own!”

“Well, get it to stop!” Jason told him, reaching forward and attempting to find the off-switch.

Percy slapped his hand away. “Cut it out, man, you got your ship, this one’s mine!”

“You sure you know what you’re doing, Perce?” Leo asked.

“Yeah, obviously, just give me a minute!” Percy leaned forward, hitting the controls over and over again, but the ship never stopped. “Nothing’s working, I don’t get it!”

“Try harder!” Nico shouted in his ear.

Percy twisted around in his seat, glaring back at Nico. “What do you think I’m--” He fell back into his seat as the lion shifted once more. Everyone braced at the sudden movement, watching through the windshield as the ship launched upwards, colliding with the rock ceiling and busting through.

“This thing’s, like, indestructible!” Leo said, peering over the dashboard and spotting blue sky instead of a rocky cave. “Uh, Percy, you wanna try to land this thing? We’re getting a little high.”

“I’m trying, nothing’s working,” Percy told him. He gave up hitting individual buttons and instead hit the side of his fist against the controls. “Oh, shit!” he yelled as the ship picked up speed, shooting into the sky, faster than any of them had ever flown in a real ship or a simulator.

“Turn this thing around!” Jason demanded, bracing himself on the back of Percy’s chair with one hand, his other grabbing hold of Nico’s backpack, pulling the younger boy closer to keep him upright.

Between the ringing in his ears, Nico could vaguely hear somebody shout, “We’re in space! No ship has ever been able to reach space this fast!” but Nico couldn’t even manage to open his eyes.

He would’ve fallen over when they landed if not for Jason keeping him standing. He opened his eyes, finding himself nearly blinded by the brightness of the blue sky beyond the ship’s windshield. The ringing in his ears had mostly subsided, fading away to a more manageable level, though it still distracted him enough that he didn’t notice Leo shouting something and running for the exit, Frank hurrying after him.

Jason shook Nico’s shoulder to gain his attention. “Nico, are you alright?”

“Huh?” Nico mumbled, glancing up at the blond. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Percy rose from his seat, stretching his arms over his head as he turned to face them. “I knew you were gay, Neeks, but I didn’t think you were gay for Jason.”

Nico’s hands tightened into fists, his glare following Percy as he left the cockpit.

“Don’t let him get to you,” Jason told him calmly, patting him on the shoulder.

“Yeah, whatever,” Nico huffed, crossing his arms. “Where the hell is the exit to this thing?”

The lion landed at the base of a tall staircase, leading up to a shining white castle, practically glowing in the light. The five of them exited the lion, making their way up the stairs only to stop at the sight of the massive front door.

Percy stepped ahead of everyone, hand raised and palm out, and pressed his hand flat against the door. When nothing happened, Percy said, “I don’t get it, it worked with the lion.”

Nico was midway through rolling his eyes when the lion behind them let out a rumbling roar, and the door before them creaked open.

“Uh, this all seems like a really terrible idea,” Frank pointed out, but Leo and Percy were already running inside and the rest had no choice but to follow.

The lights turned on as they stepped inside, illuminating a room larger than the cavern in which they’d found the lion. From where they stood, three different, dark hallways were visible, though as they spread out throughout the room, a singular hallway lit up, as if pointing them in the right direction.

“Everyone, this way,” Jason announced before heading into the hall, expecting the rest to follow. The lights continued to lead them through the castle until they reached a circular room, perfectly empty except for two cylinders standing in the center of the room.

Leo pushed past Jason, running up to a thin podium that seemed to be some kind of control center. He hit a few buttons, ran his fingers across a touch screen, but he turned back to the group after only a few seconds. “I can’t read any of this, I don’t know what it is or how any of these controls work.”

Jason stepped up beside him, glancing only momentarily at the control center before walking toward the cylinders. He stopped in front of one and wiped away the layer of frost coating the surface, only to find the glass beneath disintegrating at his touch.

The surface of the pod dissipated, revealing a woman wearing what looked like battle armor with long, dark hair pulled back and out of her face. She looked perfectly human, aside from the pink marks highlighting her cheekbones.

The woman started to lean forward, swaying toward Jason until she fell out of the pod and into Jason’s arms, seeming to be fully unconscious.

“Nico,” Jason said carefully, nodding toward the second pod.

Nico’s head jerked in response. He dropped his backpack by the control center and rushed toward the second pod as Jason slowly lowered the woman to the ground. Nico swiped a hand across the surface of the pod, watching as the glass disappeared and a blond man became visible on the inside. He swayed forward and Nico braced himself to catch the man, though he was completely knocked off his feet when the blond landed on top of him.

Nico smacked his head against the ground, though the blond’s head, of course, was cushioned by Nico’s chest. He seemed to wake up immediately, probably startled by the impact considering the woman was still asleep in Jason’s arms, and pushed himself up until he was hovering over Nico.

The air had been knocked out of Nico’s lungs when the blond knocked him over, but even now, staring up into sparkling blue eyes, he found he still couldn’t catch a breath. He heard someone speak - Percy, it sounded like, and knowing him it was some kind of joke about Nico’s sexuality - though Nico couldn’t hear a thing. Even the ringing in his ears had vanished completely, leaving the silence deafening.

Nico had enough time to notice that the blond was cold to the touch - freezing, really, even his breath puffing against Nico’s cheeks was cold - before the blond was pulled off of him and slammed onto the ground nearby.

Nico sat up and scrambled back as the dark haired woman connected her fist with the blond’s jaw. “How could you, Will?” she screamed in his face. “How dare you force me into that pod! We are in the middle of a war, I could have you executed for this!”

“Woah, uh, hey there,” Leo interrupted, drawing the attention of both aliens. “Uh, sorry, but could you guys maybe explain what’s going on here?”

“What he means to say,” Jason clarifies, “is that we found a giant blue robot lion that flew us to this planet. We don’t know why or how we’re here, or where here is exactly.”

The woman froze, fist poised in the air for another blow to the blond man’s face, but she stopped herself. She stood, brushed off her clothes, and cleared her throat before speaking. “I am Princess Piper of the planet Altea. This is my castle. And this is Will, my--” She shot him a dirty look at he got to his feet beside her. “Acquaintance.”

“Altea?” Leo repeated, slipping his backpack off his shoulders and reaching inside for his computer. “No, no, I don’t think so. I don’t think that’s possible. I’ve never seen a planet by that name in the Garrison’s database, and there’s no way we’ve traveled outside of the Garrison’s viewing range in such a short amount of time.” He flipped open the lid of his laptop, already powered up and opened to Leo’s downloaded version of the Garrison’s database.

“Garrison, is that the name of your planet?” Piper asked, staring at Leo’s laptop like she’d never seen anything like it - which, to be fair, she probably hadn’t.

“No, it’s our school,” Frank answered. “We come from the planet Earth.”

“I’ve never heard of this Earth,” Piper told them. “All of you, come with me. I would like to see where in the universe your Earth is.”

She turned on her heel and walked out of the room, Will close behind, leaving the rest no choice but to follow.

They found themselves in what must be the equivalent to the ship’s bridge. From first glance, Nico didn’t see any way of controlling the ship, only a series of chairs spaced out throughout the room, all pointing out toward the blue sky. He figured, though, as he watched Will and Piper restore power to the ship, that this space may very well have be used as the control center.

The five humans gathered in a semi-circle around the central command area - a raised circle in the floor that happened to be the only illuminated part of the room. Will turned to them after a few moments of tapping on hologram-like touch screens, and held out a hand. “We will need to do a quick scan of the lifeforce that one of you possess so that we can locate the largest source of it in the universe.”

He made eye contact with Nico, seeming like he was holding his hand out specifically to him, but Percy slapped in hand down into Will’s before Nico could even blink. “Dude, awesome, scan me!”

Will sighed, but brought Percy a step closer, telling him to hold his hand against a certain part of one of the screens, then announcing when he could move away. It only takes a second before the screen starts to flash a few unrecognizable symbols, most likely claiming to have found a match.

Will tapped the screen a few more times and the windows pointing out to blue skies began to tint until no light could come through, and instead, a constellation map was projected into the room.

“Currently, we are here, on planet Arus,” Will told everyone, zooming in momentarily on a singular planet that had a similar outward appearance to Earth. Then, Will started to sweep his hands across the map, like he was pulling the stars themselves around the room. “Your Earth is all the way over here,” he continued, stretching out some of the words as he went.

Percy looked a little bit like he’d been punched in the stomach, but mostly like he’d just been told that his dog had died. Frank’s face held a similar expression, though not quite as severe. “You’re kidding,” he breathed.

Leo’s reaction was more calculating, like he was trying to figure out the exact distance between their two planets and how fast they must’ve traveled to have gotten between them. Jason, however, actually voiced those thoughts.

“What was that ship that we came here in? That lion?” he asked. “What is it made from that could possibly travel that far that fast without breaking apart at the force?”

“That was one of the five Lions of Voltron,” Piper began. “They are made from the strongest materials in the universe. Clearly, seeing as the Blue Lion has brought you here, the five of you have been chosen to pilot the lions and become the Paladins of Voltron.”

“But what does that mean?” Frank asked. “How do we choose our lions?”

“You do not choose your lion,” Piper explained, “your lion chooses you.”

“Okay, sure, a giant spaceship chooses you to be its pilot,” Leo said, clearly doubtful of the princess’s explanation. “But howdoes it choose us?”

“You must let it,” Piper snapped, annoyed at the constant interruptions. “The Black Lion needs a pilot who is a born leader, who is always in control. Someone whose men will follow his word without hesitation.” Her eyes scanned them, stopping on Jason and staying there. “You, what is your name?”

“Jason Grace, Your Highness,” he answered.

“Jason Grace,” Piper repeated, “you will pilot the Black Lion.”

“The Green Lion’s pilot is inquisitive,” Will jumped in. “An intellect, daring, the most technologically apt.”

“Oh, man, that’s gotta be me,” Leo exclaimed. “Right? I’m the Green Pilot?”

“Green Paladin,” Piper corrected. “And yes, you seem the most suitable to pilot the Green Lion. The Yellow Paladin is caring and kind, a pilot who puts the needs of others above his own.”

“Frank,” Percy said immediately, and before the Alteans could either confirm or deny, Nico snapped, “Oh, like you know everything.”

“More than you,” Percy shot back. “Let me guess what your lion needs: someone temperamental and difficult. Unstable. Relies solely on bad instincts. A real pain in the ass.” He glanced toward the Alteans with a raised eyebrow, waiting for one of them to correct him.

Piper cleared her throat, a sign of discomfort in the situation, and said, “Well, you’re not wrong.”

“Sure, so I guess the Blue Lion will just accept anybody as its pilot, right?” Nico growled, hands closing into fists at his sides. “It’s obviously not very picky about who it lets in the pilot’s seat.”

“Still chose me over you!” Percy reminded him, stepping forward to get in Nico’s face.

“Both of you, cut it out,” Jason shouted, pulling the two away from each other.

“As I was saying,” Piper continued once the Red and Blue Paladins had stopped arguing, “Once you bond with your lions, you will be able to unlock its abilities and form Voltron.”

“Where are the lions?” Frank asked. “If the Blue Lion was on Earth, then where are the rest?”

Piper frowned, glancing around at the constellations still projected around them. “It will take some time for me to locate the others. For now, Will can show you around the castle, give you some food and a place to sleep.”

“Of course,” Will said, and turned to the Paladins. “Follow me to the soldier’s quarters.” He led them down a different hallway, explaining how the castle had been built by his grandfather while Voltron was still in a developmental stage. They passed by the dining room, Will explaining that they would loop back around to eat before continuing on down a few more halls. “Here are your rooms,” he said, stopping at the end of a long hallway lined with closed doors. “There are many more, but these should be the easiest for you to find again. Feel free to claim any room in this hall as your own.”

Will stepped up to the nearest door, holding his hand out to a sensor on the wall nearby. As he did so, the door slid open, revealing a plain room with a single bed and a desk pushed up against the wall - not dissimilar to the single dorms at the Garrison. “These sensors will allow you to access your room, once you’ve chosen it. You will also be able to set a code to lock the door, should you wish, but know that the Princess and I have override codes for emergencies.”

The humans slowly made their ways forward, almost hesitant to claim their own rooms. Nico’s room was the furthest down the hall, one room between his and Frank’s with no one directly across the hall. He cautiously stepped to the center room, glancing around at the bare, steel-gray walls and the dark sheets covering the mattress.

“You can leave your bag here,” Will told him, suddenly appearing in the doorway, leaning slightly against the wall, almost as if he were trying too hard to seem relaxed. “We’ll be heading back to the kitchen now, but you’re free to come back here to your belongings after you eat. They’ll be safe here.”

Nico hesitated, reluctant to leave his bag behind. After everything that had happened in approximately the last twenty hours, there was no way that he could be sure that he would return to this room. Finally, after a noticeable amount of consideration, Nico carefully set his bag on top of the desk that sat against one wall.

When he turned back to Will, he seemed significantly more uncomfortable than he had been before. “I can, uh, help you set a code on your door, if you’d like?” he offered, straightening up and away from the wall.

Nico shook his head. “No, you’re right. It’ll be safe here. Let’s go.”

Will gestured out into the hall like he was saying, after you, and followed Nico out of the room, leaving the door to slide shut behind them. The rest of the paladins were already back at the front of the hallway waiting for them, and Will led the way back toward the dining room.

Just as Will directed the paladins to take a seat at the table, Piper’s voice crackled to life overhead: “Paladins, return to the bridge, I’ve located the Lions.”

“Okay, never mind,” Will said, and gestured for the others to follow him back out of the dining room. They were back in the control room in less than a minute due to Will’s fast pace, and inside, the map of constellations was still projected throughout the room.

“I’ve devised a plan,” Piper told him, eyes trained on the stars, not even bothering to look back at the paladins. “The Yellow Lion is located here, on Planet Praetro. The Yellow and Blue Paladins will take the Blue Lion to retrieve it.”

“Frank,” Percy said, pointing to the Yellow Paladin, and then pointed to himself and said, “Percy.”

“Right, of course,” Piper said, still not looking in their direction. “The planet doesn’t seem to be inhabited, but keep your guard up anyway. I’ve sent the coordinates to the Blue Lion, so it should be ready for departure now.

“The Green Lion is on Planet Sparz,” Piper said, moving on. “Jason, you and the Green Paladin will take one of the transport pods to Sparz to collect the Green Lion.”

“Sure, you know his name but not any of ours,” Leo said with a roll of his eyes. “My name’s Leo, by the way. Should be pretty easy to remember, considering it means ‘lion’.”

“What about the Black and Red Lions?” Jason prompted.

“The Black Lion has been held inside the castle for safekeeping,” Will told him. “The only way to access it will be to bring the other four Lions to the castle.”

“The Red Lion is not currently accessible,” Piper told them. “My understanding is that it is being held on an enemy battleship. We won’t be able to collect it until we have the other three Lions because it’s too dangerous to go after it yourself. Red Paladin, you will wait here on the ship until the others return.”

“It’s Nico,” he told her, and didn’t notice as Will, off to the side, breathed the name to himself to get a feeling for it.

“I will need to open a wormhole for the Blue Lion to travel through,” Piper continued. “Will, show the paladins to the armory and prepare them to depart.”

They each dressed in armor corresponding to the color of their Lions, and once they were dressed, Will went around to each of them and handed them something that looked almost like a car’s steering wheel, also matching the colors of their Lions.

“These are your bayards,” Will explained. “They are your own personal weapons that will mold to your strengths. Concentrate on activating them.”

Percy held his bayard out and shut his eyes tight, only opening them once he felt the weight of the object in his hand change, the balance shifting as the weapon elongated. The weapon in his hand now appeared as a blue and white blade, fat and short, only about two feet long and double-edged - ideal for hacking away at enemies. “Sick,” Percy said, and swung the blade around for a moment before turning toward the other paladins.

Nico went next, though he kept his eyes open as his bayard transformed into a much longer blade than Percy’s, thinner, red and white, one edge sharper than the other - a full three-foot-long sword. He made no flashy display before focusing his attention on Frank beside him.

Frank held his bayard out in front of him, arm stretched out fully as both ends of his bayard stretched out into a curved shape, a thin string of light connecting the two ends - a white and yellow bow that almost appeared golden. Frank plucked the string with a single finger, and a few sparks seemed to fly off the string. He pulled the string back fully, an arrow of golden light appearing as he did so, and when he released his hold, the arrow flew across the room, burning a hole straight through the door.

Leo didn’t wait for everyone’s attention, concentrating on his bayard and watching as the edge over his fingers began to glow green, the light sharpening into a point.

“Aw, yours is so tiny,” Percy teased, and Leo reached out to prod him with the pointed edge of his bayard, sending a shock into Percy’s body. “Shit!”

Once Leo had stopped laughing, the four paladins all turned toward Jason, who was empty handed.

“Unfortunately, Jason,” Will said, “your bayard was lost with your former paladin. We may be able to find you a...less practicalweapon somewhere on the ship, but there is always the possibility that your bayard could be found eventually.”

Jason nodded. “Let’s see how reclaiming the Green Lion goes, then I’ll talk weapons.”

Leo whoop ed, pumping his fists into the air, and the glowing edge of his bayard shot upwards, latching onto the ceiling like a grappling hook. “Sweet, let’s go!” he shouted, before his bayard yanked him off the ground.

The paladins went their separate ways, launching off into space to retrieve the other Lions, though Nico didn’t know what to do with himself. Will seemed to notice, however, and offered, “If you’d like, I can help you learn how to use your bayard. We can head up to the training deck to practice while we’re waiting for the others to return.”

Nico flexed his fingers on the handle of his deactivated bayard. “Uh, yeah, sure. Sounds good.”

He followed Will down the hall and into an elevator, watching as they traveled up about three floors until the door opened and they walked out into a short hallway. The only doorway in the hall led to a giant room, octagonal shaped with boundary lines on the floor and a few racks of practice weapons along the back walls.

Will left Nico at the center of the room as he ran toward the racks and pulled out a simple staff about as tall as he was. As he returned to Nico, he spun the staff around skillfully, though it was obvious that he was taking a moment to get reacquainted with the movement.

“I’ll warn you, I’ve had a lot of practice,” Will told him with an excited smile. “I’ll try to remember to go easy on you, but no promises.”

“I can take it,” Nico responded, activating his bayard and grabbing the handle with both hands. Before he knew it, his feet were swept out from underneath him, and he flopped down on his back.

He stared in shock at the ceiling before Will stepped over him, holding out a hand. “Sorry,” he said, holding back a laugh, “I couldn’t help myself. You’re going to need to pay more attention than that.”

Nico huffed and took Will’s hand, hopping back onto his feet. “Alright, let’s go again.” He readied his stance, and just as he went to strike, Will hit him in the side, knocking him off balance, and then loosened the bayard from his grip. He pushed Nico back with a single sharp hit in the center of his chest with the end of his staff, and as Nico fell back once more, his bayard flew out of his grip.

“Again,” Nico said, launching forward as soon as the bayard was back in his hand, stabbing at Will’s leg, but he was swept to the side, shoved face-down onto the floor of the deck. He rolled over onto his back just as Will held out another hand, smiling down at Nico. He should’ve been angry, would have if Will were anyone else, but Nico knew there was no malice in his expression. Will wasn’t enjoying watching Nico fail, he was just enjoying the fight itself.

“Try again?” Will offered, and pulled Nico to his feet once more.

Nico quickly learned how to defend his weakest points, gradually lasting longer in each round. Still, he found himself slammed face-first into the ground three times, his sword knocked out of his hands five times, and pinned to the ground with the air knocked out of his lungs twice - though he wasn’t sure if that was from the impact or the look in Will’s eyes as he took him out.

“I’m sorry,” Will said, removing the knee he had planted in the center of Nico’s chest. “I keep forgetting to go easy on you.”

“‘s fine,” Nico wheezed, and when Will held out a hand, Nico almost couldn’t lift his arm to be pulled back up to his feet.

“Are you sure? I think it’s time to take a rest,” Will told him with a soft chuckle.

“No, let’s go again, I can do this,” Nico insisted. Will pulled Nico up and he managed to stand on his own for approximately two seconds before his legs seemed to give out and he fell forward into Will’s chest. He saw spots swimming in his vision, suddenly unsure of which way was up.

“Nope, you don’t look very good,” Will told him. “Let’s get you back to your room before you fall unconscious.”

He wrapped an arm around Nico’s waist, half dragging him out of the room and back into the elevator. Nico tried to pay attention to which buttons Will had pushed to get the elevator to move, but either he’d hit his head a few too many times or the symbols on the buttons were indecipherable squiggles - actually, probably both.

When the elevator doors opened, they staggered down the hall to the room that Nico had claimed as his own, and Will helped Nico to sit on the edge of the bed. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have been so rough with you,” Will said, and Nico felt his face heat up at the words. Suddenly, Will was leaning in close and holding Nico’s cheeks in his hands. “Your face just got really red, are you alright?”

“Uh, yeah,” Nico replied. “That’s just the, uh, the blood rushing to my head.”

Will’s eyes grew wide. “Do you mean that you’re...bleeding internally? Are you sure you’re alright? We should go to the med bay--”

“No, no! I’m not bleeding internally!” Nico said quickly. “It’s just-- I’m blushing, okay? I’m fine.”

The tension drained out of Will’s shoulders, though his expression showed confusion. “We have some medicine here in the castle that will help you to regain your strength in case the other paladins return soon. Perhaps it will cure this blushing as well. Stay here, I’ll go get it.”

“You can’t just cure it,” Nico tried to tell him, but Will was already out of the room by the time he finished speaking.

He sighed and leaned forward to try to figure out how to remove his boots and shin guards. He was sure there was a better way to remove the shin guards then to just slide them off over his feet, but he couldn’t figure it out. He tossed the discarded bits of armor into the corner before laying back and sticking one leg into the air at a time to remove the thigh guards.

He managed to remove every piece of armor aside from the chest plate by the time Will returned. Will seemed to notice him struggling and quickly unclipped a few clasps on either side of the piece, and Nico was able to lift the armor off over his head easily.

As soon as the last piece of armor joined the rest on the floor, Will handed Nico what looked like a shot glass containing a very green substance.

“What is it?” Nico asked cautiously.

“Medicine,” Will answered. “You should feel the effects almost immediately after drinking it. You’ll feel refreshed and be ready to fight again in minutes.”

Nico sighed and held the glass close to his lips. He met Will’s eyes for a second before glancing toward his bag, still sitting on the desk where he’d left in. He nodded his head toward it and said, “Could you grab that for me?” before knocking the drink back. It had the same texture as jello that was starting to liquify, and tasted so foul that Nico almost gagged. He forced the shot glass back into Will’s hand before he pointed at his bag and said, “My bag, please?”

“Oh! Of course,” Will answered. He spun around to grab the bag, replacing it with the glass, and by the time he turned back around, Nico had pulled the shirt of his black thermal suit off over his head.

“Thanks,” he said when Will held out the bag, and set it on the bed next to him. He opened up the bag and dug around inside as he said, “That medicine was gross, by the way.” Nico pulled a black, oversized, hooded pullover out of his bag and put it on. “I think I am starting to feel better already, though.” He glanced up at Will who looked to be frozen in place, staring at Nico.

Nico frowned. “Your little blue marks are glowing,” he said, pointing at his own cheekbone.

“It’s nothing!” Will said quickly, slightly too loud, and averted his eyes. “You should rest, so I’ll be leaving. I’ll come back to get you when the other paladins return. Um. Rest well.” He stepped toward the door before spinning around and swiping the shot glass off Nico’s desk, and practically ran out of the room.

Will went straight to the bridge where he knew Piper would still be monitoring the other paladins’ progress.

“What’s gotten into you?” she asked, barely taking her eyes off the map for a second to look at him.

“I don’t think these paladins have any shame,” he said, somewhat out of breath. “The Red Paladin, he--”

Piper rolled her eyes. “Spit it out, Willow.”

“He undressed! Right there in front of me!” Will told her, reaching up and rubbing at the marks on his cheeks. “He acted like it was nothing unusual, and continued on with our conversation, and now I can’t get my marks to stop burning!”

Piper stifled a laugh, though the look on her face gave her away.

“Don’t laugh at me, this is serious!”

“So you’re infatuated with him , Will, it’s not that serious,” Piper told him.

“I’m not infatuated!”

Nico had trained his body to sleep for only a few hours at a time, because it was dangerous to live alone in the middle of the desert with no security except for the knife he kept on him at all times. So when he woke up, it was easy for him to assume that he’d been asleep somewhere between three and four hours, because he hadn’t slept for longer than a few hours in months.

He took a pair of gray skinny jeans out of his bag and slipped them on before he left his room. He wandered around the halls for a little while before he finally managed to find his way back to the bridge, where he found Will and Piper staring at the projected maps and talking quietly to each other.

He was about to make himself known when suddenly, Frank’s face appeared over a section of the map, surrounded by a faint yellow glow. “We’ve retrieved the Yellow Lion. Percy and I are on our way back now.”

“Wonderful, we’ll see you soon,” Piper responded, and Frank’s face flashed away, like an old TV turning off.

Nico stepped into the room, opening his mouth to speak, when his stomach growled loudly, revealing his position to the Alteans. “Um. Sorry. Is there anything I can eat before the others get back?”

“Of course,” Will answered, and hopped up out of his seat. He ignored the look that Piper shot him as he walked past, and led Nico back to the dining room. He gestured for Nico to sit at the table as he continued past and into the kitchen, preparing Nico a plate of food.

When he set the plate of pale green goo in front of Nico, the human scrunched up his nose. “What’s up with you guys and weird gooey green stuff?”

Will smiled as he sat down across from Nico, though he didn’t have any food to eat himself. “I promise, this tastes much better than the medicine I gave you.”

Nico raised an eyebrow at Will, like you wanna bet? But he picked up his spork and scooped up a tiny portion of goo, stuffing it in his mouth quickly to get it over with.

“Well?” Will asked.

“It’s weird,” Nico answered. “Like eating whipped cream if whipped cream wasn’t sweet.”

Will propped his head up on one hand. “I don’t know what that is,” he said, smile growing slightly.

Nico popped another spork-full of flavorless goo into his mouth, giving himself a moment to think before he spoke. “It’s white, and I guess a little thinner than this stuff. It’s pretty sweet. We usually use it as a topping on desserts.” Nico ate another bite. “Actually, it might be more like jello, because of the texture.”

“I don’t know what that is, either,” Will told him, smile still growing steadily.

“It’s like,” Nico paused, stabbing at his plate of goo a few times. “It looks like this, except a little more transparent. And sometimes it’s red or blue or another color. Some people eat it as a snack, but some eat it as dessert because it’s super sweet and full of sugar.”

“It sounds like your planet is full of sweet things,” Will said smoothly.

Nico looked up at him and froze with his spork halfway up to his mouth. Will was looking at him so softly, those little blue marks on his cheeks glowing once more. Nico felt his cheeks heat up as he stared back down at his plate, stuffing another bite into his mouth.

“There’s more than just sweets,” Nico said, and glanced up to see Will’s lips parting to respond, but a different voice was heard suddenly: “The Blue and Yellow Lions have returned to the castle, and I have received a message from Jason that the Green Lion is on its way as well.”

“I should, uh, probably go put my armor back on, right?” Nico asked, and then ate a few more quick bites before standing up from his seat. He lifted up his plate and said, “Uh, what should I--”

“I’ll take care of it,” Will told him, rising up and taking the dish from his hands. “You go get ready.”

The five paladins all gathered together so that Piper could give them direction. “I’ve gathered that the Red Lion is located on an enemy ship, which means that it will most likely be heavily guarded by Galra soldiers. You will be targeted as soon as you are in range of their ship, so you must be incredibly careful when approaching it. Jason will be staying in the castle with myself and Will. Nico, you will go with Percy in the Blue Lion, and the Yellow and Green Lions will provide you with cover.”

“How am I supposed to find the Red Lion once I’m inside?” Nico asked.

“I’ll be directing you,” Will answered. “Once you’re inside, I should be able to get a layout of the ship, so I can direct you to the most likely place that the Red Lion will be kept.”

“Is everyone clear on what is to be done?” Piper asked.

“No,” Leo said, “but I’m sure we’ll figure it out as we go.”

“That doesn’t sound as reassuring as you think it did,” Frank told him.

“Alright, everyone,” Jason interrupted. “You heard the princess, get to your Lions.”

“Yes, sir,” Percy said with a mocking salute. He spun around and marched off toward the hangers where the lions were kept, the other three paladins gradually following behind.

Nico made sure to seem as though he was following closely behind Percy, but as soon as he was sure that Jason and Piper couldn’t see them, he ditched Percy and snuck into the Yellow Lion’s hanger with Frank.

“Uh, aren’t you supposed to be with Percy?” Frank asked as he dropped into the pilot’s seat, and Nico braced himself for takeoff by grabbing onto the back of Frank’s chair.

“Why, are you going to turn this lion around?” Nico joked, though the look on his face made Frank unsure of whether or not he was actually serious.

“Of course not, we don’t have the time for that,” Frank said, and the lion launched out of the hangar.

The other lions were waiting for them outside of the castle. Percy’s face appeared on the dashboard screen. “Hey, uh, Nico’s not with me,” he said, glancing around the cockpit of the Blue Lion to see if Nico was possibly hiding from him.

“He’s with me,” Frank responded. “Let’s get going so we can get the Red Lion.”

Almost simultaneously, the three lions shot into the sky and out of the planet’s atmosphere.

“How did you get Yellow to respond to you?” Nico asked suddenly.

“What do you mean?” Frank said. “It just happened.”

“What if the Red Lion doesn’t respond to me? What if I’m not its paladin and going all this way will have been for nothing? I’m putting us all in danger for nothing.”

“Okay, well, it’s not for nothing,” Frank told him. “And the Red Lion will respond, because it has to, got it? Just do everything you can to make it happen. When Percy and I went to go get Yellow, we were ambushed, and I basically had to tuck-and-roll out of the Blue Lion and book it for where the Yellow Lion had been hidden.

“I found him in this cave, kinda like how we found Blue, and I was running full speed down this tunnel, just shouting, ‘Open up! Open up!’ And Yellow responded. I didn’t do anything, it was all him.”

“‘Him’?” Nico repeated. “You gendered your lion?”

“It just, I dunno, feels right,” Frank answered. “I think we’re getting close to the target. Amazing how fast these things can fly, right?”

Percy and Leo provided cover as Frank flew close to the enemy ship. Yellow blasted a hole in the side of the craft and Frank maneuvered him until Yellow’s snout had pushed into the ship so that Nico could climb out through the mouth.

The hallway inside the ship was empty, but Nico drew his bayard anyway in preparation for a fight.

“Nico, are you inside the ship?” Will’s voice crackled into Nico’s helmet.

“Yeah, which way do I go?” he asked, staring down one end of the hallway and then the other.

“Just start moving, I haven’t gotten a clear signal yet,” Will told him. “I’ll let you know which way to go when I figure it out.”

“Got it,” Nico responded, and started down the hall to his right. He could hear Will speaking to himself, sometimes clear, sometimes riddled with static. He continued forward, taking a left down another hall when the opportunity came. “Anything?” he asked after a short while.

“Maybe,” Will said. “Take the next right.”

Nico glanced around the corner at the next intersection of hallways, and jumped back almost immediately, pressing his back against the wall. “No can do. There’s about ten sentries standing around.”

“Fight through them,” Will told him. “It’s the right way.”

“You just said maybe!” Nico hissed.

“Trust me!” Will demanded, and Nico wanted to argue, but knew he shouldn’t.

“Fine,” he ground out through his teeth. He peeked around the corner again before taking a deep breath and running full speed down the hall toward the sentries.

He almost faltered when he saw the guns pointed at him, but managed to continue forward, dodging blasts and slicing through enemies as he passed. The remaining soldiers started running after him, but Nico was faster and took a few turns down upcoming hallways to throw them off his trail.

“Will?” he panted, back pressed into another wall. “Which way now?”

No response. A bit of static. Silence.

“Will?” Nico tried again, but to no avail. “Damn it!”

He took a few more deep breaths. He tightened his grip on his sword, holding up the blade for examination when he noticed that it was still perfectly clean. He’d sliced a few limbs off of some of those sentries, and did a lot more damage for there to not even be any trace of blood on the weapon. Maybe Galra didn’t have blood.

He noticed something caught near the handle of his bayard - thin, like a cable, with frayed wires along the edges.

“They’re robots,” Nico decided. “I can kill robots, easy. I’m not really killing anything if they’re just robots.”

He glanced around the corner before making his way back the way he came. So many sentries in one place but nowhere else on the ship had to be guarding something, even if it wasn’t what Nico was looking for. Sprinting down the hall, he fought off a few more sentries before slipping in through the door they were guarding, slamming it shut behind him and allowing himself a few seconds to breathe.

Towering above him - though still slightly smaller than the Blue and Yellow Lions - sat Red, unmoving, a softly glowing force field surrounding it.

Nico stepped toward the lion and raised his hand to press his palm against the force field, just like Percy had done with the Blue Lion, though the force field remained. Nico pounded his fist against the barrier, demanding, “Come on, open up!”

He could hear the sentries’ blasters firing against the door.

“We don’t have time for this!” Nico pleaded. “Please? Is that what you want to hear? Open up, please!”

The forcefield dissolved, and the lion’s head tilted down to examine Nico before it crouched down, mouth open, so that Nico could run inside.

He dropped into the pilot’s seat, Red’s dashboard screens slowly coming to life around him. He could see the locations of each of the other lions as they fought of Galra ships, as well as a video feed of each of the other paladins. As Nico set his hands on the control and Red started to move, another screen came to life on the dashboard displaying Will’s smiling face.

“The Red Lion has been retrieved!” Will exclaimed, and Nico could hear the other paladins cheering through his helmet.

“Great work,” Piper said, though Nico couldn’t see her on his dashboard. “Now, everyone return to the castle as soon as possible.”

“Will do, Princess,” Leo said, and Nico watched through his lion’s eyes as the Green Lion barrel-rolled out of the line of fire and retreated. The other three lions followed after, and soon the few Galra cruisers still tailing them turned back. In a matter of minutes, the four lions touched down on Arus, just outside of the castle.

Not long after, they watched as a purple streak shot out of the center of the castle, and soon the Black Lion was towering over them.

“Dude, Jason, your lion is huge!” Leo exclaimed. “That’s no fair, Green’s like, the size of one of Black’s legs!”

“The Green and Red Lions function as Voltron’s arms, meaning that they don’t need to be as large as the Blue, Yellow, or Black Lions,” Will explained over the comms.

“Congratulations, Paladins, you’re one step closer to forming Voltron,” Piper told them. “Everyone return to the castle to get some rest. We will start your training tomorrow morning.”

After changing out of the Paladin armor, the five humans each ate a plate of alien food goo before Piper insisted that they all head to their rooms for the night. Four of the Paladins rose from their chairs and left the dining room, while Nico lingered behind, cleaning up the plates left by the others.

“Did you need something, Nico?” Will asked as he took the stack of plates from Nico’s hands.

“Um, yeah,” he said, shoving his hands into the pocket of his sweatshirt so that he could try to ignore the tingling tips of his fingers where Will’s hands had brushed his. “I was hoping I could get some more training in while everyone else is sleeping.”

“Oh, sure!” Will said. “But I have a few other things that I need to do before morning. I could show you how to set up the Gladiator, though.”

“The Gladiator?” Nico repeated.

“It’s a training robot,” Will explained. “You can set it to different skill levels, which is probably a good choice for late-night training. You can take it easy so that you’re not exhausted in the morning.”

“Yeah, okay, that sounds...good,” Nico said, hoping that his mild disappointment that Will wouldn’t be training with him didn’t show clearly on his face.

Will led him back to the training deck and called into the empty room, “Activate training simulator.” He glanced over to see that Nico had already activated his bayard, so he continued, “Training level one, begin.”

A robot dropped from the ceiling wielding a metal staff like the one Will had used, and charged at Nico as soon as its feet touched the ground.

Will stayed behind to watch as Nico took down the Gladiator with little difficulty, and when Nico turned to him with a wide smile, Will couldn’t help but return it.

“Looks like you’ve got yourself handled,” Will said. “To activate the Gladiator, just call out a level and say begin. I don’t recommend skipping levels. And make sure you get some rest soon, alright?”

“Yeah, okay,” he answered. “Thanks, Will.” Nico turned back to see the Gladiator fall through a hole in the floor of the training deck. “Training level two, begin!”

Will moved toward the doorway, but found himself distracted by Nico’s training. He knew he had work to do, but he couldn’t take his eyes off Nico for the duration of the second training level. However, hearing Nico call out for the third level to begin drew Will out of his trance, and he managed to pull himself away.

Nico had been so focused on fighting that he hadn’t seen Will watching him, and had continued on until the end of the fifth level before he found himself too exhausted to go on. He surprised himself with how long he had been able to fight without losing his focus, and figured it may have been the focus that kept him fighting as long as he had. If he made it all the way through the first five training levels, there was no logical explanation for why Will had been able to beat him so easily unless he was distracted, right? But that had to mean that Will was the distraction--

He was too tired to think about this. He was too tired to remember the way back to his room, and he was too tired to even try to find his way. He eyed the Gladiator waiting for instruction, and when he remembered that the robot wouldn’t attack without a command, he deactivated his bayard and moved toward the wall furthest from the Gladiator.

Nico laid down, back pressed against the wall, and curled up around his bayard, incredibly grateful for his ability to fall asleep literally anywhere.

The paladins were rowdy at breakfast, all excited to start their training and get to forming Voltron. There was something that didn’t seem quite right to Will, however; something was missing.

Piper entered the room, and for a second Will thought that she had filled the empty space he’d imagined, but he quickly realized he was wrong when Piper said, “Good morning, Paladins, are you ready to start-- Where is the Red Paladin?”

Leo leaned forward and back, looking around the others to see that Nico wasn’t sitting anywhere at the table. “Oh yeah, where is he?”

“I’ll go find him,” Will said, probably too quickly if the look that Piper was giving him was anything to go by. “So you can start directing them, and they won’t miss anything,” he explained. “I’ll return as soon as possible.”

He left the room, waiting until he was a little ways down the hall before he rubbed his palms over the marks on his cheeks, hoping to stop the burning that he felt there.

Will made his way down to Nico’s room, knocking on the door a few times before opening it and seeing that it was empty. He checked the bathrooms on that floor and the floor above, but Nico wasn’t in either of those places either. He was starting to get worried when he remembered that he’d shown Nico to the training deck the night before - he couldn’t still be training, could he?

He hopped into the elevator and went up to the training deck, seeing from the hallway that the lights were still on inside. Will stepped through the door and saw the Gladiator activated in the center of the room, though it wasn’t making any move to attack, so he called out for the computer to deactivate it. He didn’t see Nico until he spun around in a circle and found him lying on the ground against the wall, curled around his bayard, unmoving.

Will felt his heart stop for a second before he ran toward the paladin, eyes scanning him for injuries and placing a hand on his shoulder once he was close enough. Nico flinched at the touch, waking up in an instant and activating his bayard out to the sword’s full length, nearly stabbing Will through the chest as he did so.

“Will?” Nico said, voice rough from sleep, dropping his bayard which deactivated as soon as it hit the ground. “Shit, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to, I swear!”

“It’s alright,” Will told him, though Nico could see nothing but concern in his eyes as he sat up until they were nearly eye-level with each other. “I’m okay. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m-- I mean, I’m a little tired, but, yeah,” Nico told him. “Um. How long was I asleep?”

“I’m not sure,” Will said. “If I had to guess, I would say at least six vargas.”

Nico frowned in confusion, rubbing the sleep out of one of his eyes as he said, “I don’t know what that is.”

“About twice as long as your last sleep cycle,” Will explained. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m good. I’m just, uh, not really used to sleeping that much, I guess.”

Will frowned like he wasn’t quite satisfied with that answer, but stood up and held out a hand to Nico after a few seconds. “Come with me to the dining room to get something to eat. Everyone else is there already.”

“Okay, sure.” Nico took his hand.

Things were quiet on their walk back to the dining room, which allowed Nico to hear Piper from a little ways down the hall: “Once the Red Paladin arrives, you will head to your Lions and practice forming Voltron. This will require great concentration and a strong bond with your fellow Paladins.” As soon as she noticed Nico standing in the doorway, Piper clapped her hands together and said, “Alright, Paladins, to your Lions!”

buy me a coffee | more about solangelo week

[takaraphoenix]

Haha, thanks! Although...I built my PJO/VLD AU based on personality, so Lance is Neptune's great great great grandson & aphrodite's his mom. Uhh: Keith and Nico meeting (I literally call keith Space Nico), double dates for Klance & Nicercy, which characters are the most similar to the paladins (with s6, I've a VERY obvious favorite for Shiro & bc im multishipper trash, jasico's relationship reminds me of canon! sheith), & what would the PJO characters do if thrown into the VLD verse. TKSM :)!

Interesting take. ôo

Keith and Nico meeting (I literally call keith Space Nico)

That’s because Keith is space Nico. Not just the optics, but also the broody not team-player loner and the fierce determination to save the one person he cares about (Keith with Shiro in E1 and Nico with Percy in the Labyrinth).

I really don’t think they’d get along. They’re literally the same character. And that tends to clash. They’d be broody and glare-y and watch with hawk’s eyes whenever the other would come close to their blue boy.

double dates for Klance & Nicercy

Lots of glaring between Keith and Nico, while Lance and Percy have the time of their life and hit it off right away. It’ll take Nico and Keith some time, but the more our blue boys hit it off, the more Nico and Keith will begrudgingly bond.

By the end of dinner, two bottles of wine in, Nico and Keith are inseparable, just watching Lance and Percy and comparing notes on who is the cutest.

which characters are the most similar to the paladins

Shiro: Yeeeah no I got nothing. The whole abducted for years, amputated by the enemy, literally died and came back, got a couple clones of himself running around, was possessed by the enemy and used to infiltrate the good guys, leader of the team, professionally trained military man, admired hero… He fits no PJatO character around.

Keith: Nico. Do I even have to explain this one? It’s like… he’s literally space Nico. Literally.

Lance: Mix of Percy and Leo. Goofball, loyal to a fault, but the self-esteem issues of one Leo Valdez to top it off.

Hunk: Frank? Overweight and underutilized. Gentle giant to the max.

Pidge: Annabeth? Genius girl on the team, can be a super mean bitch even though she loves her dumbass boys. Also willing to do a lot to save her lost brother (in this case the parallel between Matt and Luke).

Coran: Grover? The kind of comic-relief support guy who would really deserve to be more than that, but there is enough going out around the ~main~ characters already.

Allura: Reyna? Born leader who still accepts those New Guys coming in and taking the lead. Graceful, firm, serious, beautiful, strong, badass. Also has to overcome millennia old prejudices (against Greeks vs against Galra) to work together with a group of those to win the war.

Lotor: Luke. Definitely. Trying to achieve the “greater good” and sacrificing the lives of “a few” of his people along the way, but being sure that he has made the right choice. Also got corrupted by an ancient evil essence that made him crazy. And mommy and daddy issues.

(with s6, I’ve a VERY obvious favorite for Shiro & bc im multishipper trash, jasico’s relationship reminds me of canon! sheith)

*points up above* Enlighten me to who you associate with Shiro, because I got nothing. ôo

what would the PJO characters do if thrown into the VLD verse

Percy: *standing at the void, screaming at the top of his lungs* Fuuuuck yoooou. Because quests on Earth and risking my life on a monthly base isn’t enough, now I gotta go to space? TO SPACE?! FUCK THIS! BUT I AM KEEPING THE GIANT BLUE ROBO-KITTEN!

Leo: *already strapping into the Red Lion*

Jason: *patting the Black Lion on the head*

Nico: *glad to be here to protect Percy from potentially getting killed by aliens, but also fiercely glaring at Jace for snatching the Black Lion while the Green Lion is sitting there, waiting for him*

Annabeth: *with the yellow helmet beneath her arm* Stop being dramatic, Jackson, we gotta save the universe.