#nero is a teen in this because I said so

[dantesleftball]

Nero…getting outed by Dante. Then Nero gets royal treatment from the twins. I really need to work on my titles

Fanfic/drabble/random idea inspired by yourdailywritingprompt on tiktok!

If you are confused about their ages, I wrote this as if dmc5 happened much sooner after dmc4 than it canonically did. Think Nero is around 18 in this.

It was a great idea. A glorious one, if Dante can say so himself. It's July after all, the weather so hot it could practically melt the skin off your bones. In this kind of unbearable heat, Dante had the bright idea to bring his family to a water park. Just to cool off. And if he got to dunk his adorable nephew into a big body of water? That's just a bonus.

So, off Dante went, proposing the idea to his brother and that random kid that just hangs around the Devil May Cry. He's met with instantaneous rejection, even having to dodge a miscellaneous projectile that definitely did not come flying from Vergil. But somehow, through some miracle, the two ended up accompanying Dante to the park with the promise of ice cream to Nero and cleaning the house for a whole week to Vergil.

The idea of a water park didn't sit right with Nero. Not at all. A place where he was expected to wear minimal clothing, probably take his shirt off and out himself in front of his father and uncle? He had no idea where his family stood on that topic, and he wasn't about to risk losing the good relationship he finally has with them over a stupid water park… And why was Dante eyeing him like that?

He figured that arguing against the prospect would only make him look more suspicious so he had to settle on going, but keeping his shirt on and staying very clear of the water. His binder does it's job rather perfectly under normal circumstances, but if his white shirt were to get soaked…yeah he'd rather not think about that.

The park was surprisingly vacant upon their arrival. There were a few other families alongside them and a few elderly couples, but other than that it was pretty empty. Weird, guess people usually avoid the mid-day sunburn huh? Nero took the chance to find a nice place in the shade to set down their bags while Vergil pulled out his leather bound book and sat on a sunbed. He looked around to see Dante immediately take off his shirt and jump into one of the pools that had a clear sign up with "Jumping Prohibited". He waited out the small waves his uncle created and sat down on the edge of the pool, his legs soaked up to the knee.

"You're not going in?" Dante floated towards him and shook his head like a wet dog, leaving a grimace on Nero's face.

"...Nah, I'm not a fan of swimming. I'll leave all the pink eye to you."

"Ha, ha, what a courtesy. Fine, if you don't swim, at least drag your old man over here for me? God knows he hasn't had a moment to relax since we came back from hell."

"Are you sure making him swim around in a large body of water is going to relax him?"

"...Just bring him over?"

Nero sighed but got up from his spot and started walking towards Vergil, still very much wearing his coat and reading his book. In like 30 degrees weather (we're using celsius here, but since I'm not an asshole that's like 86 f for you americans).

"…Uh-"

"Go tell Dante that I'm not walking all that way for him to just pull me into that despicable public pool and make a fool of me. I am just fine sitting here until he gets tired of swimming around like an excitable dog."

"And why don't you go tell him yourself?"

Vergil peers over the edge of the book up at Nero and glares at his question. For all he's trying to look intimidating, it takes all of the son's willpower to not laugh and point out how much he looks like a grumpy cat.

"I won't be your message boy."

"Nero you're killing me. You're killing your father."

"...You're insufferable."

Nero shook his head and turned on his heels, walking back to where Dante is happily floating on his stomach. With his head under the water. Huh, was it always that easy to get rid of him?

He stretched his leg out over the edge of the pool and shoved his uncle's side, effectively pushing him under the water and sending him into a small panic, flailing his arms and trying to stand upright.

"Remind me why we're keeping you around?"

"Because that one still hasn't paid child support." He gestured over his shoulder back at Vergil, who, sensing the mention, glared at them like the upset cat he was once again.

"And why won't mister grumpy pants come here and cool off instead of dying in that godforsaken coat of his?"

"Beats me. Probably doesn't like the water. I'm not going in either, you'll have to be the wet dog of this crew. Kinda like Scooby Doo."

"Don't you Scooby Doo my ass, I'm not worthy of that title." Dante looked over at Nero with a worrying look that had the teen scoot back a step, but before he could retort, Dante moved to get out of the pool.

"Come on, let's convince your dad the water isn't evil."

Nero nodded and got up from the edge of the pool, eyeing Dante suspiciously for a moment. When the older one didn't give any sign that he was up to any stupid pranks, Nero had made the fatal mistake of turning his back on his uncle.

Almost as soon as the kid turned around, Dante charged towards him and picked him up easily from underneath his arms, hoisting him up into the air.

"Dante, put me the fuck down right now. I'm not joking. Dante put me down. I'll start kicking where you don't want me to kick, Dante, put me the fuck down now!"

And true to his uncle personality, Dante did not put him down. Instead, he turned around and dangled Nero over the edge of the pool for a few moments with a shit eating grin on his face.

"D'aww, is the big bad Nero scared to get his hair wet? Ouch, hey, watch it, don't bite my arm!"

"Dude, put me down, this isn't fucking funny you old fart-"

"That's it, have a good dunk."

And with that, Dante dropped the teen into the pool, only a sliver of remorse passing through his mind at the possibility that maybe Nero didn't know how to swim. But that's stupid, even if he can't swim, Dante would just dive in to get him out.

But to his surprise, the kid did know how to swim. In fact, he knew how to swim so well that he was out of the water and trying to hurry back into the changing rooms as quickly as possible. He exchanged a confused look with Vergil, who only seemed even more pissed at the fact that he had upset his son. Oops. Dante raised his hands and shrugged, nodding his head in the direction of the disappearing teen who…seemed to be shaking? Had the water been that cold? He walked back towards his twin with a worried expression.

"Uh…is Nero okay?"

"You just threw him into the pool."

"Yeah but that's something that makes you get out and push the other person in! It's supposed to be fun, not make the kid run with his tail between his legs. Why would that upset him so much?"

Vergil sighed and lowered his book, thinking about his son's behavior.

"...You really are thick skulled. Maybe he doesn't like being surprised or picked up. Give him some time for now. I'll go see what's wrong if he doesn't come back in a few minutes."

With that, Dante went to sit on the opposite sunbed, sulking. When five, then ten minutes passed, Vergil put his book down completely and got up from his seat, looking around the park. Without a word, he started in the direction of the changing rooms, then knocked slowly on the door. When he received no response, he pushed the door, confused to find the room empty. That is, until his hearing picked up a small sniffling sound coming from the bathroom. He sighed once more and took the few steps towards the cramped room, giving the door a couple of tentative knocks.

"Nero? Are you in there?"

The sniffling abruptly stopped and he heard the shuffling sounds of someone hurrying to make themselves presentable.

"Uh, yeah, I am!"

"Is…is everything okay?"

"Yep, better than ever! I'll be out in a few minutes, don't wait for me. I'm sure Dante is going to push you in next so be careful."

Vergil clicked his tongue. It was clear the kid wasn't okay, he was trying to divert his attention from himself and he seemed to lack a certain annoyance towards the man who just threw him into the pool and made him cry. He was so going to strangle Dante.

"Your uncle and I were thinking of leaving soon, actually. Nero, why are you crying?"

Nero cursed silently the damn demonic hearing that picked up on every little detail. He pinched his nose bridge and tried not to sound extremely annoyed the next time he spoke.

"Look, I'll be out in a few, okay? You go back to Dante."

"Nero, I would like to know if you were hurt in any way. Can I come in?"

"No! Don't-" he took a moment to clear his throat, his stupid voice breaking in the worst moment. "Don't come in. I'm fine. Just leave me alone."

"...Nero. While I respect your privacy, I am worried. I need to see that you are unharmed."

"Please. Please don't."

"Can you please come out, Nero?"

"..."

The soft click of the door was the only response that met Vergil as his son stepped out of the bathroom, visibly soaked to the bone but otherwise safe. While looking him over, Vergil realized why his son insisted on not coming out of the bathroom. His gaze left that area and when he looked into the teen's eyes, the dams broke. Nero's eyes were bloodshot, fearful and…tired. Tired of hiding himself, perhaps? Tired of people overstepping his boundaries? Tired of…himself?

The next thing Nero did was to sink down to the floor and bring his knees up to meet his forehead. There was no use in muffling his sobs now but he did it anyway. It was over now. What little he managed to mend the relationship with his father was for absolute naught, Vergil would visibly cringe at the confession, maybe even physically recoil and, if he wasn't trying to keep himself from breaking apart, he would have laughed at the image. He was going to reject him, maybe leave him behind a second time, why not? People have all sorts of reactions to this kind of stuff, he was expecting it, he was ready for it, nothing would hurt him if he just expected it-

And yet, what he hadn't expected was for Vergil, for his father, to sit down next to him and pull him into his side for a hug. Nero didn't even manage to flinch or fight it, in fact, he was grateful for the warmth and comfort. He mindlessly leaned into his father's hug and hid his face in the other's chest, much like an overwhelmed child.

Vergil pulled his son closer, his hand on the back of the teen's head. Truth be told, he had no idea if Nero understood his actions, if he understood that he did not care for what he used to be or what his body looked like. All he knew was that he had a son, and things would stay that way, unless Nero decided to change that. His son's shaking made a piece of his heart break so he kissed his temple in hopes it would help the both of them.

After Nero had calmed down some more, Vergil used the Yamato to quickly teleport the both of them back to the Devil May Cry. He made sure his son was wrapped into the softest blanket they had lying around and the hot chocolate he made was the right temperature before he left to bring Dante back. He had half a mind to let him figure out how to get back on his own, but Nero had asked him to bring him back and, well, there's only so much a man can resist is there?

As soon as he saw him, however, Vergil took it upon himself to smack his twin upside the head for the idiocy he had displayed that day. Dante yelped, rubbed his head and apologized to Vergil for hurting Nero. He tried to inquire as to why what he did had upset the kid so bad but Vergil only scoffed before slicing the space matter with his blade.

"It's up to him to decide if he wants to tell you or not. Your responsibility is to apologize. And you will, but not tonight. Let him rest."

"I have to say, Vergil, for all your cold exterior you make a pretty good dad."

"Step through the portal, Dante."

Vergil even had the courtesy to teleport the younger twin straight to his own room and avoid having the kid face him again that evening. For the rest of the night, the older twin sat with his son on the couch, watching the shittiest movies Nero could find and refilling his hot chocolate before the teen could even realize his cup was empty. Once he had fallen asleep, Vergil made sure to carry him back into his room. Carefully, as to not wake him up, he tucked his son into bed and kissed his forehead before leaving the room.

I was going to write more but this was getting pretty long so! I decided to split it into two parts. I'm probably going to write Dante's part anyways, but let me know if you'd like to read it!

[asofspades]

Okay, I got myself a physical copy of The Sun and The Star because I will always prefer a physical book to a digital one and also I can annotate them to my heart's content.

I've tried to not dive too deep into the critics of this book, mainly to avoid spoilers, but also to avoid entering this read with preformed ideas on why it's supposedly a bad book.

Now, I feel like I have to talk about why people may think this is a bad book, I've seen that one of the main critics is Nico and Will's relationship and, having read TOA, I have to say I have a feeling this is a mix of internalised queer phobia and preconceived ideas of what gay romances should be like (mainly, people want a plain straight romance but in a gay format).

Listen, I started TOA thinking that maybe Rick had completely erased Nico and Will's personalities and just made them GAY™ (ykwim). But what I saw instead was two characters who do happen to be traumatised teens in a world that keeps on traumatising them who so happen to be queer and be in a blossoming relationship.

Some of the critics are people saying Will is too controlling about Nico using his powers, but let's all just use our critical thinking skills for a hot minute and realise that the last time something big happened Will found Nico on the brink of death after Shadow travelling well past his limits, killing a guy after unleashing even more power he didn't have the energy for and fading into the Shadows. And let's also take into account that Will (a 14 y.o at that point) is the head medic of camp, so every injured camper is his responsibility and he's also the head counselor of his cabin, a position he acquired because every older Apollo kid died in the battle of Manhattan/labyrinth when he was 13. So we have a kid with way too much responsibility on his shoulders, who lost all of his older siblings at 13 and had to assume more responsibility who's seen his then crush now bf on the brink of death due to overusing his powers. Also, he literally let's Nico use his powers in Tower of Nero and they have contingencies for Nico passing out after shadow travelling, which probably means they actually communicated. I don't really see what's controlling about any of that, especially if you take into account that Nico has been borderline suicidal (because that kid will give up his life in an instant if it means helping the people who need it) and he, historically, has had basically 0 regard for his own wellbeing, something they basically show us he's working on.

Also, some points that I've seen discussed about their relationship are similar at some points to Percabeth's early years of relationship and I've seen no one criticising them for Percabeth, which is what makes me think some people just think queer relationships have to be sunshine and rainbows or be toxic, as if a couple, particularly of young teens with a buttload of abandonment and self worth issues, won't have arguments or ever disagree about anything.

This last point I'm bringing up is just purely speculation, but I've seen people complaining about the fact that Rick wrote this with another writer, as he said it was to make the gay aspect of the characters more accurate from someone who's queer. And I do feel that that decision might have derived from the heavy (and for me kind of undeserved) criticism of Solangelo's relationship dynamic in TOA. Also, some people might have been expecting a regular romance, and some people might have been expecting something purely action packed or something more similar to Percabeth's Tartarus section in HOO, which to that last one I have to say that comparing two people in a longer relationship who have interacted more often and have gone through basically all of their trauma since they were 12 together with another couple that's just starting out and made out of a kid who has too many responsibilities on his shoulders regarding the lives of people and a kid with a huge fear of abandonment and a history of being an outcast and not really liked due to his parentage and his powers as a whole (the boy owns it most of the time but we can't keep denying his self-worth issues just because he's a badass), plus one of them literally went through Tartarus alone before and had a very traumatic experience during and afterwards and the other literally needs sunlight to live, I feel like that would generate some conflicts.

That's all I wanted to say so far, do prepare for another rant once I'm done with TSATS, and probably another one where I do a more in depth analysis of Will and Nico's trauma throughout all of the Percy Jackson sagas and tell you how it shapes the beginning of their relationship.

[sephirthoughts]

Vincent's New Kid Just Dropped CH 15: (fucking finally)

prev. chap here

back in the present, sort of ollie-centric, reeve is bewildered, nero gets several surprises in a row

RATING: teen and up there are several swears

WARNINGS: baby drooling a lot, giant spiders

NOTES: er-ge (ahr-guh): second elder brother, gege (guh-guh): elder brother affectionate. ollie's baby babble uses these terms

this man needs several lifetimes of vacations

darkness tentacles cause i think they're neat

“Stop that,” Sephiroth scolded. “What are you doing?” 

“I’m getting some juice,” Nero replied.

“If you want something, ask politely.” 

“Why is it more polite to ask someone else to pass me something, when I can get it myself?” 

“Because it’s rude to reach across the breakfast table with your disgusting tentacles.”

Cid, who had never heard Sephiroth sound even mildly annoyed since he’d begun constantly being here, looked up from his bowl of eggs and rice. “What’s goin’ on, you two?”

“My brother is jealous because I slept with our father,” Nero cheerfully announced, as one of his darkness tendrils poured juice into his glass, from the carafe.

Cloud choked on his coffee, Ollie burbled gleefully, and Vincent pretended not to hear any of it, from behind the week-old edition of the Wutai Times, he was reading. 

“Don’t say ambiguous things to intentionally cause misunderstandings,” Sephiroth said, tugging the carafe from the tentacle’s grasp.

“You know, Sephi had a duel with my brother Weiss, once,” Nero intimated to Cloud.

“Your older brothers fought each other?” Cloud asked curiously. “I didn’t know that. When?”

“It was years ago, when Weiss was sixteen. Shinra broadcast it on live television.”

“Holy shit. How’d that go?” 

“Sephi was the favorite to win, but Weiss nearly killed him,” Nero smiled beatifically. “In the end, he had to cheat. Isn’t that right, Sephi?”

“What did I just say about intentionally causing misunderstandings?” Sephiroth replied flatly. “You are mischaracterizing the situation.” 

“Oh? Then do correct me.” 

“I never wanted to fight Weiss. I was called back from an important mission and forced to participate in a product demonstration, for the executives. Hojo deceived him and used an implanted control chip, which was the product, to cripple him, halfway through the fight. The point was to demonstrate its effectiveness to the board.”

“And how very effective it was,” Nero sneered. “By the way, did you know that Genesis visited us, in Deepground, before the fight? He sparred with Weiss, and gave him tips on how to beat you. He said it was time you were knocked down a peg.”

Sephiroth’s brow knit and his jaw tensed, but he ignored the taunt, and spooned some cubed peaches into Ollie’s bowl. 

“Nero, that’s enough,” Vincent’s deep voice said from behind the newspaper. “No reason to needle your brother’s old wounds.”

“Sorry, father,” Nero replied dutifully.

“I liked it better when you sulked in your bedroom all day,” Sephiroth muttered.

Breakfast continued in silence, but for Ollie’s cooing and babbling, and the occasional rustle of Vincent turning the page of his paper. All the while, unobserved by anyone, a spider-silk-thin strand of darkness had been creeping along under the dining table, climbing the leg of the baby’s high chair, like a vine.

Now, it slithered up and coiled around a chubby ankle, disappearing inside a lavender sock. Ollie gave a loud squeal and kicked her legs, but when Sephiroth looked, assuming she’d dropped some peaches into her lap, there was nothing amiss. 

“Are you all done, Ollie?” Cloud asked. “You want to go play?”

“Mama,” Ollie agreed, reaching out her little hands, which were dripping sticky peach juice. 

Nero rested his chin in his palm “Why does she call you mama, when Sephi is clearly the maternal one?” 

“Uh…” Cloud looked at Sephiroth, who was carefully cleaning the baby’s face and hands with a damp cloth, while she wiggled and refused to cooperate. “Who knows. Maybe because I’m small?”

“Why are you so small?”

“You know we’re the same size, right?”

“Yes, but I was born in prison, and suffered from severe malnutrition, as a child.”

“I was malnourished, too. Grew up poor, with no father, in a tundra climate. My mother and I hunted, as much as we could, but…we weren’t welcome in the men’s hunting parties. They’d clear out most of the small game, before we got a chance. Got pretty rough. Especially in winter.”

“So, it was just you and your mother against the world,” Nero sighed. “You must miss her.”

Sephiroth stood abruptly and left the room.

“Why do you have to say shit like that?” Cloud said irritably, after he’d gone. “You know it’s a sensitive subject.”

Nero looked genuinely taken aback. “I was only asking casually. I didn’t mean to—”

“It’s fine. Whatever. Come on, Ollie. Let’s go find gege and we’ll all play a game.” So saying, Cloud gathered up the squirming baby and left the dining room. 

“I know you didn’t intend to be malicious,” Vincent said, folding up his paper. “Just be more careful, from now on.”

Nero crossed his arms sullenly. “I was being careful. No matter what I say, it’s wrong.”

“How d’you think Sephiroth’s gonna act, when you been primin’ him with all that shit talk?” Cid pointed out. “He’s got no reason to give ya the benefit of the doubt.”

“He’s just too sensitive,” Nero groused. “I don’t cry about it, if people mention the horrible things I’ve done. I don’t care.”

“But he does care,” Cid said. “He ain’t you. Can’t judge other people by how you feel.”

“People are so confusing,” Nero said dolefully.

“Tell me about it,” Vincent snorted. “I’ve spent my entire life trying to learn how to interact with other humans, to little avail. I’m afraid I’m still as lost as you are.”

The doorbell rang just then, and Cid got up, tossing his napkin into his bowl. “That oughta be Reeve.”

Vincent nodded. “Go ahead. I’ll join you once I’ve cleaned up, in here.”

“I’ll do it,” Nero said, at which both men turned and stared at him. He scowled. “What? I’m not an idiot, I can figure out how to deal with a few dishes.”

“Well…alright,” Vincent said tentatively. “Thank you, Nero.”

Still looking understandably dubious, the two men exited the dining room. 

Rather than get up to begin clearing the table, Nero remained sitting exactly as he was. Instead, several dozens of darkness tendrils snaked out of his skin markings, waving and wriggling, like the fronds on nightmare anemones. 

At a thought from him, they descended upon the table in a writhing swarm, and sucked up every item: plates, bowls, coffee cups, half-full glasses of juice, even the napkins and silverware. 

Having enveloped everything, the tendrils darted off to the kitchen, with lumps of various shapes visible in their ‘throats’, as if they were pythons that had swallowed prey. Only the prey was shaped like forks and mugs and bowls, and the like. 

The leftover food and other refuse never reappeared, but the flatware and dishware were all spit back out, into their proper places in the cupboards and drawers; every single item sparkling clean, as if they’d all been scoured and polished (which they had been, by the ravenous darkness of the all-consuming void).

The entire process took about sixty seconds, and that was only because the tentacles didn’t know where everything went, and had to figure it out by trial and error. Meanwhile, a few of the larger ones slithered all over the table, leaving it immaculate, as well, while Nero sat perfectly still, apparently in deep concentration.

His mind was not on the mundane task, however, which the tentacles were perfectly able to complete without his attention, but on his father. Despite his taunting Sephiroth with it, he was still reeling inwardly, from the flying lesson in the rain, with Chaos, the other day. And even more so from having awakened, the next morning, to find he’d been sleeping in his father’s arms. 

His knee-jerk reaction was anger, with himself, to have been so weak and vulnerable, in front of the man. But he couldn’t deny that he was moving closer to his goal. The red-cloaked bastard was even beginning to trust him, a little. His reaction when Nero upset Sephiroth, just now, was proof enough that he at least wasn’t considering him guilty till proven innocent.

Though, to be fair, Vincent never treated Nero that way. From the moment he set foot in this house, he was pretty much unsupervised. They’d even let him go out to a grocery store full of civilians. Since he was finished cleaning up, he sent a few thread-thin tendrils slinking into the living room, to listen in.

“Good to see ya, Reeve,” Cid’s voice was saying.

“Thank you for coming,” Vincent’s added. 

“Anything for you two,” replied a pleasant, mature, male voice. “Sorry it took me a couple of days to get here. I was in Midgar, with Rufus, putting together a redevelopment plan for the city’s infrastructure. It’s going to be a hell of a lot of work.”

Cid sounded dubious. “Why do you look so happy about it?”

“Well…I love my job. I mean, my real job as an engineer, now that i don’t have to be Shinra’s single voice of sanity. Rebuilding is going to keep a lot of people employed, for many years, and the result will be a safer, cleaner place for everyone to live. What’s not to be happy about?”

“You’re a weird dude, Reeve,” Cid observed. 

“Yeah, I get that a lot,” Reeve laughed.

“Nothing wrong with being weird,” Vincent’s low-toned voice put in. “Nero, if you’re going to eavesdrop, anyway, you may as well come in here and meet our guest.”

Shit. Busted. 

Having no choice, now, Nero retracted his spy tentacles and went gloomily to the living room. The visitor looked pretty much exactly like he’d sounded. A tall, forty-something man, with greying, dark-brown hair and a neatly kept beard. A little older than his picture in the Shinra company directory, but good looking, overall.

“You must be Nero,” he said. “I’m Reeve Tu—”

“I know who you are, Director Tuesti,” Nero cut him off icily. “What’s a Shinra dog doing in my father’s house?”

“Sorry, Reeve,” Vincent interposed. “Nero wasn’t aware that you’re a friend. Nero, Reeve is with the WRO now, not Shinra. And even when he was, he worked with us and helped us.”

“Reeve, hey,” Cloud’s voice said, from the hallway arch, as he came in, carrying Ollie. “Been a while.”

“Oh, Cloud, it’s good to see you,” Reeve answered cheerfully, then his expression changed and he went white as a sheet, stumbling backward. “S—Sephiroth! Sephiroth’s right behind you!”

“It’s alright,” Vincent said, materializing beside him, to steady him on his feet. “He’s not here to make trouble.”

“You’re…serious,” Reeve faltered, looking around at the perfectly calm group. “What exactly is going on? How is he here?”

“Uh. This is going to take some explaining,” Cloud said. “You may want to sit down.”

Nero was pretty curious as to how Sephiroth was here, too. From what he could tell, the man wasn’t really alive. He was full of the planet’s pure life force, though, which made no sense at all. Dead things can’t interact with the Planet's energy.

Thus, he listened attentively, while in a clear, concise, and perfectly calm manner, Sephiroth related the entire story to Reeve, in broad strokes:

Jenova’s control over him, his madness and death, his becoming conscious in the lifestream, with no memory left but for those Jenova hadn’t torn away, which were all of hatred and pain. His eventual overpowering of her will. His confrontation with Cloud in the ruins of Shinra Tower, using the life force of the remnants, to manifest himself. 

Then his fight for his very existence, when Chaos and Omega awakened, and how, after they returned to the Planet, he was forcibly rejected from the lifestream. How Cloud found him, how they reached an accord of forgiveness, and how the dormant seed of love, buried deep in both their hearts, sprouted again. 

“It’s a new seed,” Cloud interjected. 

“What?” Reeve asked, bewildered.

“Seph claims the seed was already there, for him, but it wasn’t, for me. It’s a new seed.”

“So you say, now,” Sephiroth returned. “I happen to know that you were already in love with me, when we first met.”

“Yeah, the idea of you. Not the very real asshole you turned out to be.”

Sephiroth tossed his head. “I was not an asshole. Not until the incident.”

“Either way, the main point is that Sephiroth is sane, now,” Cloud said to Reeve. “Oh, shit, I forgot to explain why he’s here, specifically. He’s Vincent’s son.”

Reeve nearly fell over again, despite being seated on the sofa. “He—he’s what?”

“Sephiroth is my biological son,” Vincent confirmed, from where he was leaning against the wall, with his arms crossed. 

Reeve passed a hand over his brow. “So, you have three children? Two of whom are augmented former Shinra personnel?”

“That we know of. Hojo used my DNA to conceive Sephiroth before I died, and Nero afterward. There’s no telling how many others he made.”

“Sephiroth wasn’t conceived…you know. The traditional way?”  

Vincent didn’t answer. 

“Uh. Sorry,” Reeve said sheepishly. “That was a weird question.”

“Speakin’ of weird, why’d ya bring the cat-bot?” Cid piped up.

“She has the database you wanted.”

Cid squinted at the perpetually cheerful-looking feline robot. “Uh…she?”

“Why don’t we go out to Cid’s workshop, to talk about this,” Vincent cut in. “I’m sure the boys are tired of listening to us old men.”

This was an obvious excuse, since it had been Sephiroth doing most of the talking, but it was good enough. Carrying the cat-bot on his shoulder, Reeve followed the pair out the back door.

“So, you are some kind of ghost,” Nero said to Sephiroth, when they were gone. “That explains a lot of things.”

“I am not a ghost,” Sephiroth replied tranquilly. “My original body was destroyed, but I never died. This body is just as real. It’s made of physical matter and sustained by my will, as well as the Planet’s life force. Technically, I am more alive than you are.”

“Unless your connection is severed,” Nero said, narrowing his eyes shrewdly. “Right?”

“Nero, don’t,” Cloud warned.

“But I wonder, is it enough to be remembered? Or must you also be loved?”

Sephiroth’s eyes flashed. “What are you implying?”

“You say your body is sustained by your will, but is that true? Is it not actually…his will?” Nero turned his scarlet eyes on Cloud. 

“Mama,” Ollie put in helpfully. 

“All the pain he caused,” Nero went on. “All the destruction and suffering and death, and still, you didn’t let go. No matter what atrocities he committed, you couldn’t make yourself let go of him. Could you.”

Sephiroth opened his mouth to say something, but Cloud interrupted. “No. I couldn’t.”

Nero’s catlike pupils dilated imperceptibly. “And you don’t regret it, do you. Even knowing that you holding onto him, acting as his tether to existence, cost thousands of human lives.”

Cloud’s blue eyes were glistening, but he set his jaw defiantly. “No. I don’t regret it. Not for a goddamn minute.”

“I think…I'm beginning to understand you, Cloud Strife. We are both people whose love outweighs every other consideration, including so-called righteousness and morality.”

“Love makes its own law. Isn't that what you believe?”

“It is. I'm glad to know that you believe it, too. For my brother's sake.”

Nero turned to go upstairs, but at that moment, he felt something he hadn’t, in a long time. It was a tug! Through the darkness! It was extremely faint, almost undetectable, but it was a tug! That was the way Weiss used to connect to him, he’d never mistake it! 

He stopped where he was, breathless, quivering with anticipation, every nerve fiber on high alert, waiting to feel it again. Unfortunately, Ollie had begun jabbering loudly in Cloud’s arms, and it was quickly evolving into a fussy noise, which was frustratingly distracting. Nero needed to go to his room, where he had at least marginal privacy. 

He stepped onto the bottom stair, but as he did, he felt the tug again, and froze in place. This time he caught hold of it, and connected to the darkness. The world around him dissolved into inky blackness.

“Weiss! Weiss!” he shouted, into the formless void. “Brother, where are you! I felt your pull and I came! Brother! Weiss!!”

As he was calling out for his brother, he felt a tickling sensation and looked down. There, at his ethereal feet, grabbing at his shin with its forelegs, was a black spider, the size of a housecat.

Its legs were rather stubby, its carapace was covered with thick, plushy, black fuzz, and its eight crimson eyes were too large, in proportion to its head. The result was that it looked weirdly adorable, despite being an abyssal abomination. 

Nero curled his lip in disgust, shaking the thing off his spirit projection’s leg. “What the fuck are you? Why are you here?”

The big, glowing eyes blinked stupidly up at him, but he felt a wave of exuberantly friendly intent, coming from it, as it reached up and began to prod him with its palps, again. It must be a juvenile, and unable to communicate in more complex terms. That would explain its inane cuteness.

“But how did something so small and stupid escape from Chaos, and get into my void?” he asked, rhetorically. 

The thing kept batting his shin and shooting waves of idiotic enthusiasm at him. 

“I’m looking for my brother. You haven’t seen him, have you?”

When he said the word ‘brother’, he felt a strong pulse of affectionate intent, from the thing, and its forelegs smacked him even more excitedly. 

For half a second, he almost thought the creature might be Weiss, but dismissed that idea, immediately. Weiss wasn’t a spider, on the other side, and this thing was made of darkness, like him. It was probably just some random anomaly, generated by Chaos.

“Why don’t you go away?” he said irritably. “I’m here to look for Weiss, I don’t need any annoyances tagging along.”

The thing stopped jabbing at him, pushed itself up on its hind legs, then toppled theatrically onto its back, where it proceeded to flail its legs about, exuding unbearable woe, as if nine generations of its ancestors had been wronged. 

“Fine, whatever. You can hang around with me, just don’t make any noise,” Nero said, as his body warped and expanded, swiftly becoming the massive, nightmare spider of the void. “And don’t annoy me, or I’ll toss you out of here.”

The little spider vibrated with joy as it skittered up one of his enormous legs, and positioned itself happily on top of his head. It was physically impossible, of course, for a thing the size of a cat to traverse his planet sized body, but this was the void, and they were conceptual beings. When he grew, the little spider grew, in direct proportion, so it still seemed the same size, relative to him.

For time untold, the colossal spider traversed the endless darkness, with the little spider perched atop his head, searching desperately for any trace of Weiss. But no matter how he called out to him, there was no answer. No sign of his light, to be found. 

Sensing his deep dejection, the little spider (who he’d entirely forgotten about, till that moment) wiggled its legs and radiated comfort, like a miniature hot-water bottle. Or an impossibly titanic hot-water bottle, depending on one’s perspective.

“Maybe he’s not strong enough, to keep up the connection, and had to drop it right away,” Nero sighed, as he shrank back down to his humanoid form. “All I can do is wait, and hope he’ll reach out again soon.”

The cat-sized spider on top of his head patted his face sympathetically, with two fuzzy, clawed forelegs. He pulled the thing off and set it on the (purely metaphorical) ground. 

“I’m going, now. I don’t know how you got in, but don’t wander around this place, alone. You could get lost.”

The thing bucked up and waved its pedipalps, sending an impression that it understood. With a nod, Nero winked out of the void.

In the material world, he was still standing with one foot on the bottom stair, and no more than a few seconds had passed. Ollie was yowling and Cloud was trying to soothe her, while Sephiroth hurried away to warm a bottle. 

“It’s ok, Ollie, gege will come back in minute,” Cloud reasoned.

“Ah-guh,” she wailed piteously. “Ah-guh guh guh!”

“I think she wants you,” Cloud said to Nero, who looked back with a sneer. 

“How can you tell any of that drool-machine’s noises apart? Half the blabbering she does sounds like that.”

“Guh! Guh! Ahhh-guhhh!” Ollie howled, even louder, stretching her little hands toward him and struggling in Cloud’s arms. 

Nero almost laughed at the stupidness of her stubby arms and legs flailing about, but then he was struck dead-on by a sensation like stepping off a short stair, and finding it’s a cliff. 

“Oh, fuck. Chaos is going to fucking kill me.”

Cloud didn’t hear him, over Ollie’s howling. “What?” 

“I said…I’ll h—hold her,” Nero managed to make himself pronounce aloud.

“Are you sure?” Cloud asked, doubtfully.

“Yes. Just give her to me,” Nero said, sticking his arms out, and trying not to grimace too obviously.

The squirming bundle was pushed into his arms and Cloud adjusted his grip to the proper position, before he let go. There. He was doing it. He was holding a human infant. There would almost certainly be some horrifying or disgusting consequences, but—

“Hey, it worked,” Cloud said. “She stopped crying.”

“Ah-guh,” Ollie’s suspiciously chipper voice squeaked, close to his ear. 

Nero realized he’d had his eyes shut and opened them. Cloud was grinning smugly, and Sephiroth was standing beside Cloud, with the bottle, thunderstruck.

“What are you doing?”

“Holding my baby sister,” Nero retorted. “What does it look like?”

“But…why?”

“I thought it sounded like she wanted him to,” Cloud explained. “Seems like I was right.”

“Gege, ah-guh, mamamamama,” Ollie babbled, grabbing handfuls of Nero's long, jet-black hair.

Nero very clearly and distinctly felt impressions of Sephiroth, himself, and then Cloud, as she made each of the sounds. “So, you really are calling him mama. Huh.”

“Ah-ah-ah guh-guh-guh,” she said, and blithely stuffed a chubby fistful of his hair into her mouth. 

“Cut it out, gremlin!” Nero protested. “I don’t want your gross slobber in my hair!”

Ollie looked at him solemnly, then spat out the lock of hair with an explosive ‘pffbbbt!’, spraying drool all over his face.

He stood frozen, blinking in stupefaction, while Cloud nearly went blue stifling his laughter.

“Well, I couldn’t possibly separate you two, now,” Sephiroth said. “You’ve clearly bonded.”

Nero glowered at him, as darkness tendrils snaked out and indignantly cleaned the drool from his face, which made Ollie squeal delightedly. Before anyone could react, she grabbed one and yanked joyously on it.

“No, Ollie, don’t!” Cloud exclaimed, but Sephiroth stopped him. 

“It won’t harm her. She’s a child of Chaos.”

“And I wouldn’t let it, anyway,” Nero scowled. “What do you think of me?”

Cloud squinted. “Uh…do you really want to know?” 

Nero ignored him.

Sure enough, the tentacle appeared to have no ill will toward the infant. It just lay there, wriggling helplessly, as Ollie held onto it with both hands and gnawed on it with her pink gums, like corn on the cob. It looked rather disturbing, but the upside was, no matter how much she drooled all over it, the tendril would just absorb it, so it was far less messy than all her usual chew toys (which included but were not limited to, her actual teething rings, her other toys, her own hands, and people’s clothing and hair, especially Sephiroth’s).

“Well, it looks like Ollie has a new favorite,” Cloud sighed. “I guess I’m just an old shoe, now.” 

“Nonsense,” Sephiroth reassured him. “If you were an old shoe, she’d be chewing on you, right now.”

[icycoldninja]

May I please request headcanons for the Sparda boys reacting to their teenage child doing something really sweet for them for Father's Day and saying "I love you Dad" at the end of it all?

YES, CERTAINLY!

Sparda boys + V x Teen!Child!Reader Father's day headcannons

¤ Dante ¤

-Dante wasn't expecting anything for Father's Day because, well, he figured his kid was too grown up to care.

-He was ready to resign himself to the couch and watch TV all day, when his child waltzed into the room, asking him to come to the kitchen.

-Not sure what they wanted, Dante got up and followed them, only to find a lovely strawberry cake waiting for him on the counter, the words "happy father's day, dad" piped in somewhat messy icing-writing on the top.

-Dante was super surprised by this sweet gesture and felt himself tearing up.

-He almost cried, managing to pull himself together in time to accept the hug from his kid, who sheepishly muttered "I love you, Dad," into his shoulder.

-Dante spent one of the happiest afternoons of his life on the couch with his teenager, eating strawberry cake and watching corny movies.

■ Vergil ■

-Vergil remembered how he would go to great lengths to do things with his dad on Father's Day when he was a little boy.

-For this reason, he insisted on doing something with his child; whatever it was, it didn't matter. He just wanted to spend time with his kid.

-You guys end up doing some woodworking in the garage, and at the end of the dayk you produced a pretty nice looking wooden stool.

-Vergil was very proud of this accomplishment, partly because it was the first stool he'd ever made, but mostly because he got to make it with his kid.

-You guys had a blast painting the stool, with Vergil stoically sticking to one color, and you adding all sorts of weird designs. At the end of the day, you hugged your dad, disregarding your paint-covered hands, and told him "I love you, Dad."

-Vergil was so touched. He normally wasn't a sentimental person, but hearing those words from his precious baby always got the waterworks flowing.

□ Nero □

-Nero never really cared for Father's Day since he never had a father to dedicate the day to.

-However, you, his teenaged kid whom he thought had gotten "too old" to hang out with him anymore wanted to change that.

-You decided to set up a barbecue and get him to join. Since everyone loves barbecues, he'd have no reason to decline, allowing you two to spend some time together.

-And that's how the day went; you and your dad cooked up a 3 course meal on the grill, which you later served for dinner.

-At the end of the day, you gave your dad a hug and told him, " I love you, Dad. Happy Father's Day."

-Nero was stunned, slowly realizing the true purposes behind that barbecue. Then he laughed, hugged you back, and said, "I love ya too, kiddo."

● V ●

-V was indifferent to Father's Day because he didn't feel it was necessary. It was just a day used by companies to sell cards in his eyes.

-Of course, you, his teenaged child, were determined to change all that.

-You decided to make this day special by taking him somewhere you knew he'd enjoy being: the library.

-You were right, V loved the library and had a great time quietly reading books there. Afterwards, you went out for some tea at a nice little cafe, peaceful and quiet, just how V liked it.

-You give him a hug on the way home and told him, "Love you, Dad, happy Father's Day."

-V was all smiles from that point on, glad that his kid still wanted to spend time with him despite being all grown up.

[twoidiotwriters1]

Almighty (Leo Valdez xFem!Oc)

A/N: You get fluff, as a treat -Danny Words: 3,057 Series' Masterlist Previous Chapter // Next Chapter Listen to: 'It's Time' -by Imagine Dragons

XIX: Serendipity

Ara and Rachel walk out together from the Big House. "Nothing yet?"

"Completely constipated," Rachel pushes her bushy hair back in frustration. "And you? No funny dreams?"

Ara had no dreams at all because she didn't sleep. "None."

Percy joins them and then points at the hill. "What's he doing up there?"

"Probably feeling sorry for himself," Ara sighs. "Let's get him before Peleus eats him."

The three walk uphill to meet Apollo. Rachel talks first. "I know what you're thinking. Don't do it."

"Can you read my mind, Miss Dare?" The boy asks sarcastically.

"I don't need to. I know you, Lord Apollo."

"Don't call me Lord," he makes a face. "I am just a mortal teen. I do not belong at this camp."

Percy sits next to him. "Yeah, I used to think I didn't belong here either."

"It's not the same. You humans change and grow and mature. Gods do not."

"You sure about that? You seem pretty different."

"You look sadder," Ara crosses her arms and examines him playfully. "But if you don't want to be addressed as a lord, that's fine. So what now, Lester?"

"The other Oracles must be found and secured," he hugs his knees. "I cannot do that unless I leave Camp Half-Blood. And I cannot risk anyone else's life."

"Yeah well, luckily for you I'm legally obliged to do what I think necessary, and considering you're a sorry excuse of a demigod, I can't turn my back on you. You got a prophecy, right?"

Rachel sits next to Lester. "Ara said you were talking to an arrow yesterday. I'm guessing it's wood from Dodona?"

Percy tilts his head. "You found a talking arrow that gave you a prophecy?"

"Don't be silly," Apollo rolls his eyes. "The arrow talks, but I got the prophecy from the grove itself. The Arrow of Dodona just gives random advice. He's quite annoying."

"Right, and Percy's statement made no sense," Ara teases him.

"I must leave the camp," Apollo ignores her. "The Triumvirate means to possess all the ancient Oracles. I have to stop them. Once I have defeated the former emperors... only then will I be able to face my old enemy Python and free the Oracle of Delphi. After that... if I survive... perhaps Zeus will restore me to Olympus."

"We've got a good head-start," Ara shrugs. "We can do it."

"Are you sure you wish to come?" Apollo raises a brow. "Nero said they want you as much as they want the oracles. You have a whole life going on."

"As if you care," Ara snorts. "Like it or not, Lester, we're a team now, so you better embrace it."

"Ara is the closest you'll get to the gods helping you," Percy agrees. "She's got nine blessings, and one is from your dad. You need her and Ara needs you to get this right so she can have an easier time looking after us."

"Besides," Ara adds carefully. "Nero wanted me to kill Meg, she's not safe with him. I think I almost got to her, she just needs to feel like she's standing on solid ground with us. She needs us, Lester."

"Meg doesn't want to be found," he keeps his gaze down. "She's under the influence of her stepfather."

Percy fidgets with his pen. "I've lost too many people to bad influence: Ethan Nakamura, Luke Castellan... We almost lost Nico, too... No. No more. Listen to Ara, you can't give up on Meg. You guys are bound together. Besides, she's one of the good guys."

"I've known many of the good guys. Most of them got turned into beasts, or statues, or— or trees..."

"She's just like I was at her age," Ara places a hand on his shoulder and absorbs some of his anguish. "And look at me now, I have a great sense of humor and I'm so pretty."

"I hate you," Apollo says weakly.

Rachel chuckles. "Things can turn out differently, Apollo. That's the nice thing about being human. We only have one life, but we can choose what kind of story it's going to be."

"It's all about who's there with you," Ara nods. "And I've been exceeding expectations since I was ten."

"I hope you're right," he sighs.

"Well, for starters, I need a prophecy," Ara straightens her posture. "So let's hear it."

Lester wrinkles his nose, but he replies.

There once was a god named Apollo

Who plunged in a cave blue and hollow

Upon a three-seater 

The bronze fire-eater

Was forced death and madness to swallow

Rachel covers her mouth. "A limerick?"

"I know! I'm doomed!"

"Why? What does that mean?" Ara frowns.

"Birdy," Percy speaks suddenly in alert. "Those lines... Do they mean what I think they mean?"

"Well," Apollo looks at him, "I believe the blue cave refers to the Oracle of Trophonius. It was a... a very dangerous ancient Oracle."

"No. The other lines. Three-seater, bronze fire-eater, yadda yadda." Ara feels something swelling in her chest the more her brother says, something tightly bound and almost impossible to contain, but she tries to, because she hates disappointment. "Harley's beacon." Percy stands and looks around. "He said you gave it a tuning adjustment? I guess that did the trick."

Ara's pulse is racing. "But we never got a response, we thought—" her throat closes up suddenly, tight with emotion.

"Were there any other lines?" Percy demands, staring at Apollo. "Like, except for the limerick?"

"Several," Apollo starts to catch up, his eyes set on Ara. "Just bits and pieces I didn't understand. The fall of the sun; the final verse. Um, Indiana, banana. Happiness approaches. Something about pages burning."

Percy squeezes Ara's shoulders, and it's great that he does that because otherwise Ara would've doubled over and fainted. "There you go! Happiness approaches. Happy is a name—well, the English version, anyway." 

"Oh gods," Ara knows exactly where to look, spotting a tiny shape in the distance. "Oh, gods!"

"Apollo," Percy says with a huge smile. "Your escort is on the way."

Festus is spiraling down to the beach. Ara bolts downhill without saying anything, her voice is gone, her entire body buzzes with excitement and all she's thinking is a three-lettered name with huge exclamation points at the end of it. She can't remember ever being angry at Leo for leaving, can't remember being angry about the magic scroll having no messages for her. All she wants is to see him, to make sure he's alive, and most importantly, free of curses.

People call after her as she passes them running, but she doesn't stop, her soul light is glowing brighter than it's done in months, and everything around her is a blur of color and noises. She has a single goal in mind, and she reaches it the moment Festus crashes by the shore, a mix of sand and mud jumping everywhere, a large cloud of dust and smoke elevating from the collision obscuring her vision. Ara stumbles to a stop and surveys the cloud, eyes wide and lightheaded. Lily, Connor, and Nico are the first to reach her. 

"No way..." Connor whispers.

"The crazy elf did it," Lily mumbles in Italian. "Lucky bastard!"

Someone grunts as they make their way out of the cloud, and suddenly, there he is. "Holy crap!" Leo coughs. "I'm so tired of crashlanding everywhere..."

It feels like she's been holding her breath for longer than a few seconds, Calypso comes out of the mess right after the boy, but Ara doesn't notice her at first. The campers gather around them, throwing nervous glances at their General, waiting to see what her reaction will be after months apart.

Leo locks eyes with her, blinks, and so abruptly it knocks the air right out of her lungs again, he smiles. That amazing, crooked grin she's begged the gods to see for six full months. "Leo..." she speaks hoarsely, but her joke dies without even starting. 

"I know," he smirks, knowing what she's trying to say. "It's been three years and you're married to a fireman who looks like Apollo?"

Ara rushes forward and crashes against him, tightly wrapping her arms around his neck while crying. "You're here..." 

Leo holds her with the same amount of emotion, he's shaking. "Gods, I missed you." He breathes, sounding just like her.

"Ara, c'mon you have the power to stop this!"

"I really don't," she mumbles against Leo's neck. "They're doing it for me, because they know I can't do it."

"They're not my girlfriend so I don't see why they get to punch me!"

"The line starts to the left! Orderly queue, guys!" Nico walks past handing out tickets. Ara's pretty sure he's given at least three to Lily.

"You scared my best friend and she cried for months, so man up and take the punishment," Lily punches his arm, doing little to hold back the impact.

"Ouch!"

"For what is worth, I don't think you deserve to be punished," Ara tilts her head so she can look at him, pressing her cheek on his shoulder.

Percy's eyes widen in disbelief. "You wanted to sink his head down the toilet for not leaving any sappy messages on the scroll!"

Leo snorts. "That scroll was for camp, though. I sent one just for you!" He looks at her. "You didn't get it?"

"What? I never got a scroll!" 

"Ah, bummer, I was really proud of it, there were some Mr. Darcy-level bars in it," Leo shakes his head. "I'm sorry."

"I didn't know you sent one for me," she softens. "I'm sorry."

"That's—ow!"

"You're a jerk, and we all hate you," Miranda Gardner briefly kisses his cheek and pats his head. "If you ever disappear like that again, we'll line up to kill you."

"Okay, okay!" Leo huffs, leaning closer to Ara. "I'm not sure I'm happy to be back." But Ara's clinging to him and can feel his emotions. He's delighted with the attention, even if they're all punching him.

Percy shakes his head. "Six months, dude, you had my sister all worried. We're friends and everything, but I was seriously considering to go out there and hunt you down myself—"

"Do you think I wanted to leave Ara?" Leo scoffs, tightening his grip around her. "We tried sending more holographic scrolls. We tried Iris messages, dream visions, phone calls. Nothing worked. Ow! Hey, Alice, how you doing?" He smiles, rolling his shoulder to ease the pain. "Anyway, we ran into one crisis after another."

Calypso sighs. "Albania was particularly difficult."

"Please do not mention Albania!" Nico raises his voice. "Okay, who's next, folks? One line."

Ara scowls. "That only makes me wanna go there even more..."

"Typical." Leo kisses her forehead, then winces when another camper punches him. "Hey, Saggio, why are you holding five tickets? Girl, count your freaking days!" He goes back to the conversation. "So, like I was saying, if Festus hadn't picked up on that homing beacon yesterday, we'd still be flying around, looking for a way out of the Sea of Monsters."

"Oh, I hate that place," Percy makes a face. "There's this big Cyclops, Polyphemus—"

"I know, right?" Leo gawks. "What is up with that guy's breath?"

"Boys," Calypso speaks quietly, "perhaps we should focus on the present?"

Since the landing, Calypso has had trouble meeting Ara's eye, but the girl can tell she's no longer immortal, mostly because the moment she saw Percy there was a brief flash of bright pink coming out of her. Talking about awkward.

Ara doesn't hate the goddess, but it does make her slightly uncomfortable that she won't speak to her. Leo told her once that Calypso wanted to meet her, so she'd sort of, perhaps vainly, assumed that the goddess would rush up to her rambling out questions, but instead there she is, sitting stiffly next to Rachel Dare.

It could also have to do with the fact that Percy is here and she very much threw a curse at Annabeth without thinking and Percy totally knows of it since he spent time in Tartarus. Talking about awkward.

"So the communication issues..." Percy continues. "Rachel Dare thinks it's got something to do with this company, Triumvirate."

"Man, why does it not surprise me that modern corporations are run by zombie Roman emperors?"

"They are not zombies," Lester replies, eyeing the way Leo's holding Ara almost like a disapproving father. "And I'm not sure they run all corporations—"

Leo dismisses his comment. Apollo being here doesn't sit well with him, especially after hearing Ara spent the last two days alone with him in the woods. "But they're trying to take over the Oracles."

"Yes."

"And that's bad."

"Very."

"So you need our help. Ow! Hey, Sherman. Where'd you get the new scar, dude?"

While Sherman talks, Ara untangles herself from Leo, trying to lock eyes with Calypso, she glances at Lester, noticing he's doing the same. He's probably thinking the same she's thinking. Another immortal stripped down from her powers, that's gotta do something to the status quo, right?

Calypso does an odd movement on the table and her face falls when nothing happens, then she realizes Ara and Apollo are looking and blushes, fixing her eyes on Ara as she explains. "Since leaving Ogygia, I have no powers. I am fully mortal. I keep hoping, but—" 

"You want a drink?" Percy offers offhandedly.

"I got it." Leo reaches across the table and pours the lemonade promptly. Ara scowls, no girl is ever amused when her boyfriend goes out of his way to serve another girl so earnestly. "Here you go."

"Thank you, Leo."

"No problem," he smiles sympathetically, then sits down and wraps his arm around Ara's shoulders and she feels the guilt coming out of him.

Ara observes him intently, Leo is looking slightly down at her and not up like six months ago, the rough environment and the physician's cure granted him seven or eight additional inches of height. Now he's taller than Nico and Ara, but not tall enough to reach Percy's—or Lester's—nose. Still, he came back to a lot, and Calypso is out here with nothing to her name, he's probably stressing about doing right by her.

They may not be doomed by a curse anymore, but Ara suspects that they'll never grow out of this awfully inconvenient habit they both have of helping people no matter what. They've changed entirely, but most of their hearts remain.

Harley gets to the front and punches Leo, then squeezes him in a tight hug. "Hey, brother." Leo says affectionately, patting the boy's head. "You brought me home with that beacon of yours, H-Meister. You're a hero! You know I never would've left you hanging like that on purpose, don't you?"

"Birdy helped me," Harley points out. "I love her."

Leo turns to look at her, delighted to see her flushed. "That makes two of us, buddy."

"So," Calypso continues, looking uncomfortable, "these problems with the Roman emperors—how can we help?"

"You will help me, then?" Lester blushes. "Despite... ah, well, I always knew you were kindhearted and forgiving, Calypso. I meant to visit you at Ogygia more often—"

"Spare me." Calypso wrinkles her nose. "I'll help you if Leo and Ara decide to help you, and they seem to have some affection for you. Why, I can't imagine."

"He's okay," Ara says, "if you look past the whining."

"I'm grateful," Lester decides to focus on Leo. "Leo Valdez, you have always been a gentleman and a genius. After all, you created the Valdezinator."

The boy beams. "I did, didn't I? I suppose that was pretty awesome. So where is this next Oracle you— Ow!"

Nyssa completely runs over Leo both verbally and physically in quick angry Spanish, something about his butt and Jesus. Ara is still in the early stages of learning the language and she hasn't reached the angry-mom-scolding level of fluency.

 "Yeah, okay, okay." Leo raises his hands in surrender. "Dang, hermana, I love you, too!"

"Don't leave him out of your sight, Birdy," Nyssa points at her.

Ara smiles, snuggling against him and kissing his cheek. "Wouldn't dream of it."

Leo presses his cheek on her hair, hugging her tightly. "So this next Oracle, you said it was where?"

Percy taps the table to call for attention. "Chiron and I were talking about this. He figures this triumvirate thingie... they probably divided America into three parts, with one emperor in charge of each. We know Nero is holed up in New York, so we're guessing this next Oracle is in the second dude's territory, maybe in the middle third of the U.S."

"Oh, the middle third of the U.S.!" Leo exaggerates his joy. "Piece of torta, then. We'll just search the entire middle of the country!"

"Still with the sarcasm," Percy smiles a bit.

"Hey, man, I've sailed with the most sarcastic scalawags on the high seas."

"He's talking about you," Percy looks at her, then high-fives Leo.

Ara ignores that particular nightmare and thinks about Lester's prophetic lines. "Didn't the grove say something about Indiana?"

"I was just thinking that," Lester agrees. "Good place to start, isn't it? Relatively close when you have a flying dragon."

"My boy, I am so pleased to have you back," Chiron arrives in his wheelchair, pushed by Lily. Everything about that image screams danger. "And you freed Calypso, I see. Well done, and welcome, both of you!" He offers to hug Leo, which is extremely rare.

"Uh, thanks, Chiron." Leo hesitates before leaning into it.

In a flash, Chiron's hoove kicks Leo's belly making him grunt. "Mr. Valdez," he continues quietly, "if you ever pull a stunt like that again—"

"I got it, I got it!" Leo coughs, holding his stomach. "Dang, for a teacher, you got a heck of a high kick. Also, why am I getting kicked when Ara has done a lot more crazy things than I have?"

"I've never died," Ara disputes. "You did. Also, Chiron can't touch the gods's valuables."

"She's right, though that doesn't mean I don't know my way around the rules," he looks at her gravely. "General, if you do something foolish during the quest, I will have you repaint the Big House." Chiron gets taken away by Rachel, and Lily gets back to the front of the line. 

Leo sighs in defeat. "Do it quick, ghost-face."

Lily punches him right on the spot she knows will numb his entire arm. Leo curses loudly in Spanish. "Yo, Nico!" He groans. "Please tell me that's it for the physical abuse!"

"For now." Nico comes to stand next to Lily. "We're still trying to get in touch with the West Coast. You'll have a few dozen people out there who will definitely want to hit you."

Leo scoffs. "Yeah, that's something to look forward to." He leans to whisper in Ara's ear. "Too late to run away and build a life in México?"

Ara chuckles and kisses his cheek. "Too soon."

Next Chapter –>

Taglist.

@siriuslysirius1107 @ask-giggles1303 @im-planning-something-look @bandshirts-andbooks @coolninjapaper @thewaterlily @whenisthefall @1randomcomic @you-bloody-shank @sunflowergraves @owlalex44 @taylordaughter @typicalsolangelolover @writingmia @espressopatronum454 @slytherinnqueen @orbitingpolaris @obxstiles @ellipsisspelled @thepixiechicksh @ebony-reine-vibes

[tsarisfanfiction]

Battlefield Healer

Fandom: Trials of Apollo Rating: Teen Genre: Angst/Hurt/Comfort Characters: Gracie, Jerry, Yan By the end of the battle, Apollo called his youngest children "looking like seasoned pros", but that's not a good thing, not when it was their first battle. TOApril 2024 day 2 - Growing Pains. This was difficult because I wasn't sure how to do this prompt, but in the end I settled on more TON trio kid content! That was not a fun field trip, Chiron!

Gracie was scared.

Chiron had said it was a training exercise.  He’d called it a field trip, to get used to fighting monsters in a controlled environment, but Gracie had met human-Apollo.  Will and Nico had disappeared for a day, leaving Lester (because she wasn’t going to call the weird teenager Dad even if Will and Austin and Kayla did; they’d told her their Dad was the guy that came in dreams, and that wasn’t this pimply teenager Will’s age) behind, and he’d been tense and scared.

Austin and Kayla had been tense, too, especially when Lester and Meg left with Will and Nico and they were the senior campers.  Kayla had kept counting arrows and fletching more until Austin made her stop because her fingers were going sore and she’d need them healthy for later.

Gracie hadn’t been at camp very long, but she didn’t think Chiron’s idea of a field trip-training exercise was the same thing her half-siblings had been preparing for.  The training exercises they’d done in camp had been fun, not… whatever this was.

It was the same with the other campers; the ones like Gracie, that had joined recently, seemed excited about the training trip, and Gracie understood that because it was something different, they got to take their weapons and go out on a trip like she did at school sometimes and have fun!  If it wasn’t for Austin and Kayla, and Will and Lester when they were still at camp, she would be that excited, too.

It had been fun, to start with!  Despite being weirdly tense, Austin had led them in songs while they’d travelled to New York in the bus, and Gracie had gladly joined in, even though she didn’t know all of the songs – or hadn’t done, to start with.  Austin was a good teacher, and Gracie had always been good at picking up songs.

Then they had arrived, and the Ares and Athena campers had charged in ahead.  Gracie hadn’t realised it then, when despite the tenseness she hadn’t really understood why the older campers hadn’t been as excited about this trip as the newer ones, but they’d taken on the front line of Nero’s forces, the biggest and strongest of the grunt fighters.

She’d found that out when Will was gone, disappeared at some point when she hadn’t been looking, and Kayla and Austin were also gone, and a grim faced Sherman had dumped a bleeding Ares kid she didn’t remember the name of on her, because she was the nearest Apollo kid.

There was so much blood.

So much of it, on the once white tiles of Nero’s boring tower, on the orange t-shirt and celestial bronze armour that hadn’t stopped whatever had hit the other camper that hard, and Gracie didn’t know what to do.

Were they dying?  Was it worse than it looked?  What did Sherman expect her to do about it?  She looked around frantically, for Will, or Austin, or Kayla, or Chiron, but she couldn’t see any of them, just more fighting, more blood.

There were screams, too, and not all of them weren’t human.  Shouts and yells and this wasn’t fun.

Gracie didn’t think this was fun.  Ben raced past in his wheelchair, whooping loudly with something splattered on his wheels and over his armoured, spiky gloves, so clearly he did, but he wasn’t the one with a bleeding out camper that had been dumped on him with the expectation that she could do something about it.

She supposed she should be able to.  Apollo was the god of healing, and Will was amazing at it.  He’d even taught her a few things – not the singing, not the hymns.  She knew the words and the tune because it was music but she couldn’t get it to work and Will had said that was okay.  She could still do triage, he’d told her, could still clean wounds and wrap them up and keep people alive.

Jerry had got as far as stitching, and he could get a chanted hymn to do something, but Gracie couldn’t and she couldn’t see him if she looked around.  She could see Yan, standing tall with their bow and picking off Nero’s followers if they got too close, but Jerry was out of sight.

It was down to her, then, and she didn’t know if her patient was dying but they seemed pretty bad and Sherman had taken the time out of a fight to get them to her.

The blood was sticky, when she tentatively put her hand on their shoulder, not on a wound but close enough.  Sticky and warm and part of Gracie wanted to throw up.  It wasn’t that she was bad with blood – this wasn’t even the first time she’d seen blood, she’d helped Will after Capture the Flag because all Apollo kids helped out after Capture the Flag, no matter how not good they were at healing – it was the fact that it was on her.

She was the one that had to keep this camper alive.  That was all on her and it was terrifying.

Focus, Gracie, she told herself desperately, and blindly reached for the small bag on her back that Will had made her pack herself so she knew exactly where everything was.  She still fumbled, shrugging the bag off and rummaging through it desperately because she didn’t remember where she’d put everything, before her fingers wrapped around something cool and fragile-feeling, although Will had promised her those particular vials never broke.

Gracie wasn’t quite sure she believed him, but it was intact as she pulled it out, a miniscule bottle of amber liquid.  A single dose, because judging amounts in action was difficult and a mistake would be fatal, so Will had made sure she was only carrying single-dose vials.

At the time, she’d been a little offended that he thought she’d mess up something like that, when it had been drilled into her over and over and over again how dangerous it all was.

Now, with shaking fingers that kept fumbling the stopper, Gracie was glad, because she’d have been too scared to even try and judge it like this, alone with no supervision and a maybe-dying camper in front of her.

She wasn’t sure if it all even went in their mouth or if she still spilled some down their cheeks instead, but it was administered and now she had to do… what?  What came next?

Stop the bleeding.  The blood was still sticky and warm and it was still leaking out of them.  Clean and wrap and-

An arrow shrieked past her and Gracie’s head jerked up.  There was one of Nero’s wolf-like followers right in front of her, weapon raised, and her eyes went large as her face went cold because-

There was an arrow in their heart, which had them stumbling backwards as they started turning into monster-dust, but Gracie was shaking even more because if Yan hadn’t-

She’d be dead.

She hadn’t even noticed.

Bursting into tears on the battlefield – because this was, it was a battlefield and they could die despite what Chiron said about training trips – seemed like the sort of thing that should not be done, but Gracie couldn’t help it, bandages slipping from her fingers as her chest heaved, because she was terrified.

How could she save someone’s life if she was going to get killed doing it?  How was she supposed to do this without getting killed?  She’d only been a demigod for a couple of months, she was not ready for anything like this!

“Gracie!”  Hands grabbed her and she whipped around to see Jerry.  He tugged her into a hug and she resisted because what if they got killed but then there were legs in front of them and she looked up to see Yan standing over them.

“You two heal,” they said, and their voice wasn’t steady, either, but their bow was and that was comforting.  “I’ll protect.”

“Y-yeah!” Jerry replied, and he looked like he’d been crying, too.  There was blood on his hands, and a smear across his forehead.  “We got this.  Don’t let us die.”

“I won’t.”

Gracie still didn’t feel safe.  Yan was good but they hadn’t been a demigod much longer, and Jerry was a better healer than her but hadn’t been trained for very long, either, but it was a little bit easier, with both of them with her.

“I’ve given nectar,” she reported shakily, and Jerry gave her a watery grin.

“Awesome,” he said, although it came out shakier than she thought he wanted.  He was scared as well – this was his first battle.  Their first battle, and their experienced siblings were nowhere to be seen, somewhere in the thick of things and not on the edges, and Gracie didn’t want to know how terrifying the thick of things was when the edges were this bad.

But Jerry was a better healer than her, and with Yan standing guard, their bowstring singing as they shot anything that tried to get close, they got the Ares camper stabilised.

It should have felt like a victory – a battlefield healing!  They did it! – but all Gracie could think about was how that was only one person, and how many more times they were going to have to do it before they were all over.

She burst into exhausted tears at the thought.

[jaxteller87]

Traditions part 1

Teen years  - Halloween night

It was that time of year again - Halloween. This tradition had been with us since Amber and I were little, watching Halloween classics like Casper, Hocus Pocus, and Beetlejuice. We maintained our annual movie marathon as we grew older and stopped trick-or-treating, but we decided to change things up this year. Instead of having it at Amber’s house, we were having a cozy date night at my house. We began with a double feature of The Nightmare Before Christmas and Beetlejuice, and during dinner, I prepared Amber’s favorite Chinese food. After dinner, we snuggled up on the sofa to watch Casper and enjoy some popcorn.

“I feel like I say this every year, but was this movie always this cheesy?” I asked, tossing a piece of popcorn up in the air and catching it in my mouth.

“Yup,” Amber laughed, mimicking me but missing.

“Thank you for this, Jax. I know this isn’t your thing anymore, but I really appreciate it,” Amber flashed that beautiful smile at me.

“What? Who are you kiddin’? I love this kind of stuff.”

“I thought you were into scarier stuff, like real horror movies?” she asked, attempting to catch another piece of popcorn and succeeding.

“Sure, but I had a horror night with the guys the other week,” I smirked, “I’d much rather hang out with you, though.”

“Oh,” she blushed.

She was right; I had grown out of the kid-style flicks, but I didn’t mind as long as we spent time together. Lately, there had been so much going on with school and helping Ma with club stuff, well, as much as I was allowed to help. We put the popcorn aside and cuddled up on the sofa.

“Oh, I knew there was something I wanted to ask you,” Amber said, looking up at me.

“How much slack did you and Opie catch from the guys for doing the double date pumpkin carving with me and Donna?”

“Nah, it was cool. They just busted our asses a little bit, no big deal.”

Years later, our little family was snuggled up, watching cheesy Halloween movies. We continued the tradition with Mary and Thomas but left Beetlejuice out. We thought it might be a little too much for Mary, being only 5, but when they grew older, Beetlejuice would make its way back into the rotation.

“He’s cute, Mama,” Mary giggled, looking up at Amber. We were at the end of Casper when he became a real boy for the dance. Amber just smiled and agreed.

“Really?” I laughed.

“Of course,” Amber laughed. “I don’t know what girl didn’t think Casper was cute back in the day.” She smiled again, looking at me, then down at Thomas, who was sound asleep in her lap.

Later that night, after watching Hocus Pocus 2, Amber remarked, “It wasn’t as bad as I thought,” looking down at both kids who were sleeping. “I wasn’t sure about watching it because the first was such a cult classic.”

“Mama, I want a black cat for Christmas, and I want to name him Binx.”

“We’ll see, sweetheart. You already asked for the dollhouse,” Amber smiled.

“No,” she mouthed, seeing my grin. She knew I was about to suggest that Mary could have both.

A few minutes later, as we got into our bed, I couldn’t help but laugh.

 “What?”

“You know we can easily afford both, right? It’s just a dollhouse and a cat.”

“Only one big gift, not two. I want our kids to be raised like we were. Besides, she changes her mind so fast,” Amber said, despite Mary being adamant about the dollhouse.

“Well, maybe we could get that cat, and Ma and Nero could get the dollhouse,” I suggested, trying to figure out a way everyone could get a win.

Amber thought for a moment, and I was almost certain she wasn’t going to go for it. “That could work, actually,” she said.

“I wouldn’t mind having another cat around the house,” Amber chuckled, seeing Buttercup, a cat I saved from the shop last year, jump up on the foot of the bed, yawn, and then lay down.

“I always did want a cat named Binx when I was her age,” she snuggled up in my arms.

“You did?” I asked, kissing the top of her head. “I didn’t know that.”

Amber just looked at me with a raised eyebrow, her face saying what her mouth wasn’t.

“Okay, you’re right. If you did, you would’ve gotten me one at some point,” I conceded, and Amber laughed.

            All this talk about felines reminded me of a story about Tig and a cat that looked remarkably like Binx from a few years ago. Tiggy and I took a day trip to the junkyard just outside Grandview to pick up a carburetor for an old pan-head Clay bought at a bike auction past Stockton. On our way home, we encountered that typical storybook scene of the little girl crying under a tree. I signaled Tig to pull over, and he made it clear that he didn’t want to, so I had to insinuate a little harder. Reluctantly, he finally slowed down and pulled off to the side of the road. I spotted the cat perched precariously on a tree branch as we approached the scene. The cat had sleek black fur and bright green eyes, and it bore a striking resemblance to Binx from Hocus Pocus.

“Tig, you always say how you’re the impulsive one; how about an impulsive rescue?”

“Oh yeah? Well, I’ll show you,” Without a second thought, Tig sprang into action. He walked up to the tree with the confidence of a seasoned firefighter. Tig began shouting up at the cat, trying to coax it down.

“Hey there, kitty! You want some candy, huh? Or maybe some ‘nip? Come on down, buddy!” Tig called out.

The cat, however, didn’t seem too impressed by Tig’s efforts. It just stared down at him, blinking slowly as if wondering whether Tig was worth the trouble.

Tig looked at me for help, but it was all I could do to shrug my shoulders and smile, “You got this, Tiggy.”

“Sure I do,” Tig wasn’t one to be deterred easily. He decided to climb the tree himself. Now, imagine Tig, clad in his biker vest, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, attempting to scale a tree like a cat burglar in a slapstick comedy. Branches snapped, leaves rustled, and Tig’s colorful language taught that little girl some words she’d never heard before.

As Tig got closer to the cat, he started making cooing noises usually reserved for baby animals. “Here, kitty-kitty! Uncle Tiggy’s gonna save you!”

“It’s a cat, not a baby,” I suggested.

“Hey. Don’t mock the method. I’m the mother-fuckin’ cat whisperer,” he fired back.

“My bad,” I looked at the little girl who was worried sick. “Don’t worry, darlin’, Tig will get your cat down.”

Just when it seemed like Tig might actually succeed, disaster struck. A particularly rotten branch gave way, and Tig came crashing down, landing like a sack of potatoes on the ground. Miraculously, he managed to avoid any serious injuries, but his pride was wounded. The cat hopped down out of the tree, onto his head, and then strutted over to the kid like nothing had happened. Man, I love that story.

“You know what,” I said, looking at Amber snuggled up in my arms, “We are most definitely getting another cat.”

[nekrosdolly]

diamonds aren't forever - the prologue/chapter 0

i can promise you one thing, death will take us all

a/n; welcome to the first installment of my mini-series, diamonds aren't forever: a devil may cry fanfiction! i'm excited for y'all to read this!! please lmk what y'all think! also, updates will be slow due bc truthfully i haven't had a lot of inspiration to write, so i will get these chapters out when i can!

word count; 2.033k

cw; canon-typical violence mentioned, canon-compliant timeline, following the end of dmc4, dmc5, and post dmc5.

When Kori was twenty-two, she moved to the closed-off city of Fortuna with nothing but cash in her pocket and a single box of her belongings. With what little money she had, she acquired a single-bedroom apartment in the worst part of town and started working at the overly censored record store, where she sold non-secular music that was made by The Order. Nothing that came in ever went untouched by them, as they ensured every CD, vinyl, cassette, and digital download file was clean. It was mostly just opera recorded at the chapel or classical pieces recreated by the clergy’s orchestra. For a while, Kori was content going to work, the twice-daily worship service (although she found it quite odd), and then home. A simple routine to rinse and repeat. She made herself comfortable, although she was lonely. 

She’d seen Nero around. He was part of the town’s protection against demons, so they didn’t care much if he followed their laws. She was jealous to an extent- he wore what he wanted, listened to whatever music, and aside from skipping worship, was excused from whatever trouble he got himself into. Not to mention, Nero was close with Credo, the supreme general of the Holy Knights, as well as his little sister, Kyrie. So, she was not surprised when he showed up at her workplace, looking for something secular and disrespectful to The Order. Truthfully, she knew that if she helped him and The Order found out, she’d be in hot water. That being said, Kori’s never been one to say no to those in need. With a pen and paper in hand, she took Nero to the back part of the record shop, where no cameras were installed, and wrote down her address.

“Meet me here after the dinner mass,” she’d said to him, looking up at him from beneath her hood, “knock twice, pause, then once so I know it’s you.”

In her teenage years, she listened to many bands in the emo genre, something she wasn’t ashamed to admit by any means. Her teen years were rebellious, something she’d aimed to remedy in her twenties. Hell, she’d cut all contact with anyone not in Fortuna (mostly because it was strictly forbidden) to regain some sort of ownership over her identity. She brought the CDs of her favorite bands as keepsakes and reminders of who she used to be, in hopes of serving as motivation to change. So of course she wouldn’t mind lending them to Nero. When the time came and Nero knocked at her door, she let him with haste. Eager to not be caught, she shoved the small stack of CDs into Nero’s hand. One by one, he examined them with interest.

“Slipknot? Korn? Bring Me the Horizon?” Nero raised an eyebrow at her. She looked plain, like every other woman in Fortuna with her hood up. Her hair was a natural color, her face was rid of any piercings though there were hints of them, and she seemed otherwise boring. Flustered, she looked away and nodded.

“Cool,” Nero cracked a smile, “thanks. I don’t owe you anything, do I?” Kori shook her head softly, looking at him once more.

“No, no. I just ask that you return them sometime. I’m a bit sentimental when it comes to those.” She said, tucking a lock of black hair behind her ear and securing it behind her glasses. Nero nodded

“You got it, uh…” 

“Kori. My name is Kori. And you are…?”

“I’m Nero.” He tucked the CDs into a hidden compartment in his jacket.

“It’s nice to meet you, Nero.”

“Likewise. Thanks again, Kori.” The white-haired man ducked out of her home without another word. While Nero hadn’t thought much of it, Kori was ecstatic to have met someone whom she could consider a friend, even if that wasn’t the extent of their bond.

She continued to see Nero around town, but this time, he looked her way and smiled. She would give him the same treatment when he wasn’t occupied fighting demons that had leaked through the walls of Fortuna. It wasn’t until His Highness’s assassination that she found herself to be alone in the midst of chaos once more. Nero and Kyrie disappeared, and though The Order assured the townsfolk that everything was fine, she knew better. The end was nigh, and she’d be a fool to not see that. On the night of the couple’s disappearance, she packed her valuables up like she’d done years ago and downsized into a small box once again, finding herself only missing the CDs Nero had of hers. 

And when the attack on the town came from the Savior, the unleashing of His Highness’s true demonic form, she realized there was little to do but flee, regardless of her friend being okay. The strange man in red seemed to be handling things, but the leather-clad woman who helped the townsfolk evacuate knew that Fortuna was done for. Despite all this, when she was safe outside the city’s walls with the survivors, she couldn’t help but worry for Nero and Kyrie. Though the woman claimed to not know him, it was clear that she knew more than she’d let on. So she waited with the hope that Nero and his acquaintance would prevail, no matter how long it took. When he eventually reigned victorious, she felt relief, but she knew she wouldn’t want to stay in Fortuna much longer. Too much damage had been done to the city, and without The Order, citizens were lost. It wasn’t completely desolate, but she was sure her home was destroyed and she didn’t want to rebuild. So, she turned to the leather-clad woman and asked her name, then if she could accompany her and her acquaintances to wherever they were headed next. 

Much to her surprise, the woman (aptly named Trish), agreed with the promise that Kori would be paying the bills just as much as the rest of them. Oh, how her lonely heart leaped to her throat, her smile unable to be quelled. Nero, Kyrie, the man in red, and a woman in white with two different colored eyes exited the town’s walls. Trish approached them with Kori in tow, clutching her box of things to her chest. She met the man in red’s eyes first, who cracked the sleaziest grin she’d ever seen and introduced himself as Dante. The woman in white was next, elbowing Dante before introducing herself as Lady. The worst part was over, but now where would they go?

The group found themselves split between where to go. Nero and Kyrie wanted to remain in Fortuna, whereas the majority of the group wanted to make for Red Grave City. Swayed by the tides of her friendship (if one could call it such) and the wants of her heart, Kori left with Nero’s acquaintances. But not before Nero returned her CDs with a friendly smile.

“Here. Thanks for letting me borrow them and uh, sorry if there are any scratches on them.” He said, placing them into the small cardboard box she held in her arms.

“It’s fine. Thank you for returning them.”

“Yeah, no problem,” he nodded, rubbing the back of his neck as an awkward silence befell the two.

“Why are you staying in Fortuna?” She asked, looking over Nero’s shoulder at the town. He looked back at the town, then at Kyrie, who was gazing somberly at her home.

“My whole life is here. I don’t know what I’ll do, but I’ll figure something out.” 

Kori nodded, pursing her lips.

“Trish is talking to Dante about letting me move in with them. I suppose you’ll find us should you need to, right?” She smiled meekly.

“Right. See you, Kori.”

“Later, Nero.”

The group went their separate ways- Nero and Kyrie back into Fortuna, Kori, Dante, Trish, and Lady onwards to Red Grave City. It was quiet for the most part and awkward, but it wasn’t something that could have been helped. For the other three, it was a normal day, but Kori hadn’t been that stressed out since she was eleven, watching her brother almost die by his own hands.

Inevitably, she acclimated to the group. Dante’s flirtations were something that she no longer blushed at, and Trish and Lady’s dynamic became more clear to her day by day. She burned her Fortuna robes, dyed her hair, and re-pierced her lips, eyebrows, and nose. She’d devolved into her younger self, someone she’d been trying to flee from for her whole life without a real reason as to what her adolescence represented - pain and hatred. From then on, she’d been running and running without direction, into the arms of anyone who promised change in spades, a rebirth. Fortuna had offered that, but Trish and her friends offered respite from the stresses of normalcy. For that, she would always be grateful. 

Five years later, when the Qliphoth incident struck, she found herself once again, alone. The mysterious stranger who called himself “V” came and took her friends for a journey she knew was harrowing, but she didn’t know what to do with herself while they were gone. For a month, she spent every day waking up with anxiety that refused to go down until she did at the end of the night, and even then, dreams of death plagued her sleep. Be it her own, her estranged brother’s, or her friends’, it was all that she thought about. While she wasn’t a devil hunter, she spent her time working at a library for a steady income, where she’d meet her coworker and soon-to-be best friend, Niko. Niko kept Kori’s brain quiet and for a while, she was Kori’s only pillar of stability until her other friends returned without one person - Dante.

Without Dante, the Devil May Cry Headquarters was oddly quiet for Kori. Nero and Nico returned to Fortuna after the mission, and Trish and Lady headed out on their own venture. Niko remained with Kori for a while, but after falling for Nico, found herself leaving for Fortuna only a month after the rest of them. Desolate. Her shared home was nothing but a graveyard of memories containing people who used to reside there, or people who were away indefinitely. Loneliness has a way of making people break, and it took its toll on Kori. Phones existed, sure, but with Nero being busy with his devil-hunting, Niko and Nico likely helping, she had limited contact. 

She’d been talking to herself while sitting on the couch, a habit she’d had since childhood when suddenly, the very space a few feet adjacent to her had been spliced. She sat up instantly, watching with both horror and awe as the image of Dante’s desk warped into blue matter and the half-demon himself walked through the portal alongside a man who was damn-near identical to him.

“Dante, you’re alive!” She’d never felt compelled to hug someone until now, but she remained seated.

“Miss me?” He grinned, pulling her off of the couch and into his arms for a quick embrace, something she’d found that she needed more than she ever realized.

“You wish, cowboy.” She rolled her eyes despite the smile on her lips that faded when her eyes fell on the imposing man in black and blue. “Who’s this?”

“This is my twin brother, Vergil. Quite the presence, ain’t he?” Dante gestured to the man, who stood very awkwardly as he took in the scenery. Kori looked back to Dante, visibly confused.

“You have a brother?”

“You don’t?”

“Not a twin, anyway.” 

“Well, I’m babysitting him so he doesn’t wreck the town again. Think you can play nice?” 

“When haven’t I?” She furrows her thin black eyebrows slightly before looking at Vergil again, who’d been looking at her for who knows how long.

“I don’t know your life-” Dante shrugs.

“You should. We’ve been living together for five years.”

“I’m going to give Vergil here a tour.” He patted Kori’s shoulder and padded over to Vergil, slinging an arm around his elder twin’s shoulder and chatting animatedly. Opting to stay out of the way, she returned to her room...

[yanderelovlies]

Hello!

Your writings are reaaly good! So I don't know if your requests are still open. But I would like to share this idea!

So how about yandere (platonic) dad dante with daughter reader who looks like Eva, how about this;

Dante is very protective of his daughter that let's say he doesn't let her fight demons or be a hunter. But she has vergil's powers like Mirage Blades or having a katana like Yamato. Let's say dante doesn't like it because when she used them he felt like he saw Vergil and and he forbids them.

Well, after what happened in DMC 5 and with the twins back.

One day dante, vergil, nero and dante' daughter, are surrounded by demons that leave the men lying badly injured. However, his daughter uses her powers and defeats them.Dante doesn't like it and finds out that his daughter was training all that time and Vergil (who is also a Platonic yandere) tells him that he is proud of her and offers to train her.

Thanks you!

Aaah I'm glad you like my writing. I will apologize I didn't mention looms because I try to make it as inclusive as I can. I hope that's okay!

Your mother passed during your birth due to complications leaving your father to raise you on his own. For the most part, Dante did a pretty good job at it too. There were mistakes like every other parent, but you never came into harm's reach when he was around. As you got older you noticed your father's more overly protective mannerisms. You were never allowed around anyone if he wasn't around. He didn't trust them. He never taught you how to use your more demonic power let alone fight. He didn't want you to get hurt he could protect you just fine. It was starting to feel suffocating. So when you hit your teens you began to rebel against him. It was constant fights between the two of you. It was during one of these fights that you learned that you have demonic powers similar to someone named Vergil.  You had hoped such a realization would have brought you and father closer. You thought it would show him that you had what it takes to be on the field with him. 

Instead, you were met with angry shouts and dismissal of the powers. 

“If I ever see you use them around the house or me So help me I will ground you!”

“You can't do that!”

“Watch me!”

He later apologized

“I just want you safe…. you're all I got kiddo.”

“But who will protect you? …..What if you never come back?”

“I will always come back to you. I promise. Besides you, aunts are pretty good at keeping your dad in check.” 

You pretended to comply with your father's demands, but when he was gone, and one of your aunts was watching you; you trained to hone your demonic powers along with knack with the katana. You got deeper into your training when your father disappeared. Nero claimed he would protect you as your father made him promise, but you knew Nero couldn't be there all the time. So you kept training.

You didn't understand how well your training paid off till the night of your father's return. While lounging in the room upstairs you heard a loud crash below. Terrified you grabbed your weapon, creeped out of your room, and looked over the balcony. There was a fight below. Nero, your dad, and an unknown man were fighting hoard after hoard of demons. They started strong, but as more came the more tired they became until eventually the three of them were on the floor a stab away from death. 

“Father! No!” without much thought you jumped from the rail sword at the ready when you land. Summoning mirage blades while fighting was second nature to catching the attention of everyone in the room. By the time the rest of your family was able to sit upright again, you finished the last of the hoard. You sheathed your sword letting out a tired sigh. This felt way different compared to your training, but you kinda liked it! 

You turned to your father with the biggest smile proud of what you had just pulled off. Only to be met with a harsh glare, and said man stomping towards you. Before you could say anything Dante snatches the sword out of your hand his stare was harsh. “ What did I tell you.” he seethed.

Your smile turned into one of shock as you opened your mouth to say something but quickly closed it. This wasn't how you thought he would react. You thought he would be proud. You thought he would finally see that you're ready! Before your dad could say anything more the man from before walks up beside him snatching the katana from him. 

“They did just fine Dante… I don't see why you're so against it.” The man held the katana out to you, but before you could try to grab it Dante tried to snatch it again. The man moved it before he could sending him a harsh glare. 

“They are my kid, and I don't want them to have the same lifestyle we did.” 

The man rolled his eyes “So teach them how to fight. To protect themselves when you're gone.” This seemed to throw your father in frenzy, but before he could fling himself at the man Nero pulled him back glaring between the two.

It was silent for a while before the man walked closer to you handing your sword back. “Im proud of how far you've come on your own. Keep up the training. Now go back upstairs your father and I will clean up down here.” he pushed you towards the stairs before walking to Dante. 

“Let's get this over with.’

[sephirthoughts]

Vincent's New Kid Just Dropped CH 13: Deepground Flashback and Present Day, Sephiroth and Cid get a little screentime

RATING: this is a pretty teen-and-up chapter

WARNINGS: disgustingly fluffy family stuff, gratuitous reading of Loveless, Genesis being the world's best onii-chan, referenced torture, phantom pain, PTSD, Vincent being an old man, canon-typical Sephiroth sadness

HE'S JUST A LITTLE GUY

brothers 🖤♥️🤍

also keep this outfit in mind

“Self-care is an essential life skill,” Genesis was saying, as he sat at the table, in Weiss and Nero’s room, gently pushing back Rosso’s cuticles, with a tool from the manicure kit he’d produced from a coat pocket. “We don’t groom and dress for others, but for ourselves. Even if you’re not going out, on a given day, you should take a little time to make yourself feel beautiful.” 

“I am not going out any day,” Rosso said disconsolately. “And I don’t care about feeling beautiful, I just want to kill things.”

“Well, live your truth, darling, but self-confidence is an essential battlefield tool. Good grooming habits are a foundational element of self-confidence. Even on the front lines, I always kept my manicure kit with me.”

Rosso appeared skeptical. “You really did?”

“Mn,” he nodded, as he smoothed the rough edges of her fingernails with the crystal emery board. “I consider it a necessary item for survival.”

“A necessary item for survival…” she repeated, gazing dazedly at her newly manicured hands.

When Genesis was satisfied that the girl’s nails were as good as they were going to get, he stowed the tools and zipped up the little case, which had obviously been custom made for him, with an ornate apple tree embossed in the red leather.

“You know what? I want you to have this,” he said, holding it out to Rosso. “You can use it to establish your own pre-slaughter self-care regimen.”

Rosso’s eyes went wide, and she glanced over at Nero and Weiss, who were paying no attention whatsoever. “Me? I can’t…I can’t take such a nice thing, from you.”

“Nonsense, I have a hundred manicure kits. I insist,” Genesis countered, pushing it firmly into her hands. Seeing that she was still hesitant, he added, in a softer tone, “Every girl deserves to have pretty things, little sister.”

That master stroke thoroughly conquered Rosso, who had never been spoken to so kindly, before, let alone received a gift from anyone. She accepted it without further protest, blushing nearly as red as the manicure kit, in her flustered state. “Thank you, b—brother.”

“Don’t mention it. Now then, I think it’s high time we…ahem.” Genesis planted his hands on his hips. “Little brothers? I do admire your unquenchable passion, but if you could remove your tongues from each other’s mouths for long enough to have a conversation, I’d be much obliged.”

“We can talk without our mouths,” Nero informed him, through the darkness link.

“But our sister can’t,” Genesis said aloud. “It is rude to exclude her.”

“They are watching. And listening,” Weiss replied.

“Are they indeed.”

Genesis stepped to the center of the room and scanned the area, quickly spotting the concealed cameras and listening devices, in addition to the openly visible ones. Then he wheeled about, smiled directly into the primary camera, in the ceiling above the door, and raised his middle finger, before he tossed out a sparking and snapping thundara burst. 

Rosso gasped and the two boys gave a jolt of surprise, as it struck the camera dead-on, and went crackling along precise and specific paths through the metal walls, instantly frying all the surveillance equipment, while leaving the lights and other systems intact.

“I do dislike being spied upon,” he sneered, dusting off his hands. “Now, tell me why the hell I can hear you two in my head. And why I get such a strong feeling, as if…I don’t know. As if we’re all actually blood related.”

“We don’t know, either,” Nero answered truthfully. “Weiss and me are half brothers, by our mother. We can talk to you in our heads because the darkness thinks we’re connected to you by blood. Rosso, too, but not as much as you. That’s why I can’t use it to talk to her, without hurting her. But it hasn’t ever thought anyone else is connected. Only us four.”

“Hm. You wouldn’t, by any chance, happen to have a parent from Banora, would you?” Genesis put forth.

Weiss shrugged. “Maybe. Our mother was a scientist here, but we don’t know anything else about her. She could have been from there.”

“I don’t know anything about my parents,” Rosso said, in answer to Genesis’ questioning look. “I only know I was born in Deepground.” 

“You were all born here, then. That makes sense for the three of you, but how do I fit into this little chain,” he mused, tapping his chin with a perfectly manicured finger. Then he shook his head, with a sigh. “Well, speculating isn’t solving anything. I shall have to do some digging around, on my own. I have a sneaking suspicion that behind this thread there will be a much bigger knot, to untangle.”

Weiss studied the young man surreptitiously, as he arched his back in a stretch, then carded his fingers absently through his auburn hair. 

His red coat and leather waist armor hung on the hook by the door, and he’d removed his gloves, before working on Rosso’s fingernails. Now, in only his sleeveless SOLDIER uniform top and trousers, it was suddenly apparent how very hard and muscular his body really was. 

His long, streamlined trench coat, with its black, scarab-wing epaulets, had a minimizing and slenderizing visual effect, on his tall frame. It was the opposite effect to Sephiroth’s huge, white pauldrons and exposed chest, which made his lean and agile frame appear bulkier and more imposing than it was. Sephiroth was almost half a foot taller than Genesis, and somewhat broader in the chest, but the two were actually fairly comparable, in terms of muscle mass.

If Genesis and Sephiroth were built like swordsmen, however, Weiss was built like a heavyweight boxer. He needed no creative costuming whatsoever, to make his body appear more tank-like. The researchers liked to say that all the boy had to do to gain muscle mass was eat and breathe, which was fairly close to the truth. 

“So, you want to fight Sephiroth,” Genesis said, sensing that he was being sized up. “How very amusing that will be. If he doesn’t just kill you, I mean.”

Wiess gave a snort. “Unlikely.”

An auburn eyebrow arched. “So confident. But take care it isn’t baseless arrogance. Remember, we trained together. I have sparred with him, on many occasions. Not to compliment him unduly, but I will tell you now, he is the strongest opponent I’ve ever faced. There is no way to describe him but…monstrous.”

“He is a monster because he is impure,” Weiss said, unconcernedly. “I am not. The corrupted can never triumph over the immaculate.”

Genesis squinted doubtfully. “Purity is a rather esoteric principle. I do hope that’s not all you’re basing your self-assurance on.”

“One way or another, I intend to defeat him. Is that a problem?”

“Please,” Genesis scoffed. “I would like nothing more than to see Sephiroth taken down a peg or two. His ascendancy has gone on quite long enough. But, you’ll have to forgive me for doubting your ability to do that. You may be naturally gifted, but he has years of experience in real, life and death combat.”

Weiss only smiled. “You doubt me because you’ve never fought me.”

“True enough. I suppose all will be revealed when I test you, tomorrow.”

“My brother is the strongest, you’ll see,” Nero put in, proudly, which made Genesis smile and ruffle his black hair.

Rosso said nothing, but quietly hoped Weiss was not making a serious miscalculation. She still wished he wouldn’t do this mad thing, but he was the leader and he’d made his decision. She had no choice but to trust him, and hope for the best. 

All that afternoon, no one came to see about the damaged surveillance equipment, and when the handlers delivered evening meals, they didn’t mention anything about it. Genesis imagined that Hojo was probably fuming, but he seemed to have an understanding with Weiss, and there was no way he was going to risk a full-scale disaster, at this point, by interfering with a bunch of teenaged weapons of mass-destruction, at their slumber party. 

Much later that evening, Rosso had gone back to her own quarters, leaving the other three to themselves. Genesis was seated on the bed, reading aloud to Nero, whose ink-black head was nestled in his lap, and to Weiss, who was snuggled up to him on the other side, with his snow-white head resting on his shoulder, gazing curiously at the first ink and paper book he’d ever seen in person. 

“There is no hate, only joy. For you are beloved by the goddess. Hero of the dawn, healer of worlds. Dreams of the morrow hath the shattered soul. Pride is lost. Wings stripped away, the end is nigh.”

“This isn’t a very nice story,” Nero grumbled, from his lap, rolling his shoulders with their bare brackets, since his metal wings were hanging on a rack on the wall.

“Not every part of a story can be nice, little one,” Genesis explained. “They’re a bit like life. If there’s nothing sad or bitter in them, how can we fully appreciate the sweet parts?” 

“Hmph,” was all Nero said in response.  

Genesis chuckled and petted his head, then returned to reading. 

Despite Nero’s initial grouchy declaration, both boys eternally endeared themselves to the famous SOLDIER, that evening, by listening attentively, through the entirety of the meandering and abstruse narrative, all the way to the end. Even Sephiroth had only done so once, in all their long acquaintance, and he’d fallen asleep halfway through.

“My soul, corrupted by vengeance, hath endured torment to find the end of the journey; in my own salvation, and your eternal slumber. Legend shall speak of the sacrifice at world’s end. The wind sails over the water’s surface, quietly, but surely.”

As he wrapped up his reading, Genesis heard a sniffle and looked up from the book. He was astonished to find Weiss wiping away tears, from his silver-blue eyes. 

Weiss saw that his unwonted display of emotion had been noticed and scowled sullenly. “The end is too sad. I don’t like it.”

“But it hasn’t ended, yet,” Genesis pointed out. “How do you know it’ll be sad?”

“What do you mean? There’s no more written, after that. The pages are blank.”

“That is one of the most intriguing things about this work. It was either left unfinished by the original author, or that part of the text hasn’t been discovered yet. Who can say what the ending will be?”

“It doesn’t matter if we don’t have it written out. I know it’ll be sad,” Weiss maintained. “The end will be about sacrifice. That’s the theme, the whole way through. Even if the world is saved, someone will have to die saving it.”

Genesis tilted his head. “And that makes you sad?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Weiss paused, struggling to clearly frame his ideas. “Because…only someone who deserves to live would give up their life for the world’s sake. Tragedy is inherent in the very act of heroism. It makes me sad that someone so strong and brave has to die, to save all the weak, undeserving people, who will never know, and never appreciate it.”

“Hm. You are very astute,” Genesis remarked. “It takes most people much longer to decipher the themes in this work. But, might it not be the case, that true heroism lies in self-sacrifice, for its own sake, without expectation of recognition or reward?”

“Maybe, but that only happens in fantasy. I would never sacrifice myself or my brother, for the world’s sake. Even if we didn’t deserve life, I’d take it for us, with my own hands, and destroy anyone and anything that stood in the way.”

Genesis smiled archly. “I think, little brother, that would make you a villain.”

“I’ll be the best villain, then,” Wiess declared staunchly. “Being a hero sounds stupid, anyway.”

By way of reply, Gensis laughed aloud and leaned over to press a kiss to his cheek.

It was the first time anyone but Nero had dared to so boldly assail his person. Weiss was startled by the gesture, but found that he didn’t exactly dislike it. No, in fact, he rather liked it.

He nuzzled his head back into the crook of Genesis’ neck, to conceal the color that had risen in his cheeks, and mentally added him to the list of people who were allowed to touch him in a familiar way. It was now up to a grand total of two.

Nero, meanwhile, not wanting to be left out, sat up and presented his face for a kiss, too, which was duly granted. Neither of the boys had any way of knowing that this was the most affectionate Genesis Rhapsodos had ever been, with anyone. Including his own parents.

That night, the three newfound brothers talked and debated and laughed, well into the small hours, and eventually fell asleep together, in the narrow bed. Three heads lined up on the pillows, white, black, and red, with little Nero in the middle, safely enclosed in the arms of Weiss and Genesis.

Some time in the early morning, Sephiroth appeared silently, to check in on Nero. There he still stood, as the indigo sky lightened with the approaching dawn, gazing down at something, with a strange expression in his catlike eyes.

On the bed, his little half-brother was sleeping peacefully, in the arms of their father, who was also fast asleep. Two pale, beautiful faces, in repose, so like to his own and yet so unlike. 

Sephiroth had never dared to touch his biological father. Never dared to reach out, to ask for anything, to make even the slightest nuisance of himself, for fear of shattering the uneasy peace, in which he was somehow allowed to remain here, with his infant sister. 

But his brother, who had done nothing but kick and curse, and make his detestation of the whole household loudly known…he was embraced. Held. Soothed and comforted. Nero was treated like Vincent’s son, while Sephiroth was little more than a lonely specter, haunting this happy home. 

They were wary of him, he knew, and viewed all his actions through a lens of suspicion, because of what he’d done. It would be useless to explain that he had been out of his mind, possessed by that creature, and deceived into committing atrocities. The atrocities remained committed. Innocent people were still dead. Exculpating his own guilt would help no one and repair nothing. 

Ironic, that they should fear him, having no idea that the most dangerous man on the planet spent every moment paralyzed with fear, of being cast out from among the only family he’d ever had. Of being cut off from humanity, left to drift through existence, alone and untethered. To become a real ghost, and eventually to fade away.

His entire body and soul ached with longing to be embraced by his father as well, but that was foolishness. He needed no such coddling, he reminded himself. He was a grown man and Nero was a child. Younger than Cloud, by several years.

His cold, flickering body warmed and became more tangible, at the thought of his fiery-tempered and sharp-tongued darling. The only one who had held on, through the madness, and refused to let go of the man.

Cloud was all he needed. Cloud’s love was more than enough to keep him alive. He didn’t need his father’s love, as well. That would just be childish greediness. Tacit acceptance of his presence was all he could hope for. It was far more than he deserved.

Like a little alarm clock, always set to the same time, he sensed Ollie begin to stir, and knew that it was six-fifteen on the dot. With one more lingering glance at his sleeping father and brother, he vanished into purple-black vapor, to retrieve the warmed bottle from the kitchen, and begin his daily tasks. Quietly attending to the things that would otherwise lie neglected, in a house full of men.

“Yeah, I seen ‘em, plenty of times. Usually they’re bein’ used to couple old tech to new tech, where there ain’t compatible connectors.”

It was a little past noon, and Vincent had come to find Cid, in his workshop, out back.

“Newer OS uses a emulator program to talk to the old tech and make it all synch up.” Cid ran a hand back through his hair, giving a shudder as he recalled the metal brackets in Nero’s back, surrounded by deep, ugly scars. “I guess hookin’ up a human body to a machine is pretty close to the same principle, but…god damn. You’d have to be a sick fuckin’ bastard to do that shit to a kid.”

“Can you do anything?” Vincent asked. 

“Don’t know. Maybe. There any way to find his wings?”

Vincent shook his head. “They were obliterated with everything else. I wish I’d known this would be an issue. I’d have been more careful not to leave them behind.”

“Only other way would be to get into Deepground’s system and look for files or anything that might have info on the design.” 

“We should contact Reeve, then. He downloaded Deepground’s entire database, wanting to study its AI program. If there is anything about the prosthesis, he’ll have it.”

“Oh great, he’s studyin’ the fuckin’ AI. Just what the world needs more of,” Cid grumbled, as he lit a cigarette. 

Vincent tilted his head to one side. “What’s wrong?” 

“I just…I don’t get how ya can be so calm about this, Vince,” Cid answered, blowing out a plume of blue-white smoke. “That’s your kid in there, out of his mind and in constant pain, ‘cause of some monstrous shit Shinra did to his body, without—” He broke off and looked away, clearing his throat. “Sorry. Sometimes I…I let myself forget they did that same shit to you. If I didn’t, I’d be angry all the goddamn time.”

“You are angry all the time,” Vincent said affectionately. 

“But like, even more angry all the time.”

“Thank you for worrying about Nero. I know he hasn’t been easy to deal with.”

“He’s your son, baby. You’re my husband, so that makes him my family, too. That’s the deal. That’s what marriage is.”

Vincent only answered with a stiff nod, but Cid was well aware that in Vincent-language, that meant he was suppressing some strong emotion, that he was unable or unwilling to express, at that moment. That worked out fine for Cid, because it usually meant he’d express it later, in private, which was bound to be a lot more fun.

Unable to help himself, he hooked an arm around his husband’s narrow waist and pulled him closer. Vincent’s long hair hung loose and free, half over his face, and he had his red headband on, like usual, but he’d started wearing more ‘normal’ clothing at home, which today took the form of a red v-neck, haphazardly embellished with a number of inexplicable and completely unnecessary zippers, and with a long, frayed and torn hem (all of which made it look suspiciously like his cloak). 

His clothing items almost always featured similar signs of damage, despite the fact that he’d created them himself, in the moment, and it was literally impossible for them to have collected wear and tear. Same with his faded, black jeans, which were slashed all over like they’d been in a knife fight. He looked a hell of a lot like one of those guys on the rock’n���roll posters, in the 80s, come to think of it.

“Hey babe, y’ever listen to Guns N’ Roses?”

“No. I assume it’s a musical group?” Vincent ventured. “Rock’n’roll, from the sound of it?” 

Cid snorted with laughter. “Fuck…you’re such an old man. They’re only one of the most famous bands of all time. Hottest shit goin’ in the 80s and 90s.”

“I spent the 80s and 90s sleeping in a coffin, under Shinra Manor.”

“Ain’t no excuse for cultural illiteracy, Vinnie. Specially since ya look just like one of them rock’n’roll dudes.”

“No, they look like me,” Vincent scowled. “I’ve looked like this for thirty years.”

“Mm, true. Who knows, maybe Axl Rose wandered into the basement and saw ya sleepin’, and it inspired the fashion of a whole generation.”

“Hmph. Axl Rose is an absurd stage name.” 

“That’s his real name, sugar dumplin’.” Cid searched up a picture of the band on his phone and held it up for Vincent to look at. 

“Oh. That does look rather like me,” Vincent admitted. “Does he also wear his headband to conceal a scar?”

“Maybe. I never seen him without one.”

“Cid…why did you say the person who attached Nero’s wings would have to be a sick bastard? I understand it’s gruesome, but we’ve seen many such things. You seem especially upset by it.”

Cid hesitated. “It’s cause…in order for the nerves to be spliced in right, they’d have to do it without anesthetic, and keep him awake, the whole time.” 

Vincent’s black brows drew together. “Oh. I see.”

“I’ve seen a lotta shit, but never anything that fucked up. Fact the kid lived through it is…I can’t decide if it was a miracle or a cruel joke.” 

“It was Chaos. His regenerative factor comes from the darkness. I wouldn’t call it regeneration, so much as indestructibility. More like my body, than a SOLDIER’s. But he does feel pain, normally. If he is like me, he does.”

The mood was growing heavy, so Cid changed tracks, to lighten things up. “Since we’re on the topic, you think you got a lot more kids lurkin’ around, out there?”

“There’s no way to tell,” Vincent said, shaking his head. “My DNA was taken and used without my knowledge. But, knowing Hojo, I somehow doubt Sephiroth and Nero were the only ones. He liked to have backups. The question is, whether any others survived.”

“If so, we’re gonna need more space. And, even if Seph and Nero are the only ones, Ollie’s gonna grow outta that nursery pretty quick. So, I was thinkin’…maybe it’s time we started fixin’ up the old Valentine property.”

“You hate that place,” Vincent objected. “You called it a creepy Dracula castle and said even ghosts would be afraid to haunt it.”

“I stand by that. Didn’t see any ghosts, there, did ya? Point proved.”

“I don’t think that’s logically sound.”

“The point is, ain’t no sense in just lettin’ it sit there gettin’ dustier and creepier. ‘Sides, it’s your family’s home, ya know? Wouldn’t it be nice to have it all cleaned up? Just in case?”

Vincent very nearly smiled. “Of course. Just in case.”

THE AUTHOR HAS SOMETHING TO SAY

yeah i put the stray dog outfit in there WHAT OF IT

next. chapter

[cerezzzita]

is there anything you can say about infernal blooms that's significant but not too spoilery?

I got you, anon, sooo:

In this AU, Dante knew about Nero's existence way too soon, when he was approximately 2 to 3 years old (or when he was barely 1yo, I do not quite remember) and had the decision to raise him. Some time later, our man discovered he had a daughter, our girlie Evie.

Speaking of Evie, she's a sweetheart, totally attached to her dad and her family. I feel you all are gonna love her as much as we do.

Both me and Alaxie, the other creator of the AU and my best friend, we both headcanon slash decided that the family here is Hispanic-Italian-American; Dante is more fluent on Italian, speaks a lot of and also does the kids.

There's LOTS of self-indulgent elements here, one of my favorite is that when Evie and Nero were kids, they had a Cardcaptors Sakura and Bleach phase/hyperfixation, respectfully. And no, it's not because Nero and Ichigo shares the same VA on the English dub-

Trish/Lady are a must! They're gfs here and they are the best aunties ever! The kids are attached to them a lot, Nero more on Lady and Evie more on Trish.

Also, Dante in this AU is aro-ace because the authors said so, we stan.

Yes, before somebody asks, Vergil's gonna show up. Lately, but he will.

There will be angst, fluffy and funny shenanigans moments as the story goes by and as the kids are growing up.

Dante is very loved by the authors but they also put him on a lot of struggle, we are (not) sorry :(

The family moments are precious here! Very! Much!

Evie and Nero dynamic, my god! I love how they are more of siblings than cousins (since, duh, they were raised together)! I love both their kids and teen moments!

And Dante ft. The Kids too, dude, I'm-

Also, NeroKiri's gonna happen in the future! Yes, blow up your fireworks, NeroKiri nation!

Heavy angsty moments, I cry whenever I remember them.

But the fluff is a must, too!

@alaxamost if you wanna add something, the floor is yours, dude <3

[ao3feed-spirk]

Bad Days Lead to Good Things

read it on AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/50062297 by RevivedLikeClark (pyroleigh) Spock has a stalker, Pike presents his problem to Jim. It spirals out from there through the first Star Trek (2009) film Alternatively: I’m sick with a high fever and thought falling asleep was a bad idea so I wrote this instead after rewatching the new movie because why not? Words: 9895, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: M/M Characters: James T. Kirk, Spock (Star Trek), Leonard "Bones" McCoy, Nyota Uhura, Amanda Grayson, Sarek (Star Trek), Original Vulcan characters, Nero (Star Trek) Relationships: James T. Kirk/Spock, James T. Kirk & Leonard "Bones" McCoy & Spock Additional Tags: Pre-Relationship, Getting Together, Canon-Typical Violence, i took the movie and said no, not Uhura bashing she just worries about Spock, Academy Era, i think I’m tagging right which means I’m probably not, Amanda Grayson Lives, Vulcan is Not Destroyed (Star Trek: Alternate Original Series), POV Spock (Star Trek) read it on AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/50062297

[m00nz-writes]

Three Cheers for Evil - Blackened Angel chap. 4

Summary: After Erica joins the cheer squad in order to get to Stephanie, Alyssa realizes there's something very off about the cheer captain. Between trying to keep an eye on Erica, being suspicious of Stephanie, and a possible date with Ethan, Alyssa is stuck in confusing headspace.

•¨•.¸¸☆･ﾟ･☆¸¸.•¨•

"Aren't you excited?!" Maria exclaimed as she plopped down on her bed and looked over at the devil hunter who had her arms wrapped around her own body. Her lips pursed as she looked at the Filipino girl, and she gave a small shrug of her shoulders that caused a frown from her more vivacious counterpart.

"Watching more girls get beaten and victimized by our Lord, Stephanie?" Alyssa asked curtly, shrugging her shoulders. "I don't know, Mar… I just… I don't like the idea of other girls being treated like us."

"Steph's not so bad!" Maria defended, sitting up as the white-haired teen sat down on the bean bag chair in the room. "Yes, she's demanding and pushy, but she could be worse."

"You make it sound like it's a good thing." Lyss murmured and looked up at Maria. "She puts the 'itch' in 'bitch'."

"Well, has she been bullying you a lot lately?" Maria asked as Alyssa shrugged her shoulders.

"Not since I almost ripped the door off my locker," she admitted, leaning back in the beanbag, trying to relax. "It was damn hard to explain it. I ended up just saying the hinges were super loose…some shit."

"Girl, you really need to control your strength." she said as Alyssa groaned, leaning her head back. "You're like… super gentle with your little dweeb friend. Why not put that towards other things?" she suggested before the hunter looked at her.

"Only Sarah and I can call Ethan a dweeb, Mar… and it's easier with him because I don't want to hurt him." she sat up and huffed. "I mean, I've always been taught that you should never hurt humans under any circumstances because it's not fair. But dad never said, 'Hey, kiddo! Don't destroy that box because it's weaker than you and can't defend itself!'" She rambled while Maria giggled and covered her mouth. "I asked dad how he handled it. He just shrugged."

"Hasn't he kicked the doors of the office down?" Maria frowned and sat up as she took a good look at Alyssa. "Yeah… I don't think he's the best person to ask for advice."

"What? I should go to my uncle for advice?"

"Vitale? I don't think he'd understand." Alyssa shook her head and stood to her feet.

"The other uncle," she corrected and Maria hummed, nodding.

"Right. The evil one who wants all the power in the world." she commented as Lyss snapped her fingers and nodded.

"Bingo." she crossed her arms and sighed. "I'll tell Nero… but he's got a lot on his plate right now."

"Maybe you just have to find out for yourself." Maria admitted with a smile. "I know I don't understand this whole… second puberty thing you're going through, but I'm willing to try and help!"

"First, ew. Second, no way. I don't want you getting hurt because of me." Alyssa sighed as the door opened and Maria's aunt looked in with a smile on her face.

"Girls, dinner is ready." she said as they both smiled back at her.

"Thank you, Miss. Manalili." Alyssa said softly as the woman giggled.

"You can just call me Kaya."

•¨•.¸¸☆･ﾟ･☆¸¸.•¨•

Alyssa furrowed her brow as she adjusted the skirt she always wore for school events. Even after Maria's aunt had taken the time to adjust it to fit her better, the cheer uniform was extremely uncomfortable for her. Lyss hid the amulet under her shirt and fixed her hair, making sure her fringe were just right before closing her locker and screaming when Stephanie stood on the other side. The same fake smile was plastered on her face as the one she always had when she talked to Alyssa, the one she'd come to hate so much.

"You might want to get your hair out of your eyes." Stephanie said as she sneered and brushed her hair out of her face, deliberately ruining the style in the process. Alyssa quickly grabbed her wrist and squeezed a little too hard, causing the teen to gasp in pain. Her eyes almost seemed to flash purple and she seemed to be in a state of panic when… something didn't work. Alyssa released her hand with a sneer.

"And you should work on your attitude." she muttered as the blonde walked away angrily. Lyss watched her for a moment, her eyebrows furrowed at the realization that she was right, that there was something wrong with her.

"Hey." Ethan said as he walked up to the locker and noticed how messed up Alyssa's hair was. She smiled half-heartedly and opened her locker, fixing her hair in the mirror and making sure it was styled properly. "So… um… I heard that your favorite band… is gonna play…" he started nervously as Lyss looked at him and frowned.

"Don't tell me the King of Dorks likes Black Veil Brides." she said with a smile and he laughed awkwardly.

"Well… I listened to some of their stuff after you talked about them last week and it's… interesting." he admitted as she leaned against her locker and looked at him. "I scored two tickets… so if you couldn't get one… I have one to spare."

"Are you trying to ask me out, Morgan?" she asked, a grin on her face as his eyes widened.

"No! Well - I mean, not like that!" he exclaimed desperately. "Unless you want to…"

"I'd love to." she nodded as a huge, almost childish smile spread across his face. "Spending time with one of the best people I know and seeing my favorite band live? A dream come true."

"Awesome!" he said before Maria called out Alyssa's name. Lyss rolled her eyes and let out a sigh as she shook her head.

"Time to deal with the Wicked Bitch of the West…" she muttered before smiling at Ethan. "I can't wait for Saturday." she gave him an awkward punch on the arm as he nodded and laughed nervously, giving her a wave as she walked away. She walked over to Maria and crossed her arms as the girl started to panic a little.

"Stephanie is super mad today…" she sounded desperate, almost jumping as her nerves got the better of her.

"Probably because I snapped at her… and almost snapped her wrist." Alyssa shrugged as the duo approached cheer tryouts.

"Why?!" Maria shouted unintentionally, causing many of the surrounding students to look at them.

"Because she made a mess of my hair. Do you know how much straightening, teasing, and spraying this shit takes?"

"I thought it was natural for you…"

"I wish. I just want to look a little bit like Andy Biersack… he's a legend and I would love to have a bit of his coolness." Lyss sighed as the girls stopped at the desk and Stephanie practically pushed the pom-poms into their hands.

"Do the routine." she snapped before Lyss scoffed, but lined up with the other girls and began. Alyssa mumbled the chant under her breath as she went through the routine. "Say it!" Steph snapped at the hunter as she closed her eyes with an irritated groan. The other girls looked at her as she got back into position.

"Boom! Did a bomb just go off in my head? No, it's the Devil's when we beat you black and red! Call a nurse, call a doctor, call your mama too. 'Cause you're gonna need help when we are finished with you! Go Devils!" she finished cheering and looked dramatically at Stephanie while the cheerleading captain grinned at her.

"I don't know. Do you think it was good enough, girls?" she asked as the other cheerleaders looked at each other nervously.

"I think she was good…" Rebecca admitted, smiling and shrugging nervously. Stephanie glared at her as she admitted her satisfaction with Alyssa and rolled her eyes.

"From the top!" she shouted as all four of the girls continued to cheer. Alyssa's eyes were focused on the vampires at the end of the hall when Stephanie caught her attention as she knocked books out of a student's hands. Dropping her pom-poms, Alyssa went to help the girl and smiled kindly before watching her go.

"You are such a bitch." Lyss said, glaring at Stephanie as the girl smiled at her.

"And yet they all love me."

"More like 'love to get inside of you.'" the hunter growled before the cheer captain gave her a smack on the head and she made a small grimace, glaring at her as Erica approached the desk. "Please, no…" she muttered, grabbing her pom-poms.

"What? I just want to cheer!" Erica defended herself as Lyss narrowed her eyes at her.

"I'm watching you." she returned to Maria's side as the vampire winked and left.

•¨•.¸¸☆･ﾟ･☆¸¸.•¨•

Alyssa snorted as she helped Sarah into her new cheer uniform with a smile.

"It looks good on you." She commented as the vampire rolled her eyes.

"Well, you might need some help keeping an eye on Erica." she muttered as Alyssa chuckled.

"No need to embarrass yourself, I can handle her."

"Says the girl who chose to be a cheerleader." she quipped before sighing. "I'm sorry… I'm just stressed about Erica trying to bite Stephanie and school…"

"You don't need to be sorry." Alyssa assured her with a pat on her arm. "I was going to try out for the volleyball team or something like that, but… I'm still adjusting to my strength and I wouldn't want to hurt anyone, you know?"

"Yeah, I know." Sarah laughed a little as Alyssa headed for the door. Once out of the locker room, Benny laughed at the sight of Sarah in the cheerleading uniform. "Don't say a word!" she hissed.

"You look… preppy." Benny teased before Alyssa punched him in the stomach. "What happened to not hurting humans?!" he complained.

"I didn't even hit you that hard!" Lyss snapped, folding her arms as Sarah put a hand on her shoulder.

"Look, we're the only ones who can make sure Erica doesn't do any… sampling. So just back off." she looked between the boys before Stephanie entered.

"Let's see what you've got." she said as Lyss led Sarah along, taking one last look at Benny before they went into the gym.

Alyssa helped Sarah and Erica through the main cheers that had been their focus for the season, applauding when they had the cheers right. She looked over at Stephanie and rolled her eyes when she noticed her staring and motioned for the girls to form up. They did the cheers together before Alyssa's attention was drawn to the sound of Benny and Ethan suddenly entering the gym.

"Absolutely not!" she shouted, rushing over and forcing them to turn back around.

"We just want to help!" Benny shouted as she shoved him to the ground and pushed Ethan out of the gym.

"Help yourself, freak!" she yelled before Ethan turned to grab her arm.

"No, you don't understand!" he said desperately, looking at her with genuine concern as Benny pushed himself up and moaned. "I had… a vision. Erica's after Stephanie."

"Yeah, I got that." she pulled her arm away from him. "Look, I get it. You're worried about Sarah and everything… but I've got it under control. Just… don't do anything stupid. Okay?" she closed the door on her way back to the squad with a sigh.

She greeted the other new recurits, offering a much friendlier smile as she pulled them to the side and helped them along as well, while Stephanie and the other girls concentrated on the cheer for the rally. Alyssa applauded the girls for their good work and even walked them through the steps, making everything more cohesive for them when they had trouble. When the team took a break, Alyssa walked over to the benches with a bottle of water and sat down as Maria joined her with a sigh.

"What's going on with you and Ethan?" she asked as Lyss' eyes widened and she looked at her, almost gagging on the water. Maria patted her worriedly on the back while she managed to swallow it and coughed.

"Nothing!" Alyssa hissed, putting it down. "I mean… we may or may not be going on a date, but who cares?"

"You're going on a date?!" Maria repeated, squealing as Lyss let out a groan. "Where to? To that new place that just opened up?"

"The Black Veil Brides show in Whitechapel."

"Oh…" Maria's brow furrowed a bit before giving a shrug. "At least it's something you'll like!"

"He got the tickets. I had no idea… I don't know if this is actually a date." she shrugged while Maria raised an eyebrow. "I'm not usually the one on the receiving end of affection, Mar. Most of the time guys are scared of me."

"He has a crush on you!" Maria exclaimed before they turned towards the entrance to see the boys enter… in drag.

"Oh my God…" she whined, covering her face.

"Wow…" Maria murmured with a glance at Alyssa. "Pretty interesting boyfriend you got." she teased before standing up. Alyssa tried to grab her but she fell off the bench and rolled onto her back with a groan.

•¨•.¸¸☆･ﾟ･☆¸¸.•¨•

Alyssa sat down with JJ and his interesting group of friends, smiling as she took a bite of the pizza she'd brought from home. She glanced over to see Ethan and Benny walk by and quickly covered her face in shame as she remembered the events beforehand. She jumped when her cell phone buzzed and pulled it out of her jacket pocket to see that she had a text message from one of her friends, and she smiled even more.

K: Are you excited about the BVB concert?

A: Totally

K: I can't wait to see them live!

A: Same. I was gonna see them in Redgrave but we moved

K: And you have a date. So exciting!!!

A: Let's not make a big deal out of it, Kimmie

K: But it is a big deal! This is your first real date!

"Who are you talking to?" JJ asked as Lyss screamed, almost dropping her phone.

"Kimmie. She's going to the concert too… she and her date are gonna meet Ethan and me." she explained as JJ smiled.

"Who asked who?"

"Ethan asked me." she mumbled as she put the phone down and took another bite of her pizza.

"Benny owes me fifteen bucks." he said as he looked at the other guys who were laughing.

"Don't bet on my love life!" Alyssa yelled, slapping his arm several times as he laughed and tried to shield himself. She rolled her eyes and leaned against the table, a frown on her face as she looked over at the boys. She got up from the table just as Stephanie bumped into her, causing her to drop the food she was holding. She screamed in anger and stopped herself from hitting the blonde as she watched as she and the other girls started to walk away. Sarah mumbled an apology as she followed the others, Lyss blowing her fringe out of her face.

JJ looked up at Alyssa with a grimace at the sight of her food being on the floor. He offered her the other half of his sandwich as she smiled a little and accepted it with thanks before she quickly made her way out of the cafeteria and back to the gym. She took occasional bites of the sandwich on her way, thinking more and more about what had happened earlier. The way Stephanie's eyes glowed was similar to Vitale's eyes when he cast a spell. She began to put the pieces together when she got to the gym. She finished the sandwich and walked in as Stephanie looked at her.

"Just in time." she smiled as Alyssa came over and stood between Rebecca and Ethan. "The star is the most important position for the pep rally tomorrow. It has to be perfect if we're going to get enough team spirit." she explained as she made everyone get into formation. Alyssa frowned a little and kept a close eye on Stephanie as she continued to listen to her drone. "I want to hear you shout!"

"We're forces of nature, that's what makes a star. We may look like girls, but that's not all we are!" the squad chanted while Alyssa picked apart every word in her head. She felt the frown deepen as the others left the formation and she remained standing, muttering the cheer to herself, trying to figure out what made it so… strange. It was almost as if it was a spell.

"Why would you voluntarily sign up for this?!" Sarah said, drawing Alyssa's attention away from her thoughts as her ice blue eyes widened in response.

"I just needed something better to do," she admitted, taking the question literally, before she noticed that the boys were ogling the other girls. She kicked Ethan lightly and he immediately turned to look at her as she frowned at him.

"I think I'm gonna go grab a bite." Erica said, while Alyssa was back in her thoughts with another frown on her face.

"We're forces of nature…that's what makes a star…" she murmured softly, crossing her arms before realizing that Erica and Sarah were both gone. Her eyes widened and she ran off to look for them, inadvertently pushing Maria out of the way as she went.

She ran down the corridors in search of the girls when she came upon Stephanie, who had both Erica and Sarah under a spell. Lyss' eyes widened as she watched the scene unfold in front of her as the blonde turned to face her. She raised a hand and threw Lyss back into the wall as she groaned and slid down, her vision fading as Stephanie approached.

"Stay out of my business, nephilim," she hissed, slamming Alyssa's head into the wall, knocking her unconscious.

•¨•.¸¸☆･ﾟ･☆¸¸.•¨•

"Alyssa?" a woman called as Lyss slowly regained consciousness. She tried to focus on anything around her, but her vision was blurry, though she knew she wasn't at school. She rolled onto her stomach and looked around, groaning. "Darling, you have to get up." the woman said as Alyssa tried to search for the voice, blinking a few times as her vision cleared and she got a better look at… Fortuna. "Your friends are in great danger, my love."

"Who…?" Lyss said, looking around in confusion. "Mom?" she called, looking for whoever the woman was.

Alyssa gasped as she sat up and looked around to see that she was still in the school. Trying to remember why she was even there, she pushed herself to her feet. She stumbled slightly as she made her way out of the building and fell, Shadow escaping the ink to catch her before she hit the concrete. She groaned, holding onto the jaguar as she tried to orient herself, her head pounding worse than ever as Shadow became an almost sandy substance and headed for Ethan's house.

Alyssa whimpered as she felt the cold, hard wood beneath her, and Shadow returned to his normal form, letting out a roar to try to get anyone to listen. The door opened as Jane stared at the teenager on the porch and the jaguar beside her, a frown on her face before yelling Ethan's name.

"What?" Ethan yelled back as he headed down the stairs to find Alyssa and Shadow. His eyes widened and he quickly shooed Jane away as Shadow maneuvered under Alyssa's body and carried her inside. "What happened?" he asked as the demon looked at him stupidly and he smiled awkwardly in response. Alyssa looked around, frowning slightly as she finally came to her senses.

"Why… am I here…?" she murmured, looking up at Ethan as he helped her to her feet. "I was just at school…"

"Well, it's good you're here because Sarah's bringing the rest of the squad." he said and she hummed, shaking her head.

"My head fucking hurts…" she murmured and made her way to the living room.

"I can get you water." Jane offered, but Ethan just shook his head.

"No way! I told you to butt out, remember?"

"Pay up." Jane snapped back with a glare.

"Fine." he reached into his pocket and gave her some money before she ran upstairs. Ethan went to the kitchen and got Alyssa a glass of water before returning and handing it to her.

"Than…" she murmured, sipping the water as Shadow moved over to her and laid her head in her lap.

"Do you think you can…?" Ethan asked as he looked down at the demon that was sitting at her side.

"She's not going to leave me until she knows I'm OK." she said shrugging as she stroked the jaguar's head. "That's one of her little quirks." she added, looking up at him before frowning. "I think… I had a dream about my mom…" she said as his eyebrows raised.

"Really? What was it about?" he asked as she put down the glass.

"I went to Fortuna, and… her voice came from all over, but…" her voice faltered. "She told me that everyone was in danger."

"Stephanie's planning to steal the souls from everyone at the prep rally tomorrow. Maybe that's what she was talking about?" he offered, but she shook her head.

"That's not what she had in mind." she admitted. "I mean… my mom, who disappeared when I was born, comes back all of a sudden just to tell me that the head cheerleader is evil? It's just so farfetched." she said before gently pushing him away. "Go. Get back in drag before the girls get here…" she murmured, laying her head back.

She closed her eyes and sighed as Shadow returned to the ink. She began to fall asleep, only to be awakened when the front door opened and the girls entered. Alyssa groaned and opened her eyes, looking over to see all of them… except for Maria. She frowned and straightened up as Sarah ran over to her and gave her a smile.

"Oh my God! You look so pretty!" she exclaimed as Lyss scoffed.

"I feel like shit…" she said bluntly as Sarah returned to the girls, who were talking about something. Ethan and Benny walked into the living room and looked over at the girls. Alyssa stood and grimaced, walking over to the boys, putting her hand on Ethan's shoulder. "I'm gonna take a nap…" she mumbled as he looked over at her.

"You can use my room." he offered as she smiled and patted him on the shoulder as she made her way up the stairs.

She pushed open the door and slipped into the room, taking a moment to look around the room. She'd only seen it a few times and yet it always amazed her how fascinating his room really was. She smiled a little as she looked at the shelves, admiring all the little things that made his quirks even more obvious, before she made her way to his bed and took off her shoes. She climbed in and rested on the edge of the bed as she closed her eyes and let out a soft sigh. His bed wasn't nearly as soft as hers, and it didn't have the canopy that had always given her the false sense of security that she craved. As soon as her head rested on the pillow, she began to drift off to sleep.

She blinked and found herself back at Fortuna. She frowned as she looked around, in search of… something. Eventually, she made her way down a long corridor and found another room. With a large bookshelf and a large bed, this one looked like someone's living quarters. There was a desk in the room with a lot of letters and envelopes on it, which drew Alyssa to it. She walked over to it and saw that each one was addressed to either her or Dante, and her eyebrows furrowed as she read through them, realizing that it was in fact her mother that she was communicating with.

"It's not polite to snoop." the voice from before said as it came from behind her. Alyssa quickly turned around to see a beautiful woman with long black hair and the kindest of eyes. Instead of a look of irritation or anger, her expression was almost playful. Alyssa knew from all the images she'd seen that it had to be Ophiel.

"Mom…" she whispered, tears welling up in her eyes as she ran over to give the woman a hug. She felt so real being held by the angel, as if she were actually there. The angel chuckled and held her in her arms with a soft stroke of her hair.

"I am so sorry that this is the only way that we are able to speak," she said softly as Alyssa pulled away and looked up at her. "How I have yearned to see you… and now you're here; such a beautiful young lady." she cooed, placing her hands on Alyssa's face as she brushed away her tears.

"Why now…?"

"I have seen the path before you, my love," she spoke more grimly, stepping away as Alyssa watched. "What lies ahead is a much darker evil. One you have never known… and unfortunately I cannot be there with you. It's still far too dangerous for me to leave this place."

"So what should I do?" Alyssa asked as she approached.

"Be prepared." Ophiel turned to look at the teenager. "What is coming is not now, but it is approaching. You will have to work to become stronger and to control your new found abilities."

"How am I supposed to do that? Dad isn't going to help me!" Alyssa cried with a frown on her face.

"I know this is going to be hard, but you have to learn on your own. That's how your father learned." she said while Alyssa sighed.

"Mom… I can't do this on my own…" she admitted as the angel came closer to her. "I'm so scared that I'll make things worse… or that I'll disappoint everyone." she sniffled as tears streamed down her face. "Everything I do… I manage to fuck it up worse than the last time. Either I hurt others or I'm afraid of dead animals… no matter what I do, I'll always be the odd one out."

"You are allowing your insecurities to take over your mind, my love." Ophiel said, placing her hands on Alyssa's face again, lifting her head. "You are so very strong. You do not have to push yourself to find a purpose. You only need to look within yourself to find the strength to learn who you truly are and what you are capable of," she explained as she wiped away Alyssa's tears. Lyss smiled and laughed softly as she placed her hands on top of her mother's. "You have made some wonderful friends. The seer cares so much for you… you have nothing to fear with him by your side, for he will fight beside you no matter what."

Alyssa opened her eyes as the sun hit her face, and she sniffled and wiped it when she realized she'd started to cry while she slept. She noticed that there was a blanket draped over her body as well as a weight next to her and she looked over her shoulder to see that Ethan was fast asleep next to her. She pushed herself up and stirred Ethan as he threw his pillow at Benny to wake him up too. Getting out of bed, Lyss rubbed her eyes and yawned, stretching. Although she couldn't be with her mother physically, she found some comfort in the fact that she could see her in her dreams. She watched the boys panic over what had happened the night before and she chuckled a little, shaking her head as they made their way to the desk and sat down.

"I'm gonna go." she said quietly, about to head out the door before Ethan looked at her.

"My parents might be downstairs." he said as she nodded and made her way to the window. She pulled back the curtains and opened the window. She gave a little wave and jumped out.

•¨•.¸¸☆･ﾟ･☆¸¸.•¨•

Alyssa made her way through the halls, her eyebrows furrowed as she thought over and over again about how strange the cheer was. Worse yet, her head was still in pain and she had no idea why. She thought maybe she had just been exhausted by the meeting with her mother, but she wasn't quite sure about the plausibility of that.

Lyss looked up at the sound of voices and noticed that more and more people were talking about how excited they were about the prep rally. She couldn't say the same, instead she was left with a feeling of unease and worry. Part of her wanted to desperately beg her family to stay away from the rally, afraid that something would happen to them… but she also knew how stubborn her father and Lady could be.

Alyssa slipped into her first class and sat down just as the bell rang and the teacher started to drone on and on about biology. Alyssa never liked this class, she liked skipping it, but Trish informed her that if she did it again she would be in big trouble not only with her father but also with the school. Still, she went along with it and pretended to care, even though her mind was somewhere else.

The "date" was tomorrow, and she was worried about what she was going to wear. She had always imagined her first BVB concert as one where she would go in war paint like Andy and scream out every lyric like an idiot, just being a real teenager and enjoying her youth while she still had it… but now she was so worried about stupid things.

"Wouldn't you agree, Miss. Redgrave?" the teacher said, pulling Alyssa out of her thoughts and bringing her back to the real world. The other students were laughing at her confusion, but she wasn't paying any attention to them. She cleared her throat and sat up straight in her seat.

"I wasn't really listening." she admitted as the teacher rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Of course not… please listen." he muttered as Lyss shrugged and rested her chin in the palm of her hand.

"Of course the cheerleader doesn't listen…" one of the boys next to her murmured as she looked over and glowered at him.

"If you want to keep your face pretty, you'll shut up, Taylor." she warned, turning back to the board. She didn't bother to look at anything written there and instead started to think even more deeply.

When the bell rang, Alyssa's eyes widened and she glanced in the direction of the clock before getting up and grabbing her book bag. She left the classroom and started down the hallway with other kids when Taylor pushed her down and she grunted as she fell. The other boys laughed as Lyss looked back at them and huffed, pushing herself into a sitting position as Ethan and Benny ran over and got between her and the boys.

"Look at them, they're so brave!" Taylor scoffed as Alyssa raised her head and looked at the boys before her. Benny started to back off a little bit when he realized that the boys were serious about wanting to do something bad. "You wanna run?" the blonde grinned at the taller geek and shoved him before Alyssa stood up and slammed her body into Taylor's, pinning him to the wall as more kids surrounded them.

"Nobody gets to push him around but me!" Alyssa hissed and stepped off of Taylor. His minions tried to grab her, but she punched one of them in the face. The force of the blow inadvertently broke his nose. Her eyes widened as she saw the blood gushing from his nose as he held his face and screamed in pain. She took a step back as she looked around at all the people surrounding them while Ethan tried to keep her calm.

"You stupid bitch!" Taylor screamed and grabbed Alyssa as she stared up at him with terrified eyes. "Oh, now you're scared?!"

"Put her down." Stephanie pushed her way through the crowd as she glared at Taylor as he tried to defend himself. "I said put her down. Now." she warned, her eyes glowing a faint purple as the jock let go of Alyssa. Stephanie motioned to Taylor and his minions to leave and they did, as did the crowd of students that had gathered. The blonde looked at Ethan and Benny and glared at them as they walked away awkwardly, but still managed to peek around the corner.

"Why did you…?" Alyssa said before Stephanie glowered at her.

"You're really getting on my nerves, nephilim." she snapped, and Lyss frowned and stared at her in confusion. "Don't pretend to be surprised. You can't hide what you are very well."

"I don't try… my dad is literally the most famous devil hunter in the world." she shrugged before Stephanie grabbed Alyssa's hand and used a cloth she conjured to clean the blood from her knuckles.

"Your stupidity will destroy my plans," she said, glaring at her as Lyss sneered. "You'll be a part of it." she added and Alyssa frowned at her.

"What…?" she asked, before Stephanie just gave her a smile.

"We've got to go get ready." she said as she pulled away and started to walk towards the changing room. Alyssa watched her with a frown on her face as the boys quickly made their way over to the hunter.

"Should we be scared…?" Alyssa asked quietly as they slowly nodded in agreement.

•¨•.¸¸☆･ﾟ･☆¸¸.•¨•

"Stop moving around so much." Lyss hissed as she helped Ethan with his makeup. He made a face and pulled his head away before she grabbed his jaw and held him still as she carefully applied the eyeliner.

"How do you do this?" he asked, shrugging and working on the other eye. He winced and pulled away as Lyss rolled her eyes and sighed, holding him still again as she carefully applied liner.

"If you keep moving, it's going to go in your eye." she warned him as his gaze focused on her. This was the closest they'd ever been to each other and it caused him to get a little nervous as she put the eyeliner pencil down and picked up the mascara.

"Absolutely not." he tried to pull away, but she kept her grip.

"Eyeliner with no mascara looks silly. Besides, it's only for an hour." she shrugged as she opened the mascara. "If I can wear make up every day, then you can wear it for an hour." she said before she sat down facing him and began to carefully apply the mascara while Benny laughed at the scene.

"Stop laughing at me!" Ethan whined as he looked over at him before Alyssa made him turn his head back to her. "This was all your idea, genuis!"

"Yeah, to dress up like chicks. Not get made up like them." Benny taunted. Alyssa grabbed her empty makeup bag and threw it at him. He yelped as he tried to defend himself from her attack. "What the hell?!"

"I'm only doing this because you idiots can't even think straight enough to put on your own makeup." she said, finishing off the mascara before grabbing her lip gloss.

"Seriously?" Ethan complained as Lyss raised an eyebrow at him.

"Don't you want to be the prettiest girl at the rally?" she teased before starting to apply it as he rolled his eyes. She smiled a little as she finished it off, carefully wiping away a bit of the excess.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Of course I am." she chuckled as Benny tossed the bag over to her and she put everything back in the bag. "And I'll have fun putting war paint on you tomorrow, too." she teased, while Ethan sulked.

"Can't you just give me a break?" he pleaded as she fixed his wig and giggled again, still finding his disguise silly.

"War paint is not girly. And I won't make it super extravagant like mine." she assured him before getting up and fixing her skirt.

"Oh, so you'll be the matching couple." Benny teased with a smile on his face.

"I wouldn't laugh if I were you. You still owe JJ fifteen bucks." she explained as his eyes widened.

"You asked her?!" Benny asked as Ethan eyed him him.

"You bet on my love life?" he asked before the taller geek's eyes widened and he hurried out of the room. Alyssa laughed as she shook her head and tied her hair back. Ethan stood up as she made sure everything was still in place, focusing on her bangs. "Aren't you worried about what Stephanie said?"

"Vitale is coming to the rally with dad and Lady. If there's anyone who can stop something bad from happening, it's Uncle V." she shrugged as Ethan looked over at her.

"What if he can't…?" he asked quietly and she looked at him with a small sigh.

"I know you're worried… but as long as we stick together and do the reversal spell, we'll be fine." she assured him as he smiled and nodded. She patted him on the arm and they went to the gym to prepare for the rally.

Alyssa stretched while the others rehearsed the routine to make sure everything went well. Lyss kept watching Stephanie as the gym began to fill with students and families for the rally, chewing her lower lip thoughtfully before the coach told the girls to go in. Alyssa grabbed her pom-poms and ran into the gym with the others, doing the routine as usual. Alyssa was reluctant to recite the cheer with the others as she kept an eye on Vitale, who was looking just as suspicious as she had expected him to look. He knew that something was wrong, and he didn't make any effort to hide it.

When the star formation began, Alyssa was kept out of the formation with a furrowed brow, and she continued her routine as usual until the boys began the reversal incantation. Everyone in the audience and even the girls outside the formation fainted as Stephanie's spell removed the souls. Lyss caught Maria as she collapsed. She looked at V to see that he wasn't affected, nor was her father or Lady. She breathed a sigh of relief as she realized that V must have been using something as a means of protection. Dante started to get up, but V stopped him in his tracks as Stephanie screamed in anger.

"Back off, geeks! I will not let you get in the way of me running this school!" she yelled, looking between the boys before turning to Alyssa and saying something in Latin, which made Alyssa tense and slowly stand up. "It's time for you to see what you can really do." she said before Alyssa let out a scream of pain and felt her body begin to transform into something new.

Alyssa tried to stop it as she fell to her knees and her skin began to change into deep red scales and horns grew from her skull, the transformation causing her unbearable pain. Dante called out her name as he jumped to his feet and ran to her, managing to dodge Stephanie's attack. Alyssa screamed as her body fully transformed and looked at the hunter, punching his jaw and sending him back to the far wall. Lyss turned and glared at the boys, and Stephanie smiled as she saw Alyssa's true demon form. They managed to reach Sarah with their pom-poms, and broke her out of her trance so she could get Stephanie out of the way.

As Sarah tried to stop Stephanie, Alyssa grabbed her arm and threw her aside. The vampire screamed in pain as the boys got out of formation when it was broken. Lyss growled and tried to grab one of them as well, but Vitale was able to keep her from doing anything bad. The hunter struggled against the invisible bonds, screaming in rage as she tried to break free. She thrashed around violently before she broke free and tried to hit Ethan as he stumbled out of the way, screaming.

"Alyssa!" he shouted, her movements faltering as she stared at him.

"Kill him." Stephanie hissed, making the Nephilim glare at her. She fought the control the witch had over her before she screamed and punched her as hard as she could, stopping the ritual and revealing the head cheerleader's true self as she fell to the ground, screaming in pain. Alyssa glared down at her, feeling the rage bubble up as she prepared to land a killing blow, when Dante ran over and restrained her. She screamed and looked back at him, seeing him properly. Her eyes widened as she stared at him and she gave a stifled sob before returning to her human form as everyone started to wake.

She fell limply into Dante's arms as she trembled with uncontrollable sobs and he sank to the floor with her in his arms. She clung to him as she sobbed louder and he tightened his grip on her, holding her tightly as she continued to cry. Lady ran to them before sitting down beside them, hugging them as Grandma Weir entered and handled everything else. As everyone started to leave the gym, the family and the gang stayed behind while Dante tried to comfort the teenager.

"I'm so sorry…" she whimpered as Lady brushed her hair from her face, planting small kisses on her temple.

"None of this was your fault." she assured her as Alyssa shook her head and began to shake even more.

"I almost killed someone…" she admitted weakly as she looked up at the woman.

"You were under Stephanie's control." Grandma Weir said, but Lyss shook her head once more.

"No… it… it was all me…" she wiped her face and sniffled. "I was gonna kill her… I really wanted to…" she trailed off as Dante looked at the others before picking the teen up and carrying her out of the gym.

•¨•.¸¸☆･ﾟ･☆¸¸.•¨•

Alyssa was sitting in her bed with Shadow lying next to her, sleeping peacefully. Lyss frowned before lying down, burying her face in the jaguar's fur, finding comfort in its softness. The door opened and Dante entered with a plate of pizza, walking to the nightstand and setting it down. He looked at the girl and demon, sighing as he knelt beside the bed.

"You're not a bad person…" he assured her as she lifted her head to look at him in silence. "I know what you just went through was terrifying, but it wasn't you."

"Yes, it was, dad…" she murmured, the jaguar's eyes also on the hunter.

"No, it wasn't." he put a hand over one of Alyssa's. "When you first transform, that primal rage takes over all your senses and sometimes you have no control over it." he explained as her eyebrows furrowed. "It will become less and less intense as time goes on. So don't blame yourself…plus Stephanie was a bitch. V and Evelyn took care of her." she nodded slightly before she started to cry. "You can still go see the concert if you want."

"I don't think I want to go…" she murmured as he laughed quietly.

"What? You're going to let some asshole ruin your first date?" he teased her before she grabbed her pillow and hit him over the head with it, laughing along with him as he got up. "I can't make you, but if you want to… go for it." he said before kissing her forehead. Shadow snarled, kissing the top of the jaguar's head, satisfying her need for attention.

"Dad…" Lyss murmured as he hummed to respond. "I love you…" she offered with a small smile and got a smile back from him in return.

"I love you too, kiddo."

[kitspindles]

Nobody crucify me for this but I really don’t get why people are so mad about the “Percy is still 17 thing” because like… Rick’s explanation made sense enough to me? In a book series that’s spanned almost 20 years now and takes place in “our world” but not “real world time” (and where there’s schist like literal gods and monsters), people are fuming that the timeline doesn’t make sense with all the references to pop culture? Like, we already know the actual plot timeline within the books is a little screwy and not perfect, but why are we all big mad out here trying to fight the author in a Denny’s parking lot? Just because Percy isn’t canonically 18 yet? (Or 30 something). I don’t blame him for keeping Percy on the cusp of legal adulthood with the way some of you guys have been acting lately.

There’s no year ever given in the books to date the exact time of Percy’s adventures (or his birth year) because, like Rick said, his adventure is happening whenever you pick up the book and read it. Yes, there’s a wide range of pop culture references and jokes from over the years in the series but like… so what? He writes jokes that the current audiences and year will understand, that’s all. The series has been going for, what, 17 years now? And new fans of varying ages are always joining. The series and the jokes are ever evolving to reach these newer fans (many of whom are elementary and middle school aged, remember). As far as I know he never claimed for there to be a strictly linear timeline based in our real world time. He’s kept stuff vague on purpose to avoid giving exact years.

I think we all forget that The Lightning Thief started out as a bedtime story for Rick’s son, and that it took some time to even be accepted and published as a book. He didn’t initially set out to create a whole series with 15+ books spanning almost 20 years. I’m sure he didn’t know how large and expansive the series would become, and so that’s why there’s no set in stone timeline. Some authors give their series set years and stick with it throughout (Cassandra Clare, for example, has a whole intricate timeline going for her Shadowhunter books and sticks to it like glue), and some don’t. It’s just how it is. And most characters don’t tend to age outside their books… so yes, Percy is still 17 because, as of The Tower of Nero (which came out 2 years ago now, btw), his last canonical book appearance, he had yet to celebrate his 18th birthday or even officially start college. Just because we’re out here “celebrating” his birthday in the real world doesn’t mean he’s actually aging. It’s just a little goofy thing because he’s a popular character.

Are people just mad because this character we grew up with who kept aging in the books is now frozen at 17 (because his story is done) and we keep aging? We do need to remember that it’s a kids/young adult series, ergo, the characters are all still teens and pre-teens. Not yet adults.

Anyway I’ve just been thinking about that sorry

[tsarisfanfiction]

Meg’s Apollo

Fandom: Trials of Apollo Rating: Teen Genre: Angst Characters: Meg McCaffrey, Apollo, Rachel Dare, Will Solace

If he won, he’d get his godhood back.  That was supposed to be a good thing.  Alternate ending for Tower of Nero.

Spoilers for Tower of Nero.

So I just binge-read the Trials of Apollo series and wanted an immediate post-Python scene with the mortals.  Upon not finding anything to sate that itch, I wrote my own.  Can’t guarantee any real accuracy with what Meg’s actually doing in the book at this point, but it’s an alternate ending so it’s fine, right?  This is my first time writing these characters, and really my first proper foray into Rick Riordan’s worlds at all, so I have no idea how well I caught their characters.

Apollo was supposed to come back.  He was supposed to win and then climb back up the stairs with a stupid grin on his face, and then Meg’s heart could stop doing stupid twists and leaps in her chest.

She hated waiting. She hated that this was one battle she couldn’t be with him for.  She hated that she didn’t know what was going on.

“Win,” she ordered through gritted teeth.  “That’s an order, Apollo.  You’ve got to win.”  Did her commands work when he was out of earshot?  She didn’t know, but that wasn’t going to stop her as she stood at the edge of the carnage that was the triage, half an eye on her step-siblings out of necessity and all her thoughts on the irritating, de-godded god she’d been the master of for the past six months.

She wasn’t stupid.  If – when – Apollo beat the big snake, he’d get his goddy powers back.  At least, she was pretty sure that was how it worked.  He wouldn’t be bound to her orders any more, forced to follow whatever whims she came up with.  Her days of bossing him around were over, but that didn’t mean her days with him were over.

That, Meg couldn’t accept. The stupid snake wouldn’t win, and Apollo wouldn’t forget all about her and go sit on his fancy throne or chariot or whatever it was he did when he was being all goddy.  So she kept ordering him to win, kept hurtling her will in his direction to make sure he won, because she couldn’t accept any other ending.

Her concentration was sharply broken by a gasp.  Rachel had her hands to her head, eyes wide and fingers snagged in vibrant red hair, and Meg’s heart did a particularly sharp, irritating, twisty thing.

“Python’s gone,” the Oracle girl said, quietly enough that Meg wasn’t sure she’d even heard her.  If it wasn’t for Chiron clip-clopping over urgently, insisting that the older girl repeat it, she might not have paid it any attention at all.  “Python’s gone,” Rachel said again, louder and more confident.  Her hands fell from her head into her lap, and Meg found herself the target of the girl’s eyes.  “Apollo did it.”

Of course he did, a little voice in Meg’s head scoffed.  It’s Apollo; I ordered him to win, so he won.

Her heart was less appeased. The gymnastic tricks didn’t ease up at all, despite Rachel’s proclamation, despite the relief breezing through everyone in the room like the wind brushed through corn fields.  It took her a moment to realise why.

If Apollo had won, why wasn’t he here?

Something was wrong. Meg knew it with a fierce certainty that blazed up around her agitated heart.  Something was wrong, and the snake might be defeated, but Apollo wasn’t back yet.

Unbidden, the memory of him back in Camp Jupiter, held by his sister as the goddess brought him back from the brink of death – stained purple with deeper purple veins running just below his skin – flashed through her mind.

No, if he won, he should be a god again.  He’d be immortal.  No more near-death scares.

Meg was getting very tired of her heart’s acrobatics.  She needed Apollo to come back so it’d stop doing it.  She needed Apollo back so she could believe that Rachel was right, that Python was defeated.

She needed Apollo.

The impact of her knees on the cold floor didn’t register.  Nor did her bare hands balling into fists against the same floor.  Water ran down her face, sharp and stinging even though they were indoors and rain shouldn’t be able to get to them – was it raining outside?  She didn’t remember any rain.

“Meg!”

The voices calling for her didn’t register, either.  Hands on her shoulders, but she ignored those.

“Come back,” she rasped, her voice weak and raw.  “Come back, Apollo.”

There was no infernal grin. No flashing blue eyes and tangled dark curls.  No acne-ridden face promising her that he was fine, just a little tired.

There was nothing at all.

“Come back,” she insisted again, a little louder.

“Meg…”  The dim sound of hooves on hard floor should have given the voice an identity but she didn’t care, because it wasn’t Apollo.

Apollo still wasn’t there.

“I order you to come back, Apollo!”  It came out more of a sob than a command, so she tried again.  And again.  And again. Her voice was hoarse and it hurt, but Apollo’s continued absence hurt more.

“My dear, your bond won’t work,” someone – the same person, with hooves clopping near her ears – said. “If he was successful, he’ll no longer be mortal.”

She ignored them, screaming the words out again.  She knew he couldn’t hear her, all the way down in Delphi.  She knew that if he was a god again he was no longer bound to follow her orders.  She knew, she knew, she knew, but none of that mattered because she needed Apollo and the big dummy needed to show himself.

“Apollo, COME BACK!” she screamed.

A flash of light blinded her, stunning her into silence for the few moments it took the spots to disappear from her vision.  Around her was mumbling, horrified sounds and uncertain footsteps.

In front of her, almost on top of where her clenched fists pressed against Nero’s once-immaculate floor, lay the crumpled form of a teenager.

Meg didn’t recognise them at all.

Blond hair fell around in disarray, a little too golden to be natural and contrasting starkly with the tanned skin of someone who was almost never indoors.  His – they had to be a male – face was smooth and unblemished. Meg wasn’t particularly interested in what made guys – or anyone, for that matter – attractive, but even for her, breath-taking was the only descriptor that came to mind.

A golden toga was torn and blood-stained.  Red splattered liberally over the unmoving – unconscious – body, but where the otherwise flawless skin was torn open, gold spilled out, merging with the red to make an unappealing and muddy shade of orange.

“Dad!”

That was Will, pushing people aside and crashing to his knees by the teenager, but that couldn’t be right, because Will’s Dad was Apollo and this guy…

He couldn’t be Apollo.

Where was the acne? The dark birds’-nest hair?  The so-called flabby stomach the mortal god always complained about?

This was one of those male supermodels, the ones that got people oohing and aahing over like they’d lost their braincells.

This wasn’t Lester, wasn’t Apollo.

“I need nectar!” Will was saying, his already bloodstained hands tentatively pushing and pulling at the body, adding more red to the muddy orange and turning it brown.  That toga was beyond saving, Meg thought idly.

“Why isn’t he waking up?” someone else asked, quietly but not quietly enough for Meg not to hear it.  “He’s got his powers back, hasn’t he?”

“Leave the speculation for later and bring me some nectar!” Will snapped.  “I’m all out.”

Meg watched blankly as someone heeded the healer’s call and Will got to work on the various gaping wounds, all oozing that golden blood – ichor, her mind supplied.  The blood of the gods.

“Meg?”  Gentle hands caught her shoulders.  In the corner of her eye, she saw red hair.  “Meg, are you okay?”

She blinked once, twice, turning her head just enough to see the older girl squatting down next to her while still keeping the strange teenager in view.

“Who… is that?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Rachel slumped, a corner of her mouth lifting in a relieved smile even though the rest of her face was tight with concern.

“You don’t recognise him?” she asked gently.  “I suppose that makes sense.  You’ve only seen him as Lester, haven’t you?”

Meg’s heart had stopped tap-dancing quite so vigorously when he’d appeared, although she hadn’t noticed it until that moment.

“That’s…”  It couldn’t be, but it had to be.

“That’s Apollo’s normal appearance,” Rachel confirmed.  “The one he shows us, anyway.”

“It’s wrong.” The words slipped out without conscious thought, but Meg had no desire to take them back anyway.  It was wrong.  Apollo wasn’t supposed to look like this – all perfect and godlike beneath the ichor.  He was supposed to look normal.  Human.

This might be Apollo, but it wasn’t Meg’s Apollo.

Meg’s Apollo, she was starting to realise, had vanished in Delphi with the dirty great snake, and she was not okay with that.

She watched numbly as Will and some others loaded the injured but somehow still perfect unconscious god onto a stretcher and hurried him away, out of sight, and made no move to follow.

[the-ghost-king]

So I'm not going to start like an Anti-Chiron tag because I don't find that enjoyable personally, but every so often people ask why I dislike him so here's essentially a "masterpost" of my thoughts on that situation for when anyone asks, just so I have it to explain some...

This isn't nearly a full list, and there's many more "incidents" that make me less than fond of Chiron, I don't hate the old man but he leaves a bad taste in my mouth and I'm not a fan of that. He's a very twisted character.

- The Lightning Thief

This quote is literally just after Percy's mom "dies", they're all sitting on the porch of the Big House right after he's finally woken up after days of sleeping, and that's the line Chiron pulls out on him.

That's straight up emotional manipulation which was entirely unnecessary in the context of what Chiron was trying to explain. There wasn't a single reason for that, in the slightest.

Immediately following that, and Percy, who canonically has anger issues, does his best to remain calm, he is immediately threatened by Dionysus, and Chiron doesn't even tell Dionysus off for doing that; Chiron just let's it happen. It's Grover who has to speak up to tell Dionysus off...

The only reason Chiron comes out looking like a old guy in this scene is because Dionysus was so much worse in his behavior, at one point intimidating Percy with his power over madness.

- The Titan's Curse

This is the aftermath of when Nico ran away upon confirmation of Bianca's death. When Percy is telling Chiron about the situation, Chiron wishes Nico had been eaten alive rather than recruited into an army.

He'd rather a child be dead than fight against him, and he openly tells this to other children he's in charge of. If Percy went missing would he have said "I hope he was eaten <3" as well?

I don't blame Perry for not delivering the truth here, it was done in an effort to protect Nico; which wasn't something Annabeth had planned on doing... I don't blame Annabeth for that though either, she's been beneath Chiron so long that she probably doesn't realize the shady stuff he does, and to her "going to tell" probably was the "right" move because she was a child...

But the fact that Chiron believes Nico truly would be better off eaten than alive :/

- Tower of Nero

This quote from Tower of Nero shows that Chiron lied to a bunch of young children (most of them were young because the older campers are largely dead because of the war or too old for camp now). It wasn't just a little white lie that adults sometimes tell kids either; they were walking into battle and he told them it was a field trip.

Did he even begin to explain the danger he was putting these kids in? Did the children understand their situation? And how dangerous it was?

Kayla has been blindsided over the years into thinking that telling children they're going on a field trip instead of fighting a battle is something to make a joke of and not be questioned... (Again, I don't blame her she's only like 12 in the book, but still)

Apollo also agrees, which isn't on Chiron but it's a whole mother reason why I can't stand Rick's interpretation of Apollo...

<><><><><>

This isn't me being like "oh Chiron is the worst most evil character ever" I just think that he has numerous flaws which are largely ignored in favor of the "perfect wise teacher" narrative when in fact Chiron and Dumbledore share a lot of.. Offputting qualities.

I do think that some of the situation is simply a result of Chiron having his hands tied behind his back by the gods some. And he even goes so far as to confirm this in a scene of TLT

However many of the scenes in which he exhibits behaviors like that in my first three screenshots are not related to anything the gods require and are, in fact, of Chiron's own free will.

Some things I would blame Zeus and the council for, such as how he withholds information from Percy to an excessive amount for long periods of time even when Percy straight up asks about things. I could easily see that being Zeus trying to prevent Percy from claiming the prophecy as his own, and I could see reasoning that maybe Chiron had sworn over the River Styx or something similar.

But those things don't apply to Chiron making such an unnecessary comment about Percy's mother so close to her "death". It doesn't explain why he would say he hoped Nico had been eaten out loud, and it doesn't cover the fact that he led children into a battlefield without telling them that's what was happening.

I think the context of Chiron's choices and comments would be different if the campers were older. If they were in their late teens or early twenties for the most part, I wouldn't really have much to say about how Chiron handled the situation.

But this man is in charge of children and extremely young teenagers, Percy is only 12 in TLT, maybe if he would have been 16 or 17 then I could give Chiron a pass, but he wasn't. Within the context of the comment he made in the Titan's Curse, Percy is only 14 and Nico is 10 at the beginning of the book... You don't wish a 10 year old had been eaten alive by a monster no matter how bad you think the alternative is, and if you do wish that you don't say it out loud to a group of other children. In the battle from Tower of Nero we get a quick look at the battlefield, and although Ben's age, and the age of another girl fighting alongside him are never confirmed they are implied to be fairly young, and we know Kayla is only 12 at the time too; yet Chiron told them it was a field trip instead of a battle, limiting the time they would have to mentally prepare themselves for what was coming.

On top of that, the nods the reader gets to the fact that Chiron can't act out against the gods depletes over the course of the series. After TLT the amount of times the situation involves the gods interfering with what Chiron is allowed to say lessens, and by the time the Heroes of Olympus series comes around, these limitations on his speech is almost entirely gone. Yet as seen in Tower of Nero he still does morally questionable things in regards to how he treats the campers.

Like I said, I recognize that in many scenes Chiron's hands are tied behind his back because of the gods.. But there are undeniably things he does of his own free will that are, in the nicest manner, very :/

This also isn't a full list of comparisons just a few notable scenes. I don't think Chiron is equally as bad as Dumbledore, but I think it undeniable that Chiron has some significant flaws built into his character design.

A good character has flaws, and there's nothing wrong with having a character that doesn't always conduct themselves properly or have good intentions- it's actually good writing, and I can appreciate that, but for some reason I find myself personally rubbed the wrong way by Chiron. This doesn't make Chiron badly written, or poorly designed, in fact I would say Rick's Chiron is very well designed in lots of ways, but I just don't like how it's never acknowledged by anyone in the series.

Like I said, I'm not starting an anti-Chiron situation, I just think little events like those mentioned, the way he's built a child army, and how he doesn't even try to plead with the gods over raising the ages on campers being allowed to battle is a little sus. But it more so bothers me that there's no attention payed to this problem anywhere in the books, not even by a side character or Luke, nowhere.

I don't actually care that much and this isn't that important to me, but sometimes people ask why I don't like Chiron and this is basically just my explanation to hand off to them... It's not even so much that I dislike Chiron entirely, he's well written and has his "good" moments, I just don't like the way other characters interact with him and his actions.

It's more a personal beef with him rather than an aspect of poor writing or him "being bad"... PJO in general (and HoO/ToA to a much lesser extent) shows that there's not such an inherent good vs bad in the world, and that sometimes people are victims of circumstances in some situations, or they're horribly misguided in their actions, but the series does a good job of showing those people as human still, and I applaud that.

I don't really know how to tie this up in its entirety, but there's nothing wrong with having a morally grey character who does questionable things and in many aspects it is good writing. I think Chiron is a result of Rick not thinking through the implications what he's doing in lots of situations, and I can see a fairly consistent drop in Chiron's characterization from PJO-ToA which is consistent with most other aspects of Rick's work.

I also want to clarify that if you like Chiron and disagree with me, that's absolutely 110% okay, I just personally dislike Chiron and that's on me. Like my problem with many of Rick's other immortal characters, I think he missed important aspects of them in some manner and slightly (or entirely in some cases) mischaracterized them in comparison to their original myths.. Some of these characters he came around on and fixed their character in many aspects to their more "correct" characterization (like Hera), while others (like Chiron and Apollo) he never quite figured them out. Which is a running complaint I have with Rick so I'm just adding this to his tab.

But yeah, I don't hate Chiron I just dislike him and those are different things, and I don't think it's a bad thing to have a morally questionable character, Chiron just personally rubs me the wrong way and I just wanted to explain that more fully because I've been asked about it multiple times.

Also I apologize for not adding a [read more] to this, it's a complaint of mine often when scrolling through the tags but I'm on mobile currently and don't have immediate access to a computer so~