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sonofsallyjackson · 4 years ago

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Heroes of Olympus should have been in first-person.

@jo-march-is-a-lesbian wrote a really wonderful post about how “Percy Jackson and the Olympians is better than Heroes of Olympus…because it understood simplicity and character development.” It highlights some reasons I also found HoO less rewarding namely that it was an overcomplicated story with limited character growth, lacked a common thesis, and was super jarring when it switched perspectives.

And with that my little brain went: I can fix this. Which frankly is ridiculous. I can’t come up with a compelling thesis like “The idea that we should place our hope in our loved ones, our friends and our family, and if we do that, we won’t be tempted to give up hope again.” But I can imagine a simple change that would have solved some of the issues and also played to Rick’s strengths as a writer: Each book should have been written in first person and narrated by a different character.

With so many people on the quest, I often felt like I was watching a bunch of one-dimensional characters fight for their right to be the main character. I didn’t know who to focus on but I was also dissatisfied. There were all these new wonderful characters in front of me who I wanted to love, but I didn’t feel like I actually knew them. I mean I don’t feel like I know the Stoll Brothers either, but I’m not concerned about that fact because they are side characters. When everyone is painted as the main character, I have certain expectations for growth, personality, and voice. The story would have been better served if the characters took turns narrating the action, allowing us to settle into their perspective, see their growth, and better understand their personality.

Plus Rick kills first-person. While I’m not particularly a fan of Trials of Apollo, it’s not because I don’t know the characters. Apollo is so very different than Percy. Their voices, even though they can both be jokesters at times, reflect their different life-experiences, thought processes and provide massive insight into their characters. If the Seven (and Nico and Reyna) got the same treatment, I would be absolutely giddy.

I recognize that rewriting the HoO series in first-person is something a talented fanfiction writer with a lot of time on their hands could actually do. But I am not talented like that and I certainly don’t have the discipline to actually write that much fic, especially if I was trying to keep the events vaguely the same just with different narration and pacing. So instead I’ve included who I think should have narrated each book below the cut. I’d love to hear any opinions people have regarding this idea, especially who they would have wanted to see to narrate each book.

In addition to picking the narrator, I’ve highlighted what should be the “quest” so to speak of each story. Personally, MoA, HoH and BoO are kind of a blur to me despite reading them all recently. It’s hard to distinguish what happens in each book because it’s all one massive quest with a whole bunch of mini-quests. While the different narrators would obviously make the books more distinctive, splitting the series into seven books would also help simplify each book’s individual goal. Eight books would have allowed for better integration of the plot to find the physician’s cure, but with the prophecy of seven, it seemed like seven books was the best option, if I was going to be doing something as blasphemous as splitting books.

As a note, I ran out of steam as I went so not all opinions are fully fleshed out.

Book 1: The Lost Hero The Quest: Rescue Hera/Juno Narrator: Jason

Why this would be cool:

He is literally Juno’s chosen sent on a quest to rescue her. It’s poetic enough to give him the book.

Jason’s journey is just as much about rediscovering himself as it is about saving Juno. Of the new characters, I feel like I understand Jason the least. Mainly because I felt like I was missing the entire first half of his story. Jason, like Percy and Annabeth, is a hero of the Titan War. I know some of his accomplishments, but I don’t have any bearing on what his life was like or how he felt about it. He doesn’t seem like the type to relish Praetor-ship since he doesn’t have the same intense need to get back to his camp as Percy. Was he just hoisted on his comrades’ shields after killing the Titan without any real choice in the matter? Give me Jason’s memories coming back slowly over the course of the quest (with potentially a fractured memory of a mistake he made in the Roman’s final Titan battle that makes him doubt their ability to both rescue Piper’s dad and save Hero but he makes the decision to anyway because he can’t just hurt his friend like that. Let me understand how Jason is the person he is today. Give me glances of the Roman Camp with emphasis on the heavy expectations that have always followed him as the son of Jupiter and foreshadow why he eventually chooses to design all the shrines for the minor gods so he can have his own place in the world as a figure between the two camps.

Let’s dive into those feelings of anger/guilt/resentment when people at camp are disappointed with him for not being Percy or in Chiron’s case are nervous about what his presence means.

I want to dig deeper regarding Jason’s feelings about reconnecting with Thalia. He knows that if the gods hadn’t been determined to keep the two camps completely separate, he could have grown up with his sister.

What does telling the narrative like this sacrifice:

We miss some of the internal turmoil regarding the fact that Piper’s Dad has been captured and she must betray her friends.

We also don’t feel the tensions of Piper’s relationship with Aphrodite. I don’t see Piper bringing up the conversation with her mom saying that her mist memories were so strong because she automatically sensed the potential of a romantic relationship with Jason.

We don’t have any of Leo’s conflicted feelings regarding rescuing Hera or his fear of being made an outcast for his fire abilities. Jason has to go with Leo to discover Bunker 9 and Festus.

Leo doesn’t actively save the day with the Cyclops.

We don’t know how Piper feels about her charm-speak or see her defeat Madea (as the boys are in their weird trance thing).

Knowledge about Gaea’s involvement in wrecking Leo’s life will come later.

Book 2: The Son of Neptune The Quest: Free Thantos Narrator: Hazel

Why this would be cool:

The stakes are so incredibly high. Hazel is literally risking her second chance at life by agreeing to go on this chance. She’s going to the place she died to fight the monster she created. She also has to deal with the trauma of knowing she may have bought the world time with her first sacrifice but it now means nothing if she can’t succeed again.

We get to see Camp Jupiter from the view of someone who loves it but doesn’t really fit in. Hazel joined Camp Jupiter just after the final battle. She enters a community that has learned to fight as a well-oiled machine but that has lost people. Dakota or the others may remark to her about how things were before or the people who are missing. Hazel sees a community that she’s not quite a part of both because she didn’t fight in the war and because she’s in the fifth cohort with a feared godly parent.

It would explore her relationship with Nico more (because I love their dynamic and I want more). She knows she can’t replace his real sister, but she feels comfortable and happy at the opportunity to have a brother, especially one who is out of time like she is.

What does telling the narrative like this sacrifice:

Frankly, the largest pushback would be from the fans who expected this to be Percy’s book since we just watched Jason rediscover who he is.

Percy’s phone call to his mom doesn’t have the same intensity.

Frank’s relationship with Mars and how desperate he was to be claimed but now he doesn’t think he can live up to his father’s expectations.

Frank and his grandmother. We aren’t in Frank’s head as he changes shape till later.

Book 3: Mark of Athena The Quest: Close the Divide Between The Two Camps by finding Athena’s statue and Rescue Nico Narrator(s): Annabeth and Leo

Why Annabeth:

So I can have all the emotions at the reunion with Percy.

Annabeth’s relationship with her Mom has never been great, but imagine beginning the book with Annabeth being given the Mark of Athena. They haven’t left for New Rome yet and her nerves are already all over the place. Then Athena/Minerva comes, gives her an impossible quest, and breaks her hat. Annabeth wants to prove to her mother that she’s worthy because despite everything she still values her mother’s opinions. Also her fatal flaw of hubris makes her believe she will succeed where everyone else failed.

Much of the book already follows her in third person limited so we just get things with a little extra emotion.

Why Leo:

Leo has to grapple with the fact he started this war by being the one to fire the cannon even if he didn’t have any control. He is motivated to fix it

If we’re going to include the Sammy plot, we need to do it now. Leo doesn’t like being the odd one out on the ship but he certainly doesn’t like the feeling of being notable because of his grandfather.

We still need to get into those feelings of abandonment and anger at Gaea for killing his mom.

Nemesis

Leo comes into his own with the discovery of the Archimedes sphere and the decision to value people over objects.

What does telling the narrative like this sacrifice:

The aquarium shenanigans

The fight between Jason and Percy in Kansas needs to happen differently so that the others are present and try to stop it.

Neither of them went ashore to meet Hercules.

I think we might need to move up the Calypso meeting to this book, but that also kills some of the suspense since Frank will have the fireproof coating prior to his adventures in Venice when he gains faith in his abilities. It also might mean Leo opens the fortune cookie from Nemesis unless for some odd reason he doesn’t have it. There’s a lot more narrative weight for it coming later, but in order to get in as many book events as we can in, it might need to come earlier.

Book 4: House of Hades Pt. 1

The Quest: Survive Tartarus Narrator(s): Annabeth and Percy

The first time I read House of Hades, I read it out of order (reading all the Percy and Annabeth chapters until they were on the elevator out of Tartarus before going back and reading the others), because I couldn’t handle the back and forth. I felt like the tension would build, I’d be invested in this plot and then we’d switch to the other plot. Plus I was very concerned for my children. So I feel fully justified in saying that there is more than enough material to give the two of them their own book.

I just feel like all the feelings would be magnified.

Percy’s commentary slowly losing its humor because he can’t anymore.

Annabeth’s guilt at having pulled him in being extra loud.

Downsides beyond adding an entire book: Just imagine all the outrage at two cliffhangers in a row, because you know the book would end with them in the elevator remembering Bob’s words about the stars.

Book 5: House of Hades Pt. 2

The Quest: Close the Doors of Death Narrator(s): Frank and Hazel

Frank and Hazel experience the most growth on the quest to close the doors so this book is all theirs. Hazel learns to control the mist. Frank experiments with his transformations. I want nothing but them growing into themselves and their abilities.

The good thing about turning the two warring storylines from House of Hades into separate books is that we lose very little plot.

Book 6: House of Hades Pt. 3/Blood of Olympus Pt 1 (Personally I would call this one Ambassador of Pluto)

The Quest: Unite the Gods’ Personalities. Narrator: Nico

To clarify what I mean by HoH 3, I just mean anything done with the intention of trying to cross paths with Reyna, including the adventure with Cupid, in addition to the existing Nico&Reyna plotline in BoO.

Nico dealing with all the emotions and his most recent near-death experience.

He kept the secret of the camps so the world wouldn’t end in chaos, but now that the world is in chaos he will be the one to fix it.

In the short time he’s on the Argo 2, Nico realizes that even though this wasn’t his quest; this is his family and he needs to protect them.

The reader has a pretty good idea Nico is gay, even if the word isn’t explicitly said from the descriptions (his guilty Percy thoughts - he let down the man he loves even if he won’t admit it.) This means that Cupid’s forceful outing is potentially less surprising so the reader can be properly outraged at Cupid.

Downside: Reyna definitely has adventures when Nico is passed out, especially the whole waking up with the Hunters, but I think it’s excusable for a whole book from Nico’s perspective.

Also, the battle between the camps and gifting of the statue needs to happen in this book, but we shouldn’t find out if the gods have regained control of their forms yet. We alleviate some tensions because Camp Half-blood is likely to be overrun with Octavian’s monsters instead of the Roman armies and Gaea could awaken any second, but there’s an odd moment of calm and an uneasy truce. (Octavian is potentially taken under custody to be held for trial only to escape in the next book.)

Book 7: Blood of Olympus Pt 2 (and the aftermath)

The Quest: Like The Last Olympian, the final book’s focus is entirely on defeating the series’ big bad, in this case, Gaea. Leo’s quest for the Physician’s cure parallels Percy’s River Styx visit.

Narrator(s): Leo and Piper

Leo has his death hanging over his head. He has decided that he will be the one to die not any of his friends. He got the cloth from Calypso so the “fire” portion of the prophecy applies to him and not Frank. (Yes I know you can’t control prophecies, but do you think that’s going to stop Leo.)

It’s the ultimate revenge for killing his mom. We can have memories of both the happy times with Esperanza and the fear he felt for thinking he caused the fire.

Piper’s perspective is necessary as we need to be with her during the fight with the giants.

This series began with Piper, Leo, and Jason. It ends that way too with the three of them killing Gaea and the two of them narrating.

Downsides:

The Percabeth I love you-the feud is over scene remains in Piper’s perspective.

Since we’re not following Reyna’s delivery of the statue concurrently we don’t know when to anticipate the healed gods appearing in the battle with the giants.

The book can still get away with not showing us Percy’s reunion with Sally or forcing Leo to tell the others he’s alive so they’re all grieving.

#pjo meta #pjo fandom #pjo/hoo #hoo #riordanverse #heroes of olympus #my meta #percy jackon and the olympians #the seven #jason grace #hazel levesque #leo valdez #piper mclean #percy jackson #annabeth chase #frank zhang #the fandom once again improving hoo

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nicostolemybones · 5 years ago

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Queer As In Fuck You

Alternative title: the fuckening.

Basically: the fic where Nico is gay and angry and punk (also the title is a song)

Tw: homophobia, mild violence, reclaimed slurs

Nico had decided that today was forever going to be referred to as the fuckening. To say Nico was nervous was an understatement to say the least- because today he'd decided that he was finally gonna come out to everyone officially. It wasn't necessarily because he was ready to, but because there were rumours flying around everywhere about him. The first was that he was having an affair with Annabeth and that's why he was avoiding Percy. The second was that whilst travelling with Reyna and Hedge he'd tried to kiss her and that's what they refused to talk about. The third was that Jason had a crush on Nico and Nico was waiting for him to break up with Piper. And the fourth was that Will was obsessed with Nico and stalking him. The fourth annoyed Nico the most- because it framed Will as some kind of predator, and of course, Will was the only openly gay camper at this particular point. And the fact that just because he made the effort to spend time around Nico and actually cared about his health was being twisted.

Nico could handle rumours about himself. The rumours about girls kept him closeted and whilst it pissed him off that people thought so low of his morals that he'd cheat, he was used to being painted as the bad guy, and besides, everybody thought he was too weird to ever be loved. But it was hurting others too. It was hurting Annabeth and Percy and Reyna and Jason and Piper, even if they knew the truth.

But Will? Will didn't need this. It rubbed Nico up the wrong way that they'd accuse his boyfriend of being a stalker or being predatory or obsessed towards Nico, especially as it was convenient that nobody slapped the same label on anyone else at camp who showed interest in somebody in some way. No, because only the gay guy could possibly be a predatory person.

So Nico was going to announce his sexuality and his relationship to camp, because he could see that the rumours were starting to get to Will. At first it was small things- Will stopped leaving good morning texts when he woke up at 5am. Things like Will waiting for Nico to sit at the Apollo table rather than waving him over. And then it was the big things, like Will only seeing Nico after campfire so people couldn't comment on the amount Will called him into the infirmary, and the way Will had asked him if he made Nico uncomfortable, to the time he'd seen Will shaking with anger and on the verge of tears when a 'concerned' camper tried to warn him off.

So Nico was going to come out. Because the rumours were too much and it was hurting the people he cared about. And he knew- he knew there'd be more vicious rumours afterwards, but at least he could control them, correct them, shut them down. He wanted to be in control of the situation, and he couldn't do that from in the closet.

Nico wouldn't have chosen to come out just yet, not if the rumours weren't there. It was a shit situation, which angered him, because it shouldn't have to be. He should be able to come out comfortably, but instead, he'd be coming out so he could take control back of his own narrative. It angered him because he'd been painted this picture of this progressive society where people could be openly gay and gay marriage was legal and people could come out without fear- except that wasn't everyone's reality. It wasn't Nico's. And he kept seeing this push to silence his experiences- to cut them out of fiction and cut them out of discussion because society was progressive now and nobody needed or wanted to see the struggles when they could show a happy life. Except Nico did. Nico needed to see people struggling like him, laying awake at night feeling scared and alone and rejected and wrong to know he wasn't alone, to know he could come out the other side. He needed to see the pain to see that it wasn't a tragedy. It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows and it certainly wasn't for Nico.

So Nico was angry, because he'd been sold an image, a faceless image, of this amazingly accepting place where he could feel safe, except he didn't, and that made people uncomfortable. It made him feel guilty for his struggles with his past, his struggles with microaggressions, his struggles with internalised homophobia, because when he created, vented, his experiences were reduced to a tragic trope doing more harm than good. Nico felt silenced. He wondered how many like him, venting and speaking up about lived experiences through art and writing, were shot down for doing so.

Nico was angry because he'd been introduced to this amazing community only to find the beginnings of toxicity and identity policing rooting in the fringes online. Nico was angry because he'd been told the world was accepting to find out some still paid the price with their lives or their freedom. Nico was angry because the only rep he could find was dead, on screen for two seconds, stereotype, unnecessarily sexualised, predatory, or bootlicker. Nico was angry because he'd grown up in a time where he learned fear, to be then told of the wonders of modern society, to be shamed for his learned fear, to then find out that the reality was still scary and unsafe for many.

He was happy for those who were accepted and comfortable, for those who were open and free, for those who could rise above the hate, for people like Will who felt able to freely express their identities. Of course he was happy, and of course he wanted their stories to explode across the media and give others hope. Of course he wanted to get away from Bury Your Gays. But he wished that wasn't at the expense of people like him telling their realities. He wished you could have both side by side, not at odds. Because experience was diverse, and the push to homogenise the portrayal of the gay experience into either perfectly happy or tragically horrible was seriously tearing the community apart and leaving people feeling frustrated and silenced on both sides.

Nico was angry because his reality right now was uncomfortable and his reality was one of pressure. He had to come out because he had to take back control of his own narrative. He was angry because he wasn't the first and he wouldn't be the last. He was angry because he knew if he spoke about how he was violently outed, he'd hear the whisperings of shared experience amongst kids too young to be facing prejudice. He'd have year round campers look to him for advice on how to be like him, how to come out and be happy when their own situations were bleak.

The first thing he'd tell them was that being gay isn't a tragedy or a death sentence. The tragedy is the existence of prejudice. The next thing he'd tell them is that yes, for some, it was gonna hurt and it would be hard. You'd feel like a newborn deer balancing dangerously on thin cracking ice with no guidance. He'd tell them that yes, safe spaces could be invaded by arseholes and you'd cry and rage and question. But he'd also tell them that that didn't mean they couldn't be happy and comfortable. He'd tell them that they didn't have to come out. He'd tell them that it was okay if all they could do was turn the closet light on to see themselves. He'd tell them that it was okay to exist in your own space and your own head whilst you learned how to navigate the world. He'd tell them that nothing could take away the labels they chose or chose not to take. He'd tell them that they could find power in simply existing. But above all he'd tell them to sing their truths, to create, to vent, to put into prose the pain or the joy or the duality of experiencing both at once. He'd tell them to delve deeper and learn and reach out and accept. He'd tell them to tell the stories they needed to see to feel heard and to heal, whether that be fairytale or tragedy.

Nico would tell them that even if they felt like their hand was forced, that their cards were ripped from their hands and laid bare for all to see, that they could still take back control. They could do what they needed to feel safe, hide if needed, or spit in the face of oppression with a 'so what?'. He'd tell them to fight back if they could fight comfortably, to protect those who couldn't fight for themselves, to find allies and comrades who would boost their voices.

And Nico realised that yeah, fuck it, he'd never been more ready for the fuckening. Because yes, he was still in pain and he was still scared. But fuck the people who made him feel silenced. He refused to be. He was fighting back. He was gay, he was a man in love with a man, a man who held hands with a man, a man who kissed a man, a man who would one day live with a man and fuck a man and unapologetically marry a man. And loving men wasn't all he was, but it was damn important to him and he'd be damned if anyone tried to strip it from his identity. He was scared and he was struggling and he was shamed but he wasn't ashamed to say that he was different. You know what? He was the fuckening and that was a fucking threat.

So yes. Nico's narrative was never going to be sunshine and rainbows. It had been fear and persecution and shame and war and oppression and pain. But now? Now it was a fire, the embers of self-acceptance and self-love glowing in his soul, the sparks of rebellion and pride igniting the flames of passion and rage and all things fuck you.

Things had to change. Nico refused to be silenced and spoken about in a way that he didn't want to be. They'd learn soon enough. Respect his existence or expect resistance. He'd control the rumours now. They wanted something to talk about? They could talk about this.

So Nico pulled on Will's pride vest, and pulled on his own black and pink jeans heavy with chains, and pulled on his biggest angriest boots, and pulled on the black leather waistcoat he'd taken the time to paint and sew with patches and slogans, and he put on his skull necklaces and his black lipstick and raccoon eyes eyeliner and he ruffled his hair until it looked like a bird's nest and he put on his playlist full of rage and gay and shouty lyrics full blast knowing it could be heard through his earbuds and he stepped out of his cabin with his best murderwalk because yes he would stomp on you if you dared say anything, because he wasn't a doormat anymore and he refused to be. He was gay and angry and he'd ripped off the duct tape society had glued to his mouth and he was screaming with confidence and radiating death because fuck society for making him feel like this.

"I'm only gonna say this once," he began firmly. People listened because he made them listen for once. He wasn't done talking and boy would they know it. "If anybody dares to accuse Will of anything ever again, I will come for you, and I will damn you to Tartarus, capisce? You do not get to make rumours about me and my private life. How dare you use me for your sick entertainment, how dare you drag my friends into it. You should be ashamed of yourselves! I am not some article in a gossip magazine for you to fawn and speculate over. I'm not some kid you can poke fun at. Will isn't some uwu gay best friend you have and he's not some butt sex obsessed fiend. And neither am I. We're just two pissed off queers who are sick of your shit and from now on if you've got something to say about it you say it to my face, you got that? You put your money where your mouth is and you face me you fucking cowards. See if it's still funny or exciting to call us slurs behind our backs when an angry faggot is done being scared. Shout at me what you like because I've reclaimed it all. You do not get to silence us, you do not get to control our narratives, you do not get to police our identities and our relationships. Respect our existence or expect resistance, you got it? Good. You wanna learn how to be an ally? Listen to us. Will's happy to educate you and so is Google. You're an ally to all or an ally to none. You don't get to pick and choose which parts of the community deserve respect. So yes, I'm fucking gay as fuck for Will Solace and if you got a problem with that then tough!"

An Ares camper rose to his challenge. Walked to his face and spit at his feet. Nico elbowed his face and kicked his nuts and shoved his face into the dirt. "I wouldn't do that, pretty boy," Nico warned, resting his boot on his cheek. "Anyone else wanna try me? No. Good." Nico let him go and walked straight over to Will, who was staring with his mouth open. Nico was terrified of the crowd still watching but fuck them Nico was feeling brave and bravery wasn't the absence of fear. He was gonna live and living meant pushing through it all.

"Wow," Will managed, "gods, just kiss me, fuck, that was- just wow!" So Nico did. Nico kissed him there and then, in the middle of camp, in front of everyone, because dammit he was a man who loved men and Will was his man and he was pissed off and living off spite. He had a point to prove and that point was that his existence was not up for debate. And boy did he intend to make it loud and fight for others who needed it.

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khionesdaughter13 · 5 years ago

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Riordanverse at Hogwarts

1993

Nico is at the platform 9 3/4 with Bianca again, but this year is his own first-year

And he couldn't be more excited

Will Solace is there with his older brother Lester (* Obviously Apollo is Will's dad, but since I added Lester at his mortal age, this is my way of connecting them)

Carter's whole family is there, even his 9 years old sister, who almost managed to sneak onto the Hogwarts Express

But she was caught by Annabeth, who considered letting her stay, but eventually brought her back onto the platform

Carter and his parents were extremely relieved and thanked Annabeth for finding her a thousand times

Zia is at the platform with her adoptive dad Iskandar

She was a muggleborn, but was adopted by onto Iskandar's pureblood family three years ago

She and her parents had lived in a small village in England

A crazy death eater, who didn't believe that Voldemort was truly gone, went on a killing spree in her village, killing everyone there

But Zia's mother hid her when they saw the death eater kill the first muggles

Zia was the only survivor and found by the Ministry of Magic who were covering up the incident for the muggle world

They thought she was just a lucky muggle, but when they approached her, but Zia unwillingly unlashed a burst of magic, in her fear

They took her to the ministry instead unsure of what to do with her

That's where she met Iskandar

He was working at the ministry and when he saw the young frightened girl just sitting around, while no one really knew what to do with her, he approached her

Zia thought he was just another wizard asking the same interrogation questions as the other five before

But Iskandar started to ask unrelated questions like "What is your favourite colour?" or "What is your favourite magical creature?"

When he realized that Zia couldn't answer the magical related questions due to being a muggleborn he decided to take her to different departments

Zia learned a lot about the magical world and for one afternoon she was almost able to forget the horrible incident

And Zia had wrapped Iskandar around her little finger in no time

He knew his wife loved children and they had thought about having children of their own

He offered the Ministry to take her in and as Zia herself didn't know where else to go and had grown fond of Iskandar, she agreed

Zia fit right in with her adoptive family

She was eager to learn and Iskandar liked to teach

She wanted to learn how to fight, so she could stop the remaining death eaters

And Iskandar began to teach her the essentials of the wizarding world

Now it was time for her to go to Hogwarts

The Dementor's presence caused quite some talk between students

When the train stopped especially the younger student's were scared

Bianca was able to calm down Will, as well as Lester, who said he wasn't scared, but was shaking more than Will

Nico wasn't as scared as he probably should have been, but instead spouted every fact that he knew about Dementors

Finally arriving at Hogwarts the sorting ceremony started

Nico was sorted into Slytherin

He was sad to be seperated from Bianca, but he sat next to a second-year, who held up some friendly chatter with him

Next up was Carter who was sorted into Ravenclaw and walked past all the other first- and second-years to sit down next to Annabeth

Next came Zia who was also sorted into Slytherin

She sat next to Nico

And both excitingly exchanged all sort of facts that they learned

Last up came Will who was sorted into Hufflepuff and happily sat next to Lester

Lupin being the new Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher was taken very well

In a short span Defence Against The Dark Arts became Percy's, Jason's, Reyna's and Zia's favourite subject

And even if it wasn't their favourite subject, everyone loved Professor Lupin

Especially Reyna seemed to stay behind after his class

But she seemed different this school year anyway

During the summer holidays Reyna had an accident

Her father forbid Jason or Frank from seeing her and for the entire train ride she only exchanged a few words with them

She also spent a significant time in Dumbledore's office on the first evening and returned to the common room after curfew

Jason was determined to not let Reyna push him away

But he didn't force her to tell him what was going on with her either

He kept walking to their shared classes together, sat next to her, gave her his notes when she missed classes once per month and visited her in the infirmary

Reyna soon realized that she could trust Jason and told him

During their summer holidays Reyna was attacked by Fenrir Grayback and even though Hylla found her she was too late

She managed to chase Grayback away, but Reyna had already been bitten

She talked to Dumbledore on how to handle the situation on her first day back

Snape brewed her wolfsbane every month, but she still felt bad enough to sometimes miss classes and end up in the infirmary

She told Jason she talked to Lupin so much was because he, as a Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher, knew so much about werewolves

It was not her right to tell Jason about Lupin's secret

After Reyna told Jason he went to ask Lupin how he could help Reyna

Lupin was a little weary, but remembering his own school time and how his friends became Animagi for him, he suggested that Jason could read up on it a little

Jason didn't hesitate at all and pulled an all nighter reading every book in the library about Animagi that he could find

With Lupin's help he became an animagus in no time

His animagus form was an eagle

Grover and Juniper both took Care of Magical Creatures together

They saw each other regularly in class and helped Madam Sprout in the greenhouse after hours

Now they spent even more time together taking care of Magical Creatures in their free time as well

They can't even tell when their relationship went from friends to couple

Percy finds out, when Grover and Juniper come into the Great Hall holding hands

And he almost drops

How feels so oblivious for not noticing his best friends feelings

But he is happy for Grover

When it was rumored that Sirius Black broke into Hogwarts the students were forced to sleep in the Great Hall

Blitzen, Hearthstone and Magnus all slept next to each other and Blitzen and Hearthstone kept talking with Magnus to keep him distracted

Annabeth, Percy, Rachel, Grover and Juniper weren't far away

Annabeth wanted to keep an eye on Magnus and her friends just joined her

Frank used this night to reunite with Jason and Reyna who he had unintentionally distanced himself from

Calypso also stayed with him and both Frank and Calypso met Leo who had decided to stick with Jason

Piper joined Leo a little later when the Slytherins arrived and met the others

She already knew Jason and Reyna from their shared classes, but this was the first time she actually talked to them

Sam used to opportunity to spent the night talking to Alex

And Alex was happy to finally see Sam and Mallory again outside of class

Bianca sat next to Nico and when Lester and Will saw them they also sat close to them

Nico asked Bianca to sing that song their mom always sang to them

And when she did she caught the attention of quite a few students

Some started to gather around her listening to her singing

And when she stopped she was embarrassed by the attention

But this time Nico asked her to tell one of their mother's stories

And Sam, who had heard some of Bianca's stories herself assured her to go on

So when she started Alex sat down next to her

He had never demonstrated his metamorphmagus abilities in public before, but he felt like this was a good time

Along with Bianca's story he morphed into all sorts of different character's, visualizing it and captivating every student listening to them

Even the older students couldn't resist

The night that started as an absolute nightmare ended better than most expected

And when it ended friendships had been formed that had seemed unlikely before

Disclaimer: I was unsure what time period to put our characters in and after trying to write different headcanons I decided to go with putting Percy in the exact time period, that Harry Potter went to school, because it's the time period we know the best. While I know that characters would therefore actually would interfere with the Harry Potter dorms that were established (e.g. Percy would end up in the same dorm as Harry and his friends), I decided to not write my headcanons as a crossover of that art. Harry and his friends are still present at Hogwarts and all of their adventures are taking place at the same time, but I decided to exclude Percy and co. from these adventures. If there are school wide events (like the Triwizard Tournament) I will obviously mention them and include them in my headcanons, but there will be no direct interaction between HP characters and Riordanverse characters, to keep it a little more simple.

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authorgirl1111 · 5 years ago

Text

Demigod’s Grief

Reyna

Reyna stared at the coffin that Apollo and Meg had brought into the citadel. She knew who was inside it. The guards had told her about what Apollo and Meg had said. She wanted to look inside the coffin, half hoping half believing that she was being lied too. But she could do that later right now she needed to be the Praetor.

“I heard about Jason,” Reyna said staring at the Coffin. She motioned to the guards. “Have the body prepared for the funeral” She ordered. The guards bowed once before rolling the coffin away. Apollo and Meg watched it leave, they looked ready to follow the coffin, but Reyna needed something from them first.

“Come with me,” Reyna said. “I would hear your story”

She led them to her

Reyna led them to the Principia, where her dogs where waiting dutifully. She walked to the table and sat at the head. She could see Meg about to follow suit. But Apollo held her back.

“We have to be invited to sit.”

Meg snorted. “That’s stupid”

Apollo sighed. “When in Rome…”

Meg rolled her eyes.

Reyna cleared her throat and Apollo and Meg turned to look at her.

“Tell me everything”

So, they did. They told her about Caligula, about how they had hoped Jason could be of help. How Jason had revealed of the prophecy he had been told, how if he and Piper helped Apollo and Meg. Either he or Piper would die.

So, he sacrificed himself, Reyna thought. Of course, he would. She could feel herself coming apart. She clutched the armrests tightly while Apollo and Meg told her what happened.

When they got to the part when they were in the Labyrinth. They explained that they had been given notes of riddles that they had to solve. That they realized after a while that it was a prophecy.

“And what did the Prophecy say?” Reyna asked.

Apollo and Meg paused before Apollo continued to speak. “I’m so sorry” Apollo said. “But while I did come to make sure that Jason is properly laid to rest…”

“You need something from me,” Reyna said. She wanted to lash out at Apollo tell him to go to the Underworld. But she resisted and allowed him to ask.

“The prophecy we received in California stated that: Apollo faces death in Tarquin’s Tomb unless the doorway to the soundless god is opened by”

Apollo sighed.

Reyna narrowed her eyes. “By who”

Apollo sighed. “It appears to have said “Bellona’s Daughter”

“Appears?”

“The last part of the prophecy was a bunch of different lines that I hadn’t realized was actually an Acrostic poem, until it was pointed out.”

Reyna was a little interested. “What did these lines say?”

Apollo thought. “I can’t remember all of them… Bronze upon gold, east meets west, something about destroying a tyrant? Aid the winged. Enter strangers’ home. Regain lost glory”

Reyna nodded once or twice. “Continue”

So, they explained how Medea had shown up. How Apollo had been chained, how Medea had started to break him apart, how everyone had tried to stop her, How Herophile had insisted that Apollo had finished what was started, but all that came were incoherent lines, how they had almost lost but Piper had come in at the last moment.

When they finished Reyna stood. “Thank you,” Reyna said. “I shall think about what you have told me, and give you my answer soon”

Apollo and Meg nodded and took there leave.

Reyna collapsed back into her chair and for a long time didn’t leave her chair.

---

Before she could give her answer, Reyna had to tell or try to tell the other 7 that Jason had grown close too.

So, she found Frank and Hazel and told them what happened. Hazel had cried, while Frank had stood still holding onto Hazel’s shoulder as she cried. Frank had thanked her for coming to tell him before Reyna had left them alone to deal with there grief.

She had tried to contact Percy and Annabeth but neither had been reachable.

Only after she had done that had she turned back to the problem presented to her. Whether or not she should help Apollo.

Reyna knew that she should. There weren’t many other daughters of Bellona at camp, none with her experience and the only other daughter of Bellona she could think of to help was the leader of the Amazons and was incapable.

Besides. After hearing how Caligula killed Jason, she wanted to help bring the Triumvirate down.

So, she went to Apollo and said that she would help. She brought them back to the Principia again and they talked. At least until Thalia and Iphigenia appeared.

Thalia yelled at Apollo, but Apollo took it in stride. Something that surprised Reyna. Instead, he left her and Thalia alone.

Thalia expressed a desire to see her brother, and so Reyna stood and walked Thalia and her companion over to where Jason’s body was being held. Reyna spoke to her, trying to make Thalia feel a little better- told her that Jason had never forgotten her, not really. By the small smile that appeared, Reyna could tell she succeeded if only a little.

When they entered the room where Jason was. Reyna and Iphigenia held back to give Thalia a moment.

When Thalia started to cry Iphigenia and Reyna turned to give Thalia a bit of privacy.

Reyna’s heart went out to Thalia. Thalia had lost her brother at such a young age and then had only been able to see him again years later. They had barely gotten to know each other before they had needed to go on their own respective quests, and then hadn’t been able to meet up again.

And now they never could.

Thalia made her way back to Jason and they walked out of the building together, just as Apollo was making his way back in.

“No,” Thalia said. “You don’t get to see him.”

Reyna tried to step in to try to get Thalia to listen first. But Thalia refused, and Reyna could not really blame her.

Instead, she just watched as Apollo left.

---

Thalia graciously excepted the task that Reyna gave her, to prepare the funeral for Jason. Reyna stated that whatever she wanted she would receive but did ask that she remember that Jason was Roman. Thalia had understood and immediately started the preparations.

With Thalia making the preparations she could help Apollo with his prophecy.

---

They had to fight monsters in order to get to the Tyrants Tomb. In order to find the door to the silent god.

Reyna had given her power to both Apollo and Meg, to help them fight.

But then she felt something odd.

She felt guilt, and anger, coming from Meg and Apollo. That wasn’t so surprising, she had surmised as much when Apollo had delivered Jason’s coffin.

No, what surprised was the scar she could sense, near Apollo’s heart.

---

When they had a moment of peace and Meg was asleep a couple of feet away. Reyna had asked what had happened. How he had gotten that wound.

Apollo hadn’t wanted to talk about it. Told Reyna that it didn’t matter because he had failed, that his plan hadn’t worked, and all it had done was make him immobile when it truly mattered.

“It’s just a wound from a stupid thing that happened,” Apollo said.

Reyna knew better than to push, a lot of soldiers she dealt with had wounds that they didn’t-couldn’t talk about their war wounds.

Reyna went quiet for a moment. “Does it have anything to do with Jason?” She asked.

Apollo flinched away. “I tried to help, he and Meg were trapped venti that Medea and Caligula were going to suck out my essence to be the new sun-god. So, I used that against him.

Reyna’s eyes widened. “Apollo- what did you do?”

Apollo looked away. “I threatened to kill myself.”

Reyna sat in shock; her eyes wide.

“When he refused to let Meg and Jason go, I stabbed myself and Medea’s control on the venti lessened and Jason was able to free meg and, well you know the rest.

Reyna nodded slowly, but didn’t know what to say- what could you say to that?

---

It took days before they could find the Tyrants Tomb. Apollo had immediately been sucked into the tomb; Reyna could hear some ghostly cackling from the inside.

Meg started trying to open the door, break it down but nothing she did work. Reyna stopped her and reminded her of the prophecy, that they (she) had to open the door of the silent god.

Meg hadn’t liked it, but she decided to follow Reyna anyway.

----

Reyna had almost been unable to open the doorway to the silent god, but at the last possible moment, she had succeeded. She had broken bones and a scar along her forehead. But she succeeded.

But unfortunately, Apollo had not come out unscathed. When they finally found their way into the tomb, there was Apollo, lying in a pool of his own red blood, near death, and not breathing.

Reyna had immediately started CPR, barking at Meg, to get help. For a moment Meg had just stared at Apollo unable to move.

“Meg,” Reyna said sternly already on the ground. “Go, get help.”

“Apollo,” Meg said. “I order you to stay alive.”

Reyna hadn’t waited to see if her order had worked, but when she went to breathe for Apollo, he found Apollo to be breathing – shallow and hard but breathing, nonetheless.

---

Reyna and Meg had to be looked at too. Turned out Reyna had accidentally broken a few ribs. Oops. Meg had a sprained arm.

Apollo, unfortunately, had needed far more extensive care and had been wheeled away the moment he had entered the hospital.

“Do you think he’ll be fine?” Meg asked.

Reyna turned to Meg. Her head was faced down, and she seemed to be fiddling with her hands.

Meg was scared. Reyna placed a hand on meg’s shoulder. “I doubt the fates would let him die without finishing his quest.” She said.

Slowly Meg nodded.

---

Apollo awoke a few days later when Reyna had come to visit him, Apollo had already heard about her own injuries by Meg.

“You shouldn’t have risked yourself like that,” Apollo said.

“It was the only way,” Reyna said. “You could have died.”

“Your ribs could have punctured your lungs, you should have stopped,” Apollo said.

Reyna shook her head. “I did it to save your life, it’s what you did for Jason, what Jason did for you.”

Apollo snorted. “And look how wonderfully that turned out for him.”

Reyna’s eyes widened, but instead of shouting, instead of telling Apollo that was uncalled for, she stopped. From an outside perspective, Apollo could be insulting Jason’s sacrifice, but Reyna had heard Apollo when he told her about his injury. She had felt his guilt and self-hate.

So, Reyna took a deep breath. “It was worth the risk,” Reyna said.

Apollo turned to Reyna his eyes wide. But Reyna was unable to continue so she quickly turned and left the room.

---

The next time Reyna and Apollo met, it was after Apollo had been discharged from the hospital, Reyna was in her favourite place in the city, she hadn’t expected Apollo to find her.

Or perhaps he wasn’t looking, instead just looking for a place think too.

“I can leave,” He said when he found her there.

Reyna just shrugged, she didn’t want company, but she didn’t really want to be alone either.

For a long while, he just sat beside her not saying, or doing anything.

“Jason’s funeral is tomorrow,” Apollo said.

Reyna looked down. So soon?

Apollo didn’t say anything else after that. Just stayed quiet.

“We were inseparable” Reyna said, she could feel Apollo’s eyes on her, but she continued looking straight ahead. “Back before the giants and the Titans, back when it was just, training and nothing else, we were inseparable,” Reyna said. “We told each other everything” Reyna said. “He told me how he had vague memories of having a sister, I told him about my past, my past with my father, who I killed because of how unbalanced and dangerous he was.”

Apollo said nothing, but she had a sense that he was surprised. Reyna didn’t stop.

“He never judged me for that” Reyna said. Tears collecting in her eyes, she felt something take her hand, or maybe it was just her imagination. “Never, he understood,” She said. “He was the only person who could understand when I was angry or sad. He knew my favourite foods, my fighting styles, and I knew his favourite colour and how to counter his fighting styles, when the teachers were about bust us for breaking the rules, we would cover for each other all the time. Jason would defend me, and I would defend him.”

Reyna looked down. “When we were made co-praetor, it was hardly even a surprise. The two of us knew each other like the back of our hands.”

“Then he disappeared for months, and when I finally see him again, everything's different. He finds he prefers camp half-blood, to our home, he wants to leave it behind.” Reyna said. “The home, he would have died for is the home he would turn away from without a second thought.”

“I doubt he saw it as that” Apollo said. “I doubt he saw it less about leaving you, and more as… branching out”

Reyna turned away.

. “I’m sure if you two had been able to contact each other, Jason would have done it every day,” Apollo said.

Reyna wasn’t too sure. “I miss him.” She said her voice cracked on the last word and she felt the tears she had been trying to hold away fall.

Apollo held her as tightly as he could. “I know, I’m sorry” He whispered.

A/N so this has had minimal edits. I’m posting this now because I wanted to post this before I read Tyrants Tomb. If I do continue it’s probably not going to contain many Tyrants tombs spoilers. It might just also might not, depends on what works for the story.

#minimal edits #trials of apollo #reyna #meg mccaffrey #apollo #thalia grace #demigod grief #like I proofreed this with Grammarly and the revise thing on my computer but that's it

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flightfoot · 5 years ago

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How do you see the story of Orion? I mean Artemis seems pretty angry with him in Blood of Olympius. And seen how Orion speaks about her, or about women in general,...I don't think that his death was just Apollo being a overprotective brother.

I feel like we’re missing a lot of the story in the Riordanverse, and we’re getting biased and somewhat unreliable perspectives.

From what we hear from the Hunters and some others on the Gods side, Orion became close to Artemis, he asked her out, and he became bitter and spent more time alone after that, until Artemis one day came back to camp and said that Orion had been killed and refused to talk about it. Not a lot to go on there.

Orion’s side of the story is far more enlightening, what we can glean of it.

“Even Artemis’s own brother, Apollo, was not able to kill me back in the ancient times. He had to use trickery to get rid of me.”

“He didn’t like you hanging out with his sister?” Reyna listened for more sounds, but heard nothing.

“Apollo was jealous.” The giant’s fingers curled around his bowstring. He drew it back, setting the bow’s wheels and pulleys spinning. “He feared I might charm Artemis into forgetting her vows of maidenhood. And who knows? Without Apollo’s interference, perhaps I would have. She would have been happier.”

“As your servant?” Hylla growled. “Your meek little housewife?”

“It hardly matters now,” Orion said. “At any rate, Apollo inflicted me with madness - a bloodlust to kill all the beasts of the earth. I slaughtered thousands before my mother, Gaea, put a stop to my rampage. She summoned a giant scorpion from the earth. It stabbed me in the back and its poison killed me. I owe her for that.”

“You owe Gaea,” Reyna said, “for killing you.”

Orion’s mechanical pupils spiraled into tiny glowing points. “My mother showed me the truth. I was fighting against my own nature, and it brought me nothing but misery. Giants are not meant to love mortals or gods. Gaea helped me accept what I am.” (BOO 241-242)

This version of events is different from the usual one I hear with Orion, where Apollo tricks Artemis into murdering Orion by accident via having her fire off an arrow into the distance where Orion happened to be. But this is one of the cases where in mythology, there are multiple accounts of how things went down.

In any case, the account Orion puts forward appears to be largely accurate, considering that it matches up with the story Rick tells in “Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods”. So I don’t think Orion is lying about any of it.

So assuming everyone’s telling the truth, let’s really look at this. Yes, Orion DOES denigrate women here. But I’d think that if he’d even showed a whiff of misogyny during any of the time he was with her, she would’ve thrown him out on his ass, if not murdered him outright. So either he was a REALLY good actor or he didn’t actually hold that attitude in the past. I think he’s been brainwashed into thinking he held that attitude retroactively.

As for why I think he was brainwashed - well look at what he said. For starters, his bloodlust was caused by Apollo inflicting him with madness, so he was brainwashed in that instance. And then when he talked about Gaea “showing him the truth” - that smacks of manipulation at a BARE MINIMUM, if not outright brainwashing and mind control. I think she may have ‘reshaped’ him after she killed him, something of that sort. Tweaked his essence slightly to change his attitude and personality to one that fit her needs better, while allowing him to keep all his old memories, but view them through this new lens. Do I KNOW that Gaea did this - that she COULD do this? No. But I don’t think it’s unreasonable, especially since she’s the one who killed him, and it explains some of the weirdness in Orion’s story.

As for Artemis, well no duh she’s angry. After Orion came back he started pursuing and killing her Hunters and the Amazons, and have for thousands of years. Whatever he might once have been to her, he isn’t anymore. The old him that was her best friend and maybe even a potential lover is long since dead. And she has every reason to hate Orion nowadays. I think she may also be somewhat guilty of trying to fool herself into thinking she was never as close to him as she was, in an effort to protect her heart. Dunno how successful she’d be at fooling herself though.

As for how I judge Orion... well it’s hard. I really do think he was brainwashed to some extent, and without knowing the precise parameters of the brainwashing, it’s hard for me to judge how much he should be held accountable for his actions, if at all.

As for APOLLO’S actions... yeah I don’t like what he did. Artemis is a grown woman and she didn’t appear to be in outright danger of being harmed, she can make her own decisions. Making the decision to scare off Orion for her own good... I don’t like it. Keep an eye on the situation, sure. Talk to Artemis about it openly and honestly, yes. But short of Orion physically or emotionally abusing or manipulating Artemis, I think he should’ve butted out. Respect Artemis’s right to make her own decisions, even possibly bad ones.

#apollo #artemis #orion #blood of olympus #heroes of olympus #hoo #ask #I've thought about this a bit #I love TOA!Apollo #But I have some problems with some of the things he did in the myths to put it mildly

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jflashandclash · 5 years ago

Text

Traitors of Olympus IV: Fall of the Sun

Fifty: Kalypso

Satyr Butts and Catching Up

Kally was happy they waited until she was awake to fill in the group about what happened. Frank wanted to wait until everyone was up, but Axel and Calex did a convincing job dissuading him from waking Euna.

Clovis had gently beckoned Kally out of her surprisingly peaceful dreams and Chris Rodriguez and Matthias Severe Hanson very ungently pulled Pax from inside his nest. Hazel was even generous enough to give Alabaster a white board and some dry erase markers.

Kally feared the first thing he’d write was, My helm or your first born child.[1] Considering the ingredients he kept for his spells, she wasn’t sure what he’d want if she’d lost something of his that was so important.

All of their possessions were gone when Kally woke up: her notebook, messenger bag, and his Cloven Terror helm. Even her clothing was gone. Instead, she woke up with an IV drip in her hand, a surgical smock, and pain with each breath. She had barely been able to pick up her glasses from the pillow beside her.

It was creepy to think someone had changed them. The only people Kally knew well at camp had also been unconscious. For the time being, Kally would just pretend that was one of Will’s powers: magically poofing people into surgical-friendly clothing.

The only person in the room who was allowed to keep their weapon—and Kally guessed “allowed’ was a strong word—was Euna.

Instead of asking about his missing things, Alabaster scribbled down, Why? and pointed to the balloon beside his sleeping bag. It depicted a satyr on one side and the satyr’s ass on the other with a note that said, “Poke me; I sing!” There were also streamers strewn off his IV stand.

“Apparently this is how a certain child of Hermes decided to thank you for saving his brother,” Dr. Claymore said. He never looked up from the book he was reading, though the smile that he cracked said he’d watch the Stoll set up everything while Alabaster slept.

Alabaster’s fingers flashed over the board to write, Ajax. No.

Pax, meanwhile, pouted.

Axel sighed. “His arms are too messed up to throw anything at it. Trust me. He tried.”

Frank and Reyna sat in foldout chairs they’d managed to stuff into the room, moving Lapis’ closer to the weird bird cage in the corner. Hazel stood ready by the door like the most unassuming of guards. None of them wore armor, just SPQR sweatshirts and workout pants. Hazel’s fingers tensed around her spatha’s hilt. Reyna twirled her knife into the edge of her seat. A sword hung at both her and Frank’s sides. Every time Euna mumbled in her mossy cocoon, they would startle and go for their weapons.

While nibbling on some microwave breakfast sandwiches, Reyna got them up to speed.

“Apparently, after Prometheus brought Axel and Pax back here, he contacted Helios—”

Kally felt her jaw drop along with a piece of egg. “Wait—that creepy, former sun god that used to work with Hemera?”

Kally remembered Helios and Eos, the Goddess of Dawn, dream-messaging her to say that Hemera had been taken.

“Creepy is a forgiving choice of word,” Reyna said, looking utterly unamused.

Frank coughed off to the side. “Reyna may have brought Helios up to speed on the last few decades of equality on gender treatment.”

“With her fist,” Hazel said with a giggle. Whatever transpired must have been intense. Hazel was fanning herself.

Axel smiled, looking impressed. Although Merry and Calex had informed Kally about his flirt-session with a cat goddess, Kally had a feeling no one could distract Axel from this praetor.

Reyna cleared her throat and continued, “Prometheus contacted Helios—”

“And said there might be an open job listing for Sun Chariot Driver,” Pax filled in, bouncing on his haunches.

Apparently, before Kally woke up, Pax had been refusing treatment. She forced him to take some ambrosia with a Reese’s Stick. Now, she was wondering if the extra sugar before real food was a bad idea. Though, with the barely convincing smile on his face, she wondered if Pax was acting as peppy as possible to distract everyone from how he actually felt.

Reyna nodded, looking a lot less like she wanted to strangle Pax than Kally would expect. “If Nyx wanted Hemera to come back alive, Eris told Nyx that she had to wrap Apollo in the Golden Net and keep him there, but didn’t mention anything about the chariot. When Nyx’s old business associate showed up to borrow the Sun Chariot, she didn’t try to stop him.”

“How did Helios know where to find them?” Calex asked. He leaned up against the wall, sitting on top his sleeping bag. Kally winced anytime she glanced at him. Half his handsome face was covered in some vicious scabs that cracked when he talked. The bandages peaking out of his clothing indicated that wasn’t the only part of him that was cracking.

Merry, sitting between them, would occasionally frown and apply pressure with a clean cloth when something bled too much. Her face was marred with bruises, and when Kally had tried to put a thumb at neutral position to see how Merry was feeling, Merry had shaken her head and mouthed the words, later, sweetie.

Frank snorted and leaned back in his chair. “Augh, you should have heard Helios. ‘I helped find Persephone when Hades kidnapped her. You think I can’t find someone as high on his own sun fumes and flamboyant as Apollo?’’

Hazel frowned. “They really don’t like each other. After Sadie, Leo, and Jason got Hemera and Lapis back and Lady Nyx let Lord Apollo go, he stormed back here. Helios had come back to get rid of Python’s corpse—”

“Corpse?!” Calex and Kally echoed.

Her head spun. She had put her everything into the last light javelin she threw, but… corpse?

Calex slipped a hand past Merry to offer Kally a high five. “Nice play, Kassand,” he said.

Kally struggled to raise her arm that didn’t have the skin graft. Every move made her ribs burn. On the list of reasons she found her powers stupid, having the ability to conjure the heat and brilliance of the sun without being fireproof topped everything else.

Seeing her slow movement, Calex leaned the extra way to tap her hand.

“Thanks for the assist, McKenzie,” Kally said, sincerely hoping they’d be well enough and the chaos would settle enough that she and Calex could scrimmage each other on the soccer field. Every time they high-fived, it made her long for a fun, normal-seeming soccer match.

“Python will reform one day,” Reyna said. “Until then, Helios pried out her fangs for the two of you. Thalia already called dibs on one of the eyes to add to her Aegis shield.”

“Thalia’s okay?” Axel asked, his ears perking up at the name.

Reyna nodded. “Once Lady Diana saw the sun fall, she returned to check on everyone. Thalia is with Lady Diana now, assuring that Lord Apollo doesn’t skip out on details when they explain everything to the other Olympians.”

The squeak of a marker brought everyone’s attention to Alabaster. He held up his white board. If his jaw wasn’t wired shut, he looked like he might have been smirking.

Helios and Apollo didn’t get along?

Kally suddenly wondered whose side Helios was on during the Second Titan War and why Prometheus, who apparently had been hiding since Mount Othrys’ fall, had been comfortable going to him for help.

Hazel continued her story from where Kally had interrupted. Kally felt her cheeks get red, realizing how much she’d derailed them.

“Helios’ actions helped save the camp, but Lord Apollo was furious the older deity had borrowed the sun chariot. And Helios began shouting at him for neglecting his employees. He demanded Lord Apollo give Hemera, Eos, and Astraeus more benefits and more days off during the winter solstice. I thought they were about to start brawling, but that’s around when Artemis showed up and calmed her brother down. It was…” Hazel smiled softly. “Kinda sweet. You could tell Helios really cared. He only left to check on Hemera and make sure she and Nyx were okay.”

“At least he had some redeemable features,” Reyna grumbled. She flexed her hand and Kally noticed the bandages around Reyna’s knuckles. “And Lord Apollo helped a little with the healing before he left. His song saved Lou Ellen and Michael Kahale.”

Alabaster made a noise.

Kally glanced over to see him covering his stitched jaw, where she knew a bone had been sticking out a day before. Judging by his pallor, he must have tried to talk.

Kally didn’t have the heart to ask which people Apollo hadn’t been able to heal. A moment of silence passed; everyone seemed to be thinking the same thing.

Pax stopped rocking on his haunches. “So, two of the Special Seven are here.” He pointed to Hazel and Frank. “I’m going to guess Piper and Annabeth are still doing some massive sleep marathons to get rid of the kissing disease and the buboes. Commander Valdez just left, and his good mood means he’s got his blond Superman around. Where’s your Aquaman?”

The tone of his voice was a little too careful. Kally didn’t understand the seriousness of the question—she assumed Percy had other important things to do now that he wasn’t glued to a chair—then she saw the way Merry jutted her jaw to the side.

“After Jason assured him that he’d focus on reconstruction, Percy went to spend the day with his parents and little sister,” Hazel said, “I think the whole family is coming to help out tonight. He’s a little rough though. Um… I think the early stages of mono are setting in.”

Kally held her breath as Pax, Axel, and Lapis all turned their gaze to Merry. Even Calex frowned in concern, showing she hadn’t told him about anything yet.

Reyna cleared her throat, sitting up.

Merry waved the diversion off before Reyna could begin. “I guess I can’t really avoid the Debby Downer anymore,” she said. The buoyancy vanished from her voice. “I…”

Her gaze had sunk to the floor. Reflexively, she tapped her collarbone, like she expected the music dial on her jacket to appear. After sucking in a shaky breath, she looked back up, glancing from Pax, to Axel, to Lapis. “Baby Jackson is safe… but, by the time the EMTs got there...” A silent tear rolled down Merry’s busted cheek. She withdrew her hand from Calex’s reach when he tried to touch it. “Hiro is paralyzed from the waist down.”

Kally froze. She could hear the sound of three different cheeks popping.

“He fell onto one of the parapets… I shattered his mind. It was all I could think to do when—he’s at Mount Sinai hospital.” Merry’s breath was so short, she sounded close to hyperventilating. “I-I’m sorry.”

Kally felt her mouth hang open in surprise. Iciness in her stomach made her set the half-eaten breakfast sandwich down. Her appetite was gone.

Merry hated violence. She wouldn’t even hurt bugs. Shattering someone’s mind? Was that even something Merry could do?

Tears streamed down Pax’s face.

Axel closed his eyes.

Lapis choked into his gag. His chair thudded on the ground as he thrashed.

Pax shot up from his bedding.

Frank rose to intercept him, but Reyna shook her head.

Pax scurried to Lapis. With a whimper at moving his arm with the injured shoulder, he tore off Lapis’ gag before anyone could stop him.

That mustn’t have been what the praetor thought Pax would do. Maybe a hug. Not giving a psychopath their most dangerous weapon back.

Hazel, Frank, and Reyna all tensed. Kally expected Lapis to cast some kind of Egyptian magic and send everyone’s faces smashing into the ground.

Instead, Lapis sobbed, tearing making black lines as they mixed with his charcoal liner. “He’s alive. Our stupid grime-licking Dartface is still alive. You hear that, Tufted Ears?” Lapis looked up, his expression one of crazed glee. “There are still four Pax boys! Eat garbage, world! You can ‘t eradicate us that easily!”

Pax and Axel released broken laughs. Pax snuggled, as best as he could, against Lapis.

Axel muttered something back to Lapis in a staccato language that Kally could only guess was Mayan. The Egyptian barked something back that made them burst into more sob-laughs.

Merry looked understandably speechless. She hugged herself and huddled further from Calex’s worried glance.

Axel exhaled slowly and opened his eyes. “Merry, we expected you to do what you needed to do. Hiro babysat Percy’s little sister for days and was willing to cut off her fingers without a moment of hesitation.”

“His mind was more like a mirror hanging out at a skeet shooting lounge,” Pax croaked.

“But he’s alive,” Lapis repeated, rubbing the coal-tear streaks against his sleeve. “Our crazy bastard is alive.”

Lapis sat up to glare at Reyna. “I’m going to hug my brothers,” he announced. He muttered something in Egyptian and his bindings disintegrated.

The Romans clutched their weapons tightly as Lapis rose. He half-dragged Pax, half-limped over to Axel’s sleeping roll and collapsed beside him, dragging Pax down on his other side.

“We’re going to be a Facebook-friendly, snot-happy family, and we’re not losing any more of us. But, I’m still kicking both your sorry asses for all this shit later,” Lapis said, rubbing his face on some of Axel’s bandages. His scowl darkened when he pointed to where Merry was now sobbing into her cupped hand. “Don’t think you’re off the hook though, Wine Babe. You’re coming over all the flippin’ time to try to fix up Dart Face’s messed up head.”

Merry didn’t complain. She nodded her head feverously. With that tiny hint at forgiveness, she leaned toward Calex.

Despite all the terrible things Lapis had helped put them through, Kally felt her own eyes warm. Axel and Pax looked so much more relaxed with their family member beside them, like neither cared what was going to happen next. For a moment, she could picture some of the stories Pax had told her, about them playing in the school yards of Belize or pranking the carnival with Frasco. Her gut twisted to realize there really were only four members left when there used to be seven in their Tumbling group.

Like Reyna had read a book on how to ruin family moments, she twisted her knife deeper into her chair and said, “We need to talk about that.” Frank and Hazel’s expressions fell. Alabaster made a low growling sound, closer to something Axel might make. Dr. Claymore shut his book and examined them carefully.

“Merry being a Wine Babe?” Pax choked through hiccups.

Reyna ignored him. “Frank and I discussed matters with Chiron and Annabeth. Considering Merry’s father’s position at camp and her importance in saving Percy’s little sister, we believe the Olympians will overlook her involvement with the Triple A Chimera,” Reyna said.

Kally felt her stomach make a valid attempt to punch its way out.

“We believe Calex will also be absolved of any crimes, as well as Kally, especially considering their prominence in taking out Python. However, Euna is a different matter. Her declaration and continued vehemence towards the gods will make her a target for Olympian ire and they’re going to be looking for a target after this humiliation.”

Kally glanced over at Euna. The daughter of Demeter snored softly in her moss and grass cocoon. Despite the scythe in her hand, Euna looked peaceful, in a weird feral dryad sort of way.

Any relaxation Axel might have felt about having another sibling close must have tensed away. He sat up, away from Lapis and Pax, pulled his shoulders back, and raised his chin. “You’re not taking Euna without a fight,” he said.

Reyna sighed. She stood and walked over to Axel’s sleeping bag. When she knelt down, his gaze remained firm. Then, Reyna pressed the butt of her knife into Axel’s bandages.

Pax and Lapis exchanged a look and a short conversation in Mayan. One of Lapis’ hands shot up and Pax shoved it down.

Axel’s face paled at the pressure on his wounds. He collapsed backwards with little more than a grunt.

“Will says that you’d be dead if that goddess hadn’t helped you heal,” Reyna said, sheathing her knife. “And Euna’s not the only one we’re worried about. The Triple A Chimera isn’t safe. New Rome has wanted to hunt you down for years, and I assume the gods want the same. Look at what Ares did as an unofficial punishment. Image what it would be like with a full consensus.”[2]

Kally could feel the saliva building in her mouth and she swallowed back the urge to vomit. The thought of Pax’s fresh injuries and both brothers’ internal turmoil flashed through her head. She still couldn’t believe the Greeks and Romans worshipped gods that would force people to kill their own family members. She knew Axel and Pax had screwed up in the past—they’d even betrayed her—but nothing warranted what happened to them.

“None of you could defend yourself right now. The spellcaster doesn’t have a mouth to cast a spell. The thief can't use his hands to throw a smoke bomb or plan an escape. The tank isn’t strong enough to hold up against the gentlest press from the butt of a knife,” Reyna said, her tone tight.

“You said butt,” Pax whispered, though his face was still pale.

No one laughed at Pax’s joke. None of them were in a condition to help the Triple A Chimera or Euna escape, except maybe Euna herself. Even then, maybe not. Tearing one god apart left Euna comatose for a day. What would Euna do if they summoned her to Olympus with the twelve gods?

Squeaks interrupted the ominous hush. They glanced over to Alabaster as he flipped his white board over, What are you saying?

His scowl was intense.

“I’m saying that we’re grateful that you helped save camp, but that doesn’t make up for your crimes in the past.” Reyna’s sternness didn’t break under his glare.

Merry, Kally, and Calex exchanged a terrified glance. This wasn’t right, and they all knew it.

Frank cleared his throat. “But, we are also saying there is a lot of chaos happening at camp right now and it’s hard to keep track of who is here and who leaves and who was supposed to be guarding the Pax Mobile. Hazel, wasn’t it supposed to be Dakota?”

Hazel coughed and became very interested in something outside their room. “I’m not sure. I thought Dakota had a sugar crash and Bobby was supposed to take over for him? It’s kind of hard to say.”

After dealing with Axel and Pax for so long, Kally was relieved to see that Hazel was a terrible liar.

Tension eased from Kally’s chest. Merry squeezed Kally’s shoulder. Calex chuckled.

Axel still looked concerned as he struggled to sit up. Although they made it as subtle as possible, Kally could tell Lapis and Pax were helping him, especially when Lapis rolled his eyes. “Reyna?” he asked, like he was looking for affirmation.

Although Kally usually looked at Axel as a leader of sorts, she wanted to hit him with a, shut up and accept it speech.

Reyna folded her arms across her chest. Her face was unreadable. “If I didn’t want to face the Olympian’s wrath, I wouldn’t be here when the sunsets. That’s as long as Thalia suggested she could stall the Olympians, if there was a need. But, also, I would get out of here as soon as possible, in case any guards decided they wanted to change how vigilant they were being. Speaking of which, Zhang?”

Frank sat up, and Kally got the feeling he often forgot he was a praetor. It made him a lot less intimidating and made Kally feel even worse that she’d given him a massive concussion during one of their… misunderstandings. With the Triple A Chimera on the run again, Kally wondered if any of those misunderstanding would be cleared up, or if the Triple A Chimera would go down in the history books as exclusively monsters.

“We should decide who we wanted to post here, since Leo and Sadie might consider leaving early for their trip without telling anyone and there might be a gap in the guard,” she said. There was a hint of humor in her tone as she turned to step out the door.

As Frank went to stand, Axel said, “Wait, I’ve been meaning to say something to Praetor Zhang.”

Reyna continued out the door with little more than a wave. Apparently she was done with Pax nonsense for the day.[3]

Frank paused. His expression twisted to one of trepidation and Kally couldn’t blame him. Out of all the heroes of Olympus, this shockingly nice son of Mars had taken the brunt of the injuries from their group, both mental and… emotional.

“I’m sorry about your ear,” Axel said. The comment felt almost like a casual formality and Kally contemplated whether maiming apology letters were a thing.

Frank reached up to touch the bandages still plastered to the side of his head. He frowned. “Yea, I’m still pretty mad about that. But… um… Sorry my dad made me interrupt your date. I would have at least waited until you were alone to arrest you. Do you guys… know what happened to it? My ear, I mean? Will said we could have reattached my ear if we had it…”

Frank looked a little queasy. Kally had to wonder: if someone ripped off her ear, would she rather they had eaten it or the ear just been lost?

Alabaster and Pax exchanged a glance. Axel’s face remained blank, but he puffed up his cheeks and popped them.

The son of Hecate tapped his white board to draw attention to him. After an uncomfortable period of marker squeaks, Alabaster held up his board, No. It would be weird if we took it, right?

Frank’s shoulders slumped. “I just wish we hadn’t lost it,” he said.

Calex cleared his throat. Kally made herself look anywhere but at Frank. Merry glanced at all of them with a disapproving, confused hum.

Before anyone could stop him, Pax let out a nervous giggle. “Oh, we didn’t. It’s in a tube of formaldehyde in Alabaster’s basement.”

Frank paled. His mouth moved a few times in horror. Hazel’s eyes went wide.

“I just wish we’d lost it,” Frank corrected forlornly. If possible, his shoulders sank lower.

“Oh!” Pax said, “Speaking of not losing things that could emotionally destroy cute Canadian boys.”

From within his blanket nest, Pax withdrew a charred stick and balanced it on his busted hand like he was presenting a baby lion.

Hazel reacted first. She snatched the stick from Pax’s palm and held it close to her chest. “When did you get this back?!”

“We thought Atë still had it!” Frank said. He rushed to Hazel’s side, slipping a hand to hers to touch his stick.[4] “Thank—wait, were you the one that set it on fire during the fight? I felt that.”

Frank scowled at Pax.

Pax puffed up his cheeks and popped them. “If I said that I gambled your life force for a good cause—Aye!”

“What Ajaxapax is trying to say is that he’s sorry for stealing your piece of ugly kindling in the first place,” Lapis said. His fingers were pinched tightly around Pax’s ear. His charcoal-lined eyes narrowed as he gave Pax a devilish grin. “Just ‘cause Tufted Ears traumatized you doesn’t mean you get an easy pass.”

“But—but my year of consequence-free pranking!” Pax squeaked, squirming to break Lapis’ hold.

Hazel tucked the stick neatly into Frank’s pocket. “When did you get it from him in the first place?” she asked. “Frank is really careful with his stick.”

Lapis released Pax so he could give a proper explanation.

Heat rose in Kally’s cheeks. With everything going on, she couldn’t remember why she was so enraged by the mention of that stick, but she knew it was something that made her furious.

As they watched, Pax’s features shifted. His skin darkened several shades as his hair lightened to a cinnamon. His black eye lightened to match the hazel one. His frame shrank. Within a few seconds, there were two Hazels in the room. Fortunately, his hand stayed busted and bruised as a dead giveaway in the event that they decided to play a quick round of Ring around the Rosie. Pax-Hazel altered the way he was sitting, mimicking Hazel’s shy demeanor.

Frank’s jaw dropped.

Real Hazel gasped.

Hazel-Pax batted his-her eyes at Frank and fanned her face. When he spoke, his accent mimicked her slight Louisiana one. “Oh, the day after we arrived in New Rome? It was just a little detour that Frank and I took on our walk to the training fields. I needed you two to be too flustered to communicate, so no one would realize there were two Hazels walking around. And I needed a centurion that the praetors would trust to go into the principia on their own.”

“Wait, what?” Axel demanded, scowling at Pax.

“You dodgy perv,” Calex said, putting the good half of his face into his hand. “Do you want these blokes to go back on letting you go?”

Frank looked like he couldn’t decide if he was going to be sick or if he was going to turn into a rhino and gore Pax. Hazel looked horrified. “You were mean to Frank? As me?!” she asked, sounding genuinely hurt.

Kally remembered why she was in the let’s hurt Pax party.

“Yea, ‘mean.’” Hazel-Pax lost the act. At real Hazel’s appall, he gave Frank an endearing smile. “She’s so cute and innocent.”

Frank seemed to decide on goring Pax. He stood back to full height and Kally could see him tensing for an attack.

Lapis twisted Pax’s ear again. Pax shrieked while morphing back into his raven-haired, hazel-and-black eyed, Hispanic self.

“Aye! Okay! Okay! I’m sorry I impersonated your girlfriend and rocked your morning!”

“We’re giving you this head start because you saved the camp,” Frank told him, shaking with rage, “But, once we help rebuild the camp, I’m fulfilling my father’s quest and dragging you before the Olympic council in place of your brother.”

With the threat, Frank stalked off down the hallway.

Hazel paused. She walked up to Pax and punched him in the face.

Pax squealed again, pressing his ruined palm to his face. “Well deserved punches are the most painful!”

Hazel’s mouth moved a few times. She blushed. When she couldn’t think of the right words, she stormed off after Frank.

Although Kally knew Pax’s words were light, the tone was choked, like all his obnoxious bravado had met its match. For an uncomfortable moment, she wondered if Pax had been intentionally a jerk to let Frank and Hazel focus on that, instead of going easy on him after… everything.

Kally shook off the feeling. She was still mad at him for doing whatever he did with Frank while they were almost-not-really-dating. She was also mad that she couldn’t decide if she did or didn’t want to know what it was or if that even mattered. There had been so much going on, and so much almost dying, that Kally hadn’t had a chance to think about her feelings for Pax, or that Alabaster had kissed her in the infirmary, or that Alabaster and Pax had dated, or that Pax had locked himself into a hopefully platonic date with his half-sister. There was still too much going on to acknowledge that train wreck.

New rule: no flirting until at least one month after the most recent traumatic event. Preferably with everyone in safe locations with fewer gods trying to kill them.

Kally glanced at Pax, wondering how long he’d make it before—

“What did you do?” Axel demanded again, his voice tight.

Tapping emitted across the room and Alabaster pointed to his board. And why did you need access to the principia? Unlike Axel, Alabaster looked amused.

“Yep, still illiterate,” Pax reminded him, though Kally suspected he’d dodge that question regardless. “Let’s just say that Frank might know these hands better than Alabaster or Kally. And really, that—in itself—is a crime.” Pax held his hands up and winked at Kally. He blew a kiss to Alabaster as best he could. Although he was trying to look playful and cute, the way his shoulder slumped and the discoloration of his hand almost distracted Kally from the obscenity. Almost.

Axel sighed. “Lapis, can you hurt Pax for me?”

Pax didn’t squeak fast enough when Lapis snagged his ear. There was a split second where Kally could see Pax examining his hand. His forearm twitched with movement, but only his thumb folded to the bruised skin. A sickness returned to Kally’s stomach when she realized he was trying to move his other four fingers. All their hard work reattaching Pax’s tendons had been undone. She wondered if he’d ever be able to move his fingers again.

In one way, that felt like karma, with how much of a sneak thief and pickpocket Pax was. But then Kally remembered how much Pax liked to paint and sew and bake for others. She remembered how he used his pickpocketing to help his brother combat his nicotine addiction.

That moment of Pax’s silent recognition past, then he was whining under Lapis’ grip. “Aye! Okay! I lied! Kally still knows this hand better!”

Merry shoved Kally’s shoulder while humming Let’s get it on.

Kally felt like her face had caught fire, her head scrambling to figure out what he was—

“Because I cut it open for surgery?” she half-asked, half-explained. That’s the only thing he could—

Something made a loud thump. Kally jumped. Pain exploded in her ribs and she inhaled sharply. That’s when she remembered there was an adult in the room, listening to this whole conversation.

Claymore had slammed his book shut, which Kally didn’t even remember him reopening. “As charming as this teenage idiocy is, it might be prudent to follow the praetors’ suggestion of haste. The Triple A Chimera and Euna are on a timeline. I don’t want to see what will happen if they change their minds.”

***

Thank you for reading!!! I hope you enjoyed :D Stay tuned next week for Kally’s chapter, A Stalling Resolution. And, afterwards, stay tuned for the Part One/Part Two epilogues the following weeks! We’re so close to being done!

***

Footnotes:

[1] Pax would like to say that Alabaster probably wants to say this regardless, but not with the same intention that Kally fears.

[2] I just had to note the amount of swearing and anger Mel wrote in her betanotes about this. XD

[3] Mel beta note: “BUT YOU LOVE ONE PAX’S NONSENSE, RIGHT?! THERE’S STILLL A CHANCE, RIGHT?!”

[4] I will leave this how it sounds and judge all of you for saying anything between this cute Canadian and sweet New Orleans girl could be dirty.

#TOO #HOO #Heroes of Olympus #Percy Jackson and the Olympians #PJO #Traitors of Olympus #Calex #Kally #Reyna #Frank #Hazel #Pax #Axel #Alabaster #Merry #Lapis #Pax almost rightfully gets his ass kicked by Frank <3 #WE'RE SO CLOSE TO THE END! SOOOO cloooossseee!

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some-deaths-can-be-prevented · 6 years ago

Text

Chapter One:

The Start Of Something Big

AO3

In a single instant, a life can be saved, or taken.

A single choice of a single person in a single moment can decide the fate of another.

In this universe, Octavian lives.

In this universe, instead of Will standing by and letting Octavian kill himself, Will tackled him.

This causes a multitude of changes.

Nico slashed through Octavian's robes, and knocked away Michael Kahale.

The oanger still fired towards Gaea.

The explosion still killed Leo.

Yet Octavian remained on the ground.

Yet Octavian remained alive.

On a sunny afternoon, instead of dying in a golden, fiery explosion in the sky, Octavian was taken into custody by the Greek Demigods.

On a sunny afternoon, Reyna resumed command of Camp Jupiter.

On a sunny afternoon, Octavian remained alive.

On a sunny afternoon, a single choice, by a single person, made in a single instant, changed the fate of a single teenager.

Octavian was put to an impromptu trial and was put into the custody of the Greeks to do as they wished with him.

He was a prisoner.

But yet, he was alive.

Years ago, 3, if I'm not mistaken, the basement of the Big House was where a son of Hermes named Chris Rodriguez was kept. A son of Hermes from the other side of a war. A misguided teenager driven against his family. A mere child driven insane from the twists and turns of the never-ending malevolent labyrinth, at the hands of the ghostly King Midas.

Now, the same basement of the Big House served as a prison to a different misguided teenager, from the other side of another war. A legacy of Apollo. A man who was thought to be deranged. A child who just wanted to defend his home.

Octavian, Legacy of Apollo.

Octavian hadn't been fine in a very, very long time.

He hadn't been good in even longer.

Octavian grew up in New Rome, orphaned at 10, he joined Camp Jupiter at 11.

Octavian lived for Camp Jupiter.

He breathed for Rome.

His blood flowed for his city.

And yet, there he was, a prisoner of the enemy.

A prisoner who would almost certainly never to arrive back home.

A prisoner, tried and convicted.

Octavian was born in New Rome to an unmarried couple.

He was born to serve the gods.

He was born to lay down his life if it meant the betterment of the legion.

At least, that's what he believed.

At least, that’s what he was taught to believe.

The Greeks had attacked his home.

The Greeks had declared war by sending fire at New Rome.

They had attacked first.

They offered no explanation.

They offered no condolences.

They fled.

And then the praetor ran after them.

Treason.

Collaboration with the enemy.

Treason is always death sentence.

Reyna, if she were to ever to return, should, under many generations old law, have been killed.

And yet?

She wasn't.

And yet?

Octavian was punished.

Thrown in the basement of a camp he didn't belong in.

Left to the mercy of the enemy.

Left to rot far, far, away from his city.

Left to rot far, far, away from his home.

He had acted with integrity, at least, he had acted with integrity at first.

He couldn't tell you when exactly his motives turned towards himself, nor would he ever want to.

Octavian looks back at those final few years at Camp Jupiter as the worst part of his life.

I, would say he is correct.

At first, Octavian wanted to avenge his city. Avenge his home.

Avenge his people.

At first, Octavian had only wanted to protect his home, his life.

But… then, at some point, he simply didn't.

Octavian had always wanted to be remembered with honor. For his legacy to be one he could be proud of.

If you really think about it, maybe you could say his desire to be remembered pushed him led him down the dastardly path he took through his late teens.

Octavian the Brave.

Octavian the Valiant.

Octavian, Savior of Rome.

Octavian, Pontifex Maximus.

Octavian, Praetor of the Twelfth Legion Fulminata.

But, in the end, he was remembered quite differently than he would have imagined.

Octavian the Bloodthirsty.

Octavian the Power Hungry.

Octavian the Deranged.

Octavian the Disgraceful.

He never wanted to end up like this.

Not really.

When Octavian first joined Camp Jupiter, he had been exited, ecstatic, and eager to rise in the ranks.

He had looked at the legion as where he was supposed to go. His future. His destiny. His legacy. What he was supposed to do in life.

But, what they don't tell you is that Camp Jupiter is an Army.

Not a summer camp.

Octavian had always been on the frailer side, too pale, or too skinny, or even too weak, and he had never had the best constitution.

He had never been the most well liked, either.

He had few powers to mention, and had never been the best at making friends.

He was quick to trust others…

…and even easier to use.

And so we start our story in a dark, dank basement. Our protagonist with thick celestial bronze cuffs around his wrists, and chained to the wall.

He had been stripped of his jewelry and robes, stripped of his weapons, stripped of his titles, stripped of his pride, and stripped of his home.

They would not stop mocking how pathetic he is. How far he had fallen.

He decided to ignore them.

Octavian screamed himself hoarse when anyone dared to approach him. Roman or Greek, it didn't matter.

He screamed anyway.

To the few Romans who came, he called them traitors.

He screamed that they were collaborating with the enemy. That they were committing treason by leaving their superior chained to the wall in a dark, lonely, basement. He screamed that they should free him.

He screamed.

He begged.

He pleaded for them to free him.

They didn't.

They tried to calm him down.

They tried to get him to listen.

They tried to explain.

But eventually, Octavian chased them off with his demeaning words and sharp insults.

He had never felt more alone.

Even with them in his head, he had never felt more alone.

He treated the Greeks who came to see him far worse than the Romans.

They were his enemy. He came here to eliminate them and return the gods to their rightful glory.

They didn't like the Greeks.

They were screaming to kill them. To tear them apart.

Instead of doing what they wanted, he called the Greeks a wide range of foul insults and slurs.

They were the enemy.

The Greeks were.

They attacked New Rome.

No one bothered to explain things to him, at least, not in a way Octavian was willing to accept.

It didn't help that they wouldn’t stop mocking him.

He screamed until his voice was gone, and even then he made hoarse croaking sounds at those who dared go near him.

He didn't try to escape.

What was the point?

Where would he go? To the mortal world to be devoured by monsters?

They tried to tell him that he could escape.

But he knew they were lying.

He was alone in this. He was alone in his imprisonment. Any allies he might have had had forsaken him.

And They weren't really allies, were they?

Eventually, Connor and Travis Stoll come to take off the shackles.

When Octavian hears the door open, his first thought is that they have come to hurt him.

The second is that they have come to kill him.

And They certainly weren't debunking the idea.

They try talking to him, but Octavian was yelling. Screaming. He didn't want any Greek near him.

They destroyed his city.

They attacked him home.

They killed his people.

He shrunk away when they approached him, flattening himself against the wall.

He tried to tell them to leave.

He tried to get away from him.

They were screaming at him to attack the graecus.

The Stolls told him that they are not here to hurt him.

Octavian didn't believe them for a moment.

They shared a look, and walked towards him.

Octavian's heart was beating so loudly he would have sworn that they could have heard it from across the room.

Octavian’s heart was beating so loudly it almost blocked them out.

Octavian refused to let them come near him, not without a fight at least.

He is knocked down almost pitifully easily, reduced to almost pitiful screaming and thrashing.

The Greeks were touching him

Their warship has attacked his home.

They attacked his city

They were touching him.

Disgust and rage and fear was all he felt.

Connor held his arms steady while Travis took off the shackles.

Octavian was screaming. Screaming.

Half thought out sentences and half panicked insults spewed from his lips like water gushing from a crack in a dam.

He was scared.

He didn't know what they planned to do with him.

He ignored the tears congregating in his eyes. They meant nothing.

He ignores the terror coiled in his stomach like a snake. It meant nothing.

He ignores the pulsing fear he felt when they were near him. It meant nothing

They certainly didn't ignore it.

He is less than a prisoner of war.

He is their enemy. Who they can punish however they think fit for his crimes.

They have no reason to keep him alive and unharmed.

The shackles were off his wrists.

The sons of Mercury Hermes left his prison.

Octavian collapsed to the floor, scooting against the wall, before he backed into the corner. His arms were wrapped around himself, and his knees pulled to his chest.

He ignored the tears running down his cheeks. They meant nothing.

He was ignoring the consistent, uncontrollable tremor in his hands, he told himself that it was from wearing the shackles for so, so long.

He knew he was lying.

They knew he was lying.

But he wasn't ready to accept any other explanation.

Besides, they were already screaming at that he was weak. That he was a failure to Rome.

He will never admit to crying after they left.

He would never admit to any sort of weakness for a long, long time.

He didn't eat the food provided, it was probably poisoned.

They told him that.

He didn't want to believe them.

After what felt like eons, but was likely not ever a day, he decided to eat.

He needed nutrients.

Poisoned or not, he needed nutrients.

He managed to stomach a bread roll and a glass of water before anxiety all but consumed him.

The food was not poisoned, but our dear protagonist had no way of knowing that.

He didn't eat any after that.

He didn't touch the food again.

He couldn’t bring himself to eat anything else.

He didn't want to die.

He might have been in hell, but he didn't want to die

~0~

Octavian is described as insane in The Blood Of Olympus. His laughter is described as brittle. He wouldn't listen to reason and didn't notice his robes were snagged.

~0~

Octavian ends up losing even anything even resembling hope that anyone will save him. That someone will break him out.

He’s trapped.

He’s a prisoner.

He just screams at anyone who comes near him, but it's all a bluff. If you take even a step towards him he cowers against the wall, his screaming more frantic.

His body language terrified.

He cries uncontrollably if you get any closer.

He is scared.

They are screaming that he will be killed.

They won't leave him alone.

They won't be quiet.

They will not shut up.

Now, to clear up any misunderstandings, the Greeks did not wish for him to be killed.

Some may have. To be perfectly honest, it is likely a great number wished for Octavian's quick demise. But not the majority.

They decided to wait for punishment. Octavian was very obviously not in his right mind.

~0~

Those in camp Jupiter never particularly liked Octavian. He was a nice kid at first, but grew cynical with age.

He grew paranoid and manipulative.

He changed.

No one liked him enough to visit a screaming teenager who will accuse them of treason.

No one would bother to care.

Not even Michael Kahale.

Who, at one point would have said he loved Octavian.

But that point was long past.

No one came to see Octavian for days, other than the routine meals, no one entered his prison.

Unlike Chris Rodriguez, there was no Clarrise to stay with him. He was alone.

On the fifth day of residing in the basement, of being held in a makeshift prison, a Greek demigod named Pollux came to visit.

#pjo #pjo fanfic #octavian #octavian pjo #heroes of olympus #percy jackon and the olympians #percy jackson #pollux #hoo #chris rodriguez #clarrise la rue #hoo fanfic #fanfic #my fanfiction #my writing

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phantaloon-books · 4 years ago

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I finally read The Tyrant's Tomb and boi I loved this one so much, so here's some my opinion on it (they're not in chronological order)

warning, this is long af and sorry for cursing a bit, I can't help it

Apollo's character arc is lowkey one of the best Rick has written, I'm sorry if you don't agree, but he's gone from wanting others to solve his problems and relying on the halfbloods to intentionally avoiding others doing things for him, volunteering for the quests and saying it should be him that faces the terrible stuff so that demigods and other creatures don't suffer

something really interesting is how his perception of himself has changed, and it's almost worrying how genuinely self depreciating his inner dialogue is, because he no longer sees himself as mighty Apollo, he sees himself as worthless and useless Lester, and his narration is highkey depressing

Also, Apollo disliking and being somewhat disgusted of the god he used to be, realizing the horrible things he had done and how horrible he was and that he looked worse as the former Apollo than as Lester, regretting things he'd done, that's top tier development

(I'm sorry but I love the entire scene with the ravens, the part where he just screams "I'm sorry" it feels as if he isn't just apologizing to the ravens, but to everyone who's been affected by what he's done as a selfish god)

Reyna so openly turning down and laughing at Apollo for suggesting they be together is my favorite thing ever lmao I couldn't stop laughing, like she knew what gods can do if you turn them down (even if it was just mortal Lester) and she didn't give a damn, it was so fucking funny

people say Rick only includes diversity for the sake of including it and to gain popularity, but I still enjoy the fact that he does, because as a teacher he must have had all kinds of students of all religions, colors and sexualities, he includes diversity because he's seen diversity. anyway my point is I love that we have Lavinia, a Jewish lesbian from a Russian family, and she's not ashamed of being any of them

I'm sorry I just love Apollo so much, I've grown to respect him so much, and even if Hermes once said them gods often forget their oaths and promises, I have a feeling Apollo won't ever forget Jason's request that he never forgets what's it like to be mortal

Frank still admiring Apollo despite everything, and despite the fact that he looks like a messed up teen makes me go all uwu

Frank being portrayed as this clumsy and awkward kid but also this powerful and brave leader is my favorite thing ever because I think Frank is underrated and I dare to say that he's one of the strongest demigods we've ever met, even stronger than some of the nig three children

the whole thing about the undead army is honestly so creepy, especially when we see it from Apollo's perspective cause se him slowly succumb to the venom's effect, and that part in Tarquin's tomb where he "calls Lester to be part of his undead" was genuinely disturbing, at least to me

some books in the past have touched the part of the nature spirits not being given enough attention, but I really enjoyed how Apollo comes to realize that he only worries about demigods and gods when all lives are worth the same - mortals, halfbloods, nature spirits, gods, and even monsters

again, I love Apollo's arc, it's just AHH he's becoming so caring of life it just makes me happy

Reyna choosing herself to make herself happy is everything, and inspiring to every single woman who is told by others that they need someone to be happy, I just love it, because self love is the most important love of all

I haven't said anything about it, but man I love Meg and Apollo's friendship, they just care so much for each other, Meg who's so scared of losing her loved ones and Apollo who's so scared of not being able to be loved or to love, but they still love each other, and I'm glad it's not romantic, because yes fraternal love is also what people need, and their friendship is what they need

aurum and argentum being cute doggos rather than the steely (no pun intended) and cold dogs we met in HoO warms my heart. I don't understand why they're so cute and adorable, or maybe that's just how Apollo sees them, but they seem to act like actual dogs in this book

the fact that Reyna never confirmed nor denied being attracted to Thalia just makes me all hyped up, like we love Theyna

Apollo just gives off Eddie Brock vibes throughout the entire book and that's hilarious asf. ever since the start he's said to look like shit, feel like shit and be injured with deathly poison that will turn him to a zombie. if that isn't Venom vibes I don't know what is

I've said it once and I'll say it again, Frank Zhang is one of the strongest demigods Rick has ever introduced in a series, and him facing two immoral and godly in power emperors, burning one to death with his own life fire and injuring the other enough for Apollo to do the final kill is top tier

"If I'm going to burn, I might as well burn bright. This is for Jason." bitch actual goosebumps

We've seen countless deaths before, but something about Frank killing Caligula and Apollo killing Commodus seems so... mature I guess is the word, or well for a more mature audience. I can't describe how or why, but it feels more real, more like actual human death

I can't deal with how human Apollo seems in this book gosh I really am sorry I keep bringing this up, but I feel such warmth

the story of how Frank overcame his curse is actual BS and as much as I love Frank, it makes no sense that they spent all that time thinking of ways to keep the wood secure only for this. idk I mean id that were the case wouldn't the curse had vanished when he broke Thanatos free? he was willing to die then just like against Caligula, so why now but not then?

Don reincarnating into a laurel is peak bittersweet feeling and it actually hurt because in a camp where fauns were seen as dumb and useless, he helped Lavinia organize everything and destroy the canon things on the yachts

I'm still not over Jason's death, he really did deserve better. It makes sense, plotwise, because out of all of the huge characters from the past, Jason, Percy and Annabeth's deaths would impact others the harder, and push them to do better. And I understand that you gotta show, not even the main characters survive sometimes. Still, I'm hurt.

Thalia talking to Apollo during the funeral for the fallen campers made me actually weep. I'm not sure if it was because of Jason, or when Thalia talked about how much Artemis loves Apollo, or when Apollo "accepted" halfblood children of Zeus as his family

Also, you know who deserved better? Harpocrates, damn right he deserved better. I nearly cried when I read his death, cause he embraced it like one would an old friend in happiness. He and the Sybil deserved better. Dakota also deserved better

On the other hand, I tried so hard not to laugh at 2 am as I read Tarquin demand answers from a cat? he genuinely thought a cat would tell him where the Sybilline Books where and I couldn't handle that

This book is cruel but in a much more human way? The maiming of the pegasi wings? that's horrifying, but in such a human way, unlike what we've seen in any of the greek/roman gods series, and it's unsettling

Meg is braver than any of the other demigods were at that age (maybe excepting Nico), cause she's not embarking on a quest to retrieve an item or rescue someone or bring back their sister from the dead, she's facing her own abusive father while aiding a somewhat weak mortal in releasing the oracles and gaining godhood back. what's she getting from it all? absolutely nothing, she's gifted some seeds and she hangs out with unicorns more than other people and she's lost everything, but she's willing to lose more to help her friend. she's heroic like no one else is, because she's the first who doesn’t want anything more than being with her friend (Percy wanted whoever was taken back, Annabeth wanted to be able to be more, Nico wanted to bring back Bianca, even Bianca wanted freedom). the only other person who didn't have somewhat selfish (but kot wrong) interests while doing something heroic at a young age has been Hazel. What I mean is I love Meg and everything she does

Thalia being that chill over Jason's death bothers me so much, as if she wasn't the happiest when she found out the brother she lost 14 years ago was alive after all, and she had a part of her family back, and it was ripped from her, and Thalia is just not one to easily forget or move on from things, it's just unrealistic that she would only need a little furious session of throwing things to be okay with Jason's death as if her brother was not just taken from her all over again. it's impulsive Thalia we're talking about, who fought Percy when dealing with Annabeth going missing, it's just not her to be over his death that quickly. Sorry for Rick but I think differently

I also kinda don't like that Tyson went from being freaking General of the Cyclops, to the guy that has the Sybilline prophecies or whatever, it's important and all, but he would have been of great help during the battle and they had him waiting for help in the shrine hill like his potential went down the drain

but a thing I really loved was how different Camp Jupiter seems from Lester eyes compared from Percy's or Hazel's or Frank's perspective, it's hilarious. The other three see this place where everyone is serious and shit but Apollo just sees beyond the seriousness and it's actually refreshing, cause he's the first not to make CHB seem immature in comparison and like I said before I hated that in previous books

also Reyna laughing watered my plants, cured my depression, and made the world okay again, I just love her

all in all, this is my favorite book of ToA so far, and I'm really excited to see what's to come, and how Apollo and Meg will face Nero and Python, but more than anything I'm looking forward to what will happen to Apollo, and whether if given the choice, he'd go back to being a selfish god or remain mortal for a while, with his newfound friends

Also I really miss Annabeth so can I please see Annabeth, I just want to see her cause she won't deal with Apollo's shit and I can't wait to see that, I miss my girl

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dotshiiki · 7 years ago

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TBM fic (I know, what, already?)

I told you I needed to write angst. See, I read That Chapter in TBM and went to church and it was ripping up my heart the whole time and I basically wrote on my phone the entire walk home. And goodbye rest of my day because all I could do was this. Spoilers for TBM.

Sister of the Hero | Summary. Thalia gets some bad news. | 1500-ish words

(Or basically, I try and cope with the character death in TBM. Pure plotless angst.)

Her first hint that something is wrong is when Artemis shows up.

This wouldn't have been a big deal back when the goddess of the Hunt actually, you know, hunted regularly with her pack. But ever since things went pear-shaped with that Greek-Roman schism, the gods haven't exactly been flocking down to say hi. Thalia's been pretty much running the show for three years now.

It's who Artemis shows up with as well—the satyr looks hardly a day older than when Thalia last saw him at the Battle of Manhattan (well, fine, she looks exactly the same, too, but in Grover's case, it's less halted ageing and more satyrs age incredibly slowly).

Last she heard, Grover was summoned to guide Apollo and Meg through the Labyrinth in search of the third crazy emperor bent on taking over the world. The fact that he's here now, having clearly gone out of his way to find her (not to mention he's in the company of Artemis and not a blush is on his cheeks) … well, if it's to announce that all their problems have been miraculously solved, she'll eat her tiara.

'I have bad news,' Grover says.

That slight tremor in his words, borne of an attempt to keep one's voice steady that isn't quite succeeding, tells Thalia exactly what sort of bad news this is going to be. She's experienced it enough herself, after all. The Battle of Manhattan. The Battle of San Juan. The Battle of the Waystation. She's no stranger to loss. There've been too many in the past few years.

It strikes her how many more she may have to face in the centuries to come. She remembers the weary look her predecessor Zoë Nightshade used to have. Zoë led the Hunt for three thousand years. Thalia is starting to understand she was so at peace with passing on.

Then Grover says, 'It's about Jason.'

And everything stops.

It steals up on her, sometimes, these moments where the world moves in slow motion and she becomes rooted to the ground, silent and still. It must be how she experienced the world for six years (not that she actually remembers being a pine tree). She's been trying to break the habit for years now—she hates being still—but it's an insidious one.

It's actually ironic how she ended up as a tree. After L.A., after she lost Jason—after her mom failed them so badly … no, after she failed her baby brother. She ran away and never looked back and vowed she'd always keep moving. Keep moving on.

She'd never stay still.

Until she did (yeah, thanks for that, Dad).

But she's frozen now, replaying those three little words from Grover's mouth. It's about Jason.

A lot of her memories from before (she's never really sure what she means when she thinks before—before the Hunters? Before arborification? Before Luke?) are fuzzy now, but there's one that stands out clearly: the day Beryl Grace brought her children to the Wolf House in Sonoma.

'Ah, I forgot the picnic basket,' her mother said, tugging Jason away from Thalia. 'Would you get it, dear?'

And Thalia went, because Jason was hungry and if nobody fetched the food, he might try eating rocks this time (and even at nine Thalia knew a mom who managed to get wasted while her two-year-old ate a stapler was not to be trusted to keep said toddler properly fed).

When she came back, he was gone.

The hurt that ripples through her now isn't like the explosion of grief that spurred her into action back then, raging at her mom and throwing the picnic basket at her head (she thinks she may have hurled a couple of rocks as well). This is a shockwave fanning out from the site of that old wound—the one that started to scab when she met Luke (sometimes she wonders if she was so drawn to him because he reminded her of her dead brother, blond and blue-eyed and always gazing at her with those worshipful eyes … almost as though Amaltheia knew who she was missing and brought her to the closest possible substitute for family). The one that knitted into a thin scar two years ago when she found her brother at last. It is a serrated blade that digs into that closed up scar, ripping it back open.

There will be no hope of stitching it back again after this.

Thalia forces herself to move, to unroot. Her fingers uncurl one by one. When did she even clench them?

'He got dragged into your quest, didn't he?'

It was only a week ago that she told Apollo and Meg to say hi to Jason if they passed through L.A. She wishes she'd never mentioned it, never given them the slightest indication that he existed.

Hades, she wishes she'd gone and dropped in on him herself.

Anything that might have changed things.

What if, what if, what if.

The story comes out in Grover's faltering voice. Thalia touches her face. Her cheeks are dry. Where are her tears?

'Are you sure?' she hears herself say. 'Was there a—a body?'

She made that mistake once. She believed her mom when she said Hera had taken Jason. Technically it was true, but if she'd searched harder, if she'd pushed further …

More what ifs.

Did she mention, she hates what ifs, too?

'I didn't see—him,' Grover stammers. 'I wasn't with him. But it's real.'

Why weren't you there? she wants to yell. Weren't you the guide? How did it become Jason’s fight?

But she knows the answer. She knows viscerally what must have happened. A last stand. A desperate need to save his friends. The acceptance that his life for theirs was a worthy price.

She's been there herself, after all.

Apollo, Meg, Piper—they were his Luke, Annabeth, and Grover.

The irony tastes like ash. They grew up apart, but her little brother turned out just like her anyway.

Only Dad didn't come through for Jason.

'My brother and his, ah, demigod master, are taking him to Camp Jupiter,' Artemis says gently. 'He'll get a proper Roman burial.'

Grover nods. 'I—I guess he'd want that?' He looks at her uncertainly, and Thalia realises he doesn't know. He doesn't really know the boy—the man—who sacrificed himself for his friends.

And … neither does she. For all she loves her brother … loved her brother (can she still use the present tense if he's gone?) … she doesn't know what he would have wanted, or where his real home was, or who else he called family. She never had a chance to know him as the man he'd become.

It's Luke all over again. All those missing years and by the time she had a chance to grapple with the new person they became, she lost them. And the fact that they died as heroes isn't much comfort.

(She wasn't there when Luke died, either.)

This time, it's her own fault. She chose to become a Hunter. It's not like she regrets her decision. Not really. Mostly.

But she can't help wondering—if she'd been free of her current responsibilities, could she have spent the past three years with her brother? Would she have been with him at the end?

Could she have taken his place?

'Caligula is going there, too,' Grover says grimly. 'To—finish what he started. Apollo and Meg are going to try and stop him, but the prophecy we got from the Erythraean Oracle, it said they'd only succeed if they had help from Bellona's daughter.'

Bellona's daughter. She remembers a warehouse ambush turned quickly on its head, her knife held back at her own throat. A girl who was so much deadlier and captivating than Jason had managed to describe.

A girl who had known him better than Thalia ever had the chance to.

Thalia closes her eyes. 'I need to go there, then.'

Technically this would be dereliction of duty. They haven't found the infernal Teumessian Fox, and Camp Jupiter is in the opposite direction of their tracking. But duty pales in the face of her burning need to bring her brother's murderer to justice.

If they wanted her to put duty first, they should have made her the Roman, she thinks bitterly.

It's utter folly to challenge a goddess. Thalia does it anyway, looking up with defiance in her eyes.

But there's a funny look on Artemis's face. Part compassion, part … regret? Trepidation? Almost as if they are in the same boat.

Technically, Artemis is Thalia's sister, though she's never really thought about it that way. Now, though, the unspoken agreement that passes through them is definitely not from lady to lieutenant, but from one sister to another. She'll let Thalia make this decision for herself. She won't pass judgement.

Artemis may not get boys, but she does understand what it means to have a brother. And maybe she even gets now what it might be like to lose one.

Maybe Artemis even wants her to go. Because her hands are tied—the catch-22 of being a deity. She cannot order her Hunters to interfere even if she wants to.

But Thalia can.

And she'll go to Camp Jupiter. She'll find this Caligula and avenge Jason. She'll give her brother the farewell that twice now she's failed to say.

(There will be no third chances.)

And if Reyna Ramírez-Arellano is the key to taking down these emperors, then Thalia is damn well going to be fighting by her side.

Because she is Thalia, sister of Jason, and nobody—nobody—gets away with hurting the people she loves.

A/N: What hits me hardest about Jason’s death in TBM is imagining the others’ reactions to the awful news. And this just had to come out because I cannot deal otherwise.

#tbm fanfic #the burning maze spoilers #the burning maze fanfic #thalia grace #angst #tbm spoilers

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gatesofember · 6 years ago

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Meadows of the Sea: Chapter 2

PJO Arranged Marriage/Royalty AU Part 7

Rating: M | Pairing: Percabeth, Jiper, Solangelo

Prev | Next | AU directory | Read it on AO3 (Recommended) | Arranged Marriage AU Masterpage

Summary: Prince Percy couldn’t be happier. After years of waiting, he is finally marrying the friend and lover he has been betrothed to since childhood. Prince Nico invites his fiancé to accompany him to the wedding, where he can’t help but dream about his own pending marriage. Prince Jason, who has been unable to secure a new engagement after Reyna’s rejection, may finally find the right woman to make his empress.

Nico and Will had arrived in Neptune a day before the wedding began. They hadn’t gotten much of a chance to explore the city on their own yet; Percy had taken the time to meet with Nico for a while and then Jason had accompanied them for the remainder of the afternoon. Nico had been obviously displeased about it, but Will hadn’t minded. Will thought Jason was easy to get along with. Besides, he knew that he would have plenty of time alone with his fiancé later on.

Will had never been with Nico for so long before. Other times they’d met, it had been for a few days at a time, a week at most. This time, however, they would be together for over a month—from the time Nico arrived in Phoebus, during their journey to Neptune, through Percy and Annabeth’s wedding festivities, until they went back to Pluto and Will left to continue his schooling in Venadica.

It had taken a day to travel by carriage to the Dianan coast. Reyna had been in the carriage with them while Hedge was seated on the outside with Mellie, supposedly acting as Nico’s guard. Mellie was accompanying Will as a chaperone after a suspiciously sudden change of plans made Chiron unable to leave Diana.

Reyna’s presence in the carriage left Nico and Will with a pleasant excuse to sit beside each other instead of opposite. However, it also made Will too nervous to enjoy their time together. He’d always been a bit intimidated by Reyna, but her rage following their disappearance in Delphi had terrified him. He had been careful to act like the perfect gentleman ever since.

Nico had not been so concerned. He had touched Will’s hand, then held it, then linked their fingers, which left Will’s mind occupied with uninvited images of holding and kissing him. He tried to subtly and politely communicate his discomfort, but Nico hadn’t appeared to have gotten the message. Reyna finally scolded them when Nico started to inch a bit closer, so then Nico had behaved for a little while. Soon after, however, he reached out and put his hand on Will’s and the cycle repeated itself. The third time Reyna intervened, she banned all unnecessary physical contact.

Naturally, that didn’t completely stop Nico. Will was beginning to understand that Nico did not enjoy being told what to do. He was somewhat glad for it, even if it did get Will in trouble now and then.

After reaching the Dianan coast, they’d gone the rest of the way by sea. Will had seen the Juvian coast and he had been on the water before, but sailing to Neptune was an entirely different experience. The Prata Pontonia had grown more beautiful the closer to Neptune they got, and Will fell more in love every second he spent with Nico. He suspected that the voyage from Diana to Neptune was not one that he would forget.

Will had entertained Nico with stories about his friend Leo’s silly ideas about using steam to propel boats through the water. They’d tried—and failed—to steal a few secret kisses when they thought no one was looking. They’d met clandestinely on the deck late in the evening, only to be caught by Reyna and Hedge. There had been a long lecture about their behavior before they were sent off to their private rooms onboard the ship, but when Nico smiled at him during breakfast the next morning, Will nearly forgot that it had even happened.

Nico was falling in love with him. He could hear it in Nico’s voice and he could feel it every time Nico reached out to touch him. When Nico looked at him, he gazed with an intensity like Will consumed his whole mind. Nico’s expressions had been so blunted at the beginning of their engagement, but Nico had begun to show Will so many new faces. There were gentle smiles like the ones he wore when talking about his sister, shy blushes that Will had never expected to see from the Prince, and serious, passionate faces that made Will feel like he was melting.

And Will was falling in love, too. He always had admired Nico, but something about the realization that his feelings were reciprocated made the entire thing so much more real. Could it be that Nico saw something in Will that was just as amazing as what Will saw in Nico? What did Will look like to Nico’s eyes? Did Will have the same effect on Nico’s heart that Nico did on his? Was it possible that Will occupied Nico’s mind even half as often as Nico occupied his? These were terrifying and alien ideas. Will still hadn’t quite been able to grasp that it was true: he was important—just as important as Nico.

I am in love and I am loved, Will had been telling himself every day since Nico had asked Will to kiss him. I am in love and I am loved.

They had arrived in Neptune the night before the wedding celebrations began and Reyna sent them both to their rooms, allowing them no time to explore the city. On the morning of the first day of the wedding, they met for a meal but separated to prepare for the evening’s masked ball. Mellie helped Will get ready, but she seemed very distracted by concerns about her own appearance, constantly checking her hair and the gathers on her skirts. Will suspected it had to do with Nico’s guard.

It was early in the evening when Will left with Mellie to meet Nico before the ball. Will was glad that he had time to compose himself while waiting for Nico to emerge from his quarters. He couldn’t stop looking at his coat for imaginary wrinkles or touching his hair, which Mellie had relentlessly managed to tackle into something somewhat tamed. Mellie had told him to stop. Will had responded to good-naturedly tease her about how she was similarly concerned with smoothing out her skirts.

Will hadn’t grown used to the mask on his face quite yet. Although Apollo had offered to have a new one made when Will learned that there would be a masked ball on the first day of the wedding, Will had asked if he could use an old one that belonged to Lee instead. He’d seen Lee wear it when he was still courting Lou Ellen and remembered being in awe of the golden sun emblem of the Dianan house that was on the forehead. Lee, having noticed how much Will loved the mask, had promised to pass it down to him. Lee’s nose was smaller than Will’s, however, so the mask didn’t lay quite right.

Will was still running his hands over his coat when the door opened and he immediately snapped his arms to his sides. “Your Highness,” he greeted with a bow, and then he looked up. Nico was wearing green, just like he had on the night they first met. His coat was lined in black and silver and his mask was green like his coat, with a vaguely reptilian texture that made him look terrifying—but still handsome.

Nico looked at him in silence. His expression was indiscernible and unnerving behind his mask. “Your Highness?” Will asked.

Nico cleared his throat. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you wear black,” he said.

“Oh,” Will said, glancing down at his own coat. “No, I don’t usually. But it is a masked ball. There’s no better time to pretend not to be yourself.”

Nico was quiet for a second, and Will hated that he couldn’t read Nico’s expression. “Yes,” Nico said, his lips finally smiling. “It has been a very long time since I have been to one.”

“Then I’m delighted to escort you,” Will said, offering his arm. Reyna hadn’t lifted the ban on unnecessary physical contact, but touching arms to escort each other was permitted. He glanced at Reyna and Hedge nervously to make sure he hadn’t done anything wrong. Hedge was too busy ogling at Mellie, who looked very pretty in her pale dress and mask, but Reyna seemed to be on high alert. She was also masked, but still wore the Sorority’s silver gown and looked as intimidating as ever. Despite Nico’s assurances that Reyna approved of him, Will always felt like he wasn’t meeting her expectations.

Reyna nodded to him, which Will took to mean that he had permission to continue, so he led Nico out of the guest wing. “You look stunning,” Will said, realizing that he’d forgotten to compliment Nico earlier. Hopefully, his absent mindedness hadn’t made him seem like a neglectful escort.

Nico was quiet for a moment and Will wondered if Nico had heard him. Then Nico cleared his throat and said, “Well, you...you look very...good.”

“Thank you,” Will said, deciding not to question Nico’s strange tone. He did wonder, though—was it because Will had complimented him? Will always felt flustered when Nico complimented him. Or perhaps Nico really meant what he’d said; he thought Will looked nice.

Will was glad that his mask would cover most of his blush. He still hadn’t quite grown used to the idea that Nico actually loved him and he hadn’t considered that Nico might find him attractive. Will knew that he wasn’t especially handsome, but it didn’t bother him much. His older brothers were the most attractive ones in the family, so Will wasn’t used to people commenting on his appearance; he was more often praised for his kindness. It was embarrassing and almost uncomfortable to think that Nico might consider him handsome. But he was also flattered, even if he did feel a bit confused.

“I don’t think Hedge will be a problem tonight,” Nico said in a low voice.

Will looked over his shoulder to see Hedge and Mellie whispering and blushing. It seemed that Hedge would be too occupied to pay them much attention.

“So we only have to worry about losing Reyna,” Nico continued.

Will couldn’t decide whether to sigh or laugh. “Your Highness, I am trying to make a good impression on Lady Reyna—”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. I’ve told you, Reyna knows I’m the troublesome one. I have years of practice sneaking.”

“I don’t her to be upset with you, either.”

“I can deal with it. Anyway, I think she’ll be more lenient tonight because of the masks.”

Will wondered if Nico was thinking about kissing him again. He hoped so. The first time they’d kissed, Will had been so overcome with a desire to wrap his arms around Nico and hold him that he’d almost given in. He had been careful not to overstep any boundaries, however; he hadn’t been absolutely sure what Nico wanted and he’d feared that he’d only ruin it.

The corridors were lined with guests outfitted in gorgeous costumes and the hall was already crowded when they entered. Will gawked at the blue and gold walls, the massive windows overlooking the sea, and the painted ceiling depicting Pontus and his children, but Nico hurried him along. “We’ll lose them in the crowd, just as we did the last time,” Nico was saying.

Will sighed, but followed him anyway. “And I do recall warning you last time that it was a bad idea to hide from the chaperones.”

“Yes, and you were wrong. It was a brilliant idea last time and it is brilliant this time. Didn’t you enjoy being alone in Delphi?”

Will blushed. “Of course I did,” he replied quietly. He knew that those secret first kisses would always be among his favorite memories.

Nico glanced over his shoulder again before leading Will to the chocolate fountain. Will reminded himself that he would have to mention it to Leo; he had never heard of filling a fountain with chocolate rather than water before. Percy was known for being rather extravagant when it came to celebrations. Although it had only just begun, Will suspected that Prince Percy’s wedding would be remembered for years to come.

Will left Nico for a moment to get cups of chocolate for Nico and himself. “I love Neptunian chocolate,” Will said as he offered Nico his drink. “In Diana, we import cocoa from Venus.”

“My mother grows cocoa, but even with our conservatories, Plutonian chocolate isn’t quite as good as Neptunian,” Nico replied. “Our weather isn’t right for it.”

“Unfortunately, no,” Will said. He’d had Plutonian chocolate in Venadica. “Nothing is ever quite as good when grown outside of its native range.”

“Cocoa is not native to Neptune,” Nico corrected. “The climate may be good for it, but cocoa comes from islands south of Aegyptia.”

“Does it?” Will asked. He really did need to pay better attention in his trade and economics lessons.

“Neptune merely made chocolate famous in the Romanus Terris,” Nico said. “Neptunians have a habit of claiming things that are not theirs. For another, Neptune is famous for its masked balls, but Pluto is where they originated.” The corner of Nico’s mouth quirked up, but his eyes remained unreadable behind his mask. Once again, Will felt a bit intimidated by the reptilian features obscuring Nico’s expression. But it was still Nico, whom Will had grown to not only admire but love. It was still Nico, whom Will had kissed in a hedge maze while smoke from fireworks cooled in the dark sky. It was still Nico, only wrapped back up in the mystery that had absorbed him before Will had grown to know him.

“Of course, masked balls are rare in Pluto now,” Nico continued, walking off towards the side of the hall like he was unaware of exactly how much he captivated Will. “I have not attended one since....”

Nico hesitated. Will thought he understood: Nico had not attended a masked ball since he was a child, since Pluto’s wealth was depleted, since the Scarlet Delirium ravaged his kingdom.

“Bianca and I used to play games when we donned our masks,” Nico went on after taking a sip of chocolate from his cup. “We would pretend to be legendary heroes or farmers or miners or even animals.”

Will couldn’t think of a response before Nico turned to look at him. His dark eyes were still beautiful and frightening and made Will stop in his tracks. Nico took a step closer to Will, so close that Will almost moved back. “I don’t see Reyna anymore,” Nico said.

The sudden switch in conversation confused Will for a moment. “Reyna...?” he asked, glancing around and realizing that Nico had led him to a less crowded corner of the room, where one wall was lined with windows and the other was paneled with gold.

“It has been a while since we managed to be alone,” Nico continued.

“Less than a week,” Will pointed out nervously as Nico stepped even closer—so close that they were only separated by the cups of chocolate they held in front of themselves. “And we aren’t really alone right now, so perhaps—”

“We are alone enough,” Nico said. “With masks, we can pretend.”

“Pretend...?” Will asked, looking over his shoulder again. He was almost relieved to spot a blond head in the crowd. Most of the guests had dark Neptunian hair, so Will did not have much trouble recognizing Jupiter’s prince. “I think that might be Prince Jason,” Will commented as he glanced back at Nico. “Would you like to—”

Nico’s lips set in a firm line. “No.”

“I really don’t understand why you dislike him so much,” Will said. After Nico had left the Expo that summer, Jason had extended a few invitations to dine with him, Thalia, and Annabeth. He had even gone to Will’s exhibit with Annabeth one morning and seemed genuinely interested in Will’s project. Will thought that Jason seemed very likable, but Nico disagreed whenever Will expressed that. Eventually, Nico had explained his discomfort with the fact that Jason had courted Reyna, but had admitted he knew his fear that they might resume their engagement was groundless.

“I don’t dislike him,” Nico replied in a bitter voice. “He’s very difficult to dislike. Did I tell you that he wrote to me a few times over the past several months?” He said it like he was scandalized by Jason’s insolence and resentful that Jason was so agreeable.

“His Imperial Highness seems like a very kind young man,” Will said, suppressing a smile. He found that Nico’s stubbornness could be quite endearing, even though it did sometimes confuse him.

Nico pursed his lips. “I’d much rather spend the evening with you,” he said, then his lips softened and he smiled up at Will.

Will had to wonder if Nico had only said that because he knew that it would silence any further arguments. Will hadn’t bothered to keep his admiration of Nico secret and Nico was clearly cunning enough to take advantage of that, as demonstrated by his tendency to cause trouble for his chaperone and guard. But Will also knew that even if Nico was taking advantage of Will’s feelings, he hadn’t lied. He did want to spend the evening with Will. And how could Will argue against that?

“Stop thinking about everyone else,” Nico said, setting his cup down on the ledge of the window beside them. “Are you trying to escape from me? Do you not want to be alone with me?”

Will was fairly certain that Nico was taunting him. Nico may not have had Will’s education, but he was intelligent and cunning. He must have known exactly what he was doing to Will.

“Of course I want to be alone with you,” Will said. “I only...I’m...I’m a bit nervous.”

“Why would you be nervous?”

“I don’t think I’m allowed—”

“Don’t think about what is allowed.” Nico’s hands slid over Will’s and brought Will’s cup to his lips. Will flushed when Nico took a long sip of chocolate, his dark eyes fixed on Will unblinkingly.

“Your Hi—” Will started.

Nico put his finger against Will’s lips to silence him. “Don’t call me that now. That’s the fun of masks, isn’t it? I’m not Prince Nico. You’re not Lord William.”

Will swallowed nervously as Nico’s finger slid back away, tugging gently at his lower lip. His eyes darted around, looking for either Reyna or Hedge and fearing their disapproval, but then Nico stepped even closer and Will’s worries disappeared. After all, it was a masked ball. If they were not the Prince and his fiancé, what did they need chaperones for?

“Who shall we be?” Will asked.

“You are a healer in a small town in Ceres,” Nico answered. “I am a local hunter. We have known each other all our lives and we’ve been friends since childhood.”

“Are we engaged?” Will asked in a whisper.

“Not yet.”

“Will we be engaged soon?”

Nico grinned. “That depends on how the game plays out. Are you prepared to woo me?”

“I’ll certainly try,” Will said, but he didn’t know how. Why had Nico wanted to kiss him in Delphi? What had Will done to make Nico start to love him?

“You must,” Nico said. “I’ve nearly given up on you. You’ve barely spoken to me this past year. We were so close when we were young, but then we suddenly grew apart. I hardly see you anymore; we only meet occasionally if we’re both in the square or I find an excuse to visit your clinic. What happened?”

Will wet his lips nervously. It wasn’t easy to be creative with Nico standing so close or with Nico’s bottomless eyes staring at him from behind a terrifying, reptilian mask. He thought back to times when he had played make believe with his siblings or his friends as a child. He remembered how just a few weeks ago Kayla had suddenly handed him a doll and demanded he play with her. He imagined the night that he had met Nico as a child, recalling how immediately he had been captivated by the other boy. Even the next morning, he hadn’t been sure if it had really happened or if he had made the whole incident up. For years after that, Nico had been a character in every childish fantasy Will made up. Will had been imagining silly stories of a life with Nico since he was only six years old, but had never expected that Nico would make up those stories, too.

“I suppose I was afraid,” Will said slowly. “I admired you even as a child, but you became so beautiful and strong as the years went by. I thought you had outgrown me, so I let us go our separate ways.”

Nico shook his head. “I didn’t want that.”

“Then what do you want me to do now?”

Nico didn’t answer immediately. He plucked Will’s cup from his fingers and set it beside his on the window ledge to be collected by the servants. “Ask me to dance,” Nico finally said. His fingers touched Will’s wrist and slipped down to hold Will’s hand. “We used to dance together as children, but we haven’t in so long. You didn’t even dance with me last Chronalia.”

It took Will a second to realize that Nico wasn’t talking about dancing as children in Aether’s Square at his aunt’s inauguration; he was still talking about their made-up life in Ceres.

“I was too nervous,” Will said, slowly starting to understand Nico’s game. “I loved dancing with you when we were children. We would dance together every time we heard music and sometimes when there was no music at all. But last Chronalia, I...I thought I would only burden you.”

“You made me feel so lonely. I thought you had tired of me.”

“Never, Your Highness.”

Nico put his finger against Will’s lips again. “You mustn’t call me that tonight, remember?”

“What shall I call you?” Will asked, his lips brushing against the pad of Nico’s finger. Without thinking, he took Nico’s hand but kept it close to his mouth. He barely was able to stop himself from kissing it.

Nico’s lips smiled, his eyes still dark and unreadable. “You will call me ‘dearest,’ and I will call you ‘treasure,’” he answered.

“‘Dearest,’” Will repeated. His thumb brushed over Nico’s hand. “My dearest.”

“My treasure,” Nico answered, then he pulled their hands away from Will’s mouth and towards his own to kiss Will’s knuckles. “Pretend we are celebrating my cousin’s wedding in the town square. Tell me you want to dance with me.”

“Of course I do,” Will said. His mind felt fuzzy as Nico kissed his hand again. “Will you come share a dance with me, dearest?”

Will didn’t know what to make of the smile Nico gave him. Was it sweet and kind? Was it teasing? The mask made it impossible to tell. “I would love to,” Nico said, tugging on Will’s hand to lead him to the center of the hall, where a group was preparing for an allemande.

Will lost count of how many dances they shared. He was blinded by the gleam of lights reflected on gemstones, by the dizzying whirl of skirts, and by the masks obscuring the faces of each dancer that passed him. Will lost Nico to another partner for a while, but it didn’t take long to find him again. Even when masked, there was a quality about Nico’s presence that had always drawn Will to him. Will had felt it even as a child, when he had been in awe of the strange, brave, and talented prince Artemis had introduced him to. He had felt it again when they met ten years later and Nico had grown into a handsome, mysterious young man who Will did not understand, but desperately wanted to know. Whatever games they might play, something as mundane as a mask couldn’t disguise Nico’s distinct aura.

Will wanted to reach behind Nico and untie the ribbon holding his mask in place. He wanted to see Nico’s face and read his expressions. But when Will found those words tumbling past his lips, Nico shook his head. “Not tonight,” he said. “For now, let us have our game. After all, my treasure, it is the last night that we will see each other for a while; I am going on a hunt and I won’t return for at least a week. You have told me that you admire me, but you must promise that you won’t forget me while I’m away.”

Will shook his head. “Forget you? How could I ever forget you? I’ll think of you every day, my dearest. I won’t be able to sleep until you return.”

“And so after my cousin’s wedding, I left on my hunt,” Nico said, tangling his fingers in Will’s. “But I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I wanted to see you again.”

“You came home early,” Will said. “You were attacked by a wolf while hunting and your wounds forced you to stay in my clinic for three days.”

“And then I decided to stay forever.”

Nico’s smile became gentle and Will could almost believe he saw love in Nico’s eyes. Will didn’t think, he didn’t plan, and he didn’t even recognize that he ought to restrain himself. In one moment, his lips had found Nico’s and Will was kissing him for the first time since Delphi.

He came to his senses quickly and drew back, stammering his apologies. “I should have asked, I—”

But then his lips were on Nico’s again, except Nico had initiated.

“Kiss me again,” Nico said. “And then again. And again. Kiss me and dance with me until the night ends and we must stop pretending. Kiss me like nothing else matters, like you have wanted to forever, like it’s our wedding and you have been waiting for this day your whole life.”

* * *

It seemed that the Fates had bestowed upon Jason the curse of terrible luck with women. It wasn’t just women in the sense of suitors, but all the women in his life. He always seemed to be left behind or let down.

Firstly, there was his birth mother, a courtesan of Emperor Zeus who had never cared for her children very much. Jason had been so young when Beryl died that he couldn’t even remember her enough to hate her, but he still thought it was odd that he had absolutely no memories of interacting with his mother whatsoever. Hera told Jason enough about what a nasty woman she’d been before getting herself killed, and while Jason usually would doubt his stepmother’s account, the fact that Thalia had verified it made Hera’s story seem much more credible. It was hard to tell which of the two detested his mother more.

But Thalia, like Beryl, left him behind. Although Jason did not blame her, Thalia was the hardest to lose. She had always been his one reliable ally in Olympus, but when she left, she had dropped all the responsibilities of being heir to the empire on him. When they were children, she had shared her fantasies about running away late at night when she and Jason were alone, but Jason had never realized how serious she’d been. Of course Thalia had offered to take Jason with her to Venadica, but Jason hadn’t had a choice. If Jason didn’t take her place as heir, there was no telling what kind of upheaval the battle for succession would cause. It was Jason’s duty to stay, carrying the responsibilities that two older sisters had denied—first Athena, then Thalia.

Athena had never been much of a sister to begin with, so he couldn’t accuse her of ‘leaving’ him. She was emotionally distant and generally disinterested in Jason, only bothering to approach him when she needed to discuss some sort of duty. Even then, she usually sent Annabeth in her place. Annabeth had always been more of a sister than Athena and had acted as his one remaining ally after Thalia joined the Sorority, but even Annabeth was leaving him. Jason would return to Jupiter not only fiancée-less, but adviser-less, as well. Judging by Jason’s record, he doubted he’d be any more successful at finding a new adviser than he had been at finding a new fiancée.

And that brought him to Reyna. He had not loved her in a romantic sense—although he believed that he would have come to in time—but Jason had cared deeply for Reyna. She had been perfect. She was intelligent, reliable, persistent, and strong, and Jason had found her to be empathetic underneath her tough façade. They had always gotten along well. Jason had felt safe knowing that she would be both his wife and adviser; he knew he could trust her. But Reyna had sought a different path in the end.

So now that Annabeth, his final ally, was leaving, Jason felt alone. When he returned to Olympus, the only person who cared enough to speak to him would be Hera, but Hera wasn’t any more of a mother than Beryl—except for the fact that she actually interacted with Jason. She was manipulative and calculating, resentful towards Zeus, and only interested in Jason to use him. Jason wasn’t ignorant of her manipulative intentions, but there was very little he could do to resist.

“I’m letting you see your sister,” Hera had told him before he left for Neptune with Annabeth. “It’s the second time I’ve allowed it this year. You ought to be grateful.”

As though she controlled every decision made in Olympus.

Maybe she did.

Jason had fought to stay calm. It was the only way to deal with Hera. “Yes, Mother,” he’d said evenly. He had no choice but to tell her what she wanted to hear.

He truly was glad to see Thalia. It was always a bit awkward between them for a little while every time they met. Jason knew that Thalia felt terrible for leaving him behind and although she’d had every right to choose the Sorority over the Empire, Jason might have held the smallest of grudges. He would never tell that to Thalia, however. She felt guilty enough already.

But yes, Jason was glad to see Thalia. He knew that even from afar, she remained his constant ally. “I may have become a sister to all, but you will always be my favorite brother,” she had told him after joining the Sorority. Despite the tiny twinge of resentment he still felt, Jason knew that Thalia hadn’t truly abandoned him. He trusted her more than anyone.

Thalia had only just arrived in Neptune the day before, while Jason was attempting to make friends with Nico. Jason had been in Neptune for about a month, having made the journey from Olympus to Salacia with Annabeth long before the wedding. Earlier, Jason and Thalia had been in the city together, but neither of them had seen the wedding couple all day. It was to be expected, as Percy and Annabeth would have been busy with their prayers, but Thalia was quite irate that she had barely seen either of them since her arrival. And now, Percy and Annabeth were nowhere to be seen. Jason wouldn’t have been surprised if they’d already found an opportunity to sneak away from the party and were spending the evening alone together. They could be sneaky when they wanted to.

Jason glanced at Thalia. She was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, but her posture softened when she noticed him watching her. “I can’t believe the two of them,” Thalia said. “Their own party, and they can’t be found.”

“Perhaps they’re just very well-masked,” Jason suggested.

Jason knew Thalia well enough to imagine the expression behind her mask. Really, Jason? it would have said. Do you really believe that?

“We both know they’ve run off somewhere to cause one last scandal before they’re married,” Thalia said, but she sounded amused. “But anyway, tell me more news from Olympus. How has the bitch been treating you?”

“Thalia,” Jason scolded.

“What? There’s no reason to paint it over and make it pretty.”

Jason sighed. “I’m trying to remain polite. She’s the Empress, whether we like it or not.”

“Brother dear, I find it hard to believe that anyone likes it. Besides, she’s not my Empress. I serve no one but Artemis and the Protogenoi. So tell me, is everything alright?”

Jason made a vague sound in weak affirmation.

“Jason,” Thalia said in a warning tone.

“I won’t complain,” Jason said. “It is what it is, Thalia. Hera will always be Hera, and I can’t expect anything else from her.”

“It’s perfectly reasonable to expect her to be a decent human rather than a reptile,” Thalia scowled. “You know that you’d have the Sorority’s protection if—”

“No,” Jason interrupted. “My answer hasn’t changed. You know I can’t do that.”

“And there’s your obnoxious sense of duty again,” Thalia sighed. “Your answer may always be the same, but I’ll never take back the invitation. You are welcome in Venadica. Olympus doesn’t deserve you, Jason. You shouldn’t have to put up with that snake.”

“This has nothing to do with what anyone deserves, Thalia.”

Thalia sighed tiredly. “Let’s not fight over this again. It’s rare for us to see each other.”

Jason nodded in agreement. He admired how independent and adventurous Thalia was, but he was not destined to be like her. Although part of him wished he could run away from Olympus and forsake the throne like his sister had, he knew he could not. Jason and Thalia had argued about it in the past, but his place was Jupiter.

“Any progress on finding a fiancée?” Thalia asked. She held her hands up in surrender when Jason narrowed his eyes at her. “I’m only making conversation.”

“No progress whatsoever,” Jason said stiffly.

“I’d send you a few suitors, but most of the women I know are sorors,” Thalia said.

Jason snorted in amusement. “I appreciate the offer, but I think our family has caused enough scandals.”

“I’m sure they can afford a few more.”

“I am not going to have affairs with sorors, Thalia.”

“No, but you should let yourself have a bit of fun,” Thalia replied.

Jason sighed. If there was anything he feared more than falling in love, it was that someone would fall in love with him. Jason didn’t think he’d be able to bear the pain of heartbreak, but it would be far worse the other way around. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he hurt someone that way.

That was part of the reason he’d been so unsuccessful in finding a new suitor. It was also because Reyna had been so ideal that everyone else paled by comparison, but more than that, Jason was terrified that he would only end up hurting someone. Nullified engagements were messy, scandalous affairs; if he ended up making an unwise decision, Jason feared that he’d go through that again. He certainly didn’t want to put someone else through it, either.

And then, if he did end up married to someone, that was hardly a happy ending. What if something went wrong in their marriage? What if he couldn’t make his wife happy? What if he only made her life miserable? How could anyone have a happy life in Olympus?

“I’d rather spend the evening with my sister,” Jason said.

“How sweet of you,” Thalia said in a mocking tone, but Jason knew she was being genuine. “But really, you ought to take advantage of the mask. Hera isn’t even here! No one will be throwing power-hungry women at you tonight, so you have an opportunity to actually enjoy yourself. That’s all I’m suggesting, Jason. I’m not asking you to find a wife.”

It almost would have been easier if she had asked him to find a wife. Jason did not excel at ‘enjoying himself.’

“Thalia—”

“Oh, look over there,” Thalia said in a staged voice. “Another soror. I ought to greet her.”

“Thalia!”

“Enjoy your evening, brother,” Thalia said without listening to him, and then she disappeared into the crowd.

Jason sighed. Yes, he considered Thalia to be his strongest ally, but they often had very different ideas about how his allies could help him.

Enjoy his evening? Not likely. Thalia had abandoned him, Percy and Annabeth were nowhere to be found, and Nico wouldn’t spend time with Jason unless he was forced to. He could try to find Reyna—he’d always enjoyed her friendship—but he got the feeling that would be a bad idea. Reyna was probably busy playing chaperone for the Pluton Prince, anyway, and he was fairly certain Nico would hate Jason even more if he attempted to speak to her.

Which left Jason alone as usual. Thalia thought it was good for him to exercise his independence (and perhaps she was right), but she didn’t realize that what Jason really wanted was to take advantage of what limited time they had together. Jason might as well get used to it, however. Now that Annabeth was leaving to get married, he’d find himself even more alone than before.

But perhaps it was for the best. Because neither Annabeth nor Percy were going to inherit significant land or power, they could have decided to live in either Jupiter or Neptune. It was only natural that they chose Salacia over Olympus; Jason would have done the same. Between Zeus’ hubris, Hera’s selfishness, and the rest of the court drama, no one could have a good life there. Jason wouldn’t ask anyone he cared about to live in the imperial palace.

So as much as Jason yearned for Thalia and Reyna and Annabeth to come back to him, he knew it was better that they stayed away. And as much as Jason yearned for a friend and ally to keep him from feeling so alone, Jason couldn’t allow himself to bring anyone into his life. Jason was alone, and alone he should remain.

Of course, he would need to marry. He was beginning to think that he ought to give in to one of the suitors that Hera kept throwing at him. After all, might be better if Jason didn’t love his wife; it would save him the pain of knowing that he had ruined someone’s life by bringing them to Olympus. Jason doubted that any of the Empress’ picks would be much different from Hera herself.

Sighing to himself again, Jason turned to leave the hall, thinking that maybe he ought to spend the evening on the balcony. Neptunian nights were pleasantly cool and Jason might even be able to snag a book to read under the moonlight. That seemed like the best way for him to enjoy himself.

“No partner?” asked a voice. “What a coincidence, neither have I. Would you like a plantain chip?”

Jason turned to the woman’s voice in surprise. His first impression was that she was very pretty, and probably Neptunian. She had the characteristic coloring of the people of Neptune—of course, that might not mean anything, as the upper classes often married foreigners. Her gown and pearls were enough evidence of her wealth and high birth. But the young woman also had the accent of the islanders, although Jason couldn’t discern exactly which part. His untrained ear had never quite been able to pick up the subtle differences in Neptunian dialects.

“Have we met?” Jason asked.

“Not that I’m aware of,” said the woman. When Jason didn’t take the fried plantain, she shrugged and munched on the chip, as if to say, ‘suit yourself.’ Jason tried to suppress an amused smile. Pretty, humble, and even-tempered, it seemed. A nice combination.

Jason scolded himself for the thought. He wasn’t there to look for a wife. He was celebrating the wedding of his friends.

“Well, we did run into each other earlier this evening,” the young woman continued when she finished her chip. “Quite literally. You complimented my gown. Personally, I hate this gown, but I was flattered nonetheless.”

“Oh, right,” Jason said. “By the chocolate fountain?”

“That’s it. I hope I didn’t embarrass myself so much that I’ve lost the opportunity to ask you for a dance?”

“Oh,” Jason said in surprise. “I...um...” He glanced around for Thalia, hoping that she’d come to his rescue, but she was nowhere to be seen. Although he was used to having women thrown at him at every opportunity, Jason was terrible at rejecting their advances and found himself tangled in awkward situations more often than he’d like to admit. Thalia sometimes fought off the worst of them. That was, if she was present and not too busy coaching his independence.

“Unless you already have a partner,” the young woman continued. “I saw that you were speaking to someone before.”

Jason got the sense that she was offering him an opportunity to politely refuse her. True, he had been with Thalia earlier, but Thalia dressed as a soror even while masked. It would have been obvious to anyone that they were not partners.

“I’d be honored to dance with you,” Jason said. “May I have your name?”

“No,” she said, the corner of her mouth quirking up like she was amused by the question. “What would be the purpose of a mask if I told you my name?”

She had a point, but Jason was disappointed. He had to remind himself that she’d only asked for a dance; she hadn’t offered her hand in marriage. It wasn’t fair of him to expect more—especially not at a masked ball, which was meant to be a night of hedonistic disregard for duty.

“But perhaps I’ll tell you later in the evening, depending on how good a dancer you are,” said the young woman. She grinned playfully and tapped him with her elbow before taking his arm and leading him to the center of the hall for a dance.

Looking more closely, Jason was beginning to see that she must not have a completely Neptunian ancestry. Her hair was long and beautiful but slightly lighter than typical Neptunian hair—dark brown rather than black. Her eyes were not Neptunian either, although he couldn’t begin to guess where they might have come from. Perhaps it was because of her mask, but every time she moved, the light seemed to reflect different colors in her eyes.

She was a wonderful dancer. It was obvious that she had received excellent lessons from a capable instructor, which was further proof of her eligibility to be a suitor. “You dance beautifully,” Jason said as she passed him, trying to keep himself from thinking about marriage for at least one evening.

“As do you,” said the young woman. “Dancing is one of the least exhausting part of a ball. Almost makes it worth how tightly they tied this awful stay.”

Jason was so surprised that his laugh came out as a snort. “Well, you look beautiful,” he tried to console.

“I’d still look beautiful in a softer bodice. I’d probably feel less restricted after making my rounds through the snacks, as well. Have you tried the coconut shrimp yet? It’s amazing.”

“I haven’t had a chance to try anything but the chocolate,” Jason admitted.

“Fantastic! I’ll show you all the wonderful food, and you’ll get me a cup of chocolate. My mother wouldn’t let me have any.”

“Your mother wouldn’t allow chocolate?” Jason asked.

“It’s the most barbaric form of torture, I know,” the woman sighed. “She thinks I’ll ruin my gown.”

Jason laughed as the music came to an end. “How very cruel,” he agreed as he bowed to her to finish their dance. “The chocolate is worth a ruined gown.”

The woman smiled at him. “I’m glad you agree, monsieur. Seeing as we’re both here unaccompanied, would you like to be my partner for the evening?”

Jason hesitated and glanced around for Thalia, but didn’t see her. She was probably watching him from hiding, applauding herself for leaving him to manage on his own. But the young woman he had met seemed to be of a high enough status for the court to approve of, so—

Jason stopped that thought there and reminded himself that he wasn’t supposed to worry about marriage that night. He was supposed to enjoy himself. The young woman was pleasant company, and that was why he would accept her offer.

“I would be honored to accompany you,” Jason said. “Will you give me your name at the end of the evening?”

She grinned at him mischievously. “We shall see,” she replied. “Come, I must show you the shrimp.”

The young woman took his arm and led him away from the assembling dancers, telling him that as much as she enjoyed dancing, the most important part of any ball was the food. She found the shrimp first, then grabbed a few more plantain chips. She fed Jason crab cakes and told him that they were good, but she preferred king crab to blue crab. Jason told her that blue crab was Prince Percy’s favorite, and she laughed and commented on Percy’s odd appreciation of blue food. Either Percy’s strange preference was well-known in Neptune or she knew Percy personally, which might be further evidence of her high status.

Of course, Jason was getting ahead of himself again. They had barely met. They weren’t courting. He didn’t even know her name. She may not be seriously interested in him.

Jason shook his head and forced the thought away just as the young woman was returning with an oyster and eating another fried plantain. “Here,” she said, pressing the oyster’s shell against his lower lip. “Try this.”

Jason obeyed. “It’s amazing,” he said.

“Where I come from, we are known for our oyster dishes,” she told him.

Jason tried to remember which areas of Neptune specialized in oysters, but he couldn’t recall. To someone from Jupiter, it seemed that all of Neptune specialized in oysters. “Are you from Jafilius?” he asked.

“No, no, the oysters here aren’t nearly as good as they are in my home,” she said, then she grabbed a few more plantain chips before pointing to the chocolate fountain and requesting a cup.

Jason wondered if he’d ever meet her again after that night. Would it all be over in the morning? Would he ever even know her name?

And how would she react after learning his identity? What if she decided she didn’t want him? Or worse, what if that became the only reason she sought him out again?

He couldn’t help but feel like he was toying with her feelings. Jason was looking for a wife. And not just any wife—as heir to the throne, he was very restricted when it came to searching for suitors. If it turned out that she wasn’t from a birth high enough for the imperial court to approve of, Jason would have to leave her.

But once again, Jason was assuming too much. She might not be looking for a husband. Perhaps Jason’s expectations were not the same as hers. For all Jason knew, she could already be engaged—even married. Besides, no one went to a masked ball to seek out a potential spouse.

Masked balls were the sort of events where scandals began and where hearts were broken. It wasn’t uncommon for the first night of wedding celebrations to be masked; they were meant to be nights without inhibitions, to revel in the freedom of being unwed and anonymous before the bonds of marriage tied one to responsibility. For Annabeth and Percy, it was an excuse for them to have their fun together without the threat of repercussions, not a night of unrestricted lust. But for Jason, it was too reminiscent of his father’s adulterous habits.

Jason wasn’t looking for a brief affair; he had decided that long ago. He’d seen enough evidence of the consequences that went along with lust and infidelity. Affairs, he had learned, only ended with chaos and tragedy. If Hera’s rage had taught him anything, it was that hearts were fragile and he must never even look at anyone but his wife.

Jason’s resolution had never wavered before. Even when he’d been engaged to Reyna, he had never allowed himself to think of anyone else. No, they had never been romantically involved, but he’d been arduously loyal to her. He had sworn that he would never hurt her the way Zeus had hurt Hera. Jason had cared for her and it had broken his heart when she left. He’d never blamed her for it, however; Reyna had the freedom to make her own choices and he would not hold that against her. Losing her had only solidified his resolution to be the perfect husband. He never wanted to make anyone to go through the pain he had when Reyna left him.

But would it really be so wrong for Jason to allow himself to enjoy an evening with a strange, exciting, beautiful young woman? He hadn’t made her any promises. He hadn’t even made himself promises. So why did he feel as if he was doing something wrong?

Because he knew that if he ended up with a wife like Hera, she would hunt the mystery lady down and drown her life in misery. She would want do the same to Reyna, but Reyna had the protection of the Sorority.

Jason tried to stop himself again. It was just one evening. He wasn’t having an affair; he was talking to a dance partner.

The young woman celebrated when Jason retrieved a cup of chocolate for her. “I have been waiting all evening for this,” she said before taking a sip, then she sighed happily.

Jason smiled, but his thoughts wouldn’t stop. He heard himself clear his throat, then he said, “I know this isn’t an appropriate topic for a masked event, but if I may not have your name, will you at least tell me if you are...if...is there anyone...?”

She finished taking a long drink before she answered. “I am unmarried,” she said. “I have no serious suitors at this time. But I am looking.”

“And if you don’t mind my asking, what sort of marriage are you looking for?” Jason asked. Depending on birth order, number of siblings, and the needs of her family, she may not be eligible to marry him.

“I am not the eldest,” she said. “I have enough siblings to have the freedom to choose what sort of marriage I’d like. And you?”

“I’m...um...I’m the eldest,” Jason said. He wasn’t the eldest, but his older sisters had both pulled out of the succession, so it was simpler to claim that he was. “I will inherit and take a wife.”

Another happy sip of chocolate. “And am I to assume that you have yet to find a wife?”

“Yes, I’m...I’m looking. I apologize, I know that a masked ball isn’t the place to play suitors and I don’t mean to assume—”

The young woman put a plantain chip in Jason’s mouth to make him stop talking. “Then for tonight, we’ll have our fun. If it goes well, we will play suitors tomorrow. Are we in agreement?”

Jason chewed the chip and swallowed it. It was the first one he’d had all evening; the young woman had ended up eating all the ones she’d picked up. He suddenly understood why she hadn’t shared. “I...yes. But I don’t...if it doesn’t work out....”

“I’m not about to get my heart broken by a man I’ve just met,” she said. “I can handle rejection. There are no promises between us, and no expectations past tonight. Just for this evening, forget everything else.”

Jason didn’t know how. Thalia loved to remind him that he was too much of a worrier, but none of her advice had made it easier for him to stop. And very little scared him more than marriage.

But then the young woman tilted her head back to empty her cup of chocolate and ended up spilling it on her dress. She and Jason laughed so hard that he finally managed to forget.

After trying and failing to fix her gown with Jason’s handkerchief, the young woman dragged Jason back to the center of the hall to dance again. Jason couldn’t recall the last time he had laughed so much. Had dancing ever been so enjoyable? Had Neptunian cuisine ever tasted so good?

The worries had stopped, but Jason couldn’t help wondering about the identity of his mysterious partner. She was from somewhere in the Neptunian isles. Somewhere known for oysters and pearls. Surely he knew enough about Neptunian trade to figure out where she was from. He thought her accent was slightly different from Percy’s, so it was unlikely that she was from the islands around Jafilius. Perhaps she was from one of the more southern isles, then?

Oysters. Pearls. South.

He suddenly recalled Hera bragging about a new gown that was being tailored for her. She’d claimed that she intended to wear it to the Neptunian royal wedding, but Jason was certain that she had never really meant to attend. She despised Annabeth and her opinion of Percy wasn’t much higher, so it had most likely been an excuse to get an expensive new gown. It was vibrant turquoise, accented with peafowl feathers imported from Bacchus and Venusian pearls....

Venusian pearls. It was the island of Venus that was most known for its pearl trade. Could his mystery lady be from Venus?

Jason wasn’t brave enough to ask. They danced and ate and danced again, and Jason’s partner spilled chocolate on her gown a few more times. He invited the young woman onto the balcony and loaned her his coat, and they stayed there talking and laughing until Jason noticed her eyes drooping shut.

“Perhaps we’ve stayed out too late,” Jason suggested, as much as he wanted to stay even longer.

“Definitely,” the young woman said. “I don’t think I’ll wake up until noon tomorrow.”

“Then is this goodnight?” Jason asked.

“Perhaps,” she replied. “But only if I may meet you again tomorrow.”

“I would like to,” Jason said. “You haven’t told me your name.”

She looked up at him with a mischievous smile, like she knew something he didn’t. “Find me again tomorrow evening and I will introduce you to Piper of Venus,” she said.

“Piper of Venus,” Jason repeated. So he had been correct; she was from Venus. “And I’m....” he stopped himself before continuing. Would she even believe him if he told her he was the Crown Prince of Jupiter? Would it frighten her away? Would it change the way she acted towards him?

“I know who you are, Your Highness,” Piper said before Jason could worry himself more. Her smile faltered a bit. “Even a mask can’t stop gossip, especially not for someone of your position.”

“Oh,” Jason whispered, unsure how he ought to feel about that. She’d known all along? Had that been why she sought him out to begin with?

“I would have approached you regardless, and I wouldn’t have spent the entire evening with you if I didn’t enjoy your company,” Piper said, as though she’d heard his thoughts. Her mischievous smile was now gone, replaced by one that looked more serious and perhaps even apologetic. “But I won’t lie to you; I knew. I would like to meet you again tomorrow evening, Your Highness. No masks. Face-to-face. But I won’t seek you out again; it’s only fair that I leave the choice to you. If you would like to meet, then ask for Piper of Venus.”

Before Jason could collect his thoughts enough to reply, Piper returned Jason’s coat and kissed the back of his hand, then she left him alone on the balcony.

* * *

Nico was not pleased when Reyna interrupted him while he was busy kissing his fiancé. They had spent the evening dancing and kissing and making up ridiculous stories about planning their pretend wedding in Ceres. Hedge had been busy with Mellie and Nico thought he had spotted Reyna conversing with Thalia, but Reyna had eventually found them again to say that it was time for the evening to end. She had brought Percy with her, as he had apparently been looking for Nico to invite him to the ritual bathing ceremony that was to take place on the second day of the wedding. Usually, only brothers or other close male kin attended a groom’s ritual bathing ceremony, so Nico was scandalized by the invitation. He had barely spoken to Percy since arriving in Neptune. Before that, he hadn’t met Percy since they were children. He had tried to turn Percy down, but a glare from Reyna was enough to remind him that a rejection would seem rude.

“I’d be honored, Your Highness,” Nico grumbled.

“Oh, don’t call me that,” Percy said. “People only call me ‘Your Highness’ if they’re upset with me.”

Percy started to ramble enthusiastically about the palace’s baths. Nico had heard that Neptunians bathed together in large pools, but he’d assumed that it was only a malicious rumor. He hoped that Percy did not expect Nico to join him in the baths. That was a line Nico refused to cross.

After Percy left to deliver the same invitation to Jason, Reyna ordered Nico to stay put so she could get Hedge to take Nico back to his bedchamber while she tried to locate Jules-Albert. “Lord William can escort me to my guest chambers instead,” Nico said, tightening his grip on Will’s arm. He didn’t want to part with Will just yet. He wanted a moment alone with Will. He didn’t want to let go of Will.

Reyna looked at Nico disapprovingly and Nico blinked at her with the best pleading expression he could muster. Please, Reyna, he thought. Just this one time, allow me this much.

As strict as Reyna was, Nico knew that she had a soft spot for him. If he looked at her with a pitiful enough expression, she sometimes gave in. Reyna couldn’t always resist wanting to see Nico happy. “I will send Jules-Albert to ready you for bed shortly,” Reyna said in a stiff voice. “You will have only a few moments to say goodnight.”

Nico let out a sigh of relief and smiled at her thankfully.

Will bowed his head politely. “I will behave appropriately, Lady Reyna; you need not worry about that.”

“I trust you, Lord William,” Reyna replied tiredly. “You are not the one causing me concern.”

Nico tugged Will closer and led him away from Reyna, happily resting his head on Will’s shoulder. “I enjoyed this evening,” he said. “My treasure.”

“As did I, my dearest,” Will answered.

Nico tilted his head up, expecting a kiss, but Will did nothing. Sighing, he supposed that Will had taken his promise to Reyna a bit too seriously. He tried to lure Will into kissing him a few more times, but Will didn’t appear to realize Nico’s intentions. Nico wondered if it would always be that way or if Will would eventually start to understand.

“Well, Your Highness,” Will said when they reached Nico’s door. “This is where we part.”

Nico didn’t want to let go of Will’s arm. He wanted to stand close to Will. He wanted Will to kiss him. He wanted Will to touch him, even if it was only to brush his hand against Nico’s.

Nico reached behind his head and untied his mask, then he looked up at Will and untied his, too. Like Nico, Will had black makeup smeared over his eyes to hide them even more behind his mask. The makeup did nothing to hide his eyes, however. It only made them brighter and more blue.

Kiss me, Nico thought, as though Will would be able to hear him if he wished hard enough. He wanted Will to kiss him suddenly and passionately just like he had earlier that evening, when they were pretending to be people they weren’t. But even when Nico removed their masks, Will did nothing but stare at him. Will wouldn’t kiss him again—not unless Nico gave clear permission.

Nico returned Will’s mask and clasped his hands together behind his back to keep himself from reaching out. “Yes. Um. Sleep well, Lord William.”

“I wish you the same.”

“And I suppose I’ll meet you after the ceremony in the morning?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Nico reluctantly put his hand on the door to his room. “Goodnight,” he said.

“Goodnight, Your Highness.”

Nico forced himself to look away and face his door. Will started to leave. Don’t look up, Nico told himself, squeezing his eyes shut. Don’t ask him to come back. Don’t—

Nico looked back up. “Will?” he called.

Will turned, his blue eyes as bright as ever, shining against the black makeup. “Yes, Your Highness?”

Nico knew he should make an excuse and go to bed. He was making himself look like a fool. He needed to stop. He—

Nico’s feet were already carrying him away. He stopped in front of Will and put his hands on Will’s arms, then leaned up and quickly kissed him. Will looked shocked when Nico pulled back. “Right,” Nico stammered. He felt like his heart was going to burst and he knew his face was flushing, but there was nothing he could do about that. He stepped back, folded his hands together behind his back, and said, “Well, goodnight, then.”

Nico turned away and fled to his room, only leaving the door open long enough for Asterion to follow him in. He did not look back at Will again out of fear that he’d do something foolish, like invite Will into his bedchamber and ask him to stay—

Nico leaned against the closed door and hid his face in his hands, his mask dangling from the ribbon around his fingers. He did want Will there with him. What would it be like to share a bed with Will? Would Will hold him while they slept? Would Will kiss him in the morning?

Nico bit back the impulse to curse as he remembered the black silk that Will had worn that evening. It had been in such stark contrast to his bright, warm skin and golden hair. Will’s clothes had looked like ink every time he moved, with an almost liquid sheen that had Nico imagining the clothes melting off and....

What would their wedding night be like? How would Will touch him? Would Will blush when Nico kissed him? Would he call Nico pretty names like he did in his letters? Would he...?

Nico whimpered in embarrassment, sliding down the door until he sat on the floor with his knees against his chest. He was disgusting, thinking about things like that. Nico would wait until his own wedding. They would marry in a year, and then they could....

Nico shook his head, stood back up, and composed himself, then he waited for Jules-Albert to come ready him for bed. Nico’s unbanished thoughts kept returning, however, and he dismissed Jules-Albert after being undressed only halfway. Nico had suffered enough mortification for one night; he didn’t need anyone discovering what sorts of effects his thoughts were having on him.

Nico finished dressing for bed on his own, then he took a sip of his sleeping medicine and climbed into his bed, where Asterion was already lying down. He didn’t take the sleeping medicine nearly as often as he had a few years before, but he knew that if he did not take it that night, his racing heart would keep him up with thoughts of his fiancé until morning. As he curled up under his blankets, he could not help but imagine Will being there with him. Will would be warm, similar to the way Asterion was when he cuddled next to Nico, but Will would put his arms on Nico and make him feel loved and secure. Nico imagined Will holding him—and he could be happy with just that much, with just Will’s arms around him and his arms around Will.

Nico reached out to hug Asterion instead, burrowing his face in his dog’s coarse fur to hide his sudden giggle. “I’m very fortunate, aren’t I, Asterion?” he said, pulling back to rub his side. He avoided the scar on Asterion’s hip; it had healed nicely, but Asterion still flinched if Nico pet him too close to the old wound.

“I know you like him, too,” Nico said. “He gives me reasons to be happy. He has a very pretty smile, don’t you think?”

Asterion responded by sloppily licking Nico’s cheek.

“Oh, you’re disgusting,” Nico said, but he wiped his face dry and pecked the top of Asterion’s head affectionately. Asterion rolled onto his back. “Don’t worry, you can still sleep with me after I’m married,” Nico said, rubbing Asterion’s belly. “He’ll have his own room, after all, and if he comes to stay the night with me, then...well, it’ll be a bit crowded, but I don’t think he’ll mind.” Nico yawned and stretched out on the bed, smiling sleepily. “I think I will like being married to him. I will like it very much.”

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